Not Giving Up

I can't give up on my goal of speaking and writing.  It's what my life has boiled down to.  Don't quit before the miracle happens.  Health stuff has been my primary TEMPORARY obstacle.  It is going to affect all areas of my employment, whatever that looks like.  That being said, I'm looking for something that aligns with my speaking/writing goals.  If by August things are not significantly better financially, then I will consider other things.  Hazelden could be a Turning Point in July.  I'm currently studying a course with my girlfriend on marketing my business and still attending Toastmasters.  I'll be competing in speech contests over the next couple of months which could also open speaking doors.  I'm working on an essay for The Great American Think Off and if my essay is chosen, I'll be competing with other speakers to win the title for the competition.  Sometimes, CSPAN shows up to follow their contest.

Anyway, I'm working on a speech right now for next Monday, and will start a new Vision Board today.  My girlfriend and I will be hosting a Vision Board Workshop and I'll just be her Aide.

I'm not giving up, although being in pain is surely a distraction.  Prayer and diet, meditation, and attitude.  :-)

A Friend Felt He Wasted "all" of His Potential

ALL? That's a pretty big word (well, not so 'pretty').

Look, I know I'm using the "G Word" a lot, but here I go again: "In God's Economy, nothing is wasted." I used to get 'wasted' and had some lifetime consequences that most people would consider hellish. But we forgive regardless of the temperature of our hearts. That includes forgiving ONESELF for EVERYTHING so one can live a loving life. One moment of love is worth more than a lifetime of pain. It distills life to love oneself as it distills love to give it away without expectation of anything in return. Would you tell someone else their life was a waste? Treat yourself as you love others. Give yourself a break today (but skip McDonald's).

For the Birds who Don't Discriminate

Scientific Ego & Religious Ego, Democrat Ego & Republican Ego (separate wings of the same Bird of Prey), and whatever OTHER self-aggrandizing BS our Narcissistic Ego tries to sell us, it all tetters on the same fulcrum called Paradox. Anyway, I promised myself decades ago to always remember the birds. They sing for everyone.

Beautiful Mystery Beyond Space & Time

An uncounted number of synchronicities has crossed my awareness the last couple of days, which lead me to meditate a titch on what slavery is and what it might mean. It seems that slavery is either tethered to Immersion or it's tethered to Exclusion. With Exclusion, the slave stays connected or 'Synchronized' to the thing resisted. To coin a well-known phrase, 'What we resist, persists.' One either backs away from or pushes away the thing targeted for Exclusion.

With Immersion, (my preferred obsessive mode for learning any given subject well), one delves into a discipline or endeavor and treats it like a religion, a college education, a political party, or maybe even a relationship. With Immersion, one trains their mind to 'notice' or 'create' things aligned or agreeing with their 'system' of Immersion. That is to say, it's like piling ideas higher and deeper (Ph.D.) and aligning one's life thesis within the confines of the Chosen One's Graduate Thesis.

Scientific "fact" never changes, said a scientist recently. He said belief and biology must be observable and repeatable in context of science. Is science his religion?

The paradox that said scientist might (and I say MIGHT because to be certain makes me a slave to my mastery and a Great Teacher said, "Call no man "Master") encounter is how the dream disappears when one awakens. But Eternal Progress (progress, not perfection) floats between two mirrors facing each other. If we want to change the dream, we move in-between. NOW we exist like Ether solidified, but only when we stop learning or moving. If we want to change the past or the future, MOVE. But mirrors are your free servants.

Truth and Falsehood both seem to teeter on the same fulcrum called Paradox. Eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Duality is a trick, a trap, an ambush. Distract the snake until he eats himself. Then the Tree of Life will be a Beautiful Mystery. I LOVE Mystery.

Speech Tonight at Northern Lights Church, Anoka County MADD

Tonight, Marcia's husband said I am a 'helluva good speaker'.  It's the first time he's heard me speak, despite his setting up Panels with Marcia that I've spoken on.  It's a good feeling to hear a victim speak well of my contributions through speaking.  

I also met a young man who heard me speak "a couple of days ago" for MADD.  He gave me his email and I could tell he was motivated to raise his awareness.

A "Friend of Lois" brought her son to the Panel.  She looked familiar while I was speaking, so I think I've seen her somewhere.  She nodded and raised her hand when I asked if anyone in the audience was familiar with Synchronicity.  She introduced herself aFTER THE pANEL AND I MET HER SON WHO RESOLUTELY SHOOK MY HAND, LOOKED ME IN THE EYE, AND SAID HE WAS TRULY MOVED BY THE PRESENTATION, THAT IT Really helped him.

I sold a book to a totally receptive audinece meber, too.  

Progress in Speaking & Writing

I have many speaking activities set up this month (MADD & a Treatment Center~see my speaking calendar), with proposals to speak to the Minnesota Correctional Association annual Fall Conference, Rotary Clubs, and several other schools and organizations.  

I'm editing my Little Book of Miracles and buying copies after editing is completed.  

Which Plays a Larger Role in Shaping One’s Life: Success or Failure?

The question is a classic philosophical quandary meant to inspire thinkers from all walks of life. Did winning push you harder to be your best? Or did losing motivate continued growth to overcome?

Life is both brutal and beautiful.  Our beauty is more powerful than our brutality.  Forgiveness is more powerful than the offense that required its presence. I was an abused child and yes, I am more than what happened to me. A woman is worth more than the rape infracted against her. I choose to forgive, despite the temperature of my heart. But I needed a miracle for it to happen. I couldn't forgive my Offender without the help of my Higher Power. Most solutions are simple, but not always easy.

I can be as happy as I make up my mind to be, even in the midst of an assault. I've met countless people who are in the midst of the Alcoholic War Zone, but who sing like larks whether the Alcoholic is drinking or not. I know a woman whose son was killed by an alcohol-impaired driver. She hugged the young man in court who killed her son, saying, "I love you and I forgive you for killing my son."

In God's Economy, nothing is wasted. 

The wound that offends is the one left behind, Unforgiven.  Forgiveness always runs deeper than the wound that preceded and required its presence.  Oprah said, "Make your wounds your wisdom."  

Being of a Sober Mind & Heart

Sober CHEERS to taking our power back from negative egoism. Confidence without conceit is a beautiful thing. Truth without compassion is cruelty. Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don't say it mean. But sometimes, IMO, we just gotta say it ANY WAY WE CAN in order to birth ourselves into a Higher Form of living and loving.

Someone's always gonna be offended, no matter what we say or do. I am NOT their problem. Happiness is a choice.   They are their own problem.

As long as it's truly my HEART talking, I am on the right path.  My heart knows who I am, because I surrendered my heart to God and I understand God, and I TRUST a Surrendered Heart over the brightest of human minds.  The mind is a SERVANT of the heart, or maybe its Protector.  Heart and mind should be a Team.  The heart is the feeling part of the mind and the mind is the thinking part of the heart.

Earth School is not always the easiest place to co-exist, but I choose to love and forgive, despite the temperature of any given moment.

"What is Love? Baby Don't Hurt Me, Don't Hurt Me, No More!" LOL!

“Love is the expression of the one who loves, not of the one who is loved. Those who think they can love only the people they prefer do not love at all. Love discovers truths about individuals that others cannot see” 
― Søren Kierkegaard

My rendition: “Forgiveness is the expression of the one who forgives, not of the one who is forgiven. Those who think they can forgive only the people they prefer do not forgive at all. Forgiveness discovers truths about individuals that others cannot see.”

Freedom FROM Speech; Commercialism

I've been writing every day but letting my voice be heard through Facebook rather than on my own Blog/Journal.  No one reads my Blog, really, and that's actually OK.  Over time, that will change.  It's all about hard work and Divine Timing.

I rarely watch the 'Olds', AKA, the News. I got pretty grounded and happy when I took a TV Sabbatical for about 4 or 5 years. One day I found out U.S. Troops were in Iran or Afganistan or something for several years. My daily life was not impacted by politics at all. But when I DO listen to pundits and the like, I get weirded out by all of their mindless manipulation. It's easy to get sucked into the black hole of politics.

Anyway, people still ranting over politics.  Nothing new.  Haters gonna hate.  Everyone wants someone to feel superior to, it seems.  Laughable.  Then add religion to the mix.  

Ah, yes, the grand toxic spectacle of brewing religion with politics, anathema to defenders of freedom from sea to shining sea. Yet if nobody can talk about ANYTHING, then what use is freedom of religion, freedom of speech, or freedom at all? Don't curse the darkness, light a candle sort of a thing? Forgiveness runs deeper than the offense that required its presence. But the human ego loves to hate and lift itself up at the comparative expense of others. Someone has to be wrong, less than, less holy. No one can be president without the consent of those who allow them to run in the first place. One big friggin game of distraction.

Commercialism is Casting the Lot.

Art & Forgiveness

The pallet of forgiveness has islands of offenses in which we dip our brushes and paint our pain and healing. If our artwork is authentic, then it yields freedom & truth, maybe even a sacred connection to the person who has likewise suffered. Then when we step back from our work and see the big picture, we might realize our Life Canvas was a small piece of God's Jigsaw Puzzle. Maybe God uses the Authentic Self to draw us back together as Collective Masterpiece.

Miracles Continue for All of Us

If God can work through the likes of me, anything is possible.  God uses the worst of us to help the best of us. 

King David screwed up big time, but God allowed him to turn his heart in love back to God. 

Paul killed Christians w/o the slightest concern for wrongdoing until Christ came and performed a miracle to turn his heart. 

I am but an instrument of His Mercy & Peace.  Miracles continue in my life, but in less visible ways these days.

What's ironic, is that so many people don't believe in miracles, but have been walking on water and bitching about it for years.  

To To Convenience Themselves, They're Willing to INCONVENIENCE Others

People feel undervalued and feel they are entitled to undervalue others, as in employment settings where a person feels their pay is low and use it as an excuse to undervalue their employers and customers.  The problem with this is that "values" are externalized.  When a person feels the right to be rude to others because of only making Minimum Wage, for example, does that make this person inferior to someone who disrespects them by paying Minimum Wage?  Giving or receiving Minimum Wage is besides the point of respect.  RESPECT is an INSIDE job.