You Scared? Have No Fear

Fear, pain, and stress are almost synonymous. They are all resistance to what reality is right now. They are all ways for us to interpret the experience we are having in that moment as something that should not be. They are all defensive modes of being that are actually there to protect us. Think about it yourself. Don't take my word for it.

Think about you own experience of fear. What is it really? What does it come from? What is the relationship with pain? What is the relationship to stress?

Here is an excerpt from What Is Really Good? on the topic:
The root of all stress is fear. Of course fear is a survival instinct. It is imprinted on the design of your ego (your sense of 'I') to motivate you to take protective action.

This is true for both physical and mental stress. Physical stress is
physical pain; subtle or blatant. It is a signal that something is wrong and to remove yourself from the situation. Mental stress is mental pain; subtle or blatant. It is a signal that the situation does not meet the ego's definition of well being. In both cases fear is the motivating factor that brings the signal of stress/pain.

Physical fear is always short lived and only comes from a direct physical threat. Mental fear is the real issue. It is at times mistaken for physical fear and it is actually over 99% of the fear you experience. The fear produced by your mind attempting to keep the ego and its many identifications in a state of well being is produced at disproportionate and dysfunctional levels.

Fear is supposed to keep us safe. Problem is, it has gone way past doing for us what it does for the animals. A wild animal gets scared; they fight or take flight. Then it is complete. A person fears about the future and stresses about the past. A person holds on to fear like a ball and chain.

Ironically, the fact that the animal doesn't hold on to the fear after the cause of it, is the same reason that we are so much more advanced. Their minds can not hold the ideas and concepts that ours can. As a result, their egos can not identify with ideas as ours can. Their only sense of identity is their physical selves and maybe offspring. Our egoic identity spreads as far as our concepts and ideas can take us. My stuff, my money, my house, my country, my business, etc. Our fear is magnified by the identifications.

To live without fear; live without stress; and minimize all physical pain is not as far off as you might think. As a matter of fact, you hold the key right now. It just needs some attention.

Learn how to be free of all fear. Read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned!

Who Told You To Move?

Quick scenario: You are standing at an intersection that you want to cross. The traffic lights are not in your favor. You decide to cross anyway.

Who told you to move? How did you know it was OK for you to cross that street? Sounds like a question almost too obvious to answer, right? You'd be surprised!

This simple scenario happens billions of times a day around the world in varying levels of complication and with all kinds of situations. To simplify a little bit; a majority of the decisions we make; we are either going with what we know or we are going with what we are told.

The way so many of us were raised in this society was to follow the old tradition. Obey the law. Stay in line. Keep your head down. Don't make waves. Don't question authority. There are dozens, if not hundreds of things that we do as a society that is only done because our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents did them.

I'm not advocating throwing everything that we continue to do out the window. We build upon the strengths and innovations of those who came before us. What I am advocating is the awareness not to take everything at face value. I am talking about the awareness to scrutinize a situation or concept and see it from the perspective of the present moment. To be able to remove the old labels others have given it and see it right now, through your own eyes.

The traffic light is the 'what you have been told'. It is the news. It is the government. It is religion. It is all the beliefs identified with by the egoic mind. It is only an idea of what is.

You crossing the street came from a different place. You crossed the street because you were in the moment. You were present enough to look at your surroundings and feel that there was no threat or danger in crossing that street. Nobody had to tell you a thing. You observed what it was for yourself.

Your own perception over external sources of information is the morale of the story. Don't speculate. Investigate. Don't even take my word for it. Test it for yourself before you take it as truth. You will find that there is so much more to you than you might realize right now.

Read What Is Really Good? to find out more.
Stay tuned!

Why So Serious?

Though it's one of the best lines of this past summer's blockbuster movie, "The Dark Knight;" "Why so serious," is also a really good question that most people might like to ask themselves.

Why do we take certain things so seriously? What is it about those particular topics that gets us so worked up and stressed out?

A lot of times we can take a step back and say to ourselves, "Is it really that serious?" or even know right from the jump that, "It's not that serious."

So really; why so serious? If you look at your own 'serious' reactions and those of others you know; you will see that it is always the things that people are ego identified with that brings the stress into the picture. In other words, it’s always a concept or idea that has become part of that person's identity which raises all the hell for them.

To illustrate this; everything that Tim considers his, is what he is ego identified with. His car, his house, his job, his wife, his bills, his retirement fund, etc. If anyone of these things is lost, comes into jeopardy, or is even slightly threatened; Tim's very identity comes under fire. Why so serious, Tim?

This just goes to show you the power the ego has over our minds until we are totally aware of it. Once we start operating above the ego, our minds are free. We are free to be sharper and more intuitive. We are even free to cultivate and protect what we know to be ours. The difference is that the chains of stress and the burden of bondage and attachment will no longer bog us down.

Life is no where near as serious as the ego makes it out to be. As a matter of fact, that seriousness is only a mental construct fueled by the ego. It does not really exist except in your head!

Life is meant to be lived. If there is anything at all stressing you right now; think about what's good right now. You may see that the source of the stress is but a thought and that it's really not that serious.

To find out how to chill out and let the stress go; stay tuned to the blog and read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned!

Are You Exactly Where You Should Be?

The majority of people in the world today would answer this question with a resounding, "NO." As a result, the majority of people in the world are not totally happy and are no where near their potential.

The feeling of unfulfillment from not being where you think you could, should, or would be; is all the result of what you think! It is the idea of what isn't happening for you right now that is causing all the stress.

If you think you should be making more money or you would rather be living in another place; you are in resistance to what is. If you think that your friend, your spouse, significant other, or your child should be a lot more of the way you think they could be; you are in resistance to what is. If you think you should have a better job, a better house, or a better car; you are in resistance to what is.

When I say resistance to what is; it is not a call for complacence or to settle for less. It is more of a call for you not to be in denial of your reality. Once what is, is accepted and adapted to; it leaves the space for true change to take place. Without acceptance; adaptation is impossible.

True change can only be affected when you acknowledge what is and move with it. Could you walk or drive without acknowledging your terrain? You probably could for a moment. After that, you would have taken a fall, if walking. If driving; you would have caught a bad accident. Being in the moment and acknowledging life in the present is the best and only way to truly adapt to what is.

As a result of not holding on to the heavy baggage of what "should be," you are free to adapt to the present; uncovering the gift that it truly is.

Are you exactly where you should be? YES! If you take this attitude to heart; you will find a new freedom in life that was always there. It was simply covered by the ideas of what "should be."

Are you exactly where you should be? YES! How can you argue with reality? If you believe in a higher power; how can it be wrong? If you do not believe in a higher power; how can your philosophy or perspective be wrong? No matter how you look at life; there is an order to the way things work. If you are not exactly where you are supposed to be; then your perspective of everything else you know is wrong.

Are you exactly where you should be? YES! And now that you realize this; you can really be where you are so that you may affect true change. You do not have to be stuck in the past. You do not have to be anxious about the future. You can be here now. You can enjoy right now. You can make change right now. If not now; then when?

Are you exactly where you should be? Hell yeah!

Read What Is Really Good?

It's A Celebration!!

Life is a celebration. It doesn't feel like it most of the time to most people. If it doesn't feel like it to you; have you ever wondered why?

To give a short and simple answer; people are either in resistance or acceptance of life. To be in resistance is to be stuck in concepts and ideas of what things should be. To be in acceptance is to be in the moment observing and adapting.

To be in full on adapt mode is to be in such a high form of acceptance that everything becomes a celebration. You know that feeling you get when you just won something important? If you just got your way with any major life situation or had some type of financial windfall, there is a feeling of exhilaration that goes beyond total acceptance. Gratitude, excitement, and joy are higher forms of acceptance. These are also the feelings of celebration.

The unfolding of every passing second is a celebration. The way a bird is soaring through the air is a celebration. The way a tree sways in the wind is a celebration. The rhythm of your feet on the ground as you walk is a celebration.

It's a feeling of not being able to lose. It is literally all win. No matter what happens; it's good. It is a feeling of being so in tune with what is, that you always make the right move.

My experience of allowing life to be the celebration that it is, is constantly growing. You could be here too. Check out What Is Really Good? and stay tuned to the blog.
I leave you with a short excerpt from my next book.

Realizing that you are the stillness that allows all movement to exist; all movement becomes poetry in motion.
Realizing that you are the space that allows all form to exist; all form becomes majestic.
Realizing that you are the silence that allows all sound to exist; all sound takes on a new definition.

LIVE IT UP!! Life is a CELEBRATION!!

Happiness Is A Mere Thought Away

I have good news for you!

The only difference between you being as happy as you ever possibly could, and how you are right now, is how you are feeling.

Sounds a bit obvious, huh? Well it is common sense. But you know what they say; "Common sense is not common." Most people never give this any thought what-so-ever.

If it were possible for people to feel whatever emotion they wanted for the majority of the time; what do you think most people would choose to be feeling? I guess it's easy to eliminate all the stressful ones like: anger, sadness, bitterness, etc. It would be safe to say people would like to feel peaceful, happy, free, etc.

So is it possible to truly feel how you would want to feel almost whenever you want? Yes. Happiness is a mere thought away. Take away the thought. And focus on right now. The feeling is obtainable. It is always there but is hidden. Once discovered, it only grows.

How you feel has nothing to do with life circumstances. As long as you are not being physically injured; every single moment, the way that you feel is a choice made by you. The problem is that most people do not know how to exercise this choice.

The multi-millionaire with the legal problems might feel worse than the cab driver who lives in the basement apartment. The circumstances are almost irrelevant. It is the perspective that is all important. The way the circumstances are labeled is what dictates how you feel. The cab driver is a thought away from being rich. How he feels right now; he is as wealthy as can be, minus the thought of a huge estate. The multi-millionaire is a thought away from happiness. Although he has all the markings of a rich man; the way he feels right now he might as well be locked up.

A thought or a train of thoughts helps you to feel a certain way if you let it. To be without thought and feel how you feel just observing the present moment is to really allow your self to feel what is as opposed to what you think it is.

Find out what happens when you learn to master thought. Read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned.

I Can't Believe It!!

'I can't believe it,' is one of those phrases that we all are quite familiar with. Ever thought about why we say it? I mean, ever wonder what really causes disbelief?

To figure that one out; we have to take a look at what a belief is. What is it really to believe? Webster-dictionary.net defines believe as: To exercise belief in; to credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of, upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by circumstances other than personal knowledge; to regard or accept as true; to place confidence in; to think; to consider; as, to believe a person, a statement, or a doctrine.

So in order to believe something; we have to take somebody else's word for it. A belief is something that a person has been persuaded to take as truth. It has nothing to do with first hand knowledge or experience. To know something and to believe something are altogether entirely different.

To believe requires the mind. It requires the super advanced computer of intellect to weigh the evidence presented and make a judgment call. Trouble with this is; the mind is usually under control of the primitive ego. The ego identifies with beliefs making them part of your identity. So many people have made part of their identity something that is not part of their true life experience.

The egoic mind is not involved with raw experience. It is not involved with true knowledge. You gain true knowledge through raw experience. It is the egoic mind that then interprets this experience. To illustrate this; notice the weather. You can see a weather forecast and choose to believe it or not. That is a judgment call on your mind's behalf. When you go outside; it is not your mind that tells you it is hot and hazy out there. It is the pure sensory experience. This is true knowledge. Nobody can convince you otherwise because it is first hand experience.

So what about 'not believing it'? When people say that they, "can't believe it;" they are speaking the pure truth. Notice than when people can't believe something; it is usually a first hand experience. If it is not first hand, it is from a source that is known to be factual. The reason this phrase stands up to its literal meaning is; if you experience something, you do not have to believe it. You know it. Belief only gets in the way at that point.

When people can not believe something; they have the experience of something that their mind did not expect. Once again; belief is in the mind. This could be something they think is extremely good. It could be something thought of as horrible. Nevertheless, it is an experience that surpasses all expectations of the egoic mind.

'I can't believe it,' is a phrase of that confirms that we are more than our minds. We have perception and experience that can leave the mind behind. The mind is a tool used for making judgments, after all. Without our perceptual abilities; there would be nothing to judge.

Do you believe me? It does not matter. I do not want to persuade or convince you of anything. I want you to see for yourself. It is the only way to truly know.

For a more in depth explanation of these concepts; read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned to this blog.

Who Are You?

Today I will be asking more questions than giving answers. The point is for you to come to your own conclusions and not take my word for it. You are the best person to answer these questions after all.

Are you the person you see when you look in the mirror? If so, how can it also be you in those pictures from years ago? And would you be a different person after reconstructive surgery?

Are you the constant thought stream that goes through your mind most of the time? If so, who is listening to those thoughts?

Are you your personality? If so, how is it possible for you to change your personality as you age and mature?

Are you your memories? If so, do you become a different person if you get amnesia?

Are you your desires, hopes, and dreams? If so, then are you still you when these things change?

If you feel that you are still you regardless of any changes; you are almost forced to ask yourself, "What is it about me that does not change?"
When you come to a conclusion about that common denominator about you that remains constant from birth until death; you are really starting to uncover the mystery that is your true identity.

With this discovery comes tremendous power and your potential rises exponentially. This is the beginning of an awakening.

If you really want the answers to these questions and more; read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned to yourself and this blog.

Love, Live, Life!!!

"I'm Just Happy To Be Here!"

Have you ever been watching TV or listening to the radio and you hear, "I'm just happy to be here!” from one of your favorite stars or accomplished people. Chances are; you have heard this phrase spoken many times by many people in your life.

Have you ever noticed that it is always people on top of their field that you hear saying this? It is not a coincidence. It is not just something to say that sounds good in an interview. It is not a feeling gained after having gotten to the position they are in. It is actually the feeling that got them there.

When you realize the more adaptive and flexible you are to life situations; the further you will get in anything you set out to do; then it makes perfect sense why these stars and leaders in their fields made it to the level that they did.

'Being happy to be here' brings with it the power to move through obstacles. It is acceptance of what is. It is the ability to be without stress because you remain in the present moment. Stress only exists for you when dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Stress is basically resistance to what is.

Don't take my word for it. Use your own sense of knowing. If somebody is unhappy doing what they have to do while approaching a goal; would they become happy just because they reached their goal? Chances are they would be happy for a brief period and then go back to feeling the way they usually do.

Being happy just to be, is the way to be.

Love Is Our Nature

What is love? The word love is one of life's great concepts that words can not express. It is interpreted differently by different people. We all have the experience of love though. For some it is an abundance of over flowing sensations. For others there may be a feeling of lack when they relate their experience of love. In either and any case, we as conscious beings have some idea of love.

I have realized that love is our natural state. It is where we came from. It is always there through out our existence. It is where we return. We only deviate from this natural feeling that ranges from contentment to bliss and ecstacy when our egoic mind fills our awareness with content.

This can be illustrated by the way cared for infants are usually very happy and easily amused at the slightest things. This is also illustrated in anyone who is able to stop the mind chatter that is so common among us and just be. The peace that is experienced is not something aquired, but simply uncovered.

Love being our nature may even be illustrated by people who are misguided by the egoic mind. At the root of every single thought and action is a good intention. This good intention is a desire for peace and love (which are really synonymous). You may or may not agree. That is fine. But think about something that you did in the past that you wish you had not or would choose to take back. If you think about your motivation for doing whatever it was, you may find that at the root of whatever self gratification may have been there; there was a desire for some kind of peace. The satisfaction you were trying to achieve is an intention to gain peace and love.

The egoic mind searches for love for its individual identity. The universal mind, free of the ego's control, searches for a way to reveal the love that is always there to everybody. Share the wealth; share the love, is the idea.

This is further explained in depth in the book What Is Really Good?
Can you feel the love? Stay tuned.