“How we spend our day’s is of course, how we spend our lives” Annie Dillard

Slow Down, Pura Vida (Pure Life)

I have been in Costa Rica over a week and I have already heard the phrase “Pura Vida” (Pure Life) several hundred times. Putting yourself in a new foreign environment allows you to see your social conditionings; if you stay alert you will see them come up to the surface.

When I wrote this I was having a cup of coffee at a corner café in down town San Jose. One of the waiters approached me and asks if I need anything else, I say “no thank you, coffee is just fine, could I actually get the bill please”.

He looks at me with a great big smile “Pura Vida, tranquilo amigo tome su tiempo” (Pure life, calm down my friend take your time). I think to myself “he’s right”, I have no where to go, so I end up hanging out and people watch for 45 minutes.

Modern day society is so fast paced, that many of us after some time quit questioning many aspects of our lives, as soon as we quit questioning we are like robots on autopilot. Any issues that we may have are related to our level of awareness, when we don’t question things our awareness is non existent, we just operate from old habits (memory).

If you are constantly questioning and watching your internal dialogue, you become more alert, and when you become aware of something you drop it. It simply exists because you are not aware, just an old reaction from past experiences. But life is always new, never old, you need to be alert to respond and not just simply react. Life is new and needs new answers even if the situation is very similar.

Meditation is vital because it creates space between your consciousness and your thought process, the more you meditate the better you are able to see your thoughts and therefore question them.

As soon so I became aware that I was trying to race around like back home, I dropped it and enjoyed my coffee. Poverty is pretty prevalent down here, but I can’t help to notice that because the pace of life is so much slower, they actually take the time to appreciate the little things. People are very lively, music is everywhere, and every corner is an opportunity to socialize with friends.

If you constantly find your self racing around with out questioning why you are doing it, slow down, you are either living in your past or imagining your future. Is what you’re doing still beneficial for you? If not quit doing it, do something new. Your time is precious, slow down and live your life today. Today is all you got and all you will ever have. No need to wait until certain future conditions are met, for you to start living your life, if you do you might never start.

All we have is the present moment so the only way to shape your future is by the actions you take daily. The secret to your success is going to be determined by your daily agenda. If you learn to make a few key decisions in your daily agenda, you will accomplish what you set out to do. Just remember that you will never change your life until you change something you do daily, just make sure you slow down to enjoy and learn from the ride.

If you enjoyed this post check out:

The Power Of No

One Day At a Time To a Life of Fulfillment Joy and Contribution

How To Be And Live Like Forrest Gump

How To Increase Your Awareness and Expand Your Consciousness

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If you enjoyed this article, please vote for it on Digg or any of the Bookmarking sites, just click the buttons below….I would also love to hear your feedback, please leave your comments below. I really appreciate your support - Ivan

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” - St. Augustine

Hey guys just wanted to share a few video highlights of my adventure in Costa Rica thus far, hope everyone is doing great. The video shows the beach “Playa Hermosa” and Monte Verde known as the “Cloud Forest”. So far it has been a pretty amazing experience, there is so much life down here and the people are very welcoming. As soon as I settle in I will begin posting on a more consistent basis, should not be much longer.

“You can observe a lot just by watching.” Yogi Berra

“Just Observe Don’t Verbalize”

Yes our minds are amazing tools that we are blessed to have, but they also have their limitations. Our minds are constantly analyzing everything; in fact they never stop analyzing. The problem with letting our minds think uncontrollably is that we become removed from reality. Whenever you become consumed with your thinking processes you are lost in your past or imagining your future.

One way to step away and give your self space from your thinking mind is to just observe your surroundings without inner verbalization. When you verbalize something you start to think and analyze, and thinking is removing yourself from the present moment.

Exercise:

Go To a Location that is beautiful to you. Right now as I write this I am in “Playa Hermosa” Costa Rica. Pick a comfortable position, quiet your mind by meditating for 10-20 minutes. When you come out of your meditation, just observe your surroundings; watch that you don’t try to make any interpretation of it. Just take in all the sights and sounds, if this is new to you, you will probably catch your internal dialogue saying things like: “wow this is so beautiful” “that sky is an amazing blue” etc. Just remember that as soon as you have those thoughts you have removed your self from the experience. Your mind has analyzed it and given it a label, by giving something a label you have defined it and taken the essence of what makes it beautiful.

Just practice feeling and experiencing what you are seeing for a few minutes at a time, later you can make an interpretation and contemplate your experience. The more you go from thinking to feeling, the more you will be living in the “now”.

If you enjoyed this post check out:

How To Increase Your Awareness and Expand Your Consciousness

How To Develop Your 6th Sense: Intuition

Down The Rabbit Hole : How To Get Out of Wonderland

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Hello guys :)…just wanted to let you know that I will be moving to Costa Rica on June 22nd, I will try and keep the site updated as much as I can. The first couple of weeks I will just be exploring the country, as soon as I find a place to live I will continue to post on a more consistent basis. Thank you to all my great subscribers and readers for bearing with me until I am all set up in my new home. Wish me luck

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