Friday night is Bill Moyer on PBS and watching that show always stirs me up because Bill and his guests are very thoughtful, make so much sense, and they stimulate my mind in ways I greatly appreciate. After the show and a late workout, I find myself sitting in front of my computer writing this blog. I am inspired to write about what I believe in, what I hold to be true, what makes the most sense to me. I realize that I don’t have all the answers, far from it, and that there are many opinions that differ from mine. The world is full of points of view and today I want to share mine for the purpose of clarify my own thoughts and to invite you to think about what is true for you.
My truths are the following:
1. The greatest solution to all problems on the planet is located in our hearts. Love, compassion, caring and kindness will resolve all human suffering and conflict.
2. The way to bring true health and well-being to the people and the planet is through the raising of consciousness. Conscious people live in awareness, with compassion, and understand that we are all connected.
3. The people and our elected officials should be the governing forces of the world not corporations. Corporations were initially created to serve the people and they must be returned to that function.
4. There must be a more equal distribution of the wealth and resources of the planet. Inequality causes, suffering, crime, mental health problems, addiction, greed, more prisons, conflict and many more of the ills of our society.
5. We have become a prison society to protect the rich from those they fear. The US imprisons about 1 out of 10 people many of whom should not be in prison because they need help for the abuses they suffered as children.
6. Most religion is no longer spiritual but has become big business and taken over by political points of view. Many churches are after your money and know little about helping your soul.
7. Most elected Democrats and Republicans, especially at the national level, are owned by corporations and those who support them financially. They do not look out for the needs of the people, they look out for those that pay to keep them elected.
8. There is no reason other then corporate influence that we still lack universal health care. All other reason given are not true. Profits win out over the health of the nation.
9. Since the annihilation of unions starting with the Reagan years corporate influence has totally taken over. The misinformation about unions is all feed by corporate money. Reagan was only a great communicator for corporate interests.
10. Free trade and free market are terms that simply mean removing all regulations that are for the good of the people. These practices means the rich get richer and the less fortunate get even less.
11. There is a very significant problem environmentally on our planet. All the scientists agree except for those paid to disagree by corporations.
12. Those that block science because of religious points of view do so with closed minds. An open mind would tell you that most beliefs need to be questioned on a regular basis.
13. Our freedom is in trouble by the forces that want to control information in the name of security. Fear has always been used to take away human freedoms. Spying on Americans by our own government is very dangerous on many levels.
14. The majority of newspapers, radio station and TV networks are own by corporations that represent the point of view of these corporations and the Political Right. There biases should be kept in mind.
15. Our educational system is a mess because there has not been any real innovation in many years. The system is rigid and testing is not the answer. There should be no such thing as failure. The dropout rates are skyrocketing because the system is not meeting the needs of the students.
16. War is insanity and starting a war is the pure madness of the human ego and the sign that leadership is a complete failure. Finding solutions to problems is the only way that makes sense and is as simple as people acting like adults and sitting down and resolving their differences.
17. There is not such thing as happiness or peace of mind unless we find it within ourselves. Nothing outside of ourselves can provide true happiness. Peace of mind comes from quieting the mind and living according to our higher values.
18. All emotions are helpful because they are a constant feedback system as to whether we are on track or not with what we value, with the wisdom of the heart. Mental health comes from respecting your feelings and keeping your thoughts healthy.
19. Our health is at it’s best when we listen to our mind, pay attention to our heart, take care of our bodies, and nurture our spirit.
20. If you want to feel good, have a purpose, be kind to others, take time to relax, be grateful, forgive, and love as much as you can.
I am not defined by the labels others may assign to me and neither are you. I see myself as progressive in my thinking, always learning, filled with purpose, expanding in compassion, and ever seeking of consciousness. How do you see yourself?
Please share what is true for you.
The Work You Are Here To Do
When I started this blog, my intention was to spread consciousness, to work for peace and to make a difference in the world. That has been my work before the blog and it continues outside of my writing here.
Last night I started a really interesting project sponsored by Boulder County. The program is called Getting Ahead from a larger program called Bridges Out Of Poverty and it is from a series of training the county has paid for to train staff to assist people in the county to move out of poverty. I get paid to run this group (one of 5 pilot groups in the county) to start the process of helping people become resources for themselves and others for moving out of poverty.
The next 15 weeks of investigation, group training and process will teach these 11 people an expertise on the conditions of poverty and strategies to make significant changes in their lives and in the community. Together as co-investigators we will be a force for positive action and this will create more groups to build more forces of positive action until the community alters itself toward greater prosperity and empowerment.
I feel fortunate to be part of this process since I am a social artist at heart wanting to be part of making the world a better place. I feel the most alive and excited when I am doing this kind of work because I know it is important.
What are you doing that feels good to you and is important to the betterment of humankind? What have you been feeling the need to get involved with, to participate in, to take action towards? What is your gut telling you to take on as purposeful work? I ask you these questions because I know a secret (not really anything that would surprise you). If you do what know you are to do with compassion, passion and purpose, you will feel joy, energized about life, and at peace with yourself.
No Failure, Just Feedback
“There is no such thing as failure, there is just feedback.” For some reason these words of wisdom have been on my mind lately. Maybe it is because of the state of our nation or the individual struggles of those I work with at my job. Both reasons are plenty to have this idea of new failure just feedback in my thoughts.
On the road to recovery there will be many incidents where different strategies are tried and some will succeed and others will be clear feedback to try something else. That is the nature of seeking solutions for problems of such magnitude, like our country has now, that not even the experts are sure what to do. In pursuit of answers we look at what is working and what is not. Once you see a strategy doesn’t work then we eliminate that strategy from our options and instead explore other ideas. The best as mentioned in yesterday’s blog is to keep at it until we come upon the right set of ideas to move our nation in the right direction.
The same is true for the individuals as far as there is no failure just feedback about needing to keep on trying things until it works. When a child is learning to walk they often fall but they don’t quit because they are determined to work at it until they get it right. That is how life is for those struggling with addiction, mental health issues, loss of work, low income, lack of confidence and other human limitations. Like kids learning to walk, we have to get back up, brush off the knees and often the pride and try again until we reach our goals. Success is just another step away if you are determined to get there.
Both nationally and individually we have to be patient, we have to keep on exploring what will work best and sooner than later the results will turn toward what we are seeking. Quitting is not an options there is instead more experimenting until things work out.
Recently one of the guys who completed treatment with us went out into the world and quickly relapsed. We all felt disappointed and wondered what we could do better. He was a very likeable guy who was a joy to be around in his own unique way. The good news was that the next day he righted his ship and got back on the road to recovery. This quick turnaround is almost unheard of especially for someone with his long history of struggle with alcohol. He seems to have gotten the ideas and courage to go forward and we all feel better to know that his little fall to the knees was just short enough to up his determination to succeed.
Let’s hope our nation can get right back on track despite the AIG’s of the world. Together let’s get up and join together to be successful.
Welcome feedback along the way because it will show you where you need to go.
Learned Helplessness Vs Persistence
Learned helplessness is a concept I have come upon several times in my reading or conversations over the last few days. A repeated idea, coming my way, is a sign for me to pay attention. As humans we are taught both directly and indirectly at home, in school, at church and by those around us. We also are always learning through our life experiences. Sometime we learn things that make life work better for us and other times we learn things that limit us.
Learned helplessness is something we learn through our experiences or through those around us. If we fail at something or see others fail we may think that what we are attempting to do isn’t working and therefore it is something that will never work. This is learned helplessness. If we try and don’t succeed we may think that we are incapable of this task. That is not true but our interpretation of the life lessons may lead us to faulty conclusions. Where is learned helplessness limiting what you think is possible in your life?
The opposite of learned helplessness is persistence. Thomas Edison was one of our greatest inventors and he failed constantly until he arrived at success. He was known to say there is no such thing as failure; each attempt was instead a time to eliminate what didn’t work. Abraham Lincoln lost almost every election he ran in until he won the election to be President of the United States. Persistence guided both of these famous people to success.
Look around your life and see where you are falling short of expectations. Do you need to be more persistent to reach the results you seek? What persistent action is need today to jump-start something that matters greatly to you?
Here are some quotes that you might find inspirational and keep going all the way to the finish line:
Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.
Bill Bradley
Energy and persistence conquer all things.
Benjamin Franklin
Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.
Napoleon Hill
What you are will show in what you do.
Thomas A. Edison
The Road To Recovery
It is another week, in the neighborhood, with my fellow staff members and our clients. The clients come and go and some come and go regularly. Some arrive by ambulance, police or PO, some show up on their own and some because of friends and family who care. There is a constant flow of people who need our help. There appears to be no recession in the addiction recovery business.
The staff although in a regular state of flux is always there for those we serve. That is the nature of helping professionals; we keep showing up to help.
Those who work in the compassionate fields of human services tend to stay for a while until they need a break or just some time to renew. Some travel to get away, some change jobs regularly to keep variety as an energizer, some stay and develop their skills and a sense of humor to make this work ok. Some numb out in less than health ways.
Yes there are lots that go on in this kind of work that most people would have a difficult time dealing with or have the patience needed. Yet despite the challenges there are many good things that happen when we see the glimmer of hope in someone, or they graduate from our program and start to turn their lives around, or we hear someone is doing much better then we expected. There are rewards for this work that come in the form of people being grateful, people starting the road to recovery, people smiling just for the place to stay, eat, clean up and feel better for a while.
Then there are the ones who relapse the same day as their discharge, or are brought back by the police only hours after leaving. There are the ones that say all the right things and put in there time but don’t really seem ready to change. As a professional we learn not to get our egos’ invested in our work because it will be crushed soon if we do. We just keep on holding onto hope that we are making a difference.
Today I am attending a graduation from the Drug Court where one of our clients from our treatment program has completed his over one year and a half program with the Justice system here in Boulder County. It is reason to celebrate because against difficult odds he has succeeded. This will be a celebration of a person really trying to turn his life around. I am glad to participate. It is one of the rewards of our work.
Hope and purpose are two very powerful forces for good in the world. What do you have hope for and what gives your life purpose? If you can answer these two questions sincerely your life will be rewarding no matter the challenges you face. Keep up the good work.
Change Your Routine, Change Your Life
Sunday was a good day and what was especially positive about it was that we broke out of a rut and actually got out of town for a change. As I mentioned yesterday we planned to go to Estes Park. I have really only been there once or twice and frankly I don’t remember it being so strikingly beautiful. This town sites in a valley of 7500 feet and it looks totally surrounded by the snow-covered Rocky Mountains. You haven’t really seen mountains in the U.S. if you haven’t been through the Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.
Mountains are uplifting to me. They remind me that we can reach higher, that we can stretch into the sky. We stopped at dog-park as we came into Estes to let Pax run and play for a while. I found myself in awe as I looked at the mountains. Later the view from the famous old Stanley Hotel was jaw dropping. Nature’s beauty and power will knock your sox off. We also saw herds of elk walking about looking dressed for the winter.
It feels so good to get out there away from routines, away from the habitual activities of the familiar. Nature is a wonderful break from the ordinary, so too is the change of scene of resort town full of tourist stops and cabins for rent. Something happens inside when I change the outside.
That change involves moving out of my known world into a world full of the unknown. Inside that excites my thoughts, expands my pulse of aliveness and opens me to new experiences. This trip was just a short one but it got me thinking about a real road trip or a vacation to explore not only new places in the world but new places inside that get stimulated by adventure.
Change is such a positive force for good in the world. Whether it is changing the outside or the inside, the world needs us all to look at things from a new perspective so we can find real solutions to the challenges that face us.
Even small changes can make a difference, so what changes will you make this week to stir things up for you? What will you do differently so you can see from a new viewpoint?
One last thought, have you ever spent any real time exploring your own inner nature, the contours of your own thoughts and emotions, or the workings of your spirit? This venture into your own inner landscape will provide you beautiful vistas and inspirational aspects of your own higher nature. Take a drive inward and be in awe.
Be Weary Of Those Who Claim The Higher Moral Ground
It is a beautiful Sunday morning here in Boulder Colorado, a little cold yet but sunning and warming. Today we plan a drive up to Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National Park. If you haven’t been to this wonderful National Park, put it on your agenda to visit soon.
The former Vice President Dick Cheney was on the morning talk show circuit today. As usual he was spreading fear and predicting gloom and doom. Did you see recently that he was in-charge of a secret US hit squad while he was in office? Is this really a guy with any moral compass? He also said his administration can’t be blamed for the economic crisis we are in. That is a very interesting take on the terrible job they did not watching out for this country while in office. This is a person who is a blamer, not one who takes responsibility for his own actions. He was a failure at taking good care of our country because he was so busy getting us into the mess we are in and claiming they were on the higher moral ground. How come they interview him and act like he has anything valid to say?
Did you see that AIG gave huge bonuses to their leadership people who have run the company into the ground? Is there something wrong with this picture when our taxes are supporting failed executives? Has anyone heard of corporate responsibility? How come there is no one asking if these bonuses are right at this company? Is there no moral compass there?
Is it ok to you that people who claim the higher moral ground act as if they have no sense of what that is? What to you is the higher morality?
The higher moral ground to me is:
- First and foremost, having love, kindness and compassion for our fellow humankind, treating each other and all life with respect
- Being honest and truthful especially when is places of trust like elected office
- Doing no harm including protecting the planet, starting no wars, protecting the less fortunate
- Taking responsibility for your actions, acting like an adult who knows what is right
- Being above the urges of greed and power knowing those are ego-driven and harmful to all and instead acting with awareness and consciousness
- Being peaceful and communicating until solutions are reached instead of acting aggressively
- Living life with purpose, which makes a positive difference in the world
What would you add to this list or change? Have a good day.
A Zen Story About Letting Go
Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.
Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.
"Come on, girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"
"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"
This is one of my favorite Zen Stories because the lesson is so important. Through our thoughts we carry tremendous burdens that we could let go of at any time. However too often we carry these heavy thoughts because for some reason we can’t let them go. It is like we grow attached to the feelings generated by these thoughts or maybe it is because we can continue to hold onto the blaming we can do from them.
What thoughts and the accompanying feelings do you need to let go of in your life? Are you holding onto the negativity so you can blame others? What is the benefit to holding onto the past events or situations? You might say there is no benefit to retaining these negative experiences. If not why don’t you let them go? The answer has to be that in some way these negatives have been serving you or you would have let them go like the monk Tanzan did with the young woman.
Let me state this in another way. If you have past negative thoughts and emotions you are carrying around like the monk Ekido did all the way to the monastery then you must get some benefit from doing so. Here are some possible benefits: if makes you feel better than the other(s) involved; you like to suffer (that would be sad); you have a hard time forgiving because you prefer to be angry; you like to blame others and situations; your low sense of self is more comfortable with negativity; or other not so healthy reasons.
Maybe it is time to take inventory of the unfinished business that you are carrying around with you? Can you imagine how much freer you would feel to not carry the burdens of the past any longer? Be like the monk and set your burdens down right away, release what you need to released, let go and move on. The benefits of letting go and moving on way outweigh what you get from holding onto the past.
Have a good day and set yourself free to be present.
Part Two: Cooking For Consciousness
A continuation from yesterday’s blog came to mind as I sat down to write. The art of cooking can include techniques that make it very mindful and expansive of consciousness. You could say the same thing about any activity you participated in that was done with awareness and a focus on the present moment.
When cooking the most expansive thing to do is to be fully present. This means no distraction and the full focus on what you are doing. You can take a deep breath and prepare your working space. You can walk to the refrigerator and mindfully remove the food items. Try arranging what ingredients and spices you are going to use by putting a slight arc in all your hand movements. This arc takes you from the mindlessness of straight point-to-point movement to a full awareness of all movements. Then you can listen in to your own inner sense when it comes to choosing spices and amounts. This will let the present moment inner creative cook show what it knows. I am sure you get the point here. Cooking while being fully present to what you are doing will greatly enrich the experience and awaken you on a number of levels.
This moment-to-moment awareness of most things you do will expand your consciousness. Whether it is doing the dishes, writing a blog, listening to a friend in need, planning a project, sitting in a meeting, holding a baby, playing golf, painting plein air going for a run, cleaning the garage, planting a garden, or whatever, these all can be done mindfully. So each moment is an opportunity to awaken, to be more aware, to be a more conscious human being.
As I write this mindfully, I find more and more inspiration right at my fingertips. My invitation to you is to take on a task this weekend and do it mindfully, do it fully present to each moment. Sure you will wander off course but as soon as you notice your wayward ways, rededicate yourself to the moment. Even the most boring tasks will become more enjoyable and rewarding.
Try it; you’ll like it.
Cooking And The Taste of Consciousness
What is on your mind today? I have as usual a variety of not related thoughts on my mind today. Cooking and the raising of consciousness are two topics on the tips of my fingers as I write this. Maybe they are related? Cooking is mixing things up and making something that is better than the all the parts, something that tastes good and is satisfying. Consciousness raising is mixing up a bunch of ideas, instincts, intuitive knowing and making sense of them in a way that feels right and expands your satisfaction with life. Let’s see what kind of blending of metaphors I can trip over as I write this blog post for today.
I love cooking and when I watch the cooking shows on the Food Network, I get even more excited about cooking as a wonderful way to be creative and to eat tasty and fun foods. I often watch Iron Chef and Bobby Flay’s Throw Down, which are enjoyable and inspirational for my kitchen adventures. When I cook I feel fully present and very intuitively tuned in. Oftentimes my dishes transcend the ordinary, or more accurately are at least not boring.
In my endless pursuit of consciousness I often read the Ode and other out of the ordinary magazines for quick fixes of new and innovative ideas hoping to come upon insights that expand my knowing. When this happens, I find myself dancing down the hallways of my mind blissful in the moment of light.
Today’s pages of the magazine brought me upon a like-minded thinker. I just read an article on Peter Russell a physicist/futurist who sees the way to save humanity from its self-destruction is by raising consciousness. He calls the time we live in as a wake up call. Yes! Yes! Yes! I love when good thinking people agree with me. You may think my ego is expanding like muscles on steroids but this appreciation of other thinkers is more a validation for my own search for consciousness and my writing about it here. My passions are consciousness, freedom, and making a difference.
Yes consciousness is essential as we move forward. That means each of us needs to wake up and begin to tap into our vast inner knowing so that we can all be spokespersons for what matters most to all of us. No more hanging out in the back room acting shy and playing it safe. Yes you, isn’t it time to be seen and heard?
Make A Commitment To What Matters To You
The time shift has found me a little sluggish for the first couple of days but I am very fortunate to have good health, which allows me to keep on going. Endurance is a quality I have from working out 7 days a week. My commitment to my health brings me good health.
I am also fortunate to have work I enjoy and people at work that I value. My desire for ongoing growth and being the best I can ends me up in good jobs with real relationships with people I enjoy. In my work, my commitment to building healthy relationships with my peers and our clients make work a pleasant place to be.
The power of what you commit to will have a life long affect. I did not share my two commitments above to make me look good but because I see the affects in my own life of my commitments.
What are you fully committed to in your life, what matters most to you? Are you willing to make a commitment to your health, to your relationships, to your nutrition, to your career/profession, to your ongoing growth, to making a difference, to your music, painting, writing or other creative expression, to ending hunger, to being present, to compassionate listening, to exploring your spiritual needs, to being the best parent, to improving your skills, to have more fun, to eating more slowly, to being more peaceful, or whatever is important to you? What is holding you back today from fully committing to the parts of your life that matter most to you?
Commitments are like goals but with much passion and a more investment of your energy and focus. A commitment is something you do fully or it isn't a commitment. Yesterday I recommended making a commitment to tuning in and listening to your inner wisdom that wants to guide you to a more purposeful and peaceful life. I guess that would be called making a commitment to making a commitment. Is there an echo in my brain or did I just hiccup?
Kidding aside, check out to see if you are holding yourself back in any part of your life. Your upbringing and society warned you to keep things close, take it easy, avoid over commitments, and be cautious, all good ideas if you let your ego rationalize protecting yourself out of fear. Commitments challenge you to go beyond your fears and to act with clear intentions.
The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
Vince Lombardi
You need to make a commitment, and once you make it, then life will give you some answers.
Les Brown
There's no abiding success without commitment.
Tony Robbins
You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fear.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Compassion In Action
These times we live are calling for more compassion in action. Yesterday my blog was more focused on individual needs. There is however a whole world of people who are hurting, people looking for work, people full of worry, people overrun by fear, people without enough income, people lost in their addiction, people struggling with confusion and anxiety, and many others issues and concerns. There is a great need for us to get involved beyond the desires of our own life.
What do you have to offer you may ask? The answer is that you have more to offer than you may realize. Consider these possibilities:
* You can offer compassion; with the giving of open heart many people can feel better when they know someone cares.
* You can become a good listener and offer understanding and a peaceful place to share.
* You can start a program to help others in need; good ideas and a well run NGO can have a powerful affect.
* You can give of your time at a shelter, food bank, be a consultant, sit on a board, be a fundraiser, etc.
* You can give money, set up a foundation, pay for trainings, teach a course, seek a grant, approach corporations for help, etc.
* You can organize people into taking specific compassionate actions, use your people skills to create a positive movement to help others.
* You can use your creativity to come up with a new and better world, art, music and others forms of creative expression can be great for generating funds.
Today please make a commitment to slow down enough to pay attention to what is going on around you, listen in, and see where you are needed. This will bring real meaning into your life in many ways.
Here is someone who has an idea to make a difference in the world. I hope you will join his cause. Tim Ferriss has a goal to help low income kids in school. Check this opportunity to help at:
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/03/09/tweet-to-beat/
I also came upon an insight-provoking article through StumbleUpon.com called, Violinist In The Metro. Please take the time to read and think about how this article relates to you.
http://www.egodialogues.com/general/violinist-in-metro.php
Longing For Freedom, Guided By Desire
Freedom has been on my mind lately and it got me thinking about why I want freedom and from what? What kind of freedom do I want and is there something under the desire for freedom that is even more important? I don’t know the answer to these questions but I intend to find out.
Let me tune into my heart first to listen to what kind of guidance is there about wanting freedom. It has for a very long time been a challenge for me to work 40 hours a week for someone. Presently the work I do is stimulating and rewarding but not enough to make me want to work full-time. The pay for this job is more like a half-time job anyway. The pay is not the issue, it the freedom to create my day unbounded by someone else owning my time. For now this arrangement will be ok because the people I work with are quality people that I value and I believe they value me. Still the call for freedom is strong in me and that call will need to be answered one of these days.
In my thinking, I link freedom to having the financial resources to not need to work for money sake. This my be faulty thinking? Yet that urge for more money seems to be part of the deep-rooted desire for freedom that calls me. If I didn’t have the need for the money would I still be at this job. The answer is clearly that if I had the resources, I would quit working there but would then commit to volunteering there every week.
My work, although intense and energetically challenging, is rewarding because I get to try and make a positive difference in people’s lives. This particular work environment does fill my purpose and gives me full freedom to be me as a helping professional. So my longing for freedom here is a mixed bag. Maybe my desire for freedom is more than having my hours of the week back because there are other meaningful things going on that I value?
Under that desire for freedom, there is an inkling that a greater longing lies under the surface. What that calling is seems beyond what I am yet clear about. Let me go for a walk and see what clarity I can listen for as the colder night ascends on Boulder. I will let you know what I discover.
Back from the walk, I felt the presence of my Higher Self and heard its guidance. There is a part of me, my Spirit that longs to be free of the normal human restraints of a limited body, a too noisy mind, the old limiting beliefs/patterns/memories, the slowness of travel, the need for money, social structures lacking more consciousness etc. I want to be free to see myself in Assisi or Maui and be there. I want to fix all the broken ideas that limit human beings so compassion rules. I want to play golf, do art-work, goof off, go for a road trip, have a nice garden, eat what I am hungry for, play more with Bobbi and Pax and so much more whenever it feels like doing those things.
Yes to some this may all sound self-centered but that is just a judgment. I have desires, which are calling me to express myself even more fully and the things I do from that calling are just right for me if I listen to my intuitive knowing. What is calling you inside? What freedoms do you desire? Are you held back by your own limits or is just being human limiting you?
We’ll continue to further explore these ideas soon. Have a good start to the week.
The Workings Of The Limiting Ego
As I read through my yesterday’s blog, I see that I want to clarify some aspects of what I shared. As I state often this exploration and explanation of consciousness pushes the limits of language.
The most important clarification I want to make has to do with how I see that my ego is sneakily getting in the way. I have a tendency to create practices that are sanguine and energizing with the intention of making something happen. This is a good idea except when my will power is engaged. When I set an intention, I too often try to will it into reality by the sheer force of my willpower. That use of willpower to make something happen is driven by my ego. Ego again is not bad; it is just an innate force of the personality that is trying to survive.
The danger of the ego driven willpower is that some part of me is trying to prove that I can make things happen. This need to prove myself comes from one of the deadly sins of ego mentioned yesterday, the seeking of approval from others. Anytime there is a desire to look good there is ego lurking. This need to be looking good is not necessarily about physical looks but it can be. The most dangerous looking good is the pride of showing off or being better than. That is the ego at work and it can lead to human suffering.
Back to the ego I was concerned about. It wasn’t that I was peacocking about but more that my will was subtly trying to make the universe cough up what I wanted. My ego/willpower dance is a very slippery slope towards disappointment. The Source/Force of the universe will not be manipulated by willpower no matter what way it may be gift-wrapped. What actually moves the forces of change on a mega level is under discussion.
The Teachings of Abraham through Ester Hicks (and many others) seem to indicate that aligning ourselves with our Higher Self/Source Energy and being open are two powerful ways to invite what we desire into our lives. This is the leading edge of my experiment with life. There is in me a desire to create more freedom in my life which includes: financial, time, releasing my self-limits, being a clearer source of helping others to be free and more.
What freedoms do you want? Can you go after them without letting your ego run the show? Life is a fun experiment and full of opportunities to learn and be who we are.
Beyond The Rational, Into The Infinite
Last night I was out walking mindfully under a blanket of stars and the light went on. I am still attempting to understand the impact of the insight I had. In that moment I understood that my attempts to open myself to more prosperity were too driven by my ego. My inner work has been very productively lately and the practices I am doing seem positive. They were positive but the ego in me was driving them. As I write this I am hoping to provide clarity to myself and to share insights that may be of value to you.
Over the years I have shrunk the impact of my ego on my life. Ego’s impact in your and my life can be seen as:
• The need for the approval of others
• The need to have control
• The need to be right
• The hurry/worry push inside to make things happen
• The fear driven rationalizations that make ok what isn’t.
Shrinking those sneaky ego strategies can happen by shedding some light on them, by becoming more aware that they are operating in your life. The more that you catch these strategies in action the more you can arrest their development. It is best to think of these ego techniques as not bad but more survival. The ego works most powerfully in a void of insight. The more insight and awareness you have the less the influence of the ego. Again ego is not bad, it is more instinctual and protective but lacks the expanded viewpoint of consciousness.
As I write this, I see I am spending more time on the ego issues than on the liberating side of last night’s insightful walk. When I saw the workings of the ego, hidden under the spiritual practice, I immediately felt relieved to see the reason I had yet to create the results I was seeking. At that moment as I remember it now, I then felt the freedom of dropping the ego needs and was totally open to flow of the Stream of Well-Being, the Source of the universe. Let me see if I can state that in another way. When the light came on that the ego was driving my spiritually focused prosperity practices, I could then make a choice to go about what I was doing in a more enlightened way. I am going to try to state this again from a different angle. In the moment of awareness, I saw there was no need for me (ego), instead the Higher Self was allowed to operate. This Higher Self is one with the Source of all creation.
Again the challenge is to put into words what is understood beyond the rational mind. My invitation to you is to step back and see:
• Where the ego is running the show?
• What insights in you are waiting to be understood or integrated?
• How you are getting in your own way?
• What knowing you have that is beyond the rational, maybe more intuitive?
• What is your relationship with your Higher Self?
• What is the guiding force inside of you?
• How are you connected to the Infinite Source of the universe?
• What limiting ideas or beliefs hold you back from living your desires?
• What do you need to do today to set yourself free?
One last thought, there are a few key feelings here that are great guides to let you know if you are on the right track. If you feel joy, aliveness and real freedom, you are definitely on the right track.
Do You Need An Enthusiasm Transplant
This blog has been very mellow this week and I feel like spicing things up a little. My favorite area of commentary has to do with the craziness of politics. So far according to the polls the people think Obama is doing a good job as president. So far the Limbaugh Party formally know as the Republican Party have nothing good to say and lots of complaining. Are the people a better judge of a president or is Mr. Limbaugh? I have to say I trust the people much more than Limbaugh and those of his sheeple party who seem to cower from questioning him.
Isn’t it time for national health care? Let’s make health care available to everyone and take it away from the responsibility of business. Without health care costs business can use their resources to be more successful. Could it be the money influences of the insurance industry that keep our nation from having the health care we deserve and as good as all the other great nations? Our insurance industry is based on fear and run for profits and was never set up for the good of the people. Should AIG an insurance corporation run by terrible management be continually bailed out by our tax dollars?
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are a mess and extremely costly. Leaving both of these messes immediately or ASAP would help out our economy too. This was a mess created by Bush and his Limbaugh Party. How long do we have to spend cleaning up these messes?
Our education system has a huge dropout rate in high schools. What has gone wrong? The emphasis on passing tests has taken over and education has gone from something to value to something to get through or avoid. Isn’t it time our great minds put their focus on educating people so that that all of us can be assets to out communities and nation? Let’s do an education overhaul starting from preschool on up through our once great universities.
What about our planet, our air and water, do they matter to you? If they don’t, should they matter to your next generation? If you don’t believe the best scientist on the planet, then is it our corporations or your ministers now setting the rules of science? Have we lost our ability to think rationally or have too many given up real thinking in the name of manmade beliefs?
Has any of this gotten you stirred up? If not, maybe it is time for enthusiasm transplant. That would come in the form of: finding purpose and meaning in your life; returning to critical thinking; fighting for something you know is right; opening your heart again; getting outside your comfort zone; leaving your deep groove of habits behind; and whatever else it would take to wake you up to who you are and what you are capable of in this lifetime. No more hanging out in mediocrity.
Have a good weekend and keep growing as if your life depends on it. It does.
Knocking On Heaven's Door
Last night I received a blessing by an Indian Saint also thought of as a Divine Mother. Her name is Mother Meera and she has been traveling through the US and stopped here because there is an active community of supporters. She was here also in 2008. This experience is not something that necessarily sends noticeable powerful vibrations through you but is quieter in its impact. She lightly touches your head and then you look into the whole compassionate universe contained in her eyes. The affects vary in each person but receiving the energy of grace has to be a positive thing.
When more expanded people come around, I often go check them out because I feel like just hanging around them has to be a good and maybe some of their higher vibrations will bless me or help me wake up more. I enjoy the opportunity to be in this sacred space of a more realized human being. I have been especially blessed to have this kind of experience a number of times in the past 30 years. Each time I have these holy encounters, I feel like my own growth is enriched.
Growth, awareness, consciousness, compassion, and inner peace are all available to you if you seek them out. Being active in learning about who you are and what is potential in you will enhance your life in many ways. There are many holy people and places on the planet and checking them out will cause shifting to take place within you. A good shift in your fault line may cause an earthquake of change in you life.
Next time a spiritually renowned person is in a city near you, take the time to go be in their presence and see how it makes you feel? Why not open to more light, to more heart, to more peace, to more joy, and to a fuller realization of who you are?
Be open, be peace.
Meditate And Expand
Have you ever meditated? Have you ever sought to alter you state for spiritual purposes? Have you ever realized that there is more to you and you want to discover what that is? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I invite you to follow along today. If you answered “no” to all three questions then you may still want to stay tuned because some day you may answer “yes” to one or more of the above.
My experience of meditation shows me that this is a powerful way to expand your awareness of your real self and the real world around you. I use the word real here because too much of what you think is real is not. Look around you as you read this, what do you see? Do you see the millions of particles: moving in the air, through what seems solid, in the human bodies you observe as they pass? The answer is no you do not see the reality of all these objects. In meditation you can see the reality around you because you go beyond the rational.
Meditate on the reality of your mind and you will see that the word train flowing by is just a jumble of letters that have no meaning except what you give them. Meditate and you see that you personality is only local to this body that carries you about but beyond that body the personality disappears and something much more expansive appears. Meditate on the importance of being a success and you will see that your definition of what it is to succeed changes to incorporate much more than the approval of others and the accumulation of things. Instead you can be in the moment of stillness and see the amazing beauty and wonder of all that surrounds you. That is a joyful moment and glimpse of the true freedom awaiting you when you quiet your perspicacious mind and open your heart.
Yes there is so much more sitting there waiting for you to come calling. Take this moment and imagine the quietest and most peaceful place in the universe and realize that is in you now. Take another moment to realize the greatest human wisdom is in your consciousness as you read this. Take a further moment and realize that the love of all humankind and all living things resides in the vicinity of your unlimited heart. Are you understanding this is all part of the expanded you?
Please take the time to explore meditation over the next year or so. If you do, you will enhance the quality of your sense of self and of the world a million times over. Your heart and the world is waiting to dance in the glow of what you can become aware of in your silence.
Note 1: I recently decided to enrich my vocabulary so you will notice an occasional word that you may have to look up. Please before you open the dictionary or go looking for it online take at least a moment to be still and intuitively or linguistically guess what it means. This will aid you in tapping into your greater knowing.
Note 2: Over on my Another Viewpoint, I added another political blog that seems to be clearly written and one you are suppose to show your conservative friends who think their politicians are doing a great job. Read and enjoy if your point of view is like mine.
The Awe Of Creativity
My day at work yesterday started out very slowly and so I sat in front of my computer to do some random, intuitive writing. As I wrote, I was thinking that creative expression was such a source of self-nurturing for me. It feels like some kind of creativity is an important part of my daily mental and emotional health.
Creativity comes in the form of writing, doing collages, painting, making music, and my intuitive way of providing counseling for my clients. Others forms of creativity include: design, architecture, poetry, song writing, playing, movement and dance, crafts, the way we do our work and even the way we parent or communicate.
How do you express your creativity? I sometimes hear people say they don't have any creativity in them. My thought, when someone says they are not creative, is that they either are not listening inward to their desires or intuitive guidance or they somewhere along the way got that creativity stifled in them. It seems to me that being creative is innate in all of us if we just tune in or let it flow through us. Do you find that to be true or not?
I participated in a very unique form of creative expression this past weekend. On Saturday I attended a 4-hour Taiko Drum workshop and had fun learning to play drums with a group of people and later do a performance. Taiko drumming comes from Japan and is a synchronized form with a group drumming. If you get an opportunity to see a performance, be sure to go and enjoy.
Creativity can come in so many forms beyond the "arts." Good parenting takes creativity. Teaching takes creativity. Being a member of a work team takes creativity. Coming up with new and innovative ideas takes creativity. Getting a ball on the green can take real creativity when you are stuck behind a tree. Communicating successfully with others can be a creative adventure. Running a business effectively takes creative problems solving.
Creativity expressed always feels good because it is something you and I desire. Even if afraid of trying, you will find with very little practice that you can discover what in you wants to be expressed and explored. Try this: I invite you to take out a pencil and blank paper and doodle, write words that come to you, play around with different media, sketch, think of words that rhyme, get up and move to music, and see what gets stirred up in you.
Even something that is totally an abstraction from what you are wanting to express can be very interesting and powerful. I saw an Art Exhibit of Mark Rothko in Los Angeles as the Museum of Modern Art and his work although simple and abstract left me standing in awe for a very long time. The ability to inspire awe in others is in you if you allow what’s within to creatively venture out into the world.
Hope For The Moment, Day, Week, Month, Year, and President
Are you ready for another week, as you begin another month, in another year, with another president? What do you have hope for this week, this month, this year, this president? Even more specific, what hopes do you have for this moment as you read this blog? I ask these questions because you and I shape our experiences by the hope we take into them.
In this moment I hope for some prestidigitation of inspiration as I write this blog. Often as I have shared in the past, my blog is more written by my hands and my intuition than by some planned rational process. It feels good to go with the flow that only happens in the moment.
Today I hope to be inspired in my work, focused in my workout, open to more joy and feeling more freedom to be. If I have hope, then I can go forward in positive anticipation. That, too me, is like taking the best foot forward.
My hope this week is that I build momentum in my own consciousness raising, that I am fully present for all my interactions, that I flow downstream toward greater prosperity of heart and in the material world. Seven days is enough to build an energy force for success.
My hope for this month is for a deepening and integration of the new ideas I am working with. I also have the physical intention of bringing my body into a higher level of optimal health. With 30 days new habits can be established and old ones can be extinguished.
My hope this year is that I alter old deep trench ways that have held me back while opening to new possibilities of dreams I have carried for a lifetime. Change sometimes waddles along like a duck crossing a street and patience is an acquired virtue. I also hope there is a major shift of consciousness on the planet and that we have a significant upturn in the economics for everyone.
My hope for this president is that he is able to find the courage to win out over the forces of inertia and money influences and to expand the hope he brought to this nation with his election. I see every one of us needing to partner with this First Family so that together hope wins out over fear, compassion wins out over greed, and personal freedom wins out over the limits of small minded thinking.
Let me know your hopes. Have a good moment, day, week, month, year, and president.
Checkout this Soul TV version of one of my blogs: isn’t it cool? Soul TV has some great stuff. Be sure and come back regularly to see what they are up to, you’ll be glad you did.
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