Daily Inspiration 4-30-19

"As life has a way 

of unfolding as it is meant to,

I have learned to trust life."

-- Linda Thompson

Sign on my wall to remind me to trust and in Whom

[Classic post from 4-30-17]

In the Bible, in Matthew 7 and 8, and again, in Luke 9 and 10, there are two of the most well-known sentences: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

I really wasn't a church-goer until I was 45, and then for only about 10 years, yet how can one live and not have heard these sentences? But, hearing them or reading them is insignificant to learning to trust them as real; as truth.

Today, April 30th, 2017 is the 30th anniversary of my realization of what happens when I trusted in those words. It is the 30th anniversary of my meeting my late wife, Nancy, in Hawaii for the first time. She was an answer to my prayer; to my asking with trust and abandon in the power of prayer, and in God. I like to use the word phrase, All-That-Is or The Universe because the word God has such baggage.

I had been separated since mid-1984, and then finally divorced in 1986 from a 16-year marriage. That was a time of change, and all of that was perfect in so many ways. I was doing the dating thing and it was not what I wanted. I wanted more. So finally in 1986, I got on my knees at the foot of my bed and prayed this prayer: "Lord, I know that you know everyone on this planet, and I am asking that when you feel the time is right, that you will put the right person for me in my path, and please make sure I am awake to recognize it."

I did that for 6-months. Seriously. I didn't know that I only needed to ask once, and even that is optional since, after all, All-That-Is knows All-That-Is. I won a Chevrolet sponsored trip to Hawaii from the dealership I worked at to Turtle Bay on Oahu, Hawaii. Nancy won the same trip from the dealership she worked at 500 miles away from mine. We met at the first event on the first night on April 30th, 1987. My friend Dallan was along with me to make sure I was awake. Everything happens for a reason. A funny aside is that Dallan now lives on that island and has for many years. Go figure.

Well, we became an item immediately and fell in love magically just like in the movies, and a month and a half later, we were together in Fairfield CA and for 26 years until her passing in 2013. I might say that I've never loved anyone as unconditionally as she, and though that may be true to an extent, what is more important is that she taught me to love more fully all people without any conditions.

About 1987-8 at Bodega Bay CA

It is amazing when you ask, trusting that it will be given. The tendency we often have is to be impatient. Are we there yet? Hey, it's not happening yet! I like this shared thought by Sharon Salzberg: "Patience doesn't mean making a pact with the devil of denial, ignoring our emotions and aspirations. It means being wholeheartedly engaged in the process that's unfolding, rather than ripping open a budding flower or demanding a caterpillar hurry up and get that chrysalis stage over with."

I have a wonderful guided meditation that I listen to quite often that is a free download from Mira Kelley on her website. It's called Trust. It is so powerful. With all that goes on around us, it is harder sometimes to trust in that which we cannot see with our earthly eyes, and to let go and surrender to that unseen power, and yet it is there. I have been convinced enough times beginning with this story to know for sure. This meditation reminds me to trust and to surrender to that power with every listen.

One last thing I want to leave you with if you've come this far, and that is that you don't need to know exactly what you want. The Universe knows. Allow yourself the flexibility to be surprised and amazed and delighted. Trust that what you need and what you don't even know fully that you want will come to pass in synchronicity that will astound you. Just like the story I just told.

It would have been impossible for me to plan what happened. I simply had to trust and surrender that God was in control and that what I was asking was given. It was given at the moment of my asking, and my surrender was the patience to watch it unfold before my awe-struck eyes.


[Update: It is now 4-30-19 and it has now been 32 years to the day since we first met on 4-30-87 and I find myself living in Hawaii. Who knew? I know who. . .]


Surrender Doesn't Mean Giving Up And Trust Doesn't Mean Giving In. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by injoying all that life has brought to you so far and with a renewed anticipation of the power of more unfolding in your trust that you get what you ask for.

Daily Inspiration 4-29-19

"I am never upset 

for the reason I think." 

-- A Course in Miracles 

[Classic post from 5-1-17]

A friend and reader of these Daily Inspirations sent me a note this morning about yesterday's post. He mentioned that he had just finished a book that I always recommend to anyone and every one by Gerald G. Jampolsky, Love Is Letting Go of Fear. I mentioned that I have read it at least ten times and of course, I've stated here that I have given a few hundred copies away over the years.

So, with that book in my thoughts as a result of this email, I picked it up again and opened at random to the chapter with the title, I Am Never Upset For The Reason I Think. What a perfect place to land. So, I thought I would share a few insights from that very short chapter.

It begins with this profound statement: "Most of us have a belief system based on experiences from the past and on perceptions from the physical senses. Have you considered that what we believe is what we see?" 

Of course, we think that we have to "see it is to believe it," but that is backward. Some say, "I'll believe it when I see it." And yet, "I'll see it when I believe it," is the real truth.

Gerald adds, "We all have the power to direct our minds to replace the feelings of being upset, depressed, and fearful with the feeling of inner peace. . . When I recognize that I always have the choice between being fearful or experiencing Love by extending Love to others, I need no longer be upset for any reason." 

This delightful thought came to me after re-reading this chapter: Put Your Love Glasses On! Yeah! Love that idea! Now, these are special glasses indeed. They only let love come through to the eyes and into the brain, positively infecting our beliefs so that we then see more love, deeper love, unconditional love wherever we may turn our gaze. With our Love Glasses on, we believe what we see and we see what we believe.


Don't Forget Your Love Glasses Today! 

Spread Some Joy Today--on your journey of knowing that you ultimately have the power to see that which you want to see, and to experience that which you want to experience, and to feel the love that you are.

Daily Inspiration 4-28-19

"Your emotions 

are absolute indicators 

of your vibrational content." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

[Classic post from 4-29-17]

Yes, and here's the power in that statement from Abraham: "Once you understand the clarity that your emotions provide, you will never again not know what you are doing with your current thought. You will always be aware of whether you are, in this moment, moving toward or away from your intended goal or desire." 

When I truly began to understand the power of the guidance that is within me, it changed my life. I stopped blaming things, people or circumstances. I started understanding that as I felt negative emotion it only meant that I was out of alignment with the Source within me. It became like an audible warning going off when I was moving away from what I wanted much like those grooves on the side of roads that make the tires vibrate and make noise.

If I were blaming something for causing this, I would be the victim and I've had plenty of that in my earlier life. The powerlessness of victim-hood is such an ugly feeling. But, when I realize that I am only being guided by my Inner Spirit to become aware of what I am now choosing, I can be awakened to a better feeling choice.

I love the simplicity of this guidance. It is easy to see how it works.

Vibration is spoken as part of this and to many, it may seem that the idea of vibration and how we are vibrating is harder to understand. Yet, everything is vibration at a wide range of different frequencies. This is where the idea of resonance helped me. As I am choosing thoughts that cause me to feel negative emotion, I am vibrating in discordance with my Inner Being. As I am feeling positive emotions, I am in resonance. We can easily feel that difference, which helped me to understand so much better the way all of this knowledge is allowing me to know how I get what I get. And, if I am not liking what I am getting, I know what to do about it.


Personal Power Is Within Us All. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by following your own internal guidance toward that delightful end.

Daily Inspiration 4-27-19

"What is the happiest thought 

you can think at this moment?" 

-- Christian Almayrac 

[Classic post from 4-28-17]

Enjoy that thought! How about another? And another? And another? Until you are walking on air on this beautiful Saturday!


Look At All The Power You Have Over Reality! Who Knew? 

Spread Some Joy Today--by carrying on with yo happy thoughtful self.

Daily Inspiration 4-26-19

"That which sticks in our craw 

is what creates our dis-ease." 

-- Albert K. Strong 

[Classic post from 4-27-17]

Nelson Mandela said, "As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison." That is stating what he is bringing with him or leaving behind. Sometimes it may be a challenge to leave behind something that has ruled our lives for a time, however long it may have been.

But, my favorite quote by Nelson Mandela is how that bitterness or hatred, however, we think it may be directed, or however we think it may be justified is not doing anything but damaging ourselves. He said, "Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies." That which sticks in our craw creates our dis-ease.

Yet, I have to add one more from Nelson: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."

No one is born hating, pushing against, being in resistance. It is all learned. From our parents, teachers, peers, friends, the media in all its forms. With all of this, it is easy to have things stick in our craws. And look at all the diseases we have created even in the last 50 years compared to all of human-time.

It is easy to think that the negative baggage of beliefs that we have are there because they are real and true, but they are no more real and true than anything that we have learned and accepted. We often may even feel as if that baggage has power over us, and that is only true as we accept that premise. The real truth is that we are infinitely more powerful than any belief we choose to hold. Accepting being a victim or accepting being in full control is purely a choice, along with all the levels in between. We choose it all and create our own world as a result of those choices.

Michael A. Singer, in his ground-breaking book, The Untethered Soul, is teaching how to clear the craw by allowing everything to flow through us, accepting it as it is, yet not giving it any other power or meaning, and certainly not holding on to any of it. As it flows through, we are continually cleared and free. The only harm that ever comes is from allowing things to stick causing a blockage and creating stagnation.

Some people say that we have to accept the world as it is, things as they are, and fight, fight, fight for what we want. I like how Alan Cohen puts that into perspective. He says, "If you must accept what is, then accept the presence of love, beauty, abundance, and perfection." 

Finally, how do we know where we are? By how we feel. I know what love, beauty, abundance, peace, and joy feel like. I also have experienced and so know what hatred, anger, resentment, powerlessness feel like. You could say that if it feels good, it is, and if it doesn't feel good, it is. If it feels good, it flows, and if it doesn't feel good, it sticks. That's how we can know and then choose as we will.


Letting Go Permits The Flow And Creates The Glow. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by rising above and seeing yourself anew.

Daily Inspiration 4-25-19

"We can complain because

rose bushes have thorns,

or rejoice because

thorn bushes have roses."

-- Abraham Lincoln

[Classic post from 4-26-17]

I've heard it said to my face that positive thinking is bullshit. But to me, that just sounds like a whole lot of resistance going on.

Whether thinking that resistance is like holding onto a rope as in the tug-o-war game resisting the pull of some opponent, or pushing against something that we don't like or don't want, in either case, and in all cases of resistance, we're not yet ready to hear how that struggle need not be. Or, maybe it does need to be. We grow in all situations and sometimes we create without awareness to bring challenges that we have to figure out.

So is positive thinking bullshit? It is if you are in resistance to it, and it isn't if you are not. Simple truth.

I recently read an article stating this about positive thinking just for fun and it made me laugh. It made it sound like because positive thinking is bullshit that negative thinking rules. Well, there is some truth to that if you look around; however, there is no truth in that if you look around. Just as Abraham Lincoln stated, we can focus on the so-called negative of the rose bush or the so-called positive of the thorn bush. And, yesterday's lead quote by Helen Keller is worth repeating here: "Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it."

There seems to be a natural draw or attraction to negative thinking. I know why that is now. It is the ego. The ego is perfect for what it is good at, but it likes to pretend that it is good at everything. But, it is not. It has a very limited scope of usefulness, and yet it is often the white noise of the voice in our heads. It pretends to be us, but it is not us. We are much higher up than where the ego lives. It's good to remember this.

As we take charge as if we are even above our body, which in reality we are, we can see how all this is working within us and surrounding us. This gives us perspective. We then can choose what to focus on. From this perspective would I choose negative thinking? Why? I like roses. And, I can appreciate thorns. That's not bullshit to me. It's living a life of joy instead of pain.

I spent more time on Facebook in the last couple of days than usual. There are so many positive things there. And, of course, there are negative ones too. One was looking for sympathy in a broken relationship and after reading the story and knowing the person, I put something positive there. Then another post from the same person complaining more, so I posted again something uplifting, or meant to be uplifting. But, I'm certain that this person was thinking, positive thinking is bullshit.

I rarely 'swim upstream' with people anymore, but once in a while, I indulge myself in attempting to point out the rose within the thorns. We can't really change people. Only they can change themselves. Sometimes a positive uplifting word or thought might be of benefit, but generally when people are in resistance, there they are until they decide for whatever reason in their own sweet time that they are tired of that and want something better.

Until then, I fully understand that positive thinking is all bullshit.


"Minds Are Like Flowers, They Only Open When The Time Is Right." -- Stephen Richards

Spread Some Joy Today--by accepting yourself as yourself and by learning more about who you are, what you are, and how you serve.

Daily Inspiration 4-24-19

"Although the world

is full of suffering,

it is full also of

the overcoming of it."

-- Helen Keller

[Classic post from 4-25-17]

There is a popular phrase that says, what you see is what you get. So, we might think that as we see something that everyone will see what we see. There it is for all to see, right? Simple.

But, it is not so simple. It is less what we see and more what we bring to what we see that dictates what we see. One person might see suffering, and another someone on the journey of wholeness, expansion, growth, gaining in strength, adding more wisdom. Those two people each bring something different to the scene that they view.

I like how Abraham, Esther Hicks explains this: "There are as many different worlds as there are perceivers or Beings or individuals. You are not here to create one world where everyone is the same, wanting and getting the same. You are here to be that which you want to be, while you allow all others to be that which they want to be."

That last line could be stated this way: "You are here to see that which you want to see, while you allow all others to see that which they want to see."


Seeing Is Believing? I Think It Is More Likely This: Believing Is Seeing.

Spread Some Joy Today--as you enjoy your own unique perspective of what you see today. I hope it is a delightful view.

Daily Inspiration 4-23-19

"If you find a path with no obstacles, 

it probably doesn't lead anywhere." 

-- Frank Howard Clark 

"As your faith is strengthened, 

you will find that there is no longer 

the need to have a sense of control, 

that things will flow as they will 

and that you will flow with them 

to your great delight and benefit." 

-- Emmanuel Teney 

[Classic post from 5-4-17]

Fight. Fight. Fight. Make it happen. The struggle is just part of the game. You must work hard. Action is not everything, the right action is. It's all about winning. You either win or you lose. Winning is the only thing. Blah. Blah. Blah.

I watched a very interesting and powerful documentary on Netflix last night titled, The Mask You Live In. It was focused on men and what being a man is all about to so many, how that is constantly influenced by the media, handed down from parents and culture, and how all of those influences create many serious problems in the world, especially when it comes to boys and men relating to girls and women.

I found myself in tears in several places because I could so relate to much of what the large cast of boys and men said about how they were taught and how they grew up and the masks they wore to hide what they really felt. It was enlightening and expansive to me.

Then this morning, I thought I would look at some images where I buy the photos and other images I share here and that we use in our business. Three images caused me to consider the obstacles that we think are in our way and have to be overcome, and that learning to flow rather than struggle is one of the most valuable things I've ever learned.

Sometimes obstacles are all by themselves and even though we are on our way somewhere, they are pretty easy to go around. In this case, I had so much time seeing it out there that I thought I would have some fun with it and flow around it very closely. Something in our way or even a little out of the way that we think is some kind of barrier can simply be an opportunity to find some enjoyment on our travels to wherever we are heading.

Other times an obstacle may seem large and wide and as if it is doing what it can in its size and shape to foil our attempts at flow. Yet, that is really an illusion and just like a bend in the river can be caused by an object, it doesn't stop the river from flowing as it will. It simply seeks to flow. The river doesn't even need to work at it because it is constantly flowing until it runs out of water, or out of life energy.

Then there are times when the obstacles are many. So many, in fact, that they look like powerful roadblocks to our freedom in travel. But, again, these and all obstacles are simply an illusion in their power. As we trust in our ability to flow, we have no need of control over obstacles, or as Emmanuel Teney said, "As your faith is strengthened, you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will and that you will flow with them to your great delight and benefit." 

The more I learn about life, being a man, or whatever may be going on with my journey, I see no need for struggle, fighting, rowing upstream, fitting into other people's ideas of how I should live or think. Instead, I've learned that letting go, learning to flow, trusting in life; in love; in God; in my ability to become one with all of that is what brings me joy and peace and harmony.

One other key I've learned is to allow the obstacles to be as they choose, and to allow all others to struggle as they choose or whatever they may choose. I can only flow myself in my own choosing, and we are all in that choosing as we see fit. I don't need to change the world to have peace and love and harmony. I simply need to become them.


It's Not About Overcoming. It's About Learning To Flow. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by letting go of the struggle and peace is the natural result. Peace is the antithesis of struggle.

Daily Inspiration 4-22-19

"Let me say it again:

The present moment

is all you ever have."

-- Eckhart Tolle

[Classic post from 4-21-17]

I don't normally go to funerals, but a couple of days ago, I went to one. It was an overflow crowd and I arrived shortly after the service began and watched it on a big TV monitor.

There were so many stories of love, appreciation, and humorous insights. It was an open casket, and I barely glanced at him as I went to pay my respects to his wife for many years. There he was in his empty human suit looking somehow inappropriate, but that's just me.

Finally, it was over. There were so many people I did not know at all. The volume there was only the surface of those that this deceased touched, and there were hundreds of more stories of love, appreciation, and humorous insights that went unheard. But, the attention span is short.

And, as I watched others around me, it became really clear, as it has been for me for a long time that if we want to honor a person, speak appreciation, love, and share humorous insights, this place and time was not it.

The time is now. There is only now. We are all on a journey home--to our real home. We may be back in a different human suit, or not, but what matters, and the only thing that matters is now.

I suggest making it a part of your moments to express how you feel about other people that you are on this journey with. Tell them how much you love them. Tell them why. Tell them touching moments that stand out for you. Share your love. Lavish your appreciation on them. Be obsequious. Be bold. Be willing to shout aloud your praises in the moments that we share this living journey. Don't just think it from time to time. Say it. Express it in all manner of ways. Be that love. Be that appreciation.


And, Don't Forget YOU! Yes. YOU!

Spread Some Joy Today--by asking someone, 'have I told you that I love you lately?' Well, now is the time. I love you!

Daily Inspiration 4-21-19

"Everybody is unique.

Do not compare yourself

with anybody else

lest you spoil God's curriculum."

-- Baal Shem Tov

[Classic post from 4-19-17]

When I first saw this quote this morning, I loved it, and I was struck with the idea of how beautiful that whole idea of uniqueness is, especially when considering the sheer volume of over 8 billion of us on the planet today. Think about it: 8 billion unique and individual human beings with constant and never-ending changes to each of our preferences, prejudices, and interactions whether in physical proximity or in thought.

Then I thought that we all want. We may not always be clear of those wants, but we want. We're moving. We may not be clear where we are going consciously, but we are going.

The one thing that stood out for me was that there are no two alike no matter how similar they may seem. No duplicates.

And the strange thing is that for most of my life, there seems to have been an internal demand that there should be duplicates, think-alike's, clones. The in-crowd, and the outcasts. History demonstrates this and there have been all manner of conflicts toward that end by way of the righteous and the unrighteous, the good and the evil, the light, and the dark, the rich and the poor, and all wanting parity and separation at the same time.

That history has been in force since the dawn of time and it hasn't worked out yet in the way so many think it should.

I think the reason for that is in not only not accepting each of our uniqueness's but not fully celebrating it, understanding it, delighting in it.

So I was thinking about relationships and how so often we expect the other to read our minds about what we want, or how we may attempt to manipulate the other in word or deed toward more similarity and sameness. You should want what I want and stuff like that. You're either with me or against me is not far away.

But as we can seek out the uniqueness of each other and see what we can do to give the other what they might like or want as a gift--to honor that unique desire rather than push against it, we open up a whole new world of interaction.

This would be more like love than the thing we call love a good deal of the time. I don't mean selflessly giving up what I want for what the other wants, but to recognize and celebrate the uniqueness that is their desires and see the joy of celebration expand as we open to how we might help them celebrate their own uniqueness. This means more a willingness to let go and let the other go their way in their desires as we honor their choices and the uniqueness of where those choices come from. At the same time, we want to recognize and celebrate our own with the full confidence of the gift of God that it is.


You Really Like To Eat Snails? How Fascinating! Tell Me More!

Spread Some Joy Today--by seeing that joy that is in every single person regardless of what they seem to show.

Daily Inspiration 4-20-19

"You cannot remedy anything 
by condemning it."

- Dr. Wayne W Dyer

[Classic post from 4-17-17]

When I first read this line, it jumped out at me. I think it is a very powerful short sentence on how to be happy or have more happiness.

I've heard my share of angry people. Angry at the economy, the neighbors, the stupid people at work, the traffic, local politics, and the list goes on and on. I even used to get angry at some angry people as if that somehow canceled it out. You know, you just get sick and tired of listening to it, or they start pointing their anger toward you and you feel a need to give some back or defend yourself in some silly way.

Wayne Dyer goes on to say, "If you're angry at those around you for being angry people, you're attempting to remedy the situation through condemnation." Of course! I hadn't thought of it that way before, but it rings so true that it is impossible for me to deny it anymore. That's why war isn't a solution, it's a condition.

Wayne goes on to say, "You cannot attract __________ into your life by hating anything about what you've allowed yourself to become." The blank line is mine because you can fill it in with a myriad of things. How about being overweight? So, you can't hate your body or your fat or how you look and at the same time attract how you want it to be. I love his quote here because it also ends with a message to accept some personal responsibility for the condition. If I'm overweight, that is something I created and being angry at it cannot serve me.

You could fill in that blank with money. Hating the fact that you lack money will not attract money. How about the neighborhood. You cannot attract a better, more peaceful, well cared for neighborhood into your life by hating where you are now.

I've heard it said that the main value of anger is to lead you to make a change via a decision to change. I could go for that sometimes, but once the decision is made, anger must be left behind and focus only on the positive of what you want instead of fighting against what you don't want.

Somehow we seem to think that if we were to fight and get rid of something we don't like, then what we like would be all there would be. That cannot be true. It cannot be destroyed. Turn away from it, focus on what you want and let what is back there be there. Getting rid of cancer doesn't create health. Getting rid of anger doesn't create happiness. Fighting is not the way.

The best way is to just let go of condemnation, anger, disapproval. Just let it go. Having these things is like always paddling upstream against the current. Letting it go is like putting the oars in the boat and letting the current take you where you need to go, trusting that it will come to pass. Everything you want is downstream.

Ahhhhhhh! That is so much better!


I Love Floating Downstream. Life Is Good!

Spread Some Joy Today--If You Hear Anger Today, Send Them Some Loving Thoughts. You Know They Need Them, And, You Need To Send Them.

Daily Inspiration 4-19-19

"Gratitude is the antidote to depression." 

-- Dr. Kelly Brogan 

[Classic post from 4-15-17]

Here is the whole quote that I gleaned from an interview with Marie Forleo in a recent video on her website: "Gratitude is the antidote to depression because when you can feel that expansive sensation and you can experience the wonder of it all, you're never going to be able to move into that space of victimization or rage or frustration or hopelessness". 

I'll add a quote from the Paul Selig book, I Am the Word, that adds, even more, clarity: "Once you could understand that engaging in wonder will lift your frequency and align you to breaking out of a belief system that has held itself prominent, you can use it to your benefit to change yourself permanently. Period." 

As we are vibrating at a lower frequency, we experience and attract those things that are of a lower frequency such as frustration, anger, feeling victimized, feeling helpless to change, and more. And as we want to feel better, have others and situations around us that feel better, we can use simple gratitude to move our frequency higher. This causes more of the higher frequency experiences to come into our senses, resulting in expansion of our gratitude, and ever higher vibratory senses like wonder, amazement, awareness, expansiveness, unconditional love, and more.

This is why we can feel it. We live in a vibratory world. We've all experienced those lower vibrations, and they don't just go away on their own because as they vibrate there, they are attracting more vibrations that match it. We all know that something has to change, and the change is usually simple enough, and as we move into that change, the vibration naturally rises, attracting more like it, and as it rises higher, more like it and so on. We can feel that. We've all experienced it.

I love the simplicity of knowing this in this way and knowing what I can do to make the change I want when I want to while knowing that as I am okay with where I am vibrating, I can stay as long as I want there too.


I Am In My Choosing At All Times. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by making that choice as you see fit. Feel it. Share it. Feel that higher vibration.

Daily Inspiration 4-18-19

"If we could read 

the secret history of our enemies 

we would find in each man's sorrow and suffering 

enough to disarm all hostility." 

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

[Classic post from 4-14-17]

We can. They are in us. We are they. They are us. We are all of one race: the human race.

When we close our eyes to the human being that others are, we can find all the faults we desire to find; however, all of those faults are in us in one way or another. Human suffering is universal, and human joy is the reality we can choose when we allow our minds to open to the other, whether in front of us, in another city, or in another land.

This is compassion. It is an understanding. An understanding that we are no better and no worse than anyone else on the planet. We are all children of one God regardless of the hundreds of names we give that. We are all worthy of life because we are living it. And, compassion allows the view of the secret history of all. Enemies no more.


Compassion Is The Open Door To Appreciation. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by expanding your love to love not just a few, but all. If you really knew them, they would be friends.

Daily Inspiration 4-17-19

"He who obtains has little. 

 He who scatters has much." 

-- Lao-Tzu 

[Classic post from 4-8-17]

I found myself looking at a post from June 30th, 2010 that had the Lao-Tzu quote above. In addition, the main text is here:

"Receiving and giving are both important aspects of life. The thought that giving is better or more fulfilling than receiving is a common thought expressed in the Bible and thousands of other places. I especially like this quote of Lao-Tzu because it uses the word scatters rather than giving, and though they achieve the same result essentially, the method of scattering says giving more clearly to me. Pretty cool, don't you think?"

After I re-read what I had written years ago, I reflected on the quote again and then I saw deeper into the soul of the quote. Here is what I see in this now:

Leaving out the idea of desire, since desire can certainly be a part of obtaining, and of scattering, I see lack and abundance. Lack in terms of wanting and needing and acting on something that is not, in order to make it something that is. Abundance in terms of having already and wanting to share that which we have.

I can see selfish and selfless, although I don't much care for those two words because they are misconstrued all the time. It is not wrong to be selfish, nor right to be selfless, although it is often seen that way. The more I learn, the more I see that the concepts of right and wrong do not apply to truth.

I can see the seeking and the sharing. Seeking power, prestige, influence, and then the empowering of others in sharing influence and power, giving of ourselves, and more.

I see filling the things that are empty and emptying the things that are full. A long time ago at about 22 years of age, just entering the auto business as a fresh salesman, my boss and general manager Don Tanner gave me some record albums regarding sales and a few that back then were thought of as motivational (I call them inspirational now). I've never forgotten one concept on one of the albums. He said, "there are only three jobs in life. One, filling the things that are empty. Two, emptying the things that are full. And, three, scratching where it itches." It's amazing how true that is and the volumes of wisdom that it speaks on the same level of the master Lao-Tzu.

Filling the things that are empty, regardless of the volume currently in the thing is operating from a position of lack, need, worry, poor planning, and more. Emptying the things that are full is operating from a position of abundance, wealth (regardless of the volume in the thing or the number as it might compare with others who claim to have wealth), fulfillment, peace, and much more. They are two different points of view and they are two different modes of thinking and action.

Of course, we can make the world black or white all we want and that causes more and more separation, yet as they are combined with some obtaining and some scattering, and then throw in a bit of scratching of the itches wherever they may occur, we can get a wonderful result. Realizing where we are and what we are doing, along with remembering the simple and profound quote by Lau-Tzu, or the guy on the record, can help us make minor and yet incredibly effective course adjustments that can not only better satisfy us, but all those that surround us.

One last and most important thing: As we can turn our perspective more toward that in us which is already full, gratitude is a natural result. As we expand in gratitude, we see the perfection in all things empty, full and satisfied or in need of a scratch.


Go Forward And Scatter Some Joy! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by accepting the abundance of the joy within you and finding how many ways you can share that joy with others.

Daily Inspiration 4-16-19

"There is more to that story 

than meets the eye." 

-- Common phrase 

[Classic post from 4-5-17]

Common human behavior indicates that we are so quick to decide on accepting a point of view as representative of the whole, even though it is almost never true. It's funny how that is.

I was looking for something on YouTube yesterday, and on the right side where it suggests videos, there was one that screamed, "He was a loser." The title is actually this: Lucy, You Can Hear The Pain In Her Voice. Desi, "He Was A Loser."" This is a 4.5-minute excerpt from a Barbara Walters special featuring Lucy and husband Gary Morton. I watched the segment and the title is focusing on one small part, and in fact, Lucy was praising Desi in a big way, while also pointing out some of his failings. From her perspective, of course.

Having just finished the wonderful book, Lucy and Desi, by Warren G. Harris, which was obviously well researched and presented them in wide angle and narrow field lenses along with many outside and inside perspectives, I laughed at the title of the video. But, we seem to follow that kind of carrot and then go so far as to make decisions and judgments based on so tiny a window into their lives. And, we do that with news from the newspaper, the TV, and so many things on social media, rumors at work, and more.

It's interesting how many bits of subjects are out there and almost no one knows the 'more to the story' because, well, who has the time?

Nowadays, I just have to laugh at all this stuff. I get my early chuckles from the newspaper every day except Tuesday. Yes, the newspaper takes Tuesdays off to save money, so on Tuesday's, I must find a different source to tickle me.

So. . . . what if we stopped making decisions on judgment from all of these bits and held out for more information? What if we said to ourselves, and to others, "there has to be more to that story, and I would love to hear more from other perspectives." What if we simply refused to judge at all. I think I heard it somewhere that we might consider 'judging not, lest we be judged.'

Besides that aspect, learning more about the story may take us from scorn to praise! I know that I sort of grew up with I Love Lucy and several of her shows after, and yet I knew almost nothing about Lucy and Desi and all that they did, whom they affected and more. I learned so much from that book that gave me an opening to loving all of those that were in the book and coming to huge appreciation for all they did and all that they affected so positively over the many, many years.

So what about the other stuff. When I get more of the story and learn more about a subject or a person, I get a whole new perspective that the bits cannot serve. I see real people leading real lives and having all manner of challenges and adjustments just like you and me and the next door neighbor. We are all on this journey as connected souls having a human experience. It's a wonderful thing to view and be a part of and especially with a more in-depth perspective.


When You Know More Of The Story, There Is Appropriate Appreciation In Perspective. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by letting everyone be who they are and do what they do without any insistence that they satisfy you. If you really knew them. I mean, really knew them, you would love them. That door swings both ways too.

Daily Inspiration 4-15-19

"Worrying 

is using your imagination 

to create 

something you don't want." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

[Classic post from 4-3-17]

I was briefly looking at my wall of reminders. My favorite is still there after many years:

WHAT is MY job. 

HOW is GOD's job! 

Then the second oldest one on the wall:

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. 

Now a more recent favorite:

Everything

is always working out

for me! 

Then, looking at some quotes, I found the one above about how worrying is using my imagination to create something I don't want. I've highlighted the really powerful word in that sentence. So, here's a new one going on my wall today:

No worries, Mate! 

Monday Is The Best Day Of The Week! It Always Feels Like A Fresh Start, Don't You Think? 

Spread Some Joy Today--by simply feeling joyous. No one will be able to resist.

Daily Inspiration 4-14-19

What if? 

[Classic post from 4-4-17]

What if you had the ultimate confidence and you knew without the slightest doubt that you were in the perfect place at the right time and that just by wanting it for whatever reason, that you could have anything that you wanted?

What if all there were was a flow of well-being that surrounded you, and that perfect health was yours as long as you continued to choose it?

What if with only your thoughts and focusing of those thoughts that you could create matter and circumstances that served you fully on your intended journey within a delightful human experience to the point that you could have anything you wanted, serve in whatever way you wanted, and receive all the joy you could possibly know?

What if God's Will for you was exactly the same as your desires for you?

What if no matter what happens around you, your path is unshakable?

What if all the things and circumstances were only there to enhance your joy?

What if you realized that joy was your only end objective and that all things lead to that as you allow?

What if anything that may have ever seemed to go wrong in your life became clear as a beacon that it was only there to expand your desire and clarify what you really want?

What if you knew for sure and for certain that God provided anything and everything to anyone and everyone in greater abundance than they could possible realize?

What if you realized that what anyone else wants has nothing to do whatsoever with what you can have?

What if you allowed all others to be as they choose, and to choose as they choose without any idea that they should somehow follow your rules or your desires?

What if you were in love with the life you have chosen and have been given?

What if you were in love with all those that are on their own journey for the sake of the living of that life?

What if you knew completely that no one and nothing could ever do you any harm without your permission?


I Believe That All Of This Is True As We Choose To Align With It. 

Spread Some Joy Today--realizing that you are of God and through God all things are not only possible, but readily available and lovingly given.

Daily Inspiration 4-13-19

"When you give 

the credit or the blame 

to another 

for your success 

or lack of it-- 

you are powerless 

to make any change." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

[Classic post from 4-2-17]

In the middle of the night last night I awoke to the idea of how powerful the word 'should' and 'shouldn't' can be in our lives. Then again early this morning as I was about to get out of bed, I was reminded of this again. Obviously, I intended to write on that subject.

I think that a lot of people, maybe even a majority, have the word should in their lives, and it is not only not serving them but is helping defeat them by giving them pointless feedback either before something, and even worse, after the fact.

I looked should up in the dictionary and find that it is the past tense of shall. I had no idea, but it makes sense. Shall is a plan, or an intention, or an expectation depending on how it is used. Should indicates a must, or ought to indicate duty, propriety, or expediency. You should do this, or you shouldn't do that.

The most demeaning of should uses is to have the word, 'have' follow the word 'should,' as in he or she should have, or I should have. We often use the contraction, 'should've.' I should've done that. He or she should've done that, or they shouldn't have done that or I shouldn't have done that.

It occurs to me that whether it is should've or shouldn't have, it is exactly the same. While it seems that one is positive and the other is negative because of the word, 'not' they work exactly the same.

Should can be from a so-called outside authority. Others do this to us, and we do that to them all the time. Whether it is about politics, the neighbors, the relatives, or anything else, it is going on constantly. They should've done that, or they shouldn't have done that, they should do this, or they should do that.

Worse still, should can and often is from the self about the self. I should've done that, or more often, I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have eaten so much, I feel terrible, or I should've saved more money. I shouldn't do this or that, or I shouldn't have done this or that, or I should be better, I should make better decisions, I should feel differently than I do, and the list is endless because should is the past tense of shall.

Most often it is already done, so no matter what is said of it from whatever perspective, it matters not. It is done. It is history. At the same time, it is about the future. It cannot be modified in the past, nor can it be modified in the future. We are powerless to change, as Abraham points out because we are either giving the credit to others because they are smarter, better, wiser, or we are blaming them for our ills and worse, blaming ourselves for our ills.

Words have power. We might fling them about as if they are light as a feather and yet they can do great harm. Here's a consideration for our growing health and well-being: delete the word should and all its forms from our vocabulary.

What is better? I think it is accepting responsibility for our choices, and our results whatever they may be, then allowing others to accept or reject responsibility as they choose for themselves. The only person I have any control over is me. The only way I can truly influence another is as the true me that I become and grow closer to full alignment with. 

As I criticize another by using the word should, and as I criticize myself using that word and all its forms, I see a false world, or rather a reality that I do not really want. As I change my mind about all of that, finding things to praise instead of criticizing, I come into ever-closer alignment with my higher power and true self. 


Should Lives In The Past And Future. I Live In The Present. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by looking for what you want to see, and those things that you don't want to see or experience will not be seen. Should attracts more should's. Appreciation attracts more to appreciate.

Daily Inspiration 4-12-19

"It's not love if it hurts." 

-- Chuck Spezzano 

[Classic post from 3-28-17]

I grew up in the 60's, and the popular music of the time that surrounded the idea of love was often a sad affair. The one that stands out and was recorded first by the Everly Brothers and many others long after that was a song called, Love Hurts, written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, a famous husband and wife songwriting team.

Some of those lyrics are: "Love hurts. Love scars. Love wounds and marks. Any heart not tough or strong enough to take a lot of pain, Love is like a cloud, it holds a lot of rain. Love hurts. . . Some fools think of happiness, blissfulness, togetherness. Some fools fool themselves, I guess. They're not foolin' me. I know it isn't true. Love is just a lie made to make you blue. Love hurts." 

Of course, I didn't know any better back then based on all those kind of thoughts about love, but I have found the eternal truth about love. Love doesn't hurt. If it hurts, it isn't love.

There is only Love with a capital 'L,' meaning the Love of God, that Love has no agenda, has no demands, has no requirements. That Love is pure joy, pure acceptance, pure empowerment, pure delight. It has no conditions. It simply is. It simply does, and it requires no one to accept it or not accept it. It simply is. We certainly may accept it, and as we do, we are connected with All-That-Is, which is Love. There is no pain here because there are no expectations. It gives freely and requires nothing in return.

All those other loves with the little 'l,' are imaginations and thoughts tied to the ego. They have plenty of expectations. They have plenty of demands, and the biggest is that that love must satisfy them. They expect conformity, passion turned on and off at will, my way or the highway, and thousands more. It feels good sometimes, and much of the time it does not feel good, and in either case, it is not Love. Instead, when it feels good, it can be likened to performance--the occasional matching of desires and expectations, subject to change in a moment without notice.

As we see someone or even think of someone that we say we love and feel pain, we do not love them. As we are feeling a loss, feeling sorry for ourselves, we are in charge of those feelings, and they are not love. Love doesn't feel a loss because Love is never gone. Love is empowering, not disempowering. Love is eternal.

Love does not reject. Love does not harm--ever. Love is freedom, appreciation, and joy. I especially like the word freedom in thinking about Love. It has no agenda that it wants me to follow. I choose as I will, but when it doesn't feel good, it is not Love. When I am in total freedom, I am in Love. As I am in appreciation, I am in Love. As I am in joy, I am in Love.


Think About The Love Of God. If It Doesn't Feel Good And Require Nothing, It Is Not Love, And It Is Not God. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by focusing on the pure Love of God, and as you do, Love like that all those in the world near and far. Feel how it feels to Love without any conditions.

Daily Inspiration 4-11-19

"Happiness is the art 

of learning how to get 

joy from your substance."

-- Jim Rohn 

[Classic post from 3-27-17]

Jim adds that "Happiness is not an accident. Nor is it something you wish for. Happiness is something you design." It's purely a choice of how to view whatever it is that we are looking at.

Gratitude is a way to joy. It is joy. Being thankful is the same as being in joy. Rabbi Harold Kushner suggests that this may help us get there:

"Can you see the holiness in those things that you take for granted--a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul." 

With just a little bit of intention and practice, finding the magic all around us all the time in things we don't even see anymore will create a habit of happiness, a habit of being in joy.


Injoy Your Day! Happy Thursday! 

Spread Some Joy Today--Remember the clothes that you didn't have to sew together, the toilet paper on the roll, the refrigerator with food in it, the heat and air conditioning at your fingertips, the smile on the face of the person in front of you. Those few things should bring enough joy to spread!

Daily Inspiration 4-10-19

"As we dabble in our life experience, 

even perhaps creating magnificent things, 

I think that the vast majority of us 

hasn't a clue how powerful we really are." 

-- Albert K. Strong 

[Classic post from 3-26-17]

As I was eating some delicious buttered toast and enjoying some Jimmy Dean sausage links, I had this thought: How can all these health experts, all these theories about what causes weight gain or loss, health or lack of it, and more be correct? One says, "don't eat wheat," and another says, "don't eat carbs," and another says, "eat carbs, more carbs," and yet another says, "sugar will kill you," and another says, "avoid fats," or "avoid calories," or "avoid protein, or avoid certain kinds of meat, or all meat," and having only barely touched the surface here, it is enough to drive a person crazy as we try to know which is correct.

Then, it came to me. It was clear as a bright sunny day to me. It's the Quantum Theory. They are all correct. They all speak the truth. I used to wonder, how can that be? But now I see it.

Quantum Theory in its simplest form is this: Whatever we bring to whatever we are looking at changes the thing we are looking at. Equally, whatever we bring to whatever we are experiencing, the thing we are experiencing is changed as a result of what we bring. 

This reminds me of one of Wayne Dyer's famous quotes: "Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change." I have accepted and understood that in a philosophical way for many years now, but after this morning, I understand it in a more practical way.

Look how powerful we are! We can and do change matter! And we do it with our thoughts! Beliefs are the most powerful thoughts, but really they are simply thoughts that we keep thinking and attracting more thoughts like it to reinforce and strengthen our own thoughts creating belief. 

It is so true that as we change the way we see, we change the things we see. So from a more global view, as we look at a thing, a subject, a person, a reality, we bring to it what we have accumulated in knowledge, and more importantly, beliefs and prejudices. This accumulation directs how we are choosing to see all of that.

It's easy enough to find facts to corroborate our point of view. We do it all the time. Real facts, alternative facts, it just doesn't matter. We see what we want to see, choose to see. And, they are all fine. They are all points of view, stories, conclusions.

So all of that nutritional information is not true or false, it is true and false depending on your personal view from your accumulated learning.

The only problem we ever really have in enjoying a delightful life is when we stop attracting what we want by focusing on what we don't want and then pushing against that with the idea that I am right and you are wrong. We are not right or wrong, we would be right and wrong as we choose our viewpoint.


It Is What They Say It Is For Them. I Will Make My Own Decision For Me. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by realizing that it is not joy or fear, but joy and fear. The only real question is where am I on that continuum.

Daily Inspiration 4-9-19

"If you want 

to be somebody else, 

change your mind."

-- Sister Hazel 

[Classic post from 3-24-17]

Sounds pretty easy, and I can see that changing one's mind is the only way to become someone else, and yet something tells me this is one of the hardest things we could attempt.

I think it would be far easier to uncover the real me than to escape into that other person as me. Unless, of course, I had a strong desire to become a skilled and versatile character actor. Besides, finding the real me is the holy grail, after a lifetime of covering it up, smoothing it over, playing many minor roles that life seems to demand of us.

With all this, who has time and energy left to try to be someone we're not?

But then, if we haven't already figured out who the real us is, how do we go about that? I know that's an excellent question because I've asked it a thousand times at least. I've taken quite a number of tests, went through StrengthsFinder, and ten or fifteen others that are designed to draw out the real me. They weren't all that helpful.

Yet there is one that was helpful for me and it came from Dr. John Demartini and his book, The Values Factor, and then on his website at www.drdemartini.com, he has a 13-question process to determine my values. He has taught about how our values are what determine what we choose, not the other way around. Of the questions below, many are quite enlightening if answered in private.

The 13 questions that reveal your values are:

1. How do you fill your space?
2. How do you spend your time?
3. How do you spend your energy?
4. How do you spend your money?
5. Where are you most organized?
6. Where are you most reliable?
7. What dominates your thoughts?
8. What do you visualize most?
9. What do you most often talk to yourself about?
10. What do you most often talk to others about?
11. What inspires you?
12. What goals stand out in your life and have stood the test of time?
13. What do you love to learn or read about most?

What is most helpful in this process is that once we figure out who we are by figuring out what our values are, we uncover reams of insight into our life travels and results. As we choose to focus on our core values, we smooth out any rough spots in our travel too. And, in the end, if we still want to be someone else, this is the place to begin to change our mind by changing our values.


I So Value The Magnificent Teachers Who Help Me Along My Path--Even Those Whom I've Never Met Except Through Their Legacy In Ink. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by realizing that one of your core values is joy!

Daily Inspiration 4-8-19

"What is wonder?  

Wonder is a belief in what can be possible. 

Wonder is an imagining and a seeing, 

 and a process of expression of the senses 

when one is benefited from an image, 

a miracle, a thought that is so wonder-full 

that all one can do is express wonder in the face of it." 

-- Paul Selig 

[Classic post from 3-23-17]

When was the last time that you were awash in wonder? Few and far between? Rarely, if ever? Every day?

What I love about the quote above is how it expresses how and what wonder is and how we experience it, and more importantly, how we can experience it as we desire.

We all know that wonder is an amazing feeling. It may be brief, and yet it has a lasting effect on how we feel for as much time as we allow it.

"Wonder is a belief. . . in what can be possible." Dreams are wonder! A belief is a feeling of certainty. Wonder gives us the power to dream and mean it, to decide and do it, to live it.

"Wonder is an imagining and a seeing. . . " Does imagination just arrive willy-nilly or do we have the power to create imagination? As we imagine, we can see. I think of imagination as a visual thought.

". . . a process of expression of the senses. . ." All of our senses come alive in the expression, or it could be that all of our expression comes alive via our senses.

". . . when one is benefited from an image, a thought that is so wonder-full that all one can do is express wonder in the face of it." An image. Imagining. Seeing an existing reality, or imagining one. A thought. A whole train of thoughts, visual and non-visual. We can think ourselves into wonder. We can pay attention to the present moment, the present view, and we can choose to see it as we desire to see it, feel it, experience it.

The miracle. If we can believe that it is miraculous that we are even here, breathing, moving, experiencing millions, maybe billions of influences on our physical external self and our internal magical self in every moment. Once we accept the idea that just being alive is a miracle, virtually everything around us becomes miraculous too. If miracles are said to be only of the divine, then we are also of the divine.

I believe that each and every one of us has wonder constantly in our lives. It is not that wonder is or wonder is not, it is are we awake and paying attention or are we not.


Delight In All Your Wonder Today. It Is Exactly Like Walking On Air. 

Spread Some Joy Today--as you experience the wonder in your life. Joy is the recognition of the wonder in your life, don't you think?

Daily Inspiration 4-7-19

"Situations are given to you 

by the universe automatically 

to show you exactly what your beliefs are." 

-- Bashar, Darryl Anka 

[Classic post from 3-20-17]

I thought that this was such a fascinating way to see what is in our current reality.

With this view, we can look at our current reality and then see what our beliefs about what is true for us, what we feel we deserve, and more is the cause and the reality is the effect. Cause and effect.

I've often thought of cause and effect, but not quite in that way. To see what is as an end result and then to open the book of our beliefs about ourselves is a really interesting and telling way to see exactly how we are the cause of our own effects. And, we can see this by looking at what we have.

I thought of this cute phrase as I awakened to this perspective: "You know where you're at when you see what you've got." As we awaken to the cause and effect of this, we can begin to ask some questions that will help us to create a different and more pleasing reality should that be desired.

What do I believe about myself today? What do I see as true about me? I can see that I have caused this to come to be, and I want to know what specific beliefs about myself and my views about life caused this to be true today. What are my beliefs about abundance? What are my beliefs about what kind of job or career I might have? What kind of beliefs do I have about marriage? Dealing with others? Business? Security?

As we examine our beliefs, we can see more clearly how the cause and effect have worked in our lives. It also gives us the opportunity to create new and improved beliefs that can open a new and more enjoyable reality for us. As an example, it is impossible to have abundance by having lackful thoughts. As we examine how we think about lack, and how that has played out in our lives, we can learn to let go of these limiting beliefs by turning our attention to how abundance is a mindset that creates that reality.

As we see how we create our own reality, we can see that it is our own beliefs that created it and can also change it as we are willing to see the correlation.


A Belief Is A Thought We Continue To Think Over Time. Maybe It's Time For A Change In Our Beliefs. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by seeing what you want before it becomes reality. Order up some joy. It's on pre-order special this week.

Daily Inspiration 4-6-19

"It's a strange thing love is. 

You can't get rid of it. 

If you try to give it out, 

you get more back. 

If you try to hang on to it, 

you lose it." 

-- Warren Buffett 

[Classic post from 3-19-17]

I've come to the conclusion in my long life that the only thing that is really real is love. Everything else is unreal.


Love IS. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by turning your thoughts toward love and find that joy and never ends.

Daily Inspiration 4-5-19

"We want to encourage you 

 to give more of your attention 

to what makes you feel good-- 

not something so radical 

that you must control every thought-- 

just make a decision that you will 

look for what you want to see." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

[Classic post from 3-17-17]

How many times do you wake up and find yourself speaking positive thoughts in your head? Or is it the unresolved worries from yesterday, or the concerns that you will face today, or other such thoughts?

A few years back I took an affirmative thought from Abraham, printed it out and put on my office wall, and now after a willingness to practice, I find myself stating it as I wake up. It is this: "Today, no matter where I am going and no matter what I am doing, it is my dominant intent to see that which I am wanting to see." I've shortened it somewhat to this: "Today, it is my dominant intent to see what I want to see." 

In Esther and Jerry Hicks book, Ask and It Is Given, in part II of the book, they give 22 processes to help practice moving toward more joy and less resistance. Process #8 is The Book of Positive Aspects. I love this one because it is fun to do. As I am writing down positive aspects that I find in life, I cannot be thinking about negative aspects at the same time, and as I practice this change of focus, I find more positive aspects showing up in my life.

I started doing this with this phrase at the top of a page: I love. . . . This caused me to consider things that I loved, however big or small, whether people or things, situations, sights, interpretations, you name it. I remember one on the first page was the smell on wet concrete on a hot day. Every time I think about that, I can smell that special smell. I smelled it when I was a young boy at the plunge laying on the pool deck that had been splashed with water and as I lay there face down in my arms, that smell was so unique that I've never forgotten it. Hosing down the driveway on a hot day will bring it back also. It's a silly thing, but I love it.

I don't need to write them down anymore because I am fully functioning in the habit of seeing what I want to see, enjoying what I am seeing all throughout my day, every single day of my life now. As I type this I am looking at a multi-colored ceramic alligator that was a gift my late wife gave me after she went on a magnificent adventure to South Africa with her son. It's always in front of me as I see my computer screen. I love it and it reminds me how much I loved Nancy and still love Nancy in her absence.

I see hundreds of books on bookshelves all around my office. I see the view of the courtyard as I look out the sliding glass door of my office. I see the beautiful blue sky today, and I will be enjoying a 4-mile walk a bit later, while I'm eager to get back to the spectacular audiobook I'm focused on now titled, Lucy and Desi by Warren G. Harris and their magical and adventurous life together. I love this book. I love them. I love their story.

If I run across, or being interrupted by something I don't want to see or hear, I bless it and move back to my loving thoughts of what I see and enjoy. It's all about deciding that I can, that I am worthy, that I have the power to feel good regardless of how any other chooses. It is all about my willingness to practice changing my gaze, and interpretations. It expands my desire to love all others as they are inside whether or not I approve of or like their behavior or choices.

As I find these things that I love, these positive aspects that are constantly all around me in so much quantity that I cannot even get to them all, I experience joy, peace, and my own expanding love.

Yes, I am still working every day, running a business, dealing with issues and challenges, but they are now full of positive aspects too. As I find something less than that, I bless it and move my gaze to what I want to see, to how I want to feel, and I am injoy again. And again. And again.


Awareness Is Great, But Practice Is What Makes It All Work. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by seeing what you want to see, making lists of things you love and like and want more of. The rest can be left where it is. Let others pay attention to that stuff.