It is rant day about politics and the plight of the ordinary working person who seems to be willing to take whatever he or she is dealt. The wages of most Americans remain as they have been for some time, except now they are expected to cover for their co-workers who have lost their jobs. At the same time worker benefits and retirement funds have seen a decrease. Yet executive pay has continued to significantly rise even if the company is not doing well. Why is this happening and how come no one in DC addresses this unfairness?
It seems to me that for many years now the people have been forced to work long and hard for the minimal wages the corporations can get away with paying them and the executive pay has skyrocketed. Is that fair?
My dad is always complaining about the unions. He is a Republican that doesn't question the party line. Yet the facts show a different story. Unions may have been powerful but they have little sway these days as all the laws benefit those with the greatest amount of money to influence Congress.
Unions are essential yet they have been bad-mouthed by the Republicans and not helped by the Democrats in Washington DC. I am no expert on unions but it seems to me that someone has to look out for the American worker because Congress doesn't seem to bother.
Wage slaves is a term the defines many who work at jobs that pay so little the employee can't make it even working full time. Second jobs have become a reality for way too many in this country. You can bet the Executives of those companies are not struggling to get by. Poor wages means someone is being taken advantage of in the name of corporate profits.
That’s enough of stating of what is wrong. As I look at the mess we are in, I keep thinking that the rationalizing mind has totally won out over the compassionate heart. This to me is why we are in the mess we are in. The pursuit of money over kindness and caring for each other is making our economy a mess. This is really about higher values vs. those that claim higher values but act in direct contradiction to what they say. Loving kindness and compassion are the highest values yet America corporations set the rules and only care about making more money. This heartlessness needs to change or we will continue to sink as a nation.
Please check in with your heart in all that you do. Does it feel right? Are you guided by your compassion or your fear? Too many people think money is the antidote to fear, it is not. Love and hope are the antidotes and the real method for the healing of our nation.
The Energy Of Life
Sunday night sometimes comes way too fast. Then Monday morning is here and I head off to work trying to help people who are in a fight to reclaim their lives. The work is rewarding but often when there are new clients the rest of the staff and myself have to deal with their resistance and their difficult addict behavior. Patience and compassion win out but when they are fighting within and with us as they come back alive from the trance of substance abuse it can take a lot of energy.
What I understand about energy is that it flows best when there is no resistance. When people struggle it seems they are resisting the effortless flow of energy available to them. Resistance can be caused by fear of the unknown, by self-doubt, by old ideas and thoughts, by a contracted heart, and other ways we close down to the abundant wealth of energy available in all of us. The flow we have access to is the same energy that powers the universe.
You may wonder what energy am I talking about? Let me give you my present understanding about the energy source of all of life. If you understand this better, please feel free to share it. There is a force that energizes the universe and all that is alive in it. This force lights up the sun, causes grass to grow, guides the development of cells in our body and causes volcanoes to erupt. This energy is in each breath we breathe, it causes the healing of a cut when we bleed. This energy in us existed in a form before we were conceived and will exist after we leave this body.
When we are open in heart and positive in mind we access more energy than when we are closed and negative. The reason being open makes more life force available is because there is little or no resistance. In the flow means open to what is available in the moment.
If you want energy as was pointed out in yesterday’s blog, you must be present, free of the past and not off in the future. The now is highly charged with potential if you are willing to receive.
The following are ways to assist the flow of energy in your life this week. They won’t surprise you but they are good reminders.
1. Have an open and positive mind
2. Make compassion and kindness you way of interacting with all other living things
3. Live mindfully in the present
4. Forgive and move on
5. Follow your bliss, if it feels joyful, you are on the right track
6. Take good care of your body with healthy fuel and exercise you enjoy
7. Accept and love yourself every chance you get
8. Support and encourage those around you
9. Live with as much passion and purpose as you can every day
Have a successful and fun week.
Let Go and Lighten Up
I had my writing yesterday afternoon wiped out by a power outage. My wife called for a live report from her bicycle and said all the traffic was being rerouted due to somebody wrestling with a power pole with his or her car. The pole was flattened; I hope the driver did better. I have to trust that whatever is gone is gone for a good reason. My efforts are not lost just redesigned for a latter date and I did get inspired to write about letting go for today’s blog.
Letting go is such a necessary skill in life. If we know how to let go we will have much more energy and freedom. If we don’t, we can be dragged down by the weight of what we carry around with us. Think about the baggage you carry around every day from all the past unfinished business you have with others and situations. Imagine carrying around a two huge backpacks loaded with all the emotions and thoughts that weight you down. Would you be worn out from that effort it took every day? Of course you would unless you were some kind of super Sherpa mountain packer/guide, which you are not.
Letting go is difficult because too often our egos are invested in holding on to our resentments and unfinished hurts and disappointments. We want to get back at those that “did us wrong.’’ We think revenge or getting them good would feel great. Unfortunately that getting back rarely happens or is as satisfying as you had hoped. The fact is why you are fantasizing about this return of justice in your head; you are carrying this burden through life via your thoughts. Your thoughts replay the wrongs except now you are wronging yourself by your own thoughts; you are carrying the negatives forward and causing yourself suffering. Does this really make any sense? Will you really be able to figure why they did what they did in this lifetime? The answer is no and so let it go.
Release all the past regrets, hurts, abuse, sadness, anger and whatever other emotional and mental burdens you carry. If you don’t put them down now for good, then at least be honest and admit you like carrying these wrongs around with you because you get something out of feeling bad. Sure you do or frankly you would be willing to set the past where it needs to be, in the past.
Argue with me if you want but frankly. I am not the one that needs to be convinced of the righteous of your holding on. If you want to feel bad about the past, please don’t stop for me. But at least be honest with yourself. If the past is haunting you, you are the Chief Operation Officer (COO) of you own life. If you don’t believe me take the time to put the emotional backpacks down for one week and see if you don’t feel lighter. If you really try this experiment, I doubt you will pick the anchors to the past up again. Freedom is a wonderful feeling.
Today I challenge you to take some time and look at what you need to release, let go of, forgive, and move on from. Make a commitment to your own freedom and peace of mind and put down your burdens once and for all. You deserve to be liberated from your own mind; you deserve to be lightened up from your emotions; you deserve to have fun and to be free to enjoy each moment.
Today, Right Now, Your Potential Is Unlimited
“Will you ever bring a better gift for the world than the breathing respect you carry wherever you go right now?”
William Stafford
This quote about being in the now, the present moment got me thinking about something I often explore with clients. Many of the people I serve have terrible trauma in their backgrounds. They come for help to get clean and sober and soon the trauma comes to the surface because they are not longer numbing out. Over the long term with at least a couple of years of sobriety, they might then begin to look at the past issues. However until they clear their head and feel stable, they must just work on being present. That work is challenging because the thoughts of their haunting past and pleading for a better future dominate the workings of their mind.
My clients represent the harder edge of life but you and I can clearly identify with our minds dredging through the past and living in hope for a better future. The past is the past and the least time you spend there in your thinking the better. If you are dominated by the past you are not present. If you can’t let go of what happened then you may be beating yourself up about it in the now. Whatever happened then, it is not now unless you bring it forward with your thoughts.
Having hope is a great idea as long as you don’t forget to live today as it unfolds. If you barely hang on today by focusing on tomorrow, you will miss what the moment has to offer. You and the rest of us have thoughts about when you have this or that, or complete school, or have the right body weight, or find a better partner or whatever the future hope is. This living in the future keeps you missing what is present in your life.
For my clients, living in the present is the only sane place to be and that is true for you and I. If my clients live in the past they will beat themselves up mentally until they go drink or drug. If you get away from being present, you may find yourself upset because of what you miss out on. Being anywhere but now can be frustrating and upsetting.
Here is a simple technique to try when you catch yourself thinking about the past or the future in a way that is not working for you: Slow your mind down and say loudly to yourself “Stop, Be Present, Stop, Be Present.” This short statement will remind you that you are at your best when you are fully present to your life.
You must take control of your mind to realize its full potential. That potential exists only in the present moment not at some future date. Today, right now, your potential is unlimited.
How Does Change Come About?
Last night I was exploring with in my workshop/class the stages of change that come from an approach to working with others called Motivational Interviewing (MI). MI has been extensively researched as to its effectiveness and the results are very positive. The results show that MI has a direct application to addiction counseling and other forms of counseling.
I was exploring with my co-investigators areas of their lives in which they are thinking about or taking action to change. They all placed themselves according to this model as to where they were so far in the process.
The following are the stages of change and I encourage you to think about how these stages relate to change you are moving toward.
First Stage: Pre-contemplation is the stage where you are not even considering a change. In this stage you may realize that you are overweight or need to eat healthier but you are not ready to do anything to make that happen.
Second Stage: Contemplation is the stage where you are considering making a change. You might even wonder about the benefits of loosing weight or how it would feel to eat food that would do your body good.
Third Stage: Preparation is the stage where you begin to think about how you will loose weight or eat better. In preparation you may do research on diets or about the best foods to eat or you may surf the Web for a spa that will help you with your goals.
Fourth Stage: Action is the stage where you move into gear and start making things happen. In this stage you set into action your plan to loose weight and you do it by eating less calories, cutting out fat, drink more fluids, working out daily or whatever. In this stage you go to the market with your list of super foods and you buy them and maybe pick up a cookbook that will help you integrate these foods into great meals.
Fifth Stage: Maintenance is the stage where you keep doing what works. If you are loosing weight, you keep doing what you are doing. If you are eating better, you keep eating the foods that make you feel healthy. This new healthy you continues as long as you follow through on your new eating habits.
Sometimes in the process of change you relapse to old behaviors or habits and you have to notice that and then jump back into whatever stage you can to get back on track. Short relapses can go right back to action or maintenance. Longer relapses may need you to return to preparation. Working with addicts and alcoholics is often filled with relapse as part of the journey to recovery. Relapse is not bad and sometimes it gets people more focused on the results they want.
What stage are you in when you think about some changes you would like to make in your life? If you want to read more about Motivational Interviewing, Google it, there is much information out there and many excellent practitioners.
The Comfort Zone of Beliefs or The Mystery of Being Open
The movie Angels and Demons comes out Friday and my wife and I are looking forward to seeing it. We enjoyed the Da Vinci Code and the book versions of both. It is interesting to me how a certain belief system/religious institution was attempting to control the release of this movie. Why do people with very clearly defined beliefs feel threatened by other people’s points of view? Why would someone become so reactionary to those who think differently than they do? This all smells of ego/arrogance to me, how about to you?
I came upon the workings of the Opus Dei (from the Da Vinci Code) in an article I saw on the web last night. It was about this Bishop in Kansas City, a member of this secret ultra right wing militant Catholic group Opus Dei, who was basically declaring war on everyone who thought or believed differently than he does. The article called Bishop Finn an intolerant inquisitor ready to fight for his religious supremacy. Here again the self-righteousness of this radical Bishop sounds like ego and arrogance from someone who thinks he is right and most of the rest of us are wrong?
This radical self-assurance seems to me to be the opposite of what we learn from life. As I have gotten older, I questioned things more and instead feel like the more I know the more I realize how much there is still to learn. It all feels more uncertain and adventurous to me. Maybe my mind and heart show the vulnerability of being open. I prefer being vulnerable than closed down and safe.
How about you? Do you feel safer in a comfort zone of what you can control or are you open to the flow of knowing what comes from living out there in the unknown, taking risks, and experimenting with the moments you live? Sure life’s lessons teach us lots and we may feel more confident but does that mean we don’t still have much to understand? What new and improved ways are you looking at to interact more successfully with your family and others you have relationships with?
Today I talked with one of our staff that had just returned from a month long meditation experience through his school. He said it was a real challenge hanging out in silence with who he was as he viewed aspects of himself that he has yet come to feel fully ok about. That to me is the depth of the real journey, the searching and being present to you in the muck and in the bliss of the moment. It seems those that are so sure of what they believe to be the truth have spent so little time in the mystery of silence.
As I write my first draft I am looking forward to my mindful walk under the quiet and contemplative starry night. Let silence draw you in so you can see the ever expanding light of those who search for the truth.
Part II. More Deposits Your Self-Worth Account
I hope you found yesterday’s blog helpful. If there’s one thing you could do to make your life turnout better, that one thing would be to accept yourself as fully as you can today. The more you accept yourself, the more you expand your self-worth. The higher your self-worth, the more you empower yourself to having what you desire.
MORE SELF-WORTH = MORE HEALTH AND WEALTH
You might wonder how I can claim the above equation is true. Just take an honest look at your own life and those around you. Isn’t it true that when you feel good about yourself, things tend to work out for the better? Isn’t it also true that when the people you know really believe in themselves, their lives continually improve?
A positive sense of self releases your onboard immune system to work at maximum effectiveness. When you feel good about yourself your body has: more energy, more natural pain relievers, and just runs at a higher level of optimal functioning.
Here are some further additional questions that can help you seed your Self-Worth Account:
• What actions have you taken lately that created positive results?
• When have you take time to listen inward and pay attention to what was going on inside of you?
• In what creative ways have you expressed yourself lately?
• When have you set healthy limits and said “no” to what you knew was not right for you?
• When have you opened yourself to new experiences by saying “yes” to something out of your comfort zone?
• When have you had a moment to appreciate something unique about yourself?
• When have you set an intention in your life and followed it through to the results you were seeking?
• When have you put your attention so fully on something that you were able to make it happen despite the challenges?
• When have you been genuine with yourself and those around you and how did that feel?
• When have you experienced your humility in a way that felt good to you?
• When have you felt a clarity or certainty of purpose and acted on it?
• What was the last time you had a challenging workout that left you feeling tired but inspired by what you did?
• What particular skill(s) would you like to have mastery over in your life?
• When have you observed yourself without judging, without labeling what you did as good or bad?
• When have you seen yourself stuck and instead chose to focus on the positive?
If you take the time to answer these you will have more to add to your self-worth account. Remember when you raise your self-worth account you get to have more of what you want.
Blog # 800 - Setting Up Your Self-Worth Account
Hi Thanks for joining me today. Today’s blog entry is number 800 and I am feeling excited about this accomplishment. I set out to be consistent with writing daily for my Explore Life Journal and now about 810-815 days I have reached 800 entries. I have been totally committed to sharing the best tips, advice, and techniques I know of or can find to help make your life, our nation and the planet the greatest place for all of us. I am a social artist/therapist dedicated to spreading progressive and inspirational ideas, to inviting awareness, to raising consciousness, to sharing ideas for mental and emotional well-being, to opening hearts and expanding compassion, and to encourage the best in all who take the time to stop by, read, and explore my wide variety of interests and perspectives.
Please take the time to checkout my free e-books and download them to read and study for your own self-enrichment; also checkout my very reasonably priced e-books for sale as a way to access this useful information and to support my work. They are all very helpful resources.
Self Worth Account
Yesterday I came upon an article on starting a self-worth account written by Heather Picken and I thought wow that is a good idea.
Here are some things I would encourage you to take into consideration as you assess yourself in a way that focuses on what positive and beneficial qualities you have:
• Is your mind active and ready to expand it's knowing?
• What do you appreciate about how you interact with others?
• What do you appreciate about yourself?
• What are you passionate about doing in this lifetime?
• What healthy things can you count on your body for?
• What is your spirit calling you to do?
• What part of you is aligned with the Creative Force of the Universe?
• What makes you feel good inside?
• What thoughts do you have that make you feel positive about your life?
• What do you feel most hopeful about?
• What kind of life do you want if you could have anything?
• How would your life be different if you woke up tomorrow living the ideal life?
• What moments allow you to love yourself?
• Who has shown you real love in your life and why did they love you?
• What have you done well lately?
I hope you get the point here and that is to keep asking yourself questions of your true value so you can make a great initial deposit in your self-worth account.
Thanks so much for whatever part of this journey you have shared with me. See you tomorrow.
The Old Rich White Male Club's Rigid Thinking
Yesterday felt dreary and that is maybe why I felt more in the mood for a political rant. As usual I get most of my news from the Web. What I have be struck with lately is that it seems to me that the shift that needs to happen for the good of all is to eliminate the dominance of the old rich white male in leadership in this country and worldwide. Their old ideas have not worked and the old guard is still fighting for what is good for the wealthy and don’t seem to care about the rest of us.
By the way, I am quickly becoming an old white male except in my work it is an advantage because I can be viewed as a mentor and one who has the wisdom of life to share. Because I have spent my adult life in service of the less fortunate, my wealth has come in the joy of helping those in need and the awareness gained from guiding others towards emotional and mental well-being. My journey has been a great teacher of compassion and about the human spirit. All of us getting to be old white males who have heart and awareness still have guidance to give.
In politics, religion and the corporate world there is not much opportunity for real the silence necessary for deep insight, expanded compassion, and higher consciousness. Instead there is the need to: be right, look good, make decisions, take action, and let the ego run the show. This Sunday morning’s political opinion shows had the old boys club in the news again including Dick Cheney, Newt Gingrich, John McCain talking about all that is wrong with what is going on as if they had nothing to do with the mess we are in. Mr. Cheney is possibly the head architect of this mess he his now trying to blame his poor leadership on our president. He is as divisive to the health of this nation as is angry Rush Limbaugh. They have no constructive ideas, just destructive criticism.
Speaking of old out of touch white males, how about The Pope and James Dobson. These guys live in the total delusion of their beliefs and shepherd the sheeple masses who follow them. I read someone called Dobson’s group, and groups like his, the Christian Taliban and I had to laugh at the humorous accuracy of such a characterization. Their points of view are solely based on the tradition of male dominance and seem to lack any evolution in thinking as if the past is only the truth. If we lived according to their guidance we would still be a primitive civilization barely past the Clan of The Cave Bears.
The path of the politician and the religious leader seem similar because they are both about controlling the masses and about gaining power. Sound familiar to the corporate world too doesn’t it? This need to be in control means the leader cannot live by anything but values that serve his (rarely her) power or have any true compassion for those that do not aid his ego needs. Church leaders and our nationally elected officials do what they do because it feeds their desire for significance. Nurturing the ways of the heart would be detrimental to their grab for power.
We need new ideas, more awareness and consciousness, true critical thinking, positive solutions, out of the box viewpoints, and creativity to make the powerful shifts necessary to right the ship of humanity here are this beautiful planet Earth. It is time to break from the old limited and heartless ways of the past or we are destined to have the same results. There is however hope as more and more people wake up to their calling to govern from the heart of understanding and inclusion.
Happy Mother's Day
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and to all other compassionate human beings!
Mothers are the heart source of the human race. They know the power of love, compassion, caring and kindness. We need lots of mother energy on the planet. We need so much mother energy in Congress. We absolutely need mother energy on corporate boards and executive teams. We need more mother energy in our schools. We so badly need mother energy in our criminal justice system. We would really benefit from more mother energy in the leadership of all churches. We need mother energy to spread more in our communities.
With the energy of love, compassion, acceptance and understand that mothers bring, we could resolve all the problems on Earth. There are no challenges that real love and caring cannot resolve.
Even us guys can adopt the mother energy and open our hearts to all, be kind in every one of our interactions, show real caring for those who are suffering, learn to accept difference points of view and other ways of being in the world, and have compassion for the needs of the planet and all its inhabitants. Yes we too have the capacities of mothers.
Mothers, have a wonderful day surrounded by the people you love.
Planting The Seeds For Personal Freedom
My work brings me into the tortured emotional states of people every day. I see over and over the affects of self-torture caused by the person’s inner dialogue. These voices come from their childhood past but unfortunately they are then replayed endlessly by their own minds as if they are imprinted on the internal hard drive. These messages, of not being ok, of not deserving, of being a failure, of being bad, are of no positive use at all yet they are continually played as if to keep the person down. The past is kept alive by the mind that is out of control.
This may come as a surprise to you, your pain, your suffering, your disappointment, your struggles are not about you; they are much more about your conditioned mind. The amazing creation that you are, is absolutely wonderful, loving, rich with potential, vibrant physically, endlessly creative, and wise beyond what you yet think possible. Any limits that you have come from the personality and thought patterns you have learned growing up. This personality and dizzying collection of confused thoughts are not you in the least. You are a direct descendent of the creative force of the universe. You have no limits except those you put on yourself.
How do I know this to be true? My 30 plus years working with people have shown me repeatedly that no one holds you back as much as you do. The following are a list of seeds to plant inside that will blossom into personal freedom from what within you is holding you back. Please plant and nurture these seeds starting this spring weekend as if you are tending to you’re the garden of your mind and heart.
Seed For Personal Freedom:
1. Each morning and evening look into the mirror and affirm to yourself that you are an amazing creation blossoming into an even more wonderful human being.
2. Make a commitment to have only positive, encouraging and supportive self-talk. Once and for all quiet the inner critic. Be instead accepting, kind and loving to yourself through your inner dialogue.
3. Take time each day to be quiet and to tune into the still voice of intuitive consciousness. This voice is in each moment waiting to guide you to the life you long for in your heart.
4. Pay attention to all your emotions, acknowledge how you are feeling, keep your heart open by forgiving and releasing the past and by nurturing your emotional well being. Feeling are not good or bad they are all ok.
5. Emotions are also messengers that let you know when you are on track or in need of a course correction. If you feel passionate and happy, you are heading in the right direction.
6. Become aware of yourself, your thoughts, your feelings, your sensations, your inner guidance, your desires, your hopes, your gut instinct, these all want to guide you to a fantastic life.
7. In you is a search for meaning, a purpose that is unique to only you. You are requested to live that purpose as fully as you can as if the whole world is dependent on you. The truth is we all need you to play your note in the symphony of life.
8. Your spirit is here to show you the way. This spirit existed before this lifetime and brings an infinite perspective of your Divine DNA. Please take time each day to explore and express your spirit.
9. Treat your body with respect, feed it only high-octane fuel, take it out for power drive daily to pump it up, keep it flexible, and rest it often.
10. Free yourself once and for all from limited ideas and beliefs that are holding you back. You can find these limits embedded in your thoughts and rationalized by your mind. They feel like tension or tightness when you think them. Please take the time to become mindful and release yourself from the limits of your own mind.
There are a variety of seeds to choose from, the above are ones I have used and share regularly with those I counsel and coach towards a more happy and realized life. If you take the time to plant and care for these seeds you will soon get to experience more personal freedom, which I suspect you will appreciate greatly.
Just Keep On Going
It will be Friday when you read this and I am looking forward to a few days off. It has been a very busy week and I am sitting here at my computer tonight writing my first draft for my blog for tomorrow. I just finished a 4.5 hour workshop at 8:30 pm and my mind wants to shut down but the blog writer in me just keeps on moving my fingers across the keyboard. It seems at this point I am going through the motions except there is a part of me that won’t settle for any excuse as to why I need the day off from writing this. It appears I am not a person that gives up easily.
The truth is I don’t give up easily. As a distance runner I know how to push myself, how to keep going even when I am very tired. I often take these tired times as the best times to build strength and self-discipline. If I know I can keep going, I keep going.
Persistence is a great quality on the way to creating the life I want, on the way to bringing about positive change. I feel the need to follow through all the way to the finish line. I don’t give up because I know I can make it. What drives you when your are challenged?
This got me thinking about needing a new project that challenges me even more. I want a project that is will create very beneficial results, one I can accomplish in a reasonable amount of time and one that helps people, my community, our nation or the planet. There are no shortages of issues out there but sometimes there seems to be a shortage of people willing to do what it takes.
Would you join me and find a project that challenges you. These following issues seem worth all the effort you or I could put into them:
• Push for health care for everyone
• Protect the health of our air and water
• Help all those that have been abused as children and stopping putting them in prison as adults
• Spread higher consciousness across the globe
• Promote self-care of mind, body, emotions and spirit
• End the domination of corporations in our government and over the rights and needs of the people
• Make sure every human being has food, a home, and opportunities to better him or her self.
• Spread compassion, caring, kindness and love through everything we do
• Promote personal freedom through awareness and mindfulness
• Encourage and inspire the best in everyone we come I contact with
• Make having fun, being creative, and living passionately as the path to a wonderful life
Which ones do you want to take on? What would you add to this list?
Celebrate life in some way this weekend. Thanks for stopping by.
Finding Your Internal Motivation
Internal motivation can sometimes be tricky to read. There are a number of forces attempting to influence you and I at all times. These influential forces include: intuition, a rationalizing mind, social conditioning, faulty beliefs, spirit, family expectations, higher self, gut instincts, fear, self-doubt, higher consciousness, ego, desire to look good, need for control, a search for meaning and purpose, and more. Our inner forces can be healthy, positive and proactive or off balance, negative and reactive.
The off balance and negative forces always come from a place of fear and contraction in us. They usually feel heavy, depressing and not right. It is important to be aware of when we close down and go against what a higher part of us know is the right path. Our body and our emotions are great indicators of heading in the wrong direction. When we feel tight, uncomfortable, low energy and unhappy, we are headed in the wrong direction.
Positive forces inside are always available to tell us what is right for us and which way we need to go. Intuition, gut instinct, the still small voice of higher consciousness and our spirit may be all the same higher knowing coming through different channels in us. When we feel ourselves open up, when our energy begins to rise, when we feel more alive, we are heading in the right direction. Our bodies feel relaxed, our hearts feel open, our minds slow down. and our spirit expands in our awareness. Life feels good when we are aligned with our purpose and our motivation naturally soars.
High motivation means ready to do what it takes, willing to stay on course, and able to be passionate, creative and smart about all the challenges and possibilities that lie ahead. A motivated person in driven by internal forces not from the world around him or her. Ultimately successful people know they are responsible for making their lives the way they want them to be.
What turns on the light in you, what stirs your heart, what calls you to action, what says let’s go, what energizes you with passion, what quietly guides you with clarity towards the life your desire? These forces are your motivation and all you have to do is pay attention and it will become clear to you the what, where and how of it all.
May your inner forces be beacons of guidance so that you feel totally on the path of your most meaningful and rewarding self-expression. Journey well.
The Importance Of Reciprocal Relationships
Tomorrow two people from our treatment program are going home after completing their stay with us. They both did very well and we all feel hopeful that they are headed in the right direction with their recovery. These times are when this work, as intense as it is, seems worth the effort. These two were very active in their work with us and we gave them lots of ideas, support and encouragement. Reciprocal relationships of this sort work well for the clients and feel positive for the staff. The more we all work hard and give, the more we all get back.
Where in your life is there an even give and take? Hopefully in your relationship with your spouse/partner there is equal sharing and love. Hopefully at work, you give good effort to your employer and you get paid well for doing so. Hopefully with friends there is equal listening and caring. This fair exchange is the way it should be.
What doesn’t feel good is when you give much more, work harder, are a good listener and you don’t get back what you need. This out of balance situation then can become resentment. Resentment means you start feeling wronged and you close down to the situations that are not working for you. This is often the reason relationships come apart, or jobs sour for the employee who feels used, or friendships come apart because the caring and real listening is too one-sided. You have all experienced imbalance in relating to others and you know that cannot go on for long because after awhile self-doubt creeps in and you find yourself wondering how come you ended up in this situation.
The best way to avoid these situations is to keep the communications open. If your partner is not meeting your needs than a conversation needs to happen, not from a blaming point of view but to share what is working and what needs to be worked on. The less judging the better and the more seeking of solutions to resolve issues and soon you will find that both of your needs are being met.
If work is taking advantage of you then it may be time to talk to your supervisor about your concerns. Good employers understand that well-trained, hard working employees are very hard to replace. If they care, then they will look for ways to work with you. Unfortunately the profit-motive-model of business too often considers employees to be expendable if the bottom line can be improved. Working for places like this will probably not feel that positive to you. Keep an eye open for new opportunities where you are valued.
Friendships are a great joy if they are reciprocal. If both care for each other, listen and give support, bring positive energy to the relationship then there is a friend you can count on. Some people however are much better takers than givers, they talk lots and never seem to have time to ask how you are doing. Friends that are a negative and complainers also are not able to give in ways that feel good.
Sometime in your own movement toward health, you have to leave some relationships and situations behind because they are not working for you. This does not mean you abandon people lightly but instead you make choices for your own good. People and situations who use and take advantage of you are not your problem so let them go. Your life and doing what is best for you is what you must do. That may sound like a closed down heart but instead it is showing real heart for you and sets you free to give to those that care enough to care.
It may be most helpful to see that all people are looking out for what is best for them, what else could they do. You need not take the actions or intentions of others personally. Instead find those who are healthy to be around, who are kind and caring, and who can enjoy both giving and receiving. These are people well worth spending time with and mutually beneficial.
Last nights golf league was so much fun. Have a wonderful day.
Work, Self-Care And Health
Working closely with people who have histories of trauma and abuse takes its toll on those who help them. I know because yesterday I got a headache from listen to the responses of my client as I did ASI (Addiction Severity Index). Her mother and stepfather repeatedly abused her and her sisters mentally, emotionally, physically, and sexually. This is called secondary trauma when we mental health professionals are affected by listening to it. I left the session feeling tired and frankly I think my low energy could be from suppressing the anger I felt come up in me in response to my inner question of, “how could parents be so awful to their own children?”
This containment of emotions is needed as a professional but not beneficial to my own health. Sessions like this is why I workout and spend quiet time every day. Without an active self-care program, I would be a mess and burn out quickly. As I have gotten older and more tuned-in, I am a better counselor but I also feel more of the emotional disarray of my clients. When my work is intense like this, I find myself needing more quiet time and being less socially engaged. The challenge for me is that I need the stimulation of healthy ideas and people but I feel less inclined to make them happen.
Since moving to Boulder and getting back involved in direct service, I have noticed I have been valuing my quiet time more than interactions with others. My wife is a quiet supportive person and I am deeply grateful for her and my dog Pax only wants to play and exchange affection and that is a gift that keeps on giving.
For health purposes I need to break out of old patterns and explore new avenues for expression. Today after work I start a summer golf league and I am really excited about that because it is physical, mental and just fun for me. This will help with the emotions that can get clogged up inside because I can whack things hard and play to release tension. Golf is great teacher because I can’t be attached to results (or it won’t be as fun) and humility is a constant lesson. I will play for the pure joy of it.
I write this blog because I want to make more of a difference in the world and because I feel it is part of my essential expression as a social artist that wants to leave the world a better place. This writing also helps keep me healthy. I get to explore ideas and let the creativity flow which seems to nourish me in a number of positive ways.
What do you do to take care of yourself? What patterns need to change for you to bring you greater health and success?
Making More Of A Difference
Today I want to solicit from you ways I can make more of a difference. By difference I am talking about how can I be of greater service to you my readers and to my fellow humankind in ways that spread: peace, consciousness, positive self-esteem, progressive policy ideas, compassionate action and kindness, awareness of emotions, thoughts and self-talk, empowerment of all citizens, involvement in governing to offset the influence of corporations and other moneyed influences, question more and think critically, expand the use of mindfulness and to spread inspiration ideas.
Yes I do have a big agenda, or another way of putting it is lots of things to do that I think matter. How can I be more effective with my agenda? What agenda do you have for your life that will leave the world a better place?
My basic question is: “How can I give more to those I am in contact with through this blog, through my work, and through our peace company?” What ideas do you have that will help me have a greater impact.
These times we live in are ripe for significant and powerful change but there are huge forces fighting for the status quo of those in power keeping the power and not giving it up to the people. These forces dictate policy and direct our government and they will continue to do that until the people demand the power back.
Major shifts can only take place if we keep on reminding ourselves to be active, to voice our opinions, send letters, emails, join social/political action organizations, write editorials, call our elected officials, organize local actions and be part of the progressive vocal citizenry of this nation. There are many vocal forces fighting for the radical/religious right that seem to vote in alignment with big business as if most benefit from the money influences, which they don’t. Why do people vote for what doesn’t serve them well? I highly suspect that leaders claiming to follow certain religious beliefs, which they use to get their votes, manipulate people. What do you think?
It seems more like the overriding policy of those in power is: let’s keep the poor as they are and make the middle class struggle so that don’t have time to pay attention to what is going on in government. Is there such a behind the doors policy?
On a personal level there are powerful forces in you and I that hold us back and diffuse our power. Those forces include: habit, self-doubt, faulty beliefs, numbness, disconnection from our heart, negative self-talk, lack of awareness, ignored emotions, worry and fear. These are things I write about often and my determination is to help you and be more empowered.
My suspicion is that real change on a national and global level starts inside of us. As we become more aware of ourselves, we will become more aware of our countries policies. If we want peace then we begin by finding peace inside. If we want more compassion in the world then we must find more compassion for ourselves.
What do you think and feel? Please feel free to share your ideas here or email me at josephteach@hotmail.com. Have a great week.
Stirred Up, Are You?
It is Sunday morning and I woke up early with my mind ablaze with thoughts and ideas and my body energized with positive emotions. The Denver Green Festival, reading the news, watching a film (The God Who Wasn't There), and listening to Tony Robbins on the Web all in the last 24 hours stirred me in a number of different ways, which I am still trying to understand.
Here is what I understand so far:
• Inspired ideas inspire me to feel alive in mind, body, heart and spirit.
• I love to grow and growth comes for me when I am learning new ways of being and new ways of helping others.
• Variety is very stimulating and I need more of it.
• I want to make more of a positive difference in the world than I am now.
• Working with damaged people is a gift for growing compassion in me and it is hard to do emotionally.
• There is so much to do in this country and on the planet to expand consciousness and I want to do this work more effectively
• To me this is essential: what is good for all the people and the planet has to be a top priority, no more trickle down, profits first economics.
• Your and my emotions are the driving force in our lives. I commit to having the most positive, hopeful and compassionate set of thoughts and emotions.
• The Green Movement is about people waking up to what is most important and I am proud to be part of that movement.
• To me, what is going on with wage cuts and executive bonus is because human egos are running corporations and government, not human hearts.
• I feel a strong urge to create and I am looking for some new avenues of expression.
• My passion for teaching is not being met at the level I want so I must make it happen.
• I so much appreciate my island of sanity and certainty where I live with my wife Bobbi and our dog Pax.
• Much of organized religion, to me, seems to almost totally miss the point of spirituality.
• It is time to make some changes in my life towards more joy and freedom.
Are you in need of some new ideas and inspirations? Here are a few ideas:
• Go to Ted.com (also possible on Youtube.com) and listen to many wonderful talks, this can be more meaningful than going to church where they tell you what to think and believe.
• Read Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now
• Look to see where you are stuck in habits and break out to do new things
• What inside of you is wanting to be expressed, let it out
• Use your thinking to positively shape your emotions
• Focus on what you want and not on what is not ok
• Make having fun part of each day
• Quiet down and listen to the guidance of your intuition, your spirit, your higher self
• Keep your mind and heart open and every expanding
Have a good day and a positive week.
It Is Turning Green Out There
The gray morning drips away and I sit here in front of my computer in hopes of some special inspiration. Everything is turning green outside; the buds are bursting forth. Today and the next day we have booth at the Denver Green Festival where our Peace Together tee shirts will be available. We are out promoting world peace and enjoy the opportunity to interact with people.
Our peace efforts is what drives this blog because we think peace will happen through raising consciousness, expanding compassion, and realizing connection. The more conscious we all become, the more heart and understanding will be their, the more we will realize that we are all connected on this planet. All that is done on this planet affects everyone; all the love that we have inside can change the world in wonderful ways; and inside of each and every one of us is highest human knowing that goes beyond the limits of the rational mind.
This blog and our working for peace is about spreading consciousness, helping everyone become fully aware human beings. This blog is about opening hearts and being compassionate with each other. This blog is to help people realize the truth of the unity of all living things on planet Earth; we are all one.
Consciousness, Compassion and Connection will end all wars and all human problems. I have written about these ideas over the past few years and I wanted to write about them again today. It seems as the spring has sprung so too is it time for these ideas to spring forward. It is time for us all to contemplate: how we are working to be more conscious; how are we opening to be more compassionate; and how are we being in the world with the awareness of our total connection to each other?
I invite you to join me today and throughout this season of blossoming to:
o Bloom your own consciousness
o Be more aware of your thoughts and feelings
o Set your intentions on being more awake
o Look to further open your heart
o Seek to understand with caring as your goal
o Live with purpose and passion for making a difference
o Act more often from kindness
o Lend a hand because giving feels good
o Get to know the special qualities of the people around you
o Explore the ways we are all similar in hopes and dreams
o Live in the awareness of the interconnection of all beings
o Laugh often, have fun, follow what brings you bliss
Give Up Perfection As An Action Plan
“Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That is how the light gets in. “ Leonard Cohen
This quote is a clear reminder to us to give up perfection as an action plan and do the best with what we got. Someone said, “that perfectionist are really good at doing what everyone else wants them to do.” That is no way to live. Be ok with what you have and if you want more go for it by your own tune.
The imperfection in each of us is our uniqueness, our place of further exploration, and our leading edge for self-realization. It is ok to be just as we are. We are not here in this life to live up to anyone else’s expectation of us. We are here to be who we are as fully as possible with all the flaws included.
“That is how the light gets in,” is a wonderful line about our spirit, our, unlike anyone else, expression. The light is from the possibility and potential in us not from doing everything right to the satisfaction of others. Our opportunity to shine comes from our expression, from the light of our imperfect personality, our imperfect life, our imperfect desires, our imperfect heart, our imperfect mind and the rest of our one in a kind way of being.
Join me today and be as fully you as possible, shine the light that comes through the cracks in who you are and then brighten the world that surrounds you. TGIF and enjoy the weekend.
Fix The Potholes On The Old Pathways of the Mind
What is on your mind lately? What occupies the space in your thoughts most often? Are you kind in your inner dialogue? How come people insist on getting their point across even if it pushes people away? How come people use the same old tired arguments that aren’t even true to support their point of view? How come states cut out funds to help people with serious mental health/addiction problems? Do you have original thoughts or insights? Do we need to suffer to be ok? Is there such a thing as good luck, or do we make our own? Can a person really feel more than they can deal with?
As you can see I have lots of questions on my mind. Is there ever a time I don’t have questioning going on? The answer is yes there are times my mind quiets down but not that often in a day. My work as a therapist involves asking questions to help clients be more aware. Helping people change their lives involves lots of questioning. I question what is going on in Washington DC almost every day. It seems we all need to question the status quo, our own thoughts, how come we feel the way we do, and old beliefs that are blocking us from having the life we want.
Suffering seems to be a badge of courage for those that believe in traditional ways. Fighting for success or battling upstream against all odds seems to be highly prized paths of human endeavor. Do we have those old ideas mixed up with the possible realities of living today? Look around, isn’t there an abundance of choices and experiences available to us? In fact if we have a house with real windows, a car, and cable TV, we are probably wealthier than the majority of people in the world. Does that surprise you or remind you to appreciate what you have?
Take a few minutes today to use your ability to question and to be a critical thinker. Think outside the old pathways and wander into the unknown spaces of your mind in search of greater truths. Wake up from the habit driven dullness of the familiar and instead stretch yourself beyond the comfort zone of tradition and routine. There is more out there waiting to be recognized and realized. Are you up to the task? Have a good day.