Inner Wisdom

The starfish story...''Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.''

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean.

''Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.'' - William James

What are your dreams and goals?

One of the amazing things we have been given as humans is the unquenchable desire to have dreams of a better life, and the ability to establish goals to live out those dreams.  Think of it:  We can look deep within our hearts and dream of a better situation for ourselves and our families; dream of better financial lives and better emotional or physical lives; certainly dream of better spiritual lives.  But what makes this even more powerful is that we have also been given the ability to not only dream but to pursue those dreams and not only to pursue them, but the cognitive ability to actually lay out a plan and strategies (setting goals) to achieve those dreams. 

How do we know what our dreams are?  This is an interesting process and it relates primarily to the art of listening.  This is not listening to others; it is listening to yourself.  If we listen to others, we hear their plans and dreams (and many will try to put their plans and dreams on us).  If we listen to others, we can never be fulfilled.  We will only chase elusive dreams that are not rooted deep within us.  No, we must listen to our own hearts.

Let's take a look at some practical steps/thoughts on hearing from our hearts on what our dreams are:

Take time to be quiet.  This is something that we don't do enough in this busy world of ours.  We rush, rush, rush, and we are constantly listening to noise all around us.  The human heart was meant for times of quiet, to peer deep within.  It is when we do this that our hearts are set free to soar and take flight on the wings of our own dreams! Schedule some quiet "dream time" this week.  No other people.  No cell phone.  No computer.  Just you, a pad, a pen, and your thoughts.

Think about what really thrills you.  When you are quiet, think about those things that really get your blood moving.  What would you LOVE to do, either for fun or for a living?  What would you love to accomplish?  What would you try if you were guaranteed to succeed?  What big thoughts move your heart into a state of excitement and joy?  When you answer these questions you will feel great and you will be in the "dream zone."  It is only when we get to this point that we experience what our dreams are!

Write down all of your dreams as you have them.  Don't think of any as too outlandish or foolish - remember, you're dreaming!  Let the thoughts fly and take careful record.

Now, prioritize those dreams.  Which are most important?  Which are most feasible?  Which would you love to do the most?  Put them in the order in which you will actually try to attain them.  Remember, we are always moving toward action, not just dreaming.

Here is the big picture:  Life is too short to not pursue your dreams.  Someday your life will near its end and all you will be able to do is look backwards.  You can reflect with joy or regret.  Those who dream, who set goals and act on them to live out their dreams are those who live lives of joy and have a sense of peace when they near the end of their lives.  They have finished well, for themselves and for their families.

Remember:  These are the dreams and goals that are born out of your heart and mind.  These are the goals that are unique to you and come from who you were created to be and gifted to become.  Your specific goals are what you want to attain because they are what will make your life joyful and bring your family's life into congruence with what you want it to be.

Jim Rohn

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting in your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit in pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade from it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tip of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life from God's presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are, how you came to be here.  I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.  I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

Do not undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Do not set your goals by what other people deem important.  Only you know what is best for you.

Do not take for granted the things closest to your heart.  Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

Do not let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past nor for the future.  By living your life one day at a time, you live all of the days of your life.

Do not give up when you still have something to give.  Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.  It is a fragile thread that binds us to each other.

Do not be afraid to encounter risks.  It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Do not shut love out of your life by saying it is impossible to find.  The quickest way to receive love is to give love.  The fastest way to lose love is too hold it too tightly.  In addition, the best way to keep love is to give it wings

Do not dismiss your dreams.  To be without dreams is to be without hope.  To be without hope is to be without purpose.

Do not run through life so fast that you forget not only where you have been, but also where you are going.  Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

One word can change the world.

The first agreement is to be impeccable with your word. It sounds very simple, but it is very, very powerful. Why your word? Your word is the power that you have to create. Through the word, you express your creative power. It is through the word that you manifest everything.

Regardless of what language you speak, your intent manifests through the word. What you dream, what you feel, and what you really are, will all be manifested through the word.

The word is the most powerful tool you have as a human, it is the tool of magic. But like a sword with two edges, your word can create the most beautiful dream, or your word can destroy everything around you.

One edge is the misuse of the word, which creates a living hell. The other edge is the impeccability of the word, which will only create beauty, love and heaven on earth. Depending upon how it is used, the word can set you free, or it can enslave you even more than you know. All the magic you possess is based on your word. Your word is pure magic, and misuse of your word is black magic.

The word is so powerful that one word can change a life or destroy the lives of millions of people. Some years ago one man in Germany, by the use of the word, manipulated the whole country of the most intelligent people. He led them into a world war with just the power of his word. He convinced others to commit the most atrocious acts of violence. He activated people’s fear with the word, and like a big explosion, there was killing and war all around the world. All over the world humans destroyed other humans because they were afraid of each other. Hitler’s word, based on fear-generated beliefs and agreements, will be remembered for centuries.

The human mind is like a fertile ground where seeds are continually being planted. The seeds are opinions, ideas, and concepts. You plant a seed, a thought, and it grows. The word is like a seed and the human mind is so fertile! The only problem is that too often it is fertile for the seed of fear. Every human mind is fertile, but only for those kinds of seeds it is prepared for. What is important is to see what kind of seeds our mind is fertile for, and to prepare it to receive the seeds of love.

The Four Agreements (Gift Edition)

Don’t wait for a disaster to awaken you to the things you can be grateful for today.

What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you
for it — would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same
way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer,
you must truly appreciate what you already have.

- Ralph Marston, The Daily Motivator

A gentleman I was talking to on the phone related that his doctor and the EMR team had told him his heart stopped beating and he had died at least five times during surgery. He concluded our conversation by saying, "I used to have troubles, but now I have only blessings." His outlook clearly had been turned around by this experience.

I meditate each day, and one portion of the meditation consists of my thinking about what I am grateful for. Most of us never stop to consider our blessings; rather, we spend the day only thinking about our problems. But since you have to be alive to have problems, be grateful for the opportunity to have them. Some people use their problems to get attention and are afraid to give them up and be blessed. I prefer to appreciate life and accept my problems as a part of my life.

When my body gets to the point where I can no longer function or feel gratitude, then I’ll leave it and become grateful again. But until then, I will appreciate what I have and not whine about what I don’t have. I will feel blessed by life and the opportunity to help others see that they are blessed too. Blessings come in many shapes and sizes. Be prepared, as my gentleman caller was.

Soulution of the Day

What gifts have I failed to see before me?
Don’t wait for a disaster to awaken you to the things you can be grateful for today.

By Bernie Siegel.

Please, please remember: Every day, a new beginning.

1. Come into the present moment. When you panic, your thoughts break time barriers. You imagine, “This will go on forever.” Or, “Nothing will ever change.” Take as much time as is needed to move your awareness around your body, noting where you are in time and space at this very moment. Breathe slowly into the moment. I know it sounds silly. That’s good. Silly is better than panic. “Breathing slowly as I stand in the airport…I calm my body.” Or, “Breathing in through the soles of my feet, I feel more grounded.” You will actually feel some of that anxiety leave you and a greater sense of control and calm return. I promise.

2.  Ask yourself: “What’s needed right now?” Or, “What would help right now?” When your primitive mind says, “Nothing”, persist. Keep asking: “What memory, what plan, what breathing, what comfort would help right now?” In very bad moments, write down the question and your answer. Keep writing until you have some clarity and less confusion and helplessness. It will also help just to remember that, “This too will pass.” At times when you can’t write, say your helpful phrase over and over like a mantra. This literally soothes. When stuck, imagine what you would say to the person you love best. Say that to your own self.

3.  Use physical aids. Rescue Remedy, a glass of water, the Emotional Freedom Technique (tapping – lots on the web about this). It can help to rest your hands together with hands pointing in opposite directions, palms touching, and to breathe into your hands and push them gently but firmly together. If you are free to do so, go for a walk, run or swim. If you are having a hard time generally, take more exercise, not less. Don’t ask yourself whether you feel like it. Your feelings as well as your physical chemistry will change as you take action.

4. Be deeply sceptical about your bleak conclusions. And so, so much kinder to yourself. When we are highly anxious or in a state of panic, we are literally viewing ourselves – and our problems – from the least sophisticated, most fear-driven parts of the brain. This will always, always, always give you a grim view. Switch that off by switching on your more creative, strategic capacities. Ask yourself: “Who is the person who would know best about this…?” Then ask, “And what would they be most likely to do/say/think right now.”  Some people are also helped by deciding what “Plan B” would be. Panicking, there is no Plan B. Thinking more creatively, a “Plan B” will always emerge. Write it down.

5. Pray. This is not for everyone but it helps me. I simply ask the angelic forces to be with me, to surround me, to support me. I see my way into this prayer by using my imagination to visualise angels (in whatever form) and then allow myself to be in their presence. Sometimes I hand over whatever is causing me most distress. It helps so much not to feel alone.

6. Ask for help. Accept help. You needn’t go into how bad you’ve been feeling. In fact, don’t. Just say, “It would really help me today if you could…” Or, “This seems to be a hard day and it would make such a difference if you…” When there is no one to help, stay with your own inner resources. Ask yourself: “What decision would a really calm person make to help them through the next five minutes?” You will be surprised how much you already know.

7. NEVER tell yourself what an idiot you are, how hopeless, doomed, etc etc. If you tap (EFT), you might use a phrase like, “Even though I call myself an idiot, I thoroughly and completely accept myself.” At other times, you can simply say, “I thoroughly and completely accept myself.” Going to war against yourself adds to panic. It does not relieve it. Making peace with yourself brings greater calm.

8. Limit whatever will exhaust you. We all get far more anxious when we are exhausted. Get as much physical exercise as is humanly possible. Also get as much rest as your circumstances allow. Let your standards re everything else drop. Even the essentials can sometimes wait. Oh, but eat well. Eat lots of protein and fresh vegetables and delicious fruit. Do not drink any alcohol. I write about all this in Everyday Kindness.

9. Limit the triggers for panic. Keep every event, outing or occasion as simple as possible. Think about what “Go with the flow” might mean today. Welcome stimulation and positive company. They are great distractors. Hard to chat, laugh and talk – and panic successfully at the same time. Taking care of other people can be exhausting. It can also be a wonderful distraction from ourselves. Oh, and assume in any social situation that other people are far more concerned about how they are being judged than they are about judging or criticising you. And if they do judge you harshly? Sorry: their horrible problem (for having such a mean view), NOT yours. If someone close to you increases your anxiety, you must place limits: “Not now. It would be very bad timing for me.” Walk away, disengage.

10. Write lists. They do help you to see what you have done already – as well as what needs to be done. Strike through all the “unnecessaries”. Add some things that are just for fun, stimulation, pleasure. Don’t panic about what you will forget. Most things don’t matter. You can limit panic about the things that do matter by writing short lists or creating memory prompts (“Yes, door locked, 1,2,3.”). Limit what you could lose: credit cards, money, phone etc etc. Create check lists and checking habits that are simple and reassuring. (“Yes, phone; yes, wallet; yes, baby’s things.”) Give yourself credit for everything that goes well. Write down every day at least THREE things that went well in your day. Pat your back. And end your day with at least five minutes of slow breathing: “Breathing in I know that I am calm. Breathing out…I am peaceful and content.” And please, please remember: Every day, a new beginning. God bless.

 Dr Stephanie Dowrick

Changing the way you look at things is an extremely powerful tool.

One of my secrets for feeling successful and attracting bountiful abundance into my life has been an internal axiom that I use virtually every day of my life. It goes like this: Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change. This has always worked for me.

The truth of this little maxim is actually found in the field of quantum physics, which, according to some, is a subject that’s not only stranger than you think it is, it’s stranger than you can think. It turns out that at the tiniest subatomic level, the actual act of observing a particle changes the particle. The way we observe these infinitely small building blocks of life is a determining factor in what they ultimately become. If we extend this metaphor to larger and larger particles and begin to see ourselves as particles in a larger body called humanity or even larger—life itself—then it’s not such a huge stretch to imagine that the way we observe the world we live in affects that world.

Think of this little journey into quantum physics as a metaphor for your life. Your feelings of success and your experience of prosperity and abundance depend on your positive view of yourself, your life, and the Universe from which success and abundance come. Changing the way you look at things is an extremely powerful tool. Start by examining how you look at things. Is the Universe matching your way of looking?

The only wealth is life.

James Allen once said, “People are anxious to improve their circumstances, but they’re unwilling to improve themselves; therefore, they remain bound.”  Now, if we want to have different circumstances, if we want to experience prosperity, loving relationships, peace, and joy inside, we’ve got to go inside and unbound ourselves and drop whatever is blocking our personal power. What I am talking about is the power of forgiveness.   

It isn’t always easy to forgive others because of what they did.  The ego makes a very strong case against them. And it builds up all of the reasons why they were so awful and why we’re going to resent them forever.  Did you know your ego will ruin your life?  And the world is filled with people who would rather be right than happy.  Some will go to their grave clinging to the idea that they would rather be right than happy, at least in their own mind.  Now is that what you want? 

There’s a beautiful old saying that the only wealth is life.  Sometimes it seems that only animals know we’re actually here to be happy.  So let’s please think about releasing old baggage. Let’s let go of the past. And I know that sometimes people do things that seem terrible and totally unacceptable.  There are some incredible things that go on in our society, cruelty and thoughtlessness, and I’m not suggesting it’s easy.  I’m saying it’s necessary if we want to be happy and empowered people.  We clean up the past because an unfinished past leads to an unfinished future.

Many people have been through the long dark night of the soul.  Have you known some dark moments?  There’s a beautiful Chinese proverb that says, “Don’t curse the darkness.  Light a candle.”  Why don’t you be big enough to stand up and reach out to that other person?  Why don’t you be big enough to stand up and forgive?  It takes a lot of courage to do it.  It’s an incredible gift we give to ourselves because it releases our personal power and it literally sets us free. 

Dale Carnegie once said, “If half a century of living has taught me anything at all, it’s taught me that nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”  There’s no peace in the world.  There’s no peace that just “fixes” people.  It’s tough to change. It’s especially tough to change dramatically.  People are creatures of habit at a very deep level.  Peace is inside of us, and as we create peace inside of us in a very beautiful way, our life becomes peaceful and love and support comes back to us.  I can not explain how it happens but I’ve experienced it, and I’ve seen it lives of other people.  We release all that beautiful, powerful living when we forgive.

Charles Dickens once said, “We forge the chains we wear in life.”  And if you want to let go of your chains, then you want to let go of your judgments and your anger and your resentments.  Regardless of what others did, it’s too expensive to you. 

There are no solutions in the outer world, only inside of us.  I have found that acts of forgiveness and the act of dropping the judgments and the blames and the anger is simply life-changing.  And I do it along the way whenever it becomes necessary. 

A.J. Muste once said, “There is no way to peace.  Peace is the way.”  Let’s go out there and let’s do whatever it takes to be at peace so that we can release our personal power and have the wonderful and glorious lives we so richly deserve.

By Dr. Michael Wickett 

The power of I Am!

The Meaning of “I Am”

As you read my book, you will notice that many of the sentences start with the words I Am. These are two of the most powerful words you can use to begin a sentence. The important thing is what words you use to finish that sentence. Anytime you start a sentence with I am, you are creating what you are and what you want to be. At the same time, you are also showing whether or not you are connected to the energy of God inside of you. So, if you sometimes say, “I am bad at this, I am ugly, I am stupid,” these words take you farther and farther away from the part of you that is God. When you choose to say, “I am happy, I am kind, I am perfect,” you help the light of God inside you to grow and shine. Try saying some I am sentences and see how the different words you choose make you feel.

Along the way,

you will find

great happiness

and love,

And you’ll learn that

wishes come true

from within,

not above.

Wayne Dyer.