Personal Energy – Our Thoughts and Poetic Thinking

Posted on January 24, 2013 by ray

At a presentation on personal energy and how it effects our self and others, I did an exercise that had some interesting results. It was for a group of about 70 health care professionals.

Here is how the exercise went.

I asked on a scale of one to ten, to focus on how they felt, in their body, as they heard the word. And to respond quickly, and out loud, without thinking.  “1″ being low energy, or negative, in some form and “10″ being high energy, feels good.

For the first word “Discipline”, most  said “2″,  for the next word “Adore” most said ”10″.

I had done the same exercise with a different group at an earlier date and they said the exact same numbers - “2” & “10″.

Interesting on its own and a reminder for us all to become more and more aware of our thoughts and words and to practice changing some of them if they do not feel good. Awareness is the first step. If we are not paying attention inwardly we will not even know what is there.

Think about practicing with your thoughts and words just as we practice with improving our physical abilities with sports and games. Our personal energy and awareness improve in the same way by being interested to do so, having the intention and practicing to change our habit.

Having written a fair amount of intimate poetry I am interested in finding a way to mix poetic thinking with our daily lives and even with business situations.

Poetic thinking, or writing, is somewhat more about what you feel, and are aware of with your senses, than just what you are thinking about.

It is a deeper, more present, more in tune, more compassionate, and more about life, way of thinking, writing, speaking and being.

Poetic writing and thinking style might be an interesting exercise to relate to some event in your life.  If you do it a few times, you might just surprise yourself.

Remember getting started, taking the first step, is the difficult part. Once you start, your pen, or keyboard, will take over almost on it’s own. Here is a question to ponder and use as a starter.

What choice could you make today that would enhance your personal environment?

And why could or would that happen?

Enjoy this moment as it is constantly changing, and a good time to change your thoughts.

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Eating & Being Aware That We Are Eating

Posted on January 24, 2013 by ray

Eating & Being Aware That We Are Eating While We Do.

This following message came in my email this morning from Yoga Journal’s “Daily Insight” – a great free service for subscribers   –   YogaJournal.com

The reason I am posting it here is I have to believe that I am not the only one who often eats on the fly or in the car. I meditate and do Yoga daily and yet. . . It speaks for itself and I am using it to increase my awareness another level. To eat and to be aware that I am eating at the same time. It won’t always happen but it will become more conscious. A new habit is beginning.

Yoga Journal ”Daily Insight” – 1/18/13

Do you ever feel like food is something that’s getting between you and your life?
In today’s modern world, we rarely make time to eat mindfully.
Often, we eat on the go, in cars or at our desks for the five minutes we can spare.
But when we eat without noticing our food, we miss one of life’s greatest pleasures and we allow that which should nourish us to become that which causes us stress.
The next time you eat, take a moment to relax and really taste your food.

Stop what you’re doing, sit down, and notice the flavors, textures, and smells of the meal in front of you.
Express gratitude for the health and nourishment it provides.
And then, as you eat, truly enjoy the experience.

Over time, this ritual can improve your digestion and overall physical and mental health.

 

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Flexible vs Rigid

Posted on January 24, 2013 by ray

Flexible vs Rigid
The Weather as Our Teacher

Can you imagine being a person that is rigid in thinking, in other words not very flexible, and then working a career involving the weather? With Mother Nature we have to be flexible, we have no choice, we can not control it.  Weather can be a great teacher for preparation, attitude and handling change, dealing with what is.
Think of a tree in a strong wind, it bends with the breeze, if it does not it may break or become uprooted. Nature and the weather become our teachers.
What about the constant changes even when we “think” we know what the weather will be.

Flexible means that we can adjust, like putty, mold-able, stretchable, and adjustable.
By the way, according to my dictionary, “able” means “having the skill or means to do something”

So with that in mind, another very important question for us personally, is, are we coach-able?  Are we teachable and willing to learn what we need to adjust to?

Do we have the means, the wherewithal, the willingness to be coached, to learn, to change?

Being flexible means we are open and willing to go with the situation of the day as it happens, as it unfolds.blame,

Questions to ask yourself

Can I adjust to what is and am I willing to?
. . . or do I stay with what was “supposed” to be.
It was supposed to be a sunny day and it rains.

Do we want to blame someone, something, or adjust to what is?

First of all, the weather doesn’t care or even know what you had in mind. It doesn’t matter. What does matter is what is.

Flexible thinking expands your choices and possibilities.

Think about this, our expectations – every time something is not “exactly”as we expected, we could instantly adjust our attitude and start watching for a new possibility.

Or this one – try planning to be flexible instead of planning for everything to be exact. Plan for flexibility, be open for the new, leave a little wiggle room. Deal with what is instead of what “should have” been.

There is something about being flexible that just makes things work better. Hard to measure, difficult to say exactly, yet flexibility makes it all easier, goes with the flow.

Rise above, be on top of it – be willing, be flexible.

__________________________________________________________________

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Change Again

Posted on November 1, 2012 by ray

A very short poem that says a lot.

The knowing and acceptance that life changes, as do the seasons is part of the natural creation cycle of our universe. I like the metaphor of the seasons as they come and go consistently. We know that change is coming and about when it will, yet there is always something original or a bit different than last the season’s change.

Having the attitude of being ready and then, also, to look for the new possibilities in the change that will be there is a lesson I am always relearning - again and again.

 

 Again

…. and then,

when we get there

everything,

everything will change

again

. . . and then

     -   ©2008-2012 ray justice

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Focus – a Lesson from Squash

Posted on November 1, 2012 by ray

In a game of Squash I was ahead by a score of 7 to 2 with 9 being the winning point.

As I served for the 8th point, meaning two points to go and this game is over, I started thinking “Do we have time to play another game?” While I was having this discussion in my head I lost that serve and the next two points – 7 to 4.

I then preceded to have a conversation with myself about making sure I pay attention and not be thinking while playing the game. The result of that conversation in my head was that I lost the next three points and it was now 7 to 7. By the time I figured out that I needed to stop thinking I had lost that round.

This story is to emphasis how quickly and easily we can lose our focus. We see it regularly in sports but have to realize how often we do it in our day to day situations. The game is that of not thinking so that we are present to what is going on. Focus, focus, focus is a big part of how we stay on track or not and let things slip on a daily basis. In sports it is called a loss of momentum, in our business world it is the same thing, loss of focus. Coaches have to bring the team mind set back into focus. For us in day to day life, we have to do it for ourselves. Being aware of the present moment, what is happening now by what our natural senses are picking up can help bring us back to focus

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Doodling as an Asset

Posted on March 30, 2012 by ray

Doodling

I read that Doodling during a meeting helps to increase retention up to 30%.  The article I read said that the study was done by Jackie Andrade, who is a psychology professor at the University of Plymouth in England. The study appears online in Applied Cognitive Psychology.

Doodling, they say in the article about the study, actually helps us to focus and pay attention.  I would like to take it another step and say that it also helps us to not think as much.  Our active brains are always going on and on about something. When we write, or Doodle, it is often just enough of “doing” to get a break from our “thinking” and allow our natural intuition to kick in. So Doodle away as you focus better and along with that often comes a free gift of a new insight, idea or possibility.

Doodling is listed in the dictionary as “absentminded” scribbling.  There is kind of a negative tone with absentminded, forgetful, distracted, daydreaming are the words that come to mind.  Let’s add that it also can be a means of connecting to our intuitive self and that being a very positive event on most days.

Next time you Doodle, save your artwork to look over and review. Once in a while you may get a very pleasant surprise in the form of an idea. On another level Doodling is like making it OK to play. So keeping a pad and pencil near, even if you type in all your notes, is a good idea.

My first journal book give to me by my good friend Beth (MutualChoices.com) turned out to be a Doodling experience for me. Back then I thought journaling was a “Dear Diary” experience and I was not interested in writing so the whole book became page after page of Doodling. I still have it and one friend, Michele Blood (Musivation.com) suggested that I have it printed as a book. It is loaded with interesting Doodles, thoughts and yes some interesting possibilities.

© 2012 rayjustice.com

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Collaboration

Posted on June 12, 2011 by ray

. . .when two smart people vehemently disagree, the answer is almost never to fight it out until one idea prevails, but rather to vigilantly search for a third, better way. That doesn’t mean a compromise, but rather a recognition that when two smart collaborators can’t agree, there’s probably something not quite right in either of their solutions.

These few lines are from an article from FastCompany.com. The article speaks for itself so no further words needed here.

For the full article from Fast Company here is the link
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1MJjm5/www.fastcompany.com/1758577/what-ive-learned-about-collaboration-from-my-daughters     Collaboration _ FastCompany.com

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Connection from the Universe

Posted on May 14, 2011 by ray

“It’s one of the things I like about this field - the biggest things and the smallest things in the Universe are neatly tied together in surprising ways.” – Steven Ritz, deputy principal investigator for Fermi-Lat. (Space telescope capturing views of Gamma Rays)

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OraBrush Super Commercial

Posted on April 29, 2011 by ray

“From what I heard he did one thing.
Made a YouTube video and then another and then another”.

But, oh what a fun video

Below are two links.
First is a commercial off YouTube,
the second is a short story on how it happened.

The rough story is ( I may be off a bit as I heard it 3rd party)
A doctor invented OraBrush to clean your tongue. He could not sell it  through stores, online or other means.
He was broke so he went to a local college (Utah, I think) and asked the marketing class if they would help.

They decided not to as 92% surveyed were not interested. One student said that he would take it on because the other 8% was a lot of people.
From what I heard he did one thing.
Made a YouTube video and then another and then another.

Something like $5 million in sales the first year and $2,5 the first quarter of this year.
The college student is now a partner (I heard)
What I am impressed with is the cleverness, how well done the commercial is and the YouTube exposure.

It made me think that most of us “could” do something like this.
It is very cool and very successful.

Here is the commercial

http://www.orabrush.com/?gclid=CK2U2-qjwqgCFcK8Kgod4hlIuQ

Here is the story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4tuTi8_z6Q

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“Dump It”

Posted on April 13, 2011 by ray

Do It
Delegate It
Delay It
Dump It
Four terms I learned years ago in one of my many “How to get Organized” classes. The big lesson for me, at the time, was to delay it, that delaying was a decision, a choice. Wow! Great. It helped, didn’t cure, but it helped.
Now fast forward years later and I am thinking how do I apply these same tools to my inner self and my thoughts, more than just my physical “stuff”

“Do it” – Is this thought good for me, is it productive and life enhancing?

If so but maybe not right now then can I “Delegate it” – maybe by transferring it from my mind to a piece of paper or my computer.

“Delay It” – Can I slow it down or choose another time to think about it?

“Dump It” - Totally get rid of this thought, idea or duty?

The Four “D’s” time for me “to do” or actually “to think” about them.

 

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