Thursday, January 24, 2013

Tutoring in a school for homeless children

I feel that the way to lift our society is to embrace some of the weakest populations.  If we empower the weak, it makes the whole stronger.  That's why I love working in my school for homeless children.  Most of the kids are homeless and all of the families are below the poverty line.

True, it's difficult in the school.  Many of the kids have tired looks on their face.  Some fall asleep in class.  We try to feed them breakfast and snacks throughout the day in addition to lunches.  The raw power and talent these kids have is wonderful.  The problem, I believe, is they are not challenged enough.  They can do anything.

When they begin to succeed, momentum builds.  Esteem builds.  I love seeing that.  The children just haven't been challenged enough.  I worked with a fourth grader today who missed three months of school.  She can't read a simple book (like See Spot Run).  She hadn't been able to sound out simple words.  But, I had worked with her the other day and she felt success.  Guess what happened?

Today during recess, she came over to me and brought me a book.  I first thought she was going to start reading it to me.  Then I remembered she had trouble even sounding out words.  The word, "the" was trouble.  All during lunch we read and read.  I began, then she continued.  Almost immediately, she attempted to read.  With assistance she got through a sentence.  Then another.

Then we would repeat sentences for practice.  Not only was her confidence building, but her trust in an adult was building.  You know what else was building?  Her trust in herself.  Later during class, there was a writing assignment.  She finished it.  It was only a half-page essay, but simple writing was a challenge.  Certainly spelling was a challenge.  Even being creative was a challenge.

She came over with a blank piece of paper and sat next to me.  One word and one sentence after the other she wrote, and misspelled, but she wrote.  She was creative and very thoughtful in writing about what she would do for her Mom.  Back to my original point.  Investing time with this population has more rewards than you can name.  Maybe I'll write about them some day.  :)

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Goodology on Kindle Temporarily Lowered!

It's important now to increase the message of good.  The book, Goodology - Personal Development Through Good, is temporarily lowered to 0.99.  I would have listed it FREE, but Kindle only allows a 0.99 price.  It's all the same - the information is too important now in our world.

We have to be careful after the shootings in Connecticut to go back into our routines and patterns.  I feel that we need increase our personal power.  We do this through lessening the internal sludge that we carry around with us.  In the book, I say that you cannot effectively resolve a problem is you don't correctly identify it.  It's The Beauty of Problems!

The book does a good job of identifying the source of energy within you that is rarely notices.  You'll see the print and Kindle editions here.  Have a great day.

My Daily Plan

How can I do more good in the world?  I realized a long time ago that I simply want to be a positive influence. Sometimes I make mistakes. Sometimes emotion tries to rule the day.  But, I always come back to the question of, 'how can I help?'

Through the course of the day there are actions that I can take that are supportive to other people and some that are non-supportive.  I can be kind.  I can be compassionate.  I can be supportive.  I want to shift the balance to positive influence.  Who knows where this will take the world?  When we do this, we are shifting the energy of the world.  We, then, are acting with a different level of love and, importantly, reacting with a different level of fear.

We can react on love and respect or we can react from anger and blame.  When you treat someone with respect, they carry that to their next encounter.  You allow them to bring more of their own positive energy into play.  It's a beautiful thing.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Shootings in Tucson

Be the first to forgive. Reacting with the same energy that caused a problem continues to lay the same soil for the growth of the same problems. Let’s get out of the circle. Be the first to love. If you feel someone acted in ignorance, anger or hate, forgive them. By doing this you empower yourself. The person acting in ignorance and hate is only acting with the limited capacity of their fears. Send love. Send hope. Send support. Send intelligence if you feel that will help.
The shooting in Tucson is an act where we want to wrap our arms around the people of the city and support them. We are sad this happened. But, we need to be supportive. Support doesn’t come in the form of blame and punishment; it comes in the form of love, understanding and attention.
Yes, we need to understand the energy that drove the actions and be above that. It is this energy that drives political figures to argue. It is this energy that drives pundits to stir up the madness. Forgive. Take the edge off. Be the first to forgive. Live with in a higher energy. Set a good example. Act with compassion. Let go.
The nine year old girl, Christina Taylor Green, was full of life, beauty and direction. Gabby Giffords is beautiful, intelligent, caring and sweet. But, she would be just as beautiful, just as loving and just as caring if I did not know who she is. Christina’s life would have been beautiful without our help. I wish this didn’t happen, but it did. We have honestly recognize our own energy and forgive. Forgive the energy that drove a man to shoot.
Forgive. Release the anger. The event is over. The man will be punished. Angrily calling the man a “deranged monster” has an appearance of being on the right side. But, it’s negative energy. The shooter was reacting from his own negative energy and guided by information which he attached to. Let’s not add to it.
I am sorry for the others who died and the others who were injured. I am sorry that we hold onto fearful energy and feel we have to act on it. We all need to get rid of this energy and come together. It’s easy to point our flaws in some of our political and non-political leaders. It’s easy to point to someone carelessly putting crosshairs on a map as a target.
Forgive first. Be the first. Be stronger. Be above. A problem in our society is denial. Promoting guns and shooting for congressional support or to add to image can be a tactic. Admitting and owning up is a more beautiful energy than denial. We can forgive. It's easy and beautiful. Recognize that if someone has a weakness our only response is in strength. Our strength is forgiveness. Empower yourself. Love.
Be responsible first. Be above board first. Offer people greatness. Give people love. Give people intelligence. Give people options. Give respect. Be the first to love. Be the first to support. These are the tools that make a society strong. Be strong and a positive example like Gabby Giffords. Christina was born on September 11, 2001. She died in a shooting in Tucson. Carry her positive energy forward. Move beyond that energy of hate. Raise your level. Care. Be the first to care. Be the first to love.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Love

We’ve heard it all before. All love is self-love. So what’s the problem? There is still anger out there. There is still hate. There is fear. You still have frustration.

You hear that God is love. They say that love is everywhere. God is everywhere. Then why are we not all happy? It's because we have a resistance to it. Let’s try this. If you remove your resistance to love, then what is left? Love and only love. So, "you" can be the one to get started. Initiate love. Be the first to send love. This action breaks down the walls and barriers in our world. This is going to dissolve wars and hate. Soon.

You say, “Yeah but this guy is really an idiot." Then you really need to increase your love and your flow. Respect everyone. Begin by respecting your energy within. Respect yourself. You say, "No, but seriously, 'this guy' is a real idiot. He's the definition of idiot. Where is the label coming from? Your feeling inside.

The “idiots” of the world are acting from their own fears within. They are pushed, driven and goaded to act a certain way based on sludge and fear they have inside. Sometimes it comes out dorky. Sometimes they seem like a dufus. Appreciate them anyway. Sometimes it comes out angry. Appreciate them anyway. When you locate your energy within and appreciate them, you grow.

A way to increase your love is to give it. When you give, you unconsciously realize that there is not a finite supply. You realize that you “don’t need to hang on.” You can give and love will be replenished. You can give without wanting to receive. When we take off the scab of the temporary fill, we allow air to flow into our wound (or resistance). When that healing energy connects with it, we are stronger.

When you locate your own resistance within, you have connected with power. The following is a difficult concept for some folks to handle, but a child molester has problems. Love him. Respect him. His acts are not good, but at a core level he is good. He began his life “good.” We “know” his actions are not good. Love him anyway. Love your energy. Hope for him. Wish good for him. We are not going to move ahead as a society until we increase our energy flow and compassion inside. You say that you love everyone but you draw the line at child molesters.

The child molester may have been seriously abused when he was a child. But “that” is not the reason you should love him. That is not the reason you should love yourself. Yes, being molested as a child, doesn’t make his actions right, but he has lots of compressed energy within. You are not approving or disapproving acts. Love “your” own energy within first. Send out love to these people. It is like sending our prayer and hope for them to get better. Send love. The more love you send the more powerful you become.

Again, if you remove the resistance to it, all that is left is LOVE. At a spiritual seminar they discuss love throughout the whole weekend. People want “unconditional love.” Love is the answer. But, people leave that seminar in the same condition that they entered. So, what’s the problem? The never touch their resistance.

I am not here to define love because there is no definition. Love is the most abundant element on the planet. Love is everything. Love is the limited and the limitless. Definitions of love are around us. Love is flowing. Love is detachment. Love is infinite. Love is all intelligence. Love is all power and all energy. Love is everywhere. We are surrounded in it. We bathe in it daily. We touch it. It touches us. Love kisses us. It moves through us. It “is” us. Love is positive. Love is flowing. Love is infinite power, infinite intelligence, infinite compassion and infinite everything. But, mostly it is infinite flow. Love is energy.

Love is the slowly moving energy within you. When you love this energy is when you begin to grow. Move away from “intellectually” understanding what love is. Feel it. Let it flow through you. So, if we are not connected to it, then we have a resistance to it. We need to specifically locate our resistance within and clear it. When we do that, the only thing left is love. We know that a slight resistance is the simple separation. When we continue to notice this and reconnect with it, we are reconnecting with love. We will specifically locate the energy within us; know it is love and only love.

You can tell yourself that you love you all day long. It will have some effect. But, if the sludge is still there, you’ll either give up with putting notes on the bathroom mirror for yourself or you just won’t feel the love. Love is not a “thing,” nor does it feed a specific part of us. We realize by now that we have to get out of our head and become whole. This is not an intellectual pursuit nor is this soap opera type love. The flow of love is outward. It is unselfish and flowing toward another person or object. It is all yes and all positive. There is no “no” in love. Loving a child is a healthy energy flow. When you respect it is flowing positively. When you appreciate, it’s positive.
The primary message here is to know the flow of love. Writing has filled up books defining love and unconditional love.

Let’s go to http://www.dictionary.com/ again! This is what we have:

love/
–noun
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
3. sexual passion or desire.
4. a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.
5. (used in direct address as a term of endearment, affection, or the like): Would you like to see a movie, love?
6. a love affair; an intensely amorous incident; amour.
7. sexual intercourse; copulation.
8. ( initial capital letter ) a personification of sexual affection, as Eros or Cupid.
9. affectionate concern for the well-being of others: the love of one's neighbor.
10. strong predilection, enthusiasm, or liking for anything: her love of books.
11. the object or thing so liked: The theater was her great love.
12. the benevolent affection of god for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.
13. Chiefly Tennis . a score of zero; nothing.
14. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter L.

Depending on how you perceive the definitions, there are eight forms of soap opera type love. Passionate affection, personal attachment, sexual desire, a love affair, sexual intercourse, sexual affection, affection for others, and other forms of love are mentioned “before” God’s Love: “the benevolent affection of god for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.”

Love in our world is “feeding the pain inside.” It’s feeding the sludge. Unfortunately, this has become our “most desired state.” It’s good because it touches are area inside that doesn’t get touched much. It touches an area that we keep safe under lock and key. It feels good to have this touched. But, it just gives us medicinal dosages of “love,” which is just attention, approval and so on.

To increase our health and wholeness love people as God does. If someone acts like an idiot, we can move past that and love them. Remember, if “they” act like an idiot, it is “your” inside that is stirred up. It is “your” energy. Perceiving them as an idiot allows you the opportunity to grow and increase strength.

Maybe you grew up with your Dad calling you, “chum” and your Mom saying, “I love you” each day before you left for school. Some people didn’t. What about the baby that was tossed in the air and hit the ceiling? What about the baby that was dropped? What about the baby that was whipped before he was two years old?

What about the child who was called a worthless piece of crap daily while growing up? You feel for these kids. But, an adult why do we stop feeling for them? You say, “the adult should know better.” Inside of this adult is compressed energy that is “current” within them. It is stored inside of them. At some point, they are going to lash out. These are problems that “exist” and can’t be suppressed or avoided.

True love never fails.
This could be an automatic let down because your sludge exists. You are honest and truthful. So, you say, what do you mean? It failed me. “True love never fails,” are just words. Flow is love. Letting go is love. Connecting with your deepest inside and flowing. That is love. It’s simple. You don’t have to work hard. You just need to connect inside and love that feeling within you. Send that feeling out again and again. It replenishes.

You are thinking that love needs to come from the outside to connect with, calm or heal your “own” hurt inside. The true love must come from within. It comes from noticing and connecting with your own sludge. You initiate the flow.

Love is bliss and power.
Sure, but if you are jam packed with sludge, then this statement will fail you too. All of these statements can be made. It all can be said. But, what does it do? You are holding onto your energy and resisting your power. So, you cut off your power and use a small portion of it to understand the statement that says, “Love is bliss and power.” You go oh and ah, thinking you are transforming but nothing has happened except having some candy.

I have a habit at night before I go to bed. I pick someone who I “don’t like,” or I pick someone who has done something which I don’t like. I send love to that person. I feel the energy that gets stirred "within me" when I think him or her. If I use the term, “scumbag” then I send love to him or her and realize that the “only” place the label “scumbag” is created is within me. So, it is my responsibility to clear it, connect with it and turn it into positive energy and love.

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Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Research

I like movies set in California or New York City. Watching movies is such an experience. They are so well done, you feel like you have visited these places. It’s great to absorb the feel of the movie. You might like a scene in the Bahamas in a movie or a scene in the countryside. I like a movie recently that began in Mexico, traveled through Texas and ended up in New Jersey.

I was able to get a feel for a moment of what it would be like to live in Mexico. I saw a brief perspective of the families, the houses, the land and the commerce. In a movie, you can absorb someone else’s perspective. We expand our awareness while being entertained. Books and self-development programs can be like watching movies. Many of the books that we read allow us to absorb perspective, expand us and be entertained. You might hear a speaker talk about how they spent three years in India meditating. Another author went to Harvard. Many authors have PHD after their name. Still other authors have experienced success in business, like a book by Donald Trump.

We are able to take in information and experience. We can learn things from those who have experienced. That will reduce our learning curve. Many years ago, I read a book called, “Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.” I was in my automotive distributorship business at the time. I remember picking up dozens of great business tips from the author Harvey Mackay. I had read many books but this one was the one that I liked the most at that time.

I worked long hours in my business. While many tips were useful, one piece of advice I specifically remember is that Harvey sent out thank you notes to his customers. I did the same thing with every one of my new customers and often communicated with other customers through the mail. Each customer noticed and appreciated that token of thoughtfulness. From that book, I expanded and learned.

In truth, that business of mine failed. It goes to show you that there are other powers at work. There are deeper powers. “That” is what I wanted to find. The perspective that I want to bring to you is simple. It comes from listening to my insides. Yes, I researched and read as much as most have. But the critical definitions come from looking inside and using my own filter to see if this really works and this really makes sense.

Did it work for me? Most self-help programs didn’t. For many years I wouldn’t admit it! That’s because all the testimonials were rave reviews. I felt embarrassed that I did not receive the results. There was either something wrong with me or the "problem" was not correctly identified. This was opportunity for me to dig more deeply inside of myself and pull out the core issue that needed resolving. I did.

The research is discovering the energy within yourself. The answer is in Goodology.