Wherever you are right now, close your eyes for just a couple of minutes. Simply notice (observe, don't evaluate or judge) all the sounds - little and large - around you and, indeed, in your own body (such as the soundof your own breathing). What does it sound like to be where you are right now?

The sounds that you will hear when you do this are the sounds of reality - without your own added spin. They are qualitatively different from the random thought in your head or your little inner voices because, unlike the crap in your head, the sounds you're hearing are real.

When you do this, you get in direct touch with the reality of the moment. You will also find that there is no such thing as absolute auditory silence!

STRESS IS NOT REAL

What motivates one person can stress out another. Stress is uniquely individual. If that is so, it stands to reason that stress is not real. And this is the conclusion that much research has come to. Potentials stressors - such as overload at work, losing your job, a disintegrating personal relationship - can lead to a stress response. But this response is unique to the individual and is, in fact, a choice - albeit an automatic one.

But, if the stress response is a choice, surely there is something that I can do about it. And there is - I can choose not be stressed. I can choose not to react but, instead, to act. And that makes a world of difference.

If you want to explore this further, simply click on the picture below...

PS - I didn't say that the physical results of being stressed weren't real. They sure are. And that's probably the biggest reason why you should choose not to be stressed.

Today is made up of moments that you will never experience again. There is a good chance, however, that you will not even experience them while they happen. Indeed, already today, you have missed out - as have I - on many moments in which we might have done something different or more mindfully that would have advanced our cause in our endeavour to be happy and successful... as distinct from just getting through another day.

It would be sad if, by the time you put your head on your pillow tonigth, you achieved nothing more than getting through the day. In evolutionary times this was a major achievement, today I don't think that it's good enough. And the reasons that it is not good enough are many. First of all, we can achieve the extraordinary when we are focused in the moment - we can achieve and experience great happiness and unbounded success. If these possibilities are on offer and we have missed them, through our own lack of focus, that is, indeed, sad. The second reason is just as important: if I simply get through today, what effect will this half-hearted attempt at living have on the people with whom I share my life? And how different would the joint experience have been if I'd been present?

I've used the word 'sad' and it is sad indeed to let life pass you by... sad to have been a non-singing, non-dancing member of the chorus, when you could have been the star of your own life. But sad is just a thought - another one of those useless thoughts that we would prefer to hang around on street corners with than getting into the mainstream of everyday extraordinary living. So, sad and all as lost opportunity is, the main reason I raise the point of all this sadness is that neither you nor I should wish to repeat yesterday's sadness today or, indeed, today's sadness tomorrow.

The Laboratory of Neuro Imaging at the University of California reckons that we have 70,000 thoughts each day. Each one presents us with an 'opportunity' to miss out on what's going on! 97% of today's thoughts are the same as yesterday's and, tomorrow, 97% of our thoughts will be the same as today's. In other words, unless and until you do something about the noise in your head - the nonsense that is divorcing you from reality and all the potential it holds - the sadness will continue and, worst of all, as a result of having read this article, you will have chosen to let the sadness continue.

Take a look at today's Quick Tip above. It's only a short exercise. But it's a start. And, if you have indeed already started, it's the next little step. And, as science is now proving, we only need to take little steps to make major strides. The point is, however, like today is made up of moments, your progress will be made up of moment-to-moment little steps.