spiritual leaders

Life is an ocean

Gerard S. HoffLeave a comment

Imagine life is an ocean and think about it.

I did when I was in a very hectic period of my life. A lot of things changed at once (I just moved to another country, had a baby, bought a house, my girl friend is expecting again, insecure about work). I felt worried, but at the same time I had this undefined relaxed comfortable ‘ground’ feeling. Almost conflicting compared to how I felt.

While mountain biking I had to think about the ocean and that made things much clearer for me.

The upper stream is the hectic and the worries. It is looking at the waves, the foam, hearing and seeing the wind blow. Looking at the other waves is also some kind of competitiveness. Trying to be bigger and longer.

It is also some kind of conforming. What do others do, what do others say. I see the eyes and hear them thinking: At his age, all this big steps. Probably my perception, but still….

And there’s the ocean current. Going under water there’s the silence. Complete rest compared to the upper stream. Here’s the stream deep below, the base rhythm. It is necessary for the world climate. Without it earth would freeze or heat up.

In my comparison, I call this the current of life.
Determining the climate of life
The bigger purpose;
the rest is distraction.

21931498_700x700min_1The more I can get in touch with this, the more relaxed I become. Things will move in the right direction. I can’t change it and what comes on my way, I have to deal with when it comes. Not before.
It isn’t easy, but I am trying

It feels like staying under water for a long time, but at one point you have to go to the surface to breath. It made me think of the cover of Nirvana’s Nevermind, with the baby under water.

Baby’s in the womb can breath under water (amniotic). As soon as we’re born we can’t anymore.

So metaphorically speaking, we should learn to breath under water, instead of being in the upper stream of the hectic and distracting waves and foam and wind and noise.

Not only to get in touch with the current of life, but also teaching us to be more candid, open and curious instead, like children.
No worries.

Change your reality and you will change your thoughts.

Gerard S. HoffLeave a comment

I know, this is not what you expect, especially looking at my previous quote and what spiritual leaders say, but it is true.

-Before reading further, just think about it for a few minutes.

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It makes sense doesn’t it. One can probably change reality with ones thoughts and there’s proof it does. But, I don’t think that’s enough. Besides, in order to change reality with thoughts, you have to be a professional 😉
And most of us are not.

What is reality?
It is the way we perceive the world and it’s interesting to see how this reality exists or how it is put into existence. There’s the perception based on knowledge or experience (or the lack of it) and there’s the perception of a situation.

The lack of knowledge or experience can be best explained by, for example: ‘not speaking a language’ (metaphorically speaking). You hear the words, but don’t understand them.

An example of a situation is a job or a relationship. If you don’t like it, you can try to think these disliking’s away or think of being in a better place, but that is not enough and it doesn’t change (and the funny thing is, most people stay very long in jobs or relationships they don’t like).

So why do we stick in our old reality?
Well, change creates insecurity and that we naturally want to avoid. But how can you expect a different outcome, if you keep doing the same thing? The interesting thing is that when I ask you to think of people you know who were forced to change, you know most of them feel much happier afterwards.

So what’s the solution?
Don’t be afraid, make that decision to change your reality. Start small or big, but start. Change an annoying habit, change that job you don’t like or that relationship you’re stuck in. Or start to gain knowledge by learning ‘the language’.

You’ll know your thoughts will change. It’s like the first day wearing new shoes or new clothes. You walk taller and feel good (at least I do). You think different about yourself. That’s it, that is where a new reality changes your thoughts!

It reminds me of another blog I wrote about gaming and career. The personal development people went through when they played a game, which is in a way another reality. It turned out they developed
Urgent Optimism, 
Social Fabric, 
Blissful Productivity & Epic Meaning. In the end, games are used to come up with solutions to change the world. Fascinating isn’t it? Have a read.

By changing your reality, you will automatically change the way you think and this new way of thinking will change your reality, which will change your thoughts and so forth. Cool isn’t it. A genuine perpetuum mobile.