It's all your thing. Everything you're doing, thinking, saying and being. It's all you. The illusion of separation between your body, mind and soul; is yours also and yours to overcome by any means necessary.
We are in the "middle" of the buildup to a shift in group and collective consciousness, each of us that comes to realize unity in our individual parts adds another drop to the wave that is building.
That drop that is you, causes interference patterns sent out in vibration to those around you, those close to you and those not so "close". We are all entangled in a web of relationships that are impacted by our realizations of self. Each insight and shift in perspective you experience, has a ripple effect on you primarily, followed by those close to you and ultimately our collective consciousness.
Whether you are consciously or unconsciously choosing to present an image of yourself to the outer world that is different from your internally held perceptions and realizations does not matter, the truth, as you learn it, affects you, and thereby to an extent, those around you. Your impact is even greater, if you allow the truth to shine through you, to become part of it, in that ways that are possible in the life you have created. There is no need to become a prophet, or to have a nervous breakdown, you can shine right where you are, now.
As Marianne Williamson puts it, your acting small does not serve the world. Standing up and allowing yourself to integrate your thought, word and deeds into the same image, gives permission to those around you to shine also. Everything changes, including you, give up your view of the illusion called reality, and experience life through the eyes of an enlightened being.
From a different perspective, it's amazing and humorous to watch people caught up in the drama of what they perceive as "life". Traffic, school, work, bills, debt, taxes, food, stress and keeping up with sports scores, or fashion trends. And yet, the item that receives the least attention is ourSelves. Not what we are wearing, driving or living in, but our Self as an entity is often the most ignored subject on our list.
To be reasonable, we are all at different stages of awareness. Most of us have not taken the effort or put in the time, to appreciate living life the other way round. The other way round, meaning putting your Self first and all things second. In all religious books, their version of God will tell you to put God first, and all things will follow. Realization and awareness is not achieved by focusing on the world around you, rather it is achieved through looking at the world, the infinite universal world, within You.
Change your agenda, put your Self first and experience life from a different perspective. Of course, Its Your thing, do what ya gotta do.
Peace,
-Mikel
November 29, 2006
November 28, 2006
The Infinite Onion
We are living in a time of many messengers; we have the Age of Aquarius and its many proponents, the Christians and all their sects, Islam the orthodox and Islam the moderate, much like the Jews and their view of hard-line and tame religion. On the side of science multitudes are singing the praises of quantum physics and the infinite sea of potentialities. Myriad websites and blogs have individual and unique perspectives, born of greater truths and sponsoring thoughts. The truth is out there in many forms, marketed using old and new techniques, all aimed at disseminating and providing different views of a reality that draws us closer to answering the “Why am I here?” and “What is my purpose?” questions, while providing some form of compensation to the author or organization.
Ultimately, no one needs it. Guru’s may help, but the fact is you are buying their view, their opinions and their experiences. It’s just like watching TV. Seeing a show about the African Savannah on TV, is not as good as having been there, having smelt the dust kicked up by ranging herds, or feeling the sun against your skin, the wind through your hair and watching nature play out its ever intriguing dance of life and death through the variety incarnations of animals and plants. You can watch it, hear it and conjure the smell of it, but unless you do it, it’s never the same and each person that actually does it will have their own unique perspective of it.
Everything you receive from another is filtered through their experiences and expectations. Some peoples filters are finer than others, the version of truth they purvey may be closer to something you can grasp onto, meddle and tinker with to then call your own. The truth, the ultimate truth is that you must experience the truth for yourself, by yourself and through yourself.
And so we come to the mighty Onion, the Infinite Onion. Our glorious Onion has many layers, each separated by a thin skin that must be pierced, to reach the flesh of the layer on the other side. Peeling back each layer leads us to a new level of realization and awareness. Yes, the onion symbolizes our individual journey to truth. Each of us has our own onion to pierce and peel; better yet we are all onions. No two onions are ever exactly the same.
You cannot choose to walk the path of the enlightened soul, unless you bask in the light, unless you perceive the glory of God in your life, unless you achieve consciousness personally, unless you make your own journey to center of your onion.
If the messages, courses, and books of others help you get there, use them, let the path of others guide you, but don’t let this stop you from making your own path at some point. At some point, you will let go of the props you have chosen. They have served you well, and allowed you to reach a level of acceptance within yourself as to the truth, either that it exists and you think you can touch it, or it exists and you believe you can.
All of the religious or spiritual authors and speakers can provide variety insights on their journeys, yours is ultimately your own. Use their lessons as tools of reference, but once the gate of your mind is open; your journey of self-acceptance is ultimately that, a journey of self-acceptance – a journey of your acceptance of your Self, by your Self, for your Self.
As you move through the outer layers of the onion, or awareness, you notice that each time you start to strip away at a new layer, new insights arrive, mingling with those of the old. As you mentally and emotionally process the flesh of this new layer, occurrences, thoughts and feelings will emerge, new beliefs will take shape and you will shift your perspective away from where it is now, to where it will be. A remarkable experience may begin occurring and awareness’s you have only just achieved from processing the last layer, now co-mingle with the new layer you are discovering and so realization grows, faster and faster. Perhaps the faster you achieve new realizations and fresh perspective is an indicator of your progress toward awareness. I can only say that this was so in my case, it may not be for you, thanks to free will and perspective.
Have you noticed that to realize new truth and gain perspective from the exploration of your onion, that you must peel inwards, toward the center? The truth is inside you, within you. The expression “Go within, or go without” comes to mind. The realizations that you achieve when you are alone, studying your onion, begin to pervade your thoughts in other areas of your life. My goodness, you start to realize that driving to work is not such a chore, but a glorious opportunity to reflect and explore your new awareness’s. Playing with the kids can take on new meaning as you allow yourself to experience again the joy of a child. Situations of conflict at work or home, may begin to alter. No, wait, they are not altering. It is you who is changing! In fact, nothing has changed, you look the same, weigh the same and dress the same, but your perspective has changed. Your viewpoint has shifted. Your perspective is changing. You have begun the journey from separateness to unity with all.
In truth we are all the same onion, in fact we are more like the cocktail onion, contained in a larger onion, which is within yet a larger onion and so one, yet the deeper we look through the layers of our onion, the more we find, the more we see, and the more we realize that we do not know everything. The onion is infinite, never ending and glorious. In fact, you may hold the perspective that while you hold an onion in your hand, and look at it, that you are existing in the moist, sweet, tear making flesh of just another onion layer yourself.
If you have traveled through your onion, you have realized and perceived the glory and magnitude of Universal Intelligence, have you not wondered what you are doing with that? Despite what I have said here, everyone on this planet is moving toward self-awareness and someone you know could use a hand, or an onion peeler. Perhaps it’s a book, a CD or DVD that ignited your spark for truth. Perhaps it will ignite theirs? Even if it doesn’t, your effort is not wasted. A frank conversation about spirituality, duality or quantum mechanics can spark intrigue and questions.
Help create the opportunity for another to know themselves, become a neighborhood onion peeler. Once you know the truth, your obligation is to share in whatever way you are able, because, once you know the truth, you will speak the truth and live the truth. Having done that, you then know we are all One. To live any other way, is your choice, but how far has denial gotten us as a race?
-Peace
Mikel
Ultimately, no one needs it. Guru’s may help, but the fact is you are buying their view, their opinions and their experiences. It’s just like watching TV. Seeing a show about the African Savannah on TV, is not as good as having been there, having smelt the dust kicked up by ranging herds, or feeling the sun against your skin, the wind through your hair and watching nature play out its ever intriguing dance of life and death through the variety incarnations of animals and plants. You can watch it, hear it and conjure the smell of it, but unless you do it, it’s never the same and each person that actually does it will have their own unique perspective of it.
Everything you receive from another is filtered through their experiences and expectations. Some peoples filters are finer than others, the version of truth they purvey may be closer to something you can grasp onto, meddle and tinker with to then call your own. The truth, the ultimate truth is that you must experience the truth for yourself, by yourself and through yourself.
And so we come to the mighty Onion, the Infinite Onion. Our glorious Onion has many layers, each separated by a thin skin that must be pierced, to reach the flesh of the layer on the other side. Peeling back each layer leads us to a new level of realization and awareness. Yes, the onion symbolizes our individual journey to truth. Each of us has our own onion to pierce and peel; better yet we are all onions. No two onions are ever exactly the same.
You cannot choose to walk the path of the enlightened soul, unless you bask in the light, unless you perceive the glory of God in your life, unless you achieve consciousness personally, unless you make your own journey to center of your onion.
If the messages, courses, and books of others help you get there, use them, let the path of others guide you, but don’t let this stop you from making your own path at some point. At some point, you will let go of the props you have chosen. They have served you well, and allowed you to reach a level of acceptance within yourself as to the truth, either that it exists and you think you can touch it, or it exists and you believe you can.
All of the religious or spiritual authors and speakers can provide variety insights on their journeys, yours is ultimately your own. Use their lessons as tools of reference, but once the gate of your mind is open; your journey of self-acceptance is ultimately that, a journey of self-acceptance – a journey of your acceptance of your Self, by your Self, for your Self.
As you move through the outer layers of the onion, or awareness, you notice that each time you start to strip away at a new layer, new insights arrive, mingling with those of the old. As you mentally and emotionally process the flesh of this new layer, occurrences, thoughts and feelings will emerge, new beliefs will take shape and you will shift your perspective away from where it is now, to where it will be. A remarkable experience may begin occurring and awareness’s you have only just achieved from processing the last layer, now co-mingle with the new layer you are discovering and so realization grows, faster and faster. Perhaps the faster you achieve new realizations and fresh perspective is an indicator of your progress toward awareness. I can only say that this was so in my case, it may not be for you, thanks to free will and perspective.
Have you noticed that to realize new truth and gain perspective from the exploration of your onion, that you must peel inwards, toward the center? The truth is inside you, within you. The expression “Go within, or go without” comes to mind. The realizations that you achieve when you are alone, studying your onion, begin to pervade your thoughts in other areas of your life. My goodness, you start to realize that driving to work is not such a chore, but a glorious opportunity to reflect and explore your new awareness’s. Playing with the kids can take on new meaning as you allow yourself to experience again the joy of a child. Situations of conflict at work or home, may begin to alter. No, wait, they are not altering. It is you who is changing! In fact, nothing has changed, you look the same, weigh the same and dress the same, but your perspective has changed. Your viewpoint has shifted. Your perspective is changing. You have begun the journey from separateness to unity with all.
In truth we are all the same onion, in fact we are more like the cocktail onion, contained in a larger onion, which is within yet a larger onion and so one, yet the deeper we look through the layers of our onion, the more we find, the more we see, and the more we realize that we do not know everything. The onion is infinite, never ending and glorious. In fact, you may hold the perspective that while you hold an onion in your hand, and look at it, that you are existing in the moist, sweet, tear making flesh of just another onion layer yourself.
If you have traveled through your onion, you have realized and perceived the glory and magnitude of Universal Intelligence, have you not wondered what you are doing with that? Despite what I have said here, everyone on this planet is moving toward self-awareness and someone you know could use a hand, or an onion peeler. Perhaps it’s a book, a CD or DVD that ignited your spark for truth. Perhaps it will ignite theirs? Even if it doesn’t, your effort is not wasted. A frank conversation about spirituality, duality or quantum mechanics can spark intrigue and questions.
Help create the opportunity for another to know themselves, become a neighborhood onion peeler. Once you know the truth, your obligation is to share in whatever way you are able, because, once you know the truth, you will speak the truth and live the truth. Having done that, you then know we are all One. To live any other way, is your choice, but how far has denial gotten us as a race?
-Peace
Mikel
November 24, 2006
Love Yourself First
How can you love and take care of the world, or even those around you - in your reality, when you can't even love yourself?
It's a question I came to, on my journey and through my experiences with embracing my self, I came to greater realisations of my potential, who I am, choice and being.
Through various techniques, some of others and some I invented, I learned first acceptance and then love, not to mention forgiveness. Yes, there was lots of forgiving going on when I first had the realisation. Phew!
There were parts of myself that I had been ashamed of for many years, and by accepting them, and forgiving myself for them, I was able to let them go, and through that, realise that there was no need to be ashamed in the first place. And so I went through my laundry closet of past experiences, emotions, reactions, decisions and faux-pas', looking at each that I could recall, and washing them away with forgiveness and acceptance.
Some may wonder, how can you forgive yourself for a thing, and feel truly clean of it, when only God or His Messengers can do such things? Maybe you think it has to be a priest or a rabbi, perhaps a monk? Let me say that it has to do with acceptance and responsibility. If you are unable currently, to accept that you are responsible for every action, every word and thought that you have had or experienced, then you need this piece more than anyone. All articles here, accept that there is only one God, but that we have different ways (religions, beliefs, ways) of appreciating the gifts of God.
I looked at things past, events where I had hurt people one way or another. In those moments, whether I reacted, or acted with determination, a choice was made. The only person making it was me. Even if someone angered me, I chose to let them anger me, so I accepted responsibility for things past. Later I moved to things present, however I'll elaborate on that more in another piece.
Since I accept that we are all aspects of God, forgiving myself is straightforward. At least it was after I got into the swing of things. "I forgive myself for stealing Dads car when I was 12." "I forgive myself for being a burden on those I love in those times Ive required medical attention", from the profound to the profane. I forgave myself for it all. A tremendously liberating experience.
With forgiveness and acceptance well underway, I moved then to Love. I started by staring at myself in mirror, looking straight into those dark chocolate eyes, and saying "I love You". Well, the 'backtalk' I got was "Yeah, right, you havent shaved and you look fat in that t-shirt". Great, this was going to be uphill, or so I thought.
By now, acceptance and forgiveness were coming more naturally so I forgave myself for feeling fat, and shaving, well thats no big deal to remedy. For the time being, I left my body out of the love equation, focussing more on simply repeating the thought and words as my mantra du'jour - I love my self.
Interestingly, in starting, the affirmation was "I love myself" later becoming "I love my self". To me this symbolises the integration I began, of seeing my Self as one - body, mind and spirit. Anyone who knows me, also knows how passionate I can be for a new thing, and in this case I was really loving the loving I had for myself. It was remarkable because I lost the urge for sex for a time, which for me is almost as important as oxygen. Being a male would just add a whole slew of stereotypes to your thinking right now, so I won't mention that detail.
Through my process, I was able to stand in front of the mirror and truly love what I saw. Sure, I could alter my diet and excercise more, I could change things. I respect that the body is a machine that requires maintenance, but I stood there and for the first time in a very long time, I loved my body accepting every nook and cranny as well as the lack of hair. Sure, I'd love to change what I see, but before you can, you must accept what you have and be thankful for it, for things to change.
As Jim Rohn says "For things to change, you have to change". I'm glad I remembered that line, because that is seed enough for many an article.
My message is simple, Love Your Self, unconditionally. You cannot love another, truthfully, until you do. Love all that you are, and especially love your past, be generous with your forgiveness of yourself, heal and gain strength, because once you have healed yourself, you will naturally want to heal an other.
You will walk with a lighter step, in the ongoing knowledge that there is nothing you have done that cannot be forgiven, accepted or loved, even though right now, it may seem beyond logic. Day by day you will find yourself forgiving not only the past, but the present, and your Self will become more united at each day.
Peace,
-Mikel
It's a question I came to, on my journey and through my experiences with embracing my self, I came to greater realisations of my potential, who I am, choice and being.
Through various techniques, some of others and some I invented, I learned first acceptance and then love, not to mention forgiveness. Yes, there was lots of forgiving going on when I first had the realisation. Phew!
There were parts of myself that I had been ashamed of for many years, and by accepting them, and forgiving myself for them, I was able to let them go, and through that, realise that there was no need to be ashamed in the first place. And so I went through my laundry closet of past experiences, emotions, reactions, decisions and faux-pas', looking at each that I could recall, and washing them away with forgiveness and acceptance.
Some may wonder, how can you forgive yourself for a thing, and feel truly clean of it, when only God or His Messengers can do such things? Maybe you think it has to be a priest or a rabbi, perhaps a monk? Let me say that it has to do with acceptance and responsibility. If you are unable currently, to accept that you are responsible for every action, every word and thought that you have had or experienced, then you need this piece more than anyone. All articles here, accept that there is only one God, but that we have different ways (religions, beliefs, ways) of appreciating the gifts of God.
I looked at things past, events where I had hurt people one way or another. In those moments, whether I reacted, or acted with determination, a choice was made. The only person making it was me. Even if someone angered me, I chose to let them anger me, so I accepted responsibility for things past. Later I moved to things present, however I'll elaborate on that more in another piece.
Since I accept that we are all aspects of God, forgiving myself is straightforward. At least it was after I got into the swing of things. "I forgive myself for stealing Dads car when I was 12." "I forgive myself for being a burden on those I love in those times Ive required medical attention", from the profound to the profane. I forgave myself for it all. A tremendously liberating experience.
With forgiveness and acceptance well underway, I moved then to Love. I started by staring at myself in mirror, looking straight into those dark chocolate eyes, and saying "I love You". Well, the 'backtalk' I got was "Yeah, right, you havent shaved and you look fat in that t-shirt". Great, this was going to be uphill, or so I thought.
By now, acceptance and forgiveness were coming more naturally so I forgave myself for feeling fat, and shaving, well thats no big deal to remedy. For the time being, I left my body out of the love equation, focussing more on simply repeating the thought and words as my mantra du'jour - I love my self.
Interestingly, in starting, the affirmation was "I love myself" later becoming "I love my self". To me this symbolises the integration I began, of seeing my Self as one - body, mind and spirit. Anyone who knows me, also knows how passionate I can be for a new thing, and in this case I was really loving the loving I had for myself. It was remarkable because I lost the urge for sex for a time, which for me is almost as important as oxygen. Being a male would just add a whole slew of stereotypes to your thinking right now, so I won't mention that detail.
Through my process, I was able to stand in front of the mirror and truly love what I saw. Sure, I could alter my diet and excercise more, I could change things. I respect that the body is a machine that requires maintenance, but I stood there and for the first time in a very long time, I loved my body accepting every nook and cranny as well as the lack of hair. Sure, I'd love to change what I see, but before you can, you must accept what you have and be thankful for it, for things to change.
As Jim Rohn says "For things to change, you have to change". I'm glad I remembered that line, because that is seed enough for many an article.
My message is simple, Love Your Self, unconditionally. You cannot love another, truthfully, until you do. Love all that you are, and especially love your past, be generous with your forgiveness of yourself, heal and gain strength, because once you have healed yourself, you will naturally want to heal an other.
You will walk with a lighter step, in the ongoing knowledge that there is nothing you have done that cannot be forgiven, accepted or loved, even though right now, it may seem beyond logic. Day by day you will find yourself forgiving not only the past, but the present, and your Self will become more united at each day.
Peace,
-Mikel
November 23, 2006
Be, Do, Have
In a recent discussion with a dear friend, we touched on Being and Doing, in the sense of Who We Are. Something that intrigues me about this, is that for what I think is a long time, and without realising it, I was quite confused between the two, and didn't distinguish between doing and being, when I was going through the early parts of the process of defining Who I Am.
Recently I've focussed more on the differences between doing and being, as well as having. It's all stuff that I knew, but not something I sequenced well in my mind, and it took a little video on Richard Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" Web site to ring a bell, with a training on the "Be-Do-Have" principle. This concept is also described in the Conversations With God series, and in different ways in other books focussed on creating abundance and reality.
Currently, we are told, we focus on creating our reality in an inefficient manner - namely by thinking in reverse or Have-Do-Be, where if we think we have a thing, then we can use it and add that attribute to our beingness. Meaning that first you have to get the BMW, before you can be the person that has the BMW, but where this leaves most of us is in 'wanting'.
Because we don't have the thing, we want it, so that we can have, use it and experience being with it. The universe in turn, answers all our needs by ensuring that we continue 'wanting' that thing instead of experiencing the 'having-ness' of it. After all, you did say you want it, right? So 'want' is a word coming from lack, or not having. Personally, in my home we have a war against some words we have all been programmed with and "want" is right at the top of the list. (Different words to choose instead of "want" may be : Like, Love, Choose)
The priniciple of Be-Do-Have flows the other way round, that we should rather focus our attention and intention on being a thing, to do it, or act it, and then we will experience the having-ness of it. By acting as if we have that BMW, we attract it to us, to our current reality. This is not some trivial technique to be done half-heartedly, mind you. Belief is key, consistently practice being that thing, whether its something material, or some part of your personality you wish to alter, or a relationship you long to change or heal, you will need to focus on it, with consistency.
In discussing with my Scottish friend, the alternates of Doing and Being, the realisation I now experience, is one of relating more to the journey of life than the goals, thanks to better understanding the relationship between Being and Doing.
Doing is something you are undertaking or endeavouring to achieve, a task, a chore or a grand project, even loving or scolding someone. During the time that you are doing these things, there is another "part" of you, an aspect of you that is experiencing the things you are doing. This aspect, your soul, is Being and it is being Who You Are, in that moment, and in every moment. It is always there, being, whether you ignore it or whether you choose to be conscious of it. It is part of you and longs to be experienced no matter what you are doing.. simply put:
Who or What are you Being, while your Doing?
Recently I've focussed more on the differences between doing and being, as well as having. It's all stuff that I knew, but not something I sequenced well in my mind, and it took a little video on Richard Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" Web site to ring a bell, with a training on the "Be-Do-Have" principle. This concept is also described in the Conversations With God series, and in different ways in other books focussed on creating abundance and reality.
Currently, we are told, we focus on creating our reality in an inefficient manner - namely by thinking in reverse or Have-Do-Be, where if we think we have a thing, then we can use it and add that attribute to our beingness. Meaning that first you have to get the BMW, before you can be the person that has the BMW, but where this leaves most of us is in 'wanting'.
Because we don't have the thing, we want it, so that we can have, use it and experience being with it. The universe in turn, answers all our needs by ensuring that we continue 'wanting' that thing instead of experiencing the 'having-ness' of it. After all, you did say you want it, right? So 'want' is a word coming from lack, or not having. Personally, in my home we have a war against some words we have all been programmed with and "want" is right at the top of the list. (Different words to choose instead of "want" may be : Like, Love, Choose)
The priniciple of Be-Do-Have flows the other way round, that we should rather focus our attention and intention on being a thing, to do it, or act it, and then we will experience the having-ness of it. By acting as if we have that BMW, we attract it to us, to our current reality. This is not some trivial technique to be done half-heartedly, mind you. Belief is key, consistently practice being that thing, whether its something material, or some part of your personality you wish to alter, or a relationship you long to change or heal, you will need to focus on it, with consistency.
In discussing with my Scottish friend, the alternates of Doing and Being, the realisation I now experience, is one of relating more to the journey of life than the goals, thanks to better understanding the relationship between Being and Doing.
Doing is something you are undertaking or endeavouring to achieve, a task, a chore or a grand project, even loving or scolding someone. During the time that you are doing these things, there is another "part" of you, an aspect of you that is experiencing the things you are doing. This aspect, your soul, is Being and it is being Who You Are, in that moment, and in every moment. It is always there, being, whether you ignore it or whether you choose to be conscious of it. It is part of you and longs to be experienced no matter what you are doing.. simply put:
Who or What are you Being, while your Doing?
November 21, 2006
HigherSelf HowTo: Affirmations!
IAMUniversity.org have a wonderful “New Age” dictionary available online at the link, and defines an affirmation as:
A positive statement that has been specifically worded for the purpose of reprogramming the subconscious mind with positive and Spiritual / Christ / Buddha / Krishna / Moses / Mohammed / Mighty I Am Presence / God / Goddess thoughts. One of the key tools of attitudinal healing and reprogramming our subconscious mind. This is a fundamental tool given that our thoughts create our reality!
Indeed! Our thoughts create reality. We become what we think about. All these good things I easily accept and live, hopefully you do too, because if you don’t you will not enjoy this article! Pretty simple.
Affirmations, are a great and powerful tool, I still use them daily, although my use of them has evolved from when I first started years and years ago. I can recall writing reams and reams of complex statements, things that I longed to change in my inner and outer realities, that I would pore over for a few days and then discard as “useless”. What good is an affirmation, if it doesn’t become reality? Goodness, quite the question, and yet so naïve.
Moving from there I would either create a new list, or drop the idea for some time. I still have some notes around, with affirmations written from years past. The statements themselves were not bad, many were good or of use to anyone in my opinion, yet I was not ready to realize and accept the certain way to tread in order to have them work for me.
Something to remember, especially with children in the Western world, is that we are bombarded, surrounded and made to surrender to the marketing methods of thousands of corporations. In some surveys I have read, the estimate is that the average young child of school going age in North America is exposed to over 10,000 advertising messages a year, with varying estimates as to how many of these are related to food. Somewhere between 3,000 – 6,000 exposures seems to be the consensus, just for food!
That is a staggering and bewildering amount of messages to fight against as a parent. How easy is for little Tyler or Cheryl to remember something you said only once, when McDonalds or other corporations are reinforcing their messages 3, 4 and 5 or more times a day Each?
Consider this information in the light of the affirmations you use. Perhaps you are not exposed to as many messages as a child may be, but none of us can claim to live in any size city or suburb of North America, and not be exposed to marketing messages of many kinds in repeating forms.
So too with affirmations, you need to become your own Marketing Rep and create not only affirmations that have power and potential for you and your-self; but also a better way to deliver them. In order for your affirmations to have a fighting chance against all that marketing hype, you are going to have to take extra steps other than simply repeating them in the morning and evening, unless you’d rather wait 10 years for results. Not me, no thanks.
< align="justify">In my search for better ways to benefit from the affirmations that I use, I have come up with a few methods that helped me enjoy significantly greater benefits from affirmations:
1. Single Saying. This is a pretty simple approach with the potential for great results for those who commit to it all the way. Basically select the most powerful affirmation, with the most potential for change, that you currently have listed. Write it on a separate piece of paper, then set everything else aside. Put away all those other affirmations lists and don’t go back to them for a while. Now, for the next 31 days, you are simply focusing on this One affirmation. Nothing more.
Make the statement to yourself that you are consciously choosing to do this. Also, state to yourself that you are choosing to repeat this affirmation in every spare moment that you have. Any time your brain has a free space, let this affirmation come to mind, repeat it out loud or in your mind as thought, chew on it, feel it in you, write it down when your bored in a meeting, think about it in the bath or when your cooking. For 31 days exactly, repeat this one affirmation, let it move you, let it become tedious, and exciting at the same time. Do it.
2. Simplify. With the Simplify method, you do exactly that, simplify what you have. Trim your affirmation list down to ~ 3 or 4 affirmations that are 4 – 5 words long each, making them easy to memorize. Practice these many times a day, learn them and remember them at will. Simple statements will work well, like “I love Me”.
Repetition is your best weapon against the Marketing Gods of the large corporations and their marketing machine, whether it be your affirmations or the lessons you teach your kids… repeat, repeat, repeat. Even when you start seeing small results, do not let up. Keep going. You will truly enjoy the fruits of your very own spiritual marketing campaign.
The most important lessons I can offer on affirmations, are that they are a tool which always delivers back to you what you put into it. If you treat it lightly, your results will be few. If you treat it seriously, commit and put in a genuine effort, repeat your affirmations many times a day, week, month; and keep the messages simple, you will have the best opportunity to benefit greatly from this very powerful tool.
I love words, and words have power.
Peace,
-Mikel
November 19, 2006
Inspired By The Inspired II: Swami Satchidananda
First thought, Highest thought. It has been on my mind lately, not that I mind. It's a course that I've been taking in EKU, you know; Experiential Knowledge University, the One and Only School of Hard Knocks. There is no other like it, and while my uncle is working on his Ph.D in Business; I am working on mine too, experientially.
One of the many wonderful books I own is called "To Know Yourself" by Swami Satchidananda. He talks of many practical ways to lead life, with wit and a wonderful palette of metaphors. In it I found many, many morsels to chew on slowly in reflection, just as one would enjoy a tender, medium-rare charcoal-grilled steak of butcher quality. This quote speaks not to purpose, but rather to consciousness and truth, awareness.
"To know that silent witness which is always aware - to know the Knower - you
should stop trying to know other things first. Know other things afterward. The
rest will come automatically. " - To Know Yourself - The Essential Teachings of
Swami Satchidananda
There is not much more I can add that would be helpful in my view. Perhaps that's because I appreciate the truth of his words literally. I've experienced exquisite moments of knowing the Knower, and there is not much else to know. Pure Consciousness, Pure Being. But that knowing was so glorious and united. To try to put it into words, well, I am sorry for even trying, not because I choose not to, I would love nothing more, there just simply arent any really good ones.
Perhaps you have experienced the same, or in your own way? There are so many descriptions for God, the One God of us all, and religions, sects and paths; that I'm certain we all experience such moments of connected-ness differently, through our tinted view of the world and its truth. However there is no disputing the light, love and knowing of it, the bliss of it when you summon it.
Yes, I said summon it. How can you summon a moment with God, with the Knower? Simple. Just create it, choose it for yourself. How do you do that? Well now, theres a good question for another article or more :P
Peace,
-Mikel
November 18, 2006
What Is Highest Thought?
In a few recently written posts, we have detailed some ways in which you can cultivate the habit of thinking your highest thought. If we are to raise the consciousness level of the world, we will all choose to practice even these simple habits.
Many different authors have expressed their thoughts and feelings on what Highest Thought is, although I felt that this quotation from Conversation With God worded it in a way that is easy to relate to.
Since all paths lead to the Truth and Knowing, this is only one way of framing highest thought. Be honest with yourself for a moment, and consider that you already know what this is and more importantly what your highest thoughts might be, if you allowed them to light. Personally, I relate to my highest thought in other senses also, in the way that it lacks ego. My highest thoughts, even those that are highly personalised and individual, always contain benefit for everyone, not simply myself. An easy example is my favourite "default thought", in those rushed moments when I must consciously kick my self to think highly and lift my head from distraction is "I love me". Simply that.
"Where's the benefit to everyone in that thought?" you say. It can certainly appear to be selfish depending on your perspective. Let me ask you this. Are we not all one? Are we not all of the same race? Coming from that aspect, my loving myself, loves all. It's all encompassing.
There is a fabulous breathing excercise I learned for healing some years ago which I will write on some time, which gives some very tangeable ways of connecting with the greater consciousness and thinking of others.
Until then, what is your highest thought? I invite you to leave it as a comment, for humanities sake.
Peace,
-Mikel
Many different authors have expressed their thoughts and feelings on what Highest Thought is, although I felt that this quotation from Conversation With God worded it in a way that is easy to relate to.
"Mine is always your Highest Thought, your Clearest Word, your Grandest Feeling.
Anything less is from another source.... The Highest Thought is always that
thought which contains joy. The Clearest Words are those words which contain
truth. The Grandest Feeling is that feeling which you call love." -
Conversations With God, Neale Donald Walsh
Since all paths lead to the Truth and Knowing, this is only one way of framing highest thought. Be honest with yourself for a moment, and consider that you already know what this is and more importantly what your highest thoughts might be, if you allowed them to light. Personally, I relate to my highest thought in other senses also, in the way that it lacks ego. My highest thoughts, even those that are highly personalised and individual, always contain benefit for everyone, not simply myself. An easy example is my favourite "default thought", in those rushed moments when I must consciously kick my self to think highly and lift my head from distraction is "I love me". Simply that.
"Where's the benefit to everyone in that thought?" you say. It can certainly appear to be selfish depending on your perspective. Let me ask you this. Are we not all one? Are we not all of the same race? Coming from that aspect, my loving myself, loves all. It's all encompassing.
There is a fabulous breathing excercise I learned for healing some years ago which I will write on some time, which gives some very tangeable ways of connecting with the greater consciousness and thinking of others.
Until then, what is your highest thought? I invite you to leave it as a comment, for humanities sake.
Peace,
-Mikel
November 16, 2006
First Thought, Highest Thought
How do you know if you have mastered thought?
I don’t know, simply because in my estimation I have not, but I can tell you more about the process of mastering your thoughts. In an earlier article today, I spoke of methods to become more conscious in your thought. If it is not already a habit, practice will make it so.
While thinking on this, I had the thought that I will create a booklist of all the resources in my real library, meaning books that you can touch, feel and smell. I enjoy the smell of a good book, even though the Internet is my biggest source.
See how easy it is to become distracted? Focusing and paying your thoughts attention may seem like a thankless task, in some ways it is. You only have yourself to thank and most of us are not too great at that. The payoff is in the results.
Another habit to cultivate, especially after you have practiced higher thought and are able to “think highly” at will, is to then extend your ability to thinking these thoughts, first. When faced with a situation, in that moment between the action happening “to you” and your mind selecting from its menu of pre-determined responses, simply insert the question “What is my highest thought right now?” . Stop time and ask it of yourself, you will be surprised at what may come out of your mouth. Sometimes this can be quite humorous.
Practicing and fostering this new habit will ensure that your highest thoughts become your natural responses to everyday situations, leading you to think more consciously about the smallest things. I admit, for myself its challenging at times.
Let me ask you this though, if you knew that cultivating your highest thought would get you closer to knowing and experiencing the Ultimate Truth of Life, intimately and personally, would you do it?
What is your next highest thought? Add it as a comment, there is no judgement here.
Awaken,
In Peace,
- Mikel
I don’t know, simply because in my estimation I have not, but I can tell you more about the process of mastering your thoughts. In an earlier article today, I spoke of methods to become more conscious in your thought. If it is not already a habit, practice will make it so.
While thinking on this, I had the thought that I will create a booklist of all the resources in my real library, meaning books that you can touch, feel and smell. I enjoy the smell of a good book, even though the Internet is my biggest source.
See how easy it is to become distracted? Focusing and paying your thoughts attention may seem like a thankless task, in some ways it is. You only have yourself to thank and most of us are not too great at that. The payoff is in the results.
Another habit to cultivate, especially after you have practiced higher thought and are able to “think highly” at will, is to then extend your ability to thinking these thoughts, first. When faced with a situation, in that moment between the action happening “to you” and your mind selecting from its menu of pre-determined responses, simply insert the question “What is my highest thought right now?” . Stop time and ask it of yourself, you will be surprised at what may come out of your mouth. Sometimes this can be quite humorous.
Practicing and fostering this new habit will ensure that your highest thoughts become your natural responses to everyday situations, leading you to think more consciously about the smallest things. I admit, for myself its challenging at times.
Let me ask you this though, if you knew that cultivating your highest thought would get you closer to knowing and experiencing the Ultimate Truth of Life, intimately and personally, would you do it?
What is your next highest thought? Add it as a comment, there is no judgement here.
Awaken,
In Peace,
- Mikel
Master Your Thoughts
In following your path to enlightenment, as well as in following your enlightened path, there are a number of pre-requisite skills to acquire. Without focus on developing these skills your journey will be made unnecessarily longer than you may wish it. At times we all unconsciously choose to take the long way round, but if you knew another way, why would you not choose it?
We know that you do not need to be a thing to speak about it, or teach it. Certainly I do not view myself as a Master of my Thought, although I know that it is necessary and essential to living my-self as a completely conscious expression. There have been times and moments in which I achieved this mastery, for a time. In the past these moments occurred far apart, and became more frequent, with practice and with choice. Now they are at their most frequent, and even though I know and realize the necessity of my mastery over my own thoughts, I have not yet achieved it totally all of the time, even though it’s a choice I make often.
I still allow some everyday things to distract me, I allow work situations and stresses to remove me from focusing on the thoughts I would rather be choosing. You might say, its only natural, you are human, it’s not possible to be in control of your thought all the time! I tell you, it is, and once you realize it, you will choose to be in control of your thoughts, your emotions, your body and all things that you affect, but for now I’m simply writing on thought.
The importance of thought control is inestimable; however, consider that by choosing your thoughts, you are seeding the beginning of creating the environment and reality that will allow you to achieve higher consciousness. By being in control of your thoughts, you can and will build fortresses in the mind that reject your past negativity, the negativity of others and the world, which attempt to affect and distract you daily.
The negativity that you own is built from past choices for which you have not forgiven yourself, relating to yourself or others. This is simple to release with true forgiveness and accepting responsibility. First, you must accept responsibility for this negativity before your forgiveness will be effective. This may be difficult for some of you, especially if have not accepted our oneness. If this is the case, you may have difficulty accepting responsibility for all thoughts, words and actions that have occurred “to you”. Yes, it’s easy to accept responsibility for something when you perceive yourself as the instigator of a situation.
Accepting responsibility for things that you see as having happened to you, may be a little more complex for some. You should accept that we are all one and part of God, the Divine, the Creator, or however you name Her/Him, then you will relate well to the concept of forgiveness. As part of God, you are ultimately forgiving yourself and taking responsibility for the actions of all. Do this consciously and repeatedly, and you will ultimately no longer see separateness between your-self and an-other.
If you are not able to relate to these last mentioned concepts yet sense the rightness about them, simply hold them in your thoughts, ponder them. You will know whether this is true to you.
After practicing and using forgiveness and acceptance of the past, your focus can be turned to your present. In the present, your attention changes, it is required to be more present, excuse my pun, but there is truth in it. You will require of yourself that you think the best thoughts, in each moment.
Since the practice may be new to you, the easiest way to start a journey is with a step, followed by another. Take a step - Simply in this moment now, choose to think only thoughts which serve your higher self. Think only thoughts which bring you closer to or allow you to envision your purpose. If you are not able to envision, why not ponder what it may be? Why are you here?
If you already know or have the idea of your purpose, imagine fulfilling it. Even if you do not, imagine fulfilling it and what that may feel like. Every thought you have, moves you closer to that.
Even if you feel you have no idea of your purpose and see no benefit to imagining an end point which you cannot yet relate to, focus then on your favorite affirmation, or positive quotation that has lifted you up before. Think on the highest image of yourself you can, what does your life look like? Think on your next step, is it your career? So be it. Is it wealth and abundance? So be it. The situation of a loved one? Think on that. Hold it in your mind.
Now, make a commitment with yourself, to choose your higher thought always, until it is realized.
In the beginning, you will forget, you will be distracted and you will allow that to happen. So what? You have been given the tools – accept responsibility for forgetting, then forgive yourself for forgetting, and choose that state of mind again. It is as simple as a choice. As you walk through your day, each moment that you are able, choose your highest thought.
The purpose to mastery of thought, is mastering the process of continually choosing right thought as we see it, as well as consciously choosing each thought to emanate from you. Many of us allow thought to happen to us, or to be dictated to us through our outside environment. Through mastering your thoughts, you may create an environment for fostering the highest thought you can, and allow you to move to the next steps of creation.
Remember, every thought you have, affects you, and everything else, just as the stone causing the pond to ripple. Why? We are all One, are We not?
Thank You,
Mikel
We know that you do not need to be a thing to speak about it, or teach it. Certainly I do not view myself as a Master of my Thought, although I know that it is necessary and essential to living my-self as a completely conscious expression. There have been times and moments in which I achieved this mastery, for a time. In the past these moments occurred far apart, and became more frequent, with practice and with choice. Now they are at their most frequent, and even though I know and realize the necessity of my mastery over my own thoughts, I have not yet achieved it totally all of the time, even though it’s a choice I make often.
I still allow some everyday things to distract me, I allow work situations and stresses to remove me from focusing on the thoughts I would rather be choosing. You might say, its only natural, you are human, it’s not possible to be in control of your thought all the time! I tell you, it is, and once you realize it, you will choose to be in control of your thoughts, your emotions, your body and all things that you affect, but for now I’m simply writing on thought.
The importance of thought control is inestimable; however, consider that by choosing your thoughts, you are seeding the beginning of creating the environment and reality that will allow you to achieve higher consciousness. By being in control of your thoughts, you can and will build fortresses in the mind that reject your past negativity, the negativity of others and the world, which attempt to affect and distract you daily.
The negativity that you own is built from past choices for which you have not forgiven yourself, relating to yourself or others. This is simple to release with true forgiveness and accepting responsibility. First, you must accept responsibility for this negativity before your forgiveness will be effective. This may be difficult for some of you, especially if have not accepted our oneness. If this is the case, you may have difficulty accepting responsibility for all thoughts, words and actions that have occurred “to you”. Yes, it’s easy to accept responsibility for something when you perceive yourself as the instigator of a situation.
Accepting responsibility for things that you see as having happened to you, may be a little more complex for some. You should accept that we are all one and part of God, the Divine, the Creator, or however you name Her/Him, then you will relate well to the concept of forgiveness. As part of God, you are ultimately forgiving yourself and taking responsibility for the actions of all. Do this consciously and repeatedly, and you will ultimately no longer see separateness between your-self and an-other.
If you are not able to relate to these last mentioned concepts yet sense the rightness about them, simply hold them in your thoughts, ponder them. You will know whether this is true to you.
After practicing and using forgiveness and acceptance of the past, your focus can be turned to your present. In the present, your attention changes, it is required to be more present, excuse my pun, but there is truth in it. You will require of yourself that you think the best thoughts, in each moment.
Since the practice may be new to you, the easiest way to start a journey is with a step, followed by another. Take a step - Simply in this moment now, choose to think only thoughts which serve your higher self. Think only thoughts which bring you closer to or allow you to envision your purpose. If you are not able to envision, why not ponder what it may be? Why are you here?
If you already know or have the idea of your purpose, imagine fulfilling it. Even if you do not, imagine fulfilling it and what that may feel like. Every thought you have, moves you closer to that.
Even if you feel you have no idea of your purpose and see no benefit to imagining an end point which you cannot yet relate to, focus then on your favorite affirmation, or positive quotation that has lifted you up before. Think on the highest image of yourself you can, what does your life look like? Think on your next step, is it your career? So be it. Is it wealth and abundance? So be it. The situation of a loved one? Think on that. Hold it in your mind.
Now, make a commitment with yourself, to choose your higher thought always, until it is realized.
In the beginning, you will forget, you will be distracted and you will allow that to happen. So what? You have been given the tools – accept responsibility for forgetting, then forgive yourself for forgetting, and choose that state of mind again. It is as simple as a choice. As you walk through your day, each moment that you are able, choose your highest thought.
The purpose to mastery of thought, is mastering the process of continually choosing right thought as we see it, as well as consciously choosing each thought to emanate from you. Many of us allow thought to happen to us, or to be dictated to us through our outside environment. Through mastering your thoughts, you may create an environment for fostering the highest thought you can, and allow you to move to the next steps of creation.
Remember, every thought you have, affects you, and everything else, just as the stone causing the pond to ripple. Why? We are all One, are We not?
Thank You,
Mikel
November 13, 2006
Inspired By The Inspired I: Marianne Williamson
Welcome to Inspired by the Inspired, a series of articles, each of which will focus on the work of a single inspired individual. If we are to see further, and know more of the Truth, God and the Infinite, then standing on the shoulders of others that have been before us will allow us to see further.
Every piece in this collection takes an extract of a current or past author and intends to create different angles to view the material, to provide a differing perspective that perhaps will make the work more accessible, or explore it in the context of our current reality creating alternative inspirations. Our intent is not to critique or dissect in a malicious way, for all paths lead to the truth, and in this effort we endeavour only to stand on the shoulders of giants, and offer you our glimpse from there.
In our first piece, we take what has become a classic in no time. Marianne Williamson wrote this piece in her book "A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles", Nelson Mandela used this piece in his inauguration speech of 1994, that led from his freedom to the freedom of all peoples in the country of my birth, South Africa. This speaks so clearly to the conscious and lights the way for those on the path, yet I will write on my relation to it before I discovered my Truth and how I now see it. Blessings to Marianne, and here it is:
Our Deepest Fear
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most
frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented,
fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing
small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so
that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as
children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light
shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are
liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
What a glorious statement. Indeed, our deepest fear does not serve the world. The first time I read this piece it had been credited to Nelson Mandela and I'd certainly never heard of Marianne Williamson at that time. In fact when I heard the name, I wondered that this must be written by someone from hundreds of years ago, then again, perhaps I knew her in a lifetime then. Why not?
How could you read this paragraph, and not feel lighter? I remember I did, although at first I still chose to be weighed down by material life around me, bills to pay, careers to work and so on. My attention was less on shining as Marianne says, and more concerned with how I was perceived by the world around me, although I knew inwardly that somehow this piece of writing spoke to my conscience and purpose. All I knew was that I sure didn't know what that purpose was at the time, and I was definitely concerned with how those around me were judging me. What sense was there in suddenly talking about spiritual inspiration, or life purpose; heck the guys at the water cooler were more interested in how short the secretaries' skirts were or the latest football score. What purpose was there in causing these people to think me weird? What purpose indeed.
The deepest relation I have to Marianne's words, is to take stock of who you keep counsel with, who you choose to surround yourself with. Your choice to follow a more enlightened and conscious path will be made more productive by admitting to yourself finally that you know who those people are that are holding you back or keeping you from thinking your highest thought. My suggestion is not to walk away from family, to disconnect friends, but simply to lower your guard, lift the blinds on your light that you may shine on those around you. Those who truly love you will still be there, and those that were never quite committed to your relationship will take something away from it, a piece of you that may light their path, and perhaps that was the purpose of you knowing them in the first place.
A good place to start, in my experience, is simply to think your highest thought. Do it once, do it again, and consciously continue as often as you remember. You will still be the same person, no halo will suddenly pop into existence above your head, but over time you will notice the change in you. To others it will be more subtle. There are many ways to realize your purpose and more ways still to live it, as with all journeys this one begins with the first thought.
Imagine if all your bills were guaranteed paid, if you no longer were required to work for a living, if your children were taken care of and your partner was agreeable, imagine what you might be doing to further the cause of humanity? What is that thing that you have been wondering about all these years, why are you here? Where are you going with this? "Your playing small does not serve the world". And, you know it.
As I read Marianne's words these days, they continue to be a wellspring of inspiration, they do not fade. Truth cannot fade, it's always there, as a constant reminder, when we choose to look upon it. As a father to my children, I would urge them to heed the advice this piece has to offer, and see it as my responsibility to do so, that they may realize their destiny and role in our Oneness and further the cause of humanity. Since paternalism is not a popular way to reach people in our days, I can simply offer to you that Marianne's words are a shining light, beckoning you to take notice. You will get the message, either through her words, mine or another’s. In closing, an excerpt from the above:
"Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us."
Thank you Marianne.
Thank you and Peace to all.
-Mikel
November 10, 2006
Shining Light
Spiritual Light
You and I, are multidimensional beings. Our physical reality is nothing
more than three-dimensional diffraction patterns of light from our
consciousness. This light is the intervening substance through which our
conscious expressions are transmitted. It is also the force or impulse of our
vitality, spirit, energy, and strength. It is one and the same as the creative
power of the universe.
From this oneness, all things emerge and manifest from our consciousness,
giving us a connection to many worlds.Through this realization, many worlds are
created by a fundamental process of perception within our thought patterns,
providing us concrete, experimental or intellectual data, to form or deform
reality, internally or externally.
As multidimensional beings, we are able to experience these different
realities through the cultivation of universal compassion (the love of all life)
within our sentient minds (the sentient mind is not a physical construct or
epiphenomenon of matter, nor a by-product of purely physical processes, but a
formless continuum separate from the body).
Everything we do draws us further away from or closer to a higher state of
consciousness and enlightenment. As we move further away from enlightenment;
fear, uncertainty and doubt grow. As we draw closer to enlightenment; knowledge,
wisdom and joy grow.This awareness of the continuum of form between all living
things, is the breath of light.
During a recent surfing session, I landed on this site and thoroughly enjoyed this piece of work. For some this work will be meaningless and easily discarded. Perfectly fine to see it that way and understandable as well. Yet for others this may serve you in articulating how you relate to your developing consciousness, at this point. It is a very aware piece of writing, from my perspective and concurrent with my experience.
The Truth is everywhere you look.
-Mikel
The Power Of One: Thought, Word & Deed
The Power of One:
Thought, Word and Deed
Some time ago I found myself expressing my desire to quit my day job. Perhaps I was not ready for it, or not asking the right questions, but I chose to sell financial education courses over the net, and instead of earning an hourly wage, I was being paid as a distributor and earning commission. This was a fine arrangement, I felt; and looked forward to prospering greatly.
Part of the deal was also recruiting other distributors, and instead of a traditional multi-level marketing approach, you simply trained these people and took commission on their first 2 sales. After that, they were free to profit completely from their efforts and were not “indebted” to your team, or you, for life; as many of the less than moral systems work.
The greatest thing about being a part of this enterprise, was the training that was provided. The quality and depth were there, at the level of how to do the business, but more importantly all of this was delivered in such a way, by people both inside the company and outside, that you were forced to wake-up to serious, on-going and revealing self-analysis.
In many ways, this training touched on the spiritual, exploring deep seated feelings and conditioning of lack and how to begin the process of stripping away the layers. We found ourselves listening to conference call after conference call, each time experiencing a fresh wave of insight, each wave shifting our individual awareness ever so slightly.
Despite myself, my hang-ups and procrastination, I did fairly well at the business side, fortunately I did not do well enough to make a great living at that enterprise, or I would not find myself here now. What I did take away with me though, was the great training we received. It all fit so well with the vision of myself I was creating, and I continued to explore the tools and books I had acquired in that journey.
I no longer believe that I chose to sign up to that business in order to achieve financial freedom, although that is what I told myself at the time. No, I signed up in hindsight for the training and its purpose in the continued awakening of my self.
One of the most powerful concepts, from that journey, was the training aligned with inspiring and motivating us with what was called “The Power Of One”. The concept was simple and was used often to illustrate the business model and its potential profits, especially to potential distributors. The idea being that if one person got one person and so on, how you could change your financial reality. Great idea, really great. I didn’t change my financial reality on that ride, but found a few ideas and can-openers for my mind, like this one, the Power of One.
In moving toward a higher consciousness, a greater state of awareness, we will always be challenged to stay focused on our purpose or its attainment, sometimes by the mundane requirements of our modern, suburban lifestyles and at others just through lack of discipline, just as I was in the financial education business.
There are many techniques that we can use to re-center ourselves and re-focus on our aim. Just last night, I sought guidance from my deeper self on tools that help us stay connected with the greater reality, the higher choice; and received this information in partial response (there is always more to everything than I think =).
Ok, let’s take this “Power Of One” concept and claim it as a title for our purpose, as something that is easy to remember. The Power Of One, and no, I choose not to turn it into an acronym, represents doing one higher thing, in this moment or any moment of your choice. Just do one thing, for now that is enough. Later, then you can again do one thing, and so begin the developing of a new habit that can bring you limitless joy.
When you feel disconnected from your inner self, or suddenly that the world no longer seems wondrous and magical, summon your Power of One. You may feel drained from a long day at work, or taking care of the kids and house. A recent catastrophe has visited you perhaps. You are concerned or distraught about a situation or friend, at work or in your personal life, and feeling powerless. It’s time for you to plug back into the Universal power grid, with purpose. Time to think the highest thoughts you are capable of and thereby allow clarity to visit you. Speak the highest words and act the highest deeds. Whenever you call upon it, its power will be there. Master’s are able to connect effortlessly, but all began the same way, by having one experience, one thought at a time, often separated by large gaps.
Simply clear your mind, be still if you can, choose a quiet space if possible, and summon your Power of One. Begin with the simple statement followed by that which you seek, either a higher thought, words or deed “I call upon my Power of One to have a higher thought” or to receive a higher phrase, or deed. Expect an answer, but be open-minded as to it’s delivery. In fact, create opportunities to receive its messages. You cannot not participate in the Universe and expect it to participate in you.
I sat one day in the coffee room at work, looking out the window at the traffic, daydreaming about the choices that lay before me, among which included changing the direction of my writing and path. I had been contemplating for days and was unsure of my direction. As I mulled over my possible choices, and contemplated being more vocal and effusive about my spiritual connection and helping others in that light, a truck drove by. On the side panels in large letters were written “Roll With It”. It was a moving company van, but the message was for me. When you are open to the Universe, its messages come in any form, at any time.
“The Power Of One” technique represents your ability to have one higher thought, to speak one higher word, or to act out one higher deed. One higher thought, word or deed; is one more than before your started, and so, besides using this as a means to begin reconnecting with yourself, it is also a small but meaningful contribution to our collective consciousness. By thinking another higher thought or making another higher statement, you are advancing us all to a greater, divine reality.
This process is a simple and effective one, there are many more and there are more layers to this, that will be explored in other articles, however for now, this is enough to get you thinking, if you choose.
You are reading this article for a simple reason, your soul has led you here, it is seeking to connect and commune with you, it is seeking to be One with you. You can ignore the message, but it will again remind you. I urge you to heed this call, let your ego slide a little, think a higher thought, choose a higher path, one moment at a time.
Feel free to post your questions.
In Peace,
Mikel
Thought, Word and Deed
Some time ago I found myself expressing my desire to quit my day job. Perhaps I was not ready for it, or not asking the right questions, but I chose to sell financial education courses over the net, and instead of earning an hourly wage, I was being paid as a distributor and earning commission. This was a fine arrangement, I felt; and looked forward to prospering greatly.
Part of the deal was also recruiting other distributors, and instead of a traditional multi-level marketing approach, you simply trained these people and took commission on their first 2 sales. After that, they were free to profit completely from their efforts and were not “indebted” to your team, or you, for life; as many of the less than moral systems work.
The greatest thing about being a part of this enterprise, was the training that was provided. The quality and depth were there, at the level of how to do the business, but more importantly all of this was delivered in such a way, by people both inside the company and outside, that you were forced to wake-up to serious, on-going and revealing self-analysis.
In many ways, this training touched on the spiritual, exploring deep seated feelings and conditioning of lack and how to begin the process of stripping away the layers. We found ourselves listening to conference call after conference call, each time experiencing a fresh wave of insight, each wave shifting our individual awareness ever so slightly.
Despite myself, my hang-ups and procrastination, I did fairly well at the business side, fortunately I did not do well enough to make a great living at that enterprise, or I would not find myself here now. What I did take away with me though, was the great training we received. It all fit so well with the vision of myself I was creating, and I continued to explore the tools and books I had acquired in that journey.
I no longer believe that I chose to sign up to that business in order to achieve financial freedom, although that is what I told myself at the time. No, I signed up in hindsight for the training and its purpose in the continued awakening of my self.
One of the most powerful concepts, from that journey, was the training aligned with inspiring and motivating us with what was called “The Power Of One”. The concept was simple and was used often to illustrate the business model and its potential profits, especially to potential distributors. The idea being that if one person got one person and so on, how you could change your financial reality. Great idea, really great. I didn’t change my financial reality on that ride, but found a few ideas and can-openers for my mind, like this one, the Power of One.
In moving toward a higher consciousness, a greater state of awareness, we will always be challenged to stay focused on our purpose or its attainment, sometimes by the mundane requirements of our modern, suburban lifestyles and at others just through lack of discipline, just as I was in the financial education business.
There are many techniques that we can use to re-center ourselves and re-focus on our aim. Just last night, I sought guidance from my deeper self on tools that help us stay connected with the greater reality, the higher choice; and received this information in partial response (there is always more to everything than I think =).
Ok, let’s take this “Power Of One” concept and claim it as a title for our purpose, as something that is easy to remember. The Power Of One, and no, I choose not to turn it into an acronym, represents doing one higher thing, in this moment or any moment of your choice. Just do one thing, for now that is enough. Later, then you can again do one thing, and so begin the developing of a new habit that can bring you limitless joy.
When you feel disconnected from your inner self, or suddenly that the world no longer seems wondrous and magical, summon your Power of One. You may feel drained from a long day at work, or taking care of the kids and house. A recent catastrophe has visited you perhaps. You are concerned or distraught about a situation or friend, at work or in your personal life, and feeling powerless. It’s time for you to plug back into the Universal power grid, with purpose. Time to think the highest thoughts you are capable of and thereby allow clarity to visit you. Speak the highest words and act the highest deeds. Whenever you call upon it, its power will be there. Master’s are able to connect effortlessly, but all began the same way, by having one experience, one thought at a time, often separated by large gaps.
Simply clear your mind, be still if you can, choose a quiet space if possible, and summon your Power of One. Begin with the simple statement followed by that which you seek, either a higher thought, words or deed “I call upon my Power of One to have a higher thought” or to receive a higher phrase, or deed. Expect an answer, but be open-minded as to it’s delivery. In fact, create opportunities to receive its messages. You cannot not participate in the Universe and expect it to participate in you.
I sat one day in the coffee room at work, looking out the window at the traffic, daydreaming about the choices that lay before me, among which included changing the direction of my writing and path. I had been contemplating for days and was unsure of my direction. As I mulled over my possible choices, and contemplated being more vocal and effusive about my spiritual connection and helping others in that light, a truck drove by. On the side panels in large letters were written “Roll With It”. It was a moving company van, but the message was for me. When you are open to the Universe, its messages come in any form, at any time.
“The Power Of One” technique represents your ability to have one higher thought, to speak one higher word, or to act out one higher deed. One higher thought, word or deed; is one more than before your started, and so, besides using this as a means to begin reconnecting with yourself, it is also a small but meaningful contribution to our collective consciousness. By thinking another higher thought or making another higher statement, you are advancing us all to a greater, divine reality.
This process is a simple and effective one, there are many more and there are more layers to this, that will be explored in other articles, however for now, this is enough to get you thinking, if you choose.
You are reading this article for a simple reason, your soul has led you here, it is seeking to connect and commune with you, it is seeking to be One with you. You can ignore the message, but it will again remind you. I urge you to heed this call, let your ego slide a little, think a higher thought, choose a higher path, one moment at a time.
Feel free to post your questions.
In Peace,
Mikel
November 9, 2006
Just For Today...
Just for today, I am gentle with my self and embrace my self with love only
Just for today, I allow my spirit to come out and play
Just for today, I choose to experience a moment of pure joy without regrets, and without stigma, for as long as I allow that moment to last
Just for today, I forgive my self for any harm, pain or negativity I have caused to my self or an other
Just for today, I allow my self to take a step back from the illusion of my everyday life, to see the pureness, love and joy all around me, in even the smallest things
Just for today, I forget any financial debt that is weighing me down, and allow myself to feel and imagine my self as a multi-millionaire, doing what I love and bringing joy to others through my wealth
Just for today, I look upon my chosen partner or lover, with the same eyes as when we first met, and fall in love all over again, and share this moment with them
Just for today, I allow my children, to be children, to play, be joyous, creative and inspired, to make a positive mistake and learn from it, allowing my inner child to come and play with them for a delicious moment and set aside my role as parent for a moment
Just for today, I set aside a habit of any kind, for just one day, and observe what happens
Just for today, I notice the abundance of nature around me, wherever I am and imagine being closer to it, touching the grass with my bare feet, feeling the wind through my hair, catching a perfect snowflake on my tongue or running the water of a stream through my fingers
Just for today, I pay attention to the good in others around me and pay them a gratitude for being there in that moment
Just for today, I do another a kindness, without ego, with the expectation of no thing in return, and better yet anonymously
Just for today, I choose to love something in another that I never have, I accept it, embrace it and bless it as part of the way things are, and in so doing I change too
Just for today, I allow my body, mind and spirit to commune as one for a moment in stillness, quieting mind, and allowing my self to be in the moment
Just for today, I give myself permission to authentic and to speak a truth I have ignored or avoided
Just for today, I allow my self to be me
As I rode to the office this morning, my head floating in creativity, with some percentage of my awareness focused on driving, another way occurred to me, to allow ourselves to have a moment with the potential of connecting to our consciousness, our higher selves, individually or collectively; that could allow us to choose a simple change or idea and embrace it wholly, giving energy to a simple action, only one and for only one day. Something to give us pause from our present view on reality, to lift our heads a bit higher.
Your opinions, however differing, are always welcome and although. This list is a beginning, feel free to submit your ideas through the comments option, and …..
Just for today, allow yourself to come out and play =)
Peace & Love,
November 7, 2006
Only you are stopping yourself being you
Robert F. Kennedy: Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve
greatly.
This morning, sipping my first honeyed coffee, which is usually my last, I stared at this blank blog entry screen and thought to myself "I would like to write a post that will touch 5 people with meaning, with words that may cause them to inspired.". Here is what I choose to write:
No matter where you find yourself today, in whatever situation, with whatever feelings you have about that situation, be they positive, negative or indifferent; you find yourself in that state and in that place only because you have chosen it for yourself.
That's quite a statement, don't you think? To say that the only reason all the things in my life are happening, is because I chose them. Some of us would read that and dismiss it immediately, looking to the causes outside ourselves as justification for the results we have attracted. That is fine, your choice is your own. Do not forget your free will, but remember where it came from.
You may find that while reading the opening statement, a certain attraction was felt to the words, even though you still feel in some cases that you have no control over your circumstances, or that you have so much going on that it is challenging to stay in the moment to moment realization of your true power.
However you find yourself reacting to this statement, even to those who completely agree, I'd like to suggest a small excercise in overcoming the challenges faced in being yourself or allowing yourself to be whatever it is you choose to be. There are many excercises that can help you practice and expand your capacity and skill at being, and this is but one small one.
It is neither hard, nor easy; nor long or short; your personal experience of this excercise is completely your own to enjoy for however long you choose it or however easy you choose to make it. It's meant to be a fun thing, do not judge yourself harshly in performing it, and when you goof up, simply forgive yourself, love yourself and start over, because thats all it takes.... Love and Forgiveness...
The word game
Words have power, of this there is no question. This game, or excercise, is about beginning the process of replacing words which create lack, with words that empower the attainment of that which you seek. Instead of making statements such as "I want....", you will choose to replace these with "I have.....".
Every day, choose but one of these words and replace it with the new word. Focus on only one step. Play the game only with yourself as you move through your days, I suggest you tell noone, until you experience a result that surprises you. To have another play along with you is simply asking them to distract themselves from their purpose in order to support you in yours, any good friend would do this, but allow this experience to be your own for now. This is only a suggestion of course but whether for togetherness or competition, there is no one to compete against in this life, other than yourself.
The only rules are, to choose one word that you find yourself using often from the left hand list and replace it with a word from the right hand side, and that when you make a mistake or catch yourself using the old word, to simply forgive yourself, love yourself and choose again the new word. It's important to use these simple statements - "I forgive myself" "I love myself" - and move on.
Do this for 31 days without break to achieve a sure, noticeable change in the way you dialogue, and notice the thought you put into your words, see how more people pay attention to what you have to say, and how you are closer to your goal.
> Old Word > New Word
> I Want > I Have, I'd Like, will have
> Try > Do
> Hate > Love, Accept, Dislike
> Can't > Could, May
> Won't > Would
Make it ok to use these word replacements in your language. For example, you may really wish to speak the word "Hate", as in "I hate the way that driver cut me off during rush hour". Perhaps choose instead to say out loud "I dislike the way that driver cut me off". It may seem like such an insignificant change. Let me tell something you intrinsically know yet many of us choose to ignore daily - Our Words have Power. Recognizing this, practicing this knowledge and moving in the direction of change in your unique way, will begin to attract surprising and wonderful change to you.
After 31 day have past and you feel you have not seen any result, post a comment with your email address, and I will contact you in the hopes of assisting you in your goal. There is no charge for this.
These are the first few words that come to mind as I rush into the shower to prepare for my day at the office. Enjoy yours as much as you choose, and so will I.
Have a magical day,
Mikel
November 4, 2006
Sleep, Inspiration and Connection
Is sleep or the lack of it correlated to my flow of inspiration?
Over the last 15 years of being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, I've always gone through periods where my life is in turmoil or chaos, bringing on sleepless nights, followed by bouts of amazing clarity and insight, both during periods of being medicated, or not.
Often it's the other way round, sleepless nights arrive for no reason, followed by clarity and turmoil in either order and then the other, to the point that Ive accepted these times as being heaven sent in a manner. A chance to muddle through the clouds of normalcy induced by extended lithium and valproate, to see more clearly than anyone could, as to what Im capable of dreaming and achieving.
Sometimes sharing these feelings and thoughts with those around me were scary. I feared being judged as experiencing another onset of mania, when I knew I wasnt. After all Im medicated, with balanced blood levels and I can rapid cycle by disrupting my sleep patterns, almost like a switch with the difference being I choose when and how versus those early days where I simply went bonkers and got introduced to men in white coats. If this is sounding a little crazy to you, I wont hold it against you.
These days I choose my circle of influence with care, my girlfriend and friends all accept me for what I am. I choose not to associate with people who would not "get" me or that part of me labelled "bipolar". It's seriously important to recognise that our circumstances are all about personal choice, even though it may not seem that way to you in the now. You have the choice of how you allow events and people to affect you, this is powerful.
Fact is, playing with sleep is the one way I can gain access to my personal deep connection with my higher self. Other times its not so controlled, meaning I'm not the one doing the connecting, rather I'm being connected with or to, depending on whether I'm paying attention and "listening".
It's during those connected times I go into a wonderful place inside of me, and feel the flow, taking advantage of the wisdom and wild ideas that come with it. It's a time to feel free and expressive, to be outside the box and create magical ideas.
Most of the ideas go nowhere, some make it to paper and fewer yet become realised. Recently most of them are flowing down one avenue, all pointing to my next great project, but probably the best idea Ive ever had, the one that has caused the most profound and beneficial change in my life, is being honest with myself.
I am becoming more consistent at it with practice, despite the pain it sometimes can cause, but when you move past that temporary state you may realise many things. For me, realising bipolar is a blessing - to me, and also that pain only has as much power to hurt as you grant it.
Of course the biggest next lesson in adopting any new idea is consistency, and thats worth a book's worth of blogging for another time.
Until then, be honest with your-self.
M
Over the last 15 years of being diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, I've always gone through periods where my life is in turmoil or chaos, bringing on sleepless nights, followed by bouts of amazing clarity and insight, both during periods of being medicated, or not.
Often it's the other way round, sleepless nights arrive for no reason, followed by clarity and turmoil in either order and then the other, to the point that Ive accepted these times as being heaven sent in a manner. A chance to muddle through the clouds of normalcy induced by extended lithium and valproate, to see more clearly than anyone could, as to what Im capable of dreaming and achieving.
Sometimes sharing these feelings and thoughts with those around me were scary. I feared being judged as experiencing another onset of mania, when I knew I wasnt. After all Im medicated, with balanced blood levels and I can rapid cycle by disrupting my sleep patterns, almost like a switch with the difference being I choose when and how versus those early days where I simply went bonkers and got introduced to men in white coats. If this is sounding a little crazy to you, I wont hold it against you.
These days I choose my circle of influence with care, my girlfriend and friends all accept me for what I am. I choose not to associate with people who would not "get" me or that part of me labelled "bipolar". It's seriously important to recognise that our circumstances are all about personal choice, even though it may not seem that way to you in the now. You have the choice of how you allow events and people to affect you, this is powerful.
Fact is, playing with sleep is the one way I can gain access to my personal deep connection with my higher self. Other times its not so controlled, meaning I'm not the one doing the connecting, rather I'm being connected with or to, depending on whether I'm paying attention and "listening".
It's during those connected times I go into a wonderful place inside of me, and feel the flow, taking advantage of the wisdom and wild ideas that come with it. It's a time to feel free and expressive, to be outside the box and create magical ideas.
Most of the ideas go nowhere, some make it to paper and fewer yet become realised. Recently most of them are flowing down one avenue, all pointing to my next great project, but probably the best idea Ive ever had, the one that has caused the most profound and beneficial change in my life, is being honest with myself.
I am becoming more consistent at it with practice, despite the pain it sometimes can cause, but when you move past that temporary state you may realise many things. For me, realising bipolar is a blessing - to me, and also that pain only has as much power to hurt as you grant it.
Of course the biggest next lesson in adopting any new idea is consistency, and thats worth a book's worth of blogging for another time.
Until then, be honest with your-self.
M
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