“Hard work is not the path to wellbeing. Feeling good is the path to Well-Being. You don’t create through action; you create through vibration. And then, your vibration calls action from you.” Abraham Hicks

So, how are you all doing with those New Year’s resolutions you made?
So many of us put pressure on ourselves at the beginning of the year to work through our resolutions but what happens when we’re focused on what we want to fix is that we end up placing our attention on what’s wrong. This is a risky way to start the New Year because from the beginning it places the emphasis on the unwanted, placing us in a state of need. Why do so many of us fail at our resolutions? Because our dominant thoughts are on what needs to be fixed causing us to actually attract more of that. Resolutions are doomed to fail for that reason.
[Read more...]

Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.
- Eckhart Tolle

It’s easy to feel gratitude when life is good but how can we hang onto gratitude when the unexpected happens, or when we feel pain?
I recently read a parable about a beggar which is a perfect lesson about gratitude:

There is a beggar sitting on a box on the corner of a sidewalk. He has his hands out, asking for money. A man walks by and says, “I have nothing to give today but I see you’re sitting on a box. What’s inside the box you’re sitting on?”

“I’m sure there’s nothing inside. I’m just using it as a seat.” the beggar said.

“Well,” the man asked, “did you ever check to see what’s inside?”
[Read more...]

Think about it.

When you examine aspects of your adult life in the reflection of your parents’ what do you see? Do you find similar patterns of behaviour and beliefs? Studies show that while your adult story, packaging and life circumstances are different you are likely to find consistencies in the struggles and challenges that you face.

So, I ask; are you living your parents’ story?

Here’s a short story to illustrate the point I’m making. The issue is one man’s relationship to wealth. The name is fictionalized, the story is not.

John’s father was born into a wealthy family and his mother came from a poor family. John grew up rich. He was afforded every comfort and lacked for nothing. His mother, who grew up in near poverty raised John to see the bigger picture; that there is a world of people out there who do not live in such opulent comfort, families who worry about food and shelter from day to day.

[Read more...]

Our hearts operate on emotion and the brain, on logic. The heart becomes aware of something causing us to want to take action but just as we’re ready to act on it, the brain jumps in, making its voice heard, sometimes creating a little confusion.

For example; there’s a history of heart disease in the family so every year you donate to the Heart and Lung Association. That’s an emotional decision. Meanwhile your brain asks the hard questions; is it the right charity choice for you? What amount should you give? Should you raise or lower your donation amount this year? The brain has access to all the data from our personal life experiences and filters everything to see if the idea is logical.

Many of us are raised to think things through, weigh the pros and cons, to talk to ourselves making it hard to trust our gut feelings. While the brain can manage all the critical thinking that needs to go into making decisions the heart can be an accurate predictor and a deciding influence on making choices that fit.

[Read more...]

Alchemy is a perfect analogy to human transformation.

Alchemy is the science of trying to convert one form of matter into another using fire, potions, spells, and all kinds of other tricks. In medieval times it was a means of transmuting base metals into gold. People can use the same alchemic process. No fire, potions, or spells needed in this exercise; just the simple desire to rid oneself of a painful, inhibiting past.

I will use the fictional John Doe’s story to illustrate how personal alchemy can work. John Doe has been feeling trapped in a retail job for 20 years. Working long days, weekends and holidays are starting to take a toll on him. Sales quotas are going up, salary has remained the same for the past 5 years and the cost of living has risen. All of this is leaving John Doe feeling stuck; hopeless and desperate about the future.

[Read more...]

In East Asia it is their custom to eat the meat of the monkey for its rare and delicious tenderness and the method by which they catch the monkeys is by placing bananas in specially-designed traps. When the monkey reaches out for a banana its hand gets caught in the trap. If the monkey only knew that to break free all it needs to do is to let go of the banana. If the monkey could be conditioned to release the banana the monkey would regain its freedom.

So, why tell this story? Because, people become imprisoned by limiting belief systems that keep them locked in the cage holding the banana. If we could discover what we’re clinging to we’d be able to condition ourselves to change the action that is holding us prisoner and keeping us from moving forward.

[Read more...]

As you flip through the pages of your passport, what do you see?

Are the pages frayed and the spine weakened from having been handled often? How many pages are stamped with visits to other countries? Our life experience is like a passport and the memories of past events become pages in our life story.

People travel for a whole host of reasons; we plan vacations to relax, we travel for business, we visit distant friends and relatives to celebrate milestone moments such as births, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and funerals. Some people leave their home countries to study, to do missionary work, to start a new life. Whenever we cross international lines, our passports are marked. And, as we live through those experiences we too become marked by them.

Imagine you are a passport booklet. What does it say about you and what stories and memories are held within the pages of your life? Which would you rather be? The one stamped with many marks on the pages or the one with blank pages?
[Read more...]