The snow came down last night and turned this place white. My morning workout was cross-country skiing from my house into the green space behind. That was a good way to get the whole body moving.
How often do you get your body moving, do you give it a good push? The body you have is built to do many things well, do you use it, explore its possibilities?
Somewhere when I was young I decided that to have a good life I needed to take good care of my body. I work out 7 days a week building strength, increasing endurance, and improving flexibility. This seems essential to me for a healthy body and mind.
In addition to the exercise, I consider eating right as critical for fueling my body and for keeping it working well. What I eat affects my energy, my mood, and my brain function. My main focus in my eating is on lean protein, lots of greens, multi-colored vegetables, and good sources of carbohydrates. Fast foods are not part of what I eat. I love to cook and that makes eating right easier.
I bring up the body today because during the holiday many of us forget to tend to it in healthy ways. When people get busy exercise gets skipped and fast foods become a quick but poor solution to fueling up. Busy times with lots of socializing are when our body needs the most care.
Here are six practices to explore for the next few weeks as the New Year approaches. Find out which of these practices or others will be positive for your body and health and then in 2009 use the practices to enhance your body's health:
• Move energy in your body, Tai chi, chi kung/qigong or other martial arts type movement will activate the healthy flow of energy in your body. Acupuncture is also a good energy activator.
• Yoga and stretching will loosen the body up, increase movement, make it more comfortable and help it feel young again.
• Hiking especially in the hills will get the heart and lungs working and helping you feel as if you are doing something really good for you. Walking is better than driving when you can.
• Dancing is a fun way to get a workout in. Put on your headphones and start moving. Do it where you will feel free to experiment and sing along. Music and movement can make you feel alive and full of joy.
• Do hand-and-eye coordinated movements like ping pong, tennis, racket ball, squash or shoot some hoops to feel the fun of playing while you stimulate the body.
• Sure there is the gym and all those machines that make you push and pull hard and move the same way over and over again. This beats do nothing by far. Do your aerobic exercises outdoors when you can.
Be in you body and explore its expression. Loosen up, do active games, stretch out, get up and walk around, dance, express yourself as a body and let you mind to take a break from the heady world we live in. Your body still wants to play like a child so pay attention to it at least for some time every day.
Living By The Truth
One of the people I read for an expanded point of view is Osho. He was provocative questioner of the status quo. I came upon this quote/teaching of his that seems so clear and valuable that I wanted to share it with you.
“If you have found your truth within yourself there is nothing more in this whole existence to find. Truth is functioning through you. When you open your eyes, it is truth opening its eyes. When you close your eyes, it is truth who is closing its eyes. This is a tremendous meditation. Whatever you are doing is being done by truth. You are walking, it is truth walking; you are sleeping, it is truth resting; you are speaking, it is truth speaking; you are silent, it is truth that is silent. Slowly, slowly everything settles by this simple formula. Then you live as truth – alive, radiant, contended, blissful, a song unto yourself. Your whole life become a prayer without any words, or better to say prayerfulness, a grace, a beauty, a ray of light coming from beyond into our world." Osho
The power of knowing and living by truth is transformative. Truth is not something you are taught by others, not something from your rational mind, but a knowing that goes beyond doubt and shines from the heart.
If you know what truth is then thank you for spreading your light. If you haven’t explored truth lately then it is time to listen inward. There is a knowing there that you and everyone has access to if you desire to live in truth.
We are all waiting to hear what you discover.
Try A Positive Mind For Better Results
Monday is here and let’s talk about further improvement to enrich our lives. The world seems like a mess and we can easily get caught up in what we are told is going on. Yes there are troubles out there as the news reminds us over and over again. That is why it is best not to watch the news. It keeps on filling our minds with images that are negative, fearful and slanted toward seeing the worst in people. The news and us watching it helps to create a negative reality in our lives.
My job as a counselor is helping people change their lives for the better. Many of those I listen to seem filled with negativity. They come from abusive and very difficult backgrounds and learn to expect the worst. The way they talk to themselves is filled with limits and unkindness. I often congratulate them for creating a lousy reality for themselves. I point out that their negativity will create more negativity. What they think about expands and if they think their lives are crappy, they are right.
Then I point out that the same mind that can be so negative can just as easily be positive. When we focus on the positive, our lives will reflect that positive thinking. The more we see things as working out, as heading in the right direction the more that will be our reality. Even if the times are challenging, positive focus people make things happen that work out well for them. An optimistic person finds lots of reasons to be optimistic.
Today and this week keep your thoughts full of good results, interact with others in supportive and encouraging ways, and spend quiet time appreciating all you have. Each day can be seen as an adventure in creating the life you want. You are the creator and it starts with the right frame of mind. It also is very helpful to go through your day with an open heart, which is a powerful attracter of good. Positive people and circumstances will present themselves if your heart is open. Lastly see yourself in a positive flow in which your mind is an asset, your emotions are alive and inspired, your body is healthy and energized and your spirit is awakened and a guiding force.
Have a week that makes you glad to be alive. Don’t worry, be happy.
Warmth, Golf, Fun, And Being Present
Just a brief post today; it has been a fun and busy Sunday. The freakish weather was 65 degrees. During the night a warm breeze blew through the Boulder Valley and all the recent snow was gone in the morning. So we got up and used our free pass to play 18 holes of golf. What a fun game and such a great way to check out if your ego is running you or if you’re too attached to results? This is a game of being present and practicing non-attachment.
Non-attachment doesn’t mean not caring how things work out. It makes sense that you play the best in whatever you do. It also makes sense that you realize golf is a game and it doesn’t really matter how it all turns out, what matters most is whether you are having fun or not. Life feels good when you are doing your best, having fun, and enjoy whatever results you have. When you get upset over shots that miss, you are too attached to things working out the way you want them too. If you miss, you shouldn’t take it personally.
The evening is here and I am wondering where the last two days went. I enjoy my time away from the intensity of work. But it turns out that work and play can be a lot alike. In my work I have to be free of attachment to results. I help my clients as best as I can but I have learned that to expect them all to do well is a set up for me. I would burnout very quickly from this work if I expected all my clients to be successful in their bouts with addiction. The cold reality is that most have relapses, too often return to heavy use, and sometime don’t make it in again to get help.
I suggest the best method of living is to enjoy whatever you are up to even if it is not healthy for you. Life happens quickly and the more your heart is open, the more your mind keeps expanding, the longer your body keeps flexible, and the more you pay attention to your spirit the more life will be a joy to live.
Have a good week and remember to have fun along the way.
Time To Stop The Blaming
Isn’t it time the CEO’s of the Auto Industry take responsibility for their lack of vision and leadership? Isn’t time Congress stop blaming Bush and Obama and take responsibility for the lousy job they have done for the past 8 years? Isn’t it time that we the people quit blaming our elected officials for not representing us and instead take responsibility for not demanding more from those in Congress and the White House? The President himself has taken no responsibility for the really poor job he has done, nor has Congress.
It seems like the news is center around blaming and very little on responsibility. The news people now seem to be more about entertainment and opinion; networks like Fox have people yelling and blaming 24/7.
Taking responsibility seems like the adult and mature thing to do. Blaming seems childish and for those with inflated egos who feel out of control. What do you think about the mess we are in and what we can do to get out of it? Is Blaming the key or it taking responsibility?
Here are some more questions that need a heavy dose of responsibility and no more blaming:
• How come the workers and their wages are blamed for the problems when the management team is doing a poor job and getting paid millions of dollars?
• How come the myth of unregulated capitalism as best is not questioned? If the people need to be regulated by the police and nations by armies, how come corporations are thought to be free of the need of regulations?
• How come companies like Blackwater, KBR and Halliburton are still doing really poor jobs and doing awful things and never get held accountable?
• How come the very wealthy get all the tax and other breaks and the mass majority of workers of the world have a hard time getting any breaks?
• How come the oil companies and those who buy gas- guzzlers get tax incentives and the green industries are having trouble getting the funding they need?
These and many more questions have to be asked by we the people? We can no longer assume that our elected officials will be on the look out for the common good. If we put our heads in the sand and point our fingers, we are blamers. Blamers tend to attract more to blame about. People who search for answers and get involved in being active citizens are the true change agents. We need many more active citizens and many fewer blamers.
Today and from now on quit blaming and pointing your finger, instead look for how you can make a difference. Together the people who take responsibility can bring about the changes for the good of all. Let’s all help this new administration be a positive force for change. Obama will be the president we request of him to be.
This Inner Flow Of Knowing
Let’s start with this truth. My writing is a collection of ideas that you should question. The difference between myself (Dem) and most Republicans is that I encourage you to question what I say. I come from a mixed political party family. My dad is a follower of authority, who mostly doesn’t question and is a believer. My mom is no longer around but she was much more open-minded. I am fortunately much more life my mom and have be a progressive minded person all my adult life. I got to my present degree of opinion from many years of search for what the truth was. This searching takes work and most people seem too busy to bother.
Therefore since I bothered, I thought I would share my perspective with the hope that you would take what makes sense and toss out the rest. That is one of the main reasons for my blog, to share my explorations about life. As you notice, I write about a variety of topics and I have considerable education and extensive reading as my source of information. I am a thinker who enjoys contemplation. All of my learned knowledge however amounts to much less than the intuition and consciousness that flows through me.
This inner flow of knowing is beyond my thoughts; more aligned with my heart and my higher self. This same knowing is in you and it is totally available now in your life. Awareness and insight is awaiting you this moment. My sharing is a mix of my thoughts, my opinions and my intuitive sense of things, situations, ideas and people.
The reason I share what I share is that I want to encourage you to take the time to dive below the sound barrier of your mind noise and listen to the hearts’ wisdom and the collective consciousness of humankind. In you is the highest knowing in all of humanity and in from the source wisdom of the universe. You always have all the information you need if you just take the time to tune it.
This tuning in is a practice that can be long and laborious or instantaneous. Like most humans, I have chosen the long road but not intentionally. I have been on this long winding path because I did not fully understand the short cut of the moment. This known wandering path is written about in many wisdom traditions, a number of which I have studied. Over the last few years I have come upon the understanding of the more direct path of the moment. I am now trying to integrate that knowing so that I can be fully realized.
I have come to know that my limitations are of my own creation. I need nothing more than this moment, no more extensive reading or long periods of meditation. The highest consciousness is in this moment and my full realization is available here and now. So is yours. I invite you to stop all limited thinking and beliefs and step past today the self imposed roadblocks into the fullest and highest consciousness available to all human beings.
I know this sounds pretty out there. It is in fact way out there beyond the boundaries of what we think is true. There is in you and me in this moment, the greatest wisdom and knowing available.
Stop, quiet down, listen and become fully aware of all this moment has to share with you a seeker of the highest human consciousness. Have compassion, be conscious and explore the connections we all have and the world will never be the same.
Getting Ahead and Social Capital
Today I spent the day in a workshop about Getting Ahead sponsored by Boulder County and specifically focused on helping those in poverty. The ideas shared not only fit for those is poverty but also for those in the middle class that work lots of hours and make just enough to get by on. The difference in wages between the workers and the CEO’s has skyrocketed. In 1980 the differences were around 42%. In 2000 the differences were 531% and the past 8 years has seen those numbers continue to grow at a rate that is outrageous.
My point is that there is lots of wealth in our nation. Unfortunately, that wealth is concentrated in the upper 5%, those with the highest incomes. Wealth is a good thing but it has through legislation and tax breaks gotten so skewed. These laws and tax breaks need to be adjusted or the middle class will be gone and this poverty workshop will be for me and the rest of us. Yes change is needed here soon if our country is to return to its potential.
The workshop provided some interesting ideas. One that stands out is that when we are in difficult times, all of our focus is on survival (food, water, shelter, bills, health etc) and we have no time to think about or plan for a better life. The concrete mind is busy taking care of needs and unable to think about the future, about plans to make things better, about the quality of life we want and how to make it happen. To do that planning and imagining, we need to be able to think abstractly. Survival mode is just doing what it takes. Getting out of the cycle of chaos and worry takes time to think and to explore other possibilities.
Where are you stuck and not moving onward? Have you gotten buried in debt and can’t seem to get out? Are you worried and struggling to meet your needs? If you are, you have to take time to plan, to imagine, to research, to take actions that will make it possible for you to leave the troubled times behind.
Another interesting idea is that your social capital may be the best help for you to move up to the level you want to live. Social capital is the relationships you have with people who have the ability to assist you in moving toward the life you want.
People who are connectors have lots of social capital. The rest of us need to build that capital so we can make the important contacts, find the inroads, and work with those that take us higher.
As I write this about social capital I think of not only contacts for jobs and opportunities but also people who can help develop those aspect of ourselves we wish to nurture. Examples of this would include: spiritually wise people who could help us evolve our spirit; fitness expert to help improve our health; coaches that can assist us in being more effective and others who can support and encourage our best.
Who do you hang out with? Do you nurture your contacts or not even think about this as a way to open up new opportunities? The bigger the network you create the more resources you will have available.
I don’t know about you but I have struggled in social setting and places where I know I “should” reach out and meet more people. My mind too often goes blank when I am “shoulding” on myself. When I see it as my job to interact it sometimes seems easier. I find this social struggle very interesting since I talk to people easily every day as a counselor about significant issues.
I am rambling on today. The workshop got me thinking and that is good. The more stimulated our minds are the better.
Let's All Think Bigger And Head In The Right Direction
As the national security team and the economic team are introduced by President–elect Obama, one gets the feeling that there is a lot of thoughtfulness going on in making these choices during a very critical time in our countries history. Sure the critics will share their points of view and frankly those are just opinions. The so-called experts have to act like experts and the journalist have to act like journalist. The truth behind all these opinions is that we are in a very difficult time and no one knows what are the best answers. Answers that come from an ideological point of view or some out dated philosophy are not what are needed. We need solutions that work for the betterment of our country, the people, and the planet.
It is time to think past nationalism. We are a global economy and what happens in America tends to affect everyone and vice versa. Nationalism is great for “rah rah” and flag waving but in these time it is small thinking to not consider what we are doing beyond our boundaries. We are now more connected to each other all over the planet than ever before. Let's work together to deal with the economy and the problem of those who are fanatical in their beliefs. Together we can come up with real solutions that work to the benefit of the planet and its citizens.
Working together has a natural forum with the UN already in place. To realize the potential of the United Nations we need to see the bigger picture and move away from sense of superiority of the past administration. Instead we need to come together so can we figure out the best ways to turn things in a positive direction. No one wants a world government trying to control everyone but everyone will benefit from a world organization that is focus on solutions, compassionate assistance, and building a better connection between nations and points of view.
Expanded viewpoints with open minds and hearts offer much greater options than the fear based ideas that have dominated this nation's perspective over the last 8 years. It is time to come alive and feel the potential rather than to contract in fear and build more bombs, spy on more people, imprison more citizens, and let capitalism be unregulated in its pursuit of power and greed.
Our nation can return to strength by being an active member of the global community, by moving past the ego dominated sense of superiority and build working partnership with all nations. Hope and a commitment to real change are needed. We are all capable of greatness and to be successful we must focus on the present and the best options for the future. The past and the old ways and viewpoints do not work. We live in the 21st Century and we must think bigger, have greater compassion and plan the best for future generations.
Look in the mirror and realize that you are the one you have been waiting for to make a difference.
Defrosting Yourself From Life's Trance
Do you ever feel numbed by life? Does if feel like your heart wants to open further? Have you ever felt totally out of touch with who you are and what your life is about? Is your body less tuned in to what it needs? Have you lost contact with your spirit? Does it seem your thoughts are locked into a closed loop? Are you really ok with who you are these days?
If you are totally ok with yourself, you are doing great in this life. If, like the rest of us, you feel the need to: loose weight, quit complaining and blaming, feel more compassion in your heart, have your life move in a more satisfying ways, or any other self-improvement projects then maybe it is time to consider defrosting all that has gotten lost in you and your life.
As life goes on, too often you can close down. This closing down is part protection driven by fear and part a reaction to all the denying of instincts you may have done. Other reasons for closing yourself off include loss of a loved one, the ways you learned to be as you grew up, living in worry and anxiety about the world, having past traumas (abuse, war veterans, tragedies etc.) that have shut you down, and battling with depression and substance abuse.
Yes you are not alone, life can take its toll on you as you try to make sense of the roller coaster of ups and downs most experience. Growth is a natural by-product of the trial by fire life you have been through. After all that, you may have shut down in some areas, or become guarded. Some of that is natural but not necessary healthy.
What to do now is to bring yourself to reactivate the loss aspects of yourself so that you can be fully alive again.
The ways of self-recovery include the following:
• Acknowledge and feel all you feel and be more aware what is going on in your heart
• Supportive self-talk focused on self-acceptance and being mindful of your thinking.
• Listening to the wisdom of the body and the intuitive knowing
• Hearing the call of your spirit to be more, to live more fully, to express your uniqueness
As I am writing these, I became aware that my points are much the same as the points in my previous blog. Maybe having a better holiday season is the same as defrosting from a live yet fully realized? It could be that these points are universal to improving the quality of your life no matter how or what you do?
What do you think? If your mind, heart, emotions, body and spirit are taken care of will the rest of your life naturally work out in the best way it can? I would suggest the answer is a definite, YES. Let me know what you think. Leave a comment and shed you light on my readers and myself.
Healthy Guidelines For December’s Holiday Season
December 1st has arrived and are you looking forward to the coming holidays or not too excited? Holidays can be packed with old memories some of which are those you might like to forget. My holiday memories are positive but there are many who have suffered through traumatic experiences. There are some things to keep in mind as the Holiday Season draws near.
The follow ideas will help you take good care of yourself into the New Year:
• Pay attention to your emotions. When things get busy and frustrating your emotions can become out of control if you are not attuned to what is going on inside. Take a break when you need to rebalance your emotions, go for a walk, move to a quiet place, stop by a church or other contemplative place and enjoy some time for mindfulness.
• Listen to your body. Eat well and get the exercise you need. A healthy diet and exercise will counter the rich foods at social gathering and release the stress you have built up in the hurry and worry of your life.
• Keep your heart open. There is this heart in you made to run your body and to be the source of love in your life. Loving yourself and those around you makes the holidays richer and more enjoyable. Give gifts from love, visit others as acts of giving. Let you heart light up your world like the lights light up the trees.
• Make this holiday about having fun and enjoying life. Things have become way too serious and it is time to lighten up. Let go of the past and any ideas that are holding you back from having a great life. You are so much more than you may ever realize so have fun along the way.
• Take control of your thoughts. Stop the nonsense of self-talk that isn’t supportive. Instead think good, kind, encouraging and positive thoughts about you and everybody and every situation. Question your thoughts and listen to the deeper knowing that is beyond your thinking. Be wise and let the mind be at peace.
• Nurture your spirit. There is in you this life force that know no limits, that has infinite wisdom, and is just waiting for you to further explore your potential and your higher purpose. Quiet down, tune in and hear the inner wisdom that wants to direct you to be an amazing human being. Let your spirit soar.
I hope you find these guidelines helpful. If you do, print this blog and put it somewhere to remind you. Remember humans tend to be about as happy as they choose to be. Choose joy and kindness as your way in the world.
Find Your Own Truth and Quit Following The Delusions Of Others
Today is the last day of November and we have one month left to get ready for 2009 and our next president. Many people are excited and are again looking forward. Looking forward while doing the best you can in the present makes the most sense. When there is hope and positive direction things look so much better.
There are however, forces that are not happy with the new direction because: their ego’s didn’t get their way; they are living in fear; they are very wealthy and these past years have all been so focused on them; or they call themselves the Christian right and they are neither right nor genuinely Christian in their acts. These groups are uncomfortable not having things their way and not having the power they think they should have.
The big ego’s are the sources of all conflict and wars, they are represented by major energy, agribusiness, drug and other corporations, the military-industrial complex and financial institutions. Control is what they strive for through the accumulation of wealth and power. Influence is the name of the game they play and they play to win at all costs. This segment has no heart and no higher values. Should they be the ones allowed to regulate themselves and run the world?
Those living in fear actually do so because they do not question what is going on and those in authority. Their spokespersons include Rush Limbaugh, the loud ones at Fox News, Ann Coulter and those in the Bush administration to name a few. They spread fear through hate and misinformation and they are good at it and those who are unable to think on their own buy it. Fear is always used to control the masses. Why do people allow themselves to be influenced by these merchants of fear?
The rich have gotten much richer through the Bush years because they got the tax breaks and now their companies are getting the bailouts. Those in power pay for all the influence they get and it appears to be a good investment. Bush says we can’t afford to give health care to needy children but we can afford to bailout AIG, a mega insurance company, that has been mismanaged. Does that sound right to you?
Those who claim to be religious and right seem to be driven by the arrogance of their leadership and the sheeple follow blindly. Since the election they claim the country is center-right and Obama must govern that way. They hate to imagine that people are not paying attention to them and doing what they say. They claim to hold the moral values but in fact live by strange beliefs that take the power away from people and put in the hands of a male dominated mega churches. Their claim of the right to political power should be ignored, as should their demonizing of those who think differently. They are the ones that claim God wants them to go to war and kill, hate, judge etc others in God’s name. That is such rationalizing bull. Are you a blind follower or is your heart and mind functioning, as it should?
Sorry for the mini-rant but frankly, I get tired of the nonsense those that claim power put out and wonder why more of my fellow humans are not outraged by all that has been going on for way too long. We all need to wake up and question what the heck is going on and demand that the change be for the good of all and the planet starting now.
Have a thoughtful, loving and peaceful week ahead.
The World We Live In Needs An Upgrade
Did you take the time to listen to someone you love yesterday? Well if you didn’t there is always today and tomorrow and any time in the future. Please checkout the Join Us button above if you haven’t yet. Listening is a wonderful act of kindness and it is so needed in the world today.
The awful mess in Mumbai is an example of the need for listening. How can people do such terrible things if they are listening to each other or at all listening to their heart? To act in such a way no matter what dogma drives you, seems to mean you have became heartless and without hope. It is time you and I and everyone listen to those that feel lost.
Last night on the Bill Moyer show on PBS was very interest guest Michael Pollan who talked about food and the mess agribusiness has created by their influence in Congress. Our food supply is incredibly important and their conversation was very enlightening. Check it out on PBS’s Bill Moyer show. He has the best guests and the show is a gem of information if you are interested in being informed.
Here is an interesting video on consciousness that you will find interesting. Consciousness is the key to a better world.
Yesterday I spent some time looking for good quotes for these cards my wife and I are designing and here are a few for those of us that are interested in being agents of positive change in our communities, our nation and on the planet. Have a good day today, listen to your heart, be expansive in your thinking, question your beliefs, and be the difference you want to see in the world.
When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.
Joseph Campbell
Changing mass consciousness is an individual responsibility.
Dennis Weaver
War will stop when we no longer praise it, or give it any attention at all. Peace will come wherever it is sincerely invited.
Alice Walker
Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.
Arundhati Roy
A National Day For Listening
Today is a National Day for Listening. I guess after all the eating yesterday, listening may be all you can handle. More seriously, having a day of listening sounds like a great idea. Find out more by pressing the JOIN US sign above and by tuning in to NPR. This day also has a book full of stories about the affects of listening, the book is titled, Listening Is An Act Of Love.
Listening is an act of love and kindness and the most compassionate thing we can do for those we love. Our partners need to be heard, our children need to be heart, our brothers and sisters need to be heard, our parents need to be heard, our friends need to be heard, our co-workers need to be heard. The people of our nation and the world need to be heard.
Real listening is listening with an open heart and an open mind. Real listening comes from a place of caring and seeks to understand what the other is trying to share with us. Real listening is done in patience, with compassion for the other’s feelings. Real listening means putting your issues aside and being fully focus on what the other person is saying. Real listening is paying attention to the body language and the emotional content.
As a therapist whose job it is to listen, I can say that those I work with are always grateful that I give them my full attention when they talk with me. It often seems to me that I may be the only one in their lives that has listened to them. The reason I think that is that people come into my office and share their life’s story as if no one has ever heard it, as if they have been waiting their entire live to share what they are sharing.
Listening is healing. It releases the built up stuff of life when another hears what we have to say. It provides clarity to hear oneself. It helps us let go of the unfinished business we have inside. It provides insight into who are, our potential and where we want to be as we grow into our possibilities. Listening gives us the awareness needed to make healthier choices and bring about real change where it is needed.
I want to share with you six guidelines so that you can be a good listener today and every day.
1. Always listen with full attention and heart
2. Try to hear what they are feeling and they want you to understand
3. Be respectful of their point of view and ask question to gain clarity
4. Put your own agenda aside and avoid getting defensive
5. Instead of trying to resolve their problems, make it your task to respect what they are saying
6. Let them know they are loved no matter what they think, feel and say
The gift of listening may be the best gift you can give to those you love.
Happy Thanksgiving and Joy To You
Today is a Thanksgiving and I will take a break from my normal writing and instead suggest you make a list of all you are grateful for and then review it regularly for one year. I guarentee that after this year long practice of gratitude, you will have even much more to be grateful for. Opray Winfrey says her gratitude journal is the secret to her success.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
Melody Beattie
Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you.
Eileen Caddy
Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.
Henry Van Dyke
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
Albert Schweitzer
Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.
Brian Tracy
Happy Thanksgiving to you and may your day be filled with gratitude, love and joy.
Tomorrow is the National Day for Listening, tune in to find out more about the power of listening in your life
What Are You Grateful For?
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and I was thinking about all I have to be grateful for in my life. There are so many wonderful people, situations, things and qualities that enrich my life. What are you thankful for in your life? Here is a partial list of what I feel gratitude for:
Another day to enjoy the wonders of life
My wife Bobbi and our ever expanding love
My dog Pax who is a joy
My work at Boulder County Public Health
My co-workers
The home I live in
The Sun that comes out almost every day here
Each breath of life that flows through me
People who are working for a better planet
My healed shoulder
My healthy body
My friends and family
My self-discipline
My fitness
The food I have available to eat
My open heart
My open mind
The expansion of my awareness and consciousness today
My inspiration daily for my blog,
All the traffic that comes to my site
Our Peace Together organization
My new shoes
My bike for my ride today
The well equiped gym we have
Time to write
Time to workout
My intuition and inner guidance
The web and all its resources
Portland Trailblazers
Good books to read
My view of the mountains from my office
The clients I am able to help
The creativity that flows through me
My emotions that help me feel more alive
My freedom
The income that I have
The inspiration I feel for life
The four days of time off I get starting tomorrow
My Shuffle and the music on it
The big exercise ball I use every day to keep flexible
My well running little pickup truck
The price of gas going down
A new president
A fresh sense of hope in the air
The well being of all those on the planet
My senses that allow me to appreciate so much
My being appreciated by those I work with
The beautiful sky as it transforms throughout the day
Living in a progressive community
Walking meditation
Funny movies
Singing in community choir
The opportunity to explore and express my potential
Naps, rest and refreshing sleep.
The beautiful read clouds at sunset last night
The clients who bring out the best in me
Those who take the time to listen
This computer that serves me so well
My expanding connection with the Source of all creation
What’s on your list? Having an every day thanksgiving is a good way to live.
Every Thought Or Belief You Have Should Be Questioned
This idea that our thoughts are not real keeps on coming back to me as if I need to say more and shed some additional light on what this means. So here I go. When I share this idea that none of our thoughts or beliefs are real they are just thoughts, there is usually confusion on the face of those trying to understand. “What do you mean” is the typical question and they seem to want to say; of course my thoughts are real. Well they may seem real because we believe them to be, but in fact they are just simply thoughts.
Let’s explore the ramifications of this new way of looking at the noise that goes on in our heads. I called in noise because it is and we translate that noise into sentences, which we put a value on as if they have meaning. All thoughts we have only have the value we give them. If we believe what we think then we give it value. There are many thoughts going on in our heads at all times and if we believed every one of them we would be in a mess. We however distinguish between thoughts that we think are all right or ok and thoughts we think are not ok. I hate to add to the confusion but those thoughts about our thoughts are just thoughts too.
How does all this relate to you? The point of this discussion is to really stimulate your questioning of what you think. For example, if for any reason you think of yourself as not ok, not loveable, not enough, bad, sinful or some other limiting idea, it is time to change those thoughts because they are made up in your head and simply not real. If they are not real how can they be right or the truth? This questioning is especially true of those beliefs we have learned in our lifetime. All beliefs are simply thoughts of someone else that were past on to you. (This unfortunately brings to mind all the BS that gets spread by those who make up and say ridiculous things and others actually believe them. Think 2008 elections.)
Truth is more than thought; it also involves a deeper knowing that is part of your heart, your gut, your spirit, the higher consciousness you share with other human beings.
Take the time to really question your thoughts and go beyond the limits your thoughts and beliefs set for you. In the 21st Century, you (and I) need to be free of limitations so you can be your fullest and greatest expression.
Your thoughts are not real so become quiet and hear the real truth available to you now and then liberate the world so it can be a place of true joy and boundless compassion.
You Are A Force For Real Change
Sunday evening is usually filled with mixed emotions. I like my work so I look forward to Monday’s return. I also really like my freedom and having these two days off allows me to make my days what I want them to be. This is a short week coming up and I get four days of freedom. I love to mix having some fun, being productive, getting a workout in, and having some time for contemplation. That to me is a balanced day.
I am completing several writing projects one a novel about spirituality and God, and the other a handbook for the challenging times we live in. The novel is ready to be shaped into book. The handbook will be in e-book form and will bring together a collection of ideas that are very relevant to the challenges we face in these unsure but hopeful days ahead. On my four days off this will be productivity focus.
What projects do you have in mind that you need to do? What creative endeavors can bring you new opportunities and provide new sources of income? In this economic times, it seems more important to be creative, to come up with your own ideas, to be innovative in expanding resources for you and your family. Entrepreneurs thrive in challenging times because they welcome the opportunity to make things happen when they are need.
The next president Barack Obama has the entrepreneur spirit as he puts together a plan to make American strong again. You can feel the urgency in the air. Thoughtful and creative leaders rise to the occasion. This is the kind of times that can bring out the best in people. President-elect Obama seems poised and ready to start cleaning up the huge mess left behind.
What do these times inspire in you? Is your greatness on alert and what are you guided to do. Remember that our thoughts need to be questioned (yesterday’s blog) and with that questioning can come a much clearer and greater knowing.
Are you ready to step past the ego, hear the greater guidance, and live the truth that is yours to realize? I am confident you are because you are here at this time in history and that is not accident. You and your unique set of skills are what is called for when you are on purpose. Make a commitment to yourself that by January 20th you will be inaugurated into your mission and from there you will be the change you want to see in the world.
“I’m asking you to believe not in my ability to bring real change to Washington. I’m asking you to believe in yours.” Barack Obama
Freedom Comes From Questioning Your Thoughts
Have you come upon the writings of Byron Katie? She is a teacher of consciousness that came to her wisdom through a battle with her own mental health. Sometimes it takes a lot for us to really look at ourselves and search for the greater truth. She has four questions she suggests people use to question their beliefs.
Those questions are:
1. Is it true?
2. Can you absolutely know it is true?
3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
4. Who would you be without that thought?
These are simple question but using them can liberate you from limiting beliefs and open you to the real freedom of personal expression. If you want to know more about her work, check it out here.
As you know from my past blogs, I regularly invite you to search for your own truth instead of being run by the beliefs you learned in your formative years. This self-searching is very powerful and positive and will enrich your life in many ways. If you use the above questions on thoughts or beliefs that you have that are getting in your way of success, you will free yourself to be who you are capable of being.
Would you prefer to live in joy and love? If so, ask yourself what is getting in your way from making that happen? What beliefs or thoughts are blocking your heart or numbing you out? How are your thoughts holding you back, keeping you down, and shutting out the happiness that is available to you in this moment?
The past can be a set of chains that imprison you. The limiting ideas you learn can hold you back, make you act like your parents, keep you from being open in your mind and heart. Isn’t it time now to have hope for a better life for yourself and those you love? Isn’t it time your release the anchor that has you stuck in the past of limitation and cut the thoughts that bind you?
Enjoy your Sunday and take some time to contemplate this: your thoughts are not real they are just thoughts, the truth is beyond thoughts and known at a deeper level. Question all your thoughts and you will forever set yourself free.
Clarity and Peacefulness Are Needed Now
"The major obstacle to resolving our problems in our lives is that we deal with them as though they are something outside of us. The truth is that every problem is an inward manifestation of our state of consciousness. When our consciousness is clear and at peace, the problem disappears." Arnold Patent
I came upon this quote yesterday and it got me thinking about the state of the world and how you and I can make a difference. The most important thing we can do is be more conscious and aware of what is going on inside and around us. I used the word “be” in the previous sentence because higher consciousness is available to us now if we realize that potential within us. In this moment there is a full realization of higher consciousness available to you and I if we open to all that we can know.
Here are some pathways to consciousness worth exploring:
• Stop trying to awaken, be awakened, be the consciousness in you today
• Mindful practices like meditation, walking meditation, breathing with awareness
• Live from your heart, have compassion as the way you are with yourself and the world
• Develop your impartiality, your ability to observe with kindness who you are, free of judging
• Slow down and become fully present, explore the silence and the knowing stillness
• Let you higher knowing/intuition guide you in everything you do
• Keep your heart and mind open all the time and see, listen and feel what the world wants to teach you
• Make contact with the spirit or soul within you and be willing to follow the knowing within that extends before and beyond your lifetime
Change starts inside our minds and hearts and spreads outward. These pathways are each powerful and will bring you to the state of consciousness mentioned in the quote, where we are clear and at peace and our problems disappear.
That same clarity and peacefulness is needed as we transform our nation. Let’s be guided by our human consciousness not the fear, ego, greed and power seeking that has to now dominated the planet. This election shows a leap in consciousness, now we must all be as fully conscious as we can be and then so will our leadership.
Be awake today.
Obama Holds The Container, We Are The Force
Last night Bobbi and I went to a Moveon.org action meeting to encourage the progressive change the Obama has promised. People seemed really concerned and driven by fear because his transition team and his new administration contains people who are very wealthy, who are CEO’s, and people from the Clinton administration. Will it be true change or the powerful keeping things as they are? I highly suspect that is up to us. Instead of fear, people can be feeling gratitude about the possibility and determined to be the forces of change. Barack Obama is holding the space for change and we are his agents.
Change is a process that tends to take a huge momentum to create significant movement away from the inertia of what is toward the hopes for a new and positive future. The forces of those in power will want to assure their power. That is a given. The forces that financially benefit from the way things have been will apply lots of pressure to keep things the same. All you have to do is look at the auto industry and the oil industry and you can see they are in bed together and those running these companies are very rich. Why would they support change?
It is the people that will bring about change. Our elected officials represent us and they need to know clearly all the time what we want and need. If they do no know, they will do what the forces of money want. That is the nature of this game. No blame here, just a desire to keep people involved now that the election is over. Yes we have a positive change of leadership. No one person, no matter how much he is run by the highest and best values and intention, can bring the necessary change unless we partner with him and Congress.
Here are some 8 quick ideas to get involved today:
1. Join Moveon.org or other progressive organizations and be part of a movement.
2. Start writing, calling, emailing, visiting the offices of your elected officials
3. Find out what issues (War in Iraq, Health Care, Save the Planet, Greening your community, Financial reform, Education, etc) matter most to you and start your own campaign for change
4. Work locally for change and have your community become a positive model of progressive change
5. Recycle, compost, take the bus, buy locally, etc.
6. Stop complaining, ask more questions, don’t settle for less, and get involved with others who also care.
7. Use your creativity to inspire positive action.
8. Never loose hope, be a positive force, be peaceful, find the best in others, keep open to new and wonderful changes that may come in unpredicted ways
As I write often, you at your best is needed now.