Keeping yourself inspired

Yeah, it's all about whatever works for you because in the end, I think the most important thing one can do is to maintain some form of inspiration. When the chips are down, what else do you have?

Things that inspire me are poetry...."and the verse falls to the soul, like dew to the pasture...."

I like to memorize beautiful lines so that when my mind is cluttered with depressing lines, then Pablo Neruda puts things in perspective.

Today, I'm focused on maintaining.

Hi Amanda, Thanks for your input. I agree that beautiful prose is good, a few lines from an inspiring song, a walk on a drop dead gorgeous day like today. I just spent an entire weekend at a very inspiring event. I'm still high from it...and that's where I want to live!! xoxoxo,m

My intent for the day is:
I am here to enjoy life not to think about it.

Boy is your post a timely one. I am going to find something that I can wear that will be a reminder for me.. that is.. until I get my next tattoo, which is going to be a constant reminder. I actually cannot wait to get it for the every reason you speak of.. and it will be on my wrist, so it will right there when I need to see it. The meaning says Quiet Mind, Open Heart. That is my mantra.

That sounds much more appealing than thinking about life...analyzing and reassessing...worrying. Once we realize that there's not much we can control, it gets much easier. I'm here to enjoy. I'm here to enjoy. I'm here to enjoy. Inhale. Exhale. I'll keep repeating that to myself throughout the day. Silently, of course...

Quiet Mind. Open Heart. I like the sound of that as well.

Hi Beth,
Wow, a tatoo is a definite committment!! What a beautiful mantra. And I find that constant refilling of my inspiration pool, through readings, or going to Agape helps keep it alive. The people we hang with is big also.
And I love hanging with you!!
xoxoox,m

Hi Amanda,
I too came to the realization recently that simply telling myself "I am enjoying my life" keeps me focused on that truth and keeps me looking at how it's true. We all know how that part of the mind works: give it something to look for and it activates the scanners for supporting evidence. So let's keep 'it' looking for support of how I'm enjoying my life!!! Love it.
xoxoxo,m

Hi Marcia,
Nice post! Keeping oneself inspired is so important, especially when things are going the way that we would like or had intended. I had the blessed opportunity to help create a "Volunteer Readiness Program" for those who were going to the Province of Aceh, Indonesia, after the Asian Tsunami. One very memorable and meaningful learning moment for me had to do with the way that the victims of this disaster, especially children and adolescents, keep themselves (and each other) inspired. Without knowing it, these young people became the inspiration for the adults, many of whom had difficulty being a "survivor," by shifting their focus of attention from the horrors of the moment to something positive--like being able to play with each other. This technique, by the way, was also used by my mentor, Viktor Frankl, to keep himself inspired when he was imprisoned in Auschwitz. It is called "Dereflection" or as I write about it in my book, Prisoners of Our Thoughts, more simply, "Shift Your Focus of Attention." I know that it sounds easier said than done, but practice makes perfectk, and the experiences of the children of Aceh, Holocaust survivors, and the like, demonstrates that it can and does work. In any event, I resonate with your message!
Meaningfully,
Alex

Hi Alex,
I have not heard of this term before and I like it! It is perhaps easier to shift your focus than it is to stay in awareness of what you are focused on...especially when it's not a habitually good place!! Love the work you are doing. And the title of your book. I know a relative of Viktor Frankl...must read his book too. I hear it is life changing!!
I resonate back with you.
xoxooxox,Marcia

Marcia King, CPCC
Infinite Focus Coach
Wealth Dynamics Coach
See what expands when you focus
310/471-8703

Hi Marcia,

Thanks for your kind words. I agree that some times shifting one's focus of attention to something else, especially something that is positive, is easier to do that staying in "awareness of the moment," which often results in our becoming "stuck in the yuck" and, as I say, a "prisoner of our thoughts." I remain in close touch with the Frankl family in Vienna and definitely recommend that you (and everyone, for that matter!) at least read (or re-read) his book, "Man's Search for Meaning--in addition to my book, of course! :)
Happy New Year!
Alex

Alex Pattakos, Ph.D.
Author of Prisoners of Our Thoughts
Center for Meaning
223 N. Guadalupe St., #243
Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA
505.988.5235
alex@prisonersofourthoughts.com

Hi Alex,
Something else that I'm ''seeing is that if we can stay in the moment when we are in crisis, remain in the witness position, no mental commentary and judgement, and just FEEL what is happening, we will shift naturally into a higher state of awareness, and loose some of the energy around our unconscious projections of our 'stuff' on to our 'reality'. oxoox,m
Marcia King, CPCC
Infinite Focus Coach
Wealth Dynamics Coach
See what expands when you focus
310/471-8703

Hi Marcia,

Great point and, for the most part, I agree with you. At the risk of sounding "wishy-washy," I must also add that "it all depends." While I certainly believe in the power of the "moment," I also know from personal experience that some times we need to separate ourselves from the situation that we face, and at other times we may even need to separate ourselves from OURSELVES. Let me explain.

There are "crises" and then there are "CRISES," all of which fall somewhere along a continuum of life. My mentor, Viktor Frankl, for instance survived three and one-half years in four Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, during World War II. There were times when he clearly was "in the moment" over these years of horrific suffering, torture, and death; there were other times when he needed to shift his focus of attention (i.e., dereflect) in order to "get through" the moment; and there were even times when he needed to "self-detach" (another Logotherapeutic principle that I describe in my book, Prisoners of Our Thoughts), that is, look at himself and his situation from a distance--a kind of out of body experience, if you will. Only human beings have this unique capacity, no other living things. For example, while I believe that my dog smiles, I know that he can't smile at himself! Humans, on the other hand, can view ourselves from a distance, a manifestation of which is our so-called "sense of humor."

So, yes, being able to "feel" and process our "feelings" of the moment are noble objectives and, for the most part, healthy responses to life's "crises." There are occasions, however, when staying conscious in the moment may not serve our highest needs, nor support us in our moment of need (e.g., Nazi death camps, Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, learning that we've been diagnosed with an incurable, terminal disease, unexpected death in the family, etc., etc.). Each one of us needs to decide what kind of "crisis" warrants a "stay in the moment" response versus a "dereflection" and/or "self-detachment" response. The more "resilient" we each become to varying circumstances in our lives, the more likely we'll be able to do what you are recommending in a healthly and effective way. What I am suggesting is that it helps to have more "tools" in our personal toolkit for dealing with the various challenges, including crises, that we must face in our lives.

Thanks for stimulating more discussion on this issue!

Meaningfully,
Alex

Alex Pattakos, Ph.D.
Author of Prisoners of Our Thoughts
Center for Meaning
223 N. Guadalupe St., #243
Santa Fe, NM 87501 USA
505.988.5235
alex@prisonersofourthoughts.com

Hi Alex,
I totally agree with you. There are times when our minds take us out because to 'stay' would be intolerable...so yes, it is more complicated than I indicted. I was thinking more of 'old programming' being projected into our reality to get cleaned up. I so appreciate you adding your wisdom and completing my thoughts!!!
Blessings,
Marcia

Marcia King, CPCC
Infinite Focus Coach
Wealth Dynamics Coach
See what expands when you focus
310/471-8703

I like the points on self-detachment. They reminded me of a book that I'm currently reading called, "Blue Truth: A spiritual guide to life & death and love & sex." A Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition wrote the foreword, emphasizing that, "naked awareness is the main practice in the Dzogchen tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. We take refuge in and rely on innate wakefulness and awareness practice to lay bare the nature of both the mind and all things; this is the ground, the path and the fruit of the tried and true Buddhist path of awakening. Awareness is the sovereign, all-powerful, and all-accomplishing ruler, the source of all; awareness is the greatest protection; awareness is the way, the truth, and the light. Homage to naked awareness, the heart of the Buddhas of past, present and future...Blue Truth, is such an homage." To live life moment-to-moment or to completely self-detach are choices that require the most fundamental kind of self-awareness. The sort that precedes all spiritual philosophy, abstract truth, even "crazy-talk." Naked awareness inevitably leads the practitioner to love, which is defined as absolute compassion and complete detachment. I like that definition as I believe that love is the ultimate point of everything we do and don't do. Great discussion, thanks!