2008, Your Best Year Filled With Cheer

HAPPY!!! HAPPY!!! NEW YEAR

Yes 2008 is here and I am filled with great anticipation for this year.  This is what I hope for:

•    That we all open our hearts to more love
•    That we all have more inspiration and feel uplifted by life
•    That every human is filled with the highest consciousness
•    That joy and laughter fills our homes
•    That our health is vibrant and our fitness energizing
•    That we are able to go beyond our self-limiting ideas
•    That each of us fully appreciates our wonderful uniqueness
•    That we allow ourselves to receive all we need, want, desire
•    That peace comes to the world in surprising ways
•    That the Earth heals itself with our assistance
•    That the need for power diminishes and the heart wins out
•    That all life is valued as precious and all try to do no harm
•    That those of different beliefs come together to listen
•    That abundance flows richly in everyone’s lives
•    That we are filled with gratitude for all we have
•    That love is realized as the highest law for all humans
•    That amazing potentials / possibilities are realized for us all
•    That our spirits soars and we spread light out into the world

What are your wishes for 2008?

I look forward to sharing 2008 with you and encouraging and inspiring you to make this the best year of your life.

Peace, Joy, Love and Light to You,

Joseph

Actions To Be Taken in 2008

Over the last 5 weeks I have written about making 2008 your best year ever.  I have focused on what you can do to make your life exceptional.  Today I want to focus on what we can all do together to make the world a better place.  There are many things going on that we can be grateful for especially in our communities where people care about people.  Take some time, in the next few days, to list what you are grateful for and make that a regular practice.  

On a national and global level there are many things going on that will challenge the best in us to step up and make a difference.  Do what you need to do to take care of yourself and those you love and devote some time each week to be a positive force for change in this country and for the Earth.  Please choose one of the list below or come up with your own important issue and then get involved. Involvement could include: writing editorials, starting your own blog, getting involved with an organization, communicating with your elected officials, starting your own NGO, join together with others to work in support of an issue, or come up with new and innovative actions to make a difference.  Here is my list of issues worth taking on:

The War in Iraq – this war has never been about terrorism, it is about political and corporate power.  The soldiers have not died to protect us, they have died because Bush and Cheney are hungry for power.  This male need for dominance and control needs to end or all humanity is in danger of being wiped out by our ever more potent weapons.  We need to bring higher consciousness and heart into this mess and quit killing each other under false pretenses.

Earth – our planet is a very precious place and we have been abusive to it.  Oil and other profits driven corporations have no ability to see beyond their profit and loss statements.  We need clean air, clear water and a healthy atmosphere to survive.  We are the ones that must stand up for the planet or we will not have any place worth living.  There is global warming, there are major problems caused by us humans.  All scientist agree except for those paid by corporations to say otherwise.  We can recycle.  We can drive less.  We can demand that the present alternative technology be utilized rather then suppressed (See the movie Who Killed the Electric Car?) We don not have time to waste on this issue.

Healthcare – All citizens of this country should have low cost health care.  The only reason this is not happening here in the US, as it is in all other modern democracies, is that insurance companies and other invested groups think profits are more important than caring for people. (See the movie Sicko)  The movie doesn’t even include advanced universal health care countries like Norway or Sweden.  Profits vs compassion seems like a major area of disagreement between “we the people” and those in pursuit of profit.  There are ways we can all benefit from working together.  To care for those in need will enrich our souls.

Congress and Government – Congress and our national government are broken.  The people are losing out badly because they are no longer represented.  Those with money and influence have all the say. How come Bush and Cheney have not been held accountable for their almost endless list of abusing power?  How come Congress has just sat there and done nothing to represent the needs and concerns of the people?  There is so much we need to do here to clean this mess up. Our elections need to be free of money influence.  Our elections need to be transparent.  Our officials need to be help accountable.  Our halls of Congress need to be cleared of lobbyist.  Our politics need to be cleared of “religious” attempts to tell us how to be.  And so much more needs to be done so the people are once again represented.   

Other issues worth taking on include: the education system that needs new life, the prison system that is about punishment not rehabilitation, the separation of church and state, equal justice for all including all of life and much more.

Choose an issue and sign up to get involved.  Remember people like Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Nelson Mandella, Rachel Carson Desmond Tutu, Sojourner Truth, Martin Luther King and so many others who followed their own truth and their heart to make a big difference in the world.  You can too.  

Have a wonderful 2008 and be the difference you want to see in the world.

What Is YOUR Highest Nature?

What is your highest nature?  I wanted to follow up with yesterday’s ideas for allowing with an exploration of who you and I are at our essence.  As you might well guess, this is a question that is not easy to answer because there are many opinions on the topic of human nature.  I have spent much of my adult life (over 35 years) exploring this topic in my own self, in my working with others, in my meditation and through my reading.  I am not an expert but I do have my own experiences and intuitive sense.  

There is in you and I an unlimited potential.  Our birthright is from the Divine Source of the Universe.  If it is God you use to describe this Source, please realize you are the son or daughter of God as was Jesus.  You have the same potential to realize your Divine nature as Jesus had.  I must admit to questioning the Biblical accounts of who Jesus was.  There is however little doubt his life was exceptional and that miraculous things happened as part of realizing his own Godlike nature.  

You too have the same capacities as any son or daughter of the Divine Source.  Take a moment to think about those fellow humans who have been an example to you of holy or heroic.  You have their same capacities.  What is holding you back from being as amazing as they were in their lifetime?  Maybe your heroic person is still alive and you can watch them evolve into even higher states of realization.  

What comes to mind as I write this is God-Realization or Self-Realization.  Isn’t that possibility available to all of us?  I remember reading a story of one of the living Divine Mothers from India who came from an uneducated family who use to abuse her because she acted so different than the rest of them.  She is now living in the world as a holy example of Highest Love to all who know her.  Her early life was part of her journey to her God-Realization or the full realization of here Higher Self.

I find myself hesitant at times to use the word “God” because the idea of who God is has been so abused by those that claim to speak in His/Her name.  Please don’t check your questioning mind at the door if you attend a church.  You know as much about God or the Divine as any minister or so called spokesperson.  All you have to do is sit and listen to your heart and your higher nature.

Make this next year a time of exploration of your own highest possibilities.  You too can become God-Realized/Self-Realized.  You too can live a heroe’s journey filled with purpose.  You too can be part of a miraculous life.  You too can love with the same capacity of the Divine Source of all love.  You too can be courageous enough to fully express all that you have been placed on this earth to do.

Are you ready to put away your excuses, drop your blaming, take full responsibility for you life, live with purpose and courage and allow your highest and holiest expression?  I suspect there is a part of you reading this that is saying YES!!!.  Please let that highest part of guide you in 2008.  We need as much light shining in the world as each of us can make happen.

Let me know when and how your turn you own light on.  I will share my experiences as the year progresses.

Can You Allow Yourself To Have What You Want?

When I think about 2008, the word “allowing” comes to mind.  I have been reading over this holiday week the latest Abraham/Hicks book, The Astonishing Power of Emotions and Eat, Pray and Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and both books have inspired me to think more expansively about what is possible.  These two book are very different, yet they both share the theme of fully exploring and expressing who we are.  

With this expanded thinking provoked by my readings, I move forward with my plan to allow and create the life I want.  Yet I suspect there are old stinky beliefs against this allowing.  The reason I suspect this is because I have for many years explored opening to a more abundant flow and the results have been less then stellar.  So allowing will be one of the themes I explore and follow over the next 12 months to bring about a breakthrough.  

Here is my plan for allowing:

•    Begin by recognizing that I do deserve what I want
•    Remember and remind myself that I am directly related to the Creative Force of the Universe
•    Let my innate wisdom and intuitive guidance show me the way to the life I desire
•    Be watchful for the thoughts that bind me and let them dissolve
•    Remember that my desires send me on a course to thinking, feeling and realizing in increasing expansive ways
•    Open my mind to the infinite possibilities that are waiting for me to be receptive
•    Open my heart and love myself and all things as fully as I am able
•    Sit in quiet readiness for guidance and the flow of the stream of well-being
•    Feel and see as if what I want is already my reality
•    Live in joy and gratitude each day

Would you like to join me and set yourself free to allow the most extraordinary life?  Of course you would, but are you willing to love yourself and be open to receiving what you want?

10 Plus 10 Equals Success in 2008

Over the last month or so I have recommend a number of processes to help you plan for making 2008 your best year ever.  If you have explored the ideas you are ready to move forward.  If not, then take the next day or two to read over the pertinent blog postings (go to my Journal Archives on right hand column of blog and check out over 20 articles on ways to make 2008 great for you that I have written since Thanksgiving).  My 2 Success Book Series would also be very helpful if you are cramming to get ready for next year.  

Now take the time to review what you want to bring into your life in 2008.  Those 5-10 important additions are best if they make sense, feel right, have heart, and make your spirit want to soar in anticipation.  If you have mixed feelings about any of you 5-10 life enhancing desires then those are best left off the list.  Things can be added or subtracted from the list when needed.

Next take that list and if you have done the 100 questions exercise suggested at ThinkArete.com you know have your top 10 questions that will help guide you.  So you have 5-10 desires and 10 guiding questions.  I highly suspect that there will be some significant overlap.  Those desires that match with your important life questions have much significance for you.  

As I reviewed my 10 questions and my top 10 commitments for 2008, I found they were fully aligned but two things seem to stand out for me.  One was a question of politics, which Peace Together and this blog address to some degree but not at the level it occupies my thinking and it is not specifically addressed in my 10 commitments.  I was raised in a family that has always been involved in politics.  As you know from my blog I write at least weekly on political issues.  I decided from this observation that I needed to be involved in more active ways expressing my progressive ideas.  I will work on formulating a commitment.

The second observation was my top question fits squarely with all my purpose driven ideas.  That question. “How can I make a bigger difference for more people?” seems perfectly aligned with my desires to be more loving, to be conscious, to teach and to do presentations, to spread peace, to get my musical, novel, blogs and websites more out there in the world.  It seems to me, I have a rich collections of possibilities and I am excited about the prospects.

Are you ready to go forward with what you want to happen?  I suggest that there may be some beliefs that could limit your and my success.  Take the next few days to do a thorough assessment of any self-limited thoughts or beliefs that may hold you back.  Listen carefully to your inner dialogue to make sure you internal programming is set for success.  As I wrote, the other day, you and I both deserve to have the life we desire and only you and I will hold ourselves back.  Get out of your own way and I commit to getting out of mine.  

Print or write out your questions and commitments and have them around for you to review and possibly fine-tune over the next few days.  On 1/1/2008 you want to be fully ready to focus your efforts.  Make this year a showcase of manifesting what you want and living with such purpose that your life will always be enriched by what happens over the next 365 days.

Live long, be peaceful, love constantly, seek to inspire and be inspired, and prosper daily.

Light, Wisdom and Peace; A Few Quiet Moments Away

It is day of twirling snow out there and I am very grateful to have a warm home for my writing.  It is very quiet out there in the white wonderland.  This is a real contrast to my busy mind that is now in full gear firing away ideas as my fingers dance out the words.  There is a list of ideas I want to write about today but none of them has me captivated.  So instead, I will let the muse inside inspire me.  In the moment of letting go I had an inkling of what I wanted to write about but then it quickly dissolved into emptiness.  Now I have returned to watching and waiting to see what will send my fingers scurrying about the keyboard.  I am following this inner guidance today because I am confident there is a depth of wisdom just below the surface waiting to bust out into a bright light of inspiration.

How do you invite the light of inner wisdom to shine in your life?  When you aren’t clear where to go, how do you find your guidance?  Did you know within your consciousness is the collective wisdom and knowing of all human kind?  That is a lot of knowing, a vast expansive stream of insight and understanding,  which extends throughout all of human history.   This stream flows richly through you if you choose to open your mind/heart/spirit to its quiet vastness.  

This vast knowing is waiting for your inquiry and the best method to open the door is sitting quietly.  Most call this sitting quietly, meditation; you can call it that or listening inward, contemplation, intuition, guidance from the higher self or as in Zen, just sitting.  If there is a single practice you are willing to add to your busy lives this year, I suggest meditation.  My goal is to meditate all 365 days of 2008 even if it is only briefly on some days.  I prefer walking meditation but on a day this stormy, sitting quietly will work just fine.  

There are many approaches to the rich tradition of meditation. The easiest ones are simple and you can begin immediately.  As you explore a contemplative practice, you can find a teacher, or group and even read about methods.  If you have no preferences, I suggest you try these methods.  

The first method is one I find easy and doable.  This method involves simply following the inhale and exhale of your breath.  You don’t try to change the breath, you simply watch/feel it as you expand with your breath in and you relax with your breath out.  As thoughts and feeling come into awareness, let them go, and return to the rising and falling of the breath.  If you do this practice or another meditative approach daily you will permanently alter you life in a number of amazing ways.

The second method is walking in meditation.  I find the breath is a great focal point as I begin.  Then I simply walk at a relaxed pace and let all that is around me be part of my meditative awareness.  I often see or hear horses, a burro, fox, coyote, a hawk, rabbits, cows, skunks, peacocks and last night I heard an owl.  I live near many acres of green space and I prefer to walk late at night under the stars and moon and feel the quiet aliveness of the universe.   

There are a number of other meditations including ones that involve watching a candle, using a mantra (repetition of a word or phrase), or other techniques for mindfulness. In your community, there most likely are meditation teachers or groups you can check out if you want some guidance.  TM is a well-known method of meditation worth exploring.   

Take 15-30 minutes once or twice a day as time to tune in and wander about in the wisdom of inner stillness.  This time spent in quiet contemplation will enrich your life and make you feel so much better about yourself and where you are going.  

Enjoy the light and peacefulness of meditation and let me know what you discover along the way.  

2008 Is On The Way, Questions And A Commitment

Well how are you doing today?  Did you eat enough food and sweets to satisfy you?  It was a white Christmas here in Boulder with the snow falling when we woke up and continuing throughout the day.  I think I will go out cross-country skiing when it warms a little above the 2 degrees it was this morning.  That is cold and not that much fun to be out in even if I am active.

Last night I went for a walk under the bright moonlight and began to think again about the New Year.  I felt a strong urgency to be more focused.  I will sit down and complete 100 questions exercise today as part of my preparation for 2008.  There is one question I have written so far that I know will be in my top 10 because since I wrote it down it keeps on coming up.  “How can I make a bigger difference for more people?”  That feels like a huge question with a lot of responsibility.  In that question there is a plan waiting to be designed; an intention or two waiting to be made; and a powerful commitment to living as purposeful as I can imagine.  I am excited about the calling of this question.

Last Friday, I had two postings; one later in the evening and without much commentary, and the other one had the ThinkArete.com reference to the 100 questions and its 500 big ideas..  Please check out those two posting.  The interview is part of my effort to get out into the world more.   Sitting here and writing is what I love to do but I also love to do talks, presentations, workshops and lead retreats.  Check out the interview (push mp3)and you can hear my voice if you have only read my voice before. 

As the year comes winding down, take time to appreciate all the amazing things that have happened and make plans for the amazing results you want to create.  Have you intentions in mind over the next week and be thinking about what you are willing to make a commitment to accomplish in 2008.  Remember, if you choose, you can make 2008 you’re the best of your life so far.  Does that sound good to you?  Stay tune and I will give you some further ideas to really power you up for success.  

The one idea that I have shared often is the YOU DESERVE a wonderful year.  Get you mind and your heart behind the idea of you deserving.  Do whatever it takes in mind adjustments, belief restructuring, and heart opening to be ready and willing to have what you want in 2008; more to come on this in the next few days.  Also get a copy of my 2 for 1 Success Series which is full of more great ideas, positive thoughts and affirmations for success.  These are available to you immediately in e-book form here at this site under E-Books to Buy.  

You deserve, no matter what anyone has ever said, no matter whatever thoughts, feelings, or limiting beliefs may ramble about in your head.  Make a commitment today to get out of your own way.

You Are A Gift

You are a Gift to the World
You bring the sparkle of your joyous eyes
Your have an imagination that can change everything
Your consciousness can awaken insight and awareness
Your questions can expand viewpoints
Your ideas have wisdom and inspiration written all over them
Your intuition is full of knowing and guidance
Your body can express what your words cannot
Your feelings spread aliveness and energy
Your courage can uplift us and take us higher
Your peace and inner stillness is quiet kindness
Your openness can teach us acceptance and appreciation
Your spirit can light up the planet and turn darkness into luminosity
Your heart has the capacity to love endlessly, forever, reaching out to every heart in this universe and beyond

Let your light shine and you heart dance and we will all be blessed

Peace, Love and Joy to you this Holiday Season and may your life be all that you are and more.

Joseph
 

Live a Life Of Love

Today in afternoon and evening I am in concert singing Handel’s Messiah.  We have my wife’s parents coming for brunch and it is a very busy day.  My blog is short today because of all that is going on.  I wanted to share this idea with you however.

There are infinite possibilities in you for connection to others if you learn to listen to your hearts guidance.  At the highest level of your being is a deep longing to live in love with all those you interact with.  Make this holiday season about connecting with yourself and others from the heart.  Be love, spread love, open to love and seek to live love in all the ways that you are.  

Love is the way and you know it is in your heart.  So make a commitment to you and your heart that you will do your best to live in love.   

Love, Peace and Joy to you,

Joseph

Our Government Secrecy Is Not Acceptable

In my wanderings on the Internet I come upon some very interesting information and ideas.  Maybe that is why I find myself so alarmed about what is going on in this country.  The night news highlights (lowlights) the awfulness of human nature and the details of celebrities’ sad lives.  There is not time to cover things that are less dramatic and more important.  One of the issues that has not had much coverage is the secrecy of this government of ours.  

This administration has taken secrecy to the point that you have to speculate they are doing many things they don’t want the people to know about.  The VP is probably the darkest most secret executive in our history.  Those in power seem to hide behind the term of “national security” as a way to keep the public from knowing what they do.  This makes the transparency of a democracy almost impossible.  Without us knowing what is going on we cannot self-govern.  If we leave is up to Congress than we are in trouble because they have shown no ability to hold this administration accountable.  

We as citizens need to be involved in what is going on, if we are not allowed into the inner decisions and processes than we are not governing.   We can’t trust if we are not shown what is going on.  This secrecy at this level is totally unacceptable.  We need nonpolitical oversight to make sure those in power do not abuse it.  That is necessary because power naturally corrupts those who are not out in the open.

What got me to sit down and write about this was an article I read recently about Rudy Guiliani.  When previous mayors ended office in New York City they left with maybe a box full of personal mementos of their time in office.  Mayor Guiliani, mostly secretly, removed over 2000 boxes of files and information.  What did he have to hide?  How come he hasn’t been called on the carpet about that?  Isn’t that theft of public property?

I don’t know what to do about all that is going on that must be questioned and it isn’t.  To be an informed citizen takes time and keeping up on what you can find out.  I suggest we all take the time to be informed as much as we can and then we ask lots of questions.  Please do your best to participate in any way you can.  Aware citizens are needed.

Peace Radio Interview

Recently, I was fortunate enough to be on The Doug Noll Show. We talked about inner peace and world peace. Listen to our Discussion!

An Interview with Doug Noll about Peace

My Inner Child Loves Christmas and Big Ideas

Are you like me and get excited as Christmas gets near?  I guess the kid in me is still alive and well and ready to enjoy all the fun stuff connected with this time of year.  As an adult, the fun stuff is sometimes not as fun unless you find ways to nurture the child in you. My wife and I will probably do a fun art project on Christmas Day as a way to feel the joy of creating and being playful. The exchange of gifts is really exciting to me and my inner child.  If it snows we may go play in nature on our cross-country skis.  I love to cook, so we will have something we enjoy to eat.  Having a joyful day seems to me to be the best way to celebrate this holiday.  We are not churchgoers; our spirits seem most nurtured by expressing love, being joyous and spreading peace. 

How do you make this time of year special?  What nurtures your spirit?  What do you do out of habit that needs to change?  What new ways will bring more life to this time of year for you and those you love?  What will let you child out to play?  What beliefs or past conditioning hold you back from having fun?  What will set you free to enjoy yourself and your family?

As usual I have lots of questions to ask.  If you read my blog, you understand that I think questions are essential to being a conscious human being.  I was reading through Brian Johnson’s 500 Big Ideas at Thinkarete.com and came upon his 100 Questions.  There is an exercise here that is well worth your time to do.  I started on his exercise and the questions are inspiring me on how I will focus my 2008 Intentions.  I invite you to explore this exercise the rest of this month.  I know you will be busy.  But carry a little notebook and write your questions down in spare moments.  This will be part of your exploration to make 2008 your best year ever. 

Enjoy your weekend

Seeking Truth And Not Being Negative About What You Find

How is it going today?  I spent much of yesterday afternoon and evening rushing around getting ready for Christmas.  We got our packages mailed off this morning.  Now I can sit back and relax some because most of the rush is over.  It was fun but there was some stress I could feel inside of me.  I carry stress in my stomach when I feel worry or hurry going on inside of me.  Where does stress hang out it you?

My mind has been busy these days thinking about what I want 2008 to feel and be like.  I keep on bumping up against my ideal and my concerns for where my country is heading.  I want the best for myself and for everyone.  Yet I see that there are many forces out there driven by other than compassion and guided by other then higher consciousness.  

It seems like every day there is something more to pay attention to if I am to be informed. Yet paying attention to all that seems wrong and needs to be corrected puts me in a state of mind that is not optimal for creating the life I want.  The more I focus on what seems wrong, the more I put myself into a negative, blame frame of mind.  This makes me want to ignore what is going on at the FCC, Congress, the phone companies spying, at the Attorney General/Justice department, voting machines, more unchecked funding in Iraq, and all the other places where wrong things are happening and we citizens are being taken to the cleaners.  

Instead I could just focus on making 2008 better for my wife and I and ignore the other stuff, but I can’t.  I feel as an aware human being, I need to ask questions and keep this country going in the right direction.  Since I have viewpoint beyond my own needs I feel obligated to see the bigger picture and speak up for what is not right.  

So I am dragging one foot through the mud and muck of government and corporate domination and the other foot wants to run free, love and live in joy and abundance.  Can I do both?  

How do you work through seeing what you see and still keeping focused on being positive about the future?  How do you keep your vibrations high enough to attract what you want and yet be engaged as an active truth seeking citizen?  What works for you to balance the components of the jaded world of power and your personal power?

Your ideas and feedback are welcome.  I don’t have the answers and I wish I did.  What are you learning out there in your experiment called life.  Please share your insights, we can all be enriched by them.

Simple Practices To Bring Balance Into Your Life

Wednesday is usually my Blog Mystery School day and I have wandered from that lately.  So I wanted to return with some ideas I thought you might find helpful as your ready yourself to enjoy the holidays and to get focused in the New Year.  I wanted to write today about the importance of balance.

I think of balance as having 4 aspects.  Each individual has thoughts/mind, emotions, body/heart and spirit.  During this busy season and for the next year I want to give you some ideas to keep these four aspects in balanced in a way to optimize your health and functioning.  Each aspect needs to be cared for and nurtured.

The Mind is a busy place where a variety of ideas, beliefs, thoughts, reactions, and plans take place.  The mind can be focused on the past or the future but is works most effectively in the present.  The busy overflowing mind is less helpful then the relaxed mind.  A mind inspired by ideas and possibilities is very expansive.  The best state of mind is quiet and open.  This quiet mind is possible through meditation and other practices.  The simple practice I am suggesting today is: Following the exhale of your breath until you are empty, then pause and follow the inhale of your breath until you are full and pause and start the cycle again.  As thoughts come up simply note the thought and return to following the exhale and inhale of the breath.  This process of watching the breath will naturally deepen the breath and quiet the mind.  

The Feelings you have as I have written often provide direct feedback about how you are doing.  Feeling positive, joyous, passionate, alive, open all indicate you are on track.  Feeling negative, fearful, bored, closed, blocked means you have gone off track.  A healthy expression of emotions begins by acknowledging what you are feeling, then expressing these emotions in ways that are helpful and healthful for you.  Love is powerful emotion tied to the mind, heart, body and your spirit.  The practice I want to suggest is two parts:  1. Always validate your feelings buy acknowledging them as they come up in you.  2. Feelings come and go on their own if you recognize them and then let them go through expression or through changing your thoughts.  If you don’t like how you feel change your thoughts.

The Body is the place where your heart resides and all other functions of living.  The heart is the center of much of the action and the place where love is located.  Love is actually a feeling state that resides in the body and is linked to the infinite in you call your spirit.  The body is full of emotional and intuitive knowing.  The body is your vehicle and it needs to be taken care of through nourishment, rest, exercise and healthy practices.  The simple practice of breathing I suggested above is great for the body also.  I do have a specific practice to suggest you use as often as you can.  The practice is called Walking Meditation:  Go out into nature (outside of the house where the birds are and air is flowing naturally) and walk.  This walk is slow and relaxed.  This walk is aware of what is going on around you and what is going on inside but only for the purpose of noticing.  The main focus is to walk and be surrounded by the moment, free to just be.

You have a Spirit.  It is the part of you that was before this lifetime and will continue beyond.  It is your life force; the spark that ignites you to imagine, to expand and to love.  The spirit in you is connected to the collective wisdom of all of human kind and the universe.  There is no limit to this part of you.  It is always free no matter the restrictions of thoughts, feelings or body.  Practice of spirit can include the walking meditation and the breathing mentioned above but I have a specific one for you to explore:  I will call this contemplative stillness.  In the quiet wisdom within you is all you ever need to know.  Sit, stand, lie or however you can, spend time listening inward for the guidance of your higher self.  This time spent in contemplation can be while being creative, while waiting in line, in the midst of being playful, reading inspiring ideas, or simply enjoying some quiet time.

There is so much more I could write about these four aspects.  I wanted to keep it simple in ideas and practices so you could do them in an uncomplicated way.  The world you and I live in is full and complicated, so keeping it simple makes sense.  If you do the four practices with the four aspects in mind, you will find balance, your life will feel much richer, and you will experience true joy.

4 Questions to Explore

I have some questions for you as a follow up to my brief blog entry earlier.  This will be brief too but hopefully thought provoking.  I believe the greatest need we have on the planet is the need to expand our consciousness (understanding, awareness and innate wisdom).  Here are my questions:

What helps you think outside of the box and in more expansive and inclusive ways?

If you are basically information and energy in vibration, what kind of information do you need to feed yourself and what kind of emotions do you need to activate to create through your vibrations what you want?  

If seeking fulfillment of your desires is a positive creative force, explain how you evolve through your desires?

If whatever you spend any time looking at enters you vibrations, how do you pay attention enough to be informed in your decisions and still avoid being programmed by the negative things you want to change?

Being eager is an attribute; so is having a heart full of passion for what you want; living with purpose is energizing; and having a positive expectation brings about positive results.  If you can bring into the world amazing results with these ways of being, why don’t people adopt them and become experts at creating a wonderful life for themselves?

Please let me know what you responses are to these questions.  I seek your wisdom and consciousness.  Please leave a comment below or email me at explorelifeblog@inbox.com

I Will Back Here Later for More

Today is a busy day for me.  I am doing a debriefing for a company that just suffered the lost one of their employees who died yesterday.  I am there for anyone who made need some counseling.  I will be there most of the day.  Then in the evening I have my last choir practice before our 3 events this weekend here in Boulder.  We are singing The Messiah by Handel and the audience is invited to sing along.  This has been a tradition in Boulder for 25 years.  This is my first Messiah as a member of the choir.  We have been practicing for 3 months and I am looking forward to singing this wonderful creation of Handel’s.

I will get back to the blog later today to write some more.  Have a wonderful day and enjoy all that this day brings you to be grateful for.

 

Holiday Madness Relief

This time of year can be very demanding.  You have to pace yourself so you can feel good as you go.  If not, the holidays can stress you out and put a damper on how you feel.  Are you feeling stresses this holiday season?  Have you got too much going on and too much to do?  Here are some ideas to make your holidays feel better and to reduce your stress.

•    Begin the day with thoughts of how you want to feel and what you want to do.
•    Set a realistic plan to accomplish tasks
•    Only do what you can do in a manageable time frame
•    Pay attention to your feelings and use them as a guide
•    Take breaks to relax and enjoy, have some fun, be playful
•    Make taking care of yourself important: eat/drink right, get rest etc.
•    When you find yourself rushing around, slow down and appreciate your surroundings
•    Easy on the sugar and drink lots of water
•    Keep your exercise program going and walk lots
•    Set time aside to be loving to those you care about
•    Keep your social calendar set for fun
•    Nature is a wonderful antidote for a stressful day
•    Giving gifts made through your creativity feels good
•    Make all your gift giving from your heart
•    A wonderful gift is listening with compassion and caring
•    Say “no” to what doesn’t work for you and “yes” to what nurtures you
•    Spend you time with people you enjoy
•    Keep your obligation visits short and move on
•    Give yourself time to wind down at the end of the day so you can sleep well
•    As you lie down to sleep take a few minutes to feel gratitude for all you have

The goal here is to make your life work in a way that feels good to you.  You are the first priority.  If you don’t take good care of yourself, you caring for others will be compromised.  These days we live in are very demanding.  Self-care is a key ingredient in making you life work for you and those around you.  

Have the best holiday season and let your love shine.  That is really what matters most.

Holiday and 2008 Hopes

How is it going for you as Christmas gets close and the New Year is near?  What are your hopes, dreams and desires for these holidays and what would you like your life and the world to be like in 2008?

I have to write about what I hope for 2008.  Please let me know what you hope for 2008.  Here is my list:

1.    That love, compassion and understanding is awakened in every human being so we can live in peace
2.    That consciousness expands so that every human is filled with the light of self-love and true wisdom
3.    That we learn to take care of our Earth so it can provide for us the highest quality air, water and resources we need
4.    That heart driven and brilliantly inspired leadership in this country arises and expands the possibilities of our nation and all nations of the world
5.    That we learn to accept all being as they are and appreciate our differences.
6.    That we make sure all those less fortunate have all the food, shelter, education and medical care they need to thrive
7.    That we evolve in a way that expands our ability to listen, to care for and to be guided by kindness
8.    That we move past our self-imposed limitations and support and encourage those around us to do the same
9.    That we live each day with the passion of a purpose driven life
10.    That we celebrate many successes and share our good fortunes through meaningful difference making
11.    That we have all the prosperity and abundance we desire
12.    That we find true happiness is our lives and spread joy by being all we are meant to be.  

Those are some of my hopes for the upcoming year.  What would make this next year special for you?  Please spend time opening to what you want for you, those you love, and for all people on planet.  If you and I can imagine it, we can make it happen.  Think big and feel with passion and there is no limits to what we can do.
 

The One Political Party of Self-Interest and Power

I read last night that the US Senate voted 90 to 3 in support of further funding for the War in Iraq with not timetables for withdrawal or in any way trying to end the war.  I am frankly totally disgusted with the leadership of this country.  In my eyes, war is murder and this funding support is murderous to our soldiers and the 100,000’s of Iraqi family members killed in the name of whatever ridiculous ever-changing rationale is fed to us.  I have had enough.  Have you had enough yet?

I got a letter from my congressman asking for support in his run for the Senate.  I sent him a heated letter in response.  I have been a Democrat my entire life and I told him I am disgusted with the lack of leadership shown by him and all the Democrats who have provided no opposition to the insanity of this administration.  Starting a war was insane and still allowing it to go on is even more insane.   

I wrote in my blog on Tuesday (Citizen’s Alert) about America’s slide toward fascism under this administration.  The Democrats have allowed this to happen instead of providing the checks and balances that is their responsibility. Under Cheney and Bush this country and its people have been neglected in their pursuit of power and fortune for themselves and their friends.  They are poster boys for “conflict of interest”, which use to be considered wrong, I thought?

I know I am ranting but frankly we all need to rant because what is going is very upsetting.  This war support and compliance for all that is wrong with this president and VP makes no sense, unless of course, there is only really one political party.   The party of Self-Interest and Political Power is what this gathering of politicians and lobbyist in Washington DC could be called?  What would you call this one party that doesn’t represent the needs of the people?

I suggest you write and call your elected officials and you keep writing and calling them until they office are filled with letters, the computers jammed with emails and their phones overloaded with messages of what we the people want.

I want and end to the War in Iraq now
I want health care for every American
I want the US to participate with the rest of the World to save our environment
I want people to have power over corporations not the opposite
I want Education to be a priority over bomb making
I want leadership that is about higher values and truth
I want elections that are honest and with a paper trail for accountability
I want all torture to stop
I want all people held illegally to be brought to trial
I want to end the building of prisons and instead funding to help those in need of help and healing
I want a nation of conscious, critical thinking, and questioning voters
I want all people’s religious beliefs allowed but not a part of our government
I want everyone to have food and a place to stay
I want love, compassion and understanding to be the highest law of the land

What do you want?  Are you willing to stand up and speak up for what you think is right?

2008 is quickly coming our way and I suggest we all make a commitment to be courageous and together let’s stand up for truth, understanding, compassion and peace.

Let me know what you think?  Are you willing to commit to a better world?

On The Radio and In Poland

The last few days have been exciting as it seems all kinds of connections are happening.  Yesterday, I was involved in a meeting about an exciting project some of us are putting together.  I will write more about that in the next few months.  Last night I was interviewed on a internet radio show about peace, inner peace and what part we can do to spread more understanding on the planet.  I will have a link for you with that interview as soon as it is posted.  There are number of other positive things happening.  

I found my blog was referenced on a blog in Poland all though I couldn’t read what it said, I got excited to know that my blog reaches people all over the world.  This is an interestingly humbling experience for me.  I feel so blessed to write with passion and purpose and to know from their comments that people actually get real value from what I have to say.

My Peace Together NGO is also doing well and my wife and I have had many sales lately of our products (our t-shirts and cards make great holiday gifts).  It feel like the flow is growing and that is such a positive feeling.  I would like my e-books to sell more as a way to support this blog.  What flow in your life do you want to grow?  Do you want more love, more money, more purpose, more happiness and/or more health in your life?  Whatever you want is possible if you decide you want it.

The important thing to remember is: what you put your attention on will come into your life.  When you carry with you a powerful sense of what you want, you will make it happen.  Thought and feelings in alignment with what you want will cause a powerful attraction.

I have been thinking lately about money as energy and flow, as love in action, as power to make a difference.  Money can be a hugely powerful force in the world.  I want more money so I can make more of a difference.  I love giving in support of people and organizations that are trying to make the world a better place.  If I had millions and millions of dollars I would give millions and millions of dollars.  What would you do if you had lots of money to give?

Earlier in the year I wrote an article called the Billionaire Heart and lately I been think about that idea.  I will write more about having a Billionaire Heart soon because in these times we live in, there is such a giant need for giving.  If you had a billionaire heart how would you give to make a difference?

I have been wandering about in my writing today.  There is so much going on and I am excited.  I know 2008 will be my best year ever so I invite you to also know that about your life and together we will make it happen.

Another opportunity just came to us (as I am writing this) for our peace company for later today.  I will post more tomorrow. Enjoy your weekend.