I wrote yesterday about figuring out what normal is and that it may have become a very elusive category. Today I want to write about how to bring some order in your own life when you are surrounded by chaos.
I have my doubts that normal is something we should even attempt to reclaim. I want to share with you instead some ways to bring sanity to what can seem like a crazy world.
First it is very important that you come back into your body. Yes, I know you think you are already in your body. The truth is most people live primarily in their head and thoughts. You might be one of those folks that actually believe your thoughts are real. They are not real, they are simply ideas or firings of the brain. These ideas are only considered real because you think they are. A questioning mind will help greatly in reducing the illusion of thoughts.
Part two of being in your body is about feeling yourself moving about in your life. The body is full of aliveness and energy as you interact with the world around you. Take your senses for example. Your eyes, ears, nose, taste buds and other sensations give you a rainbow of information, appreciation and discernment about what is going on in the circles your travel in.
Part three of the body is that all your emotions are centered in your body. Feel joy and fear; feel anger and panic; feel love and hate; and all other feelings; and you will find they reside as emotions in your body. Expressed emotions vibrate and enliven the body. Unexpressed emotions become tension, tightness and numbness.
Part three (a) of the body is a further sense of emotions. Emotions are more like a rollercoaster, they rise and fall in your body on their own. The easiest way to deal with a difficult emotion is to just note that you having it and then watch because it soon goes away on its own. Most emotions whether uplifting or difficult come and go on their own so there really is no need to be run by what you feel. Just watch and see; how you feel will soon change naturally.
Take a few moments today and come into your body. Feel yourself and your emotions and take some time to appreciate all your body has to offer. Your body is an amazing asset designed to act in your best interest. Learn to value all it has for enriching your life
Tomorrow, I will visit another few ways to help you find peace in a disruptive world. Enjoy your Friday and remember being in your body can be fun, think intimacy, laughter, playing sports, dancing, eating a tasty meal, and going for a walk in nature, along a stream, or on a sandy beach.
What Is Normal?
We live in very lively and ever changing times. Normal use to be an idea that made me think of Ward Clever and his son Beaver, Lassie, the Nelsons, or even the Partridge Family. Now how would you describe normal? Normal has changed a lot.
The average person is no longer average. The security of the single family home is becoming more elusive. The honest politician seems hard to find. The big company looking out for the good of its people through retirement seems like a thing of the past. The small community hardware store is loosing out to the mega stores. Many churches have become corporations driven by money. Nature, for too many, is nothing more than outside where the car is parked. Love is something that is misunderstood as only romantic and mostly temporary. Real joy looses out to entertainment.
What is real? What really matters? Who really cares about us? Who looks out for the people? Does anyone care about future generations? What do you value? How do you find your truth? Does the making of money rationalize any behavior? Are people in Congress and the White House representing the people or those with money influence?
I think there is no longer a normal. I suspect there never was but things are truly very different than when I grew up. Different is neither good nor bad. Today change is normal, fast-paced, information and stimulation overload, fearfully hurried and full of worry and yet people keep going forward. Normal is feeling overwhelmed and in debt. Working more than ever and seeming to make less, while having so little time for those we love.
Do I have you fully confused now? So am I. I don’t know where we are headed and if things will ever get back to normal but I highly suspect they never will. So how do we do this thing called life in the midst of chaos? I will share some ideas over the next few days. What is normal to you?
Recovery and Those On An Easier Path
I am working at Detox and Recovery program where I run therapy groups and counsel those in the early stages of recovery. Those in early recovery spend a lot of time rediscovering themselves after years of numbing out from the alcohol and drugs they used. These years are lost to the abuse and they are emotionally stunted because there maturing process was put on hold. Under the influence of substance your values and feelings don’t have the opportunity to evolve because you are out of touch with your own ability to think beyond your struggles and see the bigger picture.
I watch the pain and agony of those on this journey and I feel grateful that I have not traveled that path. I see how hard it is: to not trust yourself; to wake up from the nightmares of your past; to try and find some place you feel ok inside; to be overwhelmed by all the stored up emotions; to feel the sadness, regret, and shame for how you have behaved and treated others; and so much more you feel bad about. To succeed at recovery is amazing because the early odds are against you.
Now if you and I were to compare our lives with those attempting to get clean and sober, we most likely would not feel as overwhelmed as those attempting to find themselves, their hearts, and heal all that hurts so much. Our path if free of the addict’s ways and troubles so it is something we can manage and improve upon. Those in the midst of abusing substance cannot manage their lives in any way that is successful. We can and that is a reminder to me that I have the power to make healthy choices. I am thankful for that choice.
Making healthy choices, finding your heart, pursuing success, and living in ways that make almost anything you set you mind on possible, is a gift. Take time today to sit in gratitude for all you have, for the healthy ways you are, for the positive choices you can make, for the gift of peace of mind that is available to you.
It is mid-week and a great time to take inventory of all the good in your life. To have what you have is a real blessing.
You Can’t Push The River
I watched the DVD version of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra. I got it through my regular Netflix. I very much appreciate the book and was looking forward to seeing this. It was in story form with Deepak’s word and full of wonderful information and inspiration.
As my wife and I sat down to watch it, I had an intuitive sense there were some lessons in this DVD that would be valuable for each of us to hear. I suggested we listen for what message most connected to us for helping us move forward in our work and our lives.
The message that was clear to me was the importance of going with the flow of life. For a while now I have been too effortful and trying to “push the river”. It is funny, the phrase, push the river, has come up a number of times lately and I think I finally am listening. To me, pushing the river means, I am trying to make something happen that would be much easier if I just went with the natural flow of the universe. I get so determined sometimes that I try to make things happen and forget the part of letting it flow.
That is why I have been so drawn to the Stream of Well-Being that Abraham/Hicks talks because a part of me knows that is just where I need to be. I need to step into the rich and wonderful flow of life and relax into the Stream of Well-Being. Yes, where all the good stuff is in abundance.
I am not saying effort isn’t ever necessary. I am however reminding you and myself that there is an incredible flow of creation that is always available to us when we are open to the intuitive and wise flow of the universe. This is true and I suggest you test it out for yourself. I have, in past moments, felt the flow very clearly but my busy mind has sidetracked me into the way of the ego and its thoughtful effort. Pride in the form of trying to be successful has been sneaking around my mind whispering its need to be in control message. I have only now been conscious enough to catch it.
I see that I have been on a full speed ahead course that has push aside some of the inner knowing that I count on and replaced it with the determination of the ego in search of proving itself. I am stopping that now. Ego is going on vacation and I am being guided by a higher knowing in me that I am aware of when I pay attention to my heart and follow the guidance of my spirit.
I hope this makes some sense to you and that you have a better sense of why it is easier and more rewarding to go with the flow. Life is all a very interesting experiment and I am confident this latest course correction will open me to the wise ways of the universe.
Have a good day and enjoy the flow of the creative force waiting for you to partake.
A Score That Will Make A Real Difference
I was thinking about credit scores the other day and wondered who invented them and for what purpose? It seems to me these scores are a banking invention so that can categorize everyone? Is this for the good of the bank or the good of the customer? Scores make sense in sports but do you really want everyone to know your money situation? Isn’t that private information?
Then I started thinking about why doesn’t someone invent a positive score that would show how active you and I are at trying to make a difference in the world. Maybe we could call it a Humanitarian Score. The purpose of this score would be to acknowledge those who care and to motivate people to get involved in their community, their country and the planet. Here is a list of things you could do to get points toward your Humanitarian Score:
• Volunteer at an organization doing positive things in the world
• Become a tutor
• Be a mentor
• Write or call your elected officials advocating for positive change
• Call a friend in need
• Daily do acts of kindness and compassion
• Write a blog about a better world
• Give support of time or money to an organization making a difference
• Create art with a message that inspires people
• Write a book (e-book) about something that matters
• Spread love by how you treat yourself and others
• Become a good listener
• Help feed those who are hungry
• Tend to someone who needs care
• Visit those unable to get around
• Walk. Run, March, Demonstrate for what you believe in
• Be supportive and encouraging in your words to others
• Find a way to spread joy
• Ask questions where questions are needed
• Take time to tune in and become a calm and peaceful person
• Help those who are afraid
• Run for local office and change things for the better
• Promote universal health care
• Help build low-cost housing for those in need
• Give freely of your skills to an organization you feel is doing something worthwhile.
• Make lots of money and give lots of money away to support what you believe in.
• Encourage the exploration of the human potential both in yourself and in others
• Explore your higher wisdom and become a bright light in the world
• Become a environmental activist to save the planet
• Explore what it means to go green
• Don’t buy goods from countries that use unfair labor practices
• Buy organic and don’t support the use of pesticides
• Be accepting of everyone in your life
• Keep your mind open to new ideas and points of view
• Have an open heart
• Raise your own awareness and seek deeper insights
• Explore your connection to others
• Seek to be understanding of differences
• Take a break from judging yourself and others
• Learn to love and fully accept yourself
• Write songs, poems, stories, novels that uplift
• Become a storyteller who inspires people
• Express your unique purpose as fully as you can
• Keep your learning going strongly your whole life
• Go back to school to become something you have always want to be
• Learn to play more and be less serious
• Forgive, let go and move on for your own good and for those you care about
• Listen to the guidance of a higher power
• Pray for someone’s recovery
• Have a daily goal to spread smiles and laughter
• Learn to teach seminars on how to be more successful
• Explore higher states of consciousness
• See money as a positive force for good and become a dynamic fundraiser
• Take the hero’s journey to full self-realization
• Have a personal mission to leave the world a better place than you found it
What would you add to this list? What would your Humanitarian Score be? Are you on a mission to make a difference? Come join all of us who are higher purpose driven and together we will be an unstoppable force for good in the world. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated.
A Day of Quiet Contemplation
I am taking this Sunday as a day of rest and contemplation. I will also spend some time further editing my novel. The questions in Saturday’s Blog below are well worth exploring and adding your own to them.
The world we live is worthy of all the questions we can ask. There are many things we can improve if we get active both in our inner work and our work to make the world a better place.
Join me and make this day a day to consider your higher nature, to tune in and hear the inner wisdom and be guided to being all you are here to be.
My focus today will be to more fully enter the flow of the Universe, the Stream of Well-Being and to pay attention to my Higher Self and the guidance available.
Peace, Higher Consciousness and Joy to you,
The 20 Most Important Questions
How are you today? As you know I often write about the importance of asking questions. Today I want to ask you what are the most important questions that need to be asked for the good of humanity and the planet. Please leave your comments below or at my email at explorelifeblog@inbox.com.
Here are the 20 questions that I think are essential to ask.
1. When will we quit judging, hating, and killing people in the name of God? Is there any greater lie than that rationalization?
2. When will we evolve enough to stop using war as a way to seek power and have control over others?
3. What will it take for us to realize that love is the most powerful human capacity and that it has the power to resolve all our world problems?
4. What false beliefs in you limit you from realizing your fullest expression and potential?
5. How come 5% of the people have 95% of the wealth and is that ok with you?
6. How come there is poverty, hunger, and people without medical care in a world that is so rich with money?
7. Is the Bible the word of men or the word of God? Is God really represented by only one religion or by all religions or not by any religious organizations?
8. Why do people give their power to others so easily in the name of security, religion, corporate profits, and government?
9. Are we humans here to follow our bliss or to give to others? Could those two be combined? Is having compassion important for self as important as having it for others?
10. What is your purpose in this lifetime? Are you expressing your purpose and how does that benefit humanity?
11. What is your way of finding your truth? Can others tell you what your truths are?
12. Should you live this life as fully as you can or should you live this life to gain points for your afterlife? Is there really a heaven and a hell?
13. How do you block your heart from loving and why? You capacity to love is endless, why do you hold back?
14. Is your mind open to new ideas, points of view or is it closed?
15. Do you have a higher self? Is the Source of All Creation within you? Are you any less Divine than any other person or creature on the planet?
16. How can you make a positive difference in the world? What do you need to do next to move more powerfully forward in that difference making?
17. What can we do to heal the dysfunction of politics? Are the people we elect representing us, or the money that influences them?
18. Is our education system working well enough to prepare our youth to be conscious, wise and compassionate global citizens?
19. What is your greatest dream for you and those you love?
20. If you woke up tomorrow and the world was the best you could imagine, what would the world be like, and how would you be in this world?
Have a good day and be open to asking the questions that can make the world a better place.
Life Lessons and Inner Knowing
Everything in life comes to you as a teacher.
Pay attention.
Learn quickly. Old Cherokee Woman to Her Grandson
What lessons are banging on your door lately?
What is life attempting to teach you?
What do you need to pay attention to today?
What do you need to learn quickly to move on to more success?
How do you block out what you need to learn?
What in you is holding up the flow of abundance in your life?
Where do you want to go and what is keeping you from getting there?
How do I get in my own way?
What keeps my heart protected and unwilling to open?
How do I sabotage my success?
What faulty beliefs are limiting me?
There are many questions and the mind has many answers. However below the buzz of the busy mind is the quiet stillness of your higher nature. In the silence of your knowing is the light and guidance you need to take your life forward.
Today take some time to walk in quiet contemplation. On a break or stepping away from a busy day, go for a stroll that is relaxed and easy. Allow the mind to settle down by focusing on your body breathing and moving calmly. Then venture into the inner knowing by posing a question (like one of the above or something you have been wondering about) and allow the answer to arise intuitively. This may take a few minutes but you are in no hurry.
There is in you all you ever need to know, the collective consciousness and history of humankind is part of your inner capacities and your cellular memory. In the silence, all of this can be revealed.
Pay attention.
Learn quickly. Old Cherokee Woman to Her Grandson
What lessons are banging on your door lately?
What is life attempting to teach you?
What do you need to pay attention to today?
What do you need to learn quickly to move on to more success?
How do you block out what you need to learn?
What in you is holding up the flow of abundance in your life?
Where do you want to go and what is keeping you from getting there?
How do I get in my own way?
What keeps my heart protected and unwilling to open?
How do I sabotage my success?
What faulty beliefs are limiting me?
There are many questions and the mind has many answers. However below the buzz of the busy mind is the quiet stillness of your higher nature. In the silence of your knowing is the light and guidance you need to take your life forward.
Today take some time to walk in quiet contemplation. On a break or stepping away from a busy day, go for a stroll that is relaxed and easy. Allow the mind to settle down by focusing on your body breathing and moving calmly. Then venture into the inner knowing by posing a question (like one of the above or something you have been wondering about) and allow the answer to arise intuitively. This may take a few minutes but you are in no hurry.
There is in you all you ever need to know, the collective consciousness and history of humankind is part of your inner capacities and your cellular memory. In the silence, all of this can be revealed.
Your Thoughts Shape Your Experience of Life
I had a really great birthday yesterday (check out my birthday ramblings below) and I feel like this upcoming year will be an exceptionally successful one in my life. Things are lining up in wonderful ways and when the results all come in, there will be much to celebrate. Today is about fully being present to the steps I need to take to assure the outcomes I desire. Each day presents a brand new opportunity to positively effect the way my life feels. I choose to go forward this day with optimism, intention and a commitment to action. I do shape my reality and today I feel the stream of well being calling me to fully claim all that is waiting in potential to be actualized. Just outside my door is this huge flow of possibilities and I am making a conscious decision to allow the best and most wonderful things and experiences to come my way.
The words above are stated in the way they are because I am aligning my mind with my hearts desires and my purposeful call to make positive difference in the world. I need my mind and my senses aligned with my heart so that all of me is headed in the right direction. In my work I often see people who say one thing and yet often have not brought their hearts and their thoughts in alignment with where the want to go. The words we speak can be very powerful but not so much so if our thoughts and heart are not fully on board.
Take some time in the next few days to see if you are fully aligned with where you want to go in your life. Note what your intention is and if your heart is fully supportive of that intention. Then check to see if your thoughts are aligned with that intention. If your heart isn’t fully connected to where you want to go then you need to further explore your intention. If your thoughts are at cross-purpose with your intention then you need to corral them and herd them in the right direction.
Sometimes I write this blog as a reminder for myself too. Today I am writing with the intention of both herding my own thoughts and inviting you to also take charge of your own thinking. If there is one thing I have come to understand very clearly in my life, my own growth, and my work in psychology, it is that my thoughts have a very powerful influence over my experience of life. I want my thoughts to be loving, allowing, open and receptive to an abundant flow of ideas, opportunities, success, money, creativity and the joys of a life well lived.
Have a great day and feel the love and joy that wants to be expressed in you.
My Birthday Ramblings About Life
Today is my Birthday and I am one year older and I hope wiser, more conscious, more expansive in thoughts and more expressive of love. I want to celebrate my day by going for a morning run, having fun, eat some cake and enjoying life and being with my wife and our dog Pax. If you think of it, please have a positive thought for me and everyone about this year of my/our life being full of love, success, prosperity, health, peace and joy.
I want to share some random thoughts on this day honoring my birth. As you know, if you stop by often, I tend to invite my readers to question their beliefs, think more expansively, and be compassionate in the world. Here is a mixture of ideas that I hope will be inspirational:
1. Love is the most powerful force on the planet. Let’s use love to heal us, our conflicts, and the planet. Love everyone you know as fully as you can. That is why you are here.
2. I love my country and all my fellow citizens. I invite you all to get involved in making America better. Check out organizations that are doing something you believe in and join their efforts or create your own. I like many organizations, today I recommend The American Freedom Campaign and my own Peace Together.
3. I am very grateful for all that I have in my life, for all the love, for my family and friends, for my health, for my successes, for each breath and for each moment.
4. I love to explore my creativity and I invite you to do the same. My writing has been my biggest creative exploration lately but I feel an urge to return to painting and collage work. What do you like to do creatively? I ask because to create is to be fully alive.
5. I would like to have financial freedom and this year I intend to create it through the determined expression of my highest gifts and potential. Would you like to join me? There is no limit to what we can co-create together. I am setting my sights on world peace and a humanity connected to each other and filled with consciousness and compassion.
6. I say “it is time for a change” in direction in America and I invite you to consider Barack Obama. I think he represents the greatest hope for this country.
7. If you learn to do two things this year for your own good and that of the planet here are my top two: 1.Learn to listen to all those you care about with an open heart and deep compassion, that includes yourself. 2. Fully accept yourself and live according to your unique purpose. Your purpose matters to the entire planet
8. You don’t get older, you get better. That is a theme for all of us over 50. I like the idea and plan to get better every day. You can start the Getting Better Program at any age and continue it for life.
9. I think Eckhart Tolle is an incredible gift to the planet. Tune into the series he is doing with Oprah and Oprah.com
10. Make a commitment to yourself to live as fully as you can each day. This is not a rehearsal, this is the real thing and you have much to express and explore in this lifetime. Live with passion each day.
11. Enjoy life every day and if you are not, it is time to set you life on a different course. You are here to have fun, to love and to be the light that shines from within.
12. Take long relaxed breaths with awareness and slow down. There is no need to be in such a hurry. If you hurry and worry, you miss the joy of life in the moment.
13. Don’t ever give up until you get to where you want to go. You cannot fail if you pursue life with commitment, courage and heart.
14. Listen deeply inside, you and the Source of all creation are One, are in total unity with each other. Your relationship with the Source (God, Higher Power, Great Spirit, Love, Divine Mother or whatever you call Source) is between you and the Great Creator and has nothing to do with any church.
15. Turn off the inner critic, dump it by the side of the road, and become your own best friend. All self-talk is best when it is supportive and encouraging. Lift yourself up.
16. Drink lots of water. Your body and cells are made up of water. Take good care of this body and it will make the journey of life go much better. I workout every day and I invite you to at least go for a walk as often as you can.
17. If you want to have some fun on the web check out StumbleUpon.com. It is a great way to randomly discover wonderful resources on the web. There is so much interesting information at your fingertips. The more you know the more fun you can have.
18. Stop feeling guilty, you innate nature is goodness and love. There is no such thing as sin. Your desires are there to take you higher. You are an amazing human being waiting to be discovered by you.
19. Quit blaming and complaining because it only attracts more to blame and complain about. Instead take full responsibility for your life and make in matter, make it stand out, make it unique and full of aliveness.
20. Don’t settle for less, you were not created to numb out or be entertained, you were created to make a difference. What difference will you start making today?
See you tomorrow.
I want to share some random thoughts on this day honoring my birth. As you know, if you stop by often, I tend to invite my readers to question their beliefs, think more expansively, and be compassionate in the world. Here is a mixture of ideas that I hope will be inspirational:
1. Love is the most powerful force on the planet. Let’s use love to heal us, our conflicts, and the planet. Love everyone you know as fully as you can. That is why you are here.
2. I love my country and all my fellow citizens. I invite you all to get involved in making America better. Check out organizations that are doing something you believe in and join their efforts or create your own. I like many organizations, today I recommend The American Freedom Campaign and my own Peace Together.
3. I am very grateful for all that I have in my life, for all the love, for my family and friends, for my health, for my successes, for each breath and for each moment.
4. I love to explore my creativity and I invite you to do the same. My writing has been my biggest creative exploration lately but I feel an urge to return to painting and collage work. What do you like to do creatively? I ask because to create is to be fully alive.
5. I would like to have financial freedom and this year I intend to create it through the determined expression of my highest gifts and potential. Would you like to join me? There is no limit to what we can co-create together. I am setting my sights on world peace and a humanity connected to each other and filled with consciousness and compassion.
6. I say “it is time for a change” in direction in America and I invite you to consider Barack Obama. I think he represents the greatest hope for this country.
7. If you learn to do two things this year for your own good and that of the planet here are my top two: 1.Learn to listen to all those you care about with an open heart and deep compassion, that includes yourself. 2. Fully accept yourself and live according to your unique purpose. Your purpose matters to the entire planet
8. You don’t get older, you get better. That is a theme for all of us over 50. I like the idea and plan to get better every day. You can start the Getting Better Program at any age and continue it for life.
9. I think Eckhart Tolle is an incredible gift to the planet. Tune into the series he is doing with Oprah and Oprah.com
10. Make a commitment to yourself to live as fully as you can each day. This is not a rehearsal, this is the real thing and you have much to express and explore in this lifetime. Live with passion each day.
11. Enjoy life every day and if you are not, it is time to set you life on a different course. You are here to have fun, to love and to be the light that shines from within.
12. Take long relaxed breaths with awareness and slow down. There is no need to be in such a hurry. If you hurry and worry, you miss the joy of life in the moment.
13. Don’t ever give up until you get to where you want to go. You cannot fail if you pursue life with commitment, courage and heart.
14. Listen deeply inside, you and the Source of all creation are One, are in total unity with each other. Your relationship with the Source (God, Higher Power, Great Spirit, Love, Divine Mother or whatever you call Source) is between you and the Great Creator and has nothing to do with any church.
15. Turn off the inner critic, dump it by the side of the road, and become your own best friend. All self-talk is best when it is supportive and encouraging. Lift yourself up.
16. Drink lots of water. Your body and cells are made up of water. Take good care of this body and it will make the journey of life go much better. I workout every day and I invite you to at least go for a walk as often as you can.
17. If you want to have some fun on the web check out StumbleUpon.com. It is a great way to randomly discover wonderful resources on the web. There is so much interesting information at your fingertips. The more you know the more fun you can have.
18. Stop feeling guilty, you innate nature is goodness and love. There is no such thing as sin. Your desires are there to take you higher. You are an amazing human being waiting to be discovered by you.
19. Quit blaming and complaining because it only attracts more to blame and complain about. Instead take full responsibility for your life and make in matter, make it stand out, make it unique and full of aliveness.
20. Don’t settle for less, you were not created to numb out or be entertained, you were created to make a difference. What difference will you start making today?
See you tomorrow.
Bush’s War Is About Ego
I watched part one of Bush’s War on PBS’s Frontline last night. Tonight will be part two; be sure to tune in if you care about our country’s future. This series is important to watch because it is about how this war came about beyond the lies the American people were told. I found myself getting upset at the circumstance leading up to the war in this investigative program. I have been opposed to the War in Iraq since I first heard it was being talked about because I am opposed to murdering people for the purpose of having power. As I watched this show I find myself shocked by what seems plainly evident to me. This war was about ego.
The show talks extensive of the major players in the lead up to the war. The President seemed to be doing what he was told to do. Dick Cheney and his good friend Donald Rumsfeld were like ego-driven roosters strutting about determined to run the show. Their ego’s were so full of arrogance that they refused to listen to the advise of the experts. They were sure their mission, of murdering the Iraqis for political reasons, was justified. This is human ego at it worst and least evolved. Arrogance and ego have been the cause of all wars and this administration seems no more evolved then those that perpetrated the slaughter called the Crusades.
Isn’t it time we challenged the sick norm of leadership that is run by ego? I began this blog to write about the human potential to be curious, conscious, compassionate, understanding, creative and much more. I write to promote peace and living with a higher purpose. Today I write to ask you to examine your own need to satisfy your ego. I ask you to explore your own arrogant ways. If our leaders are ego-driven and arrogant, than they must reflect our own inflated egos blinded by our arrogance. I write so that we can all prevent future Bushs, Cheneys, Rumsfelds etc.
Isn’t it time we evolve past the big stick diplomacy, the drive to always be in control, the need to be always right, the endless hunger for more power, and the call of greed that turns people in heartless machines without any moral compass? Isn’t it time we wake up and be conscious enough to act like thoughtful, wise and compassion human beings?
If we do not rise above this lower nature within us, then there will be more wars until we destroy each other and the planet. That is not the way we want it to end is it?
Be sure and watch part two of Frontline tonight and ask yourself, “What can we do to end this mess they have created?” and “What can we do to make sure this cannot happen ever again?” Please share what insights you might have. Together we can be more awake and aware and express our higher nature for the good of all humanity.
The Path Of Your Potential
Make this week a powerful one for you. Spring has sprung; there is new growth in the air. Feel the stirrings inside calling you out of your cocoon. Listen deeply to the urges pulsating through your body. Feel the heart being tugged on by its desire to be loving and compassionate. Your time has come. Your moment is awaiting. Here are 9 ways to be more your potential in the world:
1. Let your heart be the guide, and compassion be your way of interaction.
2. Find the silence beneath the endless stream of thoughts and tap into the higher knowing.
3. Make it you goal to have more fun, to play and to find the stream of joy that wants to be expressed in you
4. Listen to what wants to be expressed in you and find a way to express it creatively.
5. Pay attention to your Spirit, it want to take you on a journey that will be transformative.
6. Make a commitment to be full aware and conscious so you can be a light to the world.
7. Say yes to exploring new ways and new ideas and new points of view, expand you mind and keep it open to more.
8. Have time to yourself where you find you inner compass and take the hero’s journey.
9. Listen to the intuitive guidance that knocks at your inner door and you will always be shown the way.
Live well and prosper today.
The Myth of Easter
It is Easter and I hope you are enjoying this day. As I have gotten older I feel less connected to this holiday as it seems meant for people with a certain belief system. I cannot identify with the idea that son of God needed to die for our sins and then he rose from the dead. This story makes no sense to me. First place the idea of Original Sin is a human myth that seems to be about making us feel bad about ourselves. This is a crazy idea invented by men not by any God. The whole dying on the cross seems like such a guilt trip again invented by men not by God. I think asking questions about our myths are more important than having “faith” in them.
I invite you to rise above the stories and questionable beliefs. I invite you to question what you are told and to instead seek the higher truth. There are many who want to tell us what the truths are but frankly they know no better than we do. As a matter of fact often the so-called experts are the ones blinded most by their own beliefs.
Make finding your truth an important journey in you life. If you do so your life will feel full of meaning and purpose. To me the highest knowing needs to include: love, compassion, understanding, acceptance of differences, an open mind and heart, and a very expanded viewpoint that is inclusive of many ideas. Anyone that thinks they really know what is right and claims to have the answers needs to questioned because they cannot possible know what is true for you.
Have a good week and keeping opening to your higher nature.
Training the Mind
Sitting on top of your body and actually throughout the body are components of the mind. The mind is what you and I know of as the thinking part of who we are. The mind has many abilities including: process information, make decisions, taking in new ideas, communications, responding and reacting, emotion generator, creativity, contemplation, understanding, visualization and much more. The mind can be a friendly ally, a tyrant of demands, a reminder of past suffering, a critic, and passionate crusader, an idea player and all of this can be inside of you in few minutes of its busy activity. The mind has much capacity that is still be explored and yet to be realized.
I wanted to share with you today some ways to maximize the mind as a way to help you create what you want in your life and in the world. The following is a collection of 6 mind activities that you will find very helpful if you take the time to explore them.
1. Meditation is one of the most powerful of practices for the mind because it settles the mind down and brings you to a deeper level of awareness and understanding. There are many methods of meditation and finding a teacher can be very helpful. The simplest meditation practice involves taking time away from what you are doing, sitting and following the inhale and exhale of the breath. As you mind wanders into thoughts bring it back to the flow of the breath.
2. Visualization is another powerful practice. You have with the mind a tool for picturing the results you want in your life. If you can imagine it, you can make it happen. Use all your senses in your visualization and it will be a very attractive force. Close your eyes and imagine what want, see it as if you have it now, activate your senses and hear, smell, taste, touch, and sense what you want. Then toss in the emotions of having what you desire. This will send out a powerful message to the Source of All Things and make what you want possible.
3. Contemplation is the capacity to deepen your understanding. The mind has the ability to go beyond the surface, to question, to explore the greater truth, to align with a higher knowing. Contemplation means quieting yourself down enough to explore the greater wisdom that is within you and part of the collective consciousness. The best way to be contemplative is to find a quiet place and to be present to your ideas, then be open to an inner exploration that will take you toward a more expansive understanding. Sitting in silence and being open to the light of insight will allow you to join with the higher knowing in you.
4. Encouraging Mind is the capacity to turn your thoughts into a supportive flow of inspiration. You inner critic is a well-trained noise machine. The encouraging mind is the replacement for the critic. The encouraging mind is full of encouragement, supportive messages, kind words, compassionate, understanding and inspiration. Developing and encouraging mind take a clear intention and the ability to be mindful. The best practice to develop the e-mind is to take time throughout you day to pay attention to what you are thinking. Do Not Judge the thoughts as good or bad, instead begin to replace the critical ones with words of encouragement and compassion self-acceptance.
5. Creativity can be the most fun way to train the mind. There is within you a desire to create, to express that which longs to be expressed. Some people have the false thought that they are not creative, that is not true. Maybe your creativity will be with words, or music, or movement, or colors, or designs, or in the way you interact with others. To find the creative flow sometimes takes listening inward and paying attention to what wants to be expressed. One of the easiest forms of creativity is doing a collage. Get some magazines and start cutting or tearing out pictures and words that you feel connected to in some way. Place those words and pictures on a peace of cardboard, in a notebook, or on a board with some kind of adhesive. You can do amazing things when you let you creativity flow and quiet the inner critic.
6. Questioning Mind is the use of the mind to question what you think and believe, what others think and believe. Let’s start with the idea that all your thoughts should be questioned. Do not assume that your thoughts are real. Your thoughts and beliefs can be falsely passed on to you by others. This is particularly true about beliefs. Most beliefs are false or only part of a greater truth. In this age of information there is much misinformation spread with an agenda to influence you. Train the mind to question what you hear and are told, question your perceptions and the ideas of others. Keep an open mind that is always seeking the higher truth.
There are many other ways to explore training your mind. The important thing is that you make a commitment to harness the mind’s power to do good in your life and in the world. Your mind and mine at it’s best is needed today if making a difference matters.
Rising Above Your Self-Limits
It is a Good Friday and I hope you are doing well so far this year. I know you probably begun the New Year with some positive intentions. How have done so far? I suspect you have had some successes and some things have not worked out as well. The challenge of rebuilding your and my life is that there may be ways that we are, that keep getting in the way of success. Please consider revamping, exploring and possibly changing the following ways:
• You prefer to do things that feel familiar. It feels safer to stay in your comfort zone. The desire for safety and what is familiar may be limiting your future opportunities. Instead be willing to take risks and be willing to move into unknown territory and the unfamiliar.
• You find yourself spending too much time seeking the approval of others. Approval seeking is an impossible job to be totally successful because everybody has different expectations of you. Instead begin by finding approval for yourself.
• You have a big need to be right, in control, and have power. This all means that you are run by your ego. The hungry ego is a real problem and will lead to much dissatisfaction and arrogance. Instead choose to shrink the egos domination and listen to your heart.
• You may have much emotional damage from an upbringing by damaged parents, family members and social conditioning. That damage will run you unless you come to understand, that in the present, you can make other choices than letting the past control you. Take the time needed to become aware and heal what is wounded in you.
• You can totally be a person of habit. If you are stuck in a groove in your life, it may be time to stop and look outside the groove and see what else is going on. A habit driven life lack spontaneity and can cause you to numb out. Instead invite new experiences into your life and go exploring in areas you feel drawn to do.
• You may actually believe that your thoughts are real. Most thoughts are based on inaccurate information, faulty beliefs, incorrect ideas you learned along the way, fear based reactions and much more that isn’t your truth. Instead question what you think, find out what your truth is, and seek out opportunities to be more conscious and awake.
• You may be a person who is driven by desires to have what you want. If you find yourself surrounded by things in the pursuit of happiness, than you may be seeking happiness from the world around you. Instead seek to find happiness on the inside, the only place real joy can really come from is in your heart.
• You may be one who prefers to live in memory of the past or in hopes of the future. Neither place actually exist. The only real place anything can happen is in the now, in the present moment. Instead focus your thoughts and efforts on being fully present to the opportunities and possibilities that are waiting for you now.
I hope you find these ideas helpful. There are other ways we can get limit ourselves but you will find these cover pretty thoroughly the ways we can sabotage the life we want to create. Take the time you need to assess which one of these are getting in your way from creating the life you desire. Remember that you create your reality and it is best to get out of your own way. Leave a comment below about what you think about these ideas. We can all learn from each other.
With Easter on the way, do some exploring so you can rise again from that which is not working to what is the highest possibilities within you.
Peace Vigil, Video Of My Writing, and Easter
The Peace Vigil last night had about 200-250 people and my talk seemed to be well received. That was my first political oriented talk. I felt pretty excited about the opportunity. I got some positive and supportive comments after. It feels good to be out in the world speaking up for what I believe in. See my talk at yesterday’s blog.
***I have very exciting news.*** One of my blogs has been turned into a video on SoulTv.com again. Please check it out and let me know what you think. The video is entitled: Another Extraordinary Day
I hope your week has been going well? My new job is very interesting and I am taking in all that is going on. I actually led one group therapy session and participated with other staff in two others. The clients are in needs of lots of help and I feel like I can be of real service to them. Life just feels energized when you are doing things that matter.
Have a Good Friday and a Happy Easter. When I was a child these days seemed really important but they no longer mean much to me. I guess I have come to question the significance of these stories past down to us through religious traditions. If they have meaning to you, I hope these two days lift you up.
Peace Vigil Tonight – Is Five Years At War Enough?
Tonight I am saying a few words at a Peace Vigil here in Boulder(checkout what is going in in your community - see links below for information) in sad memory of 5 years at war in Iraq. I sat down to write out ideas for my talk and this is what came out:
I walked in protest before this war started.
I walk in protest again tonight now five years later.
I ask myself, how has this human insanity called war been allowed to continue?
I find myself wanting to blame our President and Vice President for they are the heartless egos that have created this mess.
I also want to blame the Congress because they have lacked the courage to hold this administration accountable.
But I must end the blaming for it is a non-peaceful way.
Blame after all means I don’t take any responsibility.
Instead I must ask myself, how can I be more peaceful in my thoughts, in my actions, and in my heart?
How can I have more compassion for those who see the world differently than I do?
How can I better understand the suffering of the world?
How can I better walk on the planet and do no harm?
How can I allow my higher nature to guide me to be a more peaceful and loving human being?
How can I better realize that we are all connected as members of the human race and that the misguided ways of my brothers and sisters in DC challenges me to expand what is possible in me so that I might lift them up.
Please look inside – You and I have the power to change the world.
That will be my brief talk tonight. It is different than most peace talks because it invites those participating to move from blame to responsibility. The reason that is important is that in blame we feel helpless, more like a victim. If instead we focus on taking responsibility that means we have the ability to respond. Sure none of us wants to feel like we are responsible for such an awful thing as war but unfortunately the fact is, we the people did not stop it from happening nor have we interceded in a way to stop it these five years. It is important to assign no guilt here to not stopping the war, rather to see that there is potential in us that needs to be expressed if we are to bring about change.
Yes of course there are things to do: beginning with hold Congress responsible, talking to others and getting them involved, writing letters to newspapers and your elected officials, getting involved in groups like MoveOn.org, UnitedforPeace.org and my small peace org Peace-Together.com, start your own blog and much more.
Yes if we come together we can make a difference.
The Nature of Your Soul
I get both excited and a little anxious when I start out on a new adventure. In less than an hour I am heading off to a new job and I look forward to the new people I get to meet and the new opportunities to use my people skills. Wish me well.
Today I want to write the nature of your soul. There are many ideas about this part of us that was before this life and will continue after we no longer inhabit our bodies. Religions have their ways of explaining what our soul is unfortunately their perspectives are too limited. When it comes to defining the nature of our soul and the way it works, my favorite teacher is Ram Dass. His very expanded point of view makes the most sense to me.
The soul is our divine connection to the Source of all creation. You could say it is both separate and the same as the Source/God. Ram Dass explains, that the soul chooses what it wants to learn and explore in this life and then it picks the circumstances it will to be born into. My soul chose to be the first of 6 children in a large Catholic family where I learned to nurture myself because the flow of love got pretty diluted. There were many circumstances in this life I chose that have shaped who I am now. I will not go into them here because the important part is that I chose this life, long before I arrived in this body.
Then as I came into this life, my soul’s goal was to awaken to all of what I intended to realize. That awakening has been a slow steady process. It is still going on now fifty plus years after I screamed coming into the world. I still feeling the scream of living in this crazy world once in awhile. How about you? The newly born child was fully conscious of its highest nature but social conditioning tends to numb it out of awareness. The journey of self-realization, the path of actualizing my highest nature, which is one with Source is a busy one of awareness, insight, intuition, consciousness, expression and ever expanding love.
I will write more about this journey over the week. I invite you to sit with the idea that all the circumstance you chose to help you grow are what surround you now. All of the positives and the challenges, you have brought into your life so you can further explore and express your Divine nature. Let me know if this fits for you and what you observe along the way of looking into your soul’s nature.
Who Is Holding Bush Accountable?
I have added an article by David Krieger at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation about holding this President accountable for the now fifth anniverary of the mess in Iraq. Please find it in my Another Viewpoint section of this blog.
I am doing my best to keep my ranting about the political process to a minimum even though there is much to be conerned about. If you too are concerned, check out this very clear article about accountability.
Life Lessons Keep On Coming
Over the night about 5 inches of snow fell and it is a beautiful winter wonderland out there. I just got back from a walk with my dog and he was in trouble for not "coming" when he was called. Training a puppy takes patience and determination. I have both and together we will succeed. He is avoiding me presently because I let him know that chasing him down was not what was suppose to be happening. I take everything as an opportunity to learn in some way. I felt myself get afraid as he disappeared into the underbrush and when I finally caught him I was upset. In awareness I can respond with more compassion. I felt what was going on inside and saw that fear was running me because of concerns for his safety.
Tomorrow I start a new job at Boulder County and I see it as an excellent opportunity to use my program design and counseling skills. I have been writing this blog, building traffic, completing a novel, and working to promote peace for the last 6 months and the money flow has been less than needed. I took this job because I need the income and because I feel the desire to get out in the world more and make a positive difference. This job will be a real plus for me using my skills and experience and it will make a difference for those I serve. I will take returning to work full time as an opportunity to continue to grow.
This has been a very challenging time for my wife and I. We have been fully committed to promoting peace through consciousness, compassion and connection. Spreading Peace and consciousness are the main driving forces behind this blog, my novel and obviously our peace company. We have invested lots of time and money in our peace promoting efforts and now our resources need to be replenished. I had hopes that my inner work (healing limited beliefs, ideas and sense of self) and exploring prosperity concepts would open the way to a more abundant flow but so far that has been lagging behind the basic needs. I will take all of this and learn from the process. I am fully committed to being as fully realized as possible in this lifetime.
All of life is rich with opportunities to explore and express who you and I are, our purpose, our passions and our innate desire to be a more conscious human beings. Each doorway whether open or closed gives us feedback; each result positive or less than gives us feedback; and each emotions lets us know if we are on track or off, so there is much to be learned along the way. I trust fully that what we learn makes us better able to fine-tune the process of creating the life we desire.
My life is just where it needs to be and I embrace this moment because it is so rich with possibilities.
Have a great week and may your lessons be mostly fun and expansive.