Madison’s Medicine

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. --Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965)

We are busier than we have ever been, working long hours and feeling under more and more pressure. How do you spend your days? For many people work and pleasure are seen as separate, with work being a chore that has to be done to pay the bills. It doesn’t always have to be like that. Although we don’t have to love everything we do, we do need to gain some enjoyment from most of what we do. Take a moment to see if it is time to start afresh and do something you love, something that adds the pleasure factor back into your working life?

Think about what matters to you and why you do the things you do. For each person that means something different. What aspects of a job are important to you? List them. Think about your dream job. Does it motivate and inspire you? If not, think again. It has to mean something to you; otherwise you will not be prepared to put in the effort to achieve what you want. Ask: ‘What am I prepared to give up to make this happen?’ ‘What would I love to try?’ ‘What options do I have?’ ‘What are my talents, skills and qualities?’ ‘How can I utilise them in my ideal job?’ How can you take an idea and turn it into reality? Get creative and think through how you could make money doing what you enjoy.

Starting anew requires courage, confidence and commitment. Hold on to your sense of purpose. Believe in yourself. Ignore the critics, for there are bound to be some, and face your fears (there will many of those too!). Ask for help from those people who can assist you and get supporters to keep you motivated. Research things that interest you and, if necessary, go back to basics and learn new skills. Develop a clear vision of where you’d like to be in 10 years’ time – and why. Write it down. Be specific. This will provide you with something to focus on. Think creatively. This may not happen all of a sudden, but if you work at it gradually, day by day, it can happen.

And if starting something new is not for you, how can you love the job you already have? You can’t always control your situation, but you can always choose how you react to it. Your attitude colours how you face every day and has an influence on the people around you. Choose to be positive. Are there areas of your job that you can improve on? Who can you discuss this with? Is a change to a new role in the same company an option? Examine the possibilities. Your job does not define you, but how you do it does.

Copper Magnetic Bracelets for Arthritis From TopNotch

And why bother? Doing what you love gives you a good reason to get up every morning. Your life will be challenging, certainly, exciting, definitely. Doing things you enjoy which give you personal fulfilment and satisfaction has been shown to contribute to good health and longevity. Don’t wait for perfect circumstances to start. Begin now!

Who am I? What come to mind when you ask this of yourself? How many different memories, ideas, and things seem like a part of you? What do you identify with? Does this process of identification help you, or just cause suffering?

Perhaps when your favorite basketball team loses, you suffer as though YOU lost. When your car is damaged it feels like YOU are hurt. When somebody attacks who they think you are, it seems as though they actually reach inside and poke at your true self. How can you escape this unecessary drama and pain?

Perhaps by seeing who and what you are not. Seeing the process of identification clearly can free you from the ego attachments that cause you to suffer. There is a simple meditation that can help you with this.

Who Am I - A Meditation On Self Identity

Sit or lay comfortably in a quiet place. Relax, close your eyes, and take several deep breaths. Breath through your nose, eventually letting your breathing fall into a natural pattern. Pay attention to your breath, to the air moving in and out of your lungs and nose. Let the tension drain from your body.

Ask the question in your mind, "Where am I?" Then ask, "What am I?" and "Who am I?" Just let these questions sit for a moment in your mind.

Become aware of your body, and consider your leg. Would you cease to exist if you lost it? Are you your leg? Continue through the parts of your body, asking of each part, "Am I here?" and "Is this what I am?"

Then open your eyes and look around. Are you any of these things? You might feel pain when your favorite chair breaks, as though it were you, but you are not that chair. Which of these things you own are you? Ask these questions. Ask, "Am I this?"

Now close your eyes again and say your name in your mind. Is there a sense of identity? And if you had no name? Ask yourself "Am I really..." and say your name again. Consider what the most honest answer is. Try saying "I am..." and insert any other name. Note how, when you call yourself by another name, you feel differently. You have a name-identity that is a collection of ideas, something seen differently by you and others.

Let feelings arise, and ask "Am I this fear?... this pain, sadness, desire, pleasure, or anger? You can see that your feelings are not you - they just pass through you. Clothes, body, reputation - none of it is your true self-identity, is it?

Continue this meditation for twenty minutes or so. Take a deep breath and get up, noticing if you feel different - maybe less worried or less attached to things, feelings and thoughts. Repeat the meditation as often as necessary, to remind you of what you are not. Oh, and you really don't need to answer the question, "Who am I?"