Author Archives: Guus

Joyful life experience

Well, today my post title comes from:

“Self appreciation is essential to joyful life experience.”Abraham Hicks

This is written emphasized and bold and in a large font on today’s quote page of the thirty day Law of Attraction program.

And until an hour ago my day was just not my day, regardless of that I have been much happier lately, partly even to that thirty day Law of Attraction program. But today it didn’t really help me, on the contrary even.  One of the assignments of the “Days of love” is to ask yourself “What do I like about this?” or “What is good about this?” with the people I met or meet today or the experiences I had or have today. And while in earlier “Days of love” this was OK with me, today it just pissed me off as it seemed there was nothing good in the people I met or the experiences I had. Things just seemed to suck today and it started with the service technicians who were checking our internet connection telling me that the wireless signal of our connection was not up to the current standards and that we should close the account?

What? Close the account for an internet connection that has worked for something like six years 99% of the time without any problems? And I/we kind of depend on that connection, so if it’s gone that would mean no proper internet. And what is happening with technology, progress? Yes, I know it’s wireless and things like trees can grow in between our antenna and the tower and things like that. But I also thought technology, especially wireless technology would improve a little, or actually a lot, in six years time, especially as six year time we were one of the first using that technology.

Anyhow, what is good about that? Can you imagine I had some difficulty finding something good about those technicians, who by the way are just contractors of our ISP or about them telling me they couldn’t fix the problem and that they suggested to me to just close the account.

But while writing now the good thing is maybe that this type of thing is something I do like to write about, I do want to write about and with ‘this type of thing’ I mean something like feeling powerless towards all those big companies, all those big organizations that all of us are dealing with. Actually this type of thing is even one of the things behind this site, one of the reasons I’m writing and keep writing to become popular so something can be done about ‘these things’. So maybe that’s the good thing I was looking for, a reason to write about this so we can do something about it. And I have written about it before, but I will keep writing about it until this has changed, until the world is a better place, until we found a way again to care about people, to care about customers and not treat them like, well, don’t know how to say.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m not against big companies, I’m not against procedures, I’m not against efficiency. All these things have brought us, you and me, humanity, all those good things from radio, TV, computers, all kinds of food, snacks, travel, ships, yes, internet and whatever you can think of that is around us, that we use, that we enjoy. And I’m seeing more and more how this all came to be and how much we as humanity have invested to make all of this possible. I’ve been thinking about this quite a lot lately, also as it is one of the ideas of Napoleon Hill as described in Think and Grow Rich in the chapter Organized Planning, sub chapter “The Capital Cornerstones of Our Lives”. And it’s indeed awesome what we have achieved as humanity and what is basically accessible to virtually anyone, yes, I think even to most people that are poor, that we consider poor. I mean, even most poor people in The Philippines, the country where I live and where there are still many really poor people, have a cellphone. And to me a cellphone and the network behind it is an awesome piece of, well, technology, infrastructure, equipment, organized planning, etc. And when I was young, in my teens, cellphones didn’t even exist. Yes, there were some radio type phones that could be put in cars for rich people, but they were very rare and very unique. And now virtually everybody has one. So that’s progress, progress of humanity (and yes, I know there are more types of progress than this type, but that’s another story for another chapter and another time).

And it goes back much further as I think decent roads are only from the twentieth century. Only one hundred years ago I guess there were not so many paved roads. And there were no cars, and certainly no planes, well the one from the Wright brothers maybe. So also, roads and cars or public transportation are available to everybody, and I think in this case literally everybody on the whole world must have used some kind of land transportation like at least a bus or so or a truck.

So yes, we came very far as humanity to create things that make life nicer, easier, more exciting, whatever name you want to give it. But some things seem to start coming at a cost I don’t like, and I’m not sure if that cost is only recent or if it’s already there longer than I think or know or can know. And the cost to me is something like ‘dehumanication’. As often I have the feeling it’s not about me anymore, it’s not about humans anymore, but the organization is more important than the human being. And I think that’s not right, although one could also reason that organizations or the higher levels of organization like road networks or cities are indeed ‘more’ than human beings. In my mind i am often thinking of the analogy that I am ‘more’ than the cells in my body.

But somehow I believe that is not true. Somehow I still believe that human beings are the highest level of consciousness that exists. And that the lower levels like cells and organs in the body are there to serve the human, the human body, the human consciousness. And that also the higher levels like all kinds of organizations and equipment and things like that are also support to serve the human and not the other way around.

And I don’t know exactly how we could turn this around as we all think things like call centers are efficient and that the way airlines operate are ‘efficient’. But if I see people suffer like not being able to get through, not being able to get the service they need I want to do something.

So maybe we can do something together. And maybe the first step is just awareness and that’s what I want to achieve with this post and one of the things I want to achieve with this site.

Procrastination

i read a bit ahead in my thirty day Law of Attraction program and it was about procrastination. And Abraham Hicks says on day 26 that procrastination is not necessarily bad (see what i just wrote about procrastination on the page procrastination if it’s still there). And I agree with that as that’s what I often felt even though everything around me, around us, seems to say that we should take action and don’t wait, don’t hesitate.

And I don’t say you shouldn’t do anything, shouldn’t take action, as I still believe action is the thing that in the end makes things move. But looking back at the last year I am also starting to realize that patience may be as important as ‘action’.

You see, patience brought my biggest dream closer, closer than I could have ever imagined one year ago. One year ago when my biggest dream was impossible, literally impossible. Where everyone said I was crazy to follow my heart, follow my dream. And I’m not there yet, but I’m very, very close. And yes, i’m willing to wait, willing to be patient, willing to ‘allow’ my dream finally become true. So the weird thing with the thing I really wanted, I really want, is that it came closer by just being patient, without really taking action. And yes, persistent I was and still am, but patience seems to have been the biggest issue, not action.

And also today, the last few weeks, I saw that patience paid off much more than action and pushing pushing. Patience also seems to have been the biggest issue towards other people, towards my team, that slowly but surely seems to start moving in the direction that I have and had in mind for Inspiration for Success.

So yes, procrastination is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes the Universe just needs time to put things in place, to align things. So be persistent, but also be patient.

Being joyful

There is still a text from yesterday that is in my mind:

“Your greatest value to others is when you are joyful. Your greatest value to others is when you are connected. Your greatest value to others is to be radiantly healthy. Your greatest value to others is when you are happy. Your greatest value to others is to have and to be and do all the things that are very important to you. And as you are living that and vibrating that and oozing that and radiating that—then you are a catalyst that is inspiring others to an awareness of that.”Abraham Hicks

And I believe or am starting to believe that this is very true. However, to implement these thoughts, these ideas are not that simple. At least I am finding out that I am so conditioned with all kinds of things that are ‘right’, right in the eyes of others, right in the way I was raised, right according to my parents, right according to the law, right in what we all consider to be ‘right’.

And I am starting to believe that this ‘right’ is not right anymore, even though it has brought humanity very far, all those rules all those ‘ideas that work’. But do they work? Or do they work always?

For me personally I have always worked hard, or at least tried to do that as I thought it would bring me happiness and yes, money, freedom. And I am still working hard, still trying to ‘earn my living’ by working as that is how the world sees how it’s supposed to be. But it doesn’t and didn’t work for me, because looking back I have forced myself into jobs and worked according to the rules of my bosses, the system and it got me kicked out of my job several times, hurting me a lot. And it wasn’t because i worked hard, because I did work hard. But it was because I was me, or tried to combine those things. And in the end it didn’t work as I couldn’t find a job anymore, but I didn’t even really wanted that anymore as bosses appeared not to be happy with what I did or how I did it.

And yes, my ‘forcing’ before did bring me a lot as I earned quite some money, had a company car, was able to travel the world and was able to live a happy, luxury life. And yes, I miss that a lot. And to be honest I want that back, that freedom of having money. But the way i did it didn’t work, so I don’t want to go back forcing myself doing things that are or were expected of me, or the things i thought that were expected of me.

So what to do, as it seems the business world, the money world, the areas were money is to be earned doesn’t suit me, or i guess actually the other way around: I don’t fit ‘the system’.

And still, I’m trying hard to fit in, as slowly I started to need the money, not to just to the fun things, but just to eat, just to survive. But I learned to live from day to day, from moment to moment, not to worry too much about the future. And I’m much happier with that, much happier now.

But I’m still not sure how it will turn out. I’m trying to live more like myself and basically it feels good. But not having the ‘receiving’ part is hard and i really would love to travel again. have a car again, renovate the house so we can invite guests again and indeed, also provide everything with food, with nice things.

So how to do that, how to receive? And pass on, let it flow?

Time will tell.

Power

Gentle powerWe have the book “The concise 48 laws of Power” of Robert Green and when I first saw it and read from it I didn’t like it, because power has (still) to me a very negative feeling around it. And most of the book I don’t like, because, well, until now, I had the feeling it’s about the negative, the power from fear kind of power. It is weird thought that the word power has something negative in it, because my core qualities are “Joyful, loving and powerful”. So maybe that’s also one of the reasons i am where i am, as I have resisted, and still do I think, one of my core qualities, one of my core talents.

Anyhow, somehow, yesterday or two or three days ago I opened the book again (I often follow my instinct and just open books if I feel ‘something’) I found a remarkable quote in the book:

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if a man will sue thee at the law, an take away thy coat, let them have their cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.” – Jesus Christ (Matthew 5: 38-41)

So it seems that power is something different than I have in mind. It seems certainly not to be the thing that I thought it was: overruling other people by force. It is something else and even a very useful thing, something people expect, even need as I also found out with my team that expected direction and clarity from me, where I considered those things something like applying my ‘power’.

Something to ponder more about.

And how do you look at power? Do you exercise it? Do you like to follow powerful people? Do you like to have power? How do you use it?.

Youth and changes

Mexican locomotive from Bob EversThere are two things in my mind, or there were actually two e-mails coming to me. One was from the Bob Evers nieuwsbrief with an image of a locomotive. The other one was from the Marc and Angel site (http://www.marcandangel.com/2013/08/18/7-questions-you-are-too-scared-to-ask/#more-654) and from the last what struck me was the following:

Doing nothing gets you nothing. Doing the wrong things gets you the wrong things. Doing the same things gets you the same things. Your story only changes when you make changes.

What is bothering me with the last that it seems contradictory with the stuff i read from the ideas of the Law of Attraction. In my experience I hardly ever did ‘nothing’, although recently I’m trying that a bit as doing ‘something’ does not seem to produce the results I’m looking for. But that’s not the point, what’s bothering me is that this statement leaves out ‘The Universe’, ‘God’, ‘Infinite Intelligence’ that also does things when you don’t do anything, or don’t change anything, or do the same thing. Somehow the world is changing, so if you do the same thing the result may still be different. Anyhow, I don’t have all the answers, but I’m believing(?!) more and more that things mainly happen because i or you or someone else believe them to happen or possible to happen. So yes, maybe if you say something like “change your belief” then things will change. But changing doing things? Not sure. And I mean just physically doing.

And I’m not really in the mood writing something inspirational as i feel a bit stuck. A bit stuck myself and a bit stuck with this site, because indeed, writing a daily post i don’t really feel like writing in an inspirational way, like creating something inspiring doesn’t seem to work, at least not for me, even though from a Search Engine Optimization point of view I’m still writing content, which was also the reason to write a daily post: just create content, be found, get traffic, so at least we can analyze how to do the right thing.

Anyhow, it seems I’m impatient again, but yes, somehow I still hope someone will read my posts, each of them, either now or somewhere in the future. As most of them still came from the heart, were honest and an honest action to add something to the world, something to the site.

But what about the locomotive you may think, the one I put the image of. Well, I got it today in my e-mail from the Bob Evers newsgroup and it reminded me of the influence the book series with the same name probably has had on me, on my life. And when I think about the books I think about the writer, Willy van der Heide. And I feel a bit sad as in my opinion he never got the recognition I think he deserves. Imagine, his books are basically from the 1950’s and are still being read, and have always been read, by a group of aging youths like me. And they are children’s books. To me that’s quite an achievement. So hats of for Mr. Willy van der Heide. How bad and weird a person you even may have been.