Wake Up for Life!

Wake Up Call! – Life-Shaping Stories

Robert V. Taylor — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 10:00:19 +0000

LIFE-SHAPING STORIES

The stories we tell shape our hearts and contour our journey.

I was once disappointed at my Dad for not being the kind of man I thought he could be. It was all about me! Then I began to pay attention to the stories I told about my dad and me.

Instead of choosing to hold on to disappointment, I chose to pay attention to what the stories reveal about him and our relationship.

Over the decades I receive new insights and wisdom from telling and retelling the same stories about the two of us. Perhaps it’s because I keep growing or that I’m open to new truths about our relationship.

The result is that disappointment has given way to gratitude for a man who was not raised to express his emotions but who made choices about being emotionally intimate in the best way he could. I’m hoping that my choices will be as expansive as his!

Call-to-Action:

Choose to pay attention to the stories that shape you
Be open to new insights that they reveal
Express gratitude for how they live in your heart space

Notice how your journey is contoured by the stories of your life and the oneness with others that they point to.

Share a life-shaping story here.

Just published! – Dad, Welcome as You Are

Check out – Reboot Your Life: How to make a New Habit Permanent

Is disillusionment a positive gift? – watch Robert’s TEDx Talk

Here are 3 Reasons to Share Your Story

A New Way to Be Human – available at Amazon, B&N and your local Indie book store.

Join Robert on Twitter and Facebook

©2013 Robert V. Taylor

Reboot Your Life in 21 Days

Robert V. Taylor — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:48:05 +0000

Robert V. Taylor

This blog appeared in Huffington Post June 10, 2013 and The Mindful Word on June 7, 2013.

Rebooting your life is a gift to yourself. It reconnects you with your spirit, the wisdom and joy that lives in you and the truths that ground your choices. It is a personal anti-virus program for you to be free of what distracts, disorients and keeps you from your best and highest good.

Rebooting is most successful when you commit to creating time and space on each of the 21 days to breathe and be present to yourself. Begin with two or three minutes on the first few days. Then allow yourself a five minute breathing time on the remaining days. Find a quiet place to listen to the breath flowing though you. Be still and open to the thoughts that are present. You job is to keep listening to your breath as each thought appears.

Day 1: Your magnificence is cause for thanksgiving. Name at least one quality about you that is magnificent. Savor and appreciate it. How will you let that quality be radiant in your life today?
Day 2: Your story reveals wisdom and spiritual truth. What part of your story nags at you for attention? Choose to listen for the invitation it presents you.
Day 3: Forgiveness is a learned path to freedom. What do you need to forgive in yourself or another person? Forgiveness is a choice to be free. It releases life-giving energy to be present to today and the future.
Day 4: Love needs to be named. Stand in front of a mirror looking at yourself and speak out loud something loveable about you. Celebrate it by sharing your new appreciation with another.
Day 5: Delight affects how you participate in your own life and the world. Chose to allow yourself to be delighted by something or someone today. Tell another person about your delight.
Day 6: Detach from a toxic person. You do neither of you a favor by allowing toxicity to invade and muddle your life. Detach and entrust them to the goodness and care of the Universe. It is a life-giving gift to both of you!
Day 7: Create a new conversation. Instead of allowing old conversations and hurts to keep playing in your heart and mind, make a choice to create a new one in which you welcome positive energy.
Day 8: Playfulness is a vital to your well-being. Do something playful today that makes you smile. Notice how it affects your experience of the rest of the day’s activities.
Day 9: Frustration closes you off from yourself and others. Pay attention to what frustrates you. Letting go of it allows you to be more fully engaged with what brings you alive.
Day 10: Trust your intuition – it is part of your positioning system. Respond to an intuitive reaction or thought today.
Day 11: A teacher awaits in your greatest failures. Invite awareness of what your greatest failures teach you about your values, hopes, purpose and joy. Express gratitude for the teacher within.
Day 12: Feasting with others is soul food to your life. Experience time today with another person as a feast with each other. Unplug your technology and relish being present with another.
Day 13: Acknowledge the fears that resurface in your life. They are an invitation to move beyond them. In going to the edge of your fear you discover what centers you. In the naming of the fears their power over you is loosened.
Day 14: Awe shifts your perception of time and your place in the world. Reflect on the things, people or places that fill you with awe. How will you choose to live with an intentional openness to awe today?
Day 15: Stop clutching! When you stop clutching at what you think you know you create an open and appreciative way of living. The Universe then surprises you with new invitations to life.
Day 16: Preoccupations are best dealt with by setting them aside. Allow the beauty of those you love to interrupt your preoccupations. Express your gratitude for such love in your life.
Day 17: You are hardwired for compassion. What act of compassion will you participate in today? Notice how each such act enriches your sense of self and your connection to the lives of others.
Day 18: You are made in the imagination of the Universe. Be awake to imagination alive in you, allowing it to become a new lens for how you engage challenges, other people and yourself. Celebrate it!
Day 19: Love needs your voice and heart. Express your love to someone you love today. Tell them one of the reasons you love them. Notice how your heart space and theirs becomes more richly intertwined.
Day 20: Your goodness helps to polish the world. What will you do today to polish the world – perhaps an act of mercy, kindness, love or playful delight? The energy of your goodness is life-changing.
Day 21: Celebrate and express gratitude! For your well-being and the blessings given and received in your generosity of spirit and heart.

Notice the choices you have made in Rebooting Your Life in 21 Days. Be aware of how more fully enlivened and alive you are. Because your life is always about more than only you choose a trusted friend or mentor to share your new insights and learning’s with. Rebooting is your spiritual and wisdom gift to yourself.

What tools have you used to reboot your life? Post your responses below or on the Huffington Post site or www.themindfulword.org

Wake Up Call! – Rebooting Life

Robert V. Taylor — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 10:00:29 +0000

REBOOTING LIFE

Rebooting my life is a reminder to let go of the urgent and trust what is important.

There have been times in my life when I’ve been running on empty. The telltale signs have been focusing on the urgent, feeling like I need to just keep going, a lack of creativity and a combination of irritability and tiredness.

In those moments I can choose to simply keep on going or instead pay attention to my lackluster spirit.

I’ve chosen to view those times as an invitation to reboot my life by paying attention to my breath and that which is important to re-balancing my life.

The result has always been a renewed appreciation for the many faces of love and compassion within me and surrounding me. A greater generosity of spirit and heart helps me to navigate each day.

Call-to-Action:

When you’re running on empty:

Create time to breathe
Use practices that reconnect you with your spirit
Know that a new normal of a more generous spirit and heart beckons you

Notice how rebooting your life reengages you as an active participant in your own life and the world around you.

Share a story about rebooting your life here.

Check out – Reboot Your Life: How to make a New Habit Permanent

Is disillusionment a positive gift? – watch Robert’s TEDx Talk

Here are 3 Reasons to Share Your Story

A New Way to Be Human – available at Amazon, B&N and your local Indie book store.

Join Robert on Twitter and Facebook

©2013 Robert V. Taylor

Religious Crusade Against Boy Scouts?

Robert V. Taylor — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 21:04:34 +0000

Robert V. Taylor

This opinion piece was first published in Huffington Post, May 31, 2013

The controversy over the Boy Scouts welcoming gay youth is being fueled by religious purveyors of judgment and condemnation. Ironically it is the Boy Scout values of compassion and respect that reflect a more generous spirit of inclusion.

I am no fan of the decision to allow gay youth to be members of Boy Scout troops while disallowing the leadership and service of adults who happen to be gay. It is a disingenuous double standard. However, the decision of the Boy Scouts looks enlightened when compared to the religious and cultural war that some religious leaders and institutions are trying to wage on scouting and gay youth.

Earnest Easley, a Southern Baptist pastor and chair of his denomination’s executive committee, is one of these warriors according to USA Today. Claiming that homosexuality is a sin and using spurious cut and paste theology to support a prejudice against LGBT people, a self-righteous crusade has been launched to sever ties between faith based groups and the Scout troops that they sponsor.

Sadly this is a re-run of old scripts in which religious texts have been used to support slavery, the denigration of women, the denial of civil rights and anti-immigrant fervor. Whatever happened to the more robust core values of love and justice?

In fairness, the warriors like Earnest Easley, do not speak for all religious institutions or leaders. Mike Schuenemeyer of the United Church of Christ is quoted in the USA Today article saying that the new Boy Scout policy will lead his organization to more actively promote sponsorship of scouting troops across the country.

The new assaults on the Boy Scouts and gay youth are at best mean-spirited and reveal a stunning lack of love and compassion. At worst they trifle with the lives of young people and their families as they struggle with questions of sexual identity.

As a young Scout I lived with the fear of anyone discovering that I was struggling with what it meant to be gay. My love of Scouting and my own worth as a human being seemed destined to be in conflict. While I survived those struggles far too many gay youth choose to commit suicide. The messages of condemnation and hatred being reinforced by religious warriors have an impact on those young people and fuel the bullying and violence directed toward them.

Data from the Pew Research Center reveals that 70 percent of Millennial’s (those between eighteen and thirty-two years old) support same-gender marriage. They reject the rationale of the battles being played out over the Boy Scouts’ policy shift.

Pew data also reveals that 25 percent of Millennial’s reject any formal religious affiliation. Among the reasons given are religion’s perceived obsession with judgmental orthodoxies and exclusion.

Those waging war on the Boy Scouts and gay youth may appeal to their own narrow base but their chosen battle is designed to reinforce the views of a significant number of young people who choose a more generous and inclusive way of life for all.

Ironically the core values of the Boy Scouts offer a more humane and spiritual approach to the storm in a teacup over gay scouts.

Those values are about compassion and respect. The Boy Scouts shine a light on being kind and considerate to others and working for the well-being of all. They emphasize showing regard for the worth of something or someone. Those core values offer respect and compassion without qualification.

I’d support those values and the decision of the Boy Scouts over the religious warriors — any day!

Add your comments below or directly on the Huffington Post blog site

Wake Up Call! – Step Back in Love

Robert V. Taylor — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 10:00:25 +0000

STEP BACK IN LOVE

Stepping back from trying to control another person is liberating for both of you!

I was certain that my friend would regret the decisions he was making about avoiding his sister in a time of crisis. I was invested in wanting to prevent this train wreck in their relationship.

I could have chosen to continue my efforts but instead chose to love him by stepping back.

My friend did regret the choices he made but he and his sister are discovering new authenticity with one another.

The result was a reminder that to step back and let go of “knowing best” is a choice of loving freedom. I can only be responsible for the choices I make. The life-draining energy of imagining I can control another person’s choices deflects both of us. New heart space opens up when I step back.

Call-to-Action:

When you are focused on directing the choices of another:

Step back and offer your control to the Universe
Choose to wish for the well-being of the other person in love
Be present to the only life you can control by paying attention to your choices

Notice how stepping back in love frees both of you to focus on your own well-being that the Universe longs for.

Share a story about stepping back in love here.

Have your disillusionment’s been a positive disrupting gift? – watch Robert’s TEDx Talk

3 Reasons to Share Your Story – an opinion piece by Robert

A New Way to Be Human – available at Amazon, B&N and your local Indie book store.

Join Robert on Twitter and Facebook

©2013 Robert V. Taylor

Wake Up Call! – Taken for Granted?

Robert V. Taylor — Sun, 26 May 2013 10:00:04 +0000

TAKEN FOR GRANTED

When I stop taking ordinary things for granted I discover awe and wonder in them.

Driving through rural Eastern Washington with my visiting cousin she pointed to one of many barns we had passed, expressing her wonder at their beauty. “I suppose you take them for granted” she said.

More than just a comment, her words were received as a gift.

I wondered what things I take for granted and how doing so dulls my experience of being alive.

The result has been a reawakening of being present to my surroundings. I invite myself each day to notice and appreciate something around me. I’ve discovered a renewed sense of awe and wonder about ordinary things like barns, my IPad and a neighbor’s flower pots. What will I not take for granted today?

Call-to-Action:

In seeing beyond what you might take for granted:

Notice and appreciate the ordinary things around you

Express gratitude for how they are part of the circle of life

Allow yourself to enter into the wonder and awe they invite

Notice how being awake to the seemingly ordinary things of life shifts your connection to the world around you.

Share a story about seeing beyond something you have taken for granted here.

3 Reasons to Share Your Story – an opinion piece by Robert

Cultivate Compassion in your life – watch Robert speak at Stanford on cultivating a life of compassion every day

A New Way to Be Human – available at Amazon, B&N and your local Indie book store.

Join Robert on Twitter and Facebook

©2013 Robert V. Taylor

Wake Up Call! – Safe Wise Guides

Robert V. Taylor — Sun, 19 May 2013 10:00:44 +0000

CHOOSING SAFE WISE GUIDES

Choosing safe and wise guides on the journey of life is a path of wisdom.

It’s been a recurring question recently – “How do I find a safe guide along my journey?” As audience members ask the question I’ve been reminded of the blessings I have received from trusted guides along my path.

I’ve chosen to trust my intuitive response to prospective guides along with finding out about their agenda.

Knowing I will be safe in the fullness of my story is possible with a wise person who is generously authentic. Those who have named my hubris or fears have gained my attention and respect. Generosity of spirit, an ability to laugh and an expansive heart have marked my wise spiritual guides.

The result has been a life of unexpected insights from those who have been midwifes of expanding my heart, compassion and authenticity. I’m filled with gratitude for them!

Call-to-Action:

In choosing a wise guide:

Be aware of what growth you are searching for
Be awake to the possibilities of those who present themselves to you
Ask questions that allow you to both be authentically engaged

Notice how a wise and safe guide points you to new and expansive life.

Share a story about a wise guide here.

3 Reasons to Share Your Story – an opinion piece by Robert

Cultivate Compassion in your life – watch Robert speak at Stanford on cultivating a life of compassion every day

A New Way to Be Human – available at Amazon, B&N and your local Indie book store.

Join Robert on Twitter and Facebook

Wake Up Call! – Welcoming Simple Joys

Robert V. Taylor — Sun, 12 May 2013 10:00:15 +0000

WELCOMING SIMPLE JOYS

Welcoming simple joys in the bustle of my day creates life-giving energy.

I woke up a few days ago thinking about my work schedule and preparing for a house full of guests. I was feeling stressed. Taking my coffee outside I noticed the Peonies about to bloom and listened to the birds singing. Welcoming these simple joys shifted my approach to the day.

Instead of living into the stress of the day I was choosing to be awake to the joy around me.

The stress remained real but its significance shifted as the urgency of the present was diminished by the magnificence of the importance of simple joys.

The result is a reminder of how easy it is to allow negative energy to brood over a day. The simple joys make my heart sing with gratitude for the life-giving energy they invite me into.

Call-to-Action:

Choose to welcome simple joys:

Be awake to them around you
Embrace the life-giving energy they invite

Notice how the rhythm of your day shifts as stress and busyness are balanced by the simple joys.

Share a story about welcoming simple joys here.

3 Reasons to Share Your Story – an opinion piece by Robert

Cultivate Compassion in your life – watch Robert speak at Stanford on cultivating a life of compassion every day

A New Way to Be Human – available at Amazon, B&N and your local Indie book store.

Join Robert on Twitter and Facebook

Cultivate Compassion Every Day!

Robert V. Taylor — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:45:35 +0000

We are hard wired for compassion.

Aware and awake to cultivating compassion in our daily lives is a choice.

The compassion choice shifts the energy of how we experience each day.

The Universe longs for our acts and words of compassion

Watch Robert on YouTube at Stanford University sharing his insights on expanding compassion every day - Conversations on Compassion with Robert V. Taylor

Post your comments below on the video or else post directly on YouTube

Wake Up Call! – Getting to do something?

Robert V. Taylor — Sun, 05 May 2013 10:00:34 +0000

GETTING TO DO SOMETHING?

When I choose to celebrate what I “get to do” versus what I “have to do” my energy is different.

It was unexpected – my spouse and I were going to have twelve friends over for dinner. With twenty four hours’ notice my previously planned activities were upended. I caught myself saying, “Now I’m going to have to plan a menu and we’re going to have to shop and cook.”

Was this how I wanted to approach a rare opportunity to enjoy this grouping of friends together at our home?

Instead of “having” to do anything I reflected on how fortunate and blessed I was to “get to” prepare for our unexpected feast. This shift allowed me to anticipate our shared meal and feel blessed to get to do such things.

Call-to-Action:

In approaching daily tasks:

Ask how fortunate you are to “get to” do the simplest of things
For the things you “have to” do consider their importance to your humanity
Give thanks for the things you “get to” do and the people they involve

Wake Up for Life!

Wake Up Call! – Life-Shaping Stories

LIFE-SHAPING STORIES

The stories we tell shape our hearts and contour our journey.

I was once disappointed at my Dad for not being the kind of man I thought he could be. It was all about me! Then I began to pay attention to the stories I told about my dad and me.

Instead of choosing to hold on to disappointment, I chose to pay attention to what the stories reveal about him and our relationship.

Over the decades I receive new insights and wisdom from telling and retelling the same stories about the two of us. Perhaps it’s because I keep growing or that I’m open to new truths about our relationship.

The result is that disappointment has given way to gratitude for a man who was not raised to express his emotions but who made choices about being emotionally intimate in the best way he could. I’m hoping that my choices will be as expansive as his!

Call-to-Action:

Choose to pay attention to the stories that shape you

Be open to new insights that they reveal

Express gratitude for how they live in your heart space

Notice how your journey is contoured by the stories of your life and the oneness with others that they point to.

Share a life-shaping story here.

Just published! – Dad, Welcome as You Are

Check out – Reboot Your Life: How to make a New Habit Permanent

Is disillusionment a positive gift? – watch Robert’s TEDx Talk

Here are 3 Reasons to Share Your Story

A New Way to Be Human – available at Amazon, B&N and your local Indie book store.

Join Robert on Twitter and Facebook

©2013 Robert V. Taylor

Reboot Your Life in 21 Days

Wake Up Call! – Rebooting Life

REBOOTING LIFE

Rebooting my life is a reminder to let go of the urgent and trust what is important.

There have been times in my life when I’ve been running on empty. The telltale signs have been focusing on the urgent, feeling like I need to just keep going, a lack of creativity and a combination of irritability and tiredness.

In those moments I can choose to simply keep on going or instead pay attention to my lackluster spirit.

I’ve chosen to view those times as an invitation to reboot my life by paying attention to my breath and that which is important to re-balancing my life.

The result has always been a renewed appreciation for the many faces of love and compassion within me and surrounding me. A greater generosity of spirit and heart helps me to navigate each day.

Call-to-Action:

When you’re running on empty:

Create time to breathe

Use practices that reconnect you with your spirit

Know that a new normal of a more generous spirit and heart beckons you

Notice how rebooting your life reengages you as an active participant in your own life and the world around you.

Share a story about rebooting your life here.

Check out – Reboot Your Life: How to make a New Habit Permanent

Is disillusionment a positive gift? – watch Robert’s TEDx Talk

Here are 3 Reasons to Share Your Story

A New Way to Be Human – available at Amazon, B&N and your local Indie book store.

Join Robert on Twitter and Facebook

©2013 Robert V. Taylor

Religious Crusade Against Boy Scouts?

Wake Up Call! – Step Back in Love

STEP BACK IN LOVE

Stepping back from trying to control another person is liberating for both of you!

I was certain that my friend would regret the decisions he was making about avoiding his sister in a time of crisis. I was invested in wanting to prevent this train wreck in their relationship.

I could have chosen to continue my efforts but instead chose to love him by stepping back.

My friend did regret the choices he made but he and his sister are discovering new authenticity with one another.

Call-to-Action:

When you are focused on directing the choices of another:

Step back and offer your control to the Universe

Choose to wish for the well-being of the other person in love

Be present to the only life you can control by paying attention to your choices

Notice how stepping back in love frees both of you to focus on your own well-being that the Universe longs for.

Share a story about stepping back in love here.

Have your disillusionment’s been a positive disrupting gift? – watch Robert’s TEDx Talk

3 Reasons to Share Your Story – an opinion piece by Robert

A New Way to Be Human – available at Amazon, B&N and your local Indie book store.

Join Robert on Twitter and Facebook

©2013 Robert V. Taylor

Wake Up Call! – Taken for Granted?

TAKEN FOR GRANTED

When I stop taking ordinary things for granted I discover awe and wonder in them.

Driving through rural Eastern Washington with my visiting cousin she pointed to one of many barns we had passed, expressing her wonder at their beauty. “I suppose you take them for granted” she said.

More than just a comment, her words were received as a gift.

I wondered what things I take for granted and how doing so dulls my experience of being alive.

Call-to-Action:

In seeing beyond what you might take for granted:

Notice and appreciate the ordinary things around you

Express gratitude for how they are part of the circle of life

Allow yourself to enter into the wonder and awe they invite

Notice how being awake to the seemingly ordinary things of life shifts your connection to the world around you.

Share a story about seeing beyond something you have taken for granted here.

3 Reasons to Share Your Story – an opinion piece by Robert

Cultivate Compassion in your life – watch Robert speak at Stanford on cultivating a life of compassion every day

A New Way to Be Human – available at Amazon, B&N and your local Indie book store.

Join Robert on Twitter and Facebook

©2013 Robert V. Taylor

Wake Up Call! – Safe Wise Guides