The Institute for Quantum Living and Conscious Design » Our Daily Planet

Mining for Gold Nuggets

admin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:23:43 +0000

As someone who makes their way through this world expecting to like those I meet, I am not naïve enough to believe that everyone I meet will be my next best friend, or that I will want to move them up from acquaintance to friend, however, imagine being open enough to suspend any judgments before you interact with someone?

How might your life change if I told you that every person you were going to meet in the next hour, regardless of how they looked, what language they spoke, whether they were rich or poor, black, brown or white, male or female, had something of great value to give to you. Nuggests of gold that they couldn’t share with you until you suspended any judgement of their worth to you, at least until you could find that out for yourself.

What if we took on the perspective of looking forward to meeting the next stranger that comes our way, regardless of who they are or how they look? Do you think it would be possible for you to don the ‘hat’ of a Prospector for the day? A miner whose mission is to actively search for the ‘gold’ within?

What if you started by looking for the things you both have in common. Do they have a family, or children? Do they enjoy running or swimming, or are they a musician or painter? Do they love to sit on the beach and enjoy the smell of the ocean or do they work hard all the time and never have time for a vacation? Have they ever broken a bone or rode a horse? Do they live with pain, or have chronic illness? Have they ever been in Love? Have they ever lost a love? Do they have any regrets about life and if so, what would they change if they could? What could you do to help them?

We have more similarities than differences.. We are the same species and just like dogs or cats, our shape, colour and temperaments differ, but no matter what we look like on the outside, we can still mate with one another, we still share the same physical need for water, warmth when cold, food when hungry, and comfort when hurt.

Whether you like to walk this planet alone or live with a large family, we are pack animals and without touch, especially in our first year of life, we lose part of our humanity.

We have all heard of feral children, children brought up in the wild, raised by animals, well by a certain age, it becomes impossible to socialize them or give them language skills. This can also happen to children who are never given a comforting touch as babies. Though they are surrounded by human beings, the massive loss of their potential is astounding. The orphans they found in Bulgaria after the war are a perfect example. These babies were left alone all day in their cribs. They were given a minimal amount of interaction, just enough to feed them and change their diapers. Denied the comfort of touch and soft words, these children became catatonic. Their potential intelligence stunted, irreversibly, emotionally void and vacuous. What is my point here?

Each and every one of us has a deep need for one another. Even those who like to live alone need a certain amount of social interaction, even if it’s from their dog.

Any differences we have are environmental not inherent. We are products of our socialization, molded by our family’s first, conditioned to fit into the society in which we were born.

Once we recognize this, we can change our story of intolerance, and instead of disliking those who are not like us or that we were conditioned to hate on sight, we can become tolerant and even more, when we look for ways to celebrate the differences and find comfort in the similarities.

We weren’t born hating one another. That is a lesson well taught. However it is also one that can be relearned.
I have always said that I could take ANYONE off the street and make an interesting and compelling video about them. No matter who they are or what they look like, there will be something in their tale that we can all relate too.

Each of us shares this ‘human’ experience connected spiritually. We all are tapped into ONE consciousness. Sure we each have our own agenda and individual journey’s complete, but as you grow spiritually, so will this feeling of oneness.

I invite you today to change your perspective for just one hour. Engage the very next person you meet with an open countenance, and a true desire to find out who they are, to find a reason to like them. Look for the hidden nugget, the gem that is them.

Frankie Picasso is The Unstoppable Coach, CPC, Master Coach Trainer and founder for the Institute for Quantum Living and Conscious Design. Author, trainer, and full time radio host, Frankie motivates audiences around the world, to reach for their full potential, find their life purpose or help others in need.
Stop by the Institute today for a full listing of Frankie’s radio shows and other programs she offers. She is the author of Midlife Mojo. http://www.instituteforquantumliving.com - coachpicasso@rogers.com

FAllen Beings

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:17:53 +0000

This piece was written by fellow author and 11th Sage Bret Burquest. As usual, Bret’s wit is unstoppable! Enjoy

Men are fallen beings. The wheelbarrow was invented so they could walk on their hind legs.

Women are fallen beings. The pedestal was invented to give them a better view and a place to be seen.

Being in love is a fallen state. That’s why it’s called “falling” in love.

Fallen beings often fall in love. But the odds of a fallen being finding a compatible mate are about the same as finding Jimmy Hoffa in a talkative mood.

Falling in love is only a starting point. When looking for someone to spend the rest of your life with, for better or worse, there are many factors to take into account.

1) The Chemistry Factor – You should be physically attracted to your mate and your mate should be physically attracted to you. If both conditions don’t exist, you’d be better off mating with a beach ball.

2) The Intelligence Factor – Two potential mates should have the same general intellect. If one is smart and the other is a dunderhead, there’s no common ground. Intellectual pursuits and professional wrestling don’t mix.

3) The Social Factor – One mate wants to mingle with the rest of the world, while the other one wants to hang around the house and talk to house plants. Inevitably, the mingler will hook up with another mingler, abandoning the homebody to mingle as a single.

4) The Money Factor — One mate spends money like it grows on trees and the other one saves pennies in a jar. This will cause a serious clash, followed by a Chapter 7, and ending with a separation to cheaper digs for both.

5) The Ambition Factor – One mate is ambitious and the other is a couch potato. The ambitious mate will soon be driven to greener pastures by their work ethic. The couch potato will get to keep the couch.

6) The Personality Factor – One mate is an introvert and the other is an extravert. Sometimes the introvert will simply go insane but it will go unnoticed. Extraverts can’t help being obnoxious. Many of them move to California and try to get into show business. Those who stay behind often become lawyers or preachers.

7) The Pet Factor – Dog people belong with dog people. Cat people belong with cat people. Those without pets belong with other pet-less people. Bird people may belong with other people, except with cat people who should only belong with other cat people. Goldfish people should remain single.

The Sports Factor – Men love football. Women love figure skating. Women who love football are highly compatible with men. Men who love figure skating but don’t like football should be required to move to France.

9) The Tidy Factor – If one mate is neat-nick and the other mate is a slob, the neat-nick will eventually have a nervous breakdown. Normally, the slob is a man. If the slob is a woman, it’s likely she’s going through a hormonal phase or she’s a Capricorn.

10) The Humor Factor – If one mate is a wisecracking jokester and the other one has no sense of humor, the only communication possible will be loud, angry, incoherent or nonexistent. If one mate likes sophisticated political satire and the other one likes the Three Stooges, they belong on different planets.

11) The Values Factor – A couple should possess the same general set of values. If one mate gets a thrill out of bashing mailboxes while the other one is off doing voluntary charity work, the odds of the relationship lasting are about the same as the odds of remaining unscathed after bashing the county sheriff’s mailbox.

12) The Toilet Seat Factor – One mate leaves the toilet seat up on occasion while the other mate insists it be put down. Mostly it’s women who want it down. Men who want it down have deep psychological problems.

Other factors include religious, political, sexual, children, occupation, music, etc. The list goes on and on.

Falling in love is easy. So is falling off a cliff. Like falling in love, the end result can be rather unpleasant if you mess with the wrong cliff. A happy landing always depends on many factors that go unnoticed until after you’ve taken the plunge.

Men and women are fallen beings yearning for intimate companionship, hoping to find the right mate and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, ever after often ends in about five years.

___________

Quote for the Day – "I almost dated a psychic woman once, but she dumped me before we met." Bret

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REMEMBER PEACE

admin — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:56:48 +0000

Rememberance Day is November 11 and although many of the soldiers have long passed from WW1 and even WW2, there are still soldiers from the Viet Nam War like Bret who remember what it was like first hand to be drafted and have buddies come home in a box. Everywhere around the World, there is fighting going on. Whether they are Canadian or American Soldiers or Local Freedom Fighters, there is still not peace and that means that some mother’s son is dying before his time. Take a moment to remember the Genocide, the Ethnic Cleansing going on around the World in Africa, places like Uganda, Chad, Sudan, Congo, Bosnia, and of course the middle east wars that have continued to rage for thousands of years,in Iraq, Iran, Israel, Palestine, and many more. Let’s all PRAY that next Rememberance Day we won’t still be fighting a war somewhere in the World.

As usual, Bret aka the 11th Sage has come up with another personal story designed to make us think and FEEL.. I hope EVERYONE takes heed of this one…may there be PEACE on EARTH in our TIME!..frankie

The Anguish of TAPS

In the spring of 1966, I was drafted into the US Army during what was referred to as the Vietnam Conflict. They never did call it a war – apparently, they didn’t want to alarm the civilians.

I did my Basic Training at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, fondly referred to as the armpit of the world. I was taught the basic Army skills, like standing in line, doing squat thrusts, cleaning toilets and obeying psychotic drill sergeants with bad breath.

After eight irritating weeks of Basic, I was stationed at Third Army Headquarters at Ft. McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ft. McPherson was a fairly pleasant place, primarily a golf course and an Officer’s Club. The office complex was occupied by throngs of senior officers, including an assortment of generals, no doubt making key decisions like deciding what color to paint the new squash courts and how many soldiers it should take to screw in a light bulb.

I had four years of college and had been a computer programmer when I was drafted so I was assigned to the Third Army Data Processing Company where I was issued a blue pencil and given the title of Data Processing Analyst. I was even given a Top Secret security clearance because I would have access to sensitive information and spent the remainder of my two-year commitment working night shift, along with a few other analysts, for a civilian employee.

My duties consisted mainly of coding certain data items on classified documents that were subsequently forwarded to another department where the coded information was then keypunched onto IBM cards. The IBM cards were then fed into a large container of vacuum tubes, laughingly referred to as a computer, which took a great deal of pleasure in consuming IBM cards and spitting them out the other end as mangled debris.

Basically, events in Vietnam had little effect on my fellow analysts and me. We just did our jobs and counted the days until we could go back into the civilian world and utilize all the wonderful skills the Army taught us.

But every now and then, we were required to perform extra duties. One such duty was funeral detail. The family of every diseased soldier is entitled to a military funeral and requests were frequent in those days.

It takes 17 soldiers to perform a military funeral. Six soldiers carry the casket, two of whom fold the flag draped over the coffin and hand it to an officer who then passes it on to a family member. Seven soldiers stand at attention off in the distance, waiting to give a 21-gun salute, along with a sergeant to give the orders. Finally, a bugler lingers nearby to play Taps, often out of sight, while the driver usually waits at the bus.

I participated in many funeral details, each one a supremely sad ordeal.

One was in a tiny family graveyard, in the middle of the woods, in the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. We were the first to arrive, about half an hour early. The area was totally deserted. At first, we thought we were in the wrong place. There were often occasions where there were more soldiers performing the ceremony than people in attendance.

But soon, spectators began to trickle in.

By the time the proceedings started, there must have been over three thousand people crammed in the small clearing, all mourning the loss of one of their own. We wondered where they had all come from since we saw very few signs of civilization on the way in. Whoever we were burying would certainly be missed.

The most gut-wrenching experience took place on top of Lookout Mountain, outside of Chattanooga, in an old Civil War Cemetery. Several hundred people attended. It was an incredibly quiet day, not a breath of wind. The whole place seemed almost haunted.

The service was performed flawlessly, the flag folded and presented to the family.

As usual, I was one of the seven soldiers standing in line, waiting to give the 21-gun salute. Even though we were at least fifty yards away, we could hear a tremendous sorrow overtaking the audience. Several women began to wail uncontrollably.

We went through our paces and fired off three volleys, a 21-gun salute, then stood at attention.

After a couple of seconds of silence, the bugler started playing Taps. It was the most beautiful version I had ever heard. It sounded like it came directly from heaven. A shiver went down my spine as I tried to remain at attention.

In the background, the sound of mass anguish became overwhelming. It seemed like the entire audience had burst out crying. Some moaned loudly as if they too wanted to die.

When Taps ended, there wasn’t a dry eye on that mountaintop, including those of us putting on the show.

To this day, I can’t listen to Taps without dwelling on that moment of grief and wondering how many others like it mankind must endure before we learn to live in harmony.

War is hell.

So are conflicts.

Especially to loved ones back home.

November 11 is Veteran’s Day. Take a few moments out of your life on that glorious day to stand at attention, in silence, to honor all those who died on your behalf.

___________

Quote for the Day – "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." John F. Kennedy

The Compassionate Consciousness of Phoenix On Fire-

admin — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:24:31 +0000

As 2012 draws near, it is important that humanity wakes up.Why? What is the importance of this date?

According to the Mayan Calendarand in the perspective of the living Maya Timekeepers of Guatemala, calendrically speaking, each element has a 5200 year cycle. We have been through fire, earth, air and water already. The next cycle (beginning Dec 21, 2012) will be ether. What does this mean? Well it doesn’t mean that 2012 is the end of the world, however it is the end of the world as we know it. It is the time where we bring Heaven on Earth, and there are many messengers out there who are making this happen. It is time for you to wakeup if you want to be citizens in this new reality. What is this new reality you ask? It is ONE LOVE. It is the time for Consciousness. Unconditional love for humanity will be the ONLY way this new Heaven on Earth civilization can exist. Don’t you want to be a part of it?

Carlos Barrios says that there are 3 types of people living right now,the spiritual people, the asleep consumers, and the dark forces/demons. He says “At this time, we need to be clear, honest, and powerful with "internal power. Know that if we are alive now, there is a reason.” “Remember, we are human beings, not machines.”

Who is this guy Carlos? Glad you asked.

Carlos Barrios is a Shaman of The Eagle Clan who says he was sent by the Mayan Elders of Guatemala to wake us up!
He says he is an "ordinary man, not a celibate or a saint." My friend Intiana met him in South America and invited him to her home in 2004. She says ‘I found him to be a very powerful man with no trace of duality or judgement.” She brought him to meet with the Hopi Elders, another very important group vital to our survival in the new civilization.
Here are some of the suggestions and insights that Carols shared for us as Lightworkers:

· Go deeper into the ancient traditions

· Teach by example not words.

· The darkness is not sleeping- it is very organized.
We need to COOPERATE with each other - not compete - but unite!
Give up egos - accept each others traditions.

· We are warriors - our weapons are love, heart and consciousness.

· This is the MOST important and opportune time to light candles;
to do ceremony and ritual; to pray!

· Pray especially for the religious fundamentalists who, among other very dark things, such as possibly acquiring atomic weapons, are attempting to destroy the Elders in Guatemala. These Elders are some of the indigenous people that have kept PRAYER FIRES BURNING ENDLESSLY FOR 1000 YEARS

Forces of Darkness are always at work, and this is more than evident every time we read a newspaper or watch the nightly news. This means it is even more important that each one of us, spread the seeds of light and love. No one can love without learning to love themselves first. Carlos says that “Only christos people will survive to experience this age. A lot of humanity will disappear… Those who survive will by the Lovers of the Earth who know how to live simply and harmoniously”

Don’t be afraid of this. Love is your Nature. You are born loving yourself. You just need to go back inside and find that love. If you find this difficult, if self esteem holds you back from loving yourself, then I have written the prescription for change in my book Midlife Mojo. This is your job, and it is important work. If you do this, you are helping to bring Heaven on Earth. That’s it..smile. Call me if you need more assistance. My door is always open.

I am now focusing my own work on Compassionate Consciousness, and it will come under the umbrella of Phoenix on Fire, a name that I gave to mark the work and knowledge that came through from Spirit during my own time of healing and spiritual evolution.
Frankie Picasso has always been a lightworker, this is nothing new to those of you who know me. So I am not changing who I am but rather giving more structure and attention to how I do it by giving it a BRAND , something tangible that I can focus on with laser precision.

Every time I have coached or healed someone’s spirit, every time I have interviewed someone who shares their knowledge and love with you, I have been spreading seeds of consciousness. That’s the same for you. Whenever you speak to others about spirituality or go on your own spiritual quest to find your divine purpose, or even just simply share this site or words with others, you are doing it too. Whenever you do something good for someone without expectation, again, you are spreading consciousness too. See how easy it is. That’s because it’s our nature to love.

For those of you who have listened to me speak or read my book you might remember me talking about this “We know what we know, but we don’t know what we don’t know” line from my book. Well as a Spiritual Warrior, I will fearlessly and willingly go into the Unknown for you, so that I can bring you information that is vital to your spiritual well being. If it is good for you, it is good for me, remember, we are all one Consciouness.

What does this mean today? It means that from today forward I will be spreading seeds of this loving consciousness and be more direct about it, because I want you there with me in the future.

So what do I mean by Compassionate Consciousness. It is a big word. Well simply put, the core of Compassionate Consciousness is Love. Unconditional Love for oneself, and for humanity. For many of us, loving ourselves unconditionally is the hardest job we can do. I know it was for me.

Hey as a woman in her fifties, my ego screams out to do something about my looks. Sure there are days that I recoil when I look in the mirror, but It is on those days that I must remind myself to look from a place of self love, remember that the image looking back at me is not who I am. That image is my vehicle that gets me around this planet. I am spirit in human form. Just like you are.

Our bodies are the cars that we drive while we are here. Take good care of it but don’t let your ego drive you around because it will just drive you crazy, smile. A new wrinkle, 5 pounds, is this what it will take to derail your good intention and stop loving yourself unconditionally? NEWS FLASH!!! Remember, your body is not you. You are light and love. SURE you would do well to look after it, keep it healthy, so that it will last longer. If you are stressed because of work, take time to meditate or better yet, look at how you can change your job to better suit your body. In the new civilization, Carlos says that Time will not be money, Time will be ART”

My job is to teach others how to love themselves unconditionally, so that they can love others without judgment, so that we grow in strength, understanding, and with a commitment to love one another and keep that love in the forefront of our motivation as we recognize our One Consciousness. That is what we are. One consciousness. When we hurt one another, we all hurt, when we hurt the earth, we all suffer.

This will not be a Commerce driven society anymore. We can’t afford to be. Look at all the destruction we have implemented in the name of bottom lines. Our ozone is destroyed, our oceans raped, animals hunted to extinction. If you don’t think this hurts EVERYONE you are wrong.

We are all one. That is the real message and when you awaken you will understand what this means. We are all one. Have you noticed how your teenagers sign out from their emails? Peace ONE. That’s right, “One Love, One HEART, Let’s get together and feel all right”..Bob Marley wrote and sang in his song, ‘One Love People Get Ready”

Let’s get together to fight this Holy Armagiddyon (One Love!),
So when the Man comes there will be no, no doom (One Song!).
Have pity on those whose chances grows t’inner;
There ain’t no hiding place from the Father of Creation.
Sayin’: One Love! What about the One Heart? (One Heart!)
What about the - ? Let’s get together and feel all right.
I’m pleadin’ to mankind! (One Love!);
Oh, Lord! (One Heart) Wo-ooh!.

We are spiritual beings living a human existence, not the other way around..

In the Mayan system, It is said that my kin is Red Solar Earth. This means that I am responsible for inspiring evolution in others on behalf of the Mother Earth and humanity.

I am a Spiritual Warrior. We all are. Remember Carlos’s words, “We are warriors - our weapons are love, heart and consciousness This is not a Warrior that goes to war for hate, but rather a warrior that fights for LOVE. Your love, self love and unconditional love for humanity.

Intiana says “On Dec 21, 2012 it will not be like turning on a light switch,
it will be gradual… IT HAS ALREADY BEGUN!
Those that are receiving this transmission were Mayans in the past!
We can do our part as Lightworkers to love and accept each other,
and create a daily ritual to support this transformation of the Mother Earth
as we move steadily into the 5th World of Ether…

From the Inspiration of Bob Marley I leave you with “We are One LOVE, One HEART, lets sing with One SONG!

I am here for you. Love and Blessings. frankie

For more info on 2012 visit Intiana’s site for 2012 at www.awake2012.com and Cynthia Larson’s at www.realityshifters.com

Reality Shifting

admin — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:48:34 +0000

This week the most amazing thing happened, I finally had proof positive that I am in charge of my own reality and that you are too. We really can shift our reality to suit our needs.

My dear friend author Cynthia Sue Larson, states in her book Reality Shifters, that we actually walk in and out of reality shifts every day. In fact, she says “ we create the very world that we observe”.

If this sounds too much like Star Trek, well maybe the Trekkies weren’t so far off Halodeck path. Quantum Science has already proved that just by “observing quantum particle/waves, this act has the effect of popping the wave function and forcing the particles to choose their position as they materialized into physical form.”

So what does All of this have to do with me and my amazing story..EVERYTHING!

You see, I decided to test Cynthia’s theory about changing my reality to suit me.

I live in suburb where we have moved from the traditional mailbox by your front door to super mailboxes where each house has their own locked box at the end of their street. This means that we no longer get home delivery and we each have to pick up our own mail.

Well, sometimes I don’t go for a week or more, because I get busy or lazy or I am away. Such was the case this past week. When I finally did pick up the mail, there was lots of it and many from a few weeks prior still waiting for me to retrieve them. Well included in the stack of mail were two notices for pickup. This meant that a package had arrived for me that was too big for the mailbox, so now I would have to go to the post office to pick it up.

I noticed that the due date on the slip had already passed but I decided to try it anyway. I had been expecting something to come and I didn’t want the hassle of having it returned to the sender.

When I went to the post office, the postal employee at the desk took my ticket , scanned it, and went into the backroom to check for my parcel. When she came back out, she said that the item had already been sent back.

“NO”, I cried. ( in my mind I kept envisioning it sitting there in the back). “Please, I said to her, there must be some way to catch it”. This was Monday and the package was returned on Saturday. Surely it must go to a warehouse or depot before it goes back to the sender.

Another clerk came in at that time, and she reiterated several times what the first employee had said, there was no way to retrieve the package once it was sent out. There was really nothing that they could do. The package was gone.

This is where I asked myself. “What reality do you really want to have here?” Well I answered myself, “I want the reality where my package is in the back”. So I questioned the clerk one more time and said “If someone had picked up my package on Saturday, where would it be today?” All of a sudden, the first girl looked at the second girl and asked her if she had worked on Saturday. She said “No, why?” Well then the second girl said that she didn’t even know if there had even been a pick-up on Saturday. So she asked the first girl to go back into the storeroom and check to see if the truck had actually come on Saturday.

Well guess what? Lo and behold, I kept the intention strong in my mind that my package was still in the back waiting for me and VOILA.,2 minutes later the clerk came out beaming, holding my box in her hand. The box they had sworn 10 minutes earlier was not there. “ Here” she sais, This is for you”. How great is that?

To me, it was incredible. Remember, from the moment I entered the post office until I walked out with my parcel in hand, I had imagined that in my world, the parcel I came to pick up was there waiting for me.

Thanks Cynthia for helping me to become a better reality shifter.

THREE GRANDFATHERS

admin — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:20:12 +0000

The 11th Sage aka Bret Burquest has been writing blogs for the Institute for some time now. His wit and wisdom never fails to astonish me. Here is another GEM that I feel is most relevant for all of us.

NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR, ONLY YOU CAN DO THAT!! Take a lesson from the page of Bret…smile. the unstoppable frankie picasso

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every now and then something happens in a person’s life that becomes a turning point.

When I was in the second grade, my family lived on the edge of a small town in Wisconsin. There was only one other kid my age in the area. His name was James and he was extremely intelligent, a true genius. His father was a surgeon and his mother was a southern aristocrat. They lived in a palace compared to my family’s digs.

I’d hang out with James on occasion, always at his house, even though I could sense his snooty parents considered me to be beneath their social status.

One day James and I were talking about our grandparents. His mother was also in the room. During the conversation I proudly mentioned that I had three grandfathers. James and his mother both broke out in laughter, obviously laughing at me. I was embarrassed and humiliated.

Later that evening, I had a talk with my mother about the incident whereupon I discovered the mathematics of breeding. Nevertheless, I still insisted that I had three grandfathers.

My father’s father had died long before I was born, when my father was in grade school. His mother remarried several years later to a fellow I came to know as Grampa Herman. My mother’s father, Grampa Ben, died when I was 4 years old. I barely remembered him.

As far as I was concerned I had three grandfathers – two dead and one living.

In addition, Grampa Herman, a railroad engineer. was the most impressive human being I’ve ever known in this lifetime. He was strong and formidable and gentle and kind. He had been a boxing champion in the Army, fed squirrels by hand in his backyard, and built items in his workshop for those in need. Even though his blood didn’t flow in my veins, he was my grandfather.

It may have been humorous to others that I thought I had three grandfathers, but I didn’t appreciate people laughing at me, pointing out my ignorance in such an insensitive fashion. I was staunchly determined not to allow such a thing to ever happen again, yet couldn’t quite figure out a way to prevent it. After all, I was only seven years old — a young, dim bulb surrounded by large, bright people.

Perhaps I could just avoid these types of situations. But avoiding the human race would not be easy in a world of public schools and corporate workplaces. Clearly, I couldn’t hide forever.

Perhaps I could retaliate in some manner. However, I couldn’t retaliate verbally because these people were smarter than I was and would always top me. And some sort of physical retaliation was out of the question. It would be too childish, besides I had enough trouble coping with bullies without becoming one myself.

Perhaps rolling with the punches was the answer. But that seemed like a sort of surrender, a form of acceptance and suffering. I would be right back to square one.

Then came the turning point.

I began to wonder why I was so angry in the first place. Obviously, these people meant no harm; they were merely the products of their surroundings. Their insensitivity was a reflection on them, not on me. I wasn’t the jerk, they were. I suspected I had indulged in anger to mask my own insecurities about myself. After all, being a second grader in an imperfect world was no easy task.

Allowing myself to become angry simply because I was embarrassed made no sense. The key was not to be embarrassed in the first place. And in order to do so meant acknowledging that I was a worthy person regardless of what others thought of me. Just because these people felt they were superior to me didn’t necessarily mean they were.

In fact, in an odd way, their air of superiority made them inferior. Only those who had doubts about their own worth would behave in such a disgusting manner, propping themselves up by putting others down.

Thus, the solution became crystal clear. I would no longer allow the actions of others to affect me, thereby controlling me. I would simply observe without becoming emotional and spend the rest of my life rising above the pettiness of the masses.

With that, I was now ready to move on to higher planes of existence, like third grade.

Grandpa Herman passed on to the Great Beyond when I was 15 years old. His memory is always with me as I try to go through life in a strong, formidable, gentle, kind manner.

James went on to get advanced engineering degrees from M.I.T. and also became a world-class ski-jumper. These days, he lectures at Harvard and invents medical equipment, occasionally traveling to Paris where he demonstrates his inventions in fluent French.

And I went on to become a hermit in the hills of Arkansas, where I feed the squirrels, watch sunsets and occasionally share my thoughts with the rest of the world.

Finding contentment in life is not about yearning to be superior to others, it’s about not allowing others to make you feel inferior.

___________

Quote for the Day – "You’ve got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was." Irish folklore

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COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

admin — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:03:26 +0000

In 1902, Dr. R. M. Burke wrote a book entitled COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS. According to Dr. Burke, human evolutionary development consists of three forms of consciousness.

1) Simple Consciousness – instinct

2) Self Consciousness – a self-awareness that an individual is a distinct entity

3) Cosmic Consciousness – a clear conception of the meaning of the universe

Cosmic consciousness, the apex of human evolution, is an absolute certainty that the cosmos is in fact a living presence. It’s a complete comprehension of “the whole” with an accompanying sense of immortality.

Carl Jung, the renowned Swiss psychiatrist, coined the term “Collective Unconscious” — in essence the same ethereal object as Cosmic Consciousness, except most people are unaware of its existence. He believed the Collective Unconscious to be part of the evolutionary process and shared by all people, but not all people are able to tap into it.

Jung called it the foundational structure of the personality on which the ego is built.

A project was initiated in 1998 at Princeton University in an attempt to prove the existence of what they called a Global Consciousness, another term for Cosmic Consciousness. The Global Consciousness Project (GCP) is an international effort set up to explore whether interconnected consciousness could be scientifically validated through objective measurement.

Research in this field started 40 years ago when a number of laboratory experiments demonstrated that human consciousness actually interacts with random event generators (REGs), causing them to produce non-random patterns.

In other words, thoughts were found to have the capacity to become actions that altered events.

Since electrical impulses transmitted between brain cells reflect patterns of activity that in turn generate consciousness, it then became a theoretical possibility that the same phenomena would be true for a global collective consciousness of the entire planet. Therefore, if individuals could create deviations from expected chance results simply through the thought process perhaps it could also be true on a global basis.

Dr. Roger Nelson, Director of Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research, a leading parapsychology institute, examined what happened to a REG when several people focused on a single event.

The results were impressive. Plus, the effects were clearly noticeable regardless of the generator’s location.

There are now 75 networked computers in over 50 countries worldwide feeding a probabilistically random series of digits to a host computer. The system searches for periods when the random number series become slightly non-random.

Major world events seem to trigger non-randomness in widely isolated global locations. For example, the 9/11 tragedy produced a massive spike of non-randomness in the entire system.

The implications are astonishing.

Each person is an individual entity with a distinct consciousness. But the combined consciousness of all of humanity also appears to be an individual entity.

All is one.

This collective consciousness has been tapped into many times. A mother in Boston senses her son in Phoenix has had an accident that later turns out to be true. A man knows his old Army buddy is about to call him just before the phone rings. A little girl finds her lost purse where a dead grandparent told her it would be. A boy has an urgent feeling about going to a function where he meets his future wife. It happens all the time.

If there truly is such a thing as a collective consciousness, we as a human species are all interconnected in a metaphysical or even spiritual sense. Our individual thoughts affect the collective subconscious of all of mankind.

Thoughts become deeds.

If the human race ever evolves beyond its present state of greed and transgression, our collective consciousness will become a collective benevolence and mankind will flourish.

Until then, the collective consciousness will remain a collective headache.

__the 11th sage_________

Quote for the Day — "The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances – if there is any reaction, both are transformed." Carl Jung

Reclaiming Your Power Over Food = Reclaiming Your Authentic Power

admin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:25:38 +0000

By Louisa Latela, MSW, LCSW

Isn’t it amazing how a chocolate chip cookie can control our lives? I am not a weight loss surgery patient, but have certainly had my share of struggles with food and other maladaptive coping behaviors. Despite years of schooling in psychology and social work, I continue to astound myself at how many times I choose to act in ways that do not support my highest good.

In the last article I wrote: “Food and Feelings: Making the Connection,” many contacted me after having read the article and wanted to know if I was a WLS patient. While I am not, I have come to learn through years of working on myself emotionally, physically, and spiritually, as well as working with my clients, that there is a common thread among all of us who have ever struggled to truly love ourselves. It is that we lose our authentic power when we give something outside of us the power to control how we feel. Authentic power as defined by Gary Zukav, (author of “The Seat of the Soul”) is when the personality is aligned with the soul. When one is living in line with his/her authentic power, they act in ways that support their highest good. They are respectful and loving to themselves as well as to others. They are aware that the only thing that they can control in this life is their actions and are able to consciously choose to live and behave in a way that truly honors who they are. They hear and act on their inner wisdom, their intuition, their higher power, in essence their truth, their soul.

Time and again, I work with WLS patients who are 2-3 years post-op and still struggling with their obsessions with food. It is not that they do not know how or what to eat. It is that they feel powerless over the control it still has in their lives. Hours each day are spent agonizing over what they should/should not eat, being angry about what they did eat, being angry about what they want to eat but cannot eat, feeling guilty about the fact that they ate at all, and ultimately feeling like a failure because they are still having to deal with this issue. They are allowing the thought of food to stop them from being present in their lives and it continues to define how they feel about themselves. This is where authentic power is lost. The way to reclaim your power is to be willing to sit with the uncomfortable feelings of not giving in to the urge to eat when you are not physically hungry, or when you are wanting to eat in a way that is not in line with your meal plan. It is as simple as that, and it is as difficult as that. We begin to discover in a deeper way why these compulsive behaviors exist in the first place.

It has often been said that we are always operating from a position of fear or love. When we are operating from a position of love, we are connected with our authentic power. We come from a place deep inside that is rooted in knowing that we are perfect in this moment, that it is safe to act in a manner that supports our highest good and that we know how to truly self nurture. When we are acting from a place of fear, we will look to things outside of us to stop whatever emotion we are experiencing.

So I guess all this new age mumbo-jumbo sounds good in theory, but how do you put that into practice? The only way I have discovered to do this, is to take a risk, and keep my word to myself. To make a commitment to myself, as I would to someone I loved dearly, to be conscious of my thoughts and actions, and begin to choose to act in ways that support what I say, are my intentions for my life. While morbidly obese persons are often the victims of prejudice and have to deal with things that average weight persons do not, on some level we are all the same. I have never met anyone who does not have some sort of addiction to some degree. It may be an addiction to alcohol, drugs, work, exercise, obsessive thinking, worrying, relationships, shoes, sports, nail biting, cleaning, chaos, gossip, the internet or sex, but we have all created intricately deceiving ways to help us avoid our feelings. We have all kinds of reasons to defend our behaviors, and it all sounds good, but the truth is, the only person we are really deceiving is ourselves.

I encourage you to take the risk to experience the feelings of not giving in to the compulsion to eat when you are not physically hungry. You can always go back to the old way of living, just experience it and see what it feels like. You might just like it, then again it might be scary, just notice. When I have a client sitting in front of me struggling to reclaim their lives from compulsive eating, I often get an image of them holding onto a ledge of a mountain, high up in the air. They are “white knuckling it” to hang on, then they take the risk and “let go”. I then have the vision of them falling through darkness, and I actually experience this in my body. I get a nervous sensation and a feeling like my stomach is dropping, and for a moment, I lose my breath. Then all of a sudden I experience a calm, the tension in my body leaves, I am able to breathe, there is light, and I experience a glimpse of what I believe paradise to be, something that is difficult to describe in words. To know this sensation of paradise, I now understand that it comes from the willingness to go through the darkness in order to experience the light.

We are faced with decisions every moment of every day. We are always faced with the decisions of what to think, how to feel about what we think and what to do about that feeling. Because of the work that I do and because of my desire to grow emotionally and spiritually, I am very conscious of my thoughts and actions. As I stated earlier, I sometimes astound myself at how many times I do not choose to think or act in a way that supports my highest good. However, I have also noticed that by putting my attention to wanting to live in a way that is loving and respectful to myself and others, I make many more choices that are self-loving than I have in the past. I trust that the number of self-nurturing choices that I make for myself will continue to increase because I have come to realize that keeping my word to myself feels better than eating a cookie or engaging in negative thinking.

Knowing all of this and believing it does not mean that it is always easy to “take the high road.” It takes a great deal of constant, conscious effort. However, the more times you are able to not give in to your strongest urges to overeat, the better the chances are that the next time you are faced with a similar choice you will choose the behavior that supports good health.

Most importantly, be kind to yourself as you travel down the path of recovery from morbid obesity. Give yourself credit for having had the courage to have weight loss surgery in the first place. Next, although it is not easy, allow yourself to take a hard look at emotional issues that may have contributed to your obesity. It takes time, patience and self-compassion. Every time you are faced with the decision of what and when to eat and consciously make a choice, you are taking responsibility for creating your life experience. Each time you are faced with that choice and choose health, you are reclaiming your authentic power.

If you have any questions or comments about this article I would love to hear from you. You can respond below, visit my website at www.louisalatela.com, email me at louisa@louisalatela.com or call me at 856.429.9799
Copyright 2005 DDB Media LLC www.wlslifestyles.com
All rights reserved. Used with permission.

WHY DO YOU ALWAYS CHOOSE FAILURE?

admin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 22:37:19 +0000

by Unstoppable Coach Frankie Picasso

Why do you always think in terms of failure? Is it really that much easier to think that you can’t do things rather than you can? Have you noticed this about yourself? How about in the lives of others around you?I am not sure why we so easily default to failure instead of success but it does seem to be so.

Many of us dream forward, we look to the future with a modicum of Hope in our hearts, wishing and dreaming into a far off ‘maybe someday’ land wouldn’t it be nice, but not really expecting those dreams to come true. Why NOT? Don’t you deserve to have nice things? Don’t you deserve to bring to life those incredible goals and desires that live in dark recesses of your heart and mind?
What if you could breathe life into those wishes and dreams, right now, Today!!! Would you do it, or would fear stop you?

Do you believe that it would take a miracle for something incredible and amazing to happen to you?

WAKE UP! Something amazing and incredible ALREADY happened to you. You are ALIVE and breathing and experiencing an incredible moment on earth. Opportunities surround you for success, and because you don’t expect them, you don’t see them.

There are many who believe that we choose our existence on earth before we come here. So what? Just because you can’t remember choosing this experience doesn’t mean you can’t use your innate intelligence to choose HOW you wish to live your life here on in.

That’s right, from this moment on, why not put yourself in charge of what happens next instead of waiting for life to happen ‘to you’. Why not create the life you want to live. Choose to live a fantastic existence right now instead of a mediocre one. Why settle for things you don’t want when you can have everything you do want? This includes your relationships, jobs, home, etc. If you live in Boise, Idaho and you want to live in Paris..GO!! What’s stopping you? Put thoughts into Action! There is NOTHING you can’t work around. Every obstacle has a solution. You can find one.

Once you decide to take on the Responsibility for the outcomes in your life, your life will change in way you never dreamed possible.
To quote the infamous Dr. Suess said before me,
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
- Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

It’s all well and good to hope for great things to come by using the Law of Attraction to manifest lovely cars and houses, but NOTHING happens without ACTION. Nothing materializes without your active participation. You and you alone are responsible for what takes place. It’s your choice and always has been.

Have you been watching your thoughts lately? Want to know what you have been thinking? Go no further than taking a good look at your life. You brought this into being. You attracted it all. You see, you are very powerful and you can make all of your dreams a successful reality, with just a little help from Yourself.

Guardians of the Universe

admin — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:58:05 +0000

The following is an open letter penned by my dear friend Eddie Tuduri. It is his video that you see prominently displayed at the bottom right of this page and you will soon see why he was driven to write it.

I have called this piece ‘Guardians of the Universe’, because I believe that there are some of us, you know who you are, who have been called to help heal and enlighten this world. The job may not always be easy, maybe not even asked for, but it is ALWAYS RIGHT! Hey if not You, Who?

It’s not enough to just protect the innocents of this planet and ‘fight off ‘ those who would do them harm, because there will always be more waiting in the wings. We can’t just say "please don’t do this", it’s not nice. Bully’s don’t respect ‘nice’. The process must include education, intolerance for the behaviour and legal recourse and consequences of said behaviour to ensure similiar experiences don’t occur in the future. Eventually, it will be eradicated as we grow more conscious .

I applaud Eddie, loudly for making his views known publicly, for asking his community to take a stand for what is right, especially given his close proximity to LA and all the beautiful people who live and play in Carpinteria. I know that my dear friend William Stillman, author, speaker and ’autism whisperer’, whose own mission of teaching reverence and respect for those living within the autism specturm, is standing right there with Eddie (figuratively) and smiling broadly, as momentum is garnered to support his lifelong dream to end intolerance for those with different ways. We can all look forward to ending a horrific cycle and history of unconsciounable behaviour towards those whose ‘outside ‘appearances’ make them targets for crude, hurtful and incredibly insensitive remarks and unwarranted violence or neglect.

William’s Mantra of "ALWAYS PRESUME INTELLIGENCE" is a great way to begin to look at others regardless of who they are. Although he was specifically referring to those beautiful souls we are championing today, I think we might also include those we wish to educate…smile. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and I would bet that those who have been on the receiving end of their jokes, would be the first to open their arms with love and forgivness for the injustices done to them. Why? Because that is the sign of true intelligence to me. There is no higher vibration in this world than love. To borrow a quote from William’s book, Autism and the God Connection, this comes from Dr. Michael Newton’s book ,Journey of Souls, " Souls in a high state of advancement are often found in humble circumstances on Earth".

Do not be fooled into thinking that Just because one can’t speak, one can’t think. Perhaps the opposite is true. Too many folks speak without thinking and it perhaps this reason that they say things better off left unsaid. Would it surprise you to know that a significantly high number of autistics are gifted with telepathy?

Remember our bodies are but a shell,the car we are given to motor around on earth,when we leave here, our soul is something else entirely. In case you forget this lesson, you have only to look at the poor shell of Stephen Hawkings, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge who is widely regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Einstein.

Let me leave you with one more thought. The two most common phrases that greet William upon meeting someone along the Autism Spectrum are these:

" I love you" and " I am not retarded".

Well Done Eddie!!!..Hugs..frankie picasso

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDDIE’s Letter

As a concerned citizen and proud resident of Carpinteria, I felt the need to exemplify what I’m hearing from strong advocates in the field of developmental disabilities. This is a population to which many of us have very intimate ties throughout this community and beyond.

The Rhythmic Arts Project strongly supports the boycott of the

Ben Stiller Movie “Tropic Thunder”

“Tropic Insensitive” would be more appropriate in the case of this movie.

There are over seven million people in the US with intellectual disabilities and their families who simply don’t deserve this kind of disrespect. To whatever degree of ignorant bliss Mr. Stiller may claim; we didn’t mean any harm, we were only having fun, we were kidding each other, etc. A rose by any other name is still “Hate Speech” plain and simple.

The character played by Stiller named Simple Jack is a person with an intellectual disability. In the film, the character is repeatedly referred to as a "retard", "moron" and "imbecile".

People with intellectual disabilities have a history of institutionalization, genocide, forced sterilization, segregation, and being regarded as less than human.

More than any other group, they experience record unemployment, significant physical, mental, and sexual abuse, and limited rights.

This discrimination and victimization continues, in large part, due to antiquated, discriminatory portrayals in the media and pervasive prejudice.

For more information, contact The ARC of the United States at: www.thearc.org

With Respect,

Eddie Tuduri/ Director

The Rhythmic Arts Project