Check Yourself

As we move through life it is easy to go onto autopilot. This is very common in fact and most of us switch on and off at different parts of the day each day. This is because of the habits or patterns we have molded our lives around. They can be positive habits such as eating clean organically grown fruits and vegetables and working out, to putting in that overtime each week. There can be negative habits as well such as after putting in that overtime you go to the bar and spend all the extra earnings to make up for how exhausting the work can be.

Sometimes its good to step back from your life and view what habits and patterns you live through each day. Do so with an outside perspective with no excuses or reasoning for what it is you do. Look at it and decide if it is really serving your highest good. Is it benefiting you the most for what you put into every day? What are some of the things that are holding you back? Taking a look at your life like this can have profound effects. 

Doing this allows you to determine where you want to be, where you are at, and how you got here. Your past and present determine what your future may hold, but you actively choose what it is that you take from that. Only you truly have power over your own life and only you can make the changes that will move you in the direction it is that you seek to be moving. By looking inward you can then shape the outward. You can change yourself into who it is that you see in your mind. Your ideal self. 

Check yourself each season so that you know yourself better and who you are becoming.  This will help on your journey as you Surge Beyond yourself toward a better you!

Be Mindful

Mindful choices. Most often we are on autopilot performing a series of formed habits that take us on a joy ride everyday. This means that we are unconsciously moving through the world just watching as we live our lives. The actual act of being mindful means to truly be in the moment and take up a different view as the driver rather than the passenger. When you are washing the dishes be mindful. Should you be using that much soap? How hot is the water? When you are mowing the lawn be mindful. Are you mowing too low and preventing the lawn from retaining more moisture? How thick is the thatch layer? Should you be bagging or let the grass out onto the lawn? When you are buying groceries at the store be mindful. Is this locally grown? How many ingredients are in this? Will this give me cancer? Is the more expensive brand even really worth it?

This concept was first brought to my attention in 2010 when I was part of The Kung Fu Body program. At the end of every month we partook in "Mindful Consumption". Now at this time we've been working out our bodies more than most people ever do every single day. We have been following a regimented diet based on our bodies and our goals. Typically you are eating quite a bit of vegetables and fruit everyday so you are also eating healthier than most these days as well.

However with the "Mindful Consumption" we were allowed to eat ANYTHING we wanted, so long as we were truly present. To feel the texture in our mouth as we ate that piece of chocolate, the way it melts on your tongue. How every single note of flavor is there to be understood and heard. Those subtle nutty and sweet flavors you can find in a properly aged cheese or how coffee beans grown in different regions can have a vast array of flavors from chocolatey to a lighter tangier almost lemony lift on the tip of your tongue. To truly be mindful of every single moment in the experience. These are the roots of a true connoisseur.

You should try to do this as often as possible because over the days you will find that you are more present in the NOW. You enjoy each bite that much more, you are more fulfilled by your experiences, not just thrusting off seeking the next to appease your wants. I suggest you begin to implement this into every day experiences rather than letting life pass you by. This is it! THIS IS LIFE! Enjoy it! For everything that it is. Don't let mindlessness over take, take back your freedom to experience. Slow down each moment by being mindful to whats in front of you. What is in your hands, who is near by, what is happening right now!? Only you are left to know and to be there for it!

Take Time For Yourself!

Today's topic is a touchy one for me. I always seem to be on the go, always going from one required task to another. It never seems to really ever stop. I found myself in this position due to life's many demands of being an adult in this world. Because of these demands I've always found it hard if not impossible to break away even for a day to take care of myself. This is why I come to you today because taking time for yourself can have profound affects on your life.

When you are overworked, stressed out, and downright beaten by the day, every day, that means it's time to take a break. If you are unable to work at your full capacity, how can you imagine you are getting ahead? When you are at your best you are smarter, better, faster, stronger. These are all powerful qualities that allow us to STAY AHEAD. Letting everyday bog you down will not keep you moving forward it will do the opposite, it will move you back. The old saying 2 steps forward 3 steps back, that applies to this because in trying so hard to get ahead you are actually hurting yourself.

Now you need to find out how it is that in your hectic life you are going to take care of #1 and that's YOU! It's time to start now. If you are reading this, then it is possible you have already started since this blog is dedicated to helping people move forward which can in a sense be taking time for yourself but it will not help sore muscles, tired eyes, and an empty emotional tank. That my friend comes from your own personal doing. Sleep in an extra hour a few days this week, do some yoga in the morning. Drink lots of water before breakfast and running out the door. There are so many LITTLE things that can be done that will vastly help you achieve more in the day.

Take care of your body. Don't buy junk food and make a meal out of it. Eat lots of fruit and vegetables through out the day so that you aren't bogged down trying to digest empty calories that will reduce the conductivity of the electrical machine that is YOU! Get PLENTY of sleep, or at least enough that when you wake up you aren't begging to get back into bed, and if you are getting more than 8 hours and you feel exhausted every day, I would look at your diet first and foremost as the culprit, even if you work a heavy manual labor job. Get out and move your body! I can not express to you enough how much this will improve your life. You will get the juices flowing! You are a machine and just like a car you will get sludge in your engine. Amazingly however we can clean ourselves out with our own movements! Flush your lymphatic system with deep breathing and get your circulation flowing to parts of your body that don't get enough blood. Get up, stretch, run, lift, jump, cycle, FLY damnit!

DO A LITTLE EVERY DAY. I will never stop saying this. It is how I keep my life moving forward. When I have 5 minutes, I do pushups, I do pullups, I drink a quart of CLEAN water, I sit down and breath, I focus on my goals and imagine how I'll achieve them, I write a blog post! Even 5 minutes is something more than nothing. If you can afford more then take advantage of that! Don't sit around doing absolutely nothing. Even Buddhist monks are not doing NOTHING.

Again, do more for you. If you are already stressed from a life full of kids, a job, a gym membership trying to hold onto your sense of self, then taking care of yourself may actually even mean taking a day off from those things in order to indulge and feel some pleasure for once again! If you are doing things that are supposed to be improving your sense of life, but you are a tortured slave to it then it isn't working is it! You have to find what works for you and your current situation. Sometimes eating ice cream is the right choice. That doesn't mean every free moment you get that you should eat ice cream and that it is going to fix your problems, but it can be a treat to help you remember that life isn't all hard work. My girlfriend and I like to make some home made vegan ice cream a couple nights a week after a long hard day of work and sit down to watch something we can both enjoy so that we can decompress from everything.

You gotta do what is necessary for you. Listen to your body and listen to your mind. If it says I need something, and you know that it isn't going to cause more problems than it will solve, then you should listen to it. Do what you know in your heart to be true. Listen to your heart, it is smarter than your brain and it came first. It will not misguide you.

It's Always Darkest Before Dawn

Someone once said something very powerful to me that I have never forgotten. They said that as you get closer to the flame, the larger the shadow you cast. The concept that I took from this comes from my own inner and outer struggle in this world to find the Light.

The idea is that as you mozey along in life you may have some fun times and you may have some struggles. However as you try to hone in on the source of those struggles, to correct the wrongs, and to create a world around you that caters more to your wants; you will find that the problems seem to get bigger and bigger. Your little hill slowly becomes a mountain.

Now looking back at this concept that as you get closer to that flame, your personal light in life, those shadows will only seem to get bigger. However once you become part of the flame, part of the light, you will no longer cast any shadow. You will find that peace, your life will flow in the direction you seek.

I want you all to know that life is going to hit you sometimes. Whether a car literally runs you over, the company you work for goes under, or your significant other tells you that they are leaving... this too shall pass. You have to keep looking forward. You must not lose sight of the flame. Even if it burns you, you must press forward. Going back would only make it all worse.

BECOME THE FLAME!