Living Whole-Heartedly

How Can We Live Whole-Heartedly?

This is a question that seems to be the difference between living with joy and living with depression and negative self-judgement. 


In other words, what is it that separates those who live with full vestment in life and in every relationship they are in as compared to those who struggle with the relationships with others and themselves?


Is it possible to overcome one's fears so that life is engaged in and enjoyed whole-heartedly? If so, what is it that the whole-hearted do that makes all the difference?


In examining those who struggle with the uncertainties of life, more than any other thing, there seems to be a sense of vulnerability they run from. It may be a lack of knowing or fear of failure or fear of rejection but whatever it is, it stands in the way of authentic and complete connection with others. 


Sometimes these ones will engage a relationship and then cut it off. Experts have called this the relationship subjugation. Why would any of us take that which enhances our lives and undo it all simply because we fear what it could lead to?


The Answer lies in Vulnerability.


When you think about it, there are some specific things that make you fear vulnerability. This is because the feeling of vulnerability can make one uneasy, perhaps out of complete control and therefore insecure. 


So what is the key to letting go of this life-compromising fear? For throughout life, we will feel vulnerable. It is unavoidable. Think about the time you met the one you love. Although you felt completely vulnerable by exposing your heart, they didn't reject you. They didn't make you feel as if you were not worthy.


The reason why it felt so good is because you exposed your true self and were accepted as being enough. Enough for them to love and cherish and engage fully with. I know this feeling and it is like walking on a tightrope, hoping against hope that love will be on the other side. And for me, it was. This was not always the case. In fact, most of us have gone through this processes of vulnerability only to meet rejection or confusion or worse, being led into the even worse state of feeling unworthy... not enough for that person.


And this makes us feel as if there is something intrinsically wrong with us. As if we are unlovable and unacceptable and therefore, they saw what we ourselves did not. They saw that we are unworthy and not enough. And there is no better place to be emotionally to set us up to be vulnerable. It hurts deeply.


So we seek to never be that vulnerable again. The hurt of this kind of rejection makes us feel shame that we dared try to enter a relationship with that person - to even think that we were at their level. And the knee-jerk reaction to this pain is always the same:


We seek to numb it. We shy away from initiating an authentic relationship. We spend our time waiting for the miracle of miracle to happen. We wait for someone else to hap along and see us as their choice. To initiate another relationship is just too much vulnerability.


And so we wait.


As time goes by, we feel that our unworthiness is reinforced. And, as if some cosmic mistake has been made, someone takes an interest in us. They seem to be foolish enough to not see the flawed person we feel we really are and they seek a relationship with us. 


We try to warn them with tears. We try to tell them to go away as they just don't understand. We don't want them to waste their lives on us. 


Living as Worthy


This is not as uncommon as one might think. The fact is, entire societies fall into a cycle of trying to hide their vulnerability. Instead of facing relationships and fully engaging in them, they see to numb them through routines and doing the usual things. Why? Because the routine does not require us to be anyone specific and once accepted, can be a numbing agent all its own. 


"We go to the bar on Friday and Saturday nights. Bowling on Tuesday. TV the rest of the week. Pizza is delivered to the house twice a week". And the cycle feeds itself. The more we engage in the numbing, the less vulnerable we feel. What we don't understand is that numbing does not have a real target. 


The fact is, if we numb ourselves and our relationships, everything gets numbed. We numb all emotions, including the key ones that can sustain an authentic relationship with others and ourselves. It might be an obsession with sports on the television, following statistics in the newspaper, even the mindless watching of television every night. 


And we get upset if our routine of numbing is disturbed by our having to go somewhere and meet some people or even just to be with people instead of our easy chair. We demand that a two or three-day warning must be issued. We gripe and complain all the way to the event and once there, demand as little involvement as possible. We even feign sickness as a reason to leave early - all to return to our numbing routine at home where no one can challenge us to "un-numb" us. 


And we lose our ability to experience true gratitude. Happiness eludes us because we are alone and that feeling of being alone only feeds resentment and a commitment to not be bothered by anything or anyone.


How to Break the Cycle of Numbing


So what is the key to avoid being like so many people we know who are unhappy in their lives, their marriages and even in their own skin?

EMBRACE VULNERABILITY

What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful. Did you know that? Think about all of those unique personalities in your entire life. Think about the ones that made you feel the best. Without exception, they were all vulnerable and seemed to embrace the emotional dangers it entailed.


They walked that tightrope and seemed to love it. In fact, they danced upon its precarious danger. And they engaged us to do the same. Many times we may not have participated but we saw them, watched them and craved to be with their joy and happiness and complete engagement in life and love.


If you were to ask yourself what it would take for you to embrace vulnerability, the first thing would be courage. Courage to face the unknown and in most cases, the unknowable. After all, how could you predict the success with so much at stake? Perhaps you were an abused child and more than anything else, you fear the same treatment from a possible mate. 


Courage to try, courage to initiate, courage to be one's authentic self is the key. So, for a moment, let's consider what courage really is.


What is Courage?


The English word, "courage", comes from Middle English denoting the heart as the seat of feelings. This Middle English word comes from the Old French, "corage". This ancient word comes from the most amazing Latin word, "cor". So what does "cor" mean in Latin? 


HEART


The Old French took the word for Heart and added the concept of something that might be coined as, "Heart-age", or that which involves much heart. Once could easily see this word conveying in our modern English language as, "Heartiness" or "Full-Heartedness". 


And it is thus this concept that drives the real secret o living authentically and to be engaged with our hearts.


What It Reveals


This reveals the flip-side of whole-hearted living. It reveals a lack of "cor" or heart and ultimately, courage. To live in fear is what can eliminate our potential faster and with more efficiency than any other thing that might invade our lives. 


Thank about it. Is it possible to have one's body ravaged with disease? Of course. The question is, does this mean that it will, as an automatic of course, remove courage or joy or happiness or connection in our lives? 


The answer is no. We all know of brave souls who endure sheer hell and never lose their authenticity or courage, which we now know to mean, 'whole-heartedness'. 


What Does It Take?


As courage can release us from the fear of vulnerability, we must first start with that which the heart produces: Passion. Specifically, compassion. Although the Latin here is based on suffering, it is the shared suffering that is the key. And for those who are fighting to be whole-hearted and without fear, suffering with is required.


Bringing this concept into our modern language means a heartfelt empathy we call compassion. It is our whole-heartedness directed toward another. This compassion compels us to be kind to all others. And yet, it begins first with being compassionate toward ourselves. 


It was attributed to Jesus in the Bible that said the following:


"Love your neighbor as yourself." - Mark 12:31 NIV


As powerful as the injunction here is that we should love our neighbors and as hopeful as it is to do so, there is an implicit directive here that should not be overlooked.


Our love for our neighbors is that which is like something else. Something else, in fact, that precedes this love. It is the love we must have for ourselves.


Self-love is almost an antithetical concept to neighbor love. Self-love seems to imply selfishness and self-obsession. The truth is, self-love is not this at all.


In fact, the self-love intimated here is not even close to the concept of selfishness. However, the self-love that is required to exist before one can love one's neighbor is as powerful a concept as neighbor love. 


Self-love is the genuine heartfelt caring for oneself and this springs from nothing less than appreciation for that which we are; ourselves. It implies a uniqueness insofar as I am not you and you are not me. Further, it also is suggested by mere fact that it is implied in this command that it is necessary, needed and healthy.


So how is self-love healthy? As it is the expressing of a cherishing and valuing of oneself. So we clearly are worthy of being loved. We must be valuable just by being the person we are. Not as a function of someone else's validation or guidance or even parenting. It is the idea that we are worthy of being loved just for being ourselves. 


If you subscribe to Christianity or even Creation, then you also realize that your creation is explicit evidence that each of us are loved by our Creator. As such, we are lovable. And if we are to love others, we must appreciate the fact that we are worthy.

LETTING GO

So when we consider how we got to the place where we think that we are unworthy of being loved or living authentically or engaging in loving relationships, we need to re-engage our courage to do something we may have avoided at all costs:

EMBRACE VULNERABILITY

What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful. Why? Living as an authentic person means living fully and this means not numbing those parts of us that make us who we could be.


This means that we must let go of who we think we should be so others can find us more appealing and decrease the chances of rejection. 


This means that we must connect with others as a result of our authentic selves rather than as the result of our pretense.


This means that we must be willing to say, "I love you", first and not wait until someone happens along and says it to us first.


This means we must be willing to do things when there are no guarantees.


This means we must be willing to embrace circumstances where we don't get to know every possible thing that may happen.


This means we must invest in relationships whether they will work out or not.


This means we must let go of the fear that has constricted who we really are and our fullest expression of ourselves. 


This means we must abandon the fear of shame if it all fails.


This means we must "go for it" with our whole-heart, come what may.


And then the amazing miracle will happen:


It will be the start in our life of belonging, expression, joy, more love and creativity. It will be the transformation from fear into the kind of person we have admired all of our lives. It means that we will be us!


No More Blame


As we enter the full- and whole-hearted life, we will no longer blame others for our unhappiness or failures or feelings of unworthiness. For in a very large way, there will be no unhappiness or failure or unworthiness. We will be he authentic and wholly wonderful and lovely persons we were meant to be.


No More Perfection


As we become our authentic selves, we will not try to fit ourselves into some contrived version of perfection. We will be just as imperfect as our love is perfect. We will accept our flawed approaches, our imperfect strategies and in the end, find joy in the person we are and the person we are growing into.


After all, from childhood onward, we have been "wired" for struggle and growth. We have been prepared for an onslaught of effort, failure, retrying and finally, a series of successes behind us. And it is this process that will make us more engaged, more alive, more hearty and more in love with all that life presents to us.


No more do we have to pretend that what we do doesn't have an effect on others. We don't have to pretend that our struggle is unlike anyone else's and therefore cannot be understood, assuaged or even understood.


Instead, we can see our struggle in the most compassionate manner as one most alike in our fellows around us and those close to us. Instead of feeling isolated, we will see our lives as a shared experience and loneliness will not be our final and most trustworthy companion.


We must let ourselves be deeply vulnerable and "out there", seen by others who just might be cocked and ready to judge us in the most negative of ways. For to live is to be seen and to be faced and to be valued by others. And yet, it is not by their value that we have value and are worthy.


Far from it. In fact, it is by virtue of our full and complete engagement with the Universe that we find true and lasting value. 

ENGAGE YOUR HEART

Love with your whole heart knowing full well that there are no guarantees. Know that loss and pain are almost always guaranteed but that love is to life what life is to this moment - the only way. For it is this moment that we all live in, and the next. And the more moments we fill with our full-heart and whole life, the more moments we can live with joy.


Practice gratitude for those with whom we share this time and space with knowing that this full and worthy and whole life is a gift that yields incredible and immeasurable rewards in the now and the nows to come.


Believe that you are enough and you will find a more peaceful you who listens more and yells less. You will be far more gentle, engaged and alive.


For to be vulnerable means you are alive!


***


I would like to thank Brene Brown and her research and then sharing of her findings on TED. To see her presentation, link to: http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

Part 2 - New Ideas

I shared 9 recent posts I made to Facebook on ideas I was working on. I would like to re-post the first one and then talk about it:

         We see things not as they are but as we are. This means that 

          our reality is a bit of a hallucination. We live in a kind of 

          waking dream. We can't learn to see until we admit we are blind. 

          This is not K-12 curricula. Reality, Impression, Imagination, 

          Creativity. This progression begins with our impression of what 

          is and it's always different.

Our perception is integrally linked with our own personal state of mind, state of sprit, state of energy and state of understanding at any given time. These vectors on our perception of the world around us clearly have a dramatic influence. And it can be said that each of us have a unique perspective of our life experience.

This is not a new concept. Here is an excerpt of the Introduction from Meg Blackburn Losey Ph.D. book, "The Secret History of Consciousness":

          "The human experience appears to be a complex enigma, subject to everyday

           influences that contribute to what we do, feel, know, think we know, and believe,

           as well as how we actually live our lives. We use everything and everyone around

           us as reflections of ourselves to tell us if we are succeeding, if we fit in, if we have

           done a good job, and even to measure our happiness."

So clearly, our social habit of interconnection, feedback and allowing others to determine or define ourselves plays a major role in our perception of what we see and understand. Nowhere is this more visible than in high school. Rather than merely a place of higher learning, it is a fertile hotbed of social dynamics that can serve to influence people for the rest of their lives.

Because we see things as we are and we are as we allow and depend on others to determine who we are, "this means that our reality is a bit of a hallucination". Perhaps it is this second aspect that plays such a major role in a teenager's life, parenting a teen is impossible at times. As the old saying goes, children look to their parents for everything, teenagers know it all and thirty-year-olds apologize to their parents.

In any case, how can we free ourselves from these overwhelming influences to be ourselves? Or must we be relegated to what the Introduction above continues to say?

          "As we use external measures to mirror our experiences, we also become 

           stagnant, stuck in our everyday lives, with only imaginings toward greater

           experiences to keep our hopes up that someday things will change."

Is there a way to be or become our true selves, absent of the trappings of external approval and constant distraction? Must we continually live in a state of unrest, desperately looking for fulfillment or a way to live more fully?

Eckhart Tolle in his book, "The Power of Now", describes briefly his life before the realization that this not be the case:

          "Until my thirtieth year, I lived in a state of almost continuous anxiety

           interspersed with periods of suicidal depression. It feels now as if I am

           I am talking about some past lifetime or somebody else's life.

           One night not long after my twenty-ninth birthday, I woke up in the early 

           hours with a feeling of absolute dread. I had woken up with such a feeling 

           many times before, but this time it was more intense than it had ever been.

           The silence of the night, the vague outlines of the furniture in the dark room,

           the distant noise of a passing train - everything felt so alien, so hostile, and

           so utterly meaningless that it created in me a deep loathing of the world.

           The loathsome thing of all, however, was my own existence. What was the

           point in continuing to live with this burden of misery? I could feel that a deep

           longing for annihilation, for nonexistence, was now becoming much stronger

           than the instinctive desire to continue to live". 

          

Is this what we have to look forward to? This is what I am describing when I say that "we  live in a kind of waking dream". This wrenching desperation that accompanies every waking moment. And there is no distraction that can cure this, no drug, no religion, no fairy tale. 

And millions upon millions are feeling and living in this "waking dream". 

We must admit that we cannot see who we really are. "We can't learn to see until admit we are blind". We must stop lying to ourselves that it will somehow get better if we continue to delay the truth. The truth that we are not living the full expression of who we all really are. 

And so many young people and teenagers are beginning to feel this desperation at an earlier and earlier age. Suicide and self-loathing and desperate nights only mildly mitigated by favorite distractions seem to be the norm these days. 

How can we be Creative if we don't know who we are? How can we stoke the fires of imagination if we can't even get out of bed without the greatest of effort? Our impressions must change toward reality - a reality of life with sound optimism and self-respect. We all must be valued and considered precious.

We must change US to see what is real. For what is real is currently so far beyond our reach we are all in a dreamlike state of distractions and dummied-down entertainment.

If we change, it all changes. But how? 

Observations, Thoughts & Things I've Heard

Recently, I gave some serious thought about us humans and how we interact and then respond to ideas. Also, what is it about us all that is so limited - and why. I think these are very important ideas because each of us, if left alone long enough, can pull out of our consciousness or subconsciousness thoughts of significance that cannot be even seen in the hum and din of our daily lives. It's just too distracting.

I began to post these ideas on Facebook and after consideration, realized that I was on to something. I must confess, I'm not entirely sure what it is. So I would like to share these observations, thoughts and things I've heard and see what you think. As Facebook allows only small amounts of text to be entered in the Status window, these are just small bits of ideas.

So here they are:

1.        We see things not as they are but as we are. This means that 
          our reality is a bit of a hallucination. We live in a kind of 
          waking dream. We can't learn to see until we admit we are blind. 
          This is not K-12 curricula. Reality, Impression, Imagination, 
          Creativity. This progression begins with our impression of what 
          is and it's always different.


2.        We have no idea how gravity, consciousness, intelligence, energy 
          and other things invisible work. Why does rice have 38,000 genomes 
          but humans have just above 20,000? Potatoes have 48 chromosomes. 
          People have 46. Why is it the more light it is, the less we can 
          see? Is time a line, a blob or just our version of reality?


3.        If there are 100 billion galaxies, how many can we see? 5. The 
          biggest thing that's invisible to us is that which we don't know. 
          What is one thing we all cannot see? The point. It is dimensionless. 
          Here are two worthwhile questions: Why are we here and what should 
          we do about it?


4.        Religion might have sprung from the reasoning that, although we 
          don't know why we are here, we must not enjoy ourselves. More to 
          the point: We are here on earth to help others. What the others 
          are here for, I have no idea. But good ideas, for me at least, 
          come between 10:30 - Midnight. Always when I'm eating Corn Nuts.


5.        Does complex always mean complicated? Is it possible that we are 
          making assumptions about which things are viewed completely 
          differently by people next door? Some cultures only pay doctors 
          if they keep you healthy. "Out of the Box" can only happen when 
          we are willing to learn new ways of doing the same things.


6.        Why is it that when we do things intentionally, it carries 
          purpose and the promise, if not the guarantee, of fulfillment? 
          But when we slap on the title, "good intentions", on a thing, 
          it is no more directed than an arrow shot in the sky? Perhaps 
          because one seems static compared to directed and focused. 
          Same word, different box.


7.        The only problem with poor people is that they don't happen to 
          have money - which is a curable condition. The only problem with 
          hungry people is that they don't happen to have enough food - 
          which is a curable condition. When you think about it, we can all 
          be cured. So why aren't we?


8.        Is it possible that we have become like the people who have 
          taught us? I say probable. What if we taught ourselves? Then 
          we are teachers. We were all taught to dream but never how to 
          effectuate those dreams. Most high-schoolers think they will be
          millionaires by age 25. They have no idea how to get there. Or 
          what it means.


9.        What if, in order to change who we are, what we do, what we 
          think, how we feel, we need to change how we view ourselves? 
          What if the sum of who we are is dependent on just one thing? 
          What if the entire Universe spins on this one thing? And what 
          if this one thing is in our total control? Can we teach this 
          to everyone? To ourselves?




So there you have it. It is my run of ideas and thoughts and things I've heard that I thought were worthy of elaboration. These were posted over a 24-hour period. And if I committed myself, I could easily do it again. 

Further, I think you could too. Our brains are our tools. We can use them to engage ideas beyond our physical selves and into the realm of possibility.

The songwriter and singer, John Denver, wrote a song that describes his version of this idea. Here are the lyrics of that song:

There are those who can live
With the things they don’t believe in
They are giving up their lives
For something that is less than it can be

Some have longed for a home
In a place of inspiration
Some will find the emptiness inside
By giving it all for the things that they
believe
They believe

Maybe it’s just a dream in me
Maybe it’s just my style
Maybe it’s juat the freedom that I’ve found
Given the possibility
Of living up to the dream in me
You know I’ll be reaching for higher ground

I will stand on my own
I will live up to the vision
I will trust in what I feel
I’d follow my heart until it brings me home
Brings me home

Maybe it’s just a dream in me
Maybe it’s just my style
Maybe it’s juat the freedom that I’ve found
Given the possibility
Of living up to the dream in me
You know I’ll be reaching for higher ground

Keep me through the night
Lead me to the light
Teach me the magic of wonder
Give me the spirit to fly

Maybe it’s just a dream in me
Maybe it’s just my style
Maybe it’s juat the freedom that I’ve found
Given the possibility
Of living up to the dream in me
You know I’ll be reaching for higher ground

Maybe it’s just a dream in me
Maybe it’s just my style
Maybe it’s juat the freedom that I’ve found
Given the possibility
Of living up to the dream in me
You know I’ll be reaching for higher ground

Music by John Denver and Lee Holdridge 
   
Words by John Denver and Joe Henry


In the next part, I would like to discuss the first post. In the third part, I would like to discuss the second post, and so on. I look forward to any of your comments and thoughts on these subjects.

Who Controls You?

This is perhaps the biggest question you will ever ask yourself. Actually, it is the biggest question because of the answer that lies deep in the recesses of your mind.

The fact is, someone is in control. Most people would like to think it's them. "I know who I am, I know what I like and I'm in control". We've all heard it. Maybe you have said these words yourself?

So who would be in control of you if not yourself? The clue to that answer is in your values or at least the ones you think you have. Ask any child what they like and they will almost always say, "Nature", "Playing", "My best friend", "Ice Cream", and so on. And with the exception of playing, most would agree, presuming we actually have a best friend.

But ask a child what their values are and they will usually have but one answer; "To be nice to one another".

Pretty simple, eh? But look around at the world we live in. It is hardly a collection of people and nations 'being nice to one another'. In fact, if you consider the Amazon rain forest "nature", just look at how much we love that.

Ice Cream! There's something I can get my spoon around! Sure enough, we are one massive bunch of over-eating, over-consuming, artery-blocking people. And if you aren't there yet, you're on your way.

Yep. We have values, but what they actually are isn't determined by us. It's they things we hear that make us feel good enough to say, "You're god-damned right!" It's true. We hear about the U.S. being the most powerful country, it makes us feel good (unless you aren't actually from the U.S.), and you say, "You're god-damned right!" And we hear about the U.S. being a world leader, you say, "You're god-damned right!"

And then you hear about, "The American Dream", and you say, "You're god-damned right!"

The only problem is that we don't know and certainly have not experienced, "The American Dream", until someone else defines it for us. And we don't know if invading Iraq is a good idea until someone else defines why it's a good idea. Even after we find out that the premise for doing so is, was and will forever be, completely falsified (For those who don't know what this word means, replace it with, "built on a pack of lies"). We continue to argue the validity for invading Iraq. We claim ownership of whatever we catch in the media. "The region was unstable", or, "Suddam could have been working on weapons of mass destruction", and so on.

And as you read back these reason long after the fervor of the moment has passed, doesn't it ring a bit tinny?

Are you old enough to remember the news of the sixties? Well, not exactly the news but the news programs? Do you remember how, most of the time, they reported what was going on? Do you remember how you rarely heard a comment about the news? Back then, people were shocked when Walter Cronkite removed his glasses and showed the hint of sadness when he reported that the then President of the U.S. had been assassinated.

Well, "news" is no longer the reporting of the facts. It's not even the reporting of the facts and then making a compassionate remark... or a sarcastic remark. No, it has turned into the fabrication (lies), of the owners and managers and writes of stories with a subsequent rant or slated opinion about the false story (or in some cases, the actual story with missing details).

And it is this slant (all opinion is slant, including this blog), that people gravitate toward. They find the dry news of public radio and the CBC and BBC as "boring". Why?

Willful Ignorance

There is a certain 'in the womb' comfort in releasing control and letting others make the decisions for us. Do you remember your mother or father carrying you from the back seat of the car, into the house and into bed? If you do, let me ask you a question: HOW do you remember this? After all, you were asleep, right?

There is a certain comfort in knowing that someone else will take care of you. And if that means all you have to do is agree with and adopt the slant, the opinion, the identified scapegoats, then that's the price you have to pay, yes?

Intellect is about self-determination. It's about analysis without fear. It is NOT about letting someone else define our biases, our enemies, our hatreds and our points of pride. If you LIKE being controlled by others, then this is your time and the U.S. is your place.

Why? Because the DREAM IS DEAD. You know what I am talking about? The American Dream of self-determination and building a better life for your children. The American Dream of fairness and reason and doing the right thing. The American Dream of treating others with respect and getting that respect in return.

It's gone.

Dead.

Why? Because we surrender that dream when we let others define our values, set our likes and dislikes, determine how many jobs will be available, what cities will be abandoned and which countries will be invades... all with our willful and ignorant support.

When we agree that freedom must lose for us to be safe, we have literally subjugated the American dream. We have allowed others to make our decisions.

And we have relinquished control.

Sure enough, we have given control to someone else. The opinion makers, the products makers, the spinsters and changers of reality... the definers of our reality.

The last vestige, I assure you, is free speech. For it is only here in free speech that we can dissent, disagree and express a higher vision than that which is sold in the media.

DO YOU THINK?

Am I wrong here? Please take the time to read, "The American Dream" by George Carlin. It is the text version of his HBO Comedy Special, "The Big Picture".

WARNING: This includes explicit language.

"There's a reason education sucks, and it's the same reason that will never,ever, ever, be fixed. It's never going to get better; don't look for it; be happy for what you got. (...) Because the owners of this country don't want that. I'm talking about the real owners now. The big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions. Forget the politicians. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don't. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything. They own all the important land, they own and control the corporations, they've long since bought and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the State Houses, the City Halls; they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies so they control just about all the news and information you get to hear. They got you by the balls!  

They spend billions of dollars every year lobbying to get what they want. Well, we know what they want; they want more for themselves and less for everybody else. But I'll tell you what they don't want: they don't want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don't want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking. They're not interested in that. That doesn't help them. That's against their interests. That's right.

They don't want people who are smart enough to sit around the kitchen table to figure out how badly they're getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard thirty-fucking years ago. They don't want that.  

You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers. People who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork and just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and the vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it. And now they're coming for your Social Security money.  They want your fucking retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street. And you know something? They'll get it. They'll get it all from you sooner or later because they own this fucking place. 

It's a big club and you aint in it! You and I are not in the big club. By the way, it's the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long, beating you over the head in their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy. 

The table is tilted folks. The game is rigged. And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. Good, honest, hard-working people; white collar, blue collar, it doesn't matter what color shirt you have on. Good, honest, hard-working people continue (these are people of modest means) continue to elect these rich cock-suckers who don't give a fuck about them. They don't give a fuck about you. They don't give a fuck about you! They don't care about you. At all! At all! At all. You know?

And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. That's what the owners count on. The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, what and blue dick that's being jammed up their assholes every day. Because the owners of this country know the truth. It's called, "The American Dream" because you have to be asleep to believe it."

I can go in to great length and detail as to who really are these people who control the United States and the World but of what value would that contain. Say I informed you that it was, "Joe Johnson". Then what? 

THE TAKE-A-AWAY

The lesson we want to derive here is that our own self-determination and values and direction can only be ours if we selfishly grab it and never let it go. It means that we pursue intelligence, truth and never shy away from that. 

The only way growth and freedom occur is when we education ourselves with facts that can help us navigate our own path. And we need to never be so mentally lazy that we spend our days and evenings in pursuit of distraction. For distraction is designed to remove us from reality. On occasion, this is good but as for our main activity being television watching and Internet game-playing instead of reading and contemplation - this would be the "Willful Ignorance" I spoke of earlier. 

We must remain diligent to who we are and what really matters... every day.

ORIGINAL PERFECTION (Part Two)

After experiencing spiritual healing and spiritual connection in Brazil, psychiatrist, Dr. Jeff Rediger had the following observation, the following conclusion, the following truth:

"In short, we all matter far more than we typically have a clue about. And love is what is real. We tend to believe in what we can see and touch and believe that the world as it appears to be is the real world. Reality is both revealed and concealed by the world we see with our eyes and that none of us are who we appear to be."

I found out that Dee Wallace was to speak in a main hall of a Women's Health Fair. I felt driven to see her speak before I left. It shattered the "Illusion of Lack" we all suffer from, either because we were taught that we were flawed and unworthy of God's love at birth, or that we somehow inextricably ruined any chance for God's love in our life. 


The "Illusion of Lack" is just that, an illusion. Please read and contemplate these words. I did when Dee Wallace first spoke them and I kept notes to review them over and over.

ORIGINAL PERFECTION

     We are taught that ideas come from our brain. This is not true. We are 

     taught that the answers that we seek in life come from intense thinking. 

     This is not true. The true Answer-Giver is your personal Energy. 

     [NOTE: I would use the word, "Spirit"]

     She pointed to her solar plexus when she said this. It is our energy that 

     moves us, leads us, reminds us, impels us. Once our energy decides we 

     want something, it is only then that the brain is engaged in order to 

     achieve it. 

     If we attribute other people as the source of our better selves, we miss 

     the opportunity to be full, complete, free and creative. We miss the 

     opportunity to be all that we might be. Rather than assign love from an 

     external source, we must assume ownership of that part of us that is 

     love. Many attribute love as from a divine source, namely, Jesus or his 

     father. The fact is, any time we remove that part of us and give it to 

     someone else to credit them, we lose out by ignoring our true selves. 

     Therefore, we must take on that attribute, that power. We own it; 

     it is ours; it is us. We must credit ourselves with an appropriate and 

     accurate definition. As far as love is concerned, it is divine. Therefore, 

     it is natural and good to claim it by saying, "I Am Divine Love". 

     

     The first step in becoming a whole person is to heal. Healing is something 

     that must happen after we are injured. If we are injured, we are compromised.      

     Healing is an absolute requirement as our first step toward a whole you. In 

     order to heal, we must give up our story. We must let it go. We can no 

     longer carry our story with us like a heavy load everywhere we go. We 

     cannot heal AND lug our story around. We must give it up, let it go. 

     "I was abused", 

     "My father was an alcoholic", 

     "My mother was distant", 

     "My brother treated me like a football", 

     and so on and so on. 

     So how do we give up our story? We must forgive those people that 

     inhabit our story. To do this, we must first choose to forgive. Once 

     we choose to forgive, we must choose to forgive today. Then we can 

     forgive those in our story, our lives, all of those who are characters 

     that have contributed to our failures, however contrived.

     Why do we want to forgive those ones that are ultimately either 

     unforgivable or not deserving of our forgiveness? The reason for 

     our forgiving these ones is not for them. We don't have to face 

     them and verbally inform them that they are now being forgiven. 

     We forgive, by ourselves, for ourselves. Forgiveness must happen

     for us to heal. Forgiveness must happen for us to be whole and 

     creative and alive.

     Once we choose to forgive, we simply let it go. For us, right when 

     we are ready.

     If you knew that the second you did this, your goals and desires in 

     life would come to you, how long would you wait to forgive?

     We are all creative forces. All creation begins with us, from us, from 

     our energy. Some say vibration, some say frequency, some say aura. 

     However it is described, creation begins with our own energy. We are 

     responsible for that creation and deserve to trust it, be credited with 

     it and to own it. It is ours. The creative force, that motherly force of 

     birthing comes from OUR energy. Our creative force does NOT come 

     from our head; our brain. The brain is a tool of our energy.

     When we seek to be something or achieve something or to acquire 

     something, the solution never lies in our mind. Our conscious mind 

     is never the source of these actions, ideas and achievements. 

     Likewise, our conscious mind can never help you unblock that which 

     holds you back. To release restrictions in our lives, we must first 

     forgive, then heal, then use our energy to draw the success of 

     release to us. So many of us live with mental and emotional 

     restrictions that disallow us to be what we want to be, to do 

     what we want to do, to live life to the full. 

     If we desire riches or health or creativity, we must be free from 

     restrictions that only our own energy can accomplish. So why do 

     we hold on to that which limits us, rendering us a complainer and 

     a discontented person? If your boyfriend is a jerk, why don't you 

     leave him? If you want to start a business, why do you stay at the 

     job you hate? The answer is usually because it makes us feel safe. 

     If we don't move, we are safe, or so it would seem. 

     We must give up that which makes us safe. This is where true 

     healing begins. If our parent told us a negative thing about 

     ourselves, we carry it with us all of our days, unless we choose 

     to heal; unless we choose to forgive; unless we open the way to 

     understanding and action and love.

     Choose to heal now. 

     Choose to forgive them for YOU. 

     Make It Your Joy to Forgive Them All.

     Then we are ready to look at the next thing that, perhaps we 

     have never seen before. 

     What do you really want? What do YOU really want? Joy? Money? 

     Success? Freedom? Whatever it is, you must ask this of yourself:

     What would you need to do for it to happen? Then comes the other 

     issue which relates quite well to the Yin and Yang. If you want 

     something, and you seem to always lament the fact that you want 

     it but don't get it, could it be because you are looking at that which 

     is the opposite to what you want INSTEAD of what you want? 

     If you want riches, why do you spend so much energy focused on your 

     poverty? If you want good health, why do you spend so much energy 

     focused on how lousy you feel? If you want to lose weight, why do 

     you spend so much energy focused on how fat you are?

     The question is: 

     Am I Totally Focused on What I Need? 

     Do you want courage?

     Focus on THAT. 

     Do you want to lose weight? 

     Focus on THAT. 

     Do you want money?

     Focus on THAT. 

     In other words, focus on what you want - not on what you don't 

     have or what you aren't. And you can even look at your life and 

     find those things that already succeed with you. Perhaps you are 

     a good speaker or writer, a good artist or mechanic. When you 

     think about WHY you are a good this or that, you will find that 

     whatever it is; you have Focused on that thing. 

     FEEL GOOD, HAPPY AND EXCITED. 

     Stand up if you are able, close your eyes and run in place very fast, 

     yelling, "I Want Joy", or "I Want Good Health"... This physical activity, 

     even if it is shaking your head vigorously while sitting down changes 

     your state of energy. It also removes your brain from getting in your 

     way. Your brain will remind you of whatever you want. By doing the 

     STOMP Exercise, you open yourself up to your own energy, even if 

     for but a few seconds. It works and can keep you in tune with your 

     own motherly, creative, healing, forgiving, good, happy, excited, 

     achieving energy.

     Love Yourself. 

     This sounds quite trite. It sounds selfish. It sounds too simple. 

     And yet, if we want to live for ourselves and NOT for those negative 

     things we have been lugging around our consciousnesses, we must 

     Love Ourselves. 

     Love Yourself. 

     Everyday, when you wake up, look into the mirror with your eyes 

     wide open and say, "I LOVE YOU". Everyday. Do this! By the fourth 

     or fifth day, you will feel some new energy about yourself. You 

     will be a person with love inside you. It will be your energy. 

     And you will be a lover and not a judger. 

     Who is hardest on themselves if it is not ourselves? 

     Love Yourself. 

     Commit to this daily exercise.

     Say, "Hi. I Love YOU. And Today I Intend to GIVE YOU Everything You Want". 

     Try it. Day after day. You will soon realize that you will get everything 

     you want. You will be love. Love YOURSELF for the JOY of YOU. There is 

     only ONE YOU. And you are truly a creative energy, a force of will and

     accomplishment.

     ALLOW Everything GOOD to Happen to YOU. 

     This is your power, energy, will, destiny, success, legacy, reality, LIFE. 

     ALLOW OTHERS to find their own road. 

     We are on OUR road - they are on THEIRS. 

***

And there you have it. Rolled up like a pastry there are many layers of power and truth in all of this chain of discussions, discoveries and ideas I have entitled: ORIGINAL PERFECTION.

And there is so much more to come!