The Factory

Imagine your mind as a great building where thoughts are manufactured in different departments. Each department carries out  the making, the assembling and the completion of a particular part of the product. If you hold in your mind the image of a car factory, you will see the sectors where they build the engine, the body, the upholstery, the finishing etc. The final result will be a  perfectly functioning car.  The same happens in your brain, where the different departments manufacture thoughts, one bit at a time, using your past experiences, conditionings, memories, hopes and - quite often - your doubts and fears. Thus, according to the kind of experience, memory, hope or fear that you unconsciously choose to entertain moment by moment, you create each of your thoughts. As fear is usually stronger that hope, often negative thoughts take over. But if you decide to control your mind with greater awareness, the final "product" will be  more positive.

Shoes

A king of old had planned to cover his whole kingdom with carpets in order not to hurt his bare feet. A wise adviser suggested that he covered "his" feet instead. Good advice. You should take it into account when you endeavor to change someone else's behavior. You firmly believe that your partner should be more considerate, your coworker should be more co-operative, your friend more understanding, your superiors more lenient... Not many people know how to accept others as they are. Your problems could be less hard to deal with, if you stopped insisting on blaming someone else. Your fellow human beings are who and what they are, exactly as yourself. When you choose to allow them to be just that, a new understanding, even empathy might blossom in your heart.

Who Are You?

Here is an interesting quote worth reflecting upon. Check out and see what being "successful" means to you. Is it how much money do you make? The kind of house you own? The brand of your car? The expensive vacations you can afford? The rich and famous friends do you have? The parties you are invited to? The number of people who know you? On the other hand, how much importance do you give to your feelings, your thoughts, your behavior, your outlook on life? How sincere and heart-felt are your relationships with others? The first set of questions gives you an idea of what you "have", the second of what you "are".

To Bend Or Not To Bend

The smart branch bends when the wind blows. The rubber band stretches when you pull it. Why can't you be as flexible as they are? Simply because flexibility is their nature while you have been 'encased' in a sort of armor by all the conditionings, teachings, suggestions, orders, rules that you have received since birth. You haven't learned how to be totally resilient. You are not always ready and able to change so as to adapt to different circumstances. You believe that  you are, and you may be right, but only to a certain extent. It is possible that you cannot 'bend' or 'stretch' to the maximum of your ability, like the branch and the rubber band. You are used to finding excuses and justifications for your psychological and spiritual 'stiffness'. Nevertheless, as you probably like to exercise your body to make it able to attain different postures, you might find it worth it to also try to re-program your mind a little in order to be more accepting of situations that simply "are".

Delivery!

Do you believe that you are always aware of what you are doing and saying? Are you sure that your voice, your eyes, your facial expressions and body language express your true feelings? Finally, is it important to answer these questions? Yes, it is! It is important because you  often behave in a way that does not reflect what you really want to project into the world. You tell your opinion and others react in a defensive or aggressive way. So, you complain and feel unfairly treated. But... have you examined "the way" you uttered such opinion? Although you may be sure that you were just sharing your thought, the way it was delivered may have been interpreted otherwise. What was the timbre of your voice like? And the expression of your eyes? Were you frowning? So many little details that you may perceive as of no importance, can determine the reception (acceptance or rejection) that your speech or action receive and possible consequent reactions. Therefore... Beware!

Logic vs. Chance

Some people may be still looking for the proof of the existence a plane beyond the earthly one. Musing about the many "proofs" that have been either stated as a fact, simply proposed, or cloaked in veiled doubt, a thought has come to my mind. Probably all (or almost all) agree on the fact - scientifically proven, I believe - that the Universe is based on numbers. It has therefore been defined as a mathematical Universe. Without going into details about complicated formulas, equations and theorems, a simple truth can be evicted from all this, though. If mathematics  is based on logic (it is, isn't it?), any reasoning mind must accept the fact that the Universe (i.e. everything) is based on some kind of logic. So, what sense would all our experiences "logically" have if Life would just finish... abruptly, without reaching a goal, actually lacking a final purpose, without showing the universal meaning of our existence? Is it all a joke? Are all troubles, differences, sufferings, struggling, as well as love, compassion, relationships have been in vain?  Limited to these few years we are granted? Forgotten? Short of a deeper significance? Gone without a trace? Some say that it all  exists by "chance". A rather "illogical" explanation, isn't it?

Take a leap of  faith and begin this wondrous new year by believing.