Gratitude Every Day, All The Time
Masters are constantly learning, doing and teaching.
I am grateful for my mentors and role models.
I am grateful for having clear basic understandings in my basic arenas. What a blessing!
I am grateful for a tribe of people willing to actually work on themselves, and understand that the majority of life is just "chop wood, carry water." And take joy in it.
If I have all three, my success in life is 100% guaranteed, because if I am grateful, I am joyful. If I am joyful, I am ALREADY WINNING, since most people believe they will be "joyful" or "feel gratitude" if they get the thing they are working for.
They have it precisely backwards. Take joy in being the person who can do the things that maximize your chances of reaching the goal. Then, not only do you start where others end, but you also increase your chances of entering flow, and a non-dualistic state of focus, which is the doorway to that union of conscious and unconscious that is about the last thing you can do to optimize your odds of a "genius" level breakthrough.
You cannot PREDICT breakthroughs, except statistically, stochastically, by nurturing the ODDS of producing them by being in a high-energy, fertile, focused flow state.
There are things you can control. Call them "dogs".
Then there are things that exist, that we experience, that we cannot control. Call them "cats."
One way to look at the process is to be so busy training and nurturing and playing with your "dogs" that the "cats" get jealous and wander over to rub against your legs and try to trip you on the stairs.
And feeling JOY and GRATITUDE is one thing we can control. How? We control our emotions three ways:
What we focus on
How we move our bodies
The language we use, internal and external.
I love "triangles", three-part structures of thought or action. When they ring true, they feel extra powerful. Simple enough to really grasp and test. Powerful enough to be life changing.
So…how do we test this triangle? We can do it "Via Negitiva" of course….examine the opposite case.
If I focus on the horrors and tragedies of life, does my mood grow pale?
If I hunch, breathe shallowly, and frown…do I feel small and helpless?
If I say negative things to myself and others, do I experience hope or anger and fear?
Stop and answer those questions. Does negative focus, action, and thought produce negative emotions?
Turn it around:
If I focus on the beauties of life, does pain increase or decrease?
If I stand with confidence, move with grace and power, and SMILE, do I feel better or worse?
If I deliberately speak positive things, use positive words, refrain from speaking evil of others or myself, do I feel more or less energetic?
If you are like anyone I've met, for the time you can bring these three aspects together positively, you are in a higher energetic state. You can do this for just a few minutes in the morning, and charge your whole day (this of course is the basis of the FIREDANCETAICHI.COM and its "morning ritual." Use the code BLACKFRIDAYTAICHI2022 for 20% off until midnight the 27th.)
You can do this with ANY physical movement where "you can talk but you cannot sing": walking, hitting the heavy bag, rebounding, running, etc.
Want a more peaceful experience? Use a gentle movement like strolling or "Constant Bear" Chi Gong. Want to develop enough power to plow through a wall? Run, do kettlebell swings or strong sun salutations.
But if you can bribe, blackmail, or force yourself to do this for 10-20 minutes a day for a week, you'll feel it.
A month and you'll glimpse the difference between YOU and your "programming."
And friends and neighbors…if you can do it for a year, you will change your life forever.
We'll dive deeper into this on the Friday podcasts. Join us and I'll coach you in applying this clean, strong energy to your career (especially writing), your physical health and vibrancy, and your emotional life and relationships.
Master these three things, and you are on a very rarefied path, one that leads to awakening. And that is the best game in town.
Namaste
Steve
