tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13339171618736769672024-03-13T13:06:30.434-07:00The Freedom Blog by Steven Griggssteven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-83541223329543959572017-02-23T09:58:00.000-08:002019-07-07T11:09:05.672-07:00What Are You Waiting For?<br />
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;">Steven Griggs </span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 28pt;">|<b> Free Spirit</b></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; position: relative; top: 2.5pt;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“On the Plains of
Hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions who, at the dawn of victory,
sat down to wait, and waiting—died.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">George W. Cecil<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Are you waiting on a
lightning strike? Are you waiting for the perfect night? Are you waiting til
the time is right? What are you waiting for? Do you wanna learn to deal with
fear? Do you wanna take the wheel and steer? Don’t you wait another minute here.
What are you waiting for?”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Why does it seem that when we want something to happen or to make a change we end up hesitating or pausing before we actually pull the trigger. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sometimes we stop, we seem to be waiting to make the move.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
are we waiting for? Why are we holding back? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe we are hesitating or waiting until we get the perfect feeling or some sort of confirmation that it's "ok" to go forward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some people don't hesitate, they just take <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/02/action-is-killer-of-fear.html" target="_blank">action</a> but most of us will waiver.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">An interesting by product of this is that by waiting and not making a move things are decided for us. The situation changes, things get taken off the table or by our inaction we have defaulted and the decision gets made for us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">So on a deeper level you </span><i style="font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">have</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> made a move, you've chosen inaction and allowed the course of events to make your move for you. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some might say when it's a negative or unwanted result that "it wasn't meant to be" or "it just wasn't in the cards". </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Someone else gets the job, the apartment you liked gets rented... something has foreclosed your potential move.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This isn't really true because we are always getting what we are asking for. It just doesn't look like it at the time because it doesn't match our "conscious" mind's desire or wish. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another thing to look at is that if you held back and didn't feel ready to move forward or act, could there be another reason? Could it be that subconsciously you weren't really aligned with the action? There was some deeper concern or non-alignment that made you hesitate and that's why you held back? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Is there any way to be totally sure about making the right move? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Other than obvious, simple decisions, I don't think so. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But there is one big reason that most of us hesitate on making a move or taking action: Fear</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Fear of change, fear of failing, fear of embarrassment...... fill in the blanks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But usually if we sit quietly and roll the issue around in our mind, we can get a glimpse of the bigger picture and realize that there really aren't any wrong moves. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Nothing is really earth shattering. There are always only two possibilities: <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/05/its-always-one-of-two-answers.html" target="_blank">It will work or it won't</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Yes, some choices obviously may result in "unwanted" consequences, say if you decide to rob a bank or break the law. But again you "knew" what could happen when you made the choice and you went ahead anyway. So on some level you wanted that result.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">So when mulling over a new step or choice that will bring changes, remember the old 80/20 rule: 80% of the things we worry about don't happen and the 20% that do aren't as bad as you thought they would be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Try to be action oriented, if you can't, you'll still be making moves, it just won't seem like it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But you are.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 10pt;">www.stevengriggs.com</span></a></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-5032523600619680502017-02-23T09:56:00.000-08:002017-02-23T09:56:18.875-08:00We Are All Orphans<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 26pt;">No Limits</span><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 26pt;"> | </span><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 26pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Free Spirit</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">We Are All Orphans<u><o:p></o:p></u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span class="body"><span style="background-color: white; border: 1pt; font-family: "georgia" , serif; padding: 0in;">“We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.”</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> Orson Welles</span><span style="background-color: white; border: 1pt; font-family: "georgia" , serif; padding: 0in;"><br /></span><o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><b><i>“We are the universe pretending to be individuals.” </i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><b><i><span class="author-label">Deepak Chopra</span></i><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The other day I went into a restaurant to have a bowl of soup and as I was being seated a lady in the booth directly in front of me said “I knew you were bald (My head is shaved) because no one wears a hat as well as a bald man.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I said thank you but the lady continued to talk to me. She was explaining that she recently had a gastric bypass and was therefore on a strict diet. I encouraged her and wished her the best. She then said a curious thing: “ My mother died recently and now I’m an orphan……”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The woman was in her late sixties so it struck me that she would consider herself an orphan at this age and I thought to myself “what did she really mean by that comment?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I thought more about this and realized that really, we are all orphans. We are born alone, we live alone with our thoughts and we die alone. Some of us are more alone than others. Some are more fearful of being alone. Some are never alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">This, I think, is a pervasive thought, “I am alone”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">But…. is it really true? Are we really alone? Or is it a desperate “human” feeling, a longing for a human connection? Or is it possibly the tribal need for togetherness and unity?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I believe that it is a human feeling, a blurring of our true vision. The truth is that we (and everything) are all connected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">The feeling of aloneness (or loneliness) is merely us forgetting who we really are. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">I spend a lot of time alone. I travel the world alone, I camp alone. I love it but I haven't always been ok with being alone. I used feel lonely and felt I needed someone to travel with or camp with. I don't do everything alone, I camp with my family and grand kids and when they get older I'll take them with me on some of my travels. My wife used to travel with me all the time, she just got tired of spending days on end looking at ruins or staring at exhibits in museums all over the world. I have a "problem" in that I am endlessly fascinated by history and events and love to travel to all those places and stand where Alexander stood and my other heroes stood and visit the actual battle fields and new discoveries being made. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Travelling alone internationally is not everyone's cup of tea and I've definitely been to some places that most people would never go to, (e.g. Gobekli Tepe, the Hittite capital of Hattusa, Midas' tomb....)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">We can never be separate from anything. We are all made of the same stuff and connected in an endless field of connectivity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">There is no space between anything. We swim in a sea of particles. Those particles create all matter and connect all matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Particles make Atoms which make Molecules which make Matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">So next time you start feeling alone, try to remember that although we seem separate and it feels like we are separate.....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">We aren’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">You are not alone. You are part of everything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">If you can get that, you’ll be way ahead of the game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Most humans never really get that until right before they close their eyes…..and breathe their last breath...... and realize..... they're going home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.thefreedomcoach.com/">www.thefreedomcoach.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-75442965705053137022015-12-25T13:49:00.000-08:002018-07-19T20:59:25.304-07:00True Freedom: My Friend Willie Wrote The Book.<div class="MsoNormal">
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<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;">Steven
Griggs </span></b><span style="color: grey; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;">|</span><b><span style="color: grey; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;"> Free Spirit</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">True Freedom: My Friend Willie Wrote
The Book.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>“We don’t know what comes after death, we can hope and
believe that there will be something, but it doesn’t really matter. Whatever
our beliefs, it really has nothing to do with death or the afterlife, it is simply a way to help us make it through life” Steven Griggs<o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“The death of a friend sometimes seems to make them more present in
your life than they were when they were alive.” Steven Griggs<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
November 30<sup>th</sup>,Willie, my best friend from the age of 9 passed
on. He was ill for the last 4 years but basically incapacitated and on
hospice for the last 2 months. I spent a lot of time with him and I was with
him when he drew his last breath. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
had many other friends, although they came less and less, but I was his oldest
friend and besides we were blood brothers from the beginning. One for all,
all for one.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
were outliers. We could relate to any group in school but we didn't
really "belong" to any group. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
were, deep down, <b><i>wild</i></b>....... and we carried knives. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
didn't play Indian, we WERE Indians and we still are. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
had Indian names (he was Okta and I was Tanyo) and special words that we
could use to communicate with each other that no one else understood. We
camped out as much as possible. We had a Tipi (I still have one today that
can sleep 10 people).We were Boy Scouts (Eagle Scouts) and would do our
Indian dances for schools and hospitals.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
were definitely weird. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
went on to pursue my goal of becoming a millionaire by the age of 30. He went
on to become a Hell's Angel. And he really played the part!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
went to our 10 year class reunion on his extended fork chopper. I wore a suit
and drove, he wore his leathers. It seemed normal to us......</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Willie
lived a wild life but he was the most free and real person I have ever known.
He didn't do <b><i>anything</i></b> he didn't want to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And I mean</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <b><i>not a thing! <o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ever. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
had no fear and didn't give a hoot about laws, rules, or convention. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
never married although he had plenty of women. He was not the marrying kind,
if they got too close or wanted a commitment, he moved on. He lived the life
of a gold miner in the summers, camped on the banks of the Yuba River, among
others, and he was a bartender during the winters. In between he was a
biker doing bikerly things……</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">At
the end, his apartment looked like a museum. His walls were covered with
100's of knives and hatchets, hanging on nails or in frames. He had Indian
artifacts, ropes, bead work, cowboy hats (with the most perfect cowboy
creasing). It was mind boggling. I counted two hundred knives on one wall.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
had scrapbooks documenting his entire life. He had pictures of us in our Tipi
at the age of 10. Who took those pictures? I don't remember there ever being
a camera, who even had a camera at that age...... but there we were doing the
Eagle dance!</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Willie
was a throw- back. He looked like an old sour dough prospector at the age of
ten. And he never really changed, except that his hair was eventually down to
his waist and so was his beard! </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
had created a life he was comfortable in. He had no aspirations to be wealthy
although he did strike it big one summer when he and his partners collected
$350,000.00 in gold! That went fast and over the next 30 years he never made
more than enough to cover his costs for food and fuel. His overhead was always
low (key to living a no stress life).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
had three Harleys at one point but sold them to help his mother bail her
house out of foreclosure. He hadn't owned a car in many, many years.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is not easy to live that free and probably only 1 out of 10,000 people could
live his kind of life, maybe a lot less..... </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
never had a mortgage or a car (bike) loan. He didn't have credit cards. Never
owned a house or any property. He never had a wife or kids. No real bills,
just for utilities and food. He had no insurance plan or retirement. I don’t
know if he even filed tax returns. He did what he wanted and found enough
money to keep everything going.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
kept being himself.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Can
you imagine? Could you do it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
I look back at the chaos and stress I’ve gone through in my life in my quest
for wealth (I used to think money equaled freedom)…... The ups and downs of
my career, the financial challenges, the many homes and cars, toys and
“stuff” I’ve owned, the relationships
and marriages…… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Wow….!
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
has been an interesting ride.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today
I have a great wife and 5 kids and 4 grandchildren. I can't imagine not
having my kids and, now, the joy of my grandchildren. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
know my lessons caused some damage and probably aged me in a lot of ways but it
was those twists and turns along my path that brought me to who I am today
and helped me see the truth about money, freedom and the system we live in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">At
4:30 in the morning on December 2, I awoke with a sentence that kept
revolving in my mind. It was about Willie floating down a river. I knew I
could never remember it so I got up. I couldn’t find a pen so I went into
another room and wrote it on my phone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
didn’t think it up or imagine it, it just came out in a stream and I wrote it
down as fast as I could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">Here
it is:</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I lie, </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">still and quiet,</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">here but not, the
pain is now more outside than within</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">and I know death is
closer rather than further. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I float,</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">on a slow moving
river, gently but surely </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">and I ride. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My vision seems
shorter unless I swim to the surface and stare out.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I remember the
faces but only in a swirl of memories, </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Here, then not,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">f</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ading, </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">into the swirl of
thoughts that mingles with feelings. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I feel the pull of
the river, </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">deep and
persistent. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Each time I hear a
voice, it's further and further from my shore</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">until the call from
inside is the only thing I hear <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">and I float.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ever deeper, </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">until I am no
longer separate from myself </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">and the sun warms
me</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">and everything that
was or is becomes a gentle blanket that shrouds me. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And I drift no
more.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">William
H. Danielson, December 7, 1949 – November 30, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">www.stevengriggs.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-87414874971495260022014-07-14T22:56:00.000-07:002014-07-14T22:56:05.910-07:00Reaching Your Potential?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: grey; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 28pt;">Steven Griggs | Free Spirit</span></span><span style="color: grey; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 5pt;">TM</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><br /></span></u></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Reaching
Your Potential?</span></b><b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 128;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“</span></i></b><b><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their
faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder.” <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jim Morrison<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“There comes a moment in every life when the Universe
presents you with an opportunity to rise to your potential, an open door that
only requires the heart to walk through, seize it and hang on.</span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <span style="background: white;">The choice is never simple. It’s never easy. It’s not
supposed to be. But those who travel this path have always looked back and
realized</span> <span style="background: white;">that the test was always about
the heart. ...The rest is just practice.” </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jaime Buckley</span></i></b><b><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
always cringe when I hear people talking about someone not reaching their full
potential or commenting in a serious and knowing way about how it was "just so sad
and such a waste, because so and so had so much potential…" . <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
sometimes hear these words from friends and family who are trying to motivate
or inspire us to do better, to overcome whatever it is that’s holding us back-
“you have so much potential….”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Notice
that comments about potential never come from within us. We do not go around
talking to ourselves about reaching our full potential. I suppose some people
do but my point is that thinking about our potential or judging ourselves about
how we are using our potential always originates from someone else’s opinion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Plus,
it is so egotistical to talk about someone else’s potential. Who made them the expert
on potential? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">These
are really very powerful and negatively charged words and I do not believe these
comments really do anything to inspire us to seek our potential. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Instead
I think they undermine us and reinforce that we <i>aren't </i> reaching our potential, that we are failing in some way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
all possess amazing powers to create and build. Everyone one of us contains
massive potential.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
key to it all is passion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Without
passion our powers lie quietly hidden, waiting for the moment when they are sparked
alive and burst forth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Let
me ask you a question: Are you reaching your potential? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
a loaded question because I believe no matter who you ask they will answer that
they aren't. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
one, who wants to say “Yes! I have
reached my full potential, this is it, I’m at my peak!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Unless
it is really true. But this can be a hard one to understand because most of us
will judge and probably say to ourselves- “Really? That’s your full potential?” But who knows anything about someone else’s potential? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
can never know and you can never say. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s just so wrong and arrogant to judge someone else or even comment on what you think
their potential is or about any aspect of their life for that matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They
could be massively happy and contented doing whatever it is they are doing. And
I would be willing to bet that they are not even thinking about potential. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
no one has the right to impose their beliefs on anyone else or project on to someone
their interpretation of that person’s potential.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
far as the question, I think although most people will say that they haven’t reached
their potential, they may not know what their potential is or even what that could look like but they will have a feeling that they have more to give, more to do in
this life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
how does one reach their potential? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First
of all forget the phrase “Reach your potential”. It undermines you immediately. You know you aren't there yet and that creates a negative reinforcement. It sets you up for self-recrimination and guilt because instinctively you <i>know</i> you could be and do more but for whatever reason you aren't there yet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Again, by saying these words to yourself and then reacting you are buying into someone else’s opinion, maybe your
parents, teacher, spouse, friend, whomever. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Don't.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Plus,
can you really ever <i>reach</i> your
potential? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">No, I don't believe you can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First
of all it’s limitless. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Second,
it doesn't kick in until you find your purpose or your passion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Third,
once it kicks in you can never reach "it". Because it never ends, it is an expanding power. It grows as you do, as your passion and engagement increases so does your potential and vice versa. Each feeds the other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Your
potential always exceeds your current ability. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That’s
just how it works. You reach and stretch, then reach and stretch again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
someone says something is impossible or unrealistic or out of reach, remember that
these are just opinions, not necessarily facts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
if you aren't engaged in something you are passionate about or care deeply
about right now, you probably aren't there yet, y</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">ou
haven’t found your passion but you will.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
answer is in you. Maybe it’s not visible yet but deep inside you know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe
you have some things that you are interested in doing or something that tickles
your imagination and is calling out to you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Maybe
you have some ideas or plans that you had long ago that somehow got put on the
back burner for 20 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Look
closely at your daydreams.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Pay
attention to the things that get you excited, the things that make you talk
faster and louder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
whatever it is, follow it, seek it out. Find it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stop
worrying about time passing by and getting down on yourself because you haven’t
done anything really remarkable yet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
not too late. It’s never too late. Remember: time is an opinion (illusion), it’s not a
fact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Where
you are now is only relevant to you, to your path. Age means nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
don’t seek your potential, don’t get things backward, find your
passion or your purpose first. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because
once you find your passion, your potential kicks in and takes over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Then
you will have the joy of spending the rest of your days trying to reach your
potential.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/" target="_blank">www.stevengriggs.com</a></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-45818506453069704122014-02-28T10:55:00.001-08:002014-02-28T10:55:51.886-08:00Worrier or Warrior?<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Worrier
or Warrior?</span></b><b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 128;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written
by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Never
bear more than one kind of trouble at a time. Some people bear three- all they
have had, all they have now, and all they expect to have.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">E.E. Hale<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“If you
want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year
ago today.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">E. Joseph
Cossman<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxZIDfUu-Z4LPbxEo9AJIIU7BpkDRmXbDyiW_DA17Xbpo6AHdI64O9gZBQh7sd6n6vlir1GMAgJsumKFPp0wdQu8UWQ0VjrNc_rzAibw80WDYc2ua01WYy5j-ELXii4RYPjqBuWd4kpFRU/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Worrier-or-Warrior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxZIDfUu-Z4LPbxEo9AJIIU7BpkDRmXbDyiW_DA17Xbpo6AHdI64O9gZBQh7sd6n6vlir1GMAgJsumKFPp0wdQu8UWQ0VjrNc_rzAibw80WDYc2ua01WYy5j-ELXii4RYPjqBuWd4kpFRU/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Worrier-or-Warrior.jpg" height="286" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Worry.
It’s a sneaky thing. Worrying is just a symptom of <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/02/action-is-killer-of-fear.html" target="_blank">fear</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is actually a very comfortable place for your ego personality to hide out. It
becomes consumed and distracted running through all the
negative possibilities that it can imagine might happen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“What
if the car breaks down?” “What if I lose my job?” “What if I can’t pay the
bills?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is endless. Once you have developed the habit of slipping into worry, it can become
a part of your daily script.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
can become overwhelming and pervasive. I recently heard someone say they were
worried about going out shopping because they might get hit by a car…….. ! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
can see how far this can go, it can get crazy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sometimes
having a bit of worry is OK, it could be just a fleeting thought of concern
that acts like a warning signal. It’s telling you to remember something that
could come up later or reminding you to take some other proactive action. This is not really worrying. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
worrying I’m talking about is all consuming. It becomes a filter that you see
the world through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
general worrying is self-indulgent and really very polluting and toxic, first to
anyone you are ‘worried” about and then especially to yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">By
worrying about someone, you place a huge burden on that person. You are taking
any fears or doubt they may already have and bringing their focus onto it and then
they really start to worry and it expands…..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Not
to mention how much you are trashing your own energy by focusing on negativity.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And by<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">
worrying and thinking about negative possibilities you are actually attracting
the negative results you are worried about! You are sending out the vibration
of what you don’t want instead of what you do want as an outcome. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And that’s what you’ll
get- the exact thing you were worried about!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s a self-fulfilling
prophecy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
is a concept called “Pareto’s Principle” or the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">80/20
rule</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">. It says that 80% of the things you worry about won’t happen and
the 20% that do happen won’t be as bad as you thought it would be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
try to remember that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But how
do you shift from living in fear or worry?
You need to move up a level or two on the emotional scale. It’s
difficult to shift in one fell swoop into very high energy level, it is much easier
to move up incrementally. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Try
this. The next time you feel yourself worrying, sit down and draw a line down
the middle of a piece of paper. (This is a variation of an exercise called “Clarity
through Contrast”).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
the left side, write down what you are worried about (what you DON’T want). You can list several things or just the
dominant worry you are having today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
the right side, write down what you would prefer to happen (what you DO want).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Now
go down the list of items, which thought feels best? What you DON’T want or
what you DO want?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
looking at what you DO want, try to see how it would look and how it will feel
when it happens. It feels better, right? I’ll bet much better. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Can
you feel the shift? <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">By focusing your attention on the desired outcome and<i> feeling it,</i> you can shift towards new possibilities instead of being mired in limitation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So the next
time you feel yourself slipping back into worry, try to remember what you DO
want. Or since it is difficult to stop some thoughts, (you can try saying “cancel!”,
it works for me) tell yourself I’ll think about that later, then when you can,
take another look at your list. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Don’t
let your mind be sabotaged by fear. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Be
a warrior not a worrier. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/" target="_blank">www.stevengriggs.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-59150436154294747592014-02-20T00:00:00.000-08:002014-02-20T00:00:11.886-08:00What Are You Expecting?<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 26.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No Limits | The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">®</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;">What Are You Expecting?</span></b><b><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text2;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Keep high aspirations, moderate
expectations, and small needs” William Howard Stein</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“When one’s expectations are reduced to
zero, one really appreciates everything one does have” Stephen Hawking</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“I got no
expectations, to pass through here again”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rolling Stones<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4VUG1480LcgN0r9KmBMx-xZS7h0lHlgTAEnyUPnRat1gnaIX4yYN-g2xKF1rc5zP2O8CGgtfqj-f3GbAgOmvGXUTM_TVD9T4sSFQSmVpz0i5_btr7kamaCtSRWgm20fbLff87l6XeBP6/s1600/Steven-Griggs-What-Are-You-Expecting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4VUG1480LcgN0r9KmBMx-xZS7h0lHlgTAEnyUPnRat1gnaIX4yYN-g2xKF1rc5zP2O8CGgtfqj-f3GbAgOmvGXUTM_TVD9T4sSFQSmVpz0i5_btr7kamaCtSRWgm20fbLff87l6XeBP6/s1600/Steven-Griggs-What-Are-You-Expecting.jpg" height="206" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Expectations are desired outcomes. We
desire something and when it doesn't happen we are disappointed. We experience
contradiction. This is because we view
the world out there as something we can control but the truth is we can’t; we can only
control our responses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yes, we can influence <i>some</i> things and maybe manipulate <i>other</i> things but that can lead to trouble
because you develop the feeling that you can control <i>most</i> things. But it’s the things that happen that we can’t control
that cause us to be emotionally upset or angry.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the physical sense we have a bit of
chemistry to overcome. Our brain releases dopamine when it is pleased. So when
its expectations are met and our brain is pleased a small amount of Dopamine is
released into our system. This gives us a quick feeling of pleasure and well-being.
Larger amounts of Dopamine are released if you exceed your expectations.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">This “reward” for meeting our
expectations can result from the smallest form of having your expectations met.
For example, being on a deadline and looking up and seeing you have 30 minutes
more than you thought you had or having the light turn green just as your reach
the intersection. Both of these events cause Dopamine to be released.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Conversely, when you have an
expectation that is not met, you not only don’t have the flush of Dopamine, you
actually have a more negative feelings come up. This can even dip you below
where you would be normally. In some instances you might even have a momentary
feeling of fear.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Having expectations is the real source
of all unhappiness.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is because you are constantly
living with contradictions of the ego. Your desired outcomes don’t match with
what is actually happening.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">You looked forward to a clear warm day
and it rains. You have an appointment and your car won’t start. You were hoping
to get the new job and you didn't.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It never ends.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">So what do you do? You have to learn to
become <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/11/detachment.html" target="_blank">detached</a></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">You have to learn to accept <b><i>what
is </i></b>not what you would wish it to be.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">For example when your expectation is a
sunny day but you get wind and rain, look at the weather and accept that this
planet has a lot of weather and without it the entire planet would be a desert.
So you accept the weather and put on a raincoat or pick up an umbrella. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Simple.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">No need for an emotional reaction or
frustration or even anger. It’s just weather.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">So try stepping back from the emotional
engagement of contradicted expectations.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Accept “what is” and roll with it. Expect everything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/" target="_blank">www.stevengriggs.com</a></span></u></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-48456875605163071472014-02-14T00:00:00.000-08:002014-02-14T00:00:02.512-08:00Don't Look Back (Or Forward)<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Don’t Look Back (Or Forward)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with
the future. I live now” <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ralph Waldo Emerson<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Don’t let the past steal your present” </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Terri Guillemets</span></i></b></div>
</div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNH8gx3FYSdRRju_pmg_QXr2P9mP7QlAIFw3GRJ3lftN6fKyj6AMMgdS2gyRdQEZXQUuKxwHzGidNz5ogMYnpUJta0vpPik1bZH0Bc8SGyEmcculTXQTi5aiWk9c5U6H09swYxzu-Hk6-m/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Dont-Look-Back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNH8gx3FYSdRRju_pmg_QXr2P9mP7QlAIFw3GRJ3lftN6fKyj6AMMgdS2gyRdQEZXQUuKxwHzGidNz5ogMYnpUJta0vpPik1bZH0Bc8SGyEmcculTXQTi5aiWk9c5U6H09swYxzu-Hk6-m/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Dont-Look-Back.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">How many
times a day do you reminisce or review the past?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And how
many times a day do you find yourself dreaming of the future?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are
all doing it constantly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you
really think about it our days are made up of a constant stream of reviewing
the past and looking into the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">You aren't really doing anything in the present because it doesn't really exist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The truth
is that the <b>present is the meeting point
of the past and the future</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is the
split second between when we are moving from what is going to happen next (the
future) to what has already happened (the past). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It feels
like the present because you can see yourself doing whatever you are doing
right now and it looks like the present because you can say “I am right here in
the present” but it isn't and you aren't because your present, which was the
future, has just become the past. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Instantly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">So the
present doesn't really exist. It’s not really somewhere that you can “be in.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just as
you are saying the word “present” you have already gone from the future to the
past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">So there
is no middle ground, no place where the present exists. It’s a constantly moving
moment that exists as an infinitesimal gap between the future and the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
closest thing to the present is the immediate future and the most recent past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But we
constantly hear people talking about being present or staying in the present moment.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But how
can you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">How can
we exist in a present that doesn't really exist? What are we to do?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The key to
expanding your moments of “present” is to reduce the amount of time you spend thinking
about the past or the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">You will
still be going from the future to the past but you can refocus your viewpoint. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">You can
reduce your mind’s need to time travel and keep it close, keep it right here,
right now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">As best
you can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Try to focus
on the things going on around you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Feel your
body, feel your breath going in and out. Feel your body resting on the chair
you are sitting in, feel your feet on the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">See the
clouds rolling by, the birds in the air, the wind in the trees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Smell the
smells, taste the tastes, feel the sun on your face, really “be” with the
person you are talking to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Step away
from your mind’s endless churning, from its constant searching and reviewing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Reduce your
visits to the past and future, I say <i>reduce
</i>because you can’t eliminate your memories or stop dreaming of future
possibilities because it’s a basic part of our human mind, but you can pull
back from your need to dwell in the past or the future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Make a renewed effort to stay <b><i>right
where you</i> <i>are</i></b> every day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Every time you start drifting off into past
recollections or looking forward too far, pull yourself back. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Get back to <i>now</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not the present but <i>now. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Focus on what is happening “now” even if “now”
is moving instantly from future to past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s the closest we can get to the present.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/" target="_blank">www.stevengriggs.com</a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-89635040233267485842014-02-06T00:00:00.000-08:002014-02-06T00:00:06.509-08:00The Power of No<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">The Power of No<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i><o:p> </o:p> </i></b></span><b style="line-height: 15pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Have
the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing
because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with
integrity.” W.
Clement Stone</span></span></i></b><br />
<b style="line-height: 15pt;"><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>"Life is all about balance, too much and too little can kill. The best way to balance life is by setting your boundaries and learning to say Enough" Anonymous</b></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why do we
almost always say yes, when we really want to say no?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">What
is it that makes it so hard for some of us to say no?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7Ie-CtHabMeC5tGV5VfzRRvMUDUa4T5kOGXTXHR-ooEUOpcc9zPFWoZ3rqA87mSSSvO326M7v8lXGvUpaAOxje5ENqBxMqdxu6PwfRqHGSQt8Htx9urCxAQT5Z2Sdh97vewTtvWk1Ry3/s1600/Steven-Griggs-The-Power-of-No.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7Ie-CtHabMeC5tGV5VfzRRvMUDUa4T5kOGXTXHR-ooEUOpcc9zPFWoZ3rqA87mSSSvO326M7v8lXGvUpaAOxje5ENqBxMqdxu6PwfRqHGSQt8Htx9urCxAQT5Z2Sdh97vewTtvWk1Ry3/s1600/Steven-Griggs-The-Power-of-No.jpg" height="323" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
think we have a built in instinct to say yes. It is probably an ancient human
trait to look out for our family and our tribe. In ancient times the tribe
was all important. It took a group to survive and prosper, so teamwork was
essential.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
would have a problem or possibly be ostracized if you said no or refused to help
someone in your village. It would be unthinkable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
today is a different world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Most
of us are already overwhelmed and operating at a slightly chaotic level. We have
enough to do without taking on some else’s problems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
it is hard to say no. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
many conversations, especially with family, there are so many unspoken issues
and feelings swirling around that any request for a favor is never straight
forward, it always gets colored with feelings of obligation or guilt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
some of us are pleasers and it is very hard to say no when you are a pleaser.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some
of us thrive on a higher level of chaos. Saying yes to other’s requests
provides oodles of opportunity to be overwhelmed. It feeds right in to our
martyr complex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
have been guilty of being a pleaser for a large chunk of my life. I was
always thinking of the other person, always putting someone else’s needs
before mine. I <i>never</i> thought of putting
myself first. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
was the poster boy for the Pleaser Hall of Fame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
you can’t allow yourself to be pulled in to serving other people’s needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First
of all, if someone is asking you for something or asking for a favor, why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Why
is it really necessary to ask anyone to do something for you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
don’t. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
can’t think of the last time I asked anyone to do anything for me. Maybe I
have and just don’t remember it right now but I really can’t think of any
time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
again, why is someone asking you to do something for them? What is really
going on?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Is
it an emergency? Is there a dangerous situation that they need help with? If
so, OK.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Is
it helping with a family situation or maybe babysitting a family member’s
kids for a few hours? That’s OK.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
I am really talking about is the kind of person who is probably a little
oblivious and self-centered and has no problem asking for favors. They are
the opposite of being a pleaser, they are probably a taker. But then again maybe
they are overwhelmed and stressed out because they have too much to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They
probably have a hard time saying no too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Most
of us have full plates with our careers, our families, and all the complexities
of today's connected lifestyle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
can be too much. We humans aren't born with the bandwidth to handle all of this
stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
the real truth is that when you say “No” you are really saying “Yes”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
are saying “Yes” to yourself, Yes to protecting and nurturing yourself. Yes
to living a simpler, quieter and less stressed life. You are also affirming
that you are in alignment with who you are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yes,
you can help others, and yes, you can do favors for other people but only if
it is truly something you feel OK with and don’t resent doing. If you feel
for an instant any type of resistance within yourself, stop, withdraw the
offer and don’t do the favor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
have to take control.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If you say yes and don't mean it you are just setting yourself up for problems by creating resentment and anger. This will be smoldering and stewing within you and will affect your health, not to mention your relationships. That is not good.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Just
say, “I’d really like to help but I can’t right now”. Or “ No thanks today’s
not a good day for me” and move on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Don’t
explain or give a reason about why you’re saying no. If they persist and try
to talk you into it then you’ll know for sure you made the right choice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
don’t argue or <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/12/never-complain-never-explain.html" target="_blank">explain</a> or offer to do it later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Just
say nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Create
a huge pregnant pause and wait. Let them fumble around and try to regroup. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
will be interesting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m
not saying to be mean or hurtful, just be firm and loving when you say “no
thanks”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
will be difficult at first and you may feel guilty but watch the other person’s
reaction. If they react negatively you just got a good insight into their real agenda. And you probably aren't at the top of their list.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
if they are understanding and considerate then maybe you’ll offer to do them
a favor at a later time when it’s more convenient for you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
either way remember: say “No” with love but start saying it today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">www.stevengriggs.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-21218961385695250612014-01-30T09:51:00.001-08:002014-01-30T09:51:43.221-08:00Every Day Is A New Day<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Every
Day Is A New Start</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Your present
circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you
start”<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nido Qubein<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.0pt; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to
make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” T.S. Elliot<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPhUrjsT8J2V-d-Kt1U0KB-tzs_SY8T_8Zrk7KfQ5F8WjnPOdocbVwxSfZIi9W34QIh_Ut2RptV_C3hgRP3JUKrdyyMi6U662ybxhIGLhFJdeqT0Stx1XqniUiEbXQ5bLH3V__SOoBD1fy/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Every-Day-A-New-Day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPhUrjsT8J2V-d-Kt1U0KB-tzs_SY8T_8Zrk7KfQ5F8WjnPOdocbVwxSfZIi9W34QIh_Ut2RptV_C3hgRP3JUKrdyyMi6U662ybxhIGLhFJdeqT0Stx1XqniUiEbXQ5bLH3V__SOoBD1fy/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Every-Day-A-New-Day.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
funny how we have come to see New Year’s Day as the best date to start a new
plan or make a new commitment.<span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
the sad fact is that before the end of the New Year 88% of the <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/12/no-resolutions.html" target="_blank">resolutions</a></span><span style="color: #7030a0;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">we
have made have been forgotten. Well, probably not forgotten but put on the
shelf to be done <i>later </i>when the time
is <i>right</i>….</span><span style="color: #7030a0;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
vast majority of resolutions are simply not kept. It’s gotten to the point that
even though we all know that no one really keeps a New Year’s resolution we
like to go through the charade of believing it anyway. </span><span style="color: #7030a0;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
like we’re all in on a great conspiracy of pretending. If you believe in my fantasy,
I’ll believe in yours, that way we enable each other to “believe” in our own
fantasies….. . It's almost as if by making the resolution and telling other people about it you've already accomplished it! The bigger the goal the better because you get a bit of pre-glory just by resolving to complete it. It's weird. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<sup><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></sup><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
see it as a symptom of our society’s loose approach to <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/11/integrity.html" target="_blank">integrity</a></span>.
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We don’t really have
to keep our promises because we can just change or modify our commitment to
match our change of heart. It seems we can always find a good reason or excuse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Still
our lives are filled with beginnings and <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/04/ending-cycles.html" target="_blank">endings</a>.</span> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Everything
has a rhythm, a beginning and an end, although not all endings are necessarily final,
many <i>“endings” </i>are really just a sign
that you have reached a certain point and now things need to change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Knowing
and accepting this can be a great help. It helps you let go and understand that
there is a flow to life and that embracing this flow is one of the keys to
understanding this journey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yes,
we feel pain when we lose loved ones, when friendships change, when our lives
seem to take a left turn and things fall apart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
can be hard because change is very, very difficult. Our ego personality likes
things just the way they are, sometimes even if those <i>things</i> aren't so pleasant, because it craves continuity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
everything has its season, listen to the Byrd’s classic song “Turn, Turn, Turn”
sometime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
way I see it is that every day is a new day, a new start. But no matter what
program or new praxis you have committed to, you have to do it every day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
not like you start on day 1 and poof! you are finished on day 20. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
have to do it one day at a time. Every day has to be lived day by day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
don’t look back and don’t look forward too much. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stay
right in today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">No
matter where you start, no matter what
you have committed to, do it each day and if you get off track tell yourself
you’ll start again tomorrow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Create
a <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/12/discipline.html" target="_blank">discipline</a> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">and
try to stick to it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
course we all get off track and screw up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
so what?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Forget
about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Don’t
beat yourself up. Remind yourself that this is a journey and that goals are not
end all’s or even destinations really. They are just things we focus on for a
time that take us down the road.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
get back on track, forget about yesterday and move forward one day at a time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
this day to day process of learning, doing right, and striving to be the best
you can be that is important. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
is the real goal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
takes time, probably more than a lifetime.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
that’s why we’re here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/" target="_blank">www.stevengriggs.com</a></span></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-33179667562156056962014-01-23T00:00:00.000-08:002014-01-23T16:53:21.110-08:00A Few Definitions<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #17365d; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">A Few Definitions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> “It does
not require many words to speak the truth”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Chief
Joseph<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> “Words,
like glass, obscure when they do not aid vision”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Joseph
Joubert</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Many
of my articles contain words that I have created to help convey a concept or
process, or to condense an idea into a single word. While other times I may use
other writer’s words, such as Stuart Wilde’s, to help describe some concepts
and situations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The
other day my wife was reading one of my articles and she asked me if I thought
my readers understood what these words meant. I responded that I was sure they
did but after I thought about it for a minute I realized that maybe she was
right and maybe not everyone “gets” these words. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">So
I decided that I should devote an article to clarifying and explaining some of
these words and concepts.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54EoWPWBCtfwfGSyEtb5VEgacKTdwQ3h3CmAOaPws_HAYpkJwo1VeYsDLOAIpDCmM2GsvFSi6hoki3iPwT0vADLhQtpPnLVkNpwWlOpuCF7jkyNaAIs8pWGBNoHfN5IAwAIiXuVAiyRMY/s1600/Steven-Griggs-A-Few-Definitions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg54EoWPWBCtfwfGSyEtb5VEgacKTdwQ3h3CmAOaPws_HAYpkJwo1VeYsDLOAIpDCmM2GsvFSi6hoki3iPwT0vADLhQtpPnLVkNpwWlOpuCF7jkyNaAIs8pWGBNoHfN5IAwAIiXuVAiyRMY/s1600/Steven-Griggs-A-Few-Definitions.jpg" height="270" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><u>Here
we go</u>:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Comfort Level or Comfort
Band</i></li>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Victitlement</i></li>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tick Tock</i></li>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fringe Dwellers</i></li>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fintiloc</i></li>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Your Exterior vs Your
Interior</i></li>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nummified</i></li>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Long Learner</i></li>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Your CTF, (your Claim To
Fame)</i></li>
<li><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Under Programing</i></li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Your Comfort Level or
Comfort Band</span></b> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
refers to a range of limitations that we place on ourselves by taking on
limiting beliefs. We have certain beliefs about every aspect of our lives. We
have an upper limit that we create as a limit of what we feel we can accomplish
“comfortably” and we have a lower limit below which we will not allow ourselves
to go.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It
varies with each of us but we all have our range of comfort, our own </span><a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/01/do-you-know-your-limiting-beliefs.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">comfort band</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
you look closely at your life you can see your own limits. The upper limit sets
the range for your band.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It
is usually related to our upbringing and social identification but not
necessarily.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Victitlement</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/10/victitlement.html" target="_blank">Victitlement</a></span> <span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">is an
attitude or mindset that someone takes on that has them believe they deserve
certain things or that they are actually <i>entitled</i>
to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
type of thinking contains an element of victim hood because when the
entitlements stop</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">they have someone to blame, that is anyone but themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
truth is no one is entitled to anything, not freedom, not security, not
anything. And each entitlement you do accept always comes with a price. To be
secure in an unsecure world you need to let go. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Stop trying to control outcomes
and learn to accept what is. Of course you can work to change your
circumstances and create better outcomes but depending upon the government or
anyone else to take care of you will not end well. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Tick Tock</span></b> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tick
tock is </span><a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/05/stuart-wilde.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Stuart Wilde</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">'s</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> term for the daily 9-5 grind. The “Go to work, Come
home, Eat, Go to bed, Then do it again” routine. We become lost in the comfort
of our </span><a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/01/nolimits-freedom-blog-comfort-of.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">routines</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Fringe Dwellers<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Stuart’s term for those of us who have
escaped the tick tock world and have chosen to <span style="background-color: white;">march to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="idir">the beat of</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>our own drummer. This doesn't require
disavowing society it simply means you are in it but not of it. You do your own
thing, if you can do it by being self-employed, good. If you are locked into trading
your time for money, you adapt and plan for how you will escape. You live your
life by your rules. You are not caught up in the tribal mindset, the tribal
emotion. You have stepped back from all that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Fintiloc</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #7030a0;"><a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2011/07/fintiloc-financial-freedom-time-freedom.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">Fintiloc</a> </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">is an abbreviation for <u>Fin</u>ancial
Freedom, <u>Ti</u>me Freedom and <u>Loc</u>ation Freedom. The idea is to
create a lifestyle that allows you to live a free life. You create a business
or income stream that you can manage from anywhere with a minimum of time. This
funds your lifestyle and allows you to travel and live wherever you want</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“We keep working towards retirement so we can
live the life we wished for.... later. Meanwhile the years fly by and soon the
children go off to college or start their own lives and you wonder where the
time went.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Now you want to make
up for lost time but your energy seems to have gone, your interest has
lessened…… you've waited too long to live your dreams…..” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Your Exterior vs Your
Interior</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
my article <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/02/your-exterior-vs-your-interior.html" target="_blank">your exterior vs your interior</a><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I describe your ext</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">erior as the current life you are living, your
current circumstances. We tend to think our exterior life is the real life and
our thoughts and dreams, our interior life, is just that, daydreams.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The truth is we create our exterior life by what we visualize
in our interior life. The current life you’re leading is the one you have
created or allowed. You may disagree and
argue that your current circumstances are not what you dreamed of, that you
imagined a very different life. </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But what is really happening is that your imagined life was sabotaged
by your underlying beliefs, the beliefs that lie underneath your conscious mind.
Your true interior life vision is exactly reflected in your current
circumstances, what you <i>really</i>
believed was possible for yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Nummified</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Being </span><a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/07/are-you-nummified.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">nummified</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> describes a person who is humming
along through life, safe and secure in a predictable and rigid mind set. They are safe
and secure in their place in the world, validated by all their social amenities and tribal
status. They have a belief system that keeps them within a rigid construct that
allows for very little variation. They are defined by their home, their car, and
their ‘things”. They like things the same, they prefer itineraries and
schedules. They usually travel in groups.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Long Learner</span></b> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This
word describes me. I am a <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2011/10/slow-learning-vs-long-learning.html" target="_blank">long learner</a>. I sometimes need to get smacked upside the head a few times
before I really “<i>get</i>” something. It’s
not that I’m a <i>slow</i> learner, I just
take longer to really understand certain things and then when I do “<i>get it”</i> I move on. I’m sure I’m not the
only one out there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Your CTF, (your Claim To
Fame)</span></b> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Every
person has a claim to fame. You usually hear a person’s <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2011/12/no-limits-freedom-coach-what-is-your.html" target="_blank">claim to fame</a> within
the first 10 minutes of meeting them. They tend to slip in their CTF's during any conversation. Sometimes it's astonishing to watch and see a long list of CTF's spewed forth. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">This is because people have a need to let you know where they fit in within the tribal hierarchy and in the process usually try to elevate or “improve” their status by showing some connection to someone
special or famous or some other connection to specialness. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Many times it is a list of money statements, wherein they let you know how much they make or spend, where they live and what they drive and other things they own. At the same time that person will need </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">understand who and what you are and how you “fit in” to the world, that is into “their” world.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"> But sometimes they are too involved in their story to hear yours.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Under Programing</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Our <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/01/do-you-know-your-limiting-beliefs.html" target="_blank">under programing</a> is the belief system that we have taken on throughout our lives. These are beliefs that are primarily created during our childhood
through events that became imprinted in our "child" mind. As we go through life we firm up these beliefs based on our experiences and other events that reinforce
the beliefs. Over time these beliefs become embedded and act as a filter for the
way in which we live our lives. There are ways to modify or eliminate these <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/09/limiting-beliefs.html" target="_blank">limiting beliefs</a>.</span> </div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I hope this helps.</span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">www.stevengriggs.com</span></a></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-34323910870725406902014-01-09T00:00:00.000-08:002014-01-09T00:00:01.858-08:00Dealing with Contradiction<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Dealing
with Contradiction</span></b><b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 128;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span> </div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“In formal
logic, a contradiction is the signal of defeat, but in the evolution of real
knowledge it marks the first step in progress toward a victory”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Alfred
North Whitehead<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Contradictions
do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your
premises. You will find one of them is wrong”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Ayn Rand<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVA3Sgdqrbi2nget0of12kzR0IHBc6wkaDasrJSkHulL9y_ctGp6z5odCYpEl6L92AL4BTRHfOt-s_ZvTC0lsdU5hJ5IQ2FgKXN1YvsuDT3Ji0cBPVxjE78HjwRxfouDsHwfsth1FgcWyT/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Dealing-with-Contradiction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVA3Sgdqrbi2nget0of12kzR0IHBc6wkaDasrJSkHulL9y_ctGp6z5odCYpEl6L92AL4BTRHfOt-s_ZvTC0lsdU5hJ5IQ2FgKXN1YvsuDT3Ji0cBPVxjE78HjwRxfouDsHwfsth1FgcWyT/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Dealing-with-Contradiction.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></span></i></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">We
all have moments of doubt and despair.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">From
time to time we may find ourselves falling into a deep funk. You know, those
times when you lose sight of the good in your life and melt into a heap of
self-pity and sadness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
am not talking about clinical depression. That type of depression is much more
serious than the feelings I am talking about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
I am talking about a temporary side trip into a negative mindset.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
causes this?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Contradiction.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is always caused by a contradiction of what we were expecting and what we
received.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
were expecting this and you got that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
wanted “x” and you got “y”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
may say, but I’m sad because I am splitting up with my wife or husband or I lost
my job and now I don’t know what to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
may say these are not contradictions, they are negative events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Experiencing
a negative event is not actually what is happening because there really are no
positive or negative events. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
is only the <i>opinion</i> of the event as
interpreted by our ego personality. Our ego mind does not like any type of <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/08/no-limits-freedom-blog-accepting-change.html" target="_blank">change</a>,
so anything that brings change or even threatens to bring change is seen as a
negative event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
wants status-quo at all times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How
can we sort out the feelings that our ego mind lays on us?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
you are feeling despondent, depressed or funky look at what could be causing
the feeling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Look
</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">underneath</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> the feeling.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
has happened that could be the contradiction? What is a recent event that you could
be interpreting as “negative”?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
you can get to the source of the feeling, the next step is to think it through.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
really happened? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For
example, if you lost your job did it really come out of the blue? Is it really
a total surprise? And if you say yes, is there something you may have missed?
Maybe you knew changes were coming but you chose to ignore them. Or maybe you
were just cruising along on auto pilot, comfortable and confident because “these
things happen to <i>other </i>people…”? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Either
way you will have all kinds of reactions- shock, surprise, anger, indignation…,
fear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
what has really happened? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nothing.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You weren't instantly transported to a life living like a troll under a bridge
somewhere. You are still right where you were. The only thing that has changed
is you won’t get up in the morning and go to your old job.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
may seem daunting and scary for many people. But if they could let you go so
easily doesn't that tell you something? If it wasn't now it would be later. What kind of security is that? They had your
loyalty but obviously you didn't have theirs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
forget that job. You now have time to find a better job or better yet, forget working for
unappreciative people and start your own business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My
point is that the underlying thing that’s happening here is fear, fear of change.
Yes, change can be scary but remember the universe is all about change.
Sometimes we have to be kicked in the rear to wake up, to understand that it’s
time to make a left turn, it’s time for a new career.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
no matter what the event is, it involves some form of contradiction. Yes, many
times the event is painful and one that may require major adjustments and it
will take time to recover. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
yes it’s hard to remember to look for opportunity when you are in pain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
the pain will pass and soon you will be more open to seeing the new
possibilities. Eventually you will look back on the experience from a more
solid place and realize that all is well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
whenever you feel sad, hurt or funky, review recent events and try to see what has
happened, what is the contradiction?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Once
you identify the event, analyze it, accept it and change your opinion of it. It
is neither good nor bad. It just means it’s time to turn left, it’s time to
change. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Look
for the opportunity revealed within the changes. Look <i>through</i> the event and try to see what’s possible on the other side,
what door is being opened?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stay
centered. Don’t collapse into self-pity. Take walks outside, meditate, talk to
a close friend or counselor but also <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/02/action-is-killer-of-fear.html" target="_blank">get moving</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Try
to see the opportunity revealed within the changes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
step forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/" target="_blank">www.stevengriggs.com</a><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-30858791601156739002013-12-31T14:40:00.000-08:002014-01-02T13:36:30.606-08:00Are You Thankful?<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Are
You Thankful?</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“When you
rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your
strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason
to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tecumseh<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“If the
only prayer you ever say in your life is “thank you”, it will be enough.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Meister
Eckhart<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8WsZlKCdYBJbcEMXi_F-AOhprO0hHOxx33WxgJ0vrWAPfMMlnq2nWVNYgC9dqe2Q3VeGYbe-aSb-nnf5jYbKDJIMG6-AwVEbymOsbtz887nRtHpKaijUkCuJCXCaK03ho59Qn8_XnVaL/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Are-You-Thankful.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8WsZlKCdYBJbcEMXi_F-AOhprO0hHOxx33WxgJ0vrWAPfMMlnq2nWVNYgC9dqe2Q3VeGYbe-aSb-nnf5jYbKDJIMG6-AwVEbymOsbtz887nRtHpKaijUkCuJCXCaK03ho59Qn8_XnVaL/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Are-You-Thankful.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sometimes
it's so easy to forget how fortunate we are. We live in such abundance and
richness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
America we live in a culture where most of us have everything we need. Food is
abundant, housing is available, medical resources are available, even if
through emergency room visits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
there is a contradiction here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because
of this abundance approximately 154.7 million Americans are overweight or obese.
This is 49% of our total population.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Another
contradiction is that in spite of such abundance there are still nearly 1.5
million people in America who live on less than $2.00 a day, there are also 1.35
million people who are homeless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Almost
half the world- over 3 billion people- live on less than $2.50 day. These same
people have limited access to clean water and lack basic sanitation. This means
they have to walk almost 1 </span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">1/2</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
miles round trip <i>twice</i> a day- once in
the morning and again in the evening- to carry home their water. They have no
indoor toilets so they are forced to “go” outside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
quote these statistics to give us fortunate ones some contrast. Can you picture yourself living in a dirt floor hut,
cooking over an open fire, walking 3 miles a day to carry water to drink and
stay clean with?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So unless
you are one of the 3 billion people living in poverty or you are homeless, how could you
ever complain about your life? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It’s
easy to be happy and confident when things in your life are going well. It’s
when things change and your circumstances become more challenging that we find
out who we really are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
what is the answer? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
you are able to volunteer your time or talents to organizations involved in
helping people then by all means do so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Otherwise
the only answer is for each of us is to do our best to be open and supportive
to all we meet and help those we can. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
truly believe being thankful and showing gratitude for what you have is the
only real way to reconnect and reach a deeper understanding of this journey we are all on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When
you are truly thankful, you feel gratitude. By feeling gratitude you open your
heart and renew your connection to everything. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You,
the individual, disappears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Your
needs and possessions fade into the distance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
begin to remember why you are here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
remember that every day is a gift, an opportunity to grow and, if possible,
make a difference. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
sometimes it’s hard to be thankful, it’s hard to remember how good
you have it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
get caught up in our <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/01/nolimits-freedom-blog-comfort-of.html" target="_blank">daily rhythm</a>. With work requirements and family needs,
time seems limited and nothing seems to get done. We feel pressure and
frustration about the things we didn't accomplish that day. We dwell on
uncompleted projects and unfulfilled plans. Then we collapse into bed each
night only to start all over again in the morning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Most
of us find ourselves locked into a tick tock life we didn't think we signed up
for.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
it happens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Then one day you find
10 years have got behind you, no one told you when to run, you missed the
starting gun…..” (Pink Floyd)<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
is so easy to drift along in our well planned lives….. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
remember that what you have, where you live, what you drive is temporary. It doesn't define you, unless you <i>want</i>
to be defined as a car, a house, a job or whatever. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
all belongs to the universe. You just get to use it while you’re here. When you
leave someone else will get to use it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This New Year's eve resolve to not make <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/12/no-resolutions.html" target="_blank">resolutions</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Instead be thankful. In the morning when you walk out your door, breathe in the air, look up into the sky and with a
big smile on your face and your arms outstretched, say “Thank you!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
mean it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">www.stevengriggs.com</span></a><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-67055371869369960132013-12-26T13:02:00.000-08:002018-07-03T22:11:11.953-07:00Understanding Restriction<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Understanding
Restriction</span></b><b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>"Poverty is restriction and as such, it is the greatest injustice you can perpetrate upon yourself"</i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><b><i>Stuart Wilde</i></b></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“It's not just the emotional, intellectual, and physical gaps between
you and money. The real gap is always between what you think you want and what
you actually want, deep down."</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; text-decoration: none;">Stuart Wilde</span></i></b><b><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><span style="color: #c00000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlA-dwYTPU1-Llviu8pu_fWRmfLxDqRzSj1LjHKoJ0aTNE3cBRWoKk9AsLLBbhAg11wDJLt_S7vBuUljreA992zetNqI1I_zXCndxbwyj1gnYCTCLjmVDoIa_LVsi71hyNQSc7FnPaKzrn/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Understanding-Restrictions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlA-dwYTPU1-Llviu8pu_fWRmfLxDqRzSj1LjHKoJ0aTNE3cBRWoKk9AsLLBbhAg11wDJLt_S7vBuUljreA992zetNqI1I_zXCndxbwyj1gnYCTCLjmVDoIa_LVsi71hyNQSc7FnPaKzrn/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Understanding-Restrictions.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">What
is restriction?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Restriction
shows itself in many ways, but restriction is simply anything that limits us or blocks
us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
are all born into some type of restriction. These could be the limitations or
restrictions inherent in a society, for example the Indian caste system or simply
being born into a typical American family living in a small western farm town,
like I was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Both
examples have built in </span>restrictions</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">. </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the caste system you are born into a particular caste that dictates what you
can do, where you can work and who you can marry. It locks you into your tribe
or caste and that’s it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
my case I was indoctrinated with strong, conservative Midwestern values. You went
to school, played sports, graduated, went to college, got a degree and went to
work. You were expected to settle down, marry, have children and then start the
process all over again with your children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
probably had a similar experience, as I think most Americans have, at least until recently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
point is by simply being born we are thrown into a rigid, pre-structured life path.
One that, because of the subtle and not so subtle programming we grow up with, locks us into a kind of pre-ordained future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">All
restriction manifests itself in our physical circumstances, where we currently
find ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
addition to the physical restrictions we are born into, there are ones we <i>voluntarily</i> take on, although some may
argue that no one voluntarily “wants” restriction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
that is not really true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Our
mind can be our biggest restrictor. It takes on certain beliefs that are not that
different from the caste system. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
take on a belief system that dictates what you can do, where you can go, and
what your future could be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">These
restrictions form into what I call our <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/01/do-you-know-your-limiting-beliefs.html" target="_blank">Comfort Band</a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and that’s what we
adhere to. Not going below the lower limit nor higher than the upper limit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sometimes,
because of our limiting beliefs, we sabotage ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
know someone who is one of the smartest
men I know. He is very capable and competent. Fifteen years ago he was a multimillionaire
but today he has no car, lives in a small studio apartment, and has struggled
with alcohol and gambling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
has been homeless several times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because
of his belief system, his comfort band, he very capably and competently sabotages
himself every time he starts going above his upper comfort band limit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
just can’t allow it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
wins $10,000.00 at blackjack, then buys a car, stays drunk and parties for a
week, then drives drunk, gets in a wreck, goes to jail, loses his apartment and
most of his possessions. Then after 6 months gets out and rebuilds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
has done some variation of this over and over for the past 8 years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">All
the while his comfort band has been getting lower and lower as he has become
more comfortable with his life. His days are spent sitting on a bus traveling to
required meetings, drug testing, and AA. The problem is that now that he is getting older
his health is becoming an issue and his energy is dissipating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">He
wants a different life but he is a slave to his belief system. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
is an extreme example and I sincerely hope he breaks out of this cycle but I
don’t think it is uncommon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Maybe
the extreme ups and downs he goes through aren't average but you can see how we
do sabotage ourselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
most of us do it in much more subtle ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
how do you reduce or limit restriction? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">First-
You have to be honest with yourself about where you are right now in relation
to your “dreams” of where you want to be or where you thought you would be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Can
you see a pattern in your life? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
make good money but not really what you “think” you should make. You dream of a
bigger house but continue to live where you are. You want a Porsche or Mercedes
but continue to drive the car you have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Look
into yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
can be difficult, because as you get older the dreams you haven’t accomplished
are more painful to look at. And along the way you may have developed a kind of
resignation and acceptance that maybe your dreams were too unrealistic and it
was not meant to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
may well be true if you weren't really connected to those dreams but it is </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16px;">more than likely </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">that you ran up against your belief system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How low will it allow you to go? How high? Can you see the pattern?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Can
you see how you never go too low or too high? That you stay within your band?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Recognizing
your Comfort Band is the first step. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Become
clear as to what your limits are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We’ll
talk more about what to do in an upcoming article.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengrioggs.com/" target="_blank">www.stevengriggs.com</a></span></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-59617917978645404352013-12-19T00:00:00.000-08:002013-12-19T00:00:05.443-08:00Why Resist? Go With The Flow<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #002060; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Why
Resist? Go With The Flow</span></b><b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 128;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>"If you have resistance to something, it means there's something wrong. The resistance to me is a sign of fear"</i></b></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Billy Corgan</i></b></span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></o:p></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">"Try to find the path of least resistance and use it without harming others.... "</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Steven Seagal</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDPA2nqS7dJaYj3-YYsxmcDUBD2w2QcZc-RaaUSRQYJ_2FhPZycv0ZqJhwByNDHhlvQMA_Uzhnr34_3TXiJjVt498XTyuHJo6J-mT8sUJftdkRwflEq1Tt6jpovYnNIS27d1z6soKqgbS/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Why-Resist-Go-With-Flow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDPA2nqS7dJaYj3-YYsxmcDUBD2w2QcZc-RaaUSRQYJ_2FhPZycv0ZqJhwByNDHhlvQMA_Uzhnr34_3TXiJjVt498XTyuHJo6J-mT8sUJftdkRwflEq1Tt6jpovYnNIS27d1z6soKqgbS/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Why-Resist-Go-With-Flow.jpg" height="400" width="371" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photography by <a href="http://www.jetkor.com/" target="_blank">Sherri Del Soldato</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why
do so many of us struggle and resist? We struggle with questions. We struggle
to accomplish things, we struggle to make things happen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some
say that all of life is a struggle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
it’s not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Life
is not a struggle and never has been a struggle. Stuart Wilde has said that “S<i>truggle is effort laced with emotion”. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It's a tricky thing because sometimes constant struggling can seem like something good, a </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">heroic</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;"> struggle. But it might be closer to </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">victim hood if you allow yourself to get caught up in the self indulgence of constant striving and struggling</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">....... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yes,
many, many people do struggle. We have all struggled at one time or another. We
have been trained to struggle, to think that progress takes struggle and so to
create anything of value takes a struggle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
to struggle is not natural.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It doesn't exist in Nature, all animals on this planet exist in alignment with their world. They eat, sleep, reproduce and die. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">All
without a complaint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Animals
don’t struggle or whine they just wander about and eat. Maybe they eat seeds or
they eat other animals, but they eat. No problem. Their food is either walking
around, lying on the ground or hanging from a bush or tree. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They eat then they
fly off somewhere or crawl into a hiding place and take a nap. A few hours
later they may set off and do the same thing again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">All
the while watching, staying alert but not worrying.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Most
of us in the western world have it just as easy. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">We don’t necessarily have to worry about being eaten but we still find reasons to complain. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our lives could be very simple but we prefer to complicate them with requirements and needs. So we struggle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Struggling is really just resistance. You resist going with the flow because it
seems too effortless. It actually seems almost like laziness. And that would not be
acceptable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
resist means to keep hanging on to the ego personality’s definitions, hanging
on to its safe <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/01/nolimits-freedom-blog-comfort-of.html" target="_blank">routines</a> and rhythms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some
time ago I spoke with a friend and his wife who told me they were writing a
book. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’d
see them at different social events and we would chat. I would always ask how
the book was coming along and they would, very seriously, tell me of all the problems and
difficulties they were having, about how the universe was constantly testing
them by creating obstacles to overcome and problems to be solved.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Then
they would tell me, with very sad and sincere faces that they were going to
persevere, that in the end they would win.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I didn't say anything. There was no point. This was their path, their “struggle”
and you can’t interfere with other people’s stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
the truth is- first of all the universe isn't something <i>out there</i> it’s <i>in here</i>. Inside
us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
secondly the universe doesn't test. It doesn't do anything to you. "It" merely
responds to your energy and thoughts. It acts as a multiplier or magnifier of
what you put out there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
can be seen as struggle because, in their case, what they we were receiving contradicted with what they were trying to accomplish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
a conscious level that is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
problem was, somehow on an unconscious level they weren't really in complete alignment
with that goal, they were <i>forcing</i> the
writing of the book. So they were having problems and feeling blocked. A bit like trying to force a square peg into a round hole.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They
were resisting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
lesson here is to pay attention to your progress, to the amount of resistance
you are receiving. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
you feel no resistance and things seem to be racing along, you are in the flow.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
not, you’ll know. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
will be able to see it or feel it and that is the best way to know that you are
not in alignment with that particular goal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Take
a look to see what is causing the resistance. You might need to adjust slightly
or maybe even a lot. You may need to reconnect emotionally with the goal. If you can't or it seems difficult to connect then you'll know you're not resonating with that particular goal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
watch to see if you are in the flow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Usually
if you truly wish to accomplish something and you are excited and truly engaged
with the goal and take strong action, you will be on your way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
if things get clogged up and you see resistance, reevaluate and make changes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Don’t
pound away at something just because you “want” it to happen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Take
the path of least resistance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/" target="_blank">www.stevengriggs.com</a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-46663106110120792642013-12-12T00:00:00.000-08:002013-12-12T00:00:12.378-08:00Never Complain, Never Explain<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 128;">Never Complain, Never Explain<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“</span><b><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">People asking questions, lost in confusion, well I tell them
there's no problem, only solutions</span></i></b><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">John Lennon<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvW54v7OT4LLyzixCcjztENSmfX0Sv9n0BSoWl17u3Mo9WTp7VJGtDzl3q9P3LoFYwiWtj-_gZinlBUj0Lw0M1yNG7w5oNX5Yj4L6f8oK7eBlCPMqB2CuuSRee8Q-HFwIX8FbDNsvGU_g/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Never-Complain-Never-Explain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvW54v7OT4LLyzixCcjztENSmfX0Sv9n0BSoWl17u3Mo9WTp7VJGtDzl3q9P3LoFYwiWtj-_gZinlBUj0Lw0M1yNG7w5oNX5Yj4L6f8oK7eBlCPMqB2CuuSRee8Q-HFwIX8FbDNsvGU_g/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Never-Complain-Never-Explain.jpg" height="282" title="Never Complain, Never Explain" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Problems, problems we
all have so many problems. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But do we really? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">What would you
classify as a problem? I mean a real problem? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Put it in the context
of knowing someone who has cancer or some other deadly disease or is crippled
or handicapped. Not to mention the billions of people on the planet who don’t
have enough food or clean water, let alone any form of a sanitation system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Knowing this, can you
still whine about your little problems or would you just keep your mouth shut? Or can you just <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/12/acceptance.html" target="_blank">accept</a> your problems?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of course some
problems are more difficult than others. Major life changes like the death of a family member, the loss of your job, or a divorce are events
that seriously affect people. They can shut you down for a minute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But the truth is
anything less than a major issue really should be called a nuisance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And why do we like to
whine and complain so much anyway? Do you whine?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I’ll bet if you’re
honest with yourself you've been a whiner. We all have: the weather is bad today,
you have to work on your day off, you aren't getting a raise this year, your
plumbing is backed up, the car needs major work”….. the list is endless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But again, why do we
do it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because it validates
us, it tells us we aren't the only ones with problems, there are a lot of us! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">You've watched a whine
fest and probably been a part of one at some time. You get together and whine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Misery does love
company so we tend to find other whiners. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s a gripe
session. It can be at work or with a
group of friends at a party. You get in the whine groove and go for it.
Everybody and everything is fair game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But what is really
happening when you join the Whiner’s Club?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">First of all, it feels
good. It feels like connection. You aren't the only one, you have co- whiners! And
your ego personality loves to feel sorry for itself, it can wallow in self-
pity for days on end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But really, if you
stood back and watched yourself wouldn't you be horrified?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is so self
-indulgent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Living in the
abundance of this country, with the opportunity and gifts we have does not
allow any of us to utter one peep of complaint.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Second of all, if you
were honest with yourself you would realize that maybe you really aren't looking
for a solution because it’s much more fun to feel sorry for yourself and whine
away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Besides if you had a
solution you might have to take action and making an effort might be
uncomfortable…..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But lastly, it keeps
you safely and comfortably locked into the problem, not the solution<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
what’s the answer?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
think it is a process of reasserting yourself, of regaining a little bit of
self- control. You need to set some ground rules for yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Years
ago I learned the concept of staying contained, staying within your zone of
control. That is a very small area, basically just your body and your mind. Commenting,
trying to control, voicing opinions or complaining, are out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
means staying true to your agreement with yourself and monitoring everything
that comes out of your mouth (brain). Self-censoring if you will.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
your words do not add positively to the conversation, if you are going to say
anything negative towards anyone or anything, don’t say it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Years
ago I began instilling in my mind the words: “Never Complain, Never Explain”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
does several things. It creates a mindset of control. You don’t whine about
things and when invited to join the whiners club you don’t. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
just don’t complain. And you don't explain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Keep
to yourself. Create an air of mystery about yourself. When someone at a party engages
you in a conversation, join in. But if the conversation drifts into whining or
complaining (or religion or politics for that matter) drift away. When someone asks
you if everything is alright, you don’t respond other than to say something neutral,
something positive, “Boy the food is sure great tonight. “I love the way the
house is decorated”, anything other than responding to the question. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Because
you can’t explain it, no matter what you say, the minute you start explaining yourself
to someone you’re in trouble. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
see, most people won’t get it. All it will do is make you stand out and be
different. You make yourself an outsider. And that’s scary for the
mainstream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And
really that’s what you become, an outsider. Gaining control of yourself and
stepping back from the mindset of the mainstream sets you apart, and once you
know, you can never go back. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
become what Stuart Wilde called a "Fringe Dweller". We dwell on the fringes of
society. We are in it but not of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
takes constant vigilance. I slip off my wagon all the time, but when I do I
tell myself "nope, we’re not going that way" and jump back on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
the next time you feel a whine coming on try to nip it in the bud. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Or
promise yourself that you will supply at least one solution to every whine you
have. <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’ll
bet you eventually stop whining altogether because, really, what is there to complain
about?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/" target="_blank">www.stevengriggs.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-65484368032437646022013-12-05T10:39:00.000-08:002013-12-05T10:39:51.155-08:00Perfection Paralysis<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No Limits | The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">™</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Perfection Paralysis</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The maxim “Nothing but
perfection” may be spelled “Paralysis” Winston Churchill<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Too late I found out you
can’t wait to be perfect, you got to go out and fall down and get up with
everybody else” Ray Bradbury<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I think
we’ve all experienced it. It happens when you either can’t start something or
you can’t finish it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You just
stop. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But what is
happening? Some call it procrastination but procrastination is really the
symptom of this effect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is it
that makes us unable to proceed? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is fear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is the
fear of being imperfect, of being ridiculed or judged. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once we
create something, be it an article, a blog or piece of art and we put it out
there to be read and seen, we become vulnerable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now we can
be hurt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is a
common thing for many artists and writers to reach a point where they can’t
complete the project. They have to keep reviewing, rechecking and reediting and
touching up. It can get way out of hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have done
this many times myself with my writing and art. One time I had the same picture
sit on my easel for over a year. It was a water color of a broken wine bottle
and I was at the crucial stage of completing the puddles of red wine on the
floor and I couldn’t do it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The picture
was great up to that point but I was afraid I would ruin it.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbnle296HKLFniZequf5-iB6zsGgni440KpmZB9ajzI58ydUXD29XbHAWIAb8a6RTwkuqkxhXkySTw3IHd1-vrB1tsdX48hwo9OxlvmeA_IDRl-sFlXk11NSfEhYKvs0vApITUuzP8qHnR/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Perfection-Paralysis-Limiting-Beliefs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbnle296HKLFniZequf5-iB6zsGgni440KpmZB9ajzI58ydUXD29XbHAWIAb8a6RTwkuqkxhXkySTw3IHd1-vrB1tsdX48hwo9OxlvmeA_IDRl-sFlXk11NSfEhYKvs0vApITUuzP8qHnR/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Perfection-Paralysis-Limiting-Beliefs.jpg" height="282" title="Perfection Paralysis Watercolor by Steven Griggs" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #101010; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ruin it? This
is an interesting idea because how could I ruin a painting I created? Whatever
I created is my creation, right? I painted it this way and that’s what it is,
period.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well it
didn’t feel that way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And that
was when I started realizing that I was fearful. I had a fear (limiting belief )
about not being good enough. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is a
paralyzing aspect of the limiting belief of poor or low self-esteem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There
really is no such thing as perfection and if you are striving for perfection,
who is the judge? Who is judging you?
Who do you have to be perfect for?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Many
ancient artisans including the American Indians would purposely make a mistake
in a thing they were creating. Indian women when beading a garment or bag would
put a bead of the wrong color in the item to make it imperfect. It wasn’t
always very obvious but once you found it you knew it was done on purpose. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They believed
that only the Great Spirit could be perfect and that any human trying to be
perfect would be considered arrogant and insulting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And you
don’t want to mess around with the Great Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But I think
they were on to something. They were making the statement that they were less
than perfect. They were imperfect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And that’s
what we are. No one is perfect but we are all perfectly imperfect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Each one of
us is unique. We are each one of a kind. We don’t look the same, we don’t do
things the same way. We each create our own project, product or artwork <b><i>our
way</i></b>. We create it like no one else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have read
that some artists and writers reach a point where they are about 80% done but at
that point consider the project basically completed. In other words they know the project
is done except for maybe the final chapter or some last minute touch ups or fill-ins on the
painting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They
understand that every project reaches a point when it is done. They can’t add one
more word or brush stroke to it. It is done and it’s time to let it go. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s time
to move on to the next project.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So how do
we deal with the limiting belief inside that holds us back by seeking
perfection, which keeps us from completing our work and moving on to the next
project?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you are
a creator, you have to create. If you have to stop because you fear criticism,
then stop. Don’t create. Wait until it feels right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But a funny
aspect of this is that probably a major reason we create is <i>because</i> we
feel inadequate in some way. We might get some of our creative energy from the very
belief that tries to hold us back. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We can’t
have it both ways. You can’t derive your creativity from a source and then worry about what that source might say about
what you've created?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The answer is you have to
create and then let it go. You have to be willing to show yourself to the world. </span><br />
<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So next time you feel hesitant about putting it out there, just do it. Force yourself to take the leap and say: “This is me. This is what I created. I want you to like it and get something from it but I’m only here for a short while and I've got a lot of stuff
to do”.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #101010; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px;">Take it or leave it because I don't have time to care.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you
fear a critic, have him bring his writings and his art and then you two can sit
down and have a talk. You won't have to worry about that because a <i>real</i> creator doesn't criticize another artist.</span><br />
<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Your fellow creators know what it's like, they have been through the same struggles as you so you have nothing to fear from them.</span><br />
<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The ones that love you and love your work, they are the ones to care about.</span><br />
<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That leaves everyone else and they don'</span><span style="color: #101010; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">t get a vote. </span></div>
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<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: x-small;">www.stevengriggs.com</span><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-41193932657791997072013-11-27T10:48:00.002-08:002016-11-22T20:03:17.099-08:00Are You Creating Your Perfect Reality? Part 3- Limiting the Influence of Your Limiting Beliefs.<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Are You Creating Your Perfect
Reality? Part 3- Limiting the Influence of Your Limiting Beliefs.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #373737; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“A belief is not an idea held by the
mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #373737; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Your conscious beliefs are what you
think you believe. Your subconscious beliefs and deepest convictions are what
you really believe.” Susan Shumsky</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the quest to uncover
your limiting beliefs I asked you to listen to your inner critic and to pay attention to your inner dialogue. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Identifying a limiting belief
requires paying close and <i>honest</i>
attention to your reactions in certain situations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For example, your next
door neighbors decide to put in a pool. What are you feeling? Are you happy for
them or do you begrudge them a little? Do you hear yourself saying “Sure they
can afford it because they both have great jobs.” Or maybe “Who wants to have
to clean and maintain a pool?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Unless you really don’t
like pools, do you hear the negative push back?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Let’s say another good
friend buys a Porsche. How would that make you feel? You’ll probably say “Great”
‘That’s fantastic!” “Can I take it for a drive?” and mean it because you are
happy for your friend but what are you really saying to yourself on a deeper level? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Are you finding
reasons why owning a Porsche would be a bad idea? How it’s not really you? “It
costs too much to maintain a car like that” or “Good luck with all the speeding
tickets!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You probably had the
thoughts that you can’t afford these things because you don’t make enough money.
You may rationalize that you don’t make enough money because you’re not as
educated or talented as your friend. Or that Jim is just that kind of guy, he
always seems to get what he wants. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">These examples of push
back all translate to the underlying limiting belief that you aren't good
enough. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So whatever the examples
are that you come up with, the actual reason is the underlying belief - “I’m
not good enough”. The reasons are the symptoms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So that is the tricky
part. Identifying and accepting these truths about ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You have to own it, and this
is the hardest part because actually saying that you have this belief and acknowledging
the truth of it to yourself can be difficult. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You have to be
completely honest with yourself. This is when you are tested. Can you accept
that you have this belief or do you find yourself being pulled back into the belief
and then heap on more evidence to prove why it is true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In my article <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/06/the-best-way-to-change-habit.html" target="_blank">The Best Way To Change a Habit</a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> I talk about how we actually change our beliefs
to match our reality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For example, telling
ourselves that eating the grapes in the fruit section of the supermarket is O.K. because
we need to test their freshness. We make it O.K. for us to do something we know
is wrong by changing our belief about it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A belief is actually a
feeling. There are only positive feelings and negative feelings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When you are truly aligned
with your positive feelings and take inspired action, you can create the
results you seek. Conversely you can have a positive feeling about something and
take action but the underlying negative feeling or limiting belief counters the
positive and you end up going nowhere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You keep getting the
same unsatisfactory results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That’s why so many
people have a problem with the Law of Attraction. They are only getting part of
the story. Unless you are clear and able to release limiting beliefs you are
just spinning your wheels. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Vision boards and
positive thinking are just exercises in futility. You can’t over power a limiting
belief by trying to cover it over with positive thoughts and envisioning yourself having what you want. They are simply too
imbedded and powerful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But by identifying your negative
programming and getting clear on how you got the limiting belief in the first
place, you can begin the process of reducing and eliminating the belief.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In a previous article on
<a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2012/09/limiting-beliefs.html" target="_blank">Limiting Beliefs</a></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> I recommend three techniques that work to
release limiting beliefs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Please know that this is
a continual process. You can’t just magically snap your fingers and make all
your limiting beliefs disappear. They need to be worked on all the time. Some beliefs
may dissipate but then show up later in a slightly different form. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It takes constant
vigilance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Here are the three techniques:</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Meditation</span></u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A really good method is
through meditation. There are some
really interesting healing meditations. You actually have a conversation with
your childhood self and help him or her to understand the situation that
occurred to give you a certain limiting belief. I will be posting some meditations in future articles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Byron Katie-The Work<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Another method is
through the four questions from “The Work” by Byron Katie.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Is it true?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Can you absolutely know
it’s true?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">How do you react, what
happens when you have that thought?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">W</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">ho would you be without
the thought?</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Visit her website </span><a href="http://www.byronkatie.com/" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;" target="_blank">www.byronkatie.com</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> to learn more.</span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">EFT<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">A third method is called Emotional Freedom
Techniques (EFT) or Tapping. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This technique addresses your limiting beliefs by
tapping on certain parts of your face and hands. These tapping points are the Ch'i
or energy channels that run through our bodies.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Visit their website: <a href="http://www.tapping.com/" target="_blank">www.tapping.com</a>.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Really, once you dig in and get to the bottom of
your issues you will discover they mostly revolve around self-worth or self-esteem.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But as you get clearer and consciously work on these
issues, you will become lighter and more in tune with your true self. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Then things will start moving faster, things
will happen faster and you will be off and running.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">www.</span></u><u><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></u><u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">stevengriggs.com</span></u><u><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-27637253885565078242013-11-22T00:00:00.000-08:002013-11-22T10:42:42.798-08:00Creating Your Perfect Reality, Part 2- Identifying Your Limiting Beliefs <div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">No Limits | The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">™</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Creating Your Perfect Reality, Part 2- Identifying Your Limiting
Beliefs<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“You can
have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t
have it.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Robert
Anthony<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“If you
hear a voice within you say “you cannot paint” then by all means paint and that
voice will be silenced” Vincent Van Gogh<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In order to begin to
identifying your limiting beliefs, I asked you to start listening to your inner
critic’s voice, to start tuning into the way you talk to yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The inner critic’s voice
is actually your internal minder. Its job is to constantly remind you and guide
you by whispering in your ear. You’ve been listening to this voice all your
life. It has always been there. And it seems so normal I’ll bet that sometimes you
don’t even hear it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But it’s there. It keeps up a non- stop running commentary
on everything you do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It starts in our childhood. In order to help us
grow up as successful adults our parents and teachers did their best to help us
develop our strengths and mitigate our weaknesses. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Or what they “perceived” were our strengths and weaknesses.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">They
were also very concerned with helping us to avoid disappointment (protecting us
from failure) and helping us to avoid shame, notice the key word- avoid. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some
of this “guiding” also came from our parents own limiting beliefs that they projected
onto us. Their intention was to save us
from the pain they may have felt when they were growing up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So if you were not the prettiest girl in your
class your mother may have done things to help you cope with your perceived
disadvantage, like encourage you to be more personable or funny or studious. Or she could have encouraged you to cut your hair a certain way to reduce the
focus on your face or even to cover more of your face. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">If
you were a strong, fit guy you were probably encouraged to play sports. In my
day, almost all boys played sports, even if you were on third string and sat on
the bench most of the time. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This probably did more damage than not playing but
there we were, trying to fit in, trying to belong, trying to please our parents.…..
. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Not
to mention the subtle and not so subtle messages that teenage boys transmit to
each other which probably created enough beliefs to undermine most of the team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Does this sound familiar? Can you see how these
experiences could set your limits, how they could create limiting beliefs?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Eventually
the underlying belief developed that you weren't good enough and needed to do or
not do certain things in order to be accepted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
addition, during our childhood and adolescence the process of our parents teaching
us right from wrong pretty much kept us in some kind of conflict with them and eventually
that tension created the feeling that something
was wrong with you, that somehow you weren't “all right”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
you can see how the double whammy of not meeting your parent’s and family’s
expectations and not being able to do things right is enough to undermine you
completely!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sometimes
it wasn't even words or comments but just subtle signals like a certain disapproving
look from your mother or father. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But
you can see how it began and how it slowly but surely inserted a belief system within
you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
difficult part of understanding or discerning a limiting belief is that when we
took on the belief our mind then worked very hard to conform with the belief and
soon the belief disappeared into the finished product- you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We
became who we believed we needed to be. And eventually we became who we are
today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj71KiExkLG-gDv1U12J7rXFFr_XA78RWyU4SUEg7ccEIFJcbmQNUih8RXsf1B1v1H4-6oz2iD0-4pumusWX1RR3IJoR2ENMqOIy1RnL3ll26bho0eE2fzKhdD0pnOU4Ysur8XJy9qb98iB/s400/Steven-Griggs-Identifying-Limiting-Beliefs.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="267" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.infinitaphotographygalleria.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Photography by Gina M. Billino</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">So
it can be hard to separate the voice from the belief</span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;"> </b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">that this is you, that this is just who you are.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
answer lies in paying attention to your inner critic’s comments and judgments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Listen
to yourself when you comment to yourself. Hear what you say when you look at a
car you like or a house you like, just anything that you don’t currently have
that you wish you had.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
use a lot of examples such as cars and homes because they are symbols that our
society values as badges of success. I
don’t personally believe in these symbols anymore but I sure did once upon a time. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I
had them all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
begin listening and test yourself by watching your reactions when you see
certain things in a magazine or TV show. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Watch
how you react, watch what thoughts come up. If you notice yourself saying
anything that sounds like a criticism or a justification or a negative remark
or comment, you’ve probably hit on a limiting belief. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Really,
any comment that pushes against the situation or issue is a clue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Start
to make a list of the things you notice that you have resistance to, things
that you push back against.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Once
you have this list you’ll be able to see a pattern and then you should be able
to break it down into a few areas that you’ll need to work on. Just remember, the examples you'll see are just the <i>symptoms</i> of the belief and not the actual belief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
my next article I’ll talk more about getting clear on what you need to work on
and how to do it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/">www.stevengriggs.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<br /></div>
steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-76029706860846573592013-11-12T17:40:00.001-08:002013-11-13T13:54:41.893-08:00Are You Creating Your Perfect Reality?<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 128;">Are You Creating Your Perfect
Reality?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3.75pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<b><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“To
understand the limitation of “things”, desire them” <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<b><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lao Tzu<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<b><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The
wise man is one who knows what he does not know”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<b><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lao Tzu<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How
many dreams that you've dreamed of have come true? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ll bet many of them, in
fact I’ll bet all of them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some
may be saying “No! I rarely get what I wish for”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But when
I say that, I am referring to the belief that lies <i>beneath</i> the dream, the underlying belief you have about that day
dream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some will
answer “Wrong! I didn't want these circumstances, this terrible situation. I didn't ask for stress and never ending financial struggles”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But you
did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You may
say “No, I dreamed of having a beautiful house and a new sports car and hitting
the lottery!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yes, but
you believed <b><i>more</i></b> that you were unlucky and never win anything, that you
could never have a million dollar house or ever own a Porsche or Mercedes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These
thoughts aren't a loud nagging voice or really even a voice at all. </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 13.5pt;">This is your inner critic. </span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 13.5pt;">It is just
a tiny persistent whisper that keeps reminding you of </span><b style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 13.5pt;"><i>your reality</i></b><span style="color: #181818; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 13.5pt;">. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<b><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Your
beliefs</span></i></b><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I've talked about this many times. We create or attract what we put out there. Good,
bad or whatever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<b><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is
the subconscious “under-programming” that gets heard <u>not</u> our wishes, wants or
day dreams. <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is
what your unconscious mind <i>really</i> believes in that happens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So what
do you do? How can we change it or at least begin to change our under programming?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
first step is to get clear on what you are really believing. To do that you
have to learn to hear those little internal whispers that reflect your limiting beliefs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do
you do that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is
where it can get tricky. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The critical
part about identifying our limiting beliefs is being able to separate them from
our definition of ourselves or our self-view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is
because in taking on these beliefs we “agreed “to believe them. We actually
became comfortable believing them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
identifying them and taking action to remove them can sometimes be a
challenging process. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We began to believe that this is who we are, that we were born this way and this is our lot in life, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
most common limiting beliefs all revolve around self-worth or self-esteem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I’m
not good enough”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I’m
not smart enough”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Therefore
most of your limiting beliefs will be sourced from these basic beliefs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"I don’t
make enough money, because…...."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"I don’t
have a good job because……."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"I’m not
successful because……."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"I don’t
deserve this because……."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So your
homework for this week is to listen to yourself. Watch how you talk to
yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 13.5pt;">
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Hear
your inner critic's voice when it gives you those little hints or clues about how you
are <i>really</i> feeling about yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Next time
we’ll talk more about getting a clearer picture of your limiting beliefs and how to begin to change them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/">www.stevengriggs.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-726382354100386972013-10-01T23:08:00.001-07:002019-07-07T13:06:32.359-07:00How Do You Deal With Anger?<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 28.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How Do You Deal With Anger?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth and have begun striving for ourselves." </span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Buddha</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Anger is a wind
which blows out the lamp of the mind.” </span></i></b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Robert Green
Ingersoll<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">What is anger?
Most will say anger is caused by someone or something that offends us or intimidates
us or encroaches on us in some way. It
is always caused by something outside us, something “out there”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But is that true?
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Nothing “out
there” causes anything. It is all internal. Everything that is happening "out
there" is being <i>reacted </i>to “in here”. It’s
an interpretation or an opinion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">So what is anger,
really?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">All anger comes
from loss. This could be either an actual loss or just the fear of losing. It
may not even be close to happening yet but the ego mind will swing into action
at the mere hint of loss. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">A feeling of loss
could also be caused by the end of a rhythm, e.g., the end of a friendship or relationship,
the end of a job, end of a marriage, anything
that the ego mind is used to or dependent upon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It could also be
anything that contradicts the ego’s agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is the ego
mind that gets vengeful. It wants to get even or “pay them back” or “teach them
a lesson”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I recently had a
situation with a service provider that I use for various online activities. It
was a business relationship and a friendship. We had a disagreement about how
my account was being handled. We just couldn't agree. I felt I was right, she
felt she was right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The result was we didn't talk for several months. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But I missed
working with her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then one day
while driving, I was thinking about what a great team we made and how much she
had helped me. Suddenly I realized that I was seeing this all wrong!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I had become
mired in pettiness and anger. I realized that I had allowed myself to be
dominated by my ego (It’s a never ending struggle….).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I saw how all this
was such a waste of time and energy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I didn't tell
myself to forgive her or tell myself to suck it up and admit I was wrong. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">There was none of
that. No right or wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I just started
thinking that I've got to get a hold of her and make this right so we can get
back to work!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I immediately got
in touch with her and ended our disagreement. Now we are both excited and looking
forward to working together again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">So what happened?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I decided to
change my opinion of the situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Instead of
rehashing what happened and continually feeding the anger, I asked myself: “What
did I really want?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I realized I
wanted things to go back to the way they were. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then instantly,
my negative feelings evaporated!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was really
strange. I couldn't find any anger anymore. There was nothing to be angry
about! I just couldn't feel it. The
anger had been replaced with excitement!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">All I saw was the
future and getting back to creating some cool projects. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">You may say great,
good for you but what do you do if you can’t see anything good? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">What if you are
just mad and stuck in anger?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">What then?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">1st step</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">: <b>Acceptance.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">You have to
accept what is. You have to accept what has happened in order to be able to put
it behind you. Because you can’t really force the anger to go away, you have to
change your opinion of the situation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But what if you aren't so clear about getting rid of anger? Maybe you like being angry right
now? Maybe it feels kind of good…..kind of victimy…… ? If so then wait, you
probably aren't ready just yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But if you are
clear about what you want, you say O.K. this happened. Big deal. What does it <i>really</i> mean? It means nothing. It is
just a tiny blip, not even a one sentence entry in your book of life. Get over it quick.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">2<sup>nd</sup> step: Decide.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Decide what you
really want. Decide that you are done with the anger and pain. That can be done
through forgiveness or acceptance but either way it requires you to put aside
your ego personality and accept that things happen. Things change. They end. Everything
has a time and purpose and then things change again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">You don’t need
forgiveness from the other person, although if you have seriously wronged them it
could be helpful to make amends. But sometimes that may not be possible. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">So better yet,
forgive yourself. Tell yourself, “Yes, I could have handled that in a better
way and next time I will do better”. Or “Yes, he or she could have handled this
differently but they didn't”. And you just accept it. What it is, is what it
is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">3<sup>rd</sup> step: Take the next step.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Make a move
towards the new situation, the next step. Step away from the ego’s self-
righteousness. Throw off the heaviness and the destructive feelings that come from anger. Move towards lightness. No snags, just
flowing and moving through life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">4<sup>th</sup> step:</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <b>Remember who you are. (Always)<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">You have to keep
your eye on <i>your</i> bigger picture. You
have to remind yourself of who you <i>really</i>
are. You are here to grow and help other people. You don’t have time for anger.
Forget about it. When it happens realize it for what it really is, think it
through, then release it and keep moving.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Don’t try to
“manage” anger. Anger management is a scary idea. Who wants to have so much
anger that they have to “manage” it? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/">www.stevengriggs.com</a></span></u></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-78863627990679244522013-07-09T15:47:00.003-07:002019-07-07T13:11:53.257-07:00Who Are You Really?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: medium; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who Are You Really?</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">“What a liberation to realize that the 'voice in my head' is not
who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Eckhart Tolle<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“Knowing others is wisdom, Knowing yourself</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> is enlightenment” Lao Tzu</span></i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” Ralph
Waldo Emerson<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who do you see when
you look in the mirror? Do you accept who you see? Is this the real you? Are
there things about you or your life that you would change?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Looking in the mirror
for many people is a torturous process (</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">I'm not talking about visuals, how many spots or wrinkles you have now, or how you are aging.....). </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They see so much that they don’t like,
things that they might even hate. They get reminded of their weaknesses or
their failures or of their unrealized potential and uncompleted goals. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">They don’t see the
person they wanted to be. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">The hard truth is that
you created you. Who you are at this very moment, you created. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Hdi8GrJ-HO4T-wQYL-CZ-lV0dzajPkn_Bb_gUbzoMe_dqgxTza9VFDyRnSinQaLhQOaj_qxJyZLCnmH6TADvULxMeEDRJ2Xi9-sL0jjG-rsE8GGGcO819HElxs6BlCRK4A-q9IXB7EGP/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Who-are-you-really.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Hdi8GrJ-HO4T-wQYL-CZ-lV0dzajPkn_Bb_gUbzoMe_dqgxTza9VFDyRnSinQaLhQOaj_qxJyZLCnmH6TADvULxMeEDRJ2Xi9-sL0jjG-rsE8GGGcO819HElxs6BlCRK4A-q9IXB7EGP/s320/Steven-Griggs-Who-are-you-really.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s not as if you
actually sat down and designed yourself but in a way you did, it just didn’t
happen all at once.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">You are the sum total
of your all beliefs, your positive beliefs and your limiting beliefs. This is
it. What you see is where you are, <i>at
this moment</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Everything is how you
designed it: the way you look, your confidence or lack of confidence; the way
you interact with people or don’t interact; your good habits and your bad ones;
your current circumstances and your monetary status; the way you make your
money; the woman or man you choose. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Plus the challenges
you create for yourself, the drama that may exist in your life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">So the question is:
when you look in the mirror do you see yourself as a finished product or as
unfinished business? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">For some, it may be
hard to tell the difference, especially if you believe that life happens to you
instead of you happening to life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because if you ever
look out at the world and can see a reason why it hasn’t worked out for you,
you are a victim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you ever think life
has thrown you a few curve balls, you are a victim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you think you were
dealt a bad hand and have had nothing but bad luck, you are a victim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Until you understand
and accept that <i>you</i> created your life,
that <i>you</i> brought about every event
and episode in it and that <i>you </i>wrote
every chapter, <i>you </i>will remain a <i>victim</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But the best part is
that once you get it, once you accept that you are the creator and take
ownership, you can change it all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anything you really
want to change, you can. And I mean quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">I also don’t believe that
obesity, drug abuse, alcoholism or any other affliction we humans deal with is
necessary. Be careful of the word “addiction”. It is a dangerous word because
addiction implies no control. It is a kind of invitation to let go and allow
yourself to float down stream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But it is not a given.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is not absolutely
required even if your family may have a genetic disposition toward addiction.
That same genetic disposition appears in many people who choose not to allow
situations or circumstances that lead to food, alcohol or drug abuse into their
lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But on the other hand,
if you choose to allow addiction into your life, that is your choice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It could be that you
need to understand the full meaning and reality of some kind of abuse or
addiction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Maybe you will need to
do it for a month, a year or even 20 years. It doesn’t really matter. This is
your life, your path. You are here to learn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">But if you are ready
to turn a new page, then start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Take control.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Look in the mirror and
decide. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">If you are where you
want to be, more power to you, good on you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">If not, what is
missing? What is needed to become <i>who you
really are</i>? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">What is needed to
fulfill the promise and potential you know you have?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">First: Accept that you
create your life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Second: Forgive
yourself if you got off track. Turn the corner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Third: See who you
want to be. Get a picture of how you want it to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">And then start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/">www.stevengriggs.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-22071690361237180902013-06-26T13:40:00.000-07:002019-07-07T13:16:07.279-07:00What We Can Learn From Slomo<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">No Limits | The Freedom Blog</span>™<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What We Can Learn From Slomo</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>"The Zone is all that is pure subjectivity. The Zone is composed entirely of subjectivity. Subjectivity is the part of the human experience that exists as happening right now to one's self"</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Slomo</i></b></span><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"It goes without saying there was one Zone before Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity. Any disagreement among religions about the nature of the Zone is over some matter that stems from outside the zone and is simply irrelevant to the discussion"</span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Slomo</i></b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvYOZZi2nF_lWmEe-lGgdRmb5Lv3bCEP9WrZTLSHYw-xGyZm2EhisvZim9DBX3G3MHaOS-2UhPRkJcGYnr5q79u3Fwv4zOg2RvJ3oBIgnLZ3En1hXwyJWwFSYlPRDD8PB276PsBwJDsFB/s1600/Steven-Griggs-What-We-Can-Learn-from-Slomo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvYOZZi2nF_lWmEe-lGgdRmb5Lv3bCEP9WrZTLSHYw-xGyZm2EhisvZim9DBX3G3MHaOS-2UhPRkJcGYnr5q79u3Fwv4zOg2RvJ3oBIgnLZ3En1hXwyJWwFSYlPRDD8PB276PsBwJDsFB/s320/Steven-Griggs-What-We-Can-Learn-from-Slomo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Slomo lives in Pacific Beach in San Diego, "PB" if you have ever lived in San Diego. Slomo is a legend in PB. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I discovered him through a film I saw about him and his philosophy at the Palm Springs International Shortfest last week. Check him out online: <a href="http://www.iamslomo.com/">www.Iamslomo.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">He is an in-line skater and has a very unique style. He has perfected a very graceful glide. On one foot. And he does it for an extremely long time. When he does it he looks like he is in slow motion, hence the nick name"Slomo".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But Slomo is much more than a graceful, slow motion skater, he is a very spiritual man. He has discovered a way to stay, as he describes it "in the zone" while he skates and probably when he's not.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is man who has found his bliss. He left a very lucrative career as a doctor approximately 15 years ago. He left behind all his cars, Ferraris, a beautiful home on a hill. He had all the money and the perks. But it felt empty. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So empty that he left it all behind. He now lives in his studio apartment in PB and skates everyday. He exudes love and understanding. At first he wondered that maybe he had a mental problem, that maybe something was wrong with him. But he watched and observed himself and realized about a year later that this was real. He was ok and he was moving towards his bliss.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Slomo see the world as two zones. The Zone and the Non-Zone. The Non-Zone is the normal world , the Tick Tock world of objectivity. The world of the "Institutionalized man". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Who is the institutionalized man? We are. This is who we would describe ourselves as if we were asked to define ourselves. We are the product of our culture. According to Slomo we are extracted from the Zone at a young age and pushed into the institutional, structured world. Where we are regimented and trained to conform. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Slomo believes that if our lives were divided into three stages, it would look like this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">From early childhood to about the age of 10 our life is dominated by the "fundamental man". This is us at our most connected to the Zone. Many people living in the bush and in the countryside in third world countries are still very connected to the zone. The more industrialized and modernized our culture is, the more dominant the institutionalized man.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For the next 50-60 years we exist wholly as an institutionalized man. Deep in the belief system of the ego mind and the material world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Finally, toward the end of our lives we come back to our fundamental self, closer to the zone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What is the Zone? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Slomo says the "only inhabitant of the zone is the fundamental man. That this inhabitant is ancient, non-human and sexless. He has many names, not the least of which are "Christ"and the "Buddha". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Slomo has it right. We are living in an artificial world, a world where we have subsumed real meaning for "things" and for position and power. We have created a world in which we have separated ourselves from our true selves in an effort to become more special and unique, which is ironic because you already are special and unique....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I recommend that you check out Slomo. You don't have to buy into everything he is saying, that is <i>his</i> truth. But I'll bet you'll learn some little thing from him. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Just seeing someone in their bliss is amazing. Watch yourself to see your reaction. You may see the "training" we've all received in action as it rises up to "protect" you from these kinds of people. It may cause you to think for a second that he is crazy and weird.... but is he? Not really, he is just one of those people who live "outside" our safe, little world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I know most of us, probably 99.9%, could never step into the life Slomo has created but just seeing him and knowing that he has taken that step and is living it, is amazing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Check him out.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/60300145?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://vimeo.com/60300145">SLOMO Trailer</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/izenberg">Josh Izenberg</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/">www.stevengriggs.com</a><br />
<br />steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-83651938901640883452013-06-18T20:31:00.000-07:002013-11-01T10:48:29.521-07:00Are You Living In The Moment?<style>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-large;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits | The
Freedom Blog</span></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: right 446.0pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"></span></span></u><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #244061; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 128;">Are You Living In The Moment?</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: right 446.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: right 446.0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the
future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buddha</span></i></b><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">“I know that the purpose of life is to understand
and be in the present moment with the people you love. It's just that simple.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jane Seymour</span></i></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span></i></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">We’ve all been advised
by well meaning friends who tell us: “You must learn to be present “, “You have
to live in the present moment”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This is absolutely
correct and being reminded is a good thing but usually the person “advising”
us, while meaning well, probably has no real concept of what it actually means.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It sounds good and I’m
sure they mean well but if you are telling other people what to do or how they
should conduct their lives you are probably not really “living in the moment”
yourself. You are coming from a place that may be a bit tinged by ego.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Living in the present
is not easy, it is extremely difficult. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Our culture actually
leads us in the opposite direction. We find ourselves either day dreaming of
the future or reminiscing about the past.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">When I say reminiscing
I am being generous because usually when we look back it is not generally with
a warm, fuzzy feeling, it is more often than not tinged with a little regret or
</span><span style="background: white; color: #660066; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/05/woulda-coulda-shoulda.html">remorse</a></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. We are </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">mostly rehashing<span style="color: black;"> the past, not looking back with satisfaction and
acceptance.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">And daydreaming about
the future is a handy way for our ego mind to assuage itself and vicariously
taste the future without actually having to make the effort or take the action
needed to make it happen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Some may say they are
not daydreaming or reminiscing but that is not necessarily living in the
present. You may find that you are just cruising along on autopilot. Looking
out at the world from the safe, familiar rhythm of day-to-day routines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Living in the present
is not automatic. It takes practice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is the conscious,
and that is the key word, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">conscious </i>act
of being in touch with what is happening right now, at this very moment, and
keeping that feeling as long as you can. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinU26f8Bv0P0DCiKgQKkfDRiQh9HY_i_zu2nrEI7T9rfjuaLgyp9CbQ6zo12MqGggKGjqPOe6-4EiXQ4vqlId7RSE9jIDo3PnbMT-_v_XZDCgNKMUIP0nUdm9t2ajtzMs_FKJpnlSXL5ZA/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Are-You-Living-in-the-Moment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinU26f8Bv0P0DCiKgQKkfDRiQh9HY_i_zu2nrEI7T9rfjuaLgyp9CbQ6zo12MqGggKGjqPOe6-4EiXQ4vqlId7RSE9jIDo3PnbMT-_v_XZDCgNKMUIP0nUdm9t2ajtzMs_FKJpnlSXL5ZA/s1600/Steven-Griggs-Are-You-Living-in-the-Moment.jpg" height="320" width="197" /></a></div>
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is paying
attention. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Being here. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Right now.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is the focused
attention you put on your friend’s face as they are telling you about something
that happened to them or some important issue that they are dealing with. It is
listening with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i> your senses. It
means turning your phone off and putting it away.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It means <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really</i> hearing the words they are saying
and diving deeper into the emotions that lie underneath the words. It is not
waiting for them to stop so you can talk about yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is keeping your
mind from wandering off into parallel thoughts that rise up as you listen. It
is the ability to push those thoughts to the side and stay focused on your
friend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is paying attention
when you are walking down the street or hiking on a mountain path. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is feeling the wind
on your face, seeing the branches moving in the trees. It is noticing the
animal tracks in the dust, the ants moving through the pebbles on the trail or
in the cracks in the sidewalk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is hearing the
sounds of the birds in the trees or their calls in the distance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is feeling your
heart beating, feeling each breath enter and leave your lungs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is smelling the
scents on the wind, the smoke in the air, even the exhaust from a car.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is all this. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is the feeling,
hearing, seeing and smelling of life around you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">It is simply <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">being
aware</i></b>. </span></div>
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<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/">www.stevengriggs.com</a></span></u></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-34291600538726437172013-06-11T22:56:00.000-07:002013-06-12T11:48:57.192-07:00The Best Way To Change A Habit<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 8.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 28.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-themecolor: accent1; mso-themeshade: 128;">The Best Way To Change A Habit<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“It seems…. as though the second half
of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has accumulated during
the first half.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #101010; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fyodor Dostoevsky<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“The chains of
habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #181818; font-size: 12pt;"> </span>Samuel Johnson</span><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></i></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A habit is defined as a repetitive behavior
that has become automatic. We usually group them into good and bad habits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">We can all probably list some of our own bad
habits and probably even some good habits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yes, we have things we do habitually like our
morning routines; maybe an early workout, then a shower, shave, or you put on your
makeup, then coffee or tea, then getting to the office or workplace, then lunch.
On the weekend maybe a work-out (or sleep in), coffee, bike ride, NY Times on
Sunday…. . <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But I think these are really more like behaviors
or rhythms, comfortable routines that we create, than habits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because most of the “habits” we <i>think</i> we have, aren't really habits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">They are “Cognitive Scripts”. These are the
scripts of how we believe things should or will play out in a certain situation. It is
the template for a given situation based on our experiences from the past. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It allows us to comfortably exist in different
situations by giving us a script or story of how the situation <i>should </i>play out…
or at least how it is <i>supposed</i> to play
out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because sometimes things don’t seem to fit with
how we <i>think</i> they should fit. This is
called “Cognitive Dissonance”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">We do not like dissonance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">So in order to keep our “reality” consistent we
sometimes “alter” the conflicting conditions or reduce their importance in order
to bring our reality back into “balance”. We do this by <b><i>changing our belief</i> </b>about the conflicting condition or by denying
the existence of the conflicting condition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">An example: Let’s say you desire something that
is very expensive but after being unable to find the funds to purchase the item, you tell yourself that it wasn't really that great or you didn't really need it
and so you change your belief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Another example: You taste the grapes in the
fruit section of the market. You know it’s wrong but you tell yourself it’s OK because
you needed to taste the grapes to see if they were any good. You know it’s
really shoplifting but again you changed your belief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">So you can see that what we are saying to
ourselves, that is, what we decide to believe, right now becomes our script. We are writing out
the script of our life. We are deciding everything- who we now are, how
we are going to operate and what we now believe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are actually writing our own play or movie
and deciding what character we are going to play.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">So when it comes to old habits or really old
beliefs, what are you going to believe? What do you want to believe?And what beliefs are you going to
change to match your new script? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">You do know your script…..? Right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Is it the correct script? The one for the
character you <i>really</i> want to play? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not the <i>old</i> character but the <i>new</i> character, the one that reflects the
real you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Not the one with all the same old “habits” and
routines but the new improved model, the one from the <i><b>new script</b></i>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Habits and routines are OK as long as you
remain aware of them and don’t let them define you. To keep them in check, every once in a while go
off the reservation, do everything differently.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Change your pattern.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Don’t lose yourself in a haze of familiarity
and routine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Change it up and keep refining your script.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ePvtvZs3iDJGqTLMWJbpARNQHUYR1Lfaw5VLkeDhRM7Etnm63MEwkoQ97phz_BVFdajJe_ERehyphenhyphenKR6jY0qlWSp2Eye_RfQzpNd5oIYzxKZ2rBntR2YOMJVJACYgufPWSP2K92fIRTv9d/s1600/Dont-lose-yourself-in-a-haze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Change your pattern. Don't lose yourself in a haze of familiarity and routine." border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ePvtvZs3iDJGqTLMWJbpARNQHUYR1Lfaw5VLkeDhRM7Etnm63MEwkoQ97phz_BVFdajJe_ERehyphenhyphenKR6jY0qlWSp2Eye_RfQzpNd5oIYzxKZ2rBntR2YOMJVJACYgufPWSP2K92fIRTv9d/s1600/Dont-lose-yourself-in-a-haze.jpg" title="Rewrite your internal script and change your habits." /></a></div>
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<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/">www.stevengriggs.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1333917161873676967.post-44166992389733314062013-06-04T23:24:00.000-07:002019-07-07T13:26:11.970-07:00You Don't Need A Plan "B"<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 166;">No Limits |
The Freedom Blog</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">™</span></b><b><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #244061; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">You Don’t Need A Plan “B”</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10pt;">Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we
lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of
planning.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gloria Steinem<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Life is what happens while we’re making other
plans.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">John Lennon<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Personally
I have a hard time with plans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How
many times have you made a plan, thought it out very carefully, made a “to do” list
or punch list, only to have the thought crop up: “What if it doesn't work? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
immediate answer is usually: “We go to plan ‘B”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Plan
“B”? Really? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Doesn't having a plan </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">B” mean that Plan “A” is questionable? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Aren't you already admitting that there is a huge problem with plan “A”? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">At
the very least it shows that you don’t really believe in the plan. And if you
don’t really believe in it, isn't that really the same thing as not having a plan?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m
not saying every plan is bad. But by having a plan you are trying to control the
outcome. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">You might say but that’s the point! You <i>want</i> to control the outcome!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
need a battle plan to execute your strategy! Everyone knows that you need a
battle plan!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Except
for one thing: Battle plans change immediately.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As Colin Powell said “No
battle plan survives contact with the enemy”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But how do you accomplish
anything without a plan? You need a business plan, a business strategy in order
to understand the steps, in order to know what to do at the right time, right? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Step one leads to step two
and so forth, right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">But that’s not what
really happens. Step 1 takes longer to accomplish so you jump to Step 2, but
step 2 is really not complete without step 1 so you jump to 3, but then step 3……
. The dominoes never fall in lockstep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Plus, I believe business
plans are too slow. They are actually dangerous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Anytime you have a
business plan you create a framework based on steps. Like I said above, the
steps may not all be quickly or easily accomplished, there will be hiccups. It also
becomes a bit mechanical, checking off your progress, building the business
step by step. You lose focus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Business today moves too
fast to have a written, methodical plan. Things just change too quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I also think there can
be a tendency to lose your focus. The steps show progress and become important,
too important. You become wedded to and in some ways locked in to the steps of
the business plan and take your focus off the real goal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Oh, by the way, what is
the goal? Are the steps or the framework the goal?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That is the crucial thing.
Are you really clear about your ultimate goal? Do you have a clear <a href="http://blog.stevengriggs.com/2013/05/the-power-of-intention-be-clear-about.html">intention</a><span style="color: #7030a0;"> </span>about what you are working to
accomplish? What you are going to achieve?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That
is the key, having a clear intention, an emotionally charged connection with
your goal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Once
you do, you won’t have time for a business plan you will be too busy making it
happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
won’t need a list because everything will start happening too fast to write it
down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
will be light on your feet, sensing the changes, adapting and modifying on the
run.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You
can’t plan that!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
set your intention. Connect with it on an emotional level. See the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
Who, What, Where and How will show up on time. You will know what needs to be
done when the time comes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Once
you <i>really</i> connect with the object of
your intention, you won’t ever need a Plan “B” or even a Plan “A”.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
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<u><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.stevengriggs.com/">www.stevengriggs.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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steven griggshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04005588069787458574noreply@blogger.com