If you are Attentive, You Will See It!!

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Rod's World

I love 365-day quote books, and here is one of my favourites: The Golden Present – Daily Inspirational Readings BY SRI SWAMI SATCHIDANANDA – Get It Here.

These daily inspirational readings contain Swami Satchidananda’s teachings on the spiritual life” how to serve others and realize peace, truth, and union with the divine. Culled from twenty-five years of lectures to spiritual seekers in the West and the East, these readings are expressed with the simplicity and authority of one who speaks from his own experience. What is purity of heart? Here are two of my favourites:

“What you sow you reap. Don’t worry about the future and don’t worry about the past. A great thinker once said the past and the future are not even visible. But what is visible? The golden present. Think of the golden present, sow what is necessary, what is right. Sow good thoughts, sow good deeds, and I am sure you will reap good fruits. There is no question about it. What you do comes back to you. What you sow, you reap. So do the right thing in the present, and don’t worry about the future. The people who worry about the future miss the present as well.”

“Life must be a challenge. Only then is it exciting. In an obstacle race, you are forced to surmount all the obstacles: to jump over the hurdles, go through the barrels, crawl under the rugs, climb over walls. What would happen if, to avoid all that, you went around all the obstacles and asked for the winner’s cup? Would they give it to you? No. They would say, “You must go back and face all the obstacles.” … Make your life as exciting as possible, but always think of it as fun. The adversities, as well as the harmony, should be enjoyable. Don’t become sober and morose and have a castor oil face in the name of spirituality. Just be happy. Jump with joy. Even if you make a mistake, say, “Hey, I did this? Great! What a wonderful lesson I learned!” If you really want to, you can make everything fun.”

So what is your Golden Present, for that matter what is societies, lets have a look:

1. This is the door you are meant to walk through.

2. Its where Self Love lives: Living In The Moment.

3. The greatest gift you can give to the other person in the conversation.

4. We travel back to the 17th Century for this piece of sage advice. Goethe still has an Institute named after him today: Feel This Moment.

5. Fully, Fully, Fully.

6. Touch Life Deeply, Yum!! : Truly, Madly, Deeply.

7. No Magic here.

8. But here there is: Magic.

9. The present of presence.

10. Time to Wake Up: Wake Me Up.

11. Are you touching Yours?

12. In the Now 101: The Air That I Breathe,

13. That reawakes your brilliance.

14. Nature does it for me: Spirit Bird.

15. And we finish with a cute horse quote: because we can, it’s up to us, it’s our time.

Sri says “If you make mistakes it doesn’t matter. Make mistakes and learn. The best teachers are your own mistakes. You learn even faster by your mistakes. Once I was at a conference with the great modern scientist Buckminster Fuller. He stood up and said, “Friends, forget about all the ‘Do this. Don’t do that’ business. Commit as many mistakes as possible, as soon as possible. You’ll become great.” It’s true. Every failure is a stepping stone. Remember, though, that you can’t use the same stone for each step. Every step should be on a new stone. That means you shouldn’t keep on making the same mistakes. Learn well from each one. The problem with many people is that they commit the same mistake over and over. Even so, they will eventually learn from their mistake and move on. Experience is the best teacher.”

Today’s playlist contains some beautiful songs. We begin with Jason Mraz, then Pitbull & Christina Aguilera. Savage Garden, Sia and Avicii fill the middle up. We return to the 60’s with The Hollies and complete with Xavier Rudd’s magnificent anthem to the soul: If You Are Attentive, You Will See It.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included until next we meet, my dear friends.

To the World, You might be Just One Person!!

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Rod's World

I received a reply to the message from the woman I say I am in love with, I feel incredibly happy with this, she has been overseas the past six months. At the moment I am reading a book called Love 2.0 by Barbara Fredrickson which redefines our ability to feel the ultimate emotion: Get It Here.

We all know love matters, but in this groundbreaking book positive emotions expert Barbara Fredrickson shows us how much. Even more than happiness and optimism, love holds the key to improving our mental and physical health as well as lengthening our lives. Using research from her own lab, Fredrickson redefines love not as a stable behemoth, but as micro-moments of connection between people–even strangers. She demonstrates that our capacity for experiencing love can be measured and strengthened in ways that improve our health and longevity.

Ready for our new, upgraded definition of love? Love 1.0 = The emotion you feel for your “soul mate” or kids or family; what we hear about on the radio, etc. Love 2.0? Love 2.0 is ubiquitous. It’s that “micro-moment of warmth and connection that you share with another living being.” It’s what Barbara describes as “positivity resonance.” Love is found in those TINY moments—the micro-moments—in which we are truly present, sharing a positive experience with someone. When that happens, our brains and bodies synchronize in truly stunning ways. Sprinkle in some mutual care for the others’ well being and you have positivity resonance—aka Love. What’s exciting about this upgraded version of love is that it’s not limited to our most intimate relationships (yet, very importantly, can be practised most frequently within them—something I’ve done a bunch of times since picking up the book yesterday). When we allow ourselves to open up to this possibility, we can create more of this positivity resonance with others and experience the extraordinary gains in health and happiness that go with practising this supreme emotion.

So how do we as humans define love, here are a few of my favourite takes at it:

1. Imagine if we were in contact with those micro-moments of love 24/7. It would transform my life for certain.

2. Imagine if you glimpsed it every day, it would be blissful: A Slice of Heaven.

3. And this is what drops away.

4. And your micro-moment mission is to…: When You Believe.

5. Not really a choice is it?

6. And you, and you, and you, and you…: Better Together.

7. One never knows what those micro-moments of connection can turn into.

8. Positivity resonance at some times, our greatest fears at others, it is our time to choose: How Deep Is Your Love.

9. Not really an example of Love 2.0, but I had to fit the bard in somewhere.

10. Definitely possible in both areas of love, one and two: Soul Shakedown Party.

11. All of the emotions come with Love.

12. Love is a two-way street: Give Love.

13. But we always have a favourite.

14. And then, time for some Rumi: I Love You for What You Are.

15. And from the Love Prince, Bob Marley comes how to achieve Love 2.0.

Barbara introduces us to the fact that micro-moments of love are created by and result in changes in three main biological characters: your brain, oxytocin, and your vagus nerve. As she says: “Put simply, your body was designed for love, and to benefit from loving.”

Very briefly, when we have positivity resonance, our brains synchronize in astonishing ways. This “neural synchrony” or “neural coupling” is produced as we attune to the individual(s) with whom we’re interacting. Oxytocin, the “love hormone” is, apparently, more appropriately identified as a neuropeptide because it shows up not just in our bodies but also in our brains. Barbara talks about some fascinating research on how increasing levels of oxytocin increase trust and cooperation. Then we get to Vagus. Our vagus nerve is our tenth cranial nerve. “It emerges from your brain stem deep within your skull and, although it makes multiple stops at your various internal organs, perhaps most significantly it connects your brain to your heart.” Hmmm… A physical, biological component of our bodies that connects our brain to our hearts? I’m listening! The short story here: As per all the benefits articulated above, Optimizing our vagus nerve’s functioning is a good idea. Good news is: our “vagal tone” can be developed much like our “muscle tone.” It just takes practice. We’re almost ready for those practices. First, desire.

Today’s playlist begins across the trough from my homeland, for all you others, that’s slang for New Zealand with Dave Dobbyn, then Whitney. A few rocky numbers follow with Jack Johnson, Calvin Harris and Bob Marley. The penultimate number is some soul from Andy Grammer featuring Lunchmoney Lewis, finishing with a Bollywood masterclass.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included until we next meet, my dear friends:

Choose to Shine!!

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Rod's World

I have returned to Marc and Angel Chernoff’s first book 1,000 Little Things Happy Successful People Do Differently, which was the book I discovered this remarkable couple through – Get on Board. Using my write about the page you open to, I am writing about 12 Choices Winners Make Every Day. How do you relate to the term winning: Here is what Marc says about it:

‘Follow in the steps of a winner. Don’t wake up at seventy-five-years of age, sighing over what you should have tried. Just do it, and be willing to fail and learn along the way. At least you will know you gave it your best shot.

At the end of the day, whether you chose to go with it, flow with it, resist it, change it, or hide from it, life goes on. If what you did today didn’t turn out as you hoped, tomorrow is a new opportunity to do it differently or to do nothing at all. What’s important to realise is that you have a choice.”

Here are the 12 choices they suggest:

They don’t give up on the things they believe in.
They work with and spend time with, the right people.
They concentrate on the present.
They maintain a positive attitude.
They endure the pain.
They ignore the naysayers.
They live through Love.
They accept 100% responsibility for their current situation.
They take action and plant the right seeds.
They don’t lose themselves in the commotion.
They appreciate what they have.
They make a positive difference.

A pretty great list – let us look at winning:

1. A definite win in your life when this happens.

2. You don’t have to win every battle, choose wisely which ones you fight: Battle Hymn of The Republic.

3. This would be winning, in my eyes.

4. You can choose Yes or No, It’s up to you: No Excuses.

5. Another way to spell winning.

6. Renee Oldstead is an American actress and jazz singer. She is a vegan. She appeared in a PETA ad, Fish Are Friends Not Food, urging her fans to become vegan themselves. In 2012, Olstead joined PETA’s campaign to free the elephant Mali from captivity at the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden, where she has been alone for the last three decades: Count on Me.

7. Win or Lose, it’s your choice.

8. All of your friends like this, they are your winners: Crazy Little Thing Called Love.

9. Shadow and Light, we move between them constantly.

10. Where is your winning post?: A Thousand Miles.

11. An unusual take on winning by a very famous man.

12. And you will have won: Time of My Life.

13. What are your winning values?

14. Internal not external: You can get it If You Really Want It.

15. Show me new ways, and then I can win at what I previously lost at.

Zig Ziglar has a great saying about winning: “You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.”

Today’s playlist begins with the United States Army Field Band, then pop diva Meghan Trainor. Bruno Mars then funks it up, followed by a Queen rock anthem. Then two females – Vanessa Carlton and Madonna, finishing with Jimmy Cliff.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included until next time, my dear friends.

Great Heart Will Not Be Denied.

Posted on November 5, 2018 by Rod's World

In their excellent book, The Tools: Get it here. Phil Stutz and Barry Michels, offer 5 tools for efficiency. The Tools is a dynamic, results-oriented practice that defies the traditional approach to therapy. Instead of focusing on the past, this groundbreaking method aims to deliver relief from persistent problems and restore control–and hope–to users right away. Every day presents challenges–big and small–that the tools transform into opportunities to bring about bold and dramatic change in your life. These transformative techniques will teach you how to

GET UNSTUCK: Master the things you are avoiding and live in forward motion.
CONTROL ANGER: Free yourself from out-of-control rage and never-ending grudges.
EXPRESS YOURSELF: Learn the secret of true confidence and find your authentic voice.
COMBAT ANXIETY: Stop obsessive worrying and negative thinking.
FIND DISCIPLINE: Activate willpower and make the most of every minute. A change in attitude won’t stop you from screaming because attitudes can’t control behaviour; they’re not strong enough. To control behavior you need a specific procedure to use at a specific time to combat a specific problem. That’s what a tool is. … The point is that a tool—unlike an attitude adjustment—requires you to do something. Not only does it take work, but it is also work you have to do over and over again—every time you get frustrated. A new attitude means nothing unless followed by a change in behaviour. The surest way to change.

THE TOOLS There are five tools. Each solves a different type of challenge and is associated with a different “Higher Force.” Here they are in a nutshell:

Tool #1: The Reversal of Desire. The Higher Force: Forward Motion.

Tool #2: Active Love. The Higher Force: Outflow

Tool #3: Inner Authority. The Higher Force: Self-Expression

Tool #4: The Grateful Flow. The Higher Force: The Source

Tool #5: Jeopardy, The Higher Force: Willpower

They say Willpower is the most important to master, how are you with willpower on a daily basis, How has society spoken about its importance over time, let us have a look:

1. I love Dan Millman’s book, The Way of the Warrior, a really deep look at Willpower.

2. Willpower does not occur overnight, it is an ongoing practice that develops over time: Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.

3. One of the great challenges of building willpower.

4. I’m going through a period of flabbiness at the moment, so glad to read this and take it on: In My Feelings.

5. Aleister Crowley was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the prophet entrusted with guiding humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century. A prolific writer, he published widely over the course of his life.

6. I remember playing football with my classmates back in the day. Three or four had the ability to make the highest level, yet only one did, what separated him was his determination to succeed at all costs: Believe.

7. On the journey to Willpower, you will discover what to let go of.

8. Yes or No?: Changes.

9. Pay the Full Price and you will reach your graduation day.

10. A very satirical poster on Willpower, do not give in: Wake Up.

11. Make Willpower one of your New Years Resolutions and keep it.

12. Known for his starring role in the Superman movie, On May 27, 1995, Reeve was left quadriplegic after being thrown from a horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Virginia. He used a wheelchair and needed a portable ventilator to breathe for the rest of his life. He lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries and for human embryonic stem cell research, founding the Christopher Reeve Foundation and co-founding the Reeve-Irvine Research Centre: The Impossible Dream.

13. Mother Teresa places it at top of the list.

14. Back a few centuries for this quirky take on willpower: When a Blind Man Cries.

15. And finally, from The Girls Guide to Health webpage, a gift for you.

A final comment from the authors on Why, Willpower?

“A few rare individuals refuse to have limited lives. They drive through tremendous amounts of pain—from rejections and failures to shorter moments of embarrassment and anxiety. They also handle the small, tedious pain required for personal discipline, forcing themselves to do things we all know we should do but don’t—like exercising, eating right, and staying organized. Because they avoid nothing, they can pursue their highest aspirations. They seem more alive than the rest of us.”

Today’s playlist is dotted with a lot of rock groups and Rap artists. We begin with the Animals from back in the day, moving onto Rap with Drake. Another group in Mumford and Sons is followed by the too soon gone Tupac. A live offering from The Arcade Fire is followed by the beautiful voice of Luther Vandross. We finish with Richie Sambora: Great Heart Will Not Be Denied.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included until next time, my dear friends:

The Good News Is You are the Pilot!!

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Rod's World

In their inspiring book Getting Back to Happy: Change your Thoughts, Change Your Reality, and Turn Your Trials into Triumphs: Get It Here., Marc and Angel Chernoff explode myths. The one I am writing on today is that you have to wait for the “right time” to make a change in your life. The truth is it is never too late or too early to be who you are capable of being. There’s no time limit on when you can start living the life you’ve dreamed of. There is no mythical door that shuts after you turn a certain age, blocking you off from experiencing the things you want to do.

Happily, life has a way if throwing red flags when it’s time for us to make a change – we have to be watchful for them. With that in mind, take a look at this list and ask yourself: are any of these the reasons I’m unhappy with my life as it is now?

Fear is Holding me Back.
I catch myself feeding the negative.
My mind is everywhere except right here, right now.
I feel pressured to be someone other than myself.
I feel like I’m competing against everybody else.
A relationship is making me miserable.
I feel bored.
I’ve been resisting change.
Other people are writing my story for me.

If any of these resonate with you, you certainly aren’t alone. Many people are afraid to step forward and change their situation simply because they don’t know how or because they’re afraid to fail. Remember, it’s always better to take an imperfect step forward than to take no step at all.

So, it is time to have a look at what society says about this situation:

1. Without doing this you live yesterday after yesterday. I think its called Groundhog Day.

2. After several failed attempts, Danny Sullivan won the Indy 500 and totalled $2 million dollars winning from 12 starts: The Time of My Life.

3. Inspiring Buddhist nun, Pema Chodron, points out that the possibility is now.

4. You will know when: Right Place, Right Time.

5. But giving up your fear of failure will give it a more than even chance of it being the right time.

6. I vote for making it: Hustle.

7. Watch what they do, not what they say. Actions speak louder than words.

8. Don’t give up, we all have mistakes along our journey: Don’t Give Up.

9. They wrote some great song lyrics.

10. As the navigator, you have to be right here, right now: The Navigator.

11. Take that imperfect step into the above.

12. When to do it by a man who changed the direction of the United States: His Greatest Speech.

13. Begin it Now.

14. Find the Others: Friends.

15. We have the same 24 hours as Martin Luther King had, go for your dreams.

Rarely is life going to work out perfectly, and rarely will the stars align. If you’re waiting around to gather all the resources you think you need to take the next step forward, before you know it, you will have wasted all the time you have. Changing your situation is about being mindful of what you want to change- and then finding the one thing you can do first to improve it. That one action might not change everything, but it will put you on the path to something better.

The Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes classic starts the playlist today. Then the million-selling Olly Murs who I had never heard of. Jamelia funks it up next, then a superb live version of Peter Gabriels biggest hit. A grungy offering from The Pogues, then some wise words from MLK, finishing with Ed Sheeran: The Good News is That you are the Pilot.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included until next time we meet, my dear friends.

Take me to the River!!

Posted on October 30, 2018 by Rod's World

Several members of my year-long training program, The Warriors of Love went on an Essence outing to see Dr Joe Dispenza. He was spruiking his new book, Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon: Get it Here.

Joe talked about that he began to ask himself:

‘What if people begin to believe in themselves instead of something outside of themselves? What if they believe that they can change something inside of them and move themselves to the same state of being as someone who’s taking a placebo? Isn’t that what our workshop participants have been doing in order to get better? Do people really need a pill or injection to change their state of being? Can we teach people to accomplish the same thing by teaching them how the placebo really works?’

He calls this crossing the river of change. Joe speaks about this:

“Crossing the river of change requires that you leave the same familiar predictable self— connected to the same thoughts, same choices, same behaviours, and same feelings—and step into a void of the unknown. The gap between the old self and the new self is the biological death of your old personality. If the old self must die, then you have to create a new self with new thoughts, new choices, new behaviours, and new emotions. Entering this river is stepping toward a new unpredictable, unfamiliar self. The unknown is the only place where you can create—you cannot create anything new from the known.

“Some people call this experience the dark night of the soul. It’s the phoenix igniting itself and burning to ashes. The old self has to die for a new one to be reborn. Of course, that feels uncomfortable!”

So when did you last or have you ever crossed the River of Change, entered the dark night of the soul? We know our favourite cereal, or favourite cafe and our favourite TV show very well. How does the world relate to this, let’s have a look:

1. Why is it worth doing, because with the dark naturally comes the light.

2. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old, and wrote in a variety of styles, including surrealist poems, historical epics, overtly political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and passionate love poems such as the ones in his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (1924). He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971: Pablo Neruda.

3. The unknown is the only place where you can create—you cannot create anything new from the known.

4. Oh death remorseless, consume this flesh. Release this soul to begin afresh, truly magnificent: Hold On.

5. You have to pay the full price to reach the other side.

6. Many people reach out for a superior being after entering this space: I Wanna Dance with Somebody.

7. after the death of her father from cancer, Joan, a medical researcher, became more interested in the person with the illness than in the disease itself and returned to Harvard Medical School to complete a second postdoctoral fellowship, this time in the new field of behavioural medicine.

8. Free hugs gain you entry: Hugging You.

9. This may happen along the way, but your new created life awaits you.

10. Your old thoughts will hold on tightly, they will not want you to leave: The Sounds of Silence.

11. Joe must have been influenced by Carl, methinks.

12. In that dark night, it is the voice of the soul that gets us through to the other side: King of Anything.

13. Your heart burning up during the dark night of the soul. Don’t worry, it will come out all new and shiny on the other side, created by you.

14. Without the Dark, no Lights: Starman.

15. And finally what Joe says entering the dark night of the soul will provide: UncoverYourJoy.com.

I will finish with Joe’s main premise: “If this is your personality then your personality creates your personal reality. It’s that simple. And your personality is made up of how you think, how you act, and how you feel. So the present personality who is reading this page has created the present reality called your life; and that also means that if you want to create a new personal reality—a new life—then you have to begin to examine or think about the thoughts you’ve been thinking and change them. You must become conscious of the unconscious behaviours you’ve been choosing to demonstrate that have led to the same experiences, and then you must make new choices, take new actions, and create new experiences.”

Today’s playlist begins with my dear friend Kavisha Paola Mazzella, one of the truly superb voices. next Wilson Phillips, daughters of very famous 60’s musicians. Then a Whitney Houston power ballad. Over to the men for Tom Rosenthal and Disturbed. Penultimate is Sarah Bareilles, finishing with Sir David: Take Me to the River.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included until we meet again, my dear friends.

Self Awareness and Self Love Matter!!

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Rod's World

Up to Section 5 of Dare to Lead, Brene Brown’s exciting new book: Get It Here.

The section is titled Curiosity and Grounded Confidence and begins: “Grounded confidence is the messy process of learning and unlearning, practising and failing, and surviving a few misses. This brand of confidence is not blustery arrogance or posturing or built on bullshit; it’s real, solid, and built on self-awareness and practice. Once we witness how courage can transform the way we lead, we can trade the heavy, suffocating armour that keeps us small for grounded confidence that lifts us up and supports our efforts to be brave.” It’s unreasonable to believe that we can just rip off our self-protection mechanisms and streak through the office. Most of us armour up early in our lives because, as children, we needed to.

Brene then goes on about the paradoxes that elicit vulnerability in leaders and provides this excellent list:

Optimism and Paranoia
Letting chaos reign ( the act of building ) and reining in chaos ( the act of scaling )
Big heart and tough decision making
Humility and fierce resolve
Velocity and quality when building new things
Left brain and Right Brain
Simplicity and Choice
Thinking Global, acting Local
Ambition and attention to detail
Thinking big but starting small
Short-term and long-term
Marathons and sprints, or marathons of sprints in business-building

In a conversation with Dheeraj Pandey, CEO of a Silicon Valley IT company, Dheeraj says the following, “Leaders must learn the skills to hold these tensions and get adept at balancing on the ‘tightrope’ of life. Ultimately, leadership is the ability in the ambiguity of paradoxes and opposites.”

So, what does the world say about paradoxes and opposites, here are a few of my favourite things:

1. How well do I embrace and opposites, better some days than others, a lifetime practice, methinks?

2. Reads like lines from a really great song: Radiate.

3. The gravity man, Sir Isaac Newton, watch out for the apples.

4. The Light and the Dark, both are needed to transform: I Gotta Feeling.

5. Anything goes, it is all required in our journey of life.

6. That’s very Woo Woo, Albert: God Save The Queen.

7. Fact check, did our favourite POTUS really say this?

8. What do you say to your soul, I’m practising with I love You for five minutes in the mirror every day: A Whole New World.

9. Something Judgement 101 does not allow.

10. The classic reason why opposites attract, they are incomplete without their opposite, how many modalities teach us we need all the types of archetypes, personalities, etc. etc. etc: New Speedway Boogie.

11. I post Ram Dass daily in Booker Looker land, he is one of my top ten faves on the net.

12. More light and dark stuff, you can’t deny either for your life to work: Duality.

13. They are sent to you to learn from them, what you resist persists, an old Landmark statement from the 1990’s that still rings true to this day.

14. Best known for his book, The Myth of Equality, Wystma, a minister of the gospel helps us come to a deeper understanding of both the origins of these issues and the reconciling role people are called to play as a follower of the gospel. Inequality and privilege are real. The Myth of Equality opens our eyes to realities we may have never realized were present in our society and world. And we will be changed for the better as a result: Glory.

15. The paradox of being attracted by an opposite, what are yours, mine is booze versus sobriety.

Brene sums it up as follows ” Learning how to rumble with vulnerability is work. And vulnerability never becomes comfortable, but practising means that when a vulnerability is washing over us, we can hear grounded confidence whisper in our ear, ” This is hard and awkward, and uncomfortable. You may not know how it’s turning out, but you are strong and you have practised what it takes to create and hold the space for it.”

If you haven’t work it out from these two blogs, buy the book. It’s worth it for the free workbook and the glossary alone, not to mention the values list and the posters you get thrown in.

If you loved punk, there is a song for you on today’s playlist. We begin with a newbie for me, Hannah Kerr, then the iconic Black Eyed Peas, then the legend that is Johny Rotten leading the Sex Pistols. Another Disney classic from Alladin. An Aussie legend Courtney Barnett, then rocking out with Slipknot, then a beautifully smooth finish from John Legend: Self Awareness and Self Love Matter.

Spread Love and Respect to All, Everybody Included until next, we meet my dear friends:

The Key To Life Is Not Accumulation!!

Posted on October 22, 2018 by Rod's World

I was so looking forward to Brene Brown’s new book Dare to Lead I preordered two copies, my friend Steph is very happy I did, she’s a big Brene fan too so I gifted her the second copy. The complete title is Dare to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts: Get It Here. I love Joseph Campbells quote about what is the cave I fear to enter and was going to write on that but there are not a lot of relevant quotes on Google Images, just 100 versions of one quote so I moved onto The Power and Wisdom to Serve Others.

Brene writes that “Joseph Campbell’s lesson was that when you find the courage to enter that cave, you’ve never going in to secure your own treasure or your own wealth; you face your fears to find the power and wisdom to serve others.”

My mother Edna was one of the greatest givers I have had the honour to know, she was a Brown Owl, think Brownies and Girl Guides and an elder at her church for many years and she passed this love of volunteerism onto her children. I remember when my friend introduced me to one of the team leaders at CERES environmental park the following way “Hold onto him, he is the worlds greatest volunteer” a little over the top, but you get the gist. Let’s look at the words society has used to honour those who give:

1. Steve Maraboli was selected by Inc. Magazine as a “Top Leader to Follow” while dubbing him as, “The Most Quoted Man Alive” (2016).

From the Pope to the Dalai Lama, to Grammy Winners, to World Champions, to Oscar Winners, to Presidents and Prime Ministers… Steve’s life-changing words are shared and published throughout the world by media, global leaders, athletes, celebrities, and individuals across a wide range of platforms.

Google Facts has Steve Maraboli referenced or quoted in over 3,000 books in their database.

2. This is what I battle with on a daily basis, my penchant to intellectualism versus living life from my heart: In My Life.

3. It’s called giving, not expecting.

4. I saw an American Economics professor lecture the other day on why his country had lost its way because it had forgotten this: Rise Up.

5. From little things, big things grow.

6. He led the movement that freed the second most populous country by following this credo: Let It Start With Me.

7.Karma: The totality of a person’s actions and conduct during successive incarnations, regarded as causally influencing his or her destiny.

8. Leave behind a legacy, not pictures of you on a wall: Happiness is Helping Others.

9. Are you behind with your rent?

10. Well said, Dave: Walking on Sunshine.

11. I feel the happiest when I am achieving these other things in my life.

12. A controversial character, Mother Teresa confronted people about the former to the point where quite a few became pissed off with her: Truly, Madly, Deeply.

13. Do you sleep well at night knowing this?

14. Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust. That’s us, but through your actions, you can live on in others: Celebrity Eminem Covers.

15. Without a good nights sleep, the takers’ health suffers, it doesn’t matter what quality their food is.

Brene finishes the chapter with the following line: Daring Leadership is ultimately about serving other people, not ourselves. That’s why we choose courage, A Ho!!

As you would expect with writing about serving others, today’s playlist is quite uplifting. It begins with the Musical Le Miz, then Andra Day and No Other Name. Be Motivated by a Motivational track then ride the Waves with Katrina. The penultimate track is Savage Garden and we finish with celebs covering Eminem songs: What if Life is not a Gamble.

Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included until next time, my dear friends.

When Life Give You a Hundred Reasons To Cry.

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Rod's World

I am about to do a course called the International Schools of Temple Arts Spiritual Sexual Shamanic Experience/Training and in the registration form, it asked what spiritual path or tradition do you follow or have followed, my answer was Shakya Tibetan Buddhism which I was deeply involved in for a period of 7 years. I thought that would be a great subject to write a blog on and did some online research as I gave away all of my Buddhist tomes several years ago. I came across The Buddha in Your Mirror Practical Buddhism and the Search for Self by Woody Hochswender, Greg Martin, Ted Morino: Get It Here.

In it they write the following:

“If we were to apply these notions to the realm of human relations, certain insights would emerge. We would begin to realize that the lives of those in our immediate environment tend to mirror our own inner lives. Generally, if an individual finds other people unfriendly, it is often because he or she is provoking that reaction, one way or another. Similarly, if that person becomes friendlier, the people around that person will begin to react differently. An unusually kind and good-hearted person will tend to believe that others are the same. To a person possessed by lust for power, even the most selfless, benevolent actions of others will appear as cunning moves to gain power. When we cherish people with the same profound reverence as we would the Buddha, their Buddha nature functions to protect us. On the other hand, if we belittle or regard people with contempt, we will be disparaged in return, as though gazing into our own image reflected in a mirror. As much as we sometimes resist the idea, a smile and a few kind words can achieve near miracles by reducing hostility in many situations. There are people who can walk into a room and immediately lighten things up and lift everyone’s spirits. These are all illustrations of what Buddhism terms the principle of the oneness of life and its environment.”

So what has society said about the Oneness of Life, here are some of my favourites:

1. What do you do to make yourself proud?

2. How many times has your life unexpectedly changed in the last year, your clinging to supposed to causes anxiety around this: Club Controller.

3. This is more my spiritual practice these days.

4. Here is a way to bring your oneness in life to life: The Lie.

5. At 64 this statement rings true for me.

6. Two of my friends reached the end this weekend, they were both quite a bit younger than me, what was their what-ifs they hoped to fulfil before they were 64: Take Your Chance.

7. Your Oneness is unique, never forget that:

8. Oneness is not stopping and hoping things will change, It’s dancing with it: Singing In The Rain.

9. I can feel it getting closer and closer.

10. We cannot live forever, but the greats create something that liver long past their physical form. Nelson, Martin, Theresa, etc. etc. etc.: Someone Like You.

11. Confucius’s principles have commonality with Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong family loyalty, ancestor veneration, and respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives, recommending family as a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-known principle “Do not do to others what you do not want to be done to yourself”, the Golden Rule. He is also a traditional deity in Daoism.

12. You’ve got to fight for the right to Party.

13. Your Oneness with Life will pay you back in kind.

14. Speaking the truth Carol is: I’d Love to Change the World.

15. But finally, remember that your Oneness in Life is yours, for you and that part of it is respecting others way of thinking.

Another tenet of Buddhism mention in the book is another link to an enriched life: “No one exists in isolation. We are connected to parents who conceived and raised us, to teachers who have educated us, and to friends who have encouraged us. We are also linked to people we have never met who harvest and distribute our food, manufacture our clothing, write the books that shape our thinking—in fact, we are connected to everyone whose efforts help hold together the fabric of society. There is no one in the world who has no connection to us.” So we have Oneness in Life and no one existing in isolation to tie together.

The playlist today begins in South Africa with Prince Kaybee and friends, then some spoken word from the Lie. Three different type of songs follow. They are Fun Factory, Gene Kelly and Adele. One of the classic anthems by the Beastie Boys is the penultimate track ending with a beautiful ballad by Jetta: When Life Gives You a Hundred reasons to Cry.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

We Can’t Direct the Wind, but We can Adjust Sails!!

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Rod's World

I was browsing through the offering of Brian Johnson’s Philosophers Notes, when he commented that he had never come across a book that he would recommend to read to help live an ideal life until he read Sonja Lyubmirsky’s The How of Happiness: A Practical Guide to Getting The Life You Want: Get It Here.

The key tenet of THE HOW OF HAPPINESS is that every human being has a happiness ‘set point’ which, depending on how high or low it is, can determine how positive or negative they feel. This book offers a practical approach to help readers increase their set point, and find a level of happiness above that which they would normally feel, and feel more satisfaction in life.

“In a nutshell, the fountain of happiness can be found in how you behave, what you think, and what goals you set every day of your life. ‘There is no happiness without action.’ If feelings of passivity and futility overcome you whenever you face up to your happiness set point or to your circumstances, you must know that a genuine and abiding happiness is indeed within your reach, lying within the 40 per cent of the happiness pie chart that’s yours to guide.”

Through remarkable studies with identical twins separated at birth, scientists have discovered that about 50% of our happiness is determined by our genetics and that we have what they call a “happiness set point”—a level of happiness we tend to gravitate toward. So 50% is FIXED. We can’t do anything about it. Now, there’s another 10% of our happiness that’s determined by our life circumstances. Most people spend all their energy on this variable but research shows that increasing our wealth, attractiveness and stuff like that has both a negligible and a temporary impact on our well-being. Which leads us to the 40% we want to focus on: “What makes up this 40 per cent? Besides our genes and the situations that we confront, there is one critical thing left: our behaviour. Thus the key to happiness lies not in changing our genetic makeup (which is impossible) and not in changing our circumstances (i.e., seeking wealth or attractiveness or better colleagues, which is usually impractical), but in our daily intentional activities. With this in mind, our pie chart illustrates the potential of the 40 per cent that is within our ability to control, the 40 per cent for room to maneuver, for opportunities to increase or decrease our happiness levels through what we do in our daily lives and how we think.”

Part II of the book delivers 12 Happiness Activities that’s been scientifically proven to increase our happiness levels. You’ll wanna get the book to explore the various studies that have established why these activities work and we’ll highlight a few of my favourites below. For now, here they are:

1. Expressing Gratitude

2. Cultivating Optimism

3. Avoiding Overthinking and Social Comparison

4. Practising Acts of Kindness

5. Nurturing Social Relationships

6. Developing Strategies for Coping

7. Learning to Forgive

8. Increasing Flow Experiences

9. Savouring Life’s Joys

10. Committing to Your Goals

11. Practising Religion and Spirituality

12. Taking Care of Your Body: Meditation + Physical Activity + Acting Like a Happy Person

(Another cool point Sonja makes again and again (!) throughout the book is that it’s *essential* for us to choose activities that inspire us as we’re much more likely to follow through on those activities than doing something we think we “should” do.)

So which of the above activities do you use to get your happy on? Statements on achieving happiness differ from their approach, here are just a few:

1. Considered one of the happiest people on the planet, His Holiness The Dalai Lama knows it is through your actions that this state is achieved.

2. The first of the 12 activities mentioned above, expressing gratitude for the fact that recognising what we have is a powerful first step to happiness: Grateful.

3. A moot point to remember in the dark times.

4. As Mandy points out, It’s our daily intentional activities that ensure happiness, not those of others: Follow The Sun,

5. I got caught at the railway gates today, it went for five minutes. The person in the car behind me was losing it, this is a little thing.

6. Such a simple example, but beautiful in its concept: That’s Entertainment.

7. An empowering fridge magnet to read daily.

8. Dancing is one way I choose to do it: Feel Good.

9. Waitley was also a founding member of the National Council for Self-Esteem and a former chairman of psychology for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Sports Medicine Council. A worthy life of Happiness what a great title for the council.

10. Happiness spreads when you release it into the world due to its infectious nature: Spread a Little Happiness.

11. Back to the 1400’s for this quote that leaves out 50 per cent of the population. Erasmus was considered the greatest scholar of the Northern Renaissance.

12. Out beyond the horizon of accepting your imperfections lies the land of happiness: Perfect.

13. From the man with the most famous bedraggled hair in the world, Albert points out that giving away your happiness to people and things don’t really work.

14. I spent many years trying to be liked by everyone, it cost me a great deal of happiness, I’m getting better at not doing it: You Can’t Please Everybody.

15. And for our final look we return to the beginning of modern time, Seneca was around from 4 BC-AD 65. Still very relevant today though.

Pema Chodron says pretty much the same thing in her great book The Places That Scare You: “Acknowledging that we are all churned up is the first and most difficult step in any practice. Without compassionate recognition that we are stuck, it’s impossible to liberate ourselves from confusion. ‘Doing something different’ is anything that interrupts our ancient habit of indulging in our emotions. We do anything to cut the strong tendency to spin out… Anything that’s non-habitual will do—even sing and dance or run around the block. We do anything that doesn’t reinforce our crippling habits. The third most difficult practice is to then remember that this is not something we do just once or twice. Interrupting our destructive habits and awakening our heart is the work of a lifetime.”

The Playlist from today’s blog is quite joyous as you would expect songs dedicated to happiness to be. Empty Hands Music begins the journey, followed by an anthem from Xavier Rudd. I sneak some rock in with the Jam next, then some EDM with Felix Jaehn and Mike Williams. It gets a little darker with Sting followed by a beautiful duet from Ed Sheeran and Beyonce ending with some old time Funk from Rose Royce: We Can’t Direct the Wind, but We can Adjust Sails!!

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

namasteflower