Attraction Information

Searching for Higher Ground: 24 Hours to a Better Life


There's a moment in one of my favorite films, Searching for Bobby Fischer, where 7-year-old chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin's chess teacher knocks all the pieces off his chess board, in an effort to get him to concentrate deeper on the way the pieces on the board were strategically aligned.

As the pieces go flying, scattering noisily about the room, Josh is at first stunned that his teacher would have done such a thing. But then, as if by instinct, Josh ponders the situation for a moment, and proceeds to stare at the now-empty board, as if there were pieces still there.

Josh has entered a different level of play, where he can now assess matters of the game without the distraction of the pieces themselves. In this place, he can see all moves before they happen. All strategies of both his opponent and himself are laid bare, without the distraction of rooks, knights, bishops and pawns. Here, he can see the end game and take the appropriate actions to ensure a winning outcome for himself.

We can take a lesson from this. In the chess game of our lives, there are all kinds of pieces on the board distracting us: obstacles from family, friends and co-workers, negative influences from the news media and entertainment industry, fear of failure, fear of success, guilt from events in our past, self-imposed resistance and rationalizations for why we are where we are, limiting beliefs we place on ourselves that put up a solid defense against our future prosperity, and the list goes on.

These are the chess pieces in our own lives that we, like Josh's chess teacher, must scatter about the room. We must, just as abruptly as he did, knock all of these pieces of resistance off our own chess boards. When we do this we will enter a different plane of existence. We will rise above our seemingly insurmountable challenges and difficulties and be able to see them in the same perspective, on the same playing field, as the positives in our lives that we so conveniently ignore.

But how? How does one begin to rise above money, relationship and stress related problems? How do we summon the courage and strength to rise above the situations that consume our every day lives? How do we knock these pieces off of our boards?

The answer lies within your own state of being. Step back and gain a higher ground on your consciousness by examining each waking moment of your life as it happens. Assess every feeling you have in every situation. Take control of it. Abandon your instinctive reactions to things. Stop yourself often during the course of the first day you put this into action.

Ask yourself these questions: How often do I get angry or impatient when there really is no need? How often do I speak of others in derogatory manner? How often do I turn down a chance to tithe? How could I have reacted differently to this or that situation in my life? How could I have responded differently to this employee? This spouse? This child? Just for this one day, think. Examine. Learn.

As you examine your feelings more during the day's activities you will most likely see a trend forming. If it's a trend toward negativity you can stop it. React to it. Change it. Turn negatives into positives. Even if it annoys you, try it, just for this day. There's no need to analyze what's in your past. With the chess pieces off your board you can see your life on a whole new level. And if you can do it for just one day, just one 24 hour period, then you can do it for a lifetime.

For the next 24 hours, try to isolate and recognize every feeling you have. Every reaction to various circumstances throughout your day. Analyze how you are responding to situations, and determine if these responses are instinctive, based on your past habits, or if they are indeed tied to a greater good that you may be striving for in your life. When you can pinpoint these feelings now, you can change them for the better in the future. Then you will ensure a winning outcome in your life.

Andy O'Bryan is co-founder of AudioMotivation.com, the website which enables its members to conveniently download a constantly growing library of exclusive audio interviews with the movers and shakers in personal and professional growth. Members learn motivational tips and advice via their mp3 player, CD player or computer speakers. To learn more about membership, visit http://www.audiomotivation.com


MORE RESOURCES:

Hormones: Learning the rules of attraction
Independent, UK - 15 hours ago
What really draws couples together? The mysteries of hormones are only now being unravelled – and giving us fascinating new insights into why we behave the ...


PIRATE: A magnetic attraction to North Carolina's beaches?
StarNewsOnline.com, NC - 5 hours ago
Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill believe sea turtles use the Earth's magnetic field to find their way back to their birthplace to ...


TVNZ

'Twilight' stokes our immortal attraction to the vampire
New York Daily News, NY - Nov 30, 2008
In this image released by Summit Entertainment, Kristen Stewart, left, and Robert Pattinson are shown in a scene from, "Twilight." 'Mad, bad, and dangerous ...
Life and love eternal Philippine Star
E-mail this page Northern News Services (subscription)
Movie Review - "Twilight" sizzles but squanders dark romance University News (subscription)
Longview Daily News - Times-Standard
all 257 news articles


Sunoco becomes local attraction with sign, car
North Fort Myers Neighbor, FL - 7 hours ago
By ANDREA GALABINSKI, nfmneighbor@breezenewspapers.com The Sunoco Gas Station at 14531 N. Cleveland Avenue has become a local attraction of sorts. ...


UK Parents Lounge

New Forest Lapland attraction a dismal failure
UK Parents Lounge, UK - 14 hours ago
Instead of paying high-cost flights to the real Lapland, families could travel to the New Forest to see a similar attraction. With tickets costing £25, ...
Santa punched and elves under fire at Lapland attraction Dumfries and Galloway Standard
Picture diary by mum at Lapland row attraction Southern Daily Echo
Theme park branded 'winter blunderland' Oxford Mail
Southern Daily Echo - Southern Daily Echo
all 37 news articles


The rules of attraction
Independent Online, South Africa - 3 hours ago
By Roger Dobson A woman's smile may not be all it seems. When her zygomaticus major cheek muscle moves the upper lip upward and outward to produce that warm ...


WNCT

Historic Theater Could be Back in Business
WNCT, NC - 1 hour ago
It’s not much to look at right now but the hope is the run down, boarded up building will once again be a major attraction along Fifth Street in Greenville. ...
Plans redevelop downtown Greenville Daily Reflector
all 4 news articles


A cosmopolitan attraction
Culpeper Star Exponent, VA - Nov 30, 2008
Have you seen the new movie now playing in theaters starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, called “Australia”? The movie is receiving great reviews and ...
Crikey! 'Australia' Hits the Big Screen NBC Philadelphia
VIDEO: “Australia” Review NBC13.com
'Australia' -- a review Westborough News
Cincinnati CityBeat - Philadelphia Daily News
all 1,004 news articles


My fear and fragility: history of gay attraction
AfterEllen.com - Dec 1, 2008
I'm not sure who I should address this to, or even how to write this. I know that you don't know me, and you've got no reason to give up your time to read ...


Physical attraction
Pune Newsline, India - 1 hour ago
As he opens the door to his elegant office at Bhandarkar Road on a cold morning in Pune, it’s hard to miss Indian cinema’s most popular common man who made ...

Attraction - Google News

home | site map
© 2006