conscious choices

Tag Archive for conscious choices

Out With the Clutter and In With the Good Chi- Day One

April 16, 2013 John Uncategorized No comments

Okay, it’s time to roll up the sleeves and get going. I’m starting the de-clutter process in my office. No real surprise. I spend lots of time there, and it shows. Stuff on the desk, on the floor, and even stuff on the dining room table. If you want to be more focused AND productive you’ve got to get the clutter out of your work space.

Starting with the desk I take everything off of the desktop and out of the drawers. Here’s your chance to wipe down the desktop- when’s the last time you did that? Now, the stuff on and in the desk can be put on the floor. You’ll want to sort through it and toss everything you really don’t need. I mean, do you really need that mailbox coupon that offers 2 for 1 cheeseburgers at the local greasy spoon eatery? Now, when you’ve parted with the junk you’ve got to sort the saved stuff. I use folders of the kind you get during a 1-cent sale at Staples. Your system may be different, like maybe a filing cabinet setup. It’s a good idea to keep supplies and other items in designated drawers. Put labels on things if you must, but remember to have a dedicated spot for every item you decided to keep and make sure that it stays there, or goes back there when you’re done using it. I get lots of paper coming in every week. Before the papers pile up sort them each day – toss them or file them as you see fit. Just remember that whatever you do with your papers, DO NOT KEEP THEM ON TOP OF YOUR DESK. All you want on the surface of your desk is your phone, computer, and inbox, and maybe your favorite personal affects along with the documents you are working with at the moment.

Clutter can be a problem on the computer, too. Purge the programs, files and even desktop icons you don’t need. They slow down your machine and they make for visual clutter, too.

Information comes to us from more directions now than ever before. Get on top of it. Cut back on newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Limit your intake of radio and television. How much time are you spending on social networks? They can eat up your whole day. Limit your reading on these sites. No need to become a hermit. Just know when to “say when” and put some boundaries on yourself.

JohnK 4/16/2013

Overheard: “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

– Confucious

A Vote For Conscious Living- Change We Can Live With

November 5, 2012 John Uncategorized No comments

In the days leading up to the election in the U.S. there’s been a flood of discussion on the merits, or should we say demerits of most every candidate seeking office. Have you noticed how comparisons center on their missteps and shortcomings, usually leading to the dreaded “lesser of 2 evils” conclusion? Maybe it’s time to have a thorough look under the hood of the electorate. A bit of tinkering is in order.

Mountains of copy have been written about individual consciousness and it’s effect on the quality of one’s life. This blog/website is a contributor to that very end. But this election year seems to make one thing perfectly clear and that’s the need to re-examine voters’ collective consciousness. Just as one person’s concentrated thought brings results into his or her life, the dominant thoughts of a group of people (or a nation for that matter) will translate into the people’s frame of reference. If the masses are putting their attention on the “evil” of another people then they can expect to be visited by an equal or greater experience of evil. If they keep stoking the fires of distrust can they expect anything other than a generous helping of what they were afraid of in the first place? Can we continue to sustain a burning hatred for the political system and its offerings for elected office?

I heard a talk show host say that Washington is nothing but a cesspool. I suggest that Washington and literally all centers of power are more like reflection pools. We don’t get the government we deserve, we get the government we are. If our dominant thoughts center on hostility, mistrust, greed, discrimination, and non-cooperation how can we be surprised at the tack of our public servants?

You’ve probably heard the expression “when you change the way to look at things the things you look at change.” Could we also say that if we change the way we look at things society will change as well? If you really want change, vote with your thoughts before you pull the lever.

JohnK 11-6-2012

Overheard

“By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it.