Category: personal empowerment

Are You an Open-Minded Person? – Day 250 of 365 Days to a Better You

I did a recent poll on my Twitter and Facebook account asking if people consider themselves an open-minded person. Not surprisingly, the results came back with 78 percent of people claiming the open-minded mantle.

Being open-minded or seen to be open-minded is generally considered a positive trait in our society and one most people readily claim. You always get the person, when you ask a question like this, that quotes the old phrase, “Don’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out.” That aside, most want to be seen this way.

Here’s my question for you (and me) today. Are you truly open-minded?

The phrase is defined by Dictionary.com as “being open to new ideas, unprejudiced.” Merriam-Webster defines it as, “receptive to arguments or ideas.”

We human beings have a tendency to hold onto our cherished beliefs about the world against all facts. Are you truly open to ideas that might question your religious faith? Are you receptive to ideas that might change your political ideology? Do you really judge every idea on its merits and put aside previous biases?

The fact is no one does or probably can remain open-minded 100 percent of the time. We’d be shifting our paradigms by the moment as more information arrived and we’d find it hard to live our lives.

That said, it is useful to sincerely gauge your level of openness to new ideas. Do you really listen to new ideas or ideas that question your paradigms or do you immediately dismiss, attack, and become argumentative in defense of your cherished ideas? Do you really measure your beliefs against the bar of your current knowledge or do you hold onto them because “that’s what we’ve always believed?”

This leaves many of us with a kind of cognitive dissonance between how open we believe we are and how open we actually are?

Here’s my challenge to you against the backdrop of a culture deeply divided by paradigms with wide gulfs and little understanding. Can you push yourself a little bit more? Can you hear the other person out before you automatically decide you disagree? Can you facts-test your beliefs once in a while? Can you give a little ground on the idea that your side has the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

If you can do that and I can do that and enough people in our culture can do that, healing and more dialogue are possible. Change that serves everyone can be achieved.

No pressure, but this is one of those things that really starts with you. If you’re waiting for your proverbial “them” to be more open first, you may wait a long time. Someone has to show the glimmer of enlightenment. Let it be you and me!

Thank you SO MUCH for stopping by. I hope today’s post spoke to you. If so, please consider sharing it with a friend or two.

Have a great Friday!

Ray

Ray Davis is the founder of The Affirmation Spot. He’s been studying and practicing personal development for 30 years. He’s also studied many of the world’s spiritual traditions and mythologies.

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The Power of Thank You – Day 53 of 365 Days to a Better You

You can’t say thank you too much.

There are two extremely powerful words that serve as a ready source of recognition in any situation and remind you how blessed you really are in this life. Those two words are “Thank you”.

Do you say it enough? Do you take a moment to ensure that it’s sincere when you do say it?

I have a friend who does this constantly. He often makes a phone call or sends an e-mail for no other purpose than to say, “Thank you.” It’s never hurried and he’s always very present in the moment when he says it or writes it. That complete sense of sincerity comes across every time. When you are on the receiving end of it, you feel pretty darn good.

There are many things that other people do for you all day long that offer you an opportunity to say a sincere, “Thank you.” Who knows, those two words might really make a person’s day.

  • If you’re a manager, a simple, sincere thank you might be all the recognition you are able to give. Give it. The surprising thing is that a thank you is enough for many employees.
  • When you go through the check out line at the grocery store today, try looking the cashier squarely in the eye, smile, and say, “Thank you.” I’d be willing to bet you will be in a distinct minority and he or she will appreciate it and smile back.
  • The late Wayne Dyer used to rise each morning and just say a general thank you, thank you, thank you to the universe for another day to be alive.
  • Remember to use those two words regularly with your significant other and I guarantee it will bring you closer.
  • Use them as a differentiator in business. Many in the business world forget to say it these days.

The amazing thing about spreading these two little words all day long is that you receive a gift in return. By remembering to say, “Thank you,” you remind yourself how many things, large and small, you truly have to be thankful for.

Give it a try today. Set the goal of saying, “Thank you,” five, ten, or fifteen times depending on how many interactions you have with other people.

You’ll feel better and so will the other person.

Thank you to each of you for taking a moment out of your day to read this blog. The website continues to grow thanks to all of you! If you enjoy the blog and the affirmations, tell a friend about us!

Ray

Guys, I’m trying to build my YouTube channel in 2019. I’d sure appreciate it if you’d consider subscribing.

More reading:

Daily Motivator #22 – Playing the Hand Life Deals You

Releasing old frustration at the hand we were originally dealt in life allows us to play the hand we now have.

Changing No to Yes

yes_naysayersOne of the great misunderstandings of our moment is that so many people equate being against everything with being for something. Nothing could be further from the truth. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of treachery, violence, and manipulation to be against in this world.

We all have our fist-shaking moments, as we watch events unfold in this world to the detriment of the truth, justice, and true human freedom. It’s not enough, though.

Charting a brand new course for human destiny will require more than anger and the lazy thinking that says everything is a lie. It requires inspired, innovative thinking at level beyond what has gone before. It requires us to truly use the full potential of our minds Ir demands that we see a bigger picture until that picture grows too small and then to invent a still bigger picture.

The for-against push and pull is part of the system that keeps us trapped and mired our history to this point and it’s precisely what make us malleable to manipulation by events, the news, the government, and the forces who wish humankind ill.

Shake your fist, but don’t forget to work your mind and move your hands and feet toward a bigger future. Creative visions you can say YES to.

Keep seeking, my friends!

Ray

Ray Davis is the author of Anunnaki Awakening: Revelation – order your signed copy today at AATrilogy.com – founder of The Affirmation Spot and an advocate for the potential of the human race. He’s life-long history buff and holds a B.S. in History Education. He’s always been fascinated by alternative views of history.

anunnaki_cover_full_colorAnunnaki Awakening: Revelation is turning heads and opening minds. Humanity’s past is checkered, secret, and dangerous.

White House Correspondent Maria Love is on to the story of her life and with the help of an Anunnaki leaders seeks to unravel and reveal history’s biggest conspiracy. The Awakening has begun!

Keys to Success and Happiness

Today’s Affirmation:

“I enhance my happiness and success by making smart, positive choices about my life.”

Here are 16 things you can do right now to drastically enhance your happiness and success.

  1. Eat right
  2. Exercise
  3. Get enough rest
  4. meditate
  5. Be thankful
  6. Be enthusiastic
  7. Think positively
  8. Be patient
  9. Let go of fear and harmful attachments
  10. Engage life fully in this moment
  11. Choose happiness
  12. Accept what is
  13. Keep improving yourself
  14. Make people not things and tasks the priority
  15. Share your life and yourself with others
  16. Never, ever give up.

Remember that your world is created in your mind long before it becomes visible. You are the director of your life.

Make today a great day!

Peace…

Ray
Ray Davis is the Founder of The Affirmation Spot and focuses on empowering minds to think positively, achieve goals, and live dreams.

anunnaki_cover_full_colorCheckout Ray’s breakout speculative fiction novel, ”Anunnaki Awakening: Revelation (2015) White House correspondent, Maria Love, discovers a shocking secret about alien intervention in the distant human past. That discovery puts her on the path of an even more stunning revelation.

One reader wrote, “I’m loving the book. There’s only one problem. I was so into the story that I missed my bus stop.” Another reader emailed to say, “My mind is officially blown!”

Is it fact or is it fiction? You decide!