How are you going to be up to the not-too-onerous task of getting the very best out of life if you are mentally unfit? Unfortunately, many years of research confirms that the normal mind is not just unfit for effortless living, it has been living on a diet of clapped-out old movies (from your childhood) all of your adult life. It's the ultimate couch potato. And, if, for all of your adult life, you had sat like a lazy slob on a couch, would you really expect to be able to spring from your couch, put on your trainers and go out for even a light jog? You'd kill yourself in the process - and, sadly, that is what normal people are doing - dying to be a success!
However, life is not a light jog - life is more akin to a marathon and, if you don't take the appropriate regular exercise, you will simply not be able to stay the course. The amazing things is, though, if you do bother to take even a little mental exercise, you will suddenly realize that life is not, in fact, a marathon at all - it's only our unfit normal crazy mind that makes it so. In the right state of mind, life is a gentle, enjoyable and effortless stroll in the park. Have you ever experienced the peace and calm of that stroll? Is carefree and effortless living something that you have experienced? If you haven't, it's because you're an unfit mental slob and it's your own fault.
How do you change all that? Does it require massive effort or discipline? Not at all - all that is required is just a little commitment on your part. Believe it or not, it only takes a few minutes each morning to get your head in the right place - perhaps a little longer for a start if you want to give yourself the solid foundation from which you can springboard to effortless living. And ten minutes each morning will change the other twenty three hours and fifty minutes - you simply won't recognise your life.
What exercise am I talking about? Nothing could be simpler - you've just got to re-develop your innate ability to pay attention to reality. At present, as I've already said, your subconscious mind is stuck in a rut. It's obsessed with your past and it uses what it learned during your formative years to make sense of today. The results? Pick up the newspapers, see how so many normal people behave so badly - from domestic violence to wars, from petty theft to the barefaced greed that has all but dismantled the economies of many of the world's so-called developed countries. Look at your own life. Your subconscious mind's efforts to make sense of today lead to anxiety, stress, worry, ill-health, dissatisfaction - the list, in fact, is endless. Letting your subconscious mind run on auto-pilot is making nonsense of your life - you've got to come to your senses.
Research strongly suggests that our ability to be happy, focused, effective and successful is correlated to our ability to pay attention to the here and now. If we leave the running of our lives to our subconscious mind, we end up paying no attention to the here and now and the results are, at best, not-too-bad, at worst, disastrous. I've already said it but bears repeating - you've got to re-train yourself in the simple but powerful art of paying attention. I say 're-train' because, as children, we were experts at it.
What do you need to pay attention to? Not your goals, not the outcomes that you want to achieve - you need to pay attention to the here and now. Nothing else. It is in the here and now that life is lived. Today's actions create tomorrow's 'reality'. What you do today determines whether you succeed or fail. And, at present, your normal mind is pretty much doing nothing other than going through the motions of living. Rather than reacting automatically to what your subconscious mind thinks is going on, you need to take real action in your life. You've got to start taking action for yourself - nobody else will do it for you.
How can you re-learn your innate ability to pay attention? Meditate. Meditation disciplines an otherwise undisciplined mind. Meditation enables you pay attention to what your five senses are telling you. Meditation breaks the link between reality and what your subconscious mind makes up in place of reality. Only meditation can fully clear your mind - and armed with a clear mind you can and will change your life effortlessly. Meditation is the prerequisite to effortless, happy and successful living.
Copyright (c) 2010 Willie Horton
About The Author
Willie Horton is author of 'To Succeed Just Let Go' and founder of Gurdy.Net - the Personal Development Website. Since 1996 he has been helping his many clients change their lives and achieve happiness and success. Clients include top executives in organizations like Pfizer, Deloitte, G4S, Allergan, Diageo and Nestle. Willie lives in the French Alps, with his wife and children, from where he travels the world as a speaker and consultant.
The author invites you to visit: http://www.gurdy.net
Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/self_improvement_and_motivation/article_8948.shtml
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