To Reach Happiness Live Your Life Now

You only live in this moment. If your head is in your past or in your future you are missing out on your present. Can you do anything about your past? Can you do anything about your future other than plan for it? And how do you plan for it? By taking action now. By living in the here and now you empower yourself to live the life you want, I mean consciously want.

If you don't like the way your world looks, change the way you look at your world. I include looking at your past--only in so far as you can change your past by seeing it through new eyes, consciously living eyes.

You created your past experiences by interpreting and focusing on specific thoughts with great emotional attachment. What if you looked at every hurt--emotional and physical--and saw the gift you received? What if a severe injury caused you to be grateful for simple things you never thought about before--things like being able to stand up and walk? Or open your eyes and see? Or follow a conversation?

You choose the value of every event in your life. You can make everything that happens great--even when the pain is excruciating. I bet you have known people who live with great pain yet enjoy their lives while others in pain spend all their time bemoaning their "fate."

Life is truly what you make of it. I know because I recovered from a brain injury that turned my life upside-down. The doctors told me I would not get better. My attitude and my paradigms, which differed from that of the sixteen experts on my medical team, allowed me to heal.

There are 3 types of people in the world:

1. Those who make things happen

2. Those who watch things happen

3. Those who wonder what happened

Your life only changes when you take action.

Be well and happy. In the end, nothing else matters.

Warning: Do not neglect the above! Make sure to take this advice seriously if you want to create your world to live in happiness.

STOP!
Are you about to give up being happy forever?

If what you do every day has not let you create a reality of happiness yet, do you really think anything will look different tomorrow?

Discover what stops you cold. Go to http://LiveInHappinessNow.com/indexW.html and grab my FREE ebook, What You Don't Know You Don't Know

And remember... Don't give up hope... You deserve to be happy.

Time Stop Enjoying the Moment - (6) Life Changing Steps For Learning to Live in the Present

To truly be free from the stresses of the world you must learn to live in the present moment. What I mean is to live consciously aware of this present moment. Do you remember grade school roll call where the teacher would alphabetically go down the list of classmates; state their name and expect everyone to respond with "Present". If no present was heard everyone knew the person was just not there. Now imagine that roll call and your name is called but you do not hear it because you are looking out the window daydreaming about the recess fight you had yesterday. When the teacher called your name no "Present" was heard. You really were not there; consciously or aware.

If you want to feel peace, calm, astounding clarity, grounded, grateful, and happy; then you must let go of the past, stop worrying about the future and be consciously aware of what is happening around you right now, in this present moment.

This may sound easy at first, but it will require some real effort for you to change this habit for good. Every day the world swirls a ton of crap at us while our fears, frustrations, worries and stress stand by ready to distract, confuse and pull us away from enjoying the present. The good news is once you learn to master the present you will not believe you could have ever lived any other way.

Do you want try a new way of life by learning how to live in the moment? Well it is said that "if you have a desire for something new, then you must do something you have never done"

I am going to share my personal method of how I learned to truly master living in the present moment.

First, let us prepare ourselves by recognizing we must let go of all expectations and any preconceived results. To do this I want you to get a hold of this principle. Think happy and thankful; no matter what occurs with any outcome, know that all things work out for your good, you are loved, you are not alone and all is well. Yeah, I know it sort of sounds like a Saturday Night Live, Stuart Smiley thing, "I am good enough, I am smart enough, and dog-gone it, people like me"

Seriously, most of our disappointments, constant thoughts, fears and worries are rooted in our egos trying to micromanage the world and control everything in it. So let go a little and try letting life just happen for once. Do not worry for the future, get a hold of the fact that you will never have to worry about a place to live, clothes on your back and food to eat. You can stand on a higher power faith that your basic needs will be provided no matter what you do. From this security, let go of your controlling ego that continues to fight and struggle against what is actually best for you.

I am going to share an antidote. I do not recall where I heard it, but I do think it is an appropriate example to illustrate my point.

There is a story of two friends, living in the country a few miles outside the city. Life on the farm does not seem to match up with all the dreams swirling around in their heads. They each learn of a job opportunity in the nearby city and decide to travel the several miles together for their scheduled interviews. As they must travel on foot it is agreed that a short cut along the river will save the journey much time.

While walking beside the river a deluge of water flash floods them both into the raging river. One of the friends struggles and fights against the powerful force of fast moving water. He desperately thinks in his mind, if I can just get back to the shore, where I was, everything will be fine. In his struggle to fight back against the river while attempting to thrash towards shore, he is overcome and dies.

The other friend, upon being sweep into the river, immediately gains his composure, relaxes, turns to his back and allows the water to naturally push him to the center of the raging current. He takes a fast wild, face up, float down the turbulent river. A sharp bend in the river forces the water and him rolling unto the river bank. He collects himself, looks around and realizes he is only a few hundred feet from the very business where he has the job interview.

Okay, here we go. It is time to learn to enjoy living in the present moment with these six important steps.

1. Yoga and Meditation

You must exercise both the Body and the Mind. Nothing does this more effectively than the healing properties of Yoga and Meditation. The entire focus of meditation is a tool to help you live in the present moment. It will help you find the answers within yourself by beginning to accept things as they are. Meditating takes some time to master, you can learn to be still and the more it is practice the easier and stronger influence it will have on your personal serenity.

Yoga will help your body prepare for meditation by relaxing muscles and increasing circulation. This will help to quiet your mind and enjoy the stillness. The easiest way to shut off your mind is to focus on your breath. With each exhalation strive to release any thoughts and emotions that continue to pop up.

2. Nature- Those tree huggers are really on to something.

You really must take time to reacquaint yourself with nature. The beauty and serenity offered by stopping to smell the roses will have an amazing therapeutic effect. It is often said you can visit the gentle "Spirit of God" anytime you wish in the stillness of a forest. You may wish to simply go for a walk or sit under a shade tree in the park. Whatever way you choose, if you want to experience the feeling of a present moment nothing will allow it easier than a quiet encounter with the energy of nature.

3. The Past- It is so yesterday, you need to deal with it, because "It is over."

If you really want to feel better about yourself all you have to do is learn to accept past situations and relationships. Believe me you will feel a lot better once you learn this. I know it is difficult but come on there is nothing you can do to change the past. So stop thinking about it and accept it. The only thing bringing the past into your present will do is to cloud and confuse your current thoughts. This has no value, joy or peace for you and will only make it harder for you to concentrate on this present moment.

When thoughts of the past arise, learn to accept them for what they were, allow those old emotions to pass through you, then return to the present moment and leave the regret and grief behind.

4. The Future- Back to the future, again and again, Please!

What day has any man added to his life by worrying? None! I think Jesus said that. So now to continue our journey to live in the present moment we will need to accept the future. Since you thought about it over and over in your head, you must realize you have no idea about what is going to happen, and of course worrying about it will not make one bit of difference.

Right now I want you to agree with yourself that you will not waste another day going over and over every possible outcome and option of what or why, you should, or should not. Enough of the "What am I going to do?" How do you know if you are going in the right direction when you are not even moving? If you can stop the worrying, analyzing and endless pondering, you will find you have more time to actually do something about it!

5. Enjoy the journey, for living in the now is really about "Awareness."

Awareness really only needs two friends; their names are "Thankful" and "Happy". It is very important for you to become mindful. You need to start by having gratitude for all the wonderful relationships and things in your life. A sense of being thankful will immediately provide you with a more positive and happy outlook. To be mindful is to be closely aware by paying attention to what you are doing at the present moment.

I want you to consider some task like laundry or dishes as not just another mundane chore. For you to fully experience this activity it is important to perform it with an open mind. Allow all your senses to open up to what you are doing. You may just experience an incredible positive feeling that you were not even aware existed.

6. Finally, to relax you must remember to breathe.

The only way to achieve conscious living in the moment is to maintain a relaxed attitude.

I want you to consider that there is your ego mind and your true higher self both battling for control of your thoughts. Now just allow your higher self to observe how your ego mind races weird thoughts and fears all over the place. Your higher self can ground you back to the present moment, if you will maintain the insight to realize when your thoughts are getting out of control.

This can be achieved most easily with a consistent meditative practice. You can use a simple breathing exercise that helps calm and relax you, if it is not appropriate to meditate. First pay attention to your breathing. Take deep slow breaths pulling air in from your stomach. Allow the thoughts to flow through you as you remind yourself that in this present moment, the past and the future simply do not exist.

If you can successfully be in the present moment during your scheduled relaxation periods of the day, then you can extend this new awareness to the other parts of your day. As you feel more and more comfortable spending time in the present you will begin to notice a better more fulfilling life awaits your enjoyment.

Do you want to learn the rest of the story? Natural Stress Relief Techniques

Satori is a Certified Hatha Yoga Instructor and a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher; she is trained in Reiki and Shamanic healing, and the founder of the Seyoga Illustrated Products, which has enabled her to positively transform the lives of many.
Her unique balanced approach to life has allowed her to joyfully share the knowledge of Physical, Mental and Spiritual transformation. She has a Passion to encourage her students to let go and embrace the "I AM" Divinity within. She is the author of several books on stress relief yoga, children illustrated yoga, and natural lifestyle change.
Satori's light journey began in her early teens when she discovered the power of meditation. The roots of her spiritual understanding evolved from the study of Hebrew and Kabbalah in Israel.She is a humanitarian born in Namibia, South West Africa. She continues to connect with her homeland through organizing fundraisers to benefit the children of South Africa.

How to Live Consciously and Attract Happiness

Do you live each day consciously or unconsciously? We would all like to think that we are conscious during our waking hours; that we are consciously making decisions, consciously choosing how we act, react, speak, listen, and think. But do you know that in order to be conscious you must be aware of your Self? Do you know who you are? Are you living out who you truly are? Take a moment to think this over, and continue reading on...

Now that you've taken a moment to consider how your actions reflect your inner Self, did you come to the conclusion that how you live just may not be who you really are? You may become angry or frustrated from experiencing certain circumstances, but anger and frustration is not what is composed of your Self. All those molecules and compounds that make up your body, mind, and soul are certainly not angry or hostile ones. This you must realize. So why is it you express every emotion within the spectrum of human emotions? Do you choose to? Or is it a reaction?

If you stop before each thought and action to give yourself time to decide first, you begin to live consciously. If you do not let yourself decide, you defer to reaction: you go into autopilot mode and act or think in terms of your strongest emotion (anger, fear, sadness, etc.) since it is what has taken over. This is how you allow your ego (your mind) to take over and take control away from your real Self (your soul). This does you no good because this is what living unconsciously is. If you are not consciously making a decision, then you are unconsciously and mindlessly reacting. Your ego is not YOU. If you believe there is a difference between your physical body, your mental mind, and your spiritual soul, then you must take into consideration each of their downfalls and learn how to allow your soul to shine through with everything you do.

Do you notice how sometimes after a typical reaction, you may feel a little remorse? Perhaps it really wasn't very necessary to tell off that waitress who got your order wrong for the second time, or speaking rudely back to that customer service representative who was just trying to do his job.

Life can be hard; it can get frustrating no doubt about it, but it doesn't mean we need to project negativity right back at it. This does nothing for us.

How can we begin to live consciously? Here is the secret: right now, close your eyes and find the greatest feeling you have ever felt: such as the immense love you have for your child(ren), or that time when you were the most in love with a partner. Pinpoint that highest note of all your experiences. Feel that fulfilling joy and let it linger until your whole being is saturated with it. Hold onto this...

Love is the purest thought, emotion, and experience a soul can choose to live out. Yes, choose! We can choose to think, act, and live the rest of our lives with love being the core of it all; the seed that grows our human experiences; the cell that divides exponentially. We have this awesome Godly power because we are all God.

Now take this feeling that you have just re-experienced within your Self. Take it with you every morning when you get out of bed; take it with you to work or school; take it with you when you go out with your friends; take it home to your family; and take it to bed at night. This ultimate essence is what you will base all of your thoughts and actions on (notice I did not say reactions!). You will re-experience this each time you are confronted with a problem, a situation, a confrontation. Then, after some practice, you will call upon this beautiful part of you every time you think a thought, speak a word, and take an action. Love will be the root of everything you do. Your ultimate goal is to be who you really are, and who you really are, is love. Love is what creates us, the universe, and everything in between. We attract what we project out. So project out only love!

The funny part about this is that in order to know your Self (love), you must also know and have experienced love's complete opposite: fear. If love attracts like things, fear deflects the same way. So we know fear because we act on it. We make decisions based on fear. We fear our boss, we fear not having money, we fear rejection, and we fear physical pain and death. We know this because we end up reacting out of fear everyday for many of us.

So turn it around. Turn our fear into love. When we stop fearing, we end anger and frustration. We stop feeling like we need to take those negative feeling hostage, only to release them out onto others. We can begin to fill those empty places with much needed love. Fill your life with more of YOU by bringing consciousness into all you do. Love is all there for us to use. So take it. Take it and run with it.

It will not be easy. You have to practice and practice until it becomes second nature to you. It will require intention on your part, which requires energy. If you invest in this, the universe will invest in you.

Love before and after you think or do and your life will evolve. I promise.

Emily A. Rider invites you to browse more great articles she has written about living a more spiritual life at http://www.higherspiritualliving.com. This site contains may topics from meditation to evidence-based research; from spiritual cleansing to the paradigm shift the U.S. is currently beginning. Come gain knowledge and new perspectives on living spiritually now at http://www.higherspiritualliving.com

Conscious Living

Several years ago, following an intention to live more consciously, I deemed it the Year of Awakening. For me, I envision a lifetime of conscious living as I more fully awaken to the spiritual being that I truly am. As a part of my spiritual journey, I love to look up the meanings of things to gain an even deeper understanding. This is what Webster's Dictionary had to say about the word conscious: in the "moment", in waking awareness, mentally perceptive, alert, subjectively knowing, intentional, deliberate, inwardly attentive, mindful, possessing knowledge, cognizant, knowing one's self, realizing and recognizing.

Wow, now that is a powerful definition! Who wouldn't want to be conscious? Along with conscious living comes responsibility to act on our values and insights. We may experience emotional pain as we allow ourselves to feel what we've been stuffing down for years, but for the most part, living consciously is joyful, as we see the good in one another and trust the presence of a loving God unfolding in our lives perfectly.

In order to change old patterns and create greater consciousness in our lives it is important to make a daily practice that allows for a shift in awareness and then the creation of new, improved patterns and habits can emerge. For those who know me, I am a 'busy' woman, yet I am learning to enjoy some downtime. I see how it is leading me to greater awareness in my life.

A part of my daily practice is to spend time in the stillness, in the quiet of my own mind. I spend time in the silence when I meditate, which I also call "basking". It is there that I learn to have space between my thoughts. I listen to that inner voice and wherever it takes me is where I am willing go. I find the more I listen to the spiritual guidance that I receive, the smoother my life flows!

While spending time in the silence, I release my prayers and go over in my mind all that I am grateful for. My heart is filled with appreciation as I review in my mind the many ways that I am blessed. If there is any resentment or forgiveness work to do, I take care of this too, while my inner being is quiet and focused on the goodness of God.

For me, an aspect of conscious living is getting in touch with what brings me joy. When I follow the beat of my own inner drummer, so to speak, I know that I am on the path to conscious living, and not just doing what everyone else thinks I should do! Mythologist Joseph Campbell says, "If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.... If you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time." Experiencing bliss is being attentive to the underlying beauty and meaning found in life, no matter what the circumstances.

Another way I live consciously is through my use of intention. I've been using the power of intention ever since I learned about the teachings of Abraham-Hicks found at Abraham-Hicks.com over eleven years ago. I see working with intention as being a sort of traffic cop for energy, directing it, and using my focused awareness to bring about positive change in my life and in the world around me.

My use of intention has brought the right people into my life at just the right time; helped me move into seeing all my work as spiritual, allowed me to develop divine relationships; and helped me to gain a greater sense of well-being. I feel empowered in my life seeing where my intentions have led me.

There is so much beauty and love to see when I slow down enough to be mindful. One intention that has manifested for me is the opportunity to spend time with master teachers, coaches and mentors. Through spending time in the silence, following my bliss and using positive intention, I am able to connect with life like I've never done before. I look forward to the rest of my life unfolding in a way that helps me to continue to grow and serve in love and do it with awareness!

Diana Kennedy is a Divine Life Coach and Massage Therapist. She has been speaking at Unity Chuches and offering spiritual playshops for over ten years. Diana helps people create more dynamic lives through inspirational teleclasses, e-courses, and articles. Diana enlightens and empowers you to experience greater passion and prosperity, to connect with your intuition, and to have joyful relationships. Check out her site at http://www.DianaKennedy.com and receive a free gift for subscribing to her newsletter Dynamic Living with Diana Kennedy.

Find Out What the Key Principles of Healthy Living Are

Healthy and conscious living is a vital part of our evolution and ascension. In accordance with the Laws of Creation, we, human beings, are all created within the bounds of Nature's Laws just as all living things are. These simple principles of living are the very foundation of a content and healthy life. They are the core and the sacred base from which we can grow, learn, and realise our full potential.

Our body contains approximately 75 trillion cells, each one a world of its own that lives in harmony with the whole of Creation. A human being acts as a single and whole unit, gathering all the cells together. If one part of us is affected, the whole organism subsequently gets affected.

When we ignore or abuse our bodies, we break the sacred laws of existence, disconnecting ourselves from the stream of life that runs through us. When this flow is blocked, various dis-eases of the body, mind and soul will emerge as a result. This is how the Creator's force communicates with us, asking us to return ourselves back to where we truly belong - Nature and her sacred laws of existence.

Here are some of the basic elements that help us to maintain ourselves in healthful and harmonious conditions:

- Fresh air. Inhaling pure air outdoors will supply fresh oxygen to our cells, thus enhancing their vitality. Hard to believe, but the air inside people's homes can sometimes be more toxic than outside! So, keep your surroundings well-ventilated, open windows when indoors, especially during the night while asleep. Aim to spend a lot of your time outdoors on a daily basis, go for walks in parks and in wild Nature, do your sports and fitness activities outside as much as possible. By the way, going outside in what we consider "bad" weather (rain, cold, snow, etc.) is a fantastic way to get away from the limitations of your "comfort zone" so helping you to train your mind to become stronger and more resilient. This "can do" approach can then be applied to other areas of your life, so no challenge appears insurmountable.

- Sleep, rest, and contemplation. Modern human beings are largely sleep and rest deficient, which inevitably lowers their life force and leads to disease. Rest aids healing, detoxification and increases mental clarity. Adjust your routine so that sufficient sleep becomes one of your key priorities; aim to be in bed by 10pm. Turn phones, computers and other entertainment devices off, and instead, spend some time reflecting and contemplating before getting cosy in bed and shifting to your dreamland.

- Sufficient amount of sun. The energy of the sun sustains our life, as it does all life upon planet Earth, so exposing ourselves regularly to sunlight is a vital part of a healthy existence. Sunlight aids food digestion and nutrient assimilation (especially calcium), creates vitamin D, promotes healthy functioning of the glandular and nervous systems; it rejuvenates the skin, and detoxifies the body. Human beings are not actually adapted to thrive in cold climates, only to survive. So, make sure you "stock up" on sun before the winter months and consider having sunny breaks/holidays during the winter. Sunbathe only when your shadow appears to be taller than you actually are. When your shadow looks shorter than you are, the sun is too strong for sunbathing.

- Pure water. Always keep hydrated by drinking pure water in sufficient quantities. If you urinate less than 8-12 times a day, and your urine is dark yellow in colour - you are dehydrated. Dehydration is a major source of disease. If you are not used to drinking water, then you can train yourself. You can keep a bottle of spring/filtered/distilled water next to your bed and start drinking it as soon as you wake up, aiming to drink at least 1 litre of water before your breakfast. Then, take another 1 to 2 litres of water with you and drink it throughout the day. Drink water 10-15 minutes before your meals and allow a couple of hours before drinking water after your main meals (less so if you had a fruit meal or a vegetable salad). All cooked foods lack water and dehydrate our bodies. In fact, if the majority of our food is cooked, no amount of water may be able to compensate for the dehydration experienced by the body. Most fruits and vegetables have a high water content which is perfectly structured to hydrate our cells.

- Living and wholesome food. There is a tremendous amount of research that highlights a direct link between our diets and our state of health. The diet that we eat supplies fuel to our cells, upon which our health is then built. If we put dead substances and foods for which we have not been designed for into our bodies, they will not be able to function well. The most optimum diet for a human being is a plant-based and living diet that is built upon primarily fresh whole fruits, soft green vegetables and moderate amounts of nuts/seeds. Not only does this diet sustain the health of our cells and assists the well-being of our physical, mental and spiritual selves, it also promotes environmental harmony. A living and plant-based diet does not result in toxicity and is disease-healing, rather than disease building. It digests efficiently, gives us all the necessary nutrients, and oxygenates our cells. The chief toxin-forming foods and substances that contribute towards a disease formation are: drugs (legal and illegal); alcohol; nicotine; coffee and caffeine; carbonated or soft drinks; meat and animal product; all processed and tinned foods; fried or barbequed foods; additives, preservatives, as well as any other artificial ingredients; refined salt, sugar, and sugar substitutes; processed oils, and margarine; and processed starch (cakes, cookies, breads, pizzas, pastas, etc.). These substances need to be eliminated from the diet completely. The less health destroying substances we put into our bodies, and the more whole raw fruits and vegetables we include in our diet, the more cleansing, healing, and restorative opportunities we will give ourselves. Healthy eating is indeed a vast area and it will be explored further in the future health related posts. The Healthy Eating section of The Spirit of Transition book covers the diet area in greater detail, giving step-by-step recommendations on how to transition to a low-fat, raw vegan diet.

- Regular exercise. Food alone cannot and will not deliver magical results. So, a healthful diet, therefore, must be accompanied by regular exercise - life comes from movement, or motion. True health, proper food assimilation and absorption, positive thinking, focused mental mind, and a healthy emotional state (note: e-motional) cannot be experienced if no exercise is taken. The benefits of exercise are truly tremendous. Exercise is a powerful anti-stress remedy, which works to remove mental and emotional tensions and shifts a lot of stagnant energy of the past. Physical activity helps the blood to circulate, opening up the capillary system to more oxygen. It promotes muscular, cardiovascular and lymphatic health, increasing energy levels, and encouraging greater body awareness. To maintain optimum health and weight, a fast motion, aerobic-like activity needs to be performed for at least 30 minutes a day and at least 5 times a week. This can include dancing, jogging/running, brisk walking, cycling, aerobics, the use of trampoline, etc.Here is a great way to start your exercise regime. Go outdoors, start walking briskly and focus on your breathing. Inhale quickly through your nose for 4 counts and then exhale quickly through your month for 4 counts. Do this for 5 minutes to warm yourself up. Continue walking briskly, and, then, add some positive affirmations. For example: "I am a fit and healthy I simply love my life. I can achieve anything that I want. I radiate peace, harmony, and joy. I am committed to the continuous improvement of every single aspect of my life. I send love to people who are dear to me, and the planet that I live on. I am so grateful for everything I have in life. " Consider starting from 15-20 minutes to begin with, and, then, extend your brisk walks to at least 30 minutes a day, every day! When you are comfortable with brisk walking, add some jogging. Jog for just 3-5 minutes on your first day, and increase your jogging by a minute each day. You will benefit greatly from using free professional running plans that can be accessed from websites like http://www.runnersworld.com or http://www.about.com, where you can set your own personal running targets. Aim to include some other forms of exercise, such as swimming, hiking, stretching, yoga, chi kung, etc.

There are many other factors that contribute to a healthy existence, including: mental/emotional and spiritual mastery; positive thinking; visualisation and affirmations; life that is meaningful and has a sense of direction; personal hobbies; nurturing relationships, wider social engagements, and pretty much everything and anything that brings us health, vigour, focus, strength, expansion, joy, and harmony.

Thank you for reading!

Yulia.
http://newearthbeings.com/blog/

About the Author: Yulia is an intuitive, a Natural Health and Whole/Raw Food Nutrition Coach, and the author of "The Spirit of Transition" book. Having left her previous career as a corporate diversity manager, she established a health and inner growth group in London. Back in the year of 2009, both Yulia an her husband received an inner calling to travel around the world, connecting with different cultures and visiting many of the Earth's sacred sites. The journey of their discovery is continuing to this day. Yulia's work can be found on her website at http://www.newearthbeings.com

How to Use the Power of Your Mind to Live Life by Design

Getting Rich Versus Living Rich

Recently, a successful businessman told an audience how he had made millions of dollars, bought a luxury home and luxury cars and had everything that showed he was successful. Yet he was miserable. He had learned to control the process by which he attained wealth, but he had not learned to live life by design.

The businessman went on to tell the story of how he began to focus on what he really wanted. Not what other people said he should want, but what he actually wanted his life to be like. He had used the power of his mind to make money; now he was going to use the power of his mind in a different way.

In his journal he wrote details of what kind of house he wanted to live in, details of what kind of work he wanted to do, and details of what he did for enjoyment. Then he closed his journal, and forgot about what he wrote.

Less than half a year later, the businessman moved his family to a new home far from where he had lived his whole life. He worked fewer hours than before, yet made more money. He not only enjoyed his free time, his work was also fun. One day he came across his old journal and opened it. He was astonished to see that the life he described in his journal matched in detail the life he was now living. That is why he was driven to tell an audience not about business techniques, but about how we can use the power of our minds to design the life we want.

Life By Design or Life as a Feather

In the movie, "Forrest Gump," in the opening sequence we see a feather wafting in the air, wandering from place to place and finally landing wherever the wind carries it. Forrest Gump's question was, "Do we control our destiny, or does it just happen?" Do we just go along with whatever life brings us or do we decide the course of our own lives? For Forrest Gump, it could be both. Floating through life like a feather may be the easy way, but it could lead to unwanted destinations. Living life by design, on the other hand, means using the power of the mind to cause life to bring us what we want.

Countless stories have been told of people using their minds to achieve amazing feats: Houdini gained amazing control over his muscles and breathing to become the illusionist and escape artist that he became. Uri Zeller is well-known for his ability to move things telekinetically or change their physical structure by using his mind. The most successful athletes, artists, writers, business men, and professionals of every kind, attribute their success to tapping the power of the mind.

Where men and women have achieved feats and success like those mentioned, they have tapped their mind power to control some part of their being. Ironically when it comes to designing your life, you must learn to let go of control and focus only on what it is that you want.

The Ego and the Conscious Mind

The ego is defined as "the self." A large ego is one that seeks a lot of attention, and the thoughts are directed mainly toward self-satisfaction. A small ego is one that seeks less attention, and self-satisfaction is not a big priority. The size of your ego is not a significant factor in using the power of your mind. What is significant is how much you allow your ego to influence your thinking.

Whether large or small, the ego seeks control of the process of achievement. That process begins in thought. And thought is the function of the conscious mind. It is in the conscious mind that we formulate goals and design plans to achieve them. In using the conscious mind to control the process of achievement, the conscious mind satisfies the ego. Great achievers such as Houdini have tapped the power of their conscious minds to attain remarkable control over themselves.

Immense as the potential power of the conscious mind is, the power of the subconscious mind is infinitely greater. The subconscious mind is connected to the life force that keeps your lungs breathing and your heart beating whether you are awake or asleep. Active thought does not occur in the subconscious mind. Nor does logical reasoning, nor planning, nor any of those functions associated with the conscious mind. However, the subconscious mind does find solutions to problems.

Let Go of the Ego - Use the Power of the Subconscious Mind to Design Your Life

One of the greatest challenges in designing your life is removing yourself from the process. We are conditioned from a young age to want to control all aspects of our lives. We determine our goals and we plan how to achieve them. We use the power of our conscious minds, but we neglect the greater power of our subconscious minds.

People who have attracted into their lives not only material success but also the joy of living the exact life they dream of have learned to allow their subconscious minds to solve problems. They use their conscious minds to create visions and goals. Then they allow the subconscious mind to go about manifesting those visions and goals.

Using the power of the mind to manifest what you want in life is simple to explain, however may be difficult to accomplish because we are not used to relinquishing control. Design your life by envisioning, in as much detail as possible, everything that you want. What is your house like? What do you do in the morning and in the afternoon. How do you spend your evenings? What material things do you own?

Create the ideal life in your mind, then let go of the need to attain it. Keep your ideal life in the front of your mind as much as possible, but resist the need to control the process by which it is achieved. Allow the subconscious mind, with its infinite resources, to do its job of bringing your vision into reality. To live life by design means to consciously conceive of everything you want to do and have, then using the power of the subconscious mind to make it all happen.

Go beyond the superficial. Really learn how to use the power of your mind at the Friendly Universe. Live life by design.

Conscious Living - What to Do When Your Inner Little Voice Says, "I Know That"

All your life you closed off learning with the thought or words, "I know that!"

Your brain and mind want to keep you safe--and stuck where you are. Your brain and mind want you to believe that change is scary and may hurt you.

So when new information that could help you move into a new place in life comes your way, one of the most powerful tricks your ego employs is telling you, "I know that!"

You shut down when you hear your Little Voice tell you, "I know that!" You close off the channel of new information. If you are listening to someone talk you stop listening to the speaker.

You allow your Little Voice to take over and drown out the speaker. This is not your intuitive voice that moves you forward but your reptilian brain Little Voice that keeps you stuck. That Little Voice will distract you with thoughts that tell you that you need to go to the restroom or that you are thirsty. It will try to convince you that you have other better things to do. It may even make you so tired so that you fall asleep.

What can you do to eliminate that reptilian Little Voice, and stay present, so you can allow yourself to hear and process new information? You can turn off that Little Voice and ignore its constant message, "I know that!" How?

Cut it off immediately before it begins to control your thinking. Tell that Little Voice, "Thank you for sharing." Simple, yes? You may need to repeat that phrase frequently. It will work every time.

But how can you tell if you really do know what the speaker is saying? The fact is when you know something you live it. Until you live it you do not know it. You only know about it.

Knowing and living something is vastly different from knowing about something.

Live consciously with full awareness.

Warning: Do not neglect the above information! Make sure to take this advice seriously if you want to live in happiness.

STOP! Are you about to give up being happy forever?

If what you do every day has not let you create a reality of happiness yet, do you really think anything will look different tomorrow?

Discover what stops you cold. Go to http://LiveInHappinessNow.com/indexW.html and grab my FREE ebook, What You Don't Know You Don't Know.

And remember... Don't give up hope... You deserve to be happy.

Consciousness, Unconsciousness and Leadership

I'm experiencing a deep sense of sadness as I reflect on an event at the recent G8 summit meeting in Japan in July, 2008. The event was a six-course lunch followed by an eight-course dinner where the agenda was - hang on to your hat, and take a deep breath - famine and the global food crisis.

First, some details:

·Participants were served 24 different dishes during their first day at the summit - just hours after urging the world to reduce the "unnecessary demand" for food, and calling on families to cut back on their wasteful food use.

·The dinner consisted of 18 dishes in eight courses - including caviar, smoked salmon, Kyoto beef and a "G8 fantasy dessert".

·The banquet was accompanied by five different wines from around the world, including champagne.

·African leaders - including the leaders of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Senegal, who had taken part in talks during the day - were not invited to the function.

·The dinner came just hours after a 'working lunch' consisting of six courses.

The lunch/dinner misstep is a metaphor for the unconscious, hypocritical and insensitive behavior many leaders and managers manifest when they espouse values that purportedly support the well-being of their organizations and then engage in the sort of excesses and unethical behavior that only undermines their integrity, respectability and credibility.

Betrayal and the corporate world of today.

Betrayal and mistrust are rampant in the corporate world today. Take, for example, corporate bosses who paint a rosy picture of the future, then show thousands of workers to the door, then pile work on the unfortunate individuals who remain. Or those who urge employees to take care of their health, then denigrate them for using the gym on 'company time' while expecting them to work 70-hour weeks, including weekends. Then there are those leaders who drive their organizations into the ground financially and walk away with huge bonuses and severance packages for doing so - while their employees walk away with nothing.

These and many other examples of daily betrayal are creating a pervasive atmosphere of mistrust in the workplace.

The excessive spending and lavish consumption of the G8 participants points to the difference between consciousness and unconsciousness when it comes to living life by taking the high road, to living life by following one's inner moral compass and to living life by serving others.

Consciousness and unconsciousness defined

There are four basic levels of consciousness:

·Not conscious (instinctual, ego-driven) - The behavior of the G8 leaders is simply being unconscious - allowing their lower-level, ego-driven, base, and selfish desires to drive, completely unaware of the consequences and the impact on greater good' of the community.

·Subconscious -habitual, robotic, reactive.

·Conscious - aware, intelligent, conceptual, reflective

·Superconscious - (intuitive, guiding, truthful, loving, universal

It's not about contempt for others. It's about being conscious! Awake! Aware!

The behavior of the G8 folks is one of being unconscious - allowing one's lower-level, ego-driven, base, instinctual, selfish and blind desires to have free reign, completely unaware of the consequences and the impact on the "larger good" of the community, of humanity.

It's not about arrogance. It's not about greed. It's not about politics. It's not about contempt for others.

It's about being conscious! Awake! Aware! It's about the fact that no one - NO ONE - said, "Wait a minute! What are we doing here? Something doesn't feel right to me." No one!

That's unconsciousness. That's being disconnected from our True and Real Self. Unconscious.

Consciousness is about spiritual (not theological, not religious) intelligence and the fundamental principles that govern the behaviors of our leaders.

It's about honesty, sincerity, self-responsibility and self-awareness.

It's about living one's core values - assuming one has core values and has thought consciously about how to live them at 9:00 Monday morning.

It's about integrity. It's about walking the talk. It's about being a business person and human being at the same time.

It's about taking the high road.

How does it apply to you?

Consciousness is about viewing my life right here and right now, from the 25,000-foot level and asking:

"What am I doing right here, right now?"

"Who am I being, right here, right now? Am I acting in alignment with my core values?"

"Is there harmony between what I think, say, feel and do, and if not, why not? How can I create that harmony for myself?

"What am I thinking about and what do I think about what I'm thinking about?" "Am I 'going along to get along' even though I know it's inappropriate?"

Consciousness is simply about being decent right where I am. That's who successful and truly respected leaders and managers are.

Consciousness is simply about having and showing character and working for the highest good of all concerned, right where I am. That's what successful and truly respected leaders and managers do.

Consciousness is about showing up, authentically, with integrity, and acting to make the workplace, and the world, a better place - for everyone - even if it's uncomfortable and inconvenient. Pure and simple.

Consciousness tugs on our sleeve consistently as we reflect on the following questions:

·How aligned am I with my core values?

·When my colleagues, bosses, direct reports, clients, friends, and family observe my behavior, do they consistently observe me "walking my values talk?"

·Do I ever act in a way that others might perceive as arrogant, haughty, egotistical or greedy? If so, do I care? If not, why not?

·Do I show concern for my fellow at work, at home, at play, when I comment on the world at large, and when I'm out and about?

·At what level of consciousness do I live my life most of the time?

·Have I ever spoken up when I felt I needed to tug on someone's sleeve about their inappropriate behavior?

·Do I gloss over unethical or immoral workplace behavior as the "cost of doing business?"

·Do I exhibit the change I'd like to see everyone else exhibit?

·Have I ever betrayed another person? Have I ever been betrayed? How did I feel in either or both event(s)?

---ABOUT THE AUTHOR---

Peter Vajda, Ph.D, C.P.C. is a founding partner of SpiritHeart, an Atlanta-based company that supports conscious living through coaching and counseling. With a practice based on the dynamic intersection of mind, body, emotion and spirit, Peter's 'whole person' coaching approach supports deep and sustainable change and transformation.

Peter facilitates and guides leaders and managers, individuals in their personal and work life, partners and couples, groups and teams to move to new levels of self-awareness, enhancing their ability to show up authentically and with a heightened sense of well be-ing, inner harmony and interpersonal effectiveness as they live their lives at work, at home, at play and in relationship.

Peter is a professional speaker and published author. For more information: http://www.spiritheart.net or pvajda@spiritheart.net or phone 770.804.9125.

Be-Do-Have - The Power of Conscious Living

I conduct Life Transformation Skills seminars. These seminars provide an environment for spiritually-based personal development. During one part of the training we ask the participants what are some tangible, material things for which people strive. Typically the resulting list looks something like this: cars, computers, a big house, attractive spouse, children, job, jewelry and vacation time. Then we ask why people endeavor for such things. The resulting list includes experiences such as happiness, security, power, intimacy, fulfillment, balance, love, vitality, freedom, strength, courage, joy and affection.

There Is No Intrinsic Connection Between The Things We Strive For And Our Experience

Next, by observing the two lists we consider whether there are persons who possess a large house, a big car and a prestigious job, but who do not experience much joy, power or fulfillment in their lives. Certainly there are. And we consider whether there are persons who experience an abundance of happiness, intimacy and vitality in their lives, although they don't have the items on the other list. Clearly, such persons exist. The conclusion is that there is no intrinsic connection between the two lists. Although they sometimes overlap, there is no inherent causal link.

Tamas

With reference to the three gunas, let's look at the lack of innate correlation between the "things" column and the "experience" column. Tamas is a mode of inertia, where our consciousness clings to a paradigm that may be called Have-Do-Be. In this paradigm we think, "If I could just have $100,000 in the bank, a nicer car, a job with paid vacation...then I could do what I want to do, and then I would be happy, satisfied, appreciated, vibrant..." "If I could just have a nicer boss, then I would be content and peaceful." In this mindset, our experience is dependent on having. The saying, "What profits a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his soul?" indicates the difficulty with this attitude.

Rajas

Rajas is the mode of activity, where we adhere to the framework of Do-Have-Be. In this way of thinking we consider that if I could just do what I want to do, then I'll have what I want, and then I would be free, strong, giving and vital. Our consciousness starts from the point of activity, and experience is contingent upon that.

Sattva

Sattva guna corresponds with enlightenment. Sattvic consciousness is the natural state of the authentic self. Steady in sattva we live in the paradigm of Be-Do-Have. Fixed in this way of being, experiencing strength, beauty, security, intimacy, warmth, freedom, etc., is not dependent on doing or having. I don't need to do or have anything to experience satisfaction, aliveness, courage, clarity, etc., because these qualities are who I am, they are my essential nature. It's not that, in a Be-Do-Have paradigm, there isn't doing or having. Rather, our doing and having assume full potency, compared with tamasic or rajasic perspectives, because what we do and have flow naturally from our being. They are not separate endeavors. To experience joy, closeness, radiance, and all other qualities of our self is not dependent on what we do or have. In Be-Do-Have, we naturally do things that bold, enlivened, successful people do, because our nature is bold, enlivened and successful. And naturally we'll have things that powerful, confident, and trusting people have, such as abundance, rewarding activity and fulfilling relationships.

Personal Development Entails Uncovering Qualities of Our Self

Bhagavad-gita, presenting the essence of Vedic teachings, delineates a Be-Do-Have approach to life. In that book Sri Krsna encourages Arjuna to "Be transcendental..be free from dualities...be without anxiety...and be established in the self." The process of personal development entails uncovering qualities of our self, our being, that have been covered, and fully manifesting them in our lives.

With one coaching client with whom I was working we specifically focused on him being patient and peaceful, qualities that were missing in his life, and which he wanted to cultivate. With earnest he connected with the patience and calm that are inherent to his being. During our next coaching session he described, with surprise, that his supervisor asked him to accept a position with increased responsibility, involving training others. She particularly mentioned that she offered this because of his patience and ability to be calm in stressful situations. Being patient and peaceful naturally resulted in acting in ways that patient and peaceful act, in this instance a more rewarding career activity, and having things that patient and peaceful people have, in this example an increased income. Be-Do-Have.

http://www.satvatove.com/relationships-that-work/about-the-satvatove-institute/

Understanding the God Consciousness Gestalt and Evolution of the Soul

Two words we will be using often in this discussion are (Hierarchy and Gestalt). For our purposes, Hierarchy will mean the stratified organization and layering of consciousness based on it's abilities, maturity and development. Gestalt will mean an organized and united whole that equals more than the sum of it's parts, and cannot be defined by knowing and categorizing the totality of it's components. When we think of consciousness in light of what we know and see in our everyday activities, we are presented with evidence that some living forms seem to possess more developed abilities than others.

This leads us to the assumption that we are the living epitome of consciousness expressed in human form. We assume that we are the top of the pile of living consciousness, with all other living forms below us. Of course, the word "living" itself is arbitrary, as we all tend to draw our own line of demarcation between what is "alive" and what is not alive. We attribute consciousness to things that are alive, that move, that think, reason, etc. In other words we like to consider ourselves and some animals as possessing consciousness.

If we were able to trace the evidence of consciousness downward on the scale of "living things" we would be amazed to learn that birds, insects, flowers, grass, bacteria and even the cells that compose the human body have their own and value oriented type of consciousness. Their consciousness is not equal in egotistical development as ours, but it is not less in quality, it simply has not developed in the same way as our reasoning mind consciousness. The natural instinctive consciousness of the animals serves them well for their necessary interaction with nature and the environment. We humans are part of a beautiful tapestry of consciousness composing a system of reality rising out of need and developed with a purpose. All consciousness contained within our realty has it's purpose and that purpose is to BE. What we don't understand as yet is that EVERYTHING possesses it's own type of consciousness.

Consciousness is even somewhat aware of itself in the ubiquitous electron, the atom, and even the cells and molecules are aware of their motion within a life form. The American Indian knew only a few hundred short years ago, that there is consciousness in the tree, the rock, the river and mountains. It is rather easy to accept this premise in light of other spiritual enigmas that confound us. Unfortunately with the evolution of our precise physical manipulation in a three dimensional reality, it became necessary for us to focus intently on physical performance of the biological form and we lost some of the intuitive truths that were inherently ours from the beginning. These truths are not lost, they just became buried deep within our psyche waiting to be activated again, to bring about the natural blending of the physical reasoning mind and the inner knowledge that still awaits activation.

So if we were to attempt to stratify and categorize consciousness, we would probably put ourselves near to top of the ladder with a huge gap between ourselves and God. Why would we assume that there are unending gradations of consciousness below ours but seemingly none above ours until you reached that ultimate "God Reality"?

The truth is that there are countless gradations of conscious entities above us of such psychic sophistication that we could only contemplate them as godlike psychological structures and their reality would not be translatable in words. There exist countless very mature, sophisticated entities that we cannot perceive and never will be able to perceive. These are the entities, some of which have experienced Earth reality at sometime in the distant path, have evolved through Earth reality and gone on to other more challenging worlds. Because we cannot perceive these entities with our Earth tuned senses does not mean they do not exist. They exist more assuredly than you or I do in an actuality that is so evolved that even if I were able to explain it, you could not understand. To these "super entities" Earth reality was once their kindergarten just as it is now ours. Earth is the beginning playground for new consciousness. We are here to learn, create, experience, yes, make mistakes for sure, but to learn from our mistakes and create again and again, improving all the while.

Now finally, there is therefore a PYRAMID GESTALT of consciousness with newer consciousness on the lower levels, evolving and moving upward within the pyramid structure as they progress. Of course the very top of the pyramid is ALL THAT IS (GOD). This Prime Being is composed of all consciousness below on the pyramid structure. Conversely speaking if we were to carry that thought to it's logical conclusion, in some very real way, your existence NOW on the lower levels of the psychological pyramid structure speaks of your very real connection with Top of the pyramid. Everything is connected and part of another everything.

Everything is part of something else. Nothing in the Universe stands alone. You are a part of this Pyramid Gestalt, this Hierarchy of consciousness that and between you and All That Is are unimaginable sophistication that you can hardly envision. The fact that you are part of countless entities above and below you as they are part of entities above and below them. "I use the term above and below, when the meaning is more advanced in consciousness development". I am saying that within this Hierarchy, you are part of something else, that is itself part of something else and so on forever. In entity development there is no better or best, there is just more advanced, mature, developed, but all are of the same quality, as they came from the same Source.

This kind of psychic oneness should not in the least bother you or make you in any way feel insignificant. It is quite like the following analogy. You live within your family at the same time you live within your city or county. You also live within your country and live on your continent and there is no contradiction, no jealousy of one above the other even though you are part of all simultaneously. The entity of which you are a part, scarcely notices you, but it's development depends on the structures upon which it rests and give it strength. You are a part of grander entities, and you don't even notice it. You are evolving in that direction yourself, and as your position on this pyramid of consciousness increases in depth and awareness, so will it increase maturity and psychic sophistication.

If you have been anxiously awaiting your unification with God, forget it. You are already as closely connected as you will ever be. As you increase and become more, All That Is increases multitudinous amounts multiplied by the number of all consciousness on this earth. From this you can see that as you increase, All That Is increases exponentially. As an example, as you progress an inch, All That Is progresses a million miles in terms of distance as an analogy. All That Is experiences through all entities beneath itself including you, as you to are also an entity of considerable worth and always becoming more. All That Is doubles itself in nanoseconds. So as there are countless layers of consciousness below yours, there are more above yours also. There is no huge gap between yourself and God and there are others that have gone before you. The more sophisticated and evolved the entity, the more entities involved with it and a part of it.

An entity can perceive dimensions of reality that are not yet as not as developed as it's own, but cannot perceive dimensions that are more evolved.

My name is W. Allan, single male 62, a resident of Naples Florida. I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and have in the past, written a column called SECRET REALITY which was carried by spiritual and metaphysical magazines. I have recently started a blog to publish my work with the intent of incorporating expanded versions of my blog in book form. You can contact me any at my e-mail address: beachinguy@hotmail.com You may also read other articles at my blog at: http://answersbygod.blogspot.com and have a small company recording and selling CD's of the sounds of nature from my web site at http://www.naturesong.net Published author and writer of Spiritual columns (Secret Reality) and books. Owner of a Naure CD company (NatureSong), recording and distributing nature sounds CD's to retail outlets including a wide variety of bird song CD's and over 36 different sounds of nature. All of our nature sounds and bird songs are continuous, ambient sounds of nature without music.

Consciousness of Creation - The Movie Theater of The Mind

Creative Consciousness

The Consciousness of Creation is the keystone to understanding the creative process and our potential to create our dreams and desires. To understand the creative force in our life we must accept the concept that Consciousness creates-always creates. We cannot escape the fact that we always are creating. The issue at hand is: Are we conscious creators?

At the outset of this exploration, we must be willing to entertain the concept that we create our reality. Like it or not, good or bad, happy or sad, rich or poor, healthy or sick, it is our creation. IF WE HAVE CREATED IT, WE CAN RECREATE IT. We are not victims of our reality but rather the authors of it.

We invite you to consider the above, enhance your belief systems and take the journey through the Consciousness of Creation. We anticipate that as you journey through this article you will become re-empowered to reach for your dreams, forgive your mistakes and recreate that which has not benefited you and your highest good.

Interestingly, to discuss Consciousness we must consider our concept of God, creator, source, energy, or whatever theological or scientific beliefs we hold as the intelligent creative source of the universe. As stated, Consciousness and Creation must of their very nature accompany each other; and therefore, "God" being a creator must be conscious-perhaps the very source and definition of Consciousness. How we define "God" is our definition of Consciousness.

With that said, let's take a look at the other side of the coin. What is Consciousness and how do we define it? Is it awareness? Is it a state of being, a physical or perhaps a spiritual state? For the sake of this exploration and process, we would like to offer the following concept as a definition of Consciousness. Consciousness is made up of three parts: the Source, the Observer, and the Creation or that which is created by Consciousness. All three of these elements are necessary for there to be Consciousness. Consciousness, like a three-legged stool, cannot stand without each of its three legs.

We find it more than coincidental that "God" is defined as having three aspects. Perhaps the theological concept of a trinity godhead is an apt metaphor: Father, Son, Spirit-the Source, the Observer, and the Creation. Is it not true that we define the "Father" as the Source and mankind as the Observer of that which was created? "Let us create them in our image and likeness" was God's decree from the pages of Genesis. What is the common attribute that we share? God is defined as a creator and we are defined as a likeness of God.

The Movie Theater of the Mind

An analogy of the conscious mind's view of reality can be likened to a movie theater. The elements are very similar and useful in the exploration of the interaction of the elements of creation. There is a projector, the Source of the image; the audience, the Observer of the image; and the movie screen, the Manifestation of what we perceive as reality. In the movie theater of our life there is a source of our experience (Father/The Source), participation by the Observer (Son/Humanity) and the backdrop of our reality on which the thoughts of the Source are projected (Spirit/Creation).

The question might be raised that if "God" or some divine thought is the source of all creation then why isn't everything we experience a pure projection of that thought and, therefore, paradise. Consciousness is Consciousness. Thought is thought. What happened?

The "middleman" is the answer, YOU. Human thought is the lens through which the Source's thoughts must pass to be projected on the screen of our life. If the Source is perfect thought, its projection on the screen of our reality is the degree to which the observer's mental filters either focus or distort that which is passing through it. If we can agree that the Source/ Creator/God projects only love towards its creation, it must then be assumed that our mental filters strangulate the manifestation of perfection in our life.

All is not lost or bleak. What happens in a theater when the image on the screen is out of focus? The lens is adjusted. It would be fairly useless for the projectionist to come down and "fight" with the image on the screen in a vain attempt to focus it. Yet that is what so many of us do when we want to change our lives. We fight with reality rather than change our focus.

Lights, Camera, Action!

How do we create and then adjust the images on the screen of our reality in order to eliminate the distortion created by our filters? The answer is to remember that in the Movie Theater of the Mind the director and the audience are one in the same.

As a result "Lights! Camera! Action!" takes on new meaning. They are not only the actions taken to produce the images but the means by which to view them as the director-you-intended.

For the purpose of this imagery we would like to identify these elements of consciousness: the Light of Acknowledgment, the Camera of Surrender, and the Action of Dominion. These three elements provide the perfect venue for the Director's intent to be experienced without distortion. Distortion of the "perfect projection" can be caused by the concept of limitation, subjective beliefs or feelings of powerlessness. We adjust our perception by the following means. We focus our reality in the following way.

LIGHT of Acknowledgement

If we are feeling limitation because we are denying the potentiality and the creativity in our lives ACKNOWLEDGE that all things are possible and we have all potential. The Light of Acknowledgment reconnects us to the perfect projection of "God" in our life, the Source.

CAMERA of Surrender

If our intuition and insight are clouded by subjective filters and beliefs, we are out of alignment and alienated from our desires. We are called upon to SURRENDER those thoughts, beliefs, ideas, and emotions that block the creative power. The Camera of Surrender refocuses the lens of our observation eliminating our subjective filters. Surrender does not mean defeat. It is the willingness to release the obstacles, conscious and unconscious that hinders our ability to create what we desire.

ACTION of Dominion

When we feel powerless and out of control in our lives we call upon our DOMINION. The Action of Dominion is not dominance. It is an inner power rather than an external force and has nothing to do with another individual or thing. It is the right to create our own reality separate from outside influences or circumstances

When incorporated into our lives, these three attitudes will have a powerful effect on the consciousness in which we live. This is the essence of manifesting the reality we wish to create, being creatively conscious. This is the Consciousness of creation: Acknowledgment, Surrender and Dominion.

The Direction

As the director of your reality, you direct the players of your life-your beliefs, thoughts and preconceived ideas through affirming what you intend to create. An affirmation is a statement made in the present about a future event as if it has already occurred. The following set of affirmations is transformative when practiced and affirms the perfect perception of Consciousness in our lives while initiating the transformative process of denial to acknowledgement, alienation to surrender, and powerlessness to dominion. When we affirm we are willing to acknowledge, surrender, and be in dominion, they become a creative force in our lives.

Our desires don't need to be earned, simply affirmed and acted upon, in other words- Acknowledged. Ironic as it may seem, Surrender is the most empowering act of freewill that we can make. Freewill is not only the ability to choose our actions and desires; it is also the ability to un-choose our choices and creations. Surrender neutralizes the mental filters and removes self-inflicted obstacles that hinder our creative process. Surrender frees us from being slaves to our choices and, therefore, is the fundamental aspect of freewill. I AM FREE TO CHOOSE, good, bad or indifferent. I am the master of my own destiny by the freedom of choice.

Just as Surrender is fundamental to the creative process Dominion is the other side of the creative coin. Once the mind is a Tabula Rasa (blank tablet) from all limitation of negative thinking, Dominion is reinstated. Declaring our Dominion causes the mountains to be laid low and the valleys filled in on the pathway to our desires. Dominion is the right to choose what we want to create in our lives unaffected by external forces and environment. Declaring our dominion unleashes the creative force of our mind. Coupled with the emotion of desire our words become an unstoppable force committing our every action, word or thought to the attainment of our goals. Therefore, to every dilemma, physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, the answer is found in the integration with the One Mind/Father of the Source-ACKNOWLEDGMENT, The One Thought/Son of the Observer-SURRENDER and the One Soul/Spirit the Creation-DOMINION.

In that spirit we offer you the following suggested affirmations. Please fill in the blanks to create what you want in your life. We have used the terms One Mind, One Thought and the One Soul to represent the Source, Observer and Creation. You may feel more comfortable with Father, Son and Spirit. Remember the following set of affirmations is a guideline and may be modified to whatever works for you. It is the spirit, not the form, which makes them transformative.

"I am willing to participate. I am willing to accept. I am willing to be divine will."

"I surrender, release and relinquish my/this ______________________ (List as many things, circumstance and attitudes you can think of that are obstacles or hinder you) into the One Mind and the One Thought to be transformed and transmuted into the purest of God-energy and returned to this plane of existence for my highest good and the highest good of all whom I encounter."

"I am in Dominion here and have the creative force and source of the universe at my disposal and I command, declare and create ________________ (state desired goal) for my highest good and the highest good of all I encounter.

The Director's Cut

Praying Creatively

We have discussed the One Mind, the One Thought, and the One Soul as it pertains to Consciousness, the creative potential, the place of intuition and insight through observation and manifestation. We have spoken of acknowledgment, surrender and dominion. Those concepts are also the key elements of prayer. Prayer is a communication and a connection with Consciousness. One is always praying. We pray to the masters of light; we pray to the masters of darkness, depending on the focus of our mind for Consciousness is Consciousness.

Prayer has been misinterpreted, agonized over and liturgically formatted. One prayer is repetitious; another is formal; others are fluid. Some pray to the heavens, others pray to the earth. Some pray to a mother; others pray to a father. Some ask for forgiveness; others believe there is nothing to be forgiven. Prayer is an elusive concept for humanity, but universally it is recognized as a communication with the Divine.

So how do we communicate with Divine Consciousness? Consciousness is the measure of its own truth, for prayer is always occurring as long as we are conscious; and we are always conscious even if not in this dimension. Prayer is the dynamic that occurs in the interaction between the three elements of Consciousness. Think about any prayer. It is the acknowledgment of the Divine, a surrendering to the Divine and an expectation of its dominion in our life. In light of this, we offer this an example of a perfect prayer of Consciousness:

I am the creative force and source of my universe, and I surrender my reality into the dominion of this truth, and all is well in my world.

A perfect prayer is a prayer that acknowledges the connection to divinity, surrenders itself to that truth and allows that dominion to be manifest in our lives. We will move worlds, we will move universes when we include these elements in all our communication with Consciousness. Throughout humanity's spiritual search that is what varying theologies have sought to teach: an acknowledgment of a divine presence, a surrender to it, and its dominion in your reality. Feel the presence of prayer in your life.

The Authors:

Through Awakening Publications, Patricia and Stanley Walsh have published Ships Of Song, A Parable of Ascension, Eternal Dawn, A Parable of Transition books of visionary fiction, Energies Awakening, A Course in Universal Energy and Awakening Realities a book of therapeutic scripts.

Description:

In addition, they have authored the Awakening Series lectures and audio recordings for self-empowerment and spiritual identity and developed the New Realities therapeutic approach for creating positive change.

Recent publications include; Consciousness of Creation, Horizons: Reflections on a Shift in Consciousness, Communiques from the Ships of Song: The Whisperings of an Awakening Soul, Mindful Meditations, The Age of the Soul: The Coming of Age, The Undeniable Fact: the Eternal Truth, The Human Experience: Navigating the Seas of Consciousness, Convergence: The Harmonics of Creation & With Highest Esteem: A Celebration of Physical Existence.

Their works are currently available through Baker & Taylor and New Leaf Distributors and carried by Amazon, Amazon Kindle Smashwords.com & Audible. Their blog, Twitter followers/list and Facebook presence offers their daily inspirational message to over 100,000 people.

CommuniquAcs: http://awakeningpublications.blogspot.com/ Join us on the journey and share your wisdom on our blog. Over 700 in depth concepts.

Come join us and share your insight, discoveries and your dreams. " We can change the world from here."™ -> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Communiqu%C3%A9s/158448997523781?sk=app_197602066931325

Eco-Conscious Living: Dreaming of a Truly Sustainable Fishery

It's common knowledge now that the game of fishing as it used to happen no longer exists quite in the same way. For years and years, those who took to the high seas lived by a balance of fighting with other fleets when it came to snagging the biggest haul and yet at the same time, considering whether or not it made sense to back off so that populations could continue thriving. It seems that ever since the great cod wars, people have been fighting with the inevitability of actually overfishing ocean stocks. And yet the same mistakes continue to be made, leading more of a shift from a traditional open-water approach to fishing to one that focuses on the potential of fisheries to help restore the balance.

One thing to keep in mind as far as fisheries and sustainability are concerned is the fact that it's possible to capture wild fish as part of having a fishery or to simply be raising fish in captivity through aquaculture or fish farming. A fishery allows the chance to regulate the number of fish that are thriving and keep tabs on what is being harvested and what is being allowed to grow older and reproduce. And because of this, Exporting Fishery Products does not have to seem like a threat or oxymoron as far as making sustainable choices is concerned. It's also worth noting that while the traditional image of a fishery as a place where only those sea creatures with fins and scales are thriving is accurate, there are just as many fisheries these days specializing in crustaceans and mollusks, too, as their populations have been dealing with the same troubles as regular fish.

Just like with actual fleets, there are definitely good fisheries and bad ones, and those who are serious about responsible shopping will look for the ones that are more focused on Exporting Fishery Products that meet international standards and do their best to not negatively impact the environment or mess with the local balance, since fisheries are often times not entirely removed from the surrounding environment. It makes sense to be responsible when it comes to purchasing delicious seafood from fisheries just in the same way that it is possible to be responsible when picking up organic or "all natural" products at the grocery store. Pay attention to the origin labels and do some reading to avoid accidentally supporting with cash a company with a less-than-stellar record as far as the environment and sustainability are concerned.

Alaska's fishing industry leads the world in environmental protection measures. From efforts to improve traceability to strict enforcement procedures, Alaska continually shows how committed it is to preserving the ocean for the next generation. Check out the ASMI Facebook page for more information on Alaska Seafood!

Unconscious Habit Vs The Power of Conscious Ritual

"Take Comfort in Rituals" was the sign that greeted me this morning as I walked up to the Starbucks entrance in Toronto. I'm not certain about the efficacy of this slogan as an advertising campaign, but personally it reminded me that there is comfort in the rituals we create.

There are many reasons for creating and maintaining rituals in our lives. They can be used as a way to complete unfinished business or to center and ground us. When I reached for the door and noticed the slogan, I actually felt myself relax. Traveling, doing workshops and being away from home so much in the past two months has a fun, exciting element to it but there are also a few stressors that come with all this. Grabbing my morning coffee and sitting at my computer to compose my daily blog is a ritual for me. When I am more than 3,000 miles from home, it brings a sense of normalcy to my life.

What rituals do you have to support and nurture you? A regular exercise program can be a ritual. A weekly phone call with a best friend, a certain comfort food or celebrating breakthroughs are all examples of rituals we create.

Like most things in life, there are two sides to the ritual coin. If you are consciously choosing an action as a way that helps you relax, reconnect, refresh and ground yourself it is a ritual. This is an anabolic, creative approach. If a ritual becomes an unconscious habit that disconnects you from your feelings, connecting with yourself or others, you've gone into a catabolic or destructive way of coping. A good sign that a ritual has become a habit is the difference between actively choosing it or experiencing it as something you HAVE to do or HAVE to have.

If you are not yet incorporating ritual into your life in a conscious way, what is one thing you can do at the start each day that will create more focused action and keep you moving toward your goals? What rituals can you create to support other core values such as having a healthy lifestyle or enjoying rich and satisfying relationships?

When we go through a period of significant change or loss, it is important to examine the old rituals and decide whether to keep them or redesign them. For a family going through divorce, it is important to assess which family rituals can be maintained to provide some continuity and security, especially for the children. If a holiday such as Christmas needs to be redesigned, then encourage everyone to take part in planning it. Understand the core values that are at stake and build something new that expresses these values.

Allowing yourself to be nurtured, comforted and centered by creating ritual in your own life can provide you with the support you need to take risks and venture out in other areas. Dream big, live large and connect to the meaningful through ritual for a more inspired life.

Tambre Leighn, M.A., Ct.H., CPC, ELI-MP is a certified professional life coach specializing in guiding clients through periods of major transition (career change, divorce, chronic illness diagnosis) and grief recovery. She also works with those facing mid-life challenges to uncover their own brilliance so they may lead the extraordinary lives they were meant to have.

Go to http://www.coachingbytambre.com to sign up for my complimentary newsletter.

Daddy Come Home - The Need For Consciousness in a Floundering World

"Unconditional love" seems to be a buzz phrase in the global spiritual community. Everywhere you turn, people are talking about it. But what is unconditional love, really? Sadly, it has been deeply misunderstood.

According to the popular view, unconditional love means to accept people "just as they are" -- with all their flaws, addictions, and bad habits -- and not complain or correct. But is this really unconditional love? -- "I will support you wholeheartedly while you mistreat your spouse to the point of divorce. I will bite my tongue while you drink your way into the gutter." I'm sure you can see the problem with that: it's not really loving. It's collusion. It's killing people with "kindness."

The common misconception about unconditional love is supported by another misconception, about the meaning of acceptance. Let's say a woman loves a man, but he acts like a coarse brute most of the time. When she complains about his behavior, he responds with this defense: "Why can't you just accept me as I am?" He believes, wrongly, that any critique or "judgment" is a total failure of acceptance.

The truth is, she does accept him as he is. She knows he's a sensitive, beautiful heart, who actually dislikes and feels guilty for the way he's acting. She knows that if he would just be true to himself, he would act different -- but he doesn't know that. He thinks his brutish ways are who he is.

So, her criticisms aren't because she fails to love him "as he is." She does love him as he is -- the real him, but she doesn't love who he's not -- his false persona and bad habits.

Ego's idea of loving a person "as they are" is to love their affliction, their addiction, their faults. You must have a blanket acceptance of all things as good -- yes, even things that hurt people -- or else "you don't love me."

In order to rationalize the acceptance of aberrant behavior and thought, today's egoic philosophers and teachers have created the idea, "It's all good."

"I celebrate your beauty, your wisdom, your foolishness, your destructiveness, and your shortsightedness."

-- an anonymous philosopher

That is false.

So, what is unconditional love, really?

In truth, neither true love nor true acceptance requires that we accept evil. It requires that we look beyond evil, yes -- and that we love a person despite their faults. But it's not truly loving to accept a person's negative self-views as who they are, or to be okay with their bad behavior. Heaven forbid!

Love the sinner, hate the sin -- that's more like it. After all, if the truth be told:

NO ONE loves brutishness, or carelessness of any kind.

NO ONE loves social dysfunction, neurosis, moodiness, etc.

NO ONE loves bad habits that ruin lives, and prevent people from realizing who they are.

AND,

NO ONE -- not even Jesus, or the Buddha -- can love the false persona, the negative self-image. It is impossible, actually. You would have to be completely insane to love it. Because it's not lovable, and it is not TRUE.

To love a person truly is to love their real self, and not their ego habits or their false persona. Their bad habits are not who they really are -- even if they think that's who they are.

The problem with unconditional denial

Honesty is the heresy of the modern age. Honest critical feedback is absolutely wrong; it is "judgmental." Therefore, one should never speak out against destructive choices, patterns, or processes. It's politically incorrect. That's the prevailing view. Parents, school teachers, friends, lovers, therapists, support group leaders, ministers, gurus -- they're all on the program: accept, and don't criticize.

But all these "unconditional lovers" are helping create a world of unhappy, lonely, spiritually unfulfilled people. Living without honest feedback and moral discernment is spiritually dangerous. It permits a person to develop in directions that are self-destructive.

The popular, cowardly way is to approve of every bad choice as being "their path" or "their truth." "It's right for him," they say. But think about it: that means mass murder was right for Hitler; serial killing was right for the Boston strangler. These things are all right, you just need to be cosmic enough to see it!

Likewise, according to the it's-right-for-you school of thought: if your sister becomes a heroin addict, that choice must be "right for her." And you have to support her in it, because you "love her unconditionally." In that case, a tragedy has been supported: one more self-destructive person has been aided in living a life of pain and suffering. Is that what we need: one more heroin addict who can do no wrong, because there's "no such thing"? Please!

With such twisted notions of "unconditional love and acceptance," humanity has paved the way for their loved ones to live hellish, destitute, unfulfilling lives. The upcoming generation is a perfect example of what happens when we fail to criticize. For lack of adequate steering and discipline, we've raised a generation of emotionally and practically dysfunctional people. Captains of industry, like Chrysler Corporation's Lee Iacocca and Microsoft's Bill Gates, heeding the horror stories from their human resources managers, have issued this impassioned warning: The young people growing up in America are unemployable! They are emotional and intellectual cripples in the workplace. Almost all of them are so egotistical they can't cooperate with their fellow workers, they lack a decent work ethic; and they can't handle correction. Give them any criticism or correction, and they'll pitch a fit.

Friends, these are people raised on "unconditional love." Here's how it's done:

A schoolboy comes home complaining that the teacher punished him for not doing his homework. His mother exclaims: "YOU? You can do no wrong. How dare he punish you? Your teacher is unfair and mean! You poor thing!"

She thinks she's protecting her child's self-esteem. In fact, she is setting him up for terrible humiliations later in life. When he finally leaves home, he will be almost illiterate, incapable of learning, and socially dysfunctional.

A spoiled child can't have a decent relationship, because he thinks he's always right, and he believes that all criticism of him is mean. Relationships are practically out of the question for him, because there's no mate who can be consistently dishonest with him, consistently collusive. So he can't be married -- at least, not happily -- and he can barely have friends.

It's not loving to lock a kid out of human and emotional fulfillment in this lifetime. It's not loving to lock him out of viable relationships, responsible commitment, and moral rightness. True compassion would give him the discipline, criticism, and steering needed to be capable of right livelihood and fulfilling intimacy. And if he doesn't get that, he'll have to pay for his childhood credit line of collusive support with an adult life of emotional and physical deprivation. All because no one would tell him the truth.

Love is not collusion. Truth be told, it is due to excessive self-protective interest, not "unconditional love" that people fail to offer needed feedback and course correction to their friends, children, mates, etc.

Effective support is not always the easiest thing to offer. It takes courage to offer discipline and correction, especially in this day and age, because it is not generally popular, or welcome.

Daddy is out

So now, we have a world full of weak, egotistical people. They fear real authority in any form, and revile any source of critical feedback. Surely you have noticed a strong patricidal impulse among people today [patricide: to kill the father]: "Every form of authority is bad. They should all let me be!" People are really trying to eliminate from their lives the course-corrective impulse.

And people don't just rebel against the usual authority figures: parents, teachers, bosses, etc. They're out to kill the father in one another, too. In the usual friendship or couple, if either person says a critical word, the other will jump on them for being judgmental and mean. There goes honest feedback and steering input from friends and lovers!

Patricide is all the rage

The truth is out of fashion. Consciousness is presumed to be evil. Whenever true consciousness is expressed, it will immediately be attacked, discredited, rebuffed, and nullified, with statements like these: "That is too judgmental. That is not unconditional love."

In such a world, mommy rules. She rules because there are no rules, and, there's no discipline which would enforce rules. So all the kids grow up spoiled: fat, sassy, and stupid. And regarding that tragedy, we are supposed to say, "It's all good."

The lynch mob is out after daddy.

Death to daddy, long live mommy. Mommy is love, daddy is NOT love.

Mommy rules because she gives no rules. Long live mommy!

Critique is not love. Discipline is not love. Intervention is not love. Death to daddy!

Disciplining others is mean.

Self-discipline is bad -- it's too hard.

Death to truth. There IS no truth. It's all good.

Ships without rudders are sunk

In their fervent search for unconditional approval, the unguided hordes are trying to eradicate the voices of real consciousness that could help steer the ship. People have far too much pride to accept real steering.

But here's the problem with no steering: ships without rudders are sunk. No steering means certain disaster -- unhappiness for the individual, and for the whole planet.

The signs are everywhere that rudderless living is tragic. Everywhere, you see neurotic people living their solitary lives in unquestioned fear and delusion. We have a world of people acting stupid, while no one has the courage to say anything about it. In nations, communities, churches, families, marriages -- the same wretched story.

So here's what I'm saying: Daddy come home!

May discerning consciousness live!

May it live, first and foremost, in the heart of every human being.

And may truly discerning consciousness be invited, and embraced wherever it is offered.

Daddy, come home

Mother love and father love are both needed -- that's the complete package. We need both consciousness and unconditional love, criticism and appreciation, discerning awareness and unconditional devotion. Life is not supported by just the all-approving mommy love; only slippery slopes into hellish conditions of dysfunction and pain.

Here we are, with our planet dying of selfishness and greed. There's a crying need for course correction, if life is to be rescued from the trash can. If this generation is to have a real chance at a fulfilling life, they must be retrained, raised up again. And for that to happen, they must open themselves back up to the daddy love they need -- the love that would actually take a hit for them, that would suffer the resistance, the defensiveness, the claws and the spitting -- all to save them from their own bad choices.

Daddy come home. But daddy will not live where daddy is abused, and not tolerated. You can't have a flower on a parking lot that is paved. You can't have daddy in a life that is so afraid of consciousness that it hides in the closet, and snipes at daddy when it can. If we want daddy, we need to welcome daddy, not vilify him, hate him, or crucify him.

So, next time you want to be loved, think about what love really is. Think about it holistically, and honestly. Don't think it is mere collusion, or indiscriminant approval. And next time you want to be accepted as you are, think about who you really are. Those are the kinds of discernments that need to be made. Those are the kinds of things daddy would beg you to consider, in your infinite wisdom.

In a world of confusion, wandering in darkness, we need daddy to help us steer.

David Truman is the founder of the Living Love Fellowship. Over the last thirty years, he has given personal spiritual direction to hundreds of people, in the context of committed, loving friendship. He seeks to serve each person's true self-expression and intimate relationship with God. More articles and free e-books can be found at http://www.heartofspirituality.com/ and http://www.soulprogress.com/

Want to Know the Power of Consciously Living in the Now?

So you want to know the power of consciously living in the now? I discovered that power a few weeks ago when facing a life and death struggle. After a few hours I realized my panic resulted from living in my past and carrying it into my future.

As soon as I moved into going through the crisis moment by staying clearly in the present moment - each moment - the pain and fear subsided. I wish I could say it completely disappeared but it didn't. However the quieting of that paralyzing emotion allowed me to function, to think rationally and to do what I needed to do to get through the situation.

In the present moment there is nothing to worry about. There is nothing to fear. In the present moment every thing is perfect. know that sounds really crazy because if you are in the middle of some kind of crisis situation you're thinking, "Ali, you are just nuts! This isn't making any sense!" Hold on! Hold on! Just stay with me here.

If you happen to find yourself in a crisis you can jump in and react without thinking. That usually leads to some kind of dire result. Or you can respond. You can take that split second to consider the consequence of any action you are going to take for yourself and for all involved. Then go ahead and take the action.

When can you take the action? In the moment. When you're taking the action in the moment - everything is perfect because you are living in that moment rather than fearing a certain result that you've stuck out in the future as a possible outcome.

Fear is the anticipation of pain. See that word anticipation? That word means you expect something to happen in the future. Why do you expect something to happen in the future? You went back into your past. You told yourself the current events look like an ordeal from your past.

Therefore you decided that event is going to repeat itself. Only you want to make the experience even more dramatic so you take that uncomfortable past memory and exaggerate your experience of it. Then you project that imagined new experience into your future.

Stop misusing your imagination. Stop feeding your memories to rekindle the pain. Move into the only time where you can actually take action to change how you feel. Move into the now carrying your full life force with you.

Warning: Do not neglect the above! Make sure to take this advice seriously if you want to create your world to live in happiness.

STOP! Are you about to give up being happy forever? If what you do every day has not led you to happiness yet, do you really think anything will look different tomorrow? Go to http://LiveInHappinessNow.com/ebook.html and grab my Special Report: 45 Tips: How To Live In Happiness Now And remember... Don't give up hope... You deserve to be happy.