Getting Started
Our Next Project
Our next project, and incidentally, the final project of 2017 is coming up in just 3 days. This is the Holiday Season, and we are all busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it occurred to me that maybe getting off to a great start every morning might be the best approach to a happy and prosperous end of the year.
There is a saying, “Well begun is half done.” So, let’s spend the next 30 days figuring out how to begin each day in the best possible way. I, for one, am looking forward to this project, particularly since it comes in on the heels of the Rise and Shine idea that had a very subtle effect on my mornings.
If you are interested in joining me, that would be awesome. You can leave comments here and check back daily; alternatively, you can like, and follow our facebook page, or you can subscribe to the feed (the feedburner link is in the sidebar) and receive updates via email. These projects are so much more interesting when we have fellow travelers!
Oh and by the way:
I am also beginning the process of slowly uploading the Invoking Ganesh project from 2007. This was one of my all time favorites, I still use the Ganesh mantra from time to time. It always seems to work for me, and I think it might be fun to use the power of Ganesh to help push on through to the end of 2017. So, stay tuned for that!
It’s Day One
If you want to change the world…
Our Rise and Shine project begins bright and early tomorrow morning, and I thought this would be a good time to review the amazing speech that triggered this project.
United States Navy admiral William H. McRaven delivers a powerful speech about the importance of doing the little things and embracing fear in life. Here’s the video:
Here’s A Transcript Of The Speech:
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you’ll never be able to do the big things right. If, by chance, you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made. That you made. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
To pass SEAL training, there are a series of long swims that must be completed. One is the night swim. Before the swim, the instructors joyfully brief the students on all the species of sharks that inhabit the waters off San Clemente. They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark. At least not that they can remember. But you are also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position, stand your ground. Do not swim away. Do not act afraid. If the shark, hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you, then summon up all your strength and punch him in the snout, and he will turn and swim away. There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim, you will have to deal with them. If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.
Over a few weeks of difficult training, my SEAL class, which started with 150 men, was down to just 42. There are now six boat crews of seven men each. I was in the boat with a tall guys, but the best boat crew we had was made up of little guys, the munchkin crew, we called them. No one was over five foot five. The munchkin boat crew had one American Indian, one African American, one Polish American, one Greek American, one Italian American, and two tough kids from the Midwest. The out-paddled, out-ran, and out-swam all the other boat crews. The big men in the other boat crews would always make good natured fun of the tiny, little flippers the munchkins put on their tiny, little feet prior to every swim. But somehow these little guys, from every corner of the nation in the world, always had the last laugh, swimming faster than everyone and reaching the shore long before the rest of us.
SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education, not your social status. If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not by the size of their flippers.
The ninth week of training is referred to as Hell Week. Is it six days of no sleep, constant mental and physical harassment, and one special day at the mud flats. The mud flats are an area between San Diego and Tijuana, where the water runs off and creates the Tijuana sloughs, a swampy patch of terrain where the mud will engulf you.
It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mud flats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing cold, the howling wind, and the incessant pressure to quit from the instructors. As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having committed some egregious infraction of the rules, was ordered into the mud. The mud consumed each man until there was nothing visible but our heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit. Only five men. Just five men and we could get out of the oppressive cold. Looking around the mud flat, it was apparent that some students were about to give up. There were still over eight hours until the sun came up. Eight more hours of bone-chilling cold. The chattering teeth and shivering moans of the trainees were so loud, it was hard to hear anything.
Then one voice began to echo through the night. One voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of tune, but sung with great enthusiasm. One voice became two. And two became three. And before long, everyone in the class was singing. The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing, but the singing persisted. And somehow, the mud seemed a little warmer, and the wind a little tamer, and the dawn not so far away.
If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power of one person. A Washington, a Lincoln, King, Mandela, and even the young girl from Pakistan, Malala. One person can change the world by giving people hope. So if you want to change the world, start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone. Know that life is not fair, that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up when the times are the toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden, and never, ever give up, if you do these things, the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today. And what started here will, indeed, have changed the world for the better.
Rise and Shine
At some point during our last project, I happened on to an inspirational speech by William H. McRaven. It’s called, Change The World, and the very first paragraph struck me as an ideal prospect for your next project.
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Make your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you’ll never be able to do the big things right. If, by chance, you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made. That you made. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
I thought how easy it might be… to simply make a commitment that I would begin each morning by making the bed.
I would love it if you would join me as I explore this idea. My plan is to find and post something simple every day, maybe some “wake up” memes, or quote. There might be some cute gifs on the subject of mornings. I’m calling this project “Rise and Shine” and it will begin on Oct 1st.
Already in the habit of making the bed, why not commit to another simple task? I would recommend that it be easy, and something that you could do every morning no matter what, so it’s probably best that it not take much time or effort. Ideally, the task would be visible and concrete, something you could see and enjoy at the end of a long day.
Living As If …
Our next project is due to begin today. The idea is to begin to live “as if” our lives were full of luxury, comfort, ease. We did find it to be true that What You Focus On Grows, so for the next 30 days, I thought it might be fun and interesting to focus on creating a home that feels, looks, and possibly even is luxurious, comfortable, beautiful, and rich.
So, for the next 30 days, we will be doing some home decorating centered around prosperity, wealth, luxury, comfort, and beauty.
Our project will be full of ideas for the following:
- Teas, brews, and beverages said to bring prosperity and attract wealth.
- Colors to surround yourself with.
- Simple and inexpensive DIY projects that give a luxurious feeling.
- Foods and recipes reputed to attract success and money.
- Incense, potpourri, and aromatherapy for prosperity.
- Ideas for banks, billfolds and purses.
- Turning your thrift store stuff into something beautiful and fine.
Sound interesting?
It occurs to me that it is important to have a soft place to land at the end of a hard day, that if we are surrounded by evidence of poverty, we will very easily fall into that flow of lack and discomfort. And, if we are living a luxurious life, surrounded by beauty, it’s so much easier to want the best for ourselves.
That being said, it also has to be affordable and within the realm of capability. So, my plan is to find inexpensive and easy ideas. I’m going to try to keep the budget under $10 for any given project. We may have to rely heavily of thrift store finds, recycling, free-cycling, and barter.
If you are interested in exploring these ideas and this concept with me, let’s get started now!
What do you want more of?
Welcome to day 1 of our newest project, What You Focus On Grows. I’m thinking that the best way to get started with this is to spend a little bit of time thinking about what it is that we WANT to grow in our lives. What do you want more of?
For me, the list looks like this:
- More cash floating around in my pockets and my purse.
- More time to work on the projects that I’m currently interested in.
- More time off work.
- More time to spend having adventures with my favorite people.
- More energy.
- More orderliness in my environment.
- More spiritual experiences.
- More peace of mind.
- More happiness.
- A deeper connection to the Powers that Be and the Earth herself.
- To feel stronger and healthier, and more alive.
What does the list look like for you?
Where is your energy focused?
Our next project is due to begin in 2 days, (July 1st) and I’ve decided that it might be interesting and informative to explore the following concepts:
- Where attention goes energy flows.
- What you focus on grows.
I first heard this idea way back in the day when I was deeply involved in Transcendental Meditation, and listening to lots of talks by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a new concept then, nor is it new today, and it does seem to have some truth to it.
For example:
You will notice where ever you put your intention, it will occupy a place in your mind/ thoughts. What you focus on has a tendency to grow in life. So today if you are brooding over your unhappy life situation, an unstable bank balance, a broken relationship or your ill health, the fact is, it will trigger a chain of similar thoughts leading to worry and unhappiness.
So what’s the project?
My idea is to spend the next 30 days taking a look at where it is that we are focusing our thoughts, and begin to work on consciously changing that focus so that we are paying attention to those things, situations, and circumstances that we WANT to flow into our experience of life.
The project is due to “officially” begin on July 1st. If you are interested in exploring these ideas and this concept with me, feel free to jump in at any time. I’d love to hear your experiences, insights, and ideas.
Let’s Get Started
Our Abundance Formula project starts bright and early tomorrow morning.
The project itself is a simple one. We will be listening to a money / prosperity / abundance / manifestation chant every day. That’s it. Very simple and easy. As the days go by, I will be posting a number of YouTube videos, along with audio clips, of various chants, and chats by Astarius. He is our guide and our Abundance Formula manufacturer.
I’ll be uploading a selection of MP3’s into a widget in the side bar. It should be easy to see. This will make it really easy to find and listen to the chant you like the best. Plus if you get tired of one, you can easily find another. I had hoped to get them all uploaded before the project got under way, but it doesn’t look like I’m going to be able to accomplish that… so the list will grow as the project progresses.
Instead of “setting a prosperity goal” this time, I thought it might be interesting to get a general picture of our lives as they are right now. It helps to be specific and visual, so here are some questions to get us started:
- Your life is a glass, your prosperity is the water… how full is your glass?
- Your bank account is a pie… is it mostly crumbs? or are there some pieces on that plate?
- If life is a journey, and a happy fulfilled life is your destination… what do you see ahead? Impassible mountains? A giant swamp? A well traveled path? Tracks in the mud? A stunning view? Quicksand? Home Sweet Home? What?
- Rate your average daily experience of your life from 1 to 10, 1 being it really really sucks and 10 being amazingly awesome.
Now that we’ve done this, we’ll be able to take a look back 30 days from now and see what changes may or may not have occurred. I am really looking forward to this one. I hope you are too.
As always, comments, experiences, and insights, are deeply appreciated.
Coming Up Soon
For our next project, we’ll be exploring the Abundance Formula, a money chant by Astarius Miraculii. I stumbled onto his unique style when I discovered his Spirit Rap on YouTube years ago. I wondered what kind of an effect it might have on my life if I listened to it every day, but I never did follow through.
As I was working on the website, moving old posts from blogger to their new homes here at shirleytwofeathers.com, I stumbled onto Spirit Rap again, and I wondered if it might be something viable for the Prosperity Project. When I explored his YouTube channel, I discovered that he also has quite a lot of chants and talks about prosperity, money, abundance, and wealth.
My idea is that we can listen to the money chant every day, and then go about our business. If we get tired of listening to the one, there are others as well, and I’m going to be installing a play list in the sidebar so we can pick and choose. Every day, I’ll share one of his videos, an MP3 if it’s available (for those of us without great WiFi), along with the text if it’s available.
I thought it would be fun to decorate our project with aboriginal art, and if I happen to find some interesting information about the Digeradoo along the way, I’ll be sharing that as well.
About Astarius
Astarius Miraculii is a dedicated spiritual teacher who has been serving and empowering the community for more than 40 years. He is a sound healer, astrologer, author, poet, reiki master teacher and ascension ambassador. His approach to sound healing is with the Didgeridoo and Vocal Harmonics. He has two books: “Miraculii Song of Ascension” and “Feast of the Zodiac”. He has also recorded 15 transformational CDs including the legendary “Spirit Rap”.
Astarius has been featured on radio, television and has done presentations and performances for schools, churches, correctional institutions and drug programs. His videos have been viewed on YouTube more than a half million times. He is the former head of the Transformational Reiki department at The South West Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe Arizona. Astarius’ passion is to bring out the best in human nature and he has given motivational talks, astrology readings and sound healings for thousands of people. His highest dedication is to the Intention of Ascension
Links:
- His website: Astarius.com
- YouTube channel: Astarius Miraculii
- Facebook page: Astarius Miraculii
Getting Started Is Everything
From Life Hacker, we have this article on getting started:
Nothing’s better than sinking your teeth into a satisfying after-hours side project—or what I guess most people may just call a hobby. But after 10 hours at work, it’s not always easy to muster the energy to switch off your TV and go to work on your project. The trick I use is simple, self-evident, and it works. Getting started is everything.
Here’s a scenario ripped from the headlines (of my life):
It’s a Wednesday night. I’m exhausted from a bad night of sleep and a long day of work. I’m hungry, so I make some food and eat while catching up on an episode of Fear The Walking Dead (which is relatively awful). I eat, I finish the episode, and suddenly all the momentum I’d planned to carry into working on my side project that night has seeped out of my pores, absorbed by couch cushions. Shit.
Shit.
Maybe, instead of working on my passion project, I should just keep catching up on Fear The Walking Dead, even though I’m not actually enjoying it! I’m already convinced that continuing on my current self-destructive downward spiral is the only option I’ve got the energy for, so this seems like the inevitable outcome of my night.
But damn it, I should really do some work. It’s not even work. It’s a hobby I enjoy—far more than I enjoy watching a show about zombies that’s actually a tedious soap opera that happens to occasionally have a zombie in it. And I know that tomorrow, I’ll absolutely regret that I spent hours watching people argue about how to be civilized when zombies want to eat you instead of actually making something.
At this point, I make a deal with myself that makes all the difference. I’ve finished eating, and I’ve finished the episode I watched with dinner. Instead of jumping into the next episode, I convince myself to spend ten minutes on my project. Just ten minutes. Enough time to accomplish one small task. Then, after that ten minutes is up, I can go back to zombies, guilt-free, if I so choose.
The beautiful thing is, I almost never do. Getting started is everything, and once I’ve accomplished one small task, I’m ready (and excited) to tackle another. And another. And that’s how, instead of wasting my night on TV that I’m not that into, I actually get something done.
It doesn’t always work that way, but it doesn’t have to. Even if all I did was ten minutes of work and then went back to zombies (which happens on occasion), I still knocked out one small task. But more often than not, finishing 10 minutes of work launches me into an enjoyable hour or two of progress. Better luck next time, zombies.
This isn’t a new idea by any means, but having successfully employed it recently, I felt like talking about it. If you’ve got your own tried and true method for getting to work when you’re not exactly excited bursting with energy or overflowing with excitement at the prospect, we’d love to hear it in the comments.
- Radical Self Care Project Overview by shirleytwofeathers - No Comment
- Radical Self Care Image Gallery by shirleytwofeathers - No Comment
- It’s A Wrap by shirleytwofeathers - 3 Comments
- Something To Consider by shirleytwofeathers - 1 Comment
- Nurturing Your Precious Self by shirleytwofeathers - 3 Comments
B. Joy Barrett: beautiful-turquoise-upholstered-accent-chair-for-living-room-with-within-colorful-accent-chairs-colorful-accent-chairs-transforms-the-look-of-a-room
Claudette Losier: Why Does It Work?
me: Make Your Own Violet Fire
Abdulrahman: Money Chant – Very Fast
Shirley Twofeathers: It’s A Wrap