There is a beautiful quotation that goes like this: “yesterday I was clever and I wanted to change the world, today I am wise so I am changing myself”. I know that most of you have stumble upon this quotation before, thought it was really deep and so true… but that’s all.

The problem is that we all like to read positive and inspiriting quotes, wonderful stories that soften our heart, but that’s the problem – we only like to do this and very rarely implement the same wisdom that we read about it.

How many times we have read a perfect book, traveled into these beautifully described places that the author presents to us, and when the reading is over we don’t want to return to our reality.

We just don’t want to put the book down and go back to our gray reality once again. But since this grayness, this undercover pain is our life we have to continue living it…or do we?

Most of us always say: “I want to be happy, I want to get a well paid job, to live in abundance…and so on” and then we do absolutely nothing about it.

Out there are many people that are suffering from depression in really heavy forms, people that suffer from panic attacks on daily basis who have so low self-esteem that unfortunately for the Soul they inhabit, they leave this beautiful Earth sooner than they should.

Almost all psychopathological disorders that humanity knows and has, have their root in the low, or total absence of self-esteem.

And I ask you why you deliberately put yourself at the bottom so someone else could be in that place, in that relationship that you have so dearly wanted.

Why do you make such sacrifices? Is this done so you could label yourself as a good person, or to get some kind of reward from the humans or from the Heavens?

Let me tell you that the Universe has given you a wonderful Soul to protect and she is your responsibility, not the others around you. They all have their own destiny, their own Soul that they alone must take care of. You have already someone to be caring for, why do you take so heavy burden upon your shoulders?

The Universe doesn’t like you to sacrifice the only thing he had given you to cherish! You could and you should cherish others, love and protect them, but all this cannot be done without YOU!

So take a deep breath, lean on the chair and start thinking where are you in the chain of the happiness you try to create for others. Ask yourself how could you possible teach someone to find and to raise a feeling that you don’t even have?

So I think it’s time to take your own happiness into your own hands. First of all you must remember that “happiness” is not a feeling, it is a point of view. It’s a “how” you face and understand all the things and experiences that are happening to you.

Here are 3 ways that you must do so you could finally break the everlasting chain of suffering and pain.

1. Notice how you treat yourself 

This is a very difficult step especially if someone all his life has been letting others take the lead instead of him. But once you start thinking about your own Self, once you start appreciating and loving your Self, you’ll see a very positive and drastic changes happing to you. And remember- this is not selfishness!

This is a form of self-love that put you first on your priority list and then comes everybody else. You don’t leave others hanging behind, you just charge yourself first with positive energy and then pass this positivity along the way.

2. Love your Self

Do you remember when you were a child, that you have loved absolutely everything about yourself? Every piece of you was so perfect and you have enjoyed your own company.

But as you grew up, what changed, who changed you and why did you consent to that negative change that got being sad like this? In the process of searching for the answers of these questions a miracle shall happen. Try and see.

3. Be kind to your Self 

Many of us are thought that it is enough to be kind to others, to have enormous compassion only for others. But who shall take care of you, of your own Soul? Who if not you? Never forget that you too are a beautiful Soul that deserves to be acknowledged, to be seen, to be loved.

We cannot always expect the others to see how good and honest we are and to return the favor. It doesn’t work that way. Maybe some people do see your pain and will help you as much as you have helped them.

But the most won’t, from simple reason – people are ego-driven and they expect someone else to take care of them. You know it is easy to be nice, but it is very hard to be just, to be righteous. But please start being righteous, give as much as you get, and put your Self first.

So, stop leaving your Soul to wait for you at the sidewalk while you help the others to cross to the better side. Don’t forget yourself, you are your own responsibility and until you are done with that responsibility, you cannot possible help any other creature to be happy.

You could try, but you won’t be any happier, and the thing about helping is that you too should be happy. So, after helping someone if you are still down and you feel worthless, than you are doing something wrong.

Please remember we all have our own destinies, this includes you too.You should never ever forget YOU!

Do opposites really attract or are we happier with someone just like us?

There are many different studies, many theories written on this subject which correctly and logically explain how couples attract each other.

One part of these theories says that according to the law of magnetism, opposites attract best. The other side says that it is more likely to fall in love with someone who is just like us.

But, which one is true?

Actually they are all true. When one deeply explores all these theories, can see that they all have one mutual thing – the level of person’s consciousness!

Let me elaborate this better – all theories about human attraction are true, but they all are nothing but a side of the story, the side which is looked upon from the view and the level of intelligence of the author of that particular theory.

And when we put these theories together, they show us the exact process of attraction between humans and it’s developing phases on different levels of consciousness and spiritual and physical evolution.

We are attracted to our partner because he/she is the total opposite from us at one level, but we are also attracted to someone who is most complementary to us at other.

You see, in this whole questioning of who would be our best partner, has nothing to do with the person we choose to be our partner, but it is about who are we and what we feel at that particular time when we seek for him/her! This might look to you a bit off, but try to understand.

When we start choosing our partner we enter unknown territory. We don’t know who he/she exactly is and we start to make mental notes how we would like him/her to look like, to be like.

And in all these romantic fantasies of ours there is one thing in common – us! We are the one constant in all our relationships! It doesn’t matter if you admit it to yourself or not, we all know who we are, what are we capable of, our good sides and our bad sides. And now, having our own characteristics as a starting point we start looking for the missing piece.

Since we are very unique beings, there is actually no common theoretical system that can explain how we should seek for our other half. Humans are neither theoretical nor logical, but deep down we are very emotional and loving creatures that search for one true love.

Jung has very correctly explained that “love at first sight” is merely a projection of ourselves, of our Soul yearnings, our characteristics and the outer looks. People are attracted by the thing in the others they recognize as the un-conscious or hidden part of themselves.

So very unconsciously (or consciously for someone) we tend to look for our masculine animus or feminine anima in others. But when one individuates (has his own identity) and learns to engage with his own anima, only then he/she can choose wisely and start forming fulfilling relationships.

So the inability to become the individuals we want to be, is the primary reason why we sometimes find ourselves trapped in a romantic holocaust. This is so because when we are not individualized, we look for someone that has all the characteristics we miss, but these relationships last until we become our own Self, because we like these characteristics to be ours, not theirs.

So when we are weak, we try to find someone who would protect us, if we are introvert, we seek an extrovert, but this is all done just because we want to be them, not with them, they are perfect image of us if we were to be strong enough.

And as soon as we evolve to a level of consciousness where we are fulfilled and live our life just the way we want, we stop looking for substitutes, but we look for a soul mate, one who is just like us!              

So you see now that the thin thread between all these different theories of human attraction is our state of consciousness. If the person is nowhere in his life, he is stuck in a magical circle and the consequence of this ignorance is that he searches for the person that he wishes to be.

Only when you find your Self you can start to look for the other half which complements you, but with the opposite polarity, not the opposite characteristics!

 Remember – a happy and fulfilling relationship have the ones who know who they are and find that someone with the same level of spiritual and intellectual evolution, in the opposite polarity, but with the same energy strength. So, choose wisely!

“Wisdom is knowing the right path to take…Integrity is taking it.”

Very often we hear: “you must have an integrity…, this person has an integrity, follow his example…or his integrity is corrupted, don’t be like him”.

But what “integrity” actually is, who are those people that have integrity, why integrity is so important and how can go bad or corrupted?

 As the above stated, beautiful quotation and the dictionary, says: “integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles…it is a moral and righteous way of dealing with a situation or a problem”.

Thus, having an “integrity” means when someone actually acts according to the values, believes and principles they claim to hold.

There are many examples of how a person with integrity acts, and here are some of them that show the contrast between what a person with integrity will do, and what not.

1.Parents apologizing to their children

This is one of the most seldom acts of kindness and integrity that nowadays is done. By definition almost all parents think that they are smarter than their child and claim the right to be always right, just because they gave birth to them.

But they forget that the child is not a property and they also have feelings and a very long memory, especially when they react with a lot of emotions. So sometimes the parent should forget about the label “parent” and try to act as a human being instead.

When one is wrong, one is wrong, no exceptions! When we do something hurtful, negative and breaks someone else’s well-being, we should sincerely apologize to them, whether a child, or animal, or plant. If you want to be at peace and sleep a good night sleep, do apologize when it is your fault.

2. Bosses give credits for the achievements of their employees

 No matter what kind of position we have, we must always act with kindness and support to all the ones that have not yet reached our level of competence.

Most of the bosses in today’s competitive world are heartless, narcissistic and so ego-centered that do not even deserve to be called a “human being”. But luckily there are some very good exceptions.

The boss should never forget that once he also was just an ordinary worker, an employee, but he possessed an extraordinary talent that was noticed from his own boss and led him to the title he now has.

So, maybe there is also someone with a great talent, or the other extreme, someone with greater vanity than his, that one day shall take over his place. Remember – no one is irreplaceable, so start respecting those who work for you, respect every human being, for if the workers are happy, so is the boss.

3. Lovers that never argue in a negative way

Now you might ask how this is possible, but it is. One can argue and confront and give a strong feedback, in a way that the things said, do not have any negative impact on the other.

When we argue it is not necessary to hurt someone else’s feelings just because ours are hurt. Being hurt just means that we have let the other person bring the worst in us, and it is actually our fault that we became so negative.

In such a moment remember to find the source of the argument, not to be caught up in a quarrel which is only the result of unacknowledged deeper issue. Try first to understand each other, than if this is not possible just leave, never stay to resolve a pointless argument just for the sake of arguing.

4. Public figures, people of importance to apologize for being wrong

Very often when someone gains little more importance in the public life suddenly gets “amnesia”. This is the case when these “persons of importance” forget who they were, where they came from.

They suddenly do not remember any of the people that have helped them along the way, and start to neglect the ones who cared enough to help them get where they are now. But one should never forget the ones who helped him up, he will need them on his way down.

5. Giving someone the chance to explain themselves

This is very important quality one should have, because almost all wars, all confrontations have happened because of great misunderstanding.

People tend to be very hasty, impatient and “all-knowing” when it comes to letting someone speak for themselves. If one is patient enough and gives the other time and chance to explain themselves why they have committed such a deed, or why they have said those words, the world shall never see another war.

All this pain and suffering we experience is because we put our self in the role of “the judge and the jury”. But remember that as you judge, so shall you be judged.

6. Selflessness

 Fortunately there are more and more people that open up their hearts for service to others which is the opposite of service to self. This means that one directs his whole actions and deeds toward reaching the highest good for humanity and all living beings and is a beautiful way of living.

Examples of such selflessness are many unselfish deeds we can do in our ordinary life, not just see them in the movies: helping one with their baggage at a train station, caring someone else’s heavy books to school or just sharing your lunch or your belongings with someone less fortunate than you.

Always remember that happiness and love are the only things multiplied when shared!

It is that time of the year again – it’s the New Year’s resolutions time! Grab your chance now and make a U-turn of your life. Start making sure you’re your own NR.1 priority! Practice some self-love and respect! Be more powerful than ever and shine in 2017!

Here’s how you do it, in 30 amazingly simple ways, inspired by well-known blogger Mark Chernoff that can really change you and your perception of the world.

 1. Accept criticism – try to accept different opinions about yourself – some people will like you, others will not. There will always be someone who is critical of you. Don’t take it too personally, focus on those who admire you and do what you need to do.  

2. Appreciate little things – start enjoying your morning coffee or tea, talking to your best friend when you need a shoulder to cry on, take a brisk walk, enjoy a beautiful sunset etc. Or buy that new coat that you saw the other day in your favorite shop?!

3. Appreciate your body more – think of your body like a machine: all its parts need to be functional! Honor and respect your body and be aware of what it does for you daily! Every time before bedtime, rub your body with a good body lotion, pamper it a bit!

4. Be forgiving – no matter how hurt you were at a certain point in life, you need to let go of that pain and learn how to forgive. Forgiveness cleanses our souls so ditch the resentment and your pain will gradually disappear too!

5. Be(friend) – Be your best friend, not your enemy. Have inner conversations, self-reflect. Surround yourself with positive people who will help you to remember how beautiful you are as a person. Associate with people who encourage you to improve.  Dance, cry, smile, plan, enjoy life and grow spiritually together! Also, choose new friends that you can learn from and who inspire you!  Appreciate new friends by their actions and not their words and promises! Remember, your friends reflect who you are!

6. Be genuine – work on your own ideas, be a true inspiration to yourself and don’t imitate others, rather respect your own individuality and beauty.

7. Be happy – smile more! Don’t wait for your happiness to happen later in the future, create it by enjoying now. Find happiness within; don’t wait for your partner to make you happy! What is more, don’t give your partner the power to make you feel unhappy just because they’re feeling bad or grumpy!

8. Be honest – be absolutely honest and true to yourself. Don’t handle the truth selectively. See what aspects of your life need to be changed. Also be honest about your current state of mind, plans, ambitions or even your weaknesses. Work on them to improve them, and so become the best version of yourself in the future!

9. “Beat” yourself! – some of us like to compete with others. That’s wrong! Why? It’s a waste of energy and time. The only person you should compete with or beat in something is the old version of YOU! This will bring the sense of inspiration, progress and personal development. Start competing against an earlier version of yourself. 

10. Be helpful – help people in distress. Look around, perhaps your neighbor needs help or comfort?! Volunteer in your local community. We all surely could use more kindness in our lives! Start helping those around you. 

11. Be inspired / inspiring – how many times did you think nicely of a person but didn’t really bother to compliment them on their looks or behavior? Next time, dare to give them a compliment, show inspiration – they will appreciate it and you will feel better too! Be inspired by others and happy for their success. Their positive examples might brush off! Start cheering for other people’s achievements.

12. Be optimistic and grateful – choose to see the world as beautiful and positive, especially perceive beauty within. Try to write a gratitude journal. Keeping things in perspective helps us feel grateful for what we already have in our life.

13.  Brush up your self-confidence – work on your self-confidence daily! How, you might wonder? Read and learn new things, follow webinars, watch videos on personal self-development or motivation!   

14.  Compare not – don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone is unique. Inspire yourself by own uniqueness and try to be an inspiration to others instead. Especially don’t compare yourself to your friends via social media – live your life for real, leave the virtual life behind!  

15. Count your blessings, not your weaknesses – if you are treated badly or you feel hurt, you have two choices:  you can be bitter or you can be better off. The best is to use such experiences to become a better person. Use your pain as your life teacher. Your weaknesses will offer you growth opportunities.

16. Create new relations – some relations that we have are stale and without any positive energy so why not get rid of them?! Especially if you are involved with emotional leaches! After all, new relations bring new inspirations!

17. Dance more – even if you’re not really a dancing type, practice some dancing occasionally, whether with your friends in the club, or when alone at home, in front of your mirror! Dancing will raise your energy level and create positive vibrations so have a small dance ritual every Friday when you come home – end each week with a little weekend dance! 

18. De-stress more – when at work, take short breaks more often (not behind your computer though!) or have a nice walk in the park. Take a hot relaxing bath or read a book when at home. Or watch a funny movie with friends – this all can help you to de-stress! And no, your telephone or hanging out on social media don’t count as remedies against stress J

19.  Disregard opinions of others – don’t worry about what other people think of you. The only opinion that counts is yours!

20.  Don’t be afraid – love your fears critically. However, don’t in advance focus on irrational fears by imagining all the terrible things that could possibly go wrong. Think positively, and you will live positively! 

21. Don’t control – many of us are control freaks to some extent. We want everything to be perfect and to go exactly as we’ve planned it! However, accept that you can’t control everything in life so focus only on things that you can control! This will take away your feelings of frustration and helplessness. Control your actions and deeds, that you surely can!

22. Dream more – remember your childhood dreams and how brave you were then to dream of becoming an astronaut, a scientist or anything else that you wished for, without any boundaries?!  So what happened to your dreams? Remind yourself of your past dreams – give another chance to your new inspiring ideas.

23. Eat properly – try to feel real hunger and eat only when you’re hungry instead of filling emotional voids. Don’t be tempted by cravings!  Use plenty of water, fruit and veggies.

24. Energize – only focus on things that give you positive energy. You can also energize with a good old relaxing bath or with some exercise.  

25. Enjoy the moment – Carpe diem or seize the moment, as they say! Don’t project your thoughts into the future but appreciate living in the current moment. Many people make this mistake – they wait for the right moment to become thin enough, rich enough, educated enough. The right time is now! So grab the moment, grab the opportunity right now!

26. Exercise regularly – weight loss or exercise regime should not be connected to your looks solely but to living a much healthier and balanced Sport at least 2-3 times per week, keep fit!

27. Face your problems – try to see challenges, not problems. When facing “problems”, analyze quickly, and take immediate action! Don’t procrastinate! And never let your “problems” define who you are as a person!

 28.  Learn more – try to learn a new thing every day or every month! Learn from others, let them learn from you.  Follow a course or an interesting local workshop. Adopt an attitude that you can learn from anyone, in every situation! Yu can even learn from your own child – the most important thing that you can learn is who you really are! Our children are great life teachers! 

29.  Love more – be polite, love yourself and others. Have love for people, nature, animals and little things that bring little pleasures in life!   

30. Set personal goals – planning is more than a half work done, they say! Try to define at least 3 important goals for the year to come. And take concrete action. Setting goals will mean more dedication and determination to succeed! So go for it! And of course, keep the sense of accountability for own life – after all, you are the creator!

.

As the global consciousness rises, more and more people tend to take time for themselves, to be alone, to listen to the beautiful silence within. Not long ago, if one was purposely isolating himself, he would have been treated as depressed, sick, and maybe even labeled with some psychological disturbance.

This is why it is very important to understand that not all people have the same personality type.

The first psychologist that made very clear distinction of two basic types of personalities was C.G.Jung. He discovered that people, in essence, can be energized by two types of settings: the external world – naming them extroverts or by the internal world – introverts.

While the extroverts wants to put their mark upon the world in loud, dynamic way, the introverts tend to spend their time living in their own inner world and if they do want to leave a mark in the outside world they do this quietly, in peace, and acting from their seclusion.

Though in todays modern world the extrovert ones take the lead, there are actually some very beneficial qualities that one can learn from an introvert person. Here we shall name 5 of their beautiful traits.

1.More effectiveness in independent activities

Introverts tend to enjoy very deeply in the silence and wisdom of their own thoughts. This kind of calmness brings out all hidden creativity and helps to finish the work with more “deep-insight” into it. Artist, inventors, writers, spiritual teachers, great composers are usually introverts.

So if your task (no matter what it is) requires an in-depth realization and a great deal of creativity and individualism, being little introvert will bring best results.

 2. Effective Listening 

Other quality that introverts have is that they know how to listen and they do indeed “listen”. Oppose to the extroverts that have continuous thought flow and very rarely listen to what others have to say, introverts mind is a beautiful meadow that doesn’t have any chaotic thoughts to disturb the peace within.

This is why they are truly good listeners and if one wants to be a good friend, good spouse and co-worker he should know how to listen. Being able to listen means respecting the opinion of the others and in return we also get to be respected. Introverts do not speak much, and if they do, then it is because they have really something to say.

This trait of theirs helps them to be good political and especially spiritual leaders, best friends and good psychiatrists and psychologists, thus enabling them in any kind of social work with people, especially working with children.

3. Knowing to appreciated seclusion 

This personality trait is very beneficial if your work is connected with meeting deadlines, preparing for big events in very short period of time. Introverts do not have any problem of being alone, they enjoy their own loneliness which is not the same as “feeling alone”.

Introverts do feel alone sometimes, but not when they are intentionally secluded from everything else. An extroverts need all the fuss, all the noise, all the chaos even to think, but more people around means that more needs must be met and usually we are left at the end of the row. But introverts do not have this problem, in their own solitude they find peace where their own needs are met first, and then the rest of the work is done.

So being or left alone one can more easily adjust the focus of their attention on the task, to complete it with minimum flaws. When introvert person works, they tend to finish the task very effectively in only few attempts, so they cope better with deadlines.

4.Take time to explore every new situation 

Unlike the extroverts that tend to speak and act first and then think, the introverts first think things through and then act or speak. Before of their quality to examine their thoughts first, they usually do not end up in wrong situation or situations that do not benefit them.

This is very positive quality that one should implement when confronted with any new situation. One should always think about where the new situation is leading and is it even a positive one.

Never go rushing into any experience, into any situation without first having a clear picture in your head of the consequences of the situation, or at least what are you dealing with.

5. Deeper connection and evolvement 

Introverts rarely enjoy big gatherings, concerts, public shows, but on the other hand they do enjoy private or small gathering with very few close friend, which are particularly selected for the theme of the gatherings. This means that when they make a friendship or any kind of relationship they are fully committed to it.

When you are befriended with an introvert person know that they have chosen you for a reason and after good deal of thinking and examining. And because of this they are deeply connected with whatever they do, they put their heart and soul in every conversation, in every moment with the ones they love and they never gossip or indulge into pointless conversation.

This is why they have greater understanding of people and deeper knowledge and wisdom of everything they have explored and learned.

This being an article for the beautiful traits of the introverts doesn’t mean that the extroverts are less good. Every type of personality if directed to positive things is beautiful and has its own charm.

Nevertheless, the best is if one knows the qualities of both types of personality and use his free-will to mould them into his own unique personality that will help him cope in everyday life situations.

What is this so called “gut-feeling”, is it same as intuition, is it “the heart” speaking to us, and how can we listen to it in all the chaos of our rational mind?

Intuition literally means –“learning from within”. It is the art, though peculiar to the human mind, of working out the correct answer from all available data, which until then are latent in our consciousness, but awaken when we are in need. It is a divine “gift of knowing” given from ourselves to ourselves.

Whether you call this “gift” a gut-feeling or tapping into your intuition or following your instinct, understanding how to pay attention to it, is a vital skill for success in ordinary life and business. Yes, intuition is a skill, a sense we possess. It is what people call “the sixth sense” and we all have it.

Some may think that it is an extraordinary gift given to the “chosen ones”, but this is not true. Intuition is a part of us and as we were thought to bring out the best use of our other five senses, we must also learn how to activate and use this sixth sense.

Intuition or gut-feeling is expressed by every person very differently, it can look like a “butterflies in the stomach” sensation, or you’ll get goose bumps, or if you are more conscious you’ll receive a loud warning from your inner self.

I am sure we all have had some inexplicable feeling of knowing that something is right, and more often, that something isn’t. But as always, we were so caught up into the net of our safe, habitual, thinking that we have neglected this beautiful voice from inside.

Most of the time, unfortunately, we hush this feeling that tries to help us. How many times we haven’t pay attention to our intuition and very soon, we’ve regret it?

There are many reasons why you must learn to listen and use your intuition wisely, but here are the 3 main ones.

1. It is shaped by the knowledge you gained from all your past experiences 

Intuition is based on all your former thoughts, feelings and emotions gained from your past experiences and exactly this is the measure by which you shall be guided towards your present and future decisions.

Although sometimes it is wise to ask for help from someone who has already been in that sort of situation, you must never forget to listen to yourself, because at the end you’ll be the one taking on the consequences.

This is why you should always trust what you’ve experienced until now and most important what the consequences were. Remember, no one knows you better than you do!

2. It is scientifically proven web of facts and feelings 

you should know that the birth place of intuition as a sense, is the pineal gland (med.) or the energy center located between the physical eyes (spirit.). This part of the brain is the connecting point where the body, mind and soul’s information from our past, present and future-potential experiences are put together in order to “show” us where we are headed with our current experience.

One can say that here is the CEO of our body/mind/soul human complex, the center where decisions are made, but it is always up to our free-will if we want to put them into manifestation.

3. It connects you with all the nerve cells from your body 

The feeling that we call “gut-feeling” as the term says is coming from a center which is placed in the lower abdominal part of the body. This center is actually the birth place of the “human feelings” and when we are faced with a choice our above-consciousness sends signals to all the nerves in the tummy where we actually “feel” the information.

Now, as previously said, intuition as a sense is located in the pineal gland, so when we “feel” the information from our above-consciousness, we do not “see” them, yet.

All this information is now being transferred through the nervous system in our body, all the way up to the pineal gland where they are transformed into thoughts, which now start to appear to us as something we call “visions”. Thus logically, intuition is a gut-feeling enforced with thoughts and visions.

Now, knowing all this facts I think that there is no better way to make your decisions, than to pay attention to what your body, mind and soul tells you. A beautiful way to learn how to do all this is by practicing the amazing philosophy and practice of meditation.

So please take time to breath and listen to your intuition, it will tell you everything you’ll need to know.