Wednesday, 9-1-10 — You cannot be aware and think at the same time. Scientific research has proven that thought follows stimulus. Or it could be said that thought lags behind sensation or stimulus. What is wondrous to the researchers is that thought lags behind by a full half second. This means that your life is happening half a second before you know or perceive that it has happened!
On the other hand awareness of sensation is instantaneous.
Therefore, you are either assigning your attention to what is actually happening in the moment, or you assign your attention to assessing and evaluating, or in some other way thinking about the sensation.
A test of this is to lift your head and look about you right now. Say the word “red” over and over as you glance about. Now count on your fingers up to 10, each time you see the color red, as you continue saying “red.” Now, do the same thing while saying the word “blue.” This time however, keep your attention on each blue object until you say what the object is that is blue.
Did you notice how much longer it took you to count the 10 blue objects you identified by name versus how much faster it was to get to 10 when you simply acknowledged the experience of the perception of the color red?
Awareness is actually when deep rest and relaxation happen. It is also where creativity and hypnotic suggestion happen.
Wednesday, 9-1-10 — We do not move, we rematerialize. According to Bob Toben and Fred Alan Wolf in their seminal work on theoretical physics, Space-Time and Beyond, they write, “every action in ‘real time’ is an indefinite sequence of materializations and dematerializations on the microscopic quantum level. They occur faster than the speed of light and in such great numbers that perception of this action is continual.”
This perception of action is a constant of our 21st century experience though the incessant presence of video and film. And, these familiar “materializations,” the 24 frames of film and the 30 frozen moments of video, pass in front of our eyes every second. Yet, even at those slower paces, they are fast enough to fool us into believing we are watching movement.
Each instant of life is a static composition of atomic matter that in the next moment has dematerialized and rematerialized or reconfigured itself into something entirely new. Regardless of how similar that moment may seem to the one that preceded it, it is brand new.
So, what determines this reconfiguration? It is not as you may think, some ebb and flow of chemistry. The impetus for all reconfigurations of things which can be perceived is the ebb and flow of the electrical impulses of your brain. In other words, it is thought itself from which your corporeal existence and your perceived world arise.
Wednesday, 9-1-10 — There are always underlying factors which influence historical events; the circumstances and conditions that bring about a result. When learning to grow beyond our history, it will always be more worthwhile to consider the factors than be overly fixated on and argue about exact historical facts.
Wednesday, 9-1-10 — The only thing worth noting about what other people are doing is to use what you see to help refine what you, yourself, do. Attention which lingers on the lives of others merely provides temptation to comment without invitation or gossip with bad intentions.
Monday, 8-23-10 — Before you devote your allegiance to a thought, any thought, consider that the thought holds no allegiance to you. As with any virus, thoughts are simply spontaneous constructs born at the confluence of streams of mental activity. And thoughts, like viruses, have life only as long as they have a host. That host can be conscious and welcoming, happy to live by the thought’s intent and eager to offer the thought to others. Or, the host can be an unconscious repository for an idea which is decidedly antithetical to the host’s own desires and well-being. In these instances, the host may only be aware of the thought’s occupation in the wake of arguments and alienation resulting from wars with friends and foes alike, wars fought in unwitting service to spreading a viral invasion from one vulnerable mind to the next.
Just as one-night lovers aren’t aware of the transmission of deadly viruses, so the one occupied by crankiness may never know that she is infecting others with her disheartening attitude. However, by this same susceptibility to viral thoughts, the person who gives a smile to a passing stranger may well implant a virus of uplift, though he may never witness its long-term affects.
Friday, 8-20-10 — When you are raised in a home where critical language and argument are the norm, and when you sit for hours every week, from childhood on, watching news and dramas which weave conflict into every human exchange, it is your destiny to master these patterns of communication. Yet, once you taste the sweet fruits of agreement, reap the benefits of kind words and feel the peace that comes from acceptance, these bright and ever-so welcome lights will surely lead you out of contentiousness. Open yourself to words of praise, kindness and appreciation; use them and listen for them.
Tuesday, 8-17-10 — Only when you can demonstrate both the ability and the willingness to rescind a wish, for yourself or someone else, which does not glorify, dignify or bring joy, only then will your word gain the potency to create with miraculous force and certainty. And, why is this? It is because, in your heart of hearts, you do not wish to inflict pain on yourself or another. And, if you don’t now agree with this, that is simply proof that you are asleep to your heart’s understanding, which wisely keeps your true power out of your hands until you awaken.
Thursday, 8-12-10 — Every action is simply an experiment. Sustain curiosity and suspend judgment. Mindfully mix the ingredients of your experiment and then, as mindfully, observe and document the results. Here is where you’ll find the magic.
Thursday, 8-12-10 — Consider that the most tenacious and persistent infectious virus is a thought. Then, consider that attention is the interface between any thought and your receptive mind. Therefore, with an epidemic of virulent thinking going on all around you, your only reliable vaccination is a strong intention chosen by you before you turn on the TV, plug in your iPod or go out your front door. Make no mistake, there is profit to be made in this simple game of snagging your attention.
Thursday, 8-12-10 — Being driven by your schedule does not make you more important than someone else drawn by her conscious choosing. Be mindful of the fallacy of “because” to create a false sense of priorities and significance. As Janice Joplin said, “It’s all the same, man.”
Thursday, 8-12-10 — The absence of questioning ensures the continuance of acquiescence. From time to time, question what you habitually go along with.
Wednesday, 8-11-10 — Consider this thought as you walk into the new day, “I choose to be receptive only to ideas which glorify, dignify and bring joy to me and anyone else involved.” Let all other thoughts, concepts and conversations go by without comment or regard. Simply allow them to move swiftly away from you and your fine mind. Notice how relaxing following this simple confirmation is.
Wednesday, 8-11-10 — It’s all right if “effortless” is so unfamiliar a word that you equate it to ‘useless’, ‘non-contributing’, ‘unworthy.’ Those concepts are simply the standing-wave story culturally passed on to most of us who have been encouraged to consider struggle as noble and necessary. However, that is not the true meaning of the word. Nor is it the intent I suggest you consider as you begin to incorporate the concept in your life and your affairs. Consider that the river of Time and the flow of Being move with no apparent effort at all, and allow that river and that flow to take you onward now — effortlessly into smooth water. You will find good company there and sufficient purpose for the remainder of your days.
Wednesday, 8-11-10 — In 21 Games… the 13th game is About Face! Moving Toward What You Really Want. The language that we use is so extremely powerful in its influence on our lives. And, this language we use can either fixate our attention on what we want to Move Away from, or the words we use can draw our attention toward what we actually want. Not only do these words influence those outside ourselves who listen to our statements, they most potently create our own, internal, sense of what is possible for us.
Here are some common Away From words which, when used, keep the speaker focused on what he or she does not want: escape, avoid, destroy, survive, conquor, reject, dismiss, weaken, prove, anger, annoy.
You can now allow these words to trigger a new awareness. Simply let them inform you that you have strayed from your path toward what you really want. Then, shift your attention Toward your desired goal while using words such as these: enhance, learn, enrich, bless, celebrate, develop, encourage, explore, understand, experiment, excite, grow, empower, embrace and accept.
Thursday, 7-1-10 — If you feel you must have an enemy, choose to do battle with the attitude that you imagine is impeding your progress, and not with the person embodying that attitude, even when you discover it to be within yourself.
Thursday, 7-1-10 — It’s beneficial to ask a resident for directions in an unfamiliar town, or a stranger in a cafe if you have lint on the back of your coat or even a shop keeper what book she’d recommend. However, it only confounds creative vision to make or modify your artistic expressions based on the uninvested opinions of others.
Thursday, 7-1-10 — The clever and insidious paradox of “weight loss” is the primal desire to defend and protect what we have. Not getting what we want is unpleasant. However, we will go to great lengths not to lose what we have. Therefore, as we strive to get thin, weight loss businesses encourage us to focus on “losing weight.” And, even if it is fat we have told ourselves to hate and reject, it is still part of “us.” So, why would this language pattern be so ardently and incessantly used by an industry that wants to help us get thin? Possibly because they want to keep helping you get thin… over and over and over again.
If you do continue using the words “lose” and “weight loss,” you can loosen the hold of anxiety by accepting the fact that your cells reproduce and replace themselves thousands of times during your lifetime. In essence, you “lose” your entire body virtually every few years.
Yet, a more successful and harmonious way to reconfiguring your body, can be as easy as using different words to reframe your desire. Consider “restoring” your body to it’s natural lithe and healthy condition. And there’s “revealing” the already existing structure of your essential form that definitely lies underneath your currently thickened form.
Another word to consider using is “release.” Understand that as you overeat, you are the caretaker of an excess of body fat that cannot take care of you. Using false hunger and emotional triggers, that excess fat informs you when it needs more food. Yet, what it holds onto, it holds against you in the extra burden you must carry, the limitations to your flexibility and the reduction of your self regard.
Imagine now releasing your body from this burdensome hold, restoring your health and well-being and revealing the vital, slender and comfortable body you already occupy.
Thursday, 7-1-10 — To say you are against war does not prove you are a pacifist. It only proves you have a different enemy. “Against” is the root concept of conflict, not the action of another. As the thinker Byron Katie suggests, “Defense is the first act of war.” I’ve also heard that Mother Theresa declined the invitation to support any cause that was “against” anything. ”Tell me what you are for,” she would say.
Thursday, 7-1-10 — Unlike in drama, in life, making a change or moving toward a desire does not require an antagonist.
Thursday, 7-1-10 — What separates the inside of your comfort zone from the outside? It is the letter “T.” Inside your comfort zone are all the things you believe you can do, you can have and you can be. Outside your comfort zone are all the things you’ve fooled yourself into believing you can’t do, you can’t have and you can’t be. How long will you let a single letter keep you from doing, having and being what you desire?
Thursday, 7-1-10 — Hypnosis is simply a state of narrowed focus, stimulated and intensified imagination and either deepened relaxation or heightened emotion. Thus, anyone who has experienced any of the following has, indeed, been hypnotized: anxiety, worry, fear, frustration, as well as fascination, adoration and pure and sudden delight.
Thursday, 7-1-10 — Have you ever been cajoled into doing something or buying something because someone told you that if you didn’t you were going to miss out? Or, worse, lose out? Well, considering that our physical bodies register 70 million bits of stimulus a second, while our brains consciously process a mere 16 to 40 of those bits, clearly we are going to miss stuff, lots of stuff. In fact, we’re going to miss out on 99.99994287% of everything there is to experience. And this means you may want to ignore suggestions from anyone who presses you to apply your very finite bit of conscious attention in a direction that you, yourself, haven’t determined as worthy.
Thursday, 7-1-10 — In the movie, Lord of the Rings, when Frodo criticizes the wizard Gandalf for being late, Gandalf replies, “A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.” Do yourself the great favor of adopting this as true for you, as well. Rush, hurry and incessant busyness only ensure you will feel off balance and out of control. The satisfaction you desire from arriving “precisely when you mean to” arises not from rush and agitation, but from a continually supported sense that you are moving in the right direction at the perfect pace. With this state of mind, arriving even a day later than originally planned will not interfere with your intentions, nor will any delay cost you your composure. ”You cannot stray, the path bends with your feet.”
Monday, 6-28-10 — When you find yourself withholding any creative expression, ask yourself, “What am I saving it for?” Let this question remind you that now is the time and here is the place for “it” — your smile, your thanks, your imagination, joy, laughter, your approval, your encouragement, gratitude, money, your happiness and your welcome. Now and Here.
Monday, 6-28-10 — When you consciously think for yourself and act on this thinking, if someone else calls you strange be grateful, as well as amused. Everyone who marches to his own drummer and awakens to their own creativity and inward light surely will behave differently from others. Accept that observation as confirmation that you are blooming into who you truly are. You are on your joyous way!
Monday, 6-28-10 — To immediately free yourself from the weight of the world, ask yourself, “How would I live the day after I died when all of my imagined importance and burdens had fallen from my shoulders?”
Monday, 6-28-10 — Life is like a good GPS; each suggestion or instruction it gives is always from the place you are standing right now and never from where you “should have been” had you turned left two blocks back or made any other, now unchangeable, decisions in the past.
Monday, 6-28-10 — The Kingdom of Heaven is that hour in which you like yourself.
Monday, 6-28-10 — There are no neutral moments.
Monday, 6-28-10 — There is no opponent, only the goal. As you release yourself from the language of drama and conflict, you will soon see that everyone who shows up before you arrives to help you in one way or other to gain the vision you hold dear.
Monday, 6-28-10 — When you reach for something to put into your mouth, your lungs, your mind, stop and consider whether you would really rather add something to the world instead. We are here to give, to contribute to life. If you have momentarily forgotten that talent or art or quality of imagination unique to yourself, relax, breathe deeply and open your mind to remembering. Do whatever you can to enhance your appreciation of your own gifts then pour them into this day in every way possible.
Monday, 6-28-10 — Killing your body as a way to Heaven misses the mark in the same way that abandoning your car because it ran out of gas does. Both your body and your car are simply vehicles to take you on your precious life’s journey. Each will continue to serve you long and well once your refuel them. Refuel one with gasoline and the other with New Thoughts.
Saturday, 6-26-10 — No man can effectively use a weapon he doesn’t invest with the potential to do mortal damage. Therefore, have compassion for those who use fear to attempt to hurt or control you. Understand that they themselves are already dying of self-inflicted wounds.
Monday, 6-21-10 — Ah summer! Another morning, season and year to re-friend ourselves!
Were you to glimpse yourself walking in friendship with your own mind – that other self who serves you always – what would you see? Would they be hand-in-hand, heads leaning close, smiling in eager, happy and creative communion, imagining this day, this season, this year unfolding before them?