Over the weekend our dog Pax spent Saturday and Sunday at Dog City, a doggy daycare here is Boulder.  He gets a report card every time he stays there.  The report card says he played so much that he wore himself and everyone else out and slept peaceful his first night away from us.  Now you have to appreciate someone who puts his whole self into play and enjoys life as fully as he can.  

Our dog Pax and most dogs do not have the human problem of being too serious.  They enjoy life as it is given too them and they don’t spend much time complaining or trying to make their lives better.  Self-improvement and making your life better is a positive goal as long as you enjoy yourself along the way.  Too many of us have gotten so focused on where we want to be that we forget to have fun along the way.  Are you guilty of that?  

I am know I am at times I spent too much time in trying to make the future better.  The last couple of years have been too concentrated on making things happen rather than being in the flow and enjoying what life has to offer.  I guess, as I get older I think about what I need to do to take care of myself.  This future planning makes sense as long as I don’t busy my now with doing and forget to have fun along the way.  

Yesterday I wrote about the stream of joy that is innate in us even though we may have lost touch with its flow within.  I want to say a little bit more about that today.  The joy in us comes from our heart, our body and our higher nature.  Our thoughts also play a part in how much joy we allow.  Here are four sources for the stream of joy available to us:

In our hearts is love and its partner is joy.  The more our hearts are open to love the more joy will flow in our lives.  The more we live in accordance with the passion of the heart the more we are open to the flow of bliss.

In our bodies is also joy, the joy of being alive, the joy of movement, the joy of intimacy, the joy of health and aliveness.

In our thoughts joy comes by having an open and receptive mind, from learning and awareness, from optimism and receptivity to expanded thinking, from our intuition and the urge to be creative.

In our higher nature, our spirit or soul there is the unlimited joy of inspiration and consciousness, the joy of spiritual being fully in the light of all of life, the joy of oneness with the Source of the Universe.  

Today and each day get more acquainted with these four flows of joy and invite them to be fully alive in you.

Slowing down sometimes is the hardest thing to do.  This world we live in is fast paced and full of activities.   This time of year seems busy with so much to participate in as the weather gets warmer and the summer fun comes our way.  Do you enjoy this time of year?  

Lately I have felt like I have been doing and doing and too busy sometimes to sit back and enjoy.  My goal the rest of spring and summer is to have more fun.  Life keeps on happening whether I am productive or playing.  I have been very productive over the last 6-8 months and that feels positive.  Now I want to take a little more time to enjoy life, have fun, play and swim in the stream of joy that flows through me.  Does that sound good to you?

Here are a few ideas to make life more fun:

•    Take time each day to relax and enjoy the moment
•    Spend time doing what you love
•    Focus more on being rather than doing
•    Make it your goal to enjoy the people you spend time with
•    Go for more walks in nice places
•    Play music and sing along
•    Go to places that are fun and enjoyable
•    Be with people that make you laugh
•    Take quiet time for yourself
•    Get off the fast track regularly and enjoy the slower pace
•    Have more picnics
•    Take more naps and give yourself a timeout when needed
•    Outdoor sports can be lots of fun
•    Go to festivals and other fun gatherings
•    Let go of the past and play in the present
•    Take on a creative project that gets you excited
•    Get you body fit in ways you enjoy
•    Spend more time stretching (yoga) and loosening up
•    Drink lots of water and flush out for good health
•    Let your spirit soar; hear the inner callings
•    Seek the more effortless way of doing your day
•    Rest, relax and heal you mind, body and heart
•    Let your intuition guide you towards more joy
•    Keep your heart open to love
•    Keep your mind open to new points of view
•    Set your intention each day to have fun and enjoy life

I hope you find these ideas helpful.  Intend to make this the best and most fun summer you have ever had and it will be.  If you have ideas to add to this list let me know.  

I just got back this evening from our weekend graduation trip.  I so much appreciate the energy of young people who have a passion for life.  

I read an article Friday that started off saying Conservatives are happier than Liberals.  I then read further into the article and it said Conservatives were better at rationalizing so they could make even lousy situation ok my manipulating their thinking.  I have a couple of thoughts about that:

First - why is the media so obsessed about labeling people's points of view as if they can throw everyone into a couple of political categories.  That is just plain ridiculous and a totally inaccurate way of talking about points of view.  

Second - Does happiness come from rationalizing/lying to yourself about the truth?  That is an incrediable fallacy that true happiness can happen by misrepresenting reality to youself.  Sure there are times when you want to change your thinking that is negatively focus to something more positive because it simply works better.  However to deny the reality of injustice, inequality, suffering, war, greed etc. to make it ok in one's thinking would be to make what is not ok invisible.

Third - Always question what you read and seek to find your own truth.  The titled was misleading and the article made rationalization as an acceptable way of dealing with reality you don't like.  I think the use of you mind in this way is to subvert its higher purpose which is to search for the truth.  

I hope you have a good week and instead of rationalizing, I suggest you keep you mind open to the truth and your heart open to compassionate understanding.   

I am off to a College graduation today in Gunnison, CO a long drive from where I live.  This should be fun.  I have found myself writing more lists lately for a number of reasons.  One reason is that these lists seem to flow effortlessly through me via my many years of working with and exploring the ideas and issues I write about here at my blog.  Another reason is lists are simple clear resources that allow the reader to pick and choose what fits best.  

Here are some thoughts on how to make the best use of lists.  Take a list of ideas and read through each item paying careful attention to what you feel or how you react to what the idea.  If you feel at ease or discomfort both can be positive indicators.  Ease can mean there is something natural about exploring this particular topic.  Discomfort can mean there is an opportunity to explore something that creates and strong reaction in you.

Another way to utilize lists is to expand your thinking.  Too often our thinking can be limited by our lack of resources.  Lists help expand what you think is possible.  Take a look a the blog entries below and see what gets provoked in you.

The goal of my blog and these lists is to: activate your thinking and questioning mind; expand your higher consciousness; and develop my awareness and compassion for yourself and your fellow inhabitants on the planet.  My hope is also to encourage you to live your life with purpose and passion and for you to make a positive difference in the world.  It is my belief that informed, thinking, truth seeking and aware citizens keep democracy alive and high functioning.

Let’s all join together in our efforts to live our purpose, to expand our hearts and to leave the planet a better place than we found it.  Yes every one of us does make a difference.  The question is, are you making as big a difference as you are capable of given all the potential that resides in you?

Also:  if you like the lists I write, check out my e-books, which are full of ideas that will lift you up.  Keep checking in, there is a new e-book on the way that is full of the best lists and ideas that I have ever come across.  This book will provide lots of inspiration for years to come.    

I have written about self-acceptance in the past and I felt it was time to talk about it again.  This topic is an important one because without self-acceptance, you are the biggest roadblock in your own life.  For close to 30 years I have been working with people on ways to be accepting of who they are.  The following are strategies I have found affective.

Self-acceptance is possible when you:
•    Take time to find out how you feel and are ok with a full range of emotions
•    Take time to pay attention to you self-talk and make sure it is supportive and encouraging
•    Feel ok with your body even with its imperfections
•    Listen to your intuitive knowing
•    Forgive and release the past
•    Live in the present moment where all the possibilities are
•    Keep your thinking positive and open
•    Keep an open heart for yourself and those in your life
•    Realize you are much more than your thoughts, feelings and body
•    Feel your connection to all of life on the planet
•    Explore and express the potential in you
•    Live your unique purpose with passion
•    Pay attention to your body wisdom
•    Tap into the unlimited joy that is within you
•    Develop compassion for yourself when you struggle
•    Have appreciation for your uniqueness
•    Become aware that there is no one like you and that is your gift to the world
•    Open to the higher consciousness that resides in you
•    Live as a spiritual being having a human experience
•    See beyond the control of the ego into your higher nature
•    Appreciate the breath of aliveness that flows through you
•    Are comfortable in your own skin
•    Seek your own truth
•    Find your way to inner peace
•    Follow your own path
•    Feel grateful for yourself and your life

These ideas are only words unless you integrate them into your life.  Choose 2 or 3 of these ways to self-acceptance and explore them until you feel like they are true for you.  An example might be listening to your intuitive knowing.  The more you learn to listen to your intuition, the more you see how it is available to guide you.  The more you trust intuition, the more you will have this inner knowing offered to you.

As you explore these pathways to self-acceptance a wonderful thing will happen.  You will find yourself one day beaming with joy sitting in your own company.  That will be a beautiful moment.