Which Thought Feels Better?

I enjoy many sources of spiritual nourishment, some unusual, some "ordinary".  This comes from the teachings of "Abraham" as they speak through Esther Hicks, from the book Ask and it is Given.

1. Every Topic or Subject has two aspects to it:  what is desired and the lack of it (ie, think money and health).  

-we can spend lots of time paying attention to our money or our health, [setting good intentions, looking for positive results], without realizing most of our subconscious thoughts on the topic are in fact negatively oriented.  This is where our hidden limitations and resistance to growth live.

2. Take time to connect with and identify your feelings right now, leaving aside everyone else's desires, ideas, opinions and beliefs (easier said than done, esp. for people pleasers and co-dependents).

   a. state how you feel.

   b. amplify it with more thoughts on "a."

   c. now reach for some thoughts that feel a little better...   evaluating as you go, Better, Same or Worse?

3. Move in the direction of the Better Feeling Thoughts.  Make it a practice to identify your (negative) feelings, identify some better feeling thoughts about the first feeling (even only slightly better is good!).  Dwell in that space a while...

"Your thoughts change the behavior of everyone and everything around you.  The better you feel, the more things and people around you improve.  Conditions and circumstances change to match your feeling [state]."

Be careful about adding detailed timelines to your wishes and desires [better feeling thoughts] in this process, Abraham says: "When you put yourself on a schedule where there is a deadline, then very often the shortage of time or money looms up and contradicts the [better feeling] energy, making you miserable [worse feeling]."  

Have fun with this.  There are many roads to Rome as they say...

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Got enough Vitamin P & Vitamin R?

"Our brain and digestive system are constantly scanning every eating experience to see if we have reached the requisite level of pleasure. Once we hit this sweet spot, so to speak, the brain sends out a simple signal: 'Full, satisfied, pleasured and thus it's time to stop eating. Mission accomplished.'" -Marc David, Institute for the Psychology of Eating

Marc clarifies that stress (cortisol) blocks our ability to experience pleasure (Vitamin P), so relaxation (Vitamin R) while eating and digesting promotes satiety, the feeling of being full and satisfied.  In other words, the more you argue at the dinner table, or balance your checkbook during lunch, or review the kids homework, or berate yourself for being overweight during meals... the more you have to eat to satisfy the brain's idea of "Enough!"

Wholeness = Wellness

"The part can never be well unless the whole is well."

- Plato

Grace

Stop, notice your body is breathing and your 

heart is beating without your conscious effort. 

Now open yourself to the possibility that every area of 

your life can operate with the same grace. 

This is the byproduct of your spiritual endeavor to evolve. 

Peace

Michael Bernard Beckwith 

Einstein-type DVDs like "crack for babies"

Face it, no matter how much we digitize our communication world, one thing is for certain, our mostly ancient human brains were made for human-to-human contact as the go-to form of learning.  Our brain's learning systems are LIT UP by other humans - and there is likely more than meets the eye when this happens.  Sub-conscious attention to 3-dimensional body language, pheromones, and subtle facial expression go a long way to contribute to the waking up of neurons in developing brains. Learning is not just "words & pictures."  -jd

DVDs poor at teaching toddlers
Science News, 09-25-2010

A study performed by psychologist Judy DeLoache of the University of Virgina demonstrated that parents verbal interaction with their young children far out-performed "baby education DVDs."  Her study "indicated the importance of having a social partner in learning," Michael Robb of St. Vincent College in PA.  Kids under age three don't grasp the relation between what they see on a screen and the physical world (SN: 4/10/10, p.9).

Babies can watch these videos with such intensity, DeLoache describes them "like crack for babies," and notes, "parents may think that attention equals learning, when it clearly does not."

Click here for full article

THE MANIFESTO OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Just reading this brings a sense of relief... I am struggling with a recent terrible diagnosis on one of our beloved dogs, who seems to have a disease akin to ALS and MS in humans.  The desired care can be daunting.  But I do believe in so many possibilities in this world, the practical, as well as the spiritual and magical...  -jd




THE MANIFESTO OF ENCOURAGEMENTBy Rob Brezsny
Right now:
There are Tibetan Buddhist monks in a temple in the Himalayas endlessly reciting mantras for the cessation of your suffering and for the flourishing of your happiness.
Someone you haven't met yet is already dreaming of adoring you.
Someone is writing a book that you will read in the next two years that will change how you look at life. 
Nuns in the Alps are in endless vigil, praying for the Holy Spirit to alight the hearts of all of God's children.
A farmer is looking at his organic crops and whispering, "nourish them." 
Someone wants to kiss you, to hold you, to make tea for you. Someone is willing to lend you money, wants to know what your favourite food is, and treat you to a movie. Someone in your orbit has something immensely valuable to give you -- for free.
Something is being invented this year that will change how your generation lives, communicates, heals and passes on.
The next great song is being rehearsed.
Thousands of people are in yoga classes right now intentionally sending light out from their heart chakras and wrapping it around the earth. 
Millions of children are assuming that everything is amazing and will always be that way.
Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they'll be thriving like never before. They just can't see it from where they're at.
Someone who is craving to be partnered, to be acknowledged, to ARRIVE, will get precisely what they want -- and even more. And because that gift will be so fantastical in it's reach and sweetness, it will quite magically alter their memory of angsty longing and render it all "So worth the wait."
Someone has recently cracked open their joyous, genuine nature because they did the hard work of hauling years of oppression off of their psyche -- this luminous juju is floating in the ether, and is accessible to you. 
Someone just this second wished for world peace, in earnest.
Someone is fighting the fight so that you don't have to.
Some civil servant is making sure that you get your mail, and your garbage is picked up, that the trains are running on time, and that you are generally safe. Someone is dedicating their days to protecting your civil liberties and clean drinking water.
Someone is regaining their sanity. Someone is coming back from the dead. Someone is genuinely forgiving the seemingly unforgivable. Someone is curing the incurable.
You. Me. Some. One. Now.  
                   
From PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE TO PARANOIA 
{copied from an email sent out by Lea Walters of the AIM program}

Great Service

I found this article uplifting, it shares the story of a cab driver who took some of Wayne Dyer's teachings to heart and changed his business and his life profoundly. It is my goal to provide great service to my clients and students.  Am I hitting the mark?  Or missing it in some ways?  I would love the feedback.  -jd

From the Facebook page called Daily Inspiration:

Marcia Kearl Johnson September 30 at 8:10am Reply • Report

No one can make you serve customers well.....that's because
great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver who
proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab
pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished
to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and
freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the
car to open the back passenger door for Harvey ..

He handed my friend a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your
driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my
mission statement.'

Taken aback, Harvey read the card.. It said: Wally's Mission
Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest,
safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment...

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the
inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup
of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.' My friend said
jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.' Wally smiled and said, 'No
problem I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and
orange juice..' Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to
read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA
Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another
laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play,
if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the
air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for
him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for
that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and
tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him
with his own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you
always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always.. In
fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving,
I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do.
Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe
It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad
day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining!
Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an
eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd..'

'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was
really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I
decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at
the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were
unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some
changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I
did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.

'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I
doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably
quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands
anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave
a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get
a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a
Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers
over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I
go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked
like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I
was suggesting..

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop
quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us? Smile, and the whole world smiles with you... The
ball is in our hands!
We reap what we sow. Let us not become weary in doing good, for
at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up... let us
do good to all people.

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar.

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.
SORROW looks back, WORRY looks around, and FAITH looks UP...

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about
learning to dance in the rain."

Author Unknown

Creativity and Confidence

When you understand that ideas 

often seem crazy at first,

that failure is just a learning experience, 

and that nothing is impossible, 

you are on your way to becoming 

more confident and more creative. 

 Dean Rieck

http://www.copyblogger.com/creativity-killers/