Change Your Perspective, Change the World

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You can never EVER change anything or anyone by trying to change the external effect.  When someone is behaving in a way that makes you uncomfortable (angry, disappointed, bitter, resentful, fearful, anxious, etc. etc.) the change must come from you!  You should never look/expect someone to change their behavior in order for you to feel better.  Recently, President Trump caused a major stir with his alliance to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.  People have been in an uproar, voicing opinions, stating matters of fact, and expressing their concern and more so their disdain over his perspective and actions.  In essence, people desire Trump to behave differently, more in line with the way they believe he should behave, so that they can feel better.  And this is no different than anything or anybody else.  Your children behave in ways that make you uncomfortable.  Your boss behaves in ways undesirable to you.  Your spouse is not acting in accordance with agreement you two have set up.  The police are misbehaving in ways that are life threatening.  So on and so on.

Two weeks ago, we talked about how we do not have to let what is, be our dominant vibration. We discussed how we have the ability to turn our awareness in the direction of what we want and give less attention to what we don’t want. We talked about having the ability to be solution oriented in the middle of a so-called problem; and having the ability to find something to appreciate in what seems impossible to appreciate. We always have a choice!  The choice is, do I lean in the direction of my inner being, or do I lean in the opposite direction of my inner being.  You can tell what direction you’re leaning in by the discomfort you feel.

Complaining about Donald Trump, and his given right to his perspective, is exactly the vibration that helped put him in office in the first place.  FACT: The more you and I complain, the more we ask for more of the same.   “We give up our power not just by observing by what we’re seeing, but more so by what we’re aware of. Our awareness of what is. Our opinion of why what is, is and what should be done about what is. Our conversations about what is. Our disappointment about what is, and what we secretly harbor in our hearts regarding what is. This observation and awareness of a perceived reality, whatever it may be, trains us into a frequency that doesn’t allow what is, to ever shift into what is wanted.” (Did You Forget, Align To Enlighten)

If you want something to change, even the behavior of another, it requires two things and two things only:

1). An acknowledgment of the desired and wanted new behavior.  If someone is behaving in a way that makes you uncomfortable, think about how you WANT to feel.

2). Hold that thought.  That’s it!  When you ask for something, it is given.  Even if the asking involves someone altering their behavior.  Because what you’re really wanting is to feel better regarding your observation.

When single minded consciousness is matched with mass consciousness is when we see world change.  Your job, my job is to talk about, provide opinions on, write about, and sustain thoughts of WHAT IT IS WE WANT!  It’s hard because it’s simple.  It doesn’t seem like it’s the answer because in our action-oriented world we are taught that nothing happens without physical action.  And although we are not advocates of eliminating action, goals, movement, etc., we adamantly recognize that the true power comes from vibrational output.  The true power to change an environment lies internally within you and I.  Whenever the mind perceives, it creates!  You and I are living realities that we’ve created including this state of America and its leadership.  The beauty of this fact is that we also have the conscious creative power to create a new and different deliberate realty- one that we desire.  But will we, or will we choose to keep what we have?

Time Is An Illusion

  The idea of time is a man-made constraint designed to help our minds receive information, process that information and interpret that information in order to direct our physical decisions. Time is indeed helpful because it helps keep things on track with what we want to achieve and accomplish. But at the core of our being…our soul…time and space do not exist. Time is meant to direct our consciousness, not define our existence.

Our existence is not dependent upon time. Our existence is dependent upon awareness. Our souls are complete awareness. Consciousness. Authenticity. Life. Pure Existence. The body can not operate without a soul. However, the soul CAN operate independent of the body. Why? Because the body has an expiration date while the soul does not. The soul animates the body. For a time. (pun intended)

Most all religions subscribe to some type of existence after our bodies “expire.” Usually that existence is characterized as an ever-lasting paradise. This also suggests that time is relevant, only to this world. But not the world after it because there is no clock on forever. Yet, we offer all authority to time here on earth as if it is our master. As if time has some type of ruling authority over our authentic existence. We become slaves to it. We beg for more of it. Or we wish it would pass along faster. It seems to be fleeting and for that reason, we have angst, worry or concern about it. But time…is an illusion.

Granted, we see the earth rotate around the sun calling it “sun rise and sun set,” we see the days pass, the seasons change and the years go by. Our days run together as we fill them with school, work, to-do lists and deadlines. Our existence becomes numb. Then we bide our time and try to harness it when we consider the weekend or vacation with long, lazy days of nothingness or various fun activities. And when that time is up…we become saddened or return to our “Monday Melancholy” because we have surrendered the power of our emotion to depending on what was happening for a period of time.

We reminisce on the past or we carry optimism for the future. But authentic reality suggests…time is a simple illusion and what is authentically true is this moment. The awareness of our brains are in the moment. We can dream about the future. We can access memories of the past. But we can not physically embrace either. This is the connection most of us are missing when we offer time all the power in our lives. We have no command over what we felt from the past. We have no command of what we will feel in the future. We command only the moment in which we reside. Physically, mentally and spiritually. Therefore, time is only a concept, a notion, an idea…an illusion because it is not real.

We FEEL as if “being busy at work makes the time go by faster.” Or we FEEL “the weekends go by too quickly.” Or we may FEEL “there’s never enough time to get things done.” Or sometimes in the midst of things that are unpleasant, “time stands still.” In the essence of how we have defined time, it is consistent. Nothing has changed. :60 seconds equals 1 minute. Period. Yet, we can all relate to the previous comments. Why? Because we are caught up in the illusion of time and we are not focused on the authenticity of the moment. The moment is consistent and forever present. The past is a memory. The future is an idea. The moment is real. The moment is where actual living is taking place. Someone said, “the moment is a gift from God and that’s why it is called the present.” The moment is where we have all the power to exercise and create our desired outcomes. The moment is where happiness, joy, peace and fulfillment live. What we have felt in the past are moments we conjure through memory. We have zero control over that “time” because it has past. Our thoughts of the future are unborn ideas. But we don’t control or dictate all of the circumstances and variables that will influence those thoughts of when that future arrives. Therefore, the future is a simple idea. Not a tangible reality. Operating within THIS moment, being in THIS moment, focusing your awareness of THIS moment allows us to decide and to create and to manifest and to realize our deepest desires. Our desires of peace…choose it in the moment you are in. Our desires of happiness…choose it while in the moment. Our desires of prosperity…choose it in the moment. And for the record, prosperity and wealth is a state of being. Not a state of passing materialism.

All that we desire…begins with an awareness of that desire in the current moment we are living. If you desire peace, love, tranquility, compassion, joy, happiness, wealth, etc., become aware of the authentic you that transcends time and realize what you desire can be captured in the current moment you reside. Live in the right now.

Did You Forget?

Did you forget that you are the creator of you own reality?

Did you forget how it is that you create your own reality? By offering a vibration that the Law of Attraction is responding to? And that our thoughts are the mechanisms through which our vibrations are produced.

Did you forget that you have control over the vibration that you offer? And that by this vibrational control, you thus influence and control what comes to you?

We are vibrational, energetic, spiritual beings that have immense power. More often than not, this power is untapped and unrealized. Living in an environment where everybody is simply observing and responding, we’ve trained ourselves to do the same- observe and respond. So that quickly we become observers and responders of reality, not creators. We give up our power and turn it over to what we’re observing. We give up our power not just by observing by what we’re seeing, but more so by what we’re aware of. Our awareness of what is. Our opinion of why what is, is and what should be done about what is. Our conversations about what is. Our disappointment about what is, and what we secretly harbor in our hearts regarding what is. This observation and awareness of a perceived reality, whatever it may be, trains us into a frequency that doesn’t allow what is, to ever shift into what is wanted. (Assuming that what you’re observing and what you want is different). If what you’re observing is what you want, then all that is needed is to appreciate and stay in gratitude, be thankful, and acknowledge, for more of the same to come. But if your awareness of what you’re observing is not what you want, then talking about it, thinking about it, complaining about it, lamenting and stewing over it, only enhances and exacerbates more of the same unwanted awareness. You do not have to let what is, be your dominant vibration.

Have you forgotten the Powerful Creator you are?

Did you forget that you create your own reality?

Do you remember how it is you create your own reality?

We do not have to let what is, be our dominant vibration. We have the ability to focus our attention. We have the ability to turn our awareness in the direction of what we want and give less attention to what we don’t want. We have the ability to be solution oriented in the middle of a so-called problem. We have the ability to find something to appreciate in what seems impossible to appreciate. This is the exercise! This is how you sharpen your skills at becoming a deliberate creator and exercising the power you’ve been given to change an existing reality and/or create a new one.

We’re never suggesting to run or avoid from anything life presents you that must be dealt with. You can’t always remove yourself or put your head in the sand when issues occur. But what we are suggesting is that you have the ability to be more of a vibrational match to a solution while being aware and standing right in the middle of the problem. You are completely responsible for any and all that is happening in your experience. Everything that comes to you is a result of your vibrational offering.

Remember you are the creator of your experience because you are the focuser of your world. Remember you create your world through your vibrational offering. Remember that the Law of Attraction is responding to your vibrational offering, and thus everything comes back to you from what your point of attraction is.

“How Did I Attract THAT?”

Disclaimer:  We realize this a very sensitive subject matter for most to comprehend and accept.  The concept can be very disheartening and contradicts everything we’ve been taught to believe most of our lives.

You don’t have to look far around to conclude that some things seem to be beyond our control – mass killings, cancer, robbery, car accidents (that wasn’t your fault), and on and on.

Do you believe you can influence your surroundings so that things happen for you? Or do you believe things happen mostly TO you?  This is a critical question to ask and answer!

Let’s be clear.  Sometimes really bad things happen.  Sometimes, things just suck!  And certainly, it may appear that somethings that happen in our lives and in the world we live in appear to happen to us and not for our benefits.  However, this simply is not the case.

Everybody always says and mostly agrees that nothing happens by chance or happenstance, and that everything happens for a reason.  If this is true, what’s the reason, and if nothing happens by chance, then by what force are things occurring?

We live in an attraction-based world, an attraction-based Universe. There is no assertion!  Everything that comes to us, comes by way of our own point of attraction.  How do we know this for sure?  Can it be proven?   

Attraction-

Attraction is a Universal law/principle.  It is one of seven Universal principles that governs all. Attraction- the Law of Attraction, falls under the third universal law, the Law of Vibration.  The Law of Vibration states that “nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates”.  This is not theory but rather scientific fact that everything in this universe, including you and I, is energy, energy that vibrates at particular frequencies.  The higher the rate of frequency, the stronger the attracting power for other high frequencies.  The lower the frequency the stronger the attracting power for other low frequencies.   Place any solid object under a microscope and you’ll see movement.

Okay, so everything is energy producing a vibration, and when anything vibrates it produces a frequency right? This is similar to the vibrational waves of a tuning fork.  When you tap a tuning fork and place it in close proximity to another untapped tuning fork, the second fork will attempt to match the vibrational frequency of the first fork- AT THE SAME FREQUENCY.  The same holds true with a dog’s howl or a musical instrument that has such a high pitch that it shatters glass.  Frequencies have attraction force!  And human beings have the greatest attraction force of anything.

This same above principle also applies to the mental realm.  Your thoughts are but mere vibrations.  Every thought you consciously think or unconsciously hold, vibrates at a specific frequency and thus attracts other like thoughts and other like situations and circumstances.  Thoughts literally do turn into things.  Things within our Universe have a high tendency to migrate toward other like things. We’re using the word “things” here because this law encompasses thoughts, feelings, people, objects (yes objects) and everything else in our Universe.  It’s a principle that applies to all the things.

Like attracts like, and like migrates towards like. 

All this may be fine and dandy when it comes to attracting what’s wanted.  You attract an awesome new love, very easy to accept, and say “Yeah, I did that”.  You attract/manifest more money in your life, I did that!  But what about illness or death or suffering we see in the world?  How/why would one attract such things as that?  The answer is, we would not do so deliberately.  Our experiences come to us always either of two ways- intentionally or unintentionally; deliberately or by default.  We attract things unwanted, even illness or a seemingly bad occurrences by another individual by our lackadaisical, haphazard, willy-nilly thought patterns.

Fact:  You do not have to consciously think something in the moment to manifest the reality.  As a matter of fact, it is usually not the present thoughts you’re thinking that manifest your reality.  The thoughts we’re referring to that produce real life manifestations are more like the thought that behind the thoughts, or the parent/sponsoring thoughts.  And these thoughts have, over time, turned into beliefs.  So that when you look out into the world and consider any subject such as health, finance, relationships, life/death, race/racism, victimhood, etc., you have at any moment, a vibratory frequency that corresponds to that subject.  And the Universe is always attempting to match an experience with the corresponding frequency similar the one you’re vibrating.  This may manifest in number of ways, appearing as “out of the blue” or “just life” occurrences when they are not.   Think too much on a negative thing and watch how you will witness an experience of the same or similar negative proportion.  But moreover, HOW YOU FEEL on any given subject tells exactly how you’re vibrating and thus attracting real life experiences on that same subject.

So, if I leave my home today and get car jacked, it does not have to mean that I’ve been thinking thoughts about being carjacked (although consistently having those thoughts will sooner or later produce a like manifestation).  It means that I certainly have some sort of vibration surrounding victimhood, people being taken advantage of, crime in general, etc.  that is in disharmony with my inner being. And that my prevailing, dominant belief and thought pattern is being tended to by the powerful Universal Law of Attraction – like the tuning fork – the frequencies are attempting to match ( My Belief + My Expectation = Experience)

The Law of Vibration/Attraction is similar to the law of gravity.  It is immutable, and never changes.  Gravity is also an immutable and unchanging law of our Universe. Not believing in the law of gravity is not important — it will always be that things that go up also come down.  However, trusting and using the law of gravity allows you to predict and expect what will happen.  Likewise, it is with the Law of Attraction and vibration.  You don’t have to understand it or even agree completely, to use it effectively.  You can leverage your life and use it largely to your advantage and benefit.  Believing it’s true or untrue doesn’t change anything. It’s simply a Universal principle. But, if you choose to use it and get in tune with it, you can start predicting and expecting what happens to you, and for you. Your awareness of the Law of Attraction can have a tremendous effect in your life.

We would like to end this by stating that nothing “bad” that happens is the “fault” of the individual, and you/I never cause something unwanted to happen in our lives.  We must however, take full responsibility of our own vibrations, beliefs and thought patterns.  Doing so will provide leverage not only in your personal life but also have great impact and influence on the world at large.

Mind, Body and Soul – Separate but One…

Have you ever considered the totality of your being? Your looks, your personality, your sense of humor, your emotions, your strengths, your weaknesses, your vulnerabilities, your successes? We are so multi-faceted, the same as priceless diamonds. We are layers upon layers of complexity. And this is what makes us so very unique. So very special. And so very awesome! Have you stopped lately to recognize how awesome you are? How awesomely made you are? Have you stopped to appreciate the layers of your being? Have you stopped to truly LOVE yourself wholly, unconditionally, without limit or boundary just as you are? If not…then begin today. Stop. Right now. And reflect and be amazed at WHO you are for the person you are. Right now. Not the person you WANT to be. But the person you currently are. Why? Because this is the way you begin to get to where you actually want to go. By first appreciating you, for the YOU, you are right now.

But before we get too far into the Love Fest for Ourselves, let’s first understand the full make up of who we are. We are composed of three different components; Mind, Body and Soul. These three components operate independently, yet as one. Let’s explore them one by one and we will start with the body.

The Body:

The body is easy…right? It’s that handsome or beautiful creature we see when we look in the mirror. It’s that physical matter we put through the ringer with diets, exercise, fasting, beauty salons, massages, mani-pedies, etc. Our bodies are actually a simple reflection of our true selves. Our physical body allows our true selves to be manifested into physical form for others to see from their physical form. But our bodies are not who we TRULY are. Our bodies are just one form of who we are and is a reflection of our authentic being. Our bodies are wonderfully made by the Creator and we are full of regenerative powers. Every single day, we lose millions upon millions of cells in our bodies, only to be formed and created again, by our bodies! How awesome is that?!?!?

Our bodies allow us to receive information by way of our 5 senses; see, touch, hear, taste and smell. But what about intuition? Gut-feelings? The voices in our heads that tell us to turn right instead of left? Some say there is a sixth sense. This is evidence of the multiple layers that exist within each of us. The body is ONE component of our make up. But not all of it. Those voices, intuitions, gut-feelings are the whispers of our souls.

The Soul:

Our authentic selves speak softly, quietly and discreetly. With wisdom and understanding. In measured contemplation. This is the level of our soul. You know you are there when the calm you feel supercedes the noise of the outside world. Our souls provide clarity in the midst of confusion. The term soul and spirit are used interchangeably because they are one in the same. Unlike the body, the soul is not material but ethereal. The soul is representative of the authentic YOU. That part of you that is real. Our souls are eternal while our bodies perish daily. Our souls are only bound by the bodies that house them. Free from the body, the soul is limitless. Some refer to this as death. But in actuality a soul freed from its body is LIFE. It is important to understand and remember this because we often limit our possibilities by the boundaries of our bodies. We forget who we TRULY are and recognize the reflection in the mirror as our true selves. This is only partly true.

We are ALL spiritual beings FIRST. Remembering this fact helps us to realize and manifest our true, heartfelt desires. It begins from the inside. The seeds of growth, prosperity, success, well-being and even health for the body…ALL begin from the inside. From the level of the soul. We then see the manifestation of the seeds we’ve planted in our material world. This is the place where all things we see in this world begin. With a desire…with a thought and THEN a physical action. Remembering we are spiritual beings first…creates an understanding of life.

The Mind:

And THEN there’s the mind. My grandmother used to say, “the mind is the devil’s playground.” LOL…today, we offer, the mind is whatever you ALLOW the mind to be. YOU are the master of thought. YOU are the commander of emotion. YOU are the leader of manifestation in your life. But here’s how the mind works from a fundamental standpoint: The body receives information from the five senses. The soul knows the authentic truth in observing it all. The mind makes the balance between the two. The mind functions as a bridge between what we experience and what is REAL.

“What we experience and what is real:” Every experience, every encounter, every interaction…all that happens only has the meaning we apply to it. The mind is the facilitator of that understanding. We choose to levy meaning against experiences we consider “bad” and those we consider “good.” This doesn’t suggest we throw out how we’ve been socialized, how bodily harm feels or any other type of ridiculousness. What this means is, we have the ability to CHOOSE how we want ANY circumstance to affect us for any prolonged period of time.

If I get a flat tire on my way to work and I DECIDE that this is going to ruin my day. At that very moment, the thoughts in my mind begin manifesting. Next, after my tire, I get to work and my boss yells at me, my wife calls and is angry about something, my project falls through, I get “bad news” from my mom, I almost get into an accident on the way home…etc. It continues. It goes on and on. Why? Because you DECIDED it to be.

An alternative would be: I get a flat tire and I DECIDE, this is a welcome disruption to my day because it happened for a reason. Perhaps it slowed me down enough to miss an impending accident that was going to happen. Perhaps someone else was meant to stop and help me and then I end up having a great conversation that they are inspired by. The point is, when we understand that we are the masters of thought, the commanders of emotion and the leaders of manifestation…the thoughts created in our minds begin to work FOR us as opposed to against us.

The Conclusion:

Cater to EVERY part of you. LOVE every part of you. Nurture every part of your being, every part of your existence. Too much focus on any part and not enough on the other keeps you out of alignment. Keeps you out of balance with who you truly are. All parts of you need focus and attention. You are your Mind, your Body and your Soul.

Year End – Renewing Your Spirit

“You can’t go back and make a brand-new start, but anyone can start right now and make a brand-new ending” – James R. Sherman

This is the final day of 2017. For many people this is a time to reflect back on what has happened over the past 364 days. Some of those reflections bring smiles while other reflections bring sorrows. Many of us look forward to the new year as a new beginning. A clean slate. A renewing of our minds, bodies and souls. We plan accordingly and create New Year’s Resolutions. We look to create a new reality. JUST AS WE ALL SHOULD. That new reality is fueled by what we desire, our intentions, our goals, our objectives to create a renewed existence. And it feels GREAT! It feels delightful. It feels refreshing. It feels like a new beginning. It feels like ALL things are possible! You feel boundless. Determined. We revel at the opportunities we will create and the new reality we will live. This is the Renewing of the Spirit.

The Renewing of the Spirit is a cleansing of our souls. It is a purging of negativity, dead weight (literally), and all of those things we feel have held back the reality we desire. We NEED this to live our best lives. It is no different than doing Spring Cleaning in your home. Many of us do a deep cleaning, get rid of old papers, clean out closets, give away old clothes, etc. in the Spring time. This is the same with the renewing of our spirits. We purge and then create new expectations that align with our desires. We desire to lose weight, be better people, spend more time with loved ones, appreciate what we have, love more, etc. We desire to be transformed. No different than the caterpillar emerging from its cocoon to sprout wings as the butterfly. It opens up a brand new opportunity to fulfill who and what we desire to be, what we desire to have and how we desire to be remembered. The Renewing of Your Spirit.

What we want to offer you today is a road map to staying on track and in alignment with that which you desire as you go into the new year. Have you ever set New Year’s Resolutions in the first of January but forget about them before March? The plan was to lose 20 lbs. by the end of the year but that all seems to go by the wayside somewhere along the way? Or you wanted to be a nicer person at work but after the new year has “worn off” you’re back to the same ornery person you were before? You were going to have a new, more positive outlook on life but so-and-so made you mad and “affirmed” what you knew all along so “what’s the purpose?” There are three main reasons why the resolutions we set become unsuccessful and/or unrealized:

1. They are too lofty
2. We set too many resolutions
3. They are too far into the future

Too Lofty – Perhaps you want to be debt free by the end of 2018 but you have $40,000 worth of debt. This is not to say it’s not possible to become debt free. (At Align to Enlighten we KNOW and BELIEVE whatever we conceive we can create) But it’s more to it than just “hoping” for it to happen. Defining a clear goal is primary. But when looking to achieve that goal, it is IMPERATIVE to maintain your vibrational alignment with your expectations. Continue to believe, continue to expect AND take physical action to stay on track with what you desire. This goes for any resolution you’ve set.

Too Many Resolutions – While we may consider ourselves to be “flawed,” the authentic reality is, we are made perfect for exactly who we are. Sometimes, in an effort to try to be perfect in our own eyes, we create several resolutions as if we need a complete human makeover. So as you go into 2018, we encourage you to lose the harsh judgment on yourselves. Give yourself a break. LOVE on yourself for EXACTLY who you are. If you plan to create resolutions for the new year, don’t exhaust the list over two pages of things you want and will do. Narrow it down to say 3 things you want to accomplish overall. This will make it more manageable for you throughout the year. And once you accomplish those 3 things, feel free to pick another 3 IF you desire. But love yourself without judgment.

They Are Too Far Into the Future – Some resolutions will take time. That’s a fact. But we live in a “microwave society,” meaning we have been socialized to expect instant gratification. We want it and we want it NOW! This type of thinking sabotages resolutions we’ve created that will take time. Slow down and be in the moment. Be in the here and now of life. Create the goals, objectives and resolutions, but also understand this life is a marathon and not a sprint. Slow down and let them cook slowly instead of nuking your resolutions for a quick fix to your heartfelt desires.

To make your resolutions more manageable, we suggest taking “small bites” in order to manifest what your truly desire. The Renewing of Your Spirit should not be a once-a-year event. It should happen frequently. This will be the way to co-create with the Creator and manifest the reality you desire. So as you set out to begin your new year with all of the things you want to achieve and accomplish, we suggest you take the following approach to renew your spirit…weekly:

Sunday – Take time to remember what your overall objectives are on the year. Losing weight, being a better person, spreading love, starting your own business, whatever you planned to do for 2018, spend time thinking about it. Meditate on it. Envision what it looks like.

Monday – Take at least 5-10 minutes and meditate. Clear your mind. Cleanse your soul of negativity. Envision your resolutions and your goals. Write down what you will do this week to achieve what you desire. Pick 1-3 steps and that’s it. These steps should be able to be accomplished during this week. Remember…small bites.

Tuesday – Take at least 5-10 minutes and meditate. Be at peace with yourself. Explore your gratitude for what you’ve chosen to accomplish. Begin to do the things you wrote down on Monday that you want to accomplish this week.

Wednesday – Take at least 5-10 minutes and meditate. While you are meditating, continue envisioning what your end goal looks like. FEEL what it looks like. FEEL how it will make you feel once you get there. THIS is a continual renewing of your spirit. Now, continue to take steps to accomplish what you wrote down on Monday.

Thursday – Take at least 5-10 minutes and meditate. Create the expectation of accomplishment in your mind. Expect to achieve the 1-3 steps you wrote down on Monday. If you have already completed your 1-3 steps, don’t jump ahead! Simply continue with your vision and expectation of the larger goal. If you haven’t completed your weekly steps yet, push forward and challenge yourself to stay on track. Or reassess what you committed to for the week. Do your steps need to be adjusted? If so, lose judgement and adjust accordingly.

Friday – Take at least 5-10 minutes and meditate. Allow yourself to FEEL a sense of accomplishment for completing the steps you started for the week. BE CAREFUL: Don’t get too high on feeling accomplished and don’t get too low if you haven’t completed what you started. Simply be. If you completed your steps for the week, allow yourself to feel grateful. If you have not, do not beat yourself up, but be resolved to be committed in the upcoming week.

Saturday – Take at least 5-10 minutes and meditate. Relax. Get centered. Put your goals, objectives and resolutions on the back burner and allow yourself to rest. Don’t give them any overall thoughts. Just be. And on Sunday…begin the process again.

Resolutions are GREAT as they represent a renewing of our souls and we create a space for creation to manifest. But to be successful in the manifestation of your desire…choose to Renew Your Spirit on a frequent basis. Once every 365 days sets us up for failure. Love yourself without judgement and renew your spirit often. This way, you will achieve your heart’s desires and manifest the reality you dream about. Have a blessed and prosperous 2018. With LOVE from Align to Enlighten. Namaste

Week 52 – Creating Your Own Miracles

Today’s post stems from a conversation held earlier this week regarding blessings and luck, the major differences between the two, and how to create your own blessings.  In the conversation, we were discussing the terms “luck” versus “blessings.”  The obvious difference being that blessings are believed to come from a higher power or source while luck is usually thought to be merely happenstance or a chance occurrence of something happening.  We say, “Wow, what a blessing, you survived cancer.”  And we also at times say, “Wow, she’s so lucky, she won the million dollar jackpot.”  We tend to attribute “blessings” towards things that are more serious, like life/death experiences, landing the job you wanted when things were tight, etc.  While we lend luck to more frivolous things like a ball dropping through the hoop after it danced around the rim of the basket for a last minute score, or finding money on the ground that you really didn’t need, or pulling the ace of spades in a card game, and so on.  We tend to shun away from using the word luck as if it has some blasphemous connotation.  When a football kicker kicks the ball and it hits the upright and then deflects inside the upright and a score happens – is that a blessing or luck or simply good fortune?  Either way you see it, maybe we can all agree that with either of these terms, you’re put in a better position than you were previous be it luck, blessing, or good fortune.  But what we want to discuss today takes it a little further – we would like to discuss Creating Your Own Miracles.

“There are only two ways to live your life:  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle.”  — Albert Einstein

What is a Miracle?

The dictionary describes a miracle as “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.” When we think about a “miracle” happening we tend to look at an occurrence that stems beyond a blessing and certainly deeper than good fortune or luck.  A miracle is something that by all odds, was not supposed to happen.  It seems impossible to happen, then it happens.   When something miraculous takes place it is usually unexplainable, unexpected, and unanticipated.  It falls into the realm of the divine and oftentimes we simply say “Praise God.” So we don’t usually think of miracles as being able to happen every day in our lives. But they can!

What would constitute a miracle in your life? Think about it for a second.  What is it right now, at this very second, that would fall into the realm of a miracle for you?  More money, 100 pound weight loss, debt-free, a new career, cancer-free, world peace?  What would do it for you?

I only use sports as an analogy because it’s easy and relatable. But it amazes me how two sports teams can pray the sincerest, earnest prayer to God to beat the other team.  And then it comes down to the wire, score tied, and one team does something that by all standards seems to be a fluke (football hitting the upright, basketball goes in on impossible odds, the golfer hits a hole-in-one from an impossible distance).  Can these be considered miracles?

Of course we use the term miracle loosely at times, like being able to comfortably fit into that suit you’ve had for 15 years that you thought was too tight for you, or we discover the job of our dreams we didn’t know existed, or the vet tells us there’s an effective affordable treatment for our ailing dog.  IT’S A MIRACLE!!!  But even as minute as all this is on the grand scheme of things it doesn’t discount the wonder and marvel we feel.  Remember the definition of a miracle as a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws.

How can you create your own miracle? 

So the question becomes do we have any influence and impact on our miracle occurrences?  Can we increase the chances (if you will) of receiving a blessing?  Does it come from righteous behavior, prayer, obedient sacrificing to a higher power, charitable contributions, etc?  The answer is simple. Your life can be filled with miracles EVERYDAY!

Here’s the understanding you must have.

1. We are mostly and primarily spiritual beings. You are not your body or your emotions or your mind. Our inner, spiritual-being is unlimited. Therefore, what you are is also unlimited. 
2. Universal Law is impartial and unemotional. It will willingly gives you anything you believe in.
3. This is an attraction based world and Universe we live in. Nothing comes to you except by your attraction to it- both desired and undesired- through the powerful thought based concept of Law of Attraction.  You attract what you focus your attention on.
4. The biggest thing to know is that you have tremendous power within you that you can use whenever you choose to exercise it!

This being said.  How can you use the above understanding to create your own miracles?

First, believe that you in fact do have influence on your own miracles.  Moreover, you are the only influencer on your miracles.  You possess the greatest impact on your ability to have daily miracles occur in your life.  Start with this belief.

Second, write down on a piece of paper, in order of importance, the things and conditions you want. Do not let the mind “advise” you; it has limitations. Shoot for the moon, and be sure you leave nothing out. Chop and change your list until you are comfortable with it, but be clear about what you want. Use exact and precise wording to describe the conditions you require. Remember, the system (Universal Law) works, so you must be definite in the way you describe your wants. I would start with 1 to 3 things of desire.

Here is what you do: (1) Read your list three times a day — once when you rise, once in the middle of the day, and once before bed. (2) Meditate on your miracles from time to time, and KNOW that it has been received and is just about to deliver- EXPECT IT! (3) Maintain silence. Talking about your miracles dissipates the energy drastically. Therefore, you should not share your miracles with others until they happen. (4) Always act and think about your miracles as though you already have the conditions you desire.  This is the tough part because we’re only accustomed to feeling good when we have something to feel good about.  But when you can train yourself to put yourself in that feel good space BEFORE the miracle- the miracles will come.  (5) Be open and welcoming to communication from your inner inner-being as it instructs you in ways of getting what you want. Your heart’s desire can come from anywhere, so do not limit your field of expectation. Remain open and flexible at all times.

As we prepare to enter into a new year, let’s be miracle making power houses.  Lets’ no longer continue to let life just happen, creating by default.  Let’s start changing and creating our own realities and miracles with deliberate intent.

Peace

Week 51 – The 7 Keys of Life

 For a millennium people have discussed and pondered over ‘the secret of life.’ The true reality is, there are no secrets in life. Only that which we believe and that which we have forgotten. However, there are several ‘keys’ of life that can affect our authentic understanding of what life is, why we are here and what it is we are supposed to do while we are here. While there are many keys…today we will discuss 7.

1. You Are A Spiritual Being – in many religions we are taught that we have a soul. And depending how we live in this life will determine the outcomes for our souls.  While Align to Enlighten does not debate religion, we would like to augment this understanding. We are spiritual beings FIRST and foremost, having a human experience, second. What we ‘see’ in the mirror is not WHO we are but a literal reflection of our being. The body is fragile, temporal and has limitations. Our souls are powerful, eternal and have no bounds. When we embrace the understanding of the fact that we are ALL spiritual beings FIRST, we become immediately empowered. At that point, we realize, race, sex, creed, color, nationality, etc. do not matter. When we operate from the space of the soul, we ‘see’ far beyond what our eyes are translating to our brains. “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. The fundamental understanding of this first key sets the stage of life.
2. Mindfulness through Meditation – This world, our lives are filled to the brim with ‘noise.’ Noise surrounds us and bombards our minds for the majority of our days creating what we consider to be reality. Noise from work, noise from technology, literal noise from the radio, television, iPads, cell phones, etc. And then there’s the ‘noise’ of our perceptions and how we interpret those perceptions and make them ‘reality.’ Building from the first key, it is important to remain mindful in the midst of the noise. It is imperative to get back to your ‘home base’ which is your soul. At the core of your being is stillness. At the core of your being is peace. At the core of your being is complete understanding. But often times, we get caught up in the ‘noise’ of life and it drowns out the stillness, peace and complete understanding of our true being. Meditation…allows us to find that peace, stillness and understanding. Meditation is communion and communication with your soul. The TRUE you. The TRUE you that is at peace at all times no matter the noise around you. Through meditation, you remember who you TRULY are and you are able to TRULY see your situations, circumstances and challenges for what they actually are as opposed to what the ‘noise’ is telling you they are. Meditate frequently to remain grounded in your true self.
3. Manager of Your Perceptions – The 3rd key builds off the 2nd key. “The dream of life is really an illusion, and everybody lives in the reality he or she creates – a virtual reality that is only true for the one who creates it” – Miguel Ruiz. When we see or experience events such as a car accident, a tornado, a fire, etc. it’s obvious these things are very real to us. No question. But when we consider various situations and circumstances, especially in dealing with people, it is important to be that Manager of Your Perceptions. When we first understand WHO we truly are as spiritual beings where the core of who we are is peaceful, endearing, loving, compassionate, understanding, inviting, knowledgeable, etc. we put life’s everyday challenges into perspective. No individual event, situation or circumstance has ANY innate power over our natural being. They only have the power we assign to them. No more. No less. Therefore, as situations come up that seem to be challenging, DECIDE to step back, get quiet in meditation and reassess how you CHOOSE to perceive the situation as it is happening. The “reality” of the situation is whatever you DECIDE for it to be. This is how we become good Managers of Our Perceptions.
4. Allowance and Resistance – There are ONLY two things when dealing in life…allowance and resistance. At a young age, especially in America, we are taught to hustle and muscle things into place. “No pain no gain.” We are taught there must be some type of force on our part to MAKE things happen. Ironically, it is this type of mentality that keeps us stuck. This Key of Life, and the next, go hand and hand but allow us to define allowance and resistance first through example. Let’s say you really want a promotion on your job, and you’ve been working really hard to get it. Disclaimer: We should all take physical action for the things that make common sense. But the more you try to force it to be…the more elusive it becomes. Why? Because through your force, you are offering resistance to your promotions’ manifestation. We are giving the resistance the power. Allowance says, “express your desire to God, Source, Jehovah the Universe, etc. and simply rest in that desire and allow it to happen.” Think about how you feel when you are trying to make something happen. You are tense. Your blood pressure may rise. You are restricted. When we are restricted, movement is restricted. Manifestation is stumped. Our desires are slowed. Allowance is finding your centering place, being grounded, being at peace and allowing your desires to flow freely. Things flow with ease when we focus our attention on allowance.
5. Energy – The Law of Attraction – Every single thing in this world is vibrating energy. This is the way our eyes are able to see material things. Because these things are vibrating. Our world, our Universe is vibrating energy. And energy is attracted to like energy. Hence, The Law of Attraction. The energy we emit when we are in an allowance position, is positive and is aligned with our truest desires. This is how we turn thoughts into things. By allowing the energy to flow freely. “Everything is energy and that is all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you can not help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics” – Albert Einstein. Choosing the energy that dominates your everyday life, creates the current reality you experience. If you perpetually perceive Mondays as being ‘bad’…your energy will match that frequency…the Law of Attraction will deliver exactly what you created…’BAD’ MONDAYS. Choose the energy you want to emit to match the desire of your heart and you will create the reality you truly desire.
6. Passion and Purpose – In conjunction with the previous Keys of Life mentioned here, think about what you may be passionate about. What is the ONE thing you would do 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, EVEN if you didn’t get paid to do it? What is that? Have you taken time from the ‘noise’ to figure that out? Have you allowed yourself to contemplate that? Or have you drowned out the notion because the ‘reality’ you have created says you must pay these bills and not focus on a ‘pipe dream?’ True reality says, “you were put here on this earth for a reason.” Remember, you are a spiritual being FIRST having a human experience second. Your passions are breadcrumbs along the trail of life that lead to your purpose.  Allow yourself to explore what those passions are, without boundary of your ‘noisy perceptions’ and you will begin to set out on discovering and then living within your life’s purpose.
7. Create the World and the Reality You Desire – Everything…EVERY THING material that we see was once only a thought in someone’s head. Think about the iPhone 10 compared to rotary phones with cords from 30 years ago. Think about the Ford Model T compared to the all electric, luxury Tesla or big body Mercedes Benz of today. Think about the floor model black & white television with the nobs to change the channel to the 100″ curved screen, 4K televisions of today. EVERY THING material was once only a thought in someones mind. Do not discount the power of your imagination. Specifically to the desired reality for your life that is in your mind. YOU have the power to co-create worlds with God. If this were not true, God would not have blessed you with an imagination in the first place. WE perpetuate God’s creation through our imagination. All it takes is an understanding of who you truly are (Key #1), staying close to who you truly are (Key #2), not being affected by what we see as absolute reality (Key #3), recognizing and managing how we deal with situations through our allowance and resistance (Key #4), walking in the aligned energies of our desires (Key #5), searching for and embracing our passions with the understanding that they align with our life’s purpose (Key #6) and then leveraging our imagination to create the reality we truly desire (Key #7).

Live the life you desire to live. Not the life that is dictated to you by your situations, challenges or circumstances. You have the power to create whatever it is you desire. THIS is why God put you here…to perpetuate creation that is aligned with your purpose. These are the Keys of Life. Namaste

Week 50 – The Breaking Point

Does every human being have a breaking point? 

This question was posed to me this week from a very close friend of mine.  He asked if I thought that every human being had a breaking point.  My response to him was, it depends on what you call a “breaking point”.  He further clarified, that he meant giving up, no more fight, die, cease to exist, hopeless.

Needless to say I was taken aback.  Was this a cry for help?  Had my friend reached a point of no return in his mind?  He did not desire to communicate verbally with me over the phone and declined my offer to come to where he was to discuss his dilemma.  So we continued to exchange text messages until I felt he was in a safe place.

Which one of us has not been in this situation or one similar?  What does it mean when you find yourself saying—or thinking—”I can’t take this anymore.” We’ve all been there, but obviously these words don’t mean the same thing to every person.  It has always been intriguing to me how two people can respond to the exact same situation completely differently. People have different thresholds of what they can constructively withstand.  I get that.  And people reach their “breaking point” in different ways, according to their personalities, knowledge, and self-discipline. One person who balks under pressure may just stop responding entirely. Another person simmers, and then suddenly explodes. Everything depends on how you relate to stress, because reaching the breaking point happens when your ability to cope with stress breaks down, when you no longer feel you have what it takes to handle your current circumstance.

What is Stress? 

Alignment Alert!!!  Everything- EVERYTHING is always either about one of two things – allowance or resistance!  Anything that you’re currently going through, and anything that you will ever go through in the future is about your allowance or resistance-period. And it is the recognition and careful management of this truth that will empower you to successfully deal with stress as it arises.  Stress is resistance!

What is Resistance and What Am I Not Allowing?

When we use the terms “resistance” and “allowance” we’re talking about the resistance and /or allowance of well-being.  The natural way of this Universe is well-being.  When a cork is in the water it will naturally float until or unless something pulls it down.  Your natural way is to float!  Your own self-induced resistance is what pulls you under the water- always, 100% of the time, NO EXCEPTIONS!  And at any given point you and I are doing either one of the two. We’re either letting it in (allowing well-being) or we’re not (resisting well-being).   Stress is the disallowing or resisting of well-being.   And thank God that we’re given a tool from which to always be able to measure whether we are allowing or resisting well-being.  That tool is our own emotions and feelings – how we feel at any given moment is the primary indicator as to whether you’re allowing your cork to float or not.

So the question then becomes, why would I purposely offer resistance of my own well-being?  And the obvious answer is you would not “purposely” do that to yourself.  We all do this out of sheer ignorance.  We simply do not know we have the power and have not practiced consistently the art of alignment and allowance.  But once you know better, that you CAN change your reality literally at the drop of a dime, you now have complete control and influence over any and all circumstances and situations.

How Can I Tell if I Have Resistance?

The great thing about resistance is that it’s usually pretty obvious:  YOU FEEL ROTTEN!  But here’s the trick- there are levels of feeling rotten.  Sometimes you might feel just a wee bit “off” like you’re just not yourself, while other times you might be unbearably stressed, unhappy, or overwhelmed.  These are all shades of resistance in one form or another.  What happens usually is, when we feel that initial uneasiness, we tend to ignore it, and we don’t address resistance in the early stages.  So then it continues to manifest in larger degrees over time until we have no choice but to address it which sometimes results in a “breaking point” or at minimum, anxiety, depression, and other forms of negative energy.

Another sign of resistance is that nothing in your life seems to be going quite right.  Despite doing your best to focus on the great things you want to attract, there is very little movement and progress towards your true desires.  Even if you occasionally see some results, you still keep dipping back, in and out of an invisible set “point of attraction”.  You keep landing generally back where you’ve always been on certain subjects like money, relationships, health, and so on.  If you have been consistently working on any of these areas but can’t seem to get anywhere, the culprit is resistance.

How Can I Release Resistance and Start Allowing More?     

The answer to this question is simpler than you think.  Just stop doing the things that keep your cork from floating.  Stop offering resistance and you will naturally allow well-being.  Remember the natural flow of the Universe is Well-being.  So your job is only to practice letting it in.  and you can do that by trying these 3 things:

1. Mediation, Mediation, Mediation. A consistent practice of mediation is key.  It doesn’t take long (a minimum of 15 minutes); first thing upon awakening for best results.  But the key is consistency.  Meditation puts you ahead of the game and allows you to release resistance before it ever even comes.  Just sit quietly every day for 5 minutes.
2. Appreciation and Gratitude. When you feel some minimal resistance arising, immediately shift your focus and attention on something you appreciate.  No matter how small or how large.  Best practice is to choose something that is invaluable like the sunlight, fresh air, the beauty of nature, or anything like these.  Also, find something to be grateful for regarding the circumstance your in.  That’s right.  Look for a reason to appreciate something in the midst of the situation.  Appreciation automatically and instantly raises you vibration, as long as you don’t revert back to previous negative thoughts.
3. Don’t focus on what is. Make it your deliberate intention, your primary purpose, your ultimate aim and mission, to release the attachment, fixation, and addiction on focusing on what is!  Of course, sometimes we do have to attend to things that are facing us head on at the moment.  But we should only focus on the current circumstance only as long as it takes to come up with a solution.  That’s it!  Then move on in the positive expectation that your current circumstance is now old news, because it is.  Focus your entire attention on what you want, and how you want the circumstance to be.  Create new “TRUTHS” in every area of your life – and change your powerful perceptions as a result.

While there is a preventive approach to releasing resistance which is pretty much what we’ve mentioned above.  There’s also a treatment approach which is what most people are forced to do, because they didn’t address the resistance early on or even before it started.  If you find yourself smack dab in the middle of the an overwhelming circumstance and you feel yourself reaching what might be a “breaking point” here’s what you do:

Don’t panic!   Nine times out of ten, the situation is not as dire as it’s being presented in the mind.  We tend to make circumstance and situations way worse than they need to be.  And even if it is really “bad”, panicking will not help, and will only worsen the situation.   When I find myself at a critical point, I like to use the acronym S.T.O.P– Stop what I’m doing immediately; Take a step back, and Take some deep breaths; Observe the situation or circumstance for what it is, no more, no less, and then Proceed from an aligned space of power.   After you do this, if you feel better and resistance free, fine, go on about your business. But understand that the circumstance has not gone anywhere and your negative emotions and feelings of powerlessness while often times resurface.  So this portion can be used for immediate circumstances, but then you most certainly will have to begin practicing the prior steps 1-3.

Once you learn to recognize the feeling of resistance, and once you know how to release it, your life will never be the same.  You will now know how to spend more of your time focusing purely on your heart’s desires you wish to attract, and they can manifest much more quickly and easily.  And most important – YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A BREAKING POINT EVER AGAIN!

Peace!

 

Week 49 – Disempowering Disappointment

 First off, Align to Enlighten would like to say THANK YOU. We thank you for taking the time to read our blog posts, ask questions, leave comments and otherwise interact with our intended positive movement for humanity. As individuals, we are single drops of water. But collectively, we are an ocean of humanity. So, thank you.

For 2017 we’ve created themes for each month throughout this year in an effort to address life’s everyday challenges while offering positive insights and pragmatic solutions. In January our theme for the month was Accepting and Finding Comfort in YOU. We moved to February with A Conversation About Relationships and then March was Reclaiming Your Inspiration. We continued in April with The Power of Gratitude and Appreciation and followed that with Honoring Humanity in May. In June we touched on The Real Keys to Success in Life, July was Creating Abundance In Your Life and in August we tackled Adversity. In September we focused on Clarity. In October we delved deep into The Black and White of Racism and we just wrapped November on a very joyful note with, Learning to Live Happily Ever After. It’s been an amazing year to say the least. And we appreciate those of you who have traveled with us along this journey in 2017. For December, we want to close out the year with more of an open discussion. We speak to people throughout our days and we receive questions from people asking how to deal with certain things that come up. So during the month of December, we want to open this up to an overall conversation. December’s theme is December Discussions and is open to any and all topics. So if you have a question, want an answer, a specific topic, please feel free to “comment” and let us know. This week, we will kick things off with Dis-empowering Disappointment.

This week in the news Senate Republicans passed a sweeping tax bill that cuts taxes for Corporations and the wealthy but where does that leave the bulk of Americans? Matt Lauer was fired for sexual misconduct. Russel Simmons stepped down because of the same. We found out that slavery is alive in Libya. Kim Jong-un launched another missile which brings us that much closer to war. The list goes on and these things may spark concern, worry or disappointment, depending on who you are. But that’s happening in the outside world. What about the world that’s closer to home for you?

Your co-worker threw you under the bus. Your kids are not doing well in school. Your spouse completely let you down. Your business partner is not living up to what you thought she would be. Your pastor said something inappropriate or uncaring in the pulpit. You didn’t get the promotion you so hoped for. We are constantly surrounded by people, circumstances, situations and scenarios that do not live up to our expectations. We live in a world  where disappointment has taken up permanent residence.   Disappointment is that annoying relative or neighbor who shows up, unannounced, at the worst times. Disappointment is that unwanted guest. Disappointment intrudes on our otherwise happy day simply to rain on our parade. We are perpetually disappointed in people, in circumstances and in situations. But the question is, why are we? Answer: “Because I had my hopes up for xyz to happen and it didn’t!” Or “I’m disappointed because I EXPECTED so-and-so to not do me like that!” Or perhaps, “I’m let down because I had a ‘good thing’ going.” These things tend to affect our mood, our dispositions and our emotions. We begin to take on the weight of the disappointment. The more we embrace the disappointment, the heavier it becomes. The heavier it weighs on us. On our emotions. On our disposition. It truly and literally feels heavy. It becomes harder for us to dig out of it and get back to the happy and joyous disposition we love. So…WHAT…do…you…do to dis-empower disappointment? Change your perspective. Change your expectations.

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change” – Wayne Dyer

Every single person on earth has an individual perspective. This is vitally important to remember when dis-empowering disappointment within yourself, especially when being disappointed by people. Every person’s perspective is as unique as their fingerprint. So when they “let us down” it’s actually a reflection of your own unique perspective and expectation that is not being met. NOT the other person’s perspective or expectation. “So what does that mean? Are we not supposed to have expectations of people?” It doesn’t mean that at all. It means when people don’t respond or act the way you expect them to, change your perspective or expectation to match that of the person you are having this relationship with. It doesn’t mean you change what your perspective or expectations are of the situation. In other words, your wife disappoints you or let’s you down. For WHATEVER the reason. Simply know that your wife has her own set of perspectives and expectations. And they are not wrong. They belong to her. So accept that about her and adjust your perspective on how you will love her. It doesn’t mean she let you down so you stop loving her completely because your perspectives don’t align. When we understand this, we relieve ourselves of disappointment in people. Stop weighing them on YOUR scale. When you weigh someone on your personal scale, they will never stack up to your personal expectation. Why? Because each individual has their very own set of personal perspectives and expectations.

When considering situations or circumstances outside of people, but things that happen in everyday life that disappoint, consider this: situations and circumstances are not endowed with innate power. In other words, situations and circumstances alone carry no weight. The only weight they carry is the weight WE give them. No situation has the innate power to ruin your life. Let me provide an example. I know a man who worked in Corporate America. He attended a holiday party around this time of the year back in 2011. The man left the party, having exactly two drinks, crashed his car, killed a woman in doing so, tested positive for alcohol and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The man was a successful mid-level manager, married with two children. He had a promising career. After several months of incarceration, the man and his wife made a decision. They made a decision that THIS would not be the end of their lives as individuals, as a couple or as a family. They decided to change their perspective regarding the situation and what they expected out of life. They chose to dis-empower disappointment! They chose to create a new reality and maintain their expectation of happiness with one another.

How we CHOOSE to manage disappointment empowers our lives. We can choose to let people, situations, circumstances, etc. have the power over us emotionally and spiritually, while commanding our dispositions. OR we can decide to be empowered regarding how we choose to see people, situations and circumstances and regain the power they are trying to take away from us. When we make the choice, at that moment, we have disengaged, debilitated and dis-empowered any type of disappointment.  And we have chosen to empower ourselves.

Week 48 – The Honeymoon Effect

Create heaven here on Earth while you live!

So this is week four of our theme this month of Learning to Live Happily Ever After.  Just to recap, we opened this dialogue by discussing how learning to live happily ever after is more about a state of being and not a destination, and that it takes practice.  We talked about how we create the enchanted world fairytales are made of by paying attention, being aware, and by finding joy and gratitude in the little things of life. In week two we described how learning to live happily ever after involves letting go of conditions you think you have to have in order to be happy.  We talked about how most importantly, living happily is inside, internal work.  Then last week we discussed sustaining happiness through alignment, and how living forever happy is about living deliberately in accordance with what you truly desire in life. For this, our fourth and final week, we want to provide a “how to” approach to living happily ever after.

Think about the moment in time when you felt the most exhilarating feeling you ever felt.  Remember that one event where it seemed time stopped, and for that moment nothing else mattered, I mean nothing.  The day or period in your life that you wished would never end.  Maybe it was your first child being born, graduating from high school or college, or perhaps it was the night of your honeymoon. For most, these are times of heartfelt bliss, enormous excitement, and abundant energy. Life was so beautiful that you couldn’t wait to jump out of bed in the morning to experience more.  The future was bright and filled with possibilities.  Imagine what our lives in this world would be like if we could maintain the “honeymoon effect” throughout our whole lives and is this even possible?

What happened that, the bliss we experienced during these episodes was so short lived? What happened that we lost our zeal and excitement?

Here’s exactly what happened.  Somebody convinced us that fairytales don’t come true.  Somebody convinced us that life was supposed to be a hard struggle and made us feel guilty about being happy, joyful, and at peace. Somebody told us, “if you’re not struggling, shame on you, life is supposed to be hard.” They made us believe that somehow if we were happy that something was wrong with us.

We here at Align to Enlighten are here to tell you – THEY LIED!!

Fairy-tales do come true, your honeymoon does not need to end, you CAN create heaven here on earth, and you CAN live happily ever after, right now!

So how do you do it, starting now, starting today?

1. Decide for yourself that you in fact do desire to live a life of continuous happiness. Do this silently and aloud first thing in the morning upon waking, before you do anything else- affirm to yourself this affirmation:  “It is my dominant and deliberate intention everyday, no matter the circumstance or situation, to be happy.”  MAKE THE DECISION TO BE HAPPY EVERY DAY!  You do have a choice on being happy or not.  You get to decide whether you’re going to be happy every day of your life or whether you’re going to allow some-THING or some-BODY to be the reason for your unhappiness.
2. Spend some time alone every day to connect with your inner self and to ask your higher power for guidance. You can call this meditation, ME-time, or whatever you choose.  The point is to take a minimum of 15 minutes (longer if you can) and sit in complete silence.
3. Look for things to appreciate and be grateful for. These should be things that are priceless and don’t cost a dime.  Like the sunlight, fresh air, the beauty of nature, children’s play and laughter, etc.  Intentionally look and you will most certainly find.
4. Determine your purpose! What are you in this human form to experience and to be? Look for as many opportunities as you can find to be of service to someone or something.  Find ways you can give more of yourself your family, to the community and world at large.  This will create a bliss of joy you couldn’t imagine.  We are made to serve one another and give and share love, and when you find ways to do so on a consistent basis, the happiness you’ll experience will be unmatched.

Learning to live happily ever after comes from inside. It’s all about YOU, no one else.  It’s about making the decision, and practicing daily, every day all throughout the day to be happy.  Making conscious choices with that main objective in mind.  Living happily ever after comes from knowing yourself, accepting yourself as you are, forgiving any perceived faults and living life on your terms, and particularly ON PURPOSE AND WITH PURPOSE!

 

 

Week 47 – Sustaining Your Happiness through Alignment –

 Have you ever been trying to live your “happily ever after” but someone seems to ALWAYS want to take it away from you? Have you ever been having a GREAT day, but someone wants to intrude on your joy and try to shut down your happiness? Does it seem like certain people simply “have it out for you” and look to try and take away what you are building??? Don’t we become frustrated with these types of people? Try to avoid them? Bristle up whenever we know they are coming around? Get “mentally prepared” for the drama? Get “physically prepared” for the battle that is inevitably coming? We are expecting there to be a “war” that will take us away from the happiness we are seeking to sustain. Why? Because we know this is how these people like to act. We ALL know people who seem to find their happiness in chaos. They seem to thrive on the drama of life. They don’t seem to be satisfied unless some “mess” is jumping off. We all know them. We may live with them. We may work with them. They may even be us…

So, in Learning to Live Happily Ever After, how do we avoid these people, so they don’t wreck our joy? How do we change these people, so we don’t have to continue with their drama? Or how do we make them stop? The answer is…we don’t. In Learning to Live Happily Ever After, we find alignment within ourselves first and foremost. We find alignment within ourselves first, middle and last. We find alignment within ourselves at ALL times, to determine the level of happiness we want to maintain. Determining your alignment is first about determining WHAT and HOW you WANT to feel. And then CHOOSING to feel that way. No matter the circumstance. This doesn’t mean that you suppress feelings and ignore circumstances as if they don’t exist. That’s silly. But what it means is, authentically “seeing” situations, circumstances, people, etc. for what they are and for who they are and then determining what effect, if any, you will allow them to have on what you set out to feel in the first place.

Often times, when we are faced with a cchallenginghallenging person or a challenging situation, we allow those things to affect our moods and our emotions. We (Align to Enlighten) would like to offer you this: Take in the situation, the challenge; feel what you feel when confronted with it, and immediately DECIDE how you WANT to feel next. The ONLY thing we control in this world…is how we choose to feel. And we can choose to change that feeling at the drop of a dime simply by how we choose to be aligned. Allow me to provide some examples…

If you have decided to be happy today. And your mate says or does something that angers you. The next decision you make is completely yours on how you decide to feel. Do you WANT to remain angry for the rest of the day? Or do you WANT to get back to the happiness you decided to feel in the first place? You are not so completely out of control of your emotions that you MUST remain upset for the rest of the day. You have complete control over the choices you make in deciding how you want to feel. However, sometimes it IS hard to flip back to being happy when someone has made you angry. And many times, it’s NOT a light switch that you can flip on and off. Our emotions do not work like that most times. Think of it more like a “dimming-switch” you have on your lights. You gradually turn the lights up to get them back to full illumination. One way, in this example of your mate making you angry, to do that is reach for a thought that gives you pleasure about your mate. In the midst of them making you angry and you deciding to CHOOSE to be happy, what one thing can you think of that you are grateful for regarding your mate? Ask yourself and then answer that question. Literally. In that moment, you have increased the light on your “dimming-switch” and a little more illumination has come over your emotions. Keep reaching for thoughts like that and you will find the light becomes increasingly brighter until you are back to the happiness you wanted in the first place. You will be back in alignment with your true desire…to be happy.

In the midst of tragedy, the same holds true. Heartache, pain, suffering, emotional turmoil…happen. But if/when it does, we don’t have to be emotionally bound and gagged by it. We don’t have to be a slave to the heartache, pain and suffering. It doesn’t mean you become immune and callous to what you feel. It means you become empowered to make a different emotional choice. If someone close to you passes away, if your home becomes flooded, if a fire destroys your belongings, whatever the case may be, remember the “dimming-switch” of your emotions. Purposefully seek a higher-feeling emotion in the midst of whatever is happening and CHOOSE to focus on that thing. Someone passes away…what are the fond memories that make you feel good at that moment? Your home becomes flooded…what can you look forward to in regards to what will happen next? Will insurance provide you with brand new carpeting? New floors? New paint? A fire destroys your belongings…look forward to creating new memories, new happiness and new nostalgia. It’s a “dimming-switch” to help you pull your emotion from darkness to light. And it simply takes one thought at a time. Create that thought that focusses on one small piece of happiness at a time. Then add another and focus on it. Then another and another and another. Until you have brought yourself back into alignment with your fundamental desire of happiness.

When Learning to Live Happily Ever After there is no pixy dust to sprinkle over your life. It doesn’t imply living some type of facade or fallacy. Learning to Live Happily Ever After is about living deliberately in accordance with what you truly desire in life. When we learn that the only thing we control is how we FEEL, we become empowered to direct the happiness in our lives…on command.

Week 46 – Living Happily WITHOUT Conditions

There are people today that are living in what would certainly be considered the best of times and they are utterly miserable, with no outside force doing anything to them. And there are those living in far worse circumstances that are joyful and thriving. How is this possible?  Because “thriving” or better yet living happily ever after is an inside job.

Living happily ever after, for some, is having all the success that you were born to have; and by success we mean alignment, joy, peace, clarity and everything that follows, which is everything you desire.  One important factor to all this is, understanding that you are a vibrational being first and foremost, and that the entire Universe too.  And to understand that the way you feel is vital to understanding what your vibrational output is.  The answer is learning to pay attention to the way you feel, thus controlling your vibrational output, to attract and extract more of what you want.

How do you figure that out?  By realizing that it is not about what is happening outside of you. It’s all about what’s happening inside. We’ve all heard others and have said ourselves things like, “it’s not about what happens to you, it’s about your reaction to what happened.” We say, “if you will start controlling the way you feel, then your reaction will be in your control too.” Then nothing in all of this Universe could do anything but support, soothe, and satisfy you.

We cannot discuss living happily ever after without taking into account unconditional love and unconditional living—Living a joyous life, and finding the peace and happiness you seek without needing any condition to be in place or out of place.   This is the exercise of life!

The standard of living happily ever after isn’t the things we acquire, the money we earn, the mate we have, or any other condition.  It is absolutely and unequivocally the amount of joy you feel.  The formula is so simple.  What you focus on you get more of.  That’s really it.  When you hone in, internally on that which brings you the most joy, you begin to attract more circumstances that make you joyful.   But it’s about the feeling!  The moment you decide to make it your overriding mission in life to live happily ever after based on how you feel, then you will experience a life beyond compare.

Alignment Alert:  You can’t put conditions on your being happy!  For example, a dollar amount.  Most people think that if they had just the right amount of money in the bank that they most certainly could and would be very, very happy.  And they would be correct.  Having disposable income and the freedom and flexibility it brings will undoubtedly add joy to your life.  But only temporarily. You wouldn’t have to worry about paying bills, wouldn’t have to be worried about budgeting so much, etc.  However, this would last as long as it takes for you to level out to where you were prior to the money.  If you require a certain amount of money before you are happy, you’re living a life based on satisfying a condition.  This is dangerous.  Because conditions always have the potential to change, and your sustained happiness, if based on conditions, will also fluctuate.  This type of living, based on not having enough, or lack, causes you to attract more of the same…not enough or a greater sense of lack.

I have found myself to be one who, for the most part, is primarily upbeat and optimistic.  Even in the worst times of my life, I have always, generally speaking, been able to level out to a space of happiness, albeit sometimes it took longer than others to arrive there.  For this reason I know, I have attracted more of what matches my positive nature.  And although financial wealth has been and still is a goal, it is secondary to simply having a joyful life experience, which is independent of the money.  Sure I have been blessed.  I have acquired many things in life, have fallen in and out of love many times over, and have traveled to and seen many exotic and beautiful places.  So which came first, the chicken or the egg, so to speak?  Did I have the joy that attracted the things or did I acquire the things that brought me the joy.  Unequivocally, the joy and happiness came first.  Because here’s the thing, you can never get to a happy place taking an unhappy journey.  You’ll only eventually return to your unhappy place you were in when you started.

I remember years ago, I had a financial goal of having a certain amount of liquid cash in the bank.  I acquired that amount. Then I acquired my dream vehicle, the SUV I’d always desired for years. I drove it off the showroom floor!  Then, I was afforded the luxury of expensive travel experiences to foreign lands.  I cannot begin to tell you the enormous amount of ebullience I felt.  There was no feeling up to that point that could match setting those goals and watching them come to fruition.  Then a strange thing happened.  After maybe six months or so of feeling the joy that came from having these things, I petered out.  I leveled back out to the way I felt prior to the acquisition of the things.  Wait a minute!   What happened?  I still had my dream vehicle.  I had even more money in the bank. I was very much enjoying my travel experiences.  So why did I not feel the same exuberance I felt initially.  Because the joy and happiness I sought after did not reside in the material things.  My ability for living happily ever after has always resided within me!

 

 

Week 45 – Learning to Live Happily Ever After

 When we consider our childhood and all of the stories that were shared regarding enchanted forests, fairy tales and happily-ever-afters they may seem like the simple naivety of a child or a distant memory of make-believe. After all, we live in a world of fast cars, high rent, over worked/under paid, late payments, mortgages, credit card debt and unrealized happiness. Unless it’s the weekend! Right? THAT’S when we find some happiness. Some freedom to let loose! Time to put the rat-race on pause and let our hair down because we have suddenly found the freedom to locate our happiness. We thank GOD for Friday and turn around and curse Him on Monday. We’re busy. Gotta go! Too much going on. Stay focused. Get ahead. Get yours cause I got mine. I’m just trying to make it. Keep my head up and my nose clean. “Ain’t nobody got time fa dat!” We do these things and chase our material dreams in search of a manufactured happiness. A replica. A mold or model. A simulation. But we don’t find the real thing. That type of happiness is fleeting. Short-lived. Temporary. So HOW do we create sustained happiness in our lives? Join Align to Enlighten during the month of November as we discuss Learning to Live Happily Ever After.

Being “enlightened” is simply about being aware of authentic truth at all times. That’s what enlightenment is and what it is about. As we discuss ways of Learning to Live Happily Ever After this month, one of the first things we want to share is…be enlightened. Enlightenment is not a destination where you have an ultimate “arrival.” Enlightenment is a state of being. A state of being that takes practice. The exercise never ends. But your enlightenment continues to grow the more you engage it. The more you pay attention to it, tend to it, nurture it, practice it, the more you become aware of what is authentically true to you. So, it is important to be mindful, aware, centered, grateful, in-the-moment, etc. because these are the tools that keep us enlightened.

Finding sustained happiness is a result of finding and practicing enlightenment in our lives. As I drive to work on the 5 Freeway and I see the bumper to bumper traffic, people on cell phones, others applying makeup or yelling at their kids or simply looking straight ahead, seemingly oblivious to their overall surroundings, I wonder…”what’s on your mind?” Are you being mindful, aware, centered, grateful and in-the-moment? Or are you a mental and spiritual zombie. A zombie, going through the motions without thought because this is the routine you are accustomed to. Thoughtless mental muscle memory that pushes you forward while your creativity lies dormant. These are things I think about. Then I look out beyond the traffic and I see the bright, blue sky, the mountains in the distance and the array of beautiful green trees that surround me. I open the windows of my car and feel the cool, gentle breeze and I can faintly smell the ocean across my nose. I see the birds flying high above me as if they don’t have a care in the world while gliding on the wind. I become caught up in the moment and the beauty that surrounds me…and I can’t…help…but…smile. At THAT moment…I’m living happily ever after.

I come home, kiss my wife, inquire about her day. Sit with my children and listen to their excitement as they tell me about the newest level they’ve made it to on a video game and how Gortex has been defeated and now they must battle his brother to the death in order to win the game. Or how there was an epic kickball game at school but Kim cheated because she didn’t touch 2nd base and refused to go back. Or how hard the test was in Social Science and nobody got number 13 correct because it was SOOOOO hard! And the entire time, the dog is in the middle of it all…ball in his mouth…tail wagging so much it may fall off. In looking at these people as they share, I see they are finding enjoyment in sharing their day and their experiences with ME. And in their enjoyment…I find myself living happily ever after.

I go into the kitchen thinking, okay…time to make dinner. And as I prepare whatever it is I have decided for the day, I begin to prepare to cook. I pull out meat, vegetables, cutting board, pots, pans, dishes, etc. knowing I’ve been at work all day and this is going to take another hour at least to cook for my family when I’d probably rather be sitting on my couch watching the game. But once I start, I begin to feel the love I am putting into this meal that will fill the bellies and provide comfort to my family. I put more love and take more care into what I’m doing to ensure their taste buds, their stomachs their sense of fulfillment and security, will be satisfied. The thought of that…makes me happy. And I realize…I’m living my happily ever after.

Happily ever after is not a destination. It is a state of being. And by paying attention, being aware, and finding gratitude, joy, love and happiness in the little things of life, we create the enchanted world that fairy tales are made of. Similar to enlightenment…happily ever after is not some destination but a state of being that takes practice. The exercise never ends. But your happiness continues to grow. The more you pay attention to it, tend to it, nurture it, practice it, the more you become aware of the happiness that surrounds you. When we are mindful, aware, centered, grateful, in-the-moment, etc. our happily ever after does not elude us. Our happily ever after becomes a part of our everyday lives.

During the month of November, we will explore and share many different ways of finding and sustaining happiness within our lives. Join us as we teach, Learning to Live Happily Ever After.

Week 44 – The Racism Revolution, E-RACE IT!

Just a quick recap of the past 4 weeks of our discussion on The Black and White of Racism:

The first week we talked about the cause, effect, and briefly touched on the cure for racism.  We discussed racism and its correlation with energy.  The second week we wrote an open letter to racism, exposing its cowardice, disempowering its effect and influence.  We talked about how when racism surfaces, you and I have a decision to make whether or not we will engage in the dance or not.  We stated emphatically that, world peace begins with your own reality and the peace you create within your own world.  In the third week we discussed the role that both the victimizer and the victim play in any discriminatory scenario, and how racism is no different. We talked about how in order to see something different regarding racism, we must start addressing it from the causative problem solving approach, and address it from a proactive, creative position instead of responding and reacting position.  Then in week four we established a New Modern Day Civil Rights Movement and described how empathy, expectation, and empowerment can effect racism in a more powerful and sustained way.  We differentiated between the civil right movement of years past and this the new modern day civil rights movement, and how energy and expectation play more of a role than anything else.

We would like to conclude this series on racism with two brief and personal stories.  These stories will show how energy and emotion are two of THE key factors always in play with racism and how the non-physical is much more powerful than the physical.

About three years ago, I was working for a home health agency, providing therapy services.  I had been assigned a patient who needed occupational therapy.  This patient also required skilled nursing, physical therapy, and nurse aide assistance.  The racial breakdown of the therapist were 2 black (myself and the nursing aide); and 2 white (the registered nurse and the physical therapist).  The patient was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and was being cared for by her daughter, so all of the scheduled visits were done through the daughter as the patient’s cognitive status would not allow her to engage appropriately.  After the services had started and all clinicians were scheduled and arriving at different times throughout the day and week, a strange thing happened.  One day, seemingly out of the blue, the daughter instructed the nursing aide to start entering and exiting the premises through the back door, at the back of the house.  Yes, you heard me, the professional service provider who was coming to the home to help make the person’s life better, was asked or rather instructed to come and go through the back door of the house.  For those unfamiliar, it was common practice on the plantation of the slave owner to instruct the slave to enter and exit through the “servant door” and to reside in the “servant quarters” which was usually located behind the house.   My co-worker, recognizing what she was experiencing was livid!   She became very emotional, took the situation to our superior, and it became a big deal.  She never returned to the home.  I, having witnessed this whole occurrence, also became very emotional about the situation.  It made me extremely angry.  Although it was not my personal immediate experience, I empathized with my co-worker.  I shared her pain.  I talked about the situation for weeks and weeks with any and everybody that would listen, even long after it was over because of the tremendous injustice I felt had taken place.  And when I talked about what happened, I did so with great emotion and passion fueled with anger and pain, saying things like, “if that would have happened to me, I would have done such and such.”

So, true to its basis, Law of Attraction, gave me exactly what my attention was on, exactly what I secretly feared, and exactly where my energy was.   About three weeks past the situation that occurred and about a month into this whole treatment assignment with the patient, the daughter very politely and respectfully, with such care, asked ME if  I would start coming and going through the back door.  Yes!  I had attracted the very same scenario into my own personal experience.  This is an attraction based world and universe.  Nothing ever comes uninvited!

The lesson is clear.  Last week we posed the question:  Why do we let someone else’s experience define our expectations?  “If it is not your reality, I’m not saying ignore it. What I’m saying is, continue to create the peace you seek through your vision and expectation. And share THAT with others to assist that vision in growing. Be involved in the creation of YOUR reality.”  (From Week 43 – The Modern Day Civil Rights Movement).  Oh yeah,  of course I did not go through any back door but rather used the opportunity to educate and teach the daughter on a few things and I kept it moving.  And I realized that anytime you match expectation with powerful emotion and energy, there will always be a physical manifestation.

The second story happened more recently.  After hanging out one night coming home pretty late, I was stopped by the police.  The officer stated he pulled me over because I could not be texting and driving, that that was against the law (driving while distracted).  It should be noted here that this was the third time I’d been stopped for the same infraction, so suffice to say I had established a vibration about the subject that was counterintuitive to my desire.  I stated to the officer I was not texting, that I was about to play some music.  He said whatever I was doing with my phone while driving, I cannot do.  So we went through all the formalities, license, registration, insurance, etc.

It is very important to also note that my mood and disposition was extremely good, and that I had also been intentionally and deliberately cleaning up my vibration regarding police for a couple of years now, so that vibrationally speaking, I was in the best space one could be in regarding a situation like this.

Having said that here are the chain of events that took place succinctly after I gave the officer my information.  The officer took my information and said “I am not going to give you a ticket, just a warning.”  He went to his car to run a check on everything then returned to my vehicle and said, “I have good news and bad news.  The good news is you won’t be getting a ticket.  The bad news is I have to take you in to custody.”  WHAT!?!?!  He stated that apparently I had missed a court appearance on another traffic violation (I think for the other “driving while distracted” ticket­)  And that a warrant had been issued for my arrest.

By that time, per protocol, he’d called another officer on scene.  The arresting officer then proceeds to tell me what his intentions are.  He stated, “with your permission, we can drive your truck up the street to the church parking lot, secure it there, so that you’re not impounded.”  Yes, the police decided not have my vehicle impounded and drove it to a church lot and secured it, you read this correctly!  Once he took me down to the precinct they told me my bond was $150.00 and that I had to have the correct dollar amount to post that night or I would have to wait until morning.  I did not have the exact amount. I had well over that amount and needed exactly thirty two dollars with what I already had.

What happened next was like a dream to me.  As I stood there feeling good, in a state of complete allowance, and simply going with the flow of this process, a wonderful thing happened.  I watched as people emptied their pockets, wallets, and purses, one collaborating with the other, anteing up on the exact dollar amount needed for me to go home.  It was if these people were fairies of the Universe, angels if you will, acting in concert on my behalf at that moment in time.  I said nothing as I witnessed this.  It was beautiful and humbling to observe.  Once they had the amount needed for my bond, they continued on with the process and released me.  Then, the last thing that happened was that the arresting officer drove me back to my truck where this all started and I was home all in less than an hour.

Now was this luck, or a blessing, or simply the way this particular officer and police department does things, or, or, or?   It is my dominant belief that I impacted and influenced this situation before it even occurred, so that when it did occur, the best possible outcome transpired.  It is my dominant belief that my practiced and sustained vibration that I know I’ve been working on for about two years regarding the subject of police and law enforcement directly affected this outcome. This had the potential to go any number of different ways.  If my knee-jerk response had been one of having the perception of being harassed, treated unfairly, etc., even if I was justified, my energy would have been much different and this probably would’ve had a completely different ending.

This is not about having a good attitude we’re talking about here, although your vibration and attitude go hand and hand.  We’re talking about changing or better yet affecting, impacting, and influencing the mindset and energy of another human being and the world at large by attuning purposely to your vibration.  Racism can and will end!  But we must take a different approach than we ever have.  We must take an energy approach, starting within ourselves.  Look at what’s transpiring, launch the desire you wish to see, and BE that desire by thought, word, and deed!  All it takes is one.

 

 

Week 43 – The Modern Day Civil Rights Movement

 If you know anything about American History, you are familiar with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. We had so many great leaders, famous and otherwise, who banned together for the betterment of our humanity. From Marie Foster, who advocated for women’s rights to vote to Rosa Parks who was the catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. From Medgar Evers, who worked to overturn segregation at the University of Mississippi before he was assassinated by white supremacists to James Baldwin, renowned author and poet. From Malcolm X, dynamic speaker and advocate for African-American equality to Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most powerful and influential voices of our time who led the charge for black activism and civil rights in America. There have been numerous leaders and inspired groups of people to help push our country forward. They were relentless in their efforts and we all should be grateful. The countless sit-ins, demonstrations and marches helped to propel change in our country. They were beaten, spat upon, stabbed, shot and killed, all in the name of the desire for civil rights equality in America. So, as we discuss The Black and White of Racism this month let us not forget the struggles of those who came before us. But let us also not forget, we have a responsibility to carry the legacy forward. The responsibility of carrying the expectation of justice and equality forward. The responsibility of actively being a part of the solution, lest we perpetuate the problem. So, what does the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement look like? We offer that it doesn’t look like the Civil Rights Movement of the past. And it doesn’t look like the modern-day activities we currently see in the present.

What do we want? And better yet, how do we plan to achieve it? Are we looking for a modern-day Martin Luther King Jr? Are we in search of the next Malcolm X? Are we mimicking the Black Panther Party with Black Lives Matter? Are we looking, waiting, dreaming for a “savior” to bring us out of the wilderness? Our modern day Civil Rights Movement is within each of us as individuals. No one is coming to “save” us. No one is coming to the “rescue.” We have an active decision to make. Save yourself. Save your reality. Create what it is you desire. Be aligned with that desire. Be proactive with what you expect instead of reacting to what you see. Sheep are led. Wolves lead. “I Have a Dream” is not simply a famous speech. “I Have a Dream” was an expectation of a desired reality. A vision that was held and constantly aligned with one man. MLK believed and expected the words of his speech to manifest way before the words were ever uttered. That turned into a movement and subsequently a reality. Each of us have that same God-given power and ability. The power and ability to create the desires within our hearts to manifest the realities we expect.

The Breakdown: The breakdown between the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s compared to where we are today is, somewhere along the line, the African-American community became complacent in our creation. Meaning, after countless laws were passed outlawing segregation, discrimination and several other civil injustices, did we all not seemingly relax? Did we all not have a sense of “arrival?” That everything was good because we could ride in the front of the bus, sit at the counters to eat like everyone else, use the same bathrooms, vote? Did we all not become complacent in the creation? Did we all not simply…stop…creating? We were expectant. That’s for sure. We were expectant that we would sit at those counters, use those bathrooms, vote, etc. and that became and remains our reality. But the breakdown comes when we are expectant, but we didn’t and don’t continue to create. We become stagnant, stale, motionless, quiet and still. The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s was focused, consistent and diligent. It was moving…forward…constantly. The masses of people had a focused energy on sustained change. That was the expectation. It was proactive in function. Not only reactive in emotion. Somewhere along the lines, we relaxed. We stopped moving mentally. There was no need to maintain such a high focus on equality because we had “arrived.” However, the other forces of racism, bigotry and inequality continued to feed their vision. Continued to move forward with the hate. Continued to be focused on their desired outcome of separation and segregation. It was never abolished or eradicated. It was only muted for a time. And now, it has caught up. Now it has a very strong voice. Now, African-Americans and those who abhor racial inequality are reacting to something in disgust that we all thought was squashed after legislation and laws were passed that denounced it. While we thought we’d arrived and thought we’d overcome, the hatred remained focused.

Empathy, Expectation and Empowerment: A passive expectation is the same as having no expectation. When considering the Law of Attraction, expectation becomes a foundational pillar of manifestation. The Law of Attraction states, what we focus on, expands. When we reflect on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, there was a collective focus on equality and inclusion. That collective focus created an expectation. That expectation was realized. The same holds true for today. Our collective expectations are focused on the injustices of police brutality against people of color. Our collective expectations are focused on the systematic dissection and oppression of any minority race but especially in the black community. Our collective expectations are focused on the separation and segregation of the socioeconomically deprived. We are appalled by the injustices we see. We are empathetic with these things we see in the news and in our communities. We are outraged. We are emotionally charged. We are flat out angry. “And we will be heard!” But because our focus, our energy, our emotion, our expectations are focused on the incident…we are not focused on our desired outcome. Therefore, we attract more of the same into our existence. More police brutality. More dissection and oppression. More separation and segregation. More socioeconomic injustice. Our empathy begins to outweigh our empowerment. At Align to Enlighten, we are not emotionally callous to the treacherous events we see in our world. We would simply like to offer another point of view. So, the question is, why do we let someone else’s experiences define our expectations? When we do, our empathy invites the same experience into our reality. (What we focus on, expands)

In speaking with a friend, he said to me, “man these wicked police are out here beating us! Shooting us! Killing us! And we have to do something about it!” So, I agreed but then I asked him, “how many times have you been beaten by the police? Who do you know that has been shot by the police? Tell me the name of the person in your family or even a friend that has been killed by the police.” His response…    ”THAT’S NOT THE POINT!” But isn’t it? While we empathize, and speak out against injustice, as we should, what he spoke about was not his reality. If it is not your reality, I’m not saying ignore it. What I’m saying is, continue to create the peace you seek through your vision and expectation. And share THAT with others to assist that vision in growing. Be involved in the creation of YOUR reality.

When we carry that expectation of “the police are out here killing us!” and you get pulled over, everything about you says, “I’m EXPECTING something to happen here. Whether you realize it or not, it will show in your demeanor, your body language, your attitude, your tone. Your expectations are a part of you. They tell the raw truth of what you feel. And they are manifested just the same. This is fact. Therefore, be mindful of what you expect in life and what you expect out of life. This is how the Law of Attraction works. Period. When we focus on “these police are out here killing us!” then that thought continues to expand and grow. Again, this does NOT mean we ignore what has happened and what we continue to see happening. What it means is, we have to start to shift our expectations to affect change in our individual realities. And we ALL have the individual responsibility to hold ourselves accountable for our thoughts and expectations.

The Modern Day Civil Rights Movement – The Civil Rights Movement was about social justice and equality for all. If you are appalled by the violation of civil rights we see in the news; if you are disgusted with racial hatred; if you despise police brutality and downright murder of civilians, then it is time to create a new reality. This next part is easier said than done: but put your emotions, your energy and your focus on the SOLUTION. Be aligned with what it is you desire to see. Be consistent with your creation. Be clear with your desire. Be resolute, grounded and matter-of-fact with your expectations. THIS is the Modern Day Civil Rights Movement. Change will be manifested not only because of your march, your protest, your boycott or because of your sit in. Change will be manifested because of your focus and your expectation. Don’t invite another person’s reality to be your own. Instead, create the reality you desire. Share with others how to create their own. And watch sustained change happen. Watch justice be born. Watch peace be manifested. Expect it.

 

Week 42 – The Victim and the Victimizer- A Perfect Match

Just a few points of understanding to start before we go forward:

1. This is an attraction based world and Universe. There is no assertion!
2. Nothing is ever at rest; everything moves; everything vibrates.
3. Everything is energy, always and at all times emitting frequencies.

No one ever admits to being a victim or having a “victim” mentality.  It denotes weakness, powerlessness, shameful guilt of being tricked or duped, among many other unpleasing attributes.  So usually people avoid admission of being victimized and certainly won’t say they have a victim mentality.  For the purposes of this discussion, let’s define what constitutes having the mindset of a victim.

Webster defines a victim as a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action; a person who is tricked or duped. “The victim of a hoax”; a living creature killed as a religious sacrifice.

You and I are energy producing, energy flowing human beings.  This cannot be understated.  We were nonphysical beings before we were born, and after we were born, the larger part of our beings remained NON-PHYSICAL.  That nonphysical source is energy.  As energetic beings, we produce frequencies.   These frequencies are not unlike any other frequencies such as sound frequencies, light frequencies, etc.  And just as it is with sound frequencies, such as a tuning fork, or a dog’s howl, frequencies are always trying to match other like frequencies.  This is not only true of sound frequencies, but also true of energy frequencies.  You ever been around someone and FELT their energy?  Sure you have.  It’s a vibe.  And that’s typically what you will say, “he/she gave me a bad vibe”.  You ever walked in a room and felt the tension in the room?  Certainly.  This is energy being felt.  So it is when we encounter one another.

When we talk about racism and the effects it has on our society, we tend to categorize two sides – those who are racist, and those who are “victims” of racism.  A racist cop and the victim, a racist loan officer and victim, a racist president/government – victim, and so on and so on.  Which side do you see yourself on?

Most reading this probably don’t see themselves as a victim (unless you’ve personally been a situation that you felt as such), and certainly none reading this sees themselves as racist, I would imagine. But what tends to happen is, when you constantly are bombarded with what you perceive to be victimization occurrences via the media and other outlets, you naturally empathize with those whom you observe as being mistreated.  You then create a vibration and energy with regards to that subject that you are observing.  So that over time, your constant, sustained practice becomes your dominant vibration, your dominant attitude and disposition towards that subject.  This becomes the essence of your feeling with regards to what you’ve observed.  Now, what you’ve done is create a vibrational atmosphere, a vibrational marker and point of attraction, an internal environment that lends itself to other matching frequencies.  For example, usually a predator preys on the weak ie. a school bully, a street robber looking for one to stickup, etc.  Of course a lot of this depends on the physical appearance of the prey, but more so it’s the nonphysical vibration of a person that makes him or her a “mark” or “victim”.

We would like to offer you a thought to consider: Perhaps there is no victimizer without a willing victim, and perhaps there is no oppressor without one who is willing to be oppressed.  How does one fall into the willingness to be oppressed or a victim?   By being careless with your thoughts and emotions, instead of thinking and feeling with intention.  Remember thoughts turn into things.  By allowing yourself to be mentally controlled by what you’re observing.  By being a reactor to circumstances and events instead of a deliberate creator of your true desires.  When you observe what you perceive to be injustice and react, mainly and predominantly internally, you emit a frequency based on that observation.  Now the stage is set, and you’re ready for a matching scenario to present itself in your world.  You create your own reality ALWAYS!

Last week we said “when we offer the same emotionally charged response, we begin to dance the dance that compliments the anger, hatred, and dissension.  We provide the yin to the yang…”  There is always an exchange taking place with energies and vibratory beings.  There’s always the push and pull.

We would like to assert right here and now, that maybe there are no true victims in this attraction based world.  Maybe, everything that ever comes to any of us, comes invited on a vibrational level.  This is a difficult idea to fathom, but this statement is based on Universal principles, not opinion.

The victim was our own choice; the victimizer is without blame. 

This concept we are offering says. “I may have seemed like a victim, but I really chose that experience myself, through how I interpreted what was done to me or what I observed and witnessed happening to others.  If number one of the first initial points of understanding we laid out is true, that ‘this is an attraction based world and Universe.  There is no assertion’, this means that perhaps we chose our own experiences of victimhood.  There are choices always being made on both sides of the spectrum.  Perhaps there is no real injustice anywhere, only decisions made.

We would like to be perfectly clear:  Choosing to be a victim does not refer to a choice to physically place ourselves in harm’s way and refuse to righteously defend ourselves, or to ask for trouble.  Rather it refers to a choice to mentally and vibrationally interpret what happened or is happening in a scenario, in a way that brings hurt to us.  This is very important to understand!

The underlying point that we want to convey is that events or circumstances, no matter how wrong and unjust they appear, in and of themselves do not directly cause feelings and emotions in us.  They only have that power once WE interpret those circumstances, and once we CHOOSE a meaning for them.  The circumstances in reality don’t have any hurtful meaning.  If this is so, can we ever actually say that we have been victimized?

Alignment is alignment is alignment is alignment is alignment.  And that’s our job. It’s never about looking at a situation and judging whether it’s right or wrong.  It’s about looking at a situation IF you must look at all, and deciding, making a conscious decision, then figuring out how to allow your energy to flow regardless.  Maybe there is no real injustice, only decisions made.  There are always choices that can be made to dance the dance or not.

Creation is about looking at something undesired and deliberately deciding to focus your attention on what you truly desire long enough and consistent enough, to watch your dream become a true reality.  When you line up with what you want, heaven and earth will move! Forces begin to act that you would have never known existed. And when you don’t line up your energy with what you want, all the physical action in the world won’t move even a mole hill.  

This is why we keep having the same issues year after year, decade after decade, and literally for centuries regarding racism.  You simply cannot look at what is, and move anything past what is.  This is what we call effective problem solving instead of causative problem solving.  You must look beyond what is to ever manifest what you truly want.

We should be creators of our realities NOT facers of reality.  We keep recreating to the reality of racism, because we keep facing the reality of racism instead of feeling and creating our way to the true reality and living the way we really intended to live.

Mind your own spiritual and vibrational business. Be more intentional and careful about your thoughts and emotions.  Peruse the world for things that feel good when you observe them and fixate on that.  Use the power of your mind to create a vibrational frequency that’s in alignment with your true desires regarding racism, and then watch how that vibrational frequency spreads.

Peace!

 

Week 41 – RACISM – I Don’t Understand You…You Don’t Understand Me…

 An Open Letter to RACISM from an African-American Man…

Dear RACISM,

As a black man living in America, I don’t understand you RACISM. I don’t understand your purpose. I don’t understand your objective. I don’t understand your perspective. What is the end game? What is your reasoning? Why are you here? I don’t have any good answers for your use in my world. By the same token, I don’t understand any PERSON who subscribes to you. There is nothing you will do in MY world that will give you any more power than the power I allow you to have. So why not just give up your fight? Give up your struggle to separate. Give up your war of perceived inequality. Give up the fallacy of your superiority. Give up the notion that you will be victorious in your make-believe war. The “soldiers” of your war have no authority in my experience. They are impotent in knowledge and incapable of extinguishing the spirit of expectation within me. But you will not give up. You have lived here for centuries. You continue to feed your soldiers on generations of hate, anger and bitterness. And the biggest ignorance is…you don’t even know why. You don’t have an actual answer as to why you hate so much. Nothing of factual value suggests you should hate. But you do anyway. You may offer that you hate because my skin is a different color. Then you tie all types of ignorance to that fact: “you’re black, so you’re less than me. You’re lazy. You don’t contribute to society. I’m angry and I don’t like you because you’re less than.” You offer these statements with no empirical data to support your claim.

You mask your ignorance in the cloak of entitlement and unsupported innuendo.  You live in a world you once dominated and were supported by laws to suppress, segregate and attempt to destroy any semblance of my self-respect as a human being. And now that the covers have been pulled back to expose your ugliness…you are even more angry in 2017. You are seemingly gaining traction, momentum and power from your terror groups, the overt and inverted who move in silent revulsion towards those who do not look like them and backed by a President who openly supports your cause. Exclusion fuels you which is evidence of your ignorance, as if we want to be a part of your ‘exclusive club’ in the first place.

But here’s the funny thing RACISM, and this goes to you and to your toy soldiers…you are nothing if I am not a willing participant. Nothing. You are nothing when I expose who you are, what you are, your intentions, your ignorance…you are nothing. You are nothing when I move through my day with the confidence of who I am. You are nothing when I stand on the worth that is ME as opposed to succumbing to your words and actions. I am a being not defined by my skin. I am a powerful spiritual being FIRST, living within the body God has given me. But you don’t understand that. It is in THIS knowledge, this enlightenment where I find the true power of my being. A power you can not control, suppress, or segregate. And while you don’t understand it. You…FEAR…it. You fear the innate power within me. You fear me finding and discovering the power of my being which causes you to hate and act out even more. You fear you will be exposed. Your fear tells you “they will come to conquer me therefore I must fight harder. I must be prepared to defend myself. I must continue to create legislation that supports the socioeconomic inequality that keeps them back. I must continue to kill them in the name of ‘justice’ and acquit my police soldiers in our courts of law. I must be diligent in using words and language that hurts them to make them feel less than.”

But again, I say to you…you only have the power I give to you. Why? Because I am a powerful, spiritual, being FIRST. And the funny thing is…so are your toy ‘soldiers.’ They too are powerful, spiritual, beings, first. However, they have lost their way. They have forgotten who they are. And you, RACISM, continue to keep them ignorant. Because in enlightenment, there is no hatred. There is only love. And this is why they remain lost. Fighting a war that will never be won.

Find Your Peace RACISM…because I have found mine.

Yours Truly,

Spiritual Being

And for those who are feeling oppressed…it is important to find your enlightenment as well. This is where you will find your power to positively counter RACISM. Walk with the expectation of WHO you are. Walk in that confidence of knowing your worth. And approach every situation, every circumstance, every person…in that way. When faced with RACISM and the evilness of its toy soldiers, expose it and them for what they are in that very moment. “You are RACISM and I have no place for you in my life’s experience!” Say it. But, be careful. Do not fall into the power of your emotion that surrounds your disgust. This is easier said than done. But understand, the emotion you may feel when RACISM shows up, is the counterpoint to the emotion RACISM is feeling and expecting. So in THIS space, when we offer the same emotionally charged response, we begin to dance the dance that compliments the anger, hatred and dissension. We provide the yin to the yang. The push to the pull. We dance with the devil. So…instead…walk with the God that is within you. Walk with the peace of your soul. Walk through life with an expectation of love. Be matter-of-fact regarding what you expect, how your life experience will be and what you will attract into your experience.

Have you ever heard the ladies in a beauty pageant answer the question of what their principles and morals are and how they will change the world? And one of them will say something like, “I want world peace” with a huge smile? I’m sure in her heart she truly wants what we all want  – peace and harmony.  But one person is not going to create world peace, alone. World peace begins with your own reality and the peace you create within your own world. Then it spreads abroad. And together, as a unified collective consciousness, we attain world peace.  The same holds true for RACISM. It can be eradicated. Even though America was built on racism, separatism, discrimination and fear. i.e. Christopher Columbus “discovers” America, they settle it, Native Americans are displaced, beaten and killed. (Trail of Tears) The American slave trade. Four hundred years of brutal oppression, inhumanity, dissection of a race, rape and murder made to be “justified” in the name of Democracy and justice. The lives lost in the name of RACISM should not be in vain. But be honored by how we combat RACISM today. The power lies within our souls and begins with loving unconditionally. The thought of eradicating RACISM in America is not only possible but probable, the same as a beauty queen stating she will bring world peace. However, JUST as that beauty queen does have the power to create peace within her ‘world,’ WE have the power to eradicate RACISM within our individual world. It’s simply about being proactive instead of reactive. It’s about creating, instead of responding to someone else’s creation.

1. Deliberately Create Daily – Often times we are reactive to what we see in the news or hear about or experience. We can’t control what someone else does, thinks or says. So don’t put your energy in that. Instead, wake up tomorrow morning and put your energy, thoughts and expectations towards what you desire in your life experience. i.e. Expect to walk through your day and experience peace, equality and inclusion. And LIVE that example with everyone you come in contact with. This is how we deliberately create our life’s experience.
2. Live Matter-of-Factually – When we deliberately create our experience, we walk in confidence that THIS is how it is going to go. THIS is how it is going to be. If your child is resistant to something you’ve asked them to do and you know it is for their benefit…do you waiver? If you are a parent like me…probably not. My thoughts in this situation are a matter-of-fact. “You are going to do exactly what I asked you to do.” It’s not emotional. It’s simply what’s going to happen. Live your life with the same expectation of what you deliberately created.
3. Manage Your Emotion – Speaking of matter-of-fact, the Law of Attraction operates in the same manner. Our emotions create a vibrational marker that is like a magnet. Whatever we are emotionally charged about attracts more situations, people and experiences into our world that offer the same. As we’ve spoken about before, this is not intended to say suppress your emotions. That does not work. FEEL your emotions in the midst of RACISM. Acknowledge them. And then DECIDE to be a deliberate creator, living matter-of-factually with whatever emotion you actually desire to be manifested.

We ALL come from a place of love, peace and happiness. We are not born as haters. We learn that. We can also learn to create what we desire within our own world. When we create the peace and expectation within our own world, it causes a ripple effect and carries forward to the greater world. Do not be oppressed by the impotent power of RACISM. Instead, deliberately create the world you desire.

Week 40 – Racism – The Cause, Effect, and Cure,

Let’s talk about it!  Today is October 1, 2017 and the subject race and racism is just as important today if not more, than it was 30 or 40 years ago.  I am a 48 year old black male and I have had very few encounters with anyone where I thought I was a victim of racism.  It just has not been very prevalent in my personal life.  I can safely say that if I didn’t turn on the TV or the radio, or get on social media, I would not know racism was as alive and well as it is.

Having said that I am acutely aware of the hundreds if not thousands of people whose reality is vastly different than mine.  I had a childhood friend (black male) who was arrested by 2 white police officers, hog tied, and brutally beaten and placed in a coma.  This was 1990!  He stayed in a coma for over 25 years until he died just a few years ago.   I only say this to convey, that although I live in a happy, loving, harmonious space today, and grew up pretty much immune to any type of prejudice or racial divide, I do know firsthand the other side of the coin.  The reality of the other world we live in as well – the one in which discrimination is very much present.

For this month, we’d like to talk about that world.   We’d like to offer our point of view on how and why racism and other types of discrimination happen, and discuss some ideas on what we can do about it (individually and collectively).  Our intent is to address racism from both the cause AND the effect side, and offer workable solutions to remedy this ill. 

Warning:  We are going to dive deep into this discussion from a different point of view.  We realize that some people reading this, may find it offensive.  We all come from different backgrounds and have different and varying thoughts and opinions on this subject.  It is not our intention to offend anyone but rather challenge and inspire.

What is racism and how is it born?

For the purpose of the theme this month, The Black and White of Racism , we’re going to use the word “racism” interchangeably with “prejudice” and discrimination, and in general terms, as a kind of catch all phrase for discrimination of any kind.   The actual fact is, being prejudice and being racist are two totally different things, mainly with racism having more to do with power and influence, and the ability to affect another’s realty via social systems (political, educational, etc.)  However, the overall anatomy of discrimination of any kind is basically the same.   At its base is fear.  This, ironically is also the same emotion behind those who are discriminated against, as we will also address the victim side of this equation in the weeks to come.  So, without further ado, let’s begin the discussion talking about racism and it’s causes.

I would like to say right here up front that racism is a perceived reality.  It does not exist beyond man’s mental constructs of it.  Meaning it does not exist without willing participants to play and accept roles on both sides.  One of the ways this is evident is the fact that we aren’t born racist or prejudiced. We are not born of fear and hatred and distrust. These are learned beliefs.   Think about that.  We learn to hate and fear one another!

Vibration/Energy – Just a brief recap, so that we have a basis for our discussion – Everything is energy based and vibrational. EVERYTHING!   Particularly all living things.  As living human beings, we are all vibrating at a particular frequency and emitting energy every day all day.  This vibratory frequency is always being matched by other like frequencies.  Your frequency is based on a number of variables, but at its core is thought and beliefs.  And your thoughts and beliefs help shape your perception of things and people.  So from the moment you awake in the morning until the moment you drift back off to slumber and night, you are a vibrational attracting magnet.  And you’re attracting the essence of whatever is at the basis of your thoughts and feelings.  (This will be critically important to understand later as we move on)

That being said, being prejudice or racist against someone is simply a manifestation of a vibration, the vibration of fear and on a grander scale, powerlessness, insecurity, ignorance, and lack.

Racism and any form of discrimination is fear based, and one form of that fear is the fear of losing control, and feeling powerless.  The belief of powerlessness, that I am a victim to this person or circumstance.  Like all strong beliefs, it’s self-perpetuating. We believe that we’re victims, we feel like at any moment something could be taken from us, we look for and see evidence that this is exactly what’s happening, causing us to believe even more that we have no control over our surroundings and what’s going on in the world and round and round and round she goes. We’ve manifested tons of evidence that we have very little societal impact on what takes place in our world, and that when one person wins, someone else has to loose.

Often we feel we’re fighting a no win battle that creates a sense of powerlessness. Powerlessness turns to anger, which is not so terrible if channeled positively.  Many great things have happened as a result of anger and being fed up with something.  Anger in and of itself feels great at times!  I am a witness bearerJ.  Anger feels power-FULL, particularly if it is positively directed.  It has the potential to immediately pull you out of a state of powerlessness.

It is when the anger isn’t allowed to be constructively expressed it builds and begins to look for an outlet – usually a destructive one.

So, here’s Edward, who is watching the news daily and develops a fear, a sense of loss of control that there is great potential for him to lose his life during a random traffic stop.  He is disgusted, hurt, and angry at what he sees happening every day to people who look just like him, and he FEELS POWERLESS to affect any real change.  He doesn’t know who to blame, but his natural tendency to regain a sense of power and control causes him to look for someone to blame.   And there is no loss of subjects from which to choose from.  So here’s the kicker, if Edward blamed someone (say the police)for his feeling of powerlessness, journaled about it, and/or went out and channeled all he felt on a punching bag while reaching for a better thought and feeling, he would quickly change his emotional state and no longer be angry or as angry as he was before.  He would be well on his way out of the mindset of fear and powerlessness.

This is not what generally happens, though. Usually, Edward will assume there is nothing he can do about the way he feels (it’s just the way it is), holding on that belief, find someone to blame, get angry at them, not really allow himself to express it constructively, will not reach for a better thought and feeling, and will let the pressure build until he explodes and releases his rage destructively, causing negative consequences like being jailed, or physically harmed, which will once again start and perpetuate the cycle of powerlessness.

The exact same thing holds true for the other side of the equation in the above example using the police officer.  If the officer has developed a fear, or sense of powerlessness, that there is great potential for harm based on his or her perception of the individual being stopped and believes that there is high probability of a bad encounter, the officer will behave in accordance with this fear.  Additionally, couple that fear with a weapon and means by which to exert or impose physical will on someone, this sets up a recipe for confrontation to occur.

PLEASE NOTE:  Here is where vibration is important.  If Edward or the officer chooses to allow the negative emotions go unchecked and decides to bask in the attitude of bitterness, resentment, angst, disdain, disgust or any other negative emotion towards each other, here is where the stage is set for an undesired circumstance to occur.  Both individuals begin to create an environment for an event to take place that is the complete opposite of either person true desires.  Both sides at this point have established a vibrational point of attraction or vibrational markers from which the Universe will respond.

Solution to the powerlessness problem-

The solution to a fear based problem of powerlessness MUST be about re-establishing and regaining a sense of self-control and self-empowerment.  When you feel empowered and in control of your circumstances and events in life, the fear of some external person or situation is diminished and no longer has any power of you.  You don’t see anyone or anything as a threat to your wellbeing.  How do we begin to empower ourselves to seize more control and responsibility in our lives individually and collectively?

First thing is to allow yourself to be angry.   Don’t suppress the emotion you feel.  If you’re angry and disgusted about what you see occurring in this world, express it! Feel exactly what you need to feel and openly share that feeling via journaling, social media, talking to a responsible friend, etc.  Curse about it, protest, yell, cry about it – do whatever you need to fully express how you feel about what you see.  Just don’t let it stop there!

Second thing, after you’ve found an outlet to constructively pour your emotions into (that doesn’t hurt anybody, including yourself), the second thing to do is TAKE ACTION.  Vibrational action!  Before you take any physical steps whatsoever, take time to get yourself in a state of alignment. Alignment with your true desires.  Reminder:  Nothing changes externally until things change internally.   Make an affirmation and declaration of what it is you desire. Be very clear and precise.  What do you want to see happen or change?  Affirm it!  Say it out loud, write it down.  MY DESIRE IS FOR ALL HUMANITY TO LIVE IN PEACE AND HARMONY!  Once you’ve affirmed your desire, hold it firmly in your heart 24/7.  State your affirmation daily, multiple times a day silently and aloud.

We will provide more steps to follow these first two in the weeks to come.

Namaste

 

Week 39 – Creating Clarity through Alignment

  “Because in your alignment, your purpose becomes clear. Your desires become clear. What you were put on this earth to do becomes clear. CLARITY becomes one with you and your way of being, which is one of God’s gifts to us all” – From Alignment to Enlightenment, The Path to Joy and Peace.

All month long we have discussed various forms of clarity, the importance of clarity, finding clarity, clarity of who you are as a person, etc. This week, we want to close out the conversation of clarity by tying it back into alignment with your inner being. Every person struggles with finding clarity at some point during life. “Is this the right job for me? Am I with the person I’m supposed to be with? Should I move, am I making the right choices, is there a better way of doing things…am I where I’m supposed to BE at this point in my life?” We ALL have questions where answers elude us from time to time. In addition, we may seek to find those answers to our questions from others’ advice and direction. Or we may look to others with more experience, education or skill sets for help. And we also may do our own “soul searching,” looking for the “right” answers. What’s important to note is, finding and sustaining clarity is readily available in all situations. It starts with finding and sustaining your alignment. So to finish out this series, we will discuss Creating Clarity through Alignment.

When we consider clarity, we are seeking clear understanding, distinct direction and viable answers to our questions. We operate from our logical minds using deductive reasoning and critical thinking to guide our choices. But that’s only half of the solution to the challenge we face when seeking clarity. The other half of the solution, and perhaps the most important foundational piece to the process, is finding alignment within ourselves first, to guide our path. In the book, From Alignment to Enlightenment, The Path to Joy and Peace, the authors speak of alignment in this way: “It is the one indicator (via emotions) that reveals to you where you stand at any given point in time on any subject, in relationship to where your inner being stands on that same subject.” Our inner being, our soul, our heart or ‘The Quiet Observer’ as Deepak Chopra refers to it, is at peace at all times. Our souls remain objective in the quiet calm of our authentic being. Our inner beings communications are both the subtle and overt emotions we experience. However, at the core of the soul is still peace and authentic understanding. So when we are in search of clarity, finding some place to sit in peace and silence where we can be in tuned with our authentic being creates a space of shared clarity. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of life is where distraction, chaos and commotion is happening. These interruptions impact our emotions and distort our realities which cause us to continue a cycle of confusion and lack of direction. Therefore, the first step to creating clarity through alignment is to spend time with our authentic selves in peace and silence, allowing our thoughts to be created from within as opposed to our thoughts being directed from events, situations and circumstances outside of us.

The second step, which may seem obvious on the surface, is to take inventory of what and how we feel. Recently I changed jobs. My new job is satisfying but I still carry some angst because it’s in a new field, I haven’t learned all the ins and outs yet and I haven’t gained my full confidence of the position. Last week someone approached me from the field I came from at a different company and suggested I take a look at an opportunity with them. I felt like I was in a quandary. On one hand, I was still excited but very nervous about this new position. And on the other hand, going back to what ‘I KNOW’ was somewhat attractive and I am extremely confident in that space. Both pay the same. Both locations are equal distance from my home. Benefits are virtually the same. ALL of the personal objectives would be met with either position. (This was the conclusion I came to using my expert deductive reasoning and critical thinking) But that did not help me. I still was not clear. I did not have clarity. So I decided to get quiet. I decided to quiet my thoughts. Quiet my inhibitions. Quiet my thinking and deductive reasoning. Quiet my ‘logic.’ When I quieted my thoughts, inhibitions and reasoning…I was actually able to hear. I was able to hear my authentic feelings and emotions. I was able to see clearly. I found clarity. What I heard was, “going back to something you KNOW and are confident about is not a destination you seek.” In other words, I did not have a strong desire to go back to my field in the first place before the opportunity became available. So why go back to it simply because it’s comfortable? My true feelings, my true emotions were not directing me to go back to what I know. My logic was suggesting it makes sense. Paying attention to what we FEEL is vital when seeking clarity. Logic and reasoning are not the sole providers of clarity. And neither of them served me well in this situation.

When we consider we are spiritual beings first, we understand we are made up of our thoughts, desires and emotions. These are the intangible traits of our souls that are designed to help shape and direct our paths in this material world. Being in alignment means being in touch with ourselves at the point where we feel the most happiness, the most calm, the most comfortable and the highest bliss. Feelings of confusion, disgust, angst and chaos denote misalignment with our true being. These are the clues that tell us, “it’s time to find that quiet space. It’s time to go within. It’s time to shut out all the noise of the outside world that’s affecting your thoughts.” When we find that quiet space, we connect with our authentic selves. When we connect with our authentic selves, we are better able to see and hear clearly. We become aligned. And clarity is created as a product of that alignment. Find your alignment. Find your peace. Find your clarity.

Week 38 – Decluttering For Clarity

“Clarity is the consequence of handling you confusion and chaos consciously.”   Sadhguru

“I can’t focus, my minds all over the place!” If I had a dime for every time I said this or had it said to me, I’d be a financially wealthy man. I hear friends say they take on a million tasks at once and they’re onto the next task before finishing the first one—which really means nothing ever gets completely done.

Our minds are moving so fast, and with the speed of technology, we’re not slowing down any time soon. The TV’s on, the radio’s blaring, the cell phone’s pinging with every new text, and Facebook’s open 24/7. Information is so readily accessible, it’s easy to get wrapped up in having to know it all. And after knowing it all, we try to do it all. An endless cycle that can go on forever as if we’re running on never ending treadmill.

We’re split and scattered between past, present and future, juggling roles and responsibilities. We’re caught up in regrets about yesterday and worries about tomorrow. It’s no wonder we struggle to fall asleep at night and struggle to wake in the mornings.

These are the effects of mental clutter. The head fog, the confusion, the chaos, the stress. And this “stuff” affects our environment. It leads to our messy desks, our overstocked cupboards, our overflowing closets and drawers.  We get so busy, we don’t make time to slow the clutter buildup. So, instead we continue to forget where we put the keys, and leave mail unopened on the kitchen counter tops.

Clutter can have a tremendous impact on your ability to be in mental and spiritual alignment, and can affect you physical health as well.   Imagine you sit down to work but you can’t concentrate. You wonder why you are so distracted. You feel energized, prepared to work, and excited about your task. However, you just keep getting distracted. You simply cannot focus. There is a chaos and clutter in your head that you really can’t explain.  I mean everything from thoughts about last night’s dinner to how you’re going to pay your child’s college tuition.  You look around you and find yourself surrounded by clutter.

Even if you did not consciously acknowledge the clutter around you, it impacted your mind. Your mind is constantly absorbing your environment. It picks up on millions of details that do not even register with you consciously. And what’s fascinating to me is how the outer world reflects the inner world.  So usually if your living space is a mess, so is your work space, so is your life and inner person to some lesser or greater degree.

It is critically necessary to be in a calm, clean environment to experience clarity of mind. That means less clutter, less noise, and no other distractions (like music, television, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

This is why racehorse trainers place blinders on horses.  The blinders keep the horse focused on what is in front of him, encouraging him to pay attention to the race rather than other distractions, such as crowds. Blinders are also used on driving horses, to keep them from being distracted or spooked, especially on crowded city streets. The same goes for you and I! We are far from horses but the principle still holds true.  If you do not have on blinders (a distraction-free environment) you will not experience clarity of mind.

I have been purging and downsizing my living space for several monthly, decluttering, giving things away, throwing things away, etc.  As I move along through this process of simplifying and minimizing my life and living space, I have found it to be more challenging than I anticipated.  Do I throw this away, do I donate it, OR should I keep it.  Why is it difficult to let go of “things”?  Some of these possessions have been around since late teenage years; others from young adulthood to the present day.  It is a daunting task. I have had to consider what items are of value to me and why.  As I am in my closet (the most challenging of the areas), drawers, mail, office and other nooks and crannies I have to decide “What is the value of this?”

As I sit on my couch now and look out at the piles across the living room into the kitchen, I am first struck by the sheer amount of things I have amassed over the years.  Secondly, and most importantly, by the enormous clarity I feel.  Spiritual, mental, and physical clarity.  I feel a tremendous sense of empowerment and clear vision.  And tons and tons of energy!

Clarity of the mind. 

Physical health. Clarity leads to alignment and peace. Alignment and peace will lower your blood pressure and stress level. Less stress means less illness, lower risk of sickness and dis-ease.

Mental health.  Clutter is a distraction and clouds your mind.  Decluttering your living space allows declutter of your mental space.  And when your mind is decluttered you now have the mental space needed to create.   Clarity improves your mental health.  Whether you are thinking of picking it up, dreading picking it up, avoiding picking it up, or actually picking it up — you are wasting valuable mental time with which you could be doing something productive.

Spiritual health.  One thing I learned along the decluttering for clarity journey is when you hold your possessions so near and dear, you lose track of yourself – spiritually. Whether it is a watch, a car, an album collection, a lucky t-shirt, or a pair of shoes — it is dangerous to rely on a material object for your happiness or contentment. Material objects are physical things and as such are subject to all sorts of tragedy — getting lost, destroyed, or stolen — to name a few.

The truth is that a material object is only as valuable as the value that you place on it. Sure, certain things will hold more sentimental value than others. If you inherit your great-grandmother’s wedding ring, for example, it will mean a lot to you. But if that ring gets destroyed in a flood, you will go on. The memory of your great-grandmother will live on and you will continue to honor her spirit — ring or no ring.

We must let go of so much of our attachments to material things. We are not those things.  You are not your job or your business.  You are not how much money you have in the bank.  You are not the car you drive.  As you begin to declutter and eliminate your excessive material possessions, you will be forced to come face-to-face with your true self. You will no longer be able to hide behind the facade of your “things.” You will be revealed as you truly are. This will be a wonderful moment of self-realization.

 

Week 37 – The Clarity of Your Diamond…

Diamonds are some of the most expensive gems on the planet. They serve as the trademark to many marriage engagements. They are given as gifts that add that “extra” meaning to celebrate a special occasion. And they serve as status symbols of perceived wealth. Diamonds are often judged by their size. If a man is seeking to impress the woman he plans to marry, we are concerned about being sure to purchase the right size that not only impresses the woman but perhaps her family and friends as well. And that size of the diamond certainly impacts the price. In fact, there are four (4) C’s that impact the prices of diamonds; Carat, Color, Cut and Clarity.

The higher the carat weight of the diamond the more expensive. The color of the diamond may range from colorless, the most expensive, to light hues of yellow. The cut of the diamond determines how light will enter and then be reflected out through the top of the diamond. Depending on the cut determines the amount of sparkle the diamond will have. Diamond clarity measure how the stone reacts to light. Diamond clarity is measured from flawless, the most expensive and the rarest, to visible inclusions and exterior flaws. Value is determined by how many, if any, inclusions the diamond may have. Why all this talk about diamonds? Carat, Color, Cuts and Clarity? Because this month is all about finding and determining clarity in our lives. And what better analogy to compare our spirits to one of the most majestic and expensive gems on earth?

This week we want to discuss the individual and personalized clarity of one’s self. When we find clarity regarding WHO we actually are versus who the world says we are, what our past tells us we are, or how others have defined us, we find authentic peace and understanding. The real truth is, while our experiences in this human life have caused us to have inclusions, damages and exterior flaws…we are actually made in perfect order. We are made perfectly for the story we are here to tell. Our desires and experiences make us who we are in this perfect book of life. But many times, we allow others to determine our value based on what they see as opposed to who we know we are. The “jewelers” of the world tell us we aren’t worth much because we’ve been incarcerated or because we are uneducated or because we don’t meet a certain socioeconomic status. Or in our most recent times, we are considered damaged or far from flawless because of the color of our skin or because of our faith or because we were not born in America. We are discriminated against because we don’t look like or act like the other “flawless” diamonds in the bunch. Therefore, we decrease in value within our own minds instead of embracing the perfections of who we truly are. Inclusions and flaws in diamonds occur naturally as diamonds are being formed. The jeweler can not remove them. They are SUPPOSED to be there. The “inclusions and flaws” we experience as people are SUPPOSED to be there. That doesn’t mean we should be satisfied, saying “well this is just who I am…flaws and all.” But what it means is, we are no less valuable because we have them. The inclusions and flaws help compose the character of our being. Perfection is boring…imperfections make us interesting and unique.

Think about it this way…there are any number of unique diamonds mined every year. Small, medium, large, all varying in shape, color, clarity, etc. Any person with any budget can pay a jeweler to find a diamond that fits whatever it is they are looking for. From a small diamond chip all the way to the Hope Diamond itself, there is something available for everyone who wants it. And no matter where you are in life, because of what that diamond, symbolizes for you, it is special. It is special to YOU. No matter the Carat, Cut, Color or Clarity. When you receive it, it is special to YOU. The same goes for how you should feel about yourself. We are ALL unique with bumps, bruises, inclusions, flaws…but we are ALL special BECAUSE of our uniqueness. So as we search for clarity, it is important to understand that clarity in life begins with the clarity of WHO you are as a person and the value you bring to the world…JUST AS YOU ARE. You don’t need shining up to become acceptable for someone else. You are charged to simply be the diamond God has made you.

The unique and defined quality of our SOUL provides the best quality of our life’s experience. When we understand that we are all souls first…living within a human body…we find flawless clarity for our life’s experience. For our souls are created in the same flawless image of God. We are not defined by the makeup of our physical bodies but by the authentic being of our souls. Let us define ourselves not by what others think or who they say we are. But let us define ourselves with the understanding we are flawlessly created. We are flawlessly created and are here to continue to create and manifest those things we desire. The life experiences we want. We are not defined by what we have, where we’ve been or what we’ve done. We are defined by what we desire to manifest in the current moment we are in. Whatever person we desire to be, walking in our true purpose, living at the heart of authenticity. THAT is what makes YOU and I flawless!

As you go about your week or better yet, as you go about the rest of your life, walk with the understanding and clarity of who you truly are. You are a flawlessly created soul that may have experiences that reflect inclusions and imperfections. But nevertheless…you are STILL a diamond.

Week 36 – Clarity

Have you ever experienced having to drive in foggy weather?  I mean extremely foggy weather?  What about trying to maneuver through real hard rain?  Have you ever been caught outside either driving or walking where the rain and wind was so bad your visibility was impaired?   Or how about a catastrophic life event that impeded your ability to see clearly what step to take next?  Has that ever occurred in your life?  Low or poor visibility, whether it be physical, spiritual, or mental visibility, and the inability to clearly see what you know exists, can leave you feeling confused, insecure, discombobulated, and full of anxiety.

For this month we are discussing Clarity, a new meaning, its value, how to attain and sustain it.  

A person with clear purpose will make progress, even on the roughest road.  A person with no clear purpose will make no progress, even on the smoothest road –  Thomas Carlyle.

Going back to the analogy involving foggy and stormy weather, it’s not until the sun shines or there is light of some kind, or the fog, wind, or rain dissipates, that you see clearly through the mist or haze.  Think about how secure, confident, and assured you feel when you can see clearly.  Fog and cloudy weather can also creep into our everyday lives making it hard to navigate at times.  Whether mental, spiritual, or physical, a cloudy or foggy outlook can have detrimental effects on your ability to achieve a well-balanced and fulfilled life experience.  It can block your ability to manifest more of what you want in life. Stray thoughts of fears, worry, doubt, details of this and that, all add up to mental and spiritual clutter.  In fact, doubt and fear, two of the main impediments for success in life, cannot exist in the same realm as clarity.  When you have clarity, vibrational clarity, you have killed the resistance of doubt, worry, and fear.  Clarity is the key!

Clarity is one of the most important pillars to achievement and manifestation of any desire.   Having a clear vision that is not muddled by negative thoughts allows us to get where we desire to be.  And not just any clarity, but rather clarity of our true desires. THIS is one of the most important steps in manifesting what we want.  If our clarity is fuzzy, our attraction is fuzzy.

I liken clarity sort of like a game I played often as a child called connect the dots.  The object was to connect the dots to create a picture of some ‘thing’ and you had to use up as many of the dots as possible.  In some cases, you could also follow the pre-numbered dots to follow where you were to draw the next line.  And most importantly if you missed one dot then the object of the game, the final picture became all screwed up.  Clarity allows you to successfully connect the dots in life to create a very clear and defined picture.

Along my journey, I have discovered that the feeling of clarity is one of the most empowering feelings ever!  There is no greater feeling than being clearly focused with no impediments blocking or hindering my aim and purpose.   It’s the insightful bridging of the gap between who I am and what I know, with who I REALLY am, and what I REALLY know.  Clarity is seeing beyond what is and seeing and knowing what’s becoming.  Clarity equals expansion and growth, which is what we all came here for.

None of us came here to simply repeat what was here previously.  We are born to push beyond what has been.  We came here to create new realities.  Clarity is the key to this!  Clarity is when you summon the fullness of God’s power to work through you.  We are all potential conduits of God’s power.  We are the physical implementers of God’s nonphysical desires.  We are the physical perceivers and receivers of the nonphysical.  Clarity is perfect timing with all that you seek; Clarity is synchronicity. Clarity is harmony. Clarity is flow.  Clarity is knowing when to move and when not to move.  Clarity is the perfect idea, at the perfect time, with the perfect rendezvous unfolding.

Walk with us this month along the journey of better understanding and application of clarity.  Tap into unrealized power through your own personal redefining and recommitment to finding and sustaining true clarity in your life.  Leverage your actual potential in your relationships, on your job, in your business, and watch your desires manifest through your own personal power of clear vision.

Week 35 – Finding Your Calm Within Your Chaos

“Exposing and embracing our vulnerabilities exposes and embraces our authenticity” – Gene Black

All month we’ve been exploring Adversity. Where do we stand with adversity? How do we overcome adversity? How should we deal with adversity? Why does adversity exist? How do we head off adversity at the pass? How do we navigate adversity? The relationship between “the victim and the victimizer.” Well this week, as we close out the topic, we want to discuss Finding Your Calm Within Your Chaos.

This past week presented a unique challenge for me. I had a business trip to take for my new job. This was the first business trip for me since I was hired and my responsibility was to make a presentation for the first time to a group of people who wanted to learn more about the products and services my company provides. While I’ve delivered dozens upon dozens of presentations without angst, this was my first time with my new company with no support from the veterans and I hadn’t been on a plane in over a year. I found myself full of anguish, torment and anxiety. I was anxious about riding the plane. I was anxious about presenting material I’m fresh and new to. I was completely unsettled within my spirit.

I set out on my journey on Tuesday, got on the plane to Chicago without incident. As I traveled, my mind continued to feed me thoughts of worry, doubt, questions of success, what if’s and ideas of complete disastrous failure. I was in mental and spiritual crisis. I was wrestling with an adversity I’d created from within. And I wasn’t sure how I would deal with it. Everything I tried seemed to work briefly and then I went back to panic mode. In fact…I ultimately had a panic attack.

The plane landed in Chicago and I was walking to the next gate to make my connection to Cleveland. My steps were slow…deliberate…and focused on maintaining control. When I got to the connecting gate, I was the very last person they were waiting for. The lady scanned my ticket and I began walking down the corridor. After 5 steps in, I went into a complete panic attack. I ran out of the corridor, dropped my bag by the lady who had just scanned my ticket and ran to the men’s room. Heart pounding, sweating, nauseous, shaking, eyes wide. The thoughts that ran through my mind were chaotic…” OMG what an embarrassment! Look at how weak you are! You’re never going to make it to Cleveland! You’re going to do horribly in that presentation! You’re going to miss your flight! How will you explain this to your boss?!?!? How long will you be in this bathroom?!?!?!?” I was in full and complete panic. How would I ever find my calm within my chaos??? I was afraid.

One thought…one thought pierced through the chaos my mind was embracing. It was a quote I read…”you are a spiritual being having a human experience. You are a spiritual being…having a human experience.” It was THIS understanding that brought me back to a truly grounded and authentic understanding of what was actually happening. I am a SPIRTUAL BEING first! I have power over this material world! I have power over this material body! I gathered myself physically, mentally and spiritually in that moment. I proceeded back to the gate where the lady who had scanned my ticket was in shock. She said, “I closed the door, I didn’t know what happened and I wasn’t sure you were coming back.” I told her I was fine now and she allowed me to jump on the plane at the last minute. I flew to Cleveland and delivered the most awesome presentation I ever had. Evidence being the amount of people who came up to me afterward to express their appreciation. By the way…American Airlines also lost my luggage and I had to deliver my presentation in the same clothes I’d worn the night before instead of the suit I was supposed to wear. Nevertheless…I’d found my calm and I’d refused to let it go. Even in the midst of THAT situation as well.

As we are faced with adversities in our lives, we often times tend to feed the thoughts that help the adversities to grow. The stories in our minds continue to feed the monster that is attacking our well-being. It is important to be able to locate your calm within whatever is happening around you. Sometimes this is easier said than done. Many times, it’s easier said than done. One of the ways to assure yourself of finding your calm within your chaos is by practicing your calm frequently and not only when chaos or adversity happen. I realized, after this incident, that while we’ve written this blog for almost three years, spoken of being aligned, grounded, meditative, relaxed and how to manifest our desires, I don’t have it all figured out! I STILL must actively work at it! I STILL must do the things that brought me to the space of being aligned and enlightened. This is a journey with no ending. It is for us to experience the journey and be focused in the moments we experience. I realized…I hadn’t meditated in almost a month. I hadn’t practiced my calm. Therefore, it was more difficult for me to call it up in the midst of my chaos. Meditation provides the communion with my authentic self. It is this space where the authentic you is at complete peace. At the foundation of the soul, there is no chaos. Only peace and order. Living from the space of the soul allows us to truly “see” life as it is happening, put it into authentic perspective and therefore manage it for what it actually is. I was in no real danger on Tuesday night. There was no need for me to embrace a “fight or flight” mentality. I had no reason to think the plane would crash, I’d bomb my presentation or any other horrible thing my mind created. But I was lost in the swirl of chaos and adversity my mind had created. I reacted to my situation instead of creating what I knew was true. Be mindful in the midst of chaos and adversity so as to not contribute further to it.

When chaos, panic, bedlam, adversity comes across our paths, it is important to find your grounding point. That place of mental and spiritual safety. That balance of authentic reality versus created confusion. For we are the purveyors of the realities we create. PRACTICE your calm. EMBRACE your calm. LIVE within your calm. Daily. Whether it’s through meditation, yoga, church, praying…WHATEVER it is that brings you immediate and sustained peace…do it. And do it frequently. THIS is the way you will easily find your calm within your chaos. Namaste

Week 34 – The Advantage of Racial Adversity

Love and compassion always triumphs over adverse hardship of any intensity, including racial adversity.  Love is something we can access no matter what life has handed us, and no matter how hard our circumstances are to coexist with one another.  Love coupled with compassion is an innate emotion and one of incredible power.

One of the best ways to overcome racial adversity and leverage it to our advantage is to create meaning from the situations that have occurred.  Instead of denying the reality of what is happening, and ignoring the negative emotion felt from what we are observing.  We can acknowledge it, then set our deliberate intentions on the desire.  And counter-balance out the negativity with positive purpose and aim.

Yeah, but how do we do this when we are presently, here and now faced with an attacker(s) who also have their own deliberate intention which is directly and vehemently opposed to mine?

There were two events that took place over the past week that caught my attention as I’m sure it did many of you.  The first being the Charlottesville, West Virginia incident.  The second, the atrocity that occurred in Barcelona just a few days ago.  Both of these were outrageous atrocities that once again polarized much of America, causing many to take opposing sides.

The incident in Barcelona was especially touching to me because I had just traveled there with my daughter a couple of weeks ago, and frequented the same plaza were the person plowed his car into the crowd.  We hung out on this plaza strip several times during our stay.  As I watched CNN displaying the carnage of dead or injured bodies sprawled along the plaza walkway, I could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude and appreciation on one side, but and also a sense of sorrow, pain, and disgust on the other.  My kneejerk response was “wow, what animal would commit such a horrendous act?”  For a moment I aligned with what I was observing and allowed myself to feel utter disdain and contempt for what had happened.  I felt offended, almost that this had been done to me personally, at the fact that it could have been me just a week ago!

Universal Laws and Principles, particularly the Law of Attraction is expanding everything and so there is an abundance of everything to be potentially experienced, including what we call “racism” and the adversity of racism.  But as what we perceive we’re experiencing will always be determined by our balance of thought, then it could be argued that one only feels they are experiencing or observing racism if their awareness of what racism is, is informing how they are perceiving things in that moment. In other words, a person whose general balance of thought does not hang out around that subject could actually not feel a “victim” of racism, even if observers say it was what happened, or even if the perpetrator admitted that this is what they were intending to do.  This is a fascinating consideration!  Racism could be considered simply a perception based on one’s personal outlook and attitude of life and life experiences.  Having said that, it is by far NOT a perception that I am being attacked right now and that I have one of two choices – defend myself or allow physical harm to come to me that could possibly end up in death.

The perceived reality of course is that the average person, particularly person of color, is acutely aware of racism – that it exists and it happens – certainly in today’s contrasting world where there is rampant diversity of opinions and wills.

Understand this: At the root of all behavior is a thought, directly or indirectly informing it. The thought, practiced long enough, becomes a belief that inspires and often justifies the behavior; but more importantly, it informs EXPECTATION.

Racism is such a broad term, but as a black man, I did start to notice a few things, a years ago.  Like how the white lady in car parked next to me would quickly lock her door as I approached my car par next to hers; or that I could spot the undercover detective (often black by the way) in almost any store I went to if they had one, because they would just so happen to be looking through every clothing rack and shelf I’d be on.

But later, after understanding things differently, what disturbed me most was not that it was happening; it was that I had suddenly started noticing it so much. I knew that it hadn’t suddenly started happening because of my skin color.  I knew I had tuned myself to it somehow – it had become part of my mental discourse and it was now informing my expectation of it to happen. The paranoid white lady in the car would pick the perfect series of events to lead her to that moment – and so would I. We were a perfect co-creative match. Yuck!!!

Understand this:  There is always a direct vibrational relationship between the oppressed and the oppressor; or the victim and the victimizer.   There is a vibrational frequency that brings these two or more together.

I’ll give you another harmless example.  I was providing occupational therapy services to an elderly white lady with dementia who lived with her daughter in a very affluent part of Memphis.  The patient received therapy services, skilled nursing, and home health aide services from our company.  The registered nurse is a white woman and the aide along with myself are black. The daughter of my patient requested to the aide that she start entering and exiting the home from the back door.  Now for those who are reading this and thinking, so what, let me explain briefly the context of that request.  It was a customary practice of the slave master in our history to have the servants enter and exit the premises from the back of the house as a means of control and psychological oppression.   It also later became common practice during the Jim Crow era for blacks to come and go from the back of businesses, restaurants and other public establishments where there was one.  So my co-worker was aware of what was occurring and became very upset over the incident, reported it to our supervisor, and was removed from the home.  Here’s the kicker.  I had not been asked to come through the back door like my co-worker.  I came and went as I had been doing previously, through the front door.  But I became extremely bothered by the situation.  I voiced my disdain.  I discussed it with any and everybody that would listen for about a week.  I harbored all kinds of negative emotions regarding the incident and about that subject in general.  And when I thought about it and talked about it, I did so with a very emotionally charged spirt.  Saying things like, “I wish she would ask me to come through the back door, I’m going to handle that crap.”  So after about a week of emitting this vibration, guess what happened?  The lady very casually and very politely asked if I didn’t mind going and coming through the back door. YES!!  My wish came true (lol).  Law of Attraction gave me not what I wanted, but rather fulfilled the thought that permeated my being and more so what I expected on some level.  I had prepped myself for that event that had absolutely nothing to do with me, to become my own personal experience.  And oh by the way, I did handle the situation accordingly, don’t get it twisted.

But here’s what I learned.  With any unwanted, undesired situation, from the worst to the least of circumstances, I have to practice maintaining my alignment and how to soothe my feelings about what’s occurring. I learned I must make peace with the fact that people’s differences have always been used as an excuse to inspire feelings of insecurity and vice-versa. And that it is both the proton (positive) and the electron (negative) that creates causes a motion and causes a molecule to move.  You need both forces for evolution and change.   I accepted that what I experienced was what I experienced and I had the power of choice whether to make this a factor that counted in my view of myself in relationship to the world or not. I acknowledge that there were many occasions when I used the differences to feel better about myself and times when I found the differences convenient for my own personal agenda. Basically, I actualized and realized my role in my own reality. And then stepped away from it. For the first few weeks afterwards, rather than get angry when I spotted something suspicious that could possibly be racism, I would try to smile.  And accept that the person’s choices and thoughts and thus observations was inspiring their behavior and had nothing to do with me personally.

I know that there are parts of the world and our country where these differences have inspired an environment where racism is more overt and dangerous than in other parts, but one still has the choice, hard as it might be, of whether to allow it to determine how they view this world and how they think about their lives or not. We have the ability to create space in our minds for anything to grow, even if the thought is opposite to what is considered the “reality”.   We create our own realties.