Optimum Awareness

If you think about all the negative headlines we read or hear about in the news it’ no wonder many people can get discouraged. Can you imagine if animals were able to produce and read their own newspapers!

Let’s look at an imaginary scenario. First let’s imagine that animals start off by reading about what is happening to other animals in their village and, slowly over time, they obtain have global coverage, like we humans have, so that they can read about all of the animals in the rest of the word. Imagine for another second that animals thought about things the same way as humans. In other words, they start hearing about the bad things that are happening to animals, ex, the animal that was killed while trying to cross the street, or the animals that are being killed by humans for food, etc. Over time many of the animals get depressed and start withdrawing from their usual routine. This wouldn’t work well for the animal kingdom would it? It would fall apart. Yet this is precisely how many humans feel after reading much of the bad news that is out there.

What can we do about it?

Let me provide a couple of tips.

Don’t constantly bombard yourself with news. It’s certainly reasonable to stay informed but don’t inundate yourself. Take a break from the news every couple of days. Don’t worry: the world won’t come to an end.

When you read about a news headline that upsets you or instills fear, try to analyze and see the larger message. Is their anything you can learn from this news story? Is there a healthier way of interpreting this news story or putting in the proper perspective?

Complete a web search on the opposite of what you just read. In other words, if you have read about someone who has been killed, read about someone whose life has been spared or saved. It’s important for you to have a balanced perspective. Only certain items are put into the news. Bad news usually attracts more viewers than good news. So by watching the news you are bound to get more of the bad news many times - or at best the news that deemed important by the people in networks who decide what’s important. What do you think they’ll decide is more important? You should be able to come up with free information about wonderful stories in the news that can make you feel better. A good place to start would be the Good News Network and browse by category – you can even do a search within the network! Here is the URL:

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org

I came across this headline today while checking the health news headlines. I like to keep abreast of the latest developments. It’s quite an alarming finding that was talked about by the website WebMD. The study was said to have followed 1000 patients with head and neck cancer and when they controlled for all variables found that positive outlook had no bearing on improved lifespan. Anyone who has been following my blog probably knows this isn’t the type of specific topic I usually discuss. I felt it to be of utmost importance to address a couple of points, considering how deflating this could be to anyone diagnosed with a serious illness or anyone who knows someone diagnosed with cancer, or really anyone in general.

Here are some points to ponder:

If the same study showed that 1000 patients were able to extend their lifespan with a positive attitude would it have been considered as influential and definite by as many? I think not.

Usually when a comprehensive study is done the implications are restricted to the findings. In other words, technically this study might have indicated there is not benefit from a positive attitude on head and neck cancer but this study did not test the influence of a positive attitude on other diseases. I’m just saying that usually people are cautious when interpreting findings, but, for instance one expert commented that “The idea that we can control illness and death with our minds appeals to our deepest yearnings, but it just isn’t so.” Again if a comprehensive study showed favourable findings with respect to cancer survival rates and people started saying it meant that the mind can help the body, I’m sure many experts would articulately comment that the study only looked at head and neck cancer and we cannot discuss the affect of attitude on other illnesses. Yet when people make sweeping statements like the above no one corrects them.

Anyone who has studied mind and body interactions knows that it takes more than a positive outlook to influence health. What good is a positive outlook if you don’t really believe it (at a deep level) How does this study control for that? In other words there are many people that consider themselves to have a positive demeanor, but deep down many may have doubts about the efficacy of a positive attitude on their health. Are they going to be able to account for this in the study?

Have you known people who lead such healthy life styles and appear to have such a positive outlook but yet get very sick? Just because one does everything that it considered “healthy” doesn’t mean they are really positive – at a deep level that is. For instance I’ve known many people who exercise, eat healthy and appear to have a positive attitude and some of them get sick while others, who don’t appear to lead what’s considered a healthy lifestyle, don’t get sick. Many of the so called healthy people are not that healthy underneath because many might be so rigid in their approach that they are stressed at a deep level.

There is certainly nothing wrong with leading a healthy lifestyle – of course – actually I highly recommend doing so, but if we ignore the basic level of our inner emotions we are not truly healthy.

I do believe that if we can look at this study with the right interpretation it can lead us in the right direction.

What can we learn from this?

I have been personally researching the mind body interaction for many years, surveying many of the leading thinkers in the field. I have come to my own opinion after reviewing an abundance of information available on this topic.

In order to be truly healthy it takes more than a positive attitude, rather it takes a positive outlook at the very basic level of our being as humans. Simply put, we need to really be happy. That is the most important. Many of you have heard the word vibration. Vibration acknowledges the fact that everything in the universe is made up of energy, which vibrates. When we are in a healthy state we are in a healthy vibration and the opposite is true when we are in a negative vibration. When we are truly at a level of healthy vibration, we not only have a positive outlook, but we can be positive at the core. It is my assertion that maintaining this true level of vibration allows us to be truly healthy and can certainly influence our health for the better.

Closing comments

I am not attempting to discount the physical either. If one has an illness I don’t think there is any harm in getting help from traditional medicine. This is really a topic for another day but suffice to say that I think one has to acknowledge the physical and the spiritual side of things. If we think of being truly healthy at our core, would we not welcome the help of traditional medicine? We would be open to helping ourselves.

On one last note, the study mentions that people often blame themselves for not having a positive attitude when they become sick. This might be true, but I think I’ve gotten my point across that it is most important to have a healthy vibration than merely have a positive attitude. I do agree that people should not blame themselves when they become sick. Rather they should become as proactive as they can to address the points I’ve mentioned and welcome all the help they can receive. It’s not about being right; it’s about being truly healthy.

I came across some James Bond memorabilia the other day and it made me think of something. Many of you who have watched and seen many of the James Bond films realize that the character of James Bond has been played by different actors over the years. There have been different directors, writers and producers. Some people are bothered by this and some are not.

Isn’t this like our life? Our life, really, is full of change. Life is an evolutionary process of change. People who really come to understand this are not constantly distressed by change but learn to embrace it. If we can learn to focus on our passion, not fight change, we can really enjoy life and have the life that we desire.

To Ivan Darrach (Idee) and Anna Darrach (nanny)

A man who was like a grandfather to me.

A woman who was like a grandmother to me.

He took me boating.

We used to watch TV together.

In the winter he would keep his driveway so clear: clear of snow and even making sure all of the ice was scraped away.

We used to spend a lot of time together. I remember sitting in their front porch on a Saturday evening, watching people go buy, reading tabloids for a laugh and having a good gossip. I remember Sunday morning was the day they used to sleep in. They would have bacon and eggs and coffee in the morning. I still remember the lovely smell and the memories.

He brought me apple juice when I was sick.

He used to give me treats such as sweet little candies and orange tang.

He used to walk the halls with my mother when I was sick in the hospital.

We used to watch the elections together. He allowed me to learn about politics. Learning politics allowed me to stand up for what I believed in, to have convictions.

They used to take care of me when my parents went away: making my meals and driving me to and from school.

He attended my piano recitals and other school functions.

Forever sending me presents for my birthday and at Christmas time.

He served as a role model for many things such as:

Cleanliness

Organization

Standing up for what you believe in

Boosting my self-confidence

And most importantly: being a good person

I could go on but I think I’ve captured many things.

We all need people like Idee and Nanny in our lives. We also need to be like them so other people can be affected for the better and the world can be a better place.

We all have our interests and passions. The best thing we can do is to harness our passion and help the world become a better place.

Many of you have probably heard about the latest custody battle between Britney and ex husband Kevin Federline. If not, congratulations! Seriously.

Why do so many of us are obsess over celebrities rather than taking control of our own lives?

If we directed more attention to our own lives then we could make them interesting. We could see the things we want to change, and realize the goals we want to accomplish. However by pacifying ourselves with the latest celebrity gossip, the latest television show we are too busy to address things with our own life.

What if we redirected our attention towards our own lives?

We could make our own lives interesting and live the life that we have imagined.

Many people out there talk about conspiracy theories over everything under the sun. The truth is people conspire against themselves to live the life they have doomed themselves to live. No one is keeping them down; they are doing it to themselves and they do it everyday.

If you want to improve your life, put your attention on what you would like to change and go for it. Spend less time obsessing over the lives of celebrities and the latest TV show and spend more on improving your own life.

As always, the choice is yours.

- Matt

Vincent Price was certainly an interesting person.

Let’s look at some facts about Vincent Prince.

He liked things that were creepy and scary.

He liked to scare people.

He had a scary demeanor (at least in most of his movies): he had a scary look and voice.

In fact it was his creepy voice that brought him fame.

Yes, while some may have viewed him as creepy, he was famous so this wasn’t a problem. However someone else, not famous, exhibiting his behaviour might have been simply weird.

Is this really true though? Does fame make the difference? Or does this observation represent the belief of someone who is simply scared to follow his/her dreams/interests?

I’m sure Vincent initially received reactions from some people which might have made him rethink his dreams.

Had Vincent Price chosen not to pursue his motivations he might have been unsuccessful. Thankfully he followed his interests. He was an interesting person and a great entertainer.

How many of us, fail to follow our interests and dreams for fear we might be considered strange, not following the status quo, etc.?

Probably many.

Even those who follow their interests, often give up when others express disapproval.

Those who continue to pursue their interests in light of disproval (whether it be from themselves or others) can pursue their interests and be successful.

I will end with a quote I have paraphrased from Hendy David Thoreau:

If we can follow the direction of our dreams and pursue the life that we have imagined, we will meet with a success not expected in common hours.

You’ll recall a couple of posts ago I talked about the usefulness of finding a primary, general goal that drives you. I also stated that finding it meant you will then open yourself up to the many opportunities that come your way. As mentioned I am now going to talk more about this concept.

For me freedom is a primary goal. For me, recognizing freedom as a primary goal draws me toward things that can give me more and more of it. It also draws more and more opportunities to me that represent freedom. Once you start drawing desired experiences into your life, however, you’ve got to know that to do with them. You’ve got to take action. Well…duh. Many people are not aware of the opportunities so they fail to take action. So really the key is to recognize the opportunities.

I thought it would be useful to work with an example from my own life. Using the example of freedom being one of my more general goals, let’s look at how things have unfolded for me thus far. I’ve been working on a website lately, trying to revamp and improve it in many ways. I’ve been taking consistent action and getting favorable results so I’m pleased with that. However, I’m constantly open to ideas and suggestions that come my way (and yes remaining open is something I’ve been working at).

Just the other day I got an email about this so called great product that promised to help me create multiple streams of income. So I checked it out and read the specifics. One of the mentioned features just tweaked my brain and all of a sudden I realized a great idea (at least I think so!). Now although the vendor didn’t specifically mention the technique used, it tweaked an idea and I was quite certain I knew what he was talking about. Even if I was wrong it still caused me to think about this new great idea. I immediately noted this idea and have since put it into operation.

Did I buy the product? No I didn’t. The whole experience served a purpose though: Since I received this email and checked out the product, I was able to generate a great idea (at least I think it’s a great idea). Now let’s look at the specifics here. Some people might have ignored this email. Others might have deleted it. Some people might have gotten caught up on the explicit message, i.e. buy this product and not been open to ideas. However some people allow their intuition or gut feeling to bring forth an idea. Ever see people who problem solve? They come up with the solution to one thing when they are thinking of something completely different. These people keep an open mind and allow ideas to flow to them.  What’s more, some people, although they get great ideas, fail to take action on them. Those who do take action on their ideas meet with success. Why not become one of those people?

How many of us strive to be like our neighbors or other people we see throughout our days?

How many of us covet what other people have and wish we were more like them? We need to have a car like theirs; we need to have a house in a certain neighborhood. Our children need to be enrolled in the same extracurricular activities. I think you get what I’m driving at.

If we were all meant to be the same then we would be clones of each other.

We are all here to be individuals. That’s what makes our world interesting.

When we truly let go of trying to be like other people then we are free to follow our truest desires and intentions and a world of possibilities opens up. This is what Optimum Awareness is all about. I believe we all have hidden talents and idiosyncrasies that once allowed to come forward, allow us to truly enhance the world.

The next time you think about doing something and then a thought arises telling you that it won’t work or it isn’t a good idea, think about the reason you’re doubting your abilities. If the reason for your doubt is because it is not something the “Jones” would do then move forward and express your individuality. Think of all the great people who have contributed to the world, who were bold enough to press on and see their ideas to fruition. Good. Now think about all the other great individuals you have encountered that were not afraid to be themselves. They too are contributing to the world. When you start to see individuality in this way it becomes very interesting. Life can become very rich. Yes I am speaking from my own experience.

Until next time,

Take care for now.

Matthew

If you could do or have ONE thing, right now, to improve your life what would it be?

I’ve learned that many people asked that question have no answer or instead of providing one answer, start rhyming off a bunch of things in order to figure out what’s really important.

The more clear and focused you are, the easier it is answer that question.

Am I saying that we should focus on one goal? Absolutely not.  But I am saying that we should have a primary goal that encompasses many little desires, more like a general goal.

Let me explain.

For example, if you want to become successfully self-employed, there is something behind your desire that is driving it.  In other words, there’s a reason you want to be successfully self-employed.  It might be to have freedom, peace of mind, security, etc.  It’s important to be aware of this greater goal because it allows you to be more open minded as to how you can accomplish it.  This scenario can apply to any area of your life though.

For example, if you can get clear on the fact that what you really want is freedom and that’s what’s driving you to develop your own business, you’ll be more open to opportunities that come along.

I’ll talk more about this in future posts but for now, if you couldn’t answer the above question fairly easily, you might want to get thinking about a more general desire and ultimately a more general goal you have.  Your choice though.  When I began looking at my desires in this way, it helped me a great deal.

Take care for now.

Matthew

If you’ve ever wished you could do something about all the violence in the world but thought you were powerless, I just found something you’ve got to see.Before you start thinking, “Oh yeah, another ‘peacenik’ site,” let me tell you, this is VERY different. Notable people like Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jack Canfield, founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and many celebrities and sports legends are behind this project.

Something’s definitely up! I think people are saying enough’s enough and I’m one of them…so I just joined.

www.tenmillionclicksforpeace.org

What’s really neat about this is that they’ve made it fun and easy. Anyone can help with just a few clicks of their mouse. And it all makes sense. We don’t need to wait for international negotiations. We can create peace ourselves–right now–using the power of the Internet.

They’re giving away this amazing tool, called a “Personal Peace Impact Meter.” It shows you the positive difference you’re making, along with simple steps to create more peace. I followed the steps, and my peace impact showed up instantly! (They should make video games like this.)

The neat part about this meter is that it also shows all the positive effects of the people I tell, and the people they tell, and so on. Soon thousands of people will be taking positive steps towards greater world peace, all because of a few simple steps I took. Amazing!

After seeing what’s been happening with international politics, I’m really glad I can finally do something to help create a more positive future myself.

By the way, these guys also give you what’s got to be the world’s largest personal growth and success course (at no cost or obligation). World-famous speakers and best-selling authors are working with them to make global peace a reality. Their idea makes sense… Teach people all over the world how to become more personally peaceful, happier, and more successful, and violence will simply disappear, because countries filled with happy, peaceful people simply don’t start wars or participate in violence.

I can’t believe they figured all this stuff out and got so many people to help in just 11 months. What a great use of the Internet!

This is why I’m so excited

Here’s their site:
www.tenmillionclicksforpeace.org

Take care,

Matthew