I Love Backyard Birdwatching!
There really is something about birds for me. I have no idea what it is but I find it incredibly enjoyable and satisfying to watch birds go about their daily lives. Expand that, I actually also love watching nature at work. I love to watch the trees flower and fruit in the season, I love to watch how animals and birds interact with their environment and I love to watch the effects of the things that I do on it all. You see, I have grown a garden that is intended to bring the wildlife to me. A backyard birdwatching haven. And since the law of attraction is all about enjoying your self, having fun and being who you really are, I get to do all of those things every day, right from my home office here in Cairns, courtesy of my garden!
I have planted trees specifically for the purpose of feeding birds and butterflies and providing a bird friendly habitat. In the main these are native trees, however I have found through my reading that citrus trees and many non-natives work wonderfully as well. I now tailor my gardening life to the birds that are resident or visitors. For example I would never prune or trim the Justica’s during spring because all of the honey-eaters that are growing up their young and need as much food as possible. My garden is a food factory for them.
You will also find in my garden, a couple of watering holes for the birds. Even though it took them a while, they eventually got used to them and now bathe and drink there throughout the day. This makes it possible for me to be working in my home office and watching the birds come and go as they do.
The habitat it very important because all types of birds seek refuge for nesting and each seems to need something a little different. The sunbird pair need a sheltered place and a rope; the finches need a dense tree with a lookout nearby, the doves need a dense tree with peace and quiet and so on. Over time, we have created two secret gardens to serve all of these purposes. Additionally, our elderly terrier does her best to see any marauding cats off the premises! Even so, cats managed to destroy the nest of a willy wagtail which was a sad loss to all of us here. We were very excited to have this sweet little bird nesting on our deck.
So if you also love all things nature, and you live in town on an ordinary sized piece of land, you too can do your bit for the various species and create a wildlife refuge and habitat. Next time I will write about our animals and I am very happy to answer questions about how to create you own piece of heaven in your backyard. In the meantime I am off to feel the joy – happiness really is birdwatching in my backyard.
Have Fun And Create With The Law of Attraction
I came upon this article by Russell Yarmel, The Success Man and it is so good that I decided to post it for my readers to see. Enjoy!
It seems to me that a lot of you are “busy trying to master the Law of Attraction”.
You’re running through your daily affirmations.
You’re reminding yourself, “be positive, be positive”.
You’re asking yourself “how can I look on the bright side here?”.
You’re reading books, following advice, trying, trying, trying… while the rest of the world is running by you, laughing at you for staring in the mirror and reminding yourself how great you are, like you didn’t already know it.
It’s about this that I’d like to talk to you today.
Remember Why You Learned About LOA in the First Place
What is your goal? Stay focused. What is it that you want in your life?
Do you want to be able to tell everyone about how every little thought is creating and contributing to the Universe? Is that really the most pertinent thing in your life right now? Or do you want some money, so that you have the time to study the things that interest you?
Or do you want to lose 40 pounds, so you don’t have to worry about your heart failing while you read?
You’re Playing Your Cards All Wrong
What does LOA say?
What you focus on, you create.
When you focus on your “need to master the Law of Attraction”, you’re thinking about your lack of mastery of LOA. So really, while you’re sitting there thinking you need to do this and need to do that and “oh, why aren’t things manifesting in my life instantly already?”… you’re actually pushing yourself farther and farther away from this desired “mastery”. Truth is….
You’ve Already Mastered the Law of Attraction
That’s right. You already have LOA down, 100%. Everything you think about is being attracted to you, and if you’re thinking about how you WANT to master LOA… you’re really only thinking about things that you don’t have, simply because you’re telling yourself that you haven’t yet done it! Bizarre it is, but it’s the truth. You do not need to put any effort into mastering this fine art, as it’s a gift given to you at birth, something inherited, which you carry deep down inside of you.
The Solution
Rather than trying to master LOA, accept it as a fundamental truth, and move on with your life, knowing that you have this wisdom. Make a decision to go out, do the things you enjoy, make decision, decision, decision, take action, action, action, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. Go out there and get the things you love. Hold on to the image of the things you want in life, and feel the feelings associated with having them.
The worst thing you can possibly do is get caught up in the “how”.
Don’t worry about “How do I change myself to make this work more in my favor”.
Rather, decide to make prompt and decisive decisions, and allow the “how” to come to you.
If you really believe in LOA, you know that you do not need to waste your time trying to learn it, rather just focus on what you want, and only then will you see how fast it’s actually working.
Nobody’s enjoying watching you sit there and wondering “how” to run.
Rather, we’re all cheering you on as you take the first step of that sprint…
Everyone who I’ve tagged in this note is familiar with LOA…
and isn’t wasting time tying his or her shoes!
Keep on running, my friends!
Much love,
Russell
p.s. Quit being so hard on yourself! There’s no need to repeat the mistakes of others! Have fun and do what you like, it’s what you’re here for!
Boost Your Happiness Level With These 7 Tips
What if you woke up one morning and saw a sign above you that said “happiness bus – jump on here for the ride of your life”? Would you excitedly jump on or would you pass, get up and just face your day? Happiness is within the reach of any person who desires it. It truly is there for you to just reach out and grab hold of and here are seven tips to boost your happiness level, whatever that may be.
But why would you bother? Surely it is enough to just cruise along with life, taking it as it comes and if you are unhappy, that is just your fate in life. You may be surprised to know that there are happiness experts who study and teach happiness, sometimes known as positive psychology. These experts hold the view that happiness is a choice; you can choose positive emotions, you can choose to let go of fear, anxiety and sadness and you can choose to pursue happiness. According to the studies, most people believe that happiness is important and is worth having not just for the individual but for society as a whole.
Happy people earn higher incomes and are more productive, they have longer and more satisfying relationships and more friends, more energy, better health and even longer life. There is evidence that individual happiness is a key factor in organisational performance so any employers reading this might want to explore happiness further. The best possible news is that you can train your brain for greater happiness. Read on to find out how.
1. Create the habit of keeping a daily journal. This might take a while and some discipline and every day that you do it will make it easier to continue. When you get to 90 days it is very likely that it will have become a habit. Your daily journal should be primarily about the positive things that occur in your life and that you appreciate about yourself.
2. Develop gratitude by adding to your daily journal a minimum of three notes about things for which you are grateful that day. Write down the things that people did that you appreciated, anything that made you smile or that you felt thankful for. Talk to others about what happened and reinforce gratitude in your life.
3. Use your daily journal to identify the things that you can see are your strengths. You might find that your writings about what you appreciate in yourself show some of your strengths and you can also ask trusted friends and family what they see as your strengths. Use your strengths to make your life more enjoyable, for example, when you must do something that you do not like, approach it from the angle of your strengths. Build on your strengths at every opportunity.
4. Give generously of acts of kindness. Decide every morning how you will give at least five acts of kindness that day and be on the lookout for opportunities. Doing this just feels so good and other’s are very appreciative. It is like giving and receiving gifts all day long!
5. Have fun! I know that sounds a little crazy and looks obvious – happy people have fun right? You know what though? Sometimes we just stop being playful and exercising our sense of humor and again, it is just about practice. So be on the lookout for happy people with whom you can have fun and practice being funny.
6. Be still with yourself – meditation, yoga and such pursuits calm the mind and give you time to see life from a different perspective. Meditation can also help you to release fear, anxiety and sadness giving you room to allow happiness in. Meditation, by the way, can be a lot more simple than you may think. It can be as easy as watching the waves role in and letting all thoughts drift away in the process.
7. And finally, create yourself some habits like meditation, yoga or exercise. The creation of habits reinforces your belief in yourself to be, do or have anything that you want, including happiness.
So now you have the secret formula to happiness, you know why you would bother and you know that it is possible to be happy even if you are usually unhappy. The choice is yours – reach out and grab hold with both hands or let another day pass. Have fun with these seven tips and be happy.
Using Contrast To Achieve Success
I am currently visiting Canberra – the cold Capital of Australia – and thinking about how contrast helps to achieve success. In the week that I have been here the temperatures have bottomed out with the coldest September day for 40 years and snow falls just 30 kilometres away ranging up to a very warm 24 degrees yesterday. I am used to a fairly stable tropical temperature of 20 to 30 and have now realised just how that has left me with little variation. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the tropics. However I have discovered once again that contrast is pretty exciting.
But how do you use contrast to achieve success? Most of the elite writers about personal development, whether writing from their own experience or channeling the wisdom of others, write about contrast or duality as it is sometimes called. Conversations With God by Neale Donald Walsch is deals with this subject throughout the series. These writers are referring to the learning gained from knowing one side and then the other of an experience. So how can you know happiness if you have never known sadness. How can you know courage if you have never known fear. The way that I am thinking this through at the moment is that it is very much about feelings and getting familiar with your own feelings; being able to detect constantly how you are doing.
Feelings have a great deal to do with the path to achieve success. Esther Hicks writings on the Law of Attraction and almost any book that you choose to read on this subject will refer to the ability to get to know and understand your feelings and the ability to change those that you do not like. My own professional colleagues use this on a moment by moment basis. Feel something that they do not like – they simply reach for a better feeling thought. Getting used to and interacting with contrast/duality is one way of experiencing your feelings on that particular situation. This week I have found that the deep contrast in the weather has heightened my sense of feeling around a number of matters and reminded me to welcome such contrast into my life.
So instead of finding the weather a nuisance, I am now looking at it as a beautiful way to experience contrast and therefore my feelings. I am sort of back in the zone a bit, dragged away from the constancy of business and back to the real business of life. If I use this experience well, I will be in a state of great vibrations and definitely attracting into my life those things that I desire. Still in the zone to achieve success.
Do you have any special tips and tricks that keep you in touch with your feelings and the way that you are vibrating at any given moment?
Having Fun and Enjoying Success in Canberra
I am reminded today that life is like a box of chocolates – variations of sweet and fun. And there is nothing sweeter than time with my daughters. This week has been a spectacular catch up with two of my daughters when we met up in Canberra. It has been a time to remember that happiness and success is about many things and for me, it is about holding on to that lovely experience of family connections, friendship connections and the freedom to work and play just as I wish.
What does success mean to you?
