3062: 9 Mindful Reminders that Will Put Your Soul at Ease by Marc Chernoff of Marc and Angel

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 3062 9 Mindful Reminders That Will Put Your Soul at Ease by Marc Chernoff of MarcandAngel.com And I'm Justin Malik and we're gonna get right to today's post as we optimize your life

[00:00:15] 9 Mindful Reminders That Will Put Your Soul at Ease by Marc Chernoff of MarcandAngel.com Quote The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but your thoughts about it. Eckhart Tolle Life can be hectic. Sometimes chaos surrounds us in every imaginable direction.

[00:00:43] But just because the world around us is in disarray doesn't mean the world within us has to be too. That's right, I'm saying there's a way to stay sane in insane times.

[00:00:55] I'm saying you can get rid of all the insanity inside you created by others, the past and uncontrollable events just by being a simple witness of your thoughts. It's about sitting silently and witnessing the thoughts passing through you.

[00:01:14] Just witnessing at first, not interfering and not even judging because by judging too rapidly, you've lost the pure witness. The moment you rush to say, this is good or this is bad, you've already jumped head first into the chaos.

[00:01:31] It takes a little time to create a gap between the witnessing of thoughts and your reaction to them. Once the gap is there though, you're in for a great surprise that you are not the thoughts themselves, nor the chaos influencing them.

[00:01:46] You're the witness, a watcher who's capable of changing your mind and rising above the turmoil. And this process of thought watching is the very alchemy of true mindfulness because as you become more and more deeply rooted in witnessing, the chaotic thoughts start disappearing.

[00:02:06] You're thinking but the mind is empty of senseless chatter. That's a moment of enlightenment, a moment that you become perhaps for the first time an unconditioned, sane, truly free human being. And you can now begin the process of introducing new ideas that support your inner freedom

[00:02:27] and continue to put your soul at ease. Here are nine such ideas. Number one, you are a work in progress which means you get there a little at a time, not all at once.

[00:02:40] When you feel like you're sweating and running in circles, understand that we all feel like this sometimes especially when life's demands are high and the work is challenging. That doesn't mean you should give up, make adjustments as necessary, but keep putting one foot in front of the other.

[00:02:59] You're not really running in circles, you're running upwards gradually. The path is just a spiral of steps. You have already climbed higher than you realize. Number two, you're always right where you need to be to take your next step.

[00:03:17] There's absolutely nothing about your present circumstances that prevents you from making progress. All you ever have to decide is what to do next, just the next tiniest step. It really is that simple. You don't have to have it all figured out to take this step and move

[00:03:33] forward, just do the best you can until you know better. And once you know better, do better. Number three, mistakes and failures are the stepping stones of growth and success. Even when it doesn't work out, it's still necessary practice

[00:03:52] and everything takes practice. So embrace the mistakes you haven't even made yet. To be successful in the long run, you must fail sometimes. Don't let the fear of making the wrong decision prevent you from making any decision at all.

[00:04:07] In the end, those who don't care that failure is inevitable are the ones that reach their dreams. Number four, smiling happens naturally when you complain less. There's never a need to complain about life. Doing so changes nothing. Instead, spend your moments actually living

[00:04:28] its beauty. Find the wisdom and strength to embrace the present. If you're being pulled in every direction by forces beyond your control, take time to realign yourself with what you value most in life. What is important in your life is what you decide is important. Nothing can overwhelm

[00:04:49] you unless you let it. Number five, not everything needs an explanation. Sometimes incredible things come into our lives out of nowhere. We can't always understand them, but we have to trust in them.

[00:05:04] I know you want to question everything every step of the way, but sometimes it pays to simply have a little faith. Allow the universe to bless you in surprising and joyful ways.

[00:05:16] Number six, you only truly have the things you have let go. It may feel foreign at first, but all you really need in life and in love is to practice letting go. For holding on comes easily,

[00:05:32] you don't need to learn it. So ease up a bit. It's okay to loosen your grip. We often hold on too tight for too long without even thinking about it without realizing that it's not what we have

[00:05:44] when we hold on that counts, is what we have when we let go. What remains is what's truly there. Number seven, relationships don't have to be anywhere near perfect to be worth it.

[00:05:59] It's impossible to find someone who will never disappoint you or hurt you. No human being is perfect. Expecting them to be will always lead to painful disappointments. Know this and go for one's worth the pain and effort. Honestly, without a little pain and effort, true joy and true

[00:06:18] love wouldn't feel so good. So take the time and patience to work together to create something real and meaningful. Number eight, hating another human being never helps. It's important to remember that no human being when you understand his or her stories and desires is worthless. No one's life

[00:06:41] is nothing. Even the cruelest people, if you understand their hearts, had some generous act that redeems them at least a tiny bit from their sins. So walk away from them with peace,

[00:06:54] not hate in your heart. And number nine, to forgive is to give yourself a chance to grow. Forgiveness isn't holding on to someone who hurt you, is coming to peace with what happened

[00:07:07] and moving forward with your life. So forgive those who have hurt you in the past but even more than this, forgive yourself for allowing them to hurt you. The instant you forgive, you're at least

[00:07:20] one step ahead in the karma department and one step ahead of everyone who's still holding on to old grudges that are holding them back. Closing thoughts. It's no coincidence that the ideas of presence and acceptance permeate through this post. Without them we miss life altogether.

[00:07:40] I was reminded of this earlier today when I was chatting with an 82 year old course and coaching student about regrets. And she started our chat session by saying, and I'm sharing this with permission, why didn't I learn to accept and appreciate it all and treat every day like

[00:07:56] it was the last time? Honestly my biggest regret is how often I believed in tomorrow. May we all take heed to her words and learn from them. You just listened to the post titled 9 Mindful Reminders That Will Put Your Soul At

[00:08:16] Ease by Mark Schurnoff of markandangel.com and I'll be right back with my commentary. Thank you to Mark. There was a reference to Brunet Brown's book titled Daring Greatly in this article and the first quote was from the book A New Earth Awakening to Your Life's

[00:08:34] Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. And I think it really sums up much of what this podcast is about, so it's worth repeating the quote was, The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but your thoughts about it. Something that comes up a lot here, but personally I enjoy

[00:08:52] the reminder and feel like I need it. And that gap that Mark talks about between the thoughts and our reaction to those thoughts, that's a real thing. There's also a gap between an

[00:09:04] external event and then our thought about that event too. There are gaps all over the place, but usually they're super super fast like milliseconds because we take in so much information all the time even when we're sleeping. But being mindful of that gap and learning to make

[00:09:23] it a little bit bigger, it doesn't really slow us down but instead gives us more choice, which is something we need when things don't feel good. It's not easy to increase that gap,

[00:09:34] but it's well worth the effort. So thank you to Mark for this one, thank you for being here every day and listening all the way through, and I'll be back tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits.