Slow life.

Ever feel that life is getting on top of you? Everything going waaayyyy too fast? Feel you need to call for time out?

The stresses of everyday life are very real. The effects of stress on your body is a disaster. All manner of diseases can be traced back to leading a far too stressful lifestyle.

The cause?

Yourself!

Stress is YOUR PERSONAL REACTION TO:

Being in a hurry. Traffic on the freeway. A horrible boss at work. Way too much debt. Being in a less than great relationship. Looking in the mirror and wondering who the blimp is looking back at you. Too many things to do......................fill in the dots with your own.

What to do?

OK, this is what I do. Yes, it's my solution and I admit it's probably not for everyone. But hey! In the absence of other solutions and considering that it is completely free to try, it might just be worth you giving it a try.

Ready?

OK. Here we go.

I s.l.o.w. d..o..w..n. Quite deliberately. Actually there is a name for it - "slow life"!

I drive slowly. I eat slowly. I work slowly. I deliberately take my time at everything - and I do mean - everything. Cooking, cleaning, working out, walking, talking, se.....well, yeah, that too!

Guess what happens?

For a start you begin to enjoy your tasks. You have more time to think about what you are doing so mistakes are cut right back. You start to sleep at night. Your relationships improve. People notice the "new vibe" coming from you. Energy levels jump.

Surprise, surprise, surprise - you begin to notice that you are accomplishing more each day and are enjoying doing things again. Now that is totally opposite to what you thought would happen.

What's that? Oh - your boss? Well I'm sure he will notice that you seem to be working very systematically, rarely ever make costly mistakes or bad decisions, never have sick days any more, you smile a lot, lifting workplace morale. He notices how the new "slower but somehow faster you" is a cool dude or dudet. Always in control. Now next in line for a move up the line!

Go on - give it a try for awhile - as I said it's free and won't harm you in any way.

In fact you may end up just like me - permanently living the slow life and feeling good.

Empower yourself - slow down.

Albert Einstein

He wasn't just a nerd standing in front of a blackboard covered in chalk dust. He wasn't just a great theoretical physicist and mathematician.

He was much more.

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us a universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest ... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in it's beauty." - Albert Einstein

Barack Obama

In Australia we sometimes view goings-on in America with a fair bit of amusement. So much hoopla! I can never quite get a grip on what actors, musicians and performers have to do with presidential inaugurations, other than to promote themselves and turn the whole thing into a country fair. Is it just me?

Loved his speech. Whoever wrote that earned their pay. He certainly delivered it brilliantly. Let's hope the results from his efforts in the years ahead can come up to these expectations. Remember - the only thing he has accomplished yet is to get himself elected - the real work starts once the hoopla stops.

I felt very sorry for George Bush. It was extremely bad form for people to boo him. Could they have done any better? I doubt it. After all a President really only acts according to his advice. In the same situations as George Bush faced would any other president elect's advice have been any different. I doubt it.

Same facts, same situations, same advice givers = same result.

If jet planes are flown by hijackers into buildings during Barack Obama's presidency will his decisions be any different than George Bush's. His country under attack. I doubt it.

His biggest problems to overcome?

The same as we have here in Australia. Empty warehouses and factories. Warehouses turned into apartments. Housing estates built where orchards, farms and vegetable farmers used to produce products now being imported.

We went to Melbourne last week to have a look at a new development called "Docklands". It was all very nice. An old dockland area turned into an apartment area for the rich. Full of restaurants, open areas and docking facilities for private yachts.

Once upon a time it was an industrial and warehouse area providing jobs and income. Where is all that now? We have huge housing estates full of "McMansions" where orchards and vegetable gardens once were. People employed, products produced no more, now sadly imported.

A hierarchy of bureaucracy bordering on insanity where one hand just has no idea what the other is doing. Far too many cooks continually spoiling the broth.

For the good of not only America, but the world, let's hope and offer support so that Barack Obama's Presidency is outstanding for all the right and good reasons.

The power of feeling good.

How would your life have turned out if you knew from the start that all you had to do was to feel good?

Think about it.

A life full of feeling good. Heaven on earth? Perhaps.

To follow is a wonderful quote from a beautiful book called: "Ask and it is Given" by Abraham from Esther and Jerry Hicks. I thoroughly recommend it.

"We want to say to you that your thoughts change the behavior of everyone and everything who has anything to do with you. For your thoughts absolutely equal your point of attraction, and the better you feel, the more that everything and everyone around you improves. In the moment that you find an improved feeling, conditions and circumstances change to match your feeling."

If you would like to purchase a copy, I have it in my Amazon Bookshop. Alternatively from Abraham-Hicks or your local bookshop (if they don't stock it tell'em to get it in - fast).

The "To Do" list - less is best.

Are you a "To Do" list maker?

I have been extremely good at making very long "To Do TODAY" lists. The problem is that more often than not - OK, OK, tell the truth - always, I can never finish the list.

Once I get started on a list, man, it just grows like it's on some form of super duper steroid. When the pen's in my hand it's just like automatic writing. Before I can wrest back any form of control the list is so long that I would really need a staff of at least 50 to get anywhere close to crossing off enough entries so that calling it a "today" list doesn't become some form of weird humor. Sometimes they could far more accurately be called "To Do This Decade" lists.

I have recently tried curbing my natural exuberance by deliberately limiting the size of any "To Do" list I persecute myself with.

While it is very healthy to want to accomplish lots each day it can also become a source of anxiety when we heap too much on our own plates. Thoughts of never being able to finish anything on time (overwhelmed) can also arise.

For what it's worth, the results of my recent efforts at cutting back on my list size have been very positive.

I'm now very proudly an "I always get my list done type guy". It's great to finish a list with time to spare.

Empower yourself - try cutting back on the demands you make of yourself - it's like a breath of fresh air! You are only you - not a staff of 50.

What do Gandhi and Edison have in common?

Answer - each man left us with a beautiful quote about non-violence.

"Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man." - Gandhi

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages." - Edison

We are all physical manifestations of non-physical beings here to experience life in this physical environment to aid in the evolution of our non-physical selves. We are all part of, and come from, the first source and center (Universal Intelligence or God if you wish). As such we are all part of the one and therefore directly inter-related. Harm to one is by definition harm to us all. Hence the Golden Rule.

Do only unto others as you would have them do unto you.

My Nothing Box

I was sitting very comfortably in my camping chair. Had a drink sitting in it's holder. Staring into, well, staring into, er, well, nothing really.

I'm sure time was passing. I know I was definitely relaxing - more and more - as I think time was probably passing. Maybe. Perhaps it had stopped.

I gradually became aware of movement. Actually, a lot of movement. A lot of movement that had a lot to do with...........females.

I looked in the direction of all the movement..............and there they were.

Madly cleaning........washing dishes.........tidying up!!!!!!!!!!!

I suggested they should perhaps just sit awhile and chill for a bit - pop a bottle of wine and relax!

Incredulous looks back in my direction - I was quite obviously insane.

Truly, men and women's brains work very differently. I had opened my "Nothing Box" and meanwhile their wiring was buzzing with activity.

Do yourself a favour and have a good laugh about this very subject - YouTube "Men's Brain Women's Brain."

Mark Gungor - you are sooooo right!

The view from the top.

On the first of our camping trips we left for the river (it's actually a large creek) on Boxing Day. The rest of the first day was mostly settling in.

In the afternoon of the second day my son suggested we take all the young kids for a four wheel drive to give them some excitement. My son has a Suzuki Vitara and I have a Suzuki Jimny. We checked the map and selected a suitably tricky track.

The kids were loaded in to both 4wd's and off we went. The track was found. Low range 1 was selected and I kept the revs at just over 3,000. This gives me suitable momentum but allows for a slow enough speed to be able to pick the best way forward. Understand, we are talking extremely steep and rough - not for the faint hearted.

It took about 15 minutes and many excited screams from the young occupants until we emerged at the top of the hill. We could see a long way.

It was only from here, at the top, that we could see a bad rain storm approaching rapidly. None of us relished the idea of being caught half way down that track in a storm, with the track quickly turning into a slippery water course. We got moving and got back down just as the rain hit!

It was only by enduring (and enjoying) the long road to the top that we were able to gain a proper perspective on what lay ahead for us (we gained more control over our future). We faced, overcame and employed the element of risk to enable us to reach our objective. Indeed, a lot of that journey contained great risk, but we viewed it as excitement. We took others with us so that they may enjoy and profit from the journey as well. We made quick and proper decisions and all came out well.

Life offers many lessons.

Start of a new year.

So here we all are, lined up on the starting blocks for a brand new year. I hope the festive season was good to you in many, many ways.

We all had a wonderful time here. Went camping with family and friends twice with one trip still to go.

What did I enjoy most on the two trips?

That's a tough one. I guess I enjoyed all the children. Our children and grandchildren were there as well as children and grandchildren of our friends. It was just beautiful to watch the young ones play. Throwing rocks into the water never seems to lose it's charm!

Just sitting in a chair looking at the bush, watching the campfire burn, the children play, holding my wife's hand in the chair next to mine, I felt very blessed. I am a truly blessed person and I give thanks for that.

Feeling good is a wonderful thing.