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Ten Steps to an Easy Life

Beliefs, Changing Habits, Happiness, Life Purpose, Personal Development, Spiritual, Tools 10 Responses »

Jul 022006

What does it mean to you to live an easy life? Do you envision a life on the beach or around a pool, surrounded by everything you need for relaxation and entertainment? I’m talking about something else. To me, an Easy Life means a life that is easy to live, a life without struggle or hardship. A life that flows naturally through its cycles, including pain as well as joy, perspiration along with relaxation, and death as well as birth.

The Easy Life requires energy expenditures, often very large and challenging energy expenditures. The Easy Life is not a life without effort and perspiration. You know what I mean; you’ve worked very hard at times without feeling stress or struggle. Perhaps you experienced this in sports competitions, or in exercising, or in a very challenging project requiring long hours of labor. These efforts, though challenging, were also easy, in that they felt a natural part of your life.

Life can be easy and each of us can live a life that feels easy. Even when life brings us difficulty. The ten steps I list below are my view of the steps to a life without struggle: the Easy Life. Only the first is in priority order–without it, none

of the other steps will have the desired impact. I’ll amplify each of the ten steps in future articles. For now, briefly stated, here are my Ten Steps to an Easy Life.

1. Know that an Easy Life, a life without struggle, is not only possible, but is natural. If you do not intuitively know this to be true, or know that an Easy Life is within your grasp, your life will, indeed, be a struggle. This is a fundamental sponsoring thought–life is either easy or difficult–you choose it and then you get it.

2. Understand yourself–recognize your calling in life and live it in all possible ways. Do what you love and love what you do.

3. Spend less than you earn–live within your ability to earn while honoring your calling in life.

4. Feel your fundamental connection to all people, all living things, the earth, and the Universe. You are not alone–never have been, never will be.

5. Judge nothing–no event, no circumstance of life, and no other person–regardless of how foreign the observation may be to you. Know that every being is being who they must be at this time–and doing their very best at it.

6. Live with intentions, but embrace and honor what shows up. Know that each event, each circumstance, and each person appearing in your life is a gift to you–receive it
graciously. Know that the value of each gift depends on how you choose to accept and utilize it.

7. Love fully and unconditionally. Unconditionally love all beings–including your self–all living things, all animate
and inanimate objects. Love simply because love is the essence of life, the source of life’s joy, and because you choose to love.

8. Know there is enough of all of our precious resources for everyone–enough money, food, land, and love. Give generously of your treasures and your special skills.

Compete with another only when both parties agree that a competition will be great fun–never compete under other circumstances.

9. Live in the present moment. Learn from past behaviors, but harbor no guilt, regret, or resentment. Anticipate the future for the adventure it will surely bring. But live
now–for now is all you really have.

10. Know that the joy you seek is already with you–deep within you, not outside of you where you’ve been seeking it. Joy will manifest itself in your relationships, but the source of joy is within you. Regularly achieve a quiet mind
through meditation and meet a wonderful soul–you.

Being or Doing?

Life Purpose No Responses »

May 312006

We all want a life that fulfills–a life of joy and meaning. The quest for a meaningful, joyous, fulfilling life begins with purpose. Most of us get this backwards, spending the majority of our lives doing things and the latter years seeking the purpose behind our doing-ness.

In my Life Purpose coaching practice I find myself returning time and time again to the distinctions between being and doing. Most people search for purpose in doing-ness, but purpose is more about being than doing.

Joy and fulfillment feelings come from who we are being; we experience who we are being in the things we do. So being comes first. Consciously choosing who we are being allows us to select doing-things that align with purpose.

Being is a state of existence. We are always in some state of existence; My state of existence just now bounces between reflecting and creating. I reflect on my ideas and I create word pictures to express my ideas. As I write this I probably pass through dozens of states of existence, including frustration as I work to clearly express my point.

Any adult who attended public or private education has experienced clear examples of the distinction between being and doing. Think about teachers you had who inspired you to learn; these were the teachers whose classes were enjoyable, interesting, and in which the time passed quickly. You probably had a small number of these teachers.

Now think about other teachers, those whose classes were boring, dull, and a waste of time. Their classes seemed to go on forever and you probably filled the class time with doodles and thoughts of other things. You likely had a larger number of these teachers.

The former teachers, those you enjoyed, were being teachers. Teaching was a passion and they put everything they had into their teaching. First they were being teaching, then they did teaching. You could feel their joy and fulfillment.

The latter teachers were simply doing teaching. They weren’t passionate, energetic, or completely involved. They were just doing the thing called teaching. You could feel their lack of joy and fulfillment. Sadly, these teachers were not doing things that aligned with purpose. Their students suffered right along with them.

To get a better feel for this distinction and to sharpen your own awareness, watch other people closely. Watch two people having a discussion; are they being inquisitive, argumentative, considerate, helpful, supportive, … get the idea? Now turn that awareness inside; who are you being in your next discussion? In your next decision? In your next mini-crisis at work?
When you consciously choose your states of being in situations and when these states align you with purpose, life becomes much, much easier.

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Weekly articles on Personal Development

Jerry

I Am My Beliefs

Beliefs, Life Purpose, Tools No Responses »

Apr 262006

Purposeful Growth implies personal growth on purpose. Not only with purpose but on purpose; on a foundation of life purpose. Life purpose is not only the foundation for effective personal growth, it is the path and target, too.

Sometimes, when we despair at not knowing life purpose, an effective way to clear the fog is to examine beliefs. Beliefs are those stored ideas about who we are, what life is all about, what is good, what is right, what is bad, and what is wrong. We all have beliefs such as these, though they are so ingrained in whom we are that we seldom recognize we have them.

Beliefs not only help me define who I am, they also define who I allow myself to be. I’ve been writing for several years, but until I declared myself a writer–out loud as well as in writing–I was stuck in early stages of what I would write about, where I would publish, and who I would allow to read my work.

For example, I would tell people that “I write articles,” which is what I was doing, but not who I was being. Now I say “I’m an author and freelance writer.” This subtle difference now allows me to grow purposefully as a writer; that’s who I am (though that’s not all I am).

You’ll be able to identify your limiting beliefs about your profession, or other aspects of your life, by examining how you finish this sentence:

I am…

What you say about yourself is who you are. It is also who you allow yourself to become. To support your growth toward the best that you can be requires beliefs that support you at that level.

Being a writer puts me in the same profession as the very best writers in the world; even though I don’t display that level of performance (yet), I have the headroom to get there. Nothing about the belief that I’m a writer limits my growth as a writer.

Go ahead and finish the “I am” sentence and reflect upon who you say you are (or are not). Reflect upon the inherent support or limitation this belief holds for you.

Now, you might be saying, “Yes, but if it’s true that I’m not very good at something then saying I am good at it won’t change anything. It will be a lie.” The irony of this is that if I believe it then it is true for me. And then I won’t permit myself to take the steps that would allow me to improve to my potential. After all, why take a writing class if I’m not a writer?

What I must do is change my belief to something that gives me room to improve and is believable to me. If I can’t believe I am a world-class writer, perhaps I can believe I am a writer with much more potential than I now show.

This belief gives me room to grow and supports my continuing growth on purpose. What beliefs are holding you back?

Jerry

Personal Development

Beliefs, Life Purpose, Success, Tools No Responses »

Apr 192006

Personal Development: My April 19th article, Secrets of Success at Suite101.com describes the components of personal development behind one successful man, a regular Joe.

Restrictions of my contract with Suite101.com prohibit me from reproducing the article here, but follow this link to see how one regular, everyday person has grown into a successful life.

For information on how you can discover your true purpose in life, visit my web site.
Jerry

Meditation Variations

Life Balance, Life Purpose, Peacefulness, Tools 1 Response »

Apr 062006

Spring is a time of renewal. Nature moves into a growth mode after Winter’s period of rest, with the greening of grass, blooming of flowers, and leafing of trees. Animals find their mates and prepare nests for their young.

Spring is a good time for humans to move into a growth mode, too. Listen to your inner calling; where is it nudging you? Spiritual growth? Improved relationship? Getting organized? Professional growth? Maybe you can’t hear an inner calling, and you’re thinking there’s no message emanating from within, but there is; there always is.

If you unsuccessfully tried the basic meditation in the March 12th Purposeful Growth Newsletter, don’t give up. Meditation can be a very personal preference, so try some of the following variations and see the next article for another easy way to clarify the nudge of purposeful growth.

Walk. Leave your iPod and cell phone at home and walk. As you walk, focus on one object: a cloud, a tree, a house, any object that catches your attention. Focus on it and study it intently, mentally describing everything that you can discern about it: color, size, texture, shape. If possible, stop and study it taking in every little detail. Then move on to the next object that catches your attention and do the same. This trains your mind to focus intently and deeply. Before long you may find nuggets of inner wisdom popping up as your mind becomes simultaneously focused and quiet. This is a meditation.

Guided Meditation. There are many guided meditation tapes and CD’s available. Listen in a quiet place, as a gentle voice takes you on a journey of imagery and imagination. As your mind focuses on the narration, you may find the small voice of inner wisdom coming through. This, too, is a meditation. See the sidebar for some recommendations.

Get Your Hands Dirty. Work in a garden, trim and weed, and pamper your plants. Any routine activity using your hands, such as gardening, knitting, woodworking, or playing an instrument can help you get into a state of quiet, focused mind; the characteristics of meditation.
With any meditation, be aware of nuggets of wisdom, nudges of interest, and pearls of insight that come to you. This is the small, but very wise inner voice that will guide you on your journey of purposeful growth.

Having trouble hearing your inner voice? The Pillars of a Balanced Life assessment may give you some insights that will help you see your life and purpose more clearly. I think you’ll enjoy the experience. Request your free copy here.

Purpose and Meditation

Life Purpose, Personal Development, Tools No Responses »

Mar 262006

My second article is now available at Suite101, Purpose and Meditation describes a basic meditation useful for helping you focus internally and discover your true purpose in life.

I hope you’ll visit and join in on the discussion.

Jerry Lopper
Suite101Personal Development Writer
Jump to an Easier Life!