I often find myself thinking about all the things I want to do during my lifetime. Some of them are big dreams, like sailing around the world. Others are much smaller in scope, but still significant to me, like reading all the old ‘classic’ works by Homer and Dickens and such.

Most dreams remain just that: dreams. In the daily business of life, it is easy to forget about the bigger picture because I am so focused on the tasks that feel important in the moment. Sometimes they really are important, but often those little tasks really don’t matter; if they were skipped, it would not affect my life one bit for the worse.

I used to dream about something and then forget it. Eventually I figured out this wouldn’t work very well, so I started to dream about something and then write it down. Later I learned how to make sure I would stumble across the writing at a time in my life when I could actually act on it, how to commit my dreams to memory so I would think about them often, and how to clarify my dreams so that they were achievable and not just ambiguous ideas with no clear vision.

But still, many dreams eluded me. I thought about them all the time, but I didn’t often make progress towards achieving them.

One day I had one of those deep ‘Aha!’ moments, an experience of ‘Eureka!’… it finally clicked that there was one step missing: action. I was never doing the next that had to be done for the dream to ever happen. It was easy to ‘know’ this, but it finally sunk in and I got it. I needed to do something in order to get something.

I still struggled with this for a while. I mean, if you’re going to sail around the world, where do you start? If you know you don’t know what you need to know to do something, what’s a step you can take? Reading often turns into an excuse for not taking action (’I just have one more thing to research and then I’ll be ready to go get started…’).

Finally, I found what works to motivate me to get started. It takes two steps:

1. Find a mentor: who do I know or who can I arrange to meet who has experience that would help me?
2. Commit time or money: I’m not poor, but I’m not rich either; as soon as I commit money to something, there’s no way I’m backing out of it.

A mentor will help me figure out what I don’t know and find productive ways to start learning. Often, one of those ways will be to take a course or buy equipment or join a group, and this is where I commit myself. Once I’ve put it on my calendar or invested money into it, it’s going to happen.

What works for you? What inspires you to take action? What gets you off your butt and working towards the things you’ve always wanted to do?

A dream without action will forever be just a dream.

In the news

• I knew you had to be a little off to climb the big peaks: High summits ‘could harm brain’
• Maybe if mountain climbers carried web browsers… Internet use ‘good for the brain’
• Notice they used a drawing, not a picture of a real wired monkey: Mind power moves paralysed limbs

Quote for the week

Most of us die with our music still in us. - Oliver Wendall Holmes

Healthy thoughts,
Jeff

As I’ve mentioned before, your habits determine your results. Simply focusing on your habits and making the effort to change them will give you great understanding of why you get the results you do.

Sometimes, however, the result you achieve is not the point. Or, more correctly, the externally-perceived result is not the point. Sometimes the point has nothing to do with productivity or goals or any of that, and instead the desired result is an emotional state or good feeling. In this case, habits are not the tool you want to use. Instead, you want ritual.

A ritual is a series of actions or thoughts conducted with the intent of bringing your mind to a certain place. Going for a walk every morning might be a habit, but if you make a point of experiencing the walk (by enjoying the fresh air, watching the birds and insects, listening to the breeze in the leaves) then you are conducting a ritual. Having a routine you go through before bed to help you fall asleep faster is a ritual.

Ritual is a very powerful tool. The power lies in the fact that we all have a lot of junk floating around in our minds. The path to happiness is basically one of getting rid of all the junk. Rituals are a shortcut to clear away all the noise for a short while so that you can experience peace, which in turn brings happiness.

In fact, ritual can take you to any emotional space you want, not just happiness, but we’ll focus on happiness for now.

Our habits happen blindly; we are often completely unaware what exactly we are doing. Rituals, on the other hand, draw our attention to the activity and actions. By keeping us consciously aware of our purpose and intent, rituals help us connect to source, or that deeper spiritual place within (or without, depending on your specific beliefs). Ritual is the cord that plugs us in to our spirit.

Of course, many people have ‘rituals’ that are simply habits in disguise. If you perform a ritual often enough, eventually you may forget why you are doing it or even that you are doing it, at which point it is just a habit. If you used to meditate every morning and watch out the window, but eventually you got bored with the process and now you sit in front of the TV instead, you are no longer acting in ritual space. To benefit from ritual, it must be something that clears your mind rather than filling it, something you do intentionally rather than something you do ‘just because’.

How much time do you devote to clearing your mind? If you’re not sure, the answer is probably ‘none’. What rituals could you add to your free time that would help you find inner peace?

What rituals do you follow? Do you have religious rituals that you perform regularly? Personal rituals? Are they things you do alone or with others? In the morning or at night?

I’d like to hear about your rituals…

In the news

• Plastic surgery’s new marketing focus: Jealous types ‘have different-sized feet’
• As revealed by foot-size? Study reveals world’s most jealous men
• ‘Check out the stride on her!’ Your walk may reveal more than you think

Quote for the week

We don’t have too much ritual in our life anymore. And these life symbols which people rely on to keep their feeling of well being, that life is not too bad after all are required more and more. - John Hench

Healthy thoughts,
Jeff

Doesn’t it feel good to have your accomplishments rewarded? Isn’t it great to win an award or receive recognition for a job well-done? Even if you’re shy, isn’t it nice to sometimes get the round of applause?

Ceremonies are a tool we use recognize that someone has done (or is doing) something great. Whether you are given a certificate at the office over coffee and donuts or you are knighted by the Queen of England, the goal is the same: recognition.

We all need a certain amount of attention, it’s human nature. The more we receive, the more confident and powerful we feel. Whether the attention comes from good sources or bad ones, the effect is still a giant boost. So we want to shower attention on those who are important to us. And we want to shower attention on ourselves.

A ceremony is simply a formal way of recognizing or rewarding others. It doesn’t have to follow a specific protocol, but there are a few key pieces that must be present if you want the full effect:

• the reward must actually have value in the eyes of the recipient
• the ceremony must be visible to a reasonably large audience

The first requirement, value, is often misunderstood. I’m not talking about giving someone a trip to Tahiti because they presented their report with class. What I mean is it must be a reward at a deep level to the person. If a person likes the limelight, a handshake from the boss, a round of applause in front of everyone, and a certificate to put on the wall will have great value. If they prefer to keep a low profile, however, a functional gift such as a picture frame might be more appreciated. Make it personal and you key in on the most valued asset a person has: self.

The second requirement, visibility, isn’t about the person receiving the recognition, at least not directly. Here the point is to demonstrate to as many as possible the kinds of efforts that are rewarded. If no one knows what gets rewarded, no one knows how to behave or what to achieve. Make sure everyone is aware.

Whether someone is paraded in front of a crowd or simply given a personal gift, they become stronger when they are ceremoniously recognized. Be open to it when it comes your way. And dish it out to others as much as possible. Give your kids or your friends (or both!) a cheer now and then!

In the news

• It might not be the best option: Survey shows contraception myths
• … and it may cause you to pick a dud: Pill use ‘affects partner choice’
• … but at least you’ll live longer: Pill ‘has stopped 100,000 deaths’

Quote for the week

Every ceremony or rite has a value if it is performed without alteration. A ceremony is a book in which a great deal is written. Anyone who understands can read it. One rite often contains more than a hundred books. - G. I. Gurdjieff

Healthy thoughts,
Jeff

It is natural for us to create habits out of our daily activities. The first few times we do something, we have to think about what we’re doing. But if we do it enough times, it eventually becomes a habit that we will perform without having to think. This is advantageous, because it frees up our mind for other things.

For instance, walking is not something that most people have to think about, they just do it. There was once a time in your life when walking took your full concentration, but now it takes almost no effort at all. The sequence of movements needed to walk: remain balanced, move forward, climb up and down changing terrain, avoid obstacles; these things all happen without conscious thought.

But sometimes we want conscious thought in our actions. Sometimes the reason for performing an action is specifically to focus our mind. Ceremony and ritual are the techniques we use to do this. Ceremony brings our attention to specific achievements or results, and is useful when you want to celebrate or reward people (including yourself) for an accomplishment. Ritual brings our attention away from the ’stuff’ of life and focuses our mind on a specific object or idea of our choice.

Both ceremony and ritual are important to our happiness and fulfillment in life. Both bring us up out of the everyday-ness and monotony that otherwise we tend to fall into. Both are fun, for different reasons and in different ways. And both are readily available to us on short notice.

While ceremony and ritual are both powerful tools for mindfulness, they are also easily abused. If we do everything ceremoniously, we forget about the importance of the bulk of life, the little things that make up our day and bring such beauty to every moment. And if we perform too many actions ritually, then we run the risk of making the ritual itself a habit and forgetting the purpose.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be exploring ritual and ceremony in more depth.

In the news

• I like the British name, ‘Scrumpox’, better: ‘Sumo virus’ warning is issued
• Are you sure it’s not just the lower thermostat setting due to rising fuel costs: Loneliness ‘makes you cold’
• Plus it keeps you warm, too? Excellent: Active Social Life May Reduce Men’s Alzheimer’s Risk

Quote for the week

I needed his lack of concern for the insignificant as much as he needed my mindfulness. But I had a tough time getting it… I was busy pushing my mindfulness, and he was unconcerned about pushing anything. - Jan Denise

Healthy thoughts,
Jeff