Dare to Play it big!

Hey lovers of all things beautiful,

I am an Avid reader and supporter of Christina Diaz's posts. This time around I wrote in to her on the Inspirational segment called Inspiration from You. The title of my Gratitude piece is Smiles.

Enjoy

Wishing you Peace and Love,
Esi

You Choose In this issue... What I've been up to: 'Starting from zero' The monthly thought: You Choose Inspiration from you: "The smiles" A positive recommendation: "We create our own reality" The thanking corner: my body and dawns What I've been up to: 'Starting from zero' More travelling has been in the agenda for me in this past month: more of Manchester hotels, restaurants, train time. And again I have been enjoying it fully, making the most out of these experiences, which I find a blessing. And truly everything is a blessing when we start from zero. One of the predominant thoughts I've been having this past month has been the idea that we find ourselves content with life to the degree that we compare what we have with what we expect. For instance, if I expect that my day goes all smooth (quiet time to work in the train, quickly-served food at the restaurant, easy interactions with people) and then for some reason it doesn't (say, I get a very poor service at the restaurant), then I might feel frustrated and upset, because I feel entitled to have things going the way I want them. However, if I still want a smooth day, but I remind myself that everything is already a blessing and it might as well not be there, then I will find myself very happy with whatever comes. For instance, I did get a very poor service at one of the restaurants I ate in these past weeks, and my first reaction was one of feeling entitled to having a good service. And then the thought came through, "Cristina, you are in fact eating out at a restaurant of your choice, with a meal of your choice being paid for fully by work, and you don't have to cook or wash dishes." I smiled to myself and acknowledged that I was in fact being very blessed. So one thing I've been doing this past month is to put that thought into practice and "start from zero", wherever I'm at - this is, I remember that whatever I'm having might as well not have been there. This has allowed me to appreciate more fully all that I've been experiencing. Wanna boost your life this coming month? Start from zero. All you're having might as well have not been there. Take it anew. Notice your blessings - there are more than you think ;) The Monthly Thought: You Choose Ever since I started reading up on positive thinking and on directing our own thoughts, I was fascinated by the idea that ultimately each of us is the master magician of our own life. There were many authors and ideas that I found inspiring, and each bit of it kept adding up to 'Aha!' moments. Eventually I came across Robert Anton Wilson. His writings, witty and intelligent, are a pleasure to read; but maybe the one thing I read from him which stuck with me the most was his explanation of the thinker and the prover. Robert Anton Wilson comes to say that it's as if our brains were divided in two parts: the thinker, and the prover. The task of the thinker is to think thoughts. The task of the prover is to prove those thoughts true. That was a revelation for me. It makes sense to me that, in this life-world-universe where we ultimately cannot know anything for sure (is this a dream? do we come from aliens? did everything really start with the big bang? why did the Mayan civilization disappear? what's up with the stone figures of Easter Island, or Stonehenge?) pretty much it's up to whatever each of us wants to make up. If I direct my thinker to think that everything started with the big bang, then the prover will show me evidence of it - scientific research, videos, writings from people I think highly of. If I choose to think that we come from aliens, my prover will certainly find evidence of it as well - just have a look at all the videos available online, each of them 'proving' that we come from aliens. And look, even though it might feel more reasonable to think that everything started from the big bang, my point is that we cannot know for sure. Nobody was there to record it or account for it. So it's up to you to choose whatever belief makes the most sense to you. From my point of view, it's exactly the same thing for whatever else goes on in life. Ultimately, I cannot know anything for sure, so it's up to me to think whatever I want - the prover will certainly prove it true. So a while ago I decided to choose a belief in life that would support me. I never understood how some people chose to believe in a God who was punishing and vindictive - if you're going to believe something that you cannot prove, why would you like to believe in something that makes you feel scared and uncomfortable? Maybe I have the advantage that I didn't grow up in a religious household, and thus I could start from scratch: when the time was right for me, I simply chose to believe something that would make me feel supported and loved. So I chose to believe that there is a higher intelligence which permeates everything. This higher intelligence (I call it One or Source) 'manifests' in everything we see. Each of us is also a manifestation of the higher intelligence. When we relax enough then we allow more of Source through us, and this shows up as good health, abundance of money, love from other people, good fortune... When we stress, tighten up or feel bad in any way we don't allow Source through us. The thinking process is a tool to bring ourselves to a stance of allowing Source through us. Ultimately, Source is Love - not romantic love, but a Love of the highest kind you can possibly imagine. And ultimately the whole point of being alive is to allow more of Source through us, which is the same as to live happily, to live enjoying being alive. That is, in a nutshell, my belief system. I'm well aware that many people don't share it - among them, some of my best friends. And it's alright. Some people have tried to convince me that this belief is just nuts. Others share a similar belief system. My conclusion is that, if my belief system works for me, that's good enough for me. I don't need to convince anybody to subscribe to it, and I don't need to discard it just because others don't believe the same. In short, I have chosen to believe something that helps me to understand the difficult bits of life, that brings me hope over and over, and that helps me to see further into why we act the way we do. I have chosen to believe something that supports me in my life. This is the thought that I want to leave you with today: choose a fundamental belief of life that supports you. It's up to you. Within the most secret core of yourself you can choose to believe whatever you want, without the need to even share it - for instance, if you positively know that your friends and family will be everything but supportive of what you believe, you can just do with keeping your belief to yourself. As long as you choose a belief system that supports you and that makes sense to you, that's all that matters. All is thus well. Inspiration From You: "The smiles" Every month I receive emails from readers - some of them contain questions or comments, and some of them are contributions, such as a positive story, an article or a tip. This month Esther Ochan, from Entebbe, Uganda, shared this touching piece of gratitude: "The smiles" I live in a suburb, with high walls surrounding most people's houses. However, right next to my house are squatters. I bet their family has owned the land from way back and have refused to sell to the emerging rich. They do not have the basics that all the other neighbours have. I am thankful that I can hire one of the girls to do my laundry and pay her many times more, so that she can care for her siblings. I am thankful that the kids smile at me whenever I pass by... and I am thankful that they are happy as well. I am thankful for life. Thanks, Esther! :-)