peace

Finding Happiness

/ Robert Bruton / Leave a comment
  1. Start each day with a positive mindset.
  2. Practice gratitude by regularly writing down things you’re thankful for.
  3. Take time to connect with the people you care about.
  4. Exercise regularly to boost your mood and reduce stress.
  5. Get enough sleep to allow your body and mind to rest and recover.
  6. Do something you enjoy every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes.
  7. Learn to forgive others and let go of grudges.
  8. Practice mindfulness and focus on the present moment.
  9. Be kind to yourself and others.
  10. Set realistic goals and work towards achieving them.

Finding happiness is a journey that is unique to each individual. Some people find happiness in their relationships, while others find it in their work or hobbies. One of the key aspects of finding happiness is to identify the things that bring joy and fulfillment to your life and to make those things a priority. This may involve changing your daily routine or setting goals to achieve your dreams.

Another important aspect of finding happiness is to let go of negative thoughts and feelings. This may involve practicing self-care and focusing on the present moment rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. It can also involve learning to forgive yourself and others and to let go of grudges or resentment. By focusing on the positive and cultivating a mindset of gratitude, you can open yourself up to greater happiness and fulfillment.

woman using umbrella with lights

Inner Peace

/ Robert Bruton / Leave a comment

Do you feel a feeling of inner peace as your life unfolds every day? If not, the following will help guide you in that direction.

We all would love to feel peace in our hearts. But, when the silence in your head won’t shut up, you need some tools to help you. With the ability to slow down your mind, you can find the inner peace that illudes you.

How we define unhealthy habits:

  1. They are chasing happiness with retail therapy, hopping from one thing to the next, never really finishing—continually changing appearance.
  2. Holding on to the past. Blaming yourself continually for things that have already happened. Blaming yourself continually.
  3. Holding onto toxic relationships. Allowing people into your life that don’t deserve to be there.
  4. Choosing to be the victim in every aspect of your life. “I can’t get the promotion; it’s all rigged.”
  5. You were trying to impress people with your fabulous home, car, and clothes you could not afford. Make sure everyone believes you have it all together.
  6. Total self-reliance thinking you can do it on your own when asking for help would help!

By now, you should get the idea of what can cause you to have no inner peace. Or if you do, it’s very short-lived.

Learning to become mentally strong is a process. At first, you will suck at it for sure! When you cannot allow yourself to quit. Give yourself time to learn and apply what you learned.

Rinse and Repeat (as the shampoo bottle says).

Allowing yourself time to learn will make for meaningful change. Don’t quit when change becomes difficult. Remember, you are old; you are comfortable with the status quo. Your brain will buck like a horse; if you get thrown, get back on the mental horse. Eventually, you will break that stifling habit.

Face any fear you have with change. Meet it head-on and be determined. Practice will help you eventually overcome any fear. You may dip your toe in the water before jumping completely. That will be okay; be sure to jump!

Don’t stay in a place of comfort. Test your limits. The world will open to you like a beautiful flower if you do. Slots where you feel discomfort will dissipate if you move through that fear. Give yourself time. Nothing changes overnight.

Be comfortable in your skin. Don’t worry about what the hell everyone else thinks or does. Be you! I had a pair of jeans that were old and worn out. At the time, it was all I had. So when people would tease me about them: “I paid more for these jeans with a distressed look, what the hell are you talking about.” After, those friends would ask where I got my jeans.

When you are mentally strong, you will have no compunction about asking for help. You can value assistance instead of fearing support.

Know who you are. Finding yourself through meditation can open your heart. Allow you to see not only yourself but inner peace. Joy and zest for life are yours. It worked for me and will for you.

None of this is hard unless you make it hard. Practice, Practice, Practice!

You are stronger than you know. Begin this journey!

Diplomacy Peace

/ Robert Bruton / Leave a comment

With all the horrible things going on in this world, I have questions. So this article will cover my questions that I believe everyone can get their head around.

Here is my scenario:

Two countries go to war. The invading country has reasons they believe are enough to justify the invasion.

The country invaded will defend its homeland to the death.

After some time, the country invaded has lost many civilian lives, infrastructure, and sadly deaths.

Now it’s time to bring these two countries together for peace talks. But unfortunately, the war is still raging, and people are being killed daily.

Tensions are high on both sides to not give in.

  • My biggest question is, how do you bring two sides together who are mortal enemies now?

Here is my dilemma with all of this.

We have many of the greatest minds in the world working on ways to destroy each other—better ways to kill.

If we as a world to our greatest minds learn to live in peace and settle disputes, would this not make more sense. We all have to live in this world together. So instead of killing each other, why don’t we learn to live, do business together, learn from each other?

white bird on persons hand

Those of you who read me know I am all about life change. One thing I have written and spoken about in my podcast.

During World War II, December 1914, British and German soldiers were in a bloody place called “No Mans Land,” where nothing existed but the hail of bullets and death.

Soldiers on Christmas Eve would nervously meet on this bloody battlefield to celebrate Christmas, if only for a few hours. Then, finally, regular Joe’s soldiers were able to come together in peace. Exchanging gifts of Wine, Pins, and whatever was at hand.

None of these men would have not exchanged peace at that moment to go home and celebrate Christmas with family.

My thoughts have always leaned towards regular Joe’s wanting peace much more than war. Our problems could be sorted with the idea that none of us wanted to send our children to war. God bless all the fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters who valiantly gave themselves in defense of their country.

Not one of those Gold Star Families would have wanted a peaceful solution to not prevail over war. But, unfortunately, few men who make these decisions ever have to face their son or daughter not coming home.

It occurs to me that you take two fathers or mothers from opposing countries to sit down and work out differences. But, given the facts that exist as a prelude to war, two fathers with the prospect of their sons going to battle, you want to convince me they are willing to suffer a son’s death over peace?

Instead of war, how could two countries learn to live in peace understand the culture, trade, travel, and leisure. Learn from each other vs. killing each other.

Please don’t think of me as naïve. However, what would be the harm in allowing the people to speak from opposing sides? Not Government people, honest folks.

Tyrants will force this by invasion. People will die.

This begs the question, why are some of the best minds in the world inventing weapons to kill vs. ways to peace?

Have we come so far that we cannot turn back? On the contrary, we must always look to one-up weapons of mass destruction.

Let those who agree to pray for peace.

“The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” –Douglas MacArthur

Are You Working Your Gift

/ Robert Bruton / Leave a comment

Class gets yourself a scratch pad and pen. No, seriously, get a paper and pen!

In the next few questions, I want you to write down the answers to the questions posed. The test is you all will pass.

Take time to answer the 3 questions. Then when you’ve responded to them add one more section to your answer, WHY?

  1. When the alarm clock goes off, are you excited?
  2. Do you love your job? 
  3. Does your life have meaning for YOU? 

The vast majority of us will answer, “hell no, I have when the alarm clock goes off.” Why?

You are NOT living your gift!

happy, self improvement, spiritual

 

God has something for each of us. A gift.

Everyone has something that wakes them up before the alarm goes off. You love your job because, to you, it’s not a job. If you are living God’s gift, absolutely life has meaning.

Life has no flavor, no scent for you to smell. You get up and go to some job, have an idiot for a boss, and life appears to be sleep, work, and repeat.

Are you ready to find God’s real purpose for your life?

Step-by-step:

  1. Find a place where you feel at peace. Lakeside, river, fountain, park, mountains, but find a spot where you can be at peace. 
  2. Begin to talk to God. Ask him for the wisdom and vision to see your life’s purpose. What gift that God wants you to share with the world. You may already have an idea. Embrace the thought, make it yours in your mind. 
  3. If needed, keep coming to this place until it comes to you. When God is ready for you to know, if you’re like me, he will hit you over the head with it, so you don’t miss. 
  4. When you have an idea. Write it down. As clearly and concisely as you are able. 

Be open-minded and, most importantly, have patience.

Big question:

How am I going to begin, this is where the “I don’t have ________.” will destroy your dream. 

If God can bring the Universe into existence, I am pretty sure he can bring your life’s purpose to fruition. Since he put it in your head, don’t you imagine he has a plan to finish?

You may have to pray, “God, I don’t see a way for this to ever occur. I leave this in your hands to guide my way.” Then stay in faith! Do the work no matter how small or insignificant you may think forward motion is. It’s still forward motion.

You can always find something to do that moves you one step closer to your dream.

One time in your life. Give yourself the gift of running all the way with God. You will get knocked down, run over, feel as though one more step will be your last (metaphorically speaking), yet you take one more step.

Stop now and go to God and let him know you are ready!

Questions or share your dream, I would love to hear:

Own that Shi*

/ Robert Bruton / Leave a comment

We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost.”—Henry Rollins

One of the most relaxed moments in a Movie for me was when Harley Quin tells El Diablo after he tells his story about his powers “Own that Shit, own it!”—Harley Quin (from the movie Suicide Squad).

This article is about “Own that shit.” Whatever your life has doled out to you own it. But I received divorce papers, my car got repossessed, my boyfriend cheated on me, Own it! Don’t make the tragic mistake of pawning your life’s shit onto someone else. There is a reason this sounds harsh. Hang with me here!

prayer, hope, happiness

The absolute only person on this earth that can save you is you. Owning our shit means not being the victim. My ex-wife wanted a divorce, I never did. Until I was able to hold that shit, I was an absolute mess. When I realized over time that my destiny is in another direction from hers. If I want to understand what God truly has for me, then I need to head down a new path.

Own the fact that whatever befalls your life you inevitably must own it. The great news is you can. Learning to accept the trials of your life will open a whole new unimaginable freedom. Not a day goes by that I don’t recognize regret in my own life. We all have regrets. It’s taking ownership that indeed mistakes, defeats may come and go. Accept them and move on past summers ghost.

Everything in our life is seasonal. As we learn to own our experience good or bad, we will march through to the next adventure in our life. Not all movies have a happy ending, but, we still go see them. If you’ve never seen the movie Steel Magnolias, this movie will bring out real raw emotion. A loss that tears the very fabric of your life.

When you can turn tragedy in, own it, accept it, you can truly move on. Yes, some loss is monstrous and will require periods of mourning. However, at some point in time to begin your life anew. You simply need to own it.  Accept that life will move on without your participation. Ask yourself if your pain worth your life?

For example, if your child sees you cry, do they not come to you and say, “are you okay, please don’t cry.” Why, because they’ve heard you ask them the same question. In this scenario, you lose this child to cancer. The pain is unimaginable, to the point you truly just want to die. Ask yourself if your child was before you in this sad state, would they not want you to not cry and feel better? Loss is far-and-away the worse pain we as humans will ever experience.

At some point in time, we will have to own that pain. Accept what it is that nothing in this world will change the circumstance. We can wish it, pray for it, scream at God for it, but nothing will change. The only thing that can is me/you!

When my wife filed for divorce it for a time devastated my life. I did not want to know “nothing from nothing.” No amount of crying, yelling at God or the depression I fell in would change the outcome. I simply had to own it. Realize that for as much as I wish we could be together, that part of my life was over. The real question: just because that part of your life is over does that mean the rest of my life is over as well? Of course, it does not! A new dawn, the destiny God truly has for you is waiting, own it.

Through our pain, we learn to own our life. We learn to accept that life will throw a fastball that hits you right in the noodle and knocks you the fuck out. You can stay down, or you can Own that Shit! When you can tell the enemy let me promise you one thing when I wake up every morning the first words out of your mouth will be “Oh Shit he’s Up!” (a phrase you perhaps have read like a quote, can ring true in your life).

Coming to terms with owning our life good or bad. You will find peace, hope, faith, love, and courage. I did it and so can you, God Bless!

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