We've all been there. Just keep trying the same old way to do things and then wonder why we keep getting the same results. Actually, I believe I read somewhere that is the definition of insanity. Hmm... interesting. So I guess we're all a little insane once in a while. I'm good with that. But why do we do this? Why do we do what we do, when we know what we know? Heavy question this. I think we do the same old thing because inherently we are creatures of habit and a bit lazy. If it worked yesterday, then why not today?

It's been said that we think over 60,000 thoughts per day. The problem is that 95% of those thoughts are habitual. Which means you're basically thinking the same thoughts each day. We inherited our belief patterns at an early age from our parents, peers, bosses, everyone we've met during our life time. These beliefs help form how we think. How we think is how we feel, how we feel is how we act and how we act gives the results we get with our lives. So these beliefs are programmed into the software of our mind. Just think as your brain as a hard drive loaded with different software. The software just tells the hardware, your body, how to act. Thoughts become things ladies and gentleman.

So what to do? I started by changing some of my beliefs. Since thought's become things I just started changing what I was thinking. I started reprogramming my software by giving it new information and then repeating the information over and over. Just like the way I learned in school. "I am abundance", instead of "I wish I could afford that." The latter statement shows a sense of lack where the former statement acknowledges that I already have abundance in my life and am ready for more. You will attract to you what you are thinking about. Everything in your life right now is there because you thought of it first.

Now this doesn't mean we need to wipe our hard drive, we just need to download a new update or two into our existing software to start letting in some new ways of thinking. Think (pardon the pun) about it. If I know something to be true because of the information (current program) I have on Monday, and I get new information (software update) on Tuesday, that should allow me to make a new truth (run updated program) on Wednesday.  But so many of us won't allow the download. We just say "I believe this now so it will be true forever, and that's that." But with new information available, we need to update our thinking. 

Don't be afraid to accept some new thoughts. It will allow you to move towards a better you, a better future. Just be willing to take a few steps, you don't have to see the whole staircase. I promise you there will be great things waiting for you at the top.

Please take what resonates and leave the rest.

P.S. "You're the one!"

Here in Canada we already celebrated Thanksgiving, but it is now here for our American friends as well. Hopefully people will still remember to give thanks amid the pushing and shoving to get the best deal on Black Friday. You probably didn't know, but there is a law of gratitude and it is absolutely necessary that you should observe the law. 

It's very similar to Newton's 3rd law, if you can remember your high school physics. it goes like this: 
The Law of Gratitude is the natural principle that action and reaction are always equal, and in opposite directions.
When we give thanks, the grateful outreaching of our mind, in thankful praise, is a liberation or expenditure of force; it cannot fail to reach that to which it is addressed, and the reaction is an instantaneous movement toward you. In other words; when you give thanks, good things come to you.  Part of this is because the grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best, therefore because you are thinking the best thoughts you tend to become the best you can be and will receive the best in return. What you think about and thank about, you bring about.

There is so much joy in gratitude. That’s because gratitude leads us to service, and service brings us closer to our highest, happiest, most loving selves. Get to a place of gratitude and you will experience peace. Be in a state of gratitude for everything because there is something to learn in everything. Be grateful even for the pain because there are lessons to be learned from it as well.

What are you thankful for? Make a quick list in the comments section. I'd love to hear from you!


P.S. Take what resonates with you and leave the rest.

P.P.S. Remember, "You're the one!"

"Are you good without God? Millions are." So read a recent billboard message. On the other hand, many who claim to believe in God make decisions as though he did not exist. It's no secret that congregations of all denominations are shrinking. Churches have closed right here in my home town, subject to "amalgamation" they say. A nice way of saying that there is declining enrollment on the religious scene. 

Salvatore Fisichella, a Catholic archbishop, recently said of members of his own church: "Looking at us probably no one would recognize we are Christians today because our style of life is the same as non-believers." Some of us are too busy to worry about God. We consider him too remote or inaccessible to play any meaningful role in our lives. At best, we turn to God only when we are in trouble or dire need of something - almost as if he was some "Cosmic Bellboy" available at our beck and call. Come on, we've all been there, "God, just get me through this and I promise, blah,blah,blah." 

Actually quite normal really. The fact that humans have an inborn spiritual yearning comes as no surprise. Mental health experts tell us that people need spiritual values in order to be truly happy. In light of all this, it's still not clear that we need to turn to God. The very name "God" has been shortened as it used to be referred to as the "Good" in ancient times. I personally don't really like using the word God, because it has so many different meanings to so many different people. And herein lies the problem. God, Source, the Universe, Divine, Unified Field, it doesn't matter what you call it, it's just a name. It, he, she, can never be what you call it. You can call me Mike, but that is not what I am (that's another blog). there are many different names in many different languages for water, but none of them "are" water. It just is what it is. 

I believe in a power, that we all belong to, that we all came from and we are all going to return to. We "co-create" our lives with this power. I've done it, many times, and I'm far from special. You can do it too. We all can. Where the mistake was made was when man-kind bought wholly into religion. God is not religion. Religion is man made. An interpretation of what others felt was right. 

So, do we really need God? I say a hearty "Yes", in all the names that have been bestowed upon her since time immortal. What we don't need, sorry to say, is man made religions. We are told we are too "stupid" to believe anything else except what we are told. This type of parenting and teaching is old school thinking. No wonder they are experiencing declining enrollment.

Have a comment to share? Please post your comments and views below. I'd love to hear from you!

P.S. Remember, "You're the one!"

My definition of fear is as follows: Fear is a biological and biochemical response to uncertainty. Whenever there is uncertainty in our lives, fear kicks in. So if we believe that fear is the opposite of love we tend to make ourselves wrong for being afraid. But the only way for us to be truly happy is to give and grow, and if we are going to grow there will always be uncertainty in our lives, which can be pretty scary.

Is it unloving to be afraid of an attacking animal when in the woods? is in unloving to fear for the safety of your child? Is it unloving to be scared of uncertainty in any way? I would say a resounding No! We need fear. If we didn't feel afraid we wouldn't be able to evolve and grow and survive. You and I both want to be alive, so I would say we need fear. So that means that the message we modern-day people get is that our own self-preserving biology is killing our dreams.

These beliefs cause a couple of problems. First it makes us wrong for being afraid and second, it makes us wrong for having negative thoughts. Which to me is ludicrous. Being afraid and having negative thoughts are perfectly normal human biological functions.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling these feelings. We are, after all, emotional beings. It's what sets us apart from other members of the animal kingdom.

Here's the kicker; The only way to be truly happy is to be growing. And the thing you must do to grow is face uncertainty. Uncertainty comes with fear in tow. The two are nearly inseparable. We need to realize that uncertainty is a force that will always be there, in every area of our lives, whether we want it or not. 

I remember when I was travelling to a city I hadn't been to before and got lost. I was alone, it was getting dark and I was not in the best part of town. Actually, I was starting to feel a little afraid. I finally swallowed my pride and stopped at a gas station to ask directions. I was feeling uncertainty, but in the moment it took for the young gentleman gave me directions to where I was going, I was no longer afraid. I now had certainty. What had changed? Nothing other that I now had certainty. My feelings changed in an instant because of certainty and I was no longer afraid. Did I feel unloving towards anyone or anything? No. So how could love be linked to fear in any way?

There is a quote by Tony Robbins that goes like this: "The quality of your life is the quality of your relationship with uncertainty." 


I'd love to hear your comments or some of the stories you may have regarding feeling afraid and uncertain.

As always, take what resonates with you and leave the rest,

And remember, "You're the one!"

From what I've seen so far in my life, there are two kinds of pain. The pain of staying asleep (or staying the same) and the pain of waking up (realizing who you are and growing). When we stay asleep, or choose not to examine our lives - pain is inevitable. An unexamined life will always bring pain because we'll spend most of our time avoiding that which is uncomfortable. All the while we create more and more discomfort for ourselves because we're not aware of the consequences of our actions. 

On the other hand, if we choose to wake up, we must face the pain of our wounds. But once we start to see - and love - our wounds, once we become aware of how we got there, that pain turns to joy. Every feeling fully felt, is joy.


At first the pain of staying asleep seems easier than the pain of waking up, because it's more subtle. Until you reach the end of your life and you realize you just wasted a whole lot of time. Don't die with your music still in you.  


When we don't listen to our wake-up call our yearning turns into skepticism and a closed heart. The pain of staying asleep is a path of choosing short-term pleasure that creates long-term pain. Waking up on the other hand, requires us to embrace short-term pain to create long-term joy. it's clearly the harder path and it's rarely followed because none of us wants to consciously cause ourselves pain. But we must feel pain if we are going to awaken.

We need to get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable and strive to live a life that at the end we can feel joy in knowing we have served others and received so much more in return. Giving starts the receiving process.


Please leave your comments below and take what resonates with you and leave the rest.

Remember, You're the one!

Is there a difference between being selfish and self-ish? I think so. The renowned spiritual teacher Caroline Myss (pronounced "mace") says that "selfishness" is being just focused on you - totally narcissistic. Being "self-ish" on the other hand, is being able to set good boundaries, focusing on your self-care and yet not making your life a selfish life.
 
I remember, not that long ago, when I was at a very low time in my life, I finally made the decision to focus on me. To try to heal me and make me whole. I had lost myself and I didn't know who I was anymore. Where the hell had Mike gone! You see, like many of you, I was so used to doing everything for everyone at home, at work and at play. I was the "go-to" guy for a lot of people. I was organized, knew what I was doing and looked so confident doing it. How does that saying go, "If you need something done, give it to a busy person."

Now I couldn't help a flea. I needed to find me. Rebuild myself from the ground up. "But wouldn't that be selfish of me?" I asked myself. No! When the Flight Attendant on the airliner demonstrates the use of the oxygen mask, they say "Put the mask on yourself FIRST, then help others". I had to work on me. If I didn't help myself, I would be no good for anyone else. And that is the choice you must make as well. If you don't take care of yourself, who will? If your like me, by the time someone notices you need help you will be bent, broken and down and out. Too many people rely on you to not take care of yourself.

A "self-ish" person fills themselves up so they can serve others in greater and greater ways. It means being in your power. Being fully yourself.

Please feel free to comment and take what resonates with you and leave the rest.

As always, remember, "You're the one."