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February A 2017
Cover Story
Relationships
24
78
Zoe Wild - One Light Global
Health & Healing 38 42
Raise the Bar on Love The Healing Power of Nature
Spirituality 48 52
Your Life, Your Choice Of Rivers and Resource
OM Living 60 64 68 72
Feng Shui Relationship Scenarios Sting: How I Started Writing Songs again. Program Spotlight International Yoga Festival OMTimes Radio Spotlight Linda Joy
82
5 Ways For Single People To Have More Love On Valentine's Day Marriage: Must Every Conflict Get Resolved?
Personal Growth 90
Transforming: From Challenged to Fully Enabled
World Vision 96
How to use Compassion to Promote Peace in the World
ZOË WILD: ONE LIGHT GLOBAL
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She exchanged her precious air miles that she had spent years saving for a ticket to Lesbos, Greece, where she was immediately thrown into the chaos of thousands of refugees arriving nightly on an island of 80,000 permanent residents. Amidst the most appalling circumstances, she worked tirelessly with other volunteers to assist, support and provide for the sick, the bereaved, the disenfranchised and the homeless, raising money from home, from family, friends and her Facebook community to help those who needed it most. When she returned home, Zoe Wild’s life had changed. Zoë Wild is a former Buddhist Nun, an interfaith Minister, Life Coach, and Meditation Teacher. Zoe Wild tell us about her experiences and the meditation practice that not only gave her the impetus to make that lifechanging decision to go to Greece but also to found One Light Global, a nonprofit organization which is evolving the way in which we approach humanitarian crises around the world. SANDIE SEDGBEER: Zoe, watching that video clearly had a massive impact on you, but did you have any idea of what you were going to find when you flew into Lesbos?
ZOË WILD: I had no idea. In fact, when I first saw the video I just knew that I had to do something. As you so beautifully said, I knew there was no way I could go on living in my integrity while this was happening and doing nothing. I had no
idea what to do, which is I think the place where most people stop. So, I prayed and meditated, and the next day I woke up, and I opened my computer, and I went on Facebook, and the first post I saw was someone saying they were going over there. I did not even know that you could go, so I contacted them and discovered that people were desperately needed on the island. So, I spent my air miles on getting the ticket, and I went over there. I thought that it might be picking up trash on the beach. I had no idea what they would let someone like me do who is unaffiliated, and what the conditions would be because the EU and Turkey had continued to make agreements and then let them go. So, it was completely shocking to me when I landed, and 1,000-2,000 refugees were arriving every single day on these little rafts and risking their lives and their children’s lives, and there were hardly any people there meeting them, helping them in any way. From the moment, I arrived, for the first two weeks, I slept literally one or two hours a night and just would be on the beaches all night guiding boats in with other volunteers; just ordinary people from mainly Europe but all over the world. During the day at the refugee camp, all day, just helping people. In every two feet, there would be someone
in a desperate situation, and it was shocking to me that the governments were not there, that the big NGO’s were not there. Also that the military was not there, that no-one was helping these people, and they were just regular people like you and me dying to find a safe place to live. SANDIE SEDGBEER: What were the local people doing? Were they trying to help?
ZOË WILD: Many of them were. At that point, it had been years now that they had been dealing with this and it was just last year that it accelerated so much. So, at first, there was some resistance and denial of what was happening, and then it sorts of broke down, I imagine, as it would anywhere. Lots of wonderful, local people who knew that they had to help that they could not turn a blind eye, and some that would try to ignore what was happening. For the most part, my experience with the local Greeks was that they were incredibly generous and kind. Also, especially on those islands, many of them or their parents or grandparents had also been refugees, and that is how they ended up there. SANDIE SEDGBEER: When you came back, how soon after your return was it that you founded One Light Global?
ZOË WILD: What happened is an amazing story of human community and generosity. I went over thinking I was just going for two weeks, slip in and slip out, and not tell anyone. Just do my service and come back. Instead, what
happened was when I got there, like I said, the situation was so dire and the lack of support so shocking that I started just writing on Facebook. I had a large following, 5,000 or so people from my business, and so I just started posting photos of what I was seeing and saying: “Hey guys. This is really happening. These are those people, and this is what they are going through.” Everyone started sharing it because they knew they could trust me, and in this day and age I feel there is so much distrust of large organizations that you do not know where your money is going if you donate to them. So, very quickly, I raised over $60,000 and ended up extending my flight and staying over a month. By the time, I left, I had raised so much money that I sort of had to start an organization, just from a legal and a tax perspective, and so many people had come in and offered help. Offered to be my fiscal sponsor, or offered to fill out the applications for the organization, or offered to be a part of the organization in some way. It really did feel like a divine path, though it had not been my intention when I went over there. When I returned, I realized life had picked me for this. Ever since I was a small child, I wanted to do humanitarian work, and everyone had always said this is the type of work I was cut out for. I had done trauma work and bereavement counseling and then became a Buddhist Nun, as you said. Then I was at the World Trade Centre when it was attacked, and I was in Burma during the uprising, so there were just so many things that were coming together that made it a perfect fit.
about so many different things and about managing a team and various projects. At this point, we are putting kids in school. We are building a Women’s Centre in Turkey, and doing direct aid in Greece and in Turkey and helping refugees in Phoenix. SANDIE SEDGBEER: Our listeners may not know this – but Humanity Healing is the charity behind OMTimes Magazine, and it is wonderful that they could support you. Especially in those early days when you were just trying to get your feet under the table. It is amazing when you start something like this, and you do not think there is anybody out there, and then people start appearing. SANDIE SEDGBEER: Did it feel to you as if destiny was calling? How difficult, was it for you to set up the Foundation?
ZOË WILD: To set it up, like I said, it felt so divinely orchestrated and so many angels have come in. One of my friends shared my posts and a wonderful organization called Humanity Healing International saw the post and offered to be my Fiscal Sponsor until I got my own 501c3. They really mentored me a lot, so they saved my butt on a few occasions and guided me into how to do that. All along the way, there were angels. Another person, who also saw my post on Facebook, connected me to a wonderful group of lawyers in Los Angeles who volunteered to do our 501c3 application pro bono. On the other hand, it was like this huge learning curve every single day
ZOË WILD: They were mentors and completely from the goodness of their hearts. They asked for nothing in return, and they just wanted to help the refugees through the work they knew we were doing. It was so good. SANDIE SEDGBEER: Zoe Wild, One Light Global is founded on the deep belief that our fate is shared and that dividing the world into us and them, the charitable and the needy, is no longer an option. Can you expand on that?
ZOË WILD: As I said, when I was a child I always wanted to do this sort of work and I had done volunteering work through my life, but nothing to this extent. The reason that I have never actually gone into it as a profession was that I felt that this sector of our society was often
divided into the poor, the needy, and the people that were helping them. While I was in Lesbos, someone posted a quote on my Facebook wall from aboriginal elders that said: “If you have come to help me then you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then come and let us work together.” When I read it, really hit home. That is the way that I feel about service. It is that we do not do it because there are these poor other people, we do it because they are us, that we are connected. Our fates are incredibly intricately woven and until we are all living freely and joyfully and safely none of us are because we had shut down that part of ourselves that know, that sees someone suffering and reaches out a hand. When we shut that down, we are really losing out on our experiences being alive, and our whole life is impacted by that. I wanted to create an organization that redefined the charitable sector to be about solidarity rather than charity. To be about co-creating with these people something new, and I really feel that this time in our human history the problems we are facing are global – like Global Warming – like the displacement of millions of people, of refugees, is going to impact us over here. It is going to change the environment. So, to come up with solutions to these global problems, we need people from every different culture and every different area of the world to come together and share their ideas and create new solutions. Some people call this synergy and emergence. We need to bring together these new ideas to have a new idea emerge that we have not thought of before that will help everyone. I think we
also saw that in this election in America, this past election, really, we need to come together to find solutions that cover everyone. SANDIE SEDGBEER: Are you concerned about what might happen to our immigration policy and America’s ability to take in refugees once Donald Trump is inaugurated?
ZOË WILD: Absolutely, I am, I am, but I am taking it day by day, and I think it makes it all the more important that we are here now and that we are helping the people that are here to stay here. He says he will kick out a lot of illegal immigrants that have broken laws, but I do not think he will be able to remove new refugees that have already been accepted. I do think that it is an important time for us to spread awareness and compassion and that is a huge part of One-Light to me, that is work
I had done before, that is working to understand each other and build empathy and integrate in a way that still honors and preserves all cultures.
SANDIE SEDGBEER: It is unbelievable that so many governments do not seem to understand how important it is to provide mental health services and help. It just feels criminal that so many people are ignoring that factor. What do you do to offer that kind of mental health support to refugees?
ZOË WILD: It is such a crucial element of what is needed and of what we do. For 2017, one of our main goals is to be able to offer a lot more of that support. We had a refugee in Phoenix recently who tried to commit suicide because he could not find a job and could not support his family. They do not offer any sort of training for that, so we want to provide workshops that bring people together, and right now in Phoenix, I think we will talk about it. The Women’s Centre will be a big part of what we are offering there. Support for women to just see and share their stories.
I am a facilitator for Healing of Memories, which was a global, non-profit organization started by Father Michael Lapsley in South Africa. It is for bringing people together to heal trauma through simply sharing their stories with other people who have been through similar events. It was started by people who had been through apartheid, but it has gone all over the world, and we do it with veterans in Phoenix now, and it has been one of the most powerful formats I have ever seen. One of my goals for 2017 is to be doing these workshops with refugees. SANDIE SEDGBEER: Give us some examples of what a donation can provide. I do not think people understand that what is a very small sum for most of us can provide so much for a refugee.
ZOË WILD: Well, every single dollar counts. People always say that, but it is so true. When refugees come to America the Federal Government gives an organization like IRC – there are nine organizations that the government works with – so they will give an organization like IRC (International Refuge Committee) $950 per person in that family. So, let us say it is a family of five – two parents and three kids – generally, one of the parents is sick or injured – and they give them $950 per person. That is a one-time fee and that goes to IRC, and IRC is federally mandated to spend that money on a certain specific thing like filling the cupboards with food, cleaning supplies, furniture, and a month’s rent. By the time, they have covered those supplies. Generally, all the money has been spent.
The family is put in this apartment, which has maybe enough food for a month and cleaning supplies, but they must then find a job and pay the next month’s rent, and pay for their medical bills and pay for all these things, but they do not speak the language. There is really no end to the need, so every single dollar helps. SANDIE SEDGBEER: I noticed on the website that people can also buy bracelets – Be the Light Bracelets. Tell us about this.
ZOË WILD: That is right. That is one of my favorite projects that we do. The women in Turkey were making these bracelets, and they are so beautiful, and everyone loves them, so now we have started a project where they can make the bracelets and people can buy them for $15 or $20, and the money goes directly to the women. We are going to be moving it to Phoenix and having the women refugees there. We are setting up a place for them to do it, so we must adjust that. I think it will be $15 but it might be $20, and then they get paid per bracelet, and some of the money goes back to One Light, as some of the money goes to promoting the bracelets. They are just such a beautiful thing, and the women are so happy. They tell me how meaningful it is to do and to create something beautiful that another woman is enjoying, their American sisters. SANDIE SEDGBEER: Now when you returned to the West, you were shocked to see how differently meditation is taught here. Tell us, what is the difference?
ZOË WILD: When I came back to the West, it felt like the meditation courses I went to were almost counter-productive in that they were very controlling of the mind and there seemed to be a lot of ego and materialism in the spiritual community. There were a lot of beautiful teachers, and there were a lot of benefits that people were getting, but it was limited to the meditation cushion and it felt like it was limited to a certain outfit or a certain way of talking. I used to call it “Therapist Talking.” It sounded like everyone was a therapist who was a meditation teacher. They look a certain way, they act a certain way, and it was a bit socio-economically divided, and racially divided. The way that it is taught in the East, everything is meditation the way I was taught. Every moment is meditation. So, however, your own natural state is of speaking and being and doing, it is everything, it brings everything alive. SANDIE SEDGBEER: Do you offer to teach meditation to the refugees you work with?
ZOË WILD: You know I have not. We do meditation and yoga, and sometimes I will lead them in a guided meditation which they love. But because the majority of them are Muslim, though a lot of them are Christian – I have not met any Buddhist refugees from the Middle East – but I am usually the first Buddhist that they have met. I do not offer it in that way, offer an extended course, though we do offer workshops for women where they can do a little yoga and some guided meditations. They have loved it, and we
have had a wonderful response to it. is not religious, it is secular.
It
SANDIE SEDGBEER: Do you have a wish list of things that you would like to accomplish in the next year or two?
and to really help cultures integrate, is a huge wish list item. Putting more kids in school – as many kids in school as possible in Turkey – and I would also like to start working in Lebanon with the girls that are being sold into sexual slavery. Those are some of the initial projects that are big wish list items for this year. SANDIE SEDGBEER: Any official organization, to speak and talk about your experiences and to share what you have discovered and what you feel helps?
ZOË WILD: We have a wonderful Buddhist organization, Threads of Wisdom, who found us and is partnering with us to make Buddhist book covers. They want the refugees to make Buddhist book covers for some ancient wisdom books that are disintegrating in China, and they need book covers. So, their Guru, I guess, was saying that he wants the refugees to do it, so they reached out to us.
ZOË WILD: Yes! Getting the Women’s Centre up and running in Phoenix so that new refugees can have a place, not only to make a little money and support themselves but also to gather together and spend time with other women and to learn skills and learn the language. That is a huge wish list of mine. Also, it impacts so many lives. To do more of these workshops, and to be able to travel wherever people might want to invite us
Health & Wellness
Innovative new approaches to Healing as well as holistic methods for dealing with health issues and personal growth
Raise the Bar on Love by Alan Cohen
Loving in Its Highest Form Every February, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I explore loving relationships. Many of us have faced challenges
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in relationships, and we struggle with how to create truly rewarding connections. We search for our soulmate, wrestle with friendships, and dread going home to see our relatives. At some point, it dawns on us that “this cannot be the way I was born to live.” Then we get serious about creating relationships that work. If we are sincere, that will happen. At the end of a visit to a town where I used to live, I was on my way to return a rental car. I stopped at a gas station to fill up, but could not find the lever to open the gas cap. So I decided to just return the car half-full. Along the way, I discovered the lever and stopped at a gas station near the rental car return. While filling up, I saw a friend of mine at the next pump. He is a sincere, ecologically-minded guy who has been running for county council for years, and was up for election once again. We shared a hug and schmoozed for a few minutes.
I told him, “I can’t vote for you now that I’ve moved, but if I could I would surely get behind you.” A big smile lit up his face and he answered, “That’s worth a lot of votes right there.” As I drove away, I marveled at the synchronicity of meeting my friend. If I had found the gas cap lever at the first station, I would have missed that encounter. I like to think that the universe had set up that meeting. A deeper wisdom was behind the apparent error, leading to a moment of rewarding connection. Life is always guiding to be with the people we belong with, if we are open to follow internal guidance and external signs.
Not Loving: Putting Up with the Pain We must not settle for less-than-rewarding relationships. Any form of enmity, conflict, or abuse is not life’s intention for us. Yet, we put up with pain because we believe we cannot do better. But we can and we will. Omtimes.com
Before we can do better, we must change our minds about what we deserve. You can always tell what you believe you deserve by what you are getting. When you are in pain in a relationship, the universe is sending you a wake-up call to realize that you have been accepting too much suffering. Then you must do whatever it takes to extricate yourself from sorrow and create a relationship that works. Sometimes that can be done right where you stand, and sometimes you must leave. Either way, you must find your way to higher ground. Our tolerance for upset is too high. We must raise the bar on love.
Loving Relationships Bring Us Joy A Course in Miracles tells us that it is the destiny of all relationships to bring us joy. Sometimes the people who are hardest to love are the ones that offer us the greatest reward once we master the lesson the relationship is bringing us. The only purpose of relationship is to deepen
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our capacity to give and receive love. Abraham Lincoln said, “I don’t like that man. Let me get to know him.” Everyone we don’t like is pointing us to shine light on a judgment we are holding. When we examine that judgment, we realize it is not valid, and we recognize the unnecessary pain that holding the grievance is causing. Then we can let it go and be free. The relationship has served us well. The Course further tells us, “The holiest spot on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love.” All healthy relationships are founded in self-love. If you don’t love yourself, it is going to be difficult to love others or receive their love. We project our fears and self-judgments onto the world “out there,” which exists more in our mind than as an external entity. We make up stories about other people based on the stories we make up about ourselves.
Self-Love and What We Deserve
If you can’t find someone outside to love you, you haven’t found someone inside to love you. Loving people around you reflect your love for yourself. Unloving people represent your selfjudgment. Don’t attempt to change what you see in the mirror by rearranging the images. Rearrange the source of the images-your mind-and the images will rearrange themselves. A while back, I had a little Honda Civic to sell. I parked the car at a gas station with a sign, “$1100.” The car sat for a long time without an inquiry. Then one night I attended a healing service by a Christian minister who took up many collections during the evening. His solicitation was quite bold. During one basket-passing he announced, “God told me there are five people in this audience who can donate $1,000, and He wants you to give it.” Although I later learned that the preacher was a charlatan, I was impressed by his confidence to ask for money.
That night I went to sleep with the realization, “I deserve to get $1100 for that car.” The next morning I was awakened early by a phone call. “I’ll give you $1100 for your car,” a voice said. The car sold within an hour. It was not waiting for any market conditions for me to sell it. It was waiting for my recognition of my deservingness to sell it. So it is with all our relationships. They are just waiting for us to receive the love we deserve. Let this Valentine’s month be the month we let love in. About the Author Alan Cohen is the author the bestselling A Course in Miracles Made Easy: Mastering the Journey from Fear to Love. Become a certified professional life coach though Alan’s upcoming transformational Life Coach Training. For more information about this program, his books and videos, free daily inspirational quotes, online courses, and weekly radio show, visit www. alancohen.com.
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The Healing Power of Nature by Judi Lynch
Healing Power and Higher Vibrations This Earth is filled with places of mystical charm, which also can heal the body and spirit. These places vibrate at higher frequencies of knowing, being, and existing. Thus, the energy is kind, generous, and healing. Omtimes.com
Just by gazing out at it, we also begin to sense this natural healing power. We can see the vibrations moving along the horizon--upon water, the tops of mountains, even through the fog with peeks of sunshine. If we take part in the incredible gifts offered to heal us in the forests, rocks, and plants which surround us every day, we feel a shift in our being. We begin to remember we are also a part of the life cycle in which the consciousness provides nourishment, hope, and future if we listen. To heal what this Earth is made of, what grows and will survive here, we must see the universe in a new light.
Our Home Supports Us Do We Reciprocate? This is our home. A new one isn’t ready yet (or hasn’t been discovered yet) out there for humans to be able to live the way we do. While we work towards that, we have a responsibility to take care of what sustains us. We owe it to ourselves now and our loved ones in the future. The water, the land, the forests, and the oceans provide us with
miraculous medicines, food, fresh air, exercise, and make life here itself possible. We now witness a growing movement to get out and support going green, to donate to national parks and utilizing their services to hike, camp, fish, and swim. As we discover ways to preserve, respect, and save the life that grows around us on this planet, it is evident that our very existence depends on it. Every tree, animal, insect, plant, and all living things are miraculous. If we can learn to honor these incredible resources by sharing and sustaining these life-giving forces, we win.
Enjoying Our Natural National Treasures In the United States alone there many fantastic places of wonder and beauty. Ancient forests, giant trees, trails that stretch on for miles just waiting to be walked upon. Hot springs and mountain lakes where healthy fish still exist. Many places and species are in great danger of extinction if you read the latest reports and observations from many different agencies Omtimes.com
and organizations around the globe. NASA has been studying and reporting on climate change with scientific evidence and photos of the Earth from space that are both stunning and sobering. We need forests to survive, yet those who do not care about the future destroy them. Oil spills taint our water, and with polar ice melting, polar bears have no place to live. So much beauty taken for granted! In turn, this hubris will eventually take the lives of everyone on the planet unless we join to change it.
The Healing Power of Nature Renews All Instead of poisoning the planet out of greed, we must collectively decide to do just the opposite. This takes courage, time and hard work still to come. There is no time to argue the reality our planet is warming up. There is no more time to fight over land when people are suffering. Lives are at stake, and our purposes feel lost out of fear and the need to survive. This is a time on Earth
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for action in words and deeds. We need manifestations of a better, healthier, safer place for everyone. The healing power of the nature around us is also what will save humanity and bring in a new Earth. Those who understand the magnitude of this phenomenon are coming together, making their voices, their actions and their purpose known. Thus, it is time for those who have closed their hearts and minds to evolve, and listen up! Once a heart and soul awaken, there is no going back. About the Author Judi Lynch is a psychic medium, intuitive counselor, healing channel and author. She is president of the Crystal Healing Foundation, Inc. a 501(c) spiritual charity and featured columnist for OM Times Magazine. She has authored two books, Friends with Lights and Conscious Ascension, and has read for clients all over the world. To learn more or contact for a session see psychicmediumjudilynch.com or email judi@ judilynch.com
Simply Spiritual To perceive reality from a different perspective is to open oneself to the wonders and unlimited wealth of creation. Simply Spiritual offers the opportunity to visit new places, new methods, and different ways to perceive the vast human knowledge of our Universe.
Your Life, Your Choice by John Holland
Life Choices and Making Better Ones
how you respond when these events occur.
Wherever you are right now, at this precise time in your life, you’re there because you took yourself there. Yes, it’s all about you! Every decision you’ve made brought you to this very point. I believe that some events in your life are fated to happen, but you have free will. You have the choice to determine what you do and
As a soul, you’re an accumulation of all your experiences that are taking place now, as well as those from the past. The choices that you make with respect to these experiences shape the quality of how you’re going to live your life. There are many different roads you may decide to take on your soul’s journey.
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When your soul incarnates here in the physical world, its predestined voyage will bring you from point A to point B. It’s always your choice to pick the route that you want to travel, which will also determine how fast you get there. You may take a quick, direct route from point A to point B, or you might meander through different side roads, experiencing all that life has to offer as you take your time getting to your soul’s ultimate destination. Sometimes other people can influence or accelerate our course or throw us off it altogether. We often tend to listen to others, especially when we trust them. They love to tell us what they think is the preferred direction we should be going in.
Seeking Advice to Make Better Choices If you’re going to seek advice, please do your homework and seek out someone who is best equipped to help you make the most informed decisions. If you receive feedback from someone who’s less qualified and it’s not the best advice, it’s easy to blame the person. But, in reality,
it was your choice to listen to that individual’s opinion. Ultimately, everything really does come down to the simple premise that you’re held accountable for the conditions around you. Blaming others takes away from your soul’s energy, and when you assume responsibility for your decisions and your life, your soul can’t help but become empowered. As a soul, you’re quite capable of manifesting your own reality and your own future. You need to be more conscious of your feelings (negative or positive), thoughts, beliefs, and actions . . . it all matters. When you take on the responsibility for being more aware, you’ll feel a sense of empowerment in the knowledge that you can change whatever you want in your life. Once you understand that you have free will and choice, it puts your soul firmly in the driver’s seat to decide which direction you want to take. Every choice determines if you’re going to be moving closer or farther away from your purpose. Omtimes.com
Check on Your Soul’s Journey You must stop and ask yourself questions once in a while to check in with yourself and see where you are at this point on your soul’s journey. If you’re moving farther away from where you want to be, then inquire: What do I need to do right now to put me back on my path? At least by asking, you’re taking on the responsibility for your own life’s direction. Sometimes it’s good to let go at the river’s edge and allow the flow of life to take you where you’re supposed to be. It can be quite liberating when you do. Sometimes the opportunities and choices suddenly become exciting but you still feel safe in surrendering the outcome. Other times, though, it makes more sense to grab a pair of oars and steer yourself in a certain direction. Your choice comes from your own free will - hang on or let go? At least you’re asking yourself the questions that will assist your soul in answering you and telling you what it wants and needs. Omtimes.com
JOHN’S LESSON Tips for Making Better Choices When you take responsibility for your life and the choices you make, you begin to tap into the power of your soul. You’ll be able to listen to the intuitive wisdom that’s inside you and apply it to your outside Next time you make a decision, stop for a moment and ask yourself: “How do I feel about this decision? Does it feel positive or negative, and why?” Simply by doing so, you’ll be accessing your own intuition and be guided toward better choices. By making smarter, more considered ones, you’ll no longer be a victim of circumstance and will have the power and ability to change your outcome. It’s always your choice as to what kind of day you want to have. Even before your foot touches the floor, try smiling - you don’t need a reason. Just because of this simple act, you’ll begin your day in a positive way. It will even send a spark of upliftment into your aura, which will help put you in an upbeat
mood. All thought creates reality, so by starting off in this way, more positive vibes and opportunities will be attracted to you. Once again, you might as well enjoy the day. After all, you gave up 24 hours of your life for it, right? Intuition can be an excellent resource to assist you in making decisions. Here’s another technique that you may want to try. Imagine two roads in front of you with individual signs representing each decision. Take your time as you walk down each one and observe all the surroundings notice everything. • Do you feel positive or negative? • Are the roads rugged or smooth? • Is the landscape rich with greenery or is it barren? Use this technique for small decisions at first as you build your intuition and confidence You should choose from the heart. If I’m having difficulty understanding someone, I try to look beyond what I’m seeing in front of me. Layer
upon layer of life’s issues may be covering the goodness that’s inside that individual. People will also put up a front as a form of protective armor because of past hurt. I choose to feel that they have a kind, pure heart. I opt to look for the good that’s in every person and situation. It may not be easy at times, but at least I try. At some time or other, we’ve all made bad choices in our lives. Hopefully, we learn from them, try to not to repeat them, and move on. Making peace with a poor decision from the past will help you toward more positive future ones. Decide right now, at this very moment, to strive to make better choices in the future. By making this simple resolution, you’re telling yourself and your soul that you will be all that you can be. Choose wisely! Live a Soul-filled life! About the Author John Holland is an artist, author, public speaker, and psychic medium. To learn more about John Holland, visit http://www.johnholland.com. Omtimes.com
Of Rivers and Resource by Chris Anderson
“We must begin thinking like a river if we are to leave a legacy of beauty and life for future generations.� --David Brower There is a river in Colorado that tumbles down mountain canyons over rocky beds of granite. It then broadens as it travels across the high prairie... Omtimes.com
snaking its way across the heartland to the Mississippi and eventually the Gulf. It remains cold and strikingly clear as it travels through the high country. But, upon arriving in the flatlands, it warms and muddies, colored with silt dredged from the river bottom, ever expanding its width by eroding its banks; camouflage for fishes and other aquatic dwellers.
Rivers Call Us as a Sacred Resource The current name for this river is the Arkansas, although the Pawnee once called it “Kicka.” The Mexicans named it Rio Napete, then later the French missionaries called it “Araknsa,” a derivative of a Dakota or Osage word. For thousands of years, it was a primary resource for a multitude of First Nation tribes who considered it to be sacred, both for transportation as well as the abundance of fish and agriculture that could be harvested along its banks. I grew up next to this river (near a town called Pueblo) in the 1950s and early 60s. It was
the best companion a young person could have... always welcoming, invigorating and inspirational; a classroom that revealed the magic of the natural world to my young, inquiring mind. More than half of my summer days were spent walking down cottonwood-lined trails over lazy hills and then following train tracks in parallel with the river. After a four-mile hike, the tracks bridged the river, and that gave me access to the other side where bogs and marshes were to be found. Fecund with evolving life, this was an area of insects and grasses, cattails, milkweed, bulrush, broadleaf arrowhead and horsetail rushes (my personal favorite).
An Ecosystem Filled with Natural Resources Tamarisk and other types of brush encircled these wetlands, affording a nesting area for sea gulls, white pelicans, songbirds and a variety of raptors and other fowl. All manner of mammals... coyotes, jackrabbits, possums, bobcats and deer frequented the area,
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leaving tracks and scat; an encyclopedia of wildlife for me to study and identify. In observing the river, secrets about currents and whirlpools were revealed to me while I developed an immense respect for the power of flowing water (childhood’s first Taoist insight). During the winter, ice would occasionally form along the banks. I discovered crystalline geometry, another secret of how nature operates. In spring the thaw upstream would release a turbulent surge and carry debris to be washed up on the shoreline all the way to Kansas... sedge and seeds transplanted; diversity. During autumn, when the world became ablaze with color, I was taught that cycles and seasons were natural. Every passage of spring into summer and then to autumn found a conclusion in winter.
Rivers - All Part of the Cycle of Life Youth and rivers are symbiotic... or at least they should be. Taking our kids into nature (as opposed to theme parks and movie theaters) brings them into the Omtimes.com
circle of life. It educates them by the process of observation and empathy. It allows them to become a part of the world that society buffers them from. For our progeny to thrive and the progress, they must be introduced early in life to the soil, the prairies and the woodlands, the streams and rivers and seas. A bond must be revealed to the young, one that is recognized and formed with our natural habitat to preserve and husband all life on Earth. If we fail to do this, we’re advancing into a self-created cataclysmic era. Mother Earth is, in fact, a living organism that claims sentience is animate and self-aware. The brooks and streams and rivers are her veins and arteries... conducting water, the essential element giving and sustaining life. As the Earthkeepers that we are (or must grow to be), maintaining the health and vigor of waterways all around the planet must become our highest priority, our collective “first cause.” Within this prevailing society,
the evolution of technology has offered us the opportunity to dissect and analyze life on every imaginable level. Yet, it seems that we’ve lost our comprehension of the actual process of life. Modern man, in the pursuit of understanding cause and effect in the material world, has somehow shattered that the world. We are now forced to try to make sense of the hundreds of thousands of pieces it appears to have become: man has lost his identity within creation.
Reconciliation with Rivers and Our Role At the same time, tribal people all across the globe have been drawn deeper toward reclaiming and revealing their creation stories, their myths, and legends as to how life came about and where the seat of the soul lies. Reconciliation is the key: relearning our tribal ways, our identities as members of clans and nations with roots five or ten or fifty thousand years in the past. Synthesizing our linear understanding of our organic and intuitive core essence. Headlines about 2012, The Maya Calendar, and “the end-
time� catch our imagination. But what if all the attention being paid to topics of this nature is, in reality, the calling of our collective subconscious to return to a lifestyle less complex and divisive. Can we envision and establish a culture more invested in stewardship, rooted in local gardening and food resourcing and committed to creating communities that are environmentally conscious, easily sustainable and renewable into the distant future? Igwein! (Thank you for hearing me) Onefeather About the Author Chris Anderson is professor of English at Oregon State University, a retreat leader, author, blogger, and a Catholic deacon. An award-winning writer and teacher, he explores the struggle, joy, and doubt of contemporary spirituality through personal story & literary collage. He is the author of 14 books, including poetry and nonfiction. Chris was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. www. deaconchrisanderson.com Omtimes.com
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OM Living For those living a more Conscious Lifestyle
Relationship Scenarios at Home and Work Feng Shui addresses non-obvious relationship scenarios that you have with your own physical space.
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Where you live and where you work teems with energy, which some people call “qi.” This energy, therefore, is supporting you or undermining you. One goal in Feng Shui is to enhance the energy which already supports you. It may also diminish the energy which could be sabotaging you. Once your relationship with your own physical space at home or work is more in balance, then it will make real life relationship scenarios with other people more harmonious. This is a critical point: in Feng Shui, we are actually tinkering with an unseen magnetic field. Thus, trained consultants recommend ways to change its influence on occupants. We are not just changing our attitude or how we use the space.
The Effects of Energies Where You Live and Work You can think of your own home or work space like
a radio station that both transmits and receives signals. The trickle-down effect is that your own “feng shui” environment will influence the quality and quantity of your relationships with others. This includes everyone--family members, co-workers, pets, and friends. In fact, people in the West have been seeking out Feng Shui advice for a lot of reasons, but one of the top reasons has been to attract more love and romance. As a classically trained practitioner, I have seen over and over that your physical environment really does influence love, romance and other types of relationship scenarios, personal or professional. Most of this energy or influence is not obvious to the naked eye. As an example, in the Flying Star School of Feng Shui, we can predict which houses might steer a couple toward divorce or other houses which attract a lot of sexual activity, just by knowing when the house was built and what direction it is facing! These are actually coordinates of space-time theory!
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Adjustments with a Trained Eye on Solutions The adjustments used to improve relationship scenarios can range from elemental objects added to a room, to even exterior changes outside in the landscaping. Sometimes a client can be informed about better sleeping directions or even a better house type altogether, if they are in the process of house hunting. There are a myriad of solutions and not just one way to address relationship issues. Just like people, some spaces have inherent personalities and they impose those energies on the people who live inside. Some houses are simply more conducive to good relationships than others. But just about every space can stand improvement to some degree. We cannot overestimate the importance of being in good, nurturing relationships. Often times, I go to a home or business where there are a lot of arguments. There may be deception or people
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simply withdrawing from their relationships and feeling isolated. Feng Shui works to correct the problems, so that naturally good interactions can replace the dysfunctional ones. Feng Shui consultants are not clinical therapists. For the cost of a consultation, it is impressive how much can be accomplished. A little time devoted to solving relationship scenarios can improve attitude, coping mechanisms, morale, and reducing tensions or misunderstandings. You may wish to consider having a consultation to help improve all areas of your life, including our all-important relationships with others. About the Author Kartar Diamond trained classically in Feng Shui and is a practitioner since 1992. The author of several books, she helps many clients through her company, Feng Shui Solutions. Find out more at: http:// fengshuisolutions.net
Imagine yourself‌ driven from your home by war, broken lives floating on a Sea of Troubles, your simple prayer to find Kind Hearts, Kind Hands to help you on your journey.
Be the answer to a prayer.
Humanity Healing Syrian Refugee Relief Please Donate Here humanityhealing.org
STING: Again
Sting’s early life was dominated by a shipyard—and he dreamed of nothing more than escaping the industrial drudgery. But after a nasty bout of writer’s block that stretched on for years, Sting found himself channeling the stories of the shipyard workers he knew in his youth for song material. In a lyrical, confessional talk, Sting treats us to songs from his upcoming musical, and to an encore of “Message in a Bottle.”
ARTICLE PUBLISHED ON TED TALKS
“The fact is, whether you're a rock star or whether you're a welder in a shipyard, or a tribesman in the upper Amazon, or the queen of England, at the end of the day, we're all in the same boat.”
So I was born and raised in the shadow of a shipyard in a little town on the northeast coast of England. Some of my earliest memories are of giant ships blocking the end of my
street, as well as the sun, for a lot of the year. Every morning as a child, I'd watch thousands of men walk down that hill to work in the shipyard. I'd watch those same men walking back home every night. It has to be said, the shipyard was not
the most pleasant place to live next door to, or indeed work in. The shipyard was noisy, dangerous, highly toxic, with an appalling health and safety record. Despite that, the men and women who worked on those ships were extraordinarily proud of the work they did, and justifiably so. Some of the largest vessels ever constructed on planet Earth were built right at the end of my street. My grandfather had been a shipwright, and as a child, as there were few other jobs in the town, I would wonder with some anxiety whether that would be my destiny too. I was fairly determined that it wouldn't be.
I had other dreams, not necessarily practical ones, but at the age of eight, I was bequeathed a guitar. It was a battered old thing with five rusty strings, and was out of tune, but quickly I learned to play it and realized that I'd found a friend for life, an accomplice, a co-conspirator in my plan to escape from this surreal industrial landscape. Well, they say if you dream something hard enough, it will come to pass. Either that, or I was extremely lucky, but this was my dream. I dreamt I would leave this town, and just like those ships, once
they were launched, I'd never come back. I dreamt I'd become a writer of songs, that I would sing those songs to vast numbers of people all over the world, that I would be paid extravagant amounts of money, that I'd become famous, that I'd marry a beautiful woman, have children, raise a family, buy a big house in the country, keep dogs, grow wine, have rooms full of Grammy Awards, platinum discs, and what have you. So far, so good, right? (Laughter) And then one day, the songs stopped coming, and while you've suffered from periods of writer's block before, albeit briefly, this is something chronic. Day after day, you face a blank page, and nothing's coming. And those days turned to weeks, and weeks to months, and pretty soon those months have turned into years with very little to show for your efforts. No songs. So
you start asking yourself questions. What have I done to offend the gods that they would abandon me so? Is the gift of songwriting taken away as easily as it seems to have been bestowed? Or perhaps there's a more -- a deeper psychological reason. It was always a Faustian pact anyway. You're rewarded for revealing your innermost thoughts, your private emotions on the page for the entertainment of others, for the analysis, the scrutiny of others, and perhaps you've given enough of your privacy away. I don't like singing before noon. ~Sting
And yet, if you look at your work, could it be argued that your best work wasn't about you at all, it was about somebody else? Did your best work occur when you sidestepped your own ego and you stopped telling your story, but told someone else's story, someone perhaps without a voice, where empathetically, you stood in his shoes for a while or saw the world through his eyes? Well they say, write what you know. If you can't write about yourself anymore, then who do you write about? So it's ironic that the landscape I'd worked so hard to escape from, and the community that I'd more or less abandoned and exiled myself from should be the very landscape, the very community I would have to return to find my missing muse. And as soon as I did that, as soon as I decided to honor the community I came from and tell their story, that the songs started to come thick and fast. I've described it as a kind of projectile vomiting, a torrent of ideas, of characters, of voices, of verses, couplets, entire songs almost formed whole, materialized in front of me as if they'd been bottled up inside me for many, many years. One of the first things I wrote was just a
list of names of people I'd known, and they become characters in a kind of three-dimensional drama, where they explain who they are, what they do, their hopes and their fears for the future. So having decided to write about other people instead of myself, a further irony is that sometimes you reveal more about yourself than you'd ever intended. This song is called "Dead Man's Boots," which is an expression which describes how difficult it is to get a job; in other words, you'd only get a job in the shipyard if somebody else died. Or perhaps your father could finagle you an apprenticeship at the age of 15. But sometimes a father's love can be misconstrued as controlling, and conversely, the scope of his son's ambition can seem like some pie-in-the-sky fantasy.
Singer, activist and former Police man Sting is 60. He talks about sex, death, and his father's timing
Yoga is not merely for our bodies, but rather Yoga is for our bodies, minds, hearts and souls. Yoga literally means “Union” – union of breath with the body, union of the mind with the muscles, and most importantly union of the self with the divine. Yoga is not a religion. It does not require you to believe in a certain God or chant certain mantras. Yoga is an ancient science which leads to health in the body, peace in the mind, joy in the heart, and liberation of the soul.
The International Yoga Festival is jointly organized by AYUSH, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, GMVN and Parmarth Niketan Ashram. The International Yoga Festival has been taking place in Rishikesh since 1989, organized first by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, and then by the Government of Uttarakhand since 2001. Since 1999, Parmarth Niketan has been hosting this world renowned event which has grown to international acclaim and which grows in size year after year. Yogacharyas, teachers, students and seekers come from every corner of the globe to participate in this program. This year there are more than 70 presenters, from 20 countries, giving nearly 150 classes, from 4:00 am until 9:30 pm. Ashtanga Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Bharat Yoga, Deep Yoga, Shintoh Yoga and Somatics Yoga are just a few of the more than 60 different offerings throughout the week. There are also classes in meditation, mudras, Sanskrit chanting, reiki, Indian philosophy and much more. Further, spiritual discourses will be held by revered spiritual leaders from India and abroad. There will also be cultural dance/music performances highlighting the culture of this Himalayan Garhwal region as well as music from musicians from Israel, Australia and the U.S. The International Yoga Festival explores the eight limbs of Yoga and how they apply to our lives whether we consider ourselves Yoga students or not. Please join us as we breathe in the sights and wonders of India and meet one another on this path of discovery and awakening. To learn more or to Register for the International Yoga Festival, click a picture or VISIT HERE
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Relationships
The interconnectiveness among all human beings and, consequently, the relationships among us are the focus of this section. The dynamics of the web of connections we make is one of the most prominent aspects of human existence: how we interlace with each other’s existence in a meaningful way.
5 Ways for Single People to Have More Love on Valentine’s Day by Marcia Sirota MD.
Valentine’s Day is upon us and if you’re single, it can also be a painful reminder that there’s no one in your life to buy you flowers, take you out for dinner, give you a foot rub, or bring you breakfast in
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bed (for now). For many single people, however, Valentine’s Day is something best ignored, or perhaps self-medicated with ice cream, alcohol, or a binge of their favorite Netflix series. It can be a time to be angry and frustrated about past, unsuccessful relationships; to wonder how you’ve arrived at another Valentine’s Day without a date, or to feel sorry for yourself for being alone.
Creative Ways to Have More Love You can spend the day feeling lousy; however, you can get creative and find a way to enjoy the day. There are five things that single people everywhere can do to bring more love into their lives on Valentine’s Day. If you are single, it is also all about being more loving to yourself, and to others.
Looking to Have More Love on Valentine’s Day? So, here are the five ways you
can bring more love into your life on Valentine’s Day: 1 Spend time connecting to your inner child. Give this child within you all the affirmation, validation and nurturing it desires. The inner child is a part of your psyche that can also benefit tremendously from any love and validation that you send its way. 2. Do nice things for yourself... ...like going for a walk-in nature, getting a massage or cooking a delicious, nutritious meal. Just because there’s no-one else there to do nice things for you, it doesn’t mean that these things are unavailable. 3. Be kind to strangers. Sharing a smile, a kind word, or a helpful gesture with someone at the store, on the bus or in the street will create loving feelings within you. Expressing kindness to
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others also releases hormones like Oxytocin and endorphins, which create feelings of love and well-being within you. 4. Visit a neighbor. Spending an hour or two with a sick or elderly neighbor will make them feel loved and cared for, and their gratitude and appreciation will warm your heart. Altruism has been shown to benefit the giver even more than the receiver and after the visit, your brain will be bathed in love-inducing chemicals for hours to come. 5. Don’t forget your pets. They might not be people, but they love you unconditionally. Take a moment to give them cuddles, and to soak up their limitless adoration. While pets might not be a substitute for human relationships, they do add enormous value to our lives and they show us how to love more freely and deeply.
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Even if you feel lonely on Valentine’s Day, you can bring more love to yourself and to others. And who knows, with all this love in your heart, you might just attract a new partner into your life in the coming days. February is all about love! Take the quiz at our site and find out if your relationship is the real thing. About the Author Marcia Sirota is an author, speaker, coach, and psychiatrist. She is the founder of the Ruthless Compassion Institute. She also has two recent books on creating successful relationships. “Women Decoded,” helps men understand what women want and how to choose the right woman. “Back on the Market” helps women return to dating successfully. Sign up for her free wellness newsletter at: www.marciasirotamd.com
Looking for Love in all the wrong places?
Marriage: Must Every Conflict Get Resolved? by Marcia Naomi Berger
Marriage Conflicts Do Not Mean the End Many people think that if a marriage is basically healthy all issues get resolved. Yet, per psychologist and author John Gottman’s research, 69 percent of problems in marriage do not get solved. His good news is that in good marriages many problems can be managed.
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Gottman states that couples can live with unresolvable conflicts about perpetual issues in their relationship if the issues are not deal breakers. Simply put, it is not the presence of conflict that stresses the relationship; it is the way the couple responds. Positive, respectful communication about differences helps keep a marriage thriving. Weekly marriage meetings, conducted as explained in my book, Marriage Meetings for Lasting Love, foster a spirit of goodwill and acceptance, a live-and-let-live attitude that allows partners to be themselves. They learn to minimize or manage conflicts that may not be resolvable.
Unresolvable Conflicts Do Not Have to Be Deal Breakers Here are a few examples of unresolvable marriage conflicts that you can probably learn to live with, assuming you get along well most of the time:
One partner thinks the other is too strict (or too lenient) with the children. A wife’s frequent lateness irritates her husband. A wife wants her husband to be more ambitious. A spouse leaves crumbs on the counter. A spouse is forgetful. How can spouse accept quirks and habits in each other that they find annoying? Many find it helpful to look at the big picture. If they are overall happily married to their spouse, they don’t sweat the small stuff. Is it better to keep carping and become a source of irritation, or to create a happy marriage? “Am I so perfect?” In healthy relationships partners accept each other’s imperfections as minor foibles. Certainly, it is helpful to
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address concerns during marriage meetings. Even if neither spouse changes, they get to express themselves constructively, feel heard and understood, and sometimes improvements do occur.
How to Manage Conflicts That Are Not Deal Breakers Suppose a situation is coming up soon in which one partner wants the other to behave in a certain way. During a marriage meeting, after each partner has expressed and received appreciation, either one can ask the other to do something different. Focus on something easy to change, especially during the first four to six marriage meetings, as it takes time to feel comfortable with the format. Character traits and long established habits are not likely to change, at least not without great effort. Lew did not ask Ellie to start dressing better all the time. That would have been unrealistic. Her
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careless approach to what she wears is an entrenched habit. He is learning to live with that because he loves Ellie regardless and appreciates her many fine qualities.
Keeping Expectations Realistic Maybe a partner will agree to change. If so, wonderful! Just understand that a person’s basic nature and character traits are likely to remain the same. So, don’t expect an introvert to become the life of the party, a frugal person to become a big spender, or a sensitive person to become thick skinned. However, behaviors that are not yet habits can be easy to change - if the person wants to. The key word is want. The person may or may not want to change. If a spouse agrees to change a habit, be patient. When she or he tries, let the compliments flow anytime and especially during the Appreciation part
of a marriage meeting. What if the change still does not happen? If the partner’s fault is not a deal breaker, strive to accept what is not likely to change. Keep irritations in perspective. Focus on the big picture.
Some Marriage Conflicts May Be Deal Breakers Although some marriage conflicts can end up being deal breakers, a couple might still want to save their marriage. The more difficult challenges are likely to benefit from individual or couple therapy to help partners communicate more constructively or to set realistic goals and work toward achieving them.
It’s Fine to Agree to Disagree Even the best marriages, spouses learn to agree to disagree about unresolvable differences. So, if a couple is getting along well, all in all, and managing lingering conflicts, they’re in good company.
Reference: John Gottman, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work (New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999). This article is adapted from part of the chapter, “Debunking Marriage Myths,” in the book, Marriage Meetings for Lasting Love; 30 Minutes a Week to the Relationship You’ve Always Wanted (New World Library, 2014). About the Author Marcia Naomi Berger, MSW, LCSW, author of Marriage Meetings for Lasting Love: 30 Minutes a Week to the Relationship You’ve Always Wanted (New World Library, 2014), is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist in private practice. A former executive director of a family service agency, she previously worked in the fields of child welfare, alcoholism treatment, and psychiatry. She teaches continuing education classes for social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and counselors. www. marriagemeetings.com
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Personal Growth & Development
We grow as individuals as we face challenges and overcome life’s obstacles. This section is dedicated to helping you chart your course.
Transforming from Challenged to Fully Enabled by Nickolas Martin
Overcoming Significant Challenges is Inspiring Stories of people overcoming significant personal challenges in their lives continue to inspire many of us.
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Some are born with a disability impacting their ability to see, hear, attend, read or learn. Some encountered life events which tore them apart physically or emotionally due to neglect, abuse, or a lifethreatening event. While still others have succumbed to the influence of drugs or alcohol to create distance from their pain and misery. Many eventually responded to these challenges by not just surviving, but thriving. They and their stories are a tremendous inspiration. They reflect empowered, enabled people whose challenges no longer disabled them.
The Spiritual Story of Transformation At the center of this enablement is often a “spiritual story.” Frequently, this story begins when people have done any of the following: “hit the bottom”, realize they have been lying to themselves and others, recognize how much they are getting in their way, or opening to receiving the help of others-in this case God.
From the perspective of Ego, Spirit & You, this transformation occurs when people start becoming more connected to their Divine essence. The Love, Life and Energy-God Is within them becomes progressively more immediate and available to them. As the story continues they started looking beyond the “boundaries” of their challenge and toward the “opportunities” of their abilities.
Redefining One’s Self Amid the Challenge Accompanying this transformation is the resolution of egoic issues of power (a sense of intense weakness involving the challenge they face), flexibility (a rigid way of looking at the challenge they face), or vulnerability (being consumed by fear in their efforts to meet the challenge they face). They stop allowing their challenge to disempower them. They do not approach their challenge with limiting thoughts, or let fear consume them. No longer do they allow the challenge to define them and what they know of themselves-only the human portion of themselves.
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Some of these enabled persons say they have a better life because of having “conquered” the challenge, than would have been the case had it not been a part of their lives. Some also add that they were glad that it was a part of their life.
Their experiences do raise an important question for one to consider in the light of our own human imperfection and the challenges we all face. “Are you fully enabled by all which is available to you?”-the synergy of your Humanity and Divinity!
Opening Spiritual Doors to Conquer Distance
About the Author
At first look this would be difficult to fathom. Who would want to experience the pain and misery which often comes with a significant challenge. However, this is a purely human perspective. When one considers the spiritual doors that opened wider, these reflections make a lot more sense. They didn’t just conquer the challenge, they conquered themselves. More specifically, although we may be intelligent beings with good intentions, the ego energy imbalance can get in our way. They also conquered the distance they were experiencing in their relationship with God as they awakened fully to the God within their being.
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Dr. Nickolas Martin is a licensed psychologist who has worked in clinical, university, public school and private practice settings as a therapist, diagnostician, educator and consultant for 35 years. He authored “Ego Therapy: A Method for Healing Your Whole Self” and co-authored with Rev. Linda M. Martin, “EgoSpiritualism: Awakening to Your Human and Divine Self” and “The Two Voices Within: Balancing the Energies of Ego and Spirit to Enhance Your Life.” https://www.egoandspirit.info/ https://www.facebook.com/ egoandspirit/ https://twitter.com/ egoandspirit https://www.youtube. com/channel/UCpAD-zgwZbXF8V09A6VV1w
Connect NOW! swatinstitute.com
When you look at the view of Earth from space, you are immediately in awe of what you do see: the incredible beauty of Creation. It is not until you look closer that you realize what you do not see. You do not see lines partitioning countries. You do not see separation between races. You do not see division between religions. You do not see the walls people build to isolate themselves from each other. There is only One Planet. There is only One Humanity. This section is dedicated to introducing thoughts and ideas to foster a greater understanding of Humanity’s interdependence.
World Vision
How to Use Compassion to Promote Peace in the World by Diane Wing, M.A.
An Optimistic View in a World of Hate With each new year comes hope that humanity learns from its mistakes of the previous year and that things are bound to get better. The optimistic view is to believe that all people Omtimes.com
have at least a glimmer of light within them. Yet, the incidents of hate crimes, abuse, animal cruelty, shootings, terrorism, and bullying continue. The recent news story about Chicago teens who tormented a special needs classmate
brought this forward once again. Their mistreatment of a fellow student who thought they were his friends and their live streaming of the incident showed a blatant disregard for another person’s welfare. It showed an insensitivity to what this abuse would do to him long-term, to his family, and to those viewing their terrible act online. The cold hearts of the perpetrators reflect the biting cold of winter.
Hate Fueled by a Lack of Compassion and Connectedness This type of behavior is directly related to a lack of compassion, empathy, and connectedness. More and more people seek to connect with technology rather than with each other. Disdain and disgust toward fellow human beings buries the idea of understanding or basic kindness. In the process of becoming more technologically connected, we have lost our sensitivity toward others. Whether it is due to parents focusing on their devices rather than on the children or because technology is used as a babysitter, there is less connecting and more aggression.
Google this topic to see the myriad studies conducted in the United States and abroad. They concur in that technology and/ or a lack of attachment and bonds between parents and children can create detrimental behavioral patterns.
What the Studies Show About Behavior According to the book, Virtual Child: The Terrifying Truth about What Technology is Doing to our Children by Cris Rowan, one-in-six children has a diagnosed mental illness. This manifests with child aggression and unmanageable behavior increasingly the norm. Sutton Trust did a study that showed that “infants under three years of age who don’t form strong bonds with their mothers or fathers are more likely to be aggressive, defiant, and hyperactive as adults. These bonds, or secure attachments, are formed through early parental care, such as picking up a child when he or she cries or holding and reassuring a child.” * What does this do to our society as a whole? It increases the number of young people acting Omtimes.com
out in aggressive and dangerous ways. Despite having thousands of social media “friends,” with too much social media and technology as the primary way of communicating, there is a sense of isolation.
The Role of Technology in Adding to the Problem While our strides in technology are miraculous and valuable, the bottom line is that without a balanced approach, technology causes a disconnection from parents and others. That, coupled with a sedentary lifestyle and lack of a connection to nature creates agitation and anxiety. Without attachments, we have a more difficult time managing stress resulting in increased anxiety and depression. There is also nowhere for this pent-up energy to release and disperse without movement. Without exposure to nature, which helps us to lower blood pressure and feel calmer in general, incidences of anger and outbursts are more frequent. Read or watch the news on any given day. See acts of aggression against animals, the helpless, the young, the old. Others may Omtimes.com
bully those with special needs whether physically and mentally, and anyone who is different in belief or orientation. To regain peace, we need to encourage, develop, and act in accordance with three things: - Compassion: A deep awareness of and sympathy for another’s suffering. - Kindness: The quality of being warm-hearted, considerate, humane, and sympathetic - Empathy: Comprehension and sharing of others’ states of being, living, and feeling
Promote Compassion by Modeling Positive Behaviors So, if you’re a parent, grandparent, teacher, an aunt or uncle, or a Big Brother or Big Sister, help promote compassion. Help the kids around you understand others and create empathy within them. Model these behaviors and show the children how rewarding it is to be helpful to others and to make someone feel good. Start early teaching children about these concepts.
Interact with them and help them use their imaginations rather than losing themselves in computer games. Show them healthy ways to manage their stress. Help them connect with and acknowledge their creativity and unique gifts by unplugging from technology and exposing them to the beauty of the world. The smallest creature deserves to be treated with kindness, so demonstrate gentle kindness toward animals. Those already doing these things with their children are likely seeing positive behaviors emerge.
Adult Ways to Promote Peace and Compassion As an adult, walk in nature; also, play with and hug your pets. Move your body to reduce tension; touch, connect with others with a strict “no devices at the table” rule while at home or out to dinner. Disconnect from technology a few times a week. Volunteer to serve and bring joy to people and animals in need. Treat those around you with compassion and understanding. By bringing peace to ourselves
and promoting inner peace in others through compassion, the world will be a calmer, happier place to live. Therefore, we must teach our youth about caring about the feelings of others and the development of empathy in our adult population. Let us warm our hearts even in the coldest social climate and create the best future we can. Here’s to humanity’s bright future! Reference to Study: * https:// www.princeton.edu/main/ news/archive/S39/59/37A89/ index.xml Copyright Diane Wing, all rights reserved About the Author Perspective changer Diane Wing, M.A. is the author of six books. She is also founder of Wing Academy of Unfoldment, and host of Wing Academy Radio. She enjoys exploring the mysteries of life and the way people experience themselves and the world around them. Her latest book, The Happiness Perspective: Seeing Your Life Differently, is on Amazon and B&N. Find out more at www.DianeWing.com Omtimes.com
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February A 2017 Contributors Writers Alan Cohen Chris Anderson Diane Wing, MA John Holland Judi Lynch Kartar Diamond Marcia Naomi Berger Marcia Sirota, MD. Nickolas Martin Sandie Sedgbeer Sting / TedTalks
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