The Two Basic Approaches to Life

There are two basic ways in which we can approach our lives.

The first approach is the goal-oriented approach. We can decide on the optimal conditions in our life that we wish to realize, set goals to realize these conditions, and utilize our human energy, i.e. our Personal Power, to realize these conditions.

This approach enables us to radically alter the initial set of conditions that we inherited from our upbringing.

The second approach is what might be called the Zen approach. Using this approach, we do not strive to achieve goals or alter our present circumstances. Instead, we simply use our Personal Power to perceive our lives as being ideal exactly as they are and appreciate all that we have and all that we are right here and right now.

Both are valid approaches, and they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Likewise, we may utilize both approaches at various times in our lives, and in fact, it is invariably necessary that we do so.

Here and Now is the One Moment of Experience. That being the case, we might argue that there is no need to establish and pursue goals. Since we can only experience our lives in This Present Moment, we are always right here, right now. Therefore, all we need to do is to perceive our lives better in order to experience our lives in a better way. The ability to realize the experience of happiness and well-being here and now is the ultimate expression of Personal Power.

That being said, we are by nature creatures of action. It is necessary for us to learn to do things and become proficient at them. Just as we can use our Personal Power to simply think better thoughts in This Present Moment, we can also utilize our Personal Power to take actions in This Present Moment that we perceive will in some way improve the quality of our lives.

Viewed in this way, there is no conflict between the goal-oriented approach and the Zen approach to living. We take action in This Present Moment to either think better thoughts about our lives, and perceive it as perfect as it is here and now, or we take an action because we believe it will enhance our lives in some way. Both "Acts of Power" accomplish the same goal: to improve the quality of our lives.

We can, if we wish, approach our goals from a state of completion. That is, we can perceive life as being perfect exactly as it is here and now, and then strive to achieve a goal simply because we want to, because we want to experience a different set of condions in our lives.

Take exercise as an example. If we are not accustomed to exercising, exercise can be an unpleasant and exhausting affair. Surely we'd be better off just perceiving that our bodies and our level of fitness are perfectly fine right here and right now; therefore there is no need to exert ourselves physically in that manner.

However, we may recognize that our lives may be enhanced by becoming more physically fit. Exercising may enable us to become physically stronger, have more endurance, and perhaps look and feel better. Therefore, we can pursue the goal of physical fitness through exercise, enjoying the process along the way as much as the end result.

In contrast, we may take the Zen approach and decide that we don't really need to do anything. We can, in fact, sit on our couch all day and just have a great attitude about life and be happy without really exerting ourselves. And as long as we are genuinely happy doing so, that approach is fine. There is certainly a time and place for doing nothing and simply exercising our perceptual muscles to perceive our lives as being just fine exactly as they are, and in fact, many of us would be highly benefit from becoming more skilled at doing just that.

It is important to recognize that at various times in our lives our challenge will be to take action and achieve particular goals, and at other times, our challenge will be to adopt a Zen-like approach and simply perceive our lives as being just fine as they are right here and right now. The key is to always be fluid and able to adapt well to the challenge of This Present Moment, whatever it may be.

The Unavoidable Challenge of Life

Life can seem pretty challenging at times, but to say that is a misnomer. Life is ALWAYS challenging. In fact, that’s what life is. A challenge. And it is up to each of us to either embrace the challenge life presents to us or shy away from it.

Each of us has our own unique set of challenges, and the specific form of our challenge may change during the course of our lives. What does not change, however, is that life is always challenging us in some way. Life's challenge is a constant, and we can either embrace our challenges, struggle to overcome them, and learn and grow from our struggle, or we can attempt to avoid our challenges, in which case we will still inevitably struggle with our challenges, but without growing and learning.

Since as humans we are destined to struggle either way, we find ourselves faced with two distinct choices: we can embrace our challenges and face them head on, or we can attempt to run away from them. One choice is the Warrior’s Way. The other choice is the Coward’s Way.

However, what we need to know is this: ultimately we can never truly avoid our challenges. We can either make a stand and do battle bravely, or flee from them in fear. We can attempt to flee from our challenges, but we can never ultimately avoid them. Our challenges will always track us down and make us deal with them anyway. We can attempt to hide from them, but our challenges will always find us.

Therefore, if we know that we cannot ultimately avoid facing our challenges, are we not better off summoning our courage and meeting them face to face, rather than giving in to fear and attempting to run away and hide from them?

What's a Warrior?

One who never flees nor fears

The Moment’s challenge

The Two Basic Acts of Power

Happiness, for many of us, can seem elusive. Too often, our circumstances in life are at a departure from the way we really want our lives to be, and we feel helpless at times to change them. How can we possibly feel happy when things often seem so wrong?

When we base our sense of well-being exclusively on our circumstances, happiness becomes an elusive proposition at best. After all, how often are our circumstances exactly as we desire them to be?

Even if our circumstances largely ARE exactly as we desire them to be, in the course of a day, or a week, or a month, or a year, inevitably they won't be. We'll inevitably encounter conflict with the people we interact with. We'll find ourselves stuck in traffic and late for an appointment or stuck in a long, unmoving line. We will get caught in a rainstorm without an umbrella. We will get turned down for a job or a promotion. We'll lose a game we were trying to win.

There are many small things that inevitably "go wrong," and sometimes there are bigger ongoing things that seem to be significantly wrong with our lives. Maybe we can't find a life partner or have recently lost one. Maybe we are battling an illness. Maybe we have lost our job. Maybe we don't feel like we have any real purpose in life. Maybe we are struggling to lose weight. Maybe we feel like a failure. Maybe we are constantly broke.

In any case, since it is rare that ALL of the circumstances in our lives are ALWAYS precisely as we desire them to be, if we base our happiness and well-being exclusively on having our circumstances be just so, we may find happiness quite hard to come by and maintain.

Rather than basing our sense of well-being on our circumstances, a more reliable basis for happiness is our perspective. Our perspective is always under our control. Even if we cannot immediately change a particular circumstance, we always have the option of viewing it in a positive light.

For example, getting stuck in traffic or a line is an opportunity to practice patience. Losing a romantic partner is an opportunity to fully appreciate the presence of that person while opening up to new relationships. An illness is an opportunity to fully appreciate the gift of health and the fragility of life. Losing a job is an opportunity to make a change and begin a new, exciting career. Of course we would never intentionally seek out trying circumstances like these, but the fact is that in the course of our lives they DO arise. The question is whether we are going to succumb to these circumstances or make the most of them.

This Present Moment Here and Now is our One Moment of Experience. It is also our One Moment of Power, the one moment in which we can ever impact our lives in any way, shape, or form. As human beings, we have two basic ways in which we can utilize our Moment of Experience to exercise our Power as humans and experience well-being in This Moment.

1) We can adopt a positive perspective about our circumstances

2) We can take an action to change our circumstances

As human beings, these are our two basic "Acts of Power." We can simply adopt the perspective that our lives are just fine exactly as they are here and now. Or we can take an action to change something in our lives that we perceive to be NOT fine exactly as it is here and now.

These are the only two things we really have the power to do. We can take an action in This Moment to affect change in our lives. Or we can simply think about our lives in This Moment in a better light. These are the two basic Acts of Power that comprise our Personal Power Playbook.

We should note that these two Acts of Power are not mutually exclusive. It is certainly possible, and even desirable, to utilize BOTH Acts of Power. If, for instance, we play tennis and lose a match we wanted to win, we can adopt a positive perspective about the loss, and then also go practice our deficient areas in order to improve and win the next time we play.

If we get laid off from our job, we can adopt the perspective that this event is the opportunity to enjoy a new exciting career, and then also go and learn about some new field that we have an interest in.

If we step on the scale or look in the mirror and find ourselves overweight and out of shape, we can accept ourselves as we are here and now, and then also start eating healthier foods and exercising regularly.

Changing our perspective is the more immediate and reliable of the two basic Acts of Power. There may be times when we cannot immediately change our circumstances, but we can ALWAYS change our perspective. Ultimately, we experience happiness when we adopt a happy perspective, regardless of our circumstances. Therefore, in order to achieve a lasting sense of well being, it is important that we first recognize the two basic Acts of Power that we have at our disposal, and then begin learning how to utilize them effectively.

The Fluid Perspective

What is a fluid perspective? A fluid perspective is the ability to adjust one's perspective to the demands of This Present Moment so as to maximize one's ability to experience well-being right here and right now.

If we have a rigid perspective that remains fixed regardless of what events and circumstances occur, our sense of well-being will end up depending upon whether the events and circumstances properly correspond to our rigid perspective.

For instance, if we only accept warm sunny days, we will have a difficult time enjoying our lives whenever it is cold and cloudy out. If we loathe being caught in traffic and long lines, we will become impatient and agitated every time we find ourselves stuck in one of them. If we are attached to the idea of our favorite team winning, we will be disappointed when they lose.

Conversely, if we have a fluid perspective, we will find a way to appreciate cloudy and cold days. We will find a way to turn being stuck in traffic and long lines into quality time. And we will be able to allow life be just fine even if our team loses.

It is perfectly fine to have preferences. It is perfectly acceptable to prefer warm sunny days to cloudy ones, quick, free-flowing traffic and lines to backed up traffic and lines, and our team winning to losing. But where we tend to go wrong is when we remain attached to these preferences even when our circumstances are clearly otherwise.

There are two basic types of circumstances: those we have control over, and those that we have no control over. For circumstances we have control over, we can take an action to change them. For circumstances over which we have no direct control, the only thing we can change is our perspective in relation to them. A fluid perspective enables us to adjust our perspective to accept circumstances that we would normally reject and resist with a rigid perspective.

Developing a fluid perspective takes practice. The way to practice is simply to find ways to appreciate circumstances that we would normally find undesirable. For example, the next time we find ourselves in a long line or stuck in traffic, instead of going through our usual routine of annoyance and impatience, we can simply practice patience. We can smile and think to ourselves how wonderful it is to be exactly right where we are here and now.

Obviously, we may not inherently feel this way. But we can act as if we do. When we make the effort to accept a normally undesirable circumstance, we find that we can in fact feel OK in these moments. With practice, we can develop the ability to feel just as good when we are stuck in traffic as we do when we are relaxing by a pool on a hot sunny day with a nice cool drink in hand.

The practice of adjusting our perspective in the face of undesirable circumstances is a form of "spiritual weightlifting," and can greatly enhance our Personal Power, which in turn can enhance the quality of our Moment of experience, and thus, our lives as a whole. This is because it is very seldom that our lives are an ongoing highlight reel of ideal circumstances. We all experience "down time," and plenty of it. It is very easy to feel good and be happy when our circumstances perfectly match our expectations and everything is going well. It is much more difficult to feel good when our circumstances fall short of our expectations and things do not go according to plan. If we can learn to adopt a fluid perspective and improve the quality of our "down time, this will improve the quality of our life experience as a whole. With practice, we can learn to feel good in This Present Moment while facing circumstances that in the past may have caused us considerable discomfort.

It should be mentioned that there may be times when we encounter extreme circumstances during which we cannot reasonably expect to fully adopt a fluid perspective to feel perfectly fine in those moments. Examples of these include when encountering a serious illness, or dealing with the sudden, untimely loss of a loved one. However, even while these extreme circumstances may not be reasonably overcome simply by adopting a fluid perspective, our ongoing practice at doing so in less-extreme conditions will at the very least enable us to adopt a perspective in these circumstances that is more fluid than it would have been otherwise, which will enable us to better cope with the pain even while not fully eliminating it.

Spiritual Weightlifting

The influence of the Daily Routine, a product of the Force of Habit, on the human experience cannot be overstated. It is a good idea to try to become aware of the extent to which the Force of Habit influences the way in which you act and think throughout the day.

Begin to notice your Daily Routine. To what extent are your thoughts and actions part of this routine? How much of your life is on auto pilot? Are you able to NOT conform to your Daily Routine

You may be surprised by the Effort required to act in a way that is a departure from your Daily Routine. There seems to be some invisible yet inexorable force that wants to keep us locked into our Daily Routines. We cannot see it, touch it, smell it, or taste it, but we can certainly feel it.

The Force of Habit that keeps our Daily Routine locked into place is not inherently a good force or a bad force, except to the extent that our Daily Routine supports our experience of well being. If we have habits of thoughts and action that are at a departure from the experience of well-being, then it will require Effort on our part to think or act in a different way.

The Force of Habit is the primary reason that it is so difficult to make changes in our lives. It takes a great Effort to override a Lifetime Habit and replace it with a new way of thinking or acting, because our Force of Habit will attempt to do its job and pull us back into our Daily Routine.

The more deeply formed the Habit, the greater an effort will be required. This is why major changes in our lives are usually the result of either some crisis or some even that provides us with greater-than-normal motivation, such as the heightened motivation we experience when we fall in love with someone.

Again, the Force of Habit can be useful in that it can keep beneficial thoughts and actions locked into place. If we are in the Habit of eating healthily and exercising, there is certainly no reason to do anything to change these habits, as they are Habits that support our experience of well-being in the form of good health.

However, the more we live on auto-pilot and allow the Force of Habit to keep our lives locked into place, the less we exercise our power to take actions based on our Will and Intention.

In order to temper the Force of Habit and develop our Will Power, it is a good idea to occasionally take actions that are at a clear departure from our Daily Routine. For instance, if we are compulsive about cleaning, this can be regarded as a good habit as it results in keeping our living environment neat and clean. However, sometimes it may be a good idea to Not clean, and just let things go for a day or so, just for the sake of Not Doing it.

Likewise, if we tend to be fidgety or impatient when standing in lines or stuck in traffic, it is a good idea to make a small effort to Not act impatiently, however long and slow the line or traffic, again just for the sake of Not Doing it.

The practice of intentionally Not Doing things we habitually do is a healthy practice. It is a form of spiritual weightlifting, if you will, because it is the exercise of intentionally acting against the resistance of the Force of Habit in much the same way that physical weightlifting is the act of lifting weights up in the air against the force of gravity.

Just as physical weightlifting is beneficial in strengthening our bodily muscles, this form of spiritual weightlifting, in the form of "not doing," is beneficial in strengthening our Will Power.

Of course, action taken against our Force of Habit can also involve "Doing" something we habitually don't do. For instance, if we tend to spend our evenings lying on the couch watching TV, occasionally it is a good idea to "Do" something different, such as turn off the TV and read a book instead, or take a walk around the block. If we habitually eat ice cream after dinner, it is a good idea to occasionally eat an apple instead, just for the sake of changing up our games and doing something different.

The more we are able to take even small actions that are at a departure from our Daily Routines, the less governed we will be by the Force of Habit. Even small actions of departure, even small "not-doings" can strongly exercise our Will Power, so that we have the Personal Power to make any change we desire and need in life, without being a prisoner of the Force of Habit.

In summary, the Force of Habit is an inescapable force in our lives. Even though we cannot see it, we can definitely feel its influence. This force is inherently neither good or bad, but it does exist and it does influence our lives.

Optimally, we want to use the Force of Habit to keep beneficial patterns of thought and action in place, while not totally conforming to it, so that we can maintain the ability to change any aspect of our lives when needed.

The best way to develop and maintain this ability is to practice "spiritual weightlifting" in the form of intentionally "not-doing" a habitual action. When we practice "not-doing," we feel the resistance of the Force of Habit, just like we feel the resistance of weight when practicing physical weightlifting. But like physical weightlifting, we also feel the "pump," a sensation of new found strength and exhilaration, when we successfully "Not Do" against the Force of Habit.

And just as the exercise of weightlifting provides our physical muscles with more strength than before we exercised, so too does the exercise of Not Doing against the Force of Habit provide our spiritual muscles, in the form of our Will Power, with more strength than if we had not performed the exercise.

Just as we don't necessarily need to do physical weightlifting in the practical sense, many of us do it anyway because we recognize that making the Effort ultimately provides us with greater physical strength. Likewise, even though we may not practically need to practice spiritual weightlifting in the form of Not Doing, once we try it, we recognize that the practice provides us with greater spiritual strength, in the form of the Personal Power we require to make positive changes in our lives.

The Hidden Benefit of Pain

Good health is an essential component to the experience of well-being. Illness and disease, on the other hand, are by definition a departure from the state of well-being. The experience of being sick, and the accompanying pain we feel, can be debilitating. Illness and pain are states that we want to avoid if at all possible.

However, the experience of falling ill or experiencing great pain, however undesirable, has the hidden benefit of providing us with a fresh perspective, in the form of a renewed appreciation for life, and reacquaints us with what is truly important in our lives.

When we are feeling very ill or become injured and are in great pain, we feel like we will do anything and never take anything for granted provided we can just be well or pain free once again.

The experience of great pain provides us with an unsolicited reference point, or a clear point of comparison if you will, for appreciating just how great it is simply to NOT be in pain.

I have experienced tremendous physical pain a few times in my life. Once I had an inflammation of the stomach cavity that was so intensely painful that I could not eat or even drink anything, including water, without a experiencing a tremendous, constant, pain. This pain lasted for well over a week, during which time I literally could not eat and or sleep for days on end.

Another other experience of intense physical pain was when I was stung in the foot by a poisonous stingray while surfing. This pain was even more intense than the stomach pain, to the point that it was close to being truly unbearable. Fortunately, I was able to receive treatment for this right away, but for about three hours I was in another state that made me Appreciate how great it is to simply NOT be in such pain.

While in these moments of pain, I swore to myself, God, and everyone and everything that I would never again complain about anything in my life if I could just be free of this horrible, unbearable pain.

Eventually I was able to overcome the pain, and for a while thereafter, I was able to enjoy a new, heightened appreciation for how great it is simply to be alive and healthy and NOT in pain.

This same perspective that pain provides is of course also inherent in the experiences of emotional and psychological pain. Any experience of pain, while not intentionally sought out, provides us with this gift of fresh perspective and renewed appreciation.

Of course, as time passes and This Present Moment continues to change and bring us new experiences, our experience of pain becomes ever more distant, and eventually we tend to lose sight of our perspective.

We may lose sight of the perspective brought on by pain, but we still have it as an experience to draw on. Therefore, whenever you are feeling dissatisfied with your life, recall a time when you were in great pain, and then simply appreciate how good it feels to NOT be in that much pain.

The experience of great pain, while never to be intentionally sought out, provides us with the hidden benefit of a new and healthy appreciation for life.

Mastery of This Moment: The Key to Life Mastery

Many people aren't sure what they want to do with their lives; they are unsure of their specific goals or overall purpose.

Even if you are unsure about what you want to do with your life, there is one worthwhile thing you can dedicate your life to: Attaining Mastery of This Moment.

This Present Moment is the One Moment of Experience. We can only ever experience our lives in This Present Moment. Therefore, if you do nothing more with your life than concentrate on gaining mastery of your thoughts, actions, and state of mind in This Present Moment, you will have actually discovered one of the most important keys to happiness and well-being.

What does Mastery of This Moment entail? Mastery of This Moment simply involves focusing your awareness on This Present Moment, and embracing and appreciating it as if it is the only thing that matters.

In Toltec Philosophy, popularized by the books of Carlos Castaneda and Don Miguel Ruiz, this commitment to Mastery of This Moment is called the Way of the Warrior. You may also recognize Mastery of This Moment as the approach to life embodied in Zen philosophy.

These approaches to life embrace the notion that This Present Moment is the One True Moment of Experience, and that the past and the future are illusory. That is, there is no past, other than the thoughts we create about "the past" in This Present Moment. And there is no future, other than the thoughts we create about something called "the future" in This Present Moment.

If This Present Moment is indeed the One Moment of Experience, then what do we really need to do with our lives in order to attain a true sense of happiness and well-being?

We simply need to commit to attaining mastery of our thoughts, actions, emotions, and state of mind in This Moment, for when we achieve nothing more than Mastery of This Moment, in effect, we gain mastery over our lives as a whole.

The True Nature of the Past and the Future

As humans, we have a tendency to refer to our lives in terms of the past and the future. We think and talk constantly about what has already happened and what we have done, and what we expect to happen and plan on doing at a later date.

In reality, there is no past and there is no future, except as they exist as concepts that we express. It is true that we experience our lives as if in a sequence of time. There is no doubt that at one time we were younger than we are now, and that we will eventually become older than we are now. It is also true that we experienced events yesterday that we have a memory of, and that we will experience events tomorrow that we can anticipate today.

In purely experiential terms, however, we cannot experience the past or the future, except in the form of concepts that we express in This Present Moment about a remembered past or an envisioned future.

In other words, we can, and often do, think about experiences that we have already had (which we label the "past") and experiences we will potentially have at a later date (which we label the "future").

However, like all experiences, this way of experiencing the "past" or the "future" can only ever occur--as an expression of thought--in This Present Moment.

In fact, there is only One Moment of Experience: This Present Moment. There is only This One Moment of Experience, but it is a Present Moment Experience that is in a constant state of ongoing change.

If we can accept that fact that our lives only ever occur in This Present Moment, our One Moment of Experience, why is it then that we spend so much time immersed in thoughts about the "past" and the "future" if in fact they do not exist except as concepts we create in This Present Moment?

We do this because as humans, we have a natural tendancy to reflect on events that have just occured (the "past") and anticipate, plan for, and worry about events that we have some expectation of occurring (the "future").

There is nothing inherently wrong with doing this. In fact, reflecting on the past is one way that we learn and adjust our actions into more effective behaviors. Likewise, anticipating future events can help us to prepare for them.

However, when we obsess over past events and worry endlessly about imagined future outcomes, and allow such obsession and worry to negatively impact us, these are destructive ways of using our Moment of Experience that inhibit our ability to experience clarity and well-being here and now.

It is very easy to become absorbed in thoughts about the past and the future, to the extent that we often allow our attention to be drawn away from our actual, direct experience of This Present Moment as it is actually occurring, and instead enter into a purely mind-based experience in which we become absorbed in our chaotic and often warped narrations about our past experiences or wild, random, and often wholly inaccurate speculations about the future.

We can and often do become so absorbed in these purely mind-based experiences about the past and the future that our minds can (and often do!) actually trick us into believing that these thoughts about the past and the future are what is actually taking place in our lives right here and right now. So much so that we can (and often do!) have intense emotional reactions to these purely thought-based experiences independently of what is actually taking place in our Present

Moment reality.

In reality, what is actually occurring in our lives in This Present Moment is invariably much more simple, direct, and manageable than the violent currents of thought that swallow our attention.

When the mind-based experiences in which we become absorbed are of the negative variety, that is, when we think about our past or future in unfavorable terms, our "past" and "future" can actually affect our Present Moment Experience in a negative manner, so that our experience of This Moment becomes unpleasant purely based on the way in which we are thinking, rather than anything that is actually occurring in our immediate environment.

For this reason, whether our thoughts be positive or negative, it is essential that we are able to differentiate between the actual experience of events that is occurring in this present moment, and the purely conceptual, mind-based experiences of the "past" and the "future," which we now know are simply the present moment experience of expressing thoughts about past events and potential future events.

Once we become aware of the fact that the "past" and the "future" only exist as thoughts that we express in This Present Moment, we need never again allow ourselves to be helplessly affected by the events of our past or concerns about our future.

Since we now know that the past and the future are simply thoughts that we express in This Present Moment, whenever we feel adversely affected by the "past" or the "future," we can simply replace our destructive thoughts with constructive ones. Even better, we can simply draw our attention out of the confusing realm of pure thought, and focus it back on the simple present moment reality that is unfolding right before our eyes.

In other words, our thoughts of the past and the future are only "real" insofar as we give them credit for being real. We always have the option of changing them, or simply dismissing them and bringing our attention back into This Present Moment.

This ability to recognize the true nature of the "past" and the "future" and maintain an accurate perspective of them can greatly enhance our ability to experience well-being in This Present Moment, which, again, we now recognize and embrace as our One True Moment of Experience.

The Force of Habit

There is an unseen force that significantly influences the way in which we experience our lives. This force is the Force of Habit. 

Living organisms are, in general, creatures of habit, and human beings are no exception. 

Our habits are learned behaviors, and most of our habits are developed in our younger years. As we age, these habits become ever more deeply ingrained, and as time goes by it becomes increasingly more difficult to veer from our established routine of habits. 

Our habits encompass the way we eat, the way we talk, the clothes we wear, our level of physical activity, the amount of money we earn and the level of affluence we enjoy, and perhaps most importantly, the way we think. 

Our most deeply ingrained habits are called Lifetime Habits, because they truly are habits of a lifetime that keep our routines of thought and action locked into place throughout the duration of our lives. 

Once our habits are established, we actually don't need to exert any effort to keep them in motion. For instance, even the habit of exercise does not require an effort in the true sense. If we are in the habit of exercising, although exercise by nature requires physical exertion to perform, it is something that we will naturally be inclined to do.

Effort here refers to an exertion of will to act in a way that is contrary to an established habit. Because the force of habit is so strong, it takes a very strong effort and act of will to overcome it. The effort required is akin to the effort needed to swim continuously upstream against a powerful river current. 

Habits are neutral. That is, they are only good or bad insofar as they either enhance the quality of our lives or detract from the quality of our lives. It is possible that a habit that formerly enhanced our lives may exhaust its usefulness and become a habit that would best be eliminated. 

For example, practicing a particular career is one such habit. We establish the habit of doing the work we do. If we continue to enjoy our work and prosper from it, it remains a beneficial habit. But there may be cases where our work which formerly brought us satisfaction no longer does. Or perhaps due to the changing of times, work that we established the habit of performing 10 or 20 years ago is no longer relevant in today's world. 

In such a case, we may find that we need to establish new habits to replace our old ones. It is important to note that in order to eliminate an old habit, it must be replaced by a new habit. All habits can be parred down to two basic forms: the habit of doing (action) and the habit of not doing (inaction). 

Regardless of the specific habit in question, any habit is either a habit of something that we do, or something that we do not do. For example, we may realize that we need to establish the habit of exercising. Currently, we are in the habit of not (doing) exercising. In other words, we are in the habit of inaction as it relates to exercise. In order to establish the habit of exercising, we need to overcome the inertia of inaction and replace it with the habit of action. 

In contrast, we may be in the habit of smoking and realize that we need to quit. We need to replace the habit of (doing) smoking with the habit of (not doing) smoking. In other words, we need to exercise our will and acutually make an effort to not do this action. That is, we need to establish the habit of inaction as it relates to smoking.  

Whether we are working on establishing a habit of action (doing) or a habit of inaction (not doing), the creation of any new habit requires an initial exertion of Effort with the focused intention of performing (or not performing) the new behavior.

When we first attempt to establish a new habit, we invariably encounter resistance. This is simply a function of the Force of Habit attempting to do its job properly. However, if we truly want to establish a new habit, then we needto act, or refrain from acting, even in spite of such resistance, and persist in doing so until our desired new habit has been established. 

By remaining intent on establishing our new action and sustaining our effort in the face of the Resistance, eventually the Resistance will give way and the Force of Habit will take over the new behavior we have established, so that this behavior becomes our new, more desirable habit. 

How long it takes to create a new habit and replace it with an old one depends on a number of factors. The first factor is the extent to which the habit is ingrained. Lifetime Habits are the most deeply ingrained, and therefore the most difficult to replace. 

The second factor is the level of motivation, or intent, to establish a new habit in place of a new one. For example, if you have smoked three packs of cigarettes a day for 20 years, your habit of smoking will be very deeply ingrained. It is a Lifetime Habit that under ordinary circumstances may be difficult to break. Maybe you've tried to quit smoking many times and were unable to. 

However, if you go to the doctor and are told that if you don't quit you're going to die within the next six months and will never see your friends and family again, this may be sufficient motivation to immediately quit smoking, regardless of how much Resistance you encounter. 

Once again, habits are not good or bad, except to the extent that they either support or detract from the quality of one's life experience. The important thing to realize is that the Force of Habit exists as a force that strongly affects the way in which we experience our lives. 

Recognizing the existence of the Force of Habit can help us understand the source of Resistance we inevitably encounter when we attempt to change well-established behaviors in our lives. At the same time, it is important to know that the Force of Habit can equally work for us when we use it to replace non-useful, life-detracting patterns of behavior with more effective, life-enhancing behaviors.

The Power of Appreciation

We all want to be happy. We all desire affluence. The best way to experience happiness and wealth immediately is to Appreciate all that you have and all that you are right here and right now. 

All too often, we tend to believe that we lack certain aspects of our lives that keep us from being as happy as we could be. We feel like we need a better car, a better house, a better job, or more money. In fact, we are conditioned to believe that we should always want something more than what we have. 

What we are not conditioned to do, is to simply Appreciate that which we already DO have. The simple act of Appreciating enables us to become aware that we are in fact already much wealthier than we habitually believe. 

If we take stock of our lives in terms of This Present Moment, which is the One Moment of Experience, and take a detailed inventory of what we DO have, we find that we are in fact already quite wealthy. 

In terms of This Present Moment, we find that we already have an abundance of food, clothing, shelter, and cash that we need, at least for This Moment! We may not have enough of a stock of these things to last us an entire lifetime, but unless we are in very extreme circumstances, we can usually accept that we DO in fact have more than enough for This Moment. And because This Present Moment is the One and Only Moment of Experience, this means that we Do in fact have all that we need right here and right now. 

We can go beyond these basic needs and appreciate the friends we have, the family we have, all of the experiences we have had, our health, the air that we breathe, and at its essence, we can can simply appreciate the fact that we are alive, and that we have the opportunity to live and enjoy and experience this life. 

The act of Appreciation is one of the most powerful and effective ways of exercising our Personal Power. When we truly appreciate all that we are and all that we have right here and right now, we shift from a mindset of focusing on what we are lacking, to an awareness of what we already have. This enables us to enjoy and Appreciate life as it is right here and right now. 

Since This Present Moment is our One Moment of Experience, and we can therefore only ever experience well-being right here and right now, appreciating is precisely what we need to do in order to experience wealth and happiness. 

Learn to Appreciate all that you have and all that you are right here and right now, and you will never feel like you lack anything. It is possible to feel happy and fulfilled right here and right now, simply by Appreciating all that you have and all that you are, right here and right now. 

One other benefit of the act of Appreciation is simply that what we focus on expands. When we focus on what we lack, we are in effect supporting the continuation of the experience of lacking. Conversely, when we focus on (appreciate) what we already have, we not only receive the immediate benefit of recognizing the ways in which we are already blessed and already wealthy, but we actually support the continuation of experiencing even more of what we have. 

For some, this seems counter-intuitive. You might think that if you appreciate what you have right now, that is the same as being satisfied with your lot in life as it is right now, when in fact you really DO want more. This leads you to focus on what you don't have, instead of appreciating what you do have. 

The problem is that even though this approach seems logical, it is not effective in producing what you do want. Focusing on what you do not have, and failing to appreciate what you Do have, will only keep the same conditions in tact. 

Another way to view this matter is to ask yourself: at what point is enough, enough? Even if you do succeed in accumulating the things you want and creating the precise circumstances in life you desire, will you have the capacity to actually appreciate them then? 

Maybe, but in either case, the ability to Appreciate provides you with the capacity to gain maximum enjoyment of what you DO have right here and right now. 

And once again, because This Present Moment is the One Moment of Experience, Right Here and Right Now is the only place and time that we can ever experience anything. 

Thus, we either have the capacity to Appreciate our lives, as they are, right here and right now, or we do not. Which approach is better? Which is more empowering? Which better enables us to experience well-being? 

The answer is pretty obvious. 

The Ultimate Purpose of Life

The Purpose of Life is very simple, and it is the same for all people. The Purpose of Life is simply to experience it.

Our lives are perfect and complete exactly as they are. Even the things we perceive as imperfect and incomplete, are actually part of our perfect and complete lives. 

Each of us is born into this earth as a unique human being with a unique set of challenges and circumstances. These are the exact challenges and circumstances that we need in order to have the precise experience we desire to have on this earth. 

Many of us have a tendency to compare our lives to those of our friends, peers, neighbors, celebrities on TV, and so forth. Often it seems as though the lives of others are more interesting or in some way better than our own. 

However, this is a mistaken view that can distract us from being attentive to our own lives. When we waste our energy being dissatisfied with our own life or envious of the lives of others, this significantly depletes our Personal Power. 

In fact, our Personal Power comes not from wishing that we were living someone else's life, but from fully embracing the challenges of our own. Personal Power, and therefore happiness, is simply not possible until we learn to fully appreciate our own lives, exactly as they are Here and Now. 

Now, for many of us, this is a difficult proposition to accept. Our lives can often seem very mundane and insignificant. We see other people doing amazing, creative things and 

living lives of greater affluence and variety than us, driving better cars and living in nicer houses. We may hate our jobs and wish we could be an athlete, or an actor, or a CEO of a cool technology company, or an adventurer, or whatever. 

Well, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that fully embracing, accepting and appreciating every aspect of our lives does not mean that we cannot change some aspect of it. In fact, we are free to do whatever we want with our lives. 

The bad news, although it is not really bad, is that we cannot actually become anybody else or assume someone else's role in life. We must change those aspects of our lives we wish to change in the context of our own lives. For instance, if we want to be an athlete, we are free to try. We may or may not have the innate talent required to be a professional athlete competing on the highest level. But no one can stop us from trying. 

The point is that we are free to do what we please with our lives. If we don't like our job, we can simply stop doing it. If we don't like a relationship we are in, we can simply get out of it. What we have done up until now does not have to dictate what we do in the future.

Even while we accept and appreciate our lives exactly as they are, this means accepting and appreciating the challenges inherent within our lives, embracing those challenges, and overcoming them. 

Ultimately though, it doesn't matter whether we are an accountant, a carpenter, an actress, a housewife, a factory worker, or a CEO. Our Purpose in Life is simply to experience the life we have been given. Now within the life we have been given, we are free to experience it however we please. This means that we are free to live our lives passively and just take life as it comes. We are likewise free to set goals and intentionally change any aspect of our lives. 

Our lives are like a day at the beach. Some people on the beach play a spirited game of volleyball. Others run for miles on the sand. Still others simply spread a blanket, lie down, and drink a beer. Our lives are our own giant sandbox, and we are free to play in it however we choose. We can painstakingly build an elegant sand castle, fight with others in the sandbox, or simply sit in it and enjoy the sensation of the sand on our feet. 

When we find ourselves feeling lost and confused and overwhelmed, wondering what we should do with our lives, the answer is simple. We can do whatever we want. Or do nothing at all. There is no wrong answer. There is simply the experience of life, in This Present Moment. This is the ultimate purpose for which we were born. 

The opportunity to live our lives is a great gift. We were given the gift of life precisely for the opportunity to simply experience it. And the highest expression of appreciation for that gift is to simply embrace it and experience every aspect of it in all of its glory and uncertainty and pain and hardship and joy and sorrow and fun and sadness and triumph and tragedy. 

These emotions are part and parcel to EVERY person's experience. And none of us who live for any length of time can avoid experiencing ALL of these emotions. In fact, far from avoiding these emotions, the precise reason we are here is to experience them. 

To simply experience it. That is the Ultimate Purpose of Life. 

The Moment of Power

This Present Moment is the One Moment of Experience. 

It is also the One Moment of Power. 

What is the Moment of Power? The Moment of Power is the One Moment in which we have the power to influence the quality of our lives in any way, shape or form. 

All too often, we tend to project the point at which we will be happy and fulfilled at some vague, undefined point in the future. We tend to set up the game so that once we have fulfilled a certain set of conditions in our lives, only then we may be happy. 

In fact, the future that we project never arrives. And while we may fulfill the conditions we have established for happiness, it is worth keeping in mind that the conditions of life are ever changing. 

Rather than jump through a thousand hoops on a 20-year journey to reach the Holy Grail of well-being, we have the option of utilizing our One Moment of Power to achieve a perfect state of well-being right here and right now. 

This Present Moment is the One Moment of Experience. There is no other time or place that we can experience our lives other than right now. It is true that time seems to flow by. We do in fact transition from a baby to a child to a teenager to a young adult to middle-aged, into old age, and then, at some point, we do in fact die as an end to our lives on this earth in our present form. 

It is true that we can reflect back on experiences that we have had, and we can plan for future experiences. But such reflection, and such planning, can only ever occur in This Present Moment. 

However we slice and dice it, This Present Moment is the One Moment of Experience. And since Here and Now is our One Moment of Experience, it must also therefore be our One Moment of Power. 

Right Here and Right Now, This Present Moment, is the One Moment of Power. It is the one point at which we can access our Personal Power. It is the One Moment in which we can influence our lives in any way, shape, or form. 

This Present Moment is the One Moment in which we can change our thoughts, and begin to think of our lives in postive terms instead of negative terms. It is the One Moment in which we can take an action that will enhance our state of well-being. 

This Present Moment is the One Moment of Power. 

When you feel like you need to change your life, when you feel depressed, or powerless, do not long for a set of conditions that existed in the past that no longer exist today. The conditions of life are in a constant state of change!

Do not merely hope that things will get better "in the future." That "future" will never arrive! 

Instead, recognize that This Present Moment is the One Moment of Experience. And then utilize this One Moment of Experience to exercise your Personal Power to enhance your experience of well-being. The experience of well-being, or happiness, or fulfillment, like ALL experiences, can also only ever occur in This Present Moment. 

So recognize and embrace the truth that Here and Now is the One Moment of Experience. And then also recognize and embrace the idea that this One Moment of Experience is also the One Moment of Power, the one and only moment in which you may exercise your Personal Power and positively affect the quality of your life experience. 

The Moment of Experience

This present moment, here and now, is the One Moment of Experience. There is no moment in which we can possibly ever experience our lives other than right here and right now in This Moment. 

If you doubt this statement, go ahead and try to disprove it. Try to go back and re-live an experience you had last week, or yesterday, or even five minutes ago. 

Or jump ahead and try to fast forward yourself into tomorrow, today. However we slice it and dice it, there is no other time or place in which we can experience our lives other than in This Present Moment. 

Think about the truth of this statement for a moment. We may spent much of our time mulling or obsessing over past events or worrying or daydreaming about what the future may bring. But both the obsessing and mulling about the "past" and the worrying and daydreaming about the "future" are simply thoughts that we express right here and right now in This Present Moment. There is no way to access the "past" or the "future" other than through the act of thinking about the past or future in This Present Moment. 

Once we recognize and embrace the fact that This Present Moment is our One Moment of Experience, we gain immediate access to the one and only moment in which we may positively influence the outcome of our lives, whether by adopting a better attitude about our lives, forming constructive, goal-oriented thoughts about a specific outcome we would like to realize, or taking a specific action that will enhance the condition of our lives in some way. We can only ever engage in all such attitudes, thoughts, and actions in This Present Moment. 

Another way of expressing this truth is to say that This Present Moment is the one and only point in time at which we can tap into our Personal Power and influence our lives in some way. Whether we influence our lives for the better or for the worse depends upon how adept we are at exercising our Personal Power in this One Moment of Experience. Therefore, once we realize that This Present Moment is the One Moment of Experience, and therefore, our one Moment of Power, the question we need to ask ourselves is: How effectively are we, in This One Moment of Experience, utilizing our Moment of Power? 

Personal Power is simply the Power we have at our disposal as human beings to affect the condition of our lives. The two basic "power tools" we have at our disposal to do so are the capacity to express thought and the capacity to take action. 

This access to our Personal Power is not "out there somewhere" for us to search endlessly for until we find it. It can only ever be found within us right here and right now. Its location is so obvious that we can and often do look right past it, thinking it must be "somewhere else." 

We do this because we allow our attention to be distracted away from This Present Moment and into the noisy thought realm of the mind. When this happens, we exit the Realm of Clarity (which we enjoy when our attention is focused precisely on This Present Moment) and enter into the Realm of Confusion (which we fall into whenever our attention is seduced into the realm of randomly arising chaotic snippets of thoughts about the "past" and "future" that swim 

constantly within our minds).

We are also conditioned to believe that Personal Power is something that must be difficult to obtain, when in fact it is something we always have instant access to right here and right now. This is because we overlook the fact that This Present Moment is the One Moment of Experience, and instead buy into the notion that the "real us" and the solution to our lives' challenges lay "out there" somewhere.

When we ignore the Personal Power that is available for our benefit right here and right now in this One Moment of Experience in order to search for it "out there somewhere," this is akin to taking our Personal Power, sealing it in a box, burying it in the yard, and then pretending that we have no idea where it is and proceeding to search the ends of the earth for it. Or perhaps it is 

simply akin to searching all over the house for a pair of glasses that are right on our nose. 

Even if we learn to recognize our Personal Power, if we do not use it effectively we end up dissipating it by using it in ways that do not support our experience of well being. 

Therefore, we need to not only recognize that the only time and place in which we can access our Personal Power is This One Moment of Experience, and therefore, the One Moment of Power, but we also need to learn to utilize our Personal Power effectively.

Let's summarize what we have talked about so far. Since This Present Moment Here and Now is the One Moment of Experience, there is no other time and place, including the "past" and the "future" (which again really only exist as thoughts we create about something called the "past" or "future") during which we can possibily experience, and thus impact, our lives. Therefore, any experience we can possibly have, can only ever occur in This Present Moment. 

If we can only ever experience our lives in This Present Moment, it stands to reason that the only Power we have to positively influence our lives in any way, shape, or form is also in This Present Moment. Thus, our One Moment of Experience is also our One Moment of Power. 

So we can now see that this Present Moment is our One Moment of Power. Why is it essential to know and embrace this fact? Because if it is true that This Present Moment is the One Moment of Power, the one and only moment during which we can ever positively influence our lives, then it stands to reason that the key to gaining mastery over our lives is to learn to utilize our One Moment of Power to access our Personal Power and apply it in order to enhance the quality of our lives.

In other words, since here and now is our One Moment of Experience, if we can simply gain mastery over nothing other than This Moment, we effectively gain mastery of our lives.