Who Are You?

Do you really know who you are? I'm asking because so few of us know the answer. Because of this misunderstanding (or lack of understanding) of ourselves, many wander through life aimlessly, thinking only about what they have to do to, forgetting what they should be doing, and ignoring their true nature in the process. Our true essence is significantly different to how we may perceive ourselves, or how others perceive us. But once we begin to understand our true nature, life just becomes a whole lot better.

So who are we, anyway? We're obviously human beings. But what are human beings? Without getting into any religious or philosophical complexities, we know as a scientific fact that there are composed of two main components: Mind and matter. In fact, it's not only us, but the universe as a whole that's made up of these two primary elements. Let's take a closer look at these elements and see how they relate to our true nature.

Beginning with the element we're all quite familiar with, matter is the physical aspect of things. It's what you can see and touch. In us humans, it's our physical body, made up of many different components such as bone, muscle, skin - all in the category of matter. Some people identify themselves solely by this element. Doing so is a huge error and misconception when you understand the other, more important factor that determines who we are.

Mind, spirit, essence, soul - call it whatever feels right for you. They're all just different ways of describing the same thing. When I say mind, I don't mean brain. Your brain, being a physical entity, still comes under the classification of matter. The brain may be a medium for mind, but in and of itself it is not mind.

Mind is the intangible aspect of ourselves and everything around us. Moreover, it is the driving force behind all things material, constantly shaping and molding the material. Even so, mind has no effect until it is directed towards the material, since it is a potential power or energy, like a battery. A battery has no effect until you put it into a device - a radio, for example - which gives the battery a way and place of expressing its power. Mind works with matter in a similar way.

Those of us who have understood this vital principle of life are forever change. We gain the insight and ability to see beyond the surface, beyond the problems of life, beyond any complications and troubles that face us, understanding the true source of power, making use of the vast resources of spirit to improve any and all situations.

I want you to remember that the material is only an effect, an expression of the spiritual. It has no reality in itself. When you comprehend this principle, you'll begin to see life differently. Anything becomes possible. The biggest obstacles dissolve like instant coffee in water.

Which reminds me, I'm overdue for a cappuccino :)

Thinking vs. Correct Thinking

I'm sure we all know the power of thought. It's been the talk of the day for the past few years. Countless books, movies and tapes have been published on the importance that your thoughts have on your circumstances and situations.

But sometimes we can get a bit carried away. I myself used to put so much emphasis on thought, only to find out a more important discovery.

There is no doubt that thoughts influence our circumstances. They have a chain-reaction effect. Thoughts influcence the decisions we make, decisions influence the actions we take, and actions influence the circumstances around us. This is why thoughts make us who we are.

But it's necessary to differentiate between the different modes or types of thought. Of course, there are positive and negative thoughts. But regardless, we need to know the correct method of directing our thoughts if we want to see a tangible change in our lives.

Let me give you an example. Let's say you want more money. You're stuck in a dead-end job and decide to use the power of thoughts - the Law of Attraction - to change that.

So you start thinking about money. You visualize checks coming into the mail, you think about going to the bank and withdrawing huge sums of money, etc. Whenever you get any spare time, you use it to think about money, believing that you will eventually get it.

But if we were to analyze this method a little deeper, we would find that there is something missing.

Let's think about the nature of money - what is it? Okay, I know the obvious answer is paper with pictures and numbers on it. But what I mean is: what causes people to become wealthy? Why is it that some people have more money than others?

Winning the lottery, gambling and inheritance aside, what is the only reason people earn money? If we look deeply and clearly enough, I'm sure we can all agree that it's valuable service.

Why does the C.E.O of Coca-Cola, for example, make more money than the person working as a store clerk selling the same product? Because the value of the C.E.O's service is much greater in quality and quantity than that of the store clerk. You can use the principle of this example and apply it to any situation. You'll discover that the rule of value and service always applies.

Here's where the importance of correct thinking comes into play. It's not enough to simply think about the things you desire. Make no mistake, it's a lot better to think about your goals than your problems, but if you really want to see results in your life, there's no escape from correct and constructive thinking.

Correct or constructive thining is nothing more than identifying causes and effects. Before you leave this site, I want to to think about your desires and goals (the effects) and then identify their causes. Once you have clearly identified these causes, you can rest assured that the attainment of your goals is already half-completed. The other half is simply a matter of you taking action to implement the causes.

There's only one natural reaction to a cause: effect.

Have You Found Your Purpose In Life?

The purpose (or meaning) of life is a question that has intrigued mankind throughout the ages. Many have proposed theories in an attempt to answer this ever mysterious question. Yet mankind as a whole has never been able to agree upon any particular answer. That's because there is no 'one size fits all' aspect to life.

We as human beings all share the same basic qualities physically, mentally and spiritually. But at the same time, we are all extremely unique and different from one another in the way we utilize these common qualities.

It is because of this uniqueness and individuality of human beings that there can never be such a thing as 'The Meaning of Life'.

That is, of course, until we manage to somehow clone an entire race out of one individual. Which will never happen (hopefully).

What I'm getting at is we all need to find our own reason to wake up in the morning. For many of us, it's our day job that does the trick. And some strong coffee.

But if you were to look deeper, and really get in touch with your true essence - who you are - you'll come to a realization that your life on this planet is (or at least should be) much more meaningful that a mere eight-hour-a-day job. But you might be one of the lucky ones who completely devour their job and do what they love every single day. You may be one of the few that have found their purpose in life.

But for the rest of us, some searching needs to be done. Within our souls is a yearning 'to be' and 'to do'. Most of us, most of the time, ignore this inspiration from within. There's just so much going through our heads the whole time we're awake (and probably while asleep too) that just completely drowns out the voice of our true calling in life. So how do we bring ourselves to hear that voice again?

One thing I've learned to value over the years is setting aside time to be alone. An hour or even a few minutes - whatever works best for you - that will allow you to clear your mind of all that clutter from work, your friends, television, and everything else that's constantly trying to get as many thoughts as possible into your mind.

This time allows you to contemplate the troublesome and problematic aspects of your life. It gives you an opportunity to arrange and organize - sometimes even dispose of - all the miscellaneous thoughts and emotions that are occupying your mind.

Once you've sorted out your thoughts and emotions, you are left in a state that is more conductive towards clear thinking. Clarity of thought is what enables us to not only sort out our problems, but also to find out what we're really supposed to be doing with ourselves. It allows us to find real solutions.

The next time you find yourself coming home at the end of a long day, with your head full of frustrating thoughts and emotions, just take some time out to clear your mind. You might need to take half an hour or more. If ten minutes does it for you, then that's great. It's not important how long you work through it. What counts is how you feel by the end.

And hopefully by the end you'll discover your purpose.

I Know "What" But Not "How"!

You can see the picture of your ideal life very clearly. You spend a lot of time writing down your goals, visualising, affirming, meditating... but you feel as if something is missing. Things don't seem to add up. Why? Because you find it difficult to accept that you can manifest something without knowing how you will do it. And until you find the answer to the 'how' aspect, you don't fully believe that mere visualization and thought will bring about any amazing results.

This is what happens when you rely on logic alone to try and understand how the Law of Attraction works. Because in many ways, this law doensn't make a whole lot of sense logically. But does that mean it doesn't make sense, period?

Of course not. Logic is one asset we have that aids us in many ways. But it isn't our only asset. We as human beings have in our possession a wide range of tools and abilities that enable us to make truly spectacular achievements. But that's only the case when we open up, understand and develop these abilities that we all have.

Intuition is an asset that we all have, yet few of us understand, appreciate and develop this powerful tool. Many of us limit ourselves to a mere logical understanding of things, which again limtits us to a mere logical way of dealing with and manifesting things.

But when we start to acknowledge the more spiritual qualities that we have, we open up the door to endless possibilities. Intuition a spiritual quality that has enormous potential in helping us to comprehend and deal with situations. It does this in ways that logic alone cannot. It works on a whole different level - from a higher plane - which makes it a source of higher levels of knowledge, and more efficient ways of applying that knowledge.

So, if you're still struggling with working out how you're ever going to get from where you are to where you want to be, remember that you have in your possession countless tools and resources that you may not even be aware of. It is the hidden, spiritual nature of yourself that will enable you to attain whatever it is that you want. There's only one thing you have to do to let that part of you work in your favour - appreciate and develop it!

Have You DECIDED Yet?

Okay, now that we know we deserve to have the life we want - and we know that no matter how bad our current circumstances are, we can change them - it's time to get to the next step. This step is all about making a decision that we are going to change our lives. This is crucial. No matter how desparately you long for a different reality, nothing will ever change until you decide that you want it to change. I know this sounds quite obvious, but stop for a moment and ask yourself:

*Have I really made a clear-cut decision to have a new life... or do I just hope things will change?
*Have I decided exactly what I want my life to be like... or do I just have a vague feeling that things ought to change?
*Have I decided and planned a method of getting to where I want... or do I just hope things will happen by themselves

These are three crucial questions you need to ask yourself in order to determine whether you really have made that all-important decision or not. If you can answer 'Yes! I've done that!' to all three questions, then you know that you are heading in the right direction - and the manifestation of your ideal life is only a matter of time.
But if your answer was 'Well, not really, I mean maybe, but you know...' then that's a sign that you haven't yet made that decision to well and truly change your life. If that's the case, then you need to work on finding out what it is that you really want in your life. It's not enough to simply say 'I hate my life the way it is, I want out!' If you really want to see yourself living a better life, you have to be more specific. The fact that you know what you don't want (your currrent situation) is a good starting point. This is where transformation begins. But to take it to the next level, you need to know the opposite - what you do want. By knowing both, you are putting the wheels of transformation into action - so that it will manifest in reality.

Some people struggle with this. They can very easily pinpoint and write a list of all the things in their life that annoy, frustrate, worry, trouble and bother them. But for some reason, they find it difficult to write down exactly how they want their life to be. Why is that so?
The answer is usually because they don't know what they want. They haven't envisioned the reality they would like to have. This is perhaps the biggest setback anyone could have. If you don't know what you want, how do you expect to get it? If you don't know what to buy when you go shopping - if you haven't written a list - then you can't expect to buy the things you want. Instead, you'll end up buying all sorts of products - some useful, some useless. It's the same with your life. You'll end up attracting a mixture of random situations and circumstances because you haven't defined or decided what you want.

Don't wait for life to throw its blessings at you. Don't just sit there, hoping and wishing for a better life. Life won't randomly come knocking at your door to present you with its bounties. That's not the way the Universe works!

It's time for you to make that critical decision and plan in detail exactly what you want your life to be! And the great thing is when you do, things just start happening! That's right - once you make that decision, everything starts to work in your favour to make your work that much easier. Life no longer becomes an uphill battle. It starts becoming more like walking on an even surface. Then eventually - when your dreams start to take form and appear one by one - life becomes like a downhill silde: almost effortless.

So - are you ready?! Go on and make a decision! You'll be glad you did.