Where we Wrong?

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Rod's World

Today I wrote on reconciliation. In our country there is a call for reconciliation to recognise the indigenous people who are not recognised in our constitution. There is one slight problem, most of the indigenous people don’t want reconciliation they want a treaty that recognises the fact the land was stolen off them.

This has caused much division, in the area where I live there is a call to change the name of the local electorate from Batman, named after explorer John Batman to recognising our indigenous people, the Wurrundjeri.

Batman is a controversial figure due to his dealings with Aboriginal peoples in Van Diemen’s Land/ AKA Tasmania and Victoria. The artist John Glover, Batman’s neighbour in Van Diemens Land, said Batman was “a rogue, thief, cheat and liar, a murderer of blacks and the vilest man I have ever known”.

The treaty Batman negotiated with local Aboriginal peoples in 1835, to acquire land in the Port Phillip area, was a matter of controversy in his day, and has remained an event of great historical interest and debate.

So what does the world say about reconciliation and is it essential that it occurs for the soul of the earth to be restored. Lets begin out journey:

1. Actually Thich Nhat Hanh, this beautiful man has been a peace and reconciliation activist since the days of the Vietnam War. He was interviewed by Oprah, a bit long but worthwhile: The Interview.

2. Recognised as one of the greatest peace activists on his release, he was originally jailed for being a guerrilla, he set up the famous truth and reconciliation commission after the end of apartheid so that chaos did not break out and that a new future could be created in South Africa.

3. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, was a Spanish writer who is widely regarded as the greatest writer in that language and one of the world’s pre-eminent novelists. What do you think he means by this statement?

4. It is said that we outgrow people but what about those times we made somebody wrong for what they said or did. I recently made up with a person who had been one of my dearest friends. My heart sung after I did it.

5. What if we could restore all the broken hearts we suffered in our life, would the world occur differently, fuck yeah!!

6. Nelson again, putting it in our faces. South African Songs

7. Practical action, Fraser was the last Liberal Party Prime Minister to practise Keynesian economics. In retirement, Fraser became involved in international relief and humanitarian aid issues and, domestically, as a forthright liberal voice for human rights. Shortly after Tony Abbott won the 2009 Liberal Party leadership spill, Fraser ended his Liberal Party membership, stating the party was “no longer a liberal party but a conservative party”.

8. In Victory someone usually loses, Reconciliation tends to be the opposite where both parties obtain what they desire.

9. García Márquez started as a journalist, and wrote many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is best known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975), and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularising a literary style labelled as magic realism, which uses magical elements and events in otherwise ordinary and realistic situations. Some of his works are set in a fictional village called Macondo (the town mainly inspired by his birthplace Aracataca), and most of them explore the theme of solitude. This powerful statement speaks to the gift of reconciliation.

10. The Fonz from the sitcom Happy Days could not say these words. How much pain has our inability to say them caused us? In my case quite a bit.

11. Have you ever met someone you keep running into in the most unusual situations. I saw one of these people on a TV program the other day.

12. Brother Roger was awarded the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 1988 and wrote many books on prayer and reflection, asking young people to be confident in God and committed to their local church community and to humanity. He also wrote books about Christian spirituality and prayer, some together with Mother Teresa with whom he shared a cordial friendship. A springtime to the Soul sounds like a wonderful place to hang out in. Leonard Cohen has a wistful song about reconciliation : Amen.

13. South Africa’s other great peace activist, Desmond Tutu calls us out that forgiveness and reconciliation are real things we need to take action on. Tutu’s admirers see him as a great man who, since the demise of apartheid, has been active in the defence of human rights and uses his high profile to campaign for the oppressed. He has campaigned to fight HIV/AIDS,tuberculosis, poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984; the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986; the Pacem in Terris Award in 1987; the Sydney Peace Prize in 1999; the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2007; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. He has also compiled several books of his speeches and sayings.

14. The great Chinese philosopher Unknown asks us to walk powerfully on the earth, so do I.

15. And we must never forget the magical powers of the Unicorn of Reconciliation, they can help heal the world.

I believe that we can heal the planet through reconciliation, not with just fellow human beings, but the other animals and the plants as well.

Namaste until next time , my dear friends.

Do they really love us and can they talk?

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Rod's World

I am back on the air. After washing my phone and not having access to my verification codes to do an article for several weeks I have my beloved I phone 6 back. I saw an elderly woman walking her beloved pooch this morning on my walk to work, she was dressed in black so I assume that her beloved had passed and that her little white poodle filled her heart in the physical sense at least.

This made me think as a pet-less one, putting me in the minority in my country, 63% of households have one, 40% dogs and 23% cats and probably like my sister Ruth having both ,what it is that pets fulfil in people lives.

I tried not to choose 15 images of cats and dogs, but they are definitely the favourite, so lets go on our journey about the love between the furry ones and their two-legged friends who bizarrely think they are the masters.

1. I never got into pet ownership as a child due to our family having several disasters occur. Dog poisonings, pigeon fox attacks etc. etc. I would enjoy the company of a cat but my lease says nada to that.

2. I am in-laws to a cat and a dog, Suki and Lhasa. How much attention Suki gets my brother in law said once that he wants to come back as her next time around to receive the attention that my sister pours on her. Lhasa is an old cat who rules the roost.

3. Unknown must secretly be a dog or a cat. This speaks so strongly about the bond between the pets and their owners that I know. This song by Patti Page does also : How much is that Doggie in the Window.

4. Those nights watching our favourite life’s a little bit hard at the moment” with our beloved moggie or puppy are so, so special.

5. One knows that as soon as you begin cuddling or patting yours or someones pet you next half an hour has just been taken up.

6. This is the contract you take on with an animal, are you ready for it?

7. I just had to put this one in, it’s funny and explains some of their cuter expressions.

8. Research shows that hugging (and also laughter) is extremely effective at healing sickness, disease, loneliness, depression, anxiety and stress. Research shows a proper deep hug, where the hearts are pressing together, can benefit you in these ways:

1. The nurturing touch of a hug builds trust and a sense of safety

2. Hugs can instantly boost oxytocin levels, which heal feelings of loneliness, isolation, and anger.

3. Holding a hug for an extended time lifts one’s serotonin levels, elevating mood and creating happiness.

4. Hugs strengthen the immune system. The gentle pressure on the sternum and the emotional charge this creates activates the Solar Plexus Chakra. This stimulates the thymus gland, which regulates and balances the body’s production of white blood cells, which keep you healthy and disease free.

5. Hugging boosts self-esteem. From the time we’re born our family’s touch shows us that we’re loved and special. The associations of self-worth and tactile sensations from our early years are still embedded in our nervous system as adults. The cuddles we received from our Mom and Dad while growing up remain imprinted at a cellular level, and hugs remind us at a somatic level of that. Hugs, therefore, connect us to our ability to self love.

6. Hugging relaxes muscles. Hugs release tension in the body. Hugs can take away pain; they soothe aches by increasing circulation into the soft tissues.

7. Hugs balance out the nervous system. The galvanic skin response of someone receiving and giving a hug shows a change in skin conductance. The effect in moisture and electricity in the skin suggests a more balanced state in the nervous system – parasympathetic.

8. Hugs teach us how to give and receive. There is equal value in receiving and being receptive to warmth, as to giving and sharing. Hugs educate us how love flows both ways.

9. Hugs are so much like meditation and laughter. They teach us to let go and be present in the moment. They encourage us to flow with the energy of life. Hugs get you out of your circular thinking patterns and connect you with your heart and your feelings and your breath.

10. The energy exchange between the people hugging is an investment in the relationship. It encourages empathy and understanding. And, it’s synergistic, which means the whole is more than the sum of its parts: 1 1 = 3 or more! This synergy is more likely to result in win-win outcomes.

9. Did the philosophiser Immanuel Kant creator of I think, therefore I am also come up with this classic statement about the human part of the partnership of animal and owner?

10. I’m sure most pet owners have nightmares about this. Cat Stevens would like you to sing you a song : I love my Dog!!.

11. James Alfred “Alf” Wight, OBE, FRCVS (3 October 1916 – 23 February 1995), known by the pen name James Herriot, was a British veterinary surgeon and writer, who used his many years of experiences as a veterinary surgeon to write a series of books each consisting of stories about animals and their owners. He is best known for these semi-autobiographical works, beginning with All Creatures Great and Small in 1972. The British television series adapted from the books is also titled All Creatures Great and Small.

12. My nephew was afraid of dogs for many a year after hearing a German shepherd bark for an extended period of time. Many things can cause phobias towards our furred ones. What would you name your snail?

13. Not always the most logical creatures, are they. Just tricksters at heart really.

14. Cutest animal picture of the blog, and best quote as well.

15. How could I look at this photo and not think of Michael Jackson’s first hit: Ben.

Being one of the 37% minority in my country who do not do this I feel I am close to having the illegal cat. We spend close to 1 billion dollars a year on our furry creatures and they love us for it.

Namaste until next time , my dear friends.

Are you telling a great Story?

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Rod's World

My friend Emeli has chosen Stories as the theme of her next workshop, based on stories can carry us, or break us: Collective Potential. At different times in our lives we listen to different stories, some empowering , others that take us to the depths of despair. What is it that has us choose to stop listening to the empowering ones? I have a friend who never seems to do this , he says he does it by concentrating on living in the moment.

There are many varieties of quotes that relate to our stories, I think I have chosen wisely in the 15 I have selected today, let us begin our journey.

1. Delicious ambiguity, what a beautiful term. Add some zest to your life by not knowing what the next moment is going to be.

2. What were your favourite kids stories, I liked Charlie Brown. Sir Terence David John “Terry” Pratchett, OBE was an English author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his Discworld series of 41 novels. Pratchett’s first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971; after the first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, he wrote two books a year on average. His 2011 Discworld novel Snuff was at the time of its release the third-fastest-selling hardback adult-readership novel since records began in the UK, selling 55,000 copies in the first three days. His final Discworld novel, The Shepherd’s Crown, was published in August 2015, five months after his death.

3. That voice in your head speak in words like I am and I always. The stories of our life link us, such as I have two sisters Ruth and Jann and an older brother Hugo. Christina Baldwin is founder of , Peerspirit.com living on our planet with Nature powerfully.

4. As young children we have imaginary friends, believe in Unicorns and the fae. Society seems to delight in suppressing these as we grow older. Terry Prachett speaks to those of us that survive this.

5. My writing teacher Catherine Deveny, The Dev says you should always be truthful in your words. then you don’t have to remember what you said or wrote, because it is the truth.

6. 7 billion of them, each unique. Make it as good a one as it can be.

7. This to me is a Sacred Story from a life of Sacred love.

8. Perfectionism is the booby prize, how do you enjoy the journey?

9. Memories are often written in a song – some Elvis : Memories.

10. Neil Gaiman gave one of the most inspirational commencement speeches ever about making some art, its long but worth the time : Make some Art.

11. Putting Yellow stickies on our fridges to express our feelings to our beloved, a noble past time.

12. Sacred Love – to be told or tell someone I Love You and realising that It never has to be said again but that it will for the rest of their lives.

13. Terry Prachett again. Who is going to write your story, moi or someone else?

14. ANNA QUINDLEN is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, nonfiction, and self-help bestseller lists. She is the author of eight novels: Object Lessons, One True Thing, Black and Blue, Blessings, Rise and Shine, Every Last One, Still Life with Bread Crumbs, and Miller’s Valley. Her memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, published in 2012, was a number one New York Times bestseller. Her book A Short Guide to a Happy Life has sold more than a million copies. While a columnist at The New York Times she won the Pulitzer Prize and published two collections, Living Out Loud and Thinking Out Loud. Her Newsweek columns were collected in Loud and Clear. She loves London : Streets of London.

15. A reminder for number 15. Only you can remember how you see the world, so tell those stories proudly. You are a divine being.

Remember behind every favourite song, there is an untold story. Please tell your Sacred stories.

Namaste until next time my dear friends.

The Quality of Happiness!!

Posted on May 30, 2016 by Rod's World

I chose this subject because I have begun reading Luminita Saviuc’s AKA the Purpose Fairy’s 15 Things you should give up in order to be Happy. Luminita had been faithfully writing her blog when this particular one received over one million hits.

What fascinates people about being happy? it is the most popular answer when we are asked what do we want in life and one of the most common things sung about, remember the iconic song by Pharrell Williams : Happy!!

There are thousands of words that have appeared on happiness quotes over the centuries and I have chosen some featuring the word and others that point to it for our journey down our happiness trail: Let’s begin.

1. There are many forms of happy throughout the word, possible 7,000,000,000 of them as we are all unique individuals.

2. Have you been told you are gorgeous today? There, I bet that put a smile on your face.

3. Will I listen to one of my 30,000 – 98 days worth of music on my Itunes, watch a Netflix documentary or read one of my favourite Brian Johnson’s Philosophers Notes, you have the ability to choose to do what makes you happy moment to moment, it is not in the hand of others.

4. Sorry for spilling it everywhere, with happiness comes awesomeness.

5. Mandy Hale is affectionately known as The Single Woman TM around the world. In just over two years, Mandy has garnered a massive Twitter following of a half a million people from across the globe. With a heart to inspire single women to live their best lives and to never, ever settle, Mandy cuts to the heart of the matter with her inspirational, straight-talking, witty, and often wildly humorous take on life and love.

6. Is it kosher to put another list in the middle of an existing list? I’m not sure but it’s a great list.

7. Lots of films on happiness are made with a magical happy ending. Methinks they have forgotten the main gist of life.

8. Too much thinking, that’s what my brain used to say to me during my mental health period. Luckily I discovered the work of Arion Light : The Activation School. This has allowed me to make this a possibility in my life.

9. Don’t be burgled by this, stay Happy.

10. Johny Cash agreed by covering this classic song : You are My Sunshine.

11. One of the world’s greatest philosophers, Unknown points out the pleasure of dancing in the rain : Too much fun, We’re so Happy.‘

12. Ben is an author and psychologist, he was widely known for his syndicated column, “The Marriage Clinic,” and for his many books, including I WILL, and I CAN.

He was active on the West Coast as a consulting psychologist and was much sought after as a lecturer throughout the states.

He’s best-known books are:
* Haste Rico Mientras Duermes/Become rich while you sleep (published by Editorial Sirio, Dec 1996)
* I Can (published by Wilshire Book Company, May 1985)
* I Will (Dec 1978)
* Grow Rich While You Sleep (Dec 1976)
* I Will The Art of Discovering Life’s Riches Gracefully (published by Prentice-Hall Inc, 1961)
* I Can! the Key to Life’s Golden Secrets (published by Cadillac Publishing Co. Jan 1955)

13. Austin O’Malley was brave enough to write a book entitled The Cure for Alcoholism, unfortunately for society it wasn’t a big seller. I’m not sure what he means here but I think it means to live a quiet life.

14. Cute quote photo of the blog, not sure I fully agree with this as I add service to happiness.

15. Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist,tax resister, development critic, surveyor, and historian. A leading transcendentalist,Thoreau is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay Resistance to Civil Government (also known as Civil Disobedience), an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. I love the beauty of this quote, Thoreau certainly lived it out in his busy life.

As I meander down the annals of time, I find I have more not less to be happy in my life about, to travel the journey with a smile on my face.

Namaste until next time, my dear friends.

Gratitude, Kindness Given!!

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Rod's World

Is it a two way thing or something that is ultra personal? I have found from participating in a new Facebook group that it appears to be more of a two way thing: Daily Gratitude Space. The over 600 members of this group post a diverse range of things they are grateful for, from their family and friends, their favourite foods and such simple things as a sunny day or a walk in the bush.

People comment on each others postings and are often moved to put down what it reminds them of, a two way street. How does the world hold the power of gratitude, in the 15 quotes chosen there is a range from nearly no words to quite a lot. Lets begin the journey.

1. You can be happy about being an utter bastard, but I can’t imagine it lasting that long. If you give your daily thanks to others it increases more and more in your life.

2. John Fitzgerald “Jack” Kennedy, commonly referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. The Cuban Missile Crisis, The Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the establishment of the Peace Corps, developments in the Space Race, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Trade Expansion Act to lower tariffs, the Civil Rights Movement, the “New Frontier” domestic program, and abolition of the federal death penalty in the District of Columbia all took place during his presidency. Kennedy also avoided any significant increase in the American presence in Vietnam, refusing to commit combat troops and keeping the level of others, mostly military advisors, to only 16,000, compared to the 536,000 troops committed by his successor, Lyndon Johnson, by 1968. I’m sure the thousands of troops he did not send to Vietnam were grateful that he lived by his in his short life.

3. A beautiful Mind-map of things we could be possibly grateful for on a daily basis.

4. I posted a quote that said focus on your opportunities not your problems. I got a reply from a friend who said she enjoy talking about her problems with friends. I am studying a modality that states everything is a gift. I don’t know how she would have reacted to that.

5. This is the simplest two word act of gratitude. I was known for not saying it in my mental health period, I’m getting better every day.

6. This song that includes dozens of people from around the world expresses the power of Gratitude to me : Grateful, A Love Song to the World.

7. I like the webpage this comes from – http://www.GratitudeHabitat.com. I’m sure its worth a visit to get more to be grateful for.

8. Perhaps the thing we should be most grateful for, something we just assume will happen naturally. Think of the people you know who have passed unexpectedly, don’t take this for granted.

9. Denis E. Waitley, is an American motivational speaker, writer and consultant. He has been recognized as the best-selling author of the audio series, The Psychology of Winning and books such as “Seeds of Greatness” and “The Winner’s Edge”. Waitley has been inducted into the International Speakers’ Hall of Fame. The yellow writing at the end made me think of another of my favourite gratitude songs : Big Yellow Taxi.

10. Cute animal photo and quote of the day, Aaw!!

11. Want a struggle free life, stop complaining so much.

12. There are many words that can be mentioned when discussing and discovering the world of gratitude, here are the English Ones.

13. Enough Said!!

14. Gertrude Stein was an American novelist, poet, playwright and art collector. Born in the Allegheny West neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and made France her home for the remainder of her life. She hosted a Paris salon, where the leading figures in modernism in literature and art would meet, such as Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, Ezra Pound, and Henri Matisse.

15. And for the last comment, we go to the queen of Gratitude, Oprah Winfrey. If you concentrate on what you don’t have ………, says it all really.

I am learning to be grateful more and more these days as I travel further down the annals of time, realising that life is not about what you own but what you feel within which is accessible through simple acts of daily gratitude.

Namaste until next time, dear friends.

Good Morning, or is that Energy?

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Rod's World

What do we base the saying good morning on, is it something we say because it is expected in our culture or is it an authentic statement on how our energy is flowing at the time? I think it is a mixture of the two and an area in our lives that we should consider moving to the latter.

As Nikola Tesla says “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”. This relates as much to our own secrets as we are just one small part of the whole universe who normally holds ourselves separate from the rest.

Energy is important, we perform best when it is at its peak and when we are demotivated it tends to drop off. There were many different aspects to look at when selecting 15 quotes, I hope you enjoy them, lets go :

1. The most powerful form of energy is Love to me, it underlies all others and can over ride them much further than that which was underlying.

2. In the last week I lost my house keys, drowned my phone, got banned by Facebook and had my push-bike locked to a bike stand by another persons lock as well as my own, I could have interpreted these as negative problems which I did not do but instead solved them with positive solutions.

3. You’re Awesome, Yes you.

4. This is referred to as your Essence by my friend and mentor Arion Light at his Activation School.

5. Does on have to always be on Hi Energy mode, at times we need to back off even though AC/DC might disagree – High Voltage.

6. Albert is a wise man, time is a made up notion of energy as well.

7. I have been told by one of my mentors to contain my energy when I day, to stay in my body more as giving energy away cheaply has it repercussions. I think this is what this quote is addressing.

8. Energy can be chosen as to how you direct it. It may feel automatic in nature, but breath in before you respond.

9. This quote made me immediately think of this song of my music journey in the 70’s : Bob Marley’s Positive Vibration.

10. There is a lot written about and workshops run on the effect of energy on each of us. Learning this goes much deeper than the words someone speaks.

11. I just had to include this one, Its so cute.

12. Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the “Queen of All Media”, she has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history, and is currently North America’s first and only multi-billionaire black person. Several assessments regard her as the most influential woman in the world. In 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama^[and honorary doctorate degrees from Duke and Harvard. She transmits hers very well.

13. Does your energy have you leap out of bed or hit the snooze button, how satisfied do you go to bed?

14. Let it go, Let it Out. Let it all Unravel. Let it Free and it can be a path on which to travel – Michael Leunig, Australia’s greatest philosopher.

15. Every school should have one of these in their playground, the world would be a very different place.

Has reading this lifted your energy level, I hope so as this is what the world is crying out for Positive Energy Angels on Positive Energy trampolines.

Namaste until next time, dear friends.

What’s that Aroma?

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Rod's World

Back into it one again, on the journey of living from my great purpose, living my life from contentment and Self Love, providing service to the world via the transformational work of Arion Light via his Activation School. We refer to it as our Essence, others refer to it as God, Consciousness, Gaia or many other names. Access to it is through the body not the mind, in moving all those learnt lessons that inhibit us from living a switched on life.

So how does the world hold Essence, Is it an aroma or a state of being, my 15 quotes look at both these areas in life, lets begin our journey:

1. Seeking out an essence to live your life the best you can may invite change in your life. The requirement to stop listening to what your mind tells you what to do comes to mind to let life flow freely.

2. One thing that helps you attain your essences in Life is good old persistence, in my case it is to do the daily meditations that come with the course.

3. “Live Today! Do not allow your spirit to be softened of your happiness to be limited by a day you cannot have back or a day that does not yet exist. But remember the next second in you life, you have to relate to this again.

4. O.K. I’ll go with this. I have made many of these in my life. Attimes I have not been very good at learning from them.

5. Remember you astronaut and Fairy Queen dream of childhood, what would you need to give up, to surrender to to return there. Time for an Essence song, Lucinda Williams, one of my favourite Americana artists : Essence, Live.

6.Gordon H. Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death. Considered a prophet, seer, and revelator by church members, Hinckley was the oldest person to preside over the church in its history.

7. Essence travels with companions: secrets,adventures, challenges and finally ecstatic joy.

8. Last night I lost my house keys and washed my Iphone, I know if I was not residing in the essence of contentment, my reaction would have been very different to making two logical phone calls to resolve it.

9. I attend a weekly meeting with Arion because he is my mentor, this week we got to the fact that I could live from the word Enough and see what the world created for me, staggering.

10. Bow down to the queen of Essence, Oprah Winfrey. She is the prime example of someone living from the essence of energy. Leona Lewis sings a perfectly titled tune: The Essence of Me.

11. This deeply relates to both self love and external love, the former allowing for the latter to flourish. Love yourself with all your might and essence.

12. This is so kooky I just had to include it.

13. This quote fulfils what is available when you live in pure essence, everything is a gift.

14. There are parts of me that have been numb for decades as I shut down possibilities with my life from decisions I made, often as a child, they are waking up. What parts of you are numb?

15. Aaw, the cute animal post for the day. The quote is powerful as well, Tejas Patel started Wisdom Quotes on Facebook after a lengthy spiritual journey. Here is the link to his website of extensive collection of powerful quotes : Wisdom Quotes 4U.

I am discovering that the path to my true essence does not lie in my head but my dear slightly misused body that is becoming freer and freer. I look forward to the journey.

Namaste until next Monday my dear friends.

Is anyone Watching?

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Rod's World

I receive hundreds of different things through my News Feed from my 4,500 Facebook friends. I have a policy if we have 100 mutual friends we are friends who just haven’t met yet. Doing this you end up with a lot of musicians, American female life coaches and people you actually know on your list. As a gratitude exercise I have started sending all of them a Facebook Birthday Card as I believe everybody should receive a birthday card on their special day.

A couple of days ago I received a quote on Integrity that went something like this. Integrity is doing it even when no one is looking. What do you hold Integrity to be: Is it your actions, who you hold yourself to be or a mixture of both.

Choosing my 15 quotes to comment on was interesting, there are a few that dominate but I found quotes that will fascinate and please. Let us begin :

1. I have kept my integrity with my Facebook Birthday cards even one day I was not going to be at home and having left my phone there I went to an Internet Cafe to send them.

2. Many people say they are going to one day. My friend Catherine Deveny calls her writing class Gunnas Master Class, can you guess why. I googled saying vs. doing and it brought up this interesting blog: The Big Difference.

3. Zig Ziglar, most famous for the quote “You can have everything in Life, If you will just help enough other people get what they want” which features on his website passed in 2012. His podcast still receives an average of 350,000 hits a month.

4. Integrity is partially in what you do and who you be. If you wish to keep it intact don’t do things that will challenge it.

5. I like the fact that they are highlighting the word Integrity with a yellow marker so it stands out from the rest. Because when it becomes as ordinary as all other words the battle is lost.

6. Born in Ghana, Israelmore wrote his first Quote on his palm in a toilet, he has come a long way since. He is an Inspirational Writer and a born-again Christian, so passionate about transformation individuals through information. He holds a strong belief that reformation and transformation of society can only become evident in the presence of information. However, it takes only positive and relevant information to bring real and intended transformation.

7. How does one obtain beauty? Does going to the gym or buying the latest perfumes or having plastic surgery or a tummy tuck. None of these things can attain it according to master coach Thomas Leonard, to him beauty is obtained through your inner qualities, Integrity being one of these.

8. How many times does that thought ” Do I really have to ” pass through. The answer is yes even if there is no congratulations and no recognition, remember you still know.

9. These are the gifts you receive from living your life from Integrity. Is there a song about it, of Course: Integrity Song.

10. I used to run Marathons back in the day, during training I would get to my integrity point at about the 8 kilometre mark when my mind would go is this worth it, moast times I said yes.

11. As we move down the journey of time our definition is what is integrity changes over time. The friends I had in my boozing days would definitely not fit into my version of it now.

12.

Integrity

A firm adherence to a code of values

The state of being complete, whole, or undivided

Total honesty and sincerity

The ability to “walk our talk”

Discipline

Activity that improves a skill

Controlling behavior to mold moral character

Habits and ways of acting developed through practice

13. I love these balanced stones images, these show the power of gravity and the reliance on each other. Integrity also comes with other traits like the list Zig Ziglar has put together.

14. This short film made by USC covers the above statement very well : USC Integrity Movie.

15. Do you have conditions for your Integrity, Is it different if no one is watching to being in a crowded room. As the above quote says it’s internally you look for integrity and the actions one takes from that place.

Whilst writing this it has brought up examples for me where I have lapsed my Integrity. I will put them back in place over the next few days.

Namaste my dear friends. Speak to you again next Monday.

Where is your Heart?

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Rod's World

I recently did a Sex and the Soul Retreat that really confronted me. After it I felt as high as a kite for a few days and then a feeling of WTF was that took me over which has now become a deep sense of self love and coming home to myself.

It has made me contemplate what is a sense of home for people, our indigenous culture talks about it being the land they were born on, western culture labels it as the home you buy and the conscious movement that it is where you are at any moment.

So what does society hold it to be, there were many choices to make and the 15 I have picked cover many aspects, here we go:

1. Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an African American civil rights activist, whom the United States Congress called “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”. Her birthday, February 4, and the day she was arrested for refusing to give her seat up to a white passenger, December 1, have both become Rosa Parks Day, commemorated in California and Missouri (February 4), and Ohio and Oregon (December 1). The above statement shows how something as simple as going home can become much more.

2. What is more enjoyable on a cold winters day than being curled up in front of an open fire with your favourite book of the moment.

3. Since discovering more self love I have been spending more time alone, it reminds me of the saying in reference to the social media generation, if we do not train our children to be alone, all they will know is how to be lonely.

4. Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. After having his breakthrough as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, he rose to fame by further appearing in epic fantasy, historical epic, and fantasy adventure films. In In 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

5. I have spent a long time finding a sense of home, becoming a Buddhist , being a marathon runner , doing landmark education work only to find after many years that is was in the company of my siblings I felt most at home.

6. Picture this, Tracky dacks and the unshaven look pigging out on chocolate and Netflix, enough said.

7. First lady of the United States Jackie Kennedy got to see many different lands which had different customs on how people were treated making her realise that the United States was not the centre of the Universe.

8. I asked my friend Mary did she feel a loss when she first became mother of her four boys. She looked at me and smiled, saying it is the greatest thing that happens to you in your life even though you don’t have a moment alone.

9. This flies in the face of home being physical,Lets Get Physical. it is spending time with those people that you discover your emotions and best parts of life come to fruition.

10. Life took me to be running down the main street of Leningrad with the Sports Minister and Major at 5 o’clock on a Friday afternoon having thousands of citizens waving Soviet and American flags. Love had my friends younger sister sing You made me love you, I didn’t want to do it to me at her 21st.

11. There is a women’s refuge in the street I live in. I found this out from meeting a young indigenous woman in the street who told me of the two years of horrific abuse she had put up with, she was 18.

12. George Augustus Moore (24 February 1852 – 21 January 1933) was an Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist. Moore came from a Roman Catholic landed family who lived at Moore Hall in Carra, County Mayo. He originally wanted to be a painter, and studied art in Paris during the 1870s. There, he befriended many of the leading French artists and writers of the day.

As a naturalistic writer, he was amongst the first English-language authors to absorb the lessons of the French realists, and was particularly influenced by the works of Émile Zola. His writings influenced James Joyce, according to the literary critic and biographer Richard Ellmann, and, although Moore’s work is sometimes seen as outside the mainstream of both Irish and British literature, he is as often regarded as the first great modern Irish novelist. His home remained at County Mayo.

13. As my friend Mary said, its the best thing that happened to her, the best thing that happens to us is that our mums birth us, sometimes we forget. Tupac loved his mum too, Dear Mama.

14. The title of this Blog is half of the saying home is where the heart is, I have lived in many places that were just the address where I live, my home at the time being groups and friends i was connected to.

15. And the access to the feeling of home is to let others in and share your heart space.

I have come to the belief that home is not a physical phenomenon but more of an emotional feeling. I have a home address that is more and more becoming ensconced in my heart but there are several other places where I would say home is where the heart is.

Namaste until Thursday , my dear friends.

Is Reality the X Factor?

Posted on May 5, 2016 by Rod's World

Looking for a subject today I notice The Green Guide: The best on Screen: Television, Streaming, Downloads & Radio was rating the reality TV judges. The Green Guide is the weekly entertainment section of our daily newspaper The Age, considered the more intelectual of the two papers that come out each day.

I cringed instantly that our society had sunk so low that this was considered news. What has become of mainstream society that this is what is considered entertainment for the masses. I checked out what people have quoted about reality over the years and have chosen a deft list to ponder. Here we go:

1. Each of us have our own reality, remember you are judging if you think your reality is more worthwhile than another persons.

2. Reality is that you will most likely end up with a partner at some stage in your life. I think that if you can achieve the above you are creating an awesome reality for the relationship.

3. Life is a game we all play at different levels, and we have our own unique devils. Meatloaf was one of mine: Bat out of Hell.

4. Growing up in rural country towns this above statements makes me relate to the time I went back to one of them as a Buddhist Calm Abiding meditation teacher. When I told people guess what they said?

5. From the first century A.D. Plutarch was a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist. He had several other quotes which survived from that time, a famous one being: I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.

6. Lisa Prosen is a passionate Sensitivity Coach, Speaker, and Author. She works with her clients so they can courageously look at their lives in new ways and navigate changes with new found confidence. She helps them learn to balance between their sensitivity and the things they are committed to accomplishing, so they achieve the life they truly want to live. Founder of the popular Facebook group “Practical Solutions for The Highly Sensitive Soul”, Lisa is familiar with the shackles of perfectionism and how living life for other people, ultimately disappoints everybody.

7. Or as the bard would have put it, Out damn spot, reality doesn’t go away even though it is an illusion as all our life is according to the chaos theory.

8. I think they wrote this for mainstream media and what they present as the news. Control, mayhem and evil are not my reality and never will be.

9. Before enlightenment wash the dishes, after enlightenment wash the dishes, welcome to reality.

10. Robert J. Ringer is an American entrepreneur, motivational and political speaker, and author of several best-selling personal-development and political books. The best known of these is a semi quote to the Bard, To be or not to be Intimidated.

11. Our current reality keeps changing faster and faster. A quote I read recently made me shudder. If our children are not taught to be alone they will grow up only knowing how to be lonely. The above quotes lies in that arena for me.

12. Reality lives in the now according to Eckhart Tolle, but what does Beyonce have to say about it : Me, Myself and I.

13. Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca or Seneca the Younger) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero. While he was later forced to commit suicide for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero, the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors, he may have been innocent. He clearly suffered more from imagination if he was innocent.

14. The ubiquitous to do list, how many of us are honest enough to write the one on the right when it is our reality.

15. This quote by Teal Scott supports my statement at the beginning of this blog. Society does now want to be aware, it would much rather remain in the illusory state that everything is OK as it is.

I have tried to drop judging society to much when writing this, Its just that I believe we were placed on this planet for more than what is churned out as mass entertainment these days.

Namaste until next Monday my dear friends.