Living (and loving) the dream

Fresh off my holiday from the Maldives (and what better place to get re-inspired!), I opened the good-old Facebook to find an outpouring of fresh and inspiring energy. I’m talking about friends who are literally LIVING their dream, bit by bit, every single day. One friend has been globe-hopping for years, and is currently working for 6 months in a hostel in the Dominican Republic. Every day she “tires” us with pictures of beautiful sunsets, crystal blue water and her own self looking very tanned in a bikini. Then I have my other friend, a Buddhist and keen photographer, who has been enthusiastically pursuing his hobby of photography with an urge to contribute to society, by selling photos from his travels to charity. I recently looked on his website Zenwave, and his appeal is steadily growing, with new followers inspired by the cause daily!

Such amazing, raw, creative energy to come back to! Which is why I firmly and whole-heartedly believe that ‘success leaves clues’. Like Hansel and Gretel leaving breadcrumbs in the woods, those who achieve their inner longings, dreams and desires, leave a trail of clues to the path of their success.

Success has been defined as many things; and I will simply put it this way – it’s getting what you want. It’s looking deep inside yourself, seeing the things you want to accomplish, and moving steadfastly towards your goal. Of course, from point A to B, there are many obstacles and diversions along the way, but success really is as simple as realising that which you want. What you want can change, but the approach should never change:

IT’S YOUR LIFE. MAKE, CREATE, OF IT WHAT YOU WANT.

I’ve been reading a very interesting book recently, by Neale Donald Walsch called “Conversations with God”. The book comes in three parts, but the main premise behind it is this:

1.       Thoughts are creative.

2.       Fear attracts like energy.

3.       Love is all there is.

Very simple and powerful stuff. If you can be patient enough, to really invest in your thoughts and hold the thought you wish to act upon, you can shortly start to see some pretty big changes in your life. The kind of changes which are exactly as you want. What we constantly think about is our reality, and anyone from a sports star to an artist has had millions of thoughts they then turned into a winning game or a work of art.

Then comes the fear. We are all human, and naturally doubt our abilities. But we have to doubt, so we can trust. Once you realise where the power of fear can lead you, contrasted with where the power of trust and positive energy can, you can make better choices. All life is a choice, and the most inspirational people consistently make the choices which produce what they want. Where it is a choice between being positive or negative, working hard or working average, dreaming bigger or staying the same, we all have a choice. Inspirational and successful people make their choices work to their advantage. In fact, a truly successful person, doesn’t make any other choice than that towards continually fulfilling their dreams and desires. These people never worry about the money, time, effort they need to expend, because fulfilling their dreams is success within itself.

And lastly, love is all there is. That’s the first and the last of it actually. All dreams begin with a love for what you do, for what you want, for what you create, and upon fulfilment you receive love once again. That is why love is all there is. All big dreamers love what they do, and invest their love, into creating more love. And if the world needs anything, it’s more love.

Imagine how your world would look if you could love in love all day, every day? Be in love with your life, all day, every day? It is hard to miss the inevitable trail of happiness that all successful people leave behind. The key is not to blindly follow the same trial, but to believe that with the enthusiasm, love and your own unique talent, you can blaze a trail of your own, which can inspire others.

To my good friends, Mark and Agnieszka, you’re the ones inspiring me at the moment! Thank you for your love and dedication to fulfilling your own Personal Legends!

Copyright © Written by SoulSurfer 13 May 2013 at 3.07pm

The energy shift of 2013; balancing of energy

Although much was said about December 21, 2012, I believe all of us are still alive and most of us well. The imminent end to the world the Mayans predicted through their calendar 5,000 years ago, seemed to survive or be postponed, at least for the last 3 weeks.

Other sources of the great change of 2012, explain that the year 2012 was a shift and rebalancing of energy. The masculine and feminine energies are said to have realigned and balanced out, ending roughly 5,000 years of male dominated energy. A calmer, more loving, nurturing, receptive and respecting force is said to have been ushered in gradually over the last year, culminating at the end of the year in a decisive change, for the better perhaps.

Undoubtedly, anywhere there is balance and harmony, the greatest sources of energy, wellbeing and good can originate. It is understandable that any change brings about confusion and anxiety, but having settled into the first few weeks of this year, this year feels like the peace and calm we have been searching for a long time. The long awaited Zen. Balancing of ying and yang energies. Despite the current peaceful feeling, I wonder myself too, how long will it last, how it will evolve and what new heightened experiences it will bring to us?

So far, I have come to realise the importance of being calm and not worrying about the future. The importance of staying present, focused, full of love, compassion, harmony and trust. Just trust in the future. It is very easy to daydream for the future and reminisce on the past. To use both to try to make sense of the present, a present which is perfect in itself. At any time, we are just where we are meant to be. This is a lesson I have learnt repeatedly last year: every time I wanted to be decisive and make a decision based on fear, the unknown, anxiety or pain, I was guided to see it through, live in the present. The answer, the true answer, would appear unknowingly, and only now when I look back, I can see my evolution occurred only when I was willing to confront those current ‘uncomfortable’ feelings. To feel them, think about them and deal with them. And then LET THEM GO. Ultimately, what ensued over last year, was a constant exercise in trust and accepting the present moment. What has eventuated is a new outlook to match the new incoming energy of last year.

This year, 2013, carries a refreshed and renewed vibe; one that needs to be absorbed and channelled to create greater good, appreciation, love, compassion, acceptance and harmony among all. If we all live in the present, aim to focus our mind on positive and productive thoughts and then ACT, we can create a world continually brimming with and carrying forward the product of our common good.

Written by Copyright © SoulSurfer 11 January 2013 at 1.23pm

There is still so much more to give…

The old analogy is that life is about give and take. And frankly, it is. It is the law of nature for there to be perfect harmony; two equal and opposite forces working together, constantly and each at its own time.

In society, we have been taught this principal of equality; what we give, we should receive back. That we should not give any more when he have nothing to give, or no strength to give. Or we should not give any more because we are not receiving.

But what about the quality of what it is we give? If we give a hug, should we receive the equal? If we love someone, are we right to expect the same love in return? Do we only give as much as we want to return?  Society is very much enthralled in the concept of quantity and not quality. We want ‘value for money’, a ‘return on our investment’, a ‘bang for our buck’. This is why we are only concerned with what we will receive for our trouble, and not the quality of what we are giving.

Two ideas come into play here. Living in the present and giving in the present. If we are concerned with what we will get, we concern ourselves with future outcomes that for some elusive reasons may or may not happen. We are inhibiting the giving, because we are already measuring the worth of our future return. To give and expect equal on return, is to shape your giving so as to try and influence the outcome. It is to be quantitative and not qualitative.

To be giving in the present, we must concern ourselves with what quality we wish to offer for the world, from the goodness of our hearts and not from the emptiness we wish to fill upon return. To give and give and give, and feel that we can keep on giving, is a true blessing. To be an endless wellspring of giving, offering, contribution with the pure attitude of non-attachment is a virtue that needs to be practised and developed daily.

It is in this way that the law of nature works. To be so concerned with giving in a non-attached way as to almost forget about receiving, is not naïve or wearying; it is truly gratifying. Because for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

What I have personally noticed, is when we are not receiving what we want, when we are so focused on the ‘getting’ that we adjust the ‘giving’, it is purely because we are not giving quality. We acknowledge the lack we feel in ourselves, and dwell on it, rather than attempting to give more to the experience. A concept of Zen teacher John Daido Loori is if we practise non-attachment, we increase and experience unity. Unity is to focus on heightening experience and not to get too involved in the processes of how, when, what and why.

My goal and focus for the coming months is to focus on what I can give and offer to my experiences and in turn, through quality giving what unity I can create.

Copyright ©SoulSurfer 29 October 2012 at 10.26am

Inspiration is love at work

Someone once said, that at the end of life, each person will be judged not by what they did, but how much love they put into what they did. I don’t like the word “judged” as it is so final and harsh, but I do share the sentiment.

During yoga class, a question arose from our teacher “Can we put love into what we are doing every moment?”. Even during a torturous yoga pose, which is meant to be relaxing and releasing, can we manage to send out love? When we do the most mundane things, like catch the bus, buy our morning paper or even write a routine Tuesday morning email – can we put love into the moment?

Love seems to be something that is only reserved for those close to us and those we care about. It is often rationed out and segregated to those people and things we judge as being worthy of it.

But I think love needs to be not only a daily, but constant practice. Every moment needs to be about sending out love. When we engage with the moment we are in and add love to it, we experience a surge of inspiration and ultimately love again. I think inspiration is love at work. When you are working with love; living, breathing, exercising, eating love, you feel inspired in your life’s goals and on purpose.

Think of Kelly Slater who has so much to live up to. He has said he enjoys nothing more than to track a swell and go after it. He has abandoned important career-changing competitions, just to go after his passion for surfing, and find inspiration to continue surfing. Love leads to inspiration, and inspiration always finds love.

I believe it is a love for what he does and the inspiration he gets from it, that keeps my grandfather, at age 84, working in his beloved job. The inspiration he gets from his job fuels the fire of the passion for it. He always devotes a 100% to his work, because he is truly doing what he loves.

In our lives it is not easy to always feel love for everything we do. We may experience more love and inspiration from one thing and less from another. But like Kelly Slater, we must learn to chase our own swells – really chase the things that inspire us and that we can devote love to. We must give love to everything and see where we get the most love back. That, right there, is your swell – your life’s passion.

Written by Copyright © SoulSurfer 14 November 2011 at 10.35pm

Things I have learned about life through surfing…

Fascination – the more time you spend with the ocean, the more you notice things you never saw from the shore. It’s our fascination with life and its many surprises that drives away fear and replaces it with pure passion. Are there sharks that close to the shore? How does the board turn? How do you barrel? The exhilaration of life and truly living leads us to go out and experience. Sometimes it’s just the questions that are complicated and the answers simple. Life, like the waves, is full of surprises.

Perseverance – sometimes there are no waves and nothing to surf, sometimes there are too many to catch! Life is about moving elsewhere to find a better swell, or sometimes just taking random opportunities as they come. Nevertheless we don’t stop surfing; we don’t stop living.

Respect – such a misunderstood word, and no, its “not in-you-face” ghetto type of respect. Respect for the ocean and Mother Nature should be a core value each passionate surfer holds. You need to deeply treasure and admire the force of nature which enables you to practise your passion with grace and flair. Also, holding respect for the fact you are co-existing in an aquatic habitat full of precious life forms is paramount. Similarly in life, we need to respect the environment and people around us. If you give respect, in a true and deep manner, then receiving respect is reciprocal. Life is a journey and we need to respect the time and space we are present in, in order to move forward with our destinies.

Commitment – it’s all too easy believe you are a pro surfer after your first lesson, in which the instructor prompts you when to paddle and stand up. Surfing like life, takes commitment. A commitment to experiencing it for better and for worse; during big swells and not so big swells. But we surfers, soldier on, believing we are a part of something greater, something wonderful; and experiencing this when we meet our match on a wave.

Love – If you commit to and persevere through all the seaweed, tides, swells, rips and random fin sightings, you will arrive at only one conclusion; “I’m in love with surfing.” Yes love, like with all great things, fits nicely with surfing. But to encounter a deeper sense of all-encompassing love and appreciation for the environment, world, universe and Spirit…this only comes through the experience and practise of surfing. Love is usually found in the most profound things, and surfing (even in shallow tides) is deep. Ocean deep.

Love is the experience we all want to partake in and feeling one with a powerful force and harnessing it to create greater good; that is love in its purest form.

 Copyright © SoulSurfer 15 September 2011 @ 11.11pm

Surfing: a metaphor of life and love

Because of surfing, I have come to understand life in a whole new way; everytime I go out surfing the experience is new and unanticipated. You don’t know what it will hold. The best you can do is just let go and let the wave ride you. In time, you develop the skills you need to deal with the waves you are getting. 

In time. 

You may have done that new thing you learned a thousand times before, but it only ‘works’ in the moment you discover it and were meant to discover it.  Sometimes you can do something which in theory produces a result, but have it not work for you. When you put too much headspace into what you want to create, the creativity dissipates and leaves you with only a step by step image of the final result. Get on your board. Paddle. Look up. Stand up. How ungraceful is that? It’s mechanic, robotic. 

When you internalise your passions, take them on and make them part of your being and essence, it is then you become one and can transform the passion outward into the graceful form it is meant to be. 

Surfing is a feeling deep inside. It’s the way the feeling takes over you, guides you to do the right thing at the right time. It’s the magic of all manor of forces coming together in one single moment – when you stand up and let the wave navigate you. 

Surfing is a lot like falling in love also…the end result is beautiful, gracious, amazing…But so much goes into it beforehand. Waxing your board, battling the water for a break, lying in wait for the wave, swimming out to catch it…The bruises, the wipeouts, the sand everywhere…But we do it all for those few seconds, where we can be on top of the world…

Copyright © 7 March 2011 SoulSurfer

What counts...Lo que cuenta en la vida...

"What can I say? Love is what counts... I don't care about the label we put on it."