These are not just words, they are a statement of fact. No matter what situation I find myself in, peace always begins with me. When I walk into a room, no matter what’s going on, I am peaceful and that peace extends like a bubble around me. When I speak to people or even just sit near them, they become more peaceful too. Often remarkably so.

I am not the only person who has this effect on people. There are many long time ZPoint users who have noticed this phenomenon as well. It is important to understand that we are not affecting people in this way, it is the peace we carry inside us that does the job.

When you are peaceful inside, that peace can be felt by everyone you come into contact with just as the opposite is true. It is a palpable presence that you carry within you and that presence reaches out to others and affects them as well.

It has long been known and accepted that “as it is within you, so shall it be outside of you” If you are filled with upset and anger or resentment, you will attract those situations, circumstances and relationships that mirror that upset. Your life on the outside will be filled with a turmoil that merely reflects the turmoil already present within you. If you feel abused, you will notice only those experiencing similar abuse. If you are angry, you will constantly meet that anger in relationships or the circumstances and situations that trigger it. As it is within you, so shall it be outside of you.

The purpose of ZPoint is to help you stop the madness, the drama and the upset. It’s purpose is to give you a simple way to let all of that go and find inner peace.

Many people today are concerned with World Peace or Outer Peace. They look at the world and see only the violence, the mistrust, the anger and the resentment. They feel powerless to do anything about the current situation and in their powerlessness feel isolated and alone. To feel better about themselves, they join organizations believing that in working with others, in promoting the idea of Peace this will cause others to change. Those people will become more peaceful and the world will become more peaceful as a result.

I am here to tell you that this approach will NOT work. We cannot change the world by trying to change others. We can ONLY CHANGE OURSELVES. If this approach did work, we would be experiencing a far more peaceful world right now. As Dr. Phil would say “How’s that workin’ for you?”

Mahatma Ghandi said it best, “Be the change you want to see in the world”. This means that if you want a peaceful world, you must first become peaceful within yourself. Peace always begins with you and spreads outward. To say to another, “lay down your arms and find peace” without first feeling that peace within you, is the greatest of all hypocrisies. You are saying “Do as I say, not as I do”. They are merely empty words or actions. There is no power of truth behind them.

When you speak words of Peace and inside secretly think thoughts of anger or resentment, you perpetrate the very conditions you seek to change. First you MUST become peaceful within yourself and then your words and your very presence will have the power to change lives. Peace always, always begins with you.

If you are truly committed to World Peace, find that Peace within yourself first. My personal belief is that The ZPoint Process was specifically created to help you do this easily and with very little effort on your part. Over a very short period of time you’ll notice yourself becoming much more peaceful and relaxed about life, and this is a gift beyond measure.

All parts of your life will change for the better. You will be happier and you will see that happiness reflected in the faces around you. Remember, as within, so without. And the greatest part is, you don’t need to say a word. You become that Peace personified.

Peace always begins with you.

Practice your ZPoint everyday and become more and more peaceful within yourself. You will very quickly see the results of the Peace you carry as it powerfully affects your relationships and everything you touch. Be the change you want to see in the world. Be at peace with the world and the world will smile back at you.

Until next time,

Grant Connolly

Peace always begins with me

*If you haven’t already done so, consider purchasing my Nine Minutes to Bliss Program. It will help you to become the peaceful person you wish to be. Remember, you can change the world by changing yourself first.

*Special thanks to Z-Point Creator, Grant Connolly, for letting us post this wonderful article from his blog site: http://zpointforpeace.wordpress.com/

The importance of doing what you love, is one that is embraced by virtually all of this era’s most prominent personal and spiritual growth authors. In fact, the adage “do what you love and the money will follow” is very commonly known, but just why is this so? In response to this question consider the following passage from Arnold Patent’s book You Can Have It All:

“When you choose to make doing what you love the core experience of your life, you move into alignment with the Universe. Immediately, the infinite supply of energy is available to you. You feel the aliveness that comes from having the unlimited energy of the Universe flow through you. This aliveness influences the energy signals you emit, and the people and circumstances that will support the continuation of your feeling of aliveness are attracted to you.”

Stop for a moment and think about something that you really love to do. Now get in touch with the feelings that you normally experience while doing this activity. Assuming you were able to identify such a pursuit, it is likely that you would typically experience at least three distinct feelings — a feeling of joy or bliss, a feeling of being in the flow, (a.k.a. effortless accomplishment), and a feeling of time literally standing still as you instinctively stay focused in the present moment. As the preceding passage from Mr. Patent infers, these feelings arise because you are effectively tapping into the energy of your Higher Self, or to put it another way, you are allowing the limitless ‘I’ within you to express itself instead of your fearful, self-conscious ‘me.’

These times are very magical, because they give you an opportunity to step outside of your active conscious mind and truly become a channel for the Divine. It really is an exhilarating feeling, because you are not really thinking about what you’re doing, but rather you are feeling it. In my case, I always experience such sensations whenever I am presented with the chance to deliver a presentation to a live audience. There is nothing else in the world that I love doing more. It really is an amazing experience, as the words flow from me without any overt conscious effort on my part. By the time it’s all over, I am actually hard pressed to explain the origin of the information that I shared.

The reality is that you, as well as every other person in the world, have unique, innate skills that crave to be expressed. While you may doubt this to be true, remember that the God-Force literally threw away the blueprint when you were created, so there is no one in this entire world who can express themselves in exactly the same way. Others might argue that there was no way that anyone would pay them for doing what they love, or that there aren’t enough opportunities available in their area of interest. In response to that, consider this next quotation from Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book You’ll See It When You Believe It:

“There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen. Whatever you love doing more than anything else has built within it an opportunity to make a living at it, even though you may not believe it. Your fears of doing what you truly love are based on a belief that you are going to go broke and be unable to pay your bills and meet your family responsibilities. Not so! – If you have always paid your bills, why would you suddenly become the kind of person who does not?”

As mentioned earlier, once you do make the decision to do what you love to do, you move into right alignment with the Universe. This in turn, opens the door for all kinds of new energies and opportunities to migrate towards you. The reason is simple, as you do what you love, you emit a positive energy that will attract the necessary people and circumstances to assist you on your path. As for concerns about meeting your financial obligations, Dyer is right. If you have always been a responsible person, why all of a sudden would you become irresponsible? I have certainly found this to be true. Once I made the commitment to doing the work I love (i.e., inspirational writing and speaking), seemingly out of nowhere people began to show up to help me, and opportunities to earn money arrived unexpectedly as well.

If you are still unconvinced regarding this concept of doing what you love, then take a closer look at just what you are accomplishing by spending your time doing work you dislike, just to pay the bills. By remaining in this type of situation, what you are effectively doing is focusing your powerful thought and feeling energy on something that you clearly don’t like, and the ultimate result will be your attraction of more of the same. On the contrary, if you use that energy to vividly picture yourself spending time doing what you really love – and remain focused on that picture – you very well might find yourself doing it one day.

If you are a person that simply cannot envision yourself feeling comfortable about leaving a so-called secure position to do what you love, then it is truly critical for you to develop a different attitude regarding your existing employment. For example, consider using the following affirmation each day prior to heading off to work: “I do what I love, and I love what I do.”

When I initially heard this recommendation during a live presentation given by Dr. Wayne Dyer, it sounded a bit too simplistic to me. But, based on my own experience in applying it over time, I can genuinely say that when it is used with an open mind, it can really help to improve the circumstances of one’s existing employment.

In my case, I used that affirmation to reframe my work as a freelance technical writer, by recognizing that this work not only provided me with the opportunity to earn a reasonable income, but also gave me a forum to practice being ‘inspirational’ (when appropriate) to any individual whose path I came across. In a sense, what I set my intent to do was to put as much love into my work as possible, and to address each project with an attitude of service, as well as true compassion for the person or company for whom I was writing. Additionally, I made a point to always express gratitude for whatever work ‘showed up,’ for that assignment was a blessing that assisted me in meeting my financial obligations.

Interestingly, soon after I put this approach into practice two things occurred. First, my business began to grow, and second, the work itself became somewhat more enjoyable for me. Now, if you apply a similar approach to your current work, there is no guarantee that you will experience the same results, but I am confident that you will, at a minimum, notice an improvement in your work environment, simply because you’ve chosen to bring a more positive energy to the situation. From there, who knows what could happen? You just may wind up attracting someone into your life who can assist you in moving into more satisfying work.

(The preceding article is an adapted excerpt from Spirituality Simplified, Copyright 2002, by Jeff Maziarek.)

About the Author

Jeff Maziarek is an inspirational speaker and author. His first book, Spirituality Simplified ( http://www.spiritsimple.com) is an easy-to-understand and entertaining work that provides an ideal starting point for anyone with a sincere desire to pursue a path of personal and/or spiritual growth. His second book, For the Love of Codi, is a memoir about his Border Collie who passed away in 2005. It is slated for release in late 2008. To subscribe to Jeff’s free daily inspirational emails called PONDER on THIS, please visit http://www.pondercentral.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Maziarek

http://EzineArticles.com/?Do-What-You-Love-and-the-Money-Truly-WILL-Follow&id=1228275

Of course, there are many other possibilities that explain why it seems that some of your prayers are answered and others are not. You may not understand what prayer is, or you may have so much “education” about prayer that you’re thinking more about doing it “right” (which simply means, “the way I was taught…”), than you are thinking about what you want to happen and why you want it to happen.

There are many possibilities for why someone would think that all prayers aren’t answered; perhaps you were taught about prayer by someone who didn’t completely understand the concept – when asked why their prayers weren’t all answered, they would have offered the only explanation that made sense to them. What else could they have done? Unfortunately, the minds they helped form and “program” now think this flimsy explanation of an arbitrary creative force is actually some sort of “Truth.”

The simple fact is that most people feel their prayers aren’t answered because they don’t get the things they want, and they have the general opinion that their lives could be better – and, if prayers are always answered, their lives should be better. Of course, their lives are in the state they’re in not because prayer doesn’t work, but because they don’t know how to think (pray) effectively, and don’t know very much at all about the mind they pray with.

Here are two things you need to know about your own mind that could dramatically change your ideas about how effective prayer is – and how it’s been working in your life all along:

1. Your “mind” is like a tape recorder; it plays back only what is programmed into it through sensory experience – hearing, seeing, feeling, learning, etc… It also plays back information according to the volume and intensity the information is recorded with. In other words, if you pray for more money on Sunday, but spend the rest of your week worrying about debt, you will continue to see debt. And, if you had a particular set of beliefs impressed upon you with great fear, violence, or trauma, you will resist any information that isn’t in alignment with what you “already know.” This is true for anything you learn as a child from a trusted or authoritative source.
2. Anyone can record information into your “mind;” this is why companies spend trillions of dollars each year in advertising and promotions – including commercials, billboards, print advertisements, jingles, slogans, free samples, etc. You can only think of one thing at a time; and, whoever controls what you spend your time thinking about is ultimately controlling your behavioral tendencies.

Ancient teachings from every religious philosophy tell us that our life experience is created by our thought processes. “As a man thinketh, so it is done unto him,” and “Declare a thing and it is so,” are just a couple teachings on the creative nature and power of our thoughts and words. Whether you call it prayer, thought, dreaming, or wishing, there is always mental activity before something new is created. Unfortunately, there are people in this world who know much more about how your mind and thoughts work than you do; and, until you know what they know, you aren’t really in control of your thoughts or your life. Without understanding how your mind works to create your experience, you might just go on believing – or pretending to believe – that your life is miserable because of someone else, and that prayer is something that may or may not work.

Pete Koerner is the author of The Belief Formula: The Secret to Unlocking the Power of Prayer. The Belief Formula is a look at how you can use ancient wisdom and modern scientific awareness to learn how to use your mind to reclaim your health and create the life of your dreams.

For a Free Report on Making The Belief Formula Work for You, visit: http://www.TheBeliefFormula.com

*To download your FREE, Illustrated Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Manual, go to: http://www.ExploreExpandEvolve.com/free_download/ (It only takes about 10-seconds to get your Free EFT manual and start erasing fears and unproductive or limiting beliefs!)

If you imagine two people praying for a mutual friend to recover from an illness, you might be able to imagine one of them thinking, “God, please save my friend from his terrible illness that my inter net research says kills 27,000 people between the ages of 18-and-65 every year; please don’t let this terrible disease kill my friend like it does so many others…” But can you imagine the other friend simply visualizing himself having fun with his friend – feeling grateful that the friend had recovered? Both of these people think they are praying for the friend to recover; but the first friend is really focusing on the problem. They both want the same thing; but only one of them was thinking about it.

It is too easy to think about the pile of bills rather than thinking about how grateful you feel having paid them all in full. If you laugh and think to yourself, “Yeah, right; I’d like to see the day all my bills were paid…” then you are getting a first-hand look at the truth of your underlying beliefs. You believe in debt; and you will stay there as long as you do. There are two-ways to pray for something: By imagining the joy and gratitude that comes with the new thing; and, by wishing away the old, or “bad,” thing. Likewise, people use The Law of Attraction in much the same way: Imagining, hoping, dreaming, wishing, and planning for the next new experience; or, wanting what they don’t have, or wishing-away what they do have.

Whether you call it prayer, or applying the Law of Attraction, focused thought will always produce results; the content of your thoughts generates the content of your results – and the nature of your thoughts, positive or negative, determines the nature of your results. If you’re thinking about money, health, and a happy relationship, you’d better be thinking in positive terms and images – and feelings of gratitude, joy, and abundance – if you want your money, health, and relationship experiences to turn-out for the best. And if they don’t, keep it positive; you don’t know why things turn-out the way they do, but thoughts always produce things. So persist in your positive thinking; and whether you’re praying, or planning for the future, it’s the thought that counts – so think good ones!

Pete Koerner is the author of The Belief Formula: The Secret to Unlocking the Power of Prayer. The Belief Formula is a look at how you can use ancient wisdom and modern scientific awareness to learn how to use your mind to reclaim your health and create the life of your dreams.

For a Free Report on Making The Belief Formula Work for You, visit: http://www.TheBeliefFormula.com

*To download your FREE, Illustrated Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) Manual, go to: http://www.ExploreExpandEvolve.com/free_download/ (It only takes about 10-seconds to get your Free EFT manual and start erasing fears and limiting beliefs!)

The workshop will feature a discussion with Pete on applying The Belief Formula to your life in order to manifest your dreams and create better and better situations, circumstances, conditions, and outcomes.  Then, Jennifer will demonstrate how you can use the Z-Point Process to remove any obstacles or limiting beliefs standing between you and your dreams.

To get to HeartSong Healing Center, take I-95 to the SR 16 exit.  Head east approximately 2-miles to “4-Mile Road;” there is a light at the intersection.  Turn Right; and take the next Right (approximately 1/2-Mile) onto Deer Run.  Go approximately one-half mile and turn Right onto Powell Road — a dirt road.  The Center is on the Right, just around the curve.  Follow the driveway to the house and you’re there!  Click Here To View a MAP to the Center.

If you need help locating the Center, just call: (904) 814-8148.

It costs money to keep a Healing and Educational Center open and operating.  We are encouraging attendees to make a $5.00 donation to HeartSong Healing Center to help offset the cost of hosting this event.

*For more information on HeartSong Healing Center, visit them at:  www.HeartSongHealingCenter.com

**For More Information on The Belief Formula, visit:  www.TheBeliefFormula.com, or www.ExploreExpandEvolve.com

***For More Information on The Z-Point Process, visit:  www.ZPointProcess.com

That commercial made me think of Thomas Edison.  Thomas Edison once said to a reporter, who had asked how it felt to fail 25,000 times, “I don’t know why you are calling it a failure.  I now know 25,000 ways not to make a battery.  What do you know?”  Thomas Edison was asked a similar question when asked how it felt to fail 2,000 times before inventing the light bulb.  He answered, “I never failed once.  I invented the light bulb.  It just happened to be a 2,000-step process.”

A 2,000-step process?  I wonder if anyone ever counted how many steps a baby attempts before learning to maintain balance on two-feet.  What if babies got frustrated after a couple-hundred attempts at walking and never got up again?  As they say, “Can’t never could.”  Falling is part of walking — certainly part of the learning process.  If you are not willing to fall, you are not truly willing to walk.  If you are not willing to fail, you don’t have what it takes to succeed.

There is a big difference between learning and failing; but the difference is invisible to the eye.  The difference between learning and failing is inside each one of us.  The difference lies within our perceptions and conditioning.  How we perceive each experience determines how we create and handle our next experiences.  If we perceive an initial attempt as a failure, rather than feedback — and one small step on the road to mastery — we may be swayed to stop.  We would never stop if we only understand that we always either get exactly what we want, or exactly what we need — often valuable feedback that will ultimately lead us to success.  Persistence pays.

The saying, “Practice makes perfect,” is another reminder that, in order to be good at something, you must practice something you aren’t good at.  It naturally follows that, when you do something you aren’t good at, you will not experience immediate and continuous success.  You will, however, receive lots of feedback.  And, if you simply accept the feedback and apply what you learn by making adjustments in your approach, you will find the success you are looking for.  Embrace the process; embrace the path to your goals or dreams.  If you stumble on the path, do not curse the path; it is still the path that will carry you to your destination — if you get up, brush yourself off, and keep walking.  Practice stumbling, and falling, until you feel quite comfortable with it.  When you can respond to a failure in the same way you respond to a success, you have found a great success secret.

Failure lets you know that you are out of your comfort zone — a great place to be — or that you are not paying attention to what you’re doing — a great thing to know.  In either case, failure is a valuable friend you should embrace.  I do not mean that you should seek to fail, or strive to fail; but you should indeed try things that you are not already good at — and practice grace when you don’t immediately succeed.  If you don’t,  you’ll never learn anything new; and  you’ll never grow as a person — you’ll only age and change shape.  Hold on to your dreams, keep your eyes and heart wide open, and embrace all you encounter along your path — it is all scenery on your journey to fulfillment.  I prefer the word, “Feedback;” but even if it looks like something you used to call, “Failure,” embrace it — it will lead you to great things.

The Explore Expand Evolve site is our outlet for life-changing and life-enhancing information, tools, techniques, and inspiration.  There is a big world out there; and, if you have a problem you can’t solve, or a dream you can’t seem to realize, you just haven’t looked in the right place yet.

Explore your world — both your internal and external environments…

Expand your mind and awareness of what could be possible…

Evolve into a newer, healthier, happier version of you!

Your life — only easier!

Check out www.ExploreExpandEvolve.com and some of the useful resources and links there!

Your life is waiting for you!

Prayer is thought of as the active state of communication between a person and their God; while a prayer is what is said or thought by the person during that communication. It is important to realize that most prayers are simply poems, or verses, which are remembered and repeated without the original emotions of the author of the prayer. Though it is quite impressive to memorize long, flowery tributes; the repetition of that which you have memorized is a different kind of mental activity than that which is entered into by monks, and others, when they actively Pray, or meditate. The prayer effort, if from memory rather than the heart, may very well be “in vain,” as it is unlikely to produce the same effect as free-flowing, heart-felt sentiment and desire. All thoughts are indeed creative; some ways of thinking, however, are much more effective than other ways of thinking. Think whatever you wish; reap as you sow.

Creating Your Reality

People typically pray for a couple basic reasons:  1.) Because they Desire something; and, 2.) Because they think they are supposed to in a given situation.  Whatever the case may be, it goes without saying that prayers are meant to be answered; and it is a more fulfilling experience when we get the victory or success we are hoping and praying for.  Love is one of the “ingredients” in “a life you love;” so, in order to create a life you love, you’re going to need to put some love into the mix.  We all create our own lives, in one way or another; people who create lives they love, however, do it using the power of the heart — the creative power of love that powers the fulfillment of our desires and brings the answers to our prayers.  Think up a good, positive prayer, or story about the change you wish to experience in your reality; then, imagine that experience in such a way that you can feel the joy of it — and give thanks for the experience and the joy.  That, in a nutshell, is the secret to creating your reality.  The more ideas about time and limitations you have, the longer it may take for you to see your “dream come true;” but it is coming true.

Clear Eyes and an Open Heart

Imagine catching a ball someone has thrown to you — or at you.  It is so much easier to catch a ball with your eyes open!  In fact, there is a familiar saying that has spread far beyond the boundaries of any playing field — “Keep your eye on the ball.”  This is a reminder that there are two components to catching the ball:  Seeing it; and Catching it.  The prayer process outlined above is how you “See” that which you wish to receive.  Receiving your answer, however, requires you to actually do something — even if that only means opening your hands to receive.  If you ask, you will receive; and if you cannot receive something in you Heart — that “feeling place” inside you — you cannot receive the full experience and joy of that thing in your outer world.  To clearly see the answers to your prayers, you must see your prayers clearly; and to receive your answers fully, you must open your heart and arms fully.  It’s your future; why not Create it the way you want it?  It’s your Creation; why not reach out and enjoy it?  Open your mind; open your Heart; and open your eyes.  If you aren’t thinking about what you want to experience, who is doing it for you?  Your future is waiting for you…..to create it.

“Declare a thing and it is so.”  ~Jesus of Nazareth

“If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!” ~Geddy Lee of Rush

What is a blessing?  And can you really “bless” someone’s heart?  And, if you did bless someone’s heart, what did it do; what did it feel like?  And why would you do such a thing, anyway?  What kid knows the answers to these questions?  Most of us are taught that the heart is simply a muscle inside your chest that pumps blood; and a blessing is something you have to say before you eat, or when someone sneezes.

The funny thing about people saying, “Bless your heart,” is that they said it when you did something really nice, or when you got hurt, or when something bad happened to you – and even sometimes when you did something really dumb. All of the different uses only served to further obscure any practical meaning.  But, I now know that, whether I am feeling good, or feeling bad, I’d always rather receive a blessing than a curse. It’s always Better to Bless.

A commonly accepted definition of, “Blessing,” is: “to infuse with Divinity, or with one’s hopes.” Blessing seems to be our way of sending love, energy, gratitude, or healing from our heart into something, or someone, that seems to be in need, or somehow worthy or deserving of a gift or demonstration of appreciation or love.

Philosophers and prophets throughout time have focused their greatest wisdom teachings on the faculties and power of the human heart – not as a mere muscle, but as the center of our being.  Though unfathomable to most people, our greatest minds have always agreed that the heart, in addition to distributing the “spark of life” throughout our bodies, is very much a living magnet that draws us together with our desires and offers supreme guidance – if only we listen to the “still, quiet voice within.”

According to ancient wisdom teachings, and the latest advances in medical and scientific research, the heart is much more than a muscle.  The heart is a “thinking organ,” just like the brain; except the heart doesn’t seem to make the same mistakes in judgment the brain makes.  Ancient teachings from every religion and culture on Earth talk about the role of the heart in thinking and believing — in creating your physiology and your experience of life.

“As you believe in your heart, so it is done unto you,” is not simply poetry or scripture; it is advice for creating your own experience.  The Institute of HeartMath is a global leader in research on the heart.  Researchers at HeartMath have found that, “when you learn how to intentionally shift to a positive emotion, heart rhythms immediately change.”  According to HeartMath,  “A shift in heart rhythms may not seem important but in fact it creates a favorable cascade of neural, hormonal and biochemical events that benefit the entire body. The stress-reducing effects are both immediate and long lasting.”

It is an established fact that a person on the receiving end of a kind act benefits to a certain degree – emotionally and physically. But it is also a medical fact that the person performing the kind act also benefits from the release of healing, good-mood producing hormones that benefit both health and mood. Even more interesting is the fact that anyone witnessing a kind act experiences the same positive health benefits as the giver and receiver of the kindness.

In addition to the immediate benefits experienced a result of the positive effects of giving, receiving, or witnessing a blessing, there is evidence that harnessing and focusing the power of prayer, as a group, can create even bigger positive changes in the world.  Kate Nowak’s Blessing Experiment (www.BetterToBless.com), according to ancient wisdom, and cutting edge medical and scientific research, has the power to change the world by bringing a tremendous number of people together with the common goal of focusing on blessing rather than stressing. Prayer studies have shown that the collective mental energy of a group of people with a common desire had a measurable affect on outcomes – hence the practice of “mass,” and other group prayer practices and rituals. “The family that prays together stays together,” they say; and, “what any two agree on in prayer will surely come to pass.”

Besides the potential effects that can be generated by a group of people praying for the same thing at the same time, a single person praying for the same thing over a period of time will generate measurable results in that person’s life and health. Supporting Kate Nowak’s Blessing Challenge is HeartMath research that reveals the power of sustained positive thinking – and the health benefits it generates.

When you bless someone, there is every reason to believe that something “magical” can happen; prayers are answered and dreams come true – “All things are possible.” But there is no question that, when you bless someone, everyone benefits in a very real and immediate sense. Being in a environment of people experiencing the physiological effects of receiving, giving, or witnessing “Blessings” is a clinically-proven benefit to body, mind, and spirit, and the ideal situation for “creating your reality” “according to your beliefs.”

Whether this positive energy of love and creation is given from one heart to another, or inspired from within in response to the sharing of a blessing, or an act of kindness, there is no doubt that it is always Better to Bless. Bless your Heart!

*To learn more about the power of the heart, and its role in your health, prayers, and experience, visit:  HeartMath

*To take the Blessing Challenge, or join the Blessing Experiment, check out Kate Nowak’s site:  www.BetterToBless.com

The pattern of the branches is not unlike the branching of roots underneath the surface — invisible to the eye. That which is seen comes from that we cannot see; “As above, so below, as below, so above.” Nature is a series of repeating patterns. When you look at little pieces of the pattern, you may see differences; but when you look at the big picture you see only similarities — or Unity, depending on how far you are able to “zoom out.”

Even the leaf has the pattern of the tree and its branches represented in the stem and “veins” of the leaf. Even the shape of the leaf corresponds to the overall shape of the tree in many cases. The whole is made up of many small parts; and the whole is reflected in each of those parts. But all of those paths started with a single seed, within which the entire tree was waiting – including roots, branches, leaves, and countless other seeds.

No two branches, leaves, or trees are exactly the same; but all trees of the same type are very similar – perhaps identical to the untrained eye. And an entire forest could have originated with one seed. One seed, many roots; one tree, many branches; one forest, many trees — all from One.

In the context of humanity, we too start from a single source and emerge into the outer world of diversity. It is puzzling why the vast majority spend the bulk of their time trying to impose conformity on a system designed by God to produce diversity. This is the nature of judgment. An ancient Native American wisdom teaching on judgment reminds us that, “No tree has branches foolish enough to fight amongst themselves.” In our efforts to make things like “us,” we create judgment, war, suffering, etc…

 
Of course, the plan to create conformity works, but not the way we think it should. By fighting amongst ourselves to make others believe as we do, or act as we do, we create a world in which everyone is unhappy and unhealthy (mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, or some combination of these…). Everyone, it seems is living less of a life than they could be living, simply because they are too worried about what they aren’t, or what they aren’t doing, or what they don’t have.

You aren’t supposed to look like everyone else, and you aren’t supposed to think the same things as everyone else. We are supposed to be as different as we are; and our pain is caused by resisting that natural tendency and by trying to conform with others. True, there are some things we should do alike (breathing, not killing, etc…); but those are our essential nature – not adopted behaviors.

Wisdom teachings were set down to help us identify those behaviors that benefit us the most. “Judge not,” for example, is not a rule that you should be ostracized for breaking; it is advice that will bear you good fruit in body, mind, and spirit, should you choose to follow it. But if you don’t, I still pray that your way be made as easy as you want it to be. I wouldn’t judge another just because they judge me. If there’s already that one person thinking bad thoughts about me, why would I want to make my situation any worse by allowing my mental state to degrade to one of judgment?

The act of judgment is based on a conflict of beliefs and perceptions: The conflict between how you BELIEVE things should be and how you PERCEIVE them to be. The important thing is that beliefs are fluid and different for everyone – so are perceptions. And judgment, along with anything else that stimulates thoughts of conflict, activates your stress response. There is no way to be in a conflict and not be stressed. And, in case you’re thinking, “Big deal! It’s not like I haven’t been stressed out before…,” you may want to do some research on stress – it causes every medical problem known to man! Judgments cause stress; and stress kills. You do the math for yourself and let me know if you think the great healer, Jesus, was handing out good advice, or not, when He expounded on the teaching, “Judge not.”

The teaching to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is often misinterpreted as: “Do unto others what they did to me,” or, “Do unto others before they do unto me…” The “others” we speak of are US. There is only the ONE, expressing itself as ALL THINGS. There is no “other.” When we judge others, we are comparing them to a memory of how we have seen or heard things should be.

If we are judging others, we were taught to judge at the same time we were taught the standards by which to judge others. And we were all taught these things by different people with different histories, beliefs, attitudes, agendas, and intentions. Who taught you what’s right and wrong, good and bad, pretty or ugly, healthy or unhealthy, moral or immoral? And how are their beliefs working for them? How about for YOU? The one thing you, me, and every living thing should do – always – is LOVE.

Being yourself means thinking your own thoughts. You can’t do that if you are worrying about what other people will think of you, or worrying about what someone else might be “getting away with.” Being yourself means being different while understanding that you are exactly the same as everyone else — at your Source.

Flowers do not mourn the fact they aren’t trees; they smile at the Sun all day — admiring the Sun above which gives the flower life below. Be happy you are different; different is unique – and God only does “unique.” When you are happy with yourself, and love yourself for all of the unique gifts you were given access to, then you can truly love others for who they are. When you love unconditionally, you are free of judgment; when you have freed yourself from judgment, you are free to love unconditionally.