I AM WHAT I AM

"I am the greatest.  I said that even before I knew I was."

-Muhammad Ali

I AM WHAT I AM.

This statement is both the saving grace for mankind and its greatest, misunderstood statement.

So often in life we hear someone say as a means of justification for something, “I am what I am,” but the same people that make this proclamation rarely understand the power that’s found within the words. 

This statement is quite possibly the most powerful combination of words in the English language.  Let’s take a closer look at the implications of such a statement and why this combination of words can either be the downfall of a person or their greatest accomplishment.

Normally when someone says “I am what I am,” they’re saying it as an excuse for not being who someone thinks they should be; this statement is normally reserved for the context of making an excuse for a lack of effort or self-control. 

When I think of the situation that this phrase is most commonly used in I think of someone being questioned for a behavior they’re exhibiting, usually being one of negative connotation.  For example: when someone’s significant other catches them cheating, or catches them doing something that seems very out of character.  This phrase is primarily used at the end of a relationship or at the beginning of what could have been a friendship or meaningful relationship.  “I am what I am” carries a lot of negative residue because people through the ages have lost the knowledge and understanding of the power that can be found within this statement.

Let’s break down the first part of this statement so I can show you what I think it means…

I AM:  This portion of the phrase which makes up the first two words of the statement and the last two words of the statement is the meat of its meaning.  “I AM” carries the bulk of the weight here, it also carries the most residual energy from our past.  When you attack this phrase as something that defines a person because of their past then you've overlooked the underlying meaning of these words.  I AM is an ever-evolving, living and breathing statement of how things are for us, it’s alive in three succinct yet unifying parts… I AM me today, I AM me from yesterday, and I AM me for tomorrow.  In just these two words we see that the statement I AM has a threefold meaning:  past, present, and future.  I AM a product of my past decisions; I AM the product of my current environment, I AM the sum of my future choices… I AM ME.  

In all ways this phrase of “the great I AM” is evolving, fluctuating, and redefining.  Once we come to grips with the living nature of these two words we can begin to see just how powerful the phrase as a whole can be.

The key to understanding the significance of the phrase ‘I am what I am,” is to understand that it is not a final definition of who you are at any given moment, but a phrase that defines who you can be at any given moment.

If you believe this phrase limits the definition of who you are, think again.  This phrase is literally exploding with nothing more than endless possibility.  This phrase at its root level is the embodiment of who we are as a person… limitless.

Let’s take a look at the scenario from the beginning I referred to where someone is caught cheating on their significant other and when approached about it their retort is ‘I am what I am.”  In this case it seems like a cop-out huh?  What needs to come into account here is not after the deed of cheating is done, but the very act of cheating itself.  If this person who cheated thought for any moment that they were indeed not a cheater, then the action of cheating would never take place.  When you don’t know who you are you leave your life open for other people to define it.  If you know what I AM as faithful, if you make this choice to know yourself as faithful then why would you ever cheat?  Knowing who you are can be defined as the choices you make and the motivation behind them.  You are constantly making statements to the universe about who you are by the choices you make, but how often do you reaffirm to yourself the definition of “you?”

The very act of choosing who you are on a constant basis is the limit to which the power of this statement can hold for you.  When you realize that who you are is up to you and always open for rediscovery you can begin to let go of past programming that no longer suits your grandest vision of yourself.  Past heartaches, past trials, past bad decisions, your family, your hometown, they all become just another set of choices for how you NOW choose to define yourself.  Will you in this moment of now allow the sins of your father define you as a man today, or will you choose a definition that better fits who it is you desire to be?  When you see this phrase as the great liberator put into words, you begin to let go of the past issues that haunt your being and you begin to grow into the being that lies dormant inside all of us: a being of limitless potential, capable of moving mountains if need be.

When you believe that you are who you choose to be you see that the statement goes from “I am what I am” to “I am what I choose I am.”  How amazing is that to think about?  How powerful is that thought?…

I guess it’s as powerful as you choose to believe it is right?

This statement is freeing, it’s living, it’s limitless, it’s you at your greatest, or you at your least.  The statement “I am what I am” is your key to success and happiness beyond your wildest dreams. 

Be who you know you can be, be who you want to be, be who you choose to be. 

Think about these words and let them pierce the armor of your soul, for if you don’t you just might be someone else tomorrow who gives up control over your life, or one who gets caught telling someone for the worst possible reason, “I am what I am.”

What is Your Mission Statement?

Before we can really dive into the topic of mission statements, their importance, and how to form one, we need to have a good, working definition of just what a mission statement is…  Wikipedia defines a mission statement as: A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company, organization or person, its reason for existing.

For the purpose of this thought I want to focus on the personal aspect of a mission statement, why it’s important to have one, and the heightened sense of purpose that one can gleam from making one to fit their life.  The website, eHow.com, put it perfectly in their response to the question: what is a mission statement:

“A personal mission statement is a written culmination of values, roles, objectives, and self-reflection and self-evaluation. It has the flexibility to change as you change and the ability to keep you focused when you travel down a path that is not acceptable to your own morals and values. Creating a personal mission statement is the first step to a life of success and satisfaction, and anybody with a little time can create one.” By James G. Pradke, eHow Contributor

It’s very common in life to go through your days, your weeks, months, and the years of your life without every really knowing why you’re living, or for that matter, what you’re living for.  What a mission statement can do for you is give you focus and direction towards being a certain kind of person, and it can keep you in line with your highest ideals that you hold about yourself.

In a world where we as people are constantly being pushed from here to there without as much as a thank you from our calendars, it’s growing increasingly important to be able to say “no” to things that conflict with what we want most.  But what happens to the person who doesn’t know who they are or what they stand for?  They get lost in the commotion of life; they grow old and die, and all without reaching their full potential as a human being.

Have you ever wanted to be able to say no to certain things in life and yes to more of what you’d really like to explore?  Have you ever had the sinking suspicion that you were made for more than your current day-to-day?..  A mission statement can help you answer those questions and it can simultaneously help direct the course your life takes from the minute you create your own.

If you don’t stand for something as a person you will inevitably fall for anything.  If you are not grounded in an ideal or a desire in your life, then the wind will be all that’s needed to dissuade you from any course of action, worthwhile or not.

I found that by setting a mission statement for my life I was instantly aligned with what meant most to me, plus it made it a lot easier to say no to people and circumstances that did not align with my statement.

In order for your mission statement to be powerful it needs to be clear and concise, no more than a few sentences, and as much as possible, direct and to the point of your purpose and existence.  For example:  To live a fun life in accordance with my beliefs and values at any given time, and use my talents to add value to my environment in ways that I choose.  Kurt Schmitt (http://www.inspirational-sayings-in-action.com/sample-mission-statement.html) As you can see it doesn’t take many words to start focusing you towards being the person you were meant to be.

My mission statement is as follows:  Choose love and acceptance over everything.  Be the light for others to follow.  Never let someone else define how I view myself.  Your mission statement can be almost anything you want it to be, it can be more broad, or more concise, but in the end it needs to be powerful enough to guide your steps in all occasions. 

The beautiful thing about a personal statement of definition is that it can be done for any aspect of your life, but I believe that the most powerful statements are those that encompass your life in a nut-shell.  The thing to remember here is that you should be totally honest with yourself and the direction of your life, you need to be one with the statement you make or else it won’t be able to serve a true guide.

Once you have established your statement you can base everything you do and say on it.  If someone asks something of you that doesn’t fit your statement about yourself then you have the ability to say no to them, and feel good about saying no. 

A good mission statement will provide you with all the motivation you need to be successful in whatever pursuits you take on.  There’s one thing you must remember though:  life is in a constant state of change and evolution, so be open to allowing your mission statement to change with you as you grow into a different person with different views as time goes on. 

Let your statement be a light in your life that gives direction and motivation; a good personal statement should never limit what you want to experience in life, it should only be a bridge from who it is you are to who it is you know you desire to be.

Once you make your own statement, memorize it and say it out loud as much as possible; make sure the Universe knows just who it’s now dealing with.  The act of saying something out loud sends energy out into the Universe so that who you really want to be can start becoming a reality.

You might find that the statement you come up with does not vibe with how other people see you, that’s perfectly okay…  How often are we truly honest with other people about who we really are?  You’ll find that if you start living by your mission statement the people around you will never second guess who it is that you are again.

Thankfulness is a State of Mind

The key to happiness in this life is simple: enjoy the small moments when they present themselves.

We as people are constantly being bombarded by influences outside of our internal nature, whether it be from the media, the demands of everyday life, bills needing to be paid or friends and family pulling at our attention strings.

We so constantly look around at the world and desire feelings of happiness or completeness, we do this so often that we can actually forget to stop and appreciate all of life’s little blessings along the way.

Whether it is a sunrise or a sunset, the soft breeze blowing against our face, the smell of flowers, the smile someone gives us, leaves falling around us, certain melodies in a song, and the list goes on and on; the Universe is always trying to direct us back to a state of knowing who we really are, it’s always giving us opportunities to be one with our true nature. 

The gifts of life often come in small packages and when we’re not really paying attention.  I think one of the biggest secrets in life is that we are always connected to everything and everyone around us, it just takes a deep breath and a ready heart to see this as a fact.

We were not made to be drones or lifeless beings that merely exist in a rat wheel of life.  We were made as creative beings with endless potential for love and prosperity; it’s when we forget this about our true nature that we start taking all of life’s little moments for granted.

Yesterday I was walking out to the meadow at our house to cut some firewood when along my first couple of steps out of the front door a little leaf fell from a tree and landed in my hand.  What a marvelous moment this was for me, but its meaning would have been lost if I wasn't ready to see its meaning..

As the leaf fell and landed in my palm I was reminded about how perfect everything around us is, how unique but perfect everything fits together.  For that leaf to fall at the moment it did, for it to die at the precise moment it took for it to fall, and for the wind to accurately have it land in my hand was perfection in an instant.  If I failed to realize at that exact moment what it took for this to happen I would have missed out on the universe quietly whispering in the ear of my soul: "we are all connected." 

The fact that we are part of this world and that this world is a part of us is what some would refer to as a divine dichotomy.  If you take a minute to stop throughout your day and let life bless you, you’ll be more ready to bless other people along the path of their day as well.

The leaf falling into my hand stopped me in my tracks and reminded me that the end result of going into the woods to cut some firewood was not the blessing, but the power of the moment was in the actual walk into the woods.  The journey of our lives is what melds us with our true being and our real potential.  It’s what we do when no one sees us that define our true character.  It’s what we take for granted or what we hold as precious moments in time that speak the loudest for our worth and our true nature.

The small moments in life that show us our true connection to everything around us add up to making us the person we truly desire to be.  If we can’t appreciate the little things that cross our path, how will we be able to truly be thankful for the major blessings?

If you allow the minute in detail to permeate your exterior and melt into your interior you’ll be much more content in this world.  Every small blessing serves to re-connect us and resurface the truth about who we are in this world.  Let the small blessings mount up, be present in all moments and your perspective on life will naturally start to change into one that is appreciative and positive.

If you find yourself being negative about life and the lot it has served you, look no further than to change the thoughts you have about your own life.  Keep an eye out for the small treasures; keep your eyes open for the beauty and connectivity that's all around you. 

Don’t allow yourself to be lost in the matrix, instead force yourself to acknowledge that you are the creator of your own matrix.

We are only as happy as the blessings we allow ourselves to receive. 

What is LOVE?

What is LOVE?...

It's an emotion, it's a feeling, and it's a way of life.

LOVE is a choice, it's a decision, and it's a direction.

LOVE is GOD and GOD is LOVE, LOVE is hope and LOVE is Joy, LOVE is the best of hope and joy combined.

LOVE is a response to an action and LOVE is the action itself.  LOVE is a memory of something beautiful remembered and LOVE is what spawned that memory in first place.  LOVE is the tide that rolls waves into our life and also the way we decide to surf those waves.

LOVE is the journey and LOVE is the goal, LOVE is also the road map for the success we want to have as our guide.

LOVE is a warm breeze and the refreshing rain after the summer's drought.

LOVE is the whisper of a child and also the soothing words of a mother.

LOVE is what guides us and also what holds our sails fixed within the wind.

LOVE is worth our praise and it's also what gives us our voice.  LOVE is the beauty we see in this world and what's found in the in-between.

LOVE is what binds people together and it's also what brings people together.  LOVE is a choice and the sum of our decisions.

We are LOVE, we refresh LOVE, we embody LOVE, we instill LOVE, we give LOVE, we promote LOVE, we decide what's worth our LOVE and we formulate ideas as to what LOVE is.

LOVE is ever evolving.

We give definition to LOVE, we give experience to LOVE, we live LOVE and we share LOVE.

The biggest secret to LOVE is that we are the creators of it and the purveyors of it.  We are LOVE, we preach LOVE, we discern LOVE, and we give freely the beauty of LOVE because it was given freely to all of us.

LOVE is a song, LOVE is a poem, LOVE is a wink and LOVE is the chords of our rhythm.  LOVE is a melody and LOVE is the inspiration behind the song.

LOVE is all there really is and LOVE is all there ever has been.

We are all only but a choice away from experiencing LOVE as the eternal moment of now, let's choose to live in LOVE and spread that message.

Ps. LOVE = GOD and GOD = LOVE

WE are ALL CONNECTed

Why do we choose so often to make fun of that which is different from us?  Do we not understand that all that we are is defined by that which we are not?

If I cry at a sunrise does that mean I am weak or does that mean I am strong enough to connect with something so foreign to me that I actually begin to understand our real union?

There is so much hate in this world.  Hate arises in one's heart from one's surroundings and from one's choices.  We choose hate, hate does not choose us.  My eyes see the same way everyone else's do, so why then do I see a world full of possibility and wonder and others choose to see a world full of despair and evil?

Does my heart not beat the same as yours? Does my body not work the same as yours?  Does love not come naturally at the fitting times like yours?  Does the touch of a soft hand on your shoulder in a time of need not lend support to you like it does me?

I ask these questions not to state that I am any better than anyone else in this world, but I ask these questions and million more to show the extreme similarity between all of our lives.

We are defined as individuals by that which we are not, not that which we are.  We all depend on everyone else to define ourselves, for if it were not for another there would be no ability to compare in the first place.  Without comparison there simply is existence conceptually, and to exist as a conception is not the reality we live in.

We live in a world governed by relativity and shared experience, where one thing is connected to another through the ultimate experience of give and push, yin and yang, here and there, now and then.

Open your eyes my friends to the idea that we are all perfect and all essential beings in this cosmic dance of life, we all need each other to be whole, we all need one another for definition to be possible.

When you see a strange face or you witness a lost soul, be not quick to judge but instead be quick to understand.  From understanding comes knowledge, and from shared knowledge comes wisdom.

We live in order to help others become wise in their own pursuits.  We hurt in order to heal others in their time of need.  We feel pain so that joy can be apparent in our greatest times of success.  If you cut yourself off from the rest of the world and see your being as only singular you miss out on life's greatest blessings, you miss out on creation and shared opportunities.

Choose love over hate, choose acceptance over judgment, choose honesty over betrayal, and choose life over death.

If it were not for those who are different than us we would not be who we are today, tomorrow, and in the distant future.  It takes all of the spokes of a bicycle wheel to work in unison for the rider to get anywhere, just like it takes all of us involved in life to make any sort of a difference.

We are beings of unlimited potential, we are beings capable of great creations, we are beings who dream and laugh, beings who inspire and motivate.  We are all of these things at our core.

Live in love and walk in hope, run for the truth and dance with joy.  We can all have the life we want without hate, without judgment, and without cruelty.  Choose to be above the negative, choose to be better.

Friendship is Paramount

Today something beautiful happened to me, I realized just why being open to meeting new people is so important.  It’s important because everyone you meet and hit it off with reminds you just how alive you really are.  It also shows you just how connected we all are.  Everyone you meet has a little bit of yourself in them, you learn that it doesn’t matter the color of their skin or their shape or their size, everyone you meet has a heart that loves and feels hurt just like you.

I have had a rare opportunity to have an extended vacation and I’ve met so many new and wonderful people that I am so thankful for.  If I had allowed myself to be closed off to new possibilities I would have missed out on so much growth.

We all have our little oddities, we all have our touch of brilliance, we all have a smile that’s capable of lighting up a room when truly inspired by something, and we all share one significant attribute: We all are positively affected by love, it makes us better; it makes us more human.

No matter the stage of life you’re in it’s important to being open to new ideas and fresh faces; it takes the staleness out of life and replaces it with excitement and new possibilities. 

I have been feeling very close to this idea of LOVE recently that I so often refer to, and it’s because I see so much of myself in so many other people.  In fact, I see so much of what I’m made of in everyone else that for the first real time in my life I can honestly say with full confidence that we are all on this earth so we can each be perfectly special in our own way.

If there weren’t people on this planet that were different than us in some way we wouldn’t be able to know who WE truly are.  But it’s the very fact that everyone else is so much the same that we even have a platform to base our opinion of ourselves on.  If we are to compare ourselves to someone else it only makes sense to me that we are the same at some very base level, because if we weren’t we might as well compare ourselves to the animals in nature. 

In order to compare who you are with who you want to be you first have to understand that there’s something there to compare it to.  We’re all linked together in such a beautiful and simple way that we often overlook the very fact that we’re all the same in different costumes.

Be open for new people to affect your life in beautiful ways and I promise you, you won’t ever want to remain the same again.

In order to evolve into a more loving being you just have to take a look around and realize that everyone is special in their own way, and in order for you to be special it requires everyone else to be themselves simultaneously.

We are One so that we may be MANY, and we are MANY so that we can be ONE.

Why do WE Hate?

Islamic quote: "A friend cannot be considered as friends until he is tested in three occasions; in time of need, behind your back and until after your death."

What's the deal with this idea of hate?  Why do we show so much hate to those things unknown to us.  At some point in our lives we all are unaware of so much around us, why then do we choose hate so quickly without proper investigation?

We are in a time presently where so much of our nation chooses to believe the popular media that those things foreign to us are bad, or awful, or scary.

The first thing that comes to mind is the idea that Islam is bad or detestable.  I'm here to say that thought is so far from the truth that it's down right disgusting to me.

I work in the Arab Gulf, a place where the Muslim culture is woven throughout all the fabric of life.  I have yet to meet someone over there that looks at me because of my skin color or the look that my face represents with detest or malice.  Literally, the most pleasant human beings I have ever been around are born and live in an Islamic way of life. 

We have to wake up to the beauty of diversity, for too long we have allowed ourselves to foster feelings of negativity for a culture so rich in love, wisdom, and understanding.

I understand that religions have an agenda, but at the root of all religion is the tenant of brotherhood and love for your brothers and sisters.  So why then do we choose hate over love and acceptance? Why do we decide we don't like someone for how they look or the religion they choose to practice?

Let's stop picking hate as a first response to the unknown and let's start doing some personal reflection and investigation as to the real nature of cultures and differing ideas.

Next time you see someone who looks different than you or you meet someone with different ideas than you take a minute to get to know that person, if they suck because they're an awful person that's one thing, but don't judge anything or anyone based on the cover of the book.

Mistakes

The title of this post is "Mistakes."  I think it's important to understand what a mistake truly is...

A mistake is simply a choice you wish you had made differently.  It's nothing more than a choice we've made that we would do differently in the future.  So if that's the case then a mistake is nothing more than a chance to learn about ourselves and how we relate to the world around us.

I think the main problem is we as people often don't know who "WE" are because we haven't taken the time to know who the "I" is first.  Look deep inside yourself and discover what's been hiding underneath of the layers for years, your true self, your most pure and ideological self.

If you take a minute to stop and listen to the whisperings of your inner voice you'll soon realize that mistakes hold no power over you and that the real power comes from making a different decision in the confines of the next opportunity.

Without making so called "mistakes," we would never know the pure joy that comes through growth and understanding.

I urge you not to look back in your past with regret for how you have lived your life but instead look forward with hope and desire for how you'll do things differently when given another opportunity.

The beauty of life is that it's always evolving and that we're always demonstrating though our choices who it is we truly desire to be.  Once you understand that the confusion is as important as the clarity, then and only then will you be on your way to enlightenment.

If you are sincerely unhappy with choices you have made in the past then learn from those and choose differently from this point on. 

Break free from the shackles of past decisions and start liberating yourself with new and wiser choices.  Be in the moment and understand how this moment is full of potential.  Choose not to get down on yourself because you picked to go left or right or up or down because each direction is important and equal in meaning.  In every moment from here on out decide to be different, or decide to be the same, but in all ways trust in your ability and your potential.

When we let go of the feelings of regret over past mistakes we suddenly free up our potential to move on and be who we're really meant to be... Whatever we choose to be.

Choose LOVE my friends and let every decision from this point out be guided by a sense of togetherness and community.

I believe in you, I love you, I'm here for you if you need me.

-Mason

Let's be Better

"Let's be better."  It's a very simple thought, in fact it's so simple that we often overlook its implications.

I know so many people who walk through life in a constant daze as if life is not worth the attention it deserves.  People often become wrapped up in their everyday worries and stresses that they fail to take the steps necessary to make life better.

The greatest power that we have as humans is the ability to transform our lives into whatever we desire most and thusly, understanding how those changes affect how we view the world around us.

If you find yourself feeling beaten down by life, unable to get a foothold or find a branch somewhere along the way to pull yourself up, look no further than where and how you're expecting this help to present itself.  We are all the masters of our own circumstances, we are all in control of where we find ourselves presently  and where we want to go from there. 

We have so much potential, everyone does, we can all be better if we but choose to be.  My whole life I've been consumed with this idea of being better.  As a teen I wanted to be better at sports, as a young adult I desire to be more loving and more accepting of others.  In saying that I must admit to everyone that I still forget to be better.  I allow myself at times to let life dictate to me what I get as opposed to making what I want happen for myself.  If you desire something you have to make it happen, you and you alone have this power over yourself.

The biggest illusion in life is the idea that we are victims of our circumstances, in fact it's just the opposite.  We are all the creators of our circumstances.  We are all exactly what we think we are.

Are you a loser because life isn't exactly what you want it to be?  No, of course you're not, unless you think you are.  The hardest thing in life is to fully realize this truth and trust in your potential.  There are so many outside factors that try to get in the way of believing in ourselves, why we listen to anything but our hearts I will never fully understand.

A lot of times we read inspiring stories or blogs or articles that say how we should think or how we should act but they give us very little practical information on how to make the actual change in our lives.  Well, not me, not here, not in this blog.  The last part of this post is the most important and it may just be what helps you turn your life around, and by turning your life around you'll realize you are no longer the victim of any circumstance, unless you let yourself believe you are.

If you're tired of your lot in life and where you currently find yourself, start choosing to be different.  Literally right now, right this second, choose to be better.  Take a second and close your eyes and really ask yourself what the greatest version of yourself looks like, what you would sound like, what you would dress like, how you would treat people, where you would live, etc.  Next, you need to open your eyes and choose to start making choices that will make that person a reality.  If that person can be imagined it can be made into a reality, that's the truth most people choose not to believe.

There is so much truth in the saying that "if you can dream it, you can be it."  Start believing in love, start believing in your potential, choose to be better... or don't, that's your choice as well.

Let's be better!

LOVE WINS.

Earlier today while driving home I saw the most beautiful, the most precious, and one of the most poignant, window stickers I have ever seen. I’m normally one of those guys who think stickers on cars are kind of funny looking no matter what they say, but today was different for me, today I read two words followed by a period symbol, as one of the most amazing combination of letters and symbols ever recorded in the history of the English language. The sticker was about the size of one’s palm, in the shape of an oval, the letters were scribed in white while the background was filled in with black. What I saw today that rang louder in my core than any church bell to date, was simply: LOVE WINS.

If you don’t take a minute to stop and really process that declaratory statement I can see how it could sound like I’m making too big of a deal over a silly little sticker, let’s take a minute and examine it together.

In this world I believe there are two competing choices in any given situation you find yourself in; you have the choice that’s rooted in love or the opposite of that, fear. This place of either love or fear is what people believe the thought behind the thought comes from, the place of the sponsoring thought. There’s a theory out there that says behind every thought you have, therein lies an even deeper sponsoring thought. The sponsoring thought is what helps us determine the outcome of our choice before we ever really make it. The funny thing is though that even when we make a choice out of fear, and make a bad decision, we immediately know it was the wrong choice. We know it’s inherently the wrong choice by how we feel; fear is an illusion that sends out different energy than love. When we make a choice out of love we immediately feel we made the correct one, we’re relieved, and like we’re complete even for just a moment in time.

I believe Love is all there really is and that fear is just an illusion.

Fear is something we have been taught from the earliest days of our life. Think back to when you were a child and you reached for the hot stove. What did your parents do to you? They smacked your hands away from it and probably scolded you some to SCARE you from touching it again, now for a long time you’ll be afraid of fire. What if you’re parent lovingly moved your hand away and taught you why it was detrimental to you to touch the stove? What then? As a child you have no fear, none whatsoever. You’ll go talk to anyone, crawl anywhere, and even eat dirt! What stopped you from doing these things? I’ll tell you what, your parents training you to believe these things were not right, telling you to grow up and stop acting like a child or act embarrassed when you wondered up to strangers in the super market. Because of our conditioning in our youth we have grown to understand that fear not a pure emotion, but actually as perceived risk due to our upbringings. Let’s look at this just a little further: Aren’t all people capable of loving at some point in their life, no matter the age of the individual? A man or woman can lose their spouse early on in the marriage but can he or she not fall in love with another? Doesn’t falling in love just kind of happen without even really knowing that it’s happening? That’s because love is natural, it’s what we are at our purest, under all the layers of perceived risk. Under every fear that we’ve been taught to fear, LOVE WINS.

As you age you can continually love people you meet but how often do the fears of your youth remain with you? LOVE WINS. I don’t fear my face sticking that way, or burning my hand on a stove top anymore, I don’t fear strangers, and I definitely don’t fear the boogie monster… as much as I used to! What’s under all of these fears, someone teaching me I should fear them; we live in a constant state of illusion, unless we chose not to. LOVE WINS.

All joking aside, the reason fear is an illusion is because it’s been taught to us and when we experience for ourselves that something isn’t bad like maybe we used to think, that thought of fear is replaced with one of understanding and acceptance. Once you can accept something for what it is, fear leaves the scenario, and if fear is gone, love is apparent. Love is underneath all of the layers of illusion, it’s at the core of the illusion, and it’s what the illusion is built on. Is not the foundation the strongest part of the house? So if Love is all there really is, think just how deep that could change how you look at the world… If you really believe that LOVE WINS. then I can promise you that your life will be deeper and fuller and more abundant than you could ever imagine. When you stop fearing things that may seem scary, or weird, or strange, and when you choose to change how you look at those things, fear suddenly becomes a thing of the past, and you see the fear of something as the illusion it creates. LOVE WINS.

As you process this and either choose to discard what I’m saying, or accept at least the thought of it as being a possibility, ask yourself one question: Why wouldn’t love win?

The Effects of a Choice

All of life is one big melting pot of information, some of the time we can recognize what this information is and what to do with it, other times the information we receive needs longer to simmer before we can find the true benefit in its ingredients. We all process information differently, we have to or else we would be mindless drones that merely co-exist. This particular blog is about the effect of what our choices have on the rest of the world that we often forget as being part of the larger equation. Every day we make hundreds, if not thousands of choices that affect the entire world around us. Where do I eat breakfast? What route should I take to work? Should I work out today? Should I have coffee over water? Etc. Each choice we make throughout the day pulls us in a different direction for the moment, but no matter what choice we make we're always moving in the direction of having to make other choices. Because choice is an option and a given, we often times forget that we are both the victim of our circumstances and the creator of them. No matter where you find yourself currently, it's directly related to the choices you made along the way to get there. When we slow down and pay attention to the world around us, when we stop and listen to what our body, mind, and soul are saying, then and only then do we have the chance to morph and form our lives into the life of what we desire most. I believe that we have the potential to accomplish anything we can imagine for ourselves if we can train our thought process to make the choices we need to make in order to realize this desired outcome. The president of the United States did not become the president by accident, nor did the Dali Lama become enlightened by a stroke of luck. These people along with every other person in the world accomplished their goals of being who they wanted to be most by making the choices in order to do so. Very wealthy individuals have made the choice that they deserve their wealth, highly accomplished athletes made the choice to train for the goal of athletic success, even the homeless man on the street asking for loose change has made decisions for himself that led to his current situation. What we know is that everything in this world is made up of energy, a constantly evolving and shared energy that can translate into any thought or any action. Because of this fact we can hypothesize that the amount of energy we put into choices through our thoughts about them can cause them to either appear or never exist in our life. The secret in life to having what you want is deciding how you are going to think about it, how your choices will reflect that attitude towards whatever it is you desire most, and understanding that the energy of creation is the same energy that facilitates thought, which is the same energy that produces action. Once the action has been created and the thought has been realized physically we set a course in motion for that particular moment in time to directly reflect the energy we put into it. We made a choice either to do or not to do something, and because of that choice other opportunities are made available to us. There are no right or wrong decisions, there are only choices we make towards a situation that are fueled by whatever motivates us at the time, you can't judge the choices of someone, you can only be a witness to the outcome and form your own idea about how it affects your life and the direction you wish to travel. We owe one another nothing, and yet we owe each other everything. Everyone on this planet is here so that everyone else can know who they are based on what they see around them, are choices constantly define us. We can only be an "I" because there is a "we" to base the idea of the "self" on. Without others we we would not know the truth of who we really are and what we're here to do. So the next time you feel guilty about a choice you have made try to remind yourself that it's okay, no choice is bad or good, it's just a choice that's best for you at the time. If you find yourself constantly making detrimental choices I think it's time to look at your life and ask yourself what it really is you want from your 80 or so years and change the choices you make to fit that picture of yourself. Everyone will do something different with their life, the key to happiness is listening to your inner self in a quiet place and deciding to make choices based on becoming that person; what would that person wear? How would they view the world? What steps would he/she take to land that dream job? Etc. whoever that person is you want to be, your decisions along the way to being that person will dictate if you ever reach your goal. We are a slave to our choices but we are also the master and creator of our present circumstance, contemplate that idea for a while and you’ll understand the significance of your ideas towards things and your choices concerning them.