Ericksonian Principles

Retreat To Our Sanctuary

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Autumn Sanctuary

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“Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” — 

For us to sit quietly for a moment or two, we must let go of the external events that are happening around us. When external things are stressing us out, then it is okay to retreat. The benefits of retreating are to help us to renew our bodies and reset our minds so we can have a better handle on things. When we renew our bodies, we have more energy, and when we reset our minds, we have clearer understanding on things. Our sanctuary is within us where we can be ourselves and feel freer to contemplate and we just sit still until we’re ready to return back to the world. We can’t be most effective when we’re burned out and unfocused but after some time away we want to return to do the work as the world welcome us back.

 

[bctt tweet=”Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.— Hermann Hesse”]

 

We Make The Conditions Perfect

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Returning home

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Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect. — Alan Cohen

Waiting for the perfect condition is another excuse or distraction to keep us from doing what we may perceive to be a difficult task. If we perceive the task to be difficult, then we’re thinking too much about it.  Our thinking has been misdirected to something that is useless, and because it keeps us from moving forward. Instead, we ought to use our thinking while working on the task itself. We need our minds to see what works and what doesn’t work and then use what works to further our progress.  Just as Alan Cohen says in the above quote — the time we start is the time that the conditions begin to shape up into something we can work with. Seemingly, things begin to fall into place all by themselves after we begin.

[bctt tweet=”Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect. — Alan Cohen”]

 

Our Determination To Learn

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Learning pivots on who we see ourselves as capable of becoming

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“If you’re not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you’re determined to learn, no one can stop you.” — Unknown

The one thing that no one can take from us is our willingness to learn. Learning increases our power. The power we need to be assertive in life so we can make decisive choices. Ultimately for us to help ourselves, we must spend some time learning things to build self-confidence. We are teachable beings as long as we’re open-minded to new things. When we’re determining to learn, then we have an opportunity to make things happen in our life that hasn’t happen before.  Our unwillingness to learn increases our fear while our determination to learn alleviates our fears. New learning breaks up rigidity and biases. We all have some biases about something we know very little.  When we learn new things we learn new ways to approach new things. Learning helps us to go beyond what we learned yesterday. For us to move forward we must learn new things.

 

[bctt tweet=”If you’re not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you’re determined to learn, no one can stop you. — Unknown”]

 

Enjoy Your Own Life

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Apples & Oranges - They Don't Compare

Post Written By Eugene Morgan

“Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another.” — Marquis de Condorcet

We don’t know what’s really goes on behind closed door of someone’s life. All that we know is what the individual want us to know about them. Instead we can enjoy our own life because we know what makes us happy and what makes us unhappy. Comparing our life with another just implies that we aren’t satisfied with our own life. We don’t need what the other person has for us to have a fulfilled life. Beside, we aren’t that other person. What makes one person happy is very different than what makes another person happy. We just have to return to what made us smile originally and do more of those things. So let us stop looking outward to find tranquility but instead find it within because each and every one of us is different and we know ourselves. It’s like comparing an apple to an orange. The orange is no better than the apple, they both have their own individual texture, smell and taste.

 

 

[bctt tweet=”Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another. — Marquis de Condorcet”]

 

Done In Steps

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step

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Step by step and the thing is done. — Charles Atlas

If we just take one step at a time, we will get to our destinations. All it takes are steps for us to complete things. Each step we take is a step closer to our dreams to becoming more real. The first step we make towards our goal is the beginning of inception. It is up to us to complete the final step, as it becomes no longer an idea but something we can touch.  We may not see clearly our path, but we will continue taking steps. If we’re stepping in the wrong direction we can always temporarily step back until we see a better path where our hearts will lead us. It is better to start with baby steps first to help build up our confidence into making more bold and direct steps.

 

[bctt tweet=”Step by step and the thing is done. — Charles Atlas”]

 

 

Choices That Make Us

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Choice

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We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us. — Andrew Ryan

Whatever a choice we make in life always has the potential to change us somehow. We become molded by the choices we make. Up to now, we have made many choices. In fact, we make choices everyday without thinking. We know through trial and error generally speaking as to what choice is useful and what choice is not. There were times in our past that we made life-changing choices and there will be more in our future. Usually, these life-changing choices are when we’re going through some transitional period in our life that everyone experiences.  We’ve made wrong choices and right choices. In fact, we will continue to make the wrong and right choices through out our lifetime. We have to make choices in our lives to continue to move along in the world. We can’t live without choices.

 

[bctt tweet=”We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us. — Andrew Ryan”]

 

Thanks For Little

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Thanks!

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“Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.” —Estonian Proverb

If we desire something we don’t have, then we’re not giving thanks for the little things. Once upon a time, what we called little things were once big things to us.  Perhaps, it is time to zoom into those little things to make them appear bigger so we can see that we have a lot to be thankful for.  We can be thankful that we still have our health that we can still walk and breath at the same time.  We can be thankful that we have friends and family who cares about us. We can be thankful that we can breath and smell all kinds of fragrances. We can be thankful for the fall season with a crisp in the air. We don’t have be thankful just on Thanksgiving Day, but we can find thankfulness everyday from places we’ve gone and people we’ve met in our lives

 

[bctt tweet=”Who does not thank for little will not thank for much. —Estonian Proverb”]

 

Risk With Fear, Then Live With Confidence

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Risk

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Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing. — Warren Buffett

If we don’t risk, then we take away our choices. When we take away our choices we feel stagnated or stuck. Fear controls when we don’t take risks. So fear can deceive us into believing that there are no choices. For us to overcome fear we must go through fear. Our fears don’t have to control our actions. Instead, we can see fear as a positive respond to a new situation. We can use our fears as an asset instead of as a liability.  Our fear is just a barometer that we’re about to take some risks that is outside our comfort zone. Sometimes we won’t know what we’re doing until we do it a few more times until we feel confidence in ourselves doing it which eventually lessens the fear.  Fear doesn’t have to be used as a crutch but use to remind ourselves that we’re about to grow outside our comfort zone.

[bctt tweet=”Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing. — Warren Buffett”]

Invent Your Future

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Elliott Bay Sailing.

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“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” — Alan Kay

In other words, to be sure of our own future, we are to invent it ourselves. We invent our future today not tomorrow. What does it mean to invent our future today? It means if we do the things we need to do today, then we have more of a chance to change our future. Today is in our hands to get a handle on things to bring our dream into reality. Dreaming is about looking at future selves doing what we want. If we start now we’re way ahead of the game. Nothing will be smooth sailing; there will be some rough winds and rain to get through things.  We don’t have to predict what we’re going to do in the future instead we can work towards our future goal by putting in the hard work today and not giving up on our dreams.

 

[bctt tweet=”The best way to predict the future is to invent it.— Alan Kay”]

 

 

Educating A Willing Mind

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Crantock, near Newquay, Cornwall

Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. — Malcolm S. Forbes

Education stimulates our imagination. Education gets us to look at thing in a different way.  If we want to know something, we get ourselves educated. Our mind has the ability to understand if we allow ourselves to be willing to learn about what we don’t understand. Fear can sometimes keep us in the dark when we need an open mind. Education is the first initial process to opening up the mind. We see more possibilities when our minds are open to things while a closed mind sees no possibilities, then, therefore no opportunities.  Opportunities grow out of possibilities when the mind is open for new adventures.  Education informs us and helps us to think critically about a situation so we can make better-informed decisions.  Education helps us to expand our horizon so we can see more of the vastness of life can offer.

[bctt tweet=”Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. — Malcolm S. Forbes”]

When Worry Saps Today’s Joy

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Jump for joy

Post Written By Eugene Morgan

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy.— Leo Buscaglia

Yesterday we worried about today and we see that today we had no reason to worry but an opportunity to experience joy. Worrying takes us away from the present. We needn’t use our time worrying when we have the opportunity today to be happy. We can be grateful when nothing occurs happen that would cause us to worry. If we know we have only a finite time to live our lives, then why wasted on worrying about something that we have no control over. Instead we have more control over what we can do today and we can hope for better tomorrow. Today is our present that brings us joy into our lives. Today is our present because we have another opportunity to start a new chapter. We have this today to fill up with different experiences.

 

[bctt tweet=”Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy.— Leo Buscaglia”]

 

Against The Wind

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Kite flying on May Hill

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Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it. — Winston Churchill

It is difficult to walk up a steep hill but not impossible. It may take some time and struggle but we needn’t stop because we will soon get to the top. Most of our difficulties are really resides in our head.  We anticipate that every task we do will take great labor. Not every task we do will be as difficult as we think. The most difficult thing about doing a new task, is to begin the task. Of course there will be some level of difficulties but not at the point we delay starting a project.  We can always divide the tasks into small parts so that they can be more manageable. We do get stronger and pick up things faster each time when we push ourselves beyond the difficulty. Hard work is truly character building.

 

[bctt tweet=”Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it. — Winston Churchill”]

 

Discover Your World

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eppny

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Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. — Buddha

If we feel lost in what our purpose is in this world, then it is time for us to find our own world. We find our own world in terms of our personality and what we value most in our lives. There are different personalities and each personality is drawn to what it’s most natural doing. One personality may express itself as outgoing while another personality may express itself as introvert. The extrovert personality is most comfortable speaking in front of an audience while the introvert is most comfortable alone reading a book. Most of us know what we like and what we dislike, if not we can learn about ourselves by the things we do everyday.  As long as we live, we will continue to discover things about ourselves we didn’t know about. We continue to learn and grow each day.

[bctt tweet=”Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. — Buddha”]

 

When Moments Become Memories

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Take the moment and make it perfect!

Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. — Dr. Seuss

It is quite an experience when we reminisce about the past especially with friends and/or family who share the same experience. During this time of reminiscing, there is always someone in the group that would say, “Those were the good old days,” or “Those were innocent times.”  These quotes are implying to the moments we’ve experienced over time. We like to reminisce because they are shared experiences. The shared experiences become valuable as the years go by because they are special moments in time.  We had eventful milestones in our lives that somehow changed the course of our lives. Those are the things we cherish most as we get older. And there were things in our past that seemed at the time insignificant are now significant. It is better to not take things for granted today because they would be missed tomorrow.

 

[bctt tweet=”Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory. — Dr. Seuss”]

 

Succeed Through Failures

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Crossroads: Success or Failure

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You always pass failure on the way to success. -Mickey Rooney

There are no successes without failures. Failures can tell us where we need improvement so we don’t have to take them personally. Our self worth is build on getting up after a fall and then doing it again until we learn it. We don’t have to be so hard on ourselves.  We all have different levels of learning so we don’t have to rush learning, which means we have to be patient with ourselves.  Learning something constructive is never a waste of our time. Failures are our opportunity to learn something that will help us to improve each time.  Failures are really a step up to success instead of step down as long as we are learning from them. We learn more about ourselves through our failures than through our successes.

 

[bctt tweet=”You always pass failure on the way to success. -Mickey Rooney”]

 

 

Peaceful Thoughts

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Beach grass free creative commons

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“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” —James Allen

Our thoughts are what influence our mood, feelings and actions. We are our thoughts. Our thoughts are the extension of our personality. What we say and do is the product of our thoughts. We think about our thoughts when we’re alone and they keeps us company. We take our thoughts with us wherever we go. We may not have control over our thoughts, but we can think of other thoughts that are pleasant. Our memory can influence our thoughts a great deal. We can think of a peaceful moment from our memory and then be filled with peaceful thoughts. Experiencing serenity is the product of peaceful thoughts. Therefore, in the mist of chaos we can experience serenity through what we imagined because of peaceful thoughts.

 

[bctt tweet=”You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. —James Allen”]

How Far You’ve Come

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End of the Line (365/365)

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Always concentrate on how far you’ve come, rather than how far you have left to go.— Unknown

When we get discourage, it would be a good reminder for us to look back on how far we’ve come to lift our spirits. When we see how far we’ve come, we then can get an understanding that those times in our past were struggles but we went through them. It is our hope that we will get through today’s struggles as well. We wouldn’t be where we are today; if it weren’t for our past struggles.  Life will always have its ups and downs. So when life is up, we can be glad and when life is down, we can be thankful. It is within our hope and dreams that keep us going clear into the future.

 

[bctt tweet=”Always concentrate on how far you’ve come, rather than how far you have left to go.— Unknown”]

 

You Are Most Powerful

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Evening light

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When you do not seek or need approval, you are at your most powerful. — Caroline Myss

Then the question is raised as to why are we at our most powerful, when we no longer need or seek the approval of others? We don’t need to rely on others when we can rely on ourselves for our approval. There are no longer internal conflicts about what we think versus what the other person thinks about us. We become our own person when we make our own decisions as to what we want to do in our lives and then carry them out until completion.  We no longer have to second-guess our decisions we make in our lives. We have only one life to live between now and dead; we might as well live it to how we want because our contentment depends on it. Life is too short, or too long to wait on someone’s approval. If we still need to seek someone’s approval for our decisons, then we need more maturing to do. More maturing means being comfortable with our own decisions.

 

[bctt tweet=”When you do not seek or need approval, you are at your most powerful. — Caroline Myss”]

 

Shed Light On The Real You

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I am your Heartbeat

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“You’ll never know who you are unless you shed who you pretend to be.”  — Vironika Tugaleva

When we’re pretending to be someone else, we’re wasting our time and energy when we could just be ourselves. We don’t have to hide behind something we’re not. We can trust being ourselves and allow others to decide if they like us or not. It’s not fair to others when we don’t show our real self.  It takes a lot of energy to pretend to be someone else. That energy can be used to pursue our dreams. Dreams are an extension of us. We express ourselves through our dreams and goals, and that allows us to be who we really are. As we continue to pursue our dreams and to fulfill them we will discover our full potential and discover more of our purpose and how we can contribute to the world so others may benefit. The real person will draw others and others can see through pretenses. When we’re pretentious we’re not accepting of ourselves. No one is without faults or imperfections. Let us accept everything about us and just be.

 

[bctt tweet=”You’ll never know who you are unless you shed who you pretend to be. — Vironika Tugaleva”]

 

Trust The Process

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processing sketch: rotations v3 (still frame)

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“Let go of the need to control the outcome. Trust the process. Trust your Intuition. Trust yourself.” — Unknown

How come we want to be rewarded so quickly? We have missed the point if our attention is focused on the outcome. We learn the most during the process of getting to the outcome. Learning has its own reward. As long as we proceed with the process an outcome is inevitable. When we don’t see clearly what we do next in a process, then it is time to rely more on our intuition or hunches. The feeling in our gut is based on past experiences and what we’ve already learned from the process so far. Therefore, it is imperative that we trust ourselves in this process since we’ve been in sync with what’s happening around us. If our hunch is incorrect, then we at least know that approach is not going to lead us to the outcome we were expecting. It’s trail and error.

 

[bctt tweet=”Let go of the need to control the outcome. Trust the process. Trust your Intuition. Trust yourself. — Unknown”]