I had a strange thing happen, that hasn't happened for quite awhile, I lost my blog. Every once in awhile, I lose what I am writing, because I accidentally strike the wrong key; but I have learned ways of finding it. I tried everything, I knew; nothing. It cut me off in the middle of word, everything previous was lost. Since I believe there are no accidents; I have to ask myself, why? Is there something I shouldn't have written? Is my higher self teaching me patients? Was the help, I enlisted from another, to help search for the lost document, somehow important in the relationship? Will I ever know? I don't like writing things over again, but I can't see why not.
We had our first frost of the season! It was 35F when I got up, but it must have reached the forecast low of 29, because the pasture was white. We didn't try to save anything in the garden. We had another busy day with medical concerns. Jamie has had overlapping medical conditions.
A recap: several months ago, Jamie developed an array of symptoms, that did not knit well together, into a clear diagnosis. She would have dark moods upon arising, but she didn't seem to be depressed. She would have episodes of nausea that may or not be caused by vitamin supplements. She would have periods of dizziness. She consulted physicians both MD and alternative. She did her own exhaustive research. She discovered sleep apnea could explain her symptoms. She found a device that would help relieve snoring. {she was a snorer} It worked! Her symptoms disappeared. She was about to launch into the enjoyment of good health, when she seemed to pull a muscle in her back. The pain was in her back at first and that was treated by a Chiropractor. He said the pain would continue in her arm for awhile. It did. When it didn't get better, he recommended an x-ray. [see last blog] With a medication to reduce inflammation, Jamie got remarkably better. So much so, that Monday, she was elated. It appeared she was on the mend. Then yesterday, upon arising, she moved her arm, a certain way, and the pain came back, with an intensity, greater than ever before. We went to the emergency room. We spent most of the day. They tried a couple pain medications and gave her an x-ray and then an MRI. She has bulging on one side of a disc in her neck. This is what we suspected, but it was good to have it confirmed. There is a pathway to recovery.
When we go through these life episodes either directly [Jamie] or indirectly [Myself] we know we are learning something. What is life trying to teach us? Sometimes we see it right away, other times, much later. I know it strained, my usual aquarian aloofness, and helped me to understand compassion more deeply. I, also, have been learning that one can go through painful episodes and not lose your basic optimism about life. We can be deeply compassionate, without taking on the others pain, or losing our own sense of well being. Of course, this is what every nurse and other health professional knows. Still, when it happens to you, or one close to you; it is different. I know as a psychotherapist I witnessed much pain and helped folks through it. I could be in it, but not of it. If it is in your own family though.......... it is another kettle of fish.
This is a learning planet. We are all learning constantly. Sometimes, I think, it is a cosmic kindergarten. Why else would it take us so long to learn, that the solutions to our problems was, just to love one another? It is incredible, we know that if we treated everyone with dignity and respect, most of our problems would disappear. How long will it take us to learn that violence can only create more violence? Punishment creates only more crime? Negativity, of any variety, only creates more negativity. These are kindergarten and first grade levels. We know we are more evolved than that. How does it happen that we permit ourselves to be seduced into madness? We know better. We have known war is insane forever. Why have we allowed it. We are not in kindergarten any more. We know that hitting the kid next to us, won't bring peace.
I think most of us know better; we have just felt helpless. We have not seen the problem clearly. We did not see with clarity, that there was a group of folks who profited from division and fear. We did not realize that there were people that would do anything for power and money. We did not realize these people, were past masters, at using fear and ego to manipulate others [whole populations]. We didn't know we had the power to change it.
It wasn't, until we realized, that the world we experience, is a creation of our thoughts, that we could see how to change things. When it occurred to us, that our worship of separation, had obscured the idea that we are all equally creative beings, we knew all that we had to do was to quit contributing to the craziness. We are all equally powerful beings. In our separateness, we did not realize, who we were. It was only after we contemplated the idea, that all our minds were connected, that we saw what was happening. Then we realized that, everything we thought, affected everyone. All our thoughts and feelings went into the pool of creative energy. Fortunately for us, love is more powerful than the dark energies.
Now we know, we can help create the world we want by focusing our minds on loving thoughts. We can free our minds from the controllers, by refusing to think, the way in which they are attempting to program us. We cannot be controlled if we refuse fear thoughts. If we refuse to be afraid of other nations, religions, races etc., war is impossible. If we refuse to see anybody as less deserving, poverty is impossible. All inequality and conflict, is based on some kind of judgement. We can resist the invitation to judge.
As each, one of us, pulls our mind out of the collective negativity; the collective positivity grows. Those who would control us, find their power diminishing. They may control the money and the media, but without our minds, they have nothing.
Those who choose love over fear are coming together. It is occurring to us that paradise has always been under our feet. Paradise has been, covered over, by an illusion created by fear. Thank God we are not in kindergarten any longer.
Love and Peace, Gregg
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Monday, September 28, 2015
BACK TO NORMAL?
Well, this Monday is more or less back to normal. Jamie didn't think I needed to drive her this Morning. She has another appointment with the chiropractor and then she is going to get milk from the Amish. Friday, may have been a turning point. She went to the hospital to get an x-ray, and the person she saw, felt that a medication, to reduce inflammation, should be tried, followed by some physical therapy. Serendipitously, she met a person, she knew, who had the exact same symptoms, and was cured following this procedure. The anti-inflammation medicine worked and she has no pain.
The lunar eclipse was hidden from us. It was cloudy. I went out several times last night. There was a brief break in the clouds, occasionally, but it never lasted longer than a minute. I got a glimpse, now and then, of the moon in various stages. I won't get an another chance, to see a total lunar eclipse, until 2033. Heck, I'll only be 98 and time flies. Thanks, to all you folks, who posted the pictures.
We all know, we best teach by example. But, in relationships with people, close to us, isn't it hard to resist pointing out this or that? It doesn't work, very well, does it? For example, just this Morning I admonished somebody [or at least hinted] that they needed to be peaceful. In a classroom, where we are being paid to teach, that might work, sometimes. In relationships, it is usually aggravating. Paradoxically, the admonishment to be peaceful, can only come from an unpeaceful person. It is because this persons, lack of peace, disturbed my peace, that I made the comment. Therefore it is the pot calling the kettle black.
What if I was just to, listen and observe, this person as they were expressing, what I thought was an unpeaceful state. What if I was just, able to be, and radiate peace. That person may have gained peace. How could my comment, on this persons lack of peace, be construed as anything but criticism? Has that ever helped.
I am sure you can come up with examples in your own life. We often admonish people, close to us, when they are having an emotional response, we think, is not quite appropriate. Has it ever helped? I know it has led to some good arguments. Haven't we often mirrored the very emotion we are responding to? Can we imagine ourselves saying, " You don't have to be so angry" and expressing ourselves in an irritated voice?
If we have been on a psychological/spiritual path of learning [and I guess we all are], we have heard, over and over again, that we can only teach by example. The exception being, when we are asked, specifically, to teach.
We all have opinions and we like to express them. However, opinions about how somebody else should be, or act, are best kept to ourselves. This is true even when asked, unless we know, for sure, the asking is genuine. We really cannot know enough, about what is going on with another person, to give definitive advice. That whole thing about taking the 'beam from our own eye' is huge. Very, very huge. I don't know anybody, who is clear enough, about who they are, to offer advice about another. I know, I am not.
So if we don't like irritation in others, give up being irritated. If we want to help somebody get over their anger, we need to give up being angry; otherwise, we will just mirror theirs. If we want peace around us, we must radiate peace. If we like order, we must be orderly.
Eventually, we realize that everything has to do with our being. We teach, what we are. If we want love in the world, we need to be loving. If we want to see happiness, we need to be happy. If we want to experience honesty, we must be honest. If we want openness, we can only be open. We can only Be. We are, always, teaching what we are.
So that gets back to the idea, that if we don't like what we see, see differently. Don't try to change the world; change how you see the world.
Each one of us, is on the path, of taking the beam out of our own eye. When we see only Love, we will know we have been successful.
Love and Peace, Gregg
The lunar eclipse was hidden from us. It was cloudy. I went out several times last night. There was a brief break in the clouds, occasionally, but it never lasted longer than a minute. I got a glimpse, now and then, of the moon in various stages. I won't get an another chance, to see a total lunar eclipse, until 2033. Heck, I'll only be 98 and time flies. Thanks, to all you folks, who posted the pictures.
We all know, we best teach by example. But, in relationships with people, close to us, isn't it hard to resist pointing out this or that? It doesn't work, very well, does it? For example, just this Morning I admonished somebody [or at least hinted] that they needed to be peaceful. In a classroom, where we are being paid to teach, that might work, sometimes. In relationships, it is usually aggravating. Paradoxically, the admonishment to be peaceful, can only come from an unpeaceful person. It is because this persons, lack of peace, disturbed my peace, that I made the comment. Therefore it is the pot calling the kettle black.
What if I was just to, listen and observe, this person as they were expressing, what I thought was an unpeaceful state. What if I was just, able to be, and radiate peace. That person may have gained peace. How could my comment, on this persons lack of peace, be construed as anything but criticism? Has that ever helped.
I am sure you can come up with examples in your own life. We often admonish people, close to us, when they are having an emotional response, we think, is not quite appropriate. Has it ever helped? I know it has led to some good arguments. Haven't we often mirrored the very emotion we are responding to? Can we imagine ourselves saying, " You don't have to be so angry" and expressing ourselves in an irritated voice?
If we have been on a psychological/spiritual path of learning [and I guess we all are], we have heard, over and over again, that we can only teach by example. The exception being, when we are asked, specifically, to teach.
We all have opinions and we like to express them. However, opinions about how somebody else should be, or act, are best kept to ourselves. This is true even when asked, unless we know, for sure, the asking is genuine. We really cannot know enough, about what is going on with another person, to give definitive advice. That whole thing about taking the 'beam from our own eye' is huge. Very, very huge. I don't know anybody, who is clear enough, about who they are, to offer advice about another. I know, I am not.
So if we don't like irritation in others, give up being irritated. If we want to help somebody get over their anger, we need to give up being angry; otherwise, we will just mirror theirs. If we want peace around us, we must radiate peace. If we like order, we must be orderly.
Eventually, we realize that everything has to do with our being. We teach, what we are. If we want love in the world, we need to be loving. If we want to see happiness, we need to be happy. If we want to experience honesty, we must be honest. If we want openness, we can only be open. We can only Be. We are, always, teaching what we are.
So that gets back to the idea, that if we don't like what we see, see differently. Don't try to change the world; change how you see the world.
Each one of us, is on the path, of taking the beam out of our own eye. When we see only Love, we will know we have been successful.
Love and Peace, Gregg
Friday, September 25, 2015
AND LIFE GOES ON
Well I am not such a good prophet, even when it is my own life. I thought things would return to normalcy by today's blog. They haven't. Jamie had another appointment with the chiropractor, this Morning. The pain in her back went away, but the pain in her arm persist. She is going to have an x-ray this afternoon. Her arm felt better after the treatment this Morning. We are optimistic. I will update Monday.
I have been preoccupied with Jamie's struggles for good health, and I realize, that my main purpose in life, right now, is to be assistance to her. That is not as easy as one might think, as she is fiercely independent, and doesn't ask for all the help she could use. It is a learning situation for both of us. There is always purpose for everything we experience. There is always learning and wisdom to be had. Sometimes we don't see it till much later.
I said in an earlier blog that I have been learning a great deal. I am still not ready to put it into words. I think, along with many folks, a fog is beginning to lift and we are beginning to see just how crazy the world is. We, always knew it; but, now we are beginning to get more of a glimmer, of how beautiful the world is, behind the fog of the illusion.
I saw three Blue Jays playing on some dying thistles. They were only in my sight for a moment. In that moment, they radiated life. They illustrated, everything, which is precious and marvelous about life. And I have been having these little mini-experiences; like little snapshots, that remind me of the incredible beauty of life.
Despite the horror portrayed in the media, I am beginning to see and appreciate what a paradise we have right under our feet, just waiting for us to acknowledge it. It would be so easy to turn things around, and we now have voices, that are speaking to this; Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pope Francis, to name a few. The promise of a new world is getting stronger and clearer. However, we need leaders who focus more on what is possible. Most of us know how bad it is. The change needs to come from the bottom up. You and I need to see the paradise around us and step in to it. We need to acknowledge that, Love is all there is.
I have been learning, that just because life brings us discouragement and disappointment sometimes, we don't have to be unhappy. Sure, as we grapple with the problem, we may not be ecstatic; but our ongoing mood can stay high. We can have the, underneath understanding, that everything is okay; that 'all is well'. We have, been programmed, that we have a duty to suffer. We think we are not being responsible if we are not miserable. We don't realize we can maintain equanimity, if not happiness, through most of life's struggles.
Things are going well, here, on Laughing Water Farm. The chickens are still giving us more eggs than we can eat. The sheep are doing well. The five lambs have doubled in size. We neglected the garden this year, but it is still providing much food. We are going to have a lot of potatoes, perhaps enough to last through the Winter. Other than doing my routine chores, I haven't been doing much, and there is much that I should get done before snow flies. It always works out.
Life is grand! The Earth is bountiful! Have a great Friday!
Love and Peace, Gregg
I have been preoccupied with Jamie's struggles for good health, and I realize, that my main purpose in life, right now, is to be assistance to her. That is not as easy as one might think, as she is fiercely independent, and doesn't ask for all the help she could use. It is a learning situation for both of us. There is always purpose for everything we experience. There is always learning and wisdom to be had. Sometimes we don't see it till much later.
I said in an earlier blog that I have been learning a great deal. I am still not ready to put it into words. I think, along with many folks, a fog is beginning to lift and we are beginning to see just how crazy the world is. We, always knew it; but, now we are beginning to get more of a glimmer, of how beautiful the world is, behind the fog of the illusion.
I saw three Blue Jays playing on some dying thistles. They were only in my sight for a moment. In that moment, they radiated life. They illustrated, everything, which is precious and marvelous about life. And I have been having these little mini-experiences; like little snapshots, that remind me of the incredible beauty of life.
Despite the horror portrayed in the media, I am beginning to see and appreciate what a paradise we have right under our feet, just waiting for us to acknowledge it. It would be so easy to turn things around, and we now have voices, that are speaking to this; Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pope Francis, to name a few. The promise of a new world is getting stronger and clearer. However, we need leaders who focus more on what is possible. Most of us know how bad it is. The change needs to come from the bottom up. You and I need to see the paradise around us and step in to it. We need to acknowledge that, Love is all there is.
I have been learning, that just because life brings us discouragement and disappointment sometimes, we don't have to be unhappy. Sure, as we grapple with the problem, we may not be ecstatic; but our ongoing mood can stay high. We can have the, underneath understanding, that everything is okay; that 'all is well'. We have, been programmed, that we have a duty to suffer. We think we are not being responsible if we are not miserable. We don't realize we can maintain equanimity, if not happiness, through most of life's struggles.
Things are going well, here, on Laughing Water Farm. The chickens are still giving us more eggs than we can eat. The sheep are doing well. The five lambs have doubled in size. We neglected the garden this year, but it is still providing much food. We are going to have a lot of potatoes, perhaps enough to last through the Winter. Other than doing my routine chores, I haven't been doing much, and there is much that I should get done before snow flies. It always works out.
Life is grand! The Earth is bountiful! Have a great Friday!
Love and Peace, Gregg
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
ANOTHER BUSY DAY
I forgot to mention Monday that today would, also, be a busy day.
We had a very successful visit to the doctor [Chiropractor] Monday. He was able to find the source of Jamie's misery and make the necessary adjustment. We have another appointment with him this Morning. He did surmise that the exercise, Jamie was doing, caused the injury.
We have an appointment with the Naturopathic Physician in Stillwater this afternoon. I suppose, I shouldn't say we, since it is Jamie that has the appointment, but this healing seems to be a joint project. It has occupied our minds for most of the Summer. She is on the path to recovery.
The round trip to Stillwater is about 170 miles. We have an old friend in Stillwater we hope to visit, if we have the time. I have to get back here to do the afternoon chores before late afternoon or evening.
As I mentioned Monday, I have been learning or relearning a great deal lately. Saying it is a, great deal, quantifies it and it can't be quantified. I am not sure I can express it properly. It is like I am waking up to what I already know. I hope I can be clearer in a future blog.
I imagine things will return to normalcy in time for Friday's blog.
Love and Peace, Gregg
We had a very successful visit to the doctor [Chiropractor] Monday. He was able to find the source of Jamie's misery and make the necessary adjustment. We have another appointment with him this Morning. He did surmise that the exercise, Jamie was doing, caused the injury.
We have an appointment with the Naturopathic Physician in Stillwater this afternoon. I suppose, I shouldn't say we, since it is Jamie that has the appointment, but this healing seems to be a joint project. It has occupied our minds for most of the Summer. She is on the path to recovery.
The round trip to Stillwater is about 170 miles. We have an old friend in Stillwater we hope to visit, if we have the time. I have to get back here to do the afternoon chores before late afternoon or evening.
As I mentioned Monday, I have been learning or relearning a great deal lately. Saying it is a, great deal, quantifies it and it can't be quantified. I am not sure I can express it properly. It is like I am waking up to what I already know. I hope I can be clearer in a future blog.
I imagine things will return to normalcy in time for Friday's blog.
Love and Peace, Gregg
Monday, September 21, 2015
A BUSY MONDAY
I don't have the usual time to write my blog. I have to have my car up to the garage at 10:30AM. I was planning to begin a blog this Morning and finish when I got back from the garage. I figured I would be back here well before Noon. But..........................
Jamie was trying out a new exercise she learned and she pulled a muscle in her back. Actually, she doesn't know if the exercise caused the problem. She woke up Saturday Morning with this spasm in her upper back. The pain seemed to be manageable [barely] thru the day Saturday. However, on Sunday Morning, she knew she needed some kind of help. We went to the hospital emergency room [she used to work there] and got a muscle relaxant. It was only partially helpful. She awoke this Morning in more agony than yesterday. She is able to move around now, but is quite limited. We have an appointment to see a doctor this afternoon.
So, I won't be able to blog when I get back from the garage because, Jamie can't drive right now, and we have errands that need running. We need to get milk from the Amish and go to the doctor.
I have been learning a great deal lately. It is like I am on a crash course. I am seeing that all experience is essentially good and there are no accidents. Neither of these things, seem remotely true, when you are in the midst of the experience. Well, maybe, I shouldn't say that. Even when I am in the midst of a painful experience, I often have a inkling in my mind, that I will see this, someday, in a different light.
I am learning a lot more about happiness. I think it is possible to have the essentials of happiness, all the time. I will explain later in a forthcoming blog. I need to get going.
Love and Peace, Gregg
Jamie was trying out a new exercise she learned and she pulled a muscle in her back. Actually, she doesn't know if the exercise caused the problem. She woke up Saturday Morning with this spasm in her upper back. The pain seemed to be manageable [barely] thru the day Saturday. However, on Sunday Morning, she knew she needed some kind of help. We went to the hospital emergency room [she used to work there] and got a muscle relaxant. It was only partially helpful. She awoke this Morning in more agony than yesterday. She is able to move around now, but is quite limited. We have an appointment to see a doctor this afternoon.
So, I won't be able to blog when I get back from the garage because, Jamie can't drive right now, and we have errands that need running. We need to get milk from the Amish and go to the doctor.
I have been learning a great deal lately. It is like I am on a crash course. I am seeing that all experience is essentially good and there are no accidents. Neither of these things, seem remotely true, when you are in the midst of the experience. Well, maybe, I shouldn't say that. Even when I am in the midst of a painful experience, I often have a inkling in my mind, that I will see this, someday, in a different light.
I am learning a lot more about happiness. I think it is possible to have the essentials of happiness, all the time. I will explain later in a forthcoming blog. I need to get going.
Love and Peace, Gregg
Friday, September 18, 2015
OPTIMISM
I awoke this Morning in a little lighter mood than I have experienced lately. I was getting into the doldrums. I am so eager for humankind to show more awakening. I don't lose my faith, that it is happening, and I don't pay too much attention to the negative media. Yet, sometimes I feel like I am slogging through the world blindly, with nothing but a promise. I don't continue in a dark mood through the day. I find a way to lighten up. Still, one shouldn't have to struggle to lighten up, should they.
So, I thought of writing about optimism today. Since, I am a believer, in the creative power of thoughts; I do not often entertain negative thoughts for long. They come and go, as they do for all of us, but I don't find myself dwelling on them. However, negativity can come in the form of mood; it can be like a dark shroud wrapping around us. If it is a heavy shroud, we are aware, and can take measures to deal with it. However, if it is a light cloak, we may not notice anything but continuing blah. We may let it stick around longer than we need to.
Negative moods can arise from physical conditions. They could be related to nutritional, endocrinologic or other physical processes. Of course, regardless of the condition, optimism plays a large part; but I am addressing, the more garden variety mood problem, that is created by the entertainment, of optimisms opposite, pessimism.
It seems silly to write about this, at all, since volumes have been written about it, and I can't say anything that hasn't been said better by somebody else. But, I know we keep flirting with pessimism. We keep entertaining dark thoughts about the future, our personal future or that of the world, and we miss out on enjoying big hunks of our lives.
We know by now, that hanging on to negative thoughts, will lead to some kind of misery. We know that if we do not address the negative mood, and replace it with optimistic thought, we will continue in the doldrums. Why do we put up with it?
Have we been successfully indoctrinated into the belief, that optimism leads to discouragement? Have we been indoctrinated into believing optimism is negative; is being like Pollyanna? What do you think?
How can optimism be bad? We create with our thoughts. We increase what we focus on. Sure sometimes we get discouraged. Does it help to sink into pessimism? Or is it better to ramp up the optimism?
Optimism creates room for love. Optimism equates with happiness. Optimism is not the denial that bad things can happen. When your standing up to your armpits in muck and somebody throws you, a rope or a shovel, and you ignore both of them, in the hope that the muck will magically disappear, that is craziness, not optimism. Optimism is not denial, it is seeing that, of the choice of several probable futures, we opt for the one we like. Focusing on what we want to happen, is how we bring it about. It is creation in action. Optimism, is the good feeling, that it will happen.
When we wake up in the Morning, we can look forward to a fantastic, richly rewarding, day or we can choose something else. We are choosing with our thoughts and feelings. Choosing the best of all probable futures is optimism. When we go to bed at night, are we going to be happier, if we chose optimism?
Let us get back to the question, "Why would we choose anything else but optimism?' "What is the allure of pessimism?" Is pessimism self-protective? Are we protecting ourselves from discouragement? Are we settling for having muck up to our hips, all the time, for fear of the muck getting up to our necks, occasionally?
Perhaps, the biggest lure of pessimism, is that it fits with our sense of worthiness. If we, all, knew we were worthy, would the words optimism and pessimism even exist? When we know we are worthy, of the best creation can offer, would we even think about the future?
Can't we conclude that it all comes down to loving ourselves? When we love ourselves, we automatically expect the best for ourselves. Pause and remind yourself, what a loving being you are. Feel the love soaking in to you. It comes from the center of the Earth and it comes from the center of the universe. We are absolutely loving and loved beings. We just have to know it. Then we will always expect the best.
Happy Friday!
Love and Peace, Gregg
So, I thought of writing about optimism today. Since, I am a believer, in the creative power of thoughts; I do not often entertain negative thoughts for long. They come and go, as they do for all of us, but I don't find myself dwelling on them. However, negativity can come in the form of mood; it can be like a dark shroud wrapping around us. If it is a heavy shroud, we are aware, and can take measures to deal with it. However, if it is a light cloak, we may not notice anything but continuing blah. We may let it stick around longer than we need to.
Negative moods can arise from physical conditions. They could be related to nutritional, endocrinologic or other physical processes. Of course, regardless of the condition, optimism plays a large part; but I am addressing, the more garden variety mood problem, that is created by the entertainment, of optimisms opposite, pessimism.
It seems silly to write about this, at all, since volumes have been written about it, and I can't say anything that hasn't been said better by somebody else. But, I know we keep flirting with pessimism. We keep entertaining dark thoughts about the future, our personal future or that of the world, and we miss out on enjoying big hunks of our lives.
We know by now, that hanging on to negative thoughts, will lead to some kind of misery. We know that if we do not address the negative mood, and replace it with optimistic thought, we will continue in the doldrums. Why do we put up with it?
Have we been successfully indoctrinated into the belief, that optimism leads to discouragement? Have we been indoctrinated into believing optimism is negative; is being like Pollyanna? What do you think?
How can optimism be bad? We create with our thoughts. We increase what we focus on. Sure sometimes we get discouraged. Does it help to sink into pessimism? Or is it better to ramp up the optimism?
Optimism creates room for love. Optimism equates with happiness. Optimism is not the denial that bad things can happen. When your standing up to your armpits in muck and somebody throws you, a rope or a shovel, and you ignore both of them, in the hope that the muck will magically disappear, that is craziness, not optimism. Optimism is not denial, it is seeing that, of the choice of several probable futures, we opt for the one we like. Focusing on what we want to happen, is how we bring it about. It is creation in action. Optimism, is the good feeling, that it will happen.
When we wake up in the Morning, we can look forward to a fantastic, richly rewarding, day or we can choose something else. We are choosing with our thoughts and feelings. Choosing the best of all probable futures is optimism. When we go to bed at night, are we going to be happier, if we chose optimism?
Let us get back to the question, "Why would we choose anything else but optimism?' "What is the allure of pessimism?" Is pessimism self-protective? Are we protecting ourselves from discouragement? Are we settling for having muck up to our hips, all the time, for fear of the muck getting up to our necks, occasionally?
Perhaps, the biggest lure of pessimism, is that it fits with our sense of worthiness. If we, all, knew we were worthy, would the words optimism and pessimism even exist? When we know we are worthy, of the best creation can offer, would we even think about the future?
Can't we conclude that it all comes down to loving ourselves? When we love ourselves, we automatically expect the best for ourselves. Pause and remind yourself, what a loving being you are. Feel the love soaking in to you. It comes from the center of the Earth and it comes from the center of the universe. We are absolutely loving and loved beings. We just have to know it. Then we will always expect the best.
Happy Friday!
Love and Peace, Gregg
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
CLEARING
We are experiencing another warm spell; a reminder that Summer is not over. It has been getting up into the eighties these last few days. It is very pleasant now, low 70sF, plenty of Sun, a beautiful September Morn.
Jamie has been cleaning out drawers, closets and other nooks and crannies. It scares me. She gets into, a throwing away, mode; she might throw away some of my precious stuff. Never mind that I might not have seen it for forty years or I might not remember what it is. Hey! I saved it for a reason; I just can't remember why.
It is amazing how much stuff accumulates, when you live in the same house for over forty years. We did throw away lots of useless stuff and we found things we forgot we had. I have been meaning to buy a can of silicon spray and I kept forgetting. I looked and couldn't find any in the closet where it would be. We found, not just one can, but two cans. Its good that I kept forgetting to buy some. The closets and drawers look much better now. I am pleased with the results. Cleaning binges still make me wary. I tell Jamie, "When I am doing them, it is just fine, but I don't like you messing with my stuff." She says, "But you will never do it." What a base canard. It has only been forty years! She just might have a point.
We have a whole lifetime of accumulated thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, etcetera, that weigh us down. Our mentors keep telling us that we need to give up the past. We take the advice seriously, but we still find ourselves mulling over something that happened years ago.
There are different kinds of past thoughts. They are harmful in different ways.
The first is reminders that we are not worthy. These thoughts could be from this Morning or when we were small children. They point out our imperfections. They could be, how we overlooked somebody we knew, in the grocery store, just this Morning, because we were preoccupied, or how we were especially mean to a friend or sibling when we were very young. They can be about big things or small things. They may cause us a moment of embarrassment or even cringe. The impact of this accumulated negativity can weigh heavily on our consciousness, even though, we may know regret is nonsense. We need to deal with each one of these reminders directly. We need to forgive ourselves, and affirm, they are not real. THE PAST IS NOT REAL. Sometimes we will have a certain event come back, over and over, in our minds. We can't seem to be done with it, once and for all. We need to be brave. look at it. Is there something we have difficulty forgiving ourselves for? Why? Allow, yourself to feel the feeling. Is it humiliation? Let the feeling come over you. Forgive yourself and all others involved. If it comes to your mind again; dismiss it- let it go without further ado. Always affirm, that you are a loving being worthy of happiness, peace and love. We all need to find our own words in these mini-affirmations; what sounds fine to me, might not fit for another.
Another category of past thoughts have to do with others. These thoughts can be subtle or blatant. They are always judgements, but that is not always obvious. We may think we are just making assessments. These thoughts might not bother us. In fact our egos may actually encourage them. We may feel superior. They may puff us up some way. We need to not fool ourselves into thinking these thoughts are okay. They may or may not hurt the other individual. It is always more difficult to grow, if we have minds around us, that attempt to freeze us in place. The one we have thoughts about may be strong enough to resist the influence. We are not. Whenever, we have unkind thought of another, we hurt ourselves. Remember we are One. We can't poke, another, without feeling the prick. Having negative thoughts about another, gives energy to those negative reminders, we are trying to overcome. These thoughts about others can be hidden. Be aware of the amusing stories you tell about friends and relatives; are they indeed innocent? We really need to let the past go.
The third category [there may be many more categories- but I will deal with only three] is the thoughts and attitudes that arise from beliefs we a have absorbed from our environment. They are myriad and as we learn and grow many will drop away. These can include judgements about race, nationality, class, religion, food, entertainment; our whole experience and perception, is shaped by those around us. As we learn we get over many of these things. We no longer are suspicious of Catholics, Jews or Baptists, because our Uncle Harry always told dis-barraging stories about them, over Sunday dinner. But other things, we may still not realize we hold on to. It is election season- do you have an automatic reaction when you hear somebody is a Democrat or Republican? Is that fair? Is it honest? How do you feel about vegans? How about those who love meat? Wouldn't life be better if we could rid ourselves of all our little prejudices? We carry with us all kinds of limiting opinions and attitudes. We don't even know where they came from.
It is said that we are entering into a period, where we will see, that reality is love, and that everything that is not love, will be seen as unreal.
We can use that concept for clearing out the closets and cubbyholes of our minds. It is time to put, all that is not love, in the trash bin. We don't need it now and we certainly won't need it in the future.
We have been struggling with clearing our minds and giving up the past. It will become easier We are over the hump. It is all downhill from here.
Love and Peace, Gregg
Jamie has been cleaning out drawers, closets and other nooks and crannies. It scares me. She gets into, a throwing away, mode; she might throw away some of my precious stuff. Never mind that I might not have seen it for forty years or I might not remember what it is. Hey! I saved it for a reason; I just can't remember why.
It is amazing how much stuff accumulates, when you live in the same house for over forty years. We did throw away lots of useless stuff and we found things we forgot we had. I have been meaning to buy a can of silicon spray and I kept forgetting. I looked and couldn't find any in the closet where it would be. We found, not just one can, but two cans. Its good that I kept forgetting to buy some. The closets and drawers look much better now. I am pleased with the results. Cleaning binges still make me wary. I tell Jamie, "When I am doing them, it is just fine, but I don't like you messing with my stuff." She says, "But you will never do it." What a base canard. It has only been forty years! She just might have a point.
We have a whole lifetime of accumulated thoughts, feelings, beliefs, attitudes, etcetera, that weigh us down. Our mentors keep telling us that we need to give up the past. We take the advice seriously, but we still find ourselves mulling over something that happened years ago.
There are different kinds of past thoughts. They are harmful in different ways.
The first is reminders that we are not worthy. These thoughts could be from this Morning or when we were small children. They point out our imperfections. They could be, how we overlooked somebody we knew, in the grocery store, just this Morning, because we were preoccupied, or how we were especially mean to a friend or sibling when we were very young. They can be about big things or small things. They may cause us a moment of embarrassment or even cringe. The impact of this accumulated negativity can weigh heavily on our consciousness, even though, we may know regret is nonsense. We need to deal with each one of these reminders directly. We need to forgive ourselves, and affirm, they are not real. THE PAST IS NOT REAL. Sometimes we will have a certain event come back, over and over, in our minds. We can't seem to be done with it, once and for all. We need to be brave. look at it. Is there something we have difficulty forgiving ourselves for? Why? Allow, yourself to feel the feeling. Is it humiliation? Let the feeling come over you. Forgive yourself and all others involved. If it comes to your mind again; dismiss it- let it go without further ado. Always affirm, that you are a loving being worthy of happiness, peace and love. We all need to find our own words in these mini-affirmations; what sounds fine to me, might not fit for another.
Another category of past thoughts have to do with others. These thoughts can be subtle or blatant. They are always judgements, but that is not always obvious. We may think we are just making assessments. These thoughts might not bother us. In fact our egos may actually encourage them. We may feel superior. They may puff us up some way. We need to not fool ourselves into thinking these thoughts are okay. They may or may not hurt the other individual. It is always more difficult to grow, if we have minds around us, that attempt to freeze us in place. The one we have thoughts about may be strong enough to resist the influence. We are not. Whenever, we have unkind thought of another, we hurt ourselves. Remember we are One. We can't poke, another, without feeling the prick. Having negative thoughts about another, gives energy to those negative reminders, we are trying to overcome. These thoughts about others can be hidden. Be aware of the amusing stories you tell about friends and relatives; are they indeed innocent? We really need to let the past go.
The third category [there may be many more categories- but I will deal with only three] is the thoughts and attitudes that arise from beliefs we a have absorbed from our environment. They are myriad and as we learn and grow many will drop away. These can include judgements about race, nationality, class, religion, food, entertainment; our whole experience and perception, is shaped by those around us. As we learn we get over many of these things. We no longer are suspicious of Catholics, Jews or Baptists, because our Uncle Harry always told dis-barraging stories about them, over Sunday dinner. But other things, we may still not realize we hold on to. It is election season- do you have an automatic reaction when you hear somebody is a Democrat or Republican? Is that fair? Is it honest? How do you feel about vegans? How about those who love meat? Wouldn't life be better if we could rid ourselves of all our little prejudices? We carry with us all kinds of limiting opinions and attitudes. We don't even know where they came from.
It is said that we are entering into a period, where we will see, that reality is love, and that everything that is not love, will be seen as unreal.
We can use that concept for clearing out the closets and cubbyholes of our minds. It is time to put, all that is not love, in the trash bin. We don't need it now and we certainly won't need it in the future.
We have been struggling with clearing our minds and giving up the past. It will become easier We are over the hump. It is all downhill from here.
Love and Peace, Gregg
Monday, September 14, 2015
JUST GOING ALONG
It is hard being sane in a mad world. We go along doing our best to live in the moment and enjoy life. We hold our light as high as we can; but then we have to deal with the contents of our minds, which sometimes give into pessimism, and the darkness that can impinge upon us. For the most part we can focus on the light and what makes us happy. We are eager for all minds to change and see the world we want. How does that expression go? "Don't try to change the world, but change how you see the world." I think it is from the Course in Miracles. However, it is a basic recommendation in spiritual teaching.
As we are going along we experience change. Our bodies get older for one thing. How do you feel about that? There seems to be much resistance to getting older in our culture. Is it getting older or fear of death? Or both?
So far, I love getting older. It is a blast to be eighty. It is hard for me to believe. I often say to myself. "How the heck did I ever get to be eighty?" For me there have been two, miles stone, birthdays; 50 and now 80. I reached 21 when I was in the Air Force. We could drink and we were adults, more or less, in any case I don't remember a particular impact. I was in graduate school when I reached 30, and that age change wasn't memorable. When I reached 50, I suddenly realized I could no longer think of myself as youthful. My dreams of being a great athlete were dimming. Middle age was upon me, and it stretched until I hit eighty. Hitting 60 and 70 were just a continuation of middle age. But 80, wow! I don't know how to describe it. The word elderly doesn't fit, as logical as it may be. I don't feel elderly. Oh sure, I am daily aware that I have limitations, I didn't have twenty years ago; but elderly, nah.
I have to admit, I play the elderly card. I don't mind the younger person getting up and getting me something. And, I love to remind people that I am eighty. Partly, because I am so surprised myself. I run into people frequently, who seem to detest, or fear getting old. I don't know if they are just putting on, because they think they should dislike it, or they really dislike it. Most people I know seem to be sanguine with aging, however.
I know fear of death plays a part. One look at our medical/pharmaceutical industry would indicate fear of something is firmly entrenched. Fear of pain, fear of disability, fear of illness and finally fear of death. What would medicine be like if there was no fear?
Of course fear is the energy, behind the craziness, in this mad world, we think of as reality. In our going along in this world, we need to see its impact, so we can bring these hidden fears to the surface and begone with them.
Fear of death, hmmmmmmmm, I don't know what to say about that. I know what it means. Until I was about 45 or so I was terrified of death. I wasn't aware of being afraid, but it expressed itself, a few times. When I first contemplated the idea of reincarnation, being a possibility, I imagined how I might have died in previous lifetimes. I, also, did some past life regressions and had that experience. Over the years, any fear of death has diminished. I can't get in touch with any fear now. That doesn't mean I am eager to leave [at least most the time]. I really enjoy living and I don't want to leave until the folks, who are used to having me around, are okay with it.
I do perceive fear of death as a significant factor in our society. I think it is a huge money maker. This fear is endlessly exploited. I don't want to go into all the ways it is exploited, here. Just think about it, you will see.
As we grow from being body conscious to a more spiritual orientation; we lose fear of death because we quit thinking of it as real. We think of our real selves as spirit. We can't imagine ourselves dying. Our bodies die. They are temporary. Everything in this illusionary world is temporary. It doesn't take much to experience the illusion of time. Remember, those endless Summers as a child; they go by pretty fast now, don't they. Somebody, might say, "It is not time that is an illusion, it is the perception of time." Okay, show me something that is not perception. What exist, that isn't our perception? What do we experience that is not coming through our senses?
Any way, as we go along, we have a continuous choice. Do we want to see light or darkness? Do we want to see hope or despair? Do we want to focus on the rotting corpse of this old world or do we want to see a new world emerging? Do we want to know love or fear?
We can change the way we see the world. We can look upon a forgiven world. We can forgive the craziness and see the light. It is there!
It is great to be alive! Happy Monday!
Love and Peace, Gregg
As we are going along we experience change. Our bodies get older for one thing. How do you feel about that? There seems to be much resistance to getting older in our culture. Is it getting older or fear of death? Or both?
So far, I love getting older. It is a blast to be eighty. It is hard for me to believe. I often say to myself. "How the heck did I ever get to be eighty?" For me there have been two, miles stone, birthdays; 50 and now 80. I reached 21 when I was in the Air Force. We could drink and we were adults, more or less, in any case I don't remember a particular impact. I was in graduate school when I reached 30, and that age change wasn't memorable. When I reached 50, I suddenly realized I could no longer think of myself as youthful. My dreams of being a great athlete were dimming. Middle age was upon me, and it stretched until I hit eighty. Hitting 60 and 70 were just a continuation of middle age. But 80, wow! I don't know how to describe it. The word elderly doesn't fit, as logical as it may be. I don't feel elderly. Oh sure, I am daily aware that I have limitations, I didn't have twenty years ago; but elderly, nah.
I have to admit, I play the elderly card. I don't mind the younger person getting up and getting me something. And, I love to remind people that I am eighty. Partly, because I am so surprised myself. I run into people frequently, who seem to detest, or fear getting old. I don't know if they are just putting on, because they think they should dislike it, or they really dislike it. Most people I know seem to be sanguine with aging, however.
I know fear of death plays a part. One look at our medical/pharmaceutical industry would indicate fear of something is firmly entrenched. Fear of pain, fear of disability, fear of illness and finally fear of death. What would medicine be like if there was no fear?
Of course fear is the energy, behind the craziness, in this mad world, we think of as reality. In our going along in this world, we need to see its impact, so we can bring these hidden fears to the surface and begone with them.
Fear of death, hmmmmmmmm, I don't know what to say about that. I know what it means. Until I was about 45 or so I was terrified of death. I wasn't aware of being afraid, but it expressed itself, a few times. When I first contemplated the idea of reincarnation, being a possibility, I imagined how I might have died in previous lifetimes. I, also, did some past life regressions and had that experience. Over the years, any fear of death has diminished. I can't get in touch with any fear now. That doesn't mean I am eager to leave [at least most the time]. I really enjoy living and I don't want to leave until the folks, who are used to having me around, are okay with it.
I do perceive fear of death as a significant factor in our society. I think it is a huge money maker. This fear is endlessly exploited. I don't want to go into all the ways it is exploited, here. Just think about it, you will see.
As we grow from being body conscious to a more spiritual orientation; we lose fear of death because we quit thinking of it as real. We think of our real selves as spirit. We can't imagine ourselves dying. Our bodies die. They are temporary. Everything in this illusionary world is temporary. It doesn't take much to experience the illusion of time. Remember, those endless Summers as a child; they go by pretty fast now, don't they. Somebody, might say, "It is not time that is an illusion, it is the perception of time." Okay, show me something that is not perception. What exist, that isn't our perception? What do we experience that is not coming through our senses?
Any way, as we go along, we have a continuous choice. Do we want to see light or darkness? Do we want to see hope or despair? Do we want to focus on the rotting corpse of this old world or do we want to see a new world emerging? Do we want to know love or fear?
We can change the way we see the world. We can look upon a forgiven world. We can forgive the craziness and see the light. It is there!
It is great to be alive! Happy Monday!
Love and Peace, Gregg
Friday, September 11, 2015
RELATIONSHIP WITH SELF
In our search for truth, and our attempts to grow spiritually and psychologically, we often neglect our relationship with self.
It happens easily. We don't want to be selfish [aggrandizing things to self first]; we don't want to be self centered [focusing primarily on self]. We want to be loving, generous and think of ourselves as grown up. In the process, we often forget a key factor, our opinion about ourselves. If asked, we come up with a stock answer, but is the reflexive answer the truth?
In our goal to be mature [Good] people we often neglect ourselves. Let us look at this situation. Like it or not, we see in others the discrepancies, we think we may have in ourselves. We judge others for our own shortcomings. It is especially true with those closest to us. If something rubs us the wrong way, our first perception is to 'see' in the other what, may be, our own, self perceived flaw. We do this at all levels. We project on the world what we are afraid we may be capable of.
Our opinion about ourselves was shaped by our culture, our parents, our family, our friends, our schools and other institutions; everything. In growing up we learn to shed much of the negative learning; but not everything. The problems, in the world, are caused by how we see ourselves. We could not be manipulated if we held ourselves with proper esteem. If we had good esteem for ourselves we would stop looking for experts to tell us what to believe. We would not follow leaders over the cliff of despair, war, depression, poverty etc. We know how to care for ourselves. We know how to feed ourselves. We know how to care for each other. We don't need leaders or experts; we need to listen to ourselves.
But we don't trust ourselves, do we? And that is the problem; our low opinion about ourselves.
We all have different gifts. There is always, something, somebody can do better than another. That is great. We need each other. However, no gift makes one person more deserving than another. We are all equally valuable. We may not be equally wise, but we all have the ability to listen, and determine, if what we are hearing sounds like wisdom.
Our relationship with ourselves is primary. We will never have, a complete relationship with another, if we see ourselves as inadequate or unworthy. It is not selfish to take care of our emotional and psychological needs. It is not self-centered to spend some time being nice to ourselves. Growing up means shedding ourselves of all the programming we inculcated in this crazy world. To say it simply, we cannot fully love others, until we fully love ourselves. Most of us go through the world partially shuttered; we only let a portion of our light shine out. It works. The light of love is very powerful. Any amount helps. We can shine all of our light.
When we give up all the negative programming and truly love ourselves, our light will be almost blinding. We are amazing beings of light. We have been convinced we are low beings, that need to grovel for our wants, when we are greatness itself. We are part of source. We have all the creative potential of source.
We deserve to be happy all the time. We deserve to create anything we want. Deserving is not even a question. The very idea, of questioning our worthiness, was an awful, vicious lie. It needs to be put to rest in all minds.
Let us take an honest look at the relationship we have with ourselves. What is the opinion you have of yourself? Do you know how great you are? Do you know you deserve to be ecstatically happy all the time?
Do you know you are not your body? Our bodies may be in various states of disrepair. We are old. We are young. We are sick. We are well. We are having an experience with bodies. It is part of understanding separateness. We are the great light that animates the body. Regardless of the vehicle we are temporarily traveling in, we are part of the great light of creation. Our worthiness and value to each other is never a question.
Open up the shutters [the illusion of self] let your real self shine through. Brighten up the world. Bless us all.
Happy Friday!
Love and Peace, Gregg
It happens easily. We don't want to be selfish [aggrandizing things to self first]; we don't want to be self centered [focusing primarily on self]. We want to be loving, generous and think of ourselves as grown up. In the process, we often forget a key factor, our opinion about ourselves. If asked, we come up with a stock answer, but is the reflexive answer the truth?
In our goal to be mature [Good] people we often neglect ourselves. Let us look at this situation. Like it or not, we see in others the discrepancies, we think we may have in ourselves. We judge others for our own shortcomings. It is especially true with those closest to us. If something rubs us the wrong way, our first perception is to 'see' in the other what, may be, our own, self perceived flaw. We do this at all levels. We project on the world what we are afraid we may be capable of.
Our opinion about ourselves was shaped by our culture, our parents, our family, our friends, our schools and other institutions; everything. In growing up we learn to shed much of the negative learning; but not everything. The problems, in the world, are caused by how we see ourselves. We could not be manipulated if we held ourselves with proper esteem. If we had good esteem for ourselves we would stop looking for experts to tell us what to believe. We would not follow leaders over the cliff of despair, war, depression, poverty etc. We know how to care for ourselves. We know how to feed ourselves. We know how to care for each other. We don't need leaders or experts; we need to listen to ourselves.
But we don't trust ourselves, do we? And that is the problem; our low opinion about ourselves.
We all have different gifts. There is always, something, somebody can do better than another. That is great. We need each other. However, no gift makes one person more deserving than another. We are all equally valuable. We may not be equally wise, but we all have the ability to listen, and determine, if what we are hearing sounds like wisdom.
Our relationship with ourselves is primary. We will never have, a complete relationship with another, if we see ourselves as inadequate or unworthy. It is not selfish to take care of our emotional and psychological needs. It is not self-centered to spend some time being nice to ourselves. Growing up means shedding ourselves of all the programming we inculcated in this crazy world. To say it simply, we cannot fully love others, until we fully love ourselves. Most of us go through the world partially shuttered; we only let a portion of our light shine out. It works. The light of love is very powerful. Any amount helps. We can shine all of our light.
When we give up all the negative programming and truly love ourselves, our light will be almost blinding. We are amazing beings of light. We have been convinced we are low beings, that need to grovel for our wants, when we are greatness itself. We are part of source. We have all the creative potential of source.
We deserve to be happy all the time. We deserve to create anything we want. Deserving is not even a question. The very idea, of questioning our worthiness, was an awful, vicious lie. It needs to be put to rest in all minds.
Let us take an honest look at the relationship we have with ourselves. What is the opinion you have of yourself? Do you know how great you are? Do you know you deserve to be ecstatically happy all the time?
Do you know you are not your body? Our bodies may be in various states of disrepair. We are old. We are young. We are sick. We are well. We are having an experience with bodies. It is part of understanding separateness. We are the great light that animates the body. Regardless of the vehicle we are temporarily traveling in, we are part of the great light of creation. Our worthiness and value to each other is never a question.
Open up the shutters [the illusion of self] let your real self shine through. Brighten up the world. Bless us all.
Happy Friday!
Love and Peace, Gregg
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
HAPPINESS
Almost 10AM and I am still sitting here wondering what I am doing. Sometimes I question why I am blogging. Other times, I am almost compelled to get something out. Today is kind of blah. When I first got up the Sun was shining bright. Then it clouded up. The Sun occasionally breaks through. It is bright and then dim, bright and then dim; kinda like my mood.
There has been a cloud coming and going across my mind these last couple days. It is not heavy.............but not happy either. I have been going over the concerns that float through my consciousness this Morning. My blessings, so outnumber my concerns, that it is almost embarrassing, to have so much richness. I live in a beautiful home. I have no debt. I have a modest sum in the bank. I am as healthy as a horse. I am surrounded by abundance. I have wonderful friends. I have amazing, wonderful children and grand children. I am married to the most amazing women on the face of the Earth. Jamie has been having some health concerns; but that will pass. Like me; she is basically very healthy.
Happiness is tricky. If we ask ourselves, if we are happy, we won't get a good answer. The wrong part of the brain looks at the question. The analytical part of our mind doesn't know. Happiness is realized when we are not thinking about it. Happiness, comes out of the mind, at peace.
Yet happiness is the greatest gift we have. When we are happy we radiate love and well being. In my family of origin and my extended family, there were certain members who seemed to determine the mood of the whole family; when they were happy everybody was happy. When they weren't, not so much. There were times when the family was together, for a party, and things could not really start, until a certain individual arrived. Things might have been humming along okay; but the happiness quotient really cranked up, when they arrived. They carried the party with them.
I read a study a couple months ago. A group constructed a happiness index and used it to measure happiness in several different countries. I don't have the study before me, but I remember being surprised that some of the more impoverished places had the happiest people. Some of the wealthier countries were rather happy, also. There seemed to be little correlation between happiness and wealth. Relationships- families and friends were most mentioned, in relation to happiness.
Anybody who is observant, and especially if they work with people, discovers that happiness has little to do with anything outside us. In fact folks, who have grave things happening to their bodies, can be happy.
Sure we are influenced by what comes from outside; but happiness comes from inside out. I think, if we pay careful attention, the next time we are in a less than happy mood, we will discover we are not treating ourselves well. We are criticizing ourselves for something. We may be brooding over some faux pas we think we made. Something is not quite right and we are making some negative self evaluation. I find myself, sometimes late in the afternoon, feeling vaguely unworthy. I would have spent the day relatively idle, perhaps doing only the mandatory chores, ignoring all the things that need to be done; mowing the grass, cutting up that huge tree branch that fell down, mending that leaky fence. There are many, many things I could do rather than sit in the Sun, outside, and absorb the energy from the Universe. Why would one make the decision to rest and then blame themselves for it?
The answer, maybe, that we are not always aware that we are making a decision. We are aware of how much we have to do and we let ourselves slide into, not doing them, instead of making a decision to do something else, like take a rest. Actually, we are always making a decision: consciousness is the issue. We are responsible for ourselves at every moment. The more we are aware of our decisions, the less self criticism will emerge. We have been trained to be very self-critical; it is part of this insane illusion. The next time we find ourselves being self-critical, we can ask ourselves. "Is this how we would treat somebody we love?"
Our greatest gift to the world is our happiness. Happiness is there, whenever we suspend, all the nonsense, that travels through our minds. Happiness is our default position. When we are happy we radiate love to all other minds. Practice loving yourself. Whenever we are aware of an impending decision we may ask ourselves, "What would I do if I loved myself?" There is a remarkable teacher by the name of Teal Swan, who has an exercise on this subject. It is on YouTube. Worth looking up.
It is difficult to realize that happiness is a decision we make. After all, who would make a decision to be unhappy!? However, if we look carefully at ourselves, we will see it is a decision. At any moment we can reverse the decision and decide to be happy. I have had much personal experience in this area. No matter how ugly and gloomy things appear, we can find that switch in our mind, click it, and let the light shine in. Ah, it is so nice to love ourselves and bask in the light.
Love and Peace, Gregg
There has been a cloud coming and going across my mind these last couple days. It is not heavy.............but not happy either. I have been going over the concerns that float through my consciousness this Morning. My blessings, so outnumber my concerns, that it is almost embarrassing, to have so much richness. I live in a beautiful home. I have no debt. I have a modest sum in the bank. I am as healthy as a horse. I am surrounded by abundance. I have wonderful friends. I have amazing, wonderful children and grand children. I am married to the most amazing women on the face of the Earth. Jamie has been having some health concerns; but that will pass. Like me; she is basically very healthy.
Happiness is tricky. If we ask ourselves, if we are happy, we won't get a good answer. The wrong part of the brain looks at the question. The analytical part of our mind doesn't know. Happiness is realized when we are not thinking about it. Happiness, comes out of the mind, at peace.
Yet happiness is the greatest gift we have. When we are happy we radiate love and well being. In my family of origin and my extended family, there were certain members who seemed to determine the mood of the whole family; when they were happy everybody was happy. When they weren't, not so much. There were times when the family was together, for a party, and things could not really start, until a certain individual arrived. Things might have been humming along okay; but the happiness quotient really cranked up, when they arrived. They carried the party with them.
I read a study a couple months ago. A group constructed a happiness index and used it to measure happiness in several different countries. I don't have the study before me, but I remember being surprised that some of the more impoverished places had the happiest people. Some of the wealthier countries were rather happy, also. There seemed to be little correlation between happiness and wealth. Relationships- families and friends were most mentioned, in relation to happiness.
Anybody who is observant, and especially if they work with people, discovers that happiness has little to do with anything outside us. In fact folks, who have grave things happening to their bodies, can be happy.
Sure we are influenced by what comes from outside; but happiness comes from inside out. I think, if we pay careful attention, the next time we are in a less than happy mood, we will discover we are not treating ourselves well. We are criticizing ourselves for something. We may be brooding over some faux pas we think we made. Something is not quite right and we are making some negative self evaluation. I find myself, sometimes late in the afternoon, feeling vaguely unworthy. I would have spent the day relatively idle, perhaps doing only the mandatory chores, ignoring all the things that need to be done; mowing the grass, cutting up that huge tree branch that fell down, mending that leaky fence. There are many, many things I could do rather than sit in the Sun, outside, and absorb the energy from the Universe. Why would one make the decision to rest and then blame themselves for it?
The answer, maybe, that we are not always aware that we are making a decision. We are aware of how much we have to do and we let ourselves slide into, not doing them, instead of making a decision to do something else, like take a rest. Actually, we are always making a decision: consciousness is the issue. We are responsible for ourselves at every moment. The more we are aware of our decisions, the less self criticism will emerge. We have been trained to be very self-critical; it is part of this insane illusion. The next time we find ourselves being self-critical, we can ask ourselves. "Is this how we would treat somebody we love?"
Our greatest gift to the world is our happiness. Happiness is there, whenever we suspend, all the nonsense, that travels through our minds. Happiness is our default position. When we are happy we radiate love to all other minds. Practice loving yourself. Whenever we are aware of an impending decision we may ask ourselves, "What would I do if I loved myself?" There is a remarkable teacher by the name of Teal Swan, who has an exercise on this subject. It is on YouTube. Worth looking up.
It is difficult to realize that happiness is a decision we make. After all, who would make a decision to be unhappy!? However, if we look carefully at ourselves, we will see it is a decision. At any moment we can reverse the decision and decide to be happy. I have had much personal experience in this area. No matter how ugly and gloomy things appear, we can find that switch in our mind, click it, and let the light shine in. Ah, it is so nice to love ourselves and bask in the light.
Love and Peace, Gregg
Monday, September 7, 2015
POINTS OF VIEW
The cool air returned. It is a glorious Morning. There is nothing like a hot, humid week to help one welcome Autumn.
I have a large [over six foot], variegated leaved, Ficus, in front of the North facing window in this room. The other day I glanced over and saw what looked like a blade of grass growing out of the pot. I checked it out. It was a two inch, green, needle like, spike. Then I remembered! I was eating some supposedly pitted dates about a month ago and I bit into a pit. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good seed, I stuck it in the dirt alongside the Ficus. Now I have a date palm growing with my Ficus tree! If it grows I will transplant it to its own pot. Can I grow a date palm, in the house, in Minnesota?
I had an awareness this last weekend. I didn't learn something, I didn't know already. However, I saw it with a clarity that I had missed before. I realized that we should not insist, others, see our point of view. If we are correct. The truth will be known. Insisting we are correct is an ego trap we don't want to be in. Do I know anything for sure? Insisting, that someone, sees our point of view, invariably means, we are not fully listening to theirs. And why are we so insisting, on them, seeing ours?
It is an aspect of our ego, that insist, everyone sees things the a way we do. We don't know if we are right. Besides it is not a matter of right or wrong. Perhaps, we are all right. The biggest problem, in insisting on others seeing our point of view, is that we miss out on learning. We are learning from each other vary rapidly. We need to listen to each other. We can't fully appreciate what the other is saying when we are preparing our response. And, we don't need to respond. We may question and clarify, in an effort to have a better understanding, of the person's opinion, there is no need to introduce our own opinion. We can't hear each other, when we are dedicated, to getting our own point of view across.
When people are ready to learn, what we have to teach, they will ask. They will especially want to know what we think if we radiate love, peace, happiness, competence, worthiness or other attributes of a person comfortable in their own skin.
We are been marinating in this illusion of fear for eons. We are up to our necks in dreck and we are heading into chaos. Most of us agree that the theme of our entrapment has been fear that we are not adequate or worthy. Our institutions, especially religion, taught us we are bad. Because of our feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness we have been very easy to manipulate. We believe all kinds of nonsense that was promoted for the purpose of control. We are not sure we can know truth from fabrication.
We all want out of this illusion. How do we do it? We are up to our neck in poop; we can barely peer over the top. How do we get out? We recognize that if we loved ourselves we would not be in this dilemma in the first place. We would not have allowed anybody to manipulate us and we would not have fallen for all the ego traps, our controllers have presented us with. When low self esteem is rampant it is easy to manipulate people by subtly appealing to their wish to be better [than they are or someone else]. Just join this group. Take this medication. Believe this. Be a conservative. Be a liberal. We all have our vulnerability. We all want to feel better about ourselves.
We want to live in a world created by love. We don't want to do this any longer. How do we have the world we want? We need to listen to each other. Some will feel we need to understand exactly how we fell for all these ego traps in the first place. They need to examine the horror of the illusion, until they see, how we can get out, and stay out. They reason, we can't avoid being manipulated, until we see just how manipulated we have been. There are others who want to approach, the low self esteem of people, by healing and nurturing one person at a time. There are teachers, therapist, nurses and caring people of all persuasions who are doing just that. There are many points of view. We need them all!
If we are going to get out of this mess, we need to listen to everyone. We need to resist the idea that our point of view, needs to be the one, that everybody hears. That kind of ego thinking is how we got trapped in the first place.
We are raising our consciousness together. Some of us have the gift of analysis. Some of us are teachers. Some of us are healers. Some of us are artist. Our gifts are endless and we need them all. We should not be wasting our time and energy trying to get others to see things our way. It is far better, to make sure, we see things the way our neighbor sees them. We need to LISTEN to each other.
For myself, I like the direct approach. I like to tune into the love that I see around me. I want to know myself as a loving being. I want to be free of judgement and love everybody. I always think, one should be able to sidestep, out of this illusion, into the Sunshine. I haven't been able to do it yet. I need to listen more. I need to see the light shining from every heart. I need to put my own opinions, on the back of the stove, and listen with my heart and mind to everyone. And to the universe.
Of course, you will keep hearing from me.
Happy Labor day!
Love and Peace, Gregg
I have a large [over six foot], variegated leaved, Ficus, in front of the North facing window in this room. The other day I glanced over and saw what looked like a blade of grass growing out of the pot. I checked it out. It was a two inch, green, needle like, spike. Then I remembered! I was eating some supposedly pitted dates about a month ago and I bit into a pit. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good seed, I stuck it in the dirt alongside the Ficus. Now I have a date palm growing with my Ficus tree! If it grows I will transplant it to its own pot. Can I grow a date palm, in the house, in Minnesota?
I had an awareness this last weekend. I didn't learn something, I didn't know already. However, I saw it with a clarity that I had missed before. I realized that we should not insist, others, see our point of view. If we are correct. The truth will be known. Insisting we are correct is an ego trap we don't want to be in. Do I know anything for sure? Insisting, that someone, sees our point of view, invariably means, we are not fully listening to theirs. And why are we so insisting, on them, seeing ours?
It is an aspect of our ego, that insist, everyone sees things the a way we do. We don't know if we are right. Besides it is not a matter of right or wrong. Perhaps, we are all right. The biggest problem, in insisting on others seeing our point of view, is that we miss out on learning. We are learning from each other vary rapidly. We need to listen to each other. We can't fully appreciate what the other is saying when we are preparing our response. And, we don't need to respond. We may question and clarify, in an effort to have a better understanding, of the person's opinion, there is no need to introduce our own opinion. We can't hear each other, when we are dedicated, to getting our own point of view across.
When people are ready to learn, what we have to teach, they will ask. They will especially want to know what we think if we radiate love, peace, happiness, competence, worthiness or other attributes of a person comfortable in their own skin.
We are been marinating in this illusion of fear for eons. We are up to our necks in dreck and we are heading into chaos. Most of us agree that the theme of our entrapment has been fear that we are not adequate or worthy. Our institutions, especially religion, taught us we are bad. Because of our feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness we have been very easy to manipulate. We believe all kinds of nonsense that was promoted for the purpose of control. We are not sure we can know truth from fabrication.
We all want out of this illusion. How do we do it? We are up to our neck in poop; we can barely peer over the top. How do we get out? We recognize that if we loved ourselves we would not be in this dilemma in the first place. We would not have allowed anybody to manipulate us and we would not have fallen for all the ego traps, our controllers have presented us with. When low self esteem is rampant it is easy to manipulate people by subtly appealing to their wish to be better [than they are or someone else]. Just join this group. Take this medication. Believe this. Be a conservative. Be a liberal. We all have our vulnerability. We all want to feel better about ourselves.
We want to live in a world created by love. We don't want to do this any longer. How do we have the world we want? We need to listen to each other. Some will feel we need to understand exactly how we fell for all these ego traps in the first place. They need to examine the horror of the illusion, until they see, how we can get out, and stay out. They reason, we can't avoid being manipulated, until we see just how manipulated we have been. There are others who want to approach, the low self esteem of people, by healing and nurturing one person at a time. There are teachers, therapist, nurses and caring people of all persuasions who are doing just that. There are many points of view. We need them all!
If we are going to get out of this mess, we need to listen to everyone. We need to resist the idea that our point of view, needs to be the one, that everybody hears. That kind of ego thinking is how we got trapped in the first place.
We are raising our consciousness together. Some of us have the gift of analysis. Some of us are teachers. Some of us are healers. Some of us are artist. Our gifts are endless and we need them all. We should not be wasting our time and energy trying to get others to see things our way. It is far better, to make sure, we see things the way our neighbor sees them. We need to LISTEN to each other.
For myself, I like the direct approach. I like to tune into the love that I see around me. I want to know myself as a loving being. I want to be free of judgement and love everybody. I always think, one should be able to sidestep, out of this illusion, into the Sunshine. I haven't been able to do it yet. I need to listen more. I need to see the light shining from every heart. I need to put my own opinions, on the back of the stove, and listen with my heart and mind to everyone. And to the universe.
Of course, you will keep hearing from me.
Happy Labor day!
Love and Peace, Gregg
Friday, September 4, 2015
ANGER, INNOCENCE, FORGIVENESS.
This morning arrived with Sunshine and a cool breeze. A nice beginning. It didn't cool off much during the night, maybe down to 68F, but there was a nice breeze blowing in my bedroom window and I had an excellent sleep.
I sense there are many people going through turmoil right now. Perhaps, it is because everyone is anxious to get their act together. Folks have an idea about, what being a loving person is, and they are trying too hard to attain an ideal. Growing is natural. As natural as grass grows or leaves unfold. When we struggle to grow, we encourage ugly dormant ego programs to surface. That works. There is an easier way and that is focusing on loving ourselves and the folks around us. We must not get discouraged by our own craziness. Those ego programs cannot survive for any length of time in a sea of love.
The other thing is, the pain of the world, is being thrown in our face constantly. It is difficult to escape. We don't live in hermitages on a mountain top. The ugliness and pain, of the transforming world, encroaches on our space, no matter how we try to ignore it. And there are scary things; stock market crashes, war rumoring, distressing human migrations, and mistreatment of peoples in many ways and many places. However, the media doesn't 'accentuate the positive' as the song says. There are amazing human liberating things happening. People are waking up to how they are being manipulated. For all the negatives being presented in the media there are far greater positives. People are insisting on being free and being treated properly. Folks are waking up to the realization that we must pursue a loving solution for every problem.
Part of our evolution is the expression of anger. Expressing anger, to get rid of it, is one thing. Expressing it, and feeling justified by it, is another. It is not easy to accept, that anger is always negative, and never justified. We don't see that, until we understand, that everyone is trapped in their own ego dilemma. They are doing the best they can. If we see ourselves as further advanced, then it behooves us to find ways of enlightening them. I know, when their craziness infringes on our rights or well being, this is difficult. Just being open to the idea that anger is not the solution will be helpful.
Anger has been a major problem for folks of the last two generations. If we are angry, we are angry. Suppressing anger causes worst problems, depression and passive aggressiveness, being two of the most frequent. We need to look at what we are angry about. We need to see the basic innocence of everyone. We are all trapped in our craziness. If we understood fully where the other is coming from, we wouldn't be angry. We may be incredulous. We may have a hard time seeing it. We wouldn't be angry. We would feel compassion that they could be so blind, and trapped in their own pain, that they would be hurtful to another.
Forgiveness is the way out of our anger, but blind forgiveness is difficult. If we hold the general world view, that we are all trapped in this world of illusion, where we believe we are separate, it is easier to see forgiveness as the solution for all anger. We are all trapped in a myriad of beliefs and ideas about the 'other'. There is a point where we may recognize that all are indeed innocent; even those who prey on others, even war mongers, even bankers, everyone. Those who hurt others need to be apprehended and stopped; including bankers, generals, politicians and ordinary criminals. We should not be victims of their craziness. However, we can understand, that they are victims, of our experiment with separation. It is hard for some to see that somebody can be so misled, so much in the darkness, that they can be vile. Yet, our great authors, Shakespeare being one, were able to portray their villains as people, who themselves were locked into their perception, and believed what they were doing was right.
We created this world from our perception of separateness. Some took it to the extreme and felt it was license to exploit the rest. We are waking up. The exploiting must end. The perpetrators stopped. We must end this cycle of separateness by seeing their essential innocence, as we would like others, to see our innocence. We have, all, been crazy.
We must come to the conclusion that love is the solution for all our difficulties. It is the energy of the universe. It is the only reality. All else is illusion.
The good news is that things are changing fast. Folks are realizing their oneness with each other. Every time one of us, lets more light into their mind, it increases the light in everyone's mind. We are one and our consciousness is rising together. The more we shield our own minds, from the darkness in the world, the greater our own light will be.
Forgive the world.
Love and Peace, Gregg
I sense there are many people going through turmoil right now. Perhaps, it is because everyone is anxious to get their act together. Folks have an idea about, what being a loving person is, and they are trying too hard to attain an ideal. Growing is natural. As natural as grass grows or leaves unfold. When we struggle to grow, we encourage ugly dormant ego programs to surface. That works. There is an easier way and that is focusing on loving ourselves and the folks around us. We must not get discouraged by our own craziness. Those ego programs cannot survive for any length of time in a sea of love.
The other thing is, the pain of the world, is being thrown in our face constantly. It is difficult to escape. We don't live in hermitages on a mountain top. The ugliness and pain, of the transforming world, encroaches on our space, no matter how we try to ignore it. And there are scary things; stock market crashes, war rumoring, distressing human migrations, and mistreatment of peoples in many ways and many places. However, the media doesn't 'accentuate the positive' as the song says. There are amazing human liberating things happening. People are waking up to how they are being manipulated. For all the negatives being presented in the media there are far greater positives. People are insisting on being free and being treated properly. Folks are waking up to the realization that we must pursue a loving solution for every problem.
Part of our evolution is the expression of anger. Expressing anger, to get rid of it, is one thing. Expressing it, and feeling justified by it, is another. It is not easy to accept, that anger is always negative, and never justified. We don't see that, until we understand, that everyone is trapped in their own ego dilemma. They are doing the best they can. If we see ourselves as further advanced, then it behooves us to find ways of enlightening them. I know, when their craziness infringes on our rights or well being, this is difficult. Just being open to the idea that anger is not the solution will be helpful.
Anger has been a major problem for folks of the last two generations. If we are angry, we are angry. Suppressing anger causes worst problems, depression and passive aggressiveness, being two of the most frequent. We need to look at what we are angry about. We need to see the basic innocence of everyone. We are all trapped in our craziness. If we understood fully where the other is coming from, we wouldn't be angry. We may be incredulous. We may have a hard time seeing it. We wouldn't be angry. We would feel compassion that they could be so blind, and trapped in their own pain, that they would be hurtful to another.
Forgiveness is the way out of our anger, but blind forgiveness is difficult. If we hold the general world view, that we are all trapped in this world of illusion, where we believe we are separate, it is easier to see forgiveness as the solution for all anger. We are all trapped in a myriad of beliefs and ideas about the 'other'. There is a point where we may recognize that all are indeed innocent; even those who prey on others, even war mongers, even bankers, everyone. Those who hurt others need to be apprehended and stopped; including bankers, generals, politicians and ordinary criminals. We should not be victims of their craziness. However, we can understand, that they are victims, of our experiment with separation. It is hard for some to see that somebody can be so misled, so much in the darkness, that they can be vile. Yet, our great authors, Shakespeare being one, were able to portray their villains as people, who themselves were locked into their perception, and believed what they were doing was right.
We created this world from our perception of separateness. Some took it to the extreme and felt it was license to exploit the rest. We are waking up. The exploiting must end. The perpetrators stopped. We must end this cycle of separateness by seeing their essential innocence, as we would like others, to see our innocence. We have, all, been crazy.
We must come to the conclusion that love is the solution for all our difficulties. It is the energy of the universe. It is the only reality. All else is illusion.
The good news is that things are changing fast. Folks are realizing their oneness with each other. Every time one of us, lets more light into their mind, it increases the light in everyone's mind. We are one and our consciousness is rising together. The more we shield our own minds, from the darkness in the world, the greater our own light will be.
Forgive the world.
Love and Peace, Gregg
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
A SHORT NOTE
Another atypical Wednesday. It is 1:30PM and I am just beginning my blog. I accompanied Jamie to a doctors appointment this Morning. She wanted to see a Naturopathic Doctor, and the person she was referred to, was in Stillwater, 80 plus miles from us. It was a nice trip. We left about 7:45AM and, early on our way, we saw a person out walking. I rolled down my window, to wish a good Morning, and it turned out to be somebody we knew, but haven't seen in years. We had a nice, but short chat. It occurred to me, that chance meetings like this, are not chance. On the way home we stopped at a Chinese restaurant in Forest Lake; good but, not as good, as the one that closed in Cambridge.
All of a sudden, we have the hottest, most humid, weather, when we are ready for it to cool off. Oh well, it will only last a week. We haven't used our air conditioning all year. I was ready to give in last night, but it did rain modestly and cool down a bit.
I have never seen such a lush year. Our apple trees are overloaded. Our gardens growth outstripped our energy to deal with it. The lawn is still growing like it was June. I just mowed Saturday and Sunday and it looks like it needs it already. It won't happen; I have a high tolerance for unmowed grass.
I don't feel any great words of wisdom knocking on the door of my mind. I only had six hours sleep last night and I am overdue for my afternoon nap. So this is my short note.
Hold your light high and forgive the world!
I will end with my brothers favorite closure; "Be good to yourself."
Love and Peace, Gregg
All of a sudden, we have the hottest, most humid, weather, when we are ready for it to cool off. Oh well, it will only last a week. We haven't used our air conditioning all year. I was ready to give in last night, but it did rain modestly and cool down a bit.
I have never seen such a lush year. Our apple trees are overloaded. Our gardens growth outstripped our energy to deal with it. The lawn is still growing like it was June. I just mowed Saturday and Sunday and it looks like it needs it already. It won't happen; I have a high tolerance for unmowed grass.
I don't feel any great words of wisdom knocking on the door of my mind. I only had six hours sleep last night and I am overdue for my afternoon nap. So this is my short note.
Hold your light high and forgive the world!
I will end with my brothers favorite closure; "Be good to yourself."
Love and Peace, Gregg
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