Daily Inspiration 8-31-16

The most valuable lessons 

I have ever learned in my life! 

"I'm grateful for always 

this moment, the now, 

no matter what form it takes." 

-- Eckhart Tolle 

Have you ever been overcome with a deep feeling of gratitude by thinking about something, reading something, listening to something, or watching something that it brings you to tears; to your knees, so to speak? I have felt this so many times. When it happens, it is often a surprise. I didn't expect it, but I am so loving those few moments or minutes. I find myself in total appreciation of someone, or several for that experience, and what value they bestowed upon me.

I remember vividly, driving on the Grapevine between Bakersfield CA and the greater Los Angeles area many years ago, when as I was listening to a song, I just began crying, sobbing with joy and appreciation. It has happened when I'm reading something, listening to an audiobook, watching a movie, along with many other external stimuli, and it has also happened by simply thinking a thought, or recalling a memory. It just happened again yesterday as I read an inspirational message. There is nothing quite like that experience. It is exhilarating, and it is also draining, but a good draining, as if it is releasing toxins from within or something.

The word, gratitude, is a well-worn buzzword of the last twenty years or so, with hundreds, perhaps even thousands of books on that subject. So, generally, I prefer the word, appreciation instead because it is more descriptive. But, where I like to use the word, gratitude, is as a word that describes a myriad of thanks-giving ways, thinking and demonstrating appreciation, feeling and showing love, and much more. It is a great 'catch-all' word, that when used with that in mind, contains all manner of good feelings.

Recently, I took a previous Daily Inspiration and expanded it to a somewhat longer article, with a long title: To Say That Gratitude Has Changed My Life Is So Thin--Truly, It Has TRANSFORMED My Life! This is true. Gratitude has transformed my life. It has helped transform me from someone who took so many things for granted, to someone who notices with all my senses, and I find myself wherever I go in almost constant gratitude.

Oh, as many of us may do, I've held gratitude in the past for certain things, special events, special people. That's easy. But it isn't life transforming. The difference for me is that I began taking to heart what Paul said in the Bible in 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I first read that in 1996, and it touched me and I began to allow that idea in, and little by little, I found that it was possible to live like that, and so I began allowing it to be a part of me.

I began to ask, what about this can I appreciate? I would especially ask this if something I was noticing was not pleasant, or not to my immediate liking. Is there anything to appreciate in an ugly situation? Yes. How about the worst of so-called disasters? Absolutely. We only need turn toward what can be appreciated in that, or in other words, change our focus. It might be like in a movie where they pan out, or back away from a scene and now the scene we previously saw is a much smaller thing relative to all that surrounds it. A bigger picture, if you will. That changes the entire view of the event. It's just a matter of what you want to see.

I've shared this bit from Abraham, Esther Hicks that I have on my wall to better explain about the last line in the last paragraph: "Today, no matter where I'm going and no matter what I am doing, it is my dominant intent to see that which I am wanting to see." What do I want to see? I want to see beauty, peace, love, joy, empowerment, freedom, wonder, awe, and to appreciate things, other people, the air that surrounds us all, the sounds of the day and time and location, the smells. I want my senses to be alive and to be grateful for all of it; grateful for living, for being alive, for being a creation and a creator, a student and a teacher, a lover and a friend.

As with patience, gratitude is a practice. As I practice, I find more and more and more to be grateful for, as I find more opportunities to enjoy patience. It probably sounds funny to say that I enjoy being patient, but that is what happens when it becomes a practice. Gratitude is exactly the same in that as I am grateful, I find so much more to be grateful for. And, as that has taken hold, and I've turned it into a practice, it has transformed my life, which affects all those I touch in some delightful way.


My Life Is Transformed, One Blessing At A Time. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by practicing your joy and turning your joy into a practice.

Daily Inspiration 8-30-16

The most valuable lessons 

I have ever learned in my life! 

"Happiness is 

not something to pursue. 

Happiness is 

something we accept." 

-- Albert K. Strong 

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. . . Great words from the Declaration of Independence. And, of course, the word pursuit can mean to chase after, or expend effort to secure or obtain, or it can be like an occupation, pastime, or better stated, a way of living. To have our life; our inherent right to live, to be free, and to choose happiness; live in happiness.

Happiness is not something the pursue. The pursuit of it would only attract more pursuit of it, rather like a dog chasing its own tail. It is not something that is outside of us. It is not in a thing, a circumstance, or and event, location, or another person. Happiness is not finding the right person. Happiness is not finding the right circumstances. Happiness is not achievement or success. Although, all of these are often promoted in advertising, and in other means, as if this were true.

Happiness is 100% totally an inside job. It is something we choose and accept. We could be on death row and in these dire circumstances choose to be happy. We could be the wealthiest person on the planet and not be happy. In every person, happiness is always and readily available as we choose it and accept it individually. Life, liberty, and thereby the ability to choose happiness.

When we find things that please us, we feel good because the thoughts we have about those found things are pleasing thoughts, or we could say, happy thoughts. It isn't the thing that makes us happy, it is the thought we have of the thing. When we are attracted to another person, we feel good, or we could say, they make us happy, but what it really is is the thoughts we have about that encounter that creates the feeling we might call happiness.

Yet, we are free to choose happiness in any moment, at any time, with or without external stimuli. Happiness is simply, and exquisitely, a choice to have a happy thought--to think thoughts that feel good or feel happy, or to feel that stronger feeling of happiness that is called joy.

We can choose happiness while waiting in line, while getting a root canal, taking a shower, driving our car, or whatever. All we do is to choose a thought that feels good.

If you've been to church, you might have heard the phrase, God is good. All. The. Time. It is common for the pastor to say the first part and the congregation to yell out the last part. It feels good to hear it and say it, because it is true. I love how Abraham, Esther Hicks explains that feeling good is being in alignment with our Inner Being, or it could equally be stated as Immanuel, or God within, and that when we are not feeling good, we are then out of alignment, and that this inner guidance can accurately, effectively, and divinely direct our lives.

That would mean that feeling happiness is in alignment with God, or Inner Knowing, The Universe, All That Is, or any name that pleases you. You can feel that matching vibration within your body, and mind. This alignment is why happiness is such a valuable thing for us. It is why it is worthy of pursuit, except that pursuit is within not without.

Learning that I choose happiness or not is one the the most important lessons I've learned in my life. You could say that I am in pursuit of happiness, at least in the third meaning of that word where I am living it by constantly choosing and accepting it.


I Choose Happiness. Every Day. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by choosing it, accepting it, sharing it.

Daily Inspiration 8-29-16

The most valuable lessons

I have ever learned in my life!

"They say,

patience is a virtue.

But what it really is,

is a practice."

-- Albert K. Strong

Well, sure, patience is a virtue. And, absolutely, I have found that patience is a practice--a very worthy practice. And, in actually playing in that practice, I have found patience to be even more. Patience is peace. It is love. It is kindness to ourselves.

When I look into my memory banks, I can see that patience was a foreign idea to me and that if anything, I was quite an impatient person. At the grocery store, I would be so busy with negative thoughts about why they didn't have enough cashiers when it was time to check out, how slow some of them were, and more. I had those thoughts where ever I shopped. Waiting in line was something I was constantly trying to avoid. Let's get on with it!

Then I read, Love Is Letting Go Of Fear, by Gerald Jampolsky. He said that we are trying to juggle so many things and that he chose one goal in his life that allowed everything else to fall into place without even having to think much about it directly. That one goal was peace--peace of mind. He wrote, "Peace of mind as our single goal is the most potent motivating force we can have."

Impatience is fear. It doesn't seem that way on the surface, but that is what it is. As Gerald says in the title: Love is letting go of fear. And, so also, Peace is letting go of fear. Peace is the same as love. It has the same vibration. Peace is also the same vibration as appreciation, joy, and freedom.

I took the message of this book to heart and began practicing letting go of the fear that was underlying all that impatience, disappointment, and distrust, and replacing it with a sense of peace, love, patience, kindness, joy.

I began where I felt the most impatience: when I was driving. I used to get so upset with all the idiots on the road. My father used to do that too. I'm sure that's where I learned it; although, I perfected it on my own. So when someone made a stupid move where I could see it, I decided to say something like, "Wow! That was interesting! I wouldn't have thought to do it that way. That's really a different way to do it." I did it when I was alone and when my wife and/or family, or others were riding with me. It began to be fun. I enjoyed it. I was looking for silly moves so that I could compliment them on it. It was a great game.

Then, I tried having patience in the stores, and in every other place I would have been impatient. Sometimes I was gritting my teeth as I was practicing, but that didn't really last very long. It became so much fun, that I changed my whole outlook. Cashiers would say, "sorry for the wait," and I would say, "It allowed me to practice my patience, and I can use all the practice I can get! Thank you!"

Now, after many years of practice, I find very little that causes me to even have any impatience, or if I do, I am not so aware anymore. Now it is a habit to find people to appreciate, to have thoughts of love, to enjoy my practice as I wait in line, or in the "waiting room," or wherever my practice takes me. And, I feel the peace of this. I feel the love of it. I feel the freedom of it. I feel the kindness that I have poured on myself by it.


Peace Is A Most Happy Place. 

Spread Some Joy Today--because we can and it feels good. That's all the reason we need.

Daily Inspiration 8-28-16

The most valuable lessons 

I have ever learned in my life! 

"Depression is just a thought. 

So is joy. 

They don't happen to us. 

We happen to them." 

-- Albert K. Strong 

This morning, as I was becoming awakened, but not yet having my eyes open--you know, that semi-dream state and semi-awake state just before our eyes open to the new day. From that place, I heard the Mission Impossible theme music, and a recording that said, "Good morning, Mr. Minion. Your mission, Terry, should you decide to accept it, is to enjoy yourself--to be injoy throughout the day today. Contrary thoughts and situations will come your way, and it is your job to see that joy rules. . ."

I started laughing because it was so wonderful, and yet so bizarre at the same time. Where did that come from? I haven't got a clue, but I was loving it just the same as if I did it on purpose. What a delightfilled way to awaken to a new day!

Wayne Dyer says, "We deserve to feel joy--it's our spiritual calling. So whatever it takes to feel joy, we simply must act upon it." I agree totally.

I don't know when this change took place in my psyche, but it had to be in the last eight years or so. It began slowly, and then increased over time to the point that it has become a mantra of mine to enjoy myself, or better stated, to injoy myself, or to be in joy throughout my day. It's not nearly the challenge that some think it is. It requires no work. It only requires letting go of the stuff in and around us, and once done, even if only done a little, the natural joy that is within us is exposed more and more. If we clear the stuff on an ongoing basis, then joy is exposed more and more often and to greater and greater degrees.

I have let go of the stuff enough now to have joy exposed in me every single day, and some days, it just rocks my world. Like today. I can just feel it rocking my world as I write this on Sunday morning at 7:25 am on August 28th, 2016. I know without a smidgen of doubt that today will be a truly joyous day. I can feel it. I know it. It is already.

Yesterday's valuable lesson was the fact that we all get to choose our perspective, our thoughts about anything. About ourselves, about others, about the neighbors, the city, the state, the country, the world, and anything and everything that goes on in these of which we have some awareness. So today, and every day now, I choose my experience by uncovering my natural inner joy--that little fun kid inside that loves to be amazed, loves to laugh, loves to have fun, loves to make light of things. 

Although these lifetime lessons that I'm sharing are not in any particular order of importance, in that I think they are equally important, I think yesterday and today are really number one and two. I choose my perspective, my reality, my thoughts, and I choose joy. It's the ole' one-two punch! Wham! Bang! Bip! Bap! Yeah! Done!

By the way, at the end of every CTS Daily Inspiration is the idea to "spread some joy today," with a little message. Today's message will be the 2,525th time. None were repeated unless unconsciously. That's a lot of ideas on spreading joy! That's a lot of being injoy!

I hope that you injoy your day today! It's not up to me, but if it were, you would.


What A Wonderful World. I've Accepted And Embraced The Mission. Nothing Is Impossible. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by uncovering the debris that seems so dang important. It's covering one of the most valuable assets and possessions you could possibly own: your joy. There's an abundance of it--a never-ending supply.

Daily Inspiration 8-27-16

The most valuable lessons 

I have ever learned in my life! 

"There is nothing either good or bad 

but thinking makes it so." 

-- William Shakespeare 

It is what we say it is. It is what we think it is. It is what we feel about what we think it is. It is what we believe it is by what we think, say, feel, and do. There is no such thing as the truth, but as many truths as there are those to think something about truth. In other words, we make it all up. We may choose to believe what someone else made up, but if not us, someone made it up somewhere along the line.

Everything is neutral until we make it something.

This lesson from William Shakespeare has always been one of my favorite quotes from my first reading of it. It caused me to consider what it was saying, and I have taken its message to heart, and in so doing, it has changed my life for the better.

I need to periodically remind myself by looking at it again, or remembering that whatever I am looking at, I am deciding what that is by what I am thinking, and consequently feeling about it.

When I was very young, I was being taught right from wrong, often accompanied by punishment if I chose incorrectly. I didn't much like pain, so I endeavored to learn the right and avoid the wrong, but sometimes I was just not paying attention and wandered off into the wrong territory. I also learned that this wasn't really so much of a problem unless my parents found out.

It's like today. Every time I get in my truck, I break the law. I don't try to, but sometimes I'm just not paying close enough attention. Going 30 mph in a 25 mph area, going 70 or 75 mph on the freeway keeping up with all the other people doing at least that, and some much more, when the speed limit is 65 mph. Every single time I drive anywhere, I break the letter of the law somewhere along the way. I'm not alone by any stretch of the imagination, and luckily, it is rare to get caught in these errors.

There are a lot of things like this where choices are made that have a label of good or bad, legal or illegal, right or wrong, appropriate or inappropriate, and more. We make it all up--every bit of it. Someone just decided to set a speed limit at a certain level, and they made up what the punishment would be if they caught you exceeding it, and sometimes, or maybe often, by how much.

It's all made up by someone. In fact, there are entire governments that are fashioned around all of this stuff, with courts, lawyers, judges, jails, and treasuries to handle the load of wrong-doers, law-breakers, and such. It's an entire bureaucracy in action.

And thinking makes it so.

I get to choose too. I get to choose my thinking. I get to choose what I want to label something. I get to choose how I feel about something by what my thoughts are on the subject. Others may have their thoughts and feelings, and they may or may not match my own, so we all get to choose.

What a fantastic lesson this is to learn. I get to choose all of it. I make it so by what I choose to think about it. I create my own beliefs. I create good or bad. I create right or wrong. Others may choose as well. They may even try to get me to believe what they believe, to think what is true is what they say is true. So be it. Let them choose. We cannot really stop it anyway. And, the good news about that is that they cannot stop me either.


It Is What I Think, Say, And Believe It Is. I Alone Decide For Myself As I Allow That. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by making your own choices about joy or not joy, spreading it or not spreading it. Do as you wish. Consider it as you will.

Daily Inspiration 8-26-16

"Confidence is the most important 

single factor in this game, 

and no matter how great your talent, 

there is only one way 

to obtain it--work." 

-- Jack Nicklaus 

Hmmmm. Certainly work, or rather, a better word would be practice, is something that can lead one to have increasing confidence. Yet, the word, work, and especially when it is preceded by the word, hard, is only of real and profitable value when doing something we are driven to do, love to do, can't wait to do, as was obviously the case with Jack Nicklaus, and I'm sure all the top golfers then and now. And, then, in my mind, it is no longer associated with that four-letter word, work. It certainly would be more appropriately associated with the word, play.

But, the reason I chose this quote was the idea that confidence comes from work. I know for sure and for certain that it is indeed, the most important single factor in the game, or any game, or any task, of any kind. And maybe it can come from practice, or work, or even hard work. Yet, confidence is not a thing to be received or attained. It is simply a thought, and a feeling, that creates a temporary belief. 

This thought, resultant feeling, and temporary belief can just as easily come from our imagination, and perhaps even more powerfully and fully than through any amount of practice or work. In fact, work is sort of a backward way to the feeling and belief of confidence. It's an action way. The faster, easier, smoother way is through imaginary visualization.

Confidence is a feeling. It is the result of thought. And, from the place of a desire to do a thing, it is a very desirable feeling to feel. There are many routes to every destination.


I Think I Can. I Think I Am. I Know I Am. It Is. I Am. 

Spread Some Joy Today--You'll know it when you feel it, and so will everyone else.

Daily Inspiration 8-25-16

"The most radical act 

anyone can commit 

is to be happy." 

-- Patch Adams 

I know that happiness is not something that is achieved. It is something that is chosen. It is not found, because it isn't lost. It's always there and ready at a moment's notice. I choose happiness. That's the choice. And, the easy way to happiness is choosing how you see things. It's all about thoughts.

Here's a great piece from The Universe, a.k.a., Mike Dooley of tut.com:

"When in a hurry, step #1 for changing the entire world is falling in love with it as it already is. 

Same for changing yourself. 

And, best of all, with this approach, there is no step #2." 


Loving It The Way. . . It Is . . . They Are. . . I Am. 

Spread Some Joy Today--Let loose on your happiness today. Here's a great question: What do you have to lose? I'm sure you have a good answer for that!

Daily Inspiration 8-24-16

"The essence of a belief is that we own it, 

regardless of what's happening around us. 

If you can be easily swayed by data, 

then it's not much of a belief." 

-- Seth Godin 

In yesterday's post, I mentioned the movie, The Confirmation and that there were several good discussion points in the movie. Yesterday, I pointed out one that stood out to me from the father and son interactions, and today I'll share another I gleaned from the film.

The son was confused about things. He didn't know what to think. He heard things about his estranged father from others and he didn't know if they were true, or even how he felt about the remarks. His father, showing a beautiful bit of wisdom, said that he needed to listen to what others say, and then make up your own mind. He mentioned that he needed to decide for himself several times.

So what is a belief? It is simply a thought we continue to think, or a something we have made a decision about for whatever reason, and we consider it to be truth. The solidity of that truth is often tested by data from others, and we can continually modify our truths to match that of another, or many others (groups always seem to have more power, but that is simply an illusion), or we can allow that data to pass us by, holding on to our chosen thoughts.

The wise advice to the son to make up his own mind is great, but how does that work? How would he know what to believe and what not to believe? He would know it by how he feels deep inside--not the reaction to the data that will cause a feeling response, but the somewhat deeper response to the information, an inner knowing. An inner knowing is what resonates with our higher self, our inner being, the God within us, our soul, our Spirit, or choose your own words, but I'm sure you know to what I refer.

Resonance is a fascinating thing. It is a thing of beauty. It is Divine Guidance. It is Inspiration. It is a certain truth of truths that only we know within.

Way back in 1980, I owned a musical instrument store in Napa CA. I was a guitar player, and sold a lot of guitars. There is nothing quite like a well-tuned guitar, except maybe a delightfully skilled musician playing it. I saw many of them come into the store. We had a lot of students and they often found tuning to be challenging. We found a guitar tuner that was very inexpensive at only $9.95 and it was called the Match-A-Tone guitar tuner. It had a dial and you would turn it on, choose the string note, and it would generate a tone and all the student needed to do was to match that tone. It was pretty obvious when they matched. A little low or a little high was easy to hear, and when it was in tune, the string resonated with the tuner tone.

That's how we know. It resonates within us. It matches the tone of our inner knowing. It has the same vibration. It is in complete harmony. We don't need to think about it, because we know it by how it feels. You can feel resonance. You can feel the out of tune-ness, or disparity that is the lack of resonance. It feels off. It feels out of tune. If feels like the vibrations don't match.

That would have been so valuable to the son so that the son not only made his own decision, but checked in with. and connected with his inner all knowing wisdom until he found resonance. That is also a great way to periodically test our beliefs to see if we should continue to believe them, or let them go in favor of something that matches our inner knowing.


You Know It When It Resonates, When It Is A Vibrational Match Inside You. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by allowing your joy to flow. The only thing that can stop your joy from flowing is your thoughts. It is also your thoughts that allow your joy to flow. What are you thinking?

Daily Inspiration 8-23-16

"When you change 

the way you look at things, 

the things you look at change." 

-- Wayne Dyer 

I watched a powerfully good movie last night that just came out on video, The Confirmation, with Clive Owen, and Jaeden Lieberher in the lead as father and son. There were a number of interesting points worth discussing in this flick, and this morning, I'll focus on one very simple, and yet profound thing.

In the movie, Clive is a craftsman--a finishing carpenter. He wanted his son to be more appreciative of things because they are made by people. Somebody made that. Several people worked on that to create this. He asked his son, have you thought about who made your pants? Or your shirt. People made them. Someone sewed them together. When you go across a bridge, think about all the people it took and the skills it took to build that bridge. He was also suggesting that loving what we do and taking some pride in doing it well was a virtue to contemplate.

So today, I will pay more attention. I will pay homage to all those people who made the things that I enjoy. My bookshelves (numerous!), guitars, the computer I'm typing on, people that grew the plants that are in my courtyard, my truck which serves me well, the clothes I'm wearing and those in my closet, the carpet I walk on, the kitchen I cook in, along with all the pots, pans, knives, eating utensils, Tupperware containers, the blinds on the windows, the windows themselves, the roof over my head, the cement in the sidewalk.

There are literally thousands of things to give thanks for within just a few feet of where I stand, and of the things that we appreciate and like, we may do that from time to time, but we probably haven't, as I haven't opened my awareness to all the people involved in making all these thousands of things that aid my life in so many ways.


Appreciating All The People Who Created And Produced All The Stuff Of Life. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by finding joy wherever you go, whatever you do, whomever you're with.

Daily Inspiration 8-22-16

"If you'd like to teach 

a kid to ride a bike, 

training wheels are a bad idea." 

-- Seth Godin 

Seth continues: "You're much better off with a small bike with no pedals. All training wheels do is confuse, distract or stall." And, since Seth Godin is a marketing author and expert, he adds, "the same is true for marketing. You don't need to go to school for four years. You need to do marketing." He also says that "the same thing is true for leadership. Find something worth doing, find others to join in."

Have you ever tried to ride a bike with training wheels? I tried it once and it felt completely stupid. One of the unique things about a bike is that it has a roll axis, unlike a car with four wheels. In other words, we can lean right or left, and in fact, that ability to lean has a great deal to do with riding a bike, and training wheels stops the roll axis, and you can watch a little kid on a bike with training wheels trying to lean and they can't. It's a silly protectionist thing that a parent would put on a bike because they are afraid the child will come to harm. But it slows the process of learning to a crawl.

I have a pilot's license and it would be like trying to fly a plane with it attached to a pole. A plane has, even more, freedom than a bike because instead of two axes, roll, and yaw, it has three--roll, pitch, and yaw. Left or right leaning, up or down, and right or left pointing. Training wheels on a bike limit the rider to one axis: yaw. It takes all the freedom away.

Our freedom is in our ability to decide, to do or to act. As we consider the fear of decision's ramifications, and/or the unknown aspects of doing something we may have never done before, we attach training wheels to our life. It feels crappy but safer, and yet, it isn't safe at all. We can feel inside that it doesn't feel right. We can feel the resistance and the restraint involved. We have imprisoned ourselves, lost our freedom.

Because we so strongly want freedom, we rebel against the self-created resistance and restraint, and with the ego's complete cooperation, we begin blaming others, external forces, and more. And yet, our freedom is always fully in our control if we will only become aware of that power. Training wheels will not help us learn to use this power, we must simply exercise it, trust it will all be okay and move.

Freedom is also our willingness and ability to fail and to learn from those failures. The label, fail or failure is made up. Truly there are only results, and we can then make adjustments if the results are not as desired. Pema Chodron wrote a short book about leaning into the unknown. The title is, Fail. Fail Again. Fail Better. 


Take Off The Training Wheels. Freedom Awaits. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by experiencing and spreading joy. Now.

Daily Inspiration 8-21-16

"Our inner picture 

has to be based on 

our intention to feel good, 

which is of course 

synonymous with feeling God." 

-- Wayne Dyer 

In his book, Living An Inspired Life - Our Ultimate Calling, Wayne continues: "If we make this an inner mantra: I intend to feel good, we can picture ourselves experiencing joy regardless of what's going on around us. We can remind ourselves that whatever we desire is on its way, in amounts greater than ever imagined. If we keep this vision uppermost in mind, then before long, the All-Creating Source will conspire to bring our vision into our physical life. Most important, we'll begin to act on our vision and receive Divine guidance." 

Some have said to me, "you just can't go around feeling good all the time. That's just a dream world." They are right, of course. It is just a dream world--my dream world. I assume by what they say that they would prefer me to feel bad instead. Or to focus more on all the suffering in the world. But, that's no longer my world. They want me to take a stand on the issues of the day. They say, "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." And, of course, they are right, so I am standing for feeling good, for living in my chosen reality, my own dream world.

What is fascinating to me is that this idea of feeling good really works. It works like nothing other that I have seen in my life. I no longer have unhappiness in my life. I've let go of so many things that were causing me to feel crappy. I think the one that took the longest to go was the idea of frustration, which is very much like the definition of insanity by Albert Einstein, as in "doing the same things and expecting a different result," or more accurately, thinking the same things and expecting a different result.

I no longer have the frustration that was so common. I live predominantly in joy now--varying degrees of joy, love, peace, and appreciation. I like how Abraham, Esther Hicks, who, by the way, helped to show me the path I'm on, says this about living my moments:

"Mining the moment for something that feels good, something to appreciate, something to savor, something to take in, that's what your moments are about. They're not about justifying your existence. It's justified. You exist. It's not about proving your worthiness. It's done. You're worthy. It's not about achieving success. You never get it done. It's about "How much can this moment deliver to me?" And some of you like them fast, some of you like them slow. No one's taking score. You get to choose. The only measurement is between my desire and my allowing. And your emotions tell you everything about that." 

To me, feeling good has become my only real objective, and there are so many ways to feel good. As Abraham says, "mine the moment for something (anything!) that feels good" when you think about it. "Something to appreciate," which is anything! also. "Something to savor," whether it is taste with the tongue or delightful odors, there is always something to savor if you want to savor. And, "something to take in," like the color of the sky, the leaves in a tree or on the ground, or the breeze wafting over your skin, or that favorite feel-good movie, or looking someone in the eye.

One last delicious point from the Abraham quote, where they say, "The only measurement is between my desire and my allowing." What a dynamic way to put that. Let's call it a gap for the moment. That gap can be as big as the word, "impossible," and as small as the word, "done!" It's not about being worthy, justified, or successful. It isn't even about what we want, only the distance between what we want and our allowing it in. And, we know what we have by how we feel moment by moment.

There are so many ways to feel good, that to feel bad has no value to me anymore. It's sort of surprising to think that I did value it often. Why would anyone choose to feel bad, to be upset about anything, to struggle, to be frustrated, when they could feel good? There is no such thing as one world. We all are living in the world of our choices. We all get to experience our world by how we feel about it. Choose as you will, as it is always your choice. All your choices are good for you because they are your own.


Feeling Good Isn't Something We Find Or Create. We Simply Allow Or Disallow Our Thoughts On That. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by finding more and more feeling good moments. Ooooh, there's one! There's another. . . here's one. . . OMG, they're all around me now. . .

Daily Inspiration 8-20-16

"Do not strive to attain perfection. 

Strive to recognize it." 

-- Alan Cohen 

How perfect is that!? There it is. Maybe by recognizing the perfection that already exists, that is all around us, that is fully within us, that is life itself, we can accept perfection.

Perhaps instead of trying to be good, it might be more beneficial to recognize the good that is all around us, within us, that is life itself.

It could also be that instead of seeking joy, it may be already within us, simply awaiting our recognition of that joy that is also all around us, and is, indeed, life itself.

Instead of wanting love, we accept and recognize the truest love within us, that is all around us, that is life itself.

Rather than seeking a portion of abundance to counteract our awareness of lack, we recognize that abundance that is fully within us, all around us, and is unquestionably, life itself.


Un-Strive To Find, And Simply, And Exquisitely Accept That It Is Already, Has Always Been, And Always Will Be. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by accepting and allowing the natural joy within to wash over you.

Daily Inspiration 8-19-16

"Realize deeply 

that the present moment 

is all you will ever have." 

-- Eckhart Tolle 

Time is such an interesting idea. Eckhart Tolle adds: "Time isn't precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time--past and future--the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is."

It's interesting how he defines time as past and future, and if I think about that statement in that way, it makes perfect sense. But, what is even more fascinating is that we are always living in the now because that is all there is. We may be having thoughts from the past, or thoughts of something or someone from the past, that which has already been but is not this moment, and in reality, these thoughts are happening right now. We cannot go into the past. We can only access memories. And, memories then become the now. Except as we think of the memories, we may be missing what is happening this moment.

I was driving to meet a friend in Vacaville from Fairfield CA, and I was thinking that just this month been three years since my wife, Nancy, passed. I thought, "wow, three years. . . . It doesn't feel like three years. It feels like 3 nanoseconds ago. Heck, it seems like it was only 5 nanoseconds ago that we were making love on the beach around midnight at the Turtle Bay Hilton in Hawaii where we had only met two nights ago. I was 37 and she was 34 at the time." That memory is just as clear as it could be, and in April of 2017, it will have been 30 years since we met.

I can remember certain scenes from childhood that are as vivid as if it were this morning. Then buying my first car, getting my first real job, driving dump trucks, working on cars and trucks in the Air Force, getting into a career in the auto business, becoming a sales manager, buying our first home, and a few thousand other wonderful memories. They too were just a few nanoseconds ago. 

Then in juxtaposition of that, or maybe completely and delightfully in harmony with that, depending on your point of view, I was sitting outside in the carport yesterday holding Charlie and watching the birds in the courtyard right outside my office. My thought was, this, right here, right now, is sheer perfection. There is peace, love, harmony, atmospheric delight (lovely weather), and here was the most important thought, and it is one that really got my attention. I said silently to myself, "there is absolutely nowhere else I would rather be than right here, right now."

I think the reason that thought made such an impact on me is that for so much of my life, I was always wanting to be somewhere I wasn't. Or, at least it seemed that way. Sure there were tons of moments where I was fully enjoying that moment, but in my mind, I might have rather lived in Hawaii, or live in the country, or travel to this place or that, or have a lot more money, or have made better choices, or fill in the blank. But, yesterday, I was completely and totally focused on the moment and realizing--mildly astonished, actually--that there was not one place on planet Earth I would rather be than right there, just then.

Maybe you've had thoughts like that, but I was sort of blown away by it. I even tried to think of a place, a city or location, or type of home, or anywhere else that I might rather be. My answer was no. I was completely and totally at peace and in love with the moment by moment by moment by moment. I was in perfect harmony and joy--and awake within it.


"Time Is An Illusion" -- Albert Einstein 

Spread Some Joy Today--by allowing yourself to be where you are in joy. Wherever that may be.

Daily Inspiration 8-18-16

"Put your mind in gear 

before you engage your mouth." 

-- A phrase I heard often as a youngster 

from my Step-Dad 

Warning! Warning! Automatic Habitual Pattern Mode is engaged! Well, wouldn't that be nice to hear and get us back on track. We all know that the automatic habitual pattern mode is real, and sadly, often prevalent in our lives. Well, I can't speak for any other than myself, so I'll just say, it has been prevalent in mine.

Yesterday there were at least two warnings that I actually heard. I'm so grateful that I am now hearing them as actual warnings. In the past, I would go on oblivious to the damage being done.

When talking with another person, keeping the subject joyful and upbeat is a good thing, and yet often we may either bring up a negative subject, or join in with our own quips when they do. And, I'm so thankful that in both cases yesterday, I stopped rather quickly, and turned toward better feeling conversation.

One was with a client and I brought up something about a mutual client and whether or not she was paid for her work yet. I found myself getting into more than just that aspect until I heard the warning, and then turned away. I was a little slow on the take, because I'm new to the warnings, but I'm delighted to have them keep me in the light instead of floundering in the darkness.

The other was my business partner discussing veterinarians and how they love tests, and raising the average financial return on each animal they see. Then there was a brief bit about an authority that was being less than cooperative. Since this was not very long after my first warning I just shared, I suggested to him that we find gratitude for all that instead. Let us be thankful, find things to praise and feel good about, that all this about gratitude is real and powerful, and we need to focus there. He agreed. The whole tone changed immediately.

We are habitual creatures and even habitual creators. Sometimes, we're even totally on autopilot--just like so many times I get in my truck turn the corner, then turn another corner, and several blocks later, I realize I really wanted to go the other way, but I'm so used to going this way, I just did it unconsciously. Sometimes I've even gone many miles before I realized what I was doing.

Awareness is key. Wanting to feel good is key. Realizing that we are habitual and that we need to practice waking up sometimes when feeling good has gone awry. When discussing something considered or labeled, wrong or unfair or not to our liking, it never feels good. We may even get into it with some enthusiasm, but it doesn't really feel good. Turning toward what we want, would rather have, toward joy, always feels good. It's that conversation that uplifts, energizes, inspires.

It doesn't matter that it is real, or that it happened. There are all kinds of shit-happens scenarios available if we want them, but they all feel like. . . well, not good. Finding something in that subject to feel good about changes everything about the conversation, the result, the day we're having, the life we are choosing to live.


Habitual Pattern Mode Is Disengaged. Awareness And Desire To Feel Good Is Now Fully Engaged. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by going through the day awake and alive.

Daily Inspiration 8-17-16

"Why you want something 

defines the essence of the 

what you want." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

What is the value of continually learning? To find those one liners that light up my brain! Those that cause a connection, an "ah-ha" moment, an awakening, all of which equals a deeper and wider understanding of something I already knew.

I've studied this stuff for a lot of years now, and it always still amazes me when something just leaps off the page at me, saying, "Hey Minion! This is important! Pay attention!" The quote above, did just that.

It's just that our so-called human nature--or maybe it is our ego--seems to want to naturally focus on how to get what we want once we have decided what it is that we want. And, I know how Mike Dooley always says to "avoid the curs-ed how's!" Yet, it is a challenge to let go of how. We are trained to figure it out, to find a way, right? Letting go of the how part is so fraught with uncertainty, and requires trust and faith, which I know is a challenge from all my past training.

But, I also have learned that even though I may gravitate to wanting to know how automatically, I should be reminded by the sign on my office wall that has been there many years now, "What is my job! How is God's job!" And then, in Esther Hick's book, Ask and It Is Given, from which the above quote came, says it all with only the title. Ask. And. It. Is. Given! Seems to me I've heard or read that from other sources too.

Why did it leap off the page then? Because of this part of the quote: "defines the essence of the what you want." Why defines the what. I thought, of course! That's why the why is so important. I thought, of course! That's why the how is not important. It is because the why is what defines the what. The how doesn't define the what, but the why does. I thought, Wow! Isn't that cool? Isn't that powerful? It's flat amazing!

So, I'll share the whole quote from which I pulled the short quote above:

"Why you want something defines the essence of the what you want, and the Universe always delivers to you the vibrational essence of your desire. . . . So, when you think about why you want something, you usually soften resistance; but when you think about when it will come to you or how it will come or who will help it to come, you often add resistance, especially if you do not already know the answers to those questions." 

Of course, most of the time we haven't got a clue about the answers to the questions about when, how, or who, and that naturally causes concern, which is another word for resistance, and then it may even cause worry, which is much stronger resistance. BUT, when we focus on why we want something, that should release any and all resistance. Decide what we want and then simply focus on why we want it, which will cause us to imagine it being here already and how that will feel. Then the only thing left is to simply let go and let God.


Why Do I Want This That I Want? 

Spread Some Joy Today--by realizing why joy feels so darn good, and then enjoying it some more. Simply appreciate something or someone.

Daily Inspiration 8-16-16

"Whenever I am 

being my mind's bitch, 

I am not living 

in my natural state of joy." 

-- Pam Grout 

How many times have we heard the phrase, "practice makes perfect?" Or, maybe it was, "practice, practice, practice," if you were an athlete or a musician. Some might have said, "if you're gonna be good at it, you're gonna have to practice," or "you've gotta put in the time to get the gold." There's hundreds of them, I'm sure, and I think that unless you're serious about getting there, many are not willing to practice because it is often seen as hard work, no fun, I got better things to do.

I suppose it depends on what we want to practice. But even more than that, it depends on how we feel about practice.

What about gratitude? There's a world of benefit in practicing gratitude. And is it work? Is it hard? Does it sap our energy? Not. It only requires a decision to do so and then simply do it, and the more often we do it, the more gratitude we have and feel, and the more benefits and blessings that come upon on us from all quarters.

In Pam Grout's latest book, Thank and Grow Rich (It's not about money, by the way. It's about real wealth!), she states that it is important to put everything into perspective. She says, "I have been accused of being unrealistic, a crazy idealist, not in touch with the real world. "It's impossible," my detractors insist, "for someone to live in gratitude all the time. Sh*t happens." 

She agreed, and continued, "However, 99.9 percent of life, even during the sh*t storm, still operates in perfect working order, continues to run as efficiently as that annoying Energizer Bunny." 

She says, "Anyone who thinks life is nothing but an ordeal is clearly deluded." Then she lists some examples of the beginning of a "bad day," where what she wanted to wear is wrinkled and in the laundry basket, the freeway is crawling and people aren't paying attention, things are not going well at work, and the list can go on for hours, "And. . . " she adds, "you were created from stars, free liquid falls from the sky--do you know how remarkable that is? You live on a planet with just the right amount of oxygen, and just the right ratio of just the right gases," and that list will go on to infinity.

It all depends on where we choose--and we always and in all ways choose--to put our perspective, or how we choose to view or see a situation. And our perspective has everything to do with how we feel and how we feel has everything to do with where we are, what we have, who we are right now.

Can we give thanks, appreciate, be in gratitude for everything? Even the so-called bad things? The answer to this is absolutely, yes. But, that's not the question that matters. The question that matters is not can we, but will we?


Therein Lies The Dilemma. And The Inevitable Results. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by being willing to practice allowing it. It is not something that is searched for and found, as it is always there, only awaiting our allowing of it to be realized.

Daily Inspiration 8-15-16

"As you cannot do what you want, 

want what you can do." 

-- Leonardo da Vinci 

Another way to say this is, if you cannot have what you want, want what you have.

So, some may be thinking that if I don't want what I have, and I don't have what I want, how can I get what I want? An interesting dilemma. If I want what I don't have, I feel lousy, and if I don't like what I have or what I'm doing now, I feel lousy, so no matter what, I feel lousy, and that sucks!

But, the Law of Attraction doesn't care about what I want or what I don't want. It is completely neutral on all of that. It doesn't respond to my desires, or my lack of desire. It responds to my vibration, and my vibration is vibrating according to how I feel. So, in this case, I'm feeling lousy about not getting what I want, and even more lousy because I am doing or having what I don't want, so the Law of Attraction responds by giving me circumstances, situations, people in my path, and more, to give me more to feel lousy about.

Think of it this way: The angrier a person gets, the more opportunities show up to get angry about, until anger, hate, disappointment, revenge, and all manner of other similar thoughts rule my life. And, since the Law of Attraction is completely neutral on what I want or have, the happier I am, the more opportunities show up to be happy about, to move into appreciation, joy, and love. It responds equally to whatever vibration, or how we are feeling, perfectly, and promptly.

Have you ever been in an area, maybe at work, or a place where there are some friends and/or associates, and one might be expressing anger, disdain, being upset about something in the news--a terrorist thing, or bashing a politician or political candidate, or, "did you hear about the shooting at the ______?," or the latest financial scandal. And then did you ever notice how many others pipe in with this story and that story and what is wrong with this and that and the other? Pretty soon there's a whole pissing party going on. I've seen this phenomenon many times.

Though it is equally possible to have these parties with positive, uplifting news, they are very rare, if ever, in my own experience, and maybe you have had a similar experience. Why is that? I think it is just that negative news dominates all over the world, and so people just go with the dominant theme. Wouldn't it be interesting if that wasn't the case? What kind of world would that be?

Still, the point is that the Law of Attraction is bringing all of us more of what we are feeling. So, when I am feeling lousy about my job or my situation, can't wait to change it because I want something else that I don't currently have, I'm stuck where I am. I'm stuck because I am getting more of what I am feeling.

So, the way out of what I don't want, or not liking, is to find ways to like it, love it, and want more of it. The feeling good feelings will draw more opportunities to feel good, which will draw more opportunities for feeling better, and this is what leads us to what we want. Feeling crappy, I'm stuck, and feeling good, I am freed to move about the cabin.


I Can Have What I Want By Loving What I Have.

Spread Some Joy Today--by turning toward that joy, feeling that feeling, and then without the least bit of effort, the sharing has begun.

Daily Inspiration 8-14-16

"I'm big because 

I'm connected to the universe, 

and the universe 

is connected to me." 

-- Neil DeGrasse Tyson 

I'm in the middle of a great new book that was just published a few days ago. It is by a favorite author, Pam Grout, who wrote the huge best-seller E-Squared. Her next book was E-Cubed, and now this book, Thank and Grow Rich. Obviously, and correctly, it is all about gratitude, being thankful, appreciating ourselves and all that is around us, as we are a part of it all.

I wrote something on a notepad a few months ago: Living a life of significance--10 steps, 14 principles, 7 actions. It was an idea for a inspirational post making a spoof about the idea that there are steps, principles, and actions required to have a life of significance. Indeed, that seems to be much of what we're taught in our young lives, and continues in our careers, and more. But, my thought was that every single person is living a life of significance because every single life is significant. We don't have to do anything, learn anything, be anything other than who we are. Significance is a given, not a getten.

Pam Grout's book says that same thing, in her words, of course, and that the simple, and yet so dynamically profound act of being thankful, grateful, appreciative of every single thing, every combined thing, all that is good and all that is labeled not good leads to infinite happiness. She says, being grateful for all things holds such value for a vastly improved experience, and that we don't really have to do anything at all to be perfect the way we are. That includes not having to be grateful if we don't feel like it. But, of course, we really do feel like it deep down because it is so much a part of our nature; in fact, we can't help it once we let go of the static.

I woke up a tad after 3 a.m. this morning, sitting up, with eyes closed, rocking back and forth, giving praise, being thankful. I focused on one person, a significant person, but not a close person to me. I've known this guy since 1980. He has a local business here in Fairfield CA, and I've bought many thousands of dollars of products from him over the years. It's been ten years since I've bought anything from him, as I'm not in need of his products anymore, but he pops into my head and I am thinking of all the transactions, his demeanor, his expertise, his fairness, and much more.

I was appreciating all of these things for quite some time. Then, at 4:30 a.m., I got up and went to my office and wrote him a 2-page typewritten thank you letter, addressed it, and put a stamp on it. I'll take it to the Post Office later, and he will get it tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest. It begins with Thank you! I Appreciate You! in big bold print, then goes on to give particulars. How do you think he will feel to receive this? I haven't got a clue, but I'm guessing, it will make his day. But, what is more important is how it causes me to feel. I felt great thinking about it, and even better writing it out.

It's nice to think grateful thoughts, loving thoughts, appreciative thoughts of people. A beautiful woman I had a bit of a fling with 30 years ago told me that she thought that whenever she was thinking of me, that I was thinking of her and vise versa. We never really compared notes, but that might be true. I do believe that just having positive, uplifting thoughts about others is of value to them somehow on some level.

But, there's nothing quite so special as saying it to their face, writing them a note, sending them flowers, or whatever other physical act that takes that mental appreciation and manifests it physically. Don't you think you would appreciate such thoughts and acts? Maybe you know someone or several someones to begin with today. How about one a week? One a day? We all have people we're grateful for, and maybe even someone we haven't seen in ten years. . .


Loving Thoughts Have Much Value, And Loving Actions Display Them. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by sharing your joy with someone who would delight in knowing how you feel.

Daily Inspiration 8-13-16

"Giving thanks for abundance 

is sweeter than 

the abundance itself." 

-- Rumi 

Giving thanks is to be in appreciation, and to be in appreciation is to be in love. Something that I posted by Abraham, Esther Hicks a few days ago says this nicely too: "When you concentrate on appreciating, then appreciation comes right back--but you are really not looking for appreciation to come to you; you want the feeling of appreciation flowing through you." 

I'm not sure I totally got that until this morning when I saw the above quote by Rumi. It's worthy of repetition: "Giving thanks for (being in appreciation of) abundance is sweeter than the abundance itself." 

It's kind of like when we want something, even when we want something very strongly, it is that feeling of wanting it and imagining receiving it that is so much more powerful than when we actually manifest it. This happens so often that if other beings were looking at us running around toward things that we want, and then not really wanting them after we've gotten them, they would think we were a bunch of flighty ungrateful misfits. But it is more our nature to want than to have. Having is nice, but wanting is life itself, because wanting is the flowing of energy.

So all of this about abundance, caused me to think about joy and appreciation--two of my favorite subjects--well, they're closer than that even, as they are such similar vibrations, along with love, freedom, and knowledge. As I thought of that, I know that the source of my joy is and has always been appreciation, or being thankful, if you will. As I am focused on appreciation, as Abraham said, appreciation comes back to me. In other words I feel one with it. But where that thing called joy comes from is the feeling of appreciation flowing through me. 

When we concentrate on abundance, abundance comes right back, or rather, we align with it, connect with it, recognize it, realize it, and what really floats our boat is the feeling of abundance flowing through us. That feeling is an acknowledgement of the most powerful connection of all--the connection with our inner being, or all-that-is, God within, or whatever words to describe that that works for you.

When we concentrate on joy, that joy is returned. The connection is opened, and the rush we have in joy is the feeling of joy flowing through us, not achieving joy, but experiencing joy, feeling joy alive within us.

It is all about energy, and flowing energy. We get to choose how we will flow energy. We get to choose our focus, our concentration. As we choose and focus, it is returned to us, which opens the connection to more of it, and it is the feeling of that flowing in us that is what makes us feel alive. 

This flowing of energy works with whatever we choose and focus on. It can be joy, and it can be pain. It can be appreciation, and it can be hate. It can be powerfully negative, or powerfully positive, and we all get to choose. Some people love that feeling of the energy of hate flowing through them. We all get to choose. Personally, I choose not that. I am rather fond of appreciation and joy--and abundance. I love the feeling that comes from that, so that is my choice, focus, and feeling.


Choice. Focus. Feeling. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by choosing it, focusing on it, and feeling that energy of joy flowing through you. The source of joy is appreciation.

Daily Inspiration 8-12-16

"You've got to beat the drum 

that makes you feel good 

when you beat it." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

This gem of wisdom was gleaned from this quote: "We cannot focus upon the weaknesses of one another and evoke strengths. You cannot focus upon the things that you think they are doing wrong, and evoke things that will make you feel better. You've got to beat the drum that makes you feel good when you beat it. And when you do, you'll be a strong signal of influence that will help them to reconnect with who they are." 

It has been said often by many that there are only two motivations on earth: pleasure and pain. In other words, we do things because we know it will bring us pleasure in varying degrees, and we avoid things that give us varying degrees of pain. Run toward something or someone, or run away from it or them.

So how do we focus on pain and receive pleasure? It can be done, and even become habitual, but that is sort of insane. That's not the way it really works. And so, as we focus on a friend's pain, or a co-worker, or something in the community, or on a national or international plane, it doesn't make us stronger, and we cannot really help that or those that we are wanting to help. All we do is join them where they are and feel what they are feeling.

It's like someone being in a pit and we want to help them out and so we jump down there with them to comfort them, and now we are both in the pit. We help people through our personal strength, not our sympathy. We help people best by being the best example of well-being. We help best by leading, not following. That is also the loving way and the compassionate way.

Just as we train a dog well by a series of rewards, and not beating them every time they do something wrong, that same strategy is the better strategy for humans. When we beat people up verbally, or mentally, or by our actions toward them for doing something that we see as wrong, we are jumping into the pit with them. We are experiencing their pain, and our own. It doesn't matter who is the one inflicting pain or receiving it, because it is all a circle of pain.

At the same time, we cannot focus on crime and be happy, or focus on how wrong we think this candidate is without joining that candidate in the pit. The more we talk about how wrong they are, the less right we are. How can you get out of the pit when you're focused on the pit?

The better way is to turn and focus on something that causes us to feel better, to feel good, to find praise, to find joy, to find peace in. As we focus there, our strength is renewed. Everyone can see it. That's how Jesus said, "Come, follow me!" and they did. They didn't even know who He was, but you can see it when people are in alignment. There is a presence about them, a peace about them, and unshakable confidence about them, a knowing about them, that is instantly transferred to us.

As our children are messing up, we don't help them by shining a light on that. As our employee is not doing as we want, we don't help them by focusing on what they are doing wrong. As our spouse is sharing pain, we don't help them by jumping into that pit with them. We help by being the best example of our own well-being, including calm, love, compassion, peace, confidence, knowing, understanding, and appreciation.

In perhaps better words, we serve others by being in alignment ourselves, by allowing them their own feelings without us insisting that they feel different, or how we think they should feel. We put our focus on what is good, what we can appreciate in the other, regardless of the relationship. As we do that, this is unconditional love, because we are letting go of how we think they should be but they're not, and we are focusing on who they really are beneath the surface. We exude unconditional love from our Inner Source of strength, and that Source is always available for us to line up with.


In Every Situation, Love Not Only Rules, But Leads. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by letting go of the pain of others, along with, and especially that pain within ourselves. Joy is on the other side of pain. It takes strength to let go, yes. And, that is where the rewards are.

Daily Inspiration 8-11-16

"You cannot be 

defensive and appreciative 

at the same time." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

I pulled the above quote out of this piece: "You have to come to remember that it makes no difference whatsoever how anybody is flowing back at you, otherwise you are going to be defensive--and you cannot be defensive and appreciative at the same time. When you concentrate on appreciating, then appreciation comes right back--but you are really not looking for appreciation to come to you; you want the feeling of appreciation flowing through you." 

I really hope that you are not like me, because I have spent a lifetime being defensive. As I reflect on that thought, I can see how even my self-talk has been all about justifying any decision I made, things I've done, desires I've had, and more. I would have these long dragged out talks in my head as if I were telling the other person all the really good reasons and wisdom in my decisions trying to overcome their disdain for something that happened. Moreover, I have done that in my head even when I am simply imagining their disdain and consequently, my need to explain. And, of course, it should be obvious that the reason for all of this is so that they will like me, appreciate, and respect me.

It didn't matter whether this was a current event, or something from the past where I felt like I made a poor decision. It should also be obvious who is in charge of this conversation--my ego, Mr. I got to be in charge, I have to win, I have to be on top, people have to like me, I should have respect, who do they think they are? Drama, drama, drama.

The good news for me as I am laughing while writing this is that I don't allow my ego to have that kind of control anymore. Does that mean that he doesn't raise his I'm in charge! head from time to time? Not at all. I can't get rid of my ego, but I can realize that I am not my ego, and that the ego is valuable in certain situations, and that I am far more powerful and in control as I desire to take that control. We are all powerful in that way.

I know how this change of power came to be. It came from testing, then practicing appreciation throughout my day. It's practical, and. . . delightful.

If someone says something or does something that would normally send me into full-on defense mode, I can feel it immediately, and I realize what is happening. It is not me. It is my ego that is creating this feeling by the thoughts it is having about this situation. The thing for me to do then is to calm myself to slow my heartbeat, breathe more deeply, and allow the conversation to come to a natural end, releasing my judgement and condemnation.

Then, I immediately focus on something, anything to appreciate. It could be the sky, plants, bushes, trees, birds in my courtyard, books on my shelf. I have now learned that there are thousands of things to appreciate right here in my office! As I do this, I am in complete control and my ego has no more power here and now. I then from this appreciative place, find things to appreciate about the caller, the person that I was dealing with, the situation. I remember that all things are working toward my good as long as I continue to allow that. I begin to see how perfect it is or was rather than how bad it could be. I find benefits, and I see how this change benefits all.

Today, I may still have an initial reaction, but I don't let the reaction rule anymore. I now see the reaction for what it is--my ego trying to do its job of trying to protect me from harm. Now, I begin my calm consideration, breathing deeply, and allowing the conversation to flow without judgement (all ego), and as quickly as possible begin my focus on what I can appreciate, what I am grateful for, how blessed I am, how everything is always working out for me. Because from this better place, it is.


I Used To Be A Defensive Lineman. Now, I Am The Coach. Now I Call The Shots. I Control The Game. Well, Actually, It Is My Love And Appreciation That Controls The Game. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by breathing deeply, focusing on appreciation, and joy is right there in front of you, moving through you, welling within you.

Daily Inspiration 8-10-16

"The real key 

to creating financial freedom 

isn't about changing what you do. 

It's about changing how you feel." 

-- Nancy Levin 

Nancy Levin, from her just released book, Worthy, continues: "In order to truly deal with our money issues, we need to go deep within and explore not just our feelings about money--but also our feelings about ourselves. That's because at heart, money issues are really issues of self-worth. In other words, our self-worth determines our net worth." 

She adds, "Until we truly feel worthy--deep inside--of the great life we desire, we won't feel worthy of money on the outside. When we don't feel worthy on the inside, we develop patterns that prevent us from having the money we want and need." 

She gives an example of someone desiring to and actually getting out of debt, and then not long later building debt all over again, like paying off the credit cards, then getting some more and doing it again. She asks, "why would anybody do that? Well, they wouldn't do it on purpose. But these kind of patterns are tenacious because they're created by unconscious feelings and negative beliefs that took hold in childhood." 

I became aware of Nancy Levin from an hour-long interview in March of this year. I had not read her first book, Jump . . . And Your Life Will Appear, and she mentioned in the interview that her second book, Worthy--Boost Your Self-Worth To Grow Your Net Worth, would be published in August. I was intrigued and pre-ordered a copy. It just arrived late last week, and I started reading on Sunday, and for me, this book is a very powerful tool for the wisdom and insight it contains, and more importantly, the exercises throughout the book to carefully expose those hidden patterns of behavior and where they began that still affect me so many years later.

How many of my readers have heard such things as I did as a child, such as, "We can't afford that," of "Money doesn't grow on trees, you know," or "Save some for everybody else," or "You don't deserve that," or the classic, "There's only so much to go around?" This is the place where we learn precepts that will dictate many of our choices, attitudes, and feelings in our future lives. And, so often, we aren't even aware that they are there, or that they are in control in our later lives. We may wonder how it is that we keep making the same choices with the same kind of results whether it is getting things paid off and then charging again, or picking the same kind of partner who always seems to have the same kind of character that we thought we were avoiding, and so much more.

It's not all about money, but, as I teach salespeople, "even though money is floating on the surface in virtually every selling situation, it isn't really there, it is far below the surface, because only 4% buy price, though 100% may speak of it." And so, though money is so prevalent in our lives virtually every single day, it is only a symptom of much deeper issues and patterns developed at a very young age.

This book is extremely powerful as far as I'm concerned. And, though it is aimed at a female audience, I found it powerful for myself. I would highly and massively recommend it to any and every woman on the planet, and I also believe that men will gain multiple benefits from how many women are presented in the book to enlighten how they may unconsciously treat their spouses especially on the subject of money, and it will benefit them because they learned their driving patterns of thinking at a young age as well. The exercises help make all of that abundantly clear.

I don't just recommend it, I say, buy this book! I think it will be interesting in the least and life-changing in the extreme, and anywhere in between is some added wisdom. I just love, love, love the fact that people will write a book like this, which I know is no easy task, and develop ways to help so many people to understand more about themselves and their lives, and have helpful ways of creating positive change. Thank you, Nancy Levin. Many are blessed because you have taken the time and energy, and the courage to expose your own patterns and how you changed your own results. I'm blessed, and I know that anyone else who reads this will be too. You can see more about Nancy at www.nancylevin.com


Opening The Door To Positive Change Is As Easy As Opening A Book. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by feeling your self-worth. You are worthy of all the joy that is possible. There is more than enough to go around a thousand times.

Daily Inspiration 8-9-16

"Though some may think 

of the words, 'selfish,' and 'greedy,' 

as synonyms, as the Thesaurus does, 

I think they are actually antonyms." 

-- Terry Minion 

Remember all that talk about the so-called "Me-Generation"? It's been a while, but that was all about selfishness as it was intended, but it was personal greed in the way it was reported. It's because being selfish has so often been associated with being personally greedy. It certainly can be that, but a far better way to say that rather than selfishness would be greediness.

Let's set the record straight! Selfish is good. In fact, we cannot help but be selfish. The idea that someone would become self-less as an ideal is a misnomer. No matter what, we are a selfish lot, and that is absolutely perfect.

Everything that we feel, we feel from within ourselves. No one can give us a feeling without our full consent. It's an inside job.

When we are selfish enough to feel good within ourselves, about ourselves, and our choices, we are on a beautiful path. Feeling good, or good feelings coming from within is to be in perfect alignment with our soul, our inner being, the God within. To feel otherwise is an indication of being out of alignment. So being selfish about how we want to feel is our best and perfect guide to a fully satisfying and great life.

The easiest and quickest source of feeling good is in finding things to appreciate. Abraham, Esther Hicks says, "Once you have made a decision that nothing is more important than that you feel good, and you have decided that you are going to consciously look for some things to appreciate today, the object of your attention has now become the feeling of appreciation. You have now established a circuit between you and the object of appreciation that the Law of Attraction will begin working on immediately--so, you will start seeing more things to appreciate right away." 

They continue: "Whenever you are looking for things to appreciate, you have control of your own vibrational offering and your own point of attraction; but when you are responding to the way others seem to feel about you, you have no control. . . . You do not know what happened to them today, and you do not know how they are living, so you cannot understand why they react to you in the way they do--and you cannot control it. However, when you are more interested in how you feel than how they feel about you, you do have control of your experience." 

A couple of things jumped out at me about this.

One, is that when someone is responding to us in a way that doesn't feel good, here is a perfect place to practice compassion. As they said, "you do not know what happened to them today, and you do not know how they are living, so you cannot understand why they react to you in the way they do." So true. How in the world would we ever know? They could be going through some serious difficulties, taxing their own capacity to feel good. Compassion for them is not agreeing with them, nor is it accepting what they have said to us, but it is allowing us to love them as a fellow human, a fellow traveler, a fellow soul, a part of all-that-is, rather than focusing on what just happened. This allows us to feel good internally, and pass the good feeling of compassion on to them. We remain selfish so that we feel good, and we are at the same time giving, being kindhearted, loving.

The other thing that stood out was the idea of being in appreciation, having thoughts of appreciation is like connecting the circuit with the Law of Attraction. It made me think of flipping a switch to the on position so that the electricity is flowing. I know within myself from really practicing appreciation that it feels electric to me. So, in my mind today, I'm thinking of a switch that says Appreciation, and then it says, On and Off. I want it to be on as much as possible because I love that electric feeling it gives me.


It Might Be Time To Get Serious About Being Selfish. Imagine How Fresh And Alive You Will Be! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by being selfish for maximum joy! No need for greed because there is more than enough (abundance) for everyone, every time.