Author: Madeline Johnson

I help health, fitness, nutrition and beauty businesses grow. Specifically, businesses building things to make us look and feel great, so that includes fashion, tech and spas too. I have two sites, one about marketing and brand building, which is mj.works and another UndisputedOrigin.com which I started to inspire everyone to become the very best they can be while leading more purposeful lives filled with gratitude and greatness. Both sites include studying and curating the very best experts and masters for improving performance, achieving success and living a thoughtful and intentional life. I am also obsessed with how technology can improve our health, fitness, nutrition, meditation and mindful practices while reducing stress and creating calm amidst the chaos of modern existence. Both sites are about my interest in self-discovery and personal growth.

Everything at Once

It’s not suppose to be easy, but all these expectations only make it harder.  Madeline Johnson

Sometimes I wake up excited about everything. Well to be honest, I am both excited and terrified. Excited about the opportunity the day brings and terrified that I won’t accomplish anything great in my life.

I’m excited to start the day and I’m ready take off and I am terrified that I will not have the time.

Juiced up, I find myself in a frenzy of desire to do this and do that.  Like a child, I am lit by the divine.  I just want to get everything started already. I want it all at once.

I am oozing with enthusiasm. My soul is on fire. I am determined to co-create with God.

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I begin with the desires. I’m going to find that new place to live, start writing that new book, I am going to learn this and learn that.  All at once.

All of the ideas come flooding into my brain and I am energized. I’m supercharged with an unrealistic belief that I must begin everything right now.

I believe I might be touched by delusion.

I am ready to go. Today’s the day.  All the beginnings will be made at once.

By midday I crash. I exhaust myself mentally. I am tired before I begin. I overwhelm myself with the thought of it all. It’s self sabotage really. It’s also immaturity.

I know better. I know that everything takes time. It’s not suppose to be easy, but all these expectations only make it harder.

Most importantly, I must enjoy the process.

I remember that I am in between.

Start again with small steps. One thing at a time, one moment at a time.

I take a deep breath and begin again.

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Featured Art

Bahri Genç @bahrignc

 

 

Miracles by The Moment

Our purpose here is to make sure we love enough. Madeline Johnson

You should try this trick I do, because it really helps put things in perspective. You see, I reverse engineer my timeline to determine how I should live my life now. I look to see my future.

I start by picturing myself on my death bed. I am just about to take my last few breaths and I ask myself.

Did I love enough?

I believe an act of loving kindness is the biggest contribution you can make to this world.

Love, is such a big word isn’t it? It’s almost overwhelming.  It’s a word packed with meaning.

Did I love enough? can also be interpreted as, Did I forgive enough? Did I care enough? Did I give enough? Did I encourage enough? Did I appreciate enough?

But before we can really consider how much we love, I believe we have to rethink what we perceive love to be.

What are the first thoughts that come to your mind when you think of the word love? For many of us, even thought we know better, we are brainwashed from a young age to think of love as merely an emotion we feel. We fall in love. Love is something our mother’s are suppose to give us unconditionally.

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Love is not a mere sentiment of emotion, but the ultimate truth at the heart of creation.

– Deepak Chopra

What I am Reading: A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson.

I am contemplating the power of love and the role of love in our lives. I want to renew and relearn my ideas of love. I want to understand the bigger role that love plays in our lives.  The power of love.

Here below are some intriguing thoughts about love. Reflections from the book A Return to Love . .

Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.

♥ The spiritual journey is the relinquishment, or unlearning, of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts.

♥ Love gives energy and direction. It is spiritual fuel.

♥ Love is the essential existential fact. It is our ultimate reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in us and others, it the meaning of life. ♥

♥ We came here to co-create with God by extending love.

♥ Love isn’t seen with the physical eyes or heard with the physical ears. The physical senses can’t perceive it; it’s perceived through another kind of vision.

♥ Metaphysicians call it the Third Eye, esoteric Christians call it the vision of the Holy Spirit, and others call it the Higher Self.

♥ …love requires a different kind of “seeing” than we’re used to – a different kind of knowing or thinking.

♥ Love is the intuitive knowledge of our hearts.

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Am I loving enough right now?

I am staying open and aware to the opportunities to bring more love to everyone today. I will continue to demonstrate love in every aspect of my life. To love more with my thoughts, words and actions.

Featured Art

@acid_jane

The Softer Side of Strong

There is a softer side of strong that is unbreakable. Madeline Johnson

When I was young and silly I thought that being strong was about being mighty, powerful, outspoken and relentless. Ungovernable.

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I thought being strong was about being in control. Standing firm and determined, demanding, forceful and willful.

Ridiculous.

 

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I have uncovered a softer side of strong that is unbreakable.

This style of strong is still, calm, clear and confidant.

Solid.

Collected and rooted deep in love. Yet freely open in spirit. A soaring type of strong.

Both solid and fluid.

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Recommended reading

Keeping Your Thoughts Strong As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

Keeping Your Faith Strong  Sermon on the Mount by Emmet Fox

Disciplined & Strong Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink

Featured Artist

Nancy Friedland, Gallery on Instagram

Moving On

There comes a time when you must simply move on from a challenging, and painful situation. Madeline Johnson

There comes a time when you must simply move on from a challenging, and painful situation. Even though it may feel like you are leaving things undone, messy and unfinished, there is simply nothing left that you can do. You’ve tried it all.

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This could be moving on from a half-hearted relationship, a thankless job, a place called home, a long worn friendship or the saddened death of a loved one. You’ve cried, screamed, fought, thought, mourned and now you are simply out of emotions to feel. You draw blanks. The painful experience has run its course. It’s time to go. You are emotionally barren or maybe you are full of the opposite you once felt. Either way, you have changed.

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Hopefully you learned a lesson or two.

Sometimes you simply can’t win, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost.

You can lose a battle, but win the war.

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Featured Art

@the.walkiest.lady

Authentically Humble

The world would benefit if we were all a bit more authentically humble, for this living is a joint affair. It’s an agreement to exist together and to work together and dare I say thrive together.  I won’t just tolerate you. I see you. I feel you and through knowing  you, I’m beginning to know more of me.

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If I listen deeper with more of an open heart, I may be able to hear the things you are too vulnerable to to say. I want to understand what you are going through too.

For what you are struggling with –  is also mine. Not to carry, but to respect.

By honoring you, I humble me. I strengthen me.  It makes this living thing, a lot easier to do.

Being humble does not mean you are meek, small or invisible. It doesn’t mean you are  silent or that you should stand by the sidelines of life.

A vulnerable and humble being has the strength of character to realize that they don’t know all the answers. They are strong, fluid and connected to others.

The act of humility allows for openness of communication and knows that good ideas can come from anyone. A humble human doesn’t brag about accomplishments. They act with decisiveness and integrity, and inspire through actions and not publicity.

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Read more: Jocko Willink’s Extreme Ownership

Featured Artist

Yoko Kimiko on Instagram @robot_minds

The Sole Author of Your Conditions

In Yuval Noah Harari’s book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century he explores our increasing reliance on algorithms to make decisions for us.

Artificial Intelligence is being deployed in health care and warfare; it’s helping people make music and books; it’s scrutinizing your resume, judging your creditworthiness, and tweaking the photos you take on your phone. In short, it’s making decisions that affect your life whether you like it or not.

Feeling The Pull of The Present

I want to feel the pull of the present moment lure me in – Madeline Johnson

It is so damn difficult to stay present in the moment. Distractions are everywhere, especially in my mind, which vacillates between the recent past and unknown future.

Once in a while, when I can remind myself to pay attention, I become fully aware of my life unfolding in real time. It’s for a split second really. It’s as if I awaken for a moment. My mind fully in this present.

I want to feel the pull of the present moment lure me in. I am tired of not being here. I want to feel the excitement of unencumbered first sight, a virgin noticing.

I am looking for experiences that violate my expectations. Places, people and things that will take me somewhere new.

I want to get off the reservation. Travel a bit. Somewhere new.

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I expect being some where new will allow me to be fully present, my senses heightened, absorbing the freshness of it all.

To steward the contents of my consciousness to the here and now.

Tune in:  Jason Silva’s eye-opening perspective on this seven minute video.

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Featured Artist

Kari Lilt

 

Your Energy Field

From a spiritual viewpoint we are deathless souls using a physical, energy-body to gain experiences here on Earth. The body is the vessel used by the soul. Like a driver and his car.

Since we and everything around us is energy we must also be connected with everything. We are entangled. ‘

 

If we take this one step further it would mean that the way you think and feel can change the world for the better. Thinking positive thoughts can influence those around you – causing a ripple in this energetic ether.

Think about how you show up in the moment. The energy you bring to others.  The way you make other people feel, even when you haven’t said a word.

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Thoughts cause ripples in this field  and a shift in one part of the field ripples on and causes shifts in the parts next to it and they cause shifts in the parts next to them and the ripple goes on forever.

Because you are part of the universe, the ripples come back to you and give you back a doze of similar essence.

From The Energy Body

Featured Artist

Teresa Lunt on Instagram

 

Your Soul Retrieval

One must wander, wonder and get lost in life and in newness. Anything actually that whispers an ounce of inspiration to you. Madeline Johnson

Some Shamans practice what is called a soul excavation. This is a healing ceremony and an act of rescuing someone’s soul, a reviving of that part that can be lost after experiencing difficulty or trauma or a period of soul sucking work. It could be a doomed relationship, a failed venture, a broken partnership or a depressingly cold winter season of  life. Regardless of how one lost their mojo for living, they haven’t lost it forever and it is their responsibility to heal.

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None of us have time for things that are soulless.  We want to feel inspired and charged with energy and love.

I believe we all have the natural ability to practice a soul retrieval each day. It takes persistence and can at times be exhausting, but it can be done. It starts with stillness and a search. A relentless quest for that breath of life that gives you wings and helps you soar.

Reviving your soul involves play, curiosity, exploration and continuous effort. Being fully persistent and curious about what turns you on, what awakens your spirit once more.

Many recommend that you think about what made you come alive as a child, but I argue, we aren’t children any more. Sure we might be emotionally, but not physically.  New passions will activate our soul now and will make us come alive again with a spark of joy.

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One must wander, wonder and get lost in life and in newness. New places, people and spaces. Sometimes in new creative acts. Acts of creation like dance, music, painting, singing – anything actually that whispers an ounce of inspiration to you.

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Featured Artist

Robert Steven Connett @rsconnett on Instagram

 

Silent, Still & Open

I am removing what I thought was protecting my heart from being broken one more time. So the love can flow through.  Madeline Johnson

Psychological resistance is like an invisible wall that stands between who we are and who we want to become.

I want to be open to receiving more love.

We resist because we fear. We construct our own invisible walls of impossibility. We do this in all aspects of our lives, but the wall that can be the biggest barrier to our growth is the one we put between us and our relationships.

We need each other to survive.

Whatever you call the wall,  the emotional armor, the fence and property line that separate our thoughts and feelings from those of other people. Sometimes these boundaries keep us locked in, stunted and unable to grow.

I’m taking down my wall, brick by brick.  It starts with me.

No more interrupting what others have to say or predicting what might happen. No looking for fault lines in their character, or scanning for clues for what might hurt me in the future.

No scanning for threats and no rushing to move things along.

Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience.

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

I let go of unmet expectations and realize that a bit of stress is another way of showing I care.

I am not going to even try to control the conversation and I will remember it’s not only my time, it’s your time. It’s this moment.

Opening to love.

I am removing what I thought was protecting my heart from being broken one more time. So the love can flow through.

I won’t interrupt. I will stop ending moments before they have had a chance to begin.

I remain curious, looking for signs of love. Clues along the way.

Expecting more love from all.

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Featured Artist

Maki Itanami