The Global Conversation

Tag: The Global Conversation

  • God’s perfect medicine

    I am a big supporter of the locavore movement. It makes sense that wherever you live, everything you need to thrive can be grown right where you are – so why truck in food from thousands of miles away, thus leaving a huge carbon footprint? An arctic native wouldn’t have much use for fresh pineapple every day, and I doubt that equatorial folks would thrive well on whale meat and fat. Assuming that everything we need is or can be available where we are, what are we meant to use for medicine? To answer that question, I took a look at farmer’s markets across the USA and Canada last year. Your medicine is right in front of you, ready for you to take home!

    One food we ignore the most with the highest health price to pay is any kind of greens. We know we need vegetables, but do you count french fries as a vegetable serving?  We need vegetables of all colors. But we especially need dark green leafy vegetables.

    Greens contain tons of vitamins and minerals. Greens help detoxify your blood, prevent cancer and other disease. Greens are good for liver function and help build a health intestinal flora. Greens help keep your system alkaline, therefore creating an environment in which bad bacteria and diseases like cancer can’t stand!

    The best greens are kale, cabbages, broccoli, dandelion and mustard greens, arugula, swiss chard, spinach, and beet greens. If you like lettuce, stick with the dark green, red, or purple kinds! While iceberg lettuce is sort of green, it really doesn’t have the nutritional value of deeply colored greens, so don’t count restaurant salads and condiments that include iceberg lettuce as a green.

    You need to eat greens with every meal. You can add spinach or spring mix to your breakfast smoothie and you won’t even know it is there. Get adventurous and make green smoothies with kale and spinach! If you eat scrambled eggs, serve them on a bed of greens, or throw the greens in for the last few minutes of cooking time! At lunch you can add greens to your sandwiches and wraps, or add a handful to your soup! Choose greens instead of other filling items at restaurants and you will naturally leave behind less healthy foods such as potatoes, starches, breads, and white rice.

    When a patient becomes sick, one of the first things a doctor will prescribe is folic acid. Folic acid is nothing more than the synthetic version of folate. Folate comes from the Latin word “folium” which means leaves! You can avoid medical visits in the future by just adding the greens now so you won’t be prescribed the synthetic version later!

    I wonder what kind of medicine God would want us to take. It makes sense that everything we need has been put here for us for a reason and within our reach naturally. God inspired Hippocrates when he said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Eat your greens.

    (Beth Anderson is a certified Holistic Health Coach and founder of the Holistic Health Hotspot in Evansville, Indiana. She is also the author of “The Holistic Diet: Achieve Your Ideal Weight, Be Happy and Healthy for Life.” Beth received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She is a speaker and also presents workshops on health and nutrition topics. Beth offers in-person and phone consultations – contact her through email or Facebook for more information. You can find Beth on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HolisticHealthHotspot or email her at beth@holistichealthhotspot.com)

  • A deeper look at loss

    Beyond the appearance of every personal storyline, loss has nothing to do with the choices being made. Every form of loss is orchestrated on a soul level prior to incarnation. This indicates that choices determine how consciously or unconsciously we deal with the things we face, having nothing to do with an outcome already determined on a level of existence void of any sense of personal will. As the grace of loss is experienced, patterns of attachment are released out of your energy field in a spontaneous form of cellular healing. In the absence of attachment, the simultaneous death of ideas called past or future reveals the natural ability to be totally open, authentic, and honest in relationships.

    It is here where we discover the essential freedom of being nourished by how deeply we give instead of needing to be fed by what we assume we’ll get. Until such a depth of authenticity is tasted within the presence of life’s timeless love affair, every remaining pattern of attachment is inevitably healed by the spontaneous losses revealed in time throughout the impermanent nature of momentary experiences. This is the primary sense of transformation occurring in the play of relationships, whether between family members, friends, or lovers. When we are unaware of the deeper purpose relationships serve in our own evolution, we may find ourselves caught in the grip of perpetual disappointment until our healing is complete.

    Depending upon how consumed we are with the world in view, we may be unknowingly avoiding such healing by attempting to outrun the transformative power of loss in a heart-breaking dream, where nothing but desperation is hypnotized by its own lingering fragrance. No matter what occurs, loss is not anything to fix. It is something we survive.

    Matt Kahn2012(Matt Kahn is a spiritual teacher, mystic, and intuitive healer. His spontaneous awakening arose out of an out-of-body experience at the age of 8, and his direct experiences with ascended masters and archangels throughout his life. Many spiritual seekers have experienced amazing, unexplainable healings, and have awakened to their true nature through Matt’s profound and loving teachings and his transmission of sacred heart wisdom. Matt is the author of the forthcoming book, “Effortless Freedom – A Timeless Dialogue of Life’s Deepest Teachings.” www.TrueDivinenature.com)

    (If you would like to contribute an article you have authored to the Guest Column, please submit it to our Managing Editor, Lisa McCormack, for possible publication in this space. Not all submissions can be published, due to the number of submissions and sometimes because of other content considerations, but all are encouraged. Send submissions to Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com. Please label the topic: “Guest Column.”)

  • First Domino

    Dear Therese,

    I see Neale, and others, talking about world peace, but I sure don’t see much peace around me these days. I hear them talking, talking, talking, but what am I supposed to do? Where are the leaders like Martin Luther King and Ghandi and Mandela for NOW, and for moving forward? Who is going to lead ME? I am confused as to what I can do!

    Jason in Detroit

    Dear Jason,

    I think any rational person sometimes takes a look around at this world and feels hopeless.  The energy does feel pretty overwhelming.  But here’s what I believe. I believe that there may never be “leaders” in the same manner there were in the past. I think they had their place in space and time, and were necessary, because it wasn’t time for the next step…for ALL of us to be leaders.

    We no longer require a specific leader to be the genesis of change. In fact, we no longer have to know just who was the first to promote and work for an idea, because now an idea whose time has come can spread across the world in seconds with no one having to know who first thought it.

    It does mean that we all get to choose, instantly, whether or not we are going to “Be the change we wish to see.” Are we going to follow the example of those brave souls who were recognized as leaders, and allow them continue to lead us into our own power?

    We can choose how we feel about it all.   We can choose to give up and just let it all happen, or we can choose to do something about what we see.  For me, even if I never “succeed” at changing the world, just the fact that I don’t give up gives my life purpose and meaning.  I will know, at the very least, that I have exampled for my children, and grandchildren, what I feel the world should look like…and maybe THEY will be the ones who change things.

    In any case, we could all, literally, because all of the negativity of this world, stay in bed, under the covers, and be depressed, or we could choose to talk to everyone we meet with a smile on our faces, engage them in conversation, and let all know that we are doing our best to live differently than the energy we feel around us. We could invite them to join us by simply living our lives joyously, and encouraging them to live their lives as joyously as possible as well!

    And lead. By our own example and power.

    And maybe you, or I, will be the genesis of the next great paradigm shift…and never have to know it.

    We may be the first Domino. (Hey, it could happen!)

    When a waitress or waiter asks me if they can do anything else for me, I always say, “Yes, you can give me peace!”, and then a conversation (short or long) ensues about how each of us must first create peace in ourselves, and how peace spreads from our own peacefulness.  I actually had a really long conversation about just that when I went out to dinner yesterday! And I have the conversation in grocery stores and when standing in lines. As a matter of fact, if someone really wants to talk, the one question that really gets the conversation going comes from right here, The Global Conversation.

    “How is it that 7 billion people, all claiming to want the same things…are not able to achieve them?”  (By the way, have you read Neale’s book,  “The Storm Before the Calm”?)

    I believe that “talking, talking, talking” really is the answer, but it has to move off the page and into our personal being and radiate outward to our own corners of the world first.

    So don’t be afraid to be confused.  It is my opinion that being confused, being mad, or being afraid are all simply signals that we should look at things in a different way…because if the current way is making you confused/angry/afraid, it obviously isn’t really working for you!  Consider, if you will, what might work for you.  In what way  might you be getting called to lead?

    Therese

    (Therese Wilson is a published poet, and is the administrator of the global website at www.ChangingChange.net, which offers spiritual assistance from a team of Spiritual Helpers responding to every post from readers within 24 hours or less, and offers insight, suggestions, and companionship during moments of unbidden, unexpected, unwelcome change on the journey of life. She may be contacted at Therese@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

    (If you would like a question considered for publication, please submit your request to Advice@TheGlobalConversation.com, where our team is waiting to hear from you.)

  • If everything is perfect, why bother?

    “If everything is perfect, happening in Divine order, why bother doing anything?”

    This question was recently posed to the audience of The Global Conversation’s Facebook page in an effort to find out what people think about what may be one of the most asked about — and perhaps most misunderstood — concepts in the new-thought community.

    If there is a larger spiritual design to all of this — that is, all of life — if our ultimate outcome is already guaranteed, why in the world do we need to worry about changing or creating anything during our time on earth?  Can’t we just sit back and enjoy the ride?   Let the chips fall where they may?

    Our Facebook question triggered some wonderful and diverse responses from people around the globe.

    Yoga Wahyudi says:  “because there’s no such thing as perfect.”

    Could that be true, that we actually are less than perfect?  That nothing is perfect?  Is much of the world striving and struggling and reaching for what they may never be able to attain?  Is it true that there is no higher purpose or all-encompassing perfection involved here?

    There are religions in our world today that support the idea that we are flawed from the moment we enter into the realm of physicality.  If we embrace that belief system, one that requires us to believe ourselves as separate from God, upon what then do we base our decision of whether or not to become active participants in the happenings in our world?   Is it merely an exercise of atonement for our perceived defects, earning or receiving credit for our “good” deeds?

    Tony Meade shared a quote from Albert Einstein:  “Nothing happens until something moves.”

    And Deanne Steinbeck offered this thought:  “Even divine order requires action, every action you make has a butterfly effect and it may be one of your actions that inspires someone else and so on. We are here to learn, grow and love and for us to action our best self…..divine order requires each of us to action love into the world.”

    So perhaps it is within our actions, our doingness, our creativity that we are experiencing the perfection of our choices?  Would we ever be able to know who we are, to declare who we are, or express who we are if we never engaged in demonstrations of who we are?

    The answers to these questions will depend largely upon what your belief and understanding is about why you are here, on this planet, to begin with.  Conversations with God shared this powerful message with us:

    “My divine purpose in dividing Me was to create sufficient parts of Me so that I could know Myself experientially. There is only one way for the Creator to know Itself experientially as the Creator, and that is to create. And so I gave to each of the countless parts of Me (to all of My spirit children) the same power to create which I have as the whole….My purpose in creating you, My spiritual offspring, was for Me to know Myself as God. I have no way to do that save through you. Thus it can be said (and has been, many times) that My purpose for you is that you should know yourself as Me.”

    And it is within this message that I believe we are offered an understanding that most clearly explains the dichotomy that exists between “everything being perfect” and the call for creation.  It comes to us not in the form of a commandment, but rather in the form of a gift from God, so that we may experience ourselves as the Divine and so that the Divine may know Herself experientially.

    So when we are at the choice point, and we find ourselves being given an opportunity to decide, the important questions to ask ourselves are:  Who am I? Where am I? Why am I where I am? And what do I intend to do about that?  When we purposefully transform our thoughts into actions, we become powerful creators and active participants in the evolution of life…not only for ourselves, but for everyone.

    – Rosa Parks experienced this when she chose to stand up to legally imposed racial segregation and faced her own arrest.

    – Hotel workers at theTaj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India, experienced this when they placed their own lives at risk in efforts to protect guests during the deadly terrorist attacks in 2008.

    – Nancy Lublin experiences this in her capacity as CEO at DoSomething.org, one of the country’s largest nonprofit organizations championing for young people and creating social change in the areas of bulling & violence, environment, homelessness, and human rights, just to name a few.

    – Cassandra Curley experienced this when she walked 50 miles in each of the 50 states in 50 weeks in conjunction with her 50th birthday, spreading the message to anyone who would listen that peace is our natural state and that conflict is generated by fear.

    So I pose the question again:  If everything is perfect, happening in Divine order, why bother doing anything? 

     (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation.  She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • Conquering fear

    Fear has been on my mind a lot lately, especially when it comes to this venture of Pajamas Notebook.  I started out as I always do, like a firecracker, but as time goes on I find myself getting fearful again.  This time around, it is a different type of fear than I am normally accustomed to.  Usually, I would get scared of failure. “What if no one likes me?”  “What if I fail miserably?” Those feelings I am used to and have become really good at handling,so they don’t bother me anymore.  What this new fear does deal with is the fear of success!  Odd, isn’t it?

    This time around I find myself saying, “What if I become successful?” or“What if my message takes off and the spotlight starts to shine on me?” How do I handle that?  Being a humble person, the thought of “all eyes on me” is a bit daunting, as I have never wanted to outshine anyone else in my life.  I suffer from “feeling bad for those around me when I start to take the lead so I step back” syndrome.  This was even stronger when I became a Wife and Mother.  I always wanted to be a Stay-at-Home Mommy (which I am), a supportive wife (which I am), a loving sibling (which I am), and a loving daughter (which I am)…which is why my mind keeps putting me in checkmate by saying, “You have everything you ever wanted… why push it and try for more?  How will you balance your home with a business?  How will you care for your husband?  How will you make time for your kids?”  It is those moments where fear starts really knocking at my door.

    With that being said, I ended up spending the entire weekend thinking about this subject.  What fear is, what common fears are, and how it affects different kinds of people.  Through this process, I was finally able to muster up enough courage to no longer allow this emotion to get the better of me.  How did I do this you may ask?   Simply, by deciding to put all TRUST in me, so that I will be able to answer any knock at my door with a smile and with love.   You see, the truth is that fear is constantly knocking at our doors if you really take time to listen.  We can either choose to ignore that it’s there and just keep pressing on, or we can finally stand up with all that we are and open the door to invite fear in!

    That is what I have chosen to do.  I have decided to walk straight up to my door, open it up, and invite fear inside.  I am going to ‘trust’ that this feeling knocking means I truly am on to something with my business…I am going to love the crap out of this scary emotion until it’s so full of love it has no choice but to love me back…I am going to put all my light towards the fear, and whatever else walks through my door, that it will be overrun with the warmth of which I am.

    I have decided right here and now, to no longer live life by constantly ‘exiting stage right.’  Instead, I choose to harness the gifts provided to me and get to gettin’ when it comes to sharing my message with all of you!

    Since I have made this declaration to myself and to the universe, I am overrun with pure joy for what lies ahead and am excited to have ‘fear’ along for the ride.  Maybe, just maybe, I can finally teach IT a thing or two about how the soul really works!

    What would you do, if you knew you wouldn’t fail?  What would you do, if fear no longer conquered your life?

    (Jaimie Schultz , a/k/a Pajamas, is a fun-loving, passionate, adventure seeker who loves life and loves helping others see how much they should love theirs. She is passionate about all things mystical and out of her control. You can visit her website at www.pajamasnotebook.com)

    (If you would like to contribute an article you have authored to the Guest Column, please submit it to our Managing Editor, Lisa McCormack, for possible publication in this space. Not all submissions can be published, due to the number of submissions and sometimes because of other content considerations, but all are encouraged. Send submissions to Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com. Please label the topic: “Guest Column.”)

     

  • I just want to be happy

    How many times has the phrase “I just want to be happy” crept into your thoughts and tumbled out of your mouth?  Perhaps someone close to you has uttered these six words in the midst of their own “unhappiness” on an occasion or two, looking to you for the solution?

    But just what does “happy” look like?

    What images does the word “happy” conjure up for you?  Does it represent a state of being which so far life has kept from you like a callous game of keep-away?  Does your mind paint a pleasant scene of someone other than you skipping gleefully down a flowery stone path, indulging in an ice cream cone, and humming a joyful tune?  Is it in that perfect relationship that you envision and yearn to be a part of, the one that looks nothing like the relationships you are currently experiencing?

    If you Google the word “happy,” the first image that pops up is a giant yellow smiley face.  Is that what it means to be happy?

    If not, what does it mean to be “happy”?

    And why do so many people claim not to experience it on a regular basis, if at all?

    Our spiritual leaders teach us that a happy life is a peaceful life, doing what brings us joy.  Our parents tell us their only wish for us is that they want us to be happy.  But if we don’t have any real concept of what “happiness” is, how will we even know if we ARE happy….or, for that matter, have any idea how to get there?

    Maybe we are closer to a state of happiness than we actually think we are.  Perhaps we are simply hung up somewhere in that space between what we think “happy” looks like and what happiness truly is.

    We have become a fun-seeking, happiness-producing society:  Take more vacations.  Engage in a hobby.  Go out for date night.  Ladies’ night out.  Men’s night out.  Eat more.  Drink more.  Play more.  Get more.  Do more.  Have more.  But what would happen if we valued no moment in life as more “fun” than another?  What if we perceived all of life as equally fun, equally meaningful, equally purposeful?

    Maybe happiness isn’t found in that which we think we are not doing enough of or in that which we think we are not getting enough of.  What if we considered the possibility that happiness is already there, always there, patiently waiting for recognition, quietly knowing its potential?  Perhaps happy is found in the deep sense of knowing that no matter what is taking place in my life right now, no matter how chaotic or discombobulated or challenging it may seem, that everything is occurring to serve my highest good and the highest good of all.  Could we accept the nonsensicalness of it all, at last experiencing the highest level of happiness, knowing that life does not have to be one continuous sweeping run of “fun” experiences unfolding before our very eyes?

    Maybe happiness is experienced in loving exactly where you are…and not where you think you should be.

    Maybe happiness is experienced in loving exactly what you have…and not in what you imagine yourself to lack.

    Maybe happiness is experienced in loving exactly who you are…and not in who you think you are supposed to be.

    I don’t believe that happiness is reserved for a select few, nor is it earned or doled out to those who most deserve it.  It is experienced within our choice to BE it.  It is felt in companion with sadness and confusion.  It is known in the moments when life requires us to stretch the furthest and bend the most and love the deepest.

    What does “happy” look like to you?

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation.  She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)

  • When everything changes…

    Being in the midst of change anyway, we have decided to shift the title of this column from “Health and Wellness” to “Holistic Living.” Our wonderful editor, Lisa McCormack, asked me the other day if it didn’t seem to be a more appropriate title given what I am up to in the world. You see, I have a passion for helping people make simple changes to create healthier, happier lives. It is my steadfast belief, and on-the-ground experience, that there must be a holistic approach taken if positive lasting change is to occur. Whatever the challenges we may face, whether in our personal lives, or in our collective experience, we must address and shift at the level of the whole being when a symptom of dis-ease appears.

    Dis-ease is nature’s way of saying that something you are doing isn’t working. While sometimes painful, it isn’t personal.  It’s merely a sign that shows up to help guide us to a greater understanding of how things work naturally. If ignored, the symptoms get worse; and if ignored long enough, the system fails. If addressed in time, the system returns to its functionality, which is always about a return to balance. Balance is the key in all systems in nature, including the health of our body. When one part of a system is out of balance, it affects the whole, which is why a Holistic approach to living and healing any out of balance system is always the most effective way of returning it, and us, to our natural state…which is well-being itself.

    When you realize the interconnectedness of it all, including all of us, you realize how important it is to make conscious decisions at every level in our lives…every choice made affects the whole. For example, the idea expressed in Conversations with God that “We Are All One” changed the way I viewed my world and the choices I now make in life. The realization that my choices impacted not just my life, but the lives of everyone, changed everything for me and the way I operate in the world. Conscious living was born within me as a result of the consequences of unconscious living. This is the process of life. Life informs itself through the living of life itself. I awaken to what doesn’t work and then become aware of other possibilities that might. Sometimes also called growing up, it’s that moment in a human being’s life when they realize, it just isn’t all about me. This is where the conversation of conscious living begins to challenge not only how we live, but how we live in the world as well.

    With life comes freedom, with freedom comes responsibility, and responsibility literally means our ability to choose how we respond to life..the consequences of those choices create our living reality. We are free to make any choice available to us. But are we free to have our choices impact others negatively?

    Smoking is a good example of this. There are consequences of smoking to the smoker and there are consequences to the others exposed to a smoker. These shared consequences have differing levels of responsibility attached to them. The smoker makes their choice, which they are free to do, but what about the effect their behavior has on others? Especially others that cannot choose their exposure to the smoke…like children.

    In truth, smoking works for no one, unless ones desired outcome is slow death and diseases like cancer and COPD.  It works perfectly for that. Forgive the sarcasm, but do we really need further evidence of this truth? Yet people continue to choose to smoke while they and others die from it everyday. These are the consequences of smoking.  Do so at your own peril, but consider your actions on others as well. I was a smoker, so I am not throwing stones here.  But if I were, they would be to awaken you before the metaphorical boulder careening down the mountainside directly at you wipes you clean off the planet. Read last week’s column for a reminder of just how delicate and brief life can be.

    Conscious living, then, comes out of the consequences experienced out of unconscious living, except when it doesn’t. That is, we can choose to ignore our experience and continue behaving in ways we know do not serve us. Part of the definition of Addiction is “continued use of a substance or behavior in spite of negative consequences.”  Still, every act is informative, even if it ends your physical form, for do we not learn from our collective behavior and evolve? Slower than I would like to see, but nonetheless, we do evolve, we do grow, we are awakening to the human potential through the process of living something other than our highest possibility at any given time. Does it have to be that way? Yes and no…you get to choose. That is the great secret.

    It is my mission to help myself and others experience this greater possibility of beingness that drives me in all areas of my work. With my new position in the Conversations with God Foundation and our common mission which comes from the words God expressed to Neale Donald Walsch through his writings of the CwG material, “Be the next grandest version of the greatest vision ever you held about who you are.”  These words drive me forward to find ways to help awaken what my Father called “the sleeping giant within.” Also known as “Christ Consciousness” and by other names as well, the spark of potential lives within us all, waiting to be tapped, yearning to be expressed. It is this very spark that is the key to ending suffering and the pain associated with the choices that do not serve us, other than to awaken us to our true potential and our truth.

    The question for me is always how to make that practical so the wisdom within us can be realized and made manifest in the lives of those we have the great fortune to serve. The further mission of the CwG Foundation is “to give people back to themselves.”  We also put it this way: “To remind people to remember who they really are.”  When you remember who you really are, what your true nature and potential is, the questions become simple. Who will I choose to BE today? What will I choose to BEcome next? It truly is “To Be or Not to Be.”  It really is that simple. That is why you are called Human BEing!

    SO, what say you? We all benefit when we engage in the conversation about what works and what doesn’t work. We learn from each other and we learn from our own experience. We really benefit when we do so with respect and tolerance for all paths.  Then and only then are we really communicating. This is part of the greater purpose of The Global Conversation as well, the realization that we are all connected and that our behavior has a global impact, sometimes also called “The Butterfly Effect.”  Holistic living, then, beneficially impacts us all when we choose to create at every level of beingness. What is it in your life right now that appears to stand in the way of you being your next grandest version of the greatest vision ever you held of who you are? Are you caring for your body, mind, emotions and nurturing your spirit? If not, what could cause you to make a change? What, if anything, can I or the Foundation do to support you in creating a better life? This is one of the many forums for you to express yourself, but you are also welcome to contact us in person, too. CwG has a wonderful coaching staff of dedicated people who have addressed some of life’s greatest challenges using the wisdom of CwG to help. So don’t needlessly suffer. Reach out. Remember the words and first rule from “When Everything Changes Change Everything”: Never go it alone!

    I may or may not be able to help you, but you will feel heard. Sometimes that is all that is required.  We hear our own wisdom in the confronting of our story, in the seeking of our solutions to the challenges we face. Like overcoming smoking, or any other addiction that you may have struggled with in the past. If you are ready to finally become free, we can help. Please also use this forum to share your experience on how these and other spiritual messages have sponsored change for the better in your life. How do you use the wisdom within to transform your life? Sharing your experience helps everyone and is a great reminder to yourself of what a wonderful gift your life is. Life is a gift.  And though sometimes it can be difficult, together we can make a difference, make a change for the better, make this world a better place. Yes, I just said it.  And as sappy as it may sound, I really mean it. Don’t take my word for it, though.  Try it out for yourself.

    You have the wisdom of the ages within; life’s challenges will expose this. What better opportunity is there to know this than to be a light unto the darkness. Darkness is, therefore, a gift. What will you choose, to be the light or to succumb to the darkness? The good news is even if you find yourself stuck in the dark, you can’t live in there forever, for it is simply not who you are.  And sooner or later, you will be drawn back into the light. An idea beautifully expressed in a wonderful children’s book called: “The Little Soul in the Sun” written by Neale and available for sale at the Foundation. (Like how I snuck a commercial in here!) Whether or not it feels that way right now, know truth will once again find you and set you free. Having just been through a dark and painful period, I understand this better than ever. I have great compassion for the human process and I am grateful to those who helped me once again find the light. We call them Angels and we are surrounded by them. I am grateful for mine.

    When you remember who you really are, also remember you have a gift to give.  Then share it freely. There is no better way than to BE it. As Gandhi said: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

    Finally, thank you to all who sent me notes of well wishes around the loss we experienced of our beloved Patty Hammett and for my new position at the CwG Foundation. Your support is so greatly appreciated! I welcome anyone to reach out for any reason.  Please know we are here to serve you. Until then, Blessed Be – JR

    (J.R. Westen, D.D. is a Holistic Health & Spiritual Counselor who has worked and presented side-by-side with Neale Donald Walsch for over a decade. He is passionate about helping individuals move beyond their emotional and spiritual challenges, transforming breakdowns into breakthroughs. His counseling and coaching provides practical wisdom and guidance that can be immediately incorporated to shift one’s experience of life. As is true for most impactful teachers, J.R.’s own struggles and triumphs inspired him to find powerful ways of helping others. Sober since June 1, 1986, J.R.’s passion for helping individuals move through intense life challenges drove him to also specialize in Addiction and Grief Recovery. J.R. currently shares his gift of counseling & coaching with individuals from around the world through the Wellness Center, Simply Vibrant, located on Long Island N.Y.  In addition, he operates “Change House” a place where people come to transform, he also works with Escondido Sobering Services and now serves as the Administrator and Program Director for the Conversations with God Foundation. He can be contacted at JR@CWG.ORG or JR@theglobalconversation.com, or to book an appointment, write support@simplyvibrant.com.)

  • A soul named Bob

    It was recently brought to my attention that my driver’s license had expired and that I had been driving around town “illegally” for over two weeks.  This troubled me, of course, because I immediately thought for sure Murphy’s Law would pay me a visit and I would, for the first time in years and years, now ironically get stopped by the police for a moving violation or a broken taillight or, worse yet, maybe find myself involved in an automobile accident, my expired license only adding to my misfortune.  Yes, I was frantically writing my own best-selling “what if” story.

    But my mind was also busy imagining a situation that perhaps, at least more immediately, was even worse than that — the dreaded thought of having to make an early Monday morning visit to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew my lapsed license.  Oh, just the thought of waiting in those long lines, only to be served by overly tired, underpaid, and under-appreciated government employees who spend long dreary days in a gray office with no windows, determined to suck all of us into their miserable lair.  Thought by thought, I was erecting giant walls of resistance around me.

    So I came up with a plan.  I would be the very first one in line!  That way I will avoid those long painful lines and maybe find myself fortunate enough to be served by someone at the DMV who hadn’t yet been worn down and numbed by a full day of monotony.  Yes!  That is what decided to do.  So I smugly arrived at the DMV at 7:45 a.m., knowing they opened at 8:30 a.m., and feeling confident that I would be the first to arrive.

    Except I wasn’t.  I was not the first person in line.  I was the second person in line.

    And this is when I met Bob.

    Bob is an 82-year-old gentleman who, like me, came to the DMV office to renew his driver’s license.  But it did not take long for me to experience the “real” reason Bob was there.

    Bob was there for me.

    This soft-spoken, kind man, with a smile that extended into his eyes, thought that the driver’s license office opened at 8:00, only to discover that he now had 45 minutes to wait outside on the unforgiving hard sidewalk, with nowhere to sit, nowhere to rest his frail legs.   But what he did have is someone to talk to, to share his life with, to laugh with, to be present with, someone who understood the much, much larger reason for his “mistake” in thinking the DMV opened at 8:00 and someone who also now understood the underlying purpose in my premeditated “plan” to beat the crowd.

    I was there for Bob.

    In those precious 45 minutes, I learned from Bob that he said goodbye to his life-long companion just six short months ago.  And he misses her dearly.  I could feel his sadness and deep love for her.  I knew that Bob was experiencing her presence just by having someone to share her memory with, that her essence was alive and very real in our interaction with each other, and I was honored and profoundly touched to be chosen as a surrogate with whom Bob could once again experience her love and grace.

    I learned from Bob that he wobbles when he walks sometimes.  But he says he does not think of or label this as “stumbling” or “wobbling.”  Bob says he is dancing.   And in our short time together, Bob danced a lot.  I wonder if in some of these seemingly unsteady moments his soul is engaging in a breathtaking waltz with his beautiful wife?

    I learned from Bob that even though he is no longer able to travel around the country in his motor home as he once did with his Beloved Other, there is a wonderful channel on his Dish network that shows beautiful scenery from around the world — majestic mountains, tranquil beaches, and colorful fields of flowers.  And if you get up really early in the morning, at 4:00 a.m., as he does, you can watch that program and “feel like you are right there. ” And “if you are a believer,” as Bob offered to me, “they even scroll some scripture across the bottom,” to which he gently and thoughtfully added, “if you want that.”

    I learned from Bob that even though his life partner has continued on in her soul’s journey, he still greets each new dawn with purpose and appreciation.  While he oftentimes yearns for the physical presence of his wife, he understands that he still has soul work to do and a life to live and experience – and he has decided to show up in his own life with humor, kindness, and intention.

    There was a point in my life, not too very long ago, when I would have missed entirely the enormous gift being presented within this relationship and within this experience.  There may have even been a time where I would have avoided this wonderful elderly gentleman altogether by inconspicuously burying my face in my phone or casually dismissing him with a polite smile.   Boy, am I thankful I am not living in that space anymore.

    My encounter with Bob is a reminder that what I think is going on isn’t always what is going on.  My well-laid plan to beat the crowd at the DMV and to make sure that I avoided an uncomfortable personal experience had nothing to do with what I originally imagined.  Bob and I had a soul agreement long before our bodies arrived at that particular location at that particular time and in that particular way.

    How would our lives change if we viewed every person with whom we interacted as an intentional and purposeful gift?  Have our souls chosen the people who are in our lives and those that are held within our next choice?  Or are we just randomly bumping into each other?  It is easy to view our own biological families and chosen partners and our children and friends as gifts.  But what about the passers-by?  What about the person next to you in line at the grocery store?  What about the “overly tired, underpaid, and under-appreciated government employees who spend long dreary days in a gray office with no windows”?

    We sometimes realize after-the-fact that something big, something of importance, something Divine has just taken place.  But when we come to this same realization “in the moment” we are actually experiencing it, we can see the opportunity we are being given to remember a little bit more about who we are and why we are here, and we become powerful creators and flow-throughs of God’s love.

    At 8:30 on the nose, the doors to the DMV opened and I followed Bob into the building.  We parted ways to go to our respective service windows, immense feelings of gratitude welling up inside me.  When I arrived to meet the person who would be assisting me that morning, the person to whom I had projected unfavorable predictions upon, the individual whose mere existence I was a short while ago resisting, I was warmly greeted with a radiant smile and a cheery, “Good morning!  How may I help you today?” – and I immediately knew another opportunity was presenting itself to me.

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation.  She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com) 

  • If I say “I love you,” will you say it back?

    Isn’t it heartwarming and wonderful to watch very young children, two-, three-, four-year-olds, who express and demonstrate their love so spontaneously and unreservedly?  It’s not unusual to hear the collective sound of a harmonious “awww” from observers on a playground witnessing two new young friends sharing in an impromptu hug or unforeseen kiss on the cheek. These children live in pure awareness.  Their love is unfiltered, not yet programmed, authentic, allowing them to exemplify the level and kind of love we all yearn for but have somehow forgotten how to experience.

    But why have we forgotten?

    At some point in our childhood, we are exposed to and told to believe in a different kind of love.  This different kind of love works swiftly to reprogram what we come here already knowing:  that we already ARE love.  This different kind of love then works tirelessly to convince us that if we “do this” or “be that” or “do things in a particular way,” we will finally earn and be rewarded the love of another.  Haven’t we all, at some point or another in our lives, yearned to hear the words “I love you”?

    But what do we really mean when we utter these three words to another with an underlying hope that we will, in turn, hear “I love you” back?   To say nothing of the paralyzing fear that the possibility exists that we may not be the recipient of another’s confirmation of love.  Would it be possible to be in a relationship where the knowing of one’s love was so palpable that the desire and need to hear this verbal affirmation would no longer present itself?

    Somewhere along the way, in an attempt to capture the essence of love in a way that makes sense, we boxed it into our language, as we do many of life’s esoteric ideas and concepts, and formulated our own version of love.  We have minimized, twisted, stretched, warped, contorted, and manipulated this small but powerful phrase — “I love you” — to the point that its meaning is almost spiritually unrecognizable.  We hinge or hasten our expression of love upon some need-driven expectation of what we may or may not receive in return.

    Imagine a world where we did not condition our love, or the expression of it, upon an assurance and acknowledgment that we will be loved back, a world where everyone demonstrates their love freely, openly, and unconditionally, where love was not bartered over or bargained for.  I have, on more than one occasion, found myself asking the question:  Are we even capable of experiencing unconditional love for a period of time beyond an occasional moment or two?

    And the answer I receive is that if we fully awakened to who we really are – all of us – we would never place another condition upon our love.  We would not need to prove love’s reciprocity because we would already know and feel its omnipresence.  Fear and doubt would never cause us to hesitate in expressing our deepest gratitude and affection to anyone, as we would no longer buy into a perceived need to self-protect; but rather we would each place into the world our highest intentions and actions, giving freely from the source of our own abundance, understanding that the entire purpose of our being here in the first place has very little, if anything, to do with ourselves…and everything to do with all those with whom we share our path.

    I once saw an interview with Tony Robbins, the well-known motivational speaker, where he was asked if he gets nervous before he walks out on a stage in front of thousands of people.  His answer was (paraphrasing):  “If I thought that going out on that stage had anything to do with me, I would be nervous, tongue-tied, struggling to find my words.  But going out there has nothing to do with me.  It is about those people in the audience.  I am here for them.”

    That, to me, is unconditional love, giving your gifts absent the necessity to receive anything particular in return, a choice and demonstration of your Highest Self which arises out of a deeper understanding of why you are here.   Unconditional love asks, “Who am I in the room to heal?  And how will I let them know I am here?”

    Perhaps as our world continues to shed its Old Cultural Story, the one which carries with it a “different kind of love,” we will collectively begin to once again behold the world as our playground, just as we did when we were children, spontaneously and unreservedly declaring and expressing, returning to Love and a remembrance of Who We Really Are.

    (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation.  She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team at www.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com)

     

     

  • A “Dear James” letter

    I was born on the last day of the year.  So the annual transition of “out with the old and in with the new” feels especially pivotal to me as I reflect with gratitude upon what once was, I look forward with hope and anticipation for what is yet to come, and I explore more deeply the larger reason for my birth.  And, yes, I do make some “New Year’s Resolutions”; however, they have nothing to do with resolving to fit into last year’s pair of blue jeans.  And while more money flowing into my bank account rather than out of it would bring some much-needed financial relief, I will not be making that my top priority either.  Nor will I be committing to get a better job or setting my sights on traveling around the world sampling exotic foods.

    Part of the reason why I believe New Year’s Resolutions “fail” is because the purpose for which we enter into such agreements with ourselves has very little to do with the purpose of our lives.  I am sharing a letter I wrote to my 18-year-old son, as it captures the essence of how I feel about the arrival of a new year.  The gifts I have been given the opportunity to receive and give within the context of my relationship with my son have been some of the most profound and life-changing.  And I believe deeply that by allowing the gifts to flow through me to you, they become a gift to us all.

    “Dear James,

    As night gently falls on 2012 and the promise of a new dawn in 2013 hangs in the air, billions of people around the world will be resolving and committing to make changes in their life, hoping to stick to long-lasting resolutions that will finally deliver to them the things in life we all desire most — abundance, prosperity, better health, joy, security, happiness, and love — believing that this time, this year, their well-intentioned efforts will resemble more than simply a “to do” list for the first week of January.

    I wonder if you, too, feel that yearning, if you hear a beckoning to a higher calling, if you desire to make new choices with an eye on shaping and defining not just your experience for a particular year, but with an eye on shaping and defining the entire purpose of your life.  Ah, the purpose of life — the question that has perplexed scholars and religious teachers around the world, the question which has led countries into war and tested and stretched the fabric of every relationship we enter into, the question that is most looked at in the final moments of our physical being here on earth:

    What is the purpose of my life?

    My Beloved Son, I am here to share with you the answer.

    I will begin by sharing with you what the purpose of your life is not.  As my good friend, Neale, has shared many, many times, the purpose of life has very little to do, if anything, with “getting the girl, getting the car, getting the job, getting the house, getting the spouse, getting the kids, getting the better job, getting the better house, getting the promotion, getting the grandkids, getting the gray hair, getting the office in the corner, getting the retirement watch, getting the illness, getting the burial plot, and getting the hell out.”

    And so far, in the 46 years that I have been blessed to have on this earth, this has demonstrated itself to be true – life is not about any of those things.  I’ve had most of the things on that list, and some of them more than once.  And I am here to tell you that the purpose for my life was not realized or remembered by “getting” or “having” any one of them.

    So if life really isn’t about any of those things, then what is it about?

    This is what I know to be true:

    The purpose of your life is to create the purpose of your life.

    When you were a very young child, it mattered not to me whether you played baseball or joined Cub Scouts, whether you went swimming or read a book, or whether you ate pizza or spaghetti.  And now, as a young man who is living on his own, it matters not to me which career you choose or what area of the world you reside in, what you have for dinner, how you enjoy your spare time, or what kind of clothes you wear.

    Do not confuse “not mattering” with “not loving.”  My love for you is without conditions.  These choices would only matter to me if somehow the level of my love for you was attached to a particular outcome designed by me or hinged to a misguided idea that somehow you could fail in this Life game.

    I want for you what you want for you.

    And here is where it gets even better, James:

    God wants for us what we want for us.

    Society will tell you that in order to “earn” God’s love, you must be a certain way and do certain things.  Have you questioned this for yourself?  Have you wondered why a God who is “unconditionally loving” would place such conditions upon his love?  Have you dared to imagine a different kind of God?

    And if God wants for us what we want for us, and the purpose of our lives have nothing to do with what we have or what we get, what will the arrival of a new year mean to you?   What will you strive for?  What will you draw upon to ascribe meaning to the experiences in your life?

    Your life is an opportunity.  Within every occurrence, there is an opportunity for you.  And within every relationship, you are an opportunity for someone else.  Will you see those moments and embrace those gifts, both those that are being given to you and those you have to give?  As the world collectively and consciously welcomes the New Year, perhaps the largest number of people purposefully and simultaneously placing positive energy and intention into the world, how could our world not become a better place?  Where will you be in that process?  And WHO will you be in that process?

    What will you decide and what will you declare the purpose of your life to be, my beloved son?”

    What will the arrival of a New Year mean to you, my friends?  A new car?  More money?  Fitting in last year’s blue jeans?  Or perhaps at last the answer to one of life’s biggest questions:  What is the purpose of my life?

     (Lisa McCormack is the Managing Editor & Administrator of The Global Conversation. She is also a member of the Spiritual Helper team atwww.ChangingChange.net, a website offering emotional and spiritual support. To connect with Lisa, please e-mail her at Lisa@TheGlobalConversation.com.)