Joy of Life Discussion Group - Using Intuition to Enhance Our Lives

Joy of Life Discussion Group - Using Intuition to Enhance Our Lives

This week's meeting - “Using Intuition to Enhance Your Life” made us more familiar with what intuition really is, how it can help us be happy, protect us, lead us in the right direction and how it works.

Some of the things that came out from this week's meeting on Using Intuition were:  

Whether we should trust our inner voice - is it right or wrong?

We can ask our intuition and we will get answers.

The messages we get are not necessarily logical to the conscious mind.

We are all connected with each other, with animals, and with a Greater Intelligence and our subconscious draws from and through those connections.

Our “sixth sense” tells us things in many ways: inner feelings, nudges, hunches, visions, pictures and sounds and smells and feelings in our mind, random thoughts, emotions, unexplained urges to do something, dreams and messages. 

We can enhance our intuitive skills by: removing blocks and distractions, calming conscious thinking, journalizing and writing, dancing and music, being creative, being in nature, conscious breathing, meditation, mind drifting, prayer and practice. 

Mostly, we make ourselves receptiive to intuitive messages by being open to them and being willing to “listen”.

Intuition can help us to “read” other people for many beneficial reasons.

The biggest blocks are often fear, ego, skepticism and insecurities.

Intuition can tell us what to do, which choice to make, what our body needs in terms of nourishment and medicine, what person to connect with, what makes us happy and how to make a major decision. 

We can test the messages that come to us so we know if they are true and good. Often they come as disturbing feelings that something should be different and when we act as directed, it feels good. If it does not, we may not be on the right track. 

We have all had many intuitive experiences that we have recognized by accident. Who’s on the phone, someone we were just thinking about comes to us or calls or emails and many other outcomes that we just thought were conicidences turn out later to have been our “inner voice”.

If you ignore an important message, the feeling of unrest or of being unsettled will often persist. 

It doesn’t have to be serious and heavy, it can also be lighthearted. 

Following our intuition helps us to live our lives to the fullest. 

(C) 9-4-12 Fred Richter

Joy of LIfe Discussion Group- Every Human Contact is an Opportunity

This week's meeting on “Every Human Contact is an Opportunity” gave us all a really good insight into our human relations and how we can deeply touch the lives of others.

Some of the things that came out from this week's meeting on Human Contact being an opportunity were:

-Every contact we’ve had has shaped our lives to make us what we are today. We are an accumulation of all the good and bad interactions of our lives.

• Sometimes the shortest and seemingly insignificant contact with someone leaves a permanent and life-changing mark on them or on us. 
• A goal for a day, or for every day: to make everyone’s day better in some way. Sometimes just a smile or using their name can be enough. 
• Search your own memories of being really touched by someone during your life, especially in ways that were life-changing for you. 
• How can we connect with others on a deep, emotional level, feeling what they’re feeling and genuinely connecting with those feelings and emotions?
• Physical connection, touching and hugs can all have a huge impact. 
• Are you one of those people who lights up the room?
• How easy it is to touch someone’s soul with good or bad, to make their spirit soar or sink, with just a look, a word, a tone.
• When people are sometimes negative or hostile, we need to think about what’s going on inside of them. Are they feeling insecure or being defensive? Are they hurting inside or having tough times? We should not react to that or get pulled into the negativity. We need to find the softness inside of them, try to understand them, even tell them -”I know your’re a better person than that”- when they’re hostile toward us.
• Many of us never forget rudeness toward us or when we’re diminished in some way. Let’s not leave that mark on others. 
• Look for opportunities to value others by expressing admiration, gratitude and a sincere caring about them, expressed in giving our full attention and real interest in who they are and what they say. 
• Let’s remember that we can always learn something from every other person. Each person’s life is a wonderful, fascinating biography. 
• How much do I really know the people in my life, even those that I am close to? With true empathy and a sincere interest, we can begin to know the real depth of all those shallow acquaintances. 
• Real communication is a lot more that just talking or writing or texting. It’s truly listening, paying attention, understanding and feeling . 
• Every human contact carries with it an endless ripple effect. If I help people to feel better about themselves and spread joy and happiness, those feelings send waves throughout all existence. So the best goal we can have every day, with everyone we connect with is to try to make them feel better about themselves in some small way. 

(C) 8-21-12 Fred Richter

Joy of Life Discussion Group - The Law of Attraction- Summary

We talked about being able to attract what we want into our lives, whether it be people, events, circumstances, love, success, health, money, comfort, happiness, contentment or whatever else we choose. 

Each of us is capable of attracting unlimited goodness to ourselves and all that we desire, as long as we:

Believe that we can

Have sufficient self esteem to feel worthy and deserving of what we want

Express our intention to ourselves or others or in prayer

Focus on what we want

Use and keep positive images from other life experiences

Belief that it can’t or won’t happen or that we aren’t capable enough will create a block in us which will keep us from making it happen. Likewise, poor self esteem will do the same. We are all deserving and able to attract happiness in the form that we choose. We can change our self esteem - we can change anything about ourselves that we choose to change. Do you believe that you can? There is a balance in what comes to us vs. what we create. There will be good and bad - that’s life, but we can still draw the very best we can to ourselves. We need to believe that all things are possible. 

Our thoughts are things and send out energy and vibrations which do attract the good or bad things we focus on. The thoughts we carry in our souls and minds, conscious or subconscious, grow and become the force to make things materialize. Sometimes after we express, focus and believe, we can let it go and know that all goodness will come to us. What are our expectations? What do we believe about ourselves? Can we really have anything we want, do anything we want to do? We can, and we can do it without it being at the expense of others. We can actually get more of what we want by helping others get more. If you’d like more friends, help others to feel appreciated, important and loved, and all of that will come back to you. 

It’s good to reflect on the good and the bad that we have attracted to our lives so far. What did we do to get the good and the bad that has become who and what we are? We can learn from all of it. 

Now, to attract happiness, make a list of what makes you happy, what feels good to you, then ask yourself - “what will I do to get this?”

Finally, expect sychronicity. Most of the time what you expect and focus on and want and believe you can have will just come to you, sometimes very unexpectedly. 

(C)  10-2-12 Fred Richter

Creativity- The Spark of Life

Creating that which did not previously exist makes something new and special of each moment of our lives.

All of us have creativity within us and can do whatever we choose to create our own masterpiece. Our lives are a blank canvass just waiting for us to create our own unique and glorious adventure upon them. 

Are we bold enough? Willing to take the risk? Listen to your inner voice, welcome change - change breeds creativity. Trust your own abilities and believe in yourself. Don’t let your judgment self block you. 

Many of life’s efforts and activities are true creativity including careers, hobbies, and just living life. It’s all in how we do it. Often, it’s easiest to be creative if what we’re doing is fun and exciting. Creating anything usually gives us great satisfaction.

Often, very small and insignificant events can trigger great creativity- just seeing or hearing or smelling something can start the flow. Being very relaxed and removing ourselves from our day-to-day environment and cares can open us up to new ideas and creative thoughts. We need to be like a child and look at the world with wonder and excitement, look for the beauty in everything and dream- night and day.

Inspiration for creative endeavors comes from many sources, but it’s always there. Nothing is really new- all knowledge has always existed and continues to exist. We are all connected to the Universal Consciousness and can tap into it any time we want. Mostly, creative inspiration comes to us when our conscious mind is relaxed, like taking a shower, just waking up, or doing mindless activities. 

We need to grab it before it floats on by, capture it before we lose it. Then the challenge is to put it into the physical world. Inspired, creative people all say: it just poured out. Once you feel the flow and start to create something, it’s hard to stop. If you let it, it just keeps coming, so avoid interruptions, let the flow sweep you away into your creative universe.

Reponding to the inspiration and creating something from it usually involves hard work, and we need to do the work to make the idea reality. The blank canvass can also be scary. What if I fail? What if no one buys it/likes it/ comes to see it, etc.? Will all my work be a waste? Consider your own personal satisfaction and enjoyment derived from the process of creation and what you learned by doing it. The work/process can also be very therapeutic. Just doing it for ourselves is wonderful. 

What would the world be without creativity? Consider having no music, art, stories, books, dancing, inventions, techniques, recipes and so much more. The new is always being created and is always making our lives and our world exciting. Even prehistoric peoples drew on cave walls and expressed themselves through music and dance. 

How does our creativity impact us, our offspring and others? What’s the difference between creative work for money or for personal satisfaction? Our works do live on after us and can grow and enrich others and stimulate creativity in others who can step in and go on from where we left off. 

Our talents lead us into and enable our creativities. Feelings of satisfaction change our energy and our cells and make us more alive. William James said- “The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast us.”

A simple life can leave us open to time and energy for creativity. Every child is born an artist. By keeping our lives simple and open, like a child, and making our creative endeavors a priority, the time and the inspiration and the ideas will come to us. We do have all the time we need to do what we want to do and what is fun and fulfilling. 

Fred Richter 8/12/12

Gratitude

This week's meeting was very inspiring and informative. Next topic is ”Creativity- The Spark of Life"

Some of the things that came out from this week's meeting on Gratitude were:

-Many people are the most grateful for loved ones and for the real satisfactions in life, not so much for material things.

-There are so many ways to show appreciation and gratitude and it's very important to express it to others. One little expression of appreciation can change someone's life forever.

-Receiving appreciation can be just as wonderful as giving it out. Think of an experience of expressing gratitude and another experience of receiving it from someone- so profound that you've never forgotten the feelings. 

-A letter or a phone call or even an email telling someone that you appreciate them or something they did can change someone's day and leave you with a wonderful feeling. 

-Sometimes we're most grateful for unexpected outcomes of situations that were not of our conscious choosing. 

-We show appreciation by taking care of ourselves, of others and of what we have.

-Don't look back at what might have been - it could have turned out worse.

-We can be very grateful for the person we once were - that person might now be our best teacher. 

- Compose, add to and review often a list of all that you are grateful for. It comes in really handy on bad days. 

-We can be very grateful for our life's path which took us where we never planned to go with people and experiences better than any we could have mapped out. 

-How often do we express deep, heartfelt appreciation to those closest to us?

-Gratitude is an emotion ignited by thoughts and it changes every cell in our bodies, improves our health and the quality of our lives.

Fred Richter

Joy of Life Discussion Group July 3, 2012 Today’s Topic: Goals to Give Meaning and Joy to Our Lives

Joy of Life Discussion Group
July 3, 2012
Today’s Topic: Goals to Give Meaning and Joy to Our Lives

Some of the things we discussed today were:
-Striving and pursuing goals, activities and interests that excite us can keep us more vibrant, alive and healthy, as well as living longer and more meaningfully.
-Do what you love and what makes you excited in life.
-Let your imagination run. Step out – way out and don’t let fear or doubts hold you back.
-Does everyone need major goals or is just following our daily routine and living a good life enough to make us happy?
-Would major goals make life better?
-Small goals can be just as good as big ones.
-As we age, sometimes “not doing anything” is ok and good.
-Peace and contentment can be a great goal too.
-We may have already met our major goals, ie. career, etc. and now lesser goals might be just fine.
-Goals based on ego or the expectations of others or their judgments or approval are never as fulfilling in the long run as goals that come from within us.
-Sometimes maintaining the status quo is an ok goal.
-In some circumstances, just making it another day/month/year can be a good goal, and challenging as well.
-Letting inspiration flow through us, resulting in creativity, brings out wonderful goals.
-We should never let what we have to do in our society, such as career, prevent us from following our true path in life.
-Some of us need external stimulus and some don’t, using what comes from inside.
-For many, life unfolds without much planning or effort.
-When little flashes of inspiration jump in, pay attention.
-We need to nurture all the various aspects of ourselves.
- When in any relationship with others, and goals don’t match or coincide, remember, it’s your life and you cannot live a full life if your significant goals remain unsatisfied. However, it’s necessary to use give and take and compromise, using love and looking for mutualities wherever possible.
-Reflect carefully to determine the best goals/path for you.
-Pursuing what we love makes us excited, fills us with passion and will fill our lives with joy, making us happier and having the same effect on those around us.

Fred Richter 7-3-12

Joy of Life Discussion Group

June 19, 2012

Today’s Topic: Finding the Good

Some of the things we discussed today were:

Look for the good in every situation. When you are hit with the bad, do some comparing of the bad and good in what’s going on or what you’re thinking.

A non-reaction or a positive reaction to a hostile person will often bring them around to positive.

Fully absorb the little beauties and pleasures around you. Start your day in a peaceful place.

Let problems and disturbing issues float through your mind, but don’t hold on to them.

We can always find good in a feeling of accomplishment or the reward of creativity. Relish the feeling of what you’ve accomplished in each chore, each day, each year.

Don’t miss the beauty around you. It changes constantly. Look at it now before it moves on.

Carry a beautiful and peaceful memory that’s very specific with you all the time and use it to bring yourself out of a bad mood or negative circumstance.

Bad things are valuable too. Experience them, learn from them, value them and then move on.

Don’t let fear block your joy.

Joy is different than happiness. Happiness is brief and fleeting, joy blankets your whole existence. We might be unhappy over something, but it need not take away our joy.

Accept the bad things- they’re part of the adventure of life. Know that they really don’t matter in the long run except for what we learn from them.

Can you change your thoughts? Yes, with practice. You are not your thoughts. You are the observer looking at them, evaluating them and changing their course.

Things happen for the best in the long run. Sometimes we have to hit the bottom to start coming up, but we can always rise up to the good, to joy.

Fred Richter 6-19-12