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Howdy Folks and Good Day!


Every moment of every day presents us with choices.  Some of them are easy to make, so easy we make them on auto-pilot and aren’t consciously aware we’re doing them.  For instance, when eating most of us don’t consciously think, “OK, put the food on the fork, now lift it up half way, now bring it closer to the mouth, now place inside the mouth, now close the mouth, chew, and return the fork to the table.” 

Thank goodness we make some choices unconsciously or we’d drive ourselves insane!

In addition to the auto-pilot choices, we encounter choices large and small.  Some of them will be difficult decisions to make.   We’ve all experienced wanting to make the best choice possible for everyone involved but knowing others might not approve of the choice we make, even though it really is the best we can do.  Other times we have to choose between two things we care dearly about because we can’t be two places at once.  Sometimes we get lucky and can choose both.

The choices which concern me the most are the ones we make in a reactionary mode.  These are the choices which arise when something triggers our ego, doubts, and fears… the choices that remind us of bad things we’ve experienced in the past and we certainly do not want to relive in the future.  Yet, because we may be reacting from a place of fear, pain, or ego, we just might put ourselves back in the same old situation again.  NOT a good thing!

The good news is that we do have control over what choices we make when we come from a place of awareness. 

We are not doomed to repeat the past when we face the present in a state of awareness, recognizing fear and ego thinking for what it is, recognizing our own behavior patterns, recognizing what it is we truly need and desire in any given moment.

We’ve all been hurt in the past.  We’ve all hurt others. And let’s face it folks, we’re all going to get hurt again by ourselves or someone else, intentionally or unintentionally.  That’s just part of life.

But if we live in fear of being hurt, because we’re focused on that hurt and the recognition of what it feels like and looks like and sounds like, we are literally creating and re-creating that hurt within ourselves every time we think about it!  Even if that which we fear NEVER happens, we will experience the emotion and trauma of it whenever we are thinking about it--especially when we fear it.  In fact the fear will intensify it. 

Begin to think about your deepest fear right now and notice what happens to your body, mind and mood.  It switches very quickly!  It’s as if you’re in what you fear right now even though it is not actually happening.   STOP!  

Now think about something you truly love and enjoy.  See it, feel it, hear it, smell it, and taste it in your mind.  Really soak in the moment and treasure it.  Let it soak into every cell of your body, mind and spirit. Notice what happens.  Your entire being begins to respond as if you’re truly there.

This is where self empowerment happens!

It’s making conscious choices in the moment we would react to something we fear or feel negatively about that will stop us in our tracks.  And then choosing another track -- a much more positive way to proceed than the reactionary one!

Instead of seeing ourselves as powerless, helpless, choice-less, we choose to see ourselves as strong, capable and wise.  We KNOW we can get through anything.  We KNOW we can empower ourselves with the lessons we’ve learned, the divine guidance we receive, and the people we ask for help. 

There’s no need to make choices in reactionary mode.  We can observe and acknowledge the feelings when they begin to come up, but we don’t have to stay stuck in them.  We don’t have to allow the negative emotions to rule our body, mind, spirit, emotions, or lives.  WE MAKE THE CHOICE, not our past hurts and fears.

The greatest progress in life sometimes comes by taking the greatest risks.  Often these risks are changes in our behavior or perspective.  They involve choosing the path of authenticity.  They require walking in the truth of our Divine Selves.  They require knowing we are more than our doubts, more than our fears, more than what we’ve been hurt by, more than our past experiences.  We must take these risks and make the choice to move forward, to get out of the rut, to create the future we deserve.

These choices may look scary to begin with. In reality, once we choose to walk in our highest good, things get a lot easier and life looks much more like a welcoming picnic and dream spa than an overgrown field of our darkest nightmares.

Pay attention to your choices.  Be particularly aware of the reactionary ones.  When you catch yourself reacting, STOP!  Ask what you’re afraid of.  Ask yourself what you truly want to manifest in the long run. Commit to moving through it.  And give yourself a high five for doing so!

Life is getting really good now… because you chose it to be!

With Peace, Love, Happiness, Health, and Prosperity…

Rev. Jeanette



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For help receiving Divine guidance, healing energy and positive life changes, e-mail Jeanette (SFPNN’s Editor) or visit the following webpages for more information:


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Sessions may be done in person, over the phone, or even via e-mail in some instances.

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Sir Froggie's Positive News Network:  Thursday, May 01st, 2008
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1.      What kind of day will today be? 

The kind of day we make it! 

A little pro-active positive programming can go a long way in creating our heart’s desires.  All of our thoughts have energy.  Energy attracts like energy.  Think about your desires for today. What would you like to experience in the next 24 hours?   Allow yourself to see it manifesting in your mind’s eye and feel it happening in your body so the energy of your thoughts and emotions draws it to you. Affirm it on the lines below!

Today, I desire and experience…

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I affirm the following positive reality:

“The gateways to wisdom and learning are always open, and I am choosing to walk through them.”

— © Louise Hay





2.      “The beginning of freedom from the pain-body lies first of all in the realization that you HAVE a pain-body.  Then, more important, in your ability to stay present enough, alert enough, to notice the pain-body in yourself as a heavy flux of negative emotion when it becomes active.  When it is recognized, it can no longer pretend to be you and live and renew itself through you.”

    © A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle




3.      The Enchanted Self     — by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

The Older We Get The Happier We Are-
Yes if we bother to practice happiness techniques!

From www.chinaview.cn  2008-04-21 10:06:29                     

    BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhuanet) -- People usually think late life is far from the best stage of life, but a new research in April's American Sociological Review said the happiest Americans are the oldest.

    This eye-opening research was conducted by Yang Yang, a University of Chicago sociologist. "The good news is that with age comes happiness," Yang said: "Life gets better in one's perception as one ages."

    People in old age face a certain amount of inevitable distresses, including aches and pains and the deaths of loved ones and friends. But older people generally have learned to be more content with what they have than younger adults, Yang said.

    "Partly because older people have learned to lower their expectations, and they accept their achievements," said Duke University aging expert Linda George: "it's fine that I was a schoolteacher and not a Nobel Prize winner."

    Yang's findings are based on periodic face-to-face interviews with a nationally representative sample of Americans from 1972 to 2004. About 28,000 people ages 18 to 88 took part.

    There were ups and downs in overall happiness levels during the study, generally corresponding with good and bad economic times. But at every stage, older Americans are the happier ones.

    In general, the odds of being happy increase 5 percent with every 10 years of age.

    (Agencies) Editor: Sun Yunlo

 

This is fascinating research.  In general I agree with the above conclusions posted in China View.   As a positive psychologist I believe that it takes practice to be contented with one's life and to experience a sense of well-being that didn't involve fame, fortune or a body without cellulite.  Of course, there is a good chance that older people get more chances at practice,  Certainly they have been alive longer! 

What I find is that there comes a time in most people's lives that they begin to relax into what the universe seems to have dished out to them.  If they perceive this serving of life as basically a glass half full, they feel good about themselves and experience good feelings which are often interpreted as 'happiness'.  If they see their serving of life as lousy, they often see the glass as half empty and miss many pleasant opportunities.  Here is where practice comes in.

I am older and I have intentionally been practicing being in the 'now' and seeing the glass as half full.  I can tell you it is worth doing!  The other day I went outside and not only hugged the tree on my front lawn but let it hug me with its two lowest branches.  And then we rocked slightly in a very light wind.  I can tell you it was pure pleasure.  I could feel the energy of life in that tree.  And I could feel the contentment build as we moved slowing together.  It was an incredible few moments.  And then I went inside, happy and content and loved at least for the moment by a tree. 

Letting a tree hug me was intentional practice.  Let me know what you practice to increase the experience of happiness! 

— © Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

In private practice since 1981, Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein, psychologist and originator of The Enchanted Self, has committed to bring the keys of enchantment to the world.

¨ E-mail Dr. Barbara at:  DrBarbara@Enchantedself.com

¨ Read the weekly column in SFPNN

¨ Listen to her audio show at LadybugLive

¨ Buy Dr. Becker-Holstein’s latest book at www.authorhouse.com or Amazon.com or www.enchantedself.com

¨ Sign up for her daily blessings as www.enchantedself.com

¨ Subscribe to her E-letter

Talk to her on her blog, The Enchanted Self, at www.typepad.com





4.      “See the fullness of life all around you.  The warmth of the sun on your skin, the display of magnificent flowers outside a florist’s shop, biting into a succulent fruit, or getting soaked in an abundance of water falling from the sky.  The fullness of life is there at every step.”

— © A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle



 

5.      ValueSpeak
A Weekly Column
By
Joseph Walker

NEEDING A NEALA

Do you have a Neala in your family?  You should.  Every family needs a Neala.

Neala is everyone’s favorite aunt.  She has a smile that warms you to your very soul.  When she sees you she hugs you with a hug that you actually feel – not one of those touch-cheeks-pat-backs hugs you usually get.  And when she talks to you she makes you feel like she is absolutely fascinated by your every word even though – let’s face it – very little of what any of us has to say is actually interesting.

But it’s her laugh that sets Neala apart.  Neala doesn’t giggle.  She doesn’t chuckle.  She doesn’t even chortle.  Her laugh comes from somewhere deep inside of her, and it resonates through the decibel chart to a place of unique amplitude.  Part screech, part bellow and part banshee war cry, her laughter has been known to turn heads in the next county.  I once sat near her at a two-act comedy, and folks sitting around her asked if she was being paid by the play’s producer to pump up the laughter.

She wasn’t being paid, she was just being Neala: bold, brassy and full of feeling. The Ethel Merman of laughers.

So it wasn’t a surprise when we heard high intensity laughter reverberating through the church cultural hall during a family wedding luncheon last weekend.  It was joyful.  It was exuberant.  It was spirited. It was . . .

Neala!” I smiled as I sought her out in the crowd, sure that she would be surrounded by her customary gaggle of devoted family and friends (Neala and her laugh just have a way of bringing people together – you know?).

But I couldn’t see her.  At least, not in the direction from which the laughter was coming.  Then another peal of glee echoed in the room just as my eyes settled on Neala’s face.  She was smiling, clearly in the midst of sharing another entertaining story.  But she wasn’t laughing – not yet – so the laughter had to be coming from someone else. 

I followed the sound of laughter to a jolly woman sitting on the bride’s side of the church hall. She was surrounded by family members who clearly adored her and hung on her every word – just like Neala.  She told her story with big gestures and dramatic vocal inflection, which commanded attention – just like Neala. And when she laughed it was as if she was an artist, and laughter was her medium, and the story she was telling was her canvas.

And she created a masterpiece.  Just like Neala.

That’s when it occurred to me that every family probably has a Neala.  And that’s a good thing, because every family needs a Neala – someone who brings everyone together and binds them with laughter and love.

Of course, every family needs a Wanda Lynne, too.  Wanda Lynne is my sister, and she is the organizer of the family.  If it were up to me our family reunion this summer would still be a theory.  But because of her we have arranged for big plastic toys for the kids to play on, planned activities for everyone to enjoy, food assignments organized and a communications plan in place (if only the family’s so-called “communications expert” – uh, that would be me – would execute the plan we’d be in good shape). We’re going to have a great reunion this summer largely because of Wanda Lynne.  That’s why every family needs a Wanda Lynne.

And every family needs a Tony (that funny, slightly wacky uncle who always talks tough but has the world’s kindest heart beating in his chest), a Helen (the aunt who knows every name, every face and every birthday, and who can recite the family genealogy backward and forward), a David (that sweet cousin who struggles sometimes but tries awfully hard and is willing to help with anything) and a Clare (that really cool, really hip, really fun aunt who gets along with everyone even though she’s only been part of the family for a few years).

We need all of them.  Every type, every shape, every size, every decibel level. That’s what makes a family . . . well . . . a family, with all of these interesting types and characters coming together to create one exciting, dynamic whole.  Whether you’re married or single, old or young, outgoing or shy, in-law or outlaw, you’re part of a family.  And you’re needed.

And that’s nothing to laugh at.  Not even for Neala.

# # #

— © Joseph Walker

For more ValueSpeak, please visit http://www.sfpnn.com/joseph_walker1.htm

E-mail Joseph at: valuespeak@msn.com 

* * * CHECK OUT Joseph Walker’s LATest bookS! * * *

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Look What Love Has Done: Five-Minute Messages to Lift Your Spirit. 

"How Can You Mend a Broken Spleen? Home Remedies for an Ailing World."


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This and every issue of SFPNN is dedicated to MISTY, a tiny angel who taught us to love unconditionally and bask in the glory and joy of each moment.

To find out more about Misty, please visit Misty's Miracle

( http://www.sfpnn.com/SoulMagic/Soul2001/sm040601.htm )

Or read Reflections of a Zen Master.


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“ONLY LOVE PREVAILS”             – Beverley Waller
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