If a thing doesn't bring us peace, do we need it? If it jeapordizes our joy, would we want it? What if our dream designs a space in which we are free to be and to become whatever that freedom comports for us, provided it is in resonance with our vast, musical, mystifying, discoverable universe?
Welcome to An Epic Life (Intro).
For epic we will need balance, focus, and rhythm - three pivotal actions that are exponentially transformative.
At every level, whether we are in pursuit or progressing, at the core of balance, focus and rhythm is a network of relationships forging two ubiquitous keys to an epic life.
Yes, this needs unpacking.
Right now, were you to lose balance, focus or rhythm, you will be flung out of sorts. You will not function at your level best. You will know something is wrong. You may become frustrated. You may eventually slide down a rabbit hole into a rut and disintegrate.
Not good!
When our academy members slip out of sorts they hone in on the dysfunction, and often find the fix, by posing three simple questions: is something out of balance; have we lost focus; is our rhythm topsy-turvy?
The better our understanding of how balance, focus and rhythm relate to wellbeing (i.e., outstanding, ordinary, or precarious) and of their impact on pursuit (i.e., process, practice or progress), the clearer our ecosystem - the everydayness of life - appears.
With these tools we are equipped, as it were, with a searchlight, a looking glass, and an access key which works like a charm when needed. It is a 'miracle' that is every bit the result of harmony.
The invisible architect structuring it all - that puts it together continually - that builds, repairs, redesigns or delapidates our house - LIFE - offers us a second key. Yep. This is awesome. Grab something useful. Unpacking has just begun.
When we know better we are in an informed state to do better, for we have agency; the choice becomes ours. We explored this in our previous episode. For emphasis here, let's establish two things:
Growth is valuable!
Owning your worth is invaluableI
Whereever there is growth there is a state of change. Change is essential to growth. Growth implies change. Expansion. Change can also be a bugbear to established relationships whenever mechanisms of sound relationships (balance, focus, rhythm) do not adapt to remain in harmony with growth. Out of sync things go wobbly.
Not good.
Rhythm, for example, operates at different levels. Two things can have similar rhythms while operating at different levels regardless of the type of relationship (inter-self, inter-personal, social, spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional) it is. In sync is good. You can expand and stay in sync.
Fruitful growth is good. Bad growth is unhelpful.
A tree loses leaves. Compost! A tree unwilling to let go of finished leaves will sooner be compost too. This maps similar for a human in the throes of change. Here, a human's choices are as clear as the rising sun. Accept. Adapt. Alter. Exit. Or suffer.
Epic is grand. Epic is adventurous. Epic is heroic. Epic is legendary. Epic is beautiful. "Beauty begins the moment you begin to be yourself." Beauty is sustained by the habits it thrives on. Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life. "If you have habits that work for you, you are much more likely to be happier, healthier and more productive. If you have habits that don't work for you it's really going to drag you down." Even so, humans have an override, but it is manual. Life thrives through a system of seasons (cycles), all of which are inescapably collaborative. Humans influence life. Our environment influences life. Relationships influence life. Humans, environments and relationships are irrevocably interactive. This interactivity produces the forces of epic. We are unpacking.
Embrace AUTHENTICExperiences.
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." _ Ralph Waldo Emmerson
There is who we think we need to be and there is who we really are. Knowing who we really are positions us ideally to progress to who we purpose ourself to be. You being the best you the way you became you is not a recipe guaranteeing some other person using it will by it become the best version of that self nor through it become a copy of you.
Be who you are. Let your light shine. Others may see in you what they need or desire, and be able to discover how to create a wonderful health-promoting leverage suitable for their own rise. No one has carte blanche an obligation to impose their preferred mechanisms of awesomeness upon others. That is the path of a demogogue, a dictator, a narcisstic delusionist. And that is a destructive environment.
Our world - this blue planet - belongs to each and all of us. From this vantage discourse is functionally useful. Debate is functionally useful. Dissent is functionally useful. Demagoguery is not. That evidence is strewn everywhere. So how do we accomodate this marvelous diversity? Our universe provides excellent clues.
ELEVATE - ELEVATE - ELEVATE
I AM because YOU ARE YOU ARE because I AM
Welcome to SEASON EIGHT, 'Intro to An Epic Life' - versatile keys - curated by Neville DeAngelou. During this episode we are introducing the three pivotal life-enhancing actions we are exploring: balance, focus and rhythm; the essential roles these play in the creation of an epic life; and how in collaboration they accomplish this.
We are a peculiar people, you and I, intricately interwoven (internally, externally), marvelously made, unique, inventive, rich, exquisitely versatile.
So, who am I?
Who are you?
When you called to mind the YOU that you are, who arrived? Is that you the physical you, the spiritual you, the intellectual you, the emotional you, the social you, the global you, the ancestral you, the play-time you, the business you, the sexual you? Which of these is actually you? Whose heart is beating? Who is beating your heart? Who is breathing? Who are you?
Your response, your belief (or lack there of) of who you accept yourself to be, has huge ramifications. This is a good time to settle the question. You may, by chance, end up leaving today's voluntary exercise a different YOU.
Let's discover.
Lots of wonder-beings throughout history have explored this question and delivered their findings.
"To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom." "Know thyself, thy evil as thy good, and flattery shall not harm thee; yea, her speech shall be a warning, a humbling, and a guide. For wherein thou lackest most, there chiefly will the sycophant commend thee." "The most difficult thing in life is to know yourself." "Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else."
Hmmm?
Let's turn to the central themes of our exploration: balance, rhythm, focus. For this exercise grab the you you're best acquainted or comfortable with, whether that is the physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, or - you got it!
1. Whoever you are, when you are in balance, what is that state?
Describe exactly what your balanced state is in real terms. (You are encouraged to write that down / journal it / reference it).
a) you are now aware that this is your neutral, or you are being alerted that you've described your neutral [below 'neutral'- not so good - there is a sinking feeling; above 'neutral' - your stress level rises)
b) experience your neutral (your actual balance)
c) settle into it; know it
d) Ahhhhhh.
(You're likely in due course to decide to adjust your neutral, once you know how, but that is not this exercise.)
2. Everything on earth has a natural rhythm. You have a natural rhythm. You'd want to be conscious of your natural rhythm. What is your natural rhythm? (You are encouraged to write that down / journal it / reference it).
a) let's, for example, say you're aware of your natural rhythm walking; let's say you have a dog and you walk your dog and you recognize that you and your dog do not have the same rhythm; there is a constant pull and tug between you; then you have a sense of your walking rhythm: somewhere beyond it you are running; somewhere below it you feel pressed upon, and below that you are standing; (this is one example of a rhythm) but your current task is to identify the natural rhythm of YOU.
b) be intimately aware of this rhythm (know it)
c) settle into full acceptance of your natural rhythm
d) be grateful you know it; your appreciation of life is about to alter appreciatively
(Yes, it is true; if you don't yet know the YOU that is you; this exercise is only in relation to the you you've brought into the room. Yes, it may very well be that if you were to fetch a different you then that rhythm will be different. So do that too. You want to know the rhythm of them all - until they are all ONE - then voila, you've uncovered the real YOU. Spectacular. Let the music play on.)
3. You do know when some thing is in focus and when something is out of focus. In that sense, focus is unique to an individual. 1) Describe you when you are in focus, i.e., who/what is visible? 2) Describe your focus, i.e., what is your focused state?
a) to focus is to be present; is to be conscious; is to be centered (note: there is inward centeredness and there is outward centeredness)
b) your environment impacts your focus
c) settle into a keen awareness of you in focus & and you focused
d) practice
As a sample, once you recognize the role environment plays in who you are, what you do, and how you do it, you will begin to appreciate its relative impact on decision-making. "Your focus determines your reality."
Take it step by step. Whatever happens, the sun will rise. Take a deep breath. Whatever happens, the sun will rise.
small steps - huge difference
We are WIDE OPEN wholly responsible for making our world a better place.
Today's pivot QUESTION: you've been plucked, gracefully, from where you are and lifted into an amazing place you approve of, where everything weighing you down or that has troubled you or causes you to devalue yourself or delays you in anyway is promptly removed - miraculously - gone - you are completely new while remaining fully enriched (all of your valued experiences and learnings and wisdom are in tack); and in that altered state you are advised (inspirationally so) to picture your new life - a life worth living hence forward - experienced just as you'd prefer it to be recorded and left for all eternity, and you picture this life that is worth your living - hold that picture - for you are then brought gently to where you are right now, and here you are, fresh and totally new:
should you consider yourself, your activity, or your contribution, to be a seed, what kind of seed is it; are your mechanisms suitable for the state (nature) ofyour seed; is the seed suited to the state of your environment?
* * *
TAKE ACTION
We model what to want.
"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny." _ Mohandas Gandhi
Why not examine your life from a different angle?
As much as is affordable for matters that matter, afford yourself a 360 degree view. You may find this of great value in ways you had not imagined nor known to account for. It is highly probable you will also encounter awesome insights that are of no relevance to who you are or what you are about, and that you will make observations you are ill-equipped to comprehend. It is highly likely you will encounter delightful delusions, and disconcerting illusions, and lots of bs disguised as helpful secrets. It may very well not be incumbent upon you to contest or combat any of these, but they will inform you, and will assuredly put upon you the onus to be ever more discerning and to be ever smarter with your decisions and clearer with your intentions, for all in all these will profitably test your faith and mirror your trust, and render you that much better. As much as is affordable for matters that matter, afford yourself a 360 degree view.
Our RyoLearn VIP Vault, brilliantly designed and conveniently styled with awesome contributions from around the globe, is now unlocked, freely available to you. Click. Peruse. Take. Use. Share. We can choose to renew our minds.
ACTIONS REQUIRED
Potentiality
"An infinity of forests lies dormant in the dream of an accorn."
Learn how to behave in the most fuctional ways to achieve your goals.
Remember: it is YOUR LIFE; only you can live it. Regardless, you do not walk alone, and the sun will rise. Caught amidst the crisscrossing of crowds along your journey where many may habitually conflate or mistake or confuse the bottle for its medicine, the pot for its food, the pipe for its water, you may be excused for feeling you know better therefore you will do better, yet still be blissfully unware that such habits as detailed are a mind-creep, unaware you may be already mistaking music for radio. Even so, it proves wise to be ever aware: this is your life, ONLY YOU can live it. Living is pocked with contradictions and conspiracies, and sometimes it is grace that takes us through. Find your balance. Find your rhythm. Find your focus. Flourish.
A sensible lifestyle.
Take Action
"Know what you own. Understand what you claim. Believe you can achieve what you conceive then call it by its name. Mine! The extent to which you have this clarity of mind, this purity of understanding, this strength of belief, you have the fire, the fuel, the impetus, the passion, the determination, the willpower you require to pursue and retrieve your truest desire. But do not claim what does not belong to you. It will not keep you . . . it will suffer you but for only so long."
You are valued. You are important. What you experience is important. Your intention matters. You are a whole being. You are a true wonder. You diminish yourself whenever you pit valued elements of who you are against vital elements of who you are: your intuitive self against your intellectual self, your rational self against your emotional self, your gut against your heart against your head. Don't be put at war against yourself: you are a masterpiece. An intricate being. Human!
Discovering: sobering realities
inventor
entrepreneur
creator
coach
Life: it is a dance. It gets better with practice; its music is in your heart and in your soul and in your blood and in your bones. Life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice. You have a partner – your spirit. You can have a party if you like, but choose smartly who you invite, for life – your life – is a dance. It gets better with practice, unless you stop the music or so crowd your dance floor there is no space to move or be moved within it. Explore. Yes, life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice until the dance becomes the dancer and the dancer becomes the dance and life and all of existence becomes a singular flow. Yes, life; it is a dance. It gets better with practice. Dance.
Masterpiece
a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship.
tour de force
Be at Home with Yourself
Home is a special place. Love resides there. The best journeys take you there. Hope lives there. Home leaves no question about belonging. Friends belong there. Dreams thrive there. Home is a place of forgiveness. There is no rejection there. Home is a place of rest and recuperation and rejuvination. There is laughter there. Life takes you to unexpected places; love brings you home. At home you are free to flourish. It is where you birthed your wings. Sing your way home. We live amongst viruses and bacteria: some are villains and some are monsters. Monsters breed. Villains are everywhere; you are ever in their sights. Be prepared: find your rhythm, stay in balance, keep your values and your vision in focus. Choose your friends wisely. Choose folks who are good for your mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Allow your beauty to reflect the light you let in. Be all of you. Enjoy the fullness of your sacred space - Home. Enjoy sunrise.
Out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing there is a field. I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
expand your mind
. . .
live
laugh
love
. . .
let your light shine
Live. Laugh. Love.
Come, let us all be friends for once,
Let us make life easy on us,
Let us be lovers and loved ones,
The earth shall be left to no one.
Across the nation and around the world there is a long rumble.
It is a rumble so loud it strikes ready ears as a distant clap of a fierce thunder. It is a rumble so low, it rides beneath the noise of a thousand human fears; it can no longer be heard. Fear of flight, fear of heights, fear of sand, fear of snow, fear of monsters in the closet, fear of bugs in the pillow, fear of cats, fear of bats, fear of strangers at the door, fear of being lost, fear of being laughed at, fear of being stuck in the toilet bowl, fear of whites, fear of blacks, fear of browns, blues and yellows, fear of nakedness, fear of the unknown, fear of being hurt.
Smile. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Learn. Be awesome. You are powerful beyond measure. You are not alone. You can do all things. I am you. You are me. We are one. Keep Sharing.
May our light shine on sprinkled seeds along The Journey.
"Live Your Life - Live it well. You are worth it."
Listen. Learn. Lead.
"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up." Martin Luther King Jr.Look. Listen. Learn. YOU ARE VALUED BEYOND MEASURE. (A Place Called Ah.)
Breathe.
We are accompanied.
Balance - Focus - Rhythm
BE EVER REMINDED:the life you are living is YOUR life; ONLY YOU can live it!
The Journey - Your Voice Illuminated - Our Global Digital Radio Show & Podcast. We stop at exotic places, meet fascinating folks with intriguing stories and novel solutions to some of life's tricky problems. We play a few games too, and track remarkable characters of three classics: ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) SBL Series: 2:26 AM, The Gathering (Matchbox Mystery) and Flight Of The Fused Monkeys (5-Star Series). Life is beautiful and full of surprises. Breathe! Along our journey of life and learning we challenge ourselves toward the reaches of our highest ideals: to be our best, do our utmost, achieve our finest, wherever necessary and practicable redesigning the contours of possibility, reshaping human capability. Join our posse. We are changing the game! We welcome your perspective. Enjoy top dramatic, inspirational, mystery, scifi, and true stories. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Lead. Learn with us. Get your FREE AUDIO of 'Sven: The High Achiever's Journey'. You'll be glad you did. Share the experience.
ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) 
