There are a few things I have found helpful to promote living a life filled with meaning and significance, the practice of which has made a profound impact on my inner peace and well being. I guess it is fair to say that I am usually filled with energy, enthusiasm and passion. So finding a place of calm is no small undertaking! I am sharing these things that I call ~ the world according to Carla ~ as a way to note that it is not the truth, it is my truth:
Live in the present moment – We always hear people say this and it sounds easy. In reality, most people are bouncing from past to future in a single bound never stopping at present to breathe and ask how am I now. Besides meditating, focusing on the heart and breathing deeply are some things that immediately bring one into that place. The more I focus on the heart, breathe deeply and low in the body, the more I am connecting to the present.
It is all an illusion, so make it a good one, a beautiful one! In my life, I call it The Carla Picardi Show where everything that comes across my path was created to help me see myself clearly and everyone (including the way I feel and think about things) that arrives is an actor in my Show to demonstrate to me what I believe myself to be. When I can change this illusion enough, where what is coming back to me is beautiful, I know I am in the right place.
Change the way you look at something and the whole thing will change. It is a shift in perspective and energy. When I change, inevitably everything around me changes too.
Look for the gift in every situation and appreciate that it is there. There is always a gift and when I shift perspective, I see it!
No one gets to define you. Only you define who you are … by the way you think/feel about others. Others are only part of our illusion, actors in our Show. If you think people are a certain way or have specific characteristics, it is only happening to provide you with a reflection back to yourself as someone who needs to judge in this way.
Listen differently, like your life depends on it … it does. Listen without thinking of how what someone is saying effects you. Listen with compassion, Listen to the spaces … the things people do not say. Listen with the understanding that everything is a source of greater clarity about who you truly are being at that moment.
Forgive yourself and others, not because they really did anything wrong, because they are all part of your illusion.
Love unconditionally, starting with yourself. If you cannot love yourself unconditionally, you will never be able to do it with others including children and lovers.
Remember that we are all one, we are all connected.
Carla – nicely stated. I like how you describe living at our personal Show and we choose the other players and how they act and react to what we do. Perspective, listening better, and leading from the heart makes such a difference. And it is so true that we live too often in the past and present instead of right now. Thanks for sharing.
Great inspiration. You are way beyond those robots clearly!! Next month I’m heading to Italy for the first time. Maybe I’ll look you up. I had a dream to work at the LeFay Resorts—you may know of them. One of the owners has background in architecture as well and both locations are exquisitely designed. Ciao……..