Mind games

OK, check this video first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf0XBkpCnwI

Magic is mind blowing, because it is a mind game, deceiving the mind. However, even though you are not someone with those skills, you can be playing those games too… or being played.

When you try to sell something or you are convincing someone to do what they don’t want to do, that’s a mind game.

Let’s comprehend our mind, not the brain … we need to understand more about the intangible process that takes place within.

First, anything that happens outside is an input to your mind and, on the basis of your valuable experience; the mind will generate thoughts or emotions, ideas or feelings.

Besides the experience, the mind takes into account the present situations: environment, how the person is feeling, whatever is going on.

The game that plays in the mind comes from two main factors: either the experience does not apply to the present input or the situation is influencing negatively the mind.

Two examples:

• Let’s say you want to resume your friendship with another person, but by seeing them, your experience with that person emerges again and it is not positive. Even though you want to be friend again, your mind will tell you that is a waste of time because of what the other person did.
• Same example, but this time you are able to winning over your experience. Yet, the person is not attentive to you, they are focused on other things and they are doing things you don’t like; there again goes your intention to continue the friendship.

How to go beyond the games of mind? Just as in the video, the best thing is to UNDERSTAND…

• When you see the person you want to be friend again and you start remembering old experiences, understand they did happen, but you are willing to give another try, by opening the doors of your heart and mind again.
• Maybe the person is doing THAT THING that annoys you, so it is time to remember the reasons why you want to be friend with them again, which I am sure will be stronger than those things.

In fact, the biggest trick is that you are not a player in the mind games; you are the owner and the one who defines the game.

Giving up, or giving… up…

Many times in life we just give up: school, children, marriage, career, life…

It happens because we are tired or we realize this would not be what we wanted. An unwanted outcome is the sense or repentance: what would have happened if I went along with my school, career, and family? And the incredible sense of having done something wrong.

However there is another way. You can give… UP…

This means to keep on doing what you are doing, to stay with the people you are right now and to follow a similar routine, but with a different awareness.

Most of the problems are related to your perception of what others, situations and you are; you change that perception from the source, by changing your awareness, and the reality also changes. Maybe it is not 100%, but you will feel the difference when you start to relate to the world in with a different consciousness.

So, what are you waiting for? Give UP, without giving up… take care! 

Reasons to change

Why do we change? Change is a paradox: inevitable, but we keep on avoiding it.

Changes we generate come out of a need, often without been chosen. Now, during the pandemic, many people are changing professional careers due to their economic situation.

But changes may also come as an opportunity, and that is something we choose; for the same environment, people who are expert in telecommunication saw their live changes as they took advantage of what is happening and their own specialty.

Still, these points indicate an outside factor influences us to change. There is an alternative that comes from self-leadership.

It is the change we generate after a deep reflection.

It is the change we do not because we need or we are forced to do, but because we are convinced it is important.

It is the change that comes from the heart and we do out of love for the self, others or the environment.

It is the change we do so that we can be a better person, a better version of ourselves.

So, let’s be the leader of the self and change.

In the quest for a better world

It may sound frivolous to talk about a new word when this world – our world – is kind of crumbling down… But this is the best and the right time for it, because a new world can replace the old structure we lived for so long.

The basis of a better Earth comes from the idea that something is not quite right about the world we live. However, we often forget we are the ones responsible for this world as it is… that means until we change something in our mindset and deep behavior, whatever we create will turn to this again.

Maybe instead of looking for a building a better world, we should build a better ME. Not because I am not OK, but because I can be better.

As soon as I am better, naturally I will inspire a few others to improve too.

And those few will inspire other few… and maybe one day, that wonderful world will come up from this personal transformation.

 

What are you waiting to be the better version of yourself?

The essence of meditation

When there is a big problem you can’t resolve, it is common that you just let your mind fly a bit, beyond the problem…

When you are so happy that laughter cannot express it and you decide that, instead of sharing with others, you just let your thoughts fly very high…

When you are feeling so peaceful that your mind gets calmed and even reality seems to slow down…

Meditating is basically to abstract yourself from reality and turn your mind – which generates thoughts, ideas, feelings and emotions – towards something else.

By meditating you allow yourself to go out of the box you are at the moment and find other possibilities, other avenues to ride the chariot of your mind.

I have been meditating for almost 40 years and although I can name you at least 10 benefits and I can describe the method to meditating by heart, I still have to capture its essence every single day.

Because every day my mind tries to dive into the problems that come up in my life.

Every time I am happy, my mind generates so many thoughts on how to share that happiness with others.

Whenever I get some moments of peace, I want to go to sleep or just relax by watching or reading something.

To meditate may be a struggle, or a game in which you are the one who will be victorious. It depends on several factors, but with a good method, you will be able to control your mind.

However, the essence of meditation is not about controlling; it is about liberating and focusing. I have learned that, instead of controlling my thoughts and mind, I can free them from several subtle chains and I focus onto something powerful and beautiful.

When the mind finds solutions, pleasure or peace in that direction, meditation becomes natural, the struggle ends and you win this subtle game.

 

Do you want to meditate?

I recommend you go to Brahma Kumaris and check the raja yoga meditation.

What to forget, what to remember

Forgetting and remembering are two sides of the same coin: consciousness.

I am not talking here of oblivion where memories are erased or blurred as if they were behind a fog.

Nor do I speak of the memory as the obsessive thought that does not allow us to erase something from the mind.

I speak of the conscious act of recovering valuable memories, since along with them, virtues, values ​​and inner powers will arise. These memories can be the solution to a problem present at work, a conflict with another person or they can give rise to hope in the face of a serious health situation.

I speak of the conscious act of reducing guilt, both of oneself and of others; forget so much that we stop blaming. I'm talking about the conscious act of forgetting bad times with a person because you understand them and you know that we all go through bad days. I speak of the conscious act of instead of allowing negative memories, to strengthen the present wonder.

For this, do this simple daily exercise:

Think: What will I remember today that will bring into my life qualities or powers that I need so much?

Think: What are the alternatives I have to relate to a person, so that I forget bad moments of past interactions?

That will help you improve your quality of life and will also give other people an opportunity to improve in your eyes.

Religions and rituals

I never thought I had a religious experience, until many years late in my life, but still there was something that amazed me: Jesus Christ, who founded the Christian religion, was not a Christian…

Fast forward and I am exposed to a new notion in relation to religion by the simple word dharma. And it means much, much more than just religion: the lifestyle, a form of relating the others, a mission in life… In that sense, Christ was the first Christian.

That simply made so much sense! Religion is more than rituals and scriptures, priests and hierarchy; religion as dharma is how someone lives according to a set of principles and values, instead of how to pray or which cloth to wear.

And that applies in all aspects of our life. Let’s take for example our approach to the work: am I working just because of money or because of my diploma? Am I working according to my vocation and the energy it generates in my life?

Much of our lives we just live as a ritual… it is time to identify our dharma and align our reality with it.