THE SECRET OF LIFE:  PERSPECTIVE

Now that you know that, you don't require workshops, church of any kind or....

I am partially kidding, of course, but your perspective, based on your beliefs about how things are, will color all of your experiences.

Last week had quite the major calendar of events. It was a Wow Weekend. It was...

FRIDAY THE 13TH

...too often thought of as a day of bad juju. Both the day of Friday and the number 13 have their full of superstitious distractions.

It is said that Adam ate the apple on a Friday, changing the way humans live in the world, removing them from Eden (ie. Paradise). Well, first, it wasn't an apple. They don't grow in that region and it is a general term for fruits and poor translation, It most likely was a pomegranate or fig. And secondly, how did someone decide it happened on a Friday? That indeed should be enough to discount this example, but did the effect of this "apple" consumption bring on an embarrassment of their nudity and the knowledge of good and evil? Or did it enact what the Universe intended, a life of choice, some of which might be embarrassing or not very nice? Which brings me to perspective and choosing what yours is on life - your life.

It is also been said that Cain killed Abel on a Friday. Again, Friday?

Of course, the most infamous bad juju Friday has to be the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth (Yeshua ben Joseph). Yes, it wasn't a very good day for Jesus, but note what the day commemorating the event it called now...
Good Friday.



The number 13 has a bad rep, as well:

It is said that the 13th guest at the Last Supper -remember this was a Passover Seder that Jesus presided over the day before his betrayal, arrest, and eventual crucifixion - was Judas. But was he? Could it not have been Jesus who was the 13th guest?  As the guest of honor, he was probably the last to enter (Jesus liked to make a big entrance, you know). Now this didn't turn out too well for Jesus' corporeal existence, but, if it was anything like the Seders I grew up with, the food was good. And if it didn't all happen, in some similar fashion, Jesus would have not been crucified and all that is represented and 'celebrated' because of it. Perspective!

There is a similar story in the Norse mythology that influenced the '13 is 'unlucky"' thing. The Feast of Valhalla, where 12 of the Viking Gods dined. The 13th guest was Loki (the wily trickster god), who had been uninvited, and ended the feast by killing Balder the Beautiful (with a mistletoe spear - kiss of death?) and bringing darkness and mourning throughout the land. But....

In the Ascended Masters philosophy (they believe that the Presence of Life - God - Individualizes as the "I AM" and incarnates throughout the created universes.), Ramtha is the 13th ascended master (Jesus, Krishna, and Buddha are in there, as well) and is a number associated with the angels who are here to heal and transmute your fears into positive energy of love. There are 13 Lunar cycles, the Mayans & Native Americans honor that. In the Tarot, Death ;is the 13th card, which is usually a scary thing, full of uncertainty, hesitation and rupture in life. but it also represents renewal, transformation, end of struggle, and new beginnings. The number thirteen is a prime number (only divides by itself and one) which represents something that is incorruptible and pure.

And when you put them together, "oh my"...

 

Rossini died. Not good for him, but

he did leave us The Barber of Seville,

(Largo al factotum and una voce poco fa,

and The William Tell Overture

(The Lone Ranger theme).

Butch Cassidy born.
Not a good thing for
banks, but nice for
Paul Newman's career.

I celebrated Friday the 13th in the fifth row watching Joel Osteen and experiencing a dynamic positive, loving energy from his Night of Hope. And I am not a Christian.

-BTW, the phobia of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidakatriaphobia-

Moving on to Saturday....

It was PI Day. The number Pi is 3.141592653 and  as of 2013, continuing with 12.1 trillion other numbers. Like many people, I celebrated by eating pie, both pizza and dessert. Now some folks would dwell on the fact that gluten and sugar is not a good celebratory ingestion of food. True as that may be, the importance of Pi Day, is that it not only is the equation defining the circumference of a circle, it also represents the infinite, perfection, the patternless  the transcendental, and, in the Science of Mind, the way the Universe works, the Divine Act of Creation within us all. It is an idea to celebrate, live by, and intentionally / consciously Be:  I Am that I AM and I use the Law of Cause and Effect to govern and create the experiences of my life.


And, finally, Sunday....

The IDES OF MARCH
Granted, it wasn't a particularly groovy day for Julius Caesar, but before that event occurred, it was considered a feast day celebrated with picnics, drinking, and revelry. In the original Roman calendar, the Romulas calendar, Martius, March, was the first month - happy new year everyone. It wasn't till Julius crated the Julian calendar that it became the third month - and see what happened to him? March was named after Mars, God of War.

So, like Friday, 13, Friday the 13th, and the occasional gluten/sugar filled day, these "bad" things are pretty much superstition (not to discount the nutritional valueless and sometimes danger aspect of gluten and sugar for many people) and not Truth.

WE GET TO CHOOSE WHAT TO BELIEVE

And so, in honor of Mars, the God of War, and choosing perspective and belief, as is our birthright...

It is time to take up arms against fear, lack, dis-ease, and hate in our lives.

If one guy with a bullet could change the world in the school depository in Dallas or a hotel in Los Angeles or Memphis;  how much more could one person with an idea, the right idea, change the world. Today, this day, the world will change forever, not because of the clash of armies, not in the currency of bomb blasts or body counts, but through the proper application of the only force that matters, the only power that even God respects, the Truth.

               ~from “Jeremiah” by J. Michael Stracynski

I invite you to draw a line in the sand and live your life starting now.

There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.

~ His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Friday, as we experience a new moon (a 'supermoon’), a total solar eclipse and the spring equinox falling on the same day; join me in shaking off self-pity, yesterday's mistakes, missteps, and fears. Join me in recognizing and experiencing a rebirth of our Divine right to perfect health; a fertility of abundant prosperity, love and creativity; and an ocean of new opportunities in living life to the fullest.

Join me in taking up arms, opening your heart and mind and gut to living the Truth, the Divine in You - who you are.

Raise your arms and repeat this affirmation from the mind of James Mellon:

I stand in the Truth that my life is dynamic, expansive, and happening now!

This is the perspective to live by!
This is the perspective to think from!

This is the perspective to be the consciousness of!
This is the perspective believe in!

This is the perspective to experience life as!

From there, the infinite possibilities that are available in the Universe, become evident in your life.

NAMASTE

I Am In Love: Reflections on February and Valentine's Day

                                     

                               It was just love month...

And as of this writing, two weeks ago it was the big love week of the year! So I asked myself, "What is Love …

 ...is it a feeling, concept, or action?"

Dictionary.com says:

NOUN  1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection
for another person              

      2. a feeling of warm personal attachment as 
for a parent, child, or friend. 

      3. sexual passion or desire                 

      4. affectionate concern for the well-being  
  of others: love of one's neighbor.

      5. strong predilection, enthusiasm, or      
     liking for anything: a love of books.

      6. a score of zero; nothing.                

VERB: 1. be in love with person, idea, occupation...
   2. love up                                 
             3. to do for love - out of affection or liking; for   pleasure and without compensation

          4. to do for the love of - in consideration of or 
 for the sake of something          
        5. like: for the love of God, stop that noise.  

              6. to be enamored of: in love with the girl next door
or one's work                

        7. make love:  to engage in sexual activity     

My, my, my - there are so many types of love to have or be in, to choose from:

Romantic love, brotherly love, maternal love,

puppy love, tough love, lusty love, love of country ...

Well, I would like to announce...

I am in love!

And not just romantic love – though I am! I am in love with my friends, my job, my ministry, my cats, my family, Southern California.

I am in love with the taste of peach cobbler w/thick doughy, chewy crust and crumbles topping (gluten free, of course), French Fries, Pumpkin Pie, and dense rich flour-less chocolate cake.

I am in love with the smell of cut grass, a fireplace a-blazing, and  the air after it rains.

I am in love w/the sound of my cats purring, laughter (especially a baby), music by Debussy, and crickets at night (btw - that's a mating call).

But I am also in love w/flu I had a few weeks ago, the extra load of work I had to do three weeks ago, and the agita of buying a new suit a month ago.

I did not like those events and would prefer to discontinue manifesting such events...

But I do love them!

Why? 

It proves my Power...

That never-ending, undeniable, unflappable,

pure, non-judgmental, unconditional love of Spirit.

That love from God, Divine Source, First Cause...

from the Universe Itself.

I am in love and I am grateful for the ultimate love of that which I am:

          The energy that soars within me, through me, and around me.

And even though I may not like some of the choices I have manifested … I celebrate the glory and divinity of that which I AM!

For in doing so, I honor my Self (notice the capital "s"), I honor nature, and I dignify the creation and creator that I am.

As James Mellon would remind me:  

I am the believer not the belief.

And there is joy and pride in that gift of love and Power. Now, I am talking about the love of Self, the most important love of all! Here's a great definition of Love:

Self-givingness of the Spirit through the desire of Life to express Itself in terms of creation. It is a synonym for God, says Emerson. It is a cosmic force whose sweep is irresistible. 

~Dr. Ernest Holmes 

...and whose purity is undeniable!

Now some of the history around the love holiday, Valentine's Day, is not be so pure. Have you heard the story?

Pope Galasius - 5^th Century declared Feb. 14^th, Valentines Day. Timed to a Pagan Fest. (surprise!) = begin of bird mating season.

1400's - lovers have been exchanging love poems. First written by Charles, Duke of Orleans - captured in the Battle of Agincourt by King Henry V & thrown in Tower of London.
To his second wife, he wrote:

Je suis déjà d’amour tanné,

Ma très douce Valentinée

Rough translation:  I am already sick of love, My very gentle Valentine. Get me the hell out of here!

By 1840, because of Esther A. Howland, who began mass-producing them, the Valentines Day card became popular.

Finally, and most recently,
in 1920 Loveland, Colorado, three giants of industry – 
Joyce Clyde Hall of Hallmark Cards in K.C. MO,
Mary See, the Los Angeles candy maker and
John Valentine of Florist's Transword Delivery (FTD)
in Downer's Grove Ill - 
got together to practice the fine art perfected by American capitalist ingenuity:
colluding to capture the market on Valentines Day.
Which is why we believe the following:
without giving or receiving a combo of candy/card/flowers - Valentines Day is ruined.

I tell this story... (btw, the last paragraph? - I made up) ...I tell this because I not only flowered and be-carded my special loved one (no candy, avoiding the sugar and any gluten) and went to yoga with her...

...I also did so to myself...

in gratitude.

Thanking the God in me for the love It has for me, the love It gives to me and the love It is in me, as me...

And that includes the junk I have brought into my life.

I have learned to love what is disliked or uncomfortable and move through it. I know where the Source and Substance of my Supply comes from! I know where my Power comes from!

I also know the junk in my life is just old news! And I sit in gratitude that I can know that, live that, and walk through that. I place no limit on this Principle.

In the Upanishads, it states: 

That boundless power,

source of every power,

manifesting itself as life,

entering every heart, living there among the elements, 

that is Self.

That is Self. And with news like that, I have no choice but to get up, start dancing, and sing to the world what Pharrell Williams wrote:

It might seem crazy what I'm 'bout to say
Sunshine, she's here, you can take a break

Because I'm happy...
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do

Here come bad news talking this and that
Well, give me all you got, don't hold it back
I should probably warn you I'll be just fine
No offense to you … don’t waste your time, here's why...

My level's too high to bring me down
Can't nothing bring me down...

Love is what I am … and I love ALL that I am!

With that intention and commitment to love, I have the key to the lock of the habitual negative thoughts room … 

...so I can get out!

Walt Whitman, in "Song of the Open Road", put it best:

From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute,
Listening to others, and considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.

...and the reactions that hold me down.

How you may ask? From Psalm 27:14, we learn -

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, 

and It shall strengthen your heart: 

wait, I say, on the Lord.

and from Ernest Holmes and Raymond Charles Barker:

The secret of self mastery is a simple one. 

It is the clear concept that creation begins and ends within the consciousness of the individual experiencing it. 

Mind is the only cause and law is the only process.

Your Mind, your thoughts and feelings, your beliefs, your perspective on the experiences you have brought into your life, color your future.

So...
Exchange hate for love,
doubt and fear with faith, and
lack for knowing that you have the Power!

I know I have the power to move through the old news, the junk, the condition, the whatever you want to call the yucky stuff that shows up and create a happy, prosperous, vibrant life...

And that is what I choose to do!

And nothing and no one can stop my God Vibration!

Who's joining me?

Namaste

 Click Here for 24 Hours of Happy!

Visioning Your Future Now!

photo by Geoffrey King

VISIONING

A very basic description by Michael Beckwith:  "center yourself through meditation or contemplative prayer in which you commune with the Ineffable, activating a field of unconditional love. Once your consciousness is open and receptive, you place questions before your higher Self".

We are all creatives. It matters not whether you are in a creative field - a writer, painter, performer, etc. - you are a creative being because you live in a creative Universe of a Creative Power using a creative law or Principle (Cause and Effect) to bring experiences into your life. One of the things that gets in our way is a lack of the act of forgiveness, of self or others. You might have read in my previous post, from the New Thought Guy blog, about forgiveness and its effects on our bodies, minds, and spirits. It is essential to learn forgiveness, sometimes radical forgiveness, in order to move on into our greatness. I invite you to join me in this...

Martha Graham wrote a now famous letter to Agnes DeMille that I would like to partly quote:

"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.

And If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions.

It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly to keep the channel open....

You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate YOU.

Keep the channel open."

Now ask yourself these questions. And close your eyes and let Spirit, Source, God, Charlie, whatever you may call that Power which is the Allness of the Universe, speak to you in the silence.

1. What is it that you want to open your mind to create?

2. What can you do to unfold your heart in order to create your greatest good?

3. What makes you cringe and seems to prevent you from creating that great life you envision?

Let the answers show up, swirl around your consciousness, and inform you.

Vision your best life, your optimized life, your life of vitality, prosperity, significance, and love! There is a power for Good in the Universe and you get to use it. Use it Now!  

     Love Only!  Forgive Everything!  Remember Who You Are!

Forgiveness ... Yes or No?

I have decided to give up forgiveness!

It's just way too much fun to be angry at the woman who dumped me or the guy who cut me off in traffic, or the parent that ignored me, etc. etc.

I mean, we are creative beings right?

I can use this Divine creativity to think up unique ways to get back at the woman who dumped me, the guy who cut me off in traffic or the parent who ignored me and messed me up for ever having a successful loving relationship.

Let's see .... thinking ...creating ...

GOT IT!

1. I could show up where I know she'll be, that's for the woman who dumped me, with a tall model who is hanging all over me. PDA galore!

(Now why I would think I am trading up from a dancer, Pilates teacher or Yoga instructor to a model is another story.)

2. I could get real close to the guy who cut me off and turn on my brights for a mile or two, even if I have to drive away from my original destination. It's okay. It'll annoy the heck out of him.And isn't that what's most important?

3. And Mom or Dad, who ignored me and gave me commitment issues? I'll be sure to make them watch me pick the wrong gal time after time, for decades, bringing a different lover home for every holiday and whine and vent and complain to them on the phone, when I get rid of them in the intervening months. Maybe even blame them for it.

Yeah, that's the ticket!

“Mom, Dad – you messed me up, no wonder I pick women who have one foot out the door or who aren't really committed to me and the relationship, or, contrary to what they claim, a commitment at all.”  

That'll show 'em.

A fabulous long-term grudge for the parental unit(s).

I'm feeling very creative here. I could go on with more great examples, but I'll let you come up with some on your own. This is great! 

Okay, declaration time:

I'm giving up forgiveness

and enjoying a life full of resentment and blame.

Years of sweet revenge...

...and loss of dignity, self-respect, the good people in my life, the healthy minded in my life, any chance at a real/healthy/fulfilling love life; or wisdom, beauty, and peace of mind. I can look forward to years of slowly having my health eaten away with higher blood pressure and heart rate, digestive problems, depression, anxiety, and the pills to "combat" them. And everywhere else in my life:  constantly confused, giving mixed messages, being the wounded little boy, bitching and moaning all the time, whining to friends for sympathy over and over again, and living a life with self-pity and bitterness surrounding me all the time. I will also constantly attract, demonstrate, mock-up, manifest, and experience …. exactly …. what I put out:  misery, pain, shame, pseudo-happiness, and dis-ease of all kinds.

Oy, not so good, huh?

Maybe I should rethink this non-forgiveness thing!

Confucius said:

To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it.
                   

Choice, it's all about choice.

Ernest Holmes wrote in his book, IT'S UP TO YOU:  
We are like the sculptor having both the training and the tools with which to work, standing before a huge block of marble, admiring its beauty yet never turning a hand, and all the while wondering why an interesting statue does not emerge – entirely forgetful of why he studied for years and why he has tools with which to work. We are like a man who hates darkness and sits alone in a house completely wired electricity, praying for the light yet never moving a finger to switch on the powerful illumination. Will it be strange if future generations, knowing this, call us stupid?

What will you choose? Resentment, pain, shame, blame, a whirlwind of physical and emotional setbacks? A life of hiding behind a wall of protection, maybe unconsciously and in the name of self-preservation or protection from past mistakes, but yet a wall that you only peek over now and again until what should be comfortable, but is not your "normal" (a habit that you have built into your reasoning of pushing the good away), becomes uncomfortable and it gets too scary? Then you just fall back behind that wall. 

Or will you choose to know and live the Truth, and use that knowledge and Power to take the leap? Maybe you will have to have the courage to ask for assistance in the step over the cliff, that's perfectly fine. But step nonetheless!

Affirm with me:

I choose to forgive you and to forgive me.

I choose love!

                                                                                                                               Photo by Tara Yarte

NAMASTE

Let Freedom Ring!

This week, our nation commemorated the 50th anniversary of 250,000 people who gathered at the National Mall in Washington D.C. to listen to Martin Luther King speak on the injustice that was still occurring for the African American in the United States.


He dreamed that the Constitution and Declaration of Independence wouldn't be just pieces of paper with noble words and marvelous visions, but the law of the land - followed and respected.

He dreamed that equality for all would be solidified in this land and all lands.

It was fifty years ago this week, in 1963, that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called this country, nay the world, to bear witness to, become a part of, and take positive non-violent action for freedom ... for all!

In honor of that day, I call you, this nation, and this planet to bear witness to and become a conscious and mindful part of the remembering, knowing, living, and being of who you are:

Love, Life, Light … God

Bringing only your best self to the table .... and to the party. Bringing only the best experience into your thoughts and into your life.

Using the Power given to you by the Universe to demonstrate and manifest your greatest good in all the corners of your life, even the nooks and crannies.
 

Like the Declaration of Independence says:

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all are created equal.

That's you, me and everyone!

We have the Power to free ourselves from missing the mark in our thoughts and beliefs about our bodies, minds, pocket books, relationships, and work.

Dr. King ended his famous Dream Speech with this:

When we allow freedom to ring - when we let it ring from every city and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, Free at last, Great God a-mighty, We are free at last."

Repeat that to yourself:

Free at last, free at last,
Great God a-mighty, I am free at last.

Namaste

Mind The Gap

 

In the Underground of London, there is a gap between where you are, on the platform, and where you want to be, in the train. Or vice versa. And to get to either of those places from either of those places you have to step over - MIND - the gap to get there. The same holds true with all the stuff in our lives. The gaps between want we want and what we have.

Dr. Holmes wrote, “Nature is not foolish; she does nothing without an ample reason, leaves no gaps and provides for all emergencies."

Gaps are made by us. We decide what we must climb over or step over or fill in over to get to what or where we want.

Anybody out there have some gaps?

Tony Robbins has said, “the past does not equal the future unless you live there.”

So, where are you living...in your mind?

You may ask how do you get away from that "there" to get to "that" there? Or, the platform to the train or the train to the platform?

The answer lies in a spiritual practice. A mental practice. Daily, hourly, or at any moment of the day possible, engage in a spiritual practice. This may include affirmations, self-talk, meditation, visioning, reading and comprehending, workshops or classes, the James Mellon's Mental Muscle and other such in-depth experiential programs, or just good ole spiritual mind treatment - affirmative prayer.

Stay focused. Be aware. Be mindful and decide to rid yourself of the limiting beliefs that don't suit you or serve you. And work your spiritual mind practice until you do so.

Dr. Rosalene Glickman has a formula for life: "Accept, Understand, Optimize"

As they say at the Global Truth Center: Love Only, Forgive Everything, Remember Who You Are!

Napoleon Hill has a famous saying: “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

To change a belief is easy. It might take time, but it's easy. It might take consideration and thought, but it's easy. It may take a conscious and consistent use of that stuff bouncing around in that brain of ours - thoughts and feelings - but it's easy. You might have to restructure your self talk words, meditate more, move your feet more after you treat, but it's easy.

Just stay focused and consistent.

What's hard is what happens when you don't do the work.

And the best thing is ... once you change or heal your beliefs ... you don't have to deal with the intricacies of how your new belief will manifest.

The Universe will take care of that.

Namaste.

The Defining Moment

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

 - Charles Dickens A TALE OF TWO CITIES.

 I have some questions for you:

How do you define you?

What is the definition of you?

Who or what do you let define you?

Are you defined by your past ... your mother ... your mate? Or maybe by your friends or your career or job?

Perhaps you are like Sydney Carton in A TALE OF TWO CITIES; the lazy, alcoholic attorney who can't muster any interest in his own life until his unrequited love for Lucie Manette inspires him to become a selfless martyr where, at the end of the novel, he disguises himself as a wanted man (her fiance) and takes the rap for him, paying the ultimate price with death by guillotine; thus enabling the happiness of his beloved Lucie and ensuring his own redemptive immortality and resurrected life meaning? 

ie. Are you living a life of sacrifice?

Maybe you have defined yourself by some or many of these things before: your profession, others opinions, your hopes and dreams?

I have:

There have been times in my life where I have put myself second unnecessarily and too often. I have allowed my talents, abilities, profession, marital status, checkbook status, or social status define me.

Maybe not verbally, but, worse, internally.

But no more!!! 

And I want you to join me!  So I repeat the question: 

How do you define you?

First off, let's define definition -

It is an act of; the formal proclamation of one's being, a statement expressing the essential nature of something, the action or process of stating the meaning of a word or word group or one's life, the action or the power of describing, explaining, or making clear; or a clarity of the visual presentation, outline or detail

Poet and civil rights advocate, Audre Lorde said, 

If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.

She has been quoted self-defining herself as a black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet. So, she defines herself by her race, sexuality, procreation, engagement in activism and equality, profession and art - what she does, her actions.

Ms. Lorde defines herself by what Thomas Jefferson said:

Do you want to know who you are?
Don't ask. Act!
Action will delineate and define you.

So, what actions are you taking? What thoughts are you thinking or will think? Is tomorrow just going to be another day, Scarlett?

Another day where lack overrides prosperity?

Fear overrides love?

Or will faith override fear?

Truth override fact?

We all have volition. We get to choose what and which emotions, states of mind, and opinions we're going to have. We get to decide which emotional triggers are allowed to invade our lives and which ones will fade and vanish from our lives, and what or which reactions we are going to have to fact number x, y or z.

We get to choose!

Second definition is the ostensive definition:

A definition accomplished by exhibiting and characterizing
 the thing to be defined.

If everyone was blind, how would you be described? 

-Brianna West, Thought Catalogue

In a moment, I want you to close your eyes and...

Feel your face … 

... the texture, the lines - is it a frown or smile?

Stressed or joyous?

Listen to (not just hear) your voice. ...

... your tone - is it stressed or joyous?

Feel your energy ...

... surrounded by happy, sad, content, 

stressed, at ease, at peace?

Try it!

Do you sense a big fat wall or lie going on?

What energy do you give off?

Does the room clear when you enter it

or are people attracted to the energy you exude?

Brianna went on to say:

You are not your hair color. You are not your choice of clothing. You’re not your height, weight or job or degree of education. More importantly, you’re not your mistakes. You’re not defined by the things that make you human, otherwise known to some as “flaws.” The physical are just descriptors that make you easier to identify by others (short tall young old brown hair dyed hair no hair), they don’t define who you are.

And this is my favorite part:

You are whatever touches your soul more deeply than anything. You are who you love. You are the music that makes you cry. You are the daydreams your mind trails off to. You are your favorite food. You are your deepest desires. You are what you want to bring to the world. You are the silly jokes that make you laugh. You are how you treat other people, especially people who don’t and can’t do anything for you in return. You are anything and everything that touches you and changes you from your core.

Our third definition is the contextual definition

A definition in which the meaning of a word, expression, or symbol is partly or wholly determined by defining the meaning of a larger expression containing the definiendum.

So, let's put this into context … the larger expression of you and I is commonly referred to as God!

Ernest Holmes calls God:

The Power that creates everything, that gives life to everything.

So in a contextual definition of you and me, we are creators
 … we are artists.

Edgar Allan Poe said:

It is almost something that can't be put into words. Were I called on to define, very briefly, the term Art, I should call it 'the reproduction of what the Senses perceive in Nature through the veil of the soul.'

You see, you and I are the ultimate Artists of our lives. What we perceive we can achieve. Our thoughts become things. Our beliefs flavor every experience we have, whether we call them good, bad, positive, negative, wanted or not wanted.

What do you believe?

The fourth is about our depth of focus

It is the range of distances of the image measured along the axis of the device throughout which the image has acceptable sharpness.
You can say that it is the range of distance where our focus on our perfection is sharp. That is a mental and optical reference.
The human eye can change focus from distance infinity to 7 cm from the eye in 350 milliseconds. Milliseconds! Well, we also have that same capacity, mentally, to change our focus, as well.

I define myself by everything that I love, everything I can create, everything that I can imagine. 

- Stedman Graham

What are you focusing on?

It's time to learn to turn off the noise; the chaos of the city, of work, and of life. Put down the paper, close People Magazine, turn off the news and look into the eyes of your pet, your child, your lover, your friend.
It is there you will see, feel, reveal that which defines you.

Dr. Holmes in This Thing Called You says:

Not a person lives does not at some time in life sense this inward Presence, this vision of the Divine which presses against us. It is seeking entrance through our thoughts.

We must open the door of our consciousness

and permit It to enter.

Our fifth definition is the connotative definition

It is a statement of the equivalence of connotation between the defined term and another expression.

It is our thoughts:  

        what we think about our selves 
or what we accept about what others might say

Dr. Holmes wrote:

Thoughts often repeated form patterns in mind which automatically repeat themselves.

So, what is going on in your self talk?

"I can't do nothing."

"I can do anything."

"I am a failure."

                                                       or

"I express limitless possibilities

because there are limitless possibilities

and I am of the ultimate Artist, the ultimate Creator,

thus I am the Artist,

I am the Creator of my experiences."

In Don Miguel Ruiz's THE FOUR AGREEMENT, the second and third agreements are:  

Don't take anything personally and don't make assumptions.

Don't take anything personally about what others say about you, think about you, write about you, or you have even done yourself.Don't like how you handled something or said something? Yeah, take responsibility....but suffer, beat yourself up for it?

Forget it!

Repair the damage and don't ever do it again.

Love Only - Forgive Everything

Remember Who You Are!

Don't assume! Find out! 

Don't poison your mind with supposed facts, including the news, find out ... ask ... get the truth with a little t and know the Truth with the big T.

Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won't die. You will come to life. And don't be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it's their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don't be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.

                            ― Eckhart Tolle

          A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

The sixth and final definition is the genetic definition
which indicates how that to which a word or expression refers, comes into existence.

You don't have to achieve it  - a life of meaning, a life of definition, or a defining moment - like Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities did or the way so famously made by Jesus of Nazareth – by sacrificing your life. You can have it now by sacrificing the old you that no longer serves your greatest good, that you used or maybe abused to define you before and live like the Artist that you are, like the Creator that you are.

You see, you are unique!

There were 200-300 million sperm in competition to fertilize the one egg that was available in one of the two fallopian tubes in your mother to start the process of reproduction and the making of your body - this vehicle that is temporarily holding the real you, the definition of You. 

200-300 million!

And that sperm not only fought for its place in the cue, it traveled the equivalent to its size, a distance of 40 miles to reach its destination.

Forty miles!

That is some power. That is some kind of uniqueness that you and I are.

It is the same Power that makes the planets, grows the trees, whips up the wind, works the 100 trillion cells that makes up your body. Now the saying that you rejuvenate your entire cell system every 7 - 10 years is a misnomer. But many or our cells are constantly regenerating themselves – much of your body is younger than the number of candles on your birthday cake. 

This is power and this Power is in you,

works through you,

acts as you ... 

is YOU.

Take it, grasp it, absorb it...

BE IT.

Creation's gold mine is in you. The key is deliberate intention. Whatever your dream may be at this moment, identify it. If you cannot define your desire, it can never become a reality. 

- Mary Manin Morrissey

They say don't sweat the big stuff...

and people ask how, how do I do that?

Well, by concentrating on ... 

living in and being of the little stuff … 

the basic stuff … 

which is the True big stuff.

Allow me to, as Jarvis Lorry did for Dr. Manette in the beginning of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, give you this message:

Recalled to Life.

I am recalling you to a life deserved, a life birthed to, a life au natural (with or without clothing); a life imbued with, soaking in, surrounded by, created from, living as, and Being One with which you are … 

With which you are … 

A life that defines You

Charles Dickens' A TALE OF TWO CITIES ends with this, from the narrator:

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

Let us end with this:

Please repeat:

Today I proclaim my Divine inheritance...

I am rich with the richness of Source...

I am strong with the power of Light...

I am guided by the wisdom of Spirit...

I am held in the goodness of God, today.

If you must define yourself, make that your definition. And watch those “synchronicities”, those “miracles” that seem to just show up when things are going great .... show up even more.

LOVE ONLY - FORGIVE EVERYTHING

REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!

Namaste!