“Are you waiting to start living? If you develop such a mind pattern, no matter what you achieve or get, the present will never be good enough; the future will always seem better.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
Waiting can be a habit producing false hope leading to a dead end.
People spend a lot of their lives waiting for:
friends, partners or their spouses to change or get their act together; waiting for themselves to get their own act together; waiting for someone in business to return their call for the deal of the century; waiting for a man or woman to wake up and realize he or she really did love them; waiting for the other shoe to fall; waiting to be happy; waiting for the doctor’s opinion or to feel better; waiting until their schedule allows, and then they’ll have more time; waiting until conditions are just right or to get someone’s approval before pursuing their dreams; waiting until they make more money and then they can really start to live their lives
… postponing their happiness, their lives, their precious time… for something they thought was coming and would alter their lives dramatically for the better… and usually didn’t.
But if today is simply a means to an end then there is no living in the now.
What are you waiting for?
You have a choice!
How can you live more fully and have more fun NOW?
“Nothing ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now.
Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
Anxiety and worry reside in many like a low-grade fever that won’t go away. We work, live, and don’t notice it most of the time, but there’s a gnawing in back of the mind that something might happen. It’s a feeling of anticipation, like waiting for the other shoe to fall.
We find countless ways to mask it, such as using power, substances, addictions, sex, control, and anger.
Fear. It’s often fear of the future, the unknown, that somehow, something might happen, and we won’t be able to handle it.
We can never cope with the future. When our mental imaginings run rampant into what danger might be lurking, we incapacitate ourselves.
We can always cope in the now, in this present moment of time. Remember the adage we are only given what we can handle. We always have the ability to make it to the next stage of life.
Always.
“So let me assert my belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
Franklin D Roosevelt
What else can be done to diminish fear?
If you want yeast to multiply, feed it sugar. If you want fear to grow, feed it fear. If you want to reduce fear, surround what you fear with love.
The aim of terrorists is to create fear and terror. Feeling fear makes them stronger as it’s their food and encourages them to create more terror.
Unconditional love short-circuits them. They become like the Wicked Witch of the West and start to melt. Love cannot ride on the fury of anger.
Thoughts, feelings, and prayers are real and are felt around the world. We have the ability to impact life by living in this moment of time with the spirit of love. Right now as you read this, you can offer love and goodwill to the Life force and let it be distributed wherever It chooses.
Now, you just made a difference.
That which we fear diminishes and eventually disappears as we wake up to this awareness.
Who do you trust, a Higher Power or fear? Hint: Who do you know is the biggest kid on the block, every block, everywhere, throughout eternity?
Consider wearing your fear like a rub-on tattoo. If you switch your attention to the now rather than worry about an unknown future, the fear washes off. Fill the now with love, and not only is there no room left for fear within you, but that which you fear dwindles.
There’s a wonderful Zen story about a Japanese warrior waiting in prison after capture. The fear of interrogation, torture, and execution overwhelmed him, and he couldn’t sleep. Then he remembered the words of his spiritual master, “Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now.” He fell peacefully asleep.
Your challenge, if you choose to accept, is to live in the moment with love.
Each time fear rears its head, observe your reaction. Recognize that the fear has nothing to do with this moment in time, and redirect your attention to the now. Breathe. Replace the feelings of fear with gratitude, love, and goodwill to Life.
With a zest for Life, Virginia
Success Thought
“Focus on what you want. Dwelling on your fears will bring them upon you…
We need to enjoy what we have right now and live right now. Fearing loss is not living in the now. Fearing loss is living in the future.”
Andrew Matthews, Being Happy! A Handbook to Greater Confidence & Security
You can open the window to your thoughts, and think outside YOUR box.
Soulgoal Missive, Year 1, No. 15, originally published in 2001
It was my first singing class. After performing my rendition of a song, my voice coach didn’t comment on my presentation but simply suggested that I approach it using different emotions. Although it was a reasonable request, a sinking feeling came over me and began to take me down with it.
I got through the evening but went home devastated as anguish overtook me far beyond what happened in the class. Three days later I still felt this sickening feeling within and knew that it was totally out of proportion from the event.
Then it hit me.
My (unconscious) interpretation of the comment triggered a belief that when I’m myself, I’m not good enough.
“Why can’t you be more like your cousins Kathy and Sharon?” was one of my mother’s mantras I grew up with — to be good enough I had to be like someone else.
My feelings turned from sadness to freedom as the light shined on this hidden side of me.
The casual remark served as an alarm clock to wake up an old pain after years of sleep. Unconsciously, it directed my actions and responses causing me to feel “I’m not good enough” although there was nothing in the present moment to validate it. After discovering the truth, my life changed.
I hadn’t seen one of my cousins for 18 years, even though she lives just a few hours from me. Yet two weeks after my discovery, I found myself visiting my aunt and her daughter.
Within minutes of our time together, I shared my story with her, and she replied, “Why would you ever want to be like us? The insinuation in our home was that you were special, and we wanted to be like you!”
How often do we create a false sense of reality accompanied by unnecessary limitations and anxiety?
There are so many reasons to experience fear these days, but how many of them are based on reality?
Fear arises from an obscure feeling that something will happen to us in the future that we won’t be able to handle. Then we attach a significance and interpretation that create pain.
The psychological condition of fear is divorced from any concrete and true immediate danger. It comes in many forms: unease, worry, anxiety, nervousness, tension, dread, phobia, and so on. This kind of psychological fear is always of something that might happen, not of something that is happening now.
“You can always cope with the present moment, but you cannot cope with something that is only a mind projection – you cannot cope with the future.”
Eckhart Tolle, Power of Now
What’s the antidote? Get free from allowing your thoughts to rule and instead be the master of what you think and feel.
How do we reclaim our dominion? Focus on the Now instead of some imagined future.
Truly be present and live in this moment in time. This means not obsessing over what happened in the past and not projecting in the future some theorized threat. We learn from the past and plan for the future. We are best equipped to deal with life situations when we are fully present.
Life is what it is. “Resistance is futile” and creates more pain.
We always have the ability to deal with whatever hand we are dealt, although as Mother Teresa said, “I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.”
Your challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to disidentify with your thoughts, as if they are you and always the truth. Instead, be the observer of them. Experiment with the following exercise entitled “You Are NOT Your Thoughts.”
Do you imagine that your future will be better or worse than it is now?
Observe yourself focusing your attention into the future. Now shift your attention back to reading in this moment. Notice your ability to shift consciously between the future and present.
The part of you that observes this shift is the real you. You can detach from your identification with your thinking at any moment by going into the observer state – the real you is doing the watching. You experience the real you only in the present moment.
Whenever fear, anxiety, or other such emotion arises, switch to being the watcher of your thoughts and feelings. Even if you still feel trapped by them or feel stuck, you are on your road to freedom, gaining greater self-mastery with every step.
Observation of your thoughts breaks identification with them. You take control of your life instead of being led by fear and limitation. It’s a powerful tool.
With a zest for Life,
Virginia
Success Thought
“Getting there is half the fun; being there is all of it!”
Please enjoy my Soulgoal Missive, which I resurrected from my July 2002 archives. This was the year after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and fear was rampant.
“Nothing ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.”
Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
Anxiety and worry reside in many like a low-grade fever that won’t go away.
People work, live, and don’t notice fear most of the time because it’s so familiar. It can lurk in the background like a gnawing in back of the mind that something might happen… a feeling of anticipation, waiting for the other shoe to fall.
There are countless ways to mask it, such as using power over others, escapes like too much television, overuse of substances, addictions, sex, being controlling, seeking approval, and anger.
Fear. It’s often fear of the future, the unknown, that somehow, something might happen, and we won’t be able to handle it.
We can never cope with the future. When our mental imaginings run rampant into what danger might be lurking, we incapacitate ourselves.
We can always cope in the now, in this present moment of time. Remember the adage that we are only given what we can handle.
We always have the ability to make it to the next stage of life. Always.
“So let me assert my belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. President during World II
What else can be done to diminish fear?
If you want yeast to multiply, feed it sugar. If you want fear to grow, feed it fear.
If you want to reduce fear, take a deep breath and surround what you fear with love. I know this can sound crazy, but consider this.
The aim of terrorists is to create fear and terror. Generating fear in others makes them stronger as it’s their food, their energy source. Instilling fear is the outcome they’re trying to create, so our feeling fear encourages them to create more terror.
Unconditional love short-circuits them. They become like the Wicked Witch of the West and their power to create fear in others starts to melt. The fury of anger cannot ride on love.
Overcoming the domination of fear IS possible! Here’s a recent Success Story of one of my clients, LisaBeth Thomas:
“With Virginia’s coaching my world totally changed.She showed me how to let go of the fears and let in my success. Now I am getting new business and opportunities each month! My energy and enthusiasm are through the roof, and there is no stopping me or the growth of my company!”
LisaBeth (LB) Thomas, The Big Cheese.TV, LLC; Producer, Speaker, Leading Brand and Media Strategist;Founding Member & Past President of Texas Women in Business (TWIB); an Austin Business Journal’s Top 25 Woman of Influence
Thoughts, feelings, and prayers are real and are felt around the world.
We have the ability to impact life by living in this moment of time with the spirit of love.
Right now as you read this, you can offer love and goodwill to the Life Force and let it be distributed wherever It chooses. Now, you just made a difference.
That which we fear diminishes and eventually disappears as we wake up to this awareness.
Who do you trust, a Higher Power or fear? Hint: Who do you know is the biggest kid on the block, every block, everywhere, throughout eternity?
Maybe you’ve been wearing your fear like an irreversible tattoo when it’s only a rub-on that can be removed. Switch your attention to the now rather than worry about an unknown future, and the fear washes off.
Fear is your interpretation of events, a misuse of your imagination, and you have the power to change your perspective.
Fill the now with love, and not only is there no room left for fear within you, but that which you fear dwindles.
It doesn’t mean you agree with what others do or a situation. It does mean you don’t give them the power to control you.
There’s a Zen story about a Japanese warrior waiting in prison after capture. The fear of interrogation, torture, and execution overwhelmed him, and he couldn’t sleep. Then he remembered the words of his spiritual master, “Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now.” He fell peacefully asleep.
Your challenge, if you choose to accept, is to live in the moment with love.
Observe your reaction when fear arises in you and recognize that the fear has nothing to do with this moment in time.
Instead of worrying and being afraid of what might happen, redirect your attention to the now. Replace the feelings of fear with gratitude, love, and goodwill to Life.
Success Thought
“Focus on what you want. Dwelling on your fears will bring them upon you…We need to enjoy what we have right now and live right now. Fearing loss is not living in the now. Fearing loss is living in the future.”
Andrew Matthews, Being Happy! A Handbook to Greater Confidence & Security
Want to be free of the influence of fear so you can live your ideal life? It IS possible!!
Contact me for a complimentary Do What You Love Break Free Session.
I work with people who choose to share their gifts or business in a BIGGER way but don’t know how, feel stuck or would benefit from new tools or support.
I help them be richly compensated doing what they love by discovering their Soul’s goals.
Virginia Goszewska (go-SHEF-ska) awakens people to be richly compensated doing what they love by aligning with their Soul’s goals.
Based on decades of extensive research and personal discoveries, Virginia created the unique mastermind and success program Soulgoals: A Step-by-Step System to Do What You Love – even if you failed before, lost hope, are afraid, stuck, stressed or confused. The mastermind is an energy created when two or more gather in harmony for the attainment of a shared, definite objective.
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