Ron Gutman: The hidden power of smiling | Video on TED.com

Ron Gutman: The hidden power of smiling | Video on TED.com

The perils of sitting too much

Via: Medical Billing And Coding

Living a Chaordic Life

Last year I was introduced to the idea that life exists and is most appropriately lived at a "sweet spot" that sits at the intersection of order and chaos.  Too much order is stifling, and too much chaos is destructive.   Walking the chaordic path means being true to this "sweet spot".

This raises interesting questions for a society that is pretty darn focused on creating security, control, and predictability.  If one applies the principle that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, this "over-focus" on order would then seem to invite a counter-balancing effect from an equivalent amount of chaos.  This would seem to be somewhere near the heart of our constant dance with duality.

Hmmmm.

But if we were actually able to zone in on the sweet spot where order and chaos intersect, choosing a more middling approach - or chaordic path - where we can let go of some of our dearly loved control and embrace our creativity and inherent ability to navigate chaos, we might actually find ourselves in a rich stream of livingness that we never before imagined possible...where we "flow" with chaos as a creative force instead of being sideswiped by it as an apparent destructive force that comes at us out of the blue.

As someone who is consciously experimenting with this perspective and way of being - which requires a fair bit of courage in terms of letting go of one's conditioned desire for control and making the leap to trusting that the universe is indeed a benevolent one - the initial results are cause for optimism!  As I let go of control, I can literally feel the rush of creative energy around me - all of a sudden life has become rife with possibility, like a fruit tree laden with spring blossoms that promises a bountiful harvest.  It takes courage to jump into this expansive place of "not-knowing"...yet now that I'm here, it's a place I'd like to stay and explore for a while!

Changing Perspectives and Changing Stories

A wise teacher of mine once asserted that transformation happens in an instant as opposed to being a long drawn out process.  His point was that the moment we reach a critical and genuine new viewing point or perspective on ourselves or the world around us, it's like a switch goes off that sets in motion a cascading set of changes: changes to values and beliefs, changes to self-concepts, changes to goals and priorities, changes to behaviours, and perhaps most importantly, changes to the core story of who we are and why we are here.

Some of these things taking longer than others to realize fully, and perhaps the most juicy and fun cascading effect is the moment that we see a brand new shiny storyline and sense of identity flowing through our life and realize, in a flash, there's no turning back, there's only moving forward to live and embrace that really yummy and powerful new story.  I think the most exciting part is knowing that it is a story that is being written moment to moment, with every thought, action, dream, deed, emotion and interaction guiding and attracting the next.  It is continually defined and refined by the questions of "who are you, who are you becoming, and how are you "seizing opportunities" to expand your sense of self in practical, physical ways to ground this new storyline and sense of identity?"

It is a wonderful and magical period of awakening to new possibilities and embracing all the things that life has to offer which are attractive to you.  As I sit inside of this gleaming new energy, I am both humbled and energized.  There is nothing quite like meeting the awakened story teller inside!