Saturday, June 14, 2008

5 More Steps to Help You Have a Fantastic Day

Step 1. Stand up

Your spine is your age line. A bad spine will make you feel old even if you are young. Slouched posture, weak abdomen, slumped shoulders, short neck, head bent forward are antidotes to having a great day.

You can see how a person feels from 100 meters just by their posture. And you can feel fantastic at the worst circumstance with a good posture. There are many tools for posture correction. And these are definitely not at the gym.

Palates, some yoga, Alexander technique, Qigong, and Tai chi are postural techniques. Lifting the inner core, holding the body well. It's amazing to see people in countries where carrying heavy loads on their shoulders in normal.

Those who are forced to do it develop slumped arched backs. Those who volunteer have beautiful straight backs. You can easily tell when a person is carrying a burden that they don't want.

And in the west, these burdens are mostly emotional. But the affect is identical. So straighten up your spine. Sit on a chair without a back rest, or one of those ball things, sit on a wooden crate it doesn't matter what, just get the habit of a straight back.

Step 2. Include Challenge

My friend often calls and tells me how hard the day has been. When I ask why, he says "so much challenge"

Did you know that there cannot be a challenge without a support. So, when we speak of a "challenging day" that very same day has "supporting day" built in. However, we go where the loudest noise takes us sometimes. So, we can easily focus on the challenge and forget the rest.

When my friend rings up and says "I had a great day" I always ask "so where was the challenge?" He gets totally annoyed at me, but it's true.

Wanting a day without challenge is like wanting a relationship without questions, or an apple without a pip, or a child without a complaint. It's just the way it is meant to be and if we go into these situations wishing for a "gee don't challenge me" attitude, then we're going to be so disconnected. So unapproachable.

But more than that, we're going to be disappointed. Because if we want the day to be challenge free, we can't have a fantastic day. Try enjoying the challenges. It's all part of the process.

Step 3. Be Certain

If there is a myth that has been sold to millions of people it is the myth of certainty of an outcome.

It's an easy myth to sell. All you need to do is achieve and outcome and then say, you knew it was going to happen right from the start.

I've consulted to 5-6,000 people, spoken to a million, and been a part of things that involve billions. Of those people, about 20 are really where they dreamed they could be. Most are somewhere good, but this was not the childhood dream of "I knew I'd make the top10 one day"

Of the thousand or so athletes who make the Olympic games and the few who win gold medals millions and millions of people failed. So many were trying to get to the Olympics and win that medal. But just a few get through.

Is it because of some "certainty" in the mind of that winner? Is it some confidence or commitment they had? Do you really think, in all honesty that the gold medal winner was the only one with absolute certainty that they would win?

Lets not do this any more. You can control the quality of your process and remain a happy person having a fantastic day. You can hold a dream in your mind and focus on all the right ingredients to win. You can practice, train, practice, train, and rehearse, and learn but, if the energy is not your turn, you might have to settle for less.

So, there is no certainty. There is only your heart, your actions and your integrity and if all these three are lined up, then the probability of success just increased. But there is no certainty, just a commitment to try.

Step 4. NO excuses

Last week I had a kidney chill. I was out in my kayak and the weather just turned and I got so cold. The next day I felt like crap. I certainly was in no mood to work. So, I got a DVD set, a warm blanket, hot tea, turned off my mobile and shut the world out. I had a fantastic day even though I felt like crap.

There's no excuse. Even someone dying is no excuse - but this requires huge spiritual awareness - so there is an excuse! "I am not spiritually awake"

Everyday is a new day. So the sun comes up and we have a thousand justifications not to have a fantastic day. If I sit with some people I think they could win the gold medal in the Olympic excuses competition.

But that's not what they want. Neither do you. Zero tolerance means that there's always a bright side, always a gift, always something to be thankful for and there's always an opportunity to lift your spirits even when things are bad.

I saw this once in an amazing way. My Dad was so proud to teach me things. He wanted me to know how to chop wood, clear a forest, make a house, dig a trench and concrete over the top of the garden to make it neat. So, I'd spend many compulsory hours being his Go-fa (go for this and go for that) -

Dad wanted me to enjoy work. He'd joke and laugh and tease me. The whole thing was that he entertained me, to keep my spirits up amongst the hard work. Anyway, Dad chopped the end of his finger off, sliced right through it. He smiled, wrapped a bandage and made a joke, then back to fun and enjoying the day. I fainted.

Anyway, the point was, he wouldn't even let a smashed finger which needed many stitches, spoil the moment.

Really, its got to be enjoyable. There's only one pass at this one life. Every day is so precious yet, people waste the days with excuses. Oh, it's too hot. Oh it's too cold. My goodness.

I think this was the whole message of Monty Python. Learn to laugh at it. That great song "always look on the bright side of life" with Brain hanging from a cross. Or the skit about "luxury" - "when we got home, our Dad would chop us into bits, make us work 25 hours a day, sleep in a shoe box in the middle of the road, and the kids today, they just won't believe you. Ah, yes, we had it tough. Luxury"

Step 5. Love it

Just for arguments sake lets paint the world out so you can't see it anymore. There's nothing there. You are sitting here, reading this long article, you are alone. Now, there's about 6 trillion stars in the milky way. Our Sun is one of them. And our planet goes around our Sun, just like all the other Suns have planets too.

There are 50 billion galaxies like the milky way. So, if you do the math, your calculator will be unable to display the numbers, it isn't built to think that big.

Now the world is still painted out. But you know it is out there. You know there are trees and birds and cars and red wine out there. So, you know. You know. You can see or know there are stars and cars and things.

This is the most important thing. To stay in awe of the magnificence of the universe and how bloody lucky we are to even know that there's sugar in our tea and taste it, let alone become conscious of the vast magnificence of it. We become a little self obsessed.

To have a really, really fantastic day, one of the greatest gifts is simply to be excited about the fact that you're alive. Dad used to say, "I look up the obituaries in the paper, if I'm not in it, it's a great day"

We each need to remain so excited about life. Just like a child at Christmas or Passover or whatever your faiths special day. Everyday is Christmas, everyday is your birthday, the birth of a new day. That's where great, fantastic, unbelievable days begin.

In your home, surround yourself with things from another world. Not this one. Pictures of a universe, like my screen saver from Apple. Amazing awe-inspiring ideas and things that make you like a child. Just so ready to have a fantastic day. Like a child learn to bounce off the walls and mend the hits. Make no excuses and be like a child, smile, want life, want it to be fun. In this, you will know yourself and your heart will be open to life.

By Christopher Walker



http://www.chriswalker.com.au Chris Walker is a world leading change agent, an environmentalist and author of more than 20 books. Born and bred in Australia, he consults to people and organisations throughout the world on improved relationships, health and lifestyle through the application of the Universal laws of Nature. The result he offers is that we stay balanced, share loving relationships, work with passion, enjoy success, and live our personal truth. To learn more about Chris's work and journeys to Nepal, visit http://www.chriswalker.com.au -- http://www.chriswalker.com.au

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