It’s no wonder we’re depressed, stressed out and feeling overwhelmed! And, it quickly becomes obvious as to why 8 out of 10 Americans are taking some form of prescription drug, with Anti-depressants at the top of the list! Over one half of all Americans are now on some kind of prescription medication! Our struggle to maintain emotional equilibrium and to shut out the daily stress of living in today’s world, leads many to their doctors office in search of relief. We are not looking for the answers to solve our problems, but to reach for the next magic pill to make us forget about our problems, but pills don’t solve problems.
How did we get so far away from living simply and stopping long enough to appreciate the simple beauty of life? Where did we turn the corner and decide that watching TV, playing video games, spending way too much time on our computers, and managing our mobile media devices became the priority of our daily lives, rather than living our life well through living simply?
Can we blame this all on the massive corporate American marketing machine, convincing us to buy yet another thing we don’t need, or watch yet another, and increasingly more violent, new movie? With the advent of the Internet, cell phones, easy credit and the almighty American consumerism-lifestyle, I believe, that we all got swept away into this non-stop, never-ending buying spree and over-stimulate-my-nervous-system-please fantasy play land! Whew! My head is spinning just thinking about it! And I’ll admit it; I got caught up in it too. Very few of us escaped the lure, and the majority of us took the bait, hook, line and sinker!
Okay, so now what? America is broke, except for the bankers, and many are out of jobs, out of their homes, dazed, confused, and definitely not sure of what to do next. I’ve been there myself, so I not only speak from first-hand experience, but also from the escape-artists perspective. I was lucky in that I saw it coming early on, America as the Titanic, with that iceberg still out there, looming somewhere in the mist. I owe it mostly due to my good instincts, rather than some highly intelligent and savvy business visionary insights.
So now that we all find ourselves in this fine mess we’ve made of things, what’s next? How do we turn something so upside down into something right again?
As Americans, we have a great and distinct advantage. We have tremendous fortitude, strength and determination to fix things, to overcome great adversity, and without question, to reach out and help others with great compassion and generosity! I’ve noticed that Americans are always the first ones to run to the rescue of the hurt, the damaged, and especially the tragedy-stricken people of the world. And, I might add a note of clarification here, I’m not speaking of the American government, but of the American people, the You and Me of America.
But, do you know if your neighbor, or friend, or relative is hurt, struggling and scared? Are you struggling and scared of what might come next? And does your neighbor know how you are feeling? We used to know our neighbors, back in the olden days. I’m only speaking of forty or so years ago, less than a generation, but it seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it? So much has happened and we’ve lost touch with getting to know our neighbors and taking the time to care about what’s really happening with our friends, family and fellow human beings. I’m thinking that it might not be a bad idea to shut off the TV, walk outside and talk to our neighbors again. It might be something that we say, or do, that can make a great difference in someone else’s life. And, I think that this kind of interaction, actual dialog with the people next door is needed, now more than ever. So, the next time you take a walk down your street, or go to your car, actually say hello to your neighbor as you pass by. Be the brave one and start the dialog. You may need each other one day.
There’s something else that we can do to move out of this chaos-filled, media-driven world we’ve found ourselves in, and again, it goes back to living more simply. I, for one, believe it to be one of the most important things that we all can do to help alleviate the stress and strain of our currently crazed lives. It’s free, it’s abundant, it’s always available to us, and in most cases, just outside our front, or back door.
Mother Nature provides us with a simple and free solution to many of these problems just by spending some time with her on this beautiful and magnificent planet on which we walk, sleep and live our lives. So the next time you feel overwhelmed, go for a walk, meditate under a tree, ponder the blue sky for five minutes, or rescue a bug from a puddle. The next time you hear a bird sing, stop and listen, really listen to the incredible beauty that surrounds you. Escape from the daily rat race and walk to the park, spend time with the trees that live in your back yard, they’re really great listeners and they won’t judge you. If you live in a large city, bring Nature to you by planting an herb garden to sit on your windowsill, or bring some flowering plants to brighten up your home and life with its beauty.
Nature is there for us whenever we need her, providing the gentle breeze to cool our frenetic pace, the waves to wash away our pain, or the silent snow falling to clear our minds of the fast world in which we live. Through simple appreciation and gratitude for the incredibly magnificent and beautiful Planet on which we live, and without her support we could not survive, Nature will soothe your soul back to a balanced and joyful place.
We are living in a unique period of time, where the world, and everyone in it is experiencing, processing and releasing the eons of trauma and pain through the evolutionary transformation we are currently undergoing. Many of us are emotionally dazed and confused, and without a clear understanding of how to handle and express our feelings of emotional overwhelm.
However, we all possess a fantastic coping mechanism and vehicle of expression for the tremendous range of feelings and sensations that we experience throughout our lives. Our emotions provide us with a way to release the vast energy that we create, take in, are exposed and subjected to, happen by and participate in, all in the spectrum of experiencing this journey called life. None of us would give up the happy, joyful moments we’ve all had, so we must also learn how to deal with the disappointing and more difficult experiences in life that many of us will go through at one time or another.
Expressed in a way that doesn’t harm another, our emotions can be a great gift and something truly special that we can experience and share with one another. Have you ever cried so hard that you could barely breathe and you could feel the hurt, pain and sadness pouring out of you? How did you feel after you cried your eyes out? Did you feel just a tiny bit better? Or, if you have really experienced deep loss and sadness, was it because you loved someone dearly and they passed away or left you? Maybe it took you days, or weeks, even months of crying and feeling sad to finally begin to feel better and begin living your life again. Would you prefer not to have known that person and had those experiences of Love? Do we really want to become totally disengaged from our emotions, totally desensitized that we stop feeling altogether?
This is what taking Anti-depressant prescription drugs will do to you. This is what violent TV, music and movies are doing to all of us; desensitizing us to feel no sense of loss and sadness when we watch someone die or get killed, blown up or who knows what they’ll put in the next horror film our kids are watching these days. And, the most popular video games are all about killing, war and more killing. What are we doing by letting our children spend hours each day entertaining themselves with this kind of violence? We need to wake up to what’s really going on here and make some very important changes for the sake of our children.
Children need to be learning in a creative environment, with room and the freedom to move and express themselves. Just recently, the Psychiatric Diagnostic Manual has assigned a new disorder to children who have temper tantrums, and it’s called, Temper Dysregulation Disorder with Dysphoria. This opens the door for the pharmaceutical industry to now convince parents that there’s something ‘wrong’ with their children if they have a tantrum, and that they need to give their child a pill to fix it. This is not a joke, it’s real and it’s happening.
We need to wake up and realize that our emotions are there to help us experience a rich, fulfilling life! Nature has provided us with a full spectrum of emotions to express ourselves in a wonderfully diverse, creative and fun way! We need to celebrate life more, forget about being politically correct and go out and have fun, enjoy yourself with your friends, laugh, play, be silly, be child-like again! This is a great way to release the stress and the worries many of us are experiencing these days.
We need to get out of the rut of feeling bad, as it only creates more of the same. If we are willing to work endless hours to make more money, why can’t we put a little more effort into creating a happier life? It works the same for all the emotions, and if we start to place our focus on the positive ones, and make more of an effort to create more Love, Joy, Laughter and Fun in our lives, our lives will become more Fun, more Loving and more Joyful!
And Joy! Wow, that’s a big one, isn’t it? She doesn’t come around that often these days, does she? Why is that? I believe it’s because we create Joy from the inside, yet we’ve been taught that the happy, joyful moments in life come from outside experiences.
You can create Joy at any moment you choose, and it comes from the Heart. It’s like instant soup in a cup, doesn’t involve anything you have to throw away, is FREE, and is one of the healthiest things that you can do for yourself anywhere, anytime, alone or even better – together with someone you Love! Joy is Love expressed with complete gratitude, without any judgments or attachments. It’s a feeling of total freedom in your Heart and expressing it to the world without a care!
If you could close your eyes for one minute each morning, and just create the feeling of Joy in your Heart, for all the Living creatures (yes, your fellow humans included), and our Planet, how do you think your day would go? And, if you could practice that everyday for a week, do you think your life would change for the better? What do you think would happen if we could get one million people on the planet to create the same feeling at the same time? Do you think it would make a difference? Do you think that anything would change? I think it might be interesting to try and find out!
The best part is that there is a way to achieve emotional balance in your life, it doesn’t require a prescription, and it is possible to learn how to responsibly respond rather than emotionally react. It might take some practice, and certainly some discipline, but the key is to know that you are always safe, rather than live from a fearful place. The way to reach this state-of-being is to meditate each and every day. Learn to listen to your heart, allow yourself to trust your own inner emotional guidance system, and to always have faith that within every problem lays a solution – no matter what is happening in your life.
Meditation is the Key, the Secret, and the magic Genie in a bottle, all wrapped up inside of that beautiful beating heart of yours! Learning to meditate is the Key that will unlock the door to peace and serenity to enter into your life. The Secret is waiting inside for you to discover who you truly are, why you are here now, and what you are to do next!
And, I’ve saved the best for the last, the magic Genie in the bottle, is actually the Genius inside of You! Use the Key, discover the Secrets and your Genius will show you the way to creating the life you’ve always dreamed of, and most assuredly deserve!
Visit my website and learn my special Heart Centered Living Meditation and begin living life well again. It is all within YOUR Heart; patiently waiting for you to unlock the door, discover the secrets, and your Genie will Joyfully show you the way from there!
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If you would like to learn to meditate, please visit my website and watch the videos on my new Heart Centered Living Meditation technique.
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