IMG_0191Another thing I like about the fitness world in general, and about my trainer in particular, is the strong results orientation.  Do what works!  If it doesn’t work, stop doing it!  This makes his following declaration quite interesting. “Do not associate with negative people.  Stay away from them.  Get them out of your life!”  That is easy to understand on a philosophical level, but in the real, results-oriented world of fitness, it is more compelling.  It works!

When I was in the ashram, we always favored positivity.  Note, that is different from oblivion.  Eyes can be wide open while you favor a positive approach.  It is important to know, not believe but know, there is always a solution.  If you think there is not, your world is too small… you are not thinking broadly or patiently enough.

The world today is addicted to negativity.  The news broadcasts are not really the news.  They are all skewed toward negativity.  Even worse, most people live their lives in that way – one crisis after another, interrupted by periods of worry as they await the next crisis to erupt.  That is no way to live; yet it is a pandemic addiction. Know that an addiction is not just to something you like. In fact this addiction to what you do not like, crisis, is perhaps the strongest and most common addiction of all.  Addiction is habit.

I remember when I was a kid.  Everything was fine.  Life went on day to day and stability was taken for granted.  Imagine living your life that way.  Imagine viewing your life as a stream of one joy on to the next, with periods of calm contentment between them.  Because you are no longer a child, you are not oblivious.  You plan and act wisely and responsibly, but the state of your mind is not negative or in crisis mode.  You are positive.  You understand that life is fine… things work out.

Life is a bell curve.  Yes, there is the rare instance of the guy who was, for example, sleeping in his bed when a sinkhole erupted taking him away never to be seen again.  But such things are way, way far out to the edges of the bell curve of life. Worrying, worrying, worrying, in anticipation of the next crisis is life destroying in and of itself.  Yet ‘the news’ bombards us daily with reports of the sinkholes of the day.

Some are taught to take nothing for granted.  However, there is one thing you can and should take for granted: Nature supports.  Your nature and Mother Nature are supportive to your life. Life has a way of working out.  Free yourself from the addiction to crisis. Appreciate yourself.  You are a resourceful and capable being.  That is your greatest asset, certainly greater than some money in the bank.  Somewhere along the line people stopped believing in themselves.  Then they turned to God and spirituality as a crutch to lean on.  No!  It is not a crutch, it is your greatness… It is the greatness of life, of humanity, of nature, of YOU.

Positivity breeds the positive in your life.  Everything is fine.  You are fine.  Life is good.  When challenges arise, they are challenges, nothing more.  You will be quite capable of dealing with them.  Find contentment within and act from THAT place within you.  That is your home base.  That is your touchstone.  That is the true nature of life.  When everything is quiet, you naturally and spontaneously settle into the silence of contentment… peace… shanti.  When you put your head on your pillow at night, know that everything is fine.  Life is positive.

© Michael Mamas. All rights reserved.