Seven Simple Exercises to Invite the Extraordinary Life

[Guest guest]

I do believe this ranks right up there with the BEST I've read!!!

Enjoy ~

Seven Simple Exercises to Invite the Extraordinary Life

By Guy Finley

I can think of no greater encouragement than the self-evident Truth

that there dwells in each of us the opportunity to explore and know

the Extraordinary Life. The meaning of Extraordinary I wish to

convey points to the immutable and inexhaustible source that is the

secret center of each of us: a timeless resource open and available

to anyone who would seek this Life that sits behind life as we know

it. Will we spend our lives in mere dreams of winning a limitless

life, or will we do the inner- work of awakening from this dream?

Choosing the Extraordinary Life begins with our conscious work to

realize it, which the following special practices help to ensure.

1. Let Nagging Questions Go Unanswered: In stressful moments, listen

to what life is trying to tell you about you instead of searching

anxiously for familiar answers to make life feel " right " again. All

fearful, doubt-filled moments are secret reflections of what we have

yet to understand about life and ourselves, not life's rejection of

us or our wish for happiness. Choose to go consciously quiet

whenever there is a riot in you. Refuse to take part in the search

to repair what you fear may be coming undone. Let go and watch what

happens when you consciously sacrifice the fear-filled self. This

new action allows the Extraordinary Life to enter into you where its

presence alone proves that all is well.

2. Don't Make the Rescue Call: In times of anxiety and fear, we

almost always call upon someone or something to help us get through

our stress. This dependency on others for strength not only weakens

our soul, but also steals from it the possibility of being educated

by the Extraordinary Life, which means we miss two major lessons.

First, the crucial lesson that all our fears are based upon false

evidence that appears real. With this revelation comes our second

realization that the same frightened self that seeks rescue secretly

confirms its imagined condition as being real each time it cries out

for help. Refusing to rescue ourselves from inner states that scare

us invites the Extraordinary Life that shows us that no such scared

self exists that needs saving.

3. Take the Hard Way: Rut and routine are two sides of the same sad

street. Repetitive patterns are the well-worn pavement that our

spiritually asleep self loves to tread while it talks us to death

with its empty promises of extraordinary times " just ahead. " We can

learn to do much better let ourselves be betrayed in this way, but

it takes inner work! Instead of caving into the demands of those

slipshod parts of ourselves always looking for the easy way out, we

must choose in favor of what our false nature wants us to see as

being the " hard " way. But it's not. In fact, once we learn that the

only real way out of what we would rather avoid is to go through it,

we discover another self-liberating truth: the only thing that's

hard on us is when we allow our unenlightened nature to convince us

that getting around something is the same as rising above it.

4. Do the Thing You Fear Doing: There is a correct time and place

for thinking through practical plans in the ordinary scheme of

life's events. But nothing that is founded in thought can serve to

reveal the unthinkable plans that the Extraordinary holds in store

for anyone willing to leap into the moment without a parachute.

Never mind those old fears of falling. Just jump! Being willing to

risk failing is a prerequisite for fearless living. If you will take

the leap into what you are afraid of doing, the Extraordinary Life

will prove to you that Its unshakable ground is everywhere beneath

you at all times. Nothing compares with this discovery because, once

realized, there's nowhere to go but up! A note of caution: taking a

spiritual leap is far different from taking a reckless physical

risk. Never risk the well being of your physical body for the sake

of a passing thrill: for what is possible to attain with a body,

cannot be without one. The temporary rush of adrenalin has nothing

in common with one's awakening to the reality of a timeless,

fearless life.

5. Take Time Out from Yourself Every Day: Unseen by the self that

walks upon it, thought is a treadmill powered by the movement of our

yesterdays as they produce our tomorrows. This is the real meaning

of " doing time. " The domain of the Extraordinary Life is Timeless.

To share Its life, we must enter into Its world. Here is a good way

to begin this Work: Every day, as often as can be remembered, chose

to break out of that gilded, but self-confining cage

called " thinking about yourself. " We live under the power of these

unconscious ponderings, for when they turn dark and stormy, it is we

who are left out in the cold. Even if we can only collect ourselves

to meditate, pray or contemplate a Higher Idea for a few minutes at

a time, we must do it anyway. These small windows -- opened by our

work to remember the Extraordinary Life -- grant us passage into its

timeless domain.

6. Open Yourself to Life: Dare to see and experience yourself as you

are without giving names to all the varied emotional sensations that

present themselves before your watchful inner eyes. Allow the

meaning of whatever states you see coming up in you to reveal their

actual nature to you. Resist the temptation to interrupt their

upwelling by explaining to yourself what you are experiencing. Have

no intention toward these thoughts and feelings other than to be

open to them and, in doing so, to permit them their uninterrupted

passage through you. Why open up to life in this way? For one thing,

this gives negative states the back door they need to depart. For

another, the Extraordinary Life is very possessive. It will not

enter any zone marked " occupied. "

7. Make No Campsites: The Extraordinary Life visits individuals, not

groups or organizations. It strengthens the soul willing to be alone

for its sake. Keep your distance from people who insist that you

believe as they do, who hope to convince you that the reality they

have satisfied themselves with should satisfy you as well. These

deceivers want only to keep you in their unreal camp. Never mind who

is walking with you and who isn't. Be wary of any campsite -- inner

or outer -- with its bright " welcome weary traveler " sign. Most of

these campers desire your company so that they can forget they are

going nowhere. Walk on! Your persistence is an open invitation to

the Extraordinary Life to show you the Way back home.

-----

Guy Finley is the acclaimed author of more than 30 books and audio

programs on the subject of self-realization, several of which have

become international best sellers. His popular works, published in

16 languages, are widely endorsed by doctors, professionals, and

religious leaders of all denominations. Among many others, his

popular titles include: The Secret of Letting Go, Design Your

Destiny, The Lost Secrets of Prayer, Apprentice of the Heart, and

Let Go and Live in the Now.

To learn more about the work of Guy Finley and his non-profit Life

of Learning Foundation, visit http://www.guyfinley.org for a wealth

of free helpful information, free audio and video downloads, and to

request your FREE Self-Improvement Starter Kit.

Much love to you,

http://www.myspace.com/rarebreeze

http://www.myspace.com/asundayinjune

http://www.myspace.com/dnjazz

http://www.intentionalone.com

http://intentionalone.com/yabb/YaBB.pl

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

" Breathe deep, walk slow, hold tight to those you love, for the sun

is setting and it will be over so fast. "

-- Ken Pierpont