Don't put off until tomorrow . . . you know the rest. . .

“Procrastination is the bad habit of putting of until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.” ~ Napoleon Hill

Although there's a 'should' in Napoleon Hill's quote, and you all know how we feel about that word, I still like it. I have been quite guilty of this for the past several days . . . if not weeks. There has been something that I've needed to do and I've been literally leaving it for the day after tomorrow . . . and the day after that . . . and the day after that . . .

How many of us are guilty of procrastinating about so many things in our lives? Now granted, what I've been putting off isn't one of my main goals or dreams. What I've been putting off has nothing to do with my art or my music or my writing or my myriad of delicious projects. But, at the same time, it is something that has continually been on my mind as THAT THING I have to do that I haven't done and I need to do in order to move on . . . So, something that obviously didn't start as an important thing, has now become this fucking annoying thing that won't go away. Of course, it won't go away because the only way it will actually go away is if I DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. TAKE CARE OF THE ISSUE.

To make the entire thing even more ridiculously absurd, when I sat down and finally took notice of what I needed to do, I realized that in actuality, it wasn't that big a deal. WHAT?!!! Yup! It really wasn't the scary, torturous thing my mind had created. This is what happens, isn't it? Most of the time when I procrastinate, I'm really just masking fear. In the case of this latest bout with procrastination, I was afraid of the steps I had to take to resolve the issue and of the resolution itself. Since I wasn't sure of what the outcome was going to be, I was fearing that end result and what that would then lead to. Oh, endless cycle of self-torture. It makes me laugh really. Because when I broke the big issue, I realized how ridiculous it all was. How what I had been fearing was actually what my mind had come up as the big, scary monster. It was all made up! What I'd been fearing was all in my head . . . all made up . . . what a waste of my time and energy.

Well, I've faced the big scary monster and he wasn't at all scary. What I've learned from the experience is to be prepared the next time I feel I'm procrastinating. I have to ask myself why? Why am I coming up with all of the excuses to keep me from doing what I need to do? What are the underlying messages in the experience? It seems to me that whenever I procrastinate about something, that means that I haven't been quite honest with myself about the issue at hand. There is something in the facing of the issue head on that scares me. There are things attached to the issue that I've been avoiding or trying to forget in the hopes that whatever it is will just go away. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen. Things we have to deal with in life don't just go away. They are, almost always, things we have to learn from. These little annoyances are put in our way to teach us a valuable lesson. The lesson might have nothing to do with the actual thing you have to do. But, if we peel back the layers, the gem is revealed. And, it's always a better day once we come to that understanding and hopefully, we learn a little something.

Whenever we procrastinate, we waste precious energy. Energy that could be better spent in manifesting our dreams. That alone is worth the effort to face what we have to face with the full knowledge that everything will turn out fine. No matter what. So, let's get on with it! C'mon!

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

Quick THANK YOU!

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since my last entry! I do apologize for that. One of my intentions for next month is to start blogging on a regular basis. It's really a matter of time management and I'm confident that with the right intention and mindset, I can accomplish this. So, I thank you all for stopping by and reading and sending me lovely messages about The Daydream Chronicles. From the start of this blog and Day-Dreaming Tuesdays, I always felt that the information would get to the right people. It is still my goal to share my experiences with as many people as possible. I'm on a fantastic, magical, spiritual journey and it's my belief that any journey is more fun when you have a great group of travelers along for the ride.

I thank you all once again for reading my entries and sharing your experiences. This is really a fantastic way to share energy - hopefully, positive, life-affirming, light-giving energy! As I share my little light-bulb moments, I feel the wave of love that is then sent back to me from you. When anything I write about touches you, in any kind of positive way, that feeling that gets stirred in you is directly sent back to me. Let's not even think about how it happens because it's most likely quite beyond our understanding, but believe me when I say that I feel it. I feel whenever a connection is made. Let's continue on this fantasmagorical journey together. Feel free to always leave a comment on any of the postings. Share any blog entries that you think might help someone else. E-mail me with comments or ideas or just to say hi. I'm also open to guest bloggers that would like to share how they're living the life of their dreams! We can always learn from each other. Always.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

Staying connected to Well-Being . . .

For the past couple of weeks, I've been going through a rather interesting period. I really think, or rather, I feel it's a period of immense transition. Through it, there have been lots of ups and downs in the situations surrounding me. The one constant, which is incredible, has been my attitude towards everything. That is pretty incredible for me to write and say. To actually admit and understand that in the midst of all that's happening around me, I have been able to remain positive, smiling and filled with joy . . . it's absolutely miraculous!

This wasn't really evident to me until last Thursday evening. I was visiting dear friends that live out of town and had a lovely and delicious dinner with them. After thoroughly enjoying my pasta dinner, even going back for seconds, I learned that the sauce in the pasta was a pesto sauce. Well, I am allergic to pine nuts. Not allergic in the sense that my throat closes up or anything like that but, I do get extremely sick. This also doesn't happen immediately. Symptoms start about 2 to 3 hours after I've eaten whatever the pine nut filled food was. So, once I found out about the pesto, I calmly told my hosts that I would most likely be getting very sick, but not to worry. I would keep them informed as to my condition and if it escalated to a need to get rushed to the hospital, I would let them know.

I then proceeded to have my delicious dessert, homemade ice-cream, and continued enjoying their company. There was absolutely no need to worry about what was coming because it wasn't there yet. I didn't try to get the food out of my system prematurely . . . well, there was no chance of that happening. It had tasted too good! I had a choice. Either I was going to continue to spend a good time with friends or I was going to worry about what was going to happen. I chose the first option. For as long as I could, I remained present and in the moment. Then, when the first signs of the reaction began, I prepared to go to bed and took each minute as it came.

The sicker I felt, the more focused on wellness I became. I had very little hope of not actually getting sick so I knew that the inevitable was going to happen. But, I made it a point to see what would happen if I at least was able to reach for better-feeling thoughts. What would happen if in the middle of the nausea and stomach cramps, I would continue to infuse my mind with thoughts of healing and beautiful things? I knew that my body was reacting to what it considers a poison, but I also wanted to try and use a positive antidote to that poison. As my body was working and preparing to get rid of that which was making it sick, I spent every single second focused on healthy thoughts. I refused to feel sorry for myself or scared about what could happen. No matter what, I knew that I would be alright. Whatever the outcome of my allergic reaction, I was going to be fine.

The moment came and I was lucky enough to make it to the bathroom in time. The closest I can get to describing the experience is that it feels like I'm being kicked in the pit of my stomach repeatedly by a powerfully strong opponent wearing combat boots. I'm kicked over and over and over again. Before I can take a breath, another kick comes in to join the last one. And again! And again! And again! All the way to the end. Once my body feels that the supposed intruder is out of my system, then and only then, do the kicks stop . . . Usually, I go through this about three or four times during an allergic episode. This time, everything happened just the one time. I was spared hours of this pain and torture. I was so, so grateful.

Through the entire process I've just described, I was fully present. But, in an interesting way, I was also able to distance myself from what my body was going through. It's hard to put into words but as my body was convulsing and the kicks kept on coming, I continued focusing my thoughts on Well-Being. That Well-Being that is a constant stream in our lives. If I honestly believe that All Is Well, then even in times of great physical pain, am I still connected to that stream? I found out that I am. Through the entire experience, I remained in what felt like two separate states. One, was the absolute physical, the one that felt every single thing that was happening to my body. The other, was the mental state that kept its connection to wellness. The wellness that was and the wellness that I would return to. I remember walking out of the bathroom and barely seeing my worried friends waiting for me outside. I can't imagine what they were thinking. I believe I said something like, "I think I'm done" and giving them the thumbs up as I headed downstairs to bed.

The next morning I awoke to a beautiful day full of sunshine. I felt fine and ready to face the day and concentrate on wonderful and creative things. It wasn't until I was on the bus back into Manhattan that I saw the connection between how I dealt with my being sick and some of the challenges I had been experiencing. Through it all, I've been focused on feeling good, feeling happy, being connected to well being. The more I've focused on that, the better things have gotten. And that's the trick. It's really that simple. Everything goes back to our ability to choose what we want to focus on and think about. In times of stress or disease, why focus on the cause of the stress or the disease? Although it's easy to get caught up in those feelings, if we just take a second and make that shift . . . that will make all the difference. It's just as easy to think about things that make you feel GOOD and at EASE as it is to keep beating the drum of sickness or lack or stress. At every given moment, we hold that power to feel better, think better, do better. Why choose otherwise?

All is indeed . . . WELL!

Peace and light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel