A very important factor in quality of life,especially at this time of year, is the care you administer to yourselves.Be it a Sunday walk in the park,a massage,listening to the rain:)reading by the fire,lighting a beautifully scented candle,wearing cozy new pajamas!taking time in the mall to sit with a cup of coffeeor better yet, hot chocolate!listening to your favorite music while you wrap the giftsor dress the treebuying yourself one small thing at each stop(it can be as insignificant as a candy cane)This extreme self care MUST start with you!you cannot carry any kind of light into the world if your own is flickering from the effects of holiday exhaustionYou can accomplish so much more, if the breaks you give others, are extended to yourselves as wellGive yourself more time to get places, limit the number of tasks you hope to accomplish each daytry to sleep more and bettergive more hugs, more often!be determined to have a conscious holidaywhere you are present in each moment,and are able to wring every ounce of joy from each simple pleasure

Here is one I wrote about a month ago, before the blog, I've been reticent about posting it because the subject of death is so emotional,but this came thru the morning after I saw Marianne Williamson lecture on the subject, and I was reading about Anita Moorjani's NDE, so here was the clarity they gave me:DEATHyou were in high energy tonight!In the presence of an Avatar! (Marianne Williamson)she is an energy you know well, from this life and from HOMEshe was reminding you about getting comfortable and feeling the excitement around deathI know it is not appropriate to feel something like excitement around the subject of death, but it is the answer to erasing the feardeath is not the end, it is a brilliant transfer of energy from one realm to anotherlike turning the channelPeople get scared because this is all they know, this life, this body, this planetbut there is so much more out there!You are actually more trepidatious about being born, about being in a body, entering this time space realityit seems VERY limitingdeath is freedomit gives you wings to flyit unchains youyou think that you find surrender in deathbut surrendering to the fracturing of your energy and the smallness of your being at birth is the ultimate surrenderbelieve me! for the first few months you keep reminding yourself"I agreed to this"!it takes a lot of getting used to!death is a sweet breath of fresh airyou become whole, huge in scope, and magnificence!with undefined edgesand your hand on the face of GOD

On a personal note:I usually write first thing when I wake up. It's a nice way start to the day and I'm much clearer before I get up and get going.I usually can smell the coffee and hear the dog getting her breakfast, but this morning as I lay there, I heard the sound of rain on the roof, which on my list of top ten sounds in the world is right up there , with laughing babies and church bells!Here is how the exchange went with The Observer" Man, that rain sounds so nice... ok, gotta sit up and write"WHY DON'T YOU JUST LAY HERE AND LISTEN FOR AWHILE"we'll, okay , just for a minute, then I have to write and get to the gym"WHY DON'T YOU JUST ENJOY THIS TIME! LISTENING TO THE RAIN"yeah, that's so nice..and I'm so comfy in bed.....okay, gotta get up, times a wasting, if it gets too late I won't have time to get to the gym, before work"SO WHAT, WHY CAN'T YOU GIVE YOURSELF THESES FEW MINUTES DOING SOMETHING YOU LOVE! IT'S SOUL FOOD, AND ACTUALLY AS GOOD FOR YOU AS THE GYMSo you get the gist of it, they weren't yelling, by the way, they were very soft but firm. So when I do finally get up, and tune in to see what they have to say, they said to write about this experience, because EVERYONE will relate!So the moral to this story for me, is to take time to enjoy the small "soul food "moments, they are as important to our health as diet and exercise...and we, I, forget.Happy Friday!

Listening is an artit involves eye contactit involves heart contactit requires you to step outside your own mindand step into the consciousness of the speaker.Often as someone is speaking and you are listening,your thoughts are racing aheadforming the next questionpassing judgement on the wordsthinking of a story to tellor answers to give.Be STILLsee if you can set aside your own agendaclear your mind of preconceived ideasand really let the speaker's words sink inand penetrate your heart.Stop thinking about what you can addlisten for what they can give youListening is not a passive actit is a give and take, but...There is energy behind their wordslet it wash over you, to get their real meaning.Emotions may be triggeredthat's okay, stay engagedI hear youI see youand what you say matters to meThat is one of the greatest gifts you can give anotherMake THAT your new mantra!LISTEN

Worrying about things,the mundane and the supreme,can become such a bad habit!The mind is such a powerful tool!It can be used to conjure great magicand used to imagine doom.When you get in the habit of worryyou are using that glorious hard-working brain of yours toimagine the worst!It takes you down dark alleys of dread and gloom,picturing with great clarity, the worst case scenario.Even when things seem to be going your wayand you are in a state of calmyou can instantly turn it on a dime,when you touch that pool of worrythat seems so bottomlessYou think "Oh I feel good....but what about this?what if this is true?, what if this were to happen?"dipping your toe into that sea of doubtTHAT is a habit, and it does not serve you!it is your default setting in life!your "go to" place at night,the cloud that follows you wherever you go!Take the reins now, and change that!when you notice you have taken that dark pathand the habit of worry has got you by the throat,become conscious,choose another thoughtrealize you are in a dreamnone of the worry is realyou are using your imagination to conjure the worstreach for the best. then reach again!change that default setting to hopeSince neither scenario has yet to materialize,imagine the best, a thought that gives you peace,choose to be happy!It is a CHOICEmake a conscious effort each day to break the habit of worry

Never before in the history of man has the energy been so ripe,so full of possibilities!it may feel to the contrary, but I can assure it is not!Half a century ago the energy started to shift,which has allowed a larger and broader influx of lightto saturate this planet and its occupantsAlthough it has changed in its level and refinement,it has unceasingly altered your mortal landscapeEach day, with each breath and each waking momentyou grow closer to the promises that your memory holdsfrom the place of your originThere is within each man a seed of peace,It is wrapped in love,and holds the promise of things to comeAs each person allows this love to envelop themand then spread out into the world,That seed of peace, that nugget of truth,Is free to touch your heartsAnd when that happens, alchemy is presentthe two combine to form a greater force than each has separatelyThe promise is this,the awakening of peace,wrapped in lovepowered by the energy of the heart!This can move mountainsIt can work miraclesIt can end wars

Wherever you are, there I amMistake not, a baby's cry, as a sign of my absencenor the prisoners face, thru the barsWeep not at the outstretched beggar's handor the wounded soldier's sighI am thereCare not ,for the evil that you witness, in nature and in mancannot belay my abandonFor as sure as the spring follows the frost of winterand the sun chases the darkness of the night I am thereIn your most private momentsI sit beside youIn your grief, on your shoulders I rest my hands I touch your head as you kneel in prayerAs you walk in solitude, your hand I holdI am the witness of your lifeand wherever you are, I am there too

Take a deep breathand now anotherset yourself up to receive the energy of the dayAs the fog begins to roll away from your mind's eyeand any demons of the night are cast away by the emerging light,bask in the quiet stillness that begets peacefor without the stillness of the mind and the bodyyou cannot hope to establish true inner peaceTake a breath againand let the tension melt away , like warm candle wax,down your face and shoulders.and reset the energy from worry to peaceBreath againPull the string that unties the knot of frustrationwatch as it becomes one long strand that has an endLet the breath go into the shallows of your lungs like the high tide brings surges of fresh nutrients, to a still pool.Peace lies therein between the beats of a hummingbird's wingsthere lies incredible peaceIn the eye of the hurricane, incredible peaceIn the quiet falling of snow, seconds after the avalanche,Incredible peaceIncredibly

Abundance of LightI know we keep talking about thisbut you really must be noticing the difference in these past three months!The absolute volume of love and light that is washing over every being on this earth is astounding!examples, you want examples :)The latest example would be the war that was averted in the Middle East.To have the sides say they would not escalate things but instead wait to see if a peace could be brokered from negotiations, that's not something we've heard from that region before! And to have Egypt play a role even though they have strong alliances with Iran and other key players that would like to see Israel cease to exist is really unprecedented.The level of gratitude this Thanksgiving holiday was off the charts!If that could be measured accurately, you would have seen a thousand fold increase over the last couple of years...all over the planet!Everyone is starting to open their eyes, but more importantly their hearts, and realize that gratitude is about so much more than possessions and money.People are waking up to the fact that without love, and others to receive and reciprocate that love, money and possessions have no meaning.Finally!!!We have nothing against material abundance, it gives you freedom to seek.No one that has the worry of not knowing where their next meal is coming from, is in pursuit of spiritual truths, not while they are in the energy of hunger and fear.But we can tell you, there were many, many, souls that were counting their blessings yesterday, who seemingly from the outside, have lost everything!The great storm came and turned their life upside down..literallyand so many, more than you would ever imagine, have hearts filled with gratitude and a new appreciation of what really matters in a life!So very many acts of courage, heroism and just plain love for your fellow-man have come out of that area.Neighbors that barely said two words to each other as they rushed thru their lives, sat and broke bread in the candlelight, and made sure each other was warm...and actually shared stories and laughsReacting is changing to RespondingDarkness to Lightand tears to laughter take the time to notice it! 

Gratitude on ThanksgivingCan you stop to count your blessings?You can start with the breath Your breath is a direct connection to God and for that you can be grateful! without the breath you are... dustCan you start with your beautiful body?what a marvel of science and spirit!consider your hands alone, they are complicated beyond belief!Just that the electrical signal can travel from the brain to each finger and move so precisely that you can thread a needle! And a brain that thinks faster than any computer. It's lightening speed and efficiency are taken for granted, be in humble gratitude for this brain of yours!The magnificent heart! That pumps life into your being so you can fulfill spirit's purpose.It holds a huge magnetic field that extends far outside your bodyand merges with others you interact with during you day... your life.It actually allows the spirit to merge with the physical in a much purer way than sexIn its purest, originally intended form, sex has that integration as well :)Let's all take a minute to appreciate and be grateful for the expression of communion and love thru sex!You should also have gratitude for the miracle of tearsthey are a phenomenon of human anatomy they are a physical release for the heart You all veer away from crying, but it is such a blessing!the act of crying helps recalibrate energy thru the chemistry of tearsPlease add to this esoteric list of appreciation and gratitude and make sure you dig deeper than the things you own and the very obviousFeel for the things that are hiding in plain sight

The Space BetweenWhen a conductor raises his arms before the first note is struckthere is beauty in the pausethe lull in conversationthe spaces between wordsthe empty lines on a pagethe leap before the fallthe breath before the kiss

Suspending BeliefQuestions are always answered in a particular orderFirst a small nugget of questioning enters the mindIt starts very small, and grows over timeturning over and overrephrasing itself, until the thought is fully formedand the question is askedThis can happen in a week, a year , or an instant!So...now this question goes out into the etherslooking to seek out and match up with its answerThat's the way it's always been over eons of timeBut what if the game was changing?What if the answers started to appear before the questions were even asked?Kind of a cosmic game of Jeopardy!Could you suspend belief and play along?It feels like this:You get washed over with a sense of knowing, and I mean REALLY KNOWING something!a total "a ha" moment!The clouds part and you have immaculate claritybut often it is spontaneous, and comes seemingly out of nowhere,like a bolt of lightning!the answer!But wait, was the question even asked?had the nugget formed and had the time enough to roll around the mind ,until the question came forth?In this energy , the possibility of getting the answers you seek to the questions askedand even to others you have yet to ask is possibleIt can be as simple as having a KNOWING that you should take an umbrella on a cloudless day, only to be the only one with cover in a sudden cloudburstor to KNOW that you should turn left instead of right, doing it, and later finding out you had avoided an accident that blocked the road for hours!There was no question asked, no time to figure and answer, just a KNOWINGand a suspension of belief that it has to be one before the otherLook for these KNOWINGSthey often make no sensethey are the cart before the horsethe chicken before the egg ;)thunder before the lightningbut they are one of your greatest gifts!

Become the Star of Your Own LifeIf all the world's a stage and all the men and woman simply playersas was written by that famous playwright hundreds of years ago,Then it would be a disservice to be anything but the hero or heroine of YOUR own life!As you get into the habit of just letting life happen to you, without any intention or direction, it appears as if you have cast yourselves as supporting players, in bit parts or worse yet..just as extras in your own lives!We strongly suggest that you rewrite the script of your life and tailor the leading role just as you would envision it in an Academy Award winning movieGive yourself all the best lines,making sure there is the right amount of gravitas and humor in your deliveryBe funnyBe cleverGo on location to the places you've dreamt ofbe confident, the hero never waversbe astute in your judgement of people and situationsThe heroine may make dicey choices early in the plot, but as the movie progresses she learns from her mistakes they don't listen to anyone but their director, and they trust him to have a shared vision of the "big picture"the stars are always supported by the rest of their castand helped to accomplish their desired goalsstay in the spotlight!very important not to wander off into the shadows offstage!Carry your life like a great hero or heroine carries a filmhave reverence and respect for your "character"no one would want to watch a movie in which the star made the same mistakes over and over,never listening to the supporting players advise, no script , all improvconstantly berating himself, taking no heed of the director and just wandering aimlessly on stageDo not live your life as an extra, a day player!Be the stars that you are!

It is often referred to as "A Dark Night of the Soul"but that is not accuratethe soul is incapable of experiencing a "dark night"the soul is the observerthe soul is the navigatorSometimes when the soul takes the helm and starts to let its purpose be knownyou feel great sadness, resistance and doubtthat darkness before the dawn so to speakthat is not a dark night for the soulthat is A Dark Night of the EGO!When there is a great disparity between the purpose of the soul and the will of the EGOit feels as if your life has jumped the railsyou are lost, off course, alone and adriftbut the soul is never off course or lostIt IS your internal GPS to your destinyto your life's purposeThe EGO sees things so black and whiteit makes up your mind that there is only one wayit never spreads out a whole mapit never looks around dark cornersIt can convince you that the emotion behind apparent failureor death or any loss is unsurvivablethe soul knows that is a lieIt is eternal.There is never darkness for the soul!when you have a dark nightthe soul is the small whisper that shines a lightit gets you out of bedit gets you to walk in natureit helps you start to appreciate beauty againthe soul is the one that finds something funny, when you never thought you'd laugh again!

good morning!these times are so exciting!!Can you feel the different energy each day brings with it?complacency is such a thing of the pastFence sitting with no real opinion or position on issues of the day...over!no longer can you bury your heads In the sand , because if you do , the world will blow right by you!"times they are a changing, " that has never been more accuratecan you meet each day with an anticipation, even an expectation of change?you used to desire waking up each day to see things had not budged at allevery blade of grass, every leaf, every drop of dew held the same energy as the previous day, and the day before that and the day before thatthat was a comfortbut now...every morning when you open your eyes, you almost have to ask yourself "where am I"? the morning energy is so different form the energy in which you went to sleepit can be a fresh startyou know how you wake up the mornings when you are on a vacation and the scenery and location are different? sometimes they change each day, and there is a sense of exhilaration when you open your eyes!No expectations, just a sense of explorationnothing is familiar and that is okay with you!you can feel the different energy, and almost see the changing color of the daylightthe silence sounds quieterthe traffic sounds different,many smells are unfamiliarvoices are speaking different languages , but you can get the meaning from the intonationshmmmm ....what will today bring?you feel excitement, even wondereven a little innocenceeach step you take that day is fresh and newjudgement is reserved, because after all, you are the stranger in the strange landtake all those emotions and sensations and bring them to each new dayyou may wake up in your same bed in the city of your birth, but internally take the vacation perspective into each daymove with excitement and expect adventurethey can be with you daily if you invite themtake that vacation perspective INSIDE your lifeevery daystart now!

never afraid of the darka quiet mind can lead a simple lifeit is not filled with the gibberish that can bog down joythe mind is like an infant..it wants what it wants..now!it seldom gives any thought to the consequences that it's demands have on your spiritit can put you In places and situations that literally wring the life out of your soul,never for a second looking to see what is best for the whole of you as a spiritual beingthe mind is a wondrous thing with great power...but it must be tamed, brought under control with boundaries, like a childquestioning and reining in the mind will not be easy and is often met with much resistanceit is clever, and can play a game of hide and seek with the truthit's truth is often not yours... your soulsbe clear about thatthe chatter in your head is not the real you, it is not the voice of your soulyour soul is quietyour soul is deliberateyour soul does not bargain with youthat is the mindit does not hold you back from your greatest potentialthat is the mindit is a very worthy opponent at most.. and an ally at bestit is cunning with its talk of disappointment and hurtleading you down its path of complacencysabotaging your joyreplacing it with fearthat is why it is not the mind that should be at the helm of your lifeit is the heartthe heart is the steward of the soulit has the maps and directions to your best lifedo not continue to confuse the mind with the keeper of your best interestsit is not!it will always lead you down the path of black and whiteright or wrongday or nightthat is never the souls journeyit seeks colorit can read between the lines and it is never is afraid of the dark!

witness the greatnessevery now and againthere is a polishing of a stoneadding new facetsletting the brilliance that is held within shine thrutaking steps to carefully follow the grainto see the beauty withinnot to force your willbut to let the stone speak it's existence into beingyellow, red, blue, each different color carries a specific vibrationthat it came here to holdeach individual is a precious gemstoneeach experience is a minute on the polishing wheeltime seems to dull the facetsbut the opposite is trueeach step thru life sharpens the anglesso that the most light can be reflected outback into the worldshine brightly today!you are like diamonds, throwing rainbows of color around every room you enterprisms that reflect you back to yourselfso you can witness your greatness

This is a tale of two countries.One portion of this country was happy with a status quothey remembered it fondly, even though it had been changing for quite some timethey were always trying to capture the "way things used to be"their view was that the best days were behind them.The other portion had a sense of discontentthey felt that their best days could be aheadthe status quo no longer fit themit felt like wearing someone else's clothes.both loved their country very much, so the emotion was great, and urgency was implied by the harsh attitudes that seemed to slowly seethe forward like a volcano ready to erupt.What they failed to realize was that they were brothers, from the same familyand whatever you felt strongly in your heart was private and a treasure and should be honored and not forced on the whole.Honoring the differences , the uniqueness in each other was a hard task, a lesson that seemly had to be learned over and over again thru this countries' history.The ability to hear the words of another, filled with passion, that are different from your own, and feel admiration, not fear.To not feel threatened, therefore needing to impose your will on all,to be able to change into and wear your own" clothes" with pridenot needing to change every mind to your ideology in order to find respect;These are the growing pains of this countryas you stretch something you tear its fabric, like a muscle taken to its limit.Every new concept and way of thinking must stretch and then rebuild.Do not despair, this is a great country and it WILL find its way!The hand of God has given it much and has not left its side.With great change comes great responsibilitylook at your brother with different eyes todaythat's a start;feel his heart.

tenderness welcomeseveral times we have wanted to talk about tenderness and it's place In your everyday lifecan you find it in your hearts to look at an adversarywith tendernessit is even beyond compassion, compassion is an understanding of the how's and why'stenderness is subtle, but it can open doorstake a deep breathreturn to your heartas you feel it open you can find the tenderness there insideinstantly there is a opening and a lighteningtenderness is needed in this world nowit requires poise, and maturity,and a certain selflessnessto be able to stand outside yourself and feel inside the heart of anotherthere is always some good to be found but it takes a keen ear to hear the beat of anotherto abandon self interest for awhile and feel tendernessthat being said ,it can be practiced one oneself as wellthat is the best place to start, then open up and send it outwardtenderness In thoughtstenderness in wordstenderness in deedsmerely touching a hand merely listening without talkingstroking someone's haircaress their spiritsense their soulbe brave and "show a little tenderness" :)