Daily Inspiration 2-28-19

"We're asking you to trust in the Well-being. "

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

[Classic post from 12-23-17]

I read this and just had to share it because it is so empowering. And, it seems so appropriate to consider in the hurried and hectic living of our lives.

"We're asking you to trust in the Well-being. In optimism there is magic. In pessimism there is nothing. In positive expectation, there is thrill and success. In pessimism or awareness of what is not wanted, there is nothing. What you're wanting to do is redefine your relationship with the Stream. We do not ask you to look at something that is black and call it white. We do not ask you to see something that is not as you want it to be and pretend that it is. What we ask you to do is practice moving your gaze. Practice changing your perspective. Practice talking to different people. Practice going to new places. Practice sifting through the data for the things that feel like you want to feel and using those things to cause you to feel a familiar place. In other words, we want you to feel familiar in your joy. Familiar in your positive expectation, familiar in your knowing that all is well because this Universe will knock itself out giving you evidence of that Well-being once you find that place." 


What Costs Nothing And Is The Most Valuable Thing In The World? Love! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by feeling move love, sharing more love, resting in more love, and experiencing more love all around you today.

Daily Inspiration 2-27-19

"Self-worth makes you

extremely attractive." 

-- Alan Cohen 

[Classic post from 12-8-17]

I love this quote from one of my favorite authors. And, of course, we are probably thinking, at least initially, about appearance. Self-worth does indeed increase our attractiveness physically because a person who values him or herself, who sees the value that they are to others, holds a perspective that is inviting and easy to align with because they are in alignment with their inner being, their higher self, their inner knowing. That is attraction in its essence: Alignment with Source of which we are an aspect.

But, as we might look deeper here, it is actually more about the alignment for the person noticing their own self-worth, self-worthiness, value, connection to All-That-Is, than the physical being. Yet, we all know deep inside that one cannot express without the other. As we are in alignment within, we are attractive within and without. We are attracting all that is in alignment with our higher knowing, all that is good for us because we are at a higher level of vibration.

It's not about I am and you're not. It's that we all have the same exact powers. The only real difference is how we are using them or choosing not to use them. This is yet another reason to look upon others by seeing the Divine within them regardless of what they show on the physical plane. We are all of the same Source, made of the same Energy, though we are individually gifted with choice (Free Will).

And, because we are gifted with our choosing, we may choose value or not.


Perception Is A Requirement And Is Always The Personal Property Of The One Who Is Perceiving. 

Spread Some Joy Today--as you perceive the value in yourself and all those individualized brothers and sisters in Creation.

Daily Inspiration 2-26-19

"Caregiving often calls us

to lean into love

we didn't know possible." 

-- Tia Walker

"When in doubt,

give,

let them have it,

surrender,

make peace.

When there's no doubt,

give,

let them have it,

surrender,

make peace."

-- The Universe,

aka Mike Dooley 

[Classic post from 12-7-17]

I receive a lot of inspiring messages from various people I subscribe to and this morning, I received two that I thought was perfect to share together.

I have some bit of experience in caregiving, and it is all about leaning into love you didn't know possible.

I have some bit of experience from my practice of giving, letting them have it (not needing to be right or better than), surrender (letting go of the stupid rope!), and making peace which is simply the absence of fear.

The first was a relatively short-lived task, the second is a life-long practice.


Take It As It Comes, And Bless It As It Comes. Therein Lies Joy. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by allowing your love to flow. There is no end to it. You will never run dry. You have an infinite supply to give away.

Daily Inspiration 2-25-19

"Practice is obviously valuable,

and especially in repetitive acts

that we wish to improve upon;

however, there is one thing

that is often undervalued about practice,

and that is being fully aware

of the many opportunities to practice

that we are presented with daily." 

-- Terry Minion 

[Classic post from 12-6-17]

Anyone who learns a new sport, a new job, a musical instrument, cooking, all manner of repairs to such things as computers, automobiles, or virtually any skill knows that practice is essential to get good enough to be proficient, or expert enough to be a guiding light for all who want to follow. The old adage, which I still love, practice makes perfect is a succinct statement of the value of practice.

Yet, when it comes to things of the heart or things surrounding behavioral change, new mental perspectives and more, practice isn't often something recognized as valuable as it does for those previously mentioned.

I think they are equally important, but what is more important than simply to practice in the second group--heck, and even the first group too--is to become aware of the many opportunities that we have to practice, and as we practice, it is inevitable that we improve, expand, become more.

In things of the mind and heart and soul, those opportunities are often attached to contrast, which is a very soft way of saying challenges, which is a soft way of saying problems or situations that can be frustrating at the least and painful at the most. This means that if we are to recognize these opportunities to practice and then actually practice, we need to be aware so that we can see these challenges and contrast as something that is there to help us get better, to get through, to grow, to become more of our true selves.

We need to see with new eyes. This is essentially what awareness is. To see things with old eyes is to see habitual patterns, to see repetitive history, to see problems instead of the potential solution. We all have old eyes. The real value is in becoming more aware so that we see those silver linings in all those things that seem to bother us gently or violently on the surface. Old eyes see the surface, is easily led to frustration, anger, resentment at others and at ourselves. New eyes see another opportunity to be our true selves, to respond rather than react, to love rather than find fault, to enjoy rather than feel degrees of pain.

I've been going through a very interesting experience selling my home and changing my life so dramatically by letting go of about 90% of my "things," and more. So many opportunities to complain, to cajole, to blame, to rant and rave and be unhappy. And yet, all of those are perfect opportunities to practice who I really am deep down inside. That guy on the surface is not really me. I am the one deep inside who knows nothing but love, and as I see these opportunities for the truth they contain, and remind myself of the value I know of practice, I find peace in chaos.

I have to say that this lesson learned from opening myself to become aware of those opportunities to practice, I am effectively, and joyfully being who I truly am.


As I Do This, Those Challenges Are Transformed Before My New Eyes. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by seeing what is really coming along for your benefit all day long, every day of your life.

Daily Inspiration 2-24-19

"When you are content

to be simply yourself

and don't compare

or compete,

everybody will respect you." 

-- Lao-tse 

[Classic post from 12-5-17]

This would be another great way to define what peace would be. Comparing and competing are fear-related activities. Where there is no need or desire for either, there is the absence of fear, which is love and which is peace.


Happy Today! Go InJoy! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by laying down the rope carefully and walking away toward your joy.

Daily Inspiration 2-23-19

"Lighthouses

don't go running all over an island

looking for boats to save;

they just stand there

shining." 

-- Anne Lamott 

[Classic post from 12-4-17]

We are all our best influence in the simplest and easiest way: by being. As we are being, we always influence those we see, think about, communicate with.

We are the only ones who control our being. No, control is not right. It is in our attempt to control our being that we cause separation from our Source. It is in our attempt to control our being by attempting to control circumstances and the actions and thoughts of other people. In all of history these attempts have continued and yet throughout all of history, it was an impossible task as it is today.

We choose to try and control or we choose to release as if we are falling into the loving arms of love itself, our Source of all. This is why being is easy. This is how being is simple. If it is complicated, it is in our controlling ideas that this comes to pass.

My favorite book of all time is Love Is Letting Go Of Fear by Gerald Jampolsky. The title is incredibly perfect. It is the lighthouse. It is our true being. It is our ultimate guidance. LOVE. LOVE IS LETTING GO OF FEAR. Control is all about fear. War is fear. Violence is fear. Apprehension is fear. Wanting others to be like us is fear. Love needs none of that. Love is purely and simply what is left when we relinquish control by letting go of fear.


Shine Your Light! You ARE Love! Be!

Spread Some Joy Today--by allowing yourself the pleasure of release.

Daily Inspiration 2-22-19

"The form of what you do

is less important

than the energy you hold

while you are doing it." 

-- Alan Cohen 

[Classic post from 11-29-17]

I've long been a fan of the teachings of the late Jim Rohn. I remember that he said it was valuable to turn frustration into fascination. That has never left me from the moment I heard it on a tape recording many years ago. And, as I know that another of his teachings was that "things do not just happen, they happen just," I find my practice of being fascinated when things are not going according to some plan I had instead of being frustrated by them has changed my life oh so much. I am so grateful for these teachings which I find uses for almost every day of my life.

Today is a perfect example. Each and everything that I had planned today changed. People were not there when I had an appointment, people showed up unexpectedly twice, and so much more. I also found so many blessings during the day that those blessings so outweigh the challenges as to make it a very unfair competition.

I realized today that I have come to a place in my life where I have learned to go with the flow so to speak. I just watch it unfold in fascination and let any potential frustration go. Now, I'm not yet 100% on this because, after all, it is a practice, but it is well within me now so that it is something I will go to very quickly and laugh along the way that these things are happening at all.

We love being in control, but sometimes that eagerness for control is thwarted right in our face, and we want answers and we want to know what is going on and we can't get answers and we don't know what is going on and we might not even know who to blame, but we feel that we must blame. And yet, what good would that do? Our upsetedness leads only to our being more upset and so all that is going toward us instead of who we think should be the one to blame.

Which makes me laugh all the more. It becomes silliness, so why not laugh at it all.

But the lesson for me is to let go and pretend I'm in a small boat with some oars and to try to row upstream is to work like crazy trying to get where I think I want to be, when to put the oars in the boat and just let the current take me where it wants to go and just enjoy the journey wherever it may lead.


Today Nothing Went According To Plan And I Find Myself Thankful Anyway. Or Probably, Especially! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by not sweating the small stuff. It's all small stuff.

Daily Inspiration 2-21-19

"Peace on earth

is possible only when

you put peace before earth." 

-- Alan Cohen 

[Classic post from 11-28-17]

Peace on earth, good will toward men. . . a phrase I've heard so many times, and especially this time of year.

I awoke this morning thinking of peace. What is peace? Is it the absence of conflict? Is it compromise? Is it a willingness to tolerate others in spite of the fact that we don't understand them or approve of how they live? What they do? Their culture, habits, religions?

Then this came to me: Harmony. It is the closest word I could think of to describe what peace is. It is harmony. It is harmony with the environment and harmony with each other. It is not toleration or even basic acceptance, it is harmony.

When I think of harmony, the first thing that comes to mind is music. Whether the music comes from our own vocal cords, or from some type of musical instrument, harmony is essentially more than one single note that is in resonance with the other. The notes are different and yet they are the same when they are in resonance. They are different and because they resonate, they compliment each other. They add to the whole. They improve the whole. Together with whatever number of notes, they become a symphony.

Think of a large symphony and all those different instruments, where there are even multiple instruments of the same type, like say, violins, for example. Even though there are multiples of the same type of instrument, each one is unique, and yet as they are skillfully played they resonate in such a way as to expand what was before to something quite delightfully different.

Then consider all the varied instruments from stringed instruments to reed instruments to horns to drums and percussive instruments, as varied as the piano is to the oboe, the kettle drum to the violin, the French horn to the guitar. They play different notes in different tones and timbre, low, high and in between, softly, and with panache, rhythmic and syncopated, so soft you can barely hear it, so loud it begs you to move. These and so much more come from this varied assembly.

This is harmony. This is peace. This is what peace is like in our world. When we have peace in our world, whether our own individual lives or that of the entire planet, we are in harmony with each other and all that is in that world we are focused on.


May Harmony Show You Peace. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by getting rid of the idea of tolerating others. That is only closing your eyes to something you don't want to see. Instead, find a real solution. Find the harmony that you can be in the symphony of your life.

Daily Inspiration 2-20-19

"Even while you strive

to improve your life,

you are whole, well,

and perfect where you stand." 

-- Alan Cohen 

[Classic post from 11-26-17]

There's always something on the horizon, otherwise, we aren't looking and moving forward, but it is a reassuring thing to pause just enough to realize and accept that we are perfect right here and right now. We are loved. By many. By God. We are enough, and the pursuit of whatever is more that delights us at this moment is also perfect.


Injoy Yourself Today. Give Yourself Some Love. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by feeling it.

Daily Inspiration 2-19-19

"Happiness

has nothing to do

with material things." 

-- Corey Smith 

[Classic post from 11-24-17]

I was watching a new video on the Dylan Magaster channel where he interviews people who live in small spaces, including vans. This quote above came through at the end from one of the two being interviewed. They have lived out of a VW van for over five years and seem to thrive on the adventure of it all. And, as happens to me from time to time, something is said or written and I find it and I am amazed. Often, they are simple phrases that speak volumes in very few words as this one.

Sure, we can experience being happy with an achievement of some kind, a gift or purchase of a thing, a material object, accolades, and any number of situations, events, or things. In this, we can be happy which is like a more vivacious style of being pleased.

As I heard this quote, the real idea of happy came through. Happy is temporary. We are thrilled, pleased, happy for a short time, then we are on to something else. But happiness or happy-ness is an attitude. It is a perspective. It is long-term. Happy is short-term, it's here, it feels good, on to the next thing, and happy-ness is a point of view. It is how we see the world around us that we actually create. It is full of gratitude because it is gratitude that creates happy-ness.

Though happy and happy-ness both feel good, one is a short skip across the water like a flat stone, and the other is swimming in the depths of the world's oceans like a singing whale.


Happy-Ness Has Nothing To Do With Material Things. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by going for happy-ness by closing your eyes and reopening them to the delight and joy of being alive.

Daily Inspiration 2-18-19

"ThanksGiving is good

but,

ThanksLiving is better." 

-- Matthew Henry 

[Classic post from 11-23-17]

It's all in our minds. And we have the only control panel access for our own mind, our choices, our decisions, our actions.

This I know for sure and for certain: Living life in constant gratitude is a beautiful life to live. Every single day of the year, even all throughout the day I find so many reasons to be thankful. And, here's the most interesting aspect of this: It keeps growing.


It Turned To Continual Joy Long Ago. 

Spread Some Joy Today--Thankfulness is where it starts.

Daily Inspiration 2-17-19

"Rules are simply creations

made out of thin air

that are meant to control behavior,

in ourselves out of habit or desire,

but especially that of other people.

They have no meaning in and of themselves.

The only meaning or power they ever have

is that which we give them in our choice." 

-- Albert K. Strong 

[Classic post from 11-20-17]

The other day I was heading to the store and came to an intersection. There was an adult pedestrian wanting to cross the road and he got to the intersection just late enough that when he pushed the button for the crosswalk signal to tell him when to walk, the light turned green but he stood there waiting for the entire cycle to come around for the crosswalk light to say, "walk."

When I saw that, I smiled and realized how we obey so-called rules and procedures that have become habitual without using our own discernment. On a green light, he would have been as safe as if the walk-light was on, but because it said, "Don't Walk," he obeyed.

How many times do we do this or something else throughout our days where we are just following rules because they are rules? Every rule ever made was simply made up out of thought. There really are no rules except those that human beings have created. And, they have created so many of them over time that it boggles the mind.


Discernment Is Our Power. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by seeing others through the eyes of Love today. Even if for a short time. Find no fault in anything, for there is no fault in anything.

Daily Inspiration 2-16-19

"Let go, or be dragged." 

-- Zen Proverb 

[Classic post from 11-19-17]

I've never seen this quote before, but it is so wonderful and so true I can hardly stand it. I have to smile at it with joy inside at its incredibly succinct wisdom.


Enjoy The Unfolding! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by letting go of all the attachments that you can let go of. Yes! Yes! Yes! Feels better already. . .

Daily Inspiration 2-15-19

"All appropriate behavior

is consigned out of the basis of approval

Approval, of course,

implies a level of conformity."

-- Paul Selig

[Classic post from 11-5-17]

It's interesting after writing yesterday's post and talking about all the songs in cassettes on my wall and I said that it was my ego all over the wall because I began thinking about that which opened up to the need for approval and how that is something that drives us so often.

In Paul Selig's book, I Am the Word, the guides are saying that "eighty percent of what you are doing in your life has been motivated by a need for approval from someone else, or a cultural belief that what you need to do is a certain thing, or by a certain time. You have these beliefs and you operate with them as if they are truths."

It is enlightening to consider just how much of what we do, how we act, choices we make, and virtually everything in our lives is sort of pre-programmed in a way from the earliest teachings from our parents, and all of our interactions with all those other people and their own conditioning. We may not, and I have not seriously considered the depth of the information that we have received in learning how to live our lives and how that has such an effect on that life we are living.

It's not like we are doing it wrong or anything, or that we need to fix anything, it's just mind-boggling to consider how we have craved approval in all kinds of ways and how the need or desire for approval has guided us.

What if we gave that up? What if we never again needed approval from anyone to guide our life? It's not about not caring anymore, but what if we cared so little that approval wasn't even something on the table?


Hmmm. What Would That Be Like? 

Spread Some Joy Today--by considering your own approval processes. Then let some of that go for the joy of the release of it. As you are moved to do so, of course.

Daily Inspiration 2-14-19

"Why do we own so many things

when we don't need them?

What is their purpose?"

-- Fumio Sasaki

[Classic post from 11-4-17]

In April of this year, Fumio Sasaki published a book titled, Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism. I bought it and read it a couple of weeks ago and it was absolutely fascinating. I had previously bought and read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, also from Japan, and also about getting rid of clutter and things that don't bring us, ongoing love.

But, Fumio's book was quite enlightening, and maybe I mean that literally. I loved the audio version and delighted in all his suggestions and particularly how he came to feel about his life when he finally let go of so many of his things.

I've been so interested in the last few years of downsizing, living in a tiny home, or a smaller space and letting go of stuff. I grew up with the old adage that he who has the most toys wins, and so I would collect things.

Let me go back to the quote at the top and bring the whole quote to light:

"Why do we own so many things when we don't need them? What is their purpose? I think the answer is quite clear: We're desperate to convey our own worth, our own value to others. We use objects to tell people just how valuable we are."

My home of 32 years has been on the market and is now sold. I am going through stuff and filling trash cans, recycle bins, and stacking things to donate or sell at a garage sale soon. So much stuff.

From 1984 through the early 1990s, I wrote a lot of songs and recorded them, increasing the technology of my recording equipment several times. I estimate that I spent somewhere around 10,000 hours in the act of recording music, re-recording it, mixing it and remixing it, downloading into compilation tapes, and so much more. I had a wall with well over 500 cassettes of songs I'd written and recorded and compilation tapes and other recordings that I did for other people. They have been on my wall for so many years.

Yesterday, they all went in the trash and the recycle bin. Every single one. It is so interesting how that felt. I felt free. I laughed aloud a good deal of the time doing this because of how it felt.

When I started, I took a couple hundred of these and put them in a box to keep them. Then I started just letting the rest go and then I stopped looking at the labeled cassette boxes and just started pulling them out and discarding them. Then I got the box I saved and did the same thing with it. They're gone. They're so old news.

I realized that it was my ego up on that wall. There was no other value. I was trying to demonstrate my worth not so much to others, but to myself--by dragging around the past and putting all that on the wall. It's all gone now. The past is dead.

I like how Fumio said, "What is their purpose?" What an insightful question. I'm also realizing that now I no longer need any of those things. Old awards and all that stuff are gone too. I've cut loose of hundreds of books, movies on DVD, music CD's, papers, and much more.

I won't have space in the new place anyway.


I'm Looking Forward To The Freedom. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by simply deciding that you're worthy and that you can as you choose. Easy!

Daily Inspiration 2-13-19

"Listening

is often more effective

than advising."

-- Alan Cohen

[Classic post from 11-2-17]

I love this quote because I have tried to pay attention to my interactions with people so that I can discern whether they just want to be heard, and maybe even understood, although that is optional a good deal of the time, or whether they are looking for advice, suggestions, ideas, direction.

My experience is that a lot more of the time than my ego would agree with that person that is in front of me simply wants to express themselves and to be heard.

Just as we know ourselves, there are many times where we feel that way too. We have a need to express ourselves verbally, but we aren't really seeking any kind of response other than acknowledgment of our presence and expression.

If we will pay closer attention to our interactions with others, we might see that same need in them and thereby be of service to them by simply listening and acknowledging them.


It Was So Great To Hear You Again! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by loving whoever is in front of you.

Daily Inspiration 2-12-19

"Who understands what giving means

must laugh at the idea of sacrifice."

-- A Course in Miracles

[Classic post from 11-3-17]

Think about it. If it is a sacrifice, we are trying to give from lack, but giving can only really come from a place of fullness, or enough-ness. Then it could never be a sacrifice then, could it?


There Is No Sacrifice In Giving. There Is Love In Giving. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by giving what you have from your enough-ness.

Daily Inspiration 2-11-19

"Our remedies

oft in ourselves do lie

which we ascribe to heaven."

-- William Shakespeare

[Classic post from 10-28-17]

We have so much power and often we may think that we do not. We have the power to change our lives, our circumstances; indeed, our world. And, it's all because we can think thoughts and in particular to choose our thoughts.

Have you ever seen someone who did a makeover and changed dramatically from a so-called ugly duckling to a swan? Male, female, it matters not, but I'm sure you've seen someone who changed the way they look dramatically, and in so doing changed their lives for the better.

It isn't the change that drives a change in thinking, it is a change of thinking that drives the physical change.

I'll share some wonderful words to this effect from Abraham, Esther Hicks:

"You have the ability to quickly change your patterns of thought, and eventually... your life experience."

"The Law of Attraction is responding to your thought, not to your current reality. When you change the thought, your reality must follow suit. If things are going well for you, then focusing upon what is happening now will cause the well-being to continue, but if there are things happening now that are not pleasing, you must find a way of taking your attention away from those unwanted things."

As we see that which we want in our minds rather than the things we don't want, we draw on what we want. If I want to see beauty in the mirror, or in the neighborhood, or in the world, I must focus on seeing the beauty that is truly and always there instead of focusing on faults, or things that are ugly, wrong, disgusting, and that list grows so easily, doesn't it? But, we can always see beauty when we are focusing on beauty, and that includes seeing beauty in ourselves.

All of a sudden via our new appreciation, we begin taking better care of our appearance, our clothing, our surroundings. Maybe we are now seeing the beautiful tree instead of the unmowed lawn with weeds. No matter what, if we will but look for it, we will see beauty everywhere we look.

And, the really good news is that as we focus there, we see more and more beauty all the time. It may even get to the point that we don't even notice those things that used to drive us crazy when we looked at them.


Seeing Anew With The Eyes Of Love. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by finding the beauty in your self and your surroundings today. You really do create your world out of thin air.

Daily Inspiration 2-10-19

"What is the difference between

an intellectual understanding and knowing?

Practice.

What is the difference between

knowing and being?

More practice.

Or, better stated:

Practice more often."

-- Albert K. Strong

[Classic post from 10-27-17]

I've often flashed on the way a newly-minted M.D. opens what is called their medical practice, and how lawyers will state that they are practicing law. We may not think of it as practice the way we might normally think of using the word practice, but it really is that if you think about it. A new M.D. or a new lawyer is going to get some practice in their practice or they aren't going to be a very good doctor or lawyer, are they?

We think of practice quite easily when we think of learning to play a musical instrument or to improve our dance skills, or any skill from level to level. We sort of take that for granted, don't we? If we want to get better and improve, we have to practice. No matter what skill we want to improve upon from mountain climbing to running a marathon, to skydiving, to gymnastics, to public speaking, we will need to practice, and as we practice, there is the potential to become what we might call art, or to be an artist.

When someone has practiced a great deal, they could be said to be at the top of their game. They have a lot of experience at what they do. They know their trade or their skill and they may even become known as an expert in their field of study.

When it comes to physical things, I think we understand all of this and accept all that I have just covered, but it may seem to be different when it comes to things of the mind or the heart. I think in these areas we might seem more vulnerable, less confident, less in the knowing, and the being of it may not even be on the radar.

Yet, it is the same in the mind and heart as it is in the physical body. If we want to go from an intellectual understanding of something to an inner knowing, this requires practice just like nailing the dismount in a gymnastic performance. Heck, in many cases in our learning, we may not even get to the level of intellectual understanding unless we practice.

Then to go from a good understanding to true knowing of an idea or concept or subject to having it become us, or a better way to say that might be to have it fully integrated into our thinking and actions, truly requires a willingness and commitment to practice more often, to have it at the top of our mind perhaps as we move through our day, until that magical day (which may never actually come) that we don't give it any more thought at all. Then it simply is.

We go from learning to understanding to knowing to being. It is the level of being that all artists want to get to, and yet here is the easy part of all of this: It doesn't require skill. It only requires practice.


I Used To Practice To Really Know. Now I Practice More Often. Joy-Fully. 

Spread Some Joy Today--Injoy your day.

Daily Inspiration 2-9-19

"Whoever is happy

will make others happy too."

-- Anne Frank

[Classic post from 10-26-17]

It's contagious? Like yawning several times causes others to yawn?


Who Knew? 

Spread Some Joy Today--by choosing to be happy.

Daily Inspiration 2-8-19

"When we say something

is too vast to be explained,

it is never too vast to be known."

-- Paul Selig,

The Book of Truth

[Classic post from 10-25-17]

I thought that the statement above was so interesting. It says so much.

I think every writer knows that regardless of their prowess as a wordsmith, that there is so much that can be expressed in language and then there are things that cannot be expressed in any other way than in knowing, allowing, being.

To put this quote into some context of the source I gleaned it from. They were talking about love, and not the kinds of love that we think of usually when we think of love, but the love that is the essence of our being.

"You are love already. You all are. It is the truth of your nature as being of God. You don't learn love, you learn behavior. You allow love to be as you, and in the agreement to be as it, it is as you in all ways."

I italicized the part of this quote that grabbed my attention. We allow it. We know it. It is us. We are it. It is all. It is as God. That is how powerful love is.

To continue just a bit more: "The depth of love that is you cannot be articulated because it is so true, in such truth, that nothing else exists at that level of vibration."

My italics and underline again. Nothing else exists at this level of vibration.

This gives new meaning to the 1 John 4:8 Bible quote, "God is love."

To add just a pinch more truth to this quote, let me find joy in 1 John 4:16b: "God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him."

To bring this to a practical and delightful conclusion, we cannot help loving. We are love as we are an aspect of God, but the agreement was that we could learn behaviors at will. Some of those work very well and bring joy, and others not so much, but no matter what we choose as a behavior for the limited time in this body, there is no forsaking the truth that we are love.


And, The Best News Of All Is That We May Choose To Allow Love To Be Expressed As Us At Will. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by making the choice to allow the love that you are to be expressed throughout your day in every interaction.

Daily Inspiration 2-7-19

"Love is not a feeling.

Love is frequency.

The feeling of love 

that you might think is a feeling

is actually the expression 

of love through you."

-- Paul Selig,

The Book of Love and Creation

[Classic post from 10-1-17]

I've heard and read and thought about so many ways to define love, to understand what that thing called love is for me, for us. And, I have found one that is pretty interesting and which rings true for me from The Book of Love and Creation, A Channeled Text by Paul Selig. I stated yesterday how powerful this book has been for me. It is one in a series of books, five of which have been published so far, with a sixth due out next year. This was the second of the series. I highly recommend them if you're ready.

Back to the definition, or rather, explanation of love from page 39 of the text:

"When you are experiencing love, the frequency of love is you. . . Love overrides feelings because it is an expression, an active expression of the divine operating as and through you. So as you align to the frequency of love, you call to you love."

People have used all manner of phrases to express this alignment. Some say, "coming into resonance," or a "feeling way beyond feeling," or "rising to a higher level," or "coming into tune, becoming attuned," or "in alignment with All-That-Is," and many more. As I think about that which we call the feeling of love, I sense that it is this connection that goes way beyond feeling. It seems to me more of a knowing, a knowing of a connection that is deep within me.

The text continues to enlighten:

"When you become love, you forget who you were without love. This is important. You forget who you were in fear." 

Wow. Forgetting who I was in fear. Forgetting who I was without love. These words helped me understand how love is a deep connection and not a feeling.

There's more:

"And, consequently, when you are love, you are not fear. And when you are in the frequency of love you don't remember the frequency of fear because it cannot align, it cannot exist in this way. You have transformed. You have become love. And in love, there is only love, and all that is called to it co-resonates with love or is seeking to be in resonance with love. That is why you call to you those who need what you have. And you will frequency-wise support them in their transformation, either through choice or through unconscious frequency exchange. Both are fine."


Love Is A Direct Connection To The Divine. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by thinking of those people and situations that you love. As you are loving them again, you are reconnected to your Source that quickly. As we are aligned to love, we are Love, and since God is Love, we are one in that alignment.

Daily Inspiration 2-6-19

"You are not getting in there to fix anything.

And to be honest with you,

it is not your job to fix anything."

-- Paul Selig,

The Book of Love and Creation

[Classic post from 9-29-17]

The book that the quote above came from is easily one of the most powerful and enlightening books I've ever read in my entire life so far. The quote is fascinating to me, but I need to add the remainder of the paragraph this was gleaned from to help me in the reason for today's post.

To continue from the quote above: "We have spoken about fixing earlier, and fixing and transforming are two very different things. To bring an organ back into its perfect state of functioning is not necessarily fixing it. It has been damaged, and putting a patch on something that is damaged may make it work a little longer, but that is not the same as transforming and healing, which is bringing the higher frequency to do the work consciously to realign the energy field in the way that is required."

This paragraph speaks volumes, and I would like to point out some the wisdom and insight that it spoke to me. First, we often think that we can fix things with our actions. Abraham, Esther Hicks talks about that all the time in that it is not our actions that create, it is our vibration or a simpler way to say that is our thought, and a truer way to say it is via our alignment with our Source. Once the alignment takes place, the action is perfected, and as we are out of alignment, it is patching at best.

Do we really want to fix it, whatever it may be, anyway? Probably not. What we really want is to transform it, heal it, realign it, if you will. War is an attempt to fix, but it is completely out of alignment, so at best it can have a very limited effect in repair, and yet a major effect in damage.

Another insight is in the last sentence. It is not our effort, action, doing that does the work, it is our higher frequency, which is the same as being in alignment because that is how we attain a higher frequency. It is in the lower frequency that our problems exist, and it is there that we try to fix them. We have tried for thousands of years to do that with no healing, only patching. It is not our action that heals, it is our alignment or our higher vibration.

From our higher frequency, we see everything differently, our actions move toward healing and transformation, not fixing. In the beginning, he said, "And, to be honest with you, it is not your job to fix anything." That is why we mess it up all the time as we think it is our job to fix it, or that our actions will fix it. At best they are patches. Healing takes place from a higher viewpoint, and always, always, always, in alignment.

Want to heal a marriage? Come into alignment first. We are all aspects of the Divine, and as aspects of the Divine, we knowingly align to that, as we think we can fix things, we fail to heal whether it is a marriage, a customer interaction, interactions with neighbors or neighboring countries, it is all the same. As we align to who we really are, the power to heal comes through.


There Is No Effort Or Work Necessary In Alignment. It Is The Alignment That Does The Work. 

Spread Some Joy Today--as you align, align, align throughout your day. Then look back at your day and see how smoothly it ran without any real effort. It's amazing how that works!

Daily Inspiration 2-5-19

"As a sales manager, I saw that salespeople

always wanted to learn more ways to close the sale. 

They thought there was some kind of magic 

that could be wielded to bring the prospect

to do as they desired, which was to buy.

I always taught that the close of the sale

is the most natural thing and very easy

when the beginning of the sale is done with

respect, dignity, kindness, and love."

-- Terry Minion

[Classic post from 10-23-17]

The last two posts in particular, as well as so many of my posts, are often seen as spiritually-based, or more spirit than practicality. People love practicality. So do I. I think that we all would like to be a better person, to be better at making choices, and live a more fulfilling life.

Many people see spiritual teachings and enjoy them as causing them to think a bit, and maybe a bit differently, but I think that they, as I used to, accept their message intellectually, but not seeing the practical application of that new insight or point of view.

Since I turned 22, 46 years ago now, I've been in sales and became a sales manager at 25. I've written two books on sales, and have studied it more than almost anyone I know. Sales is something I know a little about. So, I'll take sales, which is something we all do though we may not do it as a job or career, and tie it together with the last two posts, and most of the spiritual teachings that I've studied.

Many of the sales strategies and teachings that I've experienced and read over the years try to create systems that are intended to take a prospect from the greeting to the close in the least time, with applied methodologies, scripts, tricks, manipulations, and more. I've even tried some to experience them for myself. Many of them are ineffective at best, and sale killing at worst. It's not really that complicated, but if you're going to sell a program strategy to people eager for magic, you use magic yourself to serve their needs and desires.

What works best? Love works best. I've never seen anything that works better.

I've seen a handful of really good salespeople in my travels, and they were successful because they were so good with people, and they were so good with people because they liked people, enjoyed learning about them, determining what they wanted and what they liked best. In other words, they loved people, loved what they did, fully enjoyed the people they met, built strong relationships, often they were relationships that would last a lifetime. They were good at this because the salesperson is operating from love and as love, they loved others.

Prospects are people like you and me. They have needs, desires, beliefs, prejudices, and history. We all respond best when we are met in love with another human being. We enjoy learning about them. We appreciate the kind attention and loving interaction. We can see through the thin veneer of insincerity. We can see through the veil of a selfish agenda. We can sense the hurry to move us from point to point without giving us the attention that we crave. We can tell when we aren't being heard or understood. We know because we can feel the vibration is aligned our misaligned. It feels off, or it feels right.

You may not say it this way, but the word Namaste works perfectly in sales. Not the word itself, but the meaning of the word. It means that I honor myself and as I honor myself, I honor you. I honor the Divine in you and I honor the Divine in myself. We are now on the level ground of mutual respect and appreciation. From there, the door to a relationship is open wide, whether it be to guide them to something you have to sell that they want and will benefit from or you guide them elsewhere to something or someone that you know will benefit them more.

I have used love as a basis of sales management for over 40 years and it serves today as well in my own business. Nothing works better in my opinion. And, my study of spiritually-oriented texts serves to expand my joy and my loving application of those truths in all that I do physically.

As we understand better that we are so much more than we seem to be, and see that in others too, we can just be real with one another rather than trying to trip one another up. In some ways it reminds me of that famous Vince Lombardi quote, "Gentlemen, this is a football." The basic truths are always going to be truth. Jesus said to "love one another." It applies in everything that we ever will do as much as it ever did.


Everything That Begins In Love Stays In Love. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by letting your own Divine truth rule your world.

Daily Inspiration 2-4-19

"Love is in everything."

-- Paul Selig,

The Book of Love and Creation

[Classic post from 10-22-17]

What does it mean to be enlightened? What does it mean to raise our vibration? What does it mean to rise above? What does it mean to see through the eyes of love or the eyes of Christ?

How do we live in this world of duality and yet see oneness? How do we change from thousands of years of collective history to make different choices?

I've been giving these kinds of questions and many like them a lot of thought of late and I now think I've been able to answer them to my own satisfaction and share those thoughts with others.

When I think of raising my vibration or rising above, I think about seeing things from a distance--enough distance to see a larger picture of what I was looking at up close. Now I cannot see the problems, I can only see possibilities. It reminds me of standing on a peak looking off into the ocean or crossing the summit and seeing the vast valley below, or flying a plane and seeing all those squares of large farms made to look like a patchwork quilt, and even better, to see pictures of the Earth from space, whether looking at a certain portion or the whole thing at once.

Looking from space, I see no war, no famine, no hardship, no natural disaster destruction. I might see a lovely large cloud formation that seems to be spinning ever so slowly, but I do not see a hurricane in the way we might see it here. I might see what looks like smoke in one location but I don't see the fires burning or the volcano spewing ash into the atmosphere.

From here, I see beauty, color, movement, and many spheres in a field of vision all around the sphere I am viewing. I see a collection of things as if they are floating with a lot of space between them, and as far as I can see, I see that in greater, even infinite numbers.

Coming back down to where I live in this physical plane, the value of raising my vibration, standing back from my finite view, I can see with the eyes of love. I can see things differently. It is simply a choice.

We have been trained in our own history, dragging along a collective history of how we act, how and what we judge, how we choose to live and interact with each other. We have loads of rules, millions of laws, lists of right and wrong, while at the same time experiencing joy, love, anger, resentment, praise, punishment. Much of this is at odds, hence, duality.

As I step back, I can see the whole rather than the sides or the separation that we promote with each other, in our religious dogma, our inherited belief systems, and our collective expectations of how we should behave, live, deal with one another.

So, before this gets too long, I'll bring this to the fact that all of this is a choice. Accepting rules is a choice. Choosing our own rules is a choice. Allowing others to rule is a choice.

In choice--in knowing that we are always in choice--there are no such things as victims. There are no such things as right and wrong. There is only choosing and actions from those choices.

How can we see that everything is love? By choosing to see the love in everything. To accept the belief that love cannot be in everything, but only in the right things, the holy things, the virtuous things is a choice. It is a choice in separation.

How can we see the Divine in ourselves and the other while abhorring their choice? By choosing to see the Divine in ourselves and the other. We don't have to approve of their behavior, but we must honor their free will to choose, as we use our own to choose.

We become enlightened by rising above the choice of separation, of seeing the duality and choosing sides. We see with a wider vision all of the whole. We can see all the sides. And, we can choose to love all the sides. We always have our discernment, so we don't need to like everything, but loving everything is a much wider view. It is the view of the whole without any separation.


"I See All Before Me With The Eyes Of Love." -- Paul Selig

Spread Some Joy Today--by rising above and taking a wider view.

Daily Inspiration 2-3-19

"God is a circle

of which the center is everywhere

and the circumference is nowhere."

-- Empedocles

[Classic post from 10-21-17]

Good day to you wherever you are!

I've mentioned a few times that I have been studying the books published by Paul Selig. Of the five that have been published to date, I've read each one several times and they are so marked up with notes in the margins, highlights, and sticky notes. With each reading, I am inspired and amazed anew. I will be sharing much more as I move along, and today I wanted to share one of the most important things I've learned from this study.

Some will look at this as an affirmation and it is directly from the book:

"I know who I am. I know what I am. I know how I serve. I am here. I am here. I am here."

It took me some time and repetition to really get this, and here is what I have learned and how I've learned to interpret this very powerful statement in my own words.

First, it is not an affirmation, but a statement of truth. They say (from the book) that whenever something is true, it is always true or it is not truth. Truth is not malleable. It is unchanging. The difference between an affirmation and a statement of truth is intent.

Let me take each short sentence and explain my understanding of it from this statement of truth in as short a space as I can.

First, "I know who I am." I am an aspect of the Divine, God, or whatever word suits your fancy. I am not who I seem to be. I am an aspect of God, and as I am an aspect of God, every other person on this planet is as well. Of all the truths that I have seen in these books, to me, this is the most important. As we allow ourselves to realize who we really are outside of this "self" that we think we are and have been and will be for a time, we learn how to understand ourselves and all others in the world.

Next, "I know what I am." I am an aspect of the Creator in manifestation. This one took me the longest I think to fully understand, but it was so clear once I got it. I am spirit in a temporary manifestation in a body and with a physical history, and a physical experience. This is not to discount the physical experience, but to fully accept it and appreciate the value of it. At the same time, I realize that each and every person I meet, don't meet, interact with, or never interact with, we are each and every one, this same thing. We are individualized expressions of the Divine in manifestation.

"I know how I serve." We all serve in the same way. We serve by being. As we "be," we serve all others and ourselves through our vibration, through our expression in this physical life and our expression is perfected in our alignment to our knowing of who we are.

"I am here." This is essentially our name. As we acknowledge ourselves in our Divinity, and in our manifestation, in my case as Terry, and in my service through simply and exquisitely being, I am only very temporarily that called Terry, but my real name is I Am. I am here is the acknowledgment of that. As I recognize the same in another, I can acknowledge that with "you are here." As I do this I honor the other. The word Namaste is another way of saying this, which is honoring the Divine in me and honoring that same Divine in you.

What is the value of this from a practical, living every day experience of this life? It is this: As we choose, whatever we choose, as we act, however we may choose to act, we have the opportunity to see ourselves and to see all others as they truly are. We have the opportunity to honor their presence regardless of our opinion of how they choose or what they choose for themselves.

You could call it unconditional love and that would suffice perfectly. In unconditional love, there is the understanding that I can love myself and love others without any conditions that they satisfy me in any way. As I honor myself and honor them, we each have the opportunity to align vibrationally in a deeper understanding of All-That-Is.

As we then make our own choices, we do not discount another, put down another, find fault within ourselves. It opens communication in a very real way, even though physical words may not even be spoken.

It is a way to thrive. It is a way to love and accept love. It is a way be "be." Not to be better, but simply to be, to align with the truth that we are.


Namaste. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by realizing who you are, what you are, and how you serve.

Daily Inspiration 2-2-19

"Gratitude is so close 

to the bone of life,

pure and true,

that it instantly stops

the rational mind,

and all its planning and plotting."

-- Regina Sara Ryan

[Classic post from 10-20-17]

A couple of days ago I wrote about prayer and how Thank You! was what I thought to be the ultimate prayer.

This morning I saw the quote above and though the reminder of being in gratitude was good, what struck me about this quote was the latter part of the quote: "it instantly stops the rational mind, and all its planning and plotting." That is powerfully true, and yet I haven't really thought about it quite that way.

So, based on this, as my mind is running in circles as it often does like a dog chasing its tail, I could take some time and sit and try to meditate and release it all, but in that scenario, doing that seems like work. However, as I think about the fact that being grateful for something, anything, anyone, and more, I shut off my rational mind right then without any effort whatsoever.


How Amazing Is That!? 

Spread Some Joy Today--by finding any little thing, or anything at all to be grateful for. The effort is nil, but the reward is heavenly.

Daily Inspiration 2-1-19

"When you look in the mirror

and don't like what you see,

change what you are looking at."

-- Albert K. Strong

[Classic post from 6-14-17]

This is a recent selfie of me, yet the subject of this is not about me and it is. It is what we see when we look at ourselves.

We're so used to seeing from the inside out, receiving light from that which is outside of our bodies and translating that into our external reality. The only time we see from the outside in is when we see a photo or when we look in a mirror, and we do both of these things many times during the day. Far more seeing out than seeing ourselves, for sure. Consequently, we create an image of ourselves from inside that might conflict with the image in the mirror. In other words, the inner vision of ourselves and the outer version do not necessarily match.

Lately, in the last few weeks, I've been finally taking the advice from Louise Hay to do some "mirror talk." Truth is, I've always done mirror talk. I'm speculating that we all do it. Why would it just be me? And, the key is what we are saying about ourselves as we see our reflection in the mirror?

I used to look for flaws, such as, blackheads, whiteheads, spider veins becoming more prevalent, skin texture, coloring, puffy cheeks, lines and crevasses, dry cracked lips, receding hairline, that nose that keeps growing, eyebrows in need of maintenance, my red face (neck, arms, etc.), and the list went on and on. There was so much to be concerned about; so many imperfections to see. All of that had me feeling like crap about myself, causing me to think even further about the rest of my body and all the massive flaws there too, and how all of those things were in need of change. This is a path to nothing but stress.

So I decided to heed Louise's advice and say positive things and look for joy instead of pain, to look for beautiful instead of ugly, to see wellness instead of illness. As I was realizing that I had made this change last evening just before bed when I rinsed my face and while my face was still wet, I was loving myself exactly as I was, I thought that I would share that with whoever is reading this. Because this change has taken me from disappointment all the way to love and joy.

What did I say to the mirror image? I said, "You are beautiful. All of your so-called flaws are not that at all. You have beautiful eyes. Yes, they are older now, but they are as bright a blue as they have ever been. Your skin coloring is perfect. You are perfect exactly as you are. You are a wonderful person and whatever you have done or not done in your life is perfect. You are a magnificent example of a human being, and beyond this human suit you are wearing, you are Love. Your smile is delightful. I love you!"

Each morning, evening, or whenever I pass a mirror now, I am saying something positive and uplifting to myself. This is also causing me to think these kinds of thoughts all day long. As I think about something that I might have previously thought of as a mistake in my life travel, I now see that as guidance toward growth and expansion. As I might think of some painful event in the past, I see it now as a stepping stone toward the joy that rules my life now.

I can see more clearly now. I can see that things that used to go bump in the night were nudges back onto my chosen path. I can see how love rules my life now, and how all that blaming and judgment of others in the past is nearly gone from my life. And, the worst of any of those things were as people have said that we are our own worst critics. The benefit from this change is seeing the real me, the truer me, the loving me, the embraceable me.

I hope that if you have been experiencing any of that negative self-talk when you look at a picture of you or look in the mirror, that what I have said here may be of benefit in moving toward loving yourself instead. It not only feels better, but it is also the ultimate encouragement.


True Love Begins With The Self. After all, You Are With Yourself Constantly. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by loving you as you as God loves you.