Happiness Is Your Nature!!

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Rod's World

I was reading my friend Ari Amala’s book of poetry, The Details and The Infinite this morning, you can get it from her website: Ariamala.com, when I opened it up at the beautiful An Ode, to Contentment. I’ll put it here for you. When Ari reads she reminds me of Maya Angelou.

An Ode to Contentment

Contentment lives in the quiet moments

Those moments that could be easily overlooked

Or dismissed as ordinary

Contentment is the introverted cousin to Ecstasy

Never featured in the headlines

So rarely the subject of poetry

Contentment is not the inflated highs

Of the honeymoon phase

Or a sexual awakening

Contentment is not the intensity

Of the dark night of the soul

Or the devastation of a separation

Contentment is the gentle receptivity

Of a walk in the park

The earthy scent of fallen rain

The simplicity of sitting

With a cup of freshly brewed tea

Contentment has no lofty expectations

Of life to be anything other

Than what it is

The glorious generosity of contentment

Is that it allows itself

To be found

In the accessible beauty

Of daily life

To commune with

The sweetness of contentment

All we need is the willingness

To look for what is hidden

In plain sight

Because beneath the veil of familiarity

Is a world that is shimmering with splendour

Alive with a peace

That exists independently

From the circumstances

Of our lives

Contentment is not a striving

But a settling,

A nestling into

The warmth of this moment

So how do you seek and feel contented in your lives? The world has many different quotes and saying about it, here are a few to ponder:

1. When one is in pursuit of something or someone there is a lot of busyness going on which takes you away from the warmth of the moment of contentment.

2. Tony built his brand from scratch. At 22, he became an author. At 23, he became a husband and father. At 25, he started his first company, Soul Writers LLC. At 25, he also got himself on globally televised shows to tell a portion of his story. Tony decided to turn his pain into purpose and live a life of service. Raised in the church and being the son of a pastor, there was something about service that stuck with Tony: Let It Start With Me.

3. the skill to contentment is to have it be accessible moment to moment with where you are in your life.

4. Enough said, Lao Tzu: In the mid-twentieth century, a consensus emerged among scholars that the historicity of the person known as Laozi is doubtful and that the Tao Te Ching was “a compilation of Taoist sayings by many hands”. Alan Watts urged more caution, holding that this view was part of an academic fashion for scepticism about historical spiritual and religious figures and stating that not enough would be known for years – or possibly ever – to make a firm judgment: Top Twenty Lao Tzu Quotes

5. A calm heart allows you to be more centred in life, content in the midst of all the storms life will throw at you.

6. Give peace a chance and contentment will naturally follow: Give Peace A Chance.

7. The power of thought. How do we get in contact with our feeling/emotional body where contentment hang out. For me, it has been a 40-year journey with lots of bumps and curves.

8. Contentment lies in an appreciation of your life, not whats on the TV or in the glossy mags. Learn to love your life exactly as it is right now: Love My Life.

9. The Nobel prize is worth over a million dollars U.S. to the winner. Alfred Nobel, who created the Prize in his will knows what real wealth is.

10. Such a beautiful journey to contentment, definitely a daily to-do list: Listen To Your Heart.

11. Wake up in appreciation tomorrow and your world will be transformed.

12. This beautiful proverb is why I love the sound of the word proverb: Harvest.

13. I don’t need the Dark Angel to tell me this. Over my journey, I may have hung out in the latter a bit too long, though.

14. Who else but the Welshman Tom Jones: The Green, Green Grass of Home.

15. And the final word goes to The Buddha, the man who sat under a tree and reached the ultimate state of contentment, that of enlightenment.

I thank you, Ari, for inspiring me to write about contentment, a state I came to experience after a session with my mentor Arion Light. It is a constant battle to stay in it versus wondering when I will return to my previous way of being.

The playlist for today is from the past, even going back to Ancient China. It begins with an ode to service by No Other Name then jumps back many centuries to Lao Tzu. Then two anthems from different decades by John Lennon and Robbie Williams. Some Euro-pop by Roxette finishing with two icons in Neil Young and Tom Jones. Here’s the playlist for your viewing enjoyment: Happiness Is Your Nature.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Prometheus Is Reaching Out For The Stars!!

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Rod's World

I discovered another Brene Brown book I didn’t know about yesterday: I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t): Making the Journey from “What Will People Think?” to ” I am Enough”. A long title and subtitle but flicking through it I just had to buy it.

I turned to a page that caught my attention and this is what Brene had written:

Reaching Out: When it comes to my personal struggles with appearance, family, parenting, motherhood and work, I’m one hundred per cent dependent on my connection network. I depend on them for advice, guidance, support, feedback, validation, praise and sometimes I need them for plain old handholding or babysitting.

I’ve worked very hard to build this network – it’s now big and strong. I also depend on these people to lean on me. I know it sounds funny, but I want to be in relationships that work both ways. Receiving empathy is a wonderful gift, but so is offering it. Both giving and receiving make me a better person and help increase my shame resilience.

I can so relate to the last sentence because one of my major struggles in life is the act of receiving. I am one of the great givers and am regularly acknowledged for it, I have been given the title in my community of a beautiful man. I was recently acknowledged by my community to the tune of being gifted over $2000 to help replace my computer that was damaged by my English student. It involved over a hundred people saying to me you are enough and donating money. It wasn’t about the money to me but the act of people saying we love you and taking an action to express it.

So what ways does society have in place for people to reach out to each other, here are a few:

1. At every moment in your day, there is an opportunity to do this. We walk through a world where we know so little about each other.

2. Time to access your inner child. Remember when we were young and asking for things wasn’t a problem. We may not have got what we wanted every time, but we bravely asked anyway: Why.

3. At the height of my Mental Health journey, I often forgot the first line of this mantra, so accessing the second and third were virtually impossible.

4. An athlete who broke down the walls of racism in an international sport, I imagine there was a lot of light and shadow in his journey to achieve it:

5. My life became a lot more joyful when I realised that the access to it lay in giving to others as well as myself.

6. One of the great sages of our time. Why do we need Aristotle when we have a wise, cuddly bear: My Heart Will Go On.

7. Heads or Tails?

8. But It’s also useful to use some discernment, as the only person who can really rescue someone lives in our mirrors: How To Save A Life.

9. Sometimes no answer, no words is the answer that is required when you reach out.

10. I have become officially self-employed recently. I am finding more and more that until I reach out that very little success will come my way: Girl On Fire.

11. And who does not want the divine reaching out to them?

12. I was about to choose Pharrell’s Happy when this song came up on Youtube: Can’t Stop The Feeling.

13. This image makes me think of the saying Power To The People, let us be one of them.

14. This is what my world paradigm: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included is based on: True Colours.

15. And for the final comment, I go to one of my top ten, Maya Angelou. Our society seems to have forgotten the power of a loving touch.

In her TED talks on vulnerability, Brene speaks about the power of speaking shame is learning to express how we feel and ask for what we need, Then I would say I am getting better at it. I recommend buying and reading Brene’s book, it will move you a fair way down the track.

Today’s playlist has a bit of good old rock and some beautiful musical songs in it. Pop diva Sabrina Carpenter starts us off, Linkin Park rocks it up next. The Celine Dion displays her incredible range, then back to some rock with The Fray, A great women’s anthem from Alicia Keys ending with two numbers from The Trolls animated movie. Here is the link for your enjoyment: Prometheus Is Reaching Out For The Stars.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

The Best Advice My Mother Ever Gave Me!!

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Rod's World

As we journey through our personal and professional lives, there will inevitably be periods of incredible frustration and despair. During these hard times, it will seem that we’ve lost everything and that nobody and nothing could possibly motivate us to move forward in the direction of our dreams.

But luckily we are all holding a backpack of support that comes in many forms – it can be a simple SMS or email from someone we listen to, an inspiring Facebook Meme, a book a friend recommends to us, a blog you come across such as this one, a helpful neighbour etc., etc., etc.

In Getting Back to Happy: link to the website. Marc and Angel Chernoff state that there are two opportunities when we are feeling discouraged and unmotivated:

1. To recognise and appreciate our backpack of support – our external sources of motivation – before a random guru (or someone with much more crooked intentions) has to steal it from us so that we can finally see what we have always taken for granted.

2. To be present and tap into our own hearts and minds – our internal sources of motivation – which have the power to push us back up on our feet and guide us down the road to our backpack of support, even when it appears to be lost forever.

What does the world say about support, here are 15 gems to enquire into it:

1. One of my musical friends is passing over to the other side and one of his closest buddies visited him for three hours recently. He wrote a post about it, that the most precious moments where when they went quiet together and just sat in the energy of their love for each other.

2. Not sure about having to remain consistent, doesn’t unconditionality allow for all states of play: Perfect.

3. For me, it’s my siblings. we have a deep love and respect for each other.

4. It’s time to let your self-judgements drop away and let your worthiness shine on: Shine on You Crazy Diamond.

5. The closer I get to this moment to moment the more joy is available to me on a daily basis.

6. I like the theory that mistakes occur to show us that we are going down the wrong track: Same Mistake.

7. Think Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela, Wayne Dyer…etc, etc.

8. I just spent 5 days at the Expand Your Box training that investigates what you have recorded in your body and how they control your ability to express yourself at 100%. It was revealing and transformational: Jump In The Line.

9. A notion that is being supported more and more these days.

10. Let go of your gaseous nebula, it’s holding your transformation up: A Star Is Born.

11. The latter is not win: win it is winning happening on an ongoing basis.

12. From little things, big things grow: From Little Things, Big Things Grow.

13. I just love this image, I imagine myself as a 64-year-old replacing the child.

14. One of the difficult things to give away in life, absolute trust: Trust.

15. And a final word from Maya, actions not words is the best way of supporting yourself and your dreams.

No matter what your circumstances, you always have what it takes to take the next smallest step. As Epicurus so profoundly said. “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

Be mindful, be present. Keep going. One small step at a time.

The playlist for today contains a few quirky numbers: First two varieties of Pink, then James Blunt followed by an outtake from Beetlejuice featuring Harry Belafonte. Then two duets by Babara Streisand and Kris Christofferson and possibly my favourite Australian song by Paul Kelly and Missy Higgins. Pop Diva Christina Perri finishes it. Here’s the link for your visual and aural pleasure: The Best Advice my Mother Ever Gave Me.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends:

Life Is A Brief Intermission!!

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Rod's World

I had the honour of meeting Nicole Gibson recently. Nicole was appointed Australia’s national Mental Health Commissioner at the tender age of twenty-one. A survivor of anorexia, which Nicole proclaims as her mental illness journey. Nicole has written a fabulous book: Love out Loud – A Millennials Guide to Enlightenment : Get It Here. The focus of the book is to spend your life enquiring into Love and what it means for you. writes the following: “It’s important that all of us are given a roadmap to understand the journey of self-love so we know and accept our need to love and to be loved. It’s beyond me as to why and how this has not yet been incorporated into our education systems. Love has been the single most transformative energy in my life, both in how it’s shaped and moulded my healing and my journey, as well as the transformative impact I’ve been able to have on hundred of thousands of people. Sometimes people hesitate when they hear the word “love”, and that’s because of its deep confrontational nature. Love has the power to light all our shadows and to birth us into a new state of being. Now is the time for this to happen. In 2020 mental illness is set to be the world’s leading epidemic and the biggest health epidemic in history to date. Suicide is now the leading cause of death in under 45’s in Australia – more than car accidents, cancer and overdoses, taking the lives of eight Australians a day. We have half of Australians battling mental illness at some point in their life”

So I wish to put forward the premise that a lot of this is caused by the way mental illness is treated, even the name mental illness suggests to me that we have the treatment of it arse about. My six-year bout was caused by extreme despondency and sadness, my treatment was medication to numb it and six visits to psych units because all it did was tried to hide what I was going through, not actually treat the symptoms. Don’t get me wrong, medication is a necessary part of some people’s treatment but what put me on the path to recovery was when my sister Ruth said something like the following: It doesn’t matter what you do to me, I will still love you. Through all the pain I heard this magnificent act of love and my healing journey began.

So using my formulae of writing about the subject on the page I open, on page 94 is the heading: LOVE HELPS PROCESS PAIN, INSTEAD OF AVOIDING IT.

What a radical idea, and how has the world processed pain over the centuries, let’s have a look:

1. All we have to do is talk to our mothers and the pain they go through at the conception of their beloved children. Very few choose to continue the suffering as soon as they see the bundle of joy that has arrived into their lives.

2. The old giving the power over to another trick, this works in the area of love too. Self love is self-responsibility: Who Says.

3. As with my experience, and also Nicole’s recovery takes a long time, and there are no physical signs that you are “ill” so often people make the assumption that all is well far too early.

4. All that efforting to not worry your dear ones that there is nothing wrong. What is we could use that energy to actually express our true feelings of pain and sadness and get the help we truly need: Stronger.

5. I love this outlook on the use of words : “I choose to choose few words each day. Yes! few words that count. Few words that can make impact. Few words that talk much. Few words that can make people ponder to wonder. Few words that are indelible. Few words that can leave distinctive footprints on minds. Though we may fail to mind our words, we shall never fail to mind the works of our words.” by Ernest Agyemang Yeboah.

6. What you cannot feel you cannot take care of – a revolutionary thought in our instant gratification driven society: Feelings.

7. As neither is an excellent life, you must deal with it all, the dark and the light, the pain and the joy, etc., etc.

8. Known as possibly the world’s greatest artist who suffered severe bouts of depression Vincent speaks to how being over zealous can have counter effects to what you are seeking: Vincent.

9. A question that we can answer about very few of the 7 billion humans on the planet. We come to most of our relationships with our box of what it will be well in place.

10. We need to build a bridge to get over and out of these situations: Bridge Over Troubled Water.

11. And they are out there, we just must make that journey.

12. I can write the words, but have great difficulty shedding tears, how are you with doing it: Teardrops.

13.

Dale Harbison Carnegie spelled Carnagey until 1922 was an American writer and lecturer and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. Born into poverty on a farm in Missouri, he was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936), a bestseller that remains popular today. He also wrote How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1948), Lincoln the Unknown (1932), and several other books.

One of the core ideas in his books is that it is possible to change other people’s behavior by changing one’s behavior toward them.

14. The pain of flashback, when we tell ourselves we are over him or her, but each time we see a reminder it comes back in all its glory: Papa Was a Rolling Stone.

15. All of it, The light and the dark, really!!!

Nicole makes three points in the chapter:

Hold people in their pain, rather than rescuing them. When we are the hero. others become the victim.
Endings are always followed by beautiful beginnings.
The key is to celebrate the growth, rather than wallow in the loss.

It’s a special ove when you love someone enough to be with them in their pain, instead of trying to save them from their pain. To save someone from their pain is to rob them of a deeper connection to love. Allowing them their darker experiences whilst supporting them to work through them is the ultimate gift you can give somebody.

The playlist for this blog is truly a blast from the past. It begins in our current century with Selena Gomez and Kelly Clarkson but then retreats to the time of flares and quirky dancing with Andy Williams, Don Mclean, Simon and Garfunkel, Womack and Womack peaking with a Temptations classic. Here is the Youtube playlist for your listening pleasure: LIfe Is a Brief Intermission.

Namaste until next time we meet, my dear friends.

Find Joy In The Ordinary!!!

Posted on July 24, 2018 by Rod's World

It takes courage to open ourselves up to joy. Joy is possibly the most vulnerable emotion we experience in our life. Young children are great at it, society soon deals with this by sending them off to the structure of formalised education where joy is not cool anymore.

Brene Brown calls this being trained in foreboding joy, beating vulnerability to the punch by imagining the worst or feeling nothing in hopes that the other shoe won’t drop. One way both Brene and I suggest around this is to feel gratitude, moment to moment for your ordinary life. Not wishing that it was different to what it is at this exact moment. This doesn’t mean having no dreams or goals, it means being deeply grateful for the progress you have made so far in your life.

So how does the world talk about Joy, let’s skip down that path together:

1. Time to break out the Gumboots/Wellies. Remember those rainsoaked paths of your childhood and how long it took to walk down them as each puddle became a new adventure.

2. Commenting on his imprisonment Nelson Mandela stated I went on a long holiday for 27 years. How many of us could retain our joy for that incredible amount of time: Nelson Mandela.

3. We need both kinds – The dark and the light in the recipe that makes up joyfulness.

4. This quote makes me think of the joy of being loved: Perfect.

5. Freely Interdependent exuberance – Orgasmic!!

6. And what brings Joy to your life? Being in Action: Confident.

7. No regrets, please.

8. Dumbledore is a very wise wizard, after all, he ran Hogwarts: Turn On The Lights.

9. How does the Universe speak to you? If not joyfully time to reboot it.

10. What will be on your tombstone? For me, my definition of Interculturalism: Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included: Nessun Dorma.

11. We are born free, what happens?

12. Love this beautiful list of life: The Joy of Life.

13. I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I,I, I, I.

14. Smell the Roses: English Country Garden.

15. His real name is Rolihlaha Mandela……his teacher gave him the name Nelson! His name means troublemaker.

To seek out moments of collective joy and to show up for moments of collective pain, e have to be brave. This means we have to be vulnerable. Brene Brown, in her 200,000 plus pieces of research couldn’t find a single example of courage that did not require vulnerability. Can you, In Your Life?

Today’s playlist contains the first Operatic song I have chosen, we begin with The Special, followed by the uber pairing of Ed Sheeran and Beyonce. Then a pop diva in Demi Lovato by the rapper Future. Then comes our operatic number with Pavarotti, then off to the Emerald Isle with The Corrs, finishing off with a quirky ditty from Jimmy Rodgers. Here is the Youtube Playlist for your viewing pleasure: Find Joy In The Ordinary.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Headphones On, World Off!!

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Rod's World

I am reading Brene browns new book, Braving the Wilderness: Brene’s Website. Using my formulae of writing about what is on the page I open the book too, today we are discussing the rise of loneliness amongst our society. Sorting, or living and hanging around with people who hold the same beliefs as you have become more prevalent: in the American 2016 election 80 per cent of counties gave either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton a landslide victory. In 1980, 20 per cent of American reported they were lonely; the figure is double that now.

This seems counterproductive, sorting and loneliness. If we are living in a like-minded community, shouldn’t we naturally feel like we belong? In her book, Brene quotes neuroscience researcher John Cacioppo of the University of Chicago who has been studying loneliness for over 20 years. He defines loneliness as “perceived social isolation” and states we feel loneliness when we feel disconnected. At the heart of loneliness is the absence of meaningful social interactions —- an intimate relationship, friendships, family gatherings, or even community or workgroup connections.

So, what does society have to say about the state of loneliness? There were many negative quotes, but I have chosen to stay with the more positive aspects of loneliness:

1. Rocker philosopher Henry Rollins paints a beautiful scene with his words on the matter. How great is the term “A Special Burn”.

2. Can’t quite make out the name of who said this, but how many times have we curled up in life to our favourite tracks hoping that they will make the pain of loneliness go away: Perfect.

3. During my Mental Health crisis of six years, this thought was always in the background.

4. On this walk, you get to realise that it is you who has to make the final decision, alone or not: You’ll Never Walk Alone.

5. Two words – Self Love.

6. How we define a situation can clearly give it a different meaning: Solitude.

7. For those who have suffered the abuse, we wish didn’t exist on our planet.

8. Some people use escapism to get away from it: Time After Time.

9. There is someone I am hoping is thinking this at the moment.

10. John Steinbeck wrote this quote. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature” for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception.” He has been called “a giant of American letters,” and many of his works are considered classics of Western literature: Precious Things.

11. We assume that our life will remain the same, change is the reality.

12. Carl Jung knew that speaking up was the solution to loneliness. Time to make some requests: Don’t Speak.

13. I was not a hugger for 59 of my 64 years. They work.

14. Time to reach out when Satre’s prognosis is in place: Bad Company.

15. Find the Others.

Here are the final remarks from an interview between Bill Moyers and Maya Angelou:

Moyers: Do you belong anywhere?

Angelou: I haven’t yet.

Moyers: Do you belong to anyone?

Angelou: More and more. I mean. I belong to myself. I’m very proud of that. I am very concerned about how I look at Maya. I like Maya very much. I like the humour and courage very much. And when I find myself acting in a way that isn’t…that doesn’t please me—then I have to deal with that.

Today’s playlist begins with pop icon Ed Sheeran, then we fly back to the 1960’s with Jerry and the Pacemakers. Even further back to Billie Holliday. Then three fine female singers: Clare Danes, Bic Runga and No Doubt. One of the classic English rock bands Bad Company brings it to a close. Here’s the video playlist: Headphones On, World Off.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Nature is Fine, but Human Nature is Finer!!

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Rod's World

Humans and Connection, what we search for on an ongoing and daily basis. All elements of society have shifted profoundly in my lifetime. Almost all of them have shifted in one direction – away from the normal and directly towards the weird.

These words come from Seth Godin’s little masterpiece of a book, We are All Weird, The Rise of Tribes and the end of Normal. He states that Creation is amplified: Publish a book or sell a painting or customise your car or design a house – whatever your passion, it’s easier to do it, it’s faster to do it, and it’s more likely that (part of) the world will notice what you do. The ability to reach and change those around you has been changed forever by the connections of the Internet and the fact that anyone, anywhere can publish to the world.

Seth also says that because you can find others who share your interests, weird is perversely becoming more normal, at least in the small tribes that we’re now congregating in. The community you choose can be a mirror and an amplifier, furthering your interests and encouraging you to push even further. The internet connects and protects the weird bt connecting and amplifying their tribes.

So how have we looked at human connection over the decades, here’s a few quotes that give us some idea:

1. I am in a program called the Warriors of Love. We recently looked at Resonance, when you are at your lowest, what you need is the above, not statements like Just Do It.

2. Brene is such a genius in these areas, A state that will always be part of my journey until they put me in the ground: Courage, Compassion and Connection.

3. I am so glad that I have recently found several events that are based on people meeting in a circle and sharing their stories with each other. This is a profound way to break through the fear people have of others knowing who we really are when the masks have been removed.

4. Married to one of the worlds wealthiest men, Melinda and Bill have discovered that making more money a second than some countries do does not fulfil you, your connectedness with others on the planet is where the inspiration comes from: Better Place.

5. And a little more from Melinda on the power of human connection.

6. Taking time to commune with the power of nature adds to our ability to connect to the 7 billion inhabitants that hang around on her: Earth Song.

7. Animals seem to like hanging out with each other. They do not analyse why they love each other as nearly as much as the human race.

8. Viktor Emil Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist as well as a Holocaust survivor. His best-selling book Man’s Search for Meaning (published under a different title in 1959: From Death-Camp to Existentialism, and initially released in 1946 as Trotzdem Ja Zum Leben Sagen: Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager, meaning Nevertheless, Say “Yes” to Life: A Psychologist Experiences the Concentration Camp) chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate, which led him to discover the importance of finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most brutal ones, and thus, a reason to continue living: Survival.

9. To me beautiful art does not necessarily mean paint on canvas, it can be words, hugs, baking, servitude, many different things.

10. AKA, you and I are unique: Human.

11. It’s the moment when you find the answer to contentment isn’t just internal or external but a balance of both.

12. Who makes up the people in your life, category one or two: Delicate.

13. The Pet Owners eulogy.

14. From the loinclothed one, comes an excellent point as to what it takes to make the world an unwelcome place: What a Wonderful World.

15. Amit Ray teaches the importance of integrating yoga, mindfulness and positive approach towards life. His words and teachings are popular and inspire people across the world. Regarding yoga, he says that yoga is not a religion. It is a science, science of well-being, the science of youthfulness, the science of integrating body, mind and soul. He advocates for creating peace and positive vibration on earth. He emphasises that it does not matter how long we are spending on earth, or how much money we have gathered or how much attention we have received. According to him, it is the amount of positive vibration we have radiated in life that matters. He emphasises the value of family. According to Amit, there is no better example for a child than a caring mother and a dignified father.

Only wealthy organisms are able to culturally diversify, and as human beings get richer and more productive, our instinct is to get even weirder. As productivity has skyrocketed, so has our ability to do what we’d like instead of merely focusing on survival. Standing out takes, time, money and confidence. More of us have all three now.

The playlist today begins with some excellent insight from Brene Brown, then a pop diva in Rachel Platten. Michael Jackson delivers one of his more obscure numbers, then an explicit number from Eminem. The beautiful voices of Rag and Bone Man and Taylor Swift follow ending off with Louis Armstrong. Here’s the Youtube playlist: Nature is Fine, But Human Nature is Finer.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

You Will Not Know How Powerful You Are!!

Posted on July 12, 2018 by Rod's World

Often when we talk about helping poor communities, we’re actually working not to save a life but to offer more choices. That’s how we improve our well-being – by enabling choice.

The above statement is from Seth Godin’s inspiring little book: We Are All Weird: The Rise of Tribes and The End of Normal: Link to Buy It. I like the testimonials – “This is a book about giving a damn. It’s about caring about what you do and (as important) who you do it for. Professional apathy is a relic of a dead era and, as Seth teaches brilliantly, a mentality you cling to at great peril. Everyone with a pulse and a paycheck should be living, We Are All Weird – Chris Taylor, founder, Actionablebooks.com.

But it is Sherold Barr’s testimonial, who describe themselves as a Master Coach and Freedom Fighter that impressed me the most: “This book will resonate with anyone who wants to lead a tribe, be authentic, dance to the beat of their own music, and make a difference in the world. If your inner critic (the resistance) has been telling you that you are not enough, your work is not good enough, and who do you think you are to make a difference then buy this book. Let your freak flag fly high.”

So how does the world present enabling choice? It actually goes to many places and here are some of them:

1. How often do we forget that the person we must first enable is the one looking back at us in the mirror?

2. Rosemary Edghill (born 1956) is an American writer and editor. Some of her work has appeared under her original name, eluki bes shahar (lower case intentional). Her primary genres are science fiction and fantasy, but she began by writing Regency romance novels. The publishers of her first novel felt that “Eluki Bes Shahar” (her legal name at the time) sounded insufficiently English to attract readers, so she adopted the pen-name Rosemary Edghill, which became her legal name in 2004. Not really an enabling choice when you think about it: Choice.

3. Relationship experts say that choice has nothing to do with who you fall in love with. I think that is what this quote is pointing out. Our heart doesn’t seem very logical at the time.

4. Those people that are no longer in your life for an excellent reason, they didn’t stay around long enough to discover how truly valuable you were: Don’t Give Up

5. Victor Hugo is the poet my brother took his new name from when he changed his given name to create a new identity.

6. It’s the behaviour that rankles, stopping one person will not cease the violence committed against women by men. Its behavioural change that is required not naming the perpetrators: Bon Appetit.

7. It’s become less and less that I wake up these days thinking of the opposite of this.

8. You can choose to make a difference with your life or not, really, really, truly: Where’s The Love.

9. A title like Chief Executive Officer does not make you a leader, try Nobel Peace Prize Winner or something in that ilk.

10. Sammy Davis Junior rose to the top of the entertainment tree in America at a time when African Americans had to sit at the back of the bus in most states, he had a commitment: Mr Bojangles.

11. How often has it been said a particular person had the ability, but that person never chose to utilise it. That’s why it is the people who make the tough choices rise to the top.

12. One may say, impossible, because they have to want to, you can not make them do it: Tough Lover.

13. In psychotherapy and mental health, enabling has a positive sense of empowering individuals or a negative sense of encouraging dysfunctional behaviour. One must choose to give up the latter definition and allow the person to do what they need to so they can move forward.

14. Don’t be forced into a hasty decision, what occurs in your life is your choice, not others. Unfortunately, I think 90% of the human race forget this at times: Thinking Out Loud.

15. If you are making no decisions in your life there is nothing that is important to achieve, so how can your day to day actions be significant?

Today, some people can make a living as painters or professional bowlers or even poets. There are ten million households with a net worth of more than a million dollars. And there are millions (perhaps a billion) people who make enough money from their day job that they’re able to pursue something they enjoy with their spare time. More and more often, the thing they enjoy is something weird. Choice is what we choose.

The playlist begins with Bollywood superstars Miss Pooja and Manjit Rupowalia, followed by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush with one of the great duets. Kate Perry adds some Pop Diva, then the Black Eyed Peas sing a sultry number before Sammy Davis Junior takes us back to another era. Christine Aguilera and Ed Sheeran close out the list: You Will Not Know How Powerful You Are.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Never, Never, Never Give Up.

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Rod's World

Back to Marc and Angel Chernoff’s iconic first book: 1000+ Little Things Happy Successful People Do Differently. Using the write about what is on the page you open on theory today we discuss the 11 things Everyone needs you to know. They are:

You never really know how much the people around you are hurting.
The most important trip you will likely take in life is meeting others halfway.
Relationships don’t create happiness, they reflect it.
Compassion comes back around.
Timing is Everything.
Actions are the loudest form of Communication.
A loving relationship creates freedom and abundance.
People are more of what they keep silent than what they say.
What others say and do is often based entirely on their own self-reflection.
Sincerity is giving without expectation.
Not every relationship is meant to last forever.

So what do you need to know to support those people who pop up in your life, here are 15 ways that we can do that:

1. The way through to growth is through education, finding out what you don’t know and getting out there and learning it, begin today.

2. Do you know your place in your communities, your family, your friendships, a worthwhile practice to take on daily: Somebody I Used To Know.

3. On a need to know basis this is quite useful.

4. Is a riskless life worth living? Not for this little black duck:

5. What are your wants, mine is to see the world live from the paradigm – Love and Respect for All, Everyone Included.

6. A worthwhile thing to stick on your fridge: Learn to Fly.

7. What you need to know it is your actions not what you say that makes the difference.

8. I was just curious what this pack of extraordinary looking people needed to know by being at Stonehenge: Mr Curiosity.

9. Very salient for point eleven – Not every relationship is meant to last forever.

10. Left the is out, they did, love the grace in it though: Grace Live.

11. Now let’s get to the juicy details. The lunula can reveal important secrets about your health. For instance, a smaller lunula can indicate anemia or malnutrition. Also, a small one might indicate indigestion from a slow metabolism. If it is blue-coloured, this lunula could indicate diabetes. And if it is tinted red, it might indicate signs of heart disease.

12. There are over 7 billion versions of this reality on the planet. You may not agree with quite a few of them: Happier.

13. I have many “tree” friends, I love them for what they provide in my life:

14. At Dancing Eros for Men last night we changed the life of our priestesses by honouring them with a ceremony from the heart – we also gave them flowers: Believe.

15. Find your passion and you will never work another day in your life and you will not need to take holidays to recover.

Love doesn’t close the door against all that is good, that’s a little practice the human race came up with. How can you reverse the situation on your life in practical terms?

The playlist today begins with Gotye’s breakout hit, then the sultry Miley Cyrus, followed by some rock from Foo Fighters, Then a group of boys – Jason Mraz, Jeff Buckley, Ed Sheeran finishing off with Mumford and Sons. here’s the link to the Youtube playlist, music is better with pictures: Never, Never, Never Give Up.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends:

Three Things that Can No Longer Be Hidden!!

Posted on June 25, 2018 by Rod's World

I was saddened when Debbie Ford died in 2013, I loved her work, it was so insightful. I recently found her book: The Dark Side of the Light Chasers – Reclaiming your Power, Creativity, Brilliance and Dreams in one of my cupboards. I opened it to page 68 and the following paragraph caught my attention: “Unconcealing is the first step of the shadow process. Unconcealing requires rigorous honesty and willingness to see what you haven’t been able to see. Acknowledgment of our shadow self-begins the process of integration and healing. Remember that each of these “negative’ traits has a positive gift for you, more value than you can even imagine. It’s only a matter of doing the work, and in a short while you’ll receive the blessings of wholeness, happiness and freedom.”

She still has a fine website dedicated to her work: The Gifts of Debbie Ford., you get a free audio if you sign up, her work is worth it. on the next page there are about 200 shadow words, here are just a few: Greedy, liar, phony, cheap, hateful, jealous, vindictive, controlling, nasty, possessive, bitchy, wimp, evil, geek, prudish, womanizer, slut, angry, secretive, codependent, predator, alcoholic, drug addict disgusting stupid,idiot, fearful, unconscious: that’s enough, you will have to buy the book if you want the whole list.

So why don’t we unconceal our shadows and dive deep into them to allow them to be healed by bringing them to the fore, the best way I have found to achieve this is through presencing them in your body, mind work does not do it for me anymore.

Let’s have a look at some quotes on the subject of unconcealing our lives:

1. As Byron Katie says, do the work, it’s the only way.

2. Don’t know if I agree with the first line, perhaps in Donald Trump: You’re so Vain.

3. And this is one area in our lives that what we don’t unconceal can have terrible costs, please reveal your sacred love stories to each other.

4. These rules will help you unconceal the areas you don’t do it, because with the light comes the shadow: Fight the Power.

5. Myrtle Reed was an American author, poet, journalist, and philanthropist. She wrote a number of bestsellers and even published a series of cookbooks under the pseudonym Olive Green.

6. Art, when unconcealed centuries later, reveals a lot about the cultures that have gone before us: Art for Art’s Sake.

7. Having appreciated Rodin’s The Thinker sculptor for time immemorial love this quote re unconcealing our naked form.

8. I have cried three times in my life since my baby days, one of them was when I was watching a tearjerking episode of Apple’s Way, a cheesy 1970’s TV show, go figure: Hello.

9. As is a man.

10. Have you unconcealed your commitment to service, it comes when you get to realise that life on earth isn’t satisfying when its all about you: People Help The People.

11. Beautiful image, time to unconceal the Universe, my friends.

12. Putting in Isha brings up Esha Gupta, an insanely beautiful Indian Bollywood Actress, arguments get the matter dealt with: Zombie.

13. Think Donald in the U.S.A, Malcolm and Peter in Australia, Recep in Turkey, Bashar in Syria.

14. Drisi is a young woman from India who describes herself as a bibliophile and a learning enthusiast, It’s great she is featured in Google images: Love Yourself.

15. And finally, Unconceal the wild woman and man within you and unhide the love for yourself.

At the end of the demonstrative list of negatives is the following exercise and insight: “Imagine that an article was written about you in your local newspaper. What are the five things you would not want to be said about you? Write them down. Now try to imagine five things they could say about you that wouldn’t matter to you at all. the question is. are the first five things true and the second five untrue? Or, have you decided with the help of your family and friends that the first five things are the wrong thing to be, therefore you do not want them said about you? We must uncover what is behind these words, so we can take back these disowned parts of ourselves.

Write down the judgements you have about each of these words. See if you can identify when you first made that judgement or whom you took that judgement from. Was it your father, mother or another family member? I’m sure this excercise will unconceal enough to start the transformation, its a worthwhile book to get to have the entire list.

The Playlist today begins with the 1970’s icon Carly Simon, then some grit from Public Enemy, a classic from Ten CC, A massive hit from Adele, Birdy follows with a plaintive plea, some Indie Rock by the Cranberries finishing with Hailee Steinfeld who appeared in the last playlist. Here’s the link: Playlist for Today.

Namaste until next we meet, dear friends.