The Global Conversation

Tag: retreats

  • Are you ready for some spiritual adventure?

    Forgive my absence. It has been a busy summer. My whole life is changing and I am having some trouble keeping up with all of it! It’s all good, just a lot happening right now. What a difference a year makes. A year ago, I was heartbroken and unsure how life could look so bleak. Today, I am grateful for all the change that yesterday’s hurt has created. They were all blessings in disguise. Let that sink in, especially if you are going through some unwanted change right now. Change is always for our greater good, which explains why I am smiling today.

    Have you ever been so inspired and excited about your future that you can’t sleep? This is how I have been these last few months. I should explain. As the new Executive Director of the Conversations with God Foundation, I have been given the opportunity to make a difference, much in the way my life was impacted by the very organization I now lead.

    Everything changed for me 13 years ago when I began a quest to know and understand God,  when on one particular day this one particular book kept insisting I read it, it kept showing up. CwG came to me three different ways on that day, and nothing would be the same after. I got the message.  And upon reading that book, everything began to change in my life. Here I am 13 years later in a leadership position of the very Foundation that played such a wonderful role over the years in my life. I am teaching out of  those very same books that changed everything for me…and life could not be better.

    Life is the way it is for me today because I use the concepts and tools offered within the pages of CwG, and, for that matter, many other spiritual works I have been drawn to read as a result. Yet I keep coming back to CwG because of its simplicity and easy accessibility to joy-filled messages within. Sure, some of the concepts were way over my head when I first began, but I knew if I could say it, I could live it.

    I wanted nothing more than to live the material I was so attracted to, so I got on with teaching it. Seven or eight years of facilitating study groups and being surrounded by the hopeful messages, and my life  began to transform. Be clear, it is a process. I see myself evolving even to this very day. Yet I am still attracted to this simple and profound material as my life changes and I see the wisdom of CwG as it flows through me.

    So last month, a group of dedicated professionals and I put on “A Path to Peace” retreat in Medford, Oregon. It turned out to be an even greater experience than I hoped and the feedback I received made me smile. I have dedicated my life to helping people find their truth that sets them happy, joyous and free. “A Path to Peace” is just one of the ways I hoped would do just that. My desire is to help those struggling with dis-ease recover and get free.

    Inspired by that outcome, we decided to hold retreats in San Jose, California, in September and then one on the east coast in Orlando, Florida, in October. I recognize that it isn’t always easy for people to come to Medford, Oregon, to visit me, so I have decided to take this “show on the road.”  I am very excited about the rest of this year’s retreat schedule. I have a very special retreat coming in November that you may not want to miss either, so if I may be so bold and use this forum for the following announcements:

    SAVE THE DATES!

    Sept 19 – 22 – San Jose, CA – A Path to Peace – CLICK HERE

    October 24 – 27 – Orlando, Florida – A Path to Peace – CLICK HERE

    ARE YOU READY FOR A SPIRITUAL ADVENTURE?

    Dust off your passport, because we are headed to Costa Rica!

    November 8 – 16 – Costa Rica – What God Said – CLICK HERE

    That’s right, Costa Rica.  Some of you know that I lived in Costa Rica where I held my Change House program. Change House was designed around the book When Everything Changes, Change Everything, and it was created to help people move through unwanted and unexpected change or on-purpose and enlightened change…or both.

    My life is a living example of what a program like Change House can do, as I used every one of those tools this last year…and they work! Change House is a wonderful program and it will return in the near future, but for now we are going to take on something timely, important, and really wonderful!

    On October 1st, The latest CwG book will be out. It’s called What God Said.

    What God Said contains The 25 Core Messages of Conversations with God that will change your life and the world, all of the most important concepts within CwG messages brought forth in one book. This retreat will be an overview study of these concepts and how to make use of them in daily life. Who wouldn’t benefit from that?

    This retreat will also launch CwG College.

    CwG College has been created for those who desire to be students/teachers of Conversations with God, those who wish to deeply understand the benefits created by living the material, and who may also wish to share the good news and teach the material to others.

    I call this the ultimate study group as people from all over the world will meet in different cities to take on learning and living the wisdom found in the CwG material. When people come together, the power to create positive outcomes multiplies by the energy in the room.

    What God Said is the perfect book to begin CwG College with since it provides a summary of the core messages found throughout all of the books and an overview of what an in-depth study of the material will provide.

    The Costa Rica retreat will be held at a hot springs and spa in my adoptive hometown in Costa Rica called Orosi Valley. Eternal springtime conditions await you there as the weather is 75 during the day and 57 at night. Located in Central Costa Rica, there is little humidity and no mosquito nets are needed for sleeping. The resort is built around a river and hot springs, and the amenities are wonderful. This will truly be a mix of fun and a life-changing deep study.

    It won’t just be all work and no play, I have also arranged the possibility for those who wish to have some traditional Costa Rican adventures, like zip-lines and volcano tours.  I want you to enjoy the sights and sounds of this amazing place. You are welcome to consider staying longer than our seven day retreat.  I would be happy to assist you, given that I know the area well. If you want to live this material and have fun doing it, this retreat is created for you.

    If reading CwG felt important and impactful to you, and if you feel like I do, that these kinds of messages could change your life and change the world, please help me get the message out. I know through my own personal experience and through using these messages to help others that if more people were given the opportunity to explore CwG, that, in fact, the world would become a more peaceful place. Peace begins with you and me. Please join with me in supporting our work and common goal of helping others. My commitment since I took over the CwG Foundation is to expand our outreach and impact the world in a positive way. I am excited to say that we are doing just that and hope you will join with us.

    Do you get why I am excited now? I hope you are excited, too! I look forward to seeing and sharing with you in these amazing retreats and in many other ways in the future!

    As always I love hearing from you…how can I be of service? – J.R.

    (J.R. Westen, D.D., C.Ad, 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. 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 Executive Director for the Conversations with God Foundation. He can be contacted at JR@CWG.ORG.)

  • Be, Do, Have…

    First, thanks so much for the wonderful birthday wishes.  I was so blessed to have received them from so many! I had a wonderful 50th birthday and I am looking forward to the next 50!

    I write to you this week from Medford, Oregon, where I just finished attending and presenting at a CwG Spiritual Renewal Retreat with Neale Donald Walsch. These retreats are perhaps my favorite thing to do in the world, for they allow me to BE some of my most desired states of BEingness.

    BEingness, as we discussed in the retreat this last week, has everything to do with creating your life experience. What I notice is that most have the formula backwards. Most attempt to create BEingness through either Doing or Having — if I do this or get that, I will then be the thing called happy. These two will not produce the long-term desired results simply because they are not the right tool for the job.

    For example, a couple of my favorite States of Beingness are being helpful and being of service. Retreats are a wonderful way of allowing my Beingness to flow through me in a doingness way, called being a presenter, facilitator, helper, etc.

    My recent appointment as the Executive Director of the Conversations with God Foundation has also kept me wonderfully engaged in my favored States of Beingness. I feel fortunate to have been reminded of this wisdom, what the Conversations with God material calls the “Be-Do-Have” paradigm. Choosing a State of Beingness prior to doing or having is the secret to creating a life you really love and desire.

    I, like most, had it backwards.  That is, I thought I had to Do or Have in order to BE. When I got that I could choose in advance what I wanted to experience, and that the choice itself would create the way to functionally have the experience, I got on with being those States of Being which have always provided me with the greatest joy.

    Because I have chosen to BE helpful and to BE of service, life has provided me with so many ways to fulfill those desired states. That is, because I chose to BE first — that is, prior to Doing — life joined in with me and co-created the possibilities to BE-come those States of Being, which, by the way, have been, and continue to be, abundantly provided in the forms of Doing. And because I do so much as a result, I have so much to show for it. Yet neither Doing nor Having can ever create, with any long-term result, the experience of Beingness…that you must choose for yourself!

    It truly is as Shakespeare said: “To Be or not To Be”! Remember that whatever your choice, life will comply and create the way to do and have that experience…so choose wisely!

    It is so wonderful when you choose to be who you really are, for there you will find — or said better, co-create — your mission, purpose, and passion in life. Because I chose to BE the aspects of Divinity that fulfill my Soul’s desire, being helpful and being of service, the Doingness was and is always abundantly provided. This is the Law of Attraction.

    There is great power in knowing and using this. That is, you can make up your life experience in advance, in the moment of now, or even in the past. I have seen many people awaken to the possibilities of recreating their lives anew just by choosing again. Choosing who you want to be is the simplest way to turn everything in life around in your favor. The universe awaits your decision and actions so that it can respond in like kind.

    For example, I was literally built for the Doingness “jobs” that I currently have, like being a counselor or working for the Conversations with God Foundation. I could have never lined up the universe so perfectly to get these jobs, not even if I had tried. Being of service and being helpful created the path to this work, not the other way around.

    The love that flows through me in my particular form of  Doingness provides me with the experience of BE-coming the next grandest version of the greatest vision ever I held of who I am. When I am being of service, there is no greater gift I could experience. AND the way to BE that continues to show up each and every day. That is the power behind intention and choice. Try it for yourself!

    If I may be so bold, may I share another form of my Doingness that could benefit your choice in Beingness? If you have never attended a Conversations with God retreat, it is an experience that I hope you gift yourself with soon. Those who take on recreating their lives anew in the next grandest version of the greatest vision ever they held of who they are find great benefit in gathering with others interested in creating similar outcomes. If you have not had the opportunity to share in that kind of joy, please consider joining me at one or both of our next retreats coming in June.

    I am particularly excited about the upcoming retreats. Two possibilities exist for you to recreate yourself anew. First we take on Recovery in a practical way in our “CwG on Recovery” retreat on June 23 – June 26. The evening of the 26th, we move right into the “CwG Spiritual Renewal” retreat.  It is sure to be a week of transformation for those who attend both.

    Most know that one of my specialties is in the healing of addiction. Addiction is the extreme opposite of who you really are. Few in our world escape the impact of it and most are touched by it in some way. Addiction, by definition, is “The continued use of substances or behaviors despite negative consequences.”  Whether it’s knowing someone or being one, addiction is one of the top causes of death on the planet today. The good news is it doesn’t have to be that way.

    “CwG on Recovery,” also known as “The Path to Peace” retreat, will focus on the healing of Dis-ease, not just recovery from addiction. I, along with a host of others, will cover the body, mind, emotional, and spiritual nature of healing, and of all life, using practical wisdom and tools to create balance.

    The program will offer a Body-Mind-Emotion and Spiritual approach to recovery and healing, and consists of practical tools that work. Our time together will provide the information and inspiration to remove the road blocks to Recovery and create a clear path to a life of Happy, Joyous, and Free. I hope you can join me.

    For more information about this or any other way I might help you BE-come that next grandest vision, please reach out. And use the Be-Do-Have paradigm consciously from now on and watch it make a world of difference in your life.  And don’t believe me…just try it! Until next time, Blessed BE! – JR

    (J.R. Westen, D.D., C.A.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 Director for the Conversations with God Foundation. He can be contacted at JR@CWG.ORG. )