BE KIND...

A LANGUAGE THE DEAF CAN HEAR AND THE BLIND CAN SEE. SMILE  at everyone. SPEAK GENTLY  to all you meet.  EVERY PERSON deals with "SOMETHING," so BE KIND- because it may be the only kindness they will know on that day.

THE IMPACT OF RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS...

I want to share this story that TOUCHES MY HEART SO DEEPLY. Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed the boy ahead of him had tripped and all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder. Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles and helped carry some of the stuff since they were going the same way. As they walked, Marked discovered the boy's name was Bill, that he loved video games, baseball and history, and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.

They got to Bill's house and Mark went inside to watch t.v., and continue talking about their lives. The afternoon passed by pleasantly with laughs and stories, which developed into a wonderful friendship. They continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice, then both graduated junior high school. Ironically, they ended up at the same high school where they had brief contacts over the years. It was finally here...their senior year graduation. Wow!! How time flies.

Three weeks before graduation, Bill asked Mark if they could talk. Bill reminded him of the day many years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker that day because I didn't want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had my dad's gun under my bed and I was going to commit suicide. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up my books that day, you did a lot more. YOU SAVED ME LIFE."

Always Be There For The People Who Matter The Most To You, But Also Be There For The People Who Need A Friend Right At The Moment You Cross Paths With...There Is A Reason You Were There Right At That Moment. A Moment When Someone Needed A Friend...A Moment For You To Be Kind To Someone And Make A Difference!

VISION AND ATTENTION...

Keep Your Eyes Open And Be Aware Of All Things (Obvious And Not-So Obvious) In Your Life That Require Your Attention. Awaken To Your Purpose.

Fly High But Still Stay Connected To Your True Self. Focus On Things That Others Miss. Be Open To HOPE And New Ideas. Go Even Deeper...Close Your Eyes, Clear Your Heart, Let Everything Go, And Feel The Beauty That Surrounds YOU DEEP WITHIN!

Extend The Vision Of Your Life...MAKE IT ONE OF YOUR GREATEST GIFTS.

THE MEASURE OF A PERSON

The measure of a person isn't where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy.

Life is not about having all you want...it's about APPRECIATING ALL THAT YOU HAVE! To FAIL means you've TRIED. To HURT means you've LOVED and to SURVIVE means you've LEARNED!

This photograph taken on February 3, 2015 at 7:11 p.m. (cst) was a delight to take. A beautiful full moon coupled with the dazzling planet Jupiter.

BEGIN EACH DAY WITH YOUR FAVORITE MUSIC...

THERE ARE THINGS ONLY YOU CAN DO, AND YOU ARE ALIVE TO DO THEM. IN THE NOW, YOU HAVE YOUR INSTRUMENT (YOUR SPIRIT/HEART), THE WORDS, AND A SONG.

SO PLAY YOUR MUSIC AND LET YOUR PRESENCE AND PERSONALITY BE YOUR STORY...YOUR WORDS...YOUR TRUTH. INSPIRE THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU TO BE BETTER. NEVER EVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR POWER TO HELP OTHERS.

BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS. LOVE EACH AND EVERY STEP OF YOUR JOURNEY IN LIFE. NEVER STOP PLAYING AND ENJOYING YOUR MUSIC, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY TRULY UNDERSTAND THE WORDS TO YOUR MUSIC.

Let Life And Love Live Through You...

The nature of love is one of the most complex things to comprehend. One of my favorite quotes by Bruce Lee is: "If one loves, one need not have an ideology of love." Instead, love--true love--is a state or condition of being wherein the activities of the self have ceased. And in order to experience this state, an understanding of the workings of the self in all of its many varieties of consciousness is required.

You must think of love as a mutual experience of the body and the mind. When you love you must believe on one level that there is something constant about the body (physical constant) and that this physical constant is inherently and intrinsically enduring and tightly "connected" to what you perceive to be the identity of the person you love or even the object you love.

However, we do change or better said...we are change, as it is our ability to change with the change. Bruce Lee referred to this as "the changeless state." And in order to have success in the people and things you love you must have its experience transcend your physical body, and in order for love to evolve, you must experience the powerful emotional state as well.

In the case, that the emotion of love is not present, a state of not being able to change with change results in a changed state--which will lead to "growing apart." We must allow things in our life to evolve in its natural process, which will bring a truly wonderful experience. We must often remind ourselves not to possess or cling to the physical world.

As I mentioned in the past, the physical world is itself illusory, you're engaging in non-reality-based behavior, and this will set you up for failure. But instead if your experience of love can allow you to "let go" by not clinging to it, you will find that your relationships, goals, everyday activities will not only become more interesting, but will grow into a very strong unity of body, mind, and spirit.

Love can only exist in an environment that is free of ego--where one has forgotten oneself. To Bruce Lee, one did not have or possess "love" but rather lived the emotion in the present to the fullest possible degree and reveled in the experience of it. When love surrounds you, it becomes a tremendous physical, mental, and spiritual experience. "Love is like a friendship caught on fire.In the beginning, a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep burning and unquenchable."-Bruce Lee

You must value happiness and know that happiness in relationships, family, workplace, everyday activities should be derived, not from a whirlwind that involves an extreme emotional state, but from a more balanced relationship/behavior...remember that true Yin/Yang is expressed through temperance and moderation--not by running to extremes. "Nothing can be secured by extremes...only sober moderation lasts, and that persists through all time. Only the mid-part of anything is preserved because the pendulum (of life) must have balance, and the mid-part is the balance," says Lee.

So I leave you with this thought...allow life to live through you and remember that to get the most out of life lies simply in your decision to live your life with the principle of balance and to learn to cooperate with the natural patterns of our world. And most importantly, let your career, relationships, and daily activities be harmonious expressions of who you truly are.

Little, J. The Warrior Within. 1996. Pgs. 64-66.

Love All Of It

I want focus for a second on our mental attributes. We can't just focus on the physical parts of a person (and that is often what we do), the mental/emotional side are extremely important when shaping and building a strong foundation of the body (completely and truly). You can not only focus on the physical and ignore the mental. Many people will often times attempt to pick one part over the other. THE MIND is a powerful tool and if not trained like the physical part, it can backfire on you, and it will prevent you from succeeding or reaching any goals you may set. For example, say a person wants to lose 10 pounds...physically they are ready for action, but mentally they doubt themselves/deep down they don't think they can do it/they have negative thoughts. The sad thing with this scenario is that more than likely this person will not be able to reach their goals because their mind has taken control of the situation.

When setting goals/dreams you never want to use the word BUT...YOU JUST DO IT! Do not allow anything to come in the way of your vision. You have all the tools necessary to succeed and be successful in your journey. I want to share a piece of information with you that I think is so important and worth talking about. We all have experienced some time or another in our life negative characteristics that can dictate or control our way of thinking about our self and experiences with people that surround our lives. These characteristic are known as NEW FOUND FRIENDS.

Fear, guilt, unworthiness, hurt feelings, anger, and discouragement are really our friends. When you are feeling any of these things in a negative way and these feelings limit you...you must pause for a moment and remember these important points:

1) Fear is the energy to do our best in a new situation.
2) Guilt is the energy for personal change.
3) Unworthiness keeps us on track.
4) Hurt Feelings reminds us how much we care.
5) Anger is the energy for change.
6) Discouragement reveals our courage.

Love it all- the fear/excitement, the guilt/the power of change, the unworthiness/the worthiness, the hurt feelings/the euphoric feelings, the anger/the movement, the discouragement/the encouragement- we must learn from both the good and the bad things in order to fully understand ourselves...it's called LIFE! And it is YOUR LIFE! DISCOVER YOURSELF...YOU WOULD BE AMAZED WHAT LIVES INSIDE OF YOU!!! :)

You Are Meant To Do Something

YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO DO SO MUCH. YOU MUST FOLLOW YOUR HEART. THERE WILL BE SO MANY PEOPLE THAT WILL TRY AND STOP YOU FROM BEING THE BEST YOU CAN BE ONLY BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE DESIRE AND THE DETERMINATION TO SUCCEED THAT YOU DO.  YOU MUST NEVER STOP BELIEVING IN YOUR POTENTIAL.  IT IS IN ALL OF US, YOU MUST FIND IT WITHIN YOURSELF AND KEEP STRIVING. I BELIEVE THAT WE ALL ARE  MEANT TO DO SOMETHING AND IT IS ONLY UP TO YOU TO FIND IT!  YOU CAN NOT DEPEND ON ANYBODY BUT YOURSELF.  YOU WILL HAVE PEOPLE THAT WILL SUPPORT YOU AND HELP YOU ALONG THE WAY, BUT IN THE END IT MUST COME FROM YOU AND ONLY YOU.  SO FIND, EMBRACE IT, AND SHOW WHAT YOU ARE MEANT TO BE AND DO IT!  I BELIEVE IN ALL OF YOU!

Believe That Everything Is Possible

"I'm passionately involved in life: I love its change, its color, its movement. To be alive, to be able to see, to walk, to have houses, music, paintings-it's all a miracle."
-Arthur Rubinstein

I think that it is so important that you refuse to allow yourself to have low expectations about what you are capable of doing, creating, and knowing. It is important that you understand what really lives inside you. It is like an imaginary candle flame within you that burns so brightly REGARDLESS of what goes before you. And it's this inner flame that represents the idea that you are capable of manifesting miracles in your life.

We have all had our share of experiences were we had to overcome something that was considered impossible or some type of spontaneous healing. It is through these experiences that each of us at one point or time end up going through a complete reversal of personality. It is important to understand that we must have a sense of self. A mind that is open to everything, which means being peaceful, radiating love, practicing forgiveness, being generous, respecting all life, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, visualizing yourself as capable of doing anything that you can conceive of in your MIND and HEART.

We all have this unique gift that lives inside each and every one of us. We possess so much strength and the beauty of miracles is all around us, BUT we must truly believe and know it within ourselves. It is important that you understand that what you think about expands ("As a man thinketh, so is he"). If your thoughts are filled with doubt and your mind is closed, unfortunately you will of necessity act upon those closed-minded doubts. BUT, if you should decide to have a mind that is open to everything, then you will act upon that inner energy, and you'll be the creator as well as the recipient of MIRACLES wherever you are.

In order to grow and have an open mind to EVERYTHING, you must open yourself up to the spiritual ideas of all people, and listen with an open mind to crazy schemes and ideas that at first seem to be outrageous. If someone suggests that natural herbs can lower cholesterol or that levitation is possible, IT IS OKAY TO LISTEN AND BE CURIOUS. Most of us must let go of attachments to what we have been trained to believe. Open your mind to all possibilities, because whether you believe something is possible or impossible, EITHER WAY YOU WILL BE RIGHT. That is what is so SPECIAL! It is your agreement with reality and all that is possible that determines what you'll become. If you are convinced that you will never lose those 10 pounds of weight or you will never become the person you want yourself to be, you will act upon that inner conviction that prevents you from manifesting what you would really like to do.

So have fun with an open mind and believe that anything and everything is possible. Never close yourself off to the possibilities of what this life can offer you or what you can do for this life. Understand that what you do with your life or how you want to perceive it is your choice. But I believe that if you choose to open your mind to everything in life, you will be granted the miracle of opportunities.


Dyer, Wayne. Secrets for Success& Inner Peace. p.11-13.

Look Inward

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it, and this you have the power to revoke at any moment." -Marcus Aurelius

I want to share something I read in this book. It was about this doctor who was working to cure criminally insane patients in a hospital ward using a technique called ho'oponopono. His whole theory was based on, "if we want to change the world, we must first change ourselves." The doctor explained by using this technique, he recognized that the people around him were reflections of something that needed to be healed in himself.  Situations and events involving others may appear as something outside ourselves, but the truth according to his technique is that the world is as we are, and that if we want to heal it we must take complete responsibility for ourselves  and our connection to the world around us.  

I found this absolutely amazing... There was no magic or voodoo performed on these patients.  All he did was review each person's file and then turned inward, into HIS OWN HEART! He kept saying over and over again, "I'm sorry," and "I love you." And most importantly is that his theory was successful.  Some patients who had been shackled were allowed to walk unrestricted and others improved so much that they were taken off their medications.

Sadly but true, we are accustomed to seeing ourselves as separate from the world around us, in which case it is easy to blame others for problems we may encounter, neighbors being too loud, or to a war halfway across the globe.  The exciting message and POSSIBILITY  is that everything that comes into our lives, BOTH GOOD AND BAD, is a REFLECTION, a MIRROR in which to see ourselves.  I think it is important to look at all aspects of ourselves... I have explained in my last few blog entries the importance of internal and external forces that shape our overall body, mind, and soul.  I think it is very important to understand issues and feelings that may arise from situations or people around us.  It is important on how we react, how we feel, how we can change any outcome... YOU HAVE A CHOICE. 

We are surrounded by obstacles and PESSIMISM each and every day... and because of negative problems we tend to limit our expectations, protect ourselves from failure by not trying or reacting, embarrassment, and disappointment.  In our society, people have often given up too fast, stopped following dreams/goals, expected little or nothing... just to PLAY IT SAFE.  But the sad thing about PLAYING IT SAFE, is that many people end up with little or nothing.

On the BRIGHTER SIDE, the idea of OPTIMISM can fill us with elation, strength, and a sense of accomplishment.  You MUST believe in yourself and recognize the wonderful opportunities, possibilities, and joys that life holds for us. You will face obstacles in everything and anything you do, but once you LOOK INWARD within yourself (YOUR HEART)  and UNDERSTAND INWARD within yourself (STRENGTH OF YOUR HEART), you will overcome and start to grow! 

Make your DREAMS COME TRUE... LIFE is like an ECHO-we get from it what we put into it,  and often much more!

NEVER GIVE UP AND FINISH YOUR FIGHT! YOUR FIGHT TO FIND...WHERE YOU ARE? HERE! AND WHAT ARE YOU? YOU ARE THIS MOMENT!

Hawthorne, J. (2007) Be The Change. p260-262.

Ohrbach, B. (1998) You Can. p.6-7

Find Your Way

Has there ever been a day when you failed to achieve the level of expectation that you had set for yourself? EVERYONE has come across a day like this including one of the most inspiring people, Bruce Lee. Lee always set his standards high. He believed that each day brought with it the opportunity to improve ourselves physically and mentally, we could choose either to seize the moment to take a step closer to maximizing our potential and progress, or to decline the opportunity and thereby stagnate or regress.

NEVER underestimate your potential and NEVER put limits on what you can do. According to Lee, "there are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. And if it kills you, it kills you. A person must constantly exceed his level. Low aim is the worst crime a person has." Bruce Lee had a tremendous work ethic and one of the things that makes him such an inspiration to me is that he was "above all else concerned with function." The amazing physique he had developed was according to him a by-product, or effect, of the primary concern. Lee developed a very lethal package- lightning-fast reflexes, supreme flexibility, awesome power, and feline grace and muscularity.

Power, according to Lee, was demonstrated by an individual's possibility to use the strength developed quickly and efficiently for real-world purposes. Lee believed it is important to learn as much about your mind and body as possible. For him, he wanted to know what he was truly capable of , rather than settling for what he already knew he could accomplish. 

And for you, I believe somewhere down deep you have the ability to take the steps into improving and doing what your capable of. Never underestimate what your true capabilities are. Motivate yourself in pursuing whatever goals you strive for in life. Believe in yourself and your dreams.

According to Linda Lee (Bruce Lee's wife), the greatest talents that Bruce brought to realizing his dreams were intelligence and curiosity (a powerful combination), dedication and perseverance (stick-to-itiveness even when facing intervening obstacles), and focus (enjoying the journey as much as the dest ination). So it is now up to you...FOR YOU.

Always improving, never arriving at the peak, but always undergoing the process...the process of finding your way. "Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do." -Bruce Lee

Little, John. Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing The Human Body. 1998. Pg. 8-20.

Build Your Bridge

Never Stop Building Your Bridge...Transform All The Energy You Possess With All The New Energy You Discover Into A Light That Shines Around You, Within You, And Above You.

So I Thought...

Never lose hope. Believe in not. Never stop seeing. Never stop believing.
Stay positively charged, and make a promise to yourself to practice maintaining a positive attitude each and every day...NO MATTER WHAT.
Beautiful song...So I Thought by Flyleaf. Enjoy and Embrace.

Your Life Is Not Against You

You must be present to life. You must show up. You must be present to win. Know who you are in any given moment. At any conflict, confusion, or disorder that appears before us-You must channel light, love, and healing. To be a warrior of light and love through each and every experience in your life. To walk through life with love, harmony, and beauty.

To be able to center yourself and have peace with every situation you come across (good and bad). To embrace difficult situations without becoming defensive or reactive. It is the concept of one unit...a mind and body dynamic. Your body must be relaxed in stressful situations with your mind having the capability of shifting attention and awareness in order not to create resistance. Try seeing beyond the situation rather than what is right in front of you. Into the interior of an issue...from your center, you see, say, and do something entirely different from what you see, say, and do when relating to the situation right in front of you.

Everything that is for you and against you has its roots within you. If you resist what seems to resist you, you strengthen that resistance that keeps you constrained to your past and makes your future predictable. It is understandable that we tend to armor ourselves when life looks and feels scary. It is human nature to react to a negative situation in a defensive way in order to feel safe and to be okay. We tend to justify our defensiveness by finding ourselves victims of circumstances. We are driven to avoid what makes us feel unsafe. Ask yourself what kinds of situations put you on the defensive? How much energy do you spend protecting or defending yourself?

Now look at the concept of wholeness-purpose, principle, and nonresistance. The true essence of your nature and spiritual identity. Wholeness being the foundation of your being. It is essential for you to see the relationship between thoughts of fear or lack of thoughts, which will manifest themselves as experiences as if someone is against you and your life is not right. We must take responsibility for our fear-based actions and the hurt they have caused us. Unfortunately, you can't experience inner peace when you are worried that everything in your world isn't right. The world we live in is a place of opposites and competing tensions, BUT THESE FORCES ARE NOT A POWER OVER US, UNLESS WE ALLOW THEM TO BE. Conflicts, challenges, and interpersonal difficulties are dynamic energies within which we can react and move appropriately remembering that these forces are not against us unless we allow them to be.

Think of a storm system-displacement, movement, and friction. The forces all around the system build in intensity with temperature, wind velocity, jet stream, humidity, etc combining to form a distinct rotation of influence...Your hurricane is officially born. Now think of competing needs, wants, and values combined with misperception, defensiveness, and the need to be right...an energetic field of influence of interpersonal conflict is created. What is in the center of the hurricane- the eye of the storm. A single point in space where the forces of the storm are in perfect equilibrium. At the center/eye of the storm there is peace, calm, clarity and stillness. That center for you is wholeness and spiritual essence. It is at this center point you can experience the storm without resisting it. It is at YOUR CENTER that you experience peace, stillness, and calmness. If there is conflict in your life, look at things differently, know that your wholeness is at the center of it. By knowing and understanding this you can stop resisting it and instead shift your attention and awareness...and experience the conflict from the center. We have a choice in how we look at our life experiences and conflicts. How you choose to relate to your experiences is what your experiences become. The quality of your life arises from within you. We are all human beings who have dealt with conflict at some point in our life and with that conflict comes reaction. We allow our thoughts and feelings to create mental and emotional states that influence how we  relate and respond to what is happening in our life. Looking deeper, our emotional responses arise from what we make the situation mean. There is an invisible realm that exists and we fail to see this realm due to our way of thinking and our assumptions toward the conflict.

Life happens through us. By seeing the invisible, you are able to see the relationship between one's viewing point and the factors that create a person's life experience. Some say our viewing point is like a rear view mirror...Objects are closer then they appear, concealing how things really are. We have become use to this way of thinking-a distorted way of looking at things. It is this invisible realm of consciousness that is the energy of principles we must learn to see and recognize as influencing our life experiences. These principles intervene in our attention and awareness, which in turn will determine our viewing point. It is important to fulfill your wholeness/center by shifting your attention to new and healthier viewing points. Live from your wholeness...Learn to see-to see how you are looking at your life. Free yourself with interacting with your conditioned mind, and begin looking deeper and beyond the things that are invisible. Your wholeness is your spiritual legacy-it is not what you have but what has you that enables you to embrace life completely. "THOSE WHO CAN SEE THE INVISIBLE CAN DO THE IMPOSSIBLE."

Find Your Peace

Always remember that you are unique. The moment you discover and choose to change your way of thinking is the day your life will change completely. Everyone has choices. Choices to overcome, withdrawal, sink, SUCCEED in very difficult circumstances. We all come across issues in our everyday lives. It is what it is...but you have a choice on how you deal with these issues. Everyone needs to find their own balance in life, some of us lose it, but gain it back over time. Our peace and tranquility is determined by how we deal with challenging issues. Keep moving forward and understand that things present themselves to you in life for a reason. To help you overcome, to help you become stronger, to help you find your purpose. Never lose hope and try to see the good in a difficult situation.

Value Growth

One thing we must realize and understand is that in order to be happy, you must value growth. You must see life as a giant experiment in learning, and no matter what befalls you, you must ask yourself what kind of growth is being called for.

When we value emotional and spiritual growth, life's ups and downs have meaning; instead of bemoaning our fate, we can use every opportunity to become more of who we are meant to be. For you, that might mean becoming more assertive; for me, trusting more. But for both of us, whatever hardship we're facing can become an occasion for growth.

Where are you being called on to stretch beyond your current limits? Can you see the challenge as a chance for growth?

The Way Of The Sword

Learn to flow in the natural way without hesitating or pausing. Learn new things all the time. Go through the motions as ONE BODY. Never hesitate. Never pause. Behind every motion is the music of the soul made visible.