What are you willing to receive, in 2008?

Friends, everything each one of us ever wanted is all around us, for us to have, experience, savour, and enrich our lives with -- the reason this doesn't feel true, and feels hard to achieve is that somewhere deep inside us is a part that is not willing to receive this abundance. It may be for a myriad reasons: we might feel we're not good enough to deserve it; there may be fear attached to succeeding; there may be such an intense fear of failure that failure is what we end up attracting, and on and on and on. So, let's cut this story of frustrations short, and turn the page in 2008...

Today, find time to write down all the things that went well for you in 2007 (astrologically, apparently, it was a tough year for most people) -- there HAVE to be at least five things that went well. Write them down as things to be grateful for. If you have more than 5 then all the better... For each one take a few minutes to truly touch the emotion you felt when you experienced this 'good thing' -- draw your thoughts to how happy and joyful you were when you 'received' whatever these material or non-material events were. I PROMISE you, if you do this, you can be sure to have many equals, or better of these events in 2008. I urge you to read the first entry of this blog, written on November 17, 2007. And, do what you can to open yourself to receive...

From my heart, I wish each and everyone of you the very best of 2008 - May your wildest dreams come true :-)!

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

Fake it till you make it!

To some this is a very radical suggestion, but a part of having positive thoughts and to manifest them, is to go beyond the visualization, and behave like someone who already IS, DOES, HAS what it is they want to be, do, and have. Some people understand this concept easily and are willing to 'fake it till they make it' knowing that before new energies can enter their lives, they have to prepare and create space for them - and a part of this preparation is to practice becoming the person who will be, do, and have all these new things they want in their life. Let's say it's akin to a dress rehearsel...

Some others argue that it's a lie, and how can they live a lie? If they don't have something how can they pretend that they already have it? My question to those who think this way is, if you believe in the Law of Attraction, then what is it you'd rather attract -- hold on to your present thoughts and ways of being and maintain the status quo, continuing to attract the same? Or would you rather tell yourself you are this new person: peaceful, contented, successful, prosperous, in vibrant health and in order to attract this into your life, start walking and talking, and most importantly, start BELIEVING you are already like this person you want to be?

A note of caution, however... remember to share your dreams only with those who will be your cheerleaders, supporters, and those who believe in you -- instead of naysayers, skeptics, cynics, and those with a victim mentality who will steal your dreams away from you, by their negative commentary, and a general wet-blanket attitude. It is of utmost importance in life to create a nurturing environment for ourselves, starting with the people surrounding us.

May the road rise up to meet you, friends,

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

What makes our lives meaningful?

For the longest time, I've answered this question with: 'What makes life meaningful is to find your gift, and give it away.' And if you too pondered deeply on this thought, and pursued it, I have no doubt you'd find your life very fulfilling.

I decided yesterday that this is what I'll write about today, and then as though in confirmation, the Universe stepped in -- because I went shopping and was browsing through a book of quotes at a bookstore, and the page I opened at random had this quote by Esther Williams: 'The wisdom acquired with the passage of time is a useless gift unless you share it.'

I sincerely feel that in writing this blog I'm putting into practice the above two principles.

And what about you? What makes life meaningful to you? Do give it some thought. Write down what comes to you, and occasionally think about your response, edit and re-edit, till clarity is reached. It might truly be a very interesting exercise to do.

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How is the list making from yesterday's post doing? I can't emphasize enough, just how important it is to do the visualization while feeling JOY within.

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I want to end today's piece with an email message that has been doing the rounds for some years now, but always touches me when it lands in my inbox. Here it is now:

Today...I wish you a day of ordinary miracles

Today, I wish you a day of ordinary miracles.

A fresh pot of coffee you didn't have to make yourself.

An unexpected phone call from an old friend.

Green stoplights on your way to work or shop.

I wish you a day of little things to rejoice in...

The fastest line at the grocery store.

A good sing along song on the radio.

Your keys right where you look.

I wish you a day of happiness and perfection...

Little bite-size pieces of perfection

That give you the funny feeling that the Lord is smiling on you,

Holding you so gently because you are someone special and rare.

I wish You a day of Peace, Happiness and Joy.

Until tomorrow,

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

To Do - To Have - To Be

A very important 'growth step' in my life was being on a teleconference with Jack Canfield, author/mentor, who along with Mark Victor Hansen has brought us the 'Chicken Soup' series. On the teleconference, Jack said that one of his mentors had done an exercise with him where he had asked Jack to make three lists - under the headings I Do, I Have, I Am - and under each of these headings to list as many items as wished. I had already done similar work with a variation; most New Agers, spiritual writers, guides, coaches, mentors, and workshop leaders use one variation or another of this exercise with their clients -- but Jack's exercise was wonderful in its simplicity - also, I have great respect for him, and trust his work, especially since he's a Psychosynthesist too. I have since used it myself, and with my clients to open them up to stop playing small, and to experience first hand 'the power of intention'.

I call it the 'Power of Intention Exercise' and have added some extra elements and guidelines to make it still more user friendly. Others have talked about making long lists, with some suggesting as many as a 100 items or more in each list. My advice is to write a minimum of ten, and up, in each list. Then itemize the most important five wishes of yours amongst things you want to do, you want to have, and you want to be. This exercise is for all ages, so don't look for excuses :-), that this is not for you! Bill Clinton has been quoted as saying: 'You are old when your memories outweigh your dreams.' I too believe we're never too old to dream...

The must do's for the lists are:

Write things you passionately want to do, to have and to be. Manifestation is faster when positive emotions are associated with our desires; when the overriding emotion around them is JOY!

The don'ts:

- Don't specify a sum of money that you want; instead add to your list what you'll want with that money e.g. a car, a vacation or whatever your heart desires.

- Don't wish for something for someone else, because they may not be ready to receive, and may subconsciously be already sabotaging their having it. If you know that someone in your life wants something, get them to make their own list. Hand in your resignation as a control freak :-)!

- Don't wish for a specific someone ;-)! - you can't do this because the desire may not be reciprocal and you are thus already setting yourself up for failure.

Another way of looking at focusing on others and/or their needs is interfering in someone else's karma, which is always a no-no!

Once your lists are done, look at them everyday. Very slowly, visualize yourself receiving and savoring what it was you desired. Experience the deep enjoyment and relishing of the 'manifested' wishes at a deep cellular level.

Okay guys - have fun ... and remember, you are in the best situation to help others if you first have what you want to give away, so don't worry about being considered selfish, or having guilt around wanting, and wanting a lot. The Universe is abundant -- there's enough for everyone... a belief in lack stems from poverty consciousness.

Keep those comments coming... private or public...

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

The only real medals are the ones we give ourselves

There's so much people do in their lives strictly for acknowledgement from others - to receive some attention, some notice, some adulation, praise ...

I was this way too -- spending most of my life distracted by the 'illusion' that we are what others think we are. And when we are so distracted, we dress, act, eat, behave in ways that conform to the liking of those whose acceptance we want. This goes so far that it eventually effects even our thought process. We start thinking like those whose approval we seek. We hanker after 'medals' we perceive others can give us -- in fact we become so invested in these medals we want from others that we become the complete opposite of the 'authentic person' I've written a lot about in different posts in this blog.

While its okay to reasonably conform to the expectations of the society one is a part of, but to live in a way geared only to win approval needs to be re-evaluated. How about instead, make a list of what you could be that would make you feel real good about yourself - things that were just for you, not for the world, in fact if you couldn't ever brag about them to others for their praise, you would still be pleased about this achievement, for yourself. These, then, are medals we give ourselves. To be, to do, to have what is meaningful to us, because of how we feel as a result ... is the key, and not praise given to us by others.

Deep inner confidence comes from the satisfaction of first having clarity about who and what we want to be, and then becoming that. We will find then, that there's nothing left to prove to anyone -- the incredible lightness of being one experiences at this level is worth any effort one has to make, to do what needs to be done.

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

The magic of our thoughts

I was reading Mike Dooley's 'Notes from the Universe' (tut.com) and thought I'll send this out to everyone:

LET'S PRETEND JUST FOR TODAY

Let's pretend, just for today, all day long, throughout our every thought and decision, that life is easy, that everyone means well, that time is on our side. Okay?

And let's pretend that we're loved beyond belief, that magic conspires on our behalf, and that nothing can ever hurt us without our consent.

All right?

And if we like this game, we'll play tomorrow as well, and the next day, and the next, and pretty soon, it won't be a game at all, because life, for us, will become those things. Just as it's become what it is, today.

Thoughts become realities, too.

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Unravel the magic in your lives, dear readers -- you are powerful beyond belief, and one thought at a time, can lead happier, healthier, more meaningful lives.

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

So many paths, and so many vehicles ...

... the key is not to get entwined with the scenery on the path, but to watch and enjoy it while moving along -- and to not get carried away by the model of the vehicle we're in, but to remember that it is merely a form of transportation, carrying us to our destination.

Beginning to get very confused? Don't be. Here's a story, to explain everything.

I was in a taxi once, driven by a very opininated man in his thirties. I wouldn't have cared too much if he were merely opinionated, but his opinions were all about his own religion vs the others. I don't recollect what started it but he started this spiel about what his relgion stood for, what it meant to its adherents, how all the other fell way short, and were plain nonsense. I know to choose my battles, and I was not interested in this one - so I kept listening, interjecting with an occasional 'oh yes?', 'really', 'wow, that's interesting', all in an effort to be non-committal. Finally, halfway to our destination, about a 10-15 minute run, he asked me what religion I belonged to? "Well," I started, "that's a hard question to answer, because in my native language we don't have a word for 'religion'. "How come?" he asked me. "Well, in Hindi, the word we use is 'dharma' which means a way of being, as opposed to having a belief or faith, which are other words that could be used to describe religion." 'In any case," I continued, "being born into any religion is an accident of birth."

"But, let me tell you what I think," I pressed on, "I believe that the mystic core of all religions is the same. The goal of each one is spirituality. That is the destination earmarked for us all. Religions are like transportation that's supposed to carry us there. The problem with mankind is that people get too attached to their vehicles. One says, 'Look at what I'm sitting in - this wonderful BMW (religion x) is much better than those other cars on the road. Mine is definitely better, goes faster, is expensive, makes me look good. Another says: 'Look at this Mercedes I'm in (religion y) - pity those guys in the bus (religion z)... I'm so special -- all these other guys are so ordinary ...' And so it goes... with people now preoccupied only with their vehicles, having completely forgotten their higher purpose for being born as a human being and the path they were supposed to tread, that of completing their experience of searching for and having, the experience of the Higher Consciouness." I needed to catch my breath, and stopped. The guy was quiet for a while, and then slowly said, "I didn't ever think of it this way at all. You do have a point." He sounded chastened -- how long for, after that day, I don't know, but when we reached my office he thanked me for what I had to say. Good for him, actually, that he was open to hearing another point of view. That was his choice and decision entirely - and for that I salute his courage!

This quote just came to my mind:

We are not human beings, on a spiritual journey, but spiritual beings on a human journey.

Namaste' -- I salute the divine in each of you,

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

First stillness. then silence

When I first learnt meditation, my teacher said to close my eyes, focus on a mantra, and if thoughts arose as a distraction, to gently bring my focus back to the mantra. Along the way, many others shared numerous ideas on how to meditate successfully. But it wasn't until I started studying Psychosynthesis that I experienced success with stilling the mind.

Let's get one thing clear though - learning to still the mind is nothing to do with any religion, but to have an experience of the 'self', with the larger goal of living 'consciously', which to me translates as living vibrantly, meaningfully, one hundred percent engaged with being here now!

Here's a suggestion for a straight-forward way to start:

Find a quiet place; sit comfortably, whether on a chair, on the floor, on a cushion on the floor, or whatever works best for you. Slowly 'inspect' each section of your body, starting from the top, the head, moving slowly down, checking each part for any tension anywhere. If you have a sense of tension/restlessness/discomfort in more than one part then choose one amongst these for now. Address this part, explaining to it that you need some time for 'you', and will be back to investigate the problem, and will take care of it. Now with each out breath, exhale whatever tension you may be feeling, especially in the chest/heart area, and/or the solar plexus. Once there's a feeling of calmness and balance stop and take a few moments to truly allow yourself this experience.

Focusing again on your breathing, very slowly, with the help of your in breath go to a deep part inside you. Look around and make a mental note of what you see. Do this twice more, each time going to a still deeper part. The third time, stay where you find yourself, enjoying the feeling, the vista, the rest and repose. See if a word, or an image come to mind for where you are, and how you are feeling. Don't force anything. If there's no image don't worry. Take your time with this part of the exercise, and when there's a sense of completion for you - slowly come back to the room and open your eyes. Taking a paper and a pen, make some notes -- if you can draw the place where you found yourself, or the image that came to you, all the better. Feel free to share your experience with me in the comments, and if you'd like my input then do remember to send me your email address.

So, how was it :-)?

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

On 'silence' ...

I'm visiting family in Boston, since yesterday afternoon. I just sat down to blog and wondered aloud what I should write about today and Shivalik, my son, picked up his book on J. Krishnamurti's essays and flipping through it said: 'Write On silence - say something about silence'... so here's something on 'silence'.

When I was in my pre-teens and teen years I would memorize all the poems I liked. One of these was 'A Quiet Room' by Patience Strong. It went: 'If you have a quiet room then you are truly blessed; For only in a quiet room can a heart and mind find rest'... etc. The idea may sound very strange to some people, because our society is so addicted to noise. There seems to be such a constant need for it that if it isn't the piped in music in the offices; personal radios on people's desks; music from the internet on our computers; TVs blaring in homes, then it's people having their ipods, or similar devices, plugged into their ears.

The problem however is, that unless we, periodically, cut all external noise, we will never know what the deepest, most authentic part of us has to say to us. For it is only when we shut out the noise entering into us through our ears that we can hear the Voice inside - and which in turn deepens our connection to our intuition -- our intuition being our connection with Higher Consciousness.

The irony is that this is the very Voice, if we listened to it would guide us to have an experience of the Truth. But most of us don't want to hear, and in every possible way try to drown it out in external sounds.

And why would we do that? The sad truth is that first of all most of us aren't aware of this phenomenon because no one told us. The 'correct' and 'good' things we were taught by our caregivers when we were young, stemmed from religious ideas of wrong and right. Nobody told us the real and complete meaning of the saying that the so-called kingdom of heaven, lies within us. Sure we've heard this said, along with a plethora of other 'wise sayings', but the basic truths got obscured by their being manipulated over the centuries, one distortion at a time, till they got confused with forces outside our reach, supernatural phenomenon, and worse, superstition.

One common, and well-known way to 'listen' to the Voice within is, of course, through meditation - if it didn't sound like a boring discipline, indulged in by the 'yoga-types' :-) - not to denigrate those who do yoga (of who I am one), this wonderful practice is, to me, a form of active spiritualism - but all I want to say is that there are many interesting, non-disciplinarian ways to experience the stillness which will 'sharpen our hearing' to what is trying to express itself within us, and in listening to which, indeed, is where our salvation lies, for this is where our power lies. We are our own interpreters, but must know ourselves first... and in order to know ourselves, we absolutely must find silence -- first external and then internal. I'll suggest some practical and easy tools for creating this silence in tomorrow's post.

And now to check what at aspect of silence J. Krishnamurti has touched upon in his essay...

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

Raindrops on roses ...

Remember the song from the movie 'Sound of Music'? Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens; bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens; brown paper packages tied up with string; these are a few of my favorite things -- so sang Maria in the film. The song started in my head when I was sitting with my almost four-month old grand-daughter in my arms -- watching her smile, coo and gurgle, and finding my heart opening up just to watch her ... the freshness and purity of a baby's face and eyes can give such a lift to our hearts! As the song sprang into my head I started thinking that I hadn't done this exercise, of listing my favorite things, in a long time. Since I completely believe what we have in our lives is a reflection of our prevailing emotions, I have decided to sit down and make this list, again - having done it the last time a couple years ago. So, who wants to join me? What are things that bring joy into your heart? - because, that's what our favorite things do -- they bring us joy.

And this below, is the quote for the day from the Abraham-Hicks website:

Let your alignment (with Well-Being) be first and foremost, and let everything else be secondary. And not only will you have an eternally joyous journey, but everything you have ever imagined will flow effortlessly into your experience. There is nothing you cannot be or do or have — but your dominant intent is to be joyful. The doing and the having will come into alignment once you get that one down.

Excerpted from a workshop in Portland, OR on Wednesday, July 14th, 2004

All Is Well

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Be well,

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

The company we keep ...

An old adage says: 'A man is known by the company he keeps' ... of course this is from the earlier days, before the battles of feminism were fought and won :-) ... today we would be politically correct and say, 'People are known by the company they keep'!

Below is some of the company I keep :-) -- to have my path lighted, and showered with joy, beauty and truth. If interested, please check out these websites. They are free to join, and you can have wonderful words of wisdom deposited into your inbox each morning -- so awesome to wake up to :-)...

www.tut.com

www.abraham-hicks.com

www.thesecret.tv

http://thesecret.tv/optimists-creed/

http://thesecret.tv/optimists-creed/optimists-creed.pdf

Do especially check out the last two - look at them first ...

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May you choose to hitch your wagon to a star,

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

The Dalai Lama - on Religion and Spirtuality

I got this off the daily messages from 'Daily Buddhist Wisdom'. The Dalai Lama is my most favorite 'look up to' person :-) ... have you noticed how much he laughs, especially while being addressed by people, and journalists? -- He is so in touch with his 'happy inner child' ... and I find it fascinating to observe him :-)!

Here's what he's been quoted as saying about Religion and Spirituality:

"I believe there is an important distinction to be made between religion and spirituality. Religion I take to be concerned with belief in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another--an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of meta-physical or philosophical reality, including perhaps an idea of heaven or hell. Connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual, prayers and so on. Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit--such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony, which bring happiness to both self and others."

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama From "The Pocket Dalai Lama," edited by Mary Craig, 2002. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston, www.shambhala.com.

I'd like to add to the above that Spirituality comes (or must come) before religion ... I believe that if we take care of the spirituality part, religion will take care of itself.

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

poverty consciousness ...

I have just had a very interesting meeting with someone. We were talking about music, and songs, and the conversation veered to Celine Dion. Out of the blue, my acquaintance said, "Oh, what a crazy woman she is!" Since English is not this person't first language I thought I misunderstood the accent, and that he had actually said what a 'creative' woman she is ... even as I was tossing a coin in my head between the two, wondering what he'd said. Then I asked him -- "Oh CRAZY," he repeated - "she's crazy." Quite amazed at this attack on the poor unsuspecting Celine, I asked him why he'd said that, and he said, "Just look at her! She's finished her five year stint at Las Vegas ... and now without stopping to take a breather she's going off on a world tour." I was beginning to find his tirade very amusing and I started laughing ... thinking, here he was, investing so much of his energy and passion into what Celine Dion should or shouldn't do, whereas even if his advice was free, she would not be interested in this man, or care about what he had to say. I said, helpfully, "Well, she's a singer -- an artiste ... and she's doing what she knows to do best. What's the problem with that?" He went on in the same urgent tone, that she had all the money in the world - she has enough money to do what she wants, she's finished a five year contract... she should now sit back and relax. Her husband looks so old - could obviously do with some attention from her ... she has a son to take care of -- why is she hankering after more money, and more fame? Then he adds that he thinks it's because she wants her son to witness the adulation of her fans, and the world at her feet -- the barrage went on and on. I, by now, was laughing uncontrollably ... peeved, he said, "At least I'm making you laugh! But why are you laughing?" I told him if he offered his advice free to Celine Dion she wouldn't want it, and why was he so concerned anyway ... why did he think it was any of his business -- and then he smiled a bit and said, well, if she doesn't want a vacation, she can give me some of her money to go on vacation! A-HA - now we're talking, I thought ... This person is just plain jealous of Celine's money. Facing him squarely I said that I'd heard many people in these parts didn't like her much because they were very jealous of 'this ordinary girl who ended up doing so well in life' - they didn't give her any credit for how hard she'd worked ... and he admitted that was true. And I wondered if it had sunk into him that it was true of him too, and that he was jealous of all that she is, and she has.

The convoluted games our minds play with us are so intriguing. To cover plain raw jealousy, this man made such a story about all the reasons Celine Dion should stay home ... and how he listed all the reasons to prove she was a frivolous, irresponsible woman ... WOW!!!

Next time we catch ourselves getting caught up in someone else's story would be a good time to stop and turn our attention to ourselves: count our blessings ... make a mental list of things to write in our gratitude journal, and finally, if ready for this next step, explore and list the ways, and reasons, you experience jealousy. It might be helpful to list names of people (family, friends, celebrities) who you are jealous of, and then list why you're jealous of them. Why else, beside jealousy, would we get caught up in someone else's story? And it would do well to remember, being jealous is yet another symptom of having a poverty consciousness ...

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

Prosperity vs. Poverty Consciousness

Very closely tied in with 'conscious language' is our capacity to experience prosperity and abundance - or its opposite, poverty and lack -- all depending on the thoughts we think, and the language we use.

Therefore, it's a good idea avoid saying the below - they stem from a Poverty Consciousness:

- I'm broke/I'm always broke

- I'm in debt

- Money doesn't come to me easily

- I wouldn't dream of spending so much on something for myself

- I do spend on myself, but then I feel so guilty

- One has to work hard for money

Avoid doing the below:

- Hoarding (this stems from a lack of faith and trust, that there will always be enough for you)

- Buying inferior quality for yourself (this says you believe you don't deserve)

- Saving old clothes and objects (a lack of faith in the future - the belief system is the same as in 'hoarding')

Today's entry is very small because I just lost 5 paragraphs when I somehow got logged out, without saving the text as I was writing.

More tomorrow,

Kiki ;-)
P.S. My request to those who 'borrow' from this blog is to please give adequate credit to the source of the borrowed information - whether me, or books and people I quote from. Thank you.

Do you really want these things to happen ...

Here's a start, to the list of sentences and expressions in 'unconscious language' -- do feel free to contribute to the list:

- If you say/do this, or that, I'll have a heart-attack

- I'm such an idiot

- I'm so forgetful; I hope it isn't the start to Alzheimers (said jokingly)

- I'm losing my mind

- Don't laugh too much; or you'll cry later

- ... attract the evil eye

- With my kind of luck, this'll never work out

- All the women/men in my family died of this dreaded disease (saying this in a fatalistic sense, that you expect to go the same way)

- Oh, nothing can be done - we have to accept things as they are

- Just suck up, and do it! (Never, never, never, 'suck up' anything -- breathe it O-U-T ... nice and slowly :-), till there's a sense of balance within - then decide, from a calm and collected place, what it is you want to do :-)! )

- It doesn't pay to be honest

- True friendship/love is a myth


I've tried to compile a very general list here, but I hope you're getting the drift. "Oh," you may say for some of the above, "it's just a joke." Well, sorry to burst your bubble - but the Universe is very literal - it doesn't have a sense of humor. What you say is what you get.

I'm going to share a really spooky example with you. One of the first people to read my blog and leave a comment was my very dear friend Libby Parker (check her out at solutionsfromwithin.ca). About 5 days ago, I wrote my comments on all the comments received here, and in describing Libby I referred to her as 'a-partner-in-crime', because we were planning to collaborate on a project. Even as I wrote that, I began second-guessing myself because the word crime felt distasteful - but then I thought that I'm perhaps taking this 'conscious language' idea to the level of hair-splitting, and decided to leave it. And guess what? I called her place two days ago and her partner picked up the phone - recognizing my voice, he said: "Hey Kiki, we haven't heard from you in so long - what happened to you?" - and jokingly added, "Were you in jail?" I kid you not - this is the truth! I was so flabbergasted. He thought he was having fun but I couldn't get over it. I told him I'd been busy and would drop in, but not in the very near future, and before I could tell him I was going away for the holidays, he cut me by saying: "Why? You're not going to jail again, are you?" - while laughing away, really unnerving me ... Today, I decided to remove the reference to crime in my comment on Libby's comment.

Some might say 'coincidence' -- but I say there's no such thing as coincidence, because the word for events happening in conjunction, is 'synchronicity'.

Until tomorrow,

Kiki ;-)

Words of anger and violence

I've talked (ok I know that should be 'written' :-), but I'm not going to change it because when I write this blog I feel as though I'm talking) about 'conscious language' a lot. It's worth giving a serious thought to this matter of 'conscious language' if we're going to start paying attention to our thoughts. Words, after all, help us externalize our thoughts ... but very often we say things quite unconsciously, and as a matter of habit - old proverbs, borrowed ideas, vocabulary we're conditioned to use, expressions common in our family, quotations we quote from, expressions of sarcasm and anger that we try to pass off as jokes.

This then is perhaps beginning to sound a bit tricky now, and you aren't sure where this is going. I can understand your discomfiture -- as I, myself, have gone through this conflict. On one hand to be articulate and so enjoy telling jokes and funny stories, and on the other, wanting to bite my tongue (yikes! - what a good example of a violent phrase) each time I spoke words that were best avoided, if I was to mind my language. It seemed at one stage that to speak 'consciously' I'd have to give up having fun with language. Yet, as I walked consciously on the path, slowly but surely I started releasing the habit, and the need, to use words and phrases that were in conflict with what I wanted to see happen in my life. And don't worry - it was a relief to discover that there is more to fun and jokes than sarcasm and black humor. And that nobody's style, of being a good story teller has to suffer.

An example that comes to mind is, several years ago, I was taking courses at a school where there were many women in their 40s and 50s. Some would joke self-deprecatingly that if their businesses didn't take off they'd end up as 'bagladies'. "Don't plan on being at the corner of St. Catherine Street and Peel", said one to the other, "I've booked that for myself!" Everyone else laughed. And this was supposed to be funny? What were they thinking? Now, before you think I have no sense of humor, please stop and think: Would these women have actually wanted to end up as bagladies? Wasn't it just their insecurity and fear that led them to try lighten the fear by trying to turn it into a joke? Except that turning fears into jokes doesn't release the fears - they stays right where they are, and gradually attracts to themselves, their own likeness. (Please refer to the entries from Dec. 14 and 15.)

Whether you agree with me or not right now, do start giving some thought to words that leave your mouth. Stop and think what it is you are creating for yourself.

Before I give a list of commonly used words and expressions that people use a lot, I'd like you to start thinking about the literal meaning of some of the things you say in everyday speech. Just stop to think, and ask yourself, if you would like to manifest whatever it is you are saying --if not, then don't say it!

More tomorrow on 'concious language' ...

Kiki ;-)

Comment: Shail, so appreciate your stopping by ... and thank you for further adding to what I wrote. Folks, Shail Gulhati is an author, a writer with a spiritual inclination, and mystic -- google his name to come up with fascinating information about him, and a list of his books and other interests.

Yesterday's exercise

I want to point out that even though the instructions for yesterday's exercise were pretty specific, the idea behind planning a perfect day was to enable us to identify objects and actions that would create in us emotions that are pleasurable, calming, grounding and provide an overall sense of well-being. THIS, then, was our focus - an experience of a sense of well-being. Why? Because the Universal Laws never stop - just as the gravitational force of the Earth is ever- present, so it is with the Law of Attraction - it works in the same way, never-ceasing, making everything attract its likeness to itself, whatever it may be. By this token, the better we are able to make ourselves feel, the more we will attract that which makes us feel better :-)!

Sadly, however, the opposite too is true. Be negative, full of hatred, jealousy, anger, resentment, operate from a space of fear, and guess what there will be more of in our lives - all of these aforementioned negative emotions. If we asked ourselves, who needs all that junk? - most will say, 'Not me', but then will do nothing to change the status quo. Instead of questioning their own thinking, and their belief system, people look for excuses to blame anybody and everybody for what's not working in their lives, because to accept responsibility for what's not working in our lives is the hardest thing to do.

The way out, ofcourse, is to stop getting all knotted up in negative emotions described above. Focus instead on what makes you feel GOOD -- stay with that as often, and as much as possible, during the day, and the difficult moments even if they come, will flow away, like water off a duck's back. If faced with a difficult or frustrating event, follow the old instructions, breathe out the bad feeling that's present within. This will bring you back in control. Done often enough, you will start noticing a change in the pattern in your day (your life). As you stop hanging on to negative emotions, you will stop attracting them.

I just love how we have the capacity to choose and bring about what we want in our lives -- but of course, to exercise that choice, and to learn and implement the rules is a choice too! And it's here that we fail or succeed...

I hope your weekend's going smoothly!

Kiki ;-)

If your life were perfect

... what would a perfect day in it be like? Let's pick up a pen and some paper, and starting in the morning, let's write down exactly how your day would unfold.

What time would you wake up?

What would you do?

Where would you be?

What would you eat?

How would this day be spent?

If asked, what words would you like to use to describe how you're feeling?

Who are the people around you?

Or would you prefer to be by yourself, away from people, from crowds?

Take your time and describe this day, in the smallest detail. After the writing is done, go back to it and read it very slowly - stopping with each sentence and taking the time to FEEL whatever positive emotion each action brings. Really feel the joy, the contentment, the peace, the satisfaction, the lightness of being. Once this is complete, put this piece of paper safely away, but not too far away -- because you need to occasionally look at it.

If there are thoughts that interfere with the good and positive feelings, just breathe out these negative thoughts, and replace them with good ones.

What are we doing, you ask? Well, we are training our minds to help us create that which we want in our lives - fair enough :-)?

Before I close, I want to sincerely thank each and everyone of you who has written to me - to either acknowledge this blog, or to share how much they are benefitting from these daily writings. It is very gratifying to get emails from readers who say that on some days they feel a certain piece was written just for them.

Kiki ;-)

Is what you do for a living, the same as what you 'ache' for?

If you are that rare individual who can answer this question with a 'Yes', go celebrate, give yourself a hug, write it in you gratitude journal, run outside pump your fist and shout YEEEEAAHHHH!! - and here's a high-five to you from me :-)! Way to go!

The fact however is, that more people do one thing for a living, and separately carry that 'ache' in their heart, for something else - that's been put to a side to dream about, to long for, always outside their reach, something to sigh about, and which they have almost accepted will never be fulfilled. More often than not, this dream is shelved because it won't probably make them any money, or the activity that they do to make a living takes so much time there's no time or energy left for this that they ache for. Well, nobody's suggesting that you substitute what you do for a living with a non-lucrative activity whose sole reward, supposedly, appears to simply bring you pleasure. Nobody said money is not important. Unless our society moves back to the ancient barter-system, money is the energy of exchange, for us to experience our lives fully. But we were talking about what you ache for ...

And it's not just what we ache for that's important -- what is still more important is the part of us that carries this ache. A part that is very, very special because this is the 'authentic' us ... and holds, sometimes hides, our authentic voice. How can we gauge whether this that we ache for deserves our time and attention? The measure that I find easiest to apply, to determine if something I long to do is worth doing is to ask myself - would it be ok with me if I died without having done this? If the answer is NO, then I simply go ahead and do it. The reward? Over time, develop a clear and authentic voice, and become a truly authentic person!

So, if you're in touch with what you 'ache' for, then go on, make some time for it in your life ... chances are good that what you 'ache' for, is a thwarted desire that would make you more complete if you gave it time and attention.

Kiki ;-)

A test of an 'authentic voice'

I had started today's entry with a view to giving more information about the Solar Plexus, and quickly replaced that when out of nowhere I remembered these exquisite words from Oriah Mountain Dreamer - that went across the world like a wildfire ten years ago. I cannot think of a better description of the 'authentic voice'. If you can answer this call, accept this invitation, you can sleep in peace tonight - your voice is authentic!

The Invitation

from 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 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 shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade 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 tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are 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.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the 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 a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or 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 moment

(© 1995 by Oriah House, From "Dreams Of Desire"
Published by Mountain Dreaming
300 Coxwell Avenue, Box 22546, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4L 2A0)

Need more be said?

Kiki ;-)

Comment: My thanks to the wonderful and talented Kitty Jellinek of Australia for her comment and greetings, which I'd like to share with you all :-)!

What is it, to be 'authentic' ...

To understand what 'authentic' is, let's first figure out what 'authenticity' is not. First and foremost, to me, 'authenticity' is a state not related in any way to a fear of any sort. Fears generally stem from a feeling of an imminent, or perceived future loss. Losses may be of several kinds - the commonest being the loss of something that has material value. The next level of loss may be, a loss of face, of reputation, of a good name and anticipated humiliation, a loss of someone's affection or love, or the loss of someone's presence in our lives. Feelings of loss, thus, create fears, which in turn trigger anger.

The part of our body where we experience, or actually feel anger is our solar plexus, which is the endocrine area related to our adrenals. It is also known in yoga as the third chakra. In Sanskrit, a chakra means a circle, or a circular movement - and chakras incidentally are energy centers in our bodies, associated with one or another endocrine gland. Generally speaking the solar plexus is the area above the navel, and below the diaphragm. This is where we feel 'yucky' when we are really angry/upset/mad. The solar plexus is the 'seat of empowerment', but also coversely, the 'seat of disempowerment' in our body. Like the two aspects of anything at all, both these emotions are experienced right here. Disempowerment is the direct result of the loss, fear, and anger cycle, until we learn to manage ourselves differently.

I'm often asked, so how do we know if we are coming from an 'authentic place' or not. Well, when we say or do something, and experience a lot of emotion in the solar plexus area, it should be clear to us that we are operating from an 'inauthentic' place. However, when we are true to ourselves, calm, and grounded, with no baggage of emotion, then we are operating from an 'authentic' space. Try it - you'll be amazed at having the experience of being totally in control, voicing what you want to say, with clarity, and power.

Getting better every day :-)!

Kiki ;-)

Dare to 'have a voice'

Broadly speaking, there are two aspects to having a voice. The first is an everyday voice. It may consist of your opinion on who should be the Man of the Year on a magazine cover, to the ideal thickness of a pizza crust :-)! In other words, it is all about our preferences and the choices we make, one over another - and when we expound on these choices, that then, becomes our voice. Mary Pipher, in her book 'Writing to Change the World', draws a list of questions to answer, to help find your voice. Amongst them are:

What makes you laugh, cry, and open your heart?
What points do you repeatedly make to those you love?
What topics keep you up at night, or help you fall asleep?
What do you know to be true?
What is beautiful to you?
What excites your curiosity?
And my favorite - What do you want to accomplish before you die?

Being able to answer these, would certainly be a great start to help us discover more about ourselves, however, the second aspect of a 'voice' is more profound. And to illustrate my point about the 'authentic voice' I'm going to suggest that after you've thought and written down the answers to the above questions, write 'WHY' after your answers, and one more time go back, to ponder over why you chose your answers.

E.g. what makes you laugh? Why?
What makes you cry? Why?
What makes you open your heart? Why?
What points do you repeatedly make to those you love? Why? etc.

Although this list is by no means exhaustive, it's a good start to get to know yourself more intimately. Hopefully, you'll have some clarity about being the person you are, and getting closer in touch with yourself. Are the choices you make convenient facades to maintain a status quo? - in order not to rock the boat? Or do your choices reflect decisions made from a clear and grounded space, that feels just right?

The question to ask yourself is how do the two situations FEEL in your body? HOW do you feel when your voice is 'fake', and how when your voice is 'authentic'? Really slow down and allow yourself the first experience. After a while, allow the second. Which feels better? Which feels like a trap? Where lies a sense of lightness, and freedom?

More tomorrow on 'authenticity' ...

Kiki ;-)

What makes you happy?

This random question was thrown at me yesterday by someone who's almost a stranger. Needless to say, even though I know myself well enough to spontaneously answer a question like this, I was nevertheless dumbstruck as to what to say - and how much I wanted to reveal about myself to this person I hardly knew, and who hardly knew me. I chose to laugh it off, and realized later the personal nature of a question like this. It's depth really got my attention. Sounds innocuous enough, but I wonder how many people can answer this question about themselves without getting all caught up with their favorite icecream flavor :-)!

For that matter, how many of us know who we really are? Writers are reminded again and again that in order to write, it's important to 'have a voice'. I believe that in our lives too, having a voice is important - to stand for something, to have an opinion. And it is equally important that this voice be 'authentic', and doesn't just 'say what others want to hear'.

I once attended a talk by an erstwhile Montreal writer Joe Fiorito, who was invited by one of my writers' groups to give a talk on writing and publishing. He had a lot to say about 'developing a voice' and at the end during question time, someone asked him, "And how, Mr. Fiorito, does one develop a voice?" "To have a voice," replied the intrepid Mr. Fiorito, "get a life!" Some in the audience snickered, others chuckled politely. I stared open-mouthed at the speaker ... what a concept! --to 'get a life!' ... to the sitting-on-the-fence Libra part of me this was a watershed moment. I realized then why I had not pursued my one biggest passion, to write, because somewhere inside me lurked a part that knew that to write one must take a stand, have an opinion, be unafraid to voice it, knowing everybody will not agree with me - having a voice then, automatically means holding yourself aloft and being courageous in the face of dissenting voices, and disagreements - it means never again being a 'people-pleaser', having no backbone, swaying in whichever direction the wind blows around you.

My answer to the person who asked me the above question, if I'd known him better, would surely have been: What makes me happy is to be in places and company, where I can have the freedom to be ME, speaking in my authentic voice without having to bite my tongue to avoid hurting someone - knowing they are not ready to hear what I have to say! This is not to say we can't love and like others who are not on our wave-lengths ... that's not the topic here - it's about the question, what makes us happy.

Tomorrows entry will have someone helpful tips on discovering who you are :-), or at least having more clarity about it.

Kiki ;-)

Is it 'selfish' to take care of ourselves first?

bvgTo take care of ourselves first, or not, is always a choice. However, the consequences of the two choices, might be vastly different. Evaluate the consequences, and choose which scenario is for you.

In the first, if we focus only on 'giving, and more giving' we will realize soon enough, the well has dried up, and there's nothing left to give. We can often get so focused on 'giving' that we don't remember to 'replenish our stocks', of time, energy, health among others. Even if we do remember, but do nothing about taking care of our needs, because of guilt, or a host of other self-sabotaging beliefs, the result will be the same -- a point will be reached when there'll be nothing available to us to share. And nothing left to give. It doesn't take rocket science to understand that if you ask someone to lend you $50, they can give it to you only if they have it - and not, if they don't!

The second scenario is most easily explained by what you're told when you are in a plane, taking a flight. When the safety features are explained you are always told that in an emergency, if there's a drop in cabin pressure, you must wear your own oxygen mask first, and then help the child or an elderly person not in a position to wear their own masks. The logic is simple - if you started helping others without taking care to wear your own mask, and you started getting panicky and confused due to a lack of oxygen to yourself, you'll end up helping nobody, and probably harm the ones you love and want to help.

This second scenario is not to be confused with out and out selfishness, a hallmark of narcissism, but a keeping of balance between giving and receiving. It is quite astonishing to see how many people are great at giving, but are so embarrassed to receive. I used to be one such person myself, but changed when I became aware of the imbalance in myself - when I discovered that underlying the modesty and humility, and the sheer embarrassment of 'receiving', was a deeper belief that 'I didn't deserve'! Gosh - the things we do to ourselves, stemming from unconscious belief systems. Well, in this festive season especially, let's go forth, let's give much, and receive much :-)!

Kiki ;-)

Being true to yourself ...

Being true to ourselves needs immense courage, and it is where we very frequesntly fall, and fail. In 'rescuing' others we do great disservice to them as we do to ourselves. Paulo Coelho, has written very clearly and beautifully about this in his book: Manual of the Warrior of Light. In my 1997 edition, on pages 200 and 201 he writes:

A Warrior Knows When a Battle is Worth Fighting

He bases his decision on inspiration and faith. He nevertheless meets people who ask him to fight battles that he does not know or which do not interest him. They want to involve the warrior of light in contests that are important to them, but not to him.

Often these are people close to the warrior of light, people who love him and trust in his strength and who want him to ease their anxieties in some way.

At such moments, he smiles and makes it clear to them that he loves them, but he does not take up the challenge.

A true warrior of light always chooses his own battlefield.

************************************

How eloquently put! And it's true that if we don't take care of ourselves, we serve nobody at all!

Be well, everyone,

Kiki ;-)

Comment: Thank you Aart Hilal for taking the trouble to write and share Paulo Coelho's blog information. When I first saw this book, I was travelling in India, and bought 15 copies to give away to friends and family :-)!

Overwhelmed? Life getting too much for you?

Is this what's going on? Is life getting too much for you? Not only are work, responsibilities, and deadlines crowding around, but you're adding to your stress by not stopping to smell the roses, and taking the time to just breathe?

Here's a tried and tested recipe to help yourself get your breath back, and relieve the stress brought on by the compulsion to appear and feel more intelligent, more successful, richer, cooler, smarter, better in every way than the next guy, or girl. Sure, you can be and do all of this if that's what you want - but now and then if you give yourself a break from it you'll start getting to know a very special person! This person is no other than the 'real' and/or 'authentic' part of you, that's always been lurking within - presumably never, or very seldom acknowledged by you. To re-acquaint yourself with this part, a simple exercise may help. Write down the four lines below on a piece of paper, and memorize them. Think of them often during the day, especially during moments you find yourself feeling overwhelmed. I stumbled upon two of the lines in the verse below, but in trying to effectively use the idea, I added two more to create the little verse. I used to actually call it my 'mantra'. It helped me a lot during a phase when I used to 'beat myself up' a lot for not meeting my own high expectations of myself, and pushing myself to do and be more, and still more. What I know today is that when we get like this, it isn't at all for ourselves that we want to be a certain way. We do it because of a deep feeling of insecurity, and a sad and negative belief that by having more, by being more, or doing more, we'll get the attention/affection/validation/love etc. that we need from others.

The verse is:

I KNOW ENOUGH
I DO ENOUGH
I HAVE ENOUGH
I AM ENOUGH

The way I used it was, I had written it out neatly, and framed it in a 5"x7" frame and placed it on my bedside table. And there it stayed for the longest time, until one day I looked at it and realized that the things I wanted to know, to do, to have, and to be were for myself - not because I wanted to be seen as a person who had them, to in turn be admired for them. Operating from that space is what is stressful! Wanting a certain experience for yourself is very different than wanting an experience to elicit a reaction from others. This difference is very subtle, almost elusive - it is easy to miss the distinction, because it is very easy to get caught in the deception and the games our minds play with us. The 'authentic self' is outside of the games - it doesn't care to impress, or await others' admiration and appreciation. It's this 'authentic self' that just IS ... and the more we get to know it, the less stressed we will be.

Kiki ;-)

Oh, but this is so hard ...

So, you like the ideas, but you find them hard to use or implement - is it? ... That's totally understandable, actually. Most new ideas in the beginning feel hard to use. Especially those that challenge our status quo. After all, it took our mind years of conditioning, to accept certain beliefs as home truths -- and just when we embraced and accepted these beliefs unquestioningly, and let them define who we are, whether good or bad, wrong or right, we get shown something completely new which even if it seems plausible and promising, is difficult to accept. We find ourslves resisting even that which we suspect would be good for us.

Well, this blog is not the place for me to argue with anyone's resistance. For anyone who wants to have a deeper understanding of what's going on for them, or answers to where thay're at, please feel free to go to the Comments section (if it's a private message for me, rest assured it'll not get posted here) and write your query, not forgetting your contact email for me to write back - as for everyone else, in keeping with the philosophy of this blog, of simplicity and straightforwardness, I'm going to suggest a very radical, but fun action to take. Here's what I'm asking you to do, next time you are filled with fear, or anxiety about any issue at all in your life - and I mean that ... ANY ISSUE AT ALL! This is what I'm going to suggest you do: Close your eyes, and picture yourself Laughing - really loudly, uproariously, with your head thrown back, just laughing! See others around you too just laughing, loudly, deliriously laughing. Do this three or four times a day, for 3-4 minutes each time, and you will see how fast there's a disidentification with the worry, the fear, or even sadness and moroseness that can overwhelm anyone, anytime.

Have fun, visualizing yourself happy and laughing!

Kiki ;-)

But what if my life really isn't that great?

I'm often asked, what can someone do if their life isn't really all that great? How can they be positive, and use 'conscious language'? Well, the first thing to do is to disconnect from perpetuating the negativity. It's something that occurred to me one day, some years ago, and I tried it when I wasn't feeling the greatest about where my life was at. The result was awesome! The lift I got, and the shift I felt in my energy were fabulous. All I did was state that fact in the past tense. E.g. instead of saying 'my life sucks', try saying 'my life used to suck - now it's gotten better/now it's OK/now I'm fine! When I ask people to try this, they literally choke on the words - it feels so weird to them to state the negative idea in the past tense, so identified are they with it! Being able to actually rephrase the same thing, and speak of it as a situation that's over, instantly frees you up - and you feel light and liberated. Try it - you'll see!

Someone countered with 'But, it's a lie for me to put it in past tense - the reality is that my life isn't that great.' Well, it's a lie if you've irrevocably accepted that your life isn't great - but what if you focused on the things, and the parts of your life that DO work, and consider THAT your reality. Now would be a good time to look into the 'Gratitude Journal', and the things you've written there :-)! I was telling someone today, that so long as we're here, living the human experience, there's a part of the glass that's going to be empty - there always IS the half empty part to every glass (of course there are moments when we feel our 'cup runneth over', but this is always transient) - the trick however, to experiencing your life as a success is to be grateful for the half that's full. And how well we succeed in doing this, I believe, is the true measure of who we are!

May the wind be at your back - and the road rise up to meet you,

Kiki ;-)

YOU are great ...

On Nov. 30 someone left me a comment that at first sight embarrassed me. I pondered briefly if I should post it or not, and then did - because I did still want to acknowledge the person's sentiment. They had sent it anonymously, and there was no other means by which I could have acknowledged seeing it. I would actually have loved hearing more from you, whoever you are. It's obvious you benefitted from some idea expounded here and that's why you were apprciative of me. But I want you to know that we recongnize in others qualities we have within us - what we don't have, we cannot 'see' in someone else. So, write down in your list of positive things about yourself that 'you are great' :-) ... and next time please say more, and let me know what touched you so much. And, of course, thank you very much for writing in :-)!

*********************************

I would love feedback on how yesterday's exercise went for people. Was it better, or was it worse, to not be 'reactive', and instead, just breathe out negative emotions? If you did try it, believe me you did yourself a huge favor on another count. It has now been proven by even mainstream medicine that toxic emotions cause a host of diseases in us. It is, therefore, better to externalize negative/toxic emotions than to keep mulling over them and to find ways to keep perpetuating them. If you haven't yet had any opportunity to practice yesterday's exercise, you can use the same steps to help yourself process any residual anger you are holding within from a recent conflict you've had with someone. New behaviours require a little time - give yourself the gift of that time ... 'cause you are worth it :-)!

Kiki ;-)

... not in control ... what to do?

Great Question - and one that has many answers: from binge-eating, to getting mad, to stop talking to people, to being sarcastic and giving them tongue-lashings or then take the spiritual highroad with a holier than thou attitude, making others wrong, and yourself right :-)! But it doesn't have to be one of these, nevermind the great temptation :-)! There are sane and safe middlegrounds for everyday folks like us. Over time I devised a coping mechanism for myself, which I'll share here - perhaps you'll find it useful too. But first let's list a few 'moments of unexpected change', to understand how pervasive these are. To me, these might range from an unexpected change in plans; a last-minute cancellation of a planned rendez-vous; a broken promise; situations resulting from false expectations - ours or other people's; a change in our own mood, and very importantly, the commonest of experiences in everyday dealings with loved ones, friends, and acquaintences, when there may be an unexpected deadlock in an ongoing conversation or communication, and anger, animosity, negativity emerge in language or behaviour, causing us great anguish, and a sense of powerlessness and loss of control. There may be any number of variations of these themes.

So, back to the question? What can one do? Well, in such situations I turn my attention away from the person before me and focus on myself, and take stock of how I'm feeling. Try it next time, and you'll realize how awful you are feeling! Based on what I now know, instead of being reactive, I inwardly turn my attention away from the person in front of me and focus on my breathing. I gently take a deep in-breath (with my mouth closed) and start breathing out anger/frustration/irritation or whatever negative emotion it is that has gotten triggered in me. Remember to open your mouth very slightly while exhaling - and exhale long and deep, quietly, and noiselessly. I do this a few times till the 'trigger moment' passes. I'm obviously careful not to do any of this deliberately or loudly, because the idea is not to let the other person know how lousy you're feeling, and to therefore not huff and puff before them :-), but to quietly regain your own sense of control.

Before getting all caught up in how I'm going to resolve the situation more fully, with the person/people concerned, this little exercise helps me to take a step back. I pass Rumi's test - and keep my essence contained :-)! I have found that a profound experience of a lightness of being, is the rich reward of practicing these steps, in moments of unexpected change ...

Kiki ;-)

Our true essence is revealed ...

"Our true essence is revealed in moments of unexpected change," wrote Rumi, another Sufi poet. The first time I read these words, some ten years ago, I was quite in awe, a little bit afraid, and filled with trepidation as to how I'd measure up. I knew within, that most moments of unexpected change filled me with frustration, irritation, sometimes anger, often fear, and a feeling of powerlessness and a loss of control, especially if I perceived the responsibility for the change to be someone else's. Depending on how much I believed the extent of my suffering was, on account of this unexpected change, I would be harshly judgemental in direct proportion, of the person I held responsible for it.

But as I continued to grow and evolve, a very conscious choice from which there was going to be no turning back, I found that I used the above quote as a measure, a touchstone, of how I was changing - from being a 'victim' of other people's vagaries, to handling situations with equanimity and without drama - and always accepting full responsibility for that which was going on in my immediate environment. For that, fellow wayfarers, is what the truth is - that there is nothing in our lives that we don't attract and/or create. Playing vicitm doesn't work, because we ourselves are our perpetrators! And the sooner we accept this, the faster we can move on, onto the path of joy, happiness, contentment, fulfilment, and empowerment. And when we accept responsibility for everything in our lives, unexpected change only reveals a very beautiful true essence :-)!

But - you might ask ... surely there are things outside our control - what do we do about those? Well, for now digest Rumi's quote - make it your own - chew it, taste it, relish it, till it becomes second nature to use it as a yardstick to measure your reactions in different situations. You will find it stops you dead in your tracks from being 'reactive', since we want to be proud, and not ashamed of our 'true essence'.

Kiki ;-)

More experiences of conscious language ...

I have a list with me, called 101 Things to Say to Praise and Encourage a Child. Some of these are :

- Way to go!
- Well done!
- Super star!
- Looking good!
- Nice work!
- Now you've got it!
- Good job!
- That's incredible!
- I like what you do!
- I'm impressed!
- You're clever!
- Atta girl!
- Atta boy!
- Spectacular!
- You'e very creative!
- You're a treasure!
- What an imagination!
- I trust you!
- That's correct!
- You did your best!
- I'm glad you're my kid!
- You made my day!
- You're awesome!
- I love you!


I'd like you to stop now, and think how your life might have been different if as a child, a significant person in your life had said some of these to you? If you, indeed, had been praised this way, how might that have changed who you are today, or what you do today? How might your life have turned out?

To use this as an exercise for yourself, read each praise, close your eyes, and 'hear' someone significant say it to you. One by one. Take your time with each praise - truly feeling it in your heart. Work of this nature often brings up intense emotion. If that should happen, allow the emotion ... if there are tears please, please just let them flow. Don't swallow them. Most people have a lifetime of swallowed tears that just keep choking us up, especialy at very inconvenient moments. It's time to release them. It's time to use the above to praise yourself!

A demain ... until tomorrow,

Kiki ;-)

I want to honor those of you

... who did yesterday's exercise - and are still standing, and better still, smiling :-)...

To honor and celebrate you, I chose the following two poems from 'I Heard God Laughing' - a book of poems by Hafiz (a fourteenth century Sufi poet), translated so ably and so delightfully by Daniel Ladinsky - and introduced to me by one of my very dear friends, another companion 'on the path', Cezanna Christine Malter (www.joyousliving.com).

These two are from the section 'You are with the Friend now' ('Friend' is Hafiz' allusion to God). In the poems in this section, Hafiz describes some of the preparations required for the Inner Journey of Love. He urges us to let go of habitual negative attitudes and unnecessary attachments, which only weigh us down. To make this journey, we must be light, happy and free to go Dancing! - so writes Daniel Ladinsky ... and I find these words so perfect, to honor your soul, dear reader, exhorting you to leave behind labels and names, others called you by, which you took over as your own, until you stopped seeing even your own Light:

My brilliant Image

One day the sun admitted

I am just a shadow.
I wish I could show you,
The Infinite Incandescene

That has cast my brilliant image!

I wish I could show you
When you are lonely or in darkness,

The Astonishing Light

Of your own Being!'


**********

Manic Screaming

We should make all spiritual talk
Simple today.

God is trying to tell you something,
But you don't want to buy.

That is what your suffering is:

Your fantastic haggling,
Your manic screaming over the price!


**********

I hope you enjoyed these. And isn't it true that more often than not, in our lives, we get so snarled in the 'price' of things, that we completely lose touch with their 'value'.

This book is an inseperable part of me - and I just love to open it on a random page and enjoy the poem there! A great present to buy yourself, in this festive season :-) ...

Have a wonderful day,

Kiki ;-)

How are we doing? ... a little test to find out ...

OK - so how are we all doing? Let's find out right now :-) ...

Take a piece of paper. Yes, yes ... go ahead ... get up - don't be lazy. This part absolutely needs some paper and something to write with. Got it? Yes? Wonderful! Now starting on the left, write your name, followed by IS .... e.g. KIKI (Your name) IS ___________ ... and without stopping to think, as spontaneously as possible, add all the words that come to mind ...

Keep going till you have at least 10 adjectives (more is OK). There's a good chance some of these words show you in a positive light, and some don't. Now, take another piece of paper. On this, using the positive words, write sentences about yourself. E.g. Kiki is a good joke teller, etc. etc. Make a list of sentences that describe you as having good qualities.

Next - {{drumroll}} :-) - go to the bathroom and bring back the roll of toilet paper (or get a box of Kleenex). Carefully, since this paper is not meant for writing, using each of the 'not so nice' words, write out sentences about yourself on each square sheet, e.g. Kiki is a crybaby (I used to be called that by my family a lot when I was young :-)... ) etc. Once all the words have been used up in sentences, each on a different square of paper, go back to the bathroom with this pile, read each one again, and one by one flush them down the toilet.

So, what did we just do? Well, at a very core level, we took the first step to start reclaiming parts of ourselves. These adjectives that you wrote aren't really your opinions of yourself, but opinions of others that you bought into, a long, long time ago. Before deeper and more lasting work can be done, it's enough to take the first step to disidentify from the negative energy of these words and cut lose of them.

Go back now to the other list with the nice things you wrote about yourself -- add a few more sentences, if more positive descriptions of yourself come to mind ... really slow down while reading these - take in each one, smile, take a deep breath and allow your heart to open up. When you are done, put this piece of paper somewhere safe but handy, to look at at least a couple times a day.

How did that feel? Great, I'll bet - and on that note, 'A la prochaine' ...

Kiki ;-)

First, stop beating your own self up ...

Let's break this business of 'Conscious Language' into tinier bits, to bite, chew, and digest.

In the course of the day today I met several people, and it still amazes me to find how easily people will denigrate themselves, get mad at themselve, and call themselves names such as a fool, stupid, idiot, nutcase etc. Why people do it is for later, but for now, let's ask ourselves what we can do to stop ourselves, if we're induging in this self-flagellation. In the beginning, when I was new to this concept, and indulged indiscriminately in using UNconscious language, no sooner did I catch myself doing it, I would just put my index finger up, in space (on an imaginary 'mouse') and say 'delete, delete, delete' :-) ... to disconnect from self-beating. It was funny, made everyone around me laugh, and I felt I was finally doing something to break the bad habit. By contrast, when I did something smart I'd pat myself on my back, as if to say 'good girl'! ITry it and you'll see how empowering it is!

As always, please feel free to forward to anyone you know who'll benefit from these writings.

Kiki ;-)

Changing the words we use ...

As a young child in India, I used to often hear my mother tell my siblings and I, to say only good things. "Because," she used to say, "there's a magic moment in each day when anything you say, comes true - and you want to be sure to be saying good things all the time, because no one knew when the magic moment was." She would tell us that there was a story about a man who decided to create untold wealth for himself by using this principle of 'the magic moment', by repeating all day long a wish for manifesting great wealth. On a chosen day, he repeated all day long that may he become the richest man in town. The whole day passed and nothing happened. At the very end of the day, in disgust, he cried, "Satyanash!" - an Indian word uttered in disgust and anger, to mean 'Everything is destroyed' (OR 'May everything be destroyed') ... and of course, guess what? - everything that man already owned turned to dust, nevermind his dreams of future wealth!

I remembered this story a few months ago, after what must be decades. I was pondering the fact of 'conscious language' and from the deep recesses of my past it emerged. How simply the traditionalists used stories and fables to impress the Spiritual Laws upon us. This was but another way my mother tried to teach us the Law of Attraction, by de-intellectualizing it!

A 75-year old friend once told me, when I was spewing forth on this subject :-), that his Bible-reading grandma used to tell him that the scriptures said, "Thoughts are things"! So, if thoughts are things, why not just have the good ones! Ever catch yourself say 'with my kind of luck', 'bad things happen in threes', '(I'm) waiting for the other shoe to drop', 'I'm a good candidate for this (some horrendous) disease, because it runs in my family' ... Well, now that you know this, what're you gonna do? What will you choose to think, and believe, and say? It's your call now ...

Kiki ;-)

Quick now ... what's the song in your heart?

OK, quick now - what's the song in your head? It's almost certain that the song in your head is indicative of unconscious emotions you are experiencing. So, what are you supposecd to do now? Nothing much if it's a happy, upbeat, positive song -- but if it's a sad song, why not change it for a happy one! Why, you ask? Because our old friend 'the law of attraction' is continuing to do its number, and I'd rather attract into my day that which is happy, and upbeat, instead of the sad and negative.

As we all know, 'thoughts are things', so why let the sad, or negative songs, present in our heads as thoughts, manifest sadness or negativity into our lives. As we start becoming aware of the songs in our heads, and the thoughts in our minds, there's a good chance we will start changing the ones we don't want to see manifested in our lives. Some of us may feel very attached to sad songs - I used to be like that about some songs, and actually believed that I enjoyed wallowing in the emotions they stirred up - but as I learnt about 'conscious language' and 'conscious thought' I worked hard to replace those songs and thoughts, as soon as I became aware of them.

More on 'Conscious language' and 'conscious thought' tomorrow ...

So, watch those thoughts, remain grateful, and dream big :-)!

Kiki ;-)

A promise is a promise ... and 'dreams alive' ...

The 'promise' in the subject line is a promise to myself - to write this blog everyday, each day ... no relenting - no getting de-motivated. The previous blog was written very late last night and even as the prospect of doing two in one day loomed large I told myself, no matter, if I have to do a second one then that's what I'll do. I'm very pleased with myself for my determination, and for my word to me being 'IMPECCABLE'! (Did you read 'The Four Agreements' by Don Miguel Ruiz?)

Reverting to yesterday's suggestions, of steps to take to keep the 'writing dream' alive, the rationale behind the actions was to keep the self-sabotaging at bay, that's all. We often find that some of our long cherished dreams do come true, but others simply fade away. I happen to believe that the ones that faded away were viewed by us, at a deep level, as hard to achieve, because we already believed, ahead of time, at a deep level, that they would not/could not, come true. We set ourselves up for failure by being filled with self-doubt and not believing in our dreams, and still less that they would actually come true. This negative thought process is part of being human, and to control such thoughts is not easy. Therefore, taking small and big actions in the direction of the dream, keeps the mind diverted from sabotaging thoughts, and willy-nilly creates positive focus on what we'd like to see manifested. Where we end up in life is totally a result of the choices we made, each time there was a fork in the road. So, when the fork appeared, which road did you choose? The one that took you towards your dream, or the one that took you away from it? Never mind the compulsions. Which way did you fork?

I recently saw a quote associated with the recently deceased Swedish film-maker Ingmar Bergen: "I carry within me, my own demons and angels." That is true, not just for Mr. Bergman, but for all humanity. We all carry within our own demons, and it's these demons residing in our subconscious minds that all but control the directions our lives take, and shall take. I'm reminded of another quote - this one by Carl Jung: "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate." Are you surprised, at this definition of fate? So, guess what? Your fate is in your own hands, by the sounds of it! That can only be good news, n'est-ce pas? Isn't it? Get to know the demons and take the power back from them, to make the right choices, to have results of your own choosing.

Ok dokey - enough food for thought here ...

Kiki ;-)

Keeping ALIVE the dreams ...

The earlier blog brought an instant response from 'my new acquaintence'-- "Thanks!", she wrote, "It's inspiring. And here's a question: how does one go about letting go of the HOW in this case" ... and she went on to explain that she wants to work on her book, and is not quite able to keep that dream alive. She continues, "...writing fiction takes time and effort (just like any other dream). I'm all for the letting go of the struggle to get to my dream...but in the end I'm still going to have to write the thing. In writing, so much must come out of my brain. I'm afraid that if I let go of the how, I'll never write another word again!"

I wrote back: "Thanks to you that's what I'll write about tomorrow :-)! But here's a preview for you! The thing with some dreams is, somewhere along the way our subconscious mind picked up the message that this particular wish is going to be HARD to have - the underlying reasons for this may be 'I don't deserve ...', 'I'm not good enough', I'm not safe - I'll be laughed at'... these are just three of numerous self-sabotaging negative beliefs possibly at work, and that's why nothing seems to be happening."

"So, for now for you", I told her, "here are some steps to take (which I myself took - I never tell people to do what I don't/didn't do myself):

- start talking about it, your book, and your desire/dream of writing it .. at first tell people you feel safe talking about it to (safe in the sense of those you feel emotionally 'safe' with - who won't laugh at you)
- join a writers' group and attend their meetings
- 'SEE' (picture) yourself as a successful writer .. happy and excited that your first book is published
- picture yourself at your book launch, signing your book for crowds of people
- at some point when you start writing, get business cards printed, calling yourself a Writer/Freelance Writer etc.

All this will serve to send a message to your subconscious mind that you really want this to happen. Once your subconscious mind accepts the idea, events will start getting aligned, to bring you dreams to fruition."

Some more on this tomorrow,

Kiki ;-)

Having dreams ... and keeping them alive ...

Today's topic was triggered by a chance email I got from a new acquaintence, who said that keeping dreams alive was not easy. I wrote back to say thanks for the timeliness, in helping me prioritize my ideas for today's blog, and here we are!

It was in the early 70s, when hanging posters in your home was not yet passé. I used to often visit V.B., a cousin-in-law who had this poster up in her bedroom. It was a fairly huge one, a beautiful scene in nature and the words:

Happy are those who dream dreams ...
And can pay the price to make them come true.

I remember being deeply fascinated by the lines. It touched a very core place in me ... but sadly, the second line had an ominous ring to it. At that younger age, it fuelled my sense of adventure, but there must have been a quiet sharp in-breath, in feeling the fear brought on by the idea of 'paying the price'. Today, I know, there's no such thing as a price to pay. Because today I KNOW, that it's not mine to judge HOW my dreams will come true ... and if I should but stay aware of all the WOW moments of my life, the HOWs of the things I'm passionate about will get aligned - without my orchestrating them to. Need proof? Look back at your own life, and think about the things that you really wanted and which have manifested, even though you did nothing tangible to make them happen. I have many personal stories to tell - one that comes readily to mind is that from a very young age I wanted to live in the West ... and a deep desire to see my son educated in North America led to the alignment of a gazillion events that also resulted in my own dream to live in the West come true.

One of the ways to manifest your dreams is of course, the already mentioned expressing of gratitude for the things we already have. If I get into all the related information about keeping the dream alive, today's entry itself could turn into a whole book. So, let's chew this in small bits and if you haven't gone shopping for the Notebook yet, perhaps do so, to be ready for the next step ;-)! And what better day to start than on Thanksgiving - being celebrated today by our neighbours to the South (the Canadian Thanksgiving was on Oct. 8).

It doesn't matter where you are in the world - every day can be Thanksgiving ... and in fact the more frequently you celebrate this day ;-) the more you can have of what you want :-) ...

I've already had my miracle manifestation today. More and more, I have been wanting to work from home - and have always remembered to give thanks on days I have. Today is a very challenging day in Montreal, weather-wise: snow, rain, and freezing rain icing up the streets - and I have two clients coming home for their courses, instead of me travelling to the University. Thank YOU, God!

Kiki ;-)

Wisdom from Maya Angelou

After the epistles of the last four days, I thought today's writing would be short and sweet. And so, here's a lovely quote from the venerable Maya Angelou:

"I have learnt that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." A wonderful quote for sure, but I'd like to add, that since 'charity begins at home', start by treating yourself well, and making yourself feel good, and as your cup overflows it'll fall on those around you :-)! Because what we do not have, we are incapable of giving.

Before logging off, my heartfelt thanks to those of you who wrote in with their comments. What I loved is that people are happy to have a reminder of things they already know. These ideas, specially on the theme of gratitude were obviously not invented by me - at an innate level we all know these principles, but for one reason or another we choose to forget them.

Ok - where's that gratitude journal :-)?

Kiki ;-)

Pollyanna ... 'The Glad Girl'

Some four or five years ago my writers' group had invited Marilyn Vanderhaeghe, a Montreal writer, to one of our monthly meetings, to speak about her writing experiences. She also did some reporting and journalistic writings, and as she went on we realized that she wrote only about the good things that happened in the community. This was a revelation, and one member actually got up to ask her about it. Her already charming personality got more appealing for me as she unabashedly confessed to being a 'Pollyanna of news-reporting'. She said no matter what, she didn't write about any bad things that happened around her or in the community - but only the positive, and the uplifting. The reason I was so impressed with her was that as she was talking, my mind was shouting within, 'But, that's me! That's me! That's what I am - a Pollyanna! It's what I've always been, and this is what I'd like to do - be a spokesperson for all that's good, beautiful, and wonderful in the world, in life.' Marilyn's words were not new or a surprise for me, because I had heard them in my own head for years and years - but what listening to her did for me was to validate for me my own voice, to express such ideas, and hold my own before cynics, sceptics, pessimists, and others with a 'dark' view of life, and the world.

To each his own! Being a Pollyanna works just fine for me - in fact it fits me to a T - and I love 'doing' Pollyanna :-)! I remember, years ago, in India, when the morning newspaper was delivered with morbid pictures of death and destruction on the front page, I used to dream of starting a daily that I'd have liked to call The Good News Tribune, with happy pictures on the front page, so that people would start their day on a cheerful, uplifting note. Marilyn Vanderhaeghe, therefore, felt a soul-sister of sorts!

For those who could use some information about Pollyanna, and who she was, here's some information - the source is Wikipedia:

Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature - and eleven more Pollyanna sequels, known as "Glad Books", were later published, most of them written by Elizabeth Borton or Harriet Lummis Smith.

Pollyanna has been adapted for film several times. [edit] Plot introduction
The title character is Pollyanna Whittier, a young orphan who goes to live in a small New England town with her wealthy but dour Aunt Polly. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. It originated in a disappointing mishap: Pollyanna's father mail-ordered a doll for his daughter's Christmas present, but what showed up was two crutches. Making the game up on the spot, he taught Pollyanna look at the good side of things— to be "Glad for we don't need to use these".

Consequently, Pollyanna always tries to find something to be glad about in every situation, and to always do without delay whatever she thinks is right. With this philosophy, and her own sunny personality, she becomes known as "The Glad Girl", and brings so much gladness to her aunt's dispirited New England town that she transforms it into a pleasant, healthy place to live.

Inscription on Pollyanna's brooch, a gift from her father, says: "When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." — Abraham Lincoln. The novel's success brought the term "pollyanna" into the language to describe someone who is cheerfully optimistic and who always maintains a generous attitude toward the motives of other people. At the height of her popularity, Pollyanna was known as "The Glad Girl".

I'll sign off with 'If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.' :-)!

Kiki ;-) - the glad girl!

P.S. If there's someone you believe could use this, please forward it to them. If you receive this as a forward, please book mark to have it handy.

RULES? What Rules??

Ever since posting yesterday's piece, a part of me has been engrossed in analyzing my choice of the word 'rules', as in 'rules pertaining to the Gratitude Journal'. Here's a sample of my circular thoughts: 'Rules? Who am I to lay down rules?' 'Rules? How distasteful!' 'What rules? This is supposed to be fun, and simple to do - spontaneous ...' I decided then, that the choice of the word was inappropriate, because what I really was going to be writing about was akin to responses to a set of FAQs. And that's what it's going to be - phew!

I'm not going to list all the questions that I've been asked over the years, but simply the responses I've given to people. If anyone has a question that's not been answered, please do feel free to write/comment and I will address it. Fair?

Responses to FAQs:

- First focus on THAT day's positive events and write them down. If there's stuff from other days you want to express gratitude for, by all means do so, but these would be #6 and on.

- To anyone who says they can't think of anything to be thankful for 'in this sucky life of theirs', I say: 'Really now - the fact that you have this Gratitude Journal poised on you lap means that at some level you believed you'd have something to write - yes?' Some reminders for things to be grateful for: you're breathing; you're alive; chances are you have some loving family members, especially if they said or did something nice for you; someone outside the family said or did something nice; a good chance you had a fairly decent dinner, before sitting in bed with your Journal; at work your boss came in later than you did; parking was easy; you didn't miss your bus; nature - flowers, trees, sun, rain, sky; there's something or someone to celebrate; you received an email that gave your heart such a lift you decided to forward it to all your friends ;-); a last minute cancellation of a meeting that freed up your time; even as you feel compassion for, and do what you can for people in dangerous/disaster stricken areas of the world, you and your loved ones are safe. Bet you can find hundreds more to add ...

- On a REALLY BAD day, you can write one or two things and repeat them till you have five. The idea here is to stay in positive anticipation.

- In this list you can be sarcastic :-)! You can say stuff like, how grateful you are that the day is over :-)! Don't worry - it's perfectly OK ... helps to externalize the negative feelings ... then take a deep breath, exhale and think again. Now perhaps, the list will exceed 5.

- On this list you can be mad/angry, with the Higher Intelligence. Surprised? Well, what I've learnt is that being angry with people causes too much damage on each side, and at many levels - physical, mental, emotional, and finally spiritual. Better instead to 'speak strongly' to God :-), and tell Him/Her that you didn't approve of something that happened to you :-), and while you were willing to concede that a few 'little' things did go OK, you expect a better deal the next day. I personally have had quite a lot of fun with this :-)!

Ok folks, that's it for today! Number 1 on my list tonight is going to be my 9:45 a.m. call from San Francisco from my younger grandson: "Nanu, nanu (my grandsons' cute distortion of Nani)", he went, "I made a house for the fairies in the garden last night. They were so grateful, they left me a crystal in the bathtub I made for them." My daughter came on the phone to say that when he discovered the crystal this morning (left by the grateful fairy, equivalent of the tooth-fairy - big 'WINK') he was besides himself with happiness and excitement - and after sharing his news with his parents and older brother he asked to phone me and tell me his story!

Feel free to share this blog with anyone you believe might benefit from it. Thank you.

Have a great whatever time of day it is, wherever you are,

Kiki ;-)