Defining prosperity is that really prosperity or just plain lazy

My prosperity partner wrote an article “Defining Prosperity for Myself”, and now I'm writing the opposing view “Defining Prosperity - Is That Really Prosperity or Just Plain Lazy”…I'll put a link at the end of this article so you can read the first article.

In the article she writes “I have learned over the past year that prosperity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I have a goal of having a five million dollar net worth invested with a 10 % return that gives me a passive income of $500,000 a year. Someone that I know has a dream of having a net worth exceeding $400 million dollars. Is her goal to have more prosperity than I intend to have? That is a trick question to which the answer is no. Her goal is definitely to have more money than I intend to have but remember that money does not equate prosperity.” Of course I take massive pride in the fact that I am the someone she knows who has the goal of a net worth exceeding $400 million dollars!

The article goes on to say “I am not close to my extended family, but my immediate family is my second priority. When my children are happy, healthy and bursting with joy, I know that I am being prosperous. Every day that my husband and I still love and adore each other is another day of prosperous living for me. Some of my friends are like family to me and their involvement in my life makes me feel prosperous beyond measure. I know that I am loved and I believe that love is the ultimate treasure. When you are truly loved, you are the richest person on earth.”

Man that was a mouthful - So now I ask you is that truly prosperity or just plain lazy! Since when does being prosperous involve how others feel and interact with you? So does that mean one isn't prosperous if all the friends left and the children are unhappy and your spouse decided to not have 2am conversations with you and NO ONE loved you? That is her measure of prosperity isn't it? So you remove all those things and the prosperity is now gone right!

The world is filled with creative energy and while I'm all for the concept that everyone is entitled to whatever they want, and that we should allow each person to want whatever makes them happy... I'm also for the concept that most people in society don't aim very high because they are afraid of failure. Now to have enough creative energy to create or attract 5 million dollars - anyone can do that. But how much creative energy does it take to attract or create 400 million?

We grow up in an environment where we set the bar really low on what we can or will achieve - JUST IN CASE if we don't make it we won't feel so bad. Most people in society want nothing more than a 9-5 and to retire with a 401k.

You know I've been saying for years I want to be on the Forbes 400 richest Americans list and in all that time that I say this I have never heard anyone say ‘REALLY? ME TOO!’

Now could that be that's just way too far up on the tree for most people to reach for, and the apples on the lower branches are easier to get to (apples on the lower branches are also rotten and touched a lot by a multitude of people not wanting to climb higher). We grow up hearing how love is true wealth - Who fed us this diet of foolishness, and the person who fed us this diet - are they truly prosperous?

Don’t get it twisted, people - Stop finding excuses to cover up your not wanting to reach for the sky. Go ahead and say it: ‘I'm too lazy to actually want a huge boatload of money and I don't really believe I can have it anyway - because for me to want a huge boatload of money would entail me actually trying at something and maybe I'll fall flat on my face.’

So I ask is it truly prosperity or just plain lazy?!

Read the other article at breathingprosperity. com/vote. html

Sprouting paper seeds manifesting what you want

I lived on my grandpa's farm as a kid and he taught me some very important life lessons including the Biblical verse: As you sow, so shall you reap.

There is a magic to growing things from seeds which we've planted. When we tend to sprouting seeds, when we give them fertile soil and water, when we nurture and care for them, these seeds grow into a bounty of life. This can be taken both literally and figuratively. There is a caution when we start growing something to tug at the sprouts in an attempt to make them grow faster, we kill the life that has started.

Instead, allow it to grow at it's own pace. With a figurative seed the growth can be immediate or it can grow quickly, others need time coming to fruition and will only manifest as quickly as you allow it to.

You can't go beyond where you have not yet begun. Simply, in order to grow your plant, your idea, your relationship, your business--you have to start with the seed of inspiration.

Without further ado, now for the sowing. . . This is a fantastic exercise.

You'll need to buy some 3 x 5 cards in different colors. And for each idea, thing, relationship, etc., that you want to manifest, (this can be small and simple, like a language pattern or an affirmation that resonates with you), write out a card.

The best way to make compose the sentences on your paper seeds is to apply them to an internal state. Here's one in relation to persuasion: 'I am aware of the things I need to do to persuade in every interaction I have with everyone I come into contact with.'

You're aiming at your awareness in this affirmation.

My students and clients tell me all the time, 'Kenrick, this persuasion stuff is great. I love it. I'm thrilled to be studying with you. Yesterday, however, I was interacting with a new prospect and I completely forgot to use what you're teaching.'

I still hear this from people who have worked with me for years. And I tell them all the same thing, 'It's okay. The conscious mind is a fickle thing. It takes time to remember to use the techniques.'

So now that you've got your statements written, take the card and cut it up into fifty tiny pieces.

The next step is to take those pieces and tape them up all over your house. Stick on the steering wheel of your car. Stick them on your elliptical machine or treadmill. Stick a few up on your bathroom mirror.

Get creative. Put them up and leave them there for at least seven days. Every time you see one of the pieces, tell yourself that you're going to think of the affirmation that you wrote. Think out the affirmation in full. No shortcuts.

You're going to internalize and actualize this affirmation a hundred times faster than you would have otherwise. Think about it--fifty little reminders, telling you to repeat it once again to yourself. . . can you see how this would really sink it into your mind?

You can use this strategy to push anything into your brain in order to act more quickly and assuredly.

I'm absolutely certain if you try this, you'll have amazing flowering gardens of success.

Reflections from a third world country

I recently had the privilege of traveling to a third world country. I realize that using the word "privilege" when talking about an underdeveloped country may seem incongruous; however, it proved otherwise.

I was part of a group of nineteen, along with my husband and 16-year old son, who traveled to Ghana, West Africa. Although this was not the first time I'd been in a foreign country, it was my first short-term Missions trip.

Our main focus was to teach and train church leaders in several villages as well as provide medical treatment for the locals. Many people there understood English; however, they had difficulty understanding our American dialect. Therefore, all teaching or training was done with the aid of an interpreter.

At my first teaching post, I was asked to explain what I do for a living. How do you explain to people who have so little that you help others organize their "stuff" because they have so much? Most of the people we came in contact with lived in small, concrete or mud huts, without running water. They cooked their meals over an open fire and owned only a few changes of clothing.

Day after day I would look around at what you and I would consider extreme poverty. And yet, the Ghanaians appear to be content and even happy people. When my children were young, I taught them that being content was being thankful for the things they already had. The Ghanaians seem to get this principle.

What surprised me the most about this trip was how hard it was to leave. I had grown to love these people and felt as if I was abandoning them. They have so little and I have so much. To say that this experience has changed my life is an understatement.

Although the focus of our trip was to bless the people of Ghana, I felt like I was the one who got the biggest blessing. As you look around your home and the life you have, I hope you see the incredible abundance and blessings you experience each and every day. I know I do.

Getting some anxiety and stress relief

Everyone is seeking some form of anxiety and stress relief. Hopefully you haven't resorted to self-medication with alcohol. Rather than applying a balm to the sore of stress, why not find a way to stop the stress from getting out of hand in the first place. I'll take preventative medicine over reactive medicine any day.

One effective approach to getting anxiety and stress relief is to address the thinking in your mind that is causing the stress. The whole field of cognitive psychology is devoted to this approach. So, one type of faulty thinking that can lead to stress, anxiety and depression is all-or-nothing thinking.

What is all-or-nothing thinking? It goes like this: Someone who suffers from this mistaken form of thought always looks at things in black and white, good or bad, right or wrong, etc. If you partake in this kind of analysis of your life then you are setting yourself up for a lot of grief. Now, correcting this thinking may not happen overnight. But if you become mindful of your all-or-nothing thinking then you can correct it little by little and get the anxiety and stress relief you are seeking.

Here is an example of this all-or-nothing thinking. Let's say that your stress is the result of you not being able to finish all the tasks on your to-do list. I am often guilty of this. I tend to make myself way too busy because there is so much that I want to do. I know I've pushed myself too far when I start to get that knot in my throat and my anxiety level increases. This happened just recently. In order to get the anxiety and stress relief I needed, I had to modify my thinking.

Instead of either succeeding or failing at my to-do list for any given day, I had to be ok with not completing everything on the list. But, that didn't work so well. I didn't like seeing things left undone. That was the all-or-nothing thinking again. So, then I just made the to-do list smaller and that worked almost immediately. In fact, that night when I decided that I couldn't do everything I wanted to do and had to settle for less, I could feel the knot in my throat shrivel up and disappear into calm. This is a good example of great anxiety and stress relief by challenging faulty thinking. This is just one example of anxiety and stress relief by challenging all-or-nothing thinking. Another example could involve you demanding that you get an A on a test. Getting a B isn't good enough. Again, you are setting yourself up for a lot of grief if you think this way. Bring some flexibility into your life and get the stress and anxiety relief you need.

Coaching where is your focus

Summary: Most people don’t begin the process of developing a business if they have no intent of establishing the business. Most people also believe there are different roads that lead to success. Is this true? Or are there just a variety of perspectives along the way?

Sometimes I think there is a common misperception about developing a business. This misperception seems to be that all roads lead to business success. This idea seems to take into account the notion that a business owner can simply pick and choose what they want to do, how they want to do it and when they want to do it.

By observation this almost seems possible.

The truth is every business starts at a definite place in time. It could be after many years of mulling the idea around, it could be after the loss of a traditional job and options are few or it could be following a presentation from someone who is already a business owner.

Not only is there a definite starting place, there is an end goal – the establishment of a business. Most people don’t begin the process of developing a business if they have no intent of establishing the business.

Essentially there is but one road between that starting point and the finish line. I can hear the doubters among you saying, “Then why is everyone’s experience a little different?”

The answer to that question has to do with where they have their eyes focused. For instance many entrepreneurs are long-range thinkers so their view is as far down that road as they can see. Some like to plan ahead, but are somewhat reserved so their eyes are ahead a few yards and their gaze shifts back and forth looking for potholes. Still others take things one step at a time so their view is in the location where they intend to step next. These individuals do not like surprised and want to assure themselves that all difficulties are dealt with immediately.

In the end it’s the same road, but the perspective on how a potential business owner gets from Point A t Point B is quite different. So, when you listen to experts talk about the road to success you have to understand that each expert will have a different view of the road and not all their experiences will seem to match up.

To test this theory take a walk with family or friends tonight ask one to keep their eyes resolutely ahead, another should only look a few yards ahead and a third should watch every step.

From one you might hear about a deer that crossed a hundred yards down the path. From another you might hear of a stray branch that they almost tripped over and the third might describe some of the insects encountered along the trail

Same trail – different perspective.

We all start in the same place, we hope to end up in the same place, but we always choose our view of the road every business owner must travel.

Agoraphobia four things i had to change before healing could begin

I suffered with agoraphobia for more that twenty years. During that time I tried all sorts of treatments, some conventional, some not so, and nothing I did seemed to have any sort of positive effect upon my agoraphobia, panic disorder or anxiety disorder. In fact, some things made my condition worse, in some cases, much worse.

When my panic attacks started, back in 1985, I was left with a travel phobia but as the years passed, my safe-zone became increasingly smaller until I wound up being more or less completely housebound. During this time, at two separate stages of my downward progress, I consulted with a couple of homeopaths to see if they could help me. We tried all sorts of different treatments but nothing seemed to work. However, there was something that they both told me that lingered with me for a long time afterwards. They both stated that there was a “time for healing”. I must admit that I didn’t fully grasp what they actually meant by that and figured that they were trying to say that there was some God-given, pre-determined date when my recovery would begin. It wasn’t until much later, when I was well on the road to recovery, that it finally dawned on me what they were talking about.

I was working with the wrong definition of time. What they were getting at was that, there is, in a person’s life, a “suitable point” at which healing can take place. Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t until I had got to that suitable point that I was able to figure out what they were trying to tell me. You see, unbeknown to me at the time, there were some things happening in my life that were preventing me from getting well again. Looking back now, I can plainly see that until I went ahead and physically removed these things, I hadn’t a prayer of getting better.

Here’s a list of things that needed rectifying:

1. The first thing I had to get over was my resentment toward my agoraphobia: Right from the moment that I suffered my first panic attack I was extremely resentful of the fact. In my opinion, I wasn’t a bad person. Why me?

2. The second item was my denial that I had agoraphobia: It took me years to acknowledge that I was ill and in need of help. I truly believed that one day I would wake up and it would magically be gone. In the meantime, if asked about it by even the closest of friends, I’d deny that there was a problem.

3. The third in line was the guilt I was carrying because of letting people down: I had this crazy habit of agreeing to anything that I was asked to do, including things that involved travelling, and hoping that everything would work out fine on the day. Things seldom worked out fine and more often than not, I just couldn’t face the journey. Even if I could confront going through with what I’d agreed to, I’d put myself through hell just to keep someone else happy.

4. And the last item on the list was self-medicating with alcohol: At first it started out as a couple of drinks to steady my nerves but as time rolled by, I started to lean on the stuff more and more. Eventually, I was drinking just to get through the day and wound up with depression.

Something had to change. The first thing to take a hike was the booze, followed closely by my no longer making promises just to keep others happy. If I was invited anywhere, I’d say that I would try to attend but I’d ask the host/hostess not to make any special arrangements and not to be upset if I didn’t make it. I started to accept my “fate” and settled, quite contentedly, into my restricted life. I started to look upon it as a puzzle that I had been given to solve. Looking at it from this perspective made a game out of it. Also, if and when asked about my agoraphobia, I was truthful with my answer.

Within a short space of time, I started to feel better. I was no longer viewing life through an alcoholic haze and the depression started to lift, the guilt I felt from my missed engagements ceased, I was no longer kidding myself that I would magically get better and, last but not least, the resentment that I used to feel had been replaced with a sense of determination to find a cure.

Doing the above didn’t cure my anxiety, panic attacks or agoraphobia but what it did do was pave the way for my recovery by removing most of the stress from my life. Once this was done, right on cue, I stumbled across the system that I needed to remove the agoraphobia and its cousins completely.

How to go on when the going gets rough

There has never been a more opportune time to follow your heart and realize your dreams. However getting to the pot of gold is not always easy. It takes dedication, commitment and the willingness to do whatever it takes.

So how do you go on when the going gets tough. When you have dug and toiled, day after day, week after week, and you experience all kinds of disappointments and frustrations.

When you have used the best scientific data, indicating the best locations to dig and are still not finding the rich deposit, which you know is there somewhere. Or when you have developed the best looking website, developed the best product and what you think is the best sales copy, and you still fail to make the sales that you know should follow?

Do you say it is not working and give up, like the gold prospector in Napoleon Hill's classic "think and grow rich", who stopped just 3 feet from his pot of gold?

What do you do when everything you know, doesn't seem to work?

The best thing to do is to take time out and become still. Yes, stop toiling for a while and make some quiet time, because it's no use just hammering away if you are hitting at the wrong place.

The quiet time will help you reflect on what you have done so far and gain some new perspective. Take a book that has inspired you countless times or the Bible and read.

Don't put pressure on yourself trying to find an answer, just let yourself go, any whichever way and the answers will come.

Take a piece of paper and just write. What about? Anything really. You can write about the confusion you feel.

Talk to yourself, not negative stuff that will make you feel worse then you already do, but tell yourself that you are getting the answers you are looking for. Don't talk as someone who is without hope but talk like someone who knows it's only a matter of time.

Most importantly though, listen to yourself, and then try again using some of the new insights you have gained from your inner person, your subconscious.

Sometimes, you're at the right place, you just need to go 3 feet further down or 3 feet to the left, or right. Or sometimes the time just isn't right and you just need to wait a little while longer.

But these are things no scientific data will ever tell you. This is something which comes from inside you, your subconscious mind which knows everything.

That is why it is important to take time out and listen, because if you don't you may just miss the key you need and waste an awful lot of time and money.

Here's something else you can do. Every time you feel discouraged or a little afraid, go and read about your icons or heroes. How they started out. How they felt, when they were still at the bottom, the things they said and did when it really got rough, and be inspired. If possible try and trace a childhood friend of your heroes and talk to them.

In his classic, "Think and Grow Rich" Napoleon Hill describes how his subjects held imaginary conversations with great men who went before them. The result was that afterwards they became more inspired.

Imagine having an intimate, one on one conversation with Bill Gates or Henry Ford, and asking them all the questions you've always wanted to ask them.

It would be awesome wouldn't it. When you come out of there you will be so focused on your goal that nothing anybody say will discourage you.

Something else you should do is to continuously remind yourself that everybody who is now successful, was once at the very place where you are now. The important thing is that they didn't remain there.

If you are serious about attaining your goals you will also not remain there. But remember, it requires commitment and dedication even through the tough times.

Oh, how sweet it is to hold that prize after all the struggling. That's when you realize all the trials and tribulations were worth it. But you will never savor that experience, you will never know how good it feels when you give up.

Social validation sells

For the most part, we are all conformists. We will do what the crowd does. We might not like to admit that, but it is true. Only 5 to 10 percent of the population engages in behavior contrary to the social norm.

We see this law operating in groups, in organizations, in meetings, and in day-to-day public life. In all of these circumstances, there is a certain standard or norm. In churches, the moral code determines the standard behavior acceptable for the group. In organizations, the bylaws and years of tradition establish a standard operating procedure. Because we want to fit into these groups and maintain our membership with them, we conform our actions to the norm.

We seek to find out what others are doing as a way of validating our own actions. This method is how we decide what constitutes "correct" behavior. We see the behavior as more correct when we see others doing it. The more people do it, the more correct it becomes. Professor Kirk Hansen of the Stanford Business School demonstrated this when he boosted downloads for best-selling files on the Web by downloading those files over and over himself so the counter was artificially high. He and his team then observed that these boosted downloaded files were downloaded even more frequently. The high number on the counter indicated popularity, and people were most interested in downloading the files that were already ranked the highest. Whether the question is what to do with an empty can of soda at the park, how fast to drive in the city, or how to eat the soup at a restaurant, the validation of others give us our answers and therefore guides our actions.

We feel validation when we see others do what we want to do. We learned early in life that we make fewer mistakes when we follow the social norm. There are two types of norms: explicit and implicit. Explicit norms are openly spoken or written. For example, road signs, employee manuals, or game rules are all examples of explicit norms. Implicit norms are not usually stated openly. For example, you usually don't have to be directed to say hello or to smile when you see someone, but you do it anyway. Or, somehow you know better than to put your feet up on the dinner table when you're a guest in someone's home, even though your host most likely will not request that you refrain from doing so.

If we don't know the norm, we look around and find it. The Law of Social Validation becomes a way to save time and energy in figuring out what is correct. We use others' behavior to guide our own actions, to validate what we should or should not do. We don't always have to look at the positive and the negative in every situation. This automatic trigger saves us from thinking. We compare what we do against the standard of what everyone else is doing. If we find a discrepancy between what we observe and what we do, we tend to make changes in the direction of the social norm.

Social validation compels us to change our behaviors, our attitudes, and our actions, even when what we observe doesn't really match our true feelings, style, and thoughts. We go against our better judgment because we want to be liked, accepted, and found in agreement with everyone else. When we are part of a crowd, we "no longer feel individually responsible for our emotions or actions. We can allow ourselves to shout, sing, cry, or strike without temperament imposed by personal accountability."

We seek out social norms to help us know what we should be feeling or doing. For the most part, this is not a conscious process. We subconsciously accept many ways of behaving that are determined by our surroundings and the actions of others, such as raising our hands to speak in class, tipping in a restaurant, or how we behave at a concert. When we become part of a group, our once divergent emotions and feelings tend to converge.

When we find ourselves in a foreign situation where we feel awkward or unsure of how to act, we look for those social cues that will dictate our behavior. This could be at a party, during freshman orientation, or even while attending a family gathering. When the social information we are seeking is at all ambiguous, we don't know how to respond and thus continue seeking out social clues. Imagine if you were sitting in the movie theater enjoying your show when somebody shouted, "FIRE!" Do you think you would jump up and run for it? Well, if everyone else did, you would, too. If everyone remained seated, you would remain seated also.

Teen chat 4 steps to have a great body image

Hi Teens:

If we were to do a survey that asked how many of us feel happy with our bodies, what percentage do you think would answer, “I am happy with how my body looks?”

Research done about body image shows that women are much more critical of their appearance than men. They are much less likely to like what they see in the mirror. Eight out of ten women will be dissatisfied with their reflection, and more than half may see a distorted image.* Young women need more self-confidence and self-esteem in themselves.

Young people these days are bombarded with media messages every day. We watch TV shows and movies with perfect looking actors, and we read fashion magazines picturing top models.

How can we not end up feeling inadequate? We compare our looks with actors and models, and then we feel awful because we aren't as skinny, or don't have the same straight nose, or the same hair, or big eyes, etc.

What we don't know is how many plastic surgery procedures the models may have gone through, how the photos are touched up and airbrushed, and how many actors and models feel the need to starve to maintain their demanded body weight. The models appear to have it all because of their looks, but do we really know if they are happy? Would you be happy if millions of people were judging your body on screen or in magazines? Would you be happy if you could rarely eat?

No wonder there are so many ads for weight loss wonder pills and instant diet plans. We see before and after pictures that lead us to believe that our lives will be perfect if we can only lose the weight. Then we will be beautiful, right?

Again, what the media doesn't tell us is that many of the people in those miracle weight loss commercials are paid quite handsomely to lose weight, and are even using other methods beside the product advertised. Also, they don't tell us how many of these people gain the weight back and then some after the diet is over.

These companies spend millions of dollars on marketing to figure out new ways of attracting people to their product. Be aware of the big, bad advertising monsters who make you feel as if you have to look a certain way to be a worthwhile person.

Another big influence can be your friends and family members who are overweight and will tell that you need to lose weight as well. The question you may ask is, if they need to lose weight, why do you also need to lose weight? Do they want you to be unhappy with your body? It seems as if the pressure to be skinny never ends.

Unfortunately, excessive and prolonged dieting can lead to eating disorders.

Overeating is usually caused by emotions. You may notice that when you feel tired, angry, or lonely, you reach for a cookie or another slice of pizza.

Next time you eat, ask yourself the question, “Am I eating because I feel hungry, or is there another reason?”

Eat a variety of foods, and make fruits and veggies part of your daily food intake. If you are not already doing so, find a sport that you enjoy. It might take a few tries for you to find one that fits you best, but keep looking. Being physically active will help you feel better about your body.

Unfortunately, some sports nowadays do cost a lot of money, which can create a big problem for teens. If that is the case, there are other ways to keep your body fit. Go for walks with your dog (or your friends), go bicycling, play Frisbee, jump rope, just get moving. Even mowing the lawn is good exercise, and you may also be able to charge for it and make some money on the side!

4 Steps to Have a Great Body Image - more self-confidence/self-esteem for women – The End * Social Issues Research Centre This article is part of the Teenacity Teen Chat Guide “Get what you want and break free” – 6 ways to help you unleash your greatness no matter what your life is like now!

Control endometriosis and overcome depression

Depression is common among women who are trying to manage and control endometriosis. For many years, women ignored their symptoms and just tried to get on with their lives, while the very real problem of depression that goes hand-in-hand with endometriosis was ignored. As a result, many women turn on themselves, feeling guilty for not being able to cope with their emotional and physical pain.

Are drugs to blame for depression?

One of the best sources of relief from pain caused by endometriosis is medical therapy. To control endometriosis, contraceptives that are high in progestin and low in estrogen are sometimes prescribed. This type of birth control pill reduces or even stops the menstrual period, and has been shown to prevent endometrial tissue outside of the uterine wall from growing. While side effects such as headaches, nausea and depression are mostly mild, they may be more pronounced in some women.

High-progestin pills help control endometriosis, but they tend to cause depression and bloating. Women also cannot expect to use these types of pills as a long term treatment because they can weaken bone density. As an alternative, some experts believe that IUDs containing progestin may be a better way to control endometriosis symptoms.

If depression is a side effect of a certain drug, a patient can ask her doctor to prescribe a lower dose, or change the prescription to something she can tolerate. There is no reason for any woman to try and tolerate a medication that is causing her to feel depressed – no matter how good the medication is if it is causing depression as a side effect it won’t be an effective solution in the long run.

When Drugs Aren’t Enough

When depression as a result of endometriosis is severe, medication can only do so much. Other options need to be considered and discussed with your doctor. A second option may also prove very helpful.

You should know that without surgery, endometriosis tends to be a chronic condition with symptoms varying in severity from one woman to the next. If medication is not enough to control the symptoms, relief from depression may come from one-on-one psychotherapy or group therapy. Many women find talking to other people highly therapeutic, and having their minds distracted (if only for a while) helps relieve pain and prevent depression.

There are also some alternative therapies that may be used to control endometriosis and depression. Aromatherapy, for example, is widely used for its therapeutic properties. Women suffering from depression caused by endometriosis can seek relief in aromatherapy treatments that not only heal the body but also relax the mind. The feeling of well-being that aromatherapy produces is very helpful in controlling both endometriosis and depression.

Keep reading to find out more on dealing with depression and to sign up for our free newsletter on tackling the symptoms and side effects of endometriosis naturally.

Another alternative treatment is homeopathy, which seeks to heal the individual and not just his specific ailment. It can be a very effective way to treat depression as a result of endometriosis without resorting to drugs.

Seeking Outside Help

It is important that in order to control depression caused by endometriosis, a woman build a support network of family and friends who will be able to empathize with her. Isolating herself from other people will do more harm than good, possibly causing a mild depression to develop into something more severe.

Speak to your doctor about getting a referral to a specialist therapist, someone who has experience of either woman’s medical issues or has dealt with patients with chronic pain before.

To control endometriosis, it is as important to control the emotional effects as well as the physical ones to allow a life where pain and discomfort are effectively managed.

Pay attention awareness changes everything

Let me tell you an old Zen story about a monk, this monk knew that awareness was key to his existence and enlightenment. So he decided to go out and find a Master called Tao who was renowned for his ability for awareness. He searched high and low and eventually after many years of practicing awareness during his search for Master Tao he comes across some villagers who were talking about Master Toa's abilities. He approached them and asked them if they knew where he could be found. They answered, "why yes, his hut is on the hill over there by the stream, its easy to find as it's the only hut." The monk thanked them anticipating this journey was almost over he ran to the hut. He noticed a sign that said," remove shoes before entering", and quickly he removed his shoes and ran in falling to the ground in front of the master and told him of his incredible journey. The Master did not flinch or acknowledge the monk, he just simply asked," Did you remove your shoes when you entered?" The monk was a little upset, noticing that the master never noticed he was barefoot. He answered with a little surprise, "Yes master, of course�. The master the asked," which side of the door did you place them?" The monk replied, "I don't remember master, let me check."

The master replied "when you have the awareness that you notice the small details that make the big difference then you will be ready to begin your journey, till then I suggest you go home until you are ready."

The monk left with his head bowed and came across the same villagers. They asked him if he had met the Master, to which he replied, " Yes, and I have just released my journey has just begun."

Just like the monk, I would like you to consider that regardless of the amount of training and personal development and education that you have had so far, this article is just the beginning of your personal Journey.

Awareness in and of itself can change your life, most people really don't know what spiritual teachers mean by this term because it is used without any for of definition other than what our own life experiences create for us. It is more than just knowing something, because just knowing does not stop you from getting stuck in the rut and dysfunctional emotional reactions that keep you from being your real self.

Awareness involves seeing how everything fits together to create you, what happens to you, how you behave, how you react, what you feel inside, and everything that goes on around you to create your universe.

When you see this with awareness then the consequences of each step become apparent and you are at choice, let me repeat this, you are at choice.

Other wise you are just operating as if you were reacting to situations on autopilot based on old programming from when you were a child.

Creating this level of awareness is as easy as it is difficult, the first stage is to PAY ATTENTION 100%.

Pay attention to what really happened, not what you made it mean?

Pay attention to how you are behaving in the moment.

Pay attention to how you would normally react, this is just habit and programming.

Pay attention to how you feel, be honest, without judgement where it is good or bad just how do you feel? Notice just reading this, stuff comes up. It is important not to stuff down feelings as this can be dangerous, as explained in the chapter 19 feelings are just energies. It is just as dangerous to express those feelings, especially for the person you are expressing on.

Pay attention to what is going on around you.

As you develop conscious awareness you begin to notice that it comes in several stages.

The first stage, a person creates their reality entirely unconsciously, they do it by internally processing all the information that comes at them through their senses. How the see, hear, feel by touch, taste and smell; and they process this information to create how they feel, behave and react to life. It is almost as though every thing outside of them is dictating who the world they live in is created. Life just seems to happen because an initial external stimulus creates the resultant behaviour, reactions and feelings. This is autopilot and each stimulus is programmed from experiences from the past.

The second stage occurs like an awakening, they discover that what they do with what comes in through their senses creates every feeling, behaviour and reaction. Also that their beliefs become reality, and the mind is an amazing powerful goal seeking tool, that creates and attracts what you focus on. And that your have been focusing unconsciously and unintentionally on external stimuli hence your results.

They learn that, if they are waking up to terms of their awareness, they can not focus on something unless they value it. They also learn that if they value something in order to avoid what they do not want , they are actually focusing on what they do not want; and again the mind creates results upon which it is focused, which is what you don�t want and you end up getting.

The third stage, they begin to master their internal map of reality by acknowledging that the information that you receive from your senses if being filtered through deletion, distortion and generalisation before being re-presented to the mind. As they master this, they become aware of the ability to take charge of their emotions, behaviours and reactions know that the information they are receiving is not complete. They also can create their own reality by choosing what they focus on consciously. This stage of awareness allows them to manifest what they want to create in physical, emotional and spiritual essence. This shift requires conscious awareness and finally the last stage.

The forth and final stage , enlightenment, this is when they become aware of the realization of the supreme reality beyond the mind and that direct perception of reality without the filters of the mind or self realization; and that they are the source of all love and bliss.

Not bad for the first chapter, the secret to enlightenment. If you want a step by step easy guide, then this is it.

Pay attention 100% , and then love life and all of creation, including and especially yourself. Do this and you will be on the path. I am sure there are many other levels of awareness and paths but the simplicity of this is key to me.

The way in which I practice this is by keeping things very simple in life and paying attention as life occurs around you. This is the basic skills of our natural born leaders and those that standout from the crowd, you have to make this a conscious decision.

So ask yourself in each moment,

ˇ What am I paying attention to?

ˇ How am I behaving?

ˇ How am I reacting?

ˇ How am I feeling?

And when you pay attention, do not get attached to whatever is going on for you, just allow it to be.

The purpose of life and the power of eve

What is the purpose of your life? Have you ever wondered? Have you ever attended a funeral, touched the lifeless body, listened to the eulogies, and asked yourself, “Why am I alive?” or “What am I doing with myself?” Maybe the questions arrest you when you encounter the limitless expanse of an ocean or the lumbering enormity of a mountain. Nature has that mystical power to lift our inner gaze and cause us to ask big and important questions. Just a brief walk in the woods under a canopy of trees, surrounded by a million unseen organisms has the power to re-focus our attention away from the distractions of daily life ! and back to those haunting, often perplexing, questions of purpose.

Best-selling author Dr. Wayne W. Dyer has suggested that the purpose of life is to know God. Similarly, another best-selling author and pastor, Rick Warren, notes in The Purpose Driven Life that the search for life’s purpose begins with God. Both Dyer and Warren are correct, we think, but by pointing us to God they place a bigger – maybe the biggest – question squarely before us: What do we mean by “God”?

Multiple religious traditions across millennia have reflected on the divine. Taking just one notion, albeit a persistently popular one, let’s turn to Michelangelo’s sixteenth century depiction at the Sistine Chapel. Here one encounters the classic white beard and muscles image. Does the purpose of life really begin with this attractive, sixty-something grandfather with a piercing gaze and bulging biceps? Is this the guy who we are supposed to get to know in order to fully understand ourselves? Does he—the Man Upstairs—hold the key to discovering our life’s purpose?

We do not think so. While some might find inner inspiration with this notion of God, it does not work for us. As we struggle with questions of purpose and meaning, we are only frustrated by the literal and mental images and energy conjured by this classic portrait of the divine.

While a host of religious traditions point to a God who is “out-there” somewhere, waiting for our prayers and perhaps willing to help us (at least to the extent we are aligning our lives with “His purposes”), we wonder whether our search for the divine, meaning, and purpose in our lives ought to start “in-here” somewhere. Perhaps the first step to discovering God and ultimate meaning in our lives is through discovering and exploring the divinity that inhabits each one of us.

We are suggesting that traditional notions of a God who has wisdom, power, and goodness wholly external to us is possibly a distraction that keeps us from recognizing the divine potential for flourishing that each person already contains within his or her Authentic Self. What would happen if we broke-free of ancient ideas regarding humanity’s limitations, sinfulness, and powerlessness? What if we consciously rejected the language of divine parent residing outside and apart from us – this Father God “upstairs” or “out there” – to whom we as subservient children must look to and rely upon? What if we instead embraced a more universal concept of the divine as the animating and empowering Source of everything that has been, is, and might be created? What if our life’s purpose was understood as harmonizing with the Uni-Verse, the One Song that sustains and connects all of us? What if we viewed our ultimate life’s purpose and destiny as knowing our Authentic Self, learnin! g to sing our own song in harmony with others, and playing our own music in concert with this Animating Energy that connects everything? Perhaps it is in discovering our own divine attributes and then living a life with the intent of collaborating with God that we might fully realize our life’s greatest purpose and meaning.

These insights are ancient and their inspiration rooted in our earliest texts. Consider the exchange between Eve and the Serpent in the mythical Garden of Eden. God had commanded Adam not to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because doing so, God warned, would result in death. But we are told that the Serpent was crafty, and the snake suggested to Eve that far from death, taking and eating the tree’s fruit would open Eve’s eyes, animate her awareness, and make her like God. And the Serpent was right. Eve took a bite of the luscious fruit, and she did not die. She then shared the fruit with Adam, and he did not die either. Rather, the eyes of both Eve and Adam were opened, and, as the Serpent had predicted, the holy scripture tells us that they became like Gods.

In this story, which circulated as an oral tradition throughout the wandering tribes of the ancient Near East, we are confronted with two important concepts. First, the concept of a God up in Heaven answering prayers and demanding our allegiance – the parental God that many of us were raised to believe in – provides an inadequate conceptual framework for realizing our divine potential. If you continue reading beyond these opening verses of Genesis’s third chapter, you will find these first two human beings making clothes and making offspring. Neither of them died on the day they touched and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Rather, and this brings us to the second point, Eve and Adam demonstrated an admirable boldness as they challenged the received wisdom. Rather then accepting the limits imposed by the social forces of her environment, Eve challenged the constraints of both Adam and God, and she modeled an unbridled courage that refused to settle for less than life’s best fruit. And in the process of recklessly and passionately pursuing where her instincts guided her, Eve had her eyes opened. She was enlightened and empowered. She discovered something about herself that living a safe, uninspired life would have always kept hidden.

And in this act of challenging the status quo and rejecting the conventional wisdom – the commands from those in authority – Eve models the type of behavior that always enlightens and empowers us to discover the Authentic Self – our unique voice in the song of the Uni-Verse. Eve gives us an example to follow. Eve points us down the path to discovery of our Authentic Self. The danger lies not in eating of life’s fruits, rather it lies in the limitation we place on our ability to be open and aware. As quantum theory demonstrates, every thing emanates from Source energy and every thing is, ultimately, connected. We should not be surprised, therefore, when our departure from the collective whole leaves us feeling inadequate and incomplete. What we must do to reclaim our Authentic Self is to reclaim that we are entirely Source, wholly god - vibrations. And when we are operating like Eve with our eyes wide open and our spiritual frequency tuned to the unity vibrations of! the divine One Song, such a state resonates with our soul. When we live a life of divine resonance we are living a life of authenticity.

Thus, the first step in our exploration of the Authentic Self is the realization that a divine Spirit vibrates within each one of us. And what do we mean by “divine”? Originally from the Latin, divinus literally translates as “of a god.” So, the first step in recognizing and realizing your Authentic Self is the acknowledgment that you are “of a god.” You are divine. You are eternal. Embrace the possibilities. Feel the resonance. Take the first step.

What are dream really made of

Have you ever considered what the heck dreams are really made of?

Many people believe dreams are simply a bunch of garbled thoughts strung together that don’t mean anything in particular. If you taking the time to read this article, then chances are you probably believe that dreams are much more important than that…and they certainly are!

Your dreams are a true reflection of yourself at that particular point in your life. They encompass all of your thoughts, your emotions, your beliefs, and all of your desires. Think of your dreams as snapshots of what you are in the process of attracting or creating in your life at that time.

That last sentence is what dreams are really all about. They are signposts literally telling you the nature of things to come.

This isn’t about prophetic dreams here, but the general direction your thoughts and emotions are taking you in. So in that light, giving your dreams some attention is to your great advantage!

Here’s how it works –

Suppose that most of your waking thoughts are of worry, fear, frustration or beating yourself up over something you said or did, and so on. This is negative emotion that will naturally be reflected in your dreams.

However, your subconscious (or you higher self, or whatever you want to call it) is a lot smarter than your conscious self and will offer you nuggets of wisdom to make you more aware of the bigger picture. Awareness breeds the changes necessary to turn those negative thoughts and emotions around.

If you choose to do nothing about your negative state, then guess what…you’ll get more of the same. If you choose to be more aware of your emotion and move toward the positive, then you will create more positive results in your life. That’s the Law of Attraction at work and believe me, your dreams can really help you with this!

The message here is to become more interactive with your subconscious through your dreams and make use of them. You can start by asking yourself a question before you fall asleep at night and expect an answer.

Sweet Dreams!

Secret success strategy

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

-Mark Twain

FOCUS + FEELING + ACTION = ATTRACTION

While I don’t believe in pat formulas for success, I’d like to share some ingredients for attracting more of what we want in life. It goes like this: whatever we FOCUS on, FEEL, and ACT on, we ATTRACT. Call it ‘a recipe for success’ if you will. (Not "THE" recipe, but "A" recipe). If any of these ingredients are missing, there’s less chance of manifesting what you want.

If you have the mental focus (i. e. you write down your goals/objectives, put them in a visible place, say your daily mantras/affirmations) but lack the feeling of what it would actually be like to accomplish your goal, you can say your affirmations till your blue in the face and nothing would happen.

Likewise if you have powerful feelings and are doing lots of activity but are lacking focus and direction, you will burn out fast without accomplishing much. In fact, if you’re focus is misplaced, you could end up courting disaster. Take a look at professional race car driving. Some of the deadliest accidents occur right when drivers are rounding the curve. Some of the inexperienced drivers, as they are rounding the curve, will stay visually focused on the curve they are trying to clear. And guess what happens? You got it…they end up smashing right into the curve! More experienced professionals will immediately shift their focus in the opposite direction of the curve and thus get past it. Are you focusing on your problems or solutions?

If you have the focus and feeling down pat (your doing your mantras, writing your goals, developed your plan, are experiencing passionate feelings of reaching your desired objective) but are not taking daily and consistent action towards your goal, again you will always be coming just short of your desired outcome.

There are some extras that I’d like to add. If after you’ve done everything humanly possible, you place your FAITH and trust in the natural process that creates all things, and stop worrying and fretting, you will attract more of what you want in abundance. Think about it, would you plant a flower seed in the soil, and after a week of waiting, watering, and giving it lots of love and sunshine, dig it up and yell, "WHY AREN’T YOU GROWING! YOU’RE USELESS!"? Well, isn’t that what we do with our own dreams sometimes?

Finally, if you add the HERO ingredient of SERVING others, of reaching your dreams by also helping others and creating value for other people, you will live a much more fulfilling life. We can certainly attract the stuff we want in life, but without giving back to the community or helping others along the way, we can often be left with a shallow, empty feeling inside.

An ultimate lifestyle secret - the power of integrity

Wikipedia defines integrity in the following way. “Integrity is the basing of one's actions on an internally consistent framework of principles. Depth of principles and adherence of each level to the next are key determining factors. One is said to have integrity to the extent that everything he does and believes is based on the same core set of values. Behaviors within the concept of integrity include: honesty, sincerity, truthfulness, keeping one's word and agreements, punctuality, ethics, fairness and justice.”

The power of integrity is realized when you discover that everything you do and say is guided by the above behaviors. When they become the yardstick by which your life is guided, you have the power, the will and the moral right to do and be anything that you want.

Unfortunately many of our business leaders, sports stars, entertainment icons and politicians have not displayed integrity in their comments and actions. As a result, many of them have lost their jobs and quite a few have lost their freedom because they have been sentenced to jail for their indiscretions.

It used to be that you could point to a successful businessman or sports star and tell your child to emulate them because they were special and admired by all. Today that is not the case as the morals and actions of many show no sign of integrity and instead loudly bugle, “I’ll get mine and to heck with everyone else. As long as I get what I want, how I do it is immaterial.”

Fortunately, the average person is now recognizing these charlatans for what they are and no longer want to have anything to do with them. It is very heartening to see that the average citizen has more integrity than many of the so called “high and mighty.”

As the result of court actions placing numerous business moguls in jail, many companies are now creating business conduct guides which all of their employees from the newest recruit to the CEO have to follow. It is nice to know that integrity is making a come back, because its power ensures that employees, customers and suppliers will all get honest and considerate treatment from the companies who follow the behaviors listed above.

You too can discover the power of integrity when you commit to personal accountability and making great choices. Did you know that the power of integrity lies within each and every one of us? Well, it does and it is very easy to release this power. All you have to do is follow the above behaviors in everything you do and say and you will discover that the power of integrity opens a whole new lifestyle for you. The power of integrity, a power that no one can take away from you, but which you can squander by not following the above behaviors, is the power of your soul, the power that will ignite the passion of your conscience. With this as your guide, you will never again have to settle for less because your actions and words will mark you as an exceptional individual, someone to be followed and to be listened to. When you are locked into a life of integrity, you will feel powerful and self confident and you will exhibit a magnetic presence and an aura of leadership. With the power you gain from your life of integrity, you will become successful in all areas of your life.

In conclusion, living a life of integrity gives you more power than any other lifestyle. Your success will be immeasurable, your popularity unmatched and your joy will be boundless. A life devoted to integrity will be an ultimate lifestyle, and what could be better than that?

Ten ways to live with heart

To Live With Heart means living with feeling. Everyone has feelings. When we are aware of how we feel, we are in touch with a basic part of ourselves. Living with heart means we live with all our feelings, accepting all, even the painful ones. Many of us choose to accept the happy ones and deny those that don’t feel so good. Why do we do this? We would rather ignore them than face them. We don’t know how to handle them, how to express them or how to heal the pain. In reality feelings are a mysterious force in our lives when are not aware of them. I. M. Heart helps clear up the mystery so that feelings of pain can be healed and feelings of happiness and pleasure can flourish.

Notice:

Become aware of what you're feeling. Observe and listen, without judgment, to feelings that are an everyday part of your life. From first waking up to when you put your head on the pillow at night you experience a constant flow of feelings – changing from minute to minute. We move through our days not being fully aware of feelings moving through us. Let them float through your awareness – just listen as they pass by. For many of us, this is a new experience.

Noticing is the first step. If we don't notice what we're feeling – then the rest of these steps are meaningless. It's like we are sleep walking through life – going through the motions of living without really fully experiencing either the joy or the sorrow of it. Life contains both and that's what makes it so rich.

Noticing is about change. When we are flying through life on the busy track there is little time to stop and evaluate feelings. For many, taking time to notice is something we avoid because we might find a feeling that is so strong that we cannot ignore it. A change might be necessary - a change of relationship, occupation, location, life style - and we may be reluctant to face such a change.

If noticing is a new experience for you – start slow and easy, patient and kind – but begin to pay attention to what you're feeling in your everyday world.

Feel:

Allow yourself to feel. I repeat – allow yourself to feel. Be honest about any joy, boredom, doubt, hope or excitement you may feel. Simply ask yourself, "How do I feel about this?" This can be a quick five-second check or if we have time we can take a few minutes to evaluate. If more time is needed, find a quiet place and let the feelings bubble to the surface, just to feel them.

Once we decide to allow feelings to surface be aware that they can come bouncing out when we least expect. It's as if the gates have been opened, feelings have been pinned in the corral for a long time and they are finally free -- so out they come to play. Play with them, laugh with them, cry with them, be with them – they are part of you.

When we know what we feel, then we can choose how we want to handle those feelings. If we don't know, we are walking around in a blind spot to our future – just as there is a blind spot in the side mirror as we are driving down the highway.

Understand:

By honestly questioning of ourselves, we can come to understand the source or motivation behind our feelings. Compassionate understanding is a gigantic step to healing. Instead of beating up on yourself for being upset or sad, treat yourself like you would your best friend. Seek to question, listen and understand. Ask yourself about these feelings. "What am I feeling and why? Have I felt his way before? Does this pattern repeat itself? What am I afraid of? Why am I hiding from with these feelings? Why am I reluctant to be honest about how I feel?" In answering these questions, we begin to understand ourselves.

Love yourself as you would your dearest friend and give to yourself the same caring consideration. When we understand the source of feelings, then we have the information to begin healing and to solve the mystery of feelings.

Many of us are carrying around feelings that have been submerged for a very long time – from childhood, a lost friendship, or a perceived failure. We couldn't or didn't cope with those feelings at the time – and the fallout from those effects our view of the world today. Getting in touch with healing changes us, our view of the world, and how we interact with those around you. It's like a brick – or maybe two - has been removed from our back.

Accept:

These are my feelings. They are not good or bad, right or wrong – they are a part of me. Some of them can be intense, some thrilling, and some very tranquil. Don't judge them, but accept them as information about who I. M. By not judging them, we remove the stigma that it is not acceptable to have them and they become less of a huge, hairy monster to be feared.

As a complex person, we can expect feelings to change moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day. Accept, without judgment or criticism, this continuous flow of feeling. With this ebb and flow of feeling, we learn something new about ourselves and the world around us. Feelings give us valuable and important information.

Heal:

Feel it to heal it – so we can release it and let it go. There is no benefit for us to hang onto hurtful feelings from the past. These feelings are like dragging a bag of rocks, chunks of fear, from the past as we walk to the future. Rocks weigh us down and keep us from moving forward to take advantage of new opportunities and experiences.

It's ok to spend time feeling sad, frustrated or ashamed. Everyone feels these things. Sometimes we have hissed and spewed, kicked and bawled because these feelings were so intense. Sometimes we have stuffed them and decided we were even move unlovable. I. M. would advise you to spend time having a royal pity party - a timed pity party – and when the party is over - really let it go! Make a decision to heal it, instead of stuffing it!

Instead of finding a benefit in hanging onto the bruised feeling, find a benefit to let it go. The relief and freedom that comes from releasing old hurts is amazing – a new person emerges. That person can be you.

Love:

I. M. a human being – not perfect -- not supposed to be. I accept all my warts, freckles and blemishes as part of who I. M. Those are great, individual parts of the character that is me. I. M. the real deal and a very lovable, worthy person.

Many times we are the least loving to ourselves. We can give to others, be patient and kind with them – but are very unforgiving of ourselves. Our expectations are unrealistic and when we don't meet them, we beat ourselves up for failing.

Let's stop this, back off, and give ourselves credit for being who we are, at this time, in this place. Yes, we've made mistakes, and so has everyone else. So what? I. M. still a lovable, worthy individual with much love to give and much love to receive. I. M. healing the wounds of fear so that I can open to the healing grace of love. I. M. loving myself – just as I. M. right now!

Fear:

Feelings of fear can stop us. We are reluctant to start a new relationship, make a phone call, or enroll in a class. Something inside us tells us we cannot succeed, something bad will happen, or we will be embarrassed. The most personal fears are those related to how we feel about ourselves. We often think we are not a worthy, valuable, lovable human beings. These feelings, from the inside, influence our actions and choices on the outside.

Instead of letting fear stop us – use it – to heal, to be brave enough to try something new even if we are afraid. Many times we will discover that the fear is bigger in our imagination than it is in reality. Taking a step – some kind of action – dissolves the fear and then we are free to take the next step.

We are familiar with feelings of fear. We have all lived with those feelings. We are probably more familiar with feelings of fear than feelings of love. Fear can be a friend of foe. Make it your friend – use it to grow.

Choose to Change:

We can choose to change old patterns, by allowing ourselves to feel the full range of feelings, from joy to despair. This choice will change our actions and behaviors because we are learning about feelings, instead of avoiding them.

Our choice to change puts us in the process of learning more about ourselves. As we travel this path, let's look for how we can change old limiting patterns, be aware of new emerging behaviors, and listen to what our feelings tell you about the different choices we are making. How do these new choices feel? How will this affect my life? What have I discovered about myself? These choices will take us forward into the future,

Get Ready for the Ride:

When we go to the ocean we watch waves crash to the shore, washing over the sandy beach. The waves are continuous, never ending, sometimes fierce and sometimes very gentle. They travel the huge ocean carrying various life forms and debris onto the sand. As the waves roll in and hit the sandy beach the sand shifts and settles back again, waiting for the next wave.

It is very much this way with feelings. They may travel to our awareness from long ago and far away. When the wave of energy from this feeling hits our beach it shifts the sand of our life. Sometimes waves of feeling come fast and fierce, like in a hurricane. The torrents repeatedly batter us and we feel beat up and soaked. Once the storm passes and the sun comes out the waves are much gentler and calmer.

When we make a commitment to heal bruised feelings, get ready for the ride. Our commitment will bring opportunity for both gale force winds and balmy seas. It is necessary for it to be that way. However staying the course means we can look forward to fewer hurricanes and more beautiful, sunny days at the beach.

Enjoy the Rewards:

Most of us function very well in the world we live in. Yet if you really talk to people, everyone is walking around with knots of feeling about events that have happened in their life. Although we are happy and successful, one has to wonder what we could do if we healed those knots. How are they stopping us from having a life that could bring us even more pleasure and abundance?

Freedom comes from releasing fear-based feelings and finally accepting the many gifts coming from love. The goal is to love more and fear less. All feelings – hope, gratitude, compassion, enthusiasm, contentment, serenity -- and -- frustration, confusion, doubt, guilt, pessimism come from either love or fear. Truly releasing the fear based ones makes way to receive more of the blessings coming from love.

Will you take these steps with me to open your heart to feel? Think of it this way – experiment with feeling. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain. Open up to part of yourself that you have never explored. This process of personal honesty will make you a different person. On that journey you will find many gifts. These gifts will enrich your life. You deserve to give these gifts to yourself. Blessings!