What a year it has been

Wow, almost a year since I've posted on my blog. We all need time to sit back, reflect on what we've learned, and prepare ourselves for new lessons, and this last year, the Universe put my biggest challenge in front of me. At first, it was a wonderful experience, however, as time went on, I realized that it was taking me into the depths of something that I had long since chosen not to face. As we all know, when the Universe tries to teach us, and we resist, then things can get very difficult, very quickly, and that's exactly what I went through. Finally, I decided I've had enough, and it was time to face my fear head on, no matter what the outcome was to be. It is only when we accept these things that we can move forward.

It has been a long road, but I am finally on the other side! My life is returning to normal, even though there are MAJOR changes going on, yet all is finally peaceful! I knew that one day I would have to conquer this issue in my life, and although I could have lived without doing it, I will live much more fuller having resolved it. There is still some scary things ahead, but I am a blessed soul, and the Universe is already blessing me with so much finally finishing this most difficult lesson.

I am now ready to continue my spiritual teaching, and I am in a much, much better place to do so. I truly believe that this experience has ALWAYS been in my life to bring me to this moment, where I can share my experiences to help people on a much greater, a much deeper level. And I am ready! Whoo hoo!

So let me take a moment to point you to my new website. www.thegardensgate.net. There, you have much more information about me and what exactly it is I teach. My contact information is there as well, so if you are interested in working with me, let me know! My facebook page is going live in about a day or so, and I will give you that information when it is up. I am also going to change the layout of this blog page, as it feels much too "busy" for me, and needs to be simplified. So it's change all around!

I apologize for my absence, but I truly believe that I need to be whole to be able to help someone else be whole. What a hypocrite I would be to tell someone to do something to heal, if I was not doing that myself, and that is just not who I am. But my experience will show anyone, that no matter what your lesson is, when you put fear to the side and face it with dedication, patience, focus, and practice (of all the spiritual lessons you have learned), you WILL get through anything. And I am anxious to start helping people realize that again!

Thanks so much for everything! We'll talk soon!

Love and Light.....

What a year it has been

The simple things in life....

Sometimes you see something that really makes you stop and think. Sometimes you see something so out of the ordinary that you just have to wonder how it actually happened. Well, that happened to me recently, but not because of what I saw, but for the reason I saw it.

I was watching the news not that long ago, and a story came on about a man who received a package in the mail, but it was not his address on the box. The man went to the address on the box and gave it to the person the box belonged to. Inside this box, as the owner would later say, was a $15,000 watch. The person who originally received the package did not open it, nor did he know what was inside. So here is the part that really makes me wonder about the world we live in:

The news story was about a man who received someone else's property, and returned it to the rightful owner! Is this morally correct act now so rare that when it happens we send a news team out to cover the event? Are we so far away of doing what's good and what's right in this world that we have to broadcast when someone actually does the right thing?

I have an old blog entitled "Uncommon Courtesy", because society is becoming filled with the idea of entitlement , and selfishness. People no longer say thank you when you hold the door open for them, because they EXPECT you to do that. They have lost sight of someone extending courtesy to them. No one is required to say "Bless you" when you sneeze, pick up something that you dropped, let your car into the lane of traffic, or to wait, and hold the door open for you. Although these people do it because they know it is the courteous thing to do, and do it because they want to, not because they want acknowledgement, it is up to you to realize that they are going out of their way for you; a complete stranger. Why would you not acknowledge their kind deed? And it is because of these actions on the individual level that leads us to send out a news team to cover when someone actually does the right thing. If this sense of selfishness and entitlement continues, we will soon be sending out a news team to cover the breaking story of someone holding a door open for a stranger.

It can be frustrating when you are the one always doing these small, kind acts for others without receiving acknowledgment. But continue to remember why you do it: Because you are living from your highest self, and putting others needs before your own. This does not require a thank you, because doing the right thing shouldn't have to be complimented. It is what we should be doing anyway. And hopefully, we will inspire someone who sees us to then start living from their higher self. And if that continues, then we won't sit through the news story about the person who said "Bless you" to a stranger at the mall when they sneezed.

Love and light......

The simple things in life....

Thoughts to ponder....

Hello all.... Wow, what a month! I took time to get stuff together, and boy did the abundance flow!  The website is coming along well, and I've been doing a bunch of writing for some spiritual productions coming up.  But I have been a little lax writing here, and for that, I'm truly sorry.

However, I do tweet a few spiritual thoughts a day, so if you're not following me yet, come and follow me at @thegardensgate.  So I figured I'd catch you up on some random thoughts you may have missed while I've been away, but have sent out via twitter.  Enjoy!

Opinion looks inward, while judgment lashes out.

Peace isn't something you seek, it's something you create.

We get information when we need to hear it, not when we want to hear it.  It is always a message of work we have to do.

Do not be afraid when negative feelings fill you.  It is a sign from the Universe of the things we need to address.

Given the choice, I choose to see the good in people.

Your problems are much like a weed.  You must pull the root to solve them, not just keep cutting off the leaves.

Even the largest oak tree started from a seed.

When you find peace within yourself, you find peace in the world.

What you are is never as important as who you are.

So, there you go.  Some random thoughts to keep the positive energy flowing!  I hope you enjoyed them.  I really like sending those thoughts out on twitter.  It just feels like I can keep the positive flow of energy flowing through the Universe!  I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them!

Love and light to you all...

Thoughts to ponder....

Why ask why?

Recently, I had a conversation with someone lost in the question of "why", so I thought it would be a good time to bring back an older blog for a little insight on the question "why"?  Enjoy!

Most times, when something goes wrong in our lives, the very first question we ask ourselves is "Why?" Unfortunately, this is the worst question we can ask ourselves. Some people live so much in the question of why, that they never get past the event that made them say it to begin with. Why, you see, is a useless question. It never really matters why. Remember when you were a kid, and you wanted to do something, and your parents said no, and you asked them "Why?" and they answered, "Because I said so, that's why." That, in essence, is actually the best answer to your question. Because it doesn't matter why. It only matters that you can't do whatever they told you you couldn't do. "Mom, John's having a party, can I go?" Your mother responds "No." "Why?" You ask. It doesn't matter why. Maybe it's because you have to do something else. Maybe it's because your mom doesn't think much of John. Maybe it's because she knows that no one wants you at the party, or maybe it's none of those things. The fact of the matter is, you can't go. So "Why" you can't go becomes irrelevant.

"Why are we here?" "Why did this have to happen to me now?" "Why is the store always sold out of what I came for?" So many questions of why, and in each case, it doesn't matter why. It doesn't matter why you're here, because you are indeed here. It doesn't matter why something happened to you now, because it did indeed happen. And it certainly doesn't matter why the store is out of what you came for, because nothing is going to make it magically appear in their stock. So as you can see, "Why" is a useless question.

It's useless because it only leads to more questions. It never leads to action. And in this way, many people get locked into the trap of "Why". The question of "Why" also leads to all the "what if's" that take people out of the present moment, and lost in a hypothetical world of things that don't exist. And no matter how much you wish that they would, they don't. You only have NOW. Asking "What if this would have happened instead?" is just a way of mentally torturing yourself. With that in mind, the correct questions to ask yourself instead of "Why", are "What", and "How".

You must first accept the situation as it is. This is important. Acceptance is the first phase of overcoming any obstacle. Then, ask yourself the questions of "What" and "How". So, in the example above of "Why did this have to happen to me now?" The replacement for the question of "Why" is "Ok, this happened to me. What can I do to make this situation better, or how can I prevent this from either getting worse, or happening to me again?" "What" and "How" are calls to action. And when you are taking action, you have control over the situation, instead of the situation having control over you. Remember, if you feel that something has happened to you, then you are a victim. Victims never overcome their obstacle. You are only a victim in the moment that something is happening in your life. Once that moment is over, how you choose to react to that situation will define you either as a victim, or, for lack of a better word, a survivor. Some people are a victim of an event for the rest of their life. They use it as an excuse to never be able to achieve things in their lives. They'll tell you "You don't understand what happened to me". The ego is in full force. You may not have control over what happened to you at the time it happened, but you certainly have control over every single moment after that. How will you choose to react to that? From weakness, or strength?

There are so many beautiful cases in which someone has overcome so much. I recently read about a quadriplegic that swam the English Channel. He lost his limbs after being electrocuted on a ladder. But he did not remain a victim of that accident. He has been living his life, including not only swimming the English Channel in just over 14 hours, (10 hours less than even he thought it would take him), but skydiving, and things like that. He could have lived the rest of his life lost in the question of "Why". "Why did this have to happen to me". But he chose the "What" and the "How". What could he do to keep living his life? How can he make his life better? He was only a victim for the moment of the electrocution, now he is a survivor, and deals from a place of strength.

"Why" is a trap of the ego. It begs for sympathy for us from others. It wants others to do for us what we feel we cannot do for ourselves, because we are a victim. If you live your life lost in the question of "Why", it will be a very unhappy place to live. If you turn your mind into the action questions of "What" and "How", you will see amazing changes start to take place in your life.

Love and light.........

Why ask why?

A simple story about a fisherman....

There once was a man that lived in a farming village, yet he was a fisherman.  The river that passed this village was too swift to provide any fish for the fisherman, and it was very dangerous by the shore.  But this man fished every day.  Some days he would catch a fish, but most days he did not.  But he had friends in the farming village, and even though he couldn't make the living he wanted to make, he stayed at the village, because that's what was comfortable to him.

One windy day, the fisherman went to the river's edge to cast his line into the river.  He did not notice that the jagged rocks on which he stepped were wet from the crashing of the waves with the wind.  Upon casting his line out into the water, the man slipped, and fell into the brisk river.  In a panic, he grasped tightly to a few small jagged rocks protrouding from the river.

The waves on this windy day crashed upon the man, smashing his body into the rocks, yet he continued to grasp onto the rocks with all his might.  "I can't let go", cried the man.  He thought of his friends in the village that he would never see again if he were to drown.  He thought "even though I do not have the life I have wanted, I still want to stay right here!".  So the man clinged to the rocks as if it were his lifeline.

What the man did not realize, was that what he clinged to so tightly, was actually killing him.  By remaining on those rocks, the waves from the swift river were pummeling his body into the rocks, slowly ending his life.  What he thought was the comfort of safety, was the pinnacle of danger.

More waves came crashing in, and the man smashed his face upon the rocks.  As his pain grew worse, finally the light went off.  "What I cling to is actually hurting me!"  "If I keep holding on, I will surely die.  But if I let go, there's a chance that I will not drown."  So the man took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and with faith, let go of the rocks.

The man was quickly swept into the river, but to his surprise, he did not get pulled under the water.  In fact, he was able to float!  The river whisked him away, and as it did, he began to see things he had never seen before.  "This land is so beautiful!  I've only seen the farming village where I lived.  I never knew such beauty existed!".  The man continued to float on the river, and soon, he realized that he could also control where he was going.  "I can control which way I move, just by using my arms!".  As the river twisted left and right, so did the man, now in control of where he was floating.

After a while, the river started to become peaceful.  The man looked around with wonder.  "I can't believe I'm here", he thought.  After a few minutes, he saw a fisherman on the shore.  The man on the shore called out to him. "Are you ok?"  "Yes", relied the man.  The river was now calm enough that the man was able to swim to the shore.  He explained to the man on the shore that he was a fisherman from a farming village way up the stream.  The other man laughed. "Why would you be fishing in a farming village?  That seems awfully silly".  The man thought about it and said "Now that you mention it, it is.  I never really caught anything".  The other man asked "Then why did you stay?"  The man replied "I didn't know anything else, and I was comfortable there.  Even though I didn't have the life I wanted, it wasn't bad.  It just wasn't..... good."  The other man laughed.  "Well, you will like it here then.  This is a prosperous village.  We have both farmers AND fisherman!  But we need some more.  Would you be interested in staying with us?"  The man did not have to think about it at all.  After all he had been through, he saw now what the Universe intended for him to see all the time.

If he would have continued to hold on to something that wasn't good for him, he would not have been able to find where he fit in.  And although the journey was frightening at first, he soon learned that he had much more control than he thought he did.  And finally, he found out that what he thought he wanted, was not what he wanted at all.  And when he got what he needed, he realized that's what he wanted the whole time.

The Universe dreams dreams for us that are so much bigger than anything you could possibly dream for yourself.  But if you are holding on to something that you need to let go of, those things will never manifest themselves in your life.

So, are you going to continue to hold on to the rocks and get battered, or are you going to move forward with faith, and see all of the infinite number of possibilites that are in store for you?

Move foward with faith, not fear.

Love and light to you all..

A simple story about a fisherman....

Judgement, Understanding, and Acceptance

Did you ever wonder where judgment comes from? Why people judge someone for what they wear, who they are, or even what they practice? Most people confuse judgment with opinion, in that they do not feel they are being judgmental, just expressing their opinion. The difference, is that judgement is outward, and opinion is inward. Take for instance someone wearing a shirt that a person doesn't like. They might say "that shirt is ugly". That is a judgment. The shirt is neither ugly, nor is it pretty; it is just a shirt. An opinion, which looks inward, is "I personally don't care for that shirt." Since you make it about you, and not about the shirt or the person wearing it, your opinion is not destructive. It is simply a reflection of you. Another example of this, is "That tv show is stupid". By saying that, you are judging not only the show itself, but the creator of the show, the cast, crew, and people who watch it. After all, if the show is stupid, you must be stupid to watch it! But the show is neither stupid, nor smart. It is simply a show on television. When you say "I don't care for that show", the only implication is on yourself, and therefore, is an opinion.

But where does this judgment come from? Well, if you continued that last judgment above, it may give you a clue. "That tv show is stupid. I don't understand how anyone can watch that!" And there you have it. Most people are afraid of the things they don't understand, and it usually comes out in the form of judgment. Now, for a tv show, that might not be too big of a deal. But what happens when you are talking about another human?

Whether it is alternative lifestyles, clothing, traditions, or behaviors, many people do not find peace within themselves because they "just don't understand". Why is understanding so important to humans? Why is it they have to have a clear cut, determining word or action to have something they can try to understand? The insecure feelings on a subconscious  level with people that do not understand something, causes fear, and negative reactions to the things, or people, in which they don't understand. But let me ask you this. How many people understand how the motor in their car works? With electronic fuel injections, valves in the cylinders, compression, and all the many other factors that make your car go forward, how many people truly understand all the hundreds of instantaneous actions that happen in their engines to make their car go forward? Yet they don't hate their car. They don't ignore or berate their cars because they don't understand how they operate. What they do is accept that the motor drives their car. And with that acceptance, comes peace. How many people truly understand how electricity is created in a nuclear power plant, and is then transmitted all the way to the light switch in their bedroom? Do you think about that every time you turn on the light? Of course not. Because you simply accept that when you flip the switch, the power comes on.

Yet when it comes to people that are different from themselves, there is no acceptance, only judement, followed by the wonderful "I just don't understand why you _______________". You can fill in the blank with anything, it really doesn't matter. If people can accept others for who they are, instead of judging them because they don't understand why they do something, peace will come into the world. After all, everyone, and I mean everyone on this planet wants to be accepted for who they are, yet most everyone is not ready to give that same respect back to others. Since you only see the world from your eyes, and since you don't understand why someone is doing that, or wearing that, or wants to live like that, then you judge them based solely on your own beliefs in your own life. If you would fall back on opinion, instead of judgment, no dis-comfort would arise inside of you. You would simply accept, and say "I choose not to do ____________". With no dis-comfort, fear cannot exist. Without fear, no negative energy would be created towards the other person.

If you think it can't be that simple, go back to your car. Have you ever had a verbal altercation with your car because you didn't understand engine viscosity? No, you just let your car do what it does, and you do so in peace. You can do the same in this world towards others. You do not need to understand everything. Just accept things for the way they are, and if you don't like it, realize that is simply inside of you, and has no business being directed outside of you.

So, next time you hear yourself saying "that guy is stupid", or "That person should live their lives different", bring it back to yourself. Start the sentence off with you as the subject. "I don't like the way that person is living their lives". It will be an interesting insight into yourself. What about you does not like it? It is because you do not accept it. Once you accept, the judgment is gone, and there is peace. And when there is peace, understanding is possible.

Remember, we are the human race. Which means we are all humans. Which means we are all the same. Only people, inside of themselves, create separation.

Judgement, Understanding, and Acceptance