Articles Archives ~ Page 35 of 51 ~ Clare Josa

Can You Make A Difference?

Inspirational Messages

Welcome to Daily Sunshine.

“Think one person can’t make a difference? Try spending the night in a room with a mosquito.“

Paraphrasing Gandhi!

Most of us have a deep, inner calling to make a difference to the world.

Yet it can be so easy to fall into the trap of thinking “I can’t make a difference” or “who am I to take this on?”.

We can put off our serving of humanity for years, waiting until we feel “ready”.

Yet each of us can make a difference to the world – starting today.

The great thing is we don’t have to start with the big stuff.

We can start with the baby steps that make a difference to the world, one breath at a time.

Even sharing a smile with someone could lift their mood (and yours!) and start making a difference to the world.

Perhaps you could perform a random act of kindness, without expectation of gratitude or anything in return?

The amazing thing is that these baby steps soon build momentum. It becomes easier to see ways in which we – as individuals – could make a difference.

And then taking action becomes something we have to do – overcoming any fears or feelings of inadequacy.

If you have a secret yearning to make a difference to the world, one of the best ways to start is to share that yearning with someone.

It can be hard to open up and tell friends and loved ones, perhaps for fear of ridicule or embarrassment.

So I’m offering you a helping hand this morning.

If you want to change the world – and want to tell someone about it – how about telling me? Making that commitment to get started or up your game?

If you want to go public, you could post your dream on the comments section of today’s blog.

If you want to keep it private, simply let me know by email – via the contact us page.

I would be honoured to support you in any way I can.

The world needs you now. And you will never be more ready than in this moment.

Wishing you a day full of sunshine and laughter.

Namaste,

Clare

P.S. To get Daily Sunshine straight to your inbox, each weekday, go to: http://www.DailySunshine.com

Are You Still Waiting To Change The World?

How To Change Your Life

“Think one person can’t make a difference? Try spending the night in a room with a mosquito.”

Paraphrasing Gandhi!

Most of us have a deep, inner calling to make a difference to the world.

Yet it can be so easy to fall into the trap of thinking “I can’t make a difference” or “who am I to take this on?”.

We all know how it works: it’s as though a fear of failure – or perhaps the even greater fear of success – keeps us from diving in and doing what we feel truly called to do. Sometimes the calling is so strong that ignoring it can lead to us feeling down and can even create “dis-ease” on a physical level.

We can put off stepping onto our “real path” for years, waiting until we feel “ready”. But the catch is: we rarely feel “ready”.

There will always be someone who knows more than you. There will always be someone who has more experience than you. There will always be someone who seems to have got there first.

Yet each of us can make a difference to the world – starting today. If we wait till we’re “ready”, there are so many people who will have missed out on what we have to share. Whatever your dream, whatever your calling, there’s no point in waiting till the circumstances are perfect – they never will be!

You don’t have to dive in to start – you can just dip your toe in the water.

The great thing is we don’t have to start with the big stuff.

We can start with the baby steps that make a difference to the world, one breath at a time.

Even sharing a smile with someone could lift their mood (and yours!) and start making a difference to the world.

Perhaps you could perform a random act of kindness, without expectation of gratitude or anything in return?

The amazing thing is that these baby steps soon build momentum. It becomes easier to see ways in which we – as individuals – could make a difference.

And then taking action becomes something we have to do – overcoming any fears or feelings of inadequacy.

If you have a secret yearning to make a difference to the world, one of the best ways to start is to share that yearning with someone.

It can be hard to open up and tell friends and loved ones, perhaps for fear of ridicule or embarrassment.

So I’m offering you a helping hand.

If you want to change the world – and want to tell someone about it – how about telling me? Making that commitment to get started or up your game is so much easier, if there’s someone there to acknowledge your courage. If you want to go public, you could post your dream on in the comments section for this post.

If you have a friend or family member you could tell, do so! Choose someone who you know will react supportively. Stepping onto your path might take less courage than you think, if you build a good support team around you.

The world needs you now. And you will never be more ready than in this moment.

Thank you for stepping on to your path.

Let me know how you get on!

With love,

Clare x

Why I’m Glad I Didn’t Make It!

How To Change Your Life

This weekend I set out, with 3 team members, to achieve a massive life challenge – walking 60 miles in a day, up and down massive hills. Months of commitment and investment – physical and emotional – went into the challenge. I didn’t make it to the end. Some would say I failed. But I’m glad. Really happy about it.

Find out why not making it to your dream can be better than achieving it.

But before I start – an amazingly big, proud congratulations to everyone who completed the Oxfam Trailwalker 2010 this weekend. And equally amazing congratulations to everyone who got their boots on, but didn’t make it past the finish line. You’re all amazing. Huge respect! 🙂

Most of us never get round to getting off their backsides, to work towards our dreams. No offence, but for most of us, life gets “in the way”. So when we tell others we’re going to “do something”, it’s like sticking our neck out and taking a risk.

The problem is that we judge each other more for failing than for not trying in the first place.

Crazy, eh?

When we feel called to set ourselves a major life challenge – whatever form that may take – it’s easy to become obsessed with achieving this incredible feat.

The problem is that our constant focus on the goal means we often miss out on the journey.

Getting ready for the challenge of a lifetime

For the last 6 months, we have been training, planning, re-planning, trying not to panic and generally getting stressed about our epic “walk-60-miles-in-a-day” challenge. Without intending it, our weekends were eaten up by practice walks, our evenings were taken up by discussing strategy and planning for contingencies and we don’t remember the last time we just had fun, without feeling guilty about not training… Life was passing us by.

It’s so easy to become obsessed.

It means that if we miss our goal by even the tiniest of margins, we feel like a total failure. We lose our sense of perspective. What we achieve might be incredible and life-changing, but because we didn’t do all we set out to do, we think we failed. We judge ourselves. We beat ourselves up. We assume others will judge us. That’s a pretty icky place to hang out.

Because we think we failed, we can’t see that what we achieved was still amazing.

We give ourselves a hard time and add the experience to our “I’m rubbish” justification file!

But that’s not what life is about.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have goals and dreams. Just the opposite! Goals and dreams can drive our motivation and act as a sign-post, to guide us on life’s path. Without dreams, we would most likely stagnate and never achieve our full potential. Having a clear goal and putting all your efforts towards achieving it can be an amazing experience, especially if that goal is a real stretch.

The problem is when the goal or dream takes over – or when you feel obliged to continue persuing the goal, even if it no longer fits with who you are. Then we’re at risk of getting attached to the end result being exactly as we have imagined.

Anything else then feels like disappointment and failure. That’s where the pain lies.

Only my condemnation injures me. Only my own forgiveness sets me free.

A Course In Miracles

When I dropped out of our group challenge after “only” 50km (30 miles) with a knee injury, I felt devastated. I felt I was letting the team down. I felt like a failure. I felt like I had achieved nothing. The fact I had repeatedly pushed myself through pain and exhaustion barriers towards the end of the previous 50km counted for nothing.

I had failed.

Waving them off to continue their challenge is one of the hardest things I have ever done. I felt like months of preparation and training had been wasted.
But deep down I knew that continuing would only make the knee injury worse, potentially repeating the cycle that led to me needing knee surgery, 10 years ago. Back then I injured my knee, but kept going on a mixture of pure determination and pain killers. I wasn’t going to repeat that experience.
Plus, given the challenge’s time constraints, we had all agreed that anyone seriously slowing the team down would withdraw, to allow the rest of the team to finish within the time limit. So that’s what I did.
But I still felt terrible.

Reaching For Your Dreams

Try not so hard;
Instead, allow life to flow through you,
Unfurling magically
As you let go and trust.

If it hurts, you’re out of flow;
Resisting, forcing your will.
The journey is not without detour,
But the flow is beauty.

When we are 100% focused on a certain outcome, we are also at risk of blinkered repetition of past mistakes or staying stuck in old behaviours.

Heading down a chosen path is often about giving ourselves the chance to learn and grow, integrating life lessons, rather than about reaching the intended destination.

The joy of life is in celebrating the beauty of every moment; not waiting to celebrate until we have done something “worth it”.

And every breath can become a cause for celebration, if we are using our life for the greater good of all Beings, making the most of our gifts and living life to the full.

For some, that will mean pushing themselves beyond their limits. For others it will mean knowing when to stop.

Only you can ever know which is the right choice for you.

You are a wonderful person, with your own set of unique gifts with which to serve the world.

You are capable of achieving your dreams and making a difference to the lives you touch.

But by focussing entirely on that dream, we’re at risk of the magical moments of everyday life passing us by.

It is only by celebrating every step of our journey – including difficult choices – even when life takes us on a detour – that we are really alive in each moment. That is the true path to happiness.

Sometimes we create expectations around our goal that mean we end up forcing ourselves towards it, missing the signs for a path that might have been more fulfilling.

Sometimes, as time passes, our goal or dream no longer fits with who we have become. But our dogged attachment to the outcome blinds us to this and leads to inner conflict. Our deeper wisdom is trying to tell us we’re heading in the wrong direction, whilst we stoicly insist on maintaining the previous course.

Sometimes, particularly with a large, publicly declared goal, it is our projected fears about others’ expectations that keep us going, long past the point of realising we’re off-course. We’re too worried about what other people might say.

As a society, we criticise people for changing their minds or admitting they were wrong.

And we want to do everything we can, to avoid that criticism.

Knowing when to stop, even when that’s letting go of your dream, is a very brave act.

Pendella Buchanan

Sometimes we reach our dreams, just as we planned. And that’s an incredible achievement.

Sometimes we have to reach into our hearts and have the wisdom to change our direction, making difficult choices.

When the going gets tough... — Sometimes the going can get really tough…

I felt so proud of everyone else in our team – they all did their 100km. Incredible. But I needed to get to the point where I could feel proud of myself for not making it.

It took me a while to be able to let go of my feeling of “failure”. And, since I was beating myself up, I unsurprisingly attracted people around me to pass judgement and reinforce my feelings of self-loathing!

Then, when my perspective widened, I was able to see that I hadn’t failed – I had succeeded – albeit in a slightly different dream.

As a team, we had walked 350km between us. We had raised nearly £3,000 to help save and change lives. We had all pushed ourselves to our respective limits. We had all supported each other to the best of our ability.

Only when I was able to feel at peace with changing the parameters of my goal was I able to return to any sense of inner peace about the outcome!

Sometimes the gift is in not reaching our dreams, though this often takes time to show.

Maybe more of us would feel brave enough to reach for our dreams

if we were less scared of how “society” might react if we don’t reach them.

I find it so sad how many of us don’t dare to dream, for fear of failure.

Failure lies not in falling down.
Failure lies in not getting back up.

Chinese Proverb

Sometimes we learn – and can teach – more by stopping than continuing.

And my learning from all this?

That my dream (yes I still have them!) is to dedicate my life to inspiring others to reach for their dreams and to help them figure out how to feel happy, wherever that journey takes them.

If you have a dream that’s burning in your soul, what support could you ask for today, to help you reach for it?

And which baby step might you take, right now, to move you forwards on that journey?

Want some moral support? Join our Soul-Sized Living forum and connect with others who are taking daily baby steps towards their dreams 🙂 www.ClareJosa.com/join-soulsizedliving

Are You In Hiding?

Inspirational Messages

Welcome to Daily Sunshine.

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

Desmond Tutu

So often, when embarking on a journey of personal growth, we fall into the trap of believing that we are supposed to be neutral about everything – without attachments or preferences. We are often taught by “Gurus” and “experts” that this is the path to a more enlightened life.

Yet, if we witness events that are unjust or morally wrong – whatever that means to us – simply standing by and remaining neutral, taking no action, is like moving out of the way to let an oppressor pass.

This is what happens when we know our personal Truth, but hide it away so no one can see it. Then we don’t have to make a difference in the world.

Just imagine what the world would be like today if people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela had chosen to remain neutral?

Sometimes standing up to be counted is the hardest thing to do, but it is the only thing that will ever create the progress and growth that society needs.

We can still pass on our message and take action with love, compassion and maturity.

But not passing on our message – or standing in our power – is even more of a waste than having no message or power.

Is there somewhere your message needs to get today?

You never know, it might just change your world.

Wishing you a day full of sunshine and laughter.

Namaste,

Clare

P.S. Want to get your Daily Sunshine straight to your inbox? Here’s where to sign up – it’s free : http://www.DailySunshine.com

What Are Your Meditation Excuses?

Inspirational Messages

What's your Meditation Excuse? ;-) — What are your meditation excuses?

We’ve all got them.
All the reasons why we can’t meditate.
We don’t have time.
We’re too tired.
There’s too much to do.
It doesn’t “work” for us.

But what if we could see meditation as a solution, to help us get more done, rather than an obligation that takes up time?

It is said that meditation and prayer are two sides of the same coin.

When Archbishop Desmond Tutu was asked how long he prays every day, it is said he answered:

“I am so busy, if I want to get everything done, I cannot pray for less than 2 hours per day.”

This one stopped me in my tracks.

I’m guessing that, although I feel I’m really busy, someone like Desmond Tutu might be just a teeny bit busier?

And he says he can’t get it all done, without that meditative prayer space?

Time to review my excuses!

The 3 stages of meditation help us see how meditating more could achieve the results implied by Desmond Tutu’s answer.

Relaxation
If we’re tense, we can’t meditate.
Being more physically, mentally and emotionally relaxed helps us think more clearly and – surprise, surprise- get more done.
Concentration
Meditation is about being able to hold our focus on something (or nothing!), while the mind does whatever it likes in the background. That’s how we can come to a place of inner peace, when the world around us is full of noise and busy-ness.
Being focused helps tame our distractable, “grasshopper mind” to pay attention to the present moment. Being aware, concentrating and focusing on what we’re doing dramatically cuts down the time we waste, without realising, every day.
Meditation
The act of meditating brings us back into the present moment.
It helps us connect with our inner wisdom.
It helps us release attachments and dissolve denial, so we can see the Truth of a situation, rather than our projection.
It gets us back in flow with our Higher energies and helps life unfold before us, with less effort and less pain.
Easy to see how this could help us get more “done” with less “doing”.

So I’m off to practice “being” for a while, whilst this message settles for me.

Then I’ll see how much more I achieve today!

You don't have to turn your legs into a pretzel, to be able to meditate

What are your favourite meditation excuses?

How could you perhaps find the time to slot in a little more space to “be” today?

What would it take for you to make that commitment to yourself?

Is there support you need? Who might you ask for help?

Please share via the comments box below – or you could join in the discussion on our Facebook Group: Meditation Journey

With love, namaste,
Clare x

Daily Sunshine: Are Your Beliefs To Blame?

Inspirational Messages

Welcome to Daily Sunshine.

“What you believe is what you get.“

I was working with a client recently who is talented, quick-thinking and highly motivated, but also feeling miserable, frustrated and stressed.

It didn’t take much probing to discover that an out-of-date belief of “life has to be hard work” was causing much of the problem.

What we believe is what we get.

The thing is that our beliefs are like choices that get stuck in time. Once we’ve made them, instead of setting us free, they close the doors to other choices – to other responses.

That’s why even a so-called “empowering belief” is limiting. When things change, then even that old empowering belief could hold you back from your growth and expansion!

So if a “good” belief can do that, just imagine how much a “bad” one can do!

The great news is that we can change our beliefs.

They’re far from being set in stone.

There are techniques we can use to dissolve away the old belief and choose more flexibility and freedom in our life.

So if you catch yourself doing, saying ot thinking something that no longer “fits” for you today, all you need to do is catch yourself at this game and allow yourself to choose another option.

Have you ever spotted your beliefs holding you back? How about sharing your experiences via the comments, below?

To get Daily Sunshine straight to your inbox every weekday, sign up free at http://www.DailySunshine.com

Wishing you a day full of sunshine and laughter.

Namaste,

Clare