Todd Perelmuter

Their life is theirs to live.
Your job is to live yours.

#comparison #livingyourbestlife #perelsofwisdom

1 day ago | [YT] | 197

Todd Perelmuter

With focus, we can choose what we focus on. 

We can focus on disturbing thoughts and emotions, upsetting events that may happen, which we have no control over, and unfortunate events that happened in the past that we cannot change.

Or, we can focus on the blessings in our life and the positive changes we can make that are in our control. We can focus on healing from whatever ails our psyche, and we can do so in the peaceful and quiet setting of meditation.

#peacefulliving #blessings #gratitude #perelsofwisdom

3 days ago | [YT] | 226

Todd Perelmuter

If we get too hung up on the beginning of the story (i.e., the past), we’ll miss out on the story unfolding before our eyes. 

#lettinggo #mindfulness #perelsofwisdom

4 days ago | [YT] | 168

Todd Perelmuter

In every story, the narrator shapes the context and tone. 
You are your own narrator. 
How you see your life determines the quality of your life. 

When you realize the ever-changing impermanent nature of reality, 
that ups and downs will keep coming, 
and that bad stuff is often disguised as good and good as bad, 
then you can remain at peace through it all. 

There’s no point resisting or clinging to something that will inevitably change. 
So we might as well welcome it all with open arms,
 and equally let it leave with unclenched fists.

#innervoice #innerstrength #perelsofwisdom

5 days ago | [YT] | 211

Todd Perelmuter

“One step at a time” is my greatest life lesson.

No matter what major life event we’re going through, we can’t handle all of it all at once.

But we can manage one step at a time.

There is only this step.
This moment.
This one, tiny, manageable step.

Focus only on this step.
When the next one comes, focus only on that one.

Before you know it, you’ll look back and you won’t be able to believe just how far you’ve come.

#lifelessons #spirituallessons #perelsofwisdom

6 days ago | [YT] | 286

Todd Perelmuter

If we were to put all of our focus on one little ant, that ant would take up all of our attention and awareness. 

Similarly, even though there’s always so much happening within us and around us, if we put all of our focus on our thoughts, those thoughts will become the only things that exist to us. 

Most of the time, our focus goes wherever the most exciting thing is happening. It moves and wanders aimlessly, a slave to the whims of our environment. While our thoughts can be very clever and attention-grabbing, they are usually repetitive, negative, and at times even nonsensical — definitely not our highest wisdom. 

There are two key ways for dealing with this:

1) Expanding Our Perspective 
Focus more on where thoughts are coming from, what unhealed experiences we are still holding onto, and noticing more what is happening right in front of us. 

2) Developing Our Powers of Focus And Concentration
Practice sustained, single-pointed concentration, so that our thoughts can no longer pull us out of the present moment. When we’re eating, we can maintain awareness of the sensations of eating. When we’re cleaning, we can stay with the cleaning instead of mentally complaining or thinking about what we’ll do next.

I share longer reflections like this in my weekly newsletters (check the comment below for subscribing) for those who enjoy exploring these ideas more deeply.

#focus #presentmomentawareness #perelsofwisdom

1 week ago | [YT] | 145

Todd Perelmuter

Let go of the old fires...

#lettinggo #perelsofwisdom #innergrowth

1 week ago | [YT] | 256

Todd Perelmuter

We all have a constant stream of thoughts going through our mind.

A narration of our life told by us, the narrator,
and it never stops. How exhausting!

This voice in our head is rarely useful and often critical. We don’t need our brains to always label everything for us to understand what we’re seeing.

There is so much to reality beyond the one-word-at-a-time narration. In fact, it makes us really miss out on the beauty and depth of our lives.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then one fully present moment is worth a billion.

#presentmoment #presence #perelsofwisdom

1 week ago | [YT] | 221

Todd Perelmuter

When we grow up being punished and criticized, negative reinforcement becomes the only form of motivation we know. When we are brought up by tough teachers or parents who thought this was the best way, we can begin to actually fear and resist encouragement, praise, and positive reinforcement.

By growing up with negative reinforcement, we begin to subconsciously and mistakenly associate all of our accomplishments with stress, pressure and panic.

As we get older, we internalize this method of motivation, and we become our own harshest critics. In reality, stress and pressure drain us of our energy and waste our time by worrying instead of working.

When we judge ourselves harshly, we end up judging everybody else harshly. When we are negative in our thoughts, we are often negative in our words and actions. When we are stressed, we more often get sick, tired, impatient and short-tempered.

So, how do you want to speak to yourself?

Just because you’re more familiar with the inner drill sergeant doesn’t mean it’s necessary to achieve your goals.

Try being your own most loving, kind, patient, wise coach and see what happens. You may discover that work no longer feels like work, stressful situations become joyful, and you’re able to work longer and better because your inner voice is lifting you up instead of dragging you down.

#innergrowth #spiritualgrowth #perelsofwisdom

1 week ago | [YT] | 151

Todd Perelmuter

You don’t know yourself as well as you think.

Just as we cannot develop a good relationship with another person by simply reading about relationships, we cannot develop a good relationship with ourself by reading or listening to someone else.

A teacher can help you build the telescope, point it in the right direction, but you must look through the eyepiece yourself.

Strange as it may sound, most of us spend very little time with ourselves.

The mind, afraid to be explored and investigated, fills up every minute of our day with tasks, distracting thoughts, and constant entertainment.

Study your mind, and you will understand yourself, other people, and the nature of illusory problems.

We must each become experts of our own mind.

✨ Only when we understand what we do and why we do it, will we be free to actually make a CHOICE.

Otherwise, we will just be like a dog chasing a mail truck with no idea why, no idea what we’ll do when we catch it, and no way to stop ourselves.

Couples have date nights.

Friends hang out together.

Even coworkers bond outside of work.

Even more so, we need some quality time with numero uno.

When was the last time you spent time with yourself?

#SpiritualReflection
#innerwisdom
#perelsofwisdom

1 week ago | [YT] | 210