Year: 2018

Year 3, Week 19: The Mind Gym

The MKE has a progression where we workout in our Mind Gym. There are specific steps for this, but I’m winging it here because I can. I’m in my third year of the course — one year as a student committed to following the steps as taught and two years independently applying what I have learned, following along with the live course, and modifying as I see fit.

I checked the workbook for this week and saw the instructions for the continuing Mind Gym exercises, and I immediately thought it’s a good time for a reminder about progress in the Gym.

What are my reminders?

  • Don’t judge your progress on your journey by what you SEE in others. You don’t know the struggles they face inside and you may not know how far they’ve come or how far they have to go. But do encourage them.
  • Secondly, don’t judge your progress on your journey by your end goal. You shouldn’t necessarily look back too often to gauge how far you’ve come. You may look down and see only a short distance, but there are a couple of possibilities. Perhaps you’ve climbed the sheer cliff to get to the tiny purchase you’ve been able to cling to while checking your progress. Or maybe you’re not a good climber, so you’ve taken the long, meandering goat path which has taken you seemingly far out of your way to get to the cliff you’re clinging to now. Neither journey has been easy. Just different. It’s your journey, so savor it.
  • Maybe you do look back and are amazed by how far you’ve come but you’re still frustrated by how far you have to go. This journey is your life. It will take as long as it takes. Savor each moment and build upon that going forward. Live in the moment. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow may never get here, but you have today. Seize it! Make it yours! No matter what life throws at you, calmly, with firm purpose, stand boldly, and say with conviction, “Bring it on!”

Year 3, Week 18: Your Last

We begin Scroll V today. “I live this day as if it is my last.”

If you knew this was your last day on earth, would you do anything differently? What?

To a certain extent, we can’t completely throw caution to the wind. Most of us, if we knew it would be our last day on earth might not show up for work, but that isn’t the point of this exercise. Most of us do not know when our time on earth will expire. We could have many years. Somebody didn’t wake up to read this this morning.

You’ve heard it before, but are you ready to really examine your life and listen yet? If today were your last day, you wouldn’t waste is lamenting what happened yesterday. You wouldn’t be worrying about what would happen tomorrow. You’d be focused on today. Today is your eternity. How do you start the day?

You fall on your knees with gratitude and cries of joy. You lift your arms in thankfulness for this priceless gift of this day. You make the most of each moment. You savor the events. You savor the people you spend those moments with.

You don’t procrastinate. You act. You make the most of the moments you have. You do your best work. You take the best care of your children and loved ones. You want to be remembered well.

And should this day turn out to not be your last? You fall to your knees and give thanks.

Week 17 HJ: This Hero’s Journey

This Hero has been traveling a rocky place on the road. Many potholes, many unmaintained roads, but the view? It’s fabulous.

I’m approaching the Abyss in my Hero’s Journey. I’ve been avoiding it for awhile, and I will likely continue to avoid it for awhile longer, but I’m actively seeking the path.

I’ve never liked change. I’m not wild about the unknown. I’ve gained insight recently into why that might be, and it’s been liberating. One tool I am finding helpful is a book called HEAL YOUR BODY by Louise Hay. Just this week, I added 90 index cards designed to affirm new thought patterns to alleviate various health issues–many in the past. Will they help me deal with them? Even if they don’t, they won’t hurt, but our MKE training all points to the power of our minds in creating our realities.

The book is an easy read. It has a short introduction and conclusion but most of it consists of a huge three column table consisting of PROBLEM, PROBABLE CAUSE, and NEW THOUGHT PATTERN. As I read the problems and look at the probable cause, I find myself nodding thoughtfully, “Yes, that could be it.” I was surprised by the near visceral reaction I had to the affirmations for one of my prior health concerns. (Hint: It wasn’t positive.) Coupled with the Daily OM course, A Year to Clear What is Holding You Back , that I’m taking, I’m finding these discoveries fascinating and very hopeful. After my initial reaction, subsequent readings of those affirmations that started so negatively have been softened. I still don’t like them. In time, I may decide to address them more directly, but for now, I’m working on lower hanging fruit. Or, perhaps, with continued reading, my mind will take care of them for me. 

I’ve recently switched one of my PPNs to Legacy with the only guide being “I am the change I want to see in the world.” So far, that’s all that’s coming to me on that, but I believe with these Hero’s Journey paths I’m currently taking, this PPN will gain greater clarity as I continue to travel. I’m happy to take the road less traveled (which, from how rough it’s become, I have to suspect it’s a lot more heavily traveled that I’d like to believe) as I continue to pick my way to the Abyss.

Year 3, Week 17: Plastic Material

Thought is the plastic material we use to build images of our new lives. What kind of lives are we building with our thoughts this week?

I’ve been working with shoddy materials this week and have been looking for a new supplier. I’m not happy with the quality of what I’ve been building. I’m sending a lot of it back and getting better quality stuff.

How about you?

Year 3, Week 15: Nature’s Greatest Miracle

With the new month, we start a new scroll. This scroll focuses on, “I am nature’s greatest miracle.” Isn’t contemplating our miraculousness a wonderful way to start the new year?

Not only am I nature’s greatest miracle, but you are too. So get out there today and strut your greatness!