"Creating a Life of Substance"

Imagine you’re a participant on a new game show called “Your Life”. The host of the show presents you with two locked doors and two keys. The door on the left is labeled “External Substance.” The door on the right is labeled “Internal Substance.” The rules of the game are simple. You can choose only one door. Behind each door is an unlimited substance of its type.

External substance is all the material stuff of the universe. Whatever your heart desires. Gold, riches, houses, cars, the new Macbook Air, food, wine, travel, chocolate, books, art, planes, boats… essentially any and every external, physical thing you can consume or experience.

Internal substance is all the etheric stuff of the universe. Whatever your heart desires. Love, bliss, freedom, knowledge, transcendence, power, esteem, confidence, romance, friendship, connection, happiness… all the good stuff you can’t consume but you can experience as a human being.

Here’s the catch, according to the rules of this particular game, when you unlock and walk through one door, the other door is closed to you. If you choose External Substance the world of Internal Substance is lost. For example, you can have the mansion and the boat but you can’t have the experience of fun, friendship, and belonging (all internal states). And if you choose Internal Substance you can experience enlightenment, knowledge, and bliss but you can’t experience the physical world.

It’s an extreme choice. If you had to choose, which door would you unlock and step through? I’m willing to bet that if your basic needs of food, shelter and safety were met, you’d walk through the door of rich internal substance and leave the external substances behind.

Thankfully, real life doesn’t present us with such an extreme choice. As a human being, you are blessed with the ability to experience both external and internal substance in rich abundance. But the game show is still a worthwhile exercise because it can help liberate us from being overly consumed with acquiring or defending more external substances, when at the end of the day, it’s the internal substances that we truly value.

One of the secrets of a life well lived is to place your energy and attention predominantly on the development of your internal substance while enjoying and appreciating all of the external substances that life has to offer.

Here are three things you can apply in your life right now to cultivate a richer internal life of substance while you’re actively engaged in building your external desires:

1) Appreciate What Is. What we appreciate grows in value. Make a ritual of recognizing and sincerely appreciating the little things that you value as precious. The smile of a child. The strength of your body. The ability to see, taste, and smell. A beautiful sunset. A good conversation. A delicious meal. When we open our eyes, life is magical. So open your eyes and consciously recognize the magic around you everywhere.

2) Love More. There are two primary states of being: love and fear. When we are afraid, we feel separate and vulnerable. When we feel love, we feel connected and powerful. Make a commitment to love a little more each day. Love the little things; love the irritating things; love even your fear. Love is the source of all that is. When we love more, we tap an inexhaustible supply of power, joy and creativity (all exquisite internal substances) and radiate them out into the world. Love more.

3) Bring forth the Authentic You. When you make a conscious choice to bring forward your authentic core — life purpose, unique talents, contribution to others, core values, and a positive vision for the whole — the richness of your internal world powerfully takes shape around you. When you’re ready to clarify and bring forward your most sought after internal substances, I invite you to take this free interactive email course, 7 Days to Align Your Life for Success => http://bit.ly/GGLcy. The course is designed to help you clarify the authentic you and bring it forward in the world. Enjoy.