New Orleans

This whole situation in New Orleans just makes me sad and mad.

The looting and firing at rescue workers and cops. Grrr!! Jeez people, yes this is a terrible tragedy, yes this is awfully difficult to live through. And how exactly is being part of the problem going to help? Be the change you want to see in the world. Work together, stop being every person for themselves and get together and work for the solution. Help the helpers that are there. Help each other!

Sigh, rant over.

Though this brings to light a really good reason to be prepared for disasters. A good to go pack...that would have been a help, yeah? Good to go packs for one person for 3 days should have a water filter (Katadyn is one of the best ), water purification tabs, canteen, 2 sets of extra clothes – include gloves, scarf and hat (real wool), bandana, good boots, goggles, poncho, extra pair of glasses if you wear them, water-proof matches (easily made with strike anywhere matches and dipped in beeswax) , food for 3 days - like MREs, honey sticks, candy – survival candy is a good idea, trail mix, First Aid Kit that has pain relievers and bandages (feminine hygiene – cause you know it's gonna happen at the worst possible time – plus they soak up blood from wounds really well), we also include cayenne pepper in powder – it helps staunch bleeding wounds and is good for shock, some Bach's rescue flower remedy and arnica salve for bruises and strains, squeeze bottle of castile soap, tooth-brush, comb/brush, travel pack of baby wipes, some toilet paper, beg repellant, deck of survival playing cards, any necessary meds and list of any allergies or medical conditions, camp stove, Mess kit supplies, flashlight (wind up dynamo is a great idea or the shakeable ones) , light sticks, small radio – best with shortwave band capacity (batteries)...especially good with the wind up dynamo, phone card, some cash (gold is a very good idea), box-link gold chain worn in a parachute cord shell, identification, phone numbers, note book and pencil, couple of heavy duty-fragrance free large plastic bags, compass and thermometer combo that can hook to a jacket, binoculars – small/compactable, good knife (hunting type like the Buckmaster and Spyderco are excellent choices), Swiss army type knife (make sure you have a can opener on it one of these is a wonderful idea) and Leatherman type multi-tool, sharpening stone of some kind, whistle and signalling mirror, parachute cord 550– several hundred feet...you can easily get this by wrapping a knife handle with it and (also be sure to use the one with the several strands...this way you can peel them apart and use the separate strands and shell for fishing, snares, etc.), using it for boot laces and braided key chains, Ranger survival handbook, good first aid book, fishing kit...just some line and hooks will do, survival hatchet and an Army E-tool and e-tool cover, a HAM radio if you are licensed – getting licensed is a really good idea, emergency blankets, sleeping bag in a waterproof stuffsack. Putting a lot of these items into ziplock bags will give you nice sealable containers as well. This should all be in a backpack (these are really good deals, tough and dependable GI ALICE packs that you can leave near a door or hall closet or keep in your car...someplace easily accessible.

The number one thing you should always have with you? YOUR BRAIN!!!! Seriously. Lets start using the gray matter between the ears people and work this survival stuff out! Think! Be creative! Don't rely on being rescued, be your own rescuer and help others along the way. Then we all win.

Thoughts about Intelligent Design

Intelligent Design.

Seems like that phrase leaves an awfully bad taste in the mouths for an awful lot of folks. In pondering that, it strikes me that what is so apparently annoying, is that there seems to be little 'evidence' for it that makes sense to one who aspires to have a scientific grasp and view of the world.

Hmm...that seems an operative phrase. View of the world. World view. It seems that, for some, a scientific world view is the only Truth out there. That this is so obvious, that any other world view seems stupid, inane and too ridiculous to be considered. That's interesting to me, considering that an awful lot of brainy types out there in the quantum physics field basically have no idea how to explain simple things like, oh, how an atom is put together and how the particles that make up an atom do what they do, and what those particles that make up the particles that make up atoms are made of or how they work. How about their explanation of probabilities and where do those itty bitty particles and such disappear to when they disappear? Their answer....”ah...somewhere, we don't really know, but they do.” *nod * Sounds an awful lot like the explanation of Transubstantiation to me. So, there are all these extremely brainy folks out there, winning Nobel Prizes and such for their theories of how the Universe is put together and what things are ultimately made of, but when you get down to it, a lot of their explanations pretty much depend on an Article of Faith that at least rivals the explanation of Transubstantiation.

Yeah, the attitude annoyed me. Hence my spending the last 3 or so hours reading about quantum physics, leptons, quarks, antiparticles, Quantum chromodynamics, lattice gauge theory, fundamental interaction, Quantum field theory and such.

Well, I have since decided that instead of being all annoyed, I'll just respect this physical scientific world view as being as valid as say, the Judeo-Christian creation theory, the Cree creation theory, the evolution theory, the Turtle theory, the Hindu theory, quantum physic theory, etc. I mean really, when you get down to it, it is all about observational view point anyway. One Truth can be quite as valid as any other. It wasn't so many years into the past that it was a 'scientific fact' that dunking a woman until she drowned was a valid test for being a witch or not.

I'll just hold myself in a space of being open-minded about it all, especially in view of the fact that 100 years from now what is currently seen as 'scientifically valid fact' may be considered provincial superstition as we continue to advance in tools and understandings to explain things in greater depth tomorrow than we can today.

Belief in your potential

"The confidence you need is belief in your potential. If you see
world class potential in yourself, you'll put in the effort. If you
don't see the potential, you won't put in the effort and you'll wait
for the performance, and the performance always follows the belief in
self." -- Denis Waitley

This is one of those ah-ha type statements. You know in your gut this makes absolute sense, the fun part is in the implementation.

This, I believe, goes along with the BE, DO, HAVE paradigm. One must become and through that, find and realize one's potential. So how does one 'become'? Some do so through religion and prayer life, others through study and philosophy, some just seem to know their potential all along. I believe all of these avenues are valid expressions of the art of becoming. It does seem that at times we bog down in avenues of becoming and throw up barriers to communication.

At any rate, I really see that we all have massive and as Denis says, “world class potential”. I firmly believe that of everyone I know and meet. I find it unfortunate that we don't all reach for that world class potentiality, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. More to the point, what blocks us from achieving our greatness? This is truly the crux of understanding our potential and becoming all that we are meant to become.

Randy Gage talks often of what he coins, lack mentality. A state of thinking that assumes that we will always lack in one form or another. A lot of times it will be the mentality of; “I will always be poor. Nothing ever works for me. I'm too stupid to make a lot of money. I was born in the wrong neighborhood. I didn't attend the right school. No one likes what I do anyway.” All these and many others. They become a self-fulfilling prophecy. They wire our brains to even hunt for reasons and situations to make this come true for us.

So what to do? Re-wire the brain. It is being seen over and over in science that it is possible to do so. That our neural paths can and do change over time, it is the mechanism of creating a habit in the first place, but new ones can be created and old ones can be left to fade away.

This is where becoming really comes into play. Sitting down and writing out: What do I really want to be? What do I really want to accomplish in my life? What one thing is important enough to make the effort to achieve? Then we get to do our personal development. Working on our 'being' through reading materials and listening to teachers that encourage us and give us skills to move beyond where we are today, taking the integrating process of prayer and/or meditation, then taking the action to go from being...to doing.

Just thoughts. I think I'll go answer those questions for myself again.

Be ~ Do ~ Have

Act like the person you want to become. For as Goethe, the German philosopher, once wrote, "Before you can do something, you first must be something."
Bob Proctor

This has to be one of the most profound quotes I have ever read. Not just this specific quote, but this whole idea of 'being' before 'doing'.

We so often run about the world in a tizzy of activity, rushing hither and yon attempting to pack in absolutely every 'something' under the sun into our day. Yet, at the end of it, we often ask ourselves, “What am I doing this for?” We end up longing for anchor, for a quiet stillness within that says, “this is why my activity has purpose and function”. When we 'do' before we become, we can often find ourselves adrift on this ocean of activity.

How do we become first? Inner growing, reading, writing, meditating, praying; there are many avenues to this and it has been found to be vitally essential to 'doing' in a way that makes a greater impact on the doer and the activity as a whole.

Be

Do

Have

What is it you wish to become?

What are you saying?

"The psychological rule says that when an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when an individual remains undivided and does not become conscious of his inner contradictions, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposite halves." - Carl Jung



"Much of your pain is self-chosen. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility: For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen." - Kahlil Gibran



"The attempt to escape a problem is the problem. See the logic of this. When a man tries to escape, when he moves away from the problem, he divides himself into one man with a problem and another man who will escape the problem. In reality, there is no such division, so the escape must always fail, as the man sadly experiences. But when seeing that he is the problem itself, that he and his problem are one, he stops trying to escape because he sees there is no other course. In this state of intelligent acknowledgment of reality, he will not have the problem." - Vernon Howard



"The aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life." - James Allen



"Whether you believe you can or you can't - either way you are right" - Henry Ford
So, what are you believing?



This is the reason we work very hard on our own self-talk and even what we write. It is a creating and powerful force...words. Because by our words we form our intentions, by our intentions we engage with the creative force of the Universe. This is a large part of our lack mentality that we discuss so often. We say... we *need * money or that we * have* bills...and guess what? We are right. In mentoring with the different friends that we have that are successful in their various disciplines, we have consistently found that they did not gain and stop being in * need*, they trained themselves to stop thinking in terms of * need* then gained. The Universe constantly supplies us with what we ask for...exactly. “I have all these bills.” “I'm so sick.” “I'm broke.” And it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Every single successful person we interact with never, never says something like that. Never. And all of them are self-made successes, they all had to learn this same truth, change your self-talk, change what you say, how you concentrate on your future, Rearrange your worries into “I'm so glad our bills are always paid.” “I feel great!” “I am a successful person!”

It has made a tremendous difference in our lives.

Belief

Without belief, we would be left with nothing but an overwhelming doom, every single day. And it will beat you. I didn't fully see, until the cancer, how we fight every day against the creeping negatives of the world, how we struggle daily against the slow lapping of cynicism. Dispiritedness and disappointment, these are the real perils of life, not some sudden illness or cataclysmic millennium doomsday. I knew now why people fear cancer: because it is a slow and inevitable death, it is the very definition of cynicism and loss of spirit... So, I believed.

Lance Armstrong

Way to go Lance in showing the way to succeed with such grace and perseverance!

POSITIVE, EXUBERANT OUTLOOK HAS MANY BENEFITS

By: Robert D. Foster

A University of Texas study suggests that people with a positive attitude age more slowly than pessimists. A team of researchers studying 1,558 older people reported that cheerful types were less frail. The study speculates that positive emotions may directly affect health by altering the chemical balance of the body.

In her latest book, Exuberance: The Passion of Life, Kay R. Jamison celebrates the gift of exuberance – which she describes as a propelling force in discovery, creativity, leadership and survival itself.

“Exuberance drives all of us to think and act in slightly different ways than we otherwise would do, to take risks we would not otherwise take, to tolerate pain and setbacks we might otherwise find incapacitating,” Jamison writes. “It allows or gives us the optimism to believe in the future and in the possibilities and importance of what we are and what we are doing; it forces us out into a greater arena of life.”

It’s not hard to recognize exuberance in those people that have it. Former U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt fairly bubbled over with the stuff. Legendary showman P.T. Barnum’s unflagging exuberance led him to create ever more spectacular feats of razzle-dazzle for his circus-going clientele, even into his last years.

Snoopy, the buoyant beagle in the “Peanuts” comic strip, may be the world’s most exuberant canine. Winston Churchill’s exuberant character may have saved the world from the tyranny of Adolph Hitler. And exuberance was the engine that drove naturalist John Muir to the American wilderness; as a result, today we have the breath-taking and unforgettable Yosemite and Sequoia national parks.

Someone has observed that researchers have devoted more than twice as much space to “negative” emotions, such as depression and anxiety, than they have to “positive” ones. Yet these buoyant, uplifting moods may be the most significant of all!

I suspect that King Solomon, who reigned over ancient Israel, would totally agree with Dr. Jamison’s conclusions about the value and importance of exuberance in every facet of daily living. His writings in the book of Proverbs would strongly indicate that. Here are a few examples:

“A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; A sad heart makes it hard to get through the day” (Proverbs 15:13).

“A miserable heart means a miserable life; A cheerful heart fills the day with songs” (Proverbs 15:15).

“A cheerful disposition is good for your health; Gloom and doom leave you bone-tired” (Proverbs 17:22).

Remember this: A blacksmith can do nothing when his fire goes out. In a similar way, when flames of our internal fire die out, our eagerness and enthusiasm for life – for work, relationships, even the ordinary activities of the day – start to fade. Our skills and personal gifts become underutilized, and our potential for making significant contributions to the people and world around us diminishes markedly. We need to “rekindle our flame” to renew a positive, energetic approach to life and its challenges. And while you’re at it, try to fan the flames of the exuberant people around you. We have too much negativity already; promote the power of the positive!

Taken and adapted from Take Two On Monday Morning, written and published by Robert D. and Rick Foster. Permission to reproduce with proper credit is freely given and encouraged.

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This is so true in life. What a serious and major change this can make!

Imagine

Imagine. There is some tribe in the Amazon jungle who has never had contact with our modern world. This is a very sophisticated tribe with good laws and a commendable system of education. The teachers are intelligent and highly trained. Obviously their knowledge is based on what the world around them seems to be, what their observations are. It is, in fact, highly probable that they have an advanced system of scientific evaluation as well, using the tools, knowledge and material available to them. Well, one day fresh young Peace Corps volunteer is left on the bank of a nearby river, dropped off by a local pilot. This area is a bit uncharted and for our purposes, the young man is sent there to meet the locals. He arrives in the tribal village and there is a lot of surprise for the villagers, but they are a peaceful and sophisticated tribe and after a while they welcome the young man to dinner.

During dinner, there is the question of how the young man got here in the first place, since he is so different from the few people they have met outside their village. The young man attempts to explain through body language and some rudimentary words they have exchanged about how he flew in a plane, landed at the river and then walked to their village. Looks are exchanged amongst the teachers and rest of the group. They ask further questions about the flying motions the young man made and ascertain that this is indeed the idea he is trying to put across.

Then, the commotion begins. Arguments erupt from the villages, how can this flying be? They know that it is impossible. Crazy Ato had always said it was possible, but wasn't his widow tearful proof that it was not so? The young man knows he cannot explain with his limited vocabulary and the matter is put aside. Some time later, when the young man's vocabulary has grown and so has the tribe's, he again attempts to explain how flying is possible. Heads and fists are shaken, because they know this is simply not possible. They have irrefutable proof. They have tried it before. They have not succeeded. Therefore , IT IS NOT POSSIBLE! After much discussion and explantion, which is difficult for the young man, since he doesn't actually understand the principles of flight that much. But he does know that it works. Some may begin to believe, but are still unsure. When the time comes for the young man to go home, the villagers walk with him to the river where the plane will pick him up. The villagers, despite being told that flight is possible, are still quite afraid. When the plane lands, only one will brave a ride in the machine. It seems that it is more and more impossible as the plane is obviously too heavy for a man to carry, how could it fly? And why would they want such a device in their lives? The young man understands that with such a tool as this, some of their people could have been saved after a fall with new medical trauma techniques. How does one explain this? How does one show them that this 'impossible' situation is not only possible, but beneficial?

Perhaps this is the million dollar question.

I think it is important to remember that simply because a thing hasn't existed in your observation of the universe, it does not mean that it is impossible to exist. That because you don't believe a thing is possible, does not mean that it is impossible.

How do we keep our minds open to possibility? How do we make the leap into future possibilities?

Points to ponder I believe.

Being remarkable

What does it mean to be remarkable?

Does it mean we must do something that is put into the public eye? Something spectacular? I think that isn't the same thing at all. I think that being remarkable is an inner knowing that we are all remarkable, that within us all is a being of incredible majesty, goodness and light. I am no perfect person by any means, nor am I anywhere close to being where I know I could be...because I have allowed fear, circumstance, tiredness, etc...to get in my way of being all I can be. However, this is something I am constantly conscious of in myself, something I strive to work on everyday. To this end, my journey has spoken to me of inviting others along this beautiful path.

I invite you to share my journey...and ask that I may share yours as well...that on twists and turns of these paths we may grow...we may become what we are meant to be, that we discover our purpose, share our load and bravely take the actions to get us to our goals.