|
  |
E X P L O R E T H E S E L I F E C H A L L E N G E S . . . |
|
Cultivate Life! July 22nd, 2008 Quotes of the Week How Best to Quit Smoking Heart to Heart Coaching Speaking Your Child's Love Language The Boomerang Effect Life Lessons: Unconditional Acceptance Silence Speaks The Silence of Listening Remote Viewing 2012 SUBSCRIBE
Quotes of the Week"The great thing and the hard thing is to stick to things when you have outlived the first interest, and not yet got the second, which comes with a sort of mastery." --Janet Erskine Stuart "You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you." --James Allen "Children need models rather than critics." --Joseph JoubertClick here to email these quotes to a friend | More Inspirational Quotes
How Best to Quit SmokingInterview with Dr. Randy GilchristQ. Randy, you have worked with people to overcome their bad habits, especially smoking. Can you tell me why people continue to smoke even though they know that this is slowly eroding their health? There are two main reasons as I understand it. First, smoking is a stubborn habit that naturally connects with many everyday activities, times of day, social interactions, and emotional states that continually "trigger" the urge to smoke - often at an unconscious level. In this way, smoking becomes like a reliable, old friend that offers relaxation, comfort, and focus with every interaction (puff). It's like the old song goes - "breaking up is hard to do." Second, smoking acts as an addiction as well. Because the body and mind become used to the "rush" from regular nicotine fixes, quitting can immediately trigger strong and uncomfortable physical and psychological withdrawal cravings to pressure a return to smoking. This discomfort can last for several weeks or even months. Typical withdrawal symptoms include irritability, restlessness, sadness, nervousness, coughing, a slight sore throat, constipation, insomnia, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, a decreased heart rate, and/or an increased appetite. With all of this, it's no wonder most people have a hard time quitting on their own! Q. If there were three things that a cigarette smoker could right now to help them drop the habit, what would they be? First, smokers should immediately have a physical examination with their primary care physician to learn the extent to which smoking has already begun to affect their health. An examination should also include recommendations to do to start reversing any present damage. This one is essential. Second, ask several supportive, understanding family members and friends to give the emotional encouragement and listening ears you'll need during your change process. Make sure these supportive people aren't smokers themselves. It can be hard to quit with someone always lighting up in front of you! Third, get healthier! Strategically improve your diet, exercise, and sleeping patterns. Study it. Plan it. Do it. Because quitting smoking can involve temporary lapses in energy, lowered concentration, and increased moodiness, you will need to take better care of yourself to replace your "nicotine highs" with "natural highs" and better self-control. Healthier living is what makes this possible. Remember, there are no feelings that nicotine gives you that the brain can't also generate through healthier means. You just need to plan more, be creative, and commit to the process. Q. People often give up their attempt to quit smoking. Do you have some advice to help them stay motivated? You know you want to quit smoking. But do you know WHY? For many people who are trying to quit smoking, it helps to have a list of reasons why -- a kind of map that you can turn back to when the going gets tough. What are YOUR reasons to quit?
I'd like to tell you about a comprehensive hypnosis program for smoking cessation, The Non-Smoker's Edge. This program uses new techniques in cognitive behavioral therapy and clinical hypnosis to help you truly want to quit smoking ... with your mind, body, and soul. Using a holistic approach, it helps you keep your goal in mind at all times. And not just your goal, but the reasons for this goal. Desire is critical to action. Maybe that's why multi-session hypnosis has a 66% success rate at helping people quit smoking. That's higher than any other smoking cessation method that there is. I think hypnosis works so well with smoking cessation because habits and addictions in general tend to be very psychological in nature. Among other things, hypnosis helps to change and improve the way a person thinks about his or her "problem." It also helps people gain greater access to the tools and resources they'll need during the change process. In fact, many of my clients acknowledge at the beginning that their habit/addiction is "mostly psychological" and that they just need to "change the way they think about it." Interview Copyright © 2007, The Hypnosis Network.
See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
Heart to Heart CoachingHelp with your personal problems from Wallace HueyDo you ever wish you could have access to your own private coach free of charge, to get help with the challenging situations you face ... whenever you need inspiration, insight or advice? The Heart to Heart Coaching service empowers YOU to coach yourself on the issues that matter most. Each week a new life challenge... I feel compelled to look at pornography on the Internet - help me, I am losing my focus. The questioner's philosophy: My inclination is towards spiritual development - to awakening to self.Wallace's reply: I would like to congratulate you in writing so openly on this subject. The huge plethora of Internet pornography is a testament to the popularity of this activity - so you are definitely not alone. You are head and shoulders above many, because you are prepared to reach out and get assistance with this compulsion.See more Questions on this Topic | Print-friendly version + Send this Q&A to a friend
Send Your Own Question Public Coaching: Submit your Question to be answered here in the Cultivate Life! ezine. Private Coaching at the coach's own website: a confidential service for purchasers of Wallace's book, Unfold Your Wings and Watch Life Take Off.
Speaking Your Child's Love LanguageBy Lori RadunJust like some of us speak English, other people's native tongue is Spanish. My housecleaner speaks Polish, and although she does a great job cleaning my house, it is often difficult for us to understand one another when we attempt to communicate. I remember the first time she arrived at my home and I had to explain how to use our complicated Kirby vacuum. If you've ever used a Kirby vacuum, you know exactly what I am talking about. There are separate settings for carpet and hard floors. Another lever makes it easy or hard to push the vacuum. If you want to use a hose attachment, it takes a rocket scientist to explain that process. After several minutes of pointing to the floor, the carpet and several gadgets on the vacuum, while using as simple words as I could, I finished my explanation to Lena. She nodded and smiled, but to this day, I can't be entirely sure my message was actually heard or received by Lena. This same situation I experienced, while trying to communicate in a different language than my housecleaner, could be happening between you and your child. It's possible that you are communicating love to your child in a way that is familiar to you, but your child might not understand you if her language is different than yours. Dr. Gary Chapman and Dr. Ross Campbell wrote a book titled "The Five Love Languages of Children." In their book, they explain that everyone has a primary love language in which they communicate and receive love. The five love languages are quality time, acts of service, words of affirmation, physical touch and gifts.
Copyright © 2008 Lori Radun, CEC
See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
The Boomerang EffectBy Rob McBrideDaily we face a vast array of decisions. Differentiating between doing what is "right" and "wrong" is a matter of perception and not always easy. Often our biggest challenge is to take action and do something! In making these decisions we can keep in mind our actions affect many, near and far. Our instincts have one objective, to reproduce and continue to exist. Frequently, we believe our desire to put ourselves ahead of others is necessary for our survival. The lion in the jungle that stands to the side and lets the other lions eat first won't last for very long. He will soon be history. Though we may view our circumstances as our own special jungles, we are not lions nor do we live in the lion's jungle! As human beings, we have marvelous minds which allow us to analyze and think of alternative actions. People who think only of themselves may achieve much at the expense of others, though they are likely to lead barren lackluster lives. Fortunately, there is another way to achieve our desire. This includes fame, fortune, relationships and anything else, be it emotional or material. The key is to be useful to others because when we help others get what they want, we eventually get what we want. Let's look at the analogy of a boomerang. We throw it and it comes back to us. While this works in theory, for those who have actually thrown a boomerang, it doesn't always work in practice! If we don't know how to use the boomerang, the results can be quite unexpected. If we throw it poorly, we can break a window or hit somebody in the head. When we learn how to work the boomerang, we can improve our results. In many cases we give "good" or "bad" without realizing what we are doing. It is simply part of our daily activity and not intended as "good" or "bad." In this case, the boomerang we throw will likely arrive someplace unknown because we are unaware of what we are doing. As time passes, we grow in mind, body, spirit and experience. It is then when we often give "good" or "bad," fully aware of our actions, though not necessarily the consequences. We know, for example, if we pick up our trash after an outing in the park, others who come after us will find the place nice and clean. Likewise, we know if we do not pick up our trash, those who come later will find the place disagreeable and dirty. While this is not always the case and some don't think twice about leaving trash, they aren't necessarily doing it to be bad, often they are simply unaware of the consequences of what they are doing. We are all human and we all make mistakes. If only we could prevent the havoc we create! It is the evil we commit consciously which is ultimately the most damaging. When we know we are doing wrong, the boomerang will go its course and eventually return to deliver its devastating blow. Similarly, it is possible to do the right thing without knowing it's right. In this case, we throw the boomerang and the positive effect falls on someone without our intention being so. Better yet is to do the right thing intentionally because the boomerang will positively affect those in its path before returning to us with sensational results. Doing the right thing rarely costs money or resources and it can be something as simple as a smile. The results on own lives and those of others multiply and compound exponentially. Throwing a boomerang full of positive energy and spirit regularly is the best way to achieve the results we desire.
Copyright © 2008 Rob McBride. All Rights Reserved
See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
Life Lessons: Unconditional AcceptanceBy Pat CampbellA couple of years ago I met a dear old lady who I will call Annie (not her real name). She was 97 and very frail and unable to walk but with a mind as bright as a button. I only knew her for a few short weeks before she passed on but I felt I knew her for a lifetime. We shared so much of ourselves in that short time and I feel very blessed to have known her. I was closer to her than my own mother who had passed on some 14 years previously. I attended Annie's funeral and it was there that I received the first part of a profound enlightenment. When the eulogies were being given, I suddenly experienced what I call "the God feeling" very strongly. (This intense feeling of total love goes way beyond anything mortal and it has often accompanied major "aha" moments, especially in the early days of my relationship with God. I soon came to understand that God wanted me to know that the new insight or piece of wisdom came from Him. The knowledge that I have acquired during these moments I call "absolute knowings" because I have known beyond a shadow of doubt that these learnings were absolute truth.) It became apparent to me that God wanted me to listen very carefully to what was being said. Annie's son was talking at the time about the way that Annie totally accepted everyone she encountered in her life, regardless of their situation, belief, habits or attitudes. She truly did know that we are all one and treated everyone equally. And I thought to myself, "What is the lesson here? I do endeavour to accept everyone! This doesn't seem to be anything that I haven't already learnt." It was a few days later before I realised that it was myself that I had to learn to accept unconditionally. I already accepted others as they are (along with their faults) but I have always been very hard on myself for the slightest little mistake, misdeamour or oversight on my part. It was okay for others to be less than perfect but I couldn't accept that in myself. It never ceases to amaze me how different events in our lives (and past lives) fall together to create a complete story. Shortly after Betty's funeral, I had a thought that kept popping into my head that I had done a terrible wrong to a friend of mine in another lifetime. I didn't want to think about it because it was really a very big transgression but my thoughts kept returning there regardless. And then I had a dream (something I don't do very often as I am more likely to have "waking dreams"). In the dream I was the victim of the same transgression and the perpetrator in this instance was someone I also know very well in this lifetime. As I was thinking about how these events were related (and also feeling rather bad because I knew my previous transgression was true), I felt what I call "the voice feeling" which is hard to describe. I don't audibly hear actual words but I "feel" the words instead (and I have to admit that I am just a little envious of Neale Donald Walsch and Barbara Rose who do actually hear God's voice audibly). And the "voice" said to me, "Do you judge the one who wronged you?" And I thought no I don't, it doesn't make any difference to the way I feel about this person at all. And the "voice" said, "Well why are you judging yourself so harshly for your wrongdoing when you can accept it in another?" And that's when I realized that all of these events occurred so that I might learn to accept myself as readily as I accept others. It is not a lesson totally learnt even now and I do still tend to berate myself for not doing everything I set out to do but I have definitely made some progress and have somewhat relaxed my expectations of myself to a level which is more humanly achievable. As an extension of these events and realizations, it also became apparent to me that in three different lifetimes, one can be the perpetrator, the victim and the observer; a trilogy of human existence to aid divine understanding. By "observer", I don't mean that one physically watches a transgression or crime taking place. I mean that one comes to an understanding of how it all fits together. There is no room for blame, shame, regret or judgement. Learning includes the bad as well as the good. We are all in the same boat living as we are in a duality existence here on Earth. We are all comprised of good and bad, generous and mean, sharing and selfish. When one understands and accepts that no one is better than another regardless of the way people act, then we are beginning to understand the necessity of duality and can rise above it towards enlightenment.
Pat Campbell's aim is to help as many people as possible realize their full potential, from both a human and spiritual perspective. Her website, "TheArcher," provides resources for personal and spiritual development including articles, newsletter and help available by email.
See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
Silence SpeaksBy Shanu Goyal
Yes! we all find ourselves alone at times, Shanu Goyal was born in the small town of Uttar Pradesh, India... her book, Silence Speaks published in 2005, is a collection of poems written in different moods.
See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
The Silence of ListeningBy Karla BrandauIf you want to catapult ahead of others on the treadmill of success, try silence - the silence of listening. Zip your mouth and refuse to interrupt or break into the other person's thoughts. This takes a high degree of discipline, especially if you have an outgoing, social personality, but it is definitely worth the effort. It is okay to briefly interject an occasional "Hmmm," "Ah," or "I see," but no more. True listening is actually silent flattery! Plus, it builds teamwork, trust, and a sense of belonging to a group. It earns you respect and, perhaps most importantly, cooperation. In addition it will:
Proper listening also includes avoiding body language signals or facial expressions that say, "I'm okay but you're definitely questionable"! Appropriate listening should instead communicate, "You are important and I'm not judging you." When people feel safe with you, they will lower their guard with you much like they would to a trusted counsellor or skilled psychologist. They will become comfortable relaying things to you that they would never reveal in an antagonistic environment. Only by appropriately listening can you learn what others truly know and think about a difficult choice. By gathering different insights and outlooks, you will be armed with information that will help you make better decisions. At some point during the listening process, you undoubtedly will be exposed to bizarre opinions and bad ideas. It is important to restrain your initial human impulse to say, "That's the stupidest thing I've heard this century!" Comments like this will ultimately turn the now-embarrassed speaker into nothing more than a robot that functions according to what they perceive as your views. In the future they will not share their genuine thoughts and feelings for fear of additional embarrassment and rejection. This leads inevitably to depriving YOU of critical input you need to develop additional innovations. To refresh your memory on this forgotten skill of listening, here is what it looks like:
Give meaningful conversations your full attention and you will catapult your career to the top with the friends you make and the information you gain just through the silence of listening. "It is the province of knowledge to speak,
Karla Brandau, CSP, is an expert in change, leadership and team building in the flat world. She offers keynotes and workshops to move your organization forward. Sign up for her monthly newsletter, From the Desk of Karla Brandau by going to Karla Brandau.com. Get your free poster of suggested listening skills.
See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
Remote Viewing 2012By Cynthia Sue Larson"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, As we approach the year 2012 and notice natural disasters around the world, many people wonder what will happen less than five short years from now. While some fear all manner of crises, it is reassuring to note that several indigenous peoples of Earth inform us that this time of transition has been long anticipated, and something that has occurred many times before. According to the Mayan long count calendar system which tracks events through 26,000 year cycles of time, there is special significance to the year 2012 being a time of transition from the "Earth era" to an "era of Ether" at the time of Winter Solstice, on December 21, 2012. Within the cycles spanning 5,125 years, there are cycles known as the '13 Baktun Count' which last 394 years, or 144,000 days. We are currently traveling through the final 13th baktun cycle -- which began in 1618 and will run through 2012, and which is known as both 'the triumph of materialism' and'the transformation of matter.' The Maya predicted this time would be a time of great forgetting, in which we lose our sense of Oneness with nature and the Earth. In the 1600s, mechanical clocks were invented which continue to this day, and which give people a sense that time exists outside of us, rather than as part of us. The end of this materialistic time and the movement into the time of Ether is a profound change that also corresponds to a unique celestial event. On the winter solstice of 2012, the noonday Sun exactly conjuncts the crossing point of the sun's ecliptic with the galactic plane, while also closely conjuncting the exact the center of the galaxy. This past month I conducted a workshop in which participants and I remote viewed 2012, to see for ourselves what the future holds in store. In this remote viewing circle, most all participants clearly sensed a feeling of tremendous harmony, peacefulness and joy... and yet some also sensed that just past this peaceful calm lay some degree of chaos, stress and strife. This energetic view of 2012 is one which feels like a smooth continuation of life as we know it today, with an additional emphasis on heightened energetic awareness. Most remote viewers had a sense of being in peaceful contemplation by themselves on December 21st 2012, and some noted they could clearly look out at a large, calm body of water. I saw myself by the Pacific Ocean along the California coast, and sensed that even as I was basking in radiant vibrations of unconditional love, there were people on Earth who were primarily focused more on material matters... such as wind storms. According to Hopi legend, the world has already ended three times before, and people have survived fire, an ice age resulting from magnetic pole reversals, and flooding. The signs of the coming Fifth World are now appearing as prophesied by Hopi, as life forms from previous worlds spring up from the ground, the stars, and our hearts. The Hopi Life Plan petroglyphs remind people to be not be misled off course into attempting to be better than others, but instead to remain guided truly by Spirit. In previous end times, those who made it through the transition with the most ease were those whose kopavi, the 'door on top of their heads,' stayed open to receive inspiration, and whose hearts were open to caring for others. An attitude of open-mindedness and open heartedness is clearly optimal for facing times of great upheaval and change, yet in stressful times, people who have not practiced the art of keeping open-minded and open-hearted can find it challenging to maintain. This past month has provided us with opportunities to assist people in the world who have suffered through earthquakes and wind storms. While it is clear that many crises we are facing now require our attention and assistance, it is equally clear on an intuitive level that when we step back far enough, we can see that everything on Earth is moving forward beautifully. It is up to us to remain open to inspiration... and open to love. As singer/songwriter Michael Stipe from the musical group REM puts it, "It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine." Reprinted from RealityShifters News, a free ezine featuring articles, stories, book reviews and websites for shifting reality. Subscribe and receive free gifts when you recommend this web site to your friends.
See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
Start a New Life! & The Insight Project ...
| ||||||||||||
