It is now several days past the 10th anniversary of the tragic events of September 11th. The day was horrific and world changing. What were the changes? On September 12th the world poured out support for the people of the United States. The first call to the president was from Russia. Countries rallied to offer aid. The world came together against injustice. The evil-doers were brought fully to light, exposed for all to see and to judge their actions. Arab nations condemned the attacks. Dictators with power agendas praised them. September 12th was a new dawn. Muslims stood side by side with Christians and indeed people of all faiths to condemn the actions taken by a few fundamentalists. In more ways than not on September 12th, 2001, we united the rational, loving, caring people of the world. It also set those offering fear and destruction on the run. No more would the world stand aside.

Slowly the world is coming together as one. The “Arab summer” is a case in point. The overthrow of dictators who ruled with an iron fist by people wanting to work together to create a new future is a sign of a peaceful future.  As with everything, however, growth comes with growing pains. We are witnessing some, but as each atrocity comes to light the less darkness the world has to offer. We are in a renaissance of humanity. We are stepping into a new future.

September 12th is a day to rejoice. Year after year let us celebrate this bold step of humanity to choose to come together against wrongs and create one giant right.

“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.”  ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I am amazed how often I hear the words “with my luck.” Our general society has a several standard phrases that we all tend to take for granted, the aforementioned being the poster child. Statements like “with my luck” have an underlying belief that is the driving force of what is being created in the person’s life. As these words are uttered, we often no longer even look at the meaning behind them. When someone says it, they usually are not thinking the “luck” is good. In fact the implied tone that comes with the phrase says quite the opposite. The overwhelming implication is ”poor me.”  

“With my luck” is a ploy for sympathy. It may not consciously be a ploy, but the subconscious is hard at work looking for a loving reaction to the statement. The weird thing is it only makes the listener feel bad and so the “poor me” person is then believed to be a not pleasant experience. So the belief behind the statement is made manifest in reality. The “poor me” person now experiences their belief in the very physical world.

We are each the creator of our experience. It’s the choices we make and the belief we put behind them that make our outer experience. I was having lunch recently with a person who was in a state of lack. During that hour I heard her say, “They can’t get blood from a turnip.” My response was,”I am not a turnip.” She realized at that moment the belief behind the statement. She was focused on the lack instead of the prosperity. The interesting thing was she had recently manifested miracles into her life on a grand scale and yet the underlying subconscious belief still was holding her back in other areas.

What subconscious beliefs are the barriers to your maximum potential? What things are you putting faith in that do not serve your highest goals. The quickest and easiest way to discover them is to pay attention to your words and the meanings behind them. Change your words, change your beliefs, change your life.

“The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.” ~William James

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 9:42AM “No one is immune from addiction; it afflicts people of all ages, races, classes, and professions.” ~Patrick J. Kennedy

What a piece of shit I am.  I wish I could have good relationships. I never make enough money. Life is hard. Every moment is rough. I need a break. Where’s my______?  There it is. There…….. (relaxed sigh). Sound familiar? Does it sound extreme? Are you having this experience on a greater or lesser degree? This is the plight of a person with an addictive behavior. This is the search for relief.

Addiction permeates our society like a plague. It affects not only the addict but family, friends, and society as a whole. People suffer daily and feel helpless, hopeless, and defenseless against it. What is It? What are they truly searching for? It seems to me they are searching for a feeling, something other than the one they are currently feeling. They are looking for a way out of their pain. What is the feeling? What is it they are truly searching for? You can look for it in the psyches of the addicts, but I believe they are searching for the very thing every one of us is searching for:  Love.

Many will scoff at the idea that they are searching for love, dismissing the idea as trite, but the simplest concept is usually the correct one. Love: what is it? More than anything else love is a feeling. It is the feeling we strive for from our earliest years. As children, loving positive parents make us happy. An angered parent makes us sad or scared. We desire love in our lives. When we block love from ourselves, we inhibit ourselves from the very thing we naturally need. In my personal belief system I believe that God/Source is Love and we were given fear as our tool to experience love fully. So we are here to experience our separation from love.

Experiencing our separation happens in many ways. For many, it comes in the form of dysfunctional families. This doesn’t mean the horror story family. In some form we all have some dysfunction in our families, be they large dysfunctions or small. Many times the dysfunction is in extended families and friends. Sometimes it is societal or racial in nature, but no matter where the root lies it feels negative and not positive. Love is the positive state.

There are two kinds of love, conditional and unconditional. In unconditional love, there is never a worry or concern. Love is there no matter what. In a conditional love, you must meet the condition to receive love. Conditions create conditions. Many times we see this in families who reinforce negative behaviors with negative responses which tear the child down, instead of reinforcing positive behaviors and building the child up. The child will always lean towards a positive sensation and pull away from a negative one. When continually bombarded with negative reinforcement, many children fall into depression and fear. The fear becomes a dominant force in their lives and they feel as if they are always in a state of anxiety or suffer from self doubt and self worth issues. They look for a way out.

It doesn’t matter where they discovered the substance or experience or what those things are. It only really matters to the addict how it makes them feel. They are looking for relief. They want to relax from the pain of anxiety and fear. They want love. They find it in a feeling, a positive sensation. They find it in many places. The obvious ones are drugs and alcohol. These are followed closely by smoking, but there are many other ways of getting the feeling they are searching for. Many alcoholics, in finding their way clean, turn to God and become addicted to religion as it makes them feel good. Often people will go into therapy and become addicted to the therapy or the therapist. Each new break-through moment is just the next high. The food addiction has people hiding wrappers and evidence of what they eat from others for fear of not having their love. Sex addicts transpose lust for love and are repeatedly disappointed at the state of their "love life.”  If this sounds like you in any area of your life, there is hope.

Hope comes in the form of unconditional love. The feeling of unconditional love is relaxation and happiness or joy. It is the relief you seek. So rather than using the weighty word of love, let us instead use relaxation. What is relaxation? More than anything else relaxation is a feeling, a positive sensation. It is a respite from the travails of life. Take this moment and breathe deeply. When you exhale allow your body to fully relax your muscles. Do this several times. Go ahead - I’ll wait. Now that you have done that, how did it make you feel? The answer almost invariably is ”good.” So in that moment you felt "good.” Who was it that allowed you to feel that way? Who was it that that also felt that way? In that moment you felt the positive sensation of relaxation. That feeling is also the feeling of love. You at any given moment can sto, take a breath and feel love in the form of relaxation. If you ask smokers why they smoke, the number one answer is, “It relaxes me.” Watch when a smoker smokes or a drinker drinks and you will very quickly notice that right after each draw of nicotine or alcohol they relax their muscles and fully exhale. They are addicted to the feeling. The next time you feel the need for your addiction. Take a breathing break. And feel the positive sensation you are searching for.

Scientific theory says that twenty one days of continual behavior creates habit. Take a "breathing break” for twenty one days and the old habits are kicked. Whenever you feel the anxiety and the fear, take a breathing break. Whenever the world feels oppressive, take a breathing break. There is no one on earth more or less powerful than you. You are the creator of your experience. You can do it. I have belief in you and I look forward to hearing about your success.

“Love comes to those who still hope even though they've been disappointed, to those who still believe even though they've been betrayed, to those who still love even though they've been hurt before.” ~ Unknown

* Click below to download "Eight Steps For Breaking Through the Fear Barrier." It may prove helpful in your journey.

Monday, June 20, 2011 at 9:05AM

“It's important to talk about it. You raise awareness. But you can also prevent it (child abuse) by not letting it be a secret.”~Chris Witty

I am always amazed at the number of victims of sexual abuse that I encounter in my private sessions. Not one day of sessions goes by that does not include a visit with at least one or more sexually abused person. From family members and trusted friends, to strangers and authority figures, the abusers come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Working with men, I find very large percentages that were molested by their parish priests - more than society has really recognized. It is not uncommon for me to have two or three of them in a day. With women, the leading culprit is a father figure. The effect this has on these people’s lives is devastating, and often creates a lifetime struggle for them.

It is a lifetime struggle, that is, until they go through the process of releasing their personal fears and altering their direction. Forgiveness is what every therapist says must happen. But, before forgiveness can take place, two things must occur-- acknowledgement and understanding.  It is important that there be an acknowledgement that the abuse did happen and that the abused is not at fault.  Once there is acknowledgement--a very personal process that is different for each individual-- there can be an attempt at understanding. Without these two steps, acknowledgement and understanding, it is impossible for the abused to even conceive of forgiveness.

The remainder of this article will delve into the reasons why these types of abuse happen, so that it can help readers break through the barriers they may have lived behind and achieve that understanding. Let us break it down by gender and abuser, starting with the Men and the Parish Priest.

Men and the Parish Priest Priests are an interesting group. Many priests are truly caring, loving individuals that are just doing good work. Many individuals, however, join the priesthood because they feel shame for their very natural sexual desires and use the priesthood as a means for hiding from those feelings, whether straight or gay. Let’s look at their feelings of shame. First of all, many of these men grew up in Catholic families where homosexuality is not okay in the eyes of the “Lord.” When their natural feelings of homosexuality arise, they feel shame for those feelings, and suppress them.  The promise of a devout, celibate life draws suppressed men to the priesthood like moths to a flame. For the gay man, the reality is that their homosexual inclinations are a very natural and normal part of who they are. The problem is that they feel shame for their natural tendencies and build walls around them.

In priests' lives, they have suppressed the physical need for a natural way to receive love, and so, the desires must burst forth because they have halted the natural flow of love in their lives. This can lead to making bad choices. These choices then reinforce their feelings that they are bad people and should be ashamed. They struggle with this shame before, during, and after the horrible acts that are committed against the boys and girls in their charge. This all comes down to the simple fact that they are afraid of not having love, and find ways of justifying their lust as love. The damage this causes the world is farther reaching than most people realize.  I see it all the time, in every city I visit.   Every person on earth just wants to be loved, be they gay or straight, man, woman, or child. Our natural inclinations of sexual love can not truly be suppressed.  There will always be some sort of release. The sexual side of our nature is a representation of who we are and how we express our love. Whether being born homosexual, or choosing homosexuality, love is never wrong.  I take joy in helping as many of the abused as I can.   I help them to find their way past these blockages in their lives, and show them that there is love and it can be safe and unconditional.

Women and Father Figures

The men who are abusive to women are usually the victims of damaging relationships with their own parents. Most of the men I have worked with had parents with addictions of some sort, alcoholism being the foremost. Addictive behaviors are a search for a better feeling, also known as love. The reason they search for love is that their lives are full of negative feelings like loss, abandonment, and self hatred. All too often, this creates a horrible downward spiral from one generation to the next. I frequently am working with men who as children, wanted the unconditional love of their parents. Instead, they received only conditional love and not fully understanding that they were denied what they needed, they fall into addictive behaviors -just like their parents- in a search for the feeling of love.

These men always have low self esteem. Sometimes that same low self esteem manifests in a very large ego. This ego is a power play where they set themselves in a position of power so that they are respected or feared. They view this respect or fear as being loved. This viewpoint then leads to a cycle of behavior that often leads to sexual abuse because the sexual satisfaction they receive -from the bad things they do to innocent children- is reinforced by the positive physical sensations. As addicts they are driven by the need for these feelings, but since they do not fully understand what love is, they are never satisfied and the cycle continues until broken.  The good news is the cycle can be broken.  The feelings of shame and desperation, the self-doubt and suppression of love, do not need to be passed to the next generation.  Each generation has the power to choose.  To break the negative cycle is to choose love.

Choosing Love

I believe that we come into this world to fully experience love (God/Universe).  We do this by developing a healthy relationship between love and fear.  Understand that you are loved at all times. You are not alone in your experience. You do not have to search for the feeling of love.  We cannot know or experience love, without also experiencing its opposite (fear). Love is yours and you can follow your heart.  Love will flow, and love denied will burst forth in self gratification. For the abuser: get help and stop the cycle now. For you, the current victims: tell someone so that people can help. For the people who suffer from past abuses: choose to release the anchors of the past by seeing the abusers as victims themselves and forgiving them. Then choose this to be a new day and love as you want to love. Be the best expression of love you can be. It is who you are. I love you.

“Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is.” ~Gary Zukav

*Here is a link to "The Eight Steps for Breaking Through the Fear Barrier." It might prove helpful.

Friday, June 10, 2011 at 5:12PM

“All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.” ~James Allen

“I can’t. I’ll never. They don’t. I’ll Try. I Hope. I Need.”   The ever muttering mantra of those plagued with self doubt. Is this you? It damn sure was me! I suffered the agonizing pain of a low self worth and self doubt. I don’t anymore. It was a real challenge in my life. I struggled with obesity from an early age.  I was a social outcast in my town. I never fit in except with a very few people, some of whom moved away when I was young. I was born into a house that always struggled for money. I had a father who was self absorbed with an alcohol issue. It was hard and affected me in more ways than one. But I overcame it. I look back at that boy and I must say that I overcame it. I didn’t have therapy or counseling. It was I myself, and a spiritual understanding, that changed my life.

“If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement.” ~ Jimmy Carter

As an adult these subconscious beliefs permeated my life. I felt I wasn’t worthy or even lovable. I felt as if I was worthless and those beliefs played themselves out in my life. I was told I was “a worthless bum” and I struggled as a bum for many years. I failed at many things in my life until I changed my mind. I had to do it - I had to make a choice and declare that choice to the world. Nothing changes in your world unless you change your mind about it first. The Universe is nothing but the product of your belief, and that belief in the creative channel through which your world experience is formed. But when do you change it? The biggest spiritual truth I wish I could transport into the mind of humanity is that nothing happens outside of this moment. Everything is based in what you think say and do in this moment. Tomorrow never really happens until it is today. Yesterday can’t happen again. So this pivotal moment is the moment of breaking self doubt.

“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstances.” ~Bruce Barton

Self doubt is the fear of not being loved. As you sit in that chair right now realize that the universe is God/source. “God is Love” is right in the Bible (I know, I wrote that part (LOL)). Everything you experience in the world is love. Many people will argue that fact. But the most loving thing God/Universe can do is give us what we are asking for. We ask with our belief. What do you believe? Do you believe that the world is hard and you are not worthy? If so, what does the world show you? I’ll bet the world shows you reasons to believe that life is hard and you’re not worthy. I have a friend who his entire life believed that the world was easy and he would always have money. He one time told me he gives himself $20,000 a year to just blow on toys. He knows he will always have money and so God/Universe gives him money. BTW, he has really cool toys.

In this moment will you commit to changing your life? If you do everything changes and your world will show you the change. Once you see the change your self-doubt is demolished through time and results. Those results cannot happen unless you start in this moment.

“Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.” ~Thomas Carlyle

If you want more information about breaking through the fears of self doubt, check out “The Eight Steps for Breaking through the Fear Barrier," a free coaching report when you sign up for the newsletter at www.johnofpeniel.com.

Monday, May 2, 2011 at 11:55PM

“An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Osama Bin Laden is dead. This man whom the world has hunted is no longer among the living. Truthfully I was excited to hear the news. Now as I watch the reactions I am a bit ashamed that I allowed myself to fall into the trap of high running emotions. I have done over one hundred shows entertaining troops overseas. I have traveled all over Afghanistan and Iraq. I have seen firsthand the countries devastated by hateful men. The representation of these men became Osama bin Laden. Osama bin Laden was no great guy to be sure, but to knowingly go and shoot another human being, no matter what they have done, I cannot support. The man was sick and misguided. He was not a friend to Christians or Muslims. He brought death to many more than the poor people of the New York, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania tragedies. Osama Bin Laden incited such high emotions that countries were toppled and hundreds of thousands lost their lives in the wars that followed. Did it help to kill him? Those running high in emotions will say yes. “Closure” will be word of choice.

“Revenge is often like biting a dog because the dog bit you.” ~ Austin O’Malley

The mission was quick and decisive. Afterwards, out of respect, they honored his Muslim traditions by having his body interred within a day.  So after he was hunted and shot in the head it was decided to respect his beliefs? It seems a bit late. Had we created a place of understanding decades ago maybe he would have been a harbinger of peace instead of death.  This man was responsible for atrocious acts. Let us not forget the United States trained him and armed him and then left him. Was it good policy then? Who knows? It is debatable. But undeniably by supporting a man bent on war and destruction, we created the very man whose death we are now joyfully celebrating. Our focus needs to be on peace and human brotherhood.

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” ~Mahatma Gandhi

I watched as hundreds flocked to ground zero and the White House as the news broke. Parties erupted in public places celebrating the death of the enemy. Yet the world we should be creating is a world without such actions. If one person hits you is it not the higher ground to turn the other cheek? I am not saying to forgive and forget such actions but an eye for eye will lead us and our world into a barbaric future. People laughed and joked “thank God he is dead.”  Is this the world we want for our future? Is bloodlust rewarded with bloodlust? The world is rid of Osama bin Laden. Until we learn to work with each other, stop drawing lines in the sand and give loving respect and understanding, another will just take his place and it will escalate. Our world is at a tipping point. We can choose another path. Reach out your hand to people of all faiths. Respect their beliefs. Show them there is nothing to fear and allow them to embrace their own religious and cultural differences. The world is created through choice. Choose to love instead of fear. Mohammed said that "Kindness is a mark of faith." Let us be kind.

“My Religion is simple. My religion is kindness.” ~The Dalai Lama

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 10:05PM

The Four Noble Truths (Dharma)

Buddha was an amazing individual. Whether you believe his teachings or not, his concepts are valid in most religions' truths. I would like to share my thoughts on the four noble truths of Buddha in relationship to what I teach.

1.The Nature of Suffering: This is the noble truth of suffering: Birth is Suffering, Aging is Suffering, Illness is suffering, death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering; union with what is displeasing is suffering; seperation from what is pleasing is suffering; Not to get what one wants is suffering; in brief, the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.

This first noble truth sounds terrible. It does so because it is focused on the negative aspect. We automatically connect with the negative words and don’t like the connotations. I find this fascinating, especially where it says,”Separation from what is pleasing is suffering.” In my beliefs this describes perfectly our separation for the source. If you ever heard or read my regression, you might remember that it says,”Everything is Love and we were given fear as our tool to experience Love fully.” Without the polar opposite we would never understand what Love is. So we have fear as our polar opposite. One of the main products of fear is suffering. People “suffer from” anxiety, depression, and physical ailment. I believe each has its root in a fear. We tend to hold on to or “cling” to our fears. Buddha says ”the five aggregates subject to clinging are suffering.” I believe suffering is fear.

2. Suffering’s Origin:
“This is the noble truth of the origin of suffering: it is this craving which leads to renewed existence, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there, that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for existence, craving for extermination.”

The Second Noble Truth talks of a “craving which leads to renewed existence.” This seeking for the sensation of pleasure is us in the physical experience seeking the feeling of Love. We tend to constantly strive for the pleasurable sensations that we define as positive or in essence loving. The very separation we are here to experience leads us to seek the feeling of it. This is why people become addicted. It is the feeling they are addicted to. The feeling of relaxation is a positive sensation. When you ask a smoker why they smoke, most will say, ”It relaxes me.” It is the feeling they want because they are suffering with fear and choose this tool to allow themselves to relax.

3. Suffering’s Cessation:
“This is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering: it is the remainderless fading away and cessation of that same craving, the giving up and relinquishing of it, freedom from it, nonreliance on it.”

This is the step one must take to reach enlightenment. The “relinquishing” of suffering/fear until nothing remains of it and we no longer need to rely on it for contrast. We must release our fear to reach the potential of humankind. We each have control of our fear if we so choose. Many choose to feel helpless within their fear. It is the wise ones who choose to be in control of their fear long enough to release it.

4. The Path to the Cessation of Suffering:
“This is the noble truth of the way leading to the cessation of suffering: it is the Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.”

This last noble truth tells us how to end suffering/fear. By living in a state of doing the right things you tend to then be surrounded by the right things. It is interesting, however, that several of the Noble Eightfold Path are based in our thought/belief/faith. The other two are actions upon our belief. We each know right from wrong. We each find ourselves thinking in ways (especially about ourselves) that are not congruent with the truth. When our thoughts, words, and deeds are based in fear we suffer. When they are based in Love we thrive.

Friday, March 25, 2011 at 6:42PM

“The ultimate lesson all of us have to learn is unconditional love, which includes not only others but ourselves as well,” ~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Love: what is it? Is it something we strive for? Is it something that eludes us? Is it something we create? I believe it is what we are made of. I believe that the very fabric of God/Universe is Love. I also believe that we are a part of the fabric. When I had my past life regression my wonderful regressionist asked a simple yet powerful question: “What is the message to get out to the world?” The answer was,” Everything is Love and we are given fear as a tool to experience love fully.”

Our physical life experience is about separation from love. We do this so we may experience the true feelings of love, so we may come to know Love on a deeper level, to understand it. A true unconditional love is our highest desire. We want to be loved for who we are and not have limitations set upon us to be able to achieve love.

“All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.” ~ Buddha

What are conditions? Conditions are limitations set upon something. “If you don’t get good grades, you’re grounded,” is a conditional statement. It tells the person that they will be a victim of an unloving act if they fail. It puts fear into them and creates a condition of having to perform to have the person’s love. It is a condition. But what is the root of the condition itself? Every parent wants their child to succeed. Some parents are lost in their own fears and see the children as representations of themselves. If the child fails it is a reflection on their parenting. If the child fails they are a bad parent. If the child fails then they themselves are not loved in their perception. They are also afraid of not being loved.

“Every human is the architect of their health or disease.” ~Buddha

Conditional love is a root cause of many ailments. Many people find that if they are ill then they get more attention and thus they feel loved. Many find that if the speak their personal truths they are reprimanded for who they are and so they never speak their truth. What I have found in my years of working with people is those that swallow their truth end up with digestive disorders and elimination organ (ie: kidney, liver, bowels, bladder) disorders. Once the people are broken free of the condition then they heal.

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” ~Denis Waitley

I worked with a child once who was paralyzed. When the child was alone in the room with me he stood up. When the parent was in the room he couldn’t. It was discovered that when the child had the accident, a rather aloof parent suddenly became a great parent and very involved in the child’s life. The child stood with me because he knew I would love him if he did. He couldn’t stand with his parents because he felt loved if he couldn’t stand.  

Our simple belief is what creates our experience. As Buddha says,”What you think you become. You create your world.” Our belief in relationship to love is the root of our experience. If a condition is placed to achieve love we will create a condition to receive it. Is your love unconditional? Was the love of the people in your life unconditional? What aspects of your life are not as you wish and what is the condition that has been placed in your way? Remember Love is a positive sensation and fear a negative one. What condition stops you from achieving the positive sensation? I love you as you are …. No conditions.

“More than anything else, I believe it's our decisions, not the conditions of our lives, that determine our destiny.” ~Anthony Robbins

Friday, February 4, 2011 at 12:27AM

"Expect your every need to be met. Expect the answer to every problem, expect abundance on every level." ~Eileen Caddy

I am so overwhelmed today. I am overwhelmed with the sensation of being the creator. A couple of years ago I was searching for direction.  I wandered in search of my spirituality. Today I am truly overwhelmed by the fact that within my own self is the power of creation. A few years ago I was in emotional turmoil. Things had brought me to the depths of despair. I decided then and there to redirect my life back onto my spiritual path, a path that was laid before me and from which I veered.  

I say “veered” and not “strayed.” In my mind “strayed” implies wrongdoing. I do not believe in wrong doing. Wow! John, that is a powerful statement and one of great controversy! I know that is being said by many of you reading this, but let me explain. You see I believe that each of us has the power to create our lives. All of the teachers of the past told us so. The reality is that even though they have said it for centuries, and we have heard it, we still were not living it. At least I wasn’t. If we are the creator then anything we create is not wrong. No one sits in judgement if we are the creator. In fact it is we, ourselves who judge us harshly. It is those judgements where we get lost in our own dark valley.

"I am not God, but I am my creator."  ~Terry Josephson

My mind was trapped in the perceived environment and so my belief was wrapped in the residual effect of my past negative creations. The result was simply… more negative creations. Our personal experience is a product of our belief and the people and events that support that belief surround us as our experience. So when do we make the shift? When do we decide it is okay to be the creator? We have dogmatically programmed ourselves to believe we are inferior and so our belief gives us reason to keep believing.

Is today the day of your shift? Is today the day you call upon the universe to do your bidding?  If in fact you are the creator, then how are you going to create? Out of fear, jealousy, and greed? Or out of love compassion and happiness?  All negative emotion has fear inside of it. And that fear in some form is the fear of not being loved. So create from positive belief that you are loved and the universe/God will respond. “Ask and you shall receive.” Be the joyful expression and so a joyful expression is your life.

I came from that place of turmoil into the most loving relationship I have ever experienced, a joyful career, a sense of purpose, and fulfillment. How did I do it? I called upon the Universe and believed I would receive it……. And I did.

"Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into."  ~Wayne Dyer

Thank You
Thank You
Thank You

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 1:50PM

"Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down."~ Natalie Goldberg

Today stress reared its ugly head. It wasn’t fun. It didn’t feel good. It was vented. It was not judged by another, it was just released. It did, however, happen. Sometimes things happen in life. We each have a series of triggers created in our past experiences that can be a reactive force in our lives.  That is human. It is what we do with the stress that is important. Many of us, including myself, have aimed our stress at another with blame. Many suppress and suffer through.

Stress is a choice. Think of the things we get stressed about. Are they physically on top of you, like an elephant, crushing the life giving air from your lungs? Probably not.  Instead they are outer circumstances that we allow our minds to get wrapped in but they are not here and now. They are all based in fear. Fear of not achieving, fear of outcomes, fear of not being loved. Fear is a choice. To be fearless is a choice. If you ask anyone who is known for a heroic act they usually say they didn’t have time to think or they decided they needed to help.

"If you ask: what is the single most important key to longevity, I would say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you don't ask me, I'd still have to say it."~ George Burns

The reactive hero doesn’t give fear a foothold and so they react.  If they hesitated then there might have been a different outcome. The decisive hero experiences the fear and then decides to set it down to proceed. Either way choices were made and acted upon. Does your stressful choice enhance the experience? Does it actually help get the things done? The only thing that stress does is make us miserable. Why would we choose that?

The stress state comes with many physiological responses. The first most obvious is it affects our breathing. It makes us feel as if the elephant has climbed on and we can’t breathe. All the effects of stress are the same as any other fear response. Stresses build upon stresses and the origin gets lost in the mire of the fear that created it.  Yes there are things in your world that have priority. Dealing with those things without judgment or fear is life mastery.

If you could simplify all the elements of your perfect life wouldn’t all of them lead you to a fun relaxed state? Choose that state now. And watch your stress disappear.

"For fast-acting relief, try slowing down."  ~Lily Tomlin