Going Deeper into Life’s Mysteries

When we pause a moment, look up and wake up, we realize something…  We are surrounded in a mystery, a mystery play we call “life” in general, and specifically our own life.

So first, what does it mean that life is a mystery or “life’s mysteries”? A mystery is by definition “something difficult or impossible to understand or explain.” Can we “solve” life’s mystery or is something else going on here?

For example: just 4 percent of the universe (stars, planets and galaxies) are visible. The other 96 percent hides in mysterious dark matter.  And we are only talking about the physical world, not the internal, subjective parts of ourselves. How much do we know of our own thoughts, feelings and states? How much are we aware of in any given moment?

Yes, much to consider and explore here…

Though much of the light spectrum and physical world is unknown, and much of our own internal world is also hidden, we still have clues via outcomes. What is happening externally, and what are the results, however mysteriously created. We can take stock of our mood and mindset, even if we are not sure how we arrived there. We can certainly set the stage for favorable results and get insights from the outcomes we experience.

So here are four keys to exploring the mystery of life:

Gamechanger: Living with More Joy and Ease

How do you see your life? Joyous or stressful, easy or hard; creative or monotonous? Of course life is not black and white, either/or. Yet we can choose to live more joyously and easily, as a conscious decision.

We often default into hurry and worry as a result of life’s challenges. This lends itself to a negative focus, something inherent in us, a primitive protective measure to keep us safe.

But unless we are in a truly dangerous situation, it’s not worth being on guard continuously, for that only creates undue tension and stress.

So how do you inject more joy and ease into your life? It will bring more light and lightheartedness into your life. Let us describe four keys, which – if you follow them – can be a gamechanger for the quality of your everyday life.

How to Manifest Your Dreams and Desires

All of us have dreams and desires – it’s part of being human. Our dreams and desires make us feel alive. They inspire us to grow and awaken our creative spirit. This highlights the importance of learning how to manifest your dreams and desires.

Our dreams give life meaning and provide focus for life’s journey. Oprah Winfrey put it this way:

The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.

What do you want? What makes your heart soar? Maybe you want more abundance, a fulfilling career, better health, supportive relationships, and more.

All of these desires are healthy. Your dreams and desires also highlight the importance of learning how to manifest. And for this, you need a plan.

Imagine …

Life: The Ultimate Stress Test

Life comes with stress, some necessary and some not. Life is the ultimate stress test. So what can you do about it?

We want to help you develop a game plan for dealing with life’s tensions. In other words, ways to pass the ultimate stress test – your life.

Ordinarily, a stress test means finding out your heart’s health by going on a treadmill or other monitoring programs. For banks, a stress test determines how well they can withstand an economic crisis.

How to Handle Stress

Are You an Introvert or Extrovert: Inner and Outer Balance

Are you an introvert or extrovert? Here are a few important questions that can reveal a lot about yourself:

Do you tend to be outgoing?

Do you feel at ease socializing and networking?

Or do you prefer study, research and productive time by yourself, interacting with small groups and one-on-one?

Or do you fall somewhere in between on the spectrum, from gregarious to private?

WHY YOUR INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT TRAIT MATTERS

Here at Awakenings Institute, we help people live fully, which includes realizing their life purpose. Part of finding out who you are and what you here to do with your life is to know yourself. As Socrates said,

“An unexamined life is not worth living.”

Social scientists consider this inner-outer balance to be a primary personality trait. You self-actualize with gaining key self-knowledge, which includes knowing how introverted or extroverted you are.

Once you know your innate tendencies, you can use them more intelligently and leverage them for your full potential.

The Little-Known Secret to Manifesting What You Want

Thoreau advised to go “confidently in the direction of your dreams, and live the life you have imagined.” But how do you do that?

“Manifest” is defined as “to make evident or certain by showing or displaying.” How do things go from invisible to invisible, from your mind to appearing in the outer world, from your imagination to something you can see, feel, touch with your external senses?

One of the strange secrets of manifesting is you actually don’t know “how” things will manifest. Yes you have at least a sense of the outcome, where you want to go, but how exactly you get there is somewhat of a mystery.

How to Be Resilient: The Must-Have Quality

What’s a must-have quality to live fully?  The older you get, the more challenges you will face. By using your life experiences, you can navigate through the sometimes treacherous terrain.

To deal with challenges, both big and small, develop resilience — an essential spiritual quality.  When you’re resilient, you recover from setbacks. You adapt to changing circumstances. And fortunately resilience is learnable, regardless of your genes or temperament.

It’s been noted that US college students in recent years have become less resilient. They seek help from counselors for ordinary problems like fitting in to into a new environment, living more independently, relationships and life’s problems (like finding a mouse in you’re the dorm and having a mental breakdown).

Although genetics and early programming do make some people more resilient, all people can make changes in the way they respond. It’s important to become more resourceful and a problem solver, and not overly dependent on others. Resilience is not a fixed trait and you can shift your set point in this area.

Seven Ways to Cultivate Resilience

1. Be Flexible

Like a branch, you need to be bendable or you will break. To be resilient, you need to be flexible. On a physical level, this means keeping your body in shape by eating healthily, exercising and resting sufficiently.

On a mental-emotional level, you want to be agile flexible and creative too.

Beyond Your Comfort Zone — Your Adventure Zone

Much of life takes place in our comfort zone. To survive, we need to be safe and protected. We naturally enjoy creature comforts. We also have routines to give us a sense of order and predictability.

But if we spend too much time in the comfort zone, it becomes a waiting room. Then time passes mindlessly and we live more on the surface of life.

Risk Taking

Granted different people tolerate different levels of risk. Some are more server types and may smooth things over in their affable ways. Others are more warrior types, and thrive on risk and confrontation. Regardless of where you fall naturally on the spectrum, you still have a balance between safety and risk, the familiar and the new.

If you get too comfortable, you settle. As Abraham Maslow noted, “One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again.”

Three Keys to More Love and Happiness

What would you think if your doctor prescribed daily doses of love and happiness? If you’re a life coach or care about the people in your life, what might it be worth to prescribe keys to more love and happiness to others?

This may sound strange at first, but it’s actually quite practical. You may discover that love and happiness are highly effective antidotes for conditions like worry, suffering, and stress, which are destructive to our health and well-being.

With a bit of focus, you may discover that some simple keys for experiencing more love and happiness can transform your life in unimaginably magical ways. Love and happiness may be the best prescription you could receive and share with the special people in your life.

Here’s our prescription. Start feel better today with your free copy of Ten Powerful Doses of Love and Happiness at:

As Aristotle suggested:

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.”

Why Is More Love and Happiness So Important?

Stress is approaching epidemic levels. With our increasingly rapid pace, it always seems like there is too much to do and too much information flying around to make any sense of it. According to recent stress statistics, more than 70% of the population suffers regularly from psychological and/or physical symptoms of stress.

Living with stress is so common, many consider it to be normal, but the body tells a different story.

Your Higher Vision: A New Map of Reality

In today’s turbulent world, it’s imperative to find a higher vision from which to act and pursue your daily life.  This article will outline ways to create your own higher vision and create a new map of reality.

To Start Your Higher Vision

To start, find a peaceful place where you can reflect on a better world in which to live. This more wonderful world, based on ideals such as love, peace, prosperity and harmony can inspire you to be more and to act more from an inspired place.

You may never reach the ideal, but you’ll become more in the process of pursuing it. The idea is to move forward and elevate your life, enhancing your journey and the world you live in.

Words I chose for my current vision are “caring, creative and collaborative.” I would like the world to be a more caring, creative, collaborative place. Although there are many values I admire, those particular ones hold a lot of energy for me. You may have other qualities that most spark your passions.

Next for Your Higher Vision …