ONE MORE CHRISTMAS GIFT

Here's an idea for you. To all the parents and grandparents out there spending lavishly on Christmas gifts for their kids and grandkids how about buying one last gift for them that they can take and give to a needy family or an organization who distributes toys to needy children. Not only will this bring your kids joy but it will encourage them to be mindful of those who are less fortunate. Here in the United States millions of dollars are spent each year on gifts for those we love. That's all well and good but I am even more impressed at all the good folks out there who take time to buy and donate gifts to those who don't have any money for these things. And I love it when our children want to share their happiness with others. So this holiday season I hope you show your children that giving is even more important than receiving. May all of you have a safe and fun filled Christmas and a very happy New Year!

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

"All we are saying is give peace a chance."  This comes from a song by the late, great, John Lennon who was gunned down by a madman while he was in his prime. What an absolute waste! Chapman, the man who murdered Mr. Lennon years ago, is rotting away somewhere while
Lennon's words and music still live on. Many a man has been slain for only trying to make this world a better place for everybody. That I will never fully understand. The title of this blog is Dreaming and as John Lennon once said "You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one, I hope some day you will join us, and the world will live as one. I still have that dream inside of me and I'll probably die without ever seeing my dream fulfilled but at least I will never give up. Personally I think its time for another era of "togetherness" and I intend to do whatever I can to get this accomplished. And my hope is that each one of you good folks will join me in that dream. Again I quote John Lennon who once said: A dream you dream alone is only a dream, a dream you dream together is a reality. Right now I invite you to join me in this dream. I hope you will. Just remember, peace begins with each of us in our hearts and in our minds. You right now have an opportunity to do something nice for someone and if you do that then you will be joining me and many others who have this same dream. Be good to yourselves and even better to others! "HUGS" to all.

REBIRTH OF THE TREES

I believe everything in this life will "die" but yet "live" on. I know that is a paradox but still I believe it to be true. Nature teaches us so much if we but take a moment to notice. So much beauty in nature while at the same time it can be so destructive. Here in western Kentucky we see many storms come and go every year. In the spring and summer and the hot days of autumn there is always a chance of tornados and severe thunderstorms. In the winter we have snow storms, ice storms, and at times even a deep freeze. I have always been in awe of the power of Mother Nature. As a kid I loved to watch as the hot summer day quickly turned into an awesome display of thunder, lightning, and high winds. But I am progressing a bit. Today I wanted to share with you my memories of Leo F. Buscaglia, Ph.D. You may know of him and his writings or maybe not. I was introduced to his writings several years ago back in the 1980's. A co worker was reading one of his books and told me that she thought I would enjoy reading it also. Well, I did read it and fell in love with his work immediately. The book was entitled Bus Nine To Paradise. After I read the book I wrote a letter to Mr. Buscaglia and he answered it right away. I really didn't expect to get a letter back but hen again Leo was a very unique fellow. He was known as the Love Doctor. All his books were about love. How to love, how to be love how to show love , how to accept love and anything you could think of about love I guess he wrote about it. He even taught at a University and the class he taught/ Yeah, it was called Love. He was such a standout personality and he practiced what he taught. Before he made his transition from this earthly life I was fortunate enough to be able to correspond a few times with him through personal letters. I would loved to have met him face to face but still I felt a kindred spirit with him. Well yesterday I was out in the yard raking leaves which are now in the process of changing their form from tree leaves to mulch. Back into the dust of the earth (or as I prefer, back into the oneness of all)  only to later come back in another form. as I was doing this I was reminded of one of Leo's books titled Freddie the Leaf. This was a really short book about the leaf which had fallen from the tree and was in the midst of transition. I may suggest you take a book at he book yourself if you can find the time. Also I remembered a story from one of his other books. In it  was told of how Leo really loved leaves. Especially leaves that had fallen from the trees in the fall. The story went that one autumn while all the leaves where on the ground everyone in Leo's neighborhood were busy raking , burning, and doing away with the leaves. Leo's remained on the ground at this house.  The neighbors were concerned that unless his were raked it would be an ugly sight on the neighborhood. So a few of them knocked on his door and asked him if they could rake the and burn the leaves for him. Being the man he was Leo knew they wanted the yards all to be clean and neat but yet he did not want his leaves to be destroyed. So to make everybody happy guess what he did? He raked the leaves up, brought them inside his house and spread them around! Everybody was then happy. I love that story and think it tells you what a unique and loving man Leo was. So as I raked the leaves I thought about Leo and thought to myself, Man what a great job he had, teaching others how to love. I miss you Leo! The next time you see a leaf that has fallen may it remind you that you too may at times seem to be dying but in reality all you are doing is making a transition into something different. That goes mentally as well as physically I do believe. Everything has its season. My wish for you is that all your transitions will be as easy as possible. Remember to love. Love ,love and then love some more. And as always if you will do a little something nice for someone just because you can. "HUGS"

BALL OF CONFUSION

People moving out, people moving in
Why, Because of the color of their skin
Run, run, run, but you sure can't hide
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
Vote for me and I'll set you free
Rap on brother, rap on
Well, the only person talking about love thy brother is the preacher
And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the teacher
Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration
Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation
Ball of confusion, That's what the world is today
Evolution, revolution gun control, sound of soul
Shooting rockets to the moon, kids growing up to soon
Politicians say more taxes will solve everything
And the band played on
So round and around and around we go
Where the world's headed, nobody knows
Oh, great googalooga can't you hear me talking to you?
Just a ball of confusion
Oh yeah, That's what the world is today......................................................

These words above are lyrics from an old Temptations song from the early 70's or maybe even the late 60's. I wanted to use these words in my entry today because I feel they still are just as true and as poignant today as they were when originally penned. For the past few weeks I have been trying to come to terms with my innermost feelings and beliefs. I have been in dialogue with folks who are much smarter than I probably ever will be and they have given me much to think on. Mostly it concerns my way of "seeing" this 3D life. I consider myself a simple man and I have been just trying to follow my heart in everything I do. As I ponder all the questions, all the possibilities, all the teachings, and belief systems I still cannot fully comprehend why I am here and what it is I am supposed to be doing. For a long time now I had myself convinced that if I tried to be a human being who demonstrated unconditional love for everyone then I was fulfilling my purpose for being here. So many possibilities have made me become quite dizzy trying to "understand" it all. Where did I come from? How did I get here? Have I always been here? Is there a God? Were ancient astronauts from other galaxies the ones who put us here? Is reincarnation for real? Am I going to one day "die"? If so, what happens then? Am I judged to be either "good" or "bad"? Do I get a reward? Or do I go to a hell? Will I remember anything of this earthly life when I die? Will I ever be reunited with the ones I've loved so much? I could go on and on with all kids of questions but I won't do that. I suppose the one thing that has been bothering me most these past few weeks is questioning myself as to what I am doing here. I've been told this is all an illusion, that in reality I am pure consciousness being led astray by other beings who have conjured up this world. I have heard that if someone shakes a war veteran's hand as I have and said thank you, by doing so I have given the illusion of war more strength. That maybe I should not say anything about something that is not "real". I don't know. After searching my heart the only thing I can come up with is that I should continue to show love , be love, accept love, for that is really all I am. Love is really all any of us are. You may not understand, you may even violently disagree with me but that is okay too. I really don't think I will ever live long enough to fully understand things a s they are. Maybe I should just stop thinking about all the different possibilities and just focus on being the best human being I possibly can. I hope I can do that from now on. As I see it, it really doesn't much matter if I can explain it or not. Just as long as it continues to feel right in my heart. I intend to keep an open mind on things and as always I remind you that these beliefs are mine and only mine. I don't claim to know what you need to be free and happy. I would ask all of you though, to take a short pause and think of something you can do right now to bring a little more love into this world. Life may well indeed be some kind of shadows or illusions but I figure the shadows need a little love also. Do something nice for someone because you can. Be good to yourself and even better to those you meet! "HUGS"

IN SEARCH OF SOME ANSWERS

Over the past few days I have been prodded by some very great thinkers to once again look at the path I am on in this 3D world of ours. Without dear friends like these folks who always inspire me to look deeper within myself I would probably just dry up and blow away! So to these folks I say thank you from the bottom of my heart. And please keep on prodding me to explore things I have yet to see. For today's entry I want to share with you these thoughts that come from the Science of Mind magazine published in January 2011. I share this now because I feel it relates to what I have been thinking on these past couple of days. These words are as follows----People yearn to feel happy, creative, and appreciated, and to be loved and to love.  As we look at our lives today, I know some are dissatisfied with how things are going and some are satisfied. How about you? There's always that yearning to keep life growing; there's always tomorrow---and what can be. We give enormous power to outside forces----things, situations, and people---that we perceive are running our lives; however, the very process of thought by which we assign power to those outer forces is exactly the same process of thought that, used differently, could heal, uplift, and transform our lives right now. That's why our founder Ernest Holmes said, "That which you are searching for, you are searching with." So my friends I hope these words will at least help you look within and see where your innermost thoughts are taking you at the moment. And my hope is that each of you will  rediscover the truth that we are all ONE. In parting I want to wish all of you the very best of everything in all you do, and especially in your own personal search for "Truth". Be good to yourself and even better to those you meet each day.

FREEDOM TO LOVE

Possessing the freedom to love sounds easy. But is it really? Let's take a quick look at his possibility. I believe we are all born to express love as we know it. That is not to say that all of us do that. There are way too many folks born into this world and are taught to hate instead of love. Even though love is within us as human beings it can be completely covered up and when this happens it is up to each of us to once again dig deep, way past any limitations others have taught us, and to discover that eternal spark of Divine Love within. Not all will agree with my thinking on this subject but personally I want to discover all the love I can. Keeping in mind that there are many "different" types of love I have long been in the process of defining love as it relates to me. Love is an emotion, I think most would agree with that. And being an emotion it is very hard to define and to understand. When I speak of love I am referring to "Unconditional Love". This is the love that is just that, pure love and nothing else. How many times you heard someone say they could love another if the other person would only do this, or that, or believe or act in a different manner. That kind of love is conditional and it will never last! Unconditional love is eternal as long as it remains just that- Unconditional! Here is the kicker though. If I want to give unconditional love to another person then I must first possess that love. I sure can't give away something I don't possess! So in order to love anyone unconditionally I feel I must first of all clear my mind of all the garbage and negativity I may have allowed to enter my sub consciousness. This is harder than it sounds. At least it is for me! But by doing the necessary mental work I am then able to love in what I feel is the "right" way. I remind you that these thoughts and beliefs are mine only! It may not work for you it may sound silly, it may go against everything you believe. My hope is that any of you, who are trying to attain the state of Unconditional Love, are able to find your own way to achieving this state of mind. For in my world at least, nothing else means much unless you live a life of love. But again that's just me. I will leave all of you with the following quote from Deepak Chopra who stated: "You  have to go past the turbulence of internal dialog to connect with that abundant, affluent, infinite, creative mind." Oh how I agree with that! May I also once again remind you to do something nice for someone today while you still can. I wish all of you folks the very best of everything!

A SALUTE TO ALL THE VETERANS

I know I waited longer than I should have today in giving a big salute to all the vets who sacrificed and continue to sacrifice so much for this country of ours. I was never able to serve in the military due to a broken neck I sustained when I was 19 years old. Even if I had not of had that auto wreck that probably should have killed me I probably would not have served any way unless I had gotten drafted. I was still a selfish, ego driven young man at that age, and did not fully comprehend living a life of service. Today, I have lived long enough to better understand things like war and peace, countries and the such. Right now is not the time to talk about all that except to say I sure wish there never had to be another war of any kind. To me war is only an illusion brought about by a lack of positive thoughts. Strictly speaking from the knowledge I have gained I now hold the highest regards and esteem for all of our service men and women who have served in any kind of way to help keep our great country free. A very special thanks to all of you on this day that is set aside to honor all of your service and sacrifices. From the deepest part of my soul I say thank you. "HUGS"