tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70204307452203256512024-02-08T04:44:50.479-08:00Reflective Thoughts In TransformationStarshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7020430745220325651.post-44513522991512380372011-11-16T11:56:00.000-08:002011-11-16T12:05:19.824-08:00Thoughts on Life & Death, Heaven & Hell<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In looking at how I operate, that has the world occur around me the way that it does, has opened up so much for me about Life and of course on the other end of that Death. Heaven & Hell, what's here now and what comes next.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What I’ve really come to is this… and it may seem a little backwards in how I communicate it, so just hang in there with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The way I see it, every religion and belief seems to fit this image I have, they all fit within it somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve not found anything to discount it - yet (and believe me I’ve been looking).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In looking (Buddhism, Christianity, Zen, Philosophy, Existentialism, Etc…) I only keep finding pieces of puzzle that fit this massive mosaic of how it all really works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And whole worlds within worlds that seem to transcend all the “stuckness” of the everyday human existence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is of course so fascinating, I just continue to pursue the inquiry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Consider several things:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1) That we are hugely more powerful creations than we even begin to scratch the surface of and when we’re not being THAT we feel constrained, trapped, imprisoned inside a life that just seems less than what know is available and can’t seem to access </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2) Every Single Thing we think we know about the world and our life - Is Made Up (like perceptions, beliefs, imagination) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3) The meaning of life…. “The purpose of life” is not something you find.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*It’s something you create.*</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yeah, ^go ahead and re-read that whole paragraph again ^.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like just take a moment to sit with the three things I just shared, just consider them as an unknown truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like something you don’t yet about the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something hidden from the view.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Negative perception of life, makes living life Hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like everything that occurs in a person’s world reinforces the shitty experience they have of what it is to be human.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Resignation, Bitterness, Resentment, Frustration, Anger, Disempowerment, Lovelessness.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Positive perceptions of life, makes living life Heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like everything that occurs reinforces a grace about life, Fun, Loving, Expressive, Empowering, Inspiring, Amazing and Enlightening.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If we look at how we see our life, like “how we feel about it”… what’s that description?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do you feel about life? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop, and take a moment to think about that. “How do you FEEL about life?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then take those responses and look for yourself… is the experience of life like Heaven, Hell or just kind of eh – in-between?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Where I’m going with this is that Life & Death are a part of the same world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not “this world” and then “that world”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if you must think in “this” or “that” terms…..think of it as: What you have in this world is exactly what you’ll have in the next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because we make it up, like our soul makes it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The part of us that never dies… makes it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are the creators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like mini-gods we choose to create a whole world of Heaven or Hell to experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when the physical body ends, our soul goes on to create the next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you don’t recognize the part you play in this HUGE creation, and utilize the immense power you have to create the experience.. you’ll be resigned to just re-create what you already know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like literally recreate a bigger better version of Hell over and over again in an ongoing cycle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no escape from that future except to become aware of yourself as the source and creator of the world in which you live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re already creating…. In every action in every moment in every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just… Are you aware of what you are creating?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like CLEARLY aware? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So we create the prison, we create the Hell… so we can experience the Heaven =)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kind of messed up, but if you consider how powerfully creative we are… get it like a game we’ve created for ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like we set up obstacles in our life, just so we get to experience over coming those obstacle…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and on the other side of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>those prison walls of our own version of Hell…. We get a greater sense of our own power, ourselves, our capability and the amazing experience of what it means to be human.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve got to be in the dark in order to see the light. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So how do you create the shift?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The following is a snippet I wrote for Jim Palmer (Author of Devine Nobodies, Wide Open Spaces and Being Jesus in Nashville) when he asked me to share a little something on what I think it means to be Jesus. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Highly fascinating, and again in my inquiry, his message totally aligned with this vision I have of how it all works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His book, my article speaks to, is called “Being Jesus”…. Taking into account the Christian view that you can only reach Salvation (Heaven) through Jesus Christ’s teaching AND just as Jesus is, We All Are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even though the writing is about Being Jesus, it’s not actually religious. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>_Enjoy_</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Being Jesus means being free from all constraint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The first thing that shows up in that statement, right after “what the heck does that mean??!” is how do you get free from any single constraint more or less ALL of them??<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both totally valid questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s take it in parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Forward has to start somewhere, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To get anywhere you first have to know where you currently are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life is like this: as one moves through the years, they accumulate the stones of knowledge that have marked the path of do’s and don’ts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like those rocks get collected along the way in the make-up of who you are in a metaphorical back pack that sits solid. This back pack is yours and yours alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You carry it everywhere you go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Knowing all the while, the weight of the world grows heavier with each step, each moment and no one else can seem to grasp the burden you now find yourself carrying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thought of taking on any more, even one single thing, is paralyzing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a looooong pause in life when you reach that moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When being still and coping is all there is to do, we take what little is left of our joy, faith, and love of life and hide it away from the impending darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We build walls to protect our heart, happiness and rapidly diminishing light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With amazing velocity we build one wall for every stone of life’s lessons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A wall for never trusting anyone to take care of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another wall to never forgive for something wronged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another wall for riotousness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another wall for hatred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another wall for guilt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another wall for sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another wall for jerks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another wall for people that seem too nice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A wall for certain kinds of men or woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walls to protect against an entire race or in some cases only part of a race (like the poorer half or the half with non-native language).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so many walls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walls against family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walls against religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even walls against God himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ve spent so much time building walls; we’ve completely forgotten to live life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">During this depressing time, there’s a chance to take a look around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around and all around, at the walls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So many walls to protect ourselves that we have essentially created a labyrinth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A self-made prison that even we can’t navigate and quite possibly has no way out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is the confinement we’re talking about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a trap the mind sets in the game of life, that near most all players fall for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That’s the particular confinement important to get, before I set out to share with you something about Jesus that is key to know in Being Jesus yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I said previously, being Jesus means being free from all constraint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is quite literally freedom from yourself, your past, your beliefs, your desires, your pains, your jealousy, your everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Freedom in all areas of your life until there is nothing left but just you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stripped down to the pure light of loving harmony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Consider, you were born pure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You were born without a care in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in that, had no way to compare what you had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So in the game of life, you took on obstacles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One by one you collected your mile markers and built your walls for the exact purpose of having comparison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take it as far as you can from what you really want, forget you’re playing the game and sit still in the confinement so you can get the tremendous impact and want to overcome!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In getting you put these walls in place, and technically they’re only metaphorical anyways, you can indeed walk right through them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Choose the direction (ANY direction) other than the one you’ve been taking and keep walking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you come to the wall of hatred, stop hating and you’ll pass right through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you come to the wall of vanity, stop being vain and you’ll continue on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you come to the wall of distrust, trust again and the wall will vanish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you come to the wall of fear, fear not and you’ll pass right through fearlessly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With each wall, freedom from constraint is found and in its place is wide open spaces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything you’ve been searching for but could never find is there beyond those walls. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been there the whole time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You need only clear the view to see them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In doing so… you become pure again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In doing so, you will witness an inspiring awareness begin to show up in your presence. You will experience a warmth you’ve never known and can’t describe. You will know a truth that can’t be taught and can’t be denied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you will have found the You; you’ve always been looking for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do this and you will have uncovered the walking path of Jesus Christ and you will know God in a way that only his children do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will be, “Being Jesus.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jamie Bihl (10/18/2011)</span></div><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/starshinequotes"><span style="color: blue;">www.facebook.com/starshinequotes</span></a></span></div>Starshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7020430745220325651.post-70212189668775024992011-09-14T14:18:00.000-07:002011-09-14T14:56:19.466-07:00Horse & Rider, Emotions & Logic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">All sentient beings have the potential to stop the spinning of the rat race wheel at any given moment. Yet we don’t…. like bad elevator music running in the background it goes unnoticed and untamed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile amongst this chaos we create the perception of our reality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A false reality, one we will fight tooth and nail for like an animal…. But not even be in love with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I love analogies please allow me to share one of my favorites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a representation I use, to create outside of myself a tangible image, as an assessment and aid for myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I refer to it as being the horse or being the rider.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We live in an emotionally driven world, emotionally driven culture and emotionally driven upbringing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emotions are like lightning, they show up unpredictable and sometimes can be beautifully expressive and sometimes can cause complete disaster… they’re much like an untamed horse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We, as humans, are like an untamed horse – and don’t even realize it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Startled by what frightens us, fight or flight, we kick up our feet in defense or we flee from what we believe is the source of the upset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re steered by our feelings and our beliefs about the way we feel in such a way that the use of higher intellect and logic are not even remotely accessible in those moments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, it is specifically in those moments they are needed the most, as those unguarded actions become the mile markers in the wake of our path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The permanence of how the world sees us, until it lays new eyes upon us again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once you gain control of your horse, you may rise above and be the rider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be the command of your life, the center focus and creator of where you go, how you get there and how fast you stride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are just as capable of being in that kind of control as we are capable of breathing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How to ride your horse as an analogy to life and what to expect:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">FIRST, with full intention, grab hold firmly by the bit (This is Ownership… you can’t be in control of your life if you’re not even willing to put your hands on it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s uneasy only because you are uncertain what happens next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What happens next is not “chaos” like the voice in your head has been warning, but a simple sensation of “stun” or “silence”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that quiet space, one might try to immediately return to the scramble… don’t let it, hold firm, sit with the silence… the quiet, the clarity)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">SECOND, show affection (This is Respect… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you’ll never win over a part of yourself that thinks you’re not worthy for it to listen to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be connected to your emotions and have an honest relationship with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How you process the data from your life, comparing it to previous apples and create the patterns to which to trust in or avoid, is how you USED to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Respect that for what it was, let it be what it is, and process differently now)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">THIRD, mount quickly with reigns in hand and stay calm and steady (This is where Resistance may show up…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you second guess yourself anytime you’re trying something new or putting yourself out there in a way you’ve not before…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>resisting being a better version of yourself is totally natural.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Expect it, push it aside when it shows up, and stay focused on being in control.. This antsy-ness will pass, the sooner you quit worrying about it being there, the faster it will pass)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">FOURTH, create direction (This is Living… no one says you can only ride if you ride a path clearly marked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fuck that path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Create your own… You may be surprised to see the mountains move and rivers part to greet you as a guest to where you’ve never before been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where ever in life, love, fun, relationships, careers you’ve not before been… go there now and take in the new world with childlike curiosity)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">FIFTH, remind, reassure and redirect (This is where Life will try to Life ya…. This is where practice will make or break you as a rider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to be a rider, be committed to being a rider at all times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you find yourself face down in the dirt, get up and get right back on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That moment has passed the minute you stand up, don’t make it mean more than it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When your emotions kick up… be completely present to the emotions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See those emotions kick up like a horse lifting on its hind legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re either going to fall off your horse or someone is going to get hurt… unless, you control your horse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BE. THE. RIDER.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hold firm to logic, look at the facts of what is occurring and silence all the voices that tell you how to feel about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Silence all the stories about what it means and how it’s just like something else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No two moments in life are the same, only the stories we make up about them are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Calm your horse, hold firm the reigns and redirect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remind your horse that you are its rider and it doesn’t make the decisions about where you go anymore. The more consistently you redirect your horse when it kicks up, the less it will kick up... and the more centered and peaceful life will be)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A Master Rider’s horse only rises to its hind legs when commanded to do so.</span></div></div>Starshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7020430745220325651.post-52562149238938218962011-06-27T08:25:00.000-07:002011-06-27T09:57:49.810-07:00Food for Thought / Higher Intellect – Designing & Defining Your "Self"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you could design and define yourself from scratch, what does that look like to you?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Did you know that you have complete and total control over your life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who you are in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How you are and Who you are to the people in this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even control over how you are impacted by the happenings of the world and the people around you.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At any given moment (like THIS ONE) you can mold yourself into any way of being you’d like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not made of cement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not bound by rules or walls or boxes or cages…. Not when it comes to who WE are as individuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are not constrained by any other than ourselves, and we have complete control over even that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if life is not “working out the way you want it to”… I encourage you to explore some ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who cares, why up to this point it’s not worked out… none of that matters, it’s not like you can go back in time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only where you are going from this moment forward matters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Come explore with me:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Make a list of the things you love about yourself. (keep pile)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Make a list of things that you know hold you back in life. (toss pile)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Without consideration of how it currently is, or lack of money or lack of energy, without consideration of the past and how things may have or may have not gone… like on a blank canvas paint these answers for yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine 5 years from now.. you with an amazing life, I mean AMAZING!!!! Blow the top off amazingly amazing, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>incredibly happy, waking up every morning fulfilled and completely at peace with how life is!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From that space, the image of 5 years from now, answer these questions (and any others you think of) for yourself.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What does the ideal relationship look like for you?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What does the ideal job look like for you?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What does the ideal weekend look like for you?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What does your living environment look like for you?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What do you look like to / how do you occur to other people?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What would you give the world that it has a lack of?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What would ultimately define your happiness?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now – on your canvas, looking at everything you’ve ever wanted laid out in front of you, move the canvas 4 ½ feet in front of your body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, imagine turning it slightly translucent… a little more… a little more… perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can still see the outlines of what your ideal life looks like, but can also see reality as it comes toward you or you towards it, right?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In every interaction you have with the world, look at your choices for action through this translucent filter of WHO YOU WANT TO BE and have your actions correlate to those qualities you want for yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When your actions correlate to what you want in the Ideal Version of You…. You become in every action what you want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You ARE this person you want to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it starts happening the very first time you correlate the action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will find that overnight, you’ve reached your 5 year goals in a matter of days maybe weeks. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Challenge yourself to be a role model for how you want your life to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Show yourself how amazing you are by being committed to having that life you want for yourself, not tomorrow, not next week, not next year.. but right here, right now, in every interaction you have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be committed to a life of happiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s *<b>your</b>* life, give that gift to yourself!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How much more will you gain from life by no longer trying to fix what doesn’t work and keeps showing up again and again?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you will create for yourself a custom made template of your “way of being” and then wield your perception of life through that… You will begin to see what a huge role you really play in your life. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And an even bigger role, you play in your happiness.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">And in a week or a year from now, when you’ve exceeded your expectations of that “ultimate happiness 5 years from now goal”… I encourage you to wipe your canvas clean and do it again!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because LIFE is as amazing and as vast as you can imagine it to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ll leave you with the thought I shared with a friend the other day, “Exactly what IS the brightest a star can shine?” </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I say we find out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Peace, Love & Fulfillment-</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Starshine</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div></div>Starshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7020430745220325651.post-13200018143987917972011-06-08T07:42:00.000-07:002011-06-08T07:50:57.326-07:00Thoughts on Being Afraid to Fail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt -0.75pt; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 1.0in; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: top;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">You can try and fail OR you can fail because you've never tried. <br />
<br />
I've found the ONLY time I struggle with my identity, is when I'm resisting not being it. Might be better said like this... we become accustomed to ourselves (our identity) and very complacent in such a way because we KNOW we can survive like that. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And FEAR has you retreat back into your identity, because it’s safe there.... incredibly limiting life inside our own self-made captivity, but again we know we can survive there. <br />
<br />
I've created a fantastic distinction around this, and I will share it with you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anytime I "struggle" on ANYTHING (tear up, feel angry or out of control, depressed or anxious) <~ that is my Identity doing IT'S thing, not Self doing MY thing ... I can distinguish the struggle is inauthentic and I am able to push the struggle aside by saying to myself the following and taking a leap of faith in an action that correlates.</span><br />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma;"></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
"Follow your fear" <br />
</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
When you struggle, it's because your identity has you afraid of it. If you fear it/struggle with it... please know THAT is not you!!! It's the identity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As part of self-awareness, "If you can distinguish it, you're not it". <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Directly put - <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">You are not your fear</b>. Go towards that fear, instead of retreat from it... go towards it (sometimes this really really does feel like a blind leap of faith, I get that) but when you go towards your fear and create the action of doing something even though you are terrified of it, your identity is the one to retreat and you will find an amazing amount of confidence bestowed upon you and the world will open up for you as you move out of your own space (in your head) and into it’s space (reality).<br />
<br />
Give it a try. Go do any one thing you've been telling your self you can't do. Go do it, today. Be unreasonable with yourself, force yourself to walk straight at the fear and you will find the fear is nothing but an illusion. Identity's illusion, not Yours. It's not real, it’s made up, to keep us safe from being eaten by a wild animal like back in the old days!!! Other than at the zoo, there are no tigers, lions or bears out here in our daily lives, yet we continue to treat our ability to do things like there is one standing on every single street corner. It's an illusion my friend. There is nothing, at all, to fear. Follow your fear and prove to yourself that it never existed to begin with. And if you make yourself ride that bike just one time even, there will be nobody in this world *including your identity* that will ever be able to hold you back from doing it again. <br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
"Follow your fear."</b></span></div></div>Starshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7020430745220325651.post-17670155031735438942011-06-03T08:02:00.000-07:002011-06-03T08:02:29.271-07:00What is socially acceptable?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well… everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you ask me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you asked Cambridge, it says “PROPER” – “showing standards of behavior that are socially and morally acceptable.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But wait, the question is… what is Socially Acceptable?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not a morality question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mustard on French Fries, where’s that stand in morality?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The statement is inherently flawed, because it’s made up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The statement itself is an example of its name.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here’s where I’m going with this….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One day 10 white hair people sat around talking and one person said out loud “I want to dye my hair red”, and all the white haired people laughed then turned their cheek at this person and thought them insane, like blasphemy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Embarrassed, this person laughed and retreated from their desire to express, by saying it was just in jest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dying hair red became not socially acceptable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The white haired people left the gathering and mentioned the absurdity of red hair to other white haired people and thus reinforced the view, the collective agreement, that red hair was not “socially acceptable”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One day 10 white hair people sat around talking and one person said out loud “I saw a rose this morning and couldn’t help but be taken by its beauty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How the rays of light shined across the bend of the red petals and I felt complete happiness in its presence. I want to dye my hair red and be reminded every day of how beautiful and expressive things can be”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little taken for a moment there, one by one the white haired people shared in this thought about things they had seen that made them feel something special.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inspired, one of the white haired people shared that she had seen in another village a woman crushing berries and using the red juices to color ribbon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another shared a willingness to assist in trying it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another heard that willingness and asked if she’d do hers too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And like wild fire, excitement grew throughout the village of this new and exciting expression that anyone could be a part of. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And thus dying hair red became “socially acceptable”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here’s the difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a thought is expressed, depending on level of self-awareness and inner peace, it is expressed from a space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When a thought is expressed from a space of fear (where you pull away from what you really want in order to avoid what others think – which really just brings the likelihood of that occurrence closer to you)… this place of fear is what has you sputter something out, in desperation to get it out there… but has it not be fully expressed the way you know in your heart for it to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The recipient feels the push towards your idea, and has no choice but to resist it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When a thought is expressed from a space of love, peace, expression and growth… There is no push or pull, but growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the enrollment of others, where they can actually see for themselves the idea as it occurs for you…. Has them want to grow as well, and leave behind the small part of themself that previously wouldn’t have been open to experiencing something new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The growth is not possible, within just you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are truly connected and require one another in order for us to experience things and personally grow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is why They are more important than You are (even in typing that I feel my identity resist it… and thus I KNOW, it’s true). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are so blindingly vain in our worthiness, that we really do think that “OUR” life is about us and us alone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">You will only get it, when you give it to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider the possibility…. That that is how it really works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div></div>Starshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7020430745220325651.post-34845112774633129892011-05-25T08:43:00.000-07:002011-05-25T14:32:03.611-07:00Let's Pretend...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Consider the art of our universe works as shared space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To keep the balance a Yin = Yang.... a Win = a Lose.... a Nothing = a Everything.... a Give = a Get... a Push = a Resistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as they flow left to right, they also flow right to left…. and when areas are coupled, work independent of one another because even those different areas require balance as part of a whole too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t think too hard on that last line yet, just get the basic balance of the equal statements for now… and then take those into consideration before you act big… that’s a good place to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll see results.</span></span></span> </span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This balance is why: when nothing is sought, everything is found and when everything is sought nothing is found. </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For more layman reference, this is why you feel empowered when you do something totally new to you… because in the courage you create to have that new experience, you are neither resisting nor pushing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You instead are Growing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which if you read deeply into the first paragraph, I’ll answer the question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, growing too has a balance (it’s ALL connected).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you grow, you release a part of your Self from being who you’ve always been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you push aside who you’ve been (to experience something new), you pull towards yourself another way of being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is why when you give yourself, you get yourself (for many this practice is a huge experience the first time you do it, as it may be the first time you experience something truly Selfless and thus the first time you truly experience Self).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The example in reverse is, how most people operate…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They think they have to get it, in order to give it…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(We have it backwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We only get it, when we give it.)</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you imagine we all have strings tied to us, to our body, our words, our actions… and if we Push to the Left with our actions, the world sways left with us all the way around until eventually on the right the result occurs… a Pull to the Right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You get no where by resisting the natural sway of connectivity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Resisting” has a counter balance too and typically results in an impact to the person’s emotional state based on past experience and what they relate the new experience to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are pulling the strings towards yourself in a futile attempt to “get it”… you are moving away from the ability to “give it”… Because you make it about you, when you even know you want it to be about them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead try creating it for them… “give it”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>moving the strings outward, and when the cycle is complete you will have found you “get it” (and even more so than expected).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This balance of the shared space is why you get back from the world exactly what you’re trying to avoid… Because it’s all connected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You pull away from the things you are avoiding… which actually moves them closer to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If at this point, in your reading… you think I’m insane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s cool, I get that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least it’s got you thinking about your view of insanity! =)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s set that aside though, and Play a game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Play a game, called “let’s pretend”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s pretend, in an exploration together… that maybe the world does work this way as I’ve described.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And look around for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look around for it in your world, your daily happenings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you see it, I encourage you to be courageous and go to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go straight for the direction you think you should avoid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you’re not running from it, it’s not chasing after you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember the strings???<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s all connected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So… in being courageous and going towards your fear, towards your discomfort… you will find on the other side of the cycle something really new and exciting you’ve not gotten before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Share with me what you find, when you have actions that are completely opposite of the way you’ve always been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Play the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just a blog game…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what could it hurt? =)</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt -0.75pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in; vertical-align: top;"></div></div>Starshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7020430745220325651.post-53361637674450865882011-05-20T08:05:00.000-07:002011-05-20T08:30:39.715-07:00Thoughts on Identity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Experiencing both sides of the coin myself, I deeply relate to those in the mud. Just as the lotus, I'm a living example showing it's possible to break the surface of confinement and come into a new world (the authentic world) unscathed. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the most interesting things I've found about my former identity is that it was craftier than I even knew. The front or mask of "well put together" or "very organized" (<- if you've seen my house, are you kidding me? It's the other end of the spectrum from what I present to the professional world) and "generous" and "relatable" and "fun".... all were masks I wore to compensate for gaping holes that 98% of the people in my life were never even privy to. Then the 2% that did ever see them, fell into them. Those that knew me deeply got hurt, and those that did not get hurt... hardly knew me at all. I spent the first 32 years, just repeatedly trying to fill in holes... that weren't even there to being with. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Honestly, until now... seeing the world from outside myself, I never knew compassion. Not like this. I certainly never knew compassion for one's self. When you have compassion for others, you gain compassion for yourself. "You have to Give it, to Get it". This little quote applies to literally everything I've encountered from this space. Everything we need to know about the world is out there in the world, not in here with just you, or just me, or just that person over there. Most of us have inherited the thought to look within for the answers. There are no answers within... there are no answers inside caves or cages that we contain ourselves in to perpetuate the disconnection. The only thing within, are things you already know... but nothing more... the new data comes from the real world (hints why even a hermit is a book-a-holic). Take in that data clearly, and you gain more 10% more knowledge in each occurrence. Take REAL data, out here in real reality that is not alllllll about you... and that knowledge awakens Emotional Maturity and an array of levels of Self Awareness.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When access to food (if you can even call it that these days) changed and we no longer were required to work with our neighbors to hunt, grow and harvest and insure our survival... that was the start of a huge disconnection. It separated people, and then from there they thought separation was progress... then came single family "dwellings", and people stopped being with people and learning from people, they stopped being with the world and started just being with themselves. They embraced their cage as home and said, this is all that there is.... all that I want... and the cage has to be bigger and fancier to make me happy... and it's continued like that... materialism to mask the hole left from the disconnection. Come on people, it's still a cage!!! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then this underlying sense of "why I can't connect with people" ran in the shadows of their minds. The sadness of feeling disconnected, isolated, alone, why me syndrome. Welcomed into creation Depression, Social Anxiety, Low Self Esteem. Those happenings collapsed with the internal dialogue resulted in the internal answer to the internal question that "it's them, not me..." and "this is just the way the world is" and "I have no power over what happens to me"... Again, there are no answers within. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"If you can distinguish it, you are not it". That is self-awareness. To distinguish everything you encounter.. until nothing is left. And each time you find nothing, create something new there. Self can distinguish we are not our emotions, feelings, beliefs, intuitions, stories (Identity is the makeup of those things and how we reenact them).... If you can distinguish it, you are not it... and only in resisting that knowledge do we perpetuate identity. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'd like to encourage the world to stop resisting being one's self. </span></div></div>Starshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7020430745220325651.post-32352200240490605892011-05-18T10:07:00.000-07:002011-05-18T10:07:04.293-07:00JLS in each of us<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Heaven is here and now, in every present moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We create our level, our plane of awareness, our space with our words and then our actual actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We create what we've already created over and over again and get nowhere OR we create endlessly Everything Else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the world opens up to us when we create things that are not based on what we already know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Create and recreate through language, beyond all that is predictable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it’s predictable, you've already done it and are living solely in your head, not out here in reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Real reality is everything but predictable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s endless possibility and the only rules that confine us are the collective agreements in our surroundings and Only those if we tell ourselves we lack the courage to create, grow and harvest new agreements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is a complete possibility; only ourselves and our self doubt get in the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those can be moved out of the way as easily as they occur, when you choose not to resist doing so. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We are not disconnected from those trapped in their bird cage, or those free, or those that have pieces of the puzzle we too will find. We're all shared space, all the planes of awareness are shared, it's all one and the same...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's not even a matter of being bigger than ourselves, it’s something else completely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not This, it is That.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is a plane of awareness on the horizon, where all the shared energy will take the fearless flight together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the freed birds and what they will create as one; will be a shift in the world the way we know it...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It's essential we go back to those we can and set them free by showing another way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise a day will come that we will no longer have a vessel called Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of those waiting blindly to be free, have a voice that can reshape millions with a single sentence (ex."I have a dream"). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This way of being is shown, not said… It’s experienced, not taught… and It’s known, not just believed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The words are a reflection only; they bring people closer to the idea but not to the freedom itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no words to convey a sense of freedom that is real beyond another person’s current comprehension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, in light of that… Just Be You.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be you well… and Lead The Way.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">That may not be said directly in the book, but I see it, it's there... it's in the white space after the last published line. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look closer.</span></div></div>Starshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7020430745220325651.post-57853387899328348402011-04-01T21:57:00.000-07:002011-04-01T21:57:02.854-07:00Thoughts on Authenticity - Part One of Three<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The philosophy of authenticity is very curious to me. While I grasp completely the concept of a conscious self and being present to the real reality in which the world exists I find myself with a disconnection between the way I perceive what this is, what it’s not, what I see, and how I am able to characterize it to others. I know there is something there, a distinction waiting to be had, I just don’t know what it is…. So I’m writing an exploration on it. A discovery process for myself. We do too little for ourselves. I want to understand my current impression, see other's impressions, and then devise the difference in hopes to find the missing link. <br />
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Part One will be my preliminary thoughts. <br />
Part Two will be my research findings. <br />
Part Three will hopefully be the collaboration of the two into something new.... We will see. Wish me luck!<br />
(and incase anyone ever reads this, my intention is just to write.. not to look good or cater to anyone else, be grammatically or intillectually correct or even stimulating to a reader. It may seem raw, and that is perfectly fine for me... it's actually exactly what I want to give myself)<br />
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If you’ve ever snorkeled a lagoon where fresh water meets sea water, this might hold some visual insight for you. On the fresh water side, the water is clear and fairly still (comfortable to move about in - easy to be complacent)… there is a whole world of aquatic life and vast echo systems. Everything appears exactly as it should, things live and die, life happens. Then, you come to "the haze"... at first it looks like oil mixed in the water.... it's cloudy, thick, and really there is no way to exactly know where you are or where you're going. Then as you break through the haze into the ocean and even clearer crystal waters... they seem forceful, choppy and uncertain... once you grab the flow and steady yourself you find it's far more vast, seeming larger than life, and there is so much more to engage, understand and interact with.... everything grows freely and without restriction opposite of the fresh water side. Things still live, die, and interact.... every movement is just seen clearly, as all being a part of one thing.<br />
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I see this transformation of view like that.... the fresh water is where we all live, human and in captivity. The haze, the unknown, the uncertainty, the fear, the belief that we know where we are, where we fit in, how we relate to the world.... keeps us trapped. But if by some chance (an awakening) we manage to break through.... life as we know it still has the same walk and talk, but you are now a very small fish in a very large pond. You exist in the real world, the very large, vast, diverse, and some times rough watered real world. No longer in the little pond that is simply your mind, your prison, your unconscious self. In the real world, there is tremendous opportunity... vast opportunity and none of the "rules", the BS rules, we contained ourselves previously in need apply. <br />
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Authenticity comes into play because life in captivity is completely inauthentic. Trapped in our own heads, nothing is real, because reality is out here with the rest of us... No action we take from an inauthentic place makes us long term happy or full filled because we're trying to make ourselves whole by using band aides. And if one took a closer look, they'd see even the bandage is futile because there is indeed no injury. We act as if we're broken and need to be healed, when the truth of the matter is none of us are broken... we're just human. And you would think knowing we're human we would see ourselves as that, but we don't. We see ourselves as individual creations completely unlike any other individual creation and thus all our problems, woes, concerns, thoughts... are ours and ours alone and no one else could possibly understand what weight bares down upon us. We make that mean something, being an individual... where it should be that being an individual means you have a unique duty and opportunity to contribute to this world in a way none has before you... we humans see it as, you people are there.... and I am here... and I am the way I am... and I feel the way I feel... and I have no control over what other individual creations do to me.<br />
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Well, you don't feel the way you feel. That's a lie you tell yourself. It's inauthentic. You feel, yes.... but it's a sensation. A chemical release based on a primal thermometer. And when that sensation occurs, you make up on the spot it's reason.. "someone did something". Whatever your next action is, it is inauthentic... because you are not owning your role in the interaction. You are not getting that it was your body that released the chemical, your self that made what happened mean something significant enough to cause a release and thus remain as impact you feel. We think that a flash of heat means we're embarrassed, or angry, or offended..... first, it means none of that.... second, if we wouldn't preprogram our mechanics with This = That Statements, you wouldn't feel the flash to begin with. Why would you get angry over completely new data unless you were trying to relate it to something in the past? Something unrelated that has occurred and since passed.<br />
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There are two very good quotes I'd like to share with you. The first is, "We judge others on their Actions. We judge ourselves on our Intentions." <- This comes from a great friend, and I don't know it's original source. But it's tremendously true. When an action by other occurs we immediately relate it to something we've previously experienced.... like a kid with flash cards we're promptly scanning our past cards looking for a match, and then we act out as if we know that "this = that". When in reality, this is new... and if we authentically looked at it, from a clean and pure slate... the flash of heat, impulse would either not occur at all, or would quickly wash over us (without impact) and we would be free to logically interpret what interaction has occurred. And act from an authentic place, where we can create solution, resolution, oppritunity, and understanding. <br />
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The second quote is also a good one. An oldie but goodie as some would say. It's the old "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me". I've spent some time thinking about this quote. There are several ways to look at it, but I encourage you to be open to this one... We make our pain. We create it. People say there is emotional pain, but that pain.. is a sensation. The tightness in the chest (broken heart), the tearing eyes (exposure), the heat flash (anger).... these are just a few meanings *I* associate to these sensations, you may have your own, however... the only reason the sensation occurs which does result in true impact like tears and chest pain is because you've associated it to something you've already experienced. We create this pain. It is not real.. No Word bruises the heart or angers the soul... words are not stones being casted... even if the Intention is to hurt you with it's use... it is still merely a word. YOU make it more, you make it what it is... and that unburries years of pain you then try to associate it with.. hints those times you loose your shit... calm down and even often say, I don't know what's wrong with me or I don't know why I got so upset or you apologize for getting so upset. Cause it was inauthentic... and when the emotional vintage rollercoaster ends, you know it... You know that wasn't the real you (THE AUTHENTIC YOU).. you just don't know what it was. Congrats, you do now. <br />
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We operate from a bubble. Like people are constantly trying to pop or get into your bubble.. when in reality we're all in bubbles just gently bumping one another as we pass by. Things happen, occassionally the bump is stronger.... but no one wants into your bubble... trust me, their own bubble is consuming enough.<br />
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I'm not sure what I got from this first part. I will have to assume for now, that I got what I got and that was exactly as it should be. I found it was easier to identify what we do as inauthentic than it was to do what was authentic... I'm new to authentic living... I do know, it's what you get when you let the curtain fall.... when you are the rider of the horse, not the horse itself. If I had to cut it up to one statement on what I see Authenticity to be... it would be this:<br />
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Authenticity is when a person's intent to act is not reflective of past experience, and results in actions that are honest towards others and has integrity to one's self.<br />
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(1545 words 8687 characters)</div>Starshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7020430745220325651.post-12078645842535166662011-03-31T17:37:00.000-07:002011-03-31T17:37:10.355-07:00Opening thoughts...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Something amazing occurred for me and I feel indescribably blessed by its happening. At 32 years old, on the evening of February 25, 2011, something inside of me was awakened. A light was lit in my darkest tunnel, and my feet broke free of the cemented ground. The weight of the world; I lifted it off my shoulders and sat it next to me... even called it friend. I was ungrounded for the first time ever, floating free as the winds and rolling with life just as the tides. This discovery gave way to access points throughout "my life"... in a way it's become over whelming to my thoughts, all the distinguishments. I would never trade this way of being for the joke that was my life before and to foster further creation... I need a place. A space to put my thoughts, my distinguishments, exhausions, laughs, quotes, beliefs, ups and downs, etc... That is here. Congratulations... You. Are. Here. And this is me.</div>Starshinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14838070726868433802noreply@blogger.com0