July is off to a bang with the news filled with all kinds of happenings. Yesterday afternoon we went to the usually busy local mall and the place was pretty empty. There were not many customers even though most of the stores had large sales going on. I had a thought while walking out with some good deals in my hands. What if things get really bad and much of commerce comes grinding to a halt? How will people survive if there is little money flowing? This question is not to cause alarm but to invite us all to consider what we can do. The government seems bogged down in supporting the status quo, this may be up to you and I.
As I write this I am also aware that there are huge financial resources in this country but most of that money is in the hands of the very wealthy. How will they continue to prosper if people are not working at growing and creating goods? Maybe it is time for the wealthy to quit hoarding money and instead start spending and being generous? It seems that if much of the wealth of this nation is in the hands of 1-5% of the people, then those with resources ought to use their money for the benefit of humanity. The more spent the more the money flows and everyone benefits.
Handouts are not what I am suggesting. The flow of money through spending and supporting organizations that are doing beneficial things in the community will help everyone. Spending money locally will help get the flow of money going. When the flow of money impacts the local community it is much better for everyone.
Even if large systems like the federal government are struggling, local systems can do well and people in these communities can all benefit. That’s why supporting local farmers, business and services keep a community going strong. Giving to community food banks and housing programs help those that are struggling the most. Supporting schools raises the youth’s learning and they become the next generation’s productive citizens. Supporting the local artists keeps them from being starving artists. Supporting local restaurants instead of restaurant chains keeps the money in our towns and cities. The same is true with supporting local banks, sporting goods stores, bookstores, grocery stores, etc.
The more the flow of money is encouraged the more the economy is invigorated. What ideas do you have to get things flowing for the benefit of all of us?
Added Note: the following two websites give added information in support of a public insurance option. We have been taken advantage of by these mega insurance companies for too long:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/03/grassley-fed-health-care/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/05/AR2009070502770.html?hpid=topnews
Storms, Sunday, Relaxation and Fun
It’s a quiet Sunday around here after a noisy night of fireworks. We played tourists and drove to Frisco, CO where there was an art show. We got really inspired by the work of several artists. Then we traveled onto Breckenridge and had some dinner and enjoyed a place I had never been to before. Nice way to spend an afternoon here is Colorado.
The rains continue around here almost every afternoon and the wildflowers are everywhere in abundance. Even the fields where the horses usually need to look around for good eats are full of lots of grasses. Green abundance is uncommon this time of year. With all these intense storms, the challenge is to get out and about in the morning before the storms of rain, sometimes hail, often lightening, and winds come pounding down on all those unprepared. Regularly I see people dressed in shorts and t-shirts ducking for cover as the sunny afternoon or evening suddenly turns to very wet.
I hope you have a good day. I know I will because fun is on our agenda and we will be out there making the best out of what the day presents to us.
Happy Independence Day
Just a brief blog today, I hope you have a fun day. After all it is a holiday.
Here is my top 10 list of what would truly be Independence Day for all of us on the planet:
1. Freedom from corporate domination, power to the people
2. Freedom from debt, our nation needs that badly if it is to survive and we need it for peace of mind
3. Freedom from the radical influence of all belief systems and religious extremist both in the United States and in the rest of the world
4. Freedom from the dishonesty of politics run by the influence of money and need for power
5. Freedom from unhealthy driven egos, the cause of all wars and all the ills of the world
6. Freedom from prejudice and the judgments of all who feel superior to others
7. Freedom from the prison society of America, close more prisons and open rehabilitation/treatment centers
8. Freedom from health insurance corporations that only really care about profits
9. Freedom from our own limiting beliefs and the genuine freedom of an open mind and heart
10. Freedom to be who we are, free to live with passion and purpose, free financially to explore our human potential
Have a wonderful day filled with joy, love and peace.
What Makes Things Fun To Do?
Three-day weekends are something to appreciate. It is summer time so that means playing, reading some good novels, road trips, and enjoying nature. Today I am going to practice at the golf course so I can improve my shots. This is one kind of practice I never get tired of because it is just so much fun for me. Why it is so enjoyable to me I am unsure but it is. I feel the same about playing ping pong, going to a bookstore, doing artwork, reading inspirational books, indoors badminton, listening to my Shuffle and singing along, having meaningful conversations, having time to myself to just do what I feel like doing, walks in nature, a nice massage, eating good food and more.
What are your favorite things to do for fun and leisure? Is summer you favorite time to play too? What fun plans do you have in the next few months?
Having a good life is what it is about, isn’t it. That good life is something you and I define on our own. No one but us can know what feels right, what energizes us, and makes us feel most alive. This season is the time to tune in again to what creates a buzz for life in you. Take some time to play around and explore what feels right and makes you feel most alive.
What makes activities enjoyable? As I was thinking about the above ideas I wondered if there was a common thread? I know that if I am fully present to what I am doing these activities are the most fun and satisfying.
Golf for example is a very Zen practice. I have to be fully present to each shot or my play falters. I need to constantly work on non-attachment to results. If I hit a shot that goes off course then I must be free of any frustration when I hit again or I may hit poorly. If I am attached to how good each shot is the game will become less enjoyable. I often find golf to be a humbling experience, as do even the best golfers. Humbleness is a positive quality and having more of is beneficial.
Other activities like doing artwork and playing music aren’t a challenge to being fully present because they are so engrossing. Even a trip to the library or bookstore has me fully engaged in the moment of searching for the next good read. Cooking a tasty meal keeps me fully focused on making everything turn out just right and my mind and heart are fully into the process. As I wrote this I got an insight, which is that things we do fully present that have heart feel positive. Let me restate that: if my heart is fully engaged in the moment in what I am doing, joy and bliss are possible.
Why would my heart be engaged in golf, ping-pong or other physical activities? I am writing this in the moment and am still trying to figure out my answer to this question. If I am engaged in physical activities that get my heart going then it is easy to explain my heart’s part. If I love what I do then my heart is engaged also. But what is there to love about chasing a ball around a green surface whether it is a golf course or a ping-pong table? I am not sure except I am fully present in mind and body doing something that takes a relaxed intensity. Maybe the relaxed intensity is a key to enjoying what I am doing?
There are further questions here, which I will continue to explore. I will let you know what I learn. If you have any insights about this topic of having fun, please leave a comment below.
It Is Never Too Late To Turn Your Life Around
Even when you have messed things up badly, you can turn your life around. We all make mistakes, sometimes people just make lots of them and it takes awhile to get their lives back on track. To do that, to get headed in the right direction you have to make some changes and those changes are almost exclusively internal.
Today I want to dedicate my blog to the person that is completing her treatment at our addiction recovery center. She has taken the first step by removing the substances that were hurting her and those around her. She will now go out into the world with a clearer mind and a heart that is once again open to loving and being loved.
How did this person get herself headed in the right direction? The following are changes she made that have the potential to permanently alter her life for the better:
• She decided to start believing in herself again. Sure the past has been imperfect but the “now” contains a fresh and clear version of who she can be. This potential in all of us is unlimited if we can only feel ok about who we are today.
• She decided to take responsibility for her life. As soon she quit blaming others and situations, she took back the power to shape her own life. Blaming and complaining makes a person feel helpless because we can’t change others, we can only change ourselves.
• She changed her thoughts from limiting, fearful and negative to open, hopeful and positive. Simply put, an optimistic outlook will make life much more enjoyable. We are about as happy as our mind chooses to be.
• She has begun a dedicated and thorough assessment of her strengths and weakness, what is working for her or not. She will now shape her life with much more awareness and be able to make healthy choices for change.
• She has begun to realize that as a emotional human being she feels the best when she feels all of her emotions. She now knows that acknowledging how she feels keeps her feeling alive. This means she has more energy in motion (e-motions) to create the life she desires.
• She writes to empty her mind, clarify her thoughts and to energize her days with hope and appreciation. Her flow of words onto paper keeps things flowing in her mind, her heart, her body and her spirit.
• She is building a network for success. The more recovery meetings, the more sober friends, the more guidance for the steps along the way the better. The more numbers to call when she needs to reach out to others, when she has a sense she can’t do it all on her own, the greater her chances grow to keep her life going where she wants it to go.
• She has a plan, she has people to help, she has her hopes, she has a heart filled with wanting and now she can give it a try out in the world. There is within her the belief that she can do recovery well and now she gets to go and give it a try. There will be ups and downs but she has the tools and resources to keep her life headed in the right direction.
Yes she has been an inspiration to herself, her peers and us staff. Sometimes the blessings clearly go both ways.
Let’s Get Real
Last night was Golf league and I always have fun. Then we stopped for Mexican food and now I am sitting here with a full stomach and tired legs from chasing a white ball around for over 2 1/2 hours. I was getting my news fix on the Web. These are some things I wanted to comment on.
I am saddened by the death of Michael Jackson. He was a tortured soul who inspired us by his music and movement. He seemed so confused at times about who he was and how to live life in happiness. I have one of his songs (Billy Jean) on my Apple Shuffle and it always makes me want to get up and move. I hope he has found peace of mind and a happy heart.
Finally Norm Coleman stepped down after Al Franken won the senate seat in Minnesota. Coleman has been a very poor looser and it kept his state from being fully represented in Congress. Senator Franken is a bright mind with a great sense of humor. Both seem to have been in short supply in Washington DC.
I just read of a Baptist Church in Toledo, OH that says the Bible and Jesus Christ support them in arming themselves with deadly weapons. You have to wonder what kind of mind twisted these sacred writings into such a self-serving and obnoxious bunch of b.s. This argument is ridiculous and the workings of people who live in fear and out of touch with the lessons of love and compassion central to the teachings of Jesus.
Lastly, Governor Sanford further lies and deceptions from someone who claims to be a religious person seems like the workings of an ego-driven mind. This person used his religion to get votes and from all appearances lacks any true religious values. How many does it take of these so-called religious politicians for us to understand that these phony pious talkers are not to be trusted? Isn’t it crystal clear that if you parade about claiming certain beliefs and values then you probably are all talk and no substance.
Genuineness is what we all want in those we interact with and those who represent us in Congress. People who just say what they think people want to hear lack any genuineness and really can’t be trusted. Isn’t it time we raise the bar on our expectations of our elected official and those claiming a higher moral compass?
Change Is In The Air And You Are Needed
There seems to be a lot of vested interested in keeping things the same Washington DC. No one there likes change because it is going so well for those in Congress who have great health insurance, lots of money from corporations to pay for their re-election, prestige, power, and high paying lobbying jobs when they retire. They don't know the struggle of the average citizen. They are not going bankrupt over medical bills. They are not losing their homes. They are not losing their retirement benefits because their company is collapsing under highly paid bad management. They are not losing jobs or losing their children fighting is unnecessary wars.
What do those in Congress know about the plight of the ordinary citizens? What they know is what we tell them. If we don't speak up they listen to those with money and influence because that is the way the system works. It cost so much to be re-elected that money buys power and influence. That is why the people's voice has to be strong, powerful, with no quit and never quiet. If we let them do government as is, it will continue to be government for the rich and powerful not for what is good for the majority of people. Influence is influence; it is just a matter of whose influence is the strongest.
Change can be about people moving together towards what is right for the good of all. This seems like such simple formula. Does this work to benefit everyone or just those special interest groups that use money to get what they want? Most of the bailout has been for the benefit of those who are already wealthy. There has been little benefit to the people who work hard everyday. Are the CEO's suffering through these tough times; most likely not? Are the ordinary working people suffering; you bet?
Money and influence are powerful forces and can be used for much good but are often instead used for the accumulation of more money and influence. Power is like a drug that feels so good it keeps being accumulated even if it destroys the health of the country. Those in power always seem to benefit even in really down times.
The time has come for all to have a life where everyone is better off, not just a few. The time has come for health care for everyone. The time has come to take care of the planet even if profits suffer some. The time has come for every person in this nation to get the education they need to succeed, affordable housing and all the healthy food they need. The time has come to clean up government by taking money out of the equation. The time has come to have real equal opportunity for all, equal justice, equal representation, equal chances for prosperity and most of all equal freedom.
Today is a day to speak up for what is right and just and so will tomorrow be a day to do the same.
Note: more health care insurance information worth exploring here.
Heart of the Mother Divine
My three part series titled the Revolution of the Heart came to me in a few moments of inspiration and then it seemed to flow from there. Inspiration like that is such blessing and I am deeply appreciative of whatever source seems to keep flowing through my fingers onto this page. The energy of some force greater than me is constantly flowing if I remain open. That force is in you too. Lately I seem to sense the energy is what I would call the Divine Mother. For many years I have been drawn to a higher energy that is nurturing and encouraging which feels like the heart aspect of the Divine Source.
There are have been a number of spiritual driven individuals who have been acknowledged as representing the Divine Mother energy here on the planet in our lifetime. Amma, Mother Meera and others travel about the planet sharing their energy so that we might all more fully open our hearts. We who understand the importance of our hearts are like the brothers and sisters to these Spiritual Mothers.
This seems somewhat uneasy to write about for me because our relationship with Spirit in whatever form it takes is so individually unique. How I see this or experience this spiritually is my own and to write about seems like I have left the front door open to something that feels private. I am willing to share however because I completely trust in the power of the heart and the spirit that guides me and I sense you do too or you wouldn’t be here reading this.
So instead of exploring this further in this blog, I want to encourage you to find your own path, your own way, your sense of a Higher Power that fits for you. The idea that others believe they can tell you what your spiritual life should be like seems absurd to me. Go in search of your own way and let yourself be guided to your highest and most brilliant manifestation of the spirit that resides in you, the one you personally relate to in your own unique and wonderful ways.
Have a inspired week guided by the inner forces that can show you the life your desire.
The Revolution of the Heart, Part 3 – The Heart as a Social Activist/Artist
Take a few minutes to imagine the power of our evolved hearts working together for the betterment of humanity and the planet. What do you see, what are the possibilities?
Now let’s look at what can be if each of us realizes our potential to be compassionate and caring human beings and see if the following seems possible to you:
• We learn to work together and offset the predominance of the profit making corporate culture. People are what matter first and corporations are restructured to be of service to humanity.
• We take care of the planet as if it was our home, which it is. We clean up the water and air as if they are essential to life, which they are.
• We learn to appreciate all diversity as if it is a gift to humanity. Our minds are opened by our hearts so all expansive ideas are valued and the past is seen as a teacher to help show us what works and what does not.
• We tap more fully into human creativity and release phenomenal creative expression and innovation that sets us all free in the areas of energy, health care for all, financial resources for everyone for their entire life span.
• We end all wars and eliminate all weapons of mass destruction. The heart now rules over the ego that for centuries has been the downfall of humanity.
• We create the resources to end all hunger and homelessness while providing the mental health services to improve the well-being of all who have suffered in their past.
• We eliminate all boundary battles as the collective understanding of all humans has transformed into being citizens of planet Earth with nationalistic ideas fading away.
• We change the idea of work to doing what has purpose and meaning for up to 10 hours per week and the rest of the week is for exploring, learning, creating and enjoying life.
• We move away from mega churches and religious dogma to a more spiritual experience of quiet contemplation, reading sacred books and honoring the wisdom of our inner knowing and what nature has to teach us.
• We now understand that the desire to learn and grow is who we are. We also appreciate that life is about love, joy, peace and freedom and that guides us.
Does this seem possible in your lifetime? It seems possible in mine and I may only have 20-30 years left. I fully and completely believe and trust in human nature if we are all guided by the wisdom of our hearts. Have a good week and let you heart fully awaken and begin to spread its light.
The Revolution of the Heart, Part 2 - Realizing The Heart’s Potential
This journey of the heart is known by various degrees of awareness in every one of us. As I have experienced life both my own and those I have worked with, my compassion has grown. My heart is more open now because of my caring service to others and my caring ways with myself. As I have developed my understanding of human nature, I have deepened my compassion for the struggles of life. It now seems to me that to be an awakened human being means learning and growing from the lessons of the heart.
Loving is such and expansive and enjoyable feeling. When you and I are in love that seems to be our most natural state. The more we open, the more our heart’s potential is realized. The following will be helpful on your journey to open and expand your heart:
• Take a few minutes to breath and become aware of your heart. Feel the heart full of love open and flowing through you and out into the world
• When in the company of yourself let your heart feel warm and fill you with the loving kindness
• Stand in front of a mirror and look into your own eyes and share that you love you
• Remember the more you are able to let you love yourself, the more you open to loving others
• Practice being kind to yourself and others every day
• Care for a dog or cat or other pets and feel how that opens your heart
• Enter a room full of people, turn on a big smile and spread love to each person
• There never has been found a limit our capacity to love. You can love everyone and still have more in your heart to give
• Loving people who think, feel and believe differently that you do feels good too
• Imagine your image of God, Spirit, Higher Power, Source filling you with their love. Feels good doesn’t it?
• Think of inspirational people you know of or have read about who are living or have lived a life of compassion and caring action
• Think of love as creative expression and explore new and fun ways to spread love
• Bake some chocolate chip cookies and share them with your neighbors as a loving gesture
• Love and joy are wonderful feelings, imagine spreading love and joy everywhere you go each day
• Take time each day to appreciate the love your received and the love you shared
• See your heart as sacred and take care of it by keeping fit, eating healthy, playing often, and relaxing
• Quiet yourself down enough to hear the heart’s needs
• Let all those you love know you love them often
• Lighten up, take any burdens in your heart and forgive, let go and move on
• Open yourself to the many blessing from the heart that come from giving and receiving
• Nurture your heart in nature. Sit against a tree or along a stream or the ocean and let your heart vibrate with the rhythms of nature
• Let your heart be open to appreciate the beauty all around you. There is so much beauty in human creations, nature and the eyes of those you interact with
• Enjoy the precious moments of heart connection with your intimate partner
• Let your heart guide you to a purposeful and meaningful life in the service of others
• Make your life about the heart’s path of love, joy, bliss, fun and kindness
Please give these heart-opening ideas a try and let me know how it goes. It will be lots of fun and feel wonderful.
Revolution Of The Heart
Yesterday while driving to my evening group I was listening to a song called, Talkin’ Bout A Revolution and suddenly I had today’s title for my blog.
There seems to be a lot of change going on these days. Can you feel the energy of change in the air? The question is will it be real or cosmetic change. It seems that is up to you and I. The politicians are only willing to talk change and take superficial action. They don’t seem to want to offend their contributors, which is understandable except when the consideration for what is best for the people is left out.
If you are like me and many others, we want real change, change that matters, change for the better for all of us. Our government is not working for the people, our financial system is a mess, our school system is inferior, our health care a disaster, our human service/justice system is badly in need of reform. Yes change that makes a difference is needed.
The change that needs to happen is in the heart. The heart is the place where our truth resides, where our compassion is generated, where our soul is thought to guide us, and where the light of consciousness grows. The heart is the fountain of intuition and inner wisdom. A healthy well-functioning heart is filled with compassion, caring, kindness and the capacity to love all beings. These are the forces needed to bring about real substantial change. Isn’t it time for all of us to fully express our heart’s potential?
This is what we could call a Revolution of the Heart; changing the world with compassion, kindness and the highest knowing within us. A revolution of the heart is about you and I expressing our potential as human beings who care about each other and understand what is needed to make our nation great again. Greatness comes from our heart’s capacity to be courageous, caring for each other, and understanding about what is for the good of all.
Today and for the rest of the summer listen inward to your knowing heart and follow your guidance toward the further revolution of your own heart. As we each blossom in our heart the world expands it’s capacity to love and care for all.
Points Of View Are Often Not True
A couple of reports caught my eye yesterday and I had to laugh because they make such a mockery out of what people claim to be the truth.
Yesterday I saw report that the Bush administration was planning to attach Iraq no matter what the weapons inspectors found. This Iraq War mess was a lie from the start. Is that ok with you? Check this site out:
http://www.truthout.org/062209J?n
Another report says the Saudi Royal family is extensively involved in financing Al-Qaeda. The same royal family who says they are allies of the United States particularly the Bush Family.
Check this site out: http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/8814
How about the disappearing act of Governor Sanford who was trying to keep the people of his state from receiving stimulus money because of his self-righteousness, while he was having an affair with a woman in Argentina. There are plenty of references for this story. Just go to almost any news website.
The world of politics is very dishonest, driven by ideologies that don’t make sense, and filled full of the misuse of money to gain power. Who needs Reality TV when you can just surf the web to keep up with all the hypocrisy?
Political commentary is almost as fun if you like ridiculous points of view. The saddest thing is that many people watch Fox News and listen to the radio talk shows and actual think they are staying informed. These radio talk shows jam the airways across this country with misinformation, anger and hate for people who don’t share their point of view or beliefs.
It is best to remember our points of view are simply points of view and not at all related to the truth at times. By the way, if anyone says they have the truth that you should believe, I encourage you to run the other direction as fast as you can. No one else can tell you what your truths should be. That is an inner journey that does not have shortcuts. If you give up the search for what is right for you than you have to rely on others who might not even live by the values they preach or claim to hold.
Find your own way and stop taking on peoples’ points of view until you have explored them and made up your own mind. Life is too short to be living it from some else’s perspective. Question, tune in, listen to your heart and let the real wisdom inside be the guide.
One more reference about insurance companies doing everything they can to not pay the coverage due to the person who is suppose to be covered. This is just plain wrong. Check this out:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/24/AR2009062401636.html?hpid=topnews
Are You Really Ready To Quit Beating Yourself Up?
Just got back from golf, it is late, and I still need to take our wonderful dog Pax for a walk. I am tired but want to write a first draft of tomorrow’s post and I am waiting for inspiration. I just went to take care of something and the ideas started to flow. My hope is that this will talk to you in way that is helpful or that it gets shared with someone who it will help.
Yesterday I was working with a very troubled client who was born a “Crack" baby, as was his twin sister. He doesn’t even know his biological parents. The two older people who adopted he and his sister did their best but they were overwhelmed and ended up being very harsh and abusive, which brought out the worst in my client. He is now full of anger towards them (both have died) and himself. He doesn’t know what to do with all these emotions and yet he senses something has to be done.
He is right, unexpressed anger and hate eats away at a person, uses up so much life force, and makes living in the present almost impossible. If he doesn’t resolve or at least release some of this emotional turmoil, he will not be able to walk the road of recovery. These kinds of powerful emotions can cause a person to feel so hopeless that the self-medication of addiction may seem the only answer.
My challenge is to assist him to live each day and to quit beating himself up about the past. He needs to forgive and move on but he has doubts he can forgive his mother who he said treated him as if she despised him and the feeling was mutual. “I love her and I hate her,” he said.
An unwillingness to forgive would be a big barrier to his recovery but there seems to be a small window of possibility. That window needs to be expanded and with counseling together we can do that. He needs to come to the place of letting go and moving on in his own time, which I can help along in a gentle and supportive way.
We need to all quit beating ourselves up with our self-talk/thoughts. We can do that by being mindful of what is going on in our mind. If we pay attention to our thinking we will see that so much of what goes on there is learned. We learn so many things about what is not ok about us that we actually believe that to be true. That is incorrect. We are in each moment a perfect creation of the divine in us. The past beats us up because we keep hitting ourselves over the head about it.
Make a commitment today to do these two things and never break that commitment not matter what.
• First forgive all of the past today and keep on forgiving for the rest of your life. Forgiveness is about you and your well-being. Nothing is worth holding onto and poisoning yourself over.
• Today stop talking to yourself in any other way but supportive, encouraging and loving. This means no more unkind words and judgments are to be directed towards you by you. Today free yourself from beating yourself up every again.
I hope these are clear. If not email me at (josephteach@hotmail.com) and ask any questions that you need to so that I might help you get clear of the importance of these two steps. I will even offer you two free coaching sessions to help you make these two commitments to yourself.
Be fully present each moment by talking to yourself in loving and kind ways and forgive, let go and move on. Do this all remembering these wise words, “People are about as happy as they choose to be.” President Abraham Lincoln
Giving Creates The Best Results
Today was the birthday for one of the clients here in treatment. The other clients surprised him with cake, ice cream, a card and gift. He said, “this changed the whole feeling for my day.” He looked as though he was holding back a river of emotions. The gestures of kindness that made this birthday party happen were almost too overwhelming for him. He couldn't remember the last time he was at a party sober. He seemed very grateful for this gesture honoring the day of his birth. This could be his first birthday party on a long road to recovery. All the staff and clients had hopes it would be.
These touching moments of kindness and appreciation come from people genuinely caring for each other. Our staff genuinely cares for the people they offer their help to, even those who struggle against help. The clients going through treatment genuinely care for each other because they can so much identify with each other's trials and hopes. Caring is a wonderful gift to give to another.
Who do you care about in your life? Have you shown or told them lately? What do you appreciate about them? Have you been encouraging or supportive of them recently? Where else in your life can you spread kindness and appreciation? Are there those that give to you in ways that you really value? Who around you needs a big dose of either kindness or appreciation today? Can you wrap up a big package if it and make the delivery before the day ends?
If you are having a difficult day or struggle with feeling down, the best medicine for that is to give to others, to have an open heart for those in need and to be grateful for those who shown care for you in difficult moments. One of my favorite speakers was a person named Leo Buscaglia, he use to say that if you are feeling down bake some chocolate chip cookies and take them over to the neighbors to share.
If you look around you will see many opportunities to give to others. Giving can take so little effort and have such big results.
"I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver."
Maya Angelou
Stress Is Internal
Stress is caused not by what is going on around us but instead by how we respond to the circumstances of our life. This response comes in the form of self-talk or thoughts. These inner words and ideas can be contracting or expansive, closed or open, negative or positive, fearful or hopeful. The world outside of us only has as much power over us as we give it. Here are examples of ways our minds work that will either help us or limit us when it comes to dealing with the challenges of living.
From the fearful and negative perspective:
• If we think we are in a mess, we will feel like we are.
• If we think it is the fault of others, we will feel powerless to bring about the needed changes
• If we talk to ourselves as if we are of little worth, our sense of self will be negative.
• If we think we can’t do it, we are right
• If we are not open to other viewpoints we will remain stuck in what isn’t working
• If we think the world is a fearful place, we will feel afraid
• If we don’t trust others, we will never feel safe
• If we have no compassion for others, the world will seem like it doesn’t care for us
• If we stuff our feelings, we will feel cold and distant
• If we focus on what is wrong, we will never see anything going right or working out for the best
From the hopeful and positive perspective:
• If we trust that things will work out, they do
• If we believe in ourselves, we are free to do everything successfully
• If we care for others and have compassion, we will have lots of love in our life
• If we are positive about the situations we are in, we will create positive results
• If we think we can do it, we will prove ourselves right
• If we are open and always learning, life will present many helpful lessons
• If we encourage and support others in what they do, we will find people get behind us when we need it
• If we are comfortable with silence, the stillness inside will become a teacher of wisdom
• If we express our feelings, we will feel alive and connected to those around us
• If we focus on what we can do to bring about positive change, we will find the solutions we are looking for
Please gently, kindly and supportively attend to your mind. Make sure it is an ally not an enemy
Note: I have been writing some about health care lately and if you are interested about how corporate money is used to influence Congress check out the following website:
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/03/health-insurers-owe-policyhold.html
It is now very critical to let your elected officials know what you want.
Father’s Day, Peaceful Warrior, and The Light of Insight
It is Father’s Day and I am grateful to my father for who he is and for his kindness. He feels compassion for those who suffer and has given countless hours to the hospital foundation in the community I grew up in. He is an active member of his church and has a deep respect for those who have chosen to live a religious life (priests and nuns).
We have for much of my adult life held very different views of the world and that has at times made him upset with me, which was never my intention. I remember him saying to his friends that he sent me off to college and I came back a “Damn Liberal.” I speak up and question what is; he tends to hold his beliefs very strongly. I respect his unwavering devotion to what is true for him. Later I will give him a call to wish him Happy Father’s Day. He does not read my blog because he knows it will make him upset.
Now if I could choose (not that I would) a more perfect model for a dad, I would have chosen the character Nick Nolte plays in the movie, the Way of the Peaceful Warrior. He is more of an enlightened mentor and spiritual teacher. If you haven’t seen that movie yet put in on you list at Netflix or Blockbuster or even better at your local video store. The lessons about life in this film are exceptional and I feel inspired when I watch it. I was thinking I needed to get my own copy of it so I can share it with my clients at the treatment center.
Last week in one of my treatment groups, one of the clients gave me a wonderful insight. We were talking about the power of being able to visualize the life we want to create. I was sharing this image of a retreat center where I could inspire others to more fully realize their potential to love, be joyous, express their purpose, and experience the full freedom to be. He said, “You have already created that here. You are helping us do that.” The light of insight went on instantly inside and I knew he was right. I immediately went over to him and shook his hand and thanked him for expanding my awareness. This “retreat” center is sponsored by the county and I don’t have the managerial or financial responsibility to keep in going, which means I am totally free to be of assistance to those who are here seeking help. Life is good.
Happy Father’s Day Dad, peace, joy and lots of love to you.
Rationalization or Consciousness?
Lately I have been unsettled at time because I feel there is so much to do and so many obstacle in the way of bringing about real change. The raising of consciousness in all of us humans has never been more important. For much of human history, we have allowed ourselves and others to rationalize what is not acceptable to our values, to our knowing heart, and to the soul within us. This must come to an end now if we are to turn our nation and the world in the right direction.
First I want to share some about the mess our rationalizing minds have gotten us into:
• Every human war has been OK’d by rationalizing minds who have lost touch with their hearts and their souls. This includes the mess in Iraq and Afghanistan
• A world run for the main purpose of making profits is a heartless and soulless world.
• Health care provided by profit making companies that deny health care to those most in need is heartless and soulless.
• The beating, torture, rape and murders by those who claim a higher moral authority is the ultimate in absurdity and without any soul or heart.
• The radical religious groups that bomb, injure and kill those who think and believe differently again shows a completely closed heart and no contact at all with any true God.
• Those that spread intolerance and hate do so rationalizing what they say and obviously are without compassion and or any true higher moral values.
• The pursuit of power at all costs has filled our history books and all of this has been the work of rationalizing minds again completely out of touch with their hearts and their souls.
• Acts of terrorism are rationalized without hearts engaged and no true sense of soul.
All these human messes of the mind happen because people go along with the rationalizing minds of others. This is the biggest of all mistakes. Critical thinking has been abandoned too often, because people lack the courage to take a stand, they want to fit in, they don’t want to take the time to figure our their own truths, they are manipulated by fear, or whatever happens to shut the heart down and to loose touch with the guiding soul within each of us.
Next I want to share what needs to happen to change the rationalizing mind from running the world:
• We all need to stop being run by our thoughts. Our thoughts are just words in our heads and only as real as we think they are. Mindfulness and awareness is needed here not rationalization.
• We have to feel our feelings, find our heart, and be compassionate to ourselves and to all other living beings. Anything less is the work of rationalization and a blocked heart.
• We need to find our soul, the spiritual force within each of us. Spirit and soul are inner domains and have nothing to do with the doctrine or dogma of religions.
• We need to take the money influence out all elections and all three branches of government. Our laws these days are set up for those with the most influence and power not for the good of the people.
• We need to find the quiet stillness inside as a way to move from the mind to heart and spiritual based world. Yes to inner wisdom and intuition.
• We need to sort out our own highest values and truths so we can live by them rather than be directed by some else’s belief system.
• We need to move from fear in our mind to compassion and hope which both reside in our heart.
• We need to keep our minds and hearts open at all times to be totally free. Closing down and contracting does not work for creating freedom.
• We do best when we are guiding by our purpose and live with the passion and energy to make a real difference in the world.
Please feel free to question or add to any of these ideas and be open to what is possible in you, which will naturally benefit all humanity.
Peace and Consciousness in this moment for all.
The Land of Punishment
Why are Americans so set on dishing out punishment and so little interested in helping those who need help to break from their unhealthy behavior? As I have mentioned before America is a nation full of prisoners.
NPR had a program yesterday about a young man who stole some of those bright orange constructions barrels and made a huge roadside sculpture that landing him in trouble with the law. The construction company isn’t pressing charges but the jurisdictional government is prosecuting him. Our government is about punishing people by putting them in jail.
Does jail really straighten people out? My experience working with addicts says no it only makes them worse. The more you jail people, the more you try to shame them and make them feel guilty. Does shame and guilt change behavior? No it makes them feel bad about themselves and therefore they often get worse and serve more time.
Most people in prison have trauma and pain from their childhood. Many have been physically, mentally, emotionally and sexually abused as children and are punishing them for their dysfunctional ways is just further abuse to those with already fragile mental and emotional health.
Many parents primary intervention is punishment. Punishment is also the themes of school discipline and a guiding force of most religious philosophy. The idea I suppose is to punish them until they act the way we want them too or until they learn to act appropriately. These parents and our institutions seem driven by control and lack the compassion necessary for to assist troubled people towards health.
People who have trauma as children often turn to acting out as a way to be in the world. Adults often act out because others acted out on them as children. They have no models for healthy interactions in their community. These trouble people understand the harsh world they grew up in and they figured out how to survive. They use their survival mentality to scrap for life in ways most of us will never understand.
How can we change our thinking from punishment to nurturing, from prison to compassionate care? My sense is, we need more people with open hearts who have compassion and are willing to act with kindness and caring towards those in need.
So Simple It Might Be Overlooked
Sitting here with gauze in my mouth and a mosquito buzzing in my ear. I had a wisdom tooth taken out about an hour ago and the results are not yet in if I am any less wise. The mosquitoes are abundant here and if the door is open for a minute the house is full of those buzzing little creatures that have to be a mistake of God’s creations. Even though the Great Creator was great at creating, this little bug has to be a mutation of some higher idea. I am peaceful person but I am fully in support of wiping these obnoxious critters out in my neighborhood so the kids can play outside and I can walk my dog without constantly batting the little buggers away.
It is funny sometimes how the little things can bug us and we handle the big challenges so well. As I have mentioned before, going to the dentist turns my stomach into a three-ring circus of chaos. Yet just today I looked a criminal acting addict right in the eyes and told him his “poor me” attitude needs to change because it isn’t working for him.
Recently I obtained a book that I started reading years ago and never got back to it because somehow it disappeared. The book is called, The Book Of Secrets by the irreverent Eastern Mystic known later in life as Osho. This book contains 112 practices/techniques to assist a person in raising consciousness plus a very unique perspective on the human behavior. My intention is to share some of the techniques but they seem so simple and yet so out of the ordinary. I am concerned these practices will be discounted by some who read them. Actually as I write this I am thinking “so what” if they are not tried or appreciated. Any person giving them a sincere try will of course feel the power of the practices.
The first technique I will share is about following your breath. In this simple but profound practice you become aware of when the breathing stops on the exhale and when inhale starts up, then be aware of when the breathing stops on the inhale and when the exhale begins. The Buddha taught that following the breath has the power to bring enlightenment. Watching the gap in the breath between inhale and exhale and between exhale and inhale brings the practitioner fully into the present moment.
Try this awareness of breathing for a week in moments when you can tune in. Great moment to explore are when you first wake up in the morning, commuting to work and back, waiting in line, sitting in a meeting, going for a walk, watching TV, or before you fall off to sleep. Explore this and let me know what happens, I will be doing it with you and I too will report.
A Recipe For Aliveness
What's on your mind lately about the state of affairs in our country and around the world? Are North Korea and Iran as big of threat as people would want us to believe? Should marijuana be legalized or at least decriminalized? How about other drugs? How is this economy affecting your life directly? Are you feeling hopeful or doubtful about where we are headed? Is the government in Washington DC truly looking out for what is best for the people?
There is a part of me that feels like doing a political rant and another part that says wait a minute, let’s consider what are the ways to make the best out of the time we face. As I sit here writing I became clear that the rant is just me playing the blame game and that is not where I want to place my mind at this time.
What seems most productive is to come up with a recipe for aliveness. Many of these will be familiar to regular readers of this blog but to have them spelled out in this way may invite a further awareness in you about ways to live life more fully.
Recipe For Aliveness:
• A big cup of mindfulness – what you think and how you talk to yourself will shape your experience of life. Please without a doubt speaking kindly to yourself and focus your thoughts on hope and positive options.
• Two scoops of heart – a giving heart is a wonderful gift to the world. Figure out how you can give more in ways that energize you and that you enjoy doing.
• A cube of fun – life happens so fast that often you and I are too busy to have fun. That is missing the point of life. Figure out how to have fun at least once each day in your interactions and in doing things you enjoy.
• 28 ounces of water – hydrating the body has numerous benefits for your health. If you motor is low on oil it may break down, so too with the body.
• 6 ounces of concentrated Purple Purposeful Passion juice - to bring color and aliveness to what you doing with your life. Passion is a driving force that helps realize your purpose in colorful and vibrant ways.
• 30 minutes of high heat – exercise to lighten the load of stress that is draining you of vital life force. Working out gives you a break and rebalances the body and mind. Focus on three ingredients: strength, endurance and flexibility
• A pinch of moments – every moment lived in the present is a gift to you and to the world. Be fully in your life minute-by-minute, live in the now as if your life depended on it. It does if you goal is to be alive.
• Set your timer – take quiet time being present with your higher Self, your spirit is like dipping into a well of goodness that will only enhance your life in wonderful ways.
• Take out the dessert when it is done – no over baking, move on, let go, and lighten up. You are here to express you as fully as possible in ways that bring you joy.
If you would like to cook up a good life, practice this recipe until you can do it tastefully over and over again.