I took our dog for a five kilometre hike in the woods earlier today. It was only +2 but the sun was shining brightly, the sky was blue, and the air crisp and invigorating. Where the trail ran alongside a small river the water glistened and gurgled merrily making it almost impossible not to feel merry too. When away from the water and in the woods, the snow laced trees looked majestic in their formal attire and brought a stately calm to their surroundings. Squirrels chattered, woodpeckers hammered, and birds chirped as they took full advantage of the day, a day that did not seem to them to be good or bad, but just was. Peace, beauty and serenity surrounded all of us on every side. Other hikers, when encountered, remarked on what a beautiful or grand day this was, proceeding on their way with a smile on their faces. I am truly thankful I had an opportunity to enjoy the day with my dog. I could have stayed home and thought, ‘It seems too cold out’ or ‘it seems to me the trails might be tricky being snow covered’. Had I succumbed to those thoughts I would have missed a great day to be in the midst of Mother Nature. Instead I made a choice to enjoy the day and that is what I did. As I walked in the woods I realized everything we encounter in life boils down to a matter of choice; to the mindset we adopt when we are faced with life in all its facets. Do we choose to react positively or negatively? How we choose makes all the difference in the world. One way to choose is to filter your options through your heart. Your heart will never waffle; it will never seem to be indecisive as your mind can be. You (your ego) may not always like the choices your heart makes but you can be certain it is acting in your best interest. You can make the choice to live in your heart and filter everything your senses encounter through your heart before they hit your mind. Recently a friend of mine said ‘the eyes may see the Light but the mind only sees what seems to be.’ By living in our hearts we can take the pressure off our minds (and egos) thereby allowing us the gift of living in the moment rather than to miss out on it. It is a matter of choice.

Namaste,

Steve

To find your joy, think of a happier time. For me, it was around age 9. I had the greatest summer of my life camping in the backyard and hosting sleepovers in the tent. These memories elicit pure joy and satisfaction. When I close my eyes, I can see myself in the tree-lined backyard, walking barefoot across the dew-kissed grass towards the yellow and green tent with my dog Princess by my side. The crickets are buzzing and the sun’s golden heat is permeating my tanned skin. I unzip the tent and climb inside. The smell of canvas baking in the sun fills my nostrils. Ah, bliss! This process of visualization is powerfully effective. It can take you out of your present circumstances and transport you to a simpler time. Try it for yourself. Engage as many senses (smell, taste, touch, site and sound) as you can in the memory recall. You can even bring parts of those memories into your present day life. For instance, I love listening to music from the mid ‘70s as this era helps me to reconnect with my happy memories of camping in the backyard.

Once you reconnect with your happy memory, really savour the feeling of lightness and pure joy. This is the feeling you want to retain. That is true happiness, and it’s not as fleeting as you think. Happiness is a state of mind and the subsequent good feeling that your positive thoughts elicit. Happiness comes from within. Because it is not external, it cannot be taken away from you. Most people assume that happiness is something that results from an event (i.e. winning the lottery or finding your soulmate). While these events would indeed elicit an incredibly joyful response, they are only temporary experiences. ‘Real life’ eventually filters back in and you are faced with the day-to-day challenges of living in a world of contrast. You might argue that winning the lottery would make living much easier, hence happier, but the truth is money doesn’t buy happiness. A millionaire is still prone to illness, heartache, divorce, betrayal, jealousy, and so on. You may think that finding your soulmate would solve all your problems, but even soulmates clash over spending habits, division of household chores, likes and dislikes, and so forth. No external event is ever going to solve all your problems. As long as you place your happiness outside of yourself, you will never be immune from unhappiness. True happiness, the kind that lasts, is internal.

Once I began to experience happy flashbacks, something interesting happened. I noticed that the good feelings associated with these virtual recalls stayed with me throughout the day. I woke up happy and went to bed happy. It was amazing! I was experiencing joy for no discernible reason. This independence from external events is the key to opening the door to the higher realms of consciousness. It is significantly different than the joy that is elicited by an event. The latter is conditional, external, and inextricably tangled up with forces beyond your control. If you adopt a passive role in your happiness, waiting for other people or outside events to fulfill you, then your joy will never be your own. It can be snatched away from you with just a word or a look from someone who is having a bad day. The idea is to think of a happy thought…and then another, and another, and so on.  String together as many positive thoughts as possible. Certainly, life is going to throw you a curve ball now and then, but there is no reason to give up on your positive thinking. Take whatever life throws at you and then say, “OK, I have a choice here. I can choose to be unhappy and dwell on the bad, or I can turn this around and put a positive spin on it”. You may not have control over what happens to you, but you have full control over how you react to, and think about, said events.

Perhaps the best part of being positive is how it affects those around you. It is every bit as contagious as a bad mood. For example, one day I was stuck in traffic, late for an appointment. I was becoming increasingly antsy and annoyed. That’s when I noticed movement in the car in front of me. The driver was waving her arms about wildly. It was a hot summer’s day, so I cracked open my window and heard classical music booming from her car. It was then that I realized she was enthusiastically conducting an orchestra in her mind. All my stress melted away as I watched her hilarious antics and I felt her passion for the music. She had obviously gone to her happy place, and I had gratefully joined her there. Happiness may be internal, but it certainly can be shared with others. If you need help finding your happy place, call on Archangel Jophiel to beautify your thoughts.

In love, light and happiness,

Kim

I find these responses quite distressing. Life is a gift. Life is a miracle however you want to define miracles. Whether you believe we are here by accident or that we are here because of a great Divine plan that supersedes anything that we have yet to truly comprehend, you cannot escape the magnificence of life (I believe in the latter just to be clear). Each one of us has beaten the odds to be here. Each one of us is a unique individual. We all share commonalities that come from being homo sapiens but we are unique in our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual make up. We are united by our capacity for love and we are separate in how we express love. We are individuals in this realm, here for reasons we may or may not understand, but we are here, we are unique, and we are having a uniquely human experience. This should be enough for our self-esteem. Couple this with the fact that we are having this experience in a vast, intricate, diverse web of life here on the planet Earth and the Earth itself is part of an even greater web of life, the universe, then we should be euphoric to simply be alive. We should be happy with ourselves to have made it this far; by extension, we should then believe in ourselves and our innate goodness.

Of course this is easier said than done, so here’s a good exercise. Make a list of your positive attributes and a list of your so-called negative attributes. Better yet, have a family member or a good friend help. How they see you may be a surprise for they will point out good traits in you that you may take for granted. I say this because along with Chios Healing I do EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). In a nutshell, at the beginning of a session people state all the negatives they see within themselves; as the session proceeds they state all their positive attributes. Not surprisingly, they struggle here but, with a little help from me, their list of positive attributes grows. They may be kind, a good listener, or willing to share. They may have a talent that makes them and others joyful. They may be gentle or loyal. The list can go on and on; your own list can go on and on too, but you will not discover this if you do not explore your inner landscape through both introspection and honest discussion with friends and loved ones.

Take the time to make yourself a priority. Make your list of positive attributes big or small and work on it for as long as you need. Read it every morning when you awake or before you fall asleep. Read it when you are feeling sad, depressed or lethargic. Read it until you believe it. Read it until you believe you are worthy of the gift of life; because you are, and you are a GOOD person.

In Light and Love

Steve

I am very happy and relieved to report that I am feeling much cheerier, and am back to my usual optimistic self, even if I don’t have the energy to fully express my joy. I know many of you feel the same way. The fluctuating energies of ascension can be exhausting! Despite being able to shake the utter blackness that enveloped me in November, perhaps understandably I’ve lost much of my capacity to cope with stress; but, instead of looking at my diminished tolerance for stress as a curse, I see it as the gift it is. I am finally honouring my emotions instead of fighting them. As for my feelings of lethargy, I am embracing them too. This pervasive fatigue has been with me since mid-December, and while I feel as though I slept-walked my way through the holidays, I really did have a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s.

The good news is we are in an anchoring phase. That means the roller coaster of emotions ride is coming to a halt. Aside from the fatigue, I’m finding this new energy to be very ‘centering’. It’s allowing me to reconnect with my higher self, the part of me that knows what is best for me, and that part is saying: “Follow your body’s signals. Sleep when you are tired, eat when you’re hungry, and say no to commitments that drain you.” That is truly the best advice the angels and I can pass along to you right now. Just go with the flow. Follow your inner wisdom, for no one knows better than you what is in your highest interest. Enjoy this reflective period. Give yourself the time and space to reconnect with your soul’s energy. Find your personal path and follow it unapologetically.

My angelic guides tell me that next month a huge wave of love will blanket the planet. This new energy will arrive on Valentine’s Day (how apropos!), carrying our consciousness into the 5th Dimension. This loving energy will help our energy to take root in the heart chakra. We will, in effect, be phasing out our first three chakras (roots, sacral and solar plexus). These are the energy centers in us that emphasize separation. Our root is about our survival, the sacral deals with our emotions, and the solar plexus is our perception of self along with our intellect. As we leave those energies behind in the 3-D realm, we gain a greater sense of oneness with All That Is.

Light vs. Dark

Even though everything is starting to settle down, I know many of you are still wading through the heavier energies of the previous months. Since we all progress at our own rate towards our own unique destination, this variance in ascension levels is completely normal. I don’t wish to leave anyone behind so I am going to talk a bit about the heavier, chaotic energies that are affecting many of you now.

As much as I prefer to be a resolute Pollyanna, all the sunshine in the universe cannot mask the fact that there are those who create darkness on our beautiful planet. We live in the world of form, after all. This 3-D existence allows for co-existing light and dark energies. To give you an example of coexisting dark and light energies, many Lightworkers are struggling with debt, doubt, and fear. There is a pervasive blackness that refuses to budge despite our best efforts to emit light and love. All seems well on the surface. To many, it would appear that our lives are happy and fulfilled. Why then does it sometimes feel as though a dark and fearsome menace lurks in the shadows like a rabid wolf, waiting to pounce? The answer lies in the shifting focus of our collective energies.

Our energy spins like a vortex. As the Earth’s vibrational speed increases, the lower energies are being thrown off. Anything that is dark and heavy belongs in the 3-D realm. It simply cannot exist in the 4th and 5th dimensions of light. That darkness contains the sum total of human fears. I see what looks like black marble-sized balls of negativity ricocheting off everything and everyone. When Lightworkers get hit by these balls of negativity, we’re thrown for a loop. If we get hit by multiple balls at once, then we feel like we’re under attack. Add to that, many people struggle to preserve the status quo. They worked hard to achieve their successes in life and thus are not willing to allow for a shift in energy lest they lose their power. Some may go so far to as to use their energy / thoughts like weapons. These psychic attacks can feel very unpleasant when they occur. You may be experiencing the fall-out of this heavier energy if you notice the following symptoms:

• Intense, blinding pain that erupts quickly and without any apparent cause (i.e. lower back pain, headaches)
• Rapidly cycling feelings of depression, despair, anxiety, anger and apathy, all without any real cause.
• Suicidal thoughts and an intense longing to return Home.

These symptoms erupt seemingly without cause, and disappear just as mysteriously, lasting roughly 48 hours. Instead of being fearful, there are two sure-fire ways to replace the negativity with light:

1) Ask for help: The negativity that envelops you will try to black out communication with your spirit. If you are like me, then you may find that you cannot hear or see your angelic guides during an attack. If this happens to you, it is vitally important that you do not isolate yourself but instead reach out to ‘light-minded’ friends and family members who can help put things into perspective for you. Remember, the feelings that you experience are not your own. They are like a virus that invades your psyche. Instead of panicking, simply think of the negative onslaught as you would a bad flu. Take care of yourself and let others care for you too. Together, we lightworkers will get through this.

2) Don’t fight it: Love it instead! I made the mistake of trying to shield myself with defenses. That only intensified the pain. That is because you cannot fight something without making it stronger. Where your attention goes grows. A better approach is to surround yourself with the energy of light and love. Envision yourself inside a rose-coloured bubble of pure, spiritual love. See it filled with a bubbly energy, much like pink champagne. The bubbles are golden and the energy is very frothy and light. Nothing can permeate that love but love itself. As you think about and feel love, you create and attract more love. Envision your family, your home, your possession and your workplace in beautiful pink bubbles of love. Know that love is truly the best protection because it brings your energy into perfect alignment with Source. That in turn attracts to you everything that you desire. Your needs are perfectly met at all times.

3) Think Positively: No matter how many images of despair bombard you in the course of a day remember that love is the perfect answer to every woe. Do not dwell on the negative. Others may try to polarize us, but they cannot succeed if we all stay true to our spirit. The epic battle between good and evil is as old as time. Fortunately, we have a golden opportunity to avoid a full-out battle this time. Instead of fighting the dark forces, we simply need to awaken enough lightworkers to elevate the level of consciousness on our planet from a fear based, bi-polar realm to a heart-based, enlightened one. The true battle is one of enlightenment. Return to your source. Follow your heart. Be happy. Love freely. Be true to yourself. Stay in the light!

In light and love,

Kim

Pay Attention to Your Body

The first thing the angels said was, “Pay attention to your body”. Humanity’s heavy reliance on technology has decreased our connection with nature and, consequently, our bodies. In order to re-establish a relationship with your body, you must begin by heeding its messages. Watch not only your body for signs, but also your thoughts and feelings, as all aspects of your being are interconnected. For example, if you notice a sudden craving for crunchy foods, you may have unresolved anger issues. Suppressed anger can lead to a host of physical symptoms, one of which is a lowered immunity to illnesses such as the flu. The best defense against the flu and other ailments is, therefore, to heed the signals your body sends to you before they develop into an infirmity.

Anticipate Your Body’s Needs

As you become adept at understanding your body’s signals, you can take it a step further by anticipating your body’s needs. This will cut down on the number of ailments you experience because you will be in complete harmony with your body and will fully appreciate the mind-body-spirit connection. Let your Higher Self talk to your body and then listen to the counsel your spirit sends you. Paying attention to your intuition actually lessens the symptoms you experience because you are being proactive about your health instead of waiting to see what develops. As they say, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Stay Positive

While you are learning to listen to your body, try to avoid discussions relating to illness. All this talk about the H1N1 virus is enough to make anyone sick. Did you know that the flu can be brought on by fear and negativity? Many people fall ill simple because they need the rest. Others get sick because they ignored their body’s need for good hygiene, regular exercise, nutritious foods, the loving support of family and friends, sunshine and fresh air, adequate sleep, and a goodly helping of happiness. Still others fall ill because the idea of sickness was implanted by media hype. This is not to say that there isn’t need for preparation or vaccinations, but instead of talking about pandemics, we would be much better served if we promoted wellness instead.

Angel blessings,

Kim

Lightworkers are on the leading edge of this accelerated evolutionary shift. They are fulfilling their soul’s purpose by helping to bridge the gap between Heaven and Earth. This change, while incredibly beneficial, is also stressful. Everyone is feeling a degree of anxiety or a sense of anticipation. For ultra-sensitive Lightworkers though, this shift can feel like an out-of-control roller coaster ride. I know this to be true as I have felt the effects firsthand. I would like to share my experiences with you:

The week of Nov. 11 – 17

The latest phase of ascension started with the shift in energies on November 11th. A new influx of higher energy permeated Earth’s thick atmosphere and began to break up the palpable negativity at a molecular level. I remember feeling phenomenally energized that day.

Then, Friday the 13th rolled around. I am not superstitious, so the date did not bother me; however, this was one Friday the 13th that I will not soon forget. I awoke to a feeling of dread. To say I was upset would be an understatement. My logical mind couldn’t comprehend the reason for my soul’s angst so it externalized the fear by focusing on my debts. I developed an almost paralyzing fear of lack. This in turn caused me to pray to the angels and God to just take me Home. My angels told me that I had to be brave and tackle my fears.

On Saturday, I found myself arguing with my angels, I finally realized that everything in life truly happens for a reason. Good or bad, it is all part of our soul’s growth. You have to be able to see through the pain and fear in order to find the lesson. Once learned, the pain and fear disappears. By naming your fears, you minimize and ultimately let them go. It also helps to realize that it is not your fears that make you unhappy; it’s your inability to look them squarely in the eye and not flinch. Being able to talk about my fear of debt instead of hiding from it actually gave me the power to fix it. I started thinking up creative and fun ways to generate money instead of dwelling on the concept of lack.

After being plagued with insomnia once again (I’ve not slept well since the last influx of energy on 9-11) I awoke at 2 a.m. on Monday, and proceeded to have an emotional meltdown. I felt like I was trapped inside a living hell. All my old demons were bubbling to the surface. I was bone-cold despite turning the heat up and running my space heater full blast. I couldn’t hear or sense my angels at all. Thoughts of suicide were running through my mind and I was begging God to take me home. This went on for 48 hours or so, with me cycling through a different emotion every minute. I lay on the coach and cried; or rather, tried to cry. I couldn’t muster enough enthusiasm. I just felt wretched, angry, frightened, abandoned, and full of despair. I even felt possessed by a lower entity and, at times, I thought I was having a heart attack. My heart was racing so fast I couldn’t breathe. I was a wreck.

The week of Nov. 18 – 25

On Wednesday, sanity returned once more. I did a thorough clearing of my energy along with a space clearing. That, coupled with a good grounding meditation, worked wonders. I then filled the house with the light and love of God, saying over and over again, “I am a perfect child of God. I am of the light. I am in the light. I radiate light. I AM the light!” I felt 100% better. This clarity of mind ushered in new understanding. I realized that I had spent the past two days purging old negativity from my cellular memory. I was literally burning off old karmic debt in order to move to a higher vibrational frequency. In other words, I was letting go of the old (dark / negativity) in order to embrace the new (light and love).

Come Thursday, I was feeling invincible! Instead of breaking me down, the turmoil of the past week only made me stronger. In the morning, I had a vision of being a clear quartz crystal. Inside, I was filled with a sparkling rose-coloured light (Divine love) that resembled pink champagne. The bubbles were actually angel energy. Surrounding the crystal was a bright sphere of Divine golden light. The light would rhythmically pulsate, sending sonic waves outward in all directions, breaking up negativity at a molecular level.

Sunday and Monday were really trying days for me. I felt the anxiety and stress welling up inside me, and once again I was feeling trapped, vulnerable and powerless. In the darkness I called out for help. That is when the Goddess Kali answered. I found myself re-energized, strengthened, fortified and readied for battle. Kali is the Hindu Goddess of eternal energy. She embodies time and change. Her image is one of dichotomy. She epitomizes death and destruction while at the same time exuding nurturing, motherly energy. I found myself clothed head-to-toe in black and carrying Goddess stones in lieu of my ethereal angelic crystals. At first I was confused by this change in energy. Then it occurred to me that the Goddess Kali was helping to break down the old energies in order to make way for the new. Destruction is a vital phase in the process of ascension.

Today I feel better and more even-keeled. I am still receiving emails from Lightworkers in distress though, so I know this bumpy ride isn’t over yet.

My Advice to You

The degree to which you feel the effects of the ascension depends on your level of sensitivity. No matter how intense or mild your symptoms, it is vitally important that we band together. Don’t let fear destroy your happiness. Communicate with others. Reach out, share your experiences, and ask for help. Don’t suffer in silence. Even if you don’t understand why you feel anxious, talk about it with a friend. Chances are you’re not alone! Don’t fear the darkness. It’s bound to the light in perfect balance, like the yin-yang energy of our duality. Remember, it is always darkest before the dawn. This phase will soon pass.

In love and light,
Kim

I do not know if I had any effect on him at all but he did get me thinking. Why was someone who was desperate to save my soul be so adverse to the notion of love as being all powerful, and why was this person so quick to pass judgment on anyone who might think differently from himself? Growing up, how many times did I hear “God is Love” and “Judge not lest ye be judged”? I guess these did not suit the young man at this particular time. If you look at human, history full of strife, war and judgments, it is easy to write off love and focus on the negative fear-based side of humanity. I think it was Hobbes who said “Life is nasty short brutish and hard”, and in many ways it is hard to disagree with him. As history is full of examples of the negative elements found in humanity all over the world, every culture or society having its share of war and discrimination, I began to wonder if there were positive commonalities shared by all these different societies and cultures. Was there an element working behind the scenes that spoke of a higher side of humanity? As fate would have it, didn’t I read an article on the downfall of the Golden Rule and how it was never as golden as we had once been taught? Here was a douse of fear based sophism if I ever saw one. “Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself”. Pretty simple and straight forward, yet we often want to complicate things to somehow increase their importance or validity.

Christianity has The Golden Rule and with a little research I discovered versions of the Golden Rule lurking behind the scenes in many cultures and belief systems. For the sake of expediency I will list a few:

Buddhism: Treat not others in ways that you yourself hurtful.

Islam: Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself.

Taoism: Regard your neighbour’s gain as you own gain and your neighbour’s loss as your own loss.

Hinduism: This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain to you.

Sikhism: I am a stranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am friend to all.

Confucianism: Do not do to others what you would not want done to yourself.

Judaism: What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary.

Here we have eight versions, eight very positive variations, of the same theme. One could probably find more if he or she was so inclined, but for our purposes I think this is enough. The common thread in all these is treating others with respect and love and, as stated in the last example above, all the rest is commentary. (One could write books on those five words alone.) It is this commentary which often leads us astray of the mark. Our ego’s need to be right muddies the waters. Philosophical, religious or linguistic debates are fine. They can be stimulating. They can expand the mind and one’s perceptions of life or they can just be a good mental exercise. All of these things are good until they prevent you from seeing the forest for the trees, or allow you to throw out the baby with the bath water. What these examples boil down to is love. Love for one’s self and love for others; all else is just commentary. Bring more love into your life for yourself, for others and for the world on whole and you will notice a very positive change in the life you are leading. This may seem like a small simple step but any journey no matter how long begins with one small simple step. Why not begin the journey with a step filled with love rather than fear? Who knows just how far such a journey could take us; who could say? And to start such a journey all you need is love.

Namaste,
Steve

Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Here is an exercise to gauge your outlook:

1) Monitor your thought processes. Every time you listen to someone talk, or you think of a person or a scenario, what thoughts go through your mind? Are they critical or kind?

2) Gauge your reaction to minor stresses in your life. Are you quick to anger, or are you patient and forgiving?

3) Heed your body’s reaction to your environs. Do you tense up when you enter a room full of people? Do feel stress when you think of work, family, and responsibilities?

4) Look at the people with whom you spend the majority of your time. Are they upbeat or cynical?

5) Ask yourself, “Am I happy?”

Results:

If you find the majority of your answers are uplifting, congratulations! You are tapping into the higher realms of possibility. You are going above the problems of life on Earth and channeling positive energy back down into this realm.

If your answers were primarily negative, then you are someone who inadvertently contributes to the very problems that haunt you. You may feel trapped or helpless to fix these problems, or perhaps you feel it is up to you to solve these problems and so you are unwilling to give up the fight lest the negativity wins. Whatever the case, remember this: that which you resist, persists. You cannot fight against negativity and win; you will only create more negativity in the world. The only way to overcome the problems that face you is to accept that only love is real. Everything else is but an illusion, and fear is the biggest illusion of all. Everything in this life boils down to just two emotions: love and fear. Love is real; fear is the absence of love. If then only love is real, then it can never be absent. That is merely a perception created by the chronically insecure ego. Our ego is our outermost layer of consciousness. It knows only that which exists in the current world of form. It is not privy to our soul’s eternal knowledge, nor is it connected to the collective consciousness. It simply is aware of this incarnation and it is therefore not inclined to believe in a higher truth or a higher power. If you listen to your ego, you will always perceive life through a filter of fear.

Applying Focus to Intention:

Now that you are aware of the influences that shape your thoughts, you are ready to embrace the power of those thoughts. If you do not intend to be unhappy, then you need to change the way you think. A pessimist may argue that this is tantamount to seeing the world through rose-coloured glasses and in way, this person would be right. Rose is the colour of love. How then does one go about adding positivity or love to everyday thoughts? It starts with focus. You need something concrete on which to focus your thoughts in order to re-educate your cognitive processes. This is where positive affirmations come in. An affirmation is a statement asserting that which you desire has already come true. So, for example, if your intention is to be happy, you could say something like this:

“My life is happy and fulfilling, and I find reason to be joyful in everything I experience.”

Whatever you choose to affirm, write it on a piece of paper and affix it to a mirror. Then, every day for a month, look into the mirror and read this affirmation aloud. It is beneficial to read it 10 times in a row. If you can memorize it, all the better. That would allow you to look at yourself in the mirror as you are reciting it. Focus on your left eye as you speak. The left eye is connected to your right brain, the intuitive hemisphere, and so the message will be taken in without question and the results will be forthcoming. That is because you are speaking to your spiritual self. If you look into your right eye, this will be an exercise in futility. That is because your right eye connects to your left hemisphere, and that is the part of your brain in which your ego dwells. It will only make you feel self-conscious because it will find the exercise to be ridiculous. After one month, retake the above test to see how you rate on the optimist/ pessimist scale. Has your happiness quotient increased? Chances are very good that it will have improved. That is because you have applied focus to your intention. Try this exercise with more tangible affirmations, such as finding a rewarding career or meeting the love of your life. If, after a month, you don’t see the results you desire, don’t give up. Affirmations involving other people, or outside elements, take longer to manifest than affirmations that are focused solely on your development. If you try the affirmation to increase your happiness and it does not work, ask yourself if you truly wanted it to succeed. Affirmations that are pure in intent always succeed.

Wishing you all love, healing, and peace.

Kim

So how do we remove ourselves from this negative spin we have placed upon ourselves and the world around us? How do we align our intentions with more positive results? The answer quite simply is faith. Have faith in one’s self. Have faith in others and have faith that the world is intrinsically a good place. Express that faith. Do not keep it bottled up inside. Faith needs the light of day to flourish. A case in point is that years ago I worked closely with a fellow who had a bit of a checkered past but whom I believed was not a ‘bad’ person. There was some heavy machinery involved with the job, and the other workers were reluctant to work with this guy when he was running the machinery as he was in a much safer place than the person helping him. When I volunteered to help out he even said to me, “no one else wants to do that.” “That’s alright, I have faith in you,” I replied. He was very careful and never once put me in harm’s way. He even replied for me when coworker asked me why I worked with him, saying, “He has faith in me.” Was I the first person to ever tell him I had faith in him? I certainly hope not. My point here is that by expressing my faith in him he responded in a positive fashion. If I had hopped onto the machine and said, “I’m probably going to get hurt working with you but I need the money,” would he have been as careful? Hard to say, but I noticed as time went on that he was just as careful with others as he had been with me.

Whatever your intentions may be, you have to have faith and you have to express your faith either by words or actions. By doing so you are putting your own stamp, so to speak, upon the process, and positive results will come back to you as well as to others. Will the simple act of faith make everything work out for you? Maybe not, as nothing ever seems to work out perfectly one hundred percent of the time, but by having and expressing faith in yourself and in others, you will find that the majority of time things will work out for the best for all concerned. Faith is one way to break the cycle of negativity.

Faithfully yours,

Steve

I have been telling the following parable for roughly thirty years now. It is called The Stone Cutter and goes like this:

Long ago in ancient China a poor humble stone cutter was plying his craft. He loved his work but as there were many stone cutters in the area, he was only paid a very modest wage. He wished he could earn more solely to provide his family with some of the finer things in life, for he himself was not a greedy man. As he was thinking these thoughts, a local magistrate passed by, his comfortable looking sedan chair born upon the shoulders of four strong young men. A small retinue followed in their wake. The stone cutter paused from his work to watch this important man pass. “Now there is a man whose family probably lacks for nothing”, he thought to himself. “I wish I was him.” The thought had no sooner entered his mind when the stone cutter found himself sitting on the sedan chair. His surprise quickly gave way as he felt a surge of power unlike anything he had ever felt before. He had a large satchel by his side filled with coins of every description.  His left hand absentmindedly, yet lovingly, stroked the satchel every so often. A scroll that bore the names of those who had paid their taxes, as well as those who had not, was clutched a little too tightly in his right hand. As his journey wore on, the stone cutter became excited to see his lodgings, imagining the splendour of his family’s home. His anticipation slowly turned to dread as he realized he was not going to his home but was being taken to see the Emperor himself. He had to turn in the taxes he had collected from his province, and he had to explain why some were still owing. As his retinue approached the royal palace, the stone cutter found himself breaking out into a cold sweat. He was going to present himself to a truly powerful man, a man who commanded the armed forces, a man who with a simple word or gesture could condemn a fellow human being to life in prison or death.  The sedan chair came to a sudden halt and the stone cutter looked up to see the Emperor standing at the top of the wide ornate staircase which led to the main entrance of the palace. Without a doubt, the Emperor was a true man of power. His clothes, his bearing and his aura, emanated power. The stone cutter wished he was the Emperor rather than the magistrate and again, within an instant, he found himself to be, indeed, the Emperor.

The feeling of power and importance he felt now was totally intoxicating to him. Gone were thoughts of what his family lacked. They lacked for nothing, but he lusted for more. His mind played with battle plans so that his army could conquer more territories and bring him greater wealth and power. He glanced at the stricken magistrate whom he had been only moments before and he despised him. It was obvious the fool had not collected all the taxes owed the Emperor. He would grovel before the Emperor begging for mercy and promising to do better. The Emperor was not certain he should spare this cretin’s life. Why should he, the Emperor, suffer because of this dolt’s incompetence? As these thoughts surged though the Emperor’s mind he suddenly felt hot, uncomfortably hot. He glanced up at the sun and instantly a beautiful young woman ran forward and held a parasol over his head. The rays were blocked but the heat was not. The Emperor glanced inside the palace remembering he had come outside as it was too hot inside. It was too hot out here as well. There seemed no escape from the sun’s heat. The stone cutter realized the Sun was even more powerful than the Emperor and he wished he was the Sun so he could experience such great power. As before, the stone cutter found himself to be the Sun. The feelings of power were so vast as to defy definition. The Sun had the power to create life, to help it grow and flourish. The Sun also had the power to destroy and, as he shone over the earth, the stone cutter saw the Emperor in his discomfort and smiled gleefully. Who was this puny man to think he was so great; he was nothing compared to the Sun. The stone cutter increased the heat upon the Emperor and his realm. Soon the people caught in a heat wave began to suffer, some to the brink of death, and the stone cutter reveled in his new found power. Nothing could stop him. With a start he realized his rays were being deflected away from the Emperor’s realm. The stone cutter looked closely to discover a cloud bank sat between him and his old country. He focused all his heat upon the cloud but to no avail. The cloud remained in place. “Aha”, thought the stone cutter, “clouds are more powerful than the sun! Then I wish to be a cloud”, he thought and he was the cloud. Again he felt vast power as he warded off the Sun’s rays and dropped life-giving water upon the earth below, water that was essential to life on the planet below.  Water could also take life it was so powerful and the stone cutter released a deluge of water upon the dry lands below. The parched lands soon became dangerously flooded as they could not handle the amount of water the cloud released upon them. Suddenly the stone cutter became aware of the fact he was moving and there was nothing he could do about it. The wind was pushing him with all its might and he quickly wished to be the strong and powerful wind and, as before, he became the wind. He blew the clouds quickly before him until they were no more. He knocked over trees, houses and anything that dared to stand before him. He felt strong until he hit something so solid he bounced off. He looked to see a large monolith of stone before him and, try as he might, he could not budge it. “So, Monolith, you are stronger than the wind. Then I wish to be you.” He became the stone monolith and he felt a solid power, an eternal power that coursed through him and deep into the stone roots of the planet upon which he sat. This was true power. As he sat enjoying these sensations he became aware of tiny vibrations down at his base. A slight steady sound accompanied these vibrations and he realized part of him was slowly being chipped away. ‘Who could be doing such a thing,’ he asked himself angrily? And when he looked down at his base there stood a humble stone cutter quietly plying his trade.

That is the parable of the Stone Cutter…pretty straightforward and open to the interpretation of all who hear or read it. The parable itself never changes but the reactions of those who hear it vary. I have discovered I can group these reactions into one of three categories. The first is of those who respond, ‘This is but a story Emperors tell stone cutters to keep them in their ‘place’. They say this with a smug smile a wry laugh and move on to something else. The Second response is by those who latch on to the evils of power. They cite the fact that even though the stone cutter in each new form is more powerful than the last chose always to do evil rather than good. They eschew power in all forms, falling upon the quote ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’. The third response is to see the interconnectedness of all things in the parable. Every element in the parable from the stone cutter, to the people and the world in which they all live, to the Cosmos itself, is bound together in individual equality. One can exist either in harmony or discord depending upon the choices one makes. We are more powerful when we work together.

What were your thoughts about the parable? Do you believe everyone has his or her ‘place’, and that they should remain there?  Did you react out of fear of power and all that is implied by power? Did you see the possible beauty inherent in a world where everyone and everything works together in loving harmony? You do not have to tell anyone else of your reactions if you do not wish, but they are worth pondering if you are interested in knowing more about yourself.

Namaste,

Steve