YOU Are a Powerful Creator!

YOU are a powerful creator! Did you know? You don't feel powerful? Sometimes, you even feel powerless? I'm here to reassure you! YOU are a creator--a very powerful one at that! How do I know? I know because you are a human, and as a human you have been given the ability to choose. Creation is the direct result of choosing which path to follow at any given moment.

Why do we occasionally feel powerless? There are times we choose to give our power away to others. Why would anyone in their right mind choose to give their power away? Quite often, we give our power away out of apathy or ignorance. There are certain choices in our lives that we just don't care enough about. Consequently, we let others make the decisions. (Think politics as an example.) More often, our own ignorance keeps us from understanding that we really can make a choice. If you believe change can't happen because this is the way it has always been, you are choosing out of ignorance.

Look at Martin Luther King, Jr. and the other leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement. They grew up with discrimination as part of their everyday lives in the American south. Separation was the norm for people of different races. They knew is wasn't right! They knew it wasn't fair! Instead of believing it had to be that way, these brave men and women chose to stand united against the inequality! They chose the possibility of injury or death to bring justice back into balance! They created the change they wanted to see--all through the choices they made!

All the circumstances of your life at present are the results of choices you have made in the past. Some of these choices may have been as simple as what music to listen to or which friends you hung out with. They may have been big choices like who to marry or which job to take. All choices lead somewhere.

You don't have to stand on the sidelines of your own life waiting for things to just happen to you! No job? Been looking for months? Choose to do something different! Assess the needs of your community. Assess your talents and skills. What can YOU offer that will be a much needed fit? Lonely? Want a serious relationship? Get out of the house! Volunteer! Develop a new skill or hobby that will bring new passion into your life. By focusing on helping others and improving yourself you are choosing to bring new things into your life, and other people will inevitably be a part of that!

Challenge yourself to become the creator you were meant to be! Make choices! Learn! Grow! Evolve! You are so much more than you have imagined yourself to be! YOU are a powerful creator!

The Bond Teleclass With Lynne McTaggart

I am so pleased to be able to share an amazing upcoming *FREE* teleclass presented by one of my favorite authors, Lynne McTaggart! For those of you who may not be familiar with her work, Lynne McTaggart is one of the world's foremost authorities on the science of spirituality. An investigative journalist  by trade, Lynne keeps abreast of all the latest scientific research studying those invisible bonds which connect us to each other and the Universe--what many would define as "God". She is able to explain the complex principles she has gleaned from leading-edge scientists in layman's terms, making these findings simple for the common man to understand through her works The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe, The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World and now The Bond: Connecting Through the Space Between Us.

Her new teleclass is based on her book, The Bond, which focuses on what we can do to connect in this world of separation. Beginning on July 25th and continuing for the next 21 days, Lynne will teach a five part course designed to help you discover "the bond" and how to use it within your own life to create your best life ever. In part two of the series, twenty-three speakers (including people like Jack Canfield, Marianne Williamson and Hale Dwoskin) will share their life strategies on how to incorporate the principles of sharing and fairness which have created joy and fulfillment in their own lives, connecting them to humanity and the world.

Join us for this *FREE* life-changing series of calls which will help us all navigate the challenges our world currently faces! Separate, we are doomed to failure. Together, we can empower ourselves and the world through those invisible bonds which connect us to one another!

Sign up here: http://www.masterful.net/thebond/

Love Them Anyway!

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
~attributed to Mother Teresa

I was a very sensitive child. Often, I would find myself on the receiving end of anger, sadness or some other pain, and I would allow it to overwhelm me to the point I would cry or get upset. The world can be a very cold, angry place.

I gained some perspective on it when I was around twelve. It dawned on me that there were times I hurt people without meaning to. Sometimes, my impulsive actions led to misunderstandings--consequences I had not intended but which happened all the same. In that moment, I resolved to give others the benefit of the doubt. I realized that not every pain I received was intentional. This helped me not take things quite so personally.

It has only been in more recent years that I have gained more perspective on the intentional hurts people inflict on others. Yes, sometimes people will intentionally hurt you. Sometimes, you did nothing to bring that hurt to yourself except be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The thing is, people who hurt you, whether intentionally or not, do so because they live continuously in a state of pain. Their actions are based upon the pain they know. Thinking outside this box of pain may be beyond their present capabilities.

In our day to day lives, we allow this pain to separate us from those who seek to hurt us. There are times when walking away is the only thing we can do to keep ourselves from fighting back. Still, this pain places walls between us. We allow pain to keep us broken.

Mother Teresa's words speak to Oneness. They counsel us to accept that painful experiences will happen. We cannot control the actions of others. We can control the actions we take. We can choose to look past the flaws of others. We can choose to understand the pain others inflict on us comes from the pain they constantly live with, and we have the ability to accept it and love them anyway. Loving them anyway has the ability to break down all those barriers which separate us from one another.

We do not have to let the pain in our lives divide us. When we make the choice to love regardless of the other person's circumstances, we allow all that IS to move freely within our lives. Not only does this allow us to expand, but such actions ultimately touch the lives of every other person they come in contact with. Unconditional love can break through any barrier and unify the whole!

The next time someone hurts you, allow yourself to move past the pain and love them anyway. By doing so, you allow yourself to touch the heart of God and become the heart of God for others.

Heaven Or Hell? Your Choice!

Many religions talk endlessly about the consequences of the choices you make. Presumably, good choices help you get into Heaven, the place of eternal reward. Poor choices land you in Hell, a place of eternal torment, fire and brimstone. While I agree that our choices take us to various places, I don't believe these places are the be-all-end-all of existence. Rather, I believe both Heaven and Hell are present in the world today and that we all live in one state or the other (or in various degrees of them).

So, what exactly is Hell? In it's most basic definition, Hell is the state of separation. Think back to every negative experience you've ever had on earth. Maybe someone hurt you or you had a fight or some other unpleasent or painful experience. How did you feel? Sad? Angry? Alone? At these moments, you are not connected to anyone or anything (except maybe your own pain), especially not to God. Even the Bible talks about how man (specifically Adam and Eve) chose to be separated from God and in doing so led the way for all manner of pain, torment and problems. If that's not Hell, I don't know what is.

Then what is Heaven? Heaven would be the place of Unity...of Peace...of Oneness. True Heaven is the place of Love. A place without judgment. Think about those times in your life when you have been full of love. Did you feel connected? Hopeful? Empowered? Heaven is a state of being in your best. It is a place of understanding the Universe and your place in it.

Let me ask you a question. Do you truly believe we end up in one specific place for the rest of eternity? How boring! How unproductive! Life is about awareness! Opportunity! Growth! Heaven and Hell are just places to explore on this endless progression, and we make this choice on a daily basis. Where you end up truly is up to you! 

Preparing For "The End"

I come from a long line of believers of the kingdom of God on earth (or where I come from, the concept is called Zion). My father, who is highly versed in scripture, talked about it for hours on end with various friends and relatives over the years. My grandmother (his mom) held onto a huge Victorian style house long after her own children had flown the nest in order to use it as a weigh station of sorts for people who needed a place to stay when they were "fleeing to Zion for safety." She hid all sorts of extra canned goods so she would have plenty of food for them, and filled her house with items of interest so no one would become bored during the wait. Yes, I come from a family of "believers".

With 2012 approaching (and the end of the Mayan calendar), the world seems poised to come to a screeching halt. Doomsday scenario books and movies are the rage, and many religious fanatics are prophesying the end of the world (often suckering naive people out of their life savings). People are "preparing", but are they really? Will it be enough to stockpile food and other essentials in the event of some cataclysm? (Some people are going to the extreme of stockpiling guns to "protect their stuff". Really?!!! If you are willing to use guns against another human being, you have some serious issues.)

After being part of a cult with very definite "end times" beliefs (for full story, link here), I came to one simple conclusion. It is much more important to focus on your internal connection to God as opposed to trying to get the inside scoop from another person (or a group of people). The way I see it, if I work on developing my relationship with the Divine, I will know what I need to do to prepare (if anything).

The interesting thing is, what I am being called to do now is not stockpile food or move to the country. In my quiet meditation time, I am being called to more fully develop my spiritual gifts. I feel led to use my sensitivities to understand the more subtle energies around me--to learn to differentiate them and understand how they work. I am exploring my psychic and healing abilities, and I am learning to trust them. It seems that almost every day I am uncovering some new skill I possess but never fully recognized before.

The fear we are experiencing with the thought of "the end of the world" comes from not understanding the nature of all that needs to come to an end. I do believe the world we know is self-destructing. We have allowed this world we've constructed from our minds (our ego selves) to take over, leaving the spiritual sides of ourselves to wither and die. We think this construct is "safe" because it is what we know, but this is far from the truth. We were meant for joy! We were meant for spirituality! We were meant for miracles! We were not meant for the poverty and the slavery of the world today! This is what is meant to end!

Preparing for the "the end" is not meant to be a physical thing. It is meant to be a spiritual thing. Listen to the Voice that speaks in your heart. It will tell you all things that you should do.

Refuse To Play the Game!

I am so frustrated with the status quo I am ready to tear my hair out! The world we have allowed to be created is clearly spiraling out of control. Everyone thinks they have the solution, but as far as I can tell all the "solutions" were created to work within the system. You cannot solve the world's problems with the same mindset that created them!

Look at the housing crisis here in America. The financial and political powers that be have been allowed a situation where the financial powers are not monetarily responsible for risky financial practices. No, those have been placed on the good old, everyday American taxpayer, who can scarcely afford to pay his own bills let alone those of the rich and powerful. It is a myth that Americans should be responsible for the recklessness of the rich and political. It is a myth that the world will spiral out of control if the financial powers that be are not supported in their efforts of bankrupt the world! These are the lies they tell us in order to keep themselves in money and power! These are the lies we willingly believe because we have been taught this is the way the world works.

It does not have to be a dog-eat-dog world! This is the old paradigm, and believing it is causing our world to die. We don't have to lie to be supported! We don't have to step on others to get ahead! This fighting only perpetuates fighting, and it is killing us!

Time to refuse to play the game! It is a lie we do not need to exist well! Do what you can to help your fellow man! Be the example! Act on the principles of unity and love! Take care of your families, friends and neighbors! You are your brother's keeper! If we all focus on what we can do to unify and support each other to become our best selves, we can all win!

The New Un-American

America, like many other developed countries, is a sinking ship. The economy is still in nosedive mode, the differences between the rich and poor grow more profound, and politicians are deadlocked over how to best salvage the situation. There are no easy answers in this complicated mess--or so it seems.

The solution to this crisis lies in the understanding that our destinies are intricately tied together. Aesop, echoed by Patrick Henry during the American Revolution, perhaps said it best. "United we stand. Divided we fall." We cannot continue to fight among ourselves and expect our problems to be solved! (As my teenage children would say, "Duh!!!")

The thing is, we expect our politicians to solve our problems. That is not going to happen! Our politicians are the problem! As a people, we have allowed our politicians to make decisions based on what will keep them in power instead of on what will truly benefit the whole. Sure, they try to convince us that what they are choosing is best for the whole. Politicians can say what they want, but end results speak volumes. They are not any closer to solving the crisis than when it first began. In fact, financial problems are just compounding.

First of all, we need to assess what we truly have as Americans. We are smart. We are resourceful. We have infrastructure--much of which we are allowing to decay because of the fighting. We have the ability to use our gifts and talents to come up with products and innovations which will create jobs and opportunities. We don't need big money interests to do this! They tell us we do! They have passed laws (compliments of the politicians we elect) which hinder us from pooling our money together to invest in small businesses. In case you haven't noticed, the vast majority of jobs created in recent years are not coming from big corporations. Big corporations are shipping jobs overseas! The point is, you should not be relying on big corporations to employ you! They are not for you! And the politicians work for them! Where no job exists, create your own! We all have talents and skills available which we can put to use for the benefit of all!

If you are not working with your fellow Americans (or fellow human beings), you are not a true American! If you are working for yourself at the expense of others, you are not American! Anything that is done which does not unify the whole is decidedly un-American. It doesn't matter if you are a politician, head of a big corporation or special interest group, or a lowly worker. If you possess the spirit of division, consider yourself the new un-American. United we stand. Divided we fall.