Monday, May 31, 2010
Connecting with Stillness | The BridgeMaker
Connecting with Stillness | The BridgeMaker |
| Posted: 31 May 2010 03:08 AM PDT 
Article written by BridgeMaker guest contributor Axel Gjertsen. Please visit him at axel g. Imagine it’s a summer morning and you’re walking barefoot in the green grass. You’ve come to search for Stillness. You have brought a small pillow. So, you lie down on your back in the cool grass. The moment you close your eyes, you become increasingly aware of the sounds around you. The chirping birds make you smile. After about 15 minutes your breathing has slowed down and you start to feel really peaceful. By now, you have become aware of a gentle breeze and the scent of jasmine. It feels like you’re one with nature… We all have our own ideas about stillness. What it is, how it affects us and where to look for it. In this post I’ll share my experiences and perceptions of stillness with you. Stillness takes on a whole new meaning, once you have touched upon it. Its peace and beauty are way beyond what any word or concept could ever define. Stillness is life itself, the pulse of the universe. When sweet warmth stirs your being, then you know. Stillness is that. Stillness is divine. Stillness or inner peace?It’s natural to find inner peace when in nature. The sounds of birds, insects and water – even the wind, have a profound effect on our mental states. It’s easy to relax when lying down with the eyes closed. Make sure the body is really comfortable. While lying there in the grass, you can listen to the bird song or enjoy the scent of the flowers and herbs, which is relaxing in itself. You can also pay attention to the sensations of the cool grass against your skin or the rising and falling of the chest, as you breathe. Can you think of anything more peaceful than the sound of pouring rain? To me, inner peace is a state of mental and physical calm, nothing more. Now, picture someone who has an old cassette player. She brings it to the kitchen and puts the player and power cable on the table. Note that the plug isn’t connected to the mains power supply. That’s how I view inner peace, a state of non-connectedness. In order to connect with stillness you have to plug in the power cable, plugging in the cassette player is like connecting with the divine. A trained mind can easily pierce through the dense layers of mental noise (feelings and thoughts) and connect with the realm of stillness. Like a plane that takes off on a murky day, breaks through the clouds and is engulfed in bright sunlight. We carry the divine within us. Look inside… Feel free to share your personal reflections and ideas about stillness in Comments below. Axel Gjertsen lives in Thailand and is a former Buddhist monk. He runs axel g which is a personal development site with a focus on meditation. Axel g – personal development that works! What Now? Help Share a Thousand Acts of Faith on Facebook.      |
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Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
How to Take Your Relationship from Ho-Hum to Happy Ever After | The BridgeMaker
How to Take Your Relationship from Ho-Hum to Happy Ever After | The BridgeMaker |
| How to Take Your Relationship from Ho-Hum to Happy Ever After Posted: 27 May 2010 03:08 AM PDT 
Article written by BridgeMaker guest contributor Tess Marshall. Please visit her at The Bold Life. People often ask my husband and I how we’ve managed to stay together over the years (38). They often ask us for “our secret.” There is no secret. For us, building a foundation based on friendship, mutual respect and the enjoyment of each other's company has allowed good things to happen. Consistently expressing our love for one another through words and actions continues to strengthen our bond. We know each other’s habits and hopes and likes and dislikes. We believe in each other and are positive and optimistic about our future together. Don’t get me wrong our relationship isn’t perfect. There is no such thing. We continue to argue and get mad and frustrated with each other. We still struggle for control and want to be right. It’s normal. In spite of these things, we continuously come out on top because of our foundation and tools we put into practice. You too, can rejuvenate your relationship by incorporating the following methods:
Print this list off and put it on your refrigerator. One by one incorporate them into your daily lives. Tess Marshall is the mover and shaker, at The Bold Life where she'll hold you accountable for being the boldest you've ever been in every area of your life! What would you do if you were 10 times bolder? You can sign up for her RSS feed and receive her updates or follow her on Facebook and Twitter. Image courtesy of Emery Co. Photo What Now? Help Share a Thousand Acts of Faith on Facebook.    |
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Commencement and Celebration | The BridgeMaker
Commencement and Celebration | The BridgeMaker |
| Posted: 23 May 2010 05:24 AM PDT  This month has been one of those times when so much has happened in a short period of time. Our younger son Andrew graduates from high school today. Soon it will be time for him to leave for college and experience the world on his terms.  Andrew, Mary Beth and me at Senior Night. In the last three weeks, Andrew signed a baseball scholarship, completed his senior season and prepared for the last of his final exams. Mary Beth and I have enjoyed rooting for him and now celebrate a life that is waiting just for our son. So, there hasn't been a lot of time for me to write new articles. But, my awesome guest contributors have kept it going and I appreciate them very much. I will be back soon enough. But for now, family, as always, comes first. A parent's job is never really done. And even though today's graduation marks a significant milestone in Andrew's life, Mary Beth and I will always be his parents and he will always be our son, no matter what.
What Now? Help Share a Thousand Acts of Faith on Facebook.    |
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Saturday, May 22, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Do You Believe in Miracles? | The BridgeMaker
Do You Believe in Miracles? | The BridgeMaker |
| Posted: 20 May 2010 03:10 AM PDT 
Article written by BridgeMaker contributor Lorraine Cohen. Please visit her at Powerfull Living. I have written that last year was wild in stretching me way out of my comfort zone with painful and exhilarating experiences. I saw last year as a clean up year; one that invited us all to come back to the basics of what we value most, to go within and ask those deeper questions, "Who am I? What is longing with in me to be expressed? What am I being called to do and be?" And to be willing to let go of the people and things that are not really serving us to live who we came here to be which can bring up a whole lot of fear and discomfort. I cleared a lot of stuff last year, released a lot of fears, and felt more connected to my faith. So, I expected this year would take off and some of the areas that were challenging to me last year would really open up. Several months ago I began receiving a flood of inspiration to create a program on Courage which launched last month. I've coached people for years on how to transform fear, negative beliefs, and self-sabotage very successfully. If you have ever felt inspiration coming through you, you know how energizing and humbling it is when the brilliance pours forth. The program seemed so timely with all that is happening in the world and I was so juiced to work with people on the material and witness their victories over fear into faith, trust, and courage. We teach what we most need to learnLike many others, I'm still feeling stretched to my limits in many ways. One area in particular has been my health. I've enjoyed robust health all my life. Last fall I fell during a morning power walk and tore a ligament (which is still on the mend) and discovered my thyroid had become enlarged with a massive cyst that was pressing on my windpipe. Hospitals, tests, medical procedure, doctor visits are among my last favorite experiences. In March I had the cyst drained. Within 24 hours it filled up again and the next step meant an overnight stay after minor surgery to have my thyroid removed. Aftercare included no driving for a week and rest to support my body to recuperate. The thought of going through all this physically, emotionally, and financially (with my current healthcare plan) began to feel depressing. I wanted it to all just go away and for my body to heal on it's own with out any need for invasive surgery of physical trauma. Health and financial challenges can still cause me to disconnect and begin a downward spiral into fear and darkness. I'm grateful for the clarity and strength to catch myself from falling too long and too far so that I can reconnect with Source for love and guidance. And I am blessed with incredible people in my life who love and support me personally and professionally. An invitation for healingFor the past several months, I began working with two fabulous healers. One in particular is Ann Taylor, www.innerhealing.com who has had amazing results with folks on transforming subconscious beliefs. While I am skilled on doing this kind of inner work, I often add folks to my team so I can get out of my own way and allow for healing to occur that I might be blocking because I am too close to my own stuff. Here's where the story gets really good. I've always believed in the relationship between beliefs and health challenges. Out of curiosity, I looked at Louise Hay's book, You Can Heal Your Life for some clues as to what might be connected with my thyroid. Fascinating. Thyroid and cysts point back to "the victim." A few weeks ago Ann and I spoke about my impending surgery and we did some work together to invite (and allow) God to heal my thyroid. The following day, the size of the cyst was reduced by about 30%. My jaw dropped. A week later I cancelled the surgery because the size of the cyst was reduced by 80%. Throughout the first two weeks, I thanked God for the healing of my thyroid and cyst and felt a humbling gratitude for this miracle. As I write this article, about 30 days from the initial healing session, I am so excited to feel my neck fully recovered. Thank you God! While I not advocating dismissing the medical community as a valid resource to include in supporting your health, this was a great experience for me in trusting my own body's innate wisdom to heal when combined with Source/God/The Divine. The miraculous healing of my thyroid will continue to be a powerful reminder that things are not always what they appear to be. Everyday miraclesMiracles happen every day. Some are dramatic like the healing of my thyroid. Some can be so subtle and easily overlooked. Other miracles are sweet and bring a smile to your face or take your breath away by their beauty and purity: a beautiful sunrise, nature, an answer to a prayer, a child's giggle, watching my cats sleep, content and peaceful. It takes faith, trust and courage to let go of fear, doubt, stress… that invite the dramas we create to bring suffering and pain to our life experiences. When you partner with Source all things are possible no matter what challenge you are facing. That's why I have made my spiritual practices have a priority in my life. I have come to believe the single most important relationship in life is with your soul self and God. When you are aligned with the Divine presence within you as the guiding force in your life and show up to do your part in co-creating your reality with a loving and allowing heart (to both give and receive), you will be prospered by everyone and everything.
Are you open to allow and receive miracles into your daily life? Do you recognize them when they come? Do you appreciate and celebrate them? Do you know that you are a miracle? To everyone whose life you touch and who you allow to touch yours – I wish you a miraculous day Founder of Powerfull-Living, Rev. Dr. Lorraine Cohen is a spiritual advisor, life coach, published writer, and inspirational speaker who is recognized as a cutting-edge expert in her field. Please consider her groundbreaking eBook How Do I Choose: A powerful five-step blueprint for making rock-solid decisions. What Now? Help Share a Thousand Acts of Faith on Facebook.    |
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Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Are You Living in the Moment? | The BridgeMaker
Are You Living in the Moment? | The BridgeMaker |
| Posted: 17 May 2010 03:07 AM PDT 
Article written by guest contributor Jarrod Clark. Please visit him at Optimistic Journey. Have you ever gone on vacation, taken lots of pictures, and months or even years later found yourself looking at those pictures and reminiscing over the great moments you experienced? Did you find yourself wanting to go back to that moment in time and witness it all over again? It is times like this we learn to cherish the moments that life brings us. Life is a big journey full of ups and downs but we have to remember to live life one day at a time and relish those times that bring us happiness, joy, and great memories. It’s important that you remember that no two instances are alike. Life is full of moments that, once out of reach, you can’t take them back. It’s like being a watchman in the night. He can’t sleep on the clock. He can’t take a break to worry about what the future holds. No, he must remain ever so watchful of the wakening moment. He has to guard every entrance and exit to make sure no one illegally enters the property. In a sense, that’s the way you should live life. You can’t sleep on the moments that are worth paying attention to. You can’t worry about the future, you have to live in the moment now because you can’t take back the occasions that count. I’m reminded of a great quote by Bob Bales that reminds us, "Don’t cross your bridges until you get to them." We spend our lives defeating ourselves crossing bridges we never get to. We sabotage ourselves when we spend so much time and energy focusing on a point in the future that we haven’t yet reached. You cause yourself a great disservice, when you worry about the past or future. It’s like inadvertently tapping over your favorite program in the VCR; you’re allowing such great occasions to waste away. You have to know that the past is the past and the future will take care of itself. Matthew 6:34 confirms this to us because it says “So, don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.” When you focus on the future, you allow the precious moments of the day to slip away. And in doing so, you cause yourself to get out of alignment. When you make a decision to accept your life as it is, you relieve yourself of un-needed stress, pain, and anguish and in turn, you allow yourself to experience more joy and peace. You will be surprised at how much joy you cultivate when you delight yourself in the simpler things of life. It’s those simpler things, which occupy each moment that you will find often mean the most. Think of times that you’ve allowed the moment to waste away due to being too wrapped up in the future or the past, Feel free to share these in Comments below. Jarrod Clark is the author and founder of OptimisticJourney.com where he provides inspirational messages for maintaining an optimistic outlook on life. He writes from a place of life experiences, trials he’s faced, and failures and successes that he’s encountered, and uses the inspiration obtained during those storms and shares it with you. Please Vote. The BridgeMaker has been nominated to receive a 2010 Intent Web Award as Best Spirituality Site. I would appreciate your vote, too. Click here to vote. Thank you!    |
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Thursday, May 13, 2010
Being Your Own Best Friend | The BridgeMaker
Being Your Own Best Friend | The BridgeMaker |
| Posted: 13 May 2010 03:07 AM PDT 
Article written by BridgeMaker contributor Ali Hale. Please visit her at Aliventures.com. Do you judge yourself more harshly than you’d judge anyone else in the world? I know I often do. I’ll be highly self-critical, mentally “saying” things to myself which I’d never say to a friend. Perhaps this is a habit we, sadly, learn in childhood. We’re criticized over-harshly by an adult in our lives, or we’re teased and bullied in the playground. I’m sure that’s part of it for some of us. But it may also just be the way our minds work. Perhaps it’s a good force gone too far – the urge to improve ourselves and strive to do better, taken to extremes. I’m taking Pace and Kyeli’s email course 52 Weeks to Awesome at the moment, and their second mission asked me to tell myself:
I found that incredibly hard. I found that I didn’t believe it. Yet, I’m sure I’d have said it to any of my friends without a moment’s pause. How about you? Does that bring up similar feelings? If you find yourself being regularly self-critical, here are a few techniques that I’ve found help to break the cycle. Be Aware of Your ThoughtsFirst, learn to pay attention to what you’re thinking. I’m far from perfect at this, but when I catch myself thinking “That was so stupid of me” or “Why can I never get things right?” or “I’ll never succeed” then I try to take a step back and ask whether the thought it really true or fair. It never is. I find that it helps to ask myself “Would I say that to a friend?” – and to question why I treat myself differently. In my heart, I know that it’s not right to consider myself some special case held to higher standards than the rest of humanity … it’s arrogant and it’s silly! Self-DialoguingI came across this technique in the book How to Make Your Dreams Come True by Mark Forster (sadly now out of print). He writes almost the whole book in a question and answer format, between him and his “future self” – a projection of who he wants to become (a more patient, thoughtful, supportive person). The “future Mark” asks questions, and the “present Mark” answers them. It’s like a coaching relationship, but with yourself. Here’s one of Mark’s examples (from page 41 of the book). As you can see, it’s written in a very conversational, almost stream-of-consciousness style, and the focus is on areas of improvement and on figuring out what’s working:
A You asked me to find something to put on the ‘What’s Better?’ list about being well ordered. … The only thing I could find was that I made all my phone calls during the day immediately. Q That’s great! What were you doing that allowed you to get those done? A I don’t really know. I think I just sort of leapt in rather than put them off. In general, I find that writing rather than thinking helps me to work through things. Whenever I’ve used the self-dialoguing method, I’ve found it’s been a very good way to be honest with myself, in a supportive way. It’s also a way to bring up new ideas and angles – the question and answer response encourages me to think more deeply than I would if I was just journaling. Believe ComplimentsI blog all over the place (not just here and on my own blog Aliventures, but for several other sites), and it’s not uncommon for me to get emails from readers saying how much they’re enjoying my writing, or mentioning how a particular post has helped them. I have to make an active effort to believe these compliments. I mean, of course I believe that people are telling the truth … but I need to remember that these outweigh by far any negative feedback which I get. You could try collecting testimonials about your work, or saving any “thank you” emails that you get in a special folder. When you’re feeling a bit down, this can be a great resource to look through, to remind yourself how other people see you. Of course you aren’t perfect – no-one is – but you’re probably doing a lot of good in the world. What helps you to talk more kindly to yourself? How can you be your own best friend? Please share in Comments below. Ali Hale is a freelance writer from London in the UK, and is currently taking an MA in creative writing. She writes for a number of sites, including her own Aliventures blog which focuses on getting more from life. Please Vote. The BridgeMaker has been nominated to receive a 2010 Intent Web Award as Best Spirituality Site. I would appreciate your vote, too. Click here to vote. Thank you!    |
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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Lessons from Our Mothers | The BridgeMaker
Lessons from Our Mothers | The BridgeMaker |
| Posted: 06 May 2010 03:10 AM PDT 
Article written by Alex Blackwell. Connect with me on Facebook. Mother's Day will be here soon. It's a day to celebrate, pamper and remember our mothers. Between the brunches and backyard barbeques, Mother's Day honors the person who sustained us before we knew the world. Mothers connect us to life. Our first ounce of nourishment passed from them and into us. As a result, feelings of being safe, warm and secure are rooted somewhere deep in our consciousness and are forever associated with our mothers. This is nature's way of establishing the mother-child bond, no matter what happens next. And it's because of this bond we often feel closer to our mothers than we do our fathers. As children, we are more aware of their presence; their approval is more important; we are more desperate for their love; and when they let us down, we are more willing to forgive. The lessons our mothers teach shape who we are and how we see the world. The lessons from our mothers stay with us for a lifetime. Because of the lessons I have learned, as well as the ones I'm still learning, Mother's Day is bittersweet for me now. DarknessDuring a recent errand to the grocery story, Mary Beth asked me to pick up cards for her mother and stepmother. The card selection was impressive. Colorful designs and sentimental verses filled the Hallmark racks. I scanned through the cards projecting my wife into the search. I wanted to bring home the good cards; the ones she would select. In the middle of my search, it occurred to me I wasn't looking for a third card. Not sadness; not regret, but sympathy for how she chose to live her life came to mind. The Mother's Day cards I sent prior to my mother's death did not come from the heart – they came from a sense of obligation. Browsing through the cards, I felt relief. I no longer have to sign my name to a verse I don't mean. But to be fair, I have learned some valuable lessons from my mother. Although these lessons were not intentionally taught, they are ones I will remember for the rest of my life. I have learned a parent should not find relief from their own imperfection by expecting perfection from their child. I have learned children are not meant to be peacekeepers or caregivers. I have learned when innocence is lost, shame will take its place. I have learned the best way to heal my shame is to keep reminding myself that it wasn't my fault. I have learned love cannot be negotiated, stolen or conditional. And in her death, my mother taught me when we keep our souls in a dark place our hearts will eventually die there. LightMonday was a spectacular spring day in Kansas City. I walked to the drug store during lunch to enjoy the fresh air and brilliant sky. I wanted to buy my wife a Mother's Day card before the good ones were gone. The card, and the meaning behind it, would be from the heart. Mary Beth is an amazing mother. She is teaching our children wonderful lessons. My wife is teaching them to stand on their beliefs and to know they can do anything they choose because they have the power to do so. She is teaching them how mothers are not only capable of bringing children into the world, but passing along needed nourishment after they arrive, too. Both our sons and daughters will benefit from her lessons because they provide our children with a solid foundation on which to build their lives; a foundation built from the strongest material possible – a mother's unconditional love. My wife is one of the good ones and the bond with her children will last forever. It is this gift we will celebrate on Sunday. And when Nature sees to it that the bond continues from at least one mother to her child then redemption is provided for all. Over brunch or perhaps during the evening barbeque I will feel the nudge. I will recognize it and honor it. I will whisper a silent prayer of forgiveness and express thankfulness for the life she gave me. Then like a balloon losing its air, it will be time to let the feeling go and watch it fly out of sight until next year. Please Vote. The BridgeMaker has been nominated to receive a 2010 Intent Web Award as Best Spirituality Site. I would appreciate your vote, too. Click here to vote. Thank you!    |
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