“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.~ Jeshua Ben Joseph

Thoughts. Thoughts are the stone thrown into the pond of creation. Thoughts held to, ride the ripples until the ripples become waves. When the wave finally crests a manifestation is born in the physical. Thoughts come in many forms. Visual images are the first that come to my mind. I know when I visualize a thought that the possibility of the manifestation is simpler, because I already ‘see’ it. In seeing, I can feel it’s being already in my experience. My awareness that it is already happening is the receiving element that brings it into creation.

Simple awareness is creation. As I go through life many things have put images in my mind. After going on six USO tours overseas including a few trips to both Iraq and Afghanistan, I became a CNN junkie. I was hooked on seeing what was happening overseas, in the places where I had been. I found myself mired in the negative news that would come from the image creating device before me. It stopped my forward motion to the point that nothing was being achieved. This past year I canceled my cable television. What a freeing moment it was. There was a period of time when I missed the shows. After a few weeks, however, I found that I was more productive, and my relationship was the better for it.

Negative thoughts, especially those that are accompanied by images, throw the stone into the pond. I have shifted my input to be predominantly positive, and so, I have a more positive outlook. All of the teachers of the past say that a positive outlook is imperative to creating a positive world.

”Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behaviors. Keep your behaviors positive, because your behaviors become your habits. Keep your habits positive, because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny.” ~Mahatma Gandhi

Negativity breeds more negativity. Positivity breeds more positivity. The awareness of a positive world creates a positive world. If each one of us would create in a positive mindset for even a short amount of time, imagine the world we could create. We would be active participants in the creation of a new earth experience.

Science has proven that we spend more time in our subconscious mind than in our conscious mind. By consciously shifting our outer expressions to positive inputs of news and people in our lives, we are actually creating a new past of positive expression.  Doing so allows our conscious mind to begin to subconsciously create from a positive place, which alters not only our lives but the world around us. I recently found a cool website called positivenewz.com. It only shows news that is positive, and I love reading the stories that are on it, because I feel upbeat when I am done. It alters my inner feelings, which in turn creates my outer expression.

For a few weeks can you focus on the positive in the world instead of the negative?  Give it a shot. See what happens to your world if you do. I dare you to be happy.

“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”~ Unknown

"All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure." ~Mark Twain

Do you have faith? If you do then you shouldn't need to know 'how'. I am forever talking of creating a life of joy and prosperity. If I were to break it down to it's simplest form I would say,"Ask, Believe. Receive." The integral part of the statement is the core word of the three: "Believe." They call it a "leap of faith," to jump without seeing the net. Knowing full well that you will receive what you ask for is a choice. It is not an impossible reality for anyone. You sit there knowing in full faith that you can read. In your mind you have declared,"I am going to read this blog post." You do not know what the next words are and yet, as you read along in full faith, the words will be there for you to read. You know they are there.

      “You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.” ~ Mary Manin Morressey

When someone asks "How?," they are in fact declaring that they do not have. Faith implies a certain lack of information.  When you decide to believe the desired result is coming, the Universe begins a creation. In getting mired in the 'How' your mind sends a very clear picture to the Universe that you don't have it, and so it never comes. I tell stories all the time of manifestations in my life. Each story is based on a leap of faith. I have been very blessed to witness the 'How' after the fact. It is amazing how things align themselves when you create in full faith of the outcome.

What do you wish to create in your world? Think of it now. Picture the having of it clearly in your mind. Can you imagine what it would feel like to have it? Feel it. As you feel what it is like to have it, realize that in this present moment, you know what it feels like to already have it. That sensation is the basis of the faith that will rush in to your experience. Hold the feeling knowing full well that it is coming. Ask God/Universe for it, and trust that it is on the way.

“Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.” ~ Kalil Gibran

I tend to use my personal prayer formula when I ask. The important aspect of asking is that you only need ask once. After the asking, you just believe it is coming. Believe with a blind faith. It is called 'blind faith' because you can not see the 'how'. After you have acquired your desired result, then look back and marvel at the how. In the Bible it says,"Ask and you shall receive." It does not say."Ask and if you can figure out how, you shall receive." Jeshua also states, "Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." So believe, trust, know that you are getting what you ask for and soon it will walk through your doorway into your reality. 

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” ~ St. Thomas Aquinas

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land, there is no other life but this.” ~Henry David Thoreau

Yesterday I was flying home from my California and Oregon speaking trip. On the trip I have been reading a book given to me by a dear friend, The Prophet’s Way by Thom Hartmann. I have been having some great realizations while reading it, and one very profound experience occurred on the flight back.

In the book there is a part that asks you to put the book down and have a fully present moment. You see, we as humans tend not to be fully present. We look ahead of ourselves at what we are going to do, or worse, what we are “trying” to do.  Then there are those times when we are looking behind at what has happened to us in our lives. The book asked me to do something other than live in a different time frame, just for a moment.

I closed my book on the flight from San Jose to Minneapolis. I sat observing where I was. I didn’t judge. I just observed. Realizations of my life in the present began to flood in. I was on a plane traveling. I appreciated that I had the ability to do so. I appreciated that I had been placed in a large comfortable seat with plenty of leg room. I was fed, clothed, and alive, enjoying a life of ease in comparison to many others in the world. I was grateful.

Then something happened that rocked my world and brought me to tears. A hand reached out and took mine. I felt a loving presence beside me, and I realized that I had another person in my present moment. In that present moment Kelly felt compelled to hold my hand. I began to realize the depth of love we have for each other, and in my present moment it filled my heart to overflowing. I turned to tell her and almost couldn’t as the tears fell from my eyes. I explained what I was doing and how her simple gesture in that moment meant so much to me. She smiled, made a joke, and kissed me. My present moment is so great and I appreciate it all the more. I am truly blessed in my life.

“These days man knows the price of everything, but the value of nothing.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Take a moment. Don’t do anything. Don’t think about your plans or reminisce about the past. Take a moment and be fully in the present. Appreciate all that you have. Realize that you are a lucky one. Obviously you have a computer. Obviously you can read. Obviously you have the time to afford reading this. The place you are must be warm enough for you to not have to focus on warmth. Are you fed? Appreciate the smallest things in life, because in this present moment you are living them. Someone else’s present moment may be hungry, cold, sick, dying. Appreciate the smallest things and realize how completely fortunate you are in the now moment. Love, you.

I am grateful that in this present moment I have you to hear these words with your heart. I appreciate that I am able to read and write. I love all of my friends. I love Kelly and Kynan most of all. I appreciate that I, with God, have created an amazing life.

“One today is worth two tomorrows.” ~Benjamin Franklin

thank you

Thank You

THANK YOU

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”~ Frederick Keonig

Take a breath. Feel the air enter your lungs. Look around. See the room that you are in. Listen. Hear the sounds of the world around you. Know. Realize you are alive and well. Many times in our lives we forget to appreciate the smallest of things in our lives. It is the mere appreciation of those things that can bring more things to appreciate into our lives.

Our modern society has been built on material acquisition. Bigger houses, faster cars, more stuff are the driving force in many people’s lives. I think it is okay to have them. I also think it is okay to acquire them without attachment. Material possession will always be a measurement used by some to judge success. But right now, in this moment appreciate the ability to breathe, feel, see, and know. There are many in the world that can’t. You are living in a world of physical experience. The physical experience is enhanced by material things, not the other way around.

“Don't underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering.”~ Winnie the Pooh

Build your joyful life in the appreciation of the smallest most insignificant things in life. The more you appreciate the more you feel a swell of joy within you. That swell of joy then attracts more things to be joyful about. Your material possessions are representations of the level of joy within. It is when we “praise false idols” that our experience becomes less. Material possessions are the false idols of a modern world. Having them is fine. Defining yourself by them is a pathway to depression.

I sit here today on a prolonged speaking trip through Oregon and California. Looking out the windows of a new friend’s home, I see a beautiful pasture with cows meandering by. There is a slight rain falling and the grass is lush and green. The old wooden fence beside the window is weather worn with moss growing on it. The view is lovely. It could be Ireland or some far off land. I sit here appreciating the beauty of this moment. I recognize that this is the moment I have and I choose to love it. Love your moments.  If something in your sphere is less than joyful today, I am truly sorry. But it is on the most troubling days you need to recognize and appreciate the things that are right and appreciate them. As the troubling manifestation passes, the appreciated things will carry you on and through.

I appreciate you.

“There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.” ~Mother Teresa

Enlightenment: what is it? There really are only two definitions, etymologically speaking. One is the setting down of something and becoming lighter, and the other is shining light upon something. I know that many will say it is an inner light shining forth, but consider this: YOU must be the one to shine that light. I have been very blessed in my life to witness miracles. The interesting thing is each miracle I witness is the person's choosing something new in faith. They each in some way step into the role of creator in their lives.

If you look back at some of the Avatars of the past, you will very quickly and easily find that each said that the path to enlightenment (or "the kingdom" in Christianity) is within. People search and search for an outer path to enlightenment and each of the "enlightened" ones told us to it was an inward journey. I find that when I choose to meditate more often, my thoughts are clearer and my contentment and relaxation are more visceral. 

So what is enlightenment? I have found in my experience that in setting down the fear-driven emotions for a love-based contentment, the world seems brighter. A light is shined on my experience. My conscious decision to relax and feel the love makes my outer world more brilliant. Buddha said, "What we think we become." That being said, let's look at one of the realizations one must make to find enlightenment.

If indeed what we think we become, then we must come to the realization that we are the creator of our experience. You are the creator. In seeing this as truth, the real-ization of enlightenment comes in our thought. Find within self the awareness that you are the creator. Choose wisely the path that makes you feel joyful.. Joy is the loving representation of a loving state. In choosing Love over fear and releasing the fear in our lives, we automatically set down the burdens and become enlightened.

Take a moment and take stock of your current life or situation. Is your current life joyful or fearful? Does it feel good or bad? If Love is the positive state and fear is the negative state, then if indeed you are feeling negative about a certain area in your life, there must be a fear associated with it. In choosing to focus  that area in a loving positive outcome, your thoughts will create for you that experience. As your life becomes less dense with the weight of fear then you are in essence enlightening your world. Thus your outer experience is the direct result of your inner experience.

The mere realization that you are responsible for the world in which you live is a profound and humbling experience. This is true because you have to take credit for the good and the bad. But to compound the bad by responding negatively to the negative aspects of that realization is counterproductive. Take stock and accept that is how it is. It just is. No judgment of self must occur. The very thought of judgment is indeed creating another negative that you would have to purge. Realize where you are and then real-ize the different experience if you so choose.

The "path" that everyone is seeking is thought.  Choose the thought of a joyful enlightened life, and so the outer world will shine brightly back at you as a reflection of your soul. Then you are enlightened.