Is Suffering Even Necessary?

This is something that is important to realize in your own life. When you are suffering, most of the suffering is caused by your own thoughts. You would be best to give up the idea that others cause you to suffer. That is not true because they are not your thoughts. Your thoughts are all your own.

Your thoughts create how you feel. There is no one else you can blame for how you feel.  Your feelings come from your thoughts about what is going on in your life. If you play the blame game for how you feel, you are basically saying other people have control over my brain and make me think certain thoughts that cause me to feel how I feel. That is not true nor is it ever true.

With this is mind; there are some other important considerations:

• It is important to know what you are thinking, what is the internal dialogue that goes on in your head? If you don’t know what is going on inside of you, you are a train without an engineer. 
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• Thinking and awareness come into conflict because it is very difficult to think and be aware at the same time. There is however a part of you that can be aware and knowing simultaneously. That knowing is not a thought but more a sense of what is true. The source of this higher knowing is you beyond your ordinary thought. What is it? You can call it what you want; it is a knowing that comes from your higher mind, your higher nature, your soul/spirit, the part of you that is infinite and eternal.  Are you aware of this higher nature in you?
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• You can step away from the noise upstairs and enter into a observing watchful mode, this observer self is free of judging, accepting, seeking the truth of the moment. Truth is usually best known through the watchfulness of your higher self. This Self is one with your soul, your spiritual nature. This eternal aspect of yourself is within the collective intelligence of all of life on the planet and not separate from the source of all creation. “Not separate from,” is a way to say at one with but many will argue for their separateness from the Source of the Universe.
•  
• You can free yourself from the limits of your own mind by being aware of the limits of your own thoughts, by being aware that all thoughts need to be paid attention to and often questioned. The mind wants to hold onto the familiar and will even refuse to release beliefs that are false and don’t work.  Have you every caught yourself arguing for a belief you then realized was no longer true?

Enter into the place within you that is quiet, still, and knowing. There in that place you can shape your experience of life with clarity and then shape your thoughts to support that life. Now is the time.

*Update of the experiment – I am finding it difficult not doing more in the way of actions other than tuning in. My one hour of intense actions is often more like two hours. My writing keeps calling me for more than an hour. All kinds of things in life get me distracted. I also see that my mind can use some additional focus.

There is really turning out to be a learning experience more than an experiment.  I will keep working at it though because I feel the value of it. I also feel the inner conversations with my higher nature are too easily mixed up with the sly workings of the ego-mind.  More on all of this as the light becomes brighter.



Working For Peace Every Day

At the heart of what I do, I always have peace as my goal.

I believe it is time for all of us to have peace inside and peace in the world.

Peace is possible and all that is needed is more love and compassion, more light and consciousness.

Also helpful is the simple realization that we are all connected to each other, one big family on a small dot of a planet in an ever expanding universe. 

On my desk is this inspirational quote by Mahatma Gandhi:

First they ignore you,

Then they laugh at you,

Then they fight you,

then you win.

Is It Our Actions Or Our Vibrations That Create The Most Powerful Results - An Experiment

The doing of life so often distracts from the deepening inward. I keep getting caught up in stuff instead of the light of a deep connection with spirit. It is surprising how often things like emails, Twitter, and Facebook (even though they are part of my social media enhancing strategy) take up so much time.  There are so many ideas out there that I find myself exploring, yet inward the most important exploration gets set aside. As I write this I wonder if the inner work will take care of all the rest and immediately my inner voice says YES!

I think it is time to do an experiment. That experiment will be to sort out which of two strategies will create the best results. I guess I better define the two strategies and the results I want to measure. I use the word measure here because I think the results have to be more than what feels better, or what seems better. The results have to be things that can be measured like number of new opportunities that come my way, new social media contacts (followers/friends) or income generated or other measurables to be determined as the experiment continues.

My hypothesis includes:

That the inner work is just as, if not more important than the outer actions taken

That the higher vibrations of inner work creates more positive results

That actions in themselves are positive but informed actions guided by intuition, heart and/or spirit are more powerful

That the outer world is not the source of supply, the inner world connection to Source is my supply.

That I live in an abundant universe and what I need to do is open to the flow of that abundance.

That what I focus on expands, the more my thoughts are on living in a wonderful life, the more wonderful my life will be.   

 The two strategies are:

1. Action - Spend my day blogging, commenting, twittering, reaching out to other bloggers, interacting with Facebook, generating and using my email list and promoting my book(s) and services.

2. Inner Focus - Spend my day being mindful, tuning inward, listening to my intuition, raising my vibrations through inspiration (reading and videos), meditation, out of body experiences, and visualization.

The next question is how much time do I spend doing each strategy? If I spend one day doing one and another day doing another, how will I determine what create the results I get. I could do a half-day of each but that would really make the results difficult to measure. If I spent one week doing one strategy and another week doing another strategy the results would be easier to measure. Can I spend an hour of each day doing the work of the non-primary strategy or would that mess up the results?

Lots of questions always come up in these kinds of experiments so the goal is so reduce the variables so I can get cleaner results. The challenge is that I have been using these two strategies blended for a while so I need to figure how to sort them out in a way that makes the two separate from each other for this experiment. My thinking is I will reduce one of the strategies to one hour per day while I full focus on the other strategy and then switch those the following week.

The following are measures I will use in the first experiment. I will take notes as I go and fine-tune for the next two weeks.

Scale 1 - 5                                            

Low – 1     Neutral – 3    Positive - 5

Overall sense of self         ____

Degree of self-awareness  ____

Receiving intuitive guidance  ____

Sense of accomplishment  ____

Note for scale:

Number of positive indicators noticed ____

Interactions that created significant positive opportunities ____

Write out positives noted

As I read this again I see lots of uncontrolled variables but I will go forward anyway and make adjustments as needed. One of the questions I have is, the follow week may be where the results of the past week show up. How do I measure that? 

I welcome your suggestions and ideas. I think within a month, I will have some very interesting results if I keep good notes on the process.



A Call To Your Light

Be aware: the following words flowed from me and if you are not careful they might infect you with bigger possibilities and turn your inner light on. They are for you from the me that is not separate.

I am an ocean of consciousness.

As the rain pours down my separation joins with the stream.

I flow to the source.

I Am but I am not what I thought I was.

The wind carries me upward and away.

Sometimes the cosmic dust gets in my eyes

Into it all but a drop

Joining dissolving but still infinite and eternal

Awakening, then forgetting

Stepping bravely and then returning to the familiar

Outside, inside, everywhere

Stepping back for a look

Reaching with my heart, opening

Standing strong with what is right

Entering the mystery

Like a flock of birds in coordination

Inward, outward, nowhere

Stars of which I come

Big bang flashes the beginning

Now I run to leap out on the edge

I was, I am, I will be

Pure freedom is a wonderful song

Shall we dance and sing together       

Words are such fun to explore, like painting a picture with orderly shapely marks too contained for an abstract painter but just right for the prose artist.

Where are you in this moment?

How are you being informed by your inner knowing?

Have you appreciated the beauty around you?

In the journey of awakening, the light comes on for glimpses of possibilities and if you lean into that light you can stretch the Ah-Ha for a lifetime. If instead the mind wanders out of the now, that light quickly fades into a buzz of the familiar.

Insight arises, opportunities present themselves and you can bath in them and allow them to soak into your spiritual membranes or be too busy to pay attention.

If you are willing to give this moment your full attention, you will open to the presents of the present.

Now feel the foot as it touches the floor, let that awareness sink deeply into the Earth Mother. Feel the now flowing with aliveness. Keep the foot awareness and the now stays in your lap.

Breathe, follow, breathe, follow, breathe follow.

The grace of the moment helps you find hope, heart, and the humility to realize you are but a drop in the ocean of consciousness, a grain of sand in the infinite universe but also contained within you is all consciousness and the entire ever-expanding universe.

I invite you to honor who you are and take the time to be mindful, to stretch yourself out into what is possible. The world needs you so much right now to be bold and rambunctious about life.

You are infinite in your nature yet you, as the rest of us do, argue for your limits.  “Argue for your limits and they are yours,” from Illusions by Richard Bach. 

You have been programmed since you were so small to believe in your limits. Now these beliefs run your life and they are not true. That is what is, but it doesn’t have to remain so. There is no blame but the loving acceptance of you as you are, reading this knowing there are greater possibilities in you waiting to be realized.

Now make a commitment to yourself, with all the courage of your heart and the determination of your higher mind, to be more fully your potential every day.  In a year you will be a star that shines brightly on the stage of life and we will all be so grateful to you for being you.

In case you were wondering what The Inner Conditions for Happiness are: Be Present, find appreciation in the now, be at one with beauty, be creative, hold in your heart a sense of flourishing and fulfillment, be in positive mind, and serve others. 



Stop SOPA and PIPA

Keep The Web Free From

Those Who Seek To Control It



A Light Went On – Now What?

The signs were there. Messages kept popping up all over. My blinders needed to be removed. I sensed a shift but too often I held to the familiar. It was like the message was saying, “Come to the light,” but I kept just putting my toe in the ocean when the entire ocean of consciousness was calling me.

My next step to the calling was to say, “Yeah what do you want.” You know with the tone of “you are bothering me.” I was actually somewhat flippant to this inner voice because my mind was thinking this voice is always yakking at me. That mind was the ego-mind that doesn’t like any intrusions on its reign of control.

“All right already, what is it now,” was my next barrier to the light that was poking at me. I was still being run by the ego at the helm. Then I began to listen and the higher mind said ok this is where we connect with the infinite and eternal, this is the soul’s source making itself available. Just a minute I thought, what are YOU doing hanging out with me - my ego-mind in self-doubt reappears. Then I (of my higher nature) allowed the words to come in more deeply. In the now of quiet contemplation I thought I am having a moment of awakening. This was a very reassuring insight.

Then I went off to sleep with the thought that I can live in connection with Spirit, the intelligent creative force of the Universe. This idea brought a great sense of hope for me.

Next thing I need to share is that I have great difficulty with the word God even though I wrote an entire book about God (coming out soon). The word God has been misused in so many ways that I almost can’t say it. I think of wars in the name of God, arrogant leaders using God as their reason for acting the way they do, religious extremists who kill in the name of God, TV evangelist who become rich using God’s name, people who think God’s on their side in a football game, worse of all are the many who claim to do God’s work but fill their days with their ego agendas, and on and on and on. So many have done terrible things in the name of God.  So I won’t use God here but this connection I am making certainly feels Divine in its nature.

When I woke up this morning, the sense of this great energy filled me with light. I let myself sink into the place of just being receptive. I got clear guidance that I was being asked to join with Spirit in all aspects of my life. Asked I guess because of free will or because I had been so reluctant.

How do I now integrate this higher level of Spirit realization? I am clearly guided by this inner voice even as I write in this moment. I will benefit most by being in the now, being mindful of the present moment. Even in noticing this next breath I am present to this greater knowing. Now I have the opportunity to listen, practice, and expand into the full realization that I am Spirit poured into human form.

As I come back the next day to edit this I realize this awakening will mean that I have to figure out how to be in the world and not caught up in it; how to interact with and express Spirit as I go about the ways of daily living? This is much more complicated than I had hoped. As I have read in the stories of awakened individuals, insight and light can be powerful but integrating them into life can take years.  In daily practice, I find my mind often so preoccupied that I am not even in contact with my higher nature or any voice of Spirit.

I now feel like this is what happens, I have been blessed, through 30 years of inner practices, with many deep moments of insight, unity consciousness, expanded awareness and then I tend to push these moments of light back out of my view so I can return to the groove of the familiar. This has made me rich in insights but poor in integration. I am working with how to stay present to my higher knowing, be as fully here and now as I can be in each moment.

What also is true is that my ego-mind is fighting these new possibilities because it knows the end of its rule is near. Not the ego of “boy I am somebody” but the ego of “you don’t know what is going on so do what you know.” This is the urge to move into the safety of the groove of the familiar.

More as I learn more.

Notes Of Interest

I read a very interesting article this morning that I want to share by Rick Hanson, His latest book Just One Thing is awesome for anyone interested in developing more peace of mind and well-being.

I have a regular post coming today which I am sure you will find interesting.

Lastly and most importantly I want to say Thank You Martin Luther King for the person you were and the light that still shines from your life. Here is a picture and quote I think shares his message well.

Peace and love to you all.

Is It Time Yet For The Great Search For Truth?

The world is so incredibly complicated. Yet many people are absolutely sure they are right about what needs to be done. This baffles me because there are no easy solutions. How can they be so sure? Even the experts don’t agree about what to do about the problems we face in the world today.

This got me curious about where this sureness of opinion comes from. Maybe they know more than the rest of us? It seems unlikely they know more than the experts. Maybe they go looking for information that supports their points of view? All of us want ideas that support the way we see things. Isn’t however important to see if what we claim is true? If we don’t question our points of view then we have this way of seeing things that is not based on any clear thinking.

Political points of view often fall into this unexplored category where ideas are just repeated over and over even when there is no proof they work or sometimes even clear evidence they don’t work. How come these so called answers to our problems aren’t investigated by those who jump on the bandwagon? Do they think the importance of finding the truth isn’t relevant or necessary?

Thank you, if you have hung on this far. It is probably time for me to get to the point. My point is that we always need to question our thoughts and our opinions. If we don’t then the beliefs we hang on to are from a closed mind. Closed minds are a waste of human potential.

I will even venture to say that people who are absolutely sure they are right about their ideas are most often wrong. They are wrong because their minds are run by the need to be right not by the need to find the truth.

This need to be right is a great problem in humanity. It is driven by the survival mind, not the higher mind that seeks truth. In the survival mind we think the world is out to get us so we live in fear and worry. Fear and worry causes us to contract, to close down. The problem with closing down is that too often that means closing our minds and even more costly closing our hearts.

In some segments of society, the world seems to be having an epidemic of closed mindedness and closed hearts. Sadly people believe all their own thoughts. Many don’t question their ideas even when that aren’t working but fit some kind of dogmatic way of looking at the world.  People actually hold onto false ideas that get in the way of positive possibilities in their lives.

There is no evidence of higher mind at work when narrow-mindedness prevails. The seeking of truth has become secondary to holding on tightly to opinion. Higher mind seeks the truth and is guided by the hearts wisdom, intuition and the part of us that is able to be curious beyond old ideas and limiting thoughts.

Maybe this epidemic is a reflection of our times where uncertainty is the only thing certain? Maybe the survival mind also known as the reptilian brain is in full protection or aggression mode for the purpose of keeping us safe? Or maybe this closed down thinking is because change is so present that people want to do everything they can to hold it back?

Change seems inevitable and part of the process of all living things. The evolutionary story of all species is one of adaptation. In humanity the old stories of might makes right, survival of the fittest and other limiting ideas are slowly being replaced by the realization of the global community and they need to work together for solutions. The survival of the planet and all of us has to be a joint effort with our minds coming together. Yes there are those fighting like mad to hold onto the old ways but they are going to loose the battle. Today is another day. The great values of the past, the ones that matter most, can be brought forward. The past ideas that represent limiting thinking will perish as do the other organism that don’t adapt. There is hope for us who seek positive changes in the world.  

***One of my favorite journalist is returning to TV this weekend - Bill Moyers’ has a new show called Moyers And Company. Bill is a great example of a person who asks real question in search of the truth.



3.5 Simple Steps To Inner Peace In 2012

How is your year going so far? This is going to be an amazing year and challenges could arise that could make it hard to find your peace within. I have a free guide to inner peace here at this blog if you want to access it – look above in Free Stuff section.  I also want to offer you a basic plan you can use every day to build a momentum of inner peace within you. Everyone one can use a little extra inner peace in reserve.

Here are my three steps for you to have more peace of mind in 2012:

1.  Occupy your own mind by becoming mindful. With about 50-60,000 per day there is one heck of a lot of things going on upstairs. If there are old stuck ideas, negative inner dialogue, or a critical voice going on in your head then becoming mindful is essential to your well being. You cannot have any inner peace if you thought keep you feeling worried and depressed. 

Take the time to become acquainted with the tone and content of your thoughts. Notice what is going on up there by listening inward. Most people believe their minds are doing just fine until they really listen to how they talk to themselves, how they beat themselves up, how they judge themselves so harshly or how they have such unrealistic expectations on who they should be. Albert Ellis, a famous cognitive therapist, says, “People need to quit ‘shoulding’ on themselves.” If your inner talk is unkind then it needs to change.

Being mindful is a way to be kind to your mind. If you get to know how you think and talk to yourself, you can better shape your experience of life.  Mindfulness enriches your experience of yourself because it is about finding who you are and just being present in a supportive way.  This makes inner peace much more available. In the future I am planning on doing a series of short video podcasts on mindful practices

Remember you are not your thoughts.

2.  Be in touch with how you feel. Your mind is the source of most of what you feel. If you mind is off course your emotions may be very disruptive to any sense of peace within you. The place to begin with feelings is to note what you feel, acknowledge those feelings and then accept them as okay. Feelings naturally change on their own when they are acknowledged and accepted.

Feeling can be understood as signs of how you are doing or at least how you think you are doing. If you have feels of fear and worry then something is not going well for you and a change of direction or focus may be needed. If you feel at peace then your mind and your circumstances are most likely how you want them to be.

A peaceful heart is a key component of feeling at ease inside. Your heart when open and flowing with compassion and loving-kindness will bring peace to how you feel. If your heart is closed and guarded there will not be peace inside.  If you want to feel at peace, open your heart and let it flow out into the world in ways that feel good to you.

Peace and hope can only happen in the now.

3.  Exploring your silence is so important. Your days can be full of noise, your mind can be overflowing with words, your body uptight with tension, and your feelings like a rollercoaster. Sometimes you can get go so out of touch with yourself that you don’t feel at home in your own heart. Silence is the way back home.

Silence is golden because in the silence you access your higher and more peaceful nature. Your higher nature shows you how to live your life in ways that feel right and that allow the best in you to be expressed. This intuitive knowing you have is always waiting to guide you towards more peaceful and rewarding outcomes. Listening to your intuition reduces suffering.

In the silence is also the voice of your soul, this is your connection to the collective and infinite wisdom of humanity, the universe and the Divine. When you sit quietly with your soul, you know peace as it truly is. This peace is the pure freedom to be all that is possible within you. In the silence of your eternal nature there is a world of peace that extends forever.

The peace of silence is a wonderful oasis in trying times.

.5  Slowing down is part of finding the silence. You live in a hurry and worry world filled with impatience.  Sometimes even to wait for a moment is a bother. Impatience can be off the chart. Slowing down is easily as taking a less direct path to enjoy the moment, to see the beauty, to tune in and just be with yourself. Try a day when you start slowly, go patiently and wind down before you ever wind up.  Smell the roses, watch kids play, dance to a song, read something that lifts you up, write a poem. Slowing down feels so good.

*My new posting schedule is going to be Monday and Thursday*. Sometimes I may add other shorter posts during the week. I am really focusing on additional writing, new directions I am exploring, and ways to make more of a difference, so my posting will be less frequent. Let me know if there is any way I can be of assistance to you.



2012 - Let’s Replace Power And Control With Peace and Hope

I have spent a few days working on this post because I am deeply concerned about the world and the dominance of the ego-mind.  The following is not as well written as I would like it to be but it shares what concerns me and I hope you will find it thought provoking enough so you join me is working for peace and a better world in 2012:

In additions to my work in mental health for 35 years I have been a passionate advocate for peace. I consider war to be insane and always caused by the human ego in search of more power and control. From my viewpoint there are no legitimate reasons for starting or being in a war, no matter how much war is rationalized by our leaders. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are about gaining power and control not for the reason we were told. Our next war will be with Iran because we want more power and control. This ego-driven need for power and control is willing to kill people, ruin people’s lives, destroy countries, crush our economy, and do many other terrible things just in hunger for more power.

Sadly there are also great financial benefits to corporations who profit from wars. Leaders who seek more power and control drive these companies. Our defense budget is 100% about having more power and control. All the military leadership is about gaining more power and control. Many corporations are run by the ego’s need for power and control rationalized as seeking profits.

We have a world run by those who care most about power and control. This world is a reflection of our fears. We elect people who we think will protect us from our fears. This makes for: more money for bombs than education; a government run by people who only care about power and control; people having their homes taken away; a large percentage of our population in prison; a great inequality in resources; elections dominating by the funds to keep corporations in power and control; a health care system based on power and control not on healthcare for all; laws that take away our legal rights and allow us to be detain indefinitely; and ultimately the decline of a once great nation caught in the ego battles for more power and control.

The Occupy Movement, which is being suppressed by those who want power and control, is the first hopeful movement in many years because it stands up to the ego domination in this country. Peace rallies and marches do very little to stop wars and to bring about significant change these days because the dominate mindset is about fear and the need for more power and control.

It is time we come up with some more effective strategies. There are no clear answers to breaking the cycle of ego’s need for domination except by removing the ego from the drivers seat in our government and in our corporations. Change in governmental leadership can only come by eliminating the influence moneys of those who are seeking power and control over our government.  Election reform is essential because the buying and selling of influence is very destructive to a democracy. Corporate rights need to be shifted away from personhood to serving the needs of the people.

Fear is the other aspect of the ego’s power over the world. When the ego wants more power it simply does what it does best - it spreads fear. People will give all their power away if they are afraid. Therefore governments seeking power, corporations seeking power all use the same tactic. They spread fear. This all adds up to the ego running the world and no one stands up and says we have had enough. It is time we move past the old manipulation of fear and see the more accurate truth of power seeking running the world.

The deeper truth is that if we all stand together there is nothing to fear. We human beings have much more in common than differences. We all hope for a better world, we want the best for those we love, and we all want to have love, joy and peace in our lives. Together we can bring an end to the dominance of the ego-mind and instead live with compassion and caring for our fellow human beings.

Let’s all begin 2012 by being mindful when our egos want to run our lives. We know when the ego is in charge because we are afraid. We know when the ego is not in charge because we feel love, hope, and peace of mind. Our emotional state will reflect our mental state. A healthy mind run by our higher nature is about peace and joy. 

We can bring peace to the world by finding the peace within.



Four Essential Steps To Success In 2012

Let me suggest to you that you begin this year with a positive frame of mind, that you set clear intentions, that you have a plan of action, and that you commit to doing your best each day. Now that sounds simple enough but there is more to each part of this that I want to share. I also am writing this to remind myself because I find regular reminders helpful. I view you and I as unfinished products working to be more fully expressed.

1.  A positive frame of mind is essential. Negativity and self-doubt are barriers to creating the life you want. If you don’t feel you deserve or have other false beliefs, the sabotaging part of your mind will make sure you don’t get what you want. The mind is an incredible power tool that needs to be turned on and use properly or it can do damage. Think of a power saw focused and cutting a straight line toward your goals. If you loose focus the saw goes off course or jams up, just like the mind can do. A positive mind is focused on success.

This optimal mind keeps you energized when things seem stuck, keeps you hopeful when fear arrives, keeps providing you ideas and inspiration when they are needed.  The positive mind also skips over past experiences that can bog you down because this mind only works with what can be done now.  This kind of mindset is simply much more enjoyable than being negative. 

One other reminder – you most likely have an inner critic and that internal voice is not positive in any way. The best thing to do with the critic is to turn it off or at least turn the volume so low it can’t be heard. Your inner critic is part of the judging mind, which is neither positive nor helpful. Inner self-talk is best when it is supportive and encouraging.

2.  The next essential component is setting clear intentions. Start each day with one intention that you will focus on. You can also set intentions for the week, month, year but a daily one is important. You can do more than one intention but it will work better that you have goals you want to accomplish as part of your daily intention. (Example: intention - be proactive in moving my plan for success ahead today, goals could include writing a blog post, do social networking, follow up with a call, talk to a speakers bureau or whatever is part of your intention for moving your success plan forward.)

Intentions that are clear focus your energy for the day. Always state intentions in positive words and keep them about today. Today is the only day you can do anything for yourself. Tomorrow is only an idea that can happen in the now and the past is over and a misdirection of focus. Now has all the power.

After this year is over you will have 365 intentions and each one will have enriched your life in sometimes amazing and wonderful ways. Intentions also can call together resources greater than ones usually available. Clear intentions call the Universe into action to support you and what you want to make happen. Wayne Dyer’s book, Intentions is one of his most helpful books.

3.  A plan of action is important to move ideas into material form. If you want to make things happen, you have to make them happen. Action is the stepping into the stream of life and moving towards what you want. Without action you need to count on luck and miracles and that too often doesn’t work. If you want to write a book, you need to sit down and do some writing.  

The more actions you take, the more energy starts flowing towards the results you want to create. Even false actions give you feedback about what doesn’t work. With consistent action a momentum starts building, which will carry you to the success you want to create.

Reading other people’s plans of action can be very helpful. If there is someone you know who is doing great things, find out what actions they are doing to create these results.  There are many good ideas on the Internet where people share what they do for success.  Two people who have ideas worth exploring are Cris Guillebeau and Dave Carpenter.

4. Do your best each day. This seems simple but what too often gets is the way are old habits, distractions, and limiting beliefs. It is easier to do what is familiar and comfortable but that may be much less than what you are capable of doing. How have you been holding you back?

The best results are created by: putting your energy into what you are doing, engaging the power of your heart, and pushing yourself to stretch into more dynamic expression. Listen inward to the call for being more each day and avoid the habit trap and deep groove of the familiar.  Listening to your intuition can be very helpful for doing your best.

Imagine having fun, feeling passion for what you do, and exploring ways to be even better. You determine what is your best, there is no need for unrealistic expectations or to seek the approval of others. You can choose to do you with aliveness and boldness.

These four ways will be helpful in 2012 to manifest the results you desire. Let yourself be you more fully every day. If your mind is aligned, your plans empowered, your actions taken, and your best efforts put in, things will work out in amazing ways.



What Is Your Purpose In 2012

If you are wondering what your purpose is in 2012, I want to suggest two ultimate purposes we all share.

Those two purposes are:

1.  To have an open heart and spread as much love, compassion caring and kindness as you can in 2012.

2.  To have an open mind and become as conscious as you can and spread that light out into the world.

These two purposes will enhance you life and bring positive changes to you and the rest of the planet.

Can you imagine a world where the heart and higher consciousness guided us all?

What kind of world would it be where love and compassion shaped what we did and higher consciousness lifted everyone to be the positive possibilities they are?

• I choose to be more open with my heart and to practice compassion and loving kindness in all that I do.
• I choose to daily work on expanding my consciousness and spreading light out into the world.

Would you join me?



More Love In 2012

There is little doubt that love is the answer to many of the problems of the world. Also of little doubt is the need for us all to share our hearts even more through caring, kindness, compassion and other loving ways. Why not make one of your intentions for 2012 to spread more love in the world?

If you are looking for purpose in 2012, spreading love would be the most meaningful thing you could do.

I was listening to Seane Corn (empowered yogini), interview over at Sounds True not long ago. She said one of her greatest teachers about life was a young man dying of aids. He told her that she needed to remember this most of all: Remember to love, you will never regret it.

How true that is. Even in the most difficult of times love is the best action to take. Sometimes expressing love for situations and people can be challenging. The judging mind wants to label what’s going on as bad and withdraw the heart. Even those that try your patience, push our buttons, or cause you to get upset deserve your love. As a matter of fact, the difficult people and situations in your life need love the most.

Withholding or withdrawing your love doesn’t work for changing the behavior of others. It usually has the opposite affect. You know what it feels like to shut your heart down. It closes down your aliveness and pushes those you care about away. 

There really is no reason to pull back love but the fearful mind does so for protection. The opposite of fear is love. If fear is in your heart, you need to bring your focus on what you love. There cannot be both fear and love in your heart at the same time.

If love is a worthwhile intention or resolution for you in 2012 here are some ways you can be even more loving:

Listen with an open heart

Be patient with those who test you

Lean into those who sometimes push you away

Shift the grumpy and difficult with kindness

Be kind and respectful of your own emotions

Reach out to those who may be alone

Give of your time to those in need

Donate funds to program that help the less fortunate

Start a NPO based on loving-kindness

Move from judging to be more accepting

Lend a hand to someone who needs your kindness

Visit those who would appreciate seeing you

Make a daily intention of spreading love in some way

Place you hand on your heart and totally love and accept yourself

Be encouraging and supportive of those around you

Volunteer at places that reach out to others

Send cards and letters to those who would appreciate them

Wake up each morning with love in your heart and let it grow as the day goes

Love is a powerful healing force, send love to those who need healing

Each day surround your whole body with healing and energizing love

When you see someone who needs a friend, sit down with them and listen for ways to make a difference.

Let you intuition guide you about love because it knows what is needed within and for those around you

Picture the Earth in your hands being surrounded by your love

Tell others how much you appreciate them

Sit down and have tea with someone you know needs to heard

Take a friend for a walk in nature and enjoy the experience together

Just a reminder: the love in you is unlimited so you can keep on giving love everyday all day and will still have much more to give.

My new book is almost ready - Awakening:100 Questions That Will Expand Your Mind And Open Your Heart. I look forward to sharing it with you. This book is great for enriching your life 2012.

Time For A Revolution Of Love

How can you make this year exceptional for yourself, those you love and the world? I just watched an incredible TED Talk by a truly inspired teacher, John Hunter. If the world could attend his 4^th grade class all us on the planet be so much better off. This got me thinking that we all have special talents and purposes like this wonderful teacher. I want to propose to all who read this post that together we more fully explore and express who we are for a better world in 2012.

I believe greatly in all human beings if they have the true chance to express who they are. Every person has a purpose that can change the world. In 2012 if we listen inward, we will hear the call to make history by expressing our genius and greatness. We can all be part of a real shift that will truly enrich the world. The following are two ideas whose time has come to expand us all and make the world a better place.

Two Steps For A Better World:

1. First Step is to find, heal and fully occupy our heart.
2. Second Step is to start a revolution of love.

Now The How:

First Step - we feel and honor our heart center, we heal whatever wounds exist there, and we live our lives spreading loving-kindness and compassion. The affirmation for this method is “I totally love and accept myself.”

We all have issues from growing up that limit us today. Feelings of not deserving, not being enough, self-doubt etc. come from very early in life (the first few years). As a child we lived in an imperfect world with mixed messages, struggles of figuring out how to be human, and needs not being met. Some of us even endured trauma and abuse that significantly damaged our sense of self.

These past experiences cause us as children to make decisions about life that shape how we see it today.  Most of us have a need for deeper healing. Since tha t is the case it makes sense to do an inner survey of what from the past needs to be healed, reprogrammed and released so we can live more fully in the now. 

Self-healing suggestion: Over the next week or so (longer if needed) take time each day to ask your intuition and/or the child within, what part of you needs healing. Listen and pay close attention because the messages of needed healing may come as a quiet whisper, as a bodily discomfort, as a piercing emotion, as sadness or tears, or in a number of other ways. Please hold those inner messages in your heart with kindness and explore them until you understand what healing needs to take place.

Once you have a sense of the inner needs, go again inward and ask what would bring about the healing? There is great wisdom inside of you that knows what is needed. Trust that knowing. It may be helpful to write about the parts in you needing healing and about your sense of how to do that in a journal or notebook. Writing often brings more clarity. As the methods of healing are presented to you, continue to ask questions until you have a strong sense for what will work the best. Once you know where you want to go begin the process by breathing into the healing. Breathe and explore until you feel balance and harmony has been restored. Your body, heart, mind and spirit will tell you what is needed and guide you back into wholeness.

If after you explore the healing in the ways you sense are right and there still seems to be unfinished aspects of it, then you can seek professional help. The best is to work with professionals who specialize in trauma, energy psychology or other forms of healing focused work. If you experience the healing professional as supportive and compassionate, you are in the right place for positive changes.  Short-term work combined with you inner focus is what is usually called for most often.

Second Method  - is about bringing our loving self out into the world. By loving and accepting ourselves completely, we can share our love with others. The goal is to spread our love, compassion and kindness out into the world in as many ways as we can. Imagine a world in which kindness guides all of our actions, where compassion shows us the way to interact with all those around us, and where love is a powerful source for peace, for cooperation and for hope.

Love is the greatest force for good on the planet. The more we all access the unlimited capacities of our heart the more the world will naturally move toward greater well-being. A compassionate world provides for everyone, promotes our shared hopes and dreams, and encourages of healthiest expression of potential and possibilities.

A world filled with people who love themselves and are able to love and accept others will be a wonderful world.  If we let love do its thing, the revolution of love will profoundly change things in ways that will benefit everyone.

*** Blog Note: I am transitioning in my posting here at my blog to longer posts several times per week rather than shorter ones 5-6 times per week. I want to write about and explore ideas more fully.  I also want to send out emails to let people know when the latest post comes out.  You can signed up for my emails at the Peace Tweets ad to your right. More on changes to come in 2012.



Take A Chance On Being Bold

Over the next few days I will be busy with family and holiday events. My previous post is about seeing yourself in new and more expanded ways in 2012. I have an assignment for you below if you are truly interested in making 2012 something special. This next year will most likely be the most important year of your life. The expectations for 2012 are high because of certain indications but only you will determine how you experience this upcoming year. Yes there will be circumstances that will have influence, but you will interpret those circumstances and assign meaning to them through your thoughts and heart.

Imagine seting your mind on the idea that this will be the year of breakthroughs for you, the year you got your life heading in the right direction.  If that is what you want to happen, you have the ability and mind power to shape those experiences. Why not think extraordinary?

With the many changes around the world in 2011 and the now World-Wide Occupy Movement there is bound to be many more changes. You can be part of what happens. The time is ripe for you to make a positive difference. 

What if you left behind, your old definitions of self and began the year by redefining yourself, redirecting your energies, reorganizing your thoughts, and recharging your life with new ideas, more self-awareness, and greater purpose?  What if you deepened your experience of life by exploring inner practices? What if you made feeling good about your life as a priority?  Would 2012 be different than 2011, you bet it would.

Assignment: Grab a pen and paper and write down at least 10 new ways of seeing yourself from the previous post. Then write about how you would implement them in your life in this next year. Be creative, brainstorm, and let all ideas be considered.  Then when you are ready, decide what you are willing to commit to and put together a plan, do a vision board/collage, write a manifesto, of whatever will get the year going with lots of energy and inspiration.

If you feel like sharing, let me know what you are up to; I will do the same.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays To You

100 Expanded Ways To See Yourself In 2012

2012 is going to be a breakout year for humanity. Can you feel the energy of breakthrough in the air? Listen, tune in more deeply, and become part of what is happening. You and I are the ones that are here at this time in history to be agents of change.  The time of gathering your information and building your confidence is complete for now. In 2012 you are called to participate in something so monumental and important that your genius and greatness will be needed to make this year sing the song of enlightened excellence.

Are you ready for this? Of course you are or you would not be here on Earth at this time.

Take a few minutes to tune into these questions:

• What aspects of you want to be expressed?
• Where in your mind and body are you feeling most alive?
• What makes you passionate about life?
• What is your intuition trying to tell you?
• How is your higher nature attempting to communicate and guide you?
• What does your soul want you to understand?
• How are you holding yourself in check when you really want to be free?
• What in you that in genuine and authentic is being too cautious?
• Where do you thoughts and beliefs hold you back?
• How is your judging mind getting in your way?
• How does your need for approval keep you too contained? 
• Where are you letting fear get in your way?

Let me propose new and expanded ways of seeing and experiencing who you are. The follow are over 100 new ways to see yourself:

Mind Expander

Impartial Observer

Awareness Finder 

Explorer Of Higher Consciousness

Freedom Seeker

Open To Learning

Humility Realizer

Limiting Beliefs Buster

Movement Starter

Tribal Leader

Healer of Self

Person Of The Now

Lover Of Humanity

Compassionate Giver

Values Keeper

Passionate Purpose Person

Connector

Inviter of Insight

Positive Person

Peaceful Insider

Mindful Minded

One Who Practices Loving-Kindness

Solution Finder

Responsibility Taker

Practical Futurist

Explorer Of The Extraordinary

Quiet Contemplator

Patient Supporter

Wise Minded

One Who Expresses Creativity

Co-Awakener

Growth Seeker

Kindness Giver

Open Hearted To All

Harmony Enjoyer

Seeker Of Balance

Action Starter

Intention Maker

One Who Focuses Attention

Mover From The Inside Out

Commonality Finder

One Who Sees Unity

Brings PeopleTogether

People Helper 

Inspiration Generator

Thought Shaper

One Who Encourages Others

Self-Believer

Truth Seeker

Silent Non-Doer

Well-being Keeper

Clarity Finder

Provocative Poet

Theme Songster

Demand Voicer

Breath Listener

Zen Minded

Yoga Bodied

Tai Chi Moved

Meditation Sitter -

Light Shiner

Peace Monger

Appreciation Advocate

One Who Remembers With Gratitude

Artistic Activist

Habitat Houser

Innovative Imaginer

Common Causer

Spirit Listener

Fear Transformer

Infinite Energizer

Flow Follower

Wall Remover

Aliveness Finder

Lucid Seeker

Need Assessor

Bold Builder

Meaningful Conversationalist

Big Picture Communicator

Mover of Masses

First Step Explorer

Mask Remover

Nature Protector

Future Generations Forecaster 

Global Togetherness Dreamer

One Who Cares For All

Forgiveness Reminder

Self-esteem Booster

Balancer Of Thought And Awareness

Feelings Finder

Story Teller

One Who Welcomes All

Relaxation Restorer

Transitions Helper

Relief Giver

Friendship Finder

Empowerment Advisor

Perspective Enhancer

Viewpoint Enricher

One Who Listens With Heart

Species Protector

These ways of seeing yourself may be expressed in your work, in your relationships and in your personal life. You choose - you are the creator of your life experience. Why not choose boldness?

I have left off nine other self-labels because my wife said they are ones I need to use as part of clarifying my expanded expression (branding). I will share these the special nine in 2012. 

You are awesome and so am I. It is time we all step up and be the light, the purpose, and the hope that resides in us.

10 Holiday Enhancers

The Holiday Season is an enjoyable time of year. It can also be stressful as people hurry and worry.  An easier way to go about this time of year is to take the time to be mindful of your thoughts and your heart. What people really appreciate is the kindness you share, the compassion you have, and the acts of caring. This season is not about stuff but about the heart. Yes commercialism seems has taken over but that can be ignored.

How can you express your heart and enjoy what this time of year offers? Here are a few ideas that will enrich your experience of the holiday spirit:

1.  Take the time to have meaningful conversations

2.  Listen to others with patience and compassion

3.  Offer to spend time and give support

4.  Reach out to those in need with acts of kindness

5.  Allow time for you to be quiet and peaceful

6.  Be accepting of others and relax the judging mind

7.  Each day appreciate all the gifts of life

8.  Find what greater aspect of who you are longs to be expressed

9.  Live as much as you can in the now where true joy, love, hope and peace reside

10. Relax, take it easy and go for a walk

Take the time to be mindful of what you are doing, what thoughts are running you and what feelings your are creating and get ready for 2012 which is going to be an amazing year. 

My dog Pax, my wife Bobbi and I wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful Holiday season.



The Age Of Mindfulness

Listening to an interview of Jon Kabat-Zinn (at Sounds True), I experienced my thoughts expanding into what was possible in a world where mindfulness informed humanity. What would a world be like if wisdom was our guiding force, if peace of mind was how we experienced our self, if being fully present was what mattered, if loving-kindness was our way of interacting with self and others?

The idea of an age of mindfulness stirred in me: a sense of excitement about what is possible, a vision of a better world were we all cared about each other, and hope for new possibilities and solutions fueled by our deeper knowing and our compassionate heart.  The future seems so much brighter when together we are intentionally seeking awareness and understanding beyond the ordinary thoughts, concepts and beliefs that too often limit our sense of self and the world.

A world guided by mindfulness might include people:

Living a heart-centered life

Less judgmental and more accepting

Balancing thought with awareness

Tuning inward for self-understanding

Finding inner peace through watching the mind

Compassion for self and others

Listening to each other with an open heart

Resolving conflicts together

No longer run by their fears

Rediscovering and more fully expressing their creativity

Acting with all the people and the planet in mind

Engaged in thoughtful and heart filled discussions

Seeking solutions instead of finding fault

Learning from the universe in moment-to-moment awareness

Stepping back from their reactivity and stepping forward more open to possibilities.

In my work and personal life, I have explored and taught mindfulness for many years. I have benefited greatly from the awareness and insight gained and my clients have repeatedly reported how much they value mindfulness. 

*** My new book, Awaken:100 Questions That Will Expand Your Mind And Open Your Heart, will be available in January 2012. This book draws greatly upon the wisdom and the many gifts mindfulness has given me over the years. I am very excited about sharing this book with you.



Nine Ideas To Make 2012 A Year Of Positive Changes

The beach walk this sunny morning was nice. I found a really beautiful agate as I walked and enjoyed the cool fresh air. 

I wanted to continue on my theme yesterday about finding hope. How do we build hope into this next year? 2012 is supposed to be an important year in human history. My belief is that are minds are very powerful and that if we decide to make 2012 a powerful year, we will. I propose that we put together some positive ideas for 2012 and bring our collective minds and hearts together to make this year the most powerful in human history. 

Nine Ideas For 2012:

1. Redirect the dominance of greed in the economic sector towards how can we make a positive difference for all humanity.
2. Redirect the money influence in elections to funds for healthcare for all, to end hunger and homelessness, and others acts of compassion and kindness.
3. Commit to taking better care of the planet through developing others sources of energy and going greener.
4. Make education a priority by expanding creative expression, values exploration, and successful communications and reducing the importance of test scores.
5. Put people to work by creating a meaningful work initiative, there is much that needs to be done for the good of communities.
6. End corporate personhood and instead make all corporations accountable to the people and the planet.
7. Change the idea of endless growth as the savior of humanity to careful growth with future generations in mind.
8. Change politics towards honesty, finding solutions, and truly serving the needs of the people.
9. Make peace a priority and stop ruining our nation’s financial well being by spending trillions of dollars on killing machines.

What would you change or add?

We all can make a difference.

Finding Hope Where You Can

It is time for us to find hope. Hope comes from inside of us but can be triggered by the words and ideas of others. There are many people who are thinking in ways that make me feel encouraged about the future of humanity.  If you watch the nightly news and think that is the only truth about what is going on, you miss out on people who are thinking in expanded ways. The expanded thinkers don't make it on the news but their ideas should be the nightly headlines.

Recently, I have felt hope inside thanks to having an open mind to expansive ideas. Here are a few I wanted to share with you today: 

On Huffington Post there is a series of 18 TED Talks that are being presented because of the influential ideas that will help shape 2012.  Check this series out: the talk today is exceptional by Brene’ Brown

There is a young man named Chris Guillebeau who writes about the art of non-comformity has a new manifesto worth reading if by chance you want an extraordinary life. The manifesto is called The Tower. The Tower will help you think big about what matters to you.

Many of the TED Talks, which you can find on YouTube, are exceptional. There will help you expand your mind and open your heart.  One of my favorites lately has been Sir Ken Robinson on the importance of creativity. If you are concerned about education, this talk will be enlightening.

I am sure you will enjoy the ideas above. Hope really begins inside from being full present and from being open in mind and heart.  When we are present and open, we are available to hope and that makes us feel better. What gives you hope? Are you hopeful for 2012?