REFLECTIONS FROM LIFE

What is the surest way for one to predict what is going to happen to them in the future? If  one had the answer to that I suppose they would be held in high regard, not to mention that they would be in great demand around the world. Most say there is no way to predict the future and they may be correct. But in my personal experience I have found that my future usually reflects back to me what I have been giving out. There have been times in my life when I just wanted to stay in bed and hide form the world cause I just knew "bad" things were coming my way. And guess what? The bad things did just keep coming. It took me quite a while to figure out that as long as I continued to think about all the bad stuff it did indeed come to me. Just like a magnet I was attracting all the things I did not want. When I finally wised up and begin to focus on all the "good" things I wanted I was amazed at how quickly my life did a big turn around. I feel that life reflects to us as we think. If we focus on bad we get bad. If we focus on good we get good. Sounds simple I know but I also know just how hard it is to keep a watchful vigil on our thoughts at all times. But if we can learn to train our minds to keep a positive thought pattern eventually the negatives in our life become fewer and the happier we become. In the book Living in the Light by Shakti Gawain the following is found on page 30 in a chapter called The World as Our Mirror you will find the following statements.
If you judge and criticize yourself, others will judge and criticize you.
If you hurt yourself, others will hurt you.
If you lie to yourself, others will lie to you.
If you are irresponsible to yourself, others will be irresponsible  in relation to you.
If you blame yourself, others will blame you.
If you do violence to yourself emotionally, others will do violence to you emotionally, or even physically.
If you don't listen to your feelings, no one will listen to your feelings.
If you love yourself, others will love you.
If you respect yourself, others will respect you.
If you trust yourself, others will trust you.
If you are honest with yourself, others will be honest with you.
If you are gentle and compassionate with yourself, others will treat you with compassion.
If you appreciate yourself, others will appreciate you.
If you honor yourself, others will honor you.
If you enjoy yourself, others will enjoy you

Here's hoping all of you beautiful people are enjoying this one Eternal Moment and living life with passion. Be good to yourself and even better to others and always keep on smiling!

TAKING A BREAK FROM THE EGO

Have you checked your ego self out lately? Do you ever take a moment to see if the ego is raging out of control? Or maybe a moment to just realize the ego is in total charge of everything you do? From my personal experiences I have found it very beneficial for me to take a close look at that "ego self" which I oft times confuse it with my true being. As humans we need the ego self at times I'm sure. But when it rules all our waking thoughts it can cause us much pain and sorrow. I share with you a quote from the Carlos Castaneda book The Wheel of Time which is a work about the Shamans of ancient Mexico and their views on life, death, and the universe. On page 16 of this book it states: Dwelling upon the self too much produces a terrible fatigue. A man in that position is deaf and blind to everything else. The fatigue itself makes him cease to see the marvels all around him. I find that to be very true myself. May I be bold and suggest that you check in with that ego you and see if you can take a quick respite from it and learn to be more attuned to the fact that all things are One. Be wary of all egos, and especially those of others who know no other way except through their ego. I wish you good luck in discovering and overcoming all the ills of the ego mind. And as you grow in wisdom please remember to take a moment and do a kind deed for someone and while you are at it a good deed for yourself as well!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

On this day when we honor all the mothers everywhere I would like to send my wishes along to all of you. Being a male I will not ever be able to  know what it is like to give birth to a child. But from what I have seen being a good mom has to be the hardest yet most rewarding job in the world. My hat is off to all of you not only today but every day. And all you sons and daughters out there remember to always let your mom know just how special she is. HUGS to all of you

YOU CAN'T STRIKE GOLD IN A SILVER MINE

I would like to share my thoughts with all of you today on why it seems we have so much trouble finding the perfect love, perfect peace, and the perfection in all things we desire. There was an old blues song by Johnnie Taylor with the title being the same as the title listed above. Every time I hear that song my mind starts wondering once again why it sometimes seems so hard to have the things we most desire made manifest into our so called reality. As I see it we spend too much time waiting for someone or some event to come along that will bring us the thing we desire. Instead of looking deep within our own subconscious mind(that being the gold mine) we look outside of ourselves (That being the silver mine). And since all good things begin in the subconscious mind we foolishly moan and groan that the thing we most want to see occur just keeps on evading our every attempt. I truly believe that as long as we think someone else or something outside of our own mind will sate our desires then we will never be fulfilled or satisfied. Sure, we will experience some desires happening despite our own unknown efforts of sabotage, but never will we understand why some things always seem to remain just out of our reach. I believe that the quickest way to achieve our dreams is just to quit asking for anything from anyone and go about our affairs with a smile and a heart of love given freely to others. And when we do feel a "need" for some experience or some love, or some money or anything else we may think we need, we should enter into our center of perfection that resides within all of us and just see the thing as already being made manifest. then say thank you and then let it all go and just get on with living a life of gratitude.I don't think any one of us can ever strike gold unless we learn to get out of the silver mine first! I leave all of you beautiful folks with the reminder that you too can be a bright light in this 3d world. Be kind to yourself and even kinder to others!

TEACHINGS OF DON JUAN

I wish to share with you today the following paragraphs from the book Teachings of Don Juan

 A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other  manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it.
 When a man has fulfilled all four of these requisites- to be wide awake, to have fear, respect, and absolute assurance- there are no mistakes for which he will have to account; under such conditions his actions lose the blundering quality of the acts of a fool. If such a man falls, or suffers a defeat, he will have lost only a battle, and there will be no pitiful regrets over that.


May I remind all of us to remember to be really good to others as we attempt to gain more knowledge as we grow in all areas of our human egos. And if you can do something nice for someone right now and that will help ease some of this world's burden. I leave you now with thoughts of pure love, peace, and kindness. Hugs to all.

IF I COULD CHANGE THE WORLD

Do you ever think about what it is you would do if you wanted to change the world in one way or another? I have been doing that ever since I was a young fellow. Of course when I was really young I only wanted to change it in a way that would benefit me in whatever way I could devise. But as I grew older (and hopefully wiser) I began to envision change that would benefit all human beings. As I changed myself from being a "taker" to being a "giver" I really did envision a world where we all live hand in hand. Sharing all the world, living in peace, and treating each other the very best we could. After going through that stage which I now call my "saving the world syndrome" I slowly became aware that no matter how much or how hard I tried I was never going to be able to see my dreams come true. And with that realization came the fact that I personally cannot "save" anyone, nor can I drastically change the world as it seems to now be, but at the same time I can do whatever I feel led to do to help. And with that realization I became a little more "free". No longer do I feel I have to do anything other than what I feel in my heart. I no longer have to "know" all the answers. I no longer have to try and fix anyone else. I only have to follow my heart in everything I do. Finding freedom in an unfree 3d world isn't easy to do but it does become a little easier when we accept everything as it is. Does this mean I will not try to change the world? No it doesn't. I will try to change my thoughts and actions and when I do that in itself will change the world. So I will continue to try and be the very best human being I can. I will try to be a good friend, a good husband, a good man, and will try to be a positive force. After all, that is really the only thing I can do. If the world around you right now seems to be dark and things are hard, may I suggest you try changing your thoughts and actions so that you can become a light for the darkness. Darkness is only an illusion brought about by a lack of light. Let your light shine brightly right now and become a part of the solution to this worlds darkness. And as always, take a moment and try to do something nice for someone! I leave all of you beautiful folks with a quote from Leo Tolstoy who once stated: "Everyone thinks of changing the world but no one thinks of changing himself."

LABELS?

I oft times wonder why us humans have such a need to label everything we see. And even though one will label a thing as this or that the next one of us redefines the thing itself and adds a new label to it. Is it no wonder we humans cannot learn to live in peace and harmony with everyone else? Life is not that complicated I think, rather I believe we do everything in our power to make it become complicated. One person's definition is another's illusion and on and on it goes. I wish to share with you the following quote from the Tao te Ching translated by Stephen Mitchell. It says this:

When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.
 
Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.

Therefore the Master acts without doing anything, and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess, acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.


My sincerest wish is that each of you wonderful folks find yourself right now in a state of peace, perfect love, joy, and with a sense of oneness for all of humanity. For no matter how any of us define things I feel we cannot ever change the fact that we are One. One with all life. Now all we need do is learn to treat each other with the love and respect we deserve. I leave you now with my love to each one of you, no matter where you are, or what you may be doing at  the moment. I would only ask that you take a moment and do something nice for someone right now and become a part of the solution that will eventually rule all life. Perfect life, perfect love, and perfect peace. I am you, you are me, and together we are life!