More often than not, we tend to focus on too many things every day, leading to confusion, anxiety, and annoyance. This stress can be hard on the mind and body, but the good news is that you can lower your stress levels and calm your mind, helping yourself to feel better each day.

In fact, you can overcome these issues with a few simple techniques!

First, acknowledge that you must take time for yourself. Being all things to all people isn’t realistic, and neither is doing everything and solving all problems or concerns in one day. No one should expect that of you! If they do, you must recognize that it’s not healthy, and you must do what’s right and best for you. Your health and happiness could depend on it.

Ways to Calm Your Mind

Meditation and prayer are two of the biggest ways to calm a restless mind, but they aren’t the only things you can do. There are many other choices to help you feel better and live a stress-free life. You might also consider:

* Volunteering or focusing on helping others
* Exercising
* Listening to music
* Using your mind for joyous pursuits that interest you
* Playing with children or pets

Everyone has different things they enjoy in life, and you should find yours and practice them when you start to feel stressed or your thoughts try to run away from you. Avoid letting your thoughts talk you out of your dreams. Your dreams are yours; embrace them!

Being busy is not the problem when it comes to your mind. Being busy with things that aggravate you and make you feel down is the problem. Instead of dwelling on things that upset you, deal with them, let them go, and move on to things that you enjoy. You can do this with your thoughts, just like you would with a physical task in the workplace or at home.

Lower Your Stress Levels Each Day

Stress begins in your mind as thoughts, but it can manifest itself physically. You may feel tense, anxious, uneasy, angry, or have aches and pains you can’t really find a cause for. If stress continues all the time and becomes chronic, your health could be compromised.

You can let stress go and feel good every day.

Try these strategies to lower your stress:

1. Focus on what matters to you. What’s important in your life? Be proactive about your goals and priorities. When you’re working toward something that you want, it makes you feel good about yourself and your future.

2. Find both physical and mental ways to release your stress. Releasing your stress every day keeps it from building up inside you. Make the conscious choice to start each day fresh, without the stress from the day before.

* What relaxes you? Music? Hobbies? Spending time with your family? Enjoy a healthy dose of relaxation every day.

* Get as much exercise as possible. Exercise refreshes your body with a surge of oxygen and releases endorphins, the “feel good” hormone. Even if there’s no time for an exercise session, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park far away from the building so you can walk, and play with your kids or pets.

3. Practice these strategies consistently. Work on releasing your stress every day, even on days when you don’t feel as much stress, so it won’t be a struggle when you really need it. When you’re feeling good, it’s natural to forget about letting stress go, but it’s important to avoid getting complacent.

* Keep practicing and improving, even when you feel great!

Whichever techniques you choose to calm your mind and lower your levels of stress, ensure it’s the right fit for you and your lifestyle. Only you know what you really need and what makes you feel safe and at peace.

If you practice this peacefulness each day, it won’t be long before you start to feel calmer, even in situations where you would have previously been over the edge. Your thoughts will be clearer, instead of jumbled and racing. Physically, you’ll feel stronger, too, because your body will be free from the affliction of stress and anxiety.

Talking is one way to share thoughts and feelings between partners. Research has shown that women actually talk more than men, in fact about three times more in terms of the number of words.

This fact does not excuse men to from not talk. It is the men who “clam up” and refuse to talk. There are also cases where men who do more talking than women, just as there are cases where it is the women who talk a lot as well as those women who do not wish to talk a lot.

There is actually no clear cut or fool proof way to judge who should do more of the talking or who should do less. It is primarily not about gender but about the individual themselves.

Communication is a vital part of any relationship. Openness and honesty is a key ingredient to maintaining a kind of memorable relationship that is mutually loving and emotionally comfortable.

The following are tips and possible activities one can do to get yourself or your partner to talk his/her heart out, and share voluntarily any fears and insecurities that either feels. Conversation helps partners form a solid bond that will not be easily eroded.

Ask and you shall receive

The best and simplest way to get a person to talk is by asking a question.

It is best if the partner asks his/her partner how the day went or how they feel.

Often it is best that partners ask each these questions after hours they have been apart most of the day; after work or after a long business trip, etc.

But do not forget it is also important to ask sincerely looking straight into their eyes. Ask how he or she is feeling or has he/she experienced something they want to share? Sometimes the partner may not want to talk. Relax, let it be and be patient. Relationships are nurtured by respecting each others decision – everything has its own proper time and place. Do not force it.

Let him or her finish

A very annoying habit some partners have is finishing the other partner’s sentences. Though you may have good intentions, when you think you are helping, the fact is – doing so creates the impression that the partner is getting impatient with the verbally challenged approach to sentence construction. The partner being corrected could either find this act rude.

Go with the flow. Trust your partner’s judgment and verbal prowess. He or she will thank you for it in the long run.

Stop, look and listen

The most important advice anyone could receive is irrelevant if the one receiving the advice is not listening. They key to communication is in listening just as much as it is in the talking.

One partner sometimes gets the other to talk by simply listening intently to what the other is saying. This gives the impression that what the other is saying is important. Verbal signals are just as important as non-verbal ones. Active listening is a good practice any time. It breaks down barriers and puts down any or all reservations one partner may have. But do not just listen, value what the other partner is saying. All it really takes is an ear and a heart to validate anothers existence.

In summary, fears and insecurities are a part of everyone’s psyche. All one has to do is to share it in order to lighten any emotional load he or she may be carrying. But it is also similarly important that the one it is being shared with is listening and genuinely cares what the other is talking about. Sharing makes everyone human and humane. And it is a valuable gift that both women and men must cherish.

“True forgiveness is not an action after the fact, it is an attitude with which you enter each moment.” David Ridge

3 Myths About Forgiveness:

1. Forgiveness means you condone the behavior of the person.
2. Forgiveness means you have to maintain a relationship with the person.
3. Forgiveness means that you forget about the incident.

All of these are absolutely untrue!!!

Forgiveness is releasing your own pain and anger over the past. It’s a choice to live in the present – It’s choosing to let go of whom was right or wrong. Forgiveness gives you the freedom to live your life and not allowing someone else to control it. If you are holding on to the anger and hurt you are allowing the person to continuously hurt you over and over again.

“Sincere forgiveness isn’t colored with expectations that the other person apologize or change. Don’t worry whether or not they finally understand you. Love them and release them. Life feeds back truth to people in its own way and time.” Sara Paddison

If you are finding it difficult to let go and to forgive, you might find the following forgiveness techniques helpful.

Forgiveness Techniques:

Forgiveness Technique 1. Write a letter to the person,explaining your hurts, your anger and your opnion. Let them have it. Then burn the letter or flush it down the toilet while affirming “I choose to forgive your actions and will not allow them to control my life any more.”

Forgiveness Technique 2. Be grateful for all the valuable lessons you have learned from the situation. You could affirm “I am grateful that this situation has happened because it has made me a better person by …(fill in the blank). I now choose to forgive and to concentrate on my life.

Forgiveness Technique 3. Allow yourself to feel. Feel all the hurt, all the pain. Let it out. Cry your heart out over the pain. Once you’re done affirm “I have let go of the hurt and anger that has enslaved me. I now choose to live in the present and to release the past.”

Forgiveness Technique 4. Go somewhere quiet. Close your eyes and imagine the person that hurt you as a small baby and/or a small child. They did nothing but crave love and affection. They ahd a pure heart. They were innocent. They wished no one ill or harm. Affirm to yourself “I choose to forgive … Their hurtful acts were due to their own wounds and had nothing to do with me.”

You also need to remember to forgive yourself. Don’t beat yourself up mentally for things you might have said or did or for things you wish you would have said or did. Clear out your mind and learn to love and accept yourself just as you are. Meditation is great way to get in tune with your inner self. Forgiving yourself empowers you to create the changes you want in your life by accepting full responsibility for your thoughts and actions.

Forgiveness is not a “one time fix”. Often times you will need to forgive the person all over again each time you think of the situation. In time the anger and bitterness will be a thing of the past and you can look at the situation with a peaceful heart and truly wish those that hurt you well.

When you fail to forgive, you are actually turning your back on your back on a better future. You do not want to create a future for yourself that is full of anger, hatred and resentment. FORGIVE – Keep your head up and your heart open as you walk forward in your life, creating a future that will lead to love, health and happiness!

“Forgiveness is the economy of the heart… forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.” Hannah Moore

You have heard of the cup that overflowed. This is a story of a bucket that is like the cup, only larger, it is an invisible bucket. Everyone has one. It determines how we feel about ourselves, about others, and how we get along with people.

Have you ever experienced a series of very favorable things which made you want to be good to people for a week?

At that time, your bucket was full.

A bucket can be filled by a lot of things that happen.

When a person speaks to you, recognizing you as a human being, your bucket is filled a little. Even more if he calls you by name, especially if it is the name you like to be called. If he compliments you on your dress or on a job well done, the level in your bucket goes up still higher.

There must be a million ways to raise the level in another’s bucket. Writing a friendly letter, remembering something that is special to him, knowing the names of his children, expressing sympathy for his loss, giving him a hand when his work is heavy, taking time for conversation, or, perhaps more important, listing to him.

When one’s bucket is full of this emotional support, one can express warmth and friendliness to people. But, remember, this is a theory about a bucket and a dipper.

Other people have dippers and they can get their dippers in your bucket.

This, too, can be done in a million ways.

Lets say I am at a dinner and inadvertently upset a glass of thick, sticky chocolate milk that spills over the table cloth, on a lady’s skirt, down onto the carpet. I am embarrassed. “Bright Eyes” across the table says, “You upset that glass of chocolate milk.” I made a mistake, I know I did, and then he told me about it! He got his dipper in my bucket!

Think of the times a person makes a mistake, feels terrible about it, only to have someone tell him about the known mistake (“Red pencil” mentality!)

Buckets are filled and buckets are emptied.

Emptied many times because people don’t really think about what are doing. When a person’s bucket is emptied, he is very different than when it is full. You say to a person whose bucket is empty, “That is a pretty tie you have,” and he may reply in a very irritated, defensive manner.

Although there is a limit to such an analogy, there are people who seem to have holes in their buckets. When a person has a hole in his bucket, he irritates lots of people by trying to get his dipper in their buckets. This is when he really needs somebody to pour it in his bucket because he keeps losing.

The story of our lives is the interplay of the bucket and the dipper. Everyone has both.

The unyielding secret of the bucket and the dipper is that when you fill another’s bucket it does not take anything out of your own bucket. The level in our own bucket gets higher when we fill another’s, and, on the other hand, when we dip into another’s bucket we do not fill our own … we lose a little.

For a variety of reasons, people hesitate filling the bucket of another and consequently do not experience the fun, joy, happiness, fulfillment, and satisfaction connected with making another person happy. Some reasons for this hesitancy are that people think it sounds “fakey,” or the other person will be suspicious of the motive, or it is “brown-nosing.”

Therefore, let us put aside our dipper and resolve to touch someone’s life in order to fill their bucket.

Author Unknown

What are affirmations?

Simply put affirmations are your own desires and goals that you repeat to yourself.

The idea is that you are embedding these thoughts/ideas into your subconscious. Once embedded these thoughts become beliefs and you will be inspired to take the required action to make these beliefs become reality.

By repeating your affirmations several times daily you are activating the Law of Attraction and you will be able to see the abundance of opportunities around you.

One of the most important things to remember when creating your affirmations is to use the present tense – not the future tense. The future does not make you act now. Stating affirmations in the future tells your subconscious it’s ok to procrastinate. By stating your affirmation in the present tense, you’re telling your subconscious to ACT NOW to make the affirmation a reality.

Who should use affirmations?

Anyone who dares to dream. If you are labeled as a dreamer than affirmations are for you! For affirmations to work you’ll need to commit to take action.

Why do some affirmations fail?

If you are skeptical or a black and white thinker affirmations probably won’t work for you. Why? Because your inner voices tell you they will not work, so you will sabotage yourself without giving the affirmations a fair chance.

• Affirmation only serves to enforce what you do actually believe is possible. If you continuously repeat I am a millionaire and are working a minimum wage job struggling to pay your bills – Your subconscious is yelling at you each time you say you’re a millionaire …
  “What are you talking about? Are you crazy? You barely have enough money for milk – how can you say you’re a millionaire?”
• Another reason that affirmations may fail is because you don’t really want what you are affirming. You might be saying “I am smoke free”, but in reality you do not want to give up the enjoyment you get from smoking.
• You are using affirmations half heatedly, saying them sometimes, but not making a habit of it – Or you’re affirmations are in someone else’s words. Words that you normally don’t speak.
• You are stating your affirmations in the future. Your mind only knows NOW. If you say tomorrow, you’re subconscious will consistently put off what it is you are trying to affirm. Your affirmations need to be personal and in the present.

How do you make affirmations your reality?

1. They are your affirmations – Make them personal!
2. State your affirmations in the present
3. Repeat your affirmations to yourself daily – preferably out loud.
4. Visualize your affirmations. See it, Feel it, hear it, taste it … Be there
5. Avoid negative words such as “I will not”. Your subconscious does not recognize negative
6. Use the words “I choose”. “I choose to weigh 120 pounds”. “I choose to eat healthy”. “I choose to double my income” “I choose to exercise daily”.
7. Instead of saying “I am worthy” state “(your loved ones name) finds me worthy” this is a trick to get your mind to believe that you are worthy if you are currently unable to accept the “I am” at the present time.

Marie Diamond goes a step further by explaining not only how to create your affirmations – but tells you to write your affirmations on 3 X 5 cards and place them in specific locations in your home depending on your own personal Law of Attraction Number. Download your free copy of Marie Diamonds report “Personal Law of Attraction Number” and begin creating your ideal future today!

The voices in my head tell me …

We all get a kick out the saying “The voices in my head tell me …” statements. This statement isn’t too far from the truth in regards to how your mind works.

Your thoughts are constant. In other words you “talk to yourself” ALL day – every day. These thoughts are the “voices in your head.” You’re probably familiar with the various commercials and cartoons that illustrate an angel on one shoulder whispering in the ear and a devil on the other shoulder whispering in the other hear.

This is the way your mind works. You have one voice telling you:

* You can do it
* You are strong and confident
* Go for your dreams

And then you have that other little voice in your head telling you:

* You can’t do that! Are you kidding me? What happens if you fail? You’ll be labeled a laughing stock
* Do you really want people knowing how weak you are? You are not as confident as others. People will know that you lack confidence.
* Remember when you tried something familiar and failed? Do you want people to know you’re a failure? It’s scary to take a risk.

This is simply the inner struggle of your mind.

The first voice is your inner spirit. It’s telling you your dreams and inspirations. It really wants to guide you in achieving all of your dreams. Your inner spirit wants you to open up the box and jump out of it with arms spread open to embrace all that you can receive and all that you can accomplish.

The second voice is ego. The job of your ego is to keep you safe. However the recordings that the ego relies on – are not necessarily true. These recordings are made of everything that you’ve been told, everything that you have seen and everything that you have experienced. The ego is normally full of self-limiting beliefs. The ego wants you to stay in the box where it’s warm and comfy.

This is where habits are formed. Your habits can either help you or hinder you. They either keep you in a vicious cycle of doing the same things over and over again – while hoping for different results. Or your habits can help you create the life you want and achieve all of your dreams and goals. It’s your choice.

Start listening to the voices in your head. Use your conscious mind to determine what is true and what is not true. Use your conscious to record and establish new positive beliefs about yourself and your future.

Do you feel as if your going around and around in circles never getting anywhere?

This is likely due to you being in your comfort zone. This is a place where you feel safe and secure. Everyone likes feeling safe.

On the flip side your comfort zone could be limiting you. You could be missing fantastic opportunities. You could be missing out on love, fun, wealth and the thrill of life itself.

Expanding your comfort zone can bring a whole new world of excitement, passion, experiences, friends, financial opportunities, and knowledge into your life.

Life is full of changes.

Embrace change by developing the habit of finding good in it. You’ll become more comfortable with the changes in your life and will begin looking forward to new adventures and opportunities that await you. With this mindset, you’re ready, willing, and able to expand your comfort zone.

Here are 7 Simple Strategies to help you step out of your comfort zone:

Strategy 1 – Take Baby Steps:
Learn to tread lightly.  Remember the phrase you need to learn to crawl before you walk.  If you’re trying to immediately take large leaps and bounds fear will set in and you’ll go running back to your safe zone.

When a baby begins walking, they first let go of what they are holding on to.  Then they begin taking little steps without even realizing that they are moving. Then they fall.  Babies don’t give up and repeat the process until they can walk across the room.

Each step forward is just that: a step forward. These steps will add up to something big as long as you keep trying.

Strategy 2 – Do Something Differently:
Make little changes in your regular everyday choices and activities. Drive a different route to work.  Listen to a different radio station. Try a different type of soap or shampoo.  Use a different type of dressing on your salad.

Add vibrant colors to your living space.  Decorate with different curtains, throw rugs, table cloths, or pillows.  Arrange plants or fresh flowers around your home. Re-arrange your furniture or your kitchen cabinets.

Making these small changes can make you feel like you’re a brand new person in a brand new living space.  As you experiment you’ll find it’s fun stepping out of your comfort zone.

Strategy 3 – Try Something New:
You don’t have to do anything dramatic like jumping out of a plane (unless you really want too).  Try a new sport.  Play a new game with your kids, grand-kids or neighbor kids. Take swimming or tennis lessons. You could take a cooking class or try new exotic recipes.  Be brave and try a new food every day.  You’ll find lots of delicious foods you may have never thought of before.

Strategy 4 – Use Your Imagination:
When your stuck in a rut, in your comfort zone you are actually limiting your imagination.  Your imagination is a great source of energy and knowledge.  Using your imagination is a great way to exercise your mind and it’s so much fun!

Dare to dream. Dare to be a kid again.  Let your mind wander.  Let your mind dream big.  Daydream. Your imagination can lead you down the path of a fun wondrous and adventurous life.

Strategy 5 – Meet New People:
Be open to meeting new people.  Take a genuine interest in them by striking up casual conversations.  You’ll make new friends and acquaintances that can bring a fresh perspective to life.  They can help you step out of your comfort zone with new ideas and concepts.

Strategy 6 – Accept Help:
Your friends and family want to help you.  Let them.  They can help alleviate fear and stress in new situations that you may feel uncomfortable in.

Strategy 7 – Think Positive:
Everything begins with your thoughts and your feelings. When stepping out of your comfort zone you’ll probably  feel fear.  While you’re afraid you need to think positive thoughts ….

Wouldn’t it be great if … I’ll feel so excited when …. This is an exhilarating experience …

Have faith that this new opportunity will bring you to a new, comforting place.

The more you experiment with change  the more daring you will become. You’ll be ready to  tackle other areas of your life that have become stale and dull.

You’ll become more playful and adventurous once you consciously make the effort to step out of your comfort zone. Before you know it you will be living a happier more fulfilled life.

It’s a promise!

For assistance in stepping out of your comfort zone check out Coaching by Cindy

So many people think, “If I only had complete confidence ….

• I’d start my business
• Get married
• Find my dream job
• Move to another city
• Buy a house
• Ask so and so on a date
• Ask for a promotion
• etc etc …..

Many people think they need complete confidence right now to accomplish their dreams. This is what stops them dead in their tracks. This one belief is the reason they will never achieve their dreams.

Building Confidence begins when you take the first baby step.

Have you ever watched a baby as they learn to walk?

My 9 month old grandson just took his first step the other day. He will be holding on to something, and see something he wants a few feet away, begin walking towards and then he just stops. He looks confused and bewildered as he turns around and notices he can’t grab a hold of the object he just let go of. Usually he’ll just sit on the floor and then crawl to his destination.

Babies never give up. They see “big people” walking around and they instinctively know that they can walk too. They may fall down hundreds of times, but each time they get up. And it seems that each time they get up and decide to walk again they inevitably take a few more steps than they did the last time.

I know this is just the beginning for him. Within a month or two he’ll have the confidence he needs to be walking everywhere and exploring his new found freedom.

My grandson does not have complete confidence in walking – yet. His confidence will grow with each and every step he takes.

When you begin taking the necessary steps towards your goal – you too, will look back and say …  WOW, how did I get here?

How do you take baby steps?

Building confidence to land your dream job:

1. The first step would be to find out everything you can about the job. What knowledge and education is required to land the job?

2. Then you could sign up for a course that will give you some of the education you need.

3. You could even start applying for entry level jobs in the same industry.

Another example:

Building confidence to move to another city:

1. The first step will be to research the city. You’ll want to know the best areas in town, the crime rate, the medical facilities, the job market, the schools etc.

2. Then you could contact a rental agency or a Realtor and ask them to send you information regarding relocation

3. If you own your own home, you can contact a Realtor in your area to give you a free assessment on your home. How much can you sell it for? How much could you rent it for? What fees will you be responsible to pay?

4. Next you could visit the city you want to move to, to acquaint yourself with it. Drive around the neighborhoods. Find out where the locals go. What type of shopping is available?

5. Then you might want to check out how much it would cost to move; truck rentals, packing supplies, moving companies.

6. Next you should ask yourself the following questions: What would you take with you? What could you sell at a yard sale? What would you need to buy once you move to the new city?

As you can see in both examples the FIRST STEP is to research your goal. The more you research; the next steps will logically fall into place in your mind.

As you complete each step, your confidence grows. You begin to believe that you actually can have your dream job. The more you believe the more steps you will take which will lead you to your job.

What is it that you’ve been missing out on because you’re waiting for complete confidence?

Begin building confidence today by taking your first baby step.

Have you allowed your emotions to bottle up inside you? Bottling up your emotions can create havoc with both your physical and your mental health.

It’s important to learn to master your thoughts, feelings and emotions. Learn to share them in a positive manner so that they don’t cause you or anyone else undue stress or harm.

One of the best ways to manage your emotions and improve your health at the same time is by expressing gratitude. You can find something to be grateful in almost every situation.

What are you thankful for right now?

Who matters in your life?

Can you name 5 things that you are grateful for?

Even when the world seems to spinning out of control around you, there are many things that you can be grateful for.

Share your gratitude with others. Other people may not know how much you appreciate them. You cannot know another person’s feelings or thoughts and shouldn’t assume they know yours. Tell everyone that means something to you – how grateful you are for them.

What do you think will happen when you share your heart felt gratitude with those you love? Can you see them smile? Can you see their eyes light up?

When you share your gratitude with others it helps your heart, mind and body thrive. A flood of chemicals are released into your body – It feels good! Both you and the receiver will benefit.

There are many physical objects that you may have that you are grateful for. Have you ever thought about sending a thankful message to the manufacturer? Customer service probably gets bogged down with complaints – How nice it would be for them to hear of your gratitude! Give them some of your gratitude and you’ll spread joy all around!

Sharing gratitude is easy and only costs you a little bit of your time. Here are some simple ideas to start sharing gratitude with others.

* Tell your loved ones you care for them
* Hug a friend who’s hurting
* Smile at a stranger
* Open the door for a stranger
* Offer a stranger a helping hand
* Make time to listen to someone who needs to talk
* Appreciate the beauty of nature
* Volunteer your services
* Greet everyone with a smile
* Wish all you come into contact with a “Great Day!”

Focus on What Really Matters

Many people are unhappy with their current circumstances. They may feel like they don’t have enough money, a good job, the house they want or the car they want. They don’t realize that the only way to change their current circumstances is to begin changing their thoughts.

You can begin to change your thoughts by being connected with what really matters. Be grateful for all that you have been given. Be grateful for your home, your bed, your carpet, your clothes, your car – EVERYTHING.

There will be obstacles and stumbling blocks in life, but there is joy all around you as well. When you tap into that joy, keep a positive attitude, and show how grateful you are, you’ll prove that you’re able to let go of unnecessary baggage. It’s a great feeling, and one that you can give yourself, today, right now. What a wonderful thing to be grateful for!

Excellence is better than perfection because perfection is static while excellence is evolving. Mistakes are required to reach higher and higher levels of excellence. Excellence stretches and has contingencies and flexibility to take advantage of less than perfect situations and transform circumstances to make the outcome better than anyone could have imagined.

Perfection is fragile, while excellence is prepared for just about anything and bounces back stronger to overcome that which it was not prepared for. Something new always comes along to throw a monkey wrench in perfection. When that happens, perfection gets flustered, frazzled, and completely broken because it neglected to expect the unexpected.

Excellence welcomes tests and challenges as opportunities to expand knowledge and wisdom. Excellence understands that truth changes with our consciousness and perception. Reality is rearranging and cannot be stopped from constantly changing. Perfection cannot handle that kind of stress. If it is all not done and if it is all not complete, than it is not perfect. It is never done and it is never complete, so the illusion of perfection can never last.

Excellence presents itself as willing to learn. Perfection boasts itself as knowing it all. Perfection says it has seen it all before, while excellence takes initiative to open undiscovered doors. Excellence gets down in the dirt to plant seeds for future development. Perfection does not tolerate getting soiled.

Chaos is a fact of life. Excellence takes that into account and perfection does not. Perfection is oblivious to everything except itself and leaves itself dangerously vulnerable to the unknown because it thinks it is invincible, yet can fall to pieces at any moment of time. Falling to pieces is an experience excellence has visited many times and knows how to put the pieces back together in new creative ways and is entertained by the process of becoming more than it was before.

Excellence makes fluid sacrifices for growth. Perfection has attachments and is in a stagnant state of not letting go until inevitable disaster happens. Life is a vibration of flowing cycles. Excellence rides the surf. Perfection does not even like getting a little wet, yet gets totally crushed by the waves. It is not for us to stay the way we are. Fixations never last. You move and have your being in emanations of fluctuation, disintegration, and manifestation. All becomes a part of you because your destiny is to grow.

Excellence seeks out mysteries to know. Perfection only looks at what it already knows. Excellence knows that it does not know. It welcomes the new and is renewed, again and again. Improvement is always possible and plausible. Excellence is not the epitome, so it always contemplates the question… “How can I do better?” Every once in a while it may even ask, “How can I be sure not to screw up next time?”

Excellence is not beyond considering and even seeking out guidance from multiple and diverse sources as helpful ideas can come from anywhere.

On the other hand, perfection never admits its mistakes, is quick to blame and judge others, is always right and never wrong and there is no sense ever arguing with it or even expressing a suggestion. Really, when it gets down to it, well… “Who Needs Perfection Anyway?”