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Cultivate Life!

March 27th, 2007

Quote of the Week

"To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk disappointment. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing."
–from 'The Dilemma'

"The tragedy of life is not found in failure but complacency. Not in you doing too much, but doing too little. Not in you living above your means, but below your capacity. It's not failure but aiming too low, that is life's greatest tragedy."
–Benjamin E. Mayes

The Secrets of Manifesting

We have discussed the popular film The Secret in this magazine before... the myths attached by some to the film (you can get rich without producing anything of value, be a millionaire overnight, all your dreams will come true)... and the truth. This is about the truth.

I first want to express my personal views about the film and the principles it promotes. First off, of course, the principles of how best to create something you desire in your life - to manifest, in other words - have been described by many worthy teachers since many, many years: it's no secret. But it isn't generally understood and will be new to many people to whom circumstances in life just 'happen' to them, and often they may perceive themselves as a victim or as fortunate, as the case may be. This film has reminded many people that they can indeed start to take responsibility for their life and to be at cause - the creator of their life.

Unfortunately the film has also given the impression (when viewed superficially because it's not really what the film says) that just dreaming or wishing for what you want will somehow magically make it come true, by some kind of genie-like intervention.

The spiritual element
I take the view that there is indeed a spiritual element to take account of. We live our lives both on the material and on the spiritual level (to the degree that we are awakened spiritually); confusion between the two roles, however, usually abounds. The physical world is about effort, emotion, action, communication over distance, dualities that separate out the playing field of the game of life. The spiritual life is about unity, oneness in communication, creative intent, and about qualities such as love that have no barriers nor dimension in space or time.

The material and spiritual can interplay since they are aspects of a greater whole, but they are not, by definition, the same aspects: one's real, one's actual, if you like. A very realistic dream and the dreamer. We are in this dream, we can be grateful for being so and have a great time as a lucid dreamer. If we are lucid, even if it's a nightmare we can turn it around.

So there is a divine element but that divinity is within each and every one of us; we are not separate from divinity. We are the channel for divine intervention, since if we ourselves are not willing to act, to manifest in the physical world, we are separating ourselves from the creative source and thereby remain at effect. If we do participate, then 'magic' can occur, such as telepathy of intention between ourselves and others, that come together to enhance our process of creating.

A clear vision
Obtaining a clear vision of what we desire, based on a loving creative intention - and not on a basis of fear or lack - and in the now, without considerations of time and distance, energizes us to reflect that spiritual vision in the material world. We've seen that picture in our mind's eye, we're delighted with it, and now we paint it onto the canvas, in our own unique way.

To use another analogy: we've planted the seed in healthy ground and it will grow, and the universe will support its growth. We just need to maintain the excitement of that vision and it will empower us and enable us to meet all challenges. The more it is a labor of love, of sharing and service, the more connected we will be with others - the law of attraction - and the more 'magical' synchronicities will further support us.

The best mindset is one of gratitude for what we already have, rather than one of need. Gratitude is an abundant and non-egocentric state of mind, that reaches out to connect. It says 'having' is not a problem. The desire is to create something worthwhile, not something to fulfill our base needs and attachments (those are about separateness and therefore won't work). There's no room for fears and doubts, if one is starting from a caring, sharing, non-judgmental and accepting place.

We should make the vision as real as possible in the mind's eye, right now (not as something in the future), so that we become clear enough about its desirability that we can release our old ways of thinking, no longer identify with other people's reservations, and be highly motivated. The negative stuff is just not important anymore, if the vision is true to our real values.

Love, as always, is the guideline: "Am I doing this through love?" The more tangible the vision, and the more truly valuable it is, to oneself and even more importantly to others, the more the energies will flow and align. And the more they do, the more exciting and happier your life will be. Money is not what it's about; that will naturally be exchanged for value, as appropriate. The real wealth is happiness.

There's more of my views on this subject in my interview with Anthony Treas, which is now online. But this is at the core of all of our lives and we need many points of view to get the full picture. Here are resources that will help you make your own mind up about the best way to go forward...

"The Secret" is a feature length movie presentation made available in full screen, high quality video direct to your computer screen: download it here.

• Bob Doyle talks in-depth about the Law of Attraction with Heather Picken: Interview transcript pdf
• Answers to some of the more common questions that come up for people after they watch "The Secret"... Bob Doyle
• Are you confused by the many different manifesting methods you've learned, or do you get only a fraction of the goals you set and visualize? Here's how you can manifest your life's dreams and passions with unstoppable clarity, focus and certainty - and eliminate the hidden fears that hold you back: The Secrets of Manifesting
• Download 100 quotes from the movie "The Secret". This personal compilation by Kate Loving Shenk also includes a collection of 200 Positive Thinking quotes.
• In order to manifest your dreams you definitely need to play your part. Need help in taking action? Then this is the resource you need: Vision Board
• Film Review by Anthony Montalk: The Secret
• Peter Shepherd's writes about the spiritual element of manifestation and the role of Love: The Truth About Manifestation
• Peter Shepherd's presents the information that most new age LOA writers either don't understand or don't want to tell you: The Wheel of Life
• Peter Shepherd gives a powerful Manifestation Process: Making Things Happen
• Peter Shepherd describes the magic and the reality of: The Law of Attraction
• Rhonda Byrne, producer of the film: How did "The Secret" come about?
• The Complete Mind Science package is finally here... Discover the greatest collection of Mind Science e-books and tools!. These mind tools - such as meditation, brainwave entrainment, affirmations, subliminal messages, hypnosis and visualization - when used properly can greatly enhance the positive outcome of your mental practice.
• Download the Oprah shows featuring "The Secret"... First Oprah Show | Oprah-Feb16 | After the Show

See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
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Heart to Heart Coaching – Questions and Answers

There are three methods of Coaching available:

1. Instant Coaching at Coach Yourself to Success.

2. Public Coaching. Submit your Question to be answered here in the Cultivate Life! ezine.

3. Private Coaching at the coach's own website.

After being defeated by powerful vested interests in a cause that was just, I am now depressed and directionless - help me recover.

The questioner's philosophy: 'A Course in Miracles' and Gary Renard's books, 'Disappearance of the Universe' and 'Breaking the Life/Death Cycle' provide guidance in my life.

The questioner's hopes and aspirations: That is my problem. I seem to have lost the ability to dream and plan. I was always goal driven and successful at achieving what I set out to do. I seem to have lost my way and have not been able to get back on a path that has meaning to me.

Question: Now 61, I was 'retired' at age 46 for being a whistle-blower in the hospital industry, followed by 12 years of frustrating litigation intended to regain for taxpayers, Medicare funds of which it was defrauded. The flaws of the healthcare industry and legal system became painfully clear to me during this time.

I changed positions several times during my career as a hospital CEO, rather than continue to be pressured by VPs to do things that were illegal/unethical to improve the bottom line. Pressures were despite stellar results in my hospitals' performances after I took their helms. After the third such experience, I moved to the not-for-profit segment of the industry in hope it would not be so inappropriately driven, since it did not have taxes or investors to pay. Boy was I wrong. I encountered huge, long-standing Medicare fraud there, at which time I (foolishly) decided that perhaps I was being 'called upon' to do something other than keep my own hands clean in a dirty industry. At that point, I became a whistle-blower, which changed my life forever. Aside from being afraid I could not support myself, I was not able to find a career direction that made any sense. Having always been a high achiever, I became profoundly depressed when I could not get myself re-situated!

This further frustrated me in that I have become committed to natural healing in recent years, with great success except for depression. I can get off the antidepressants but after some months, (up to 8), I crash, without obvious explanation... and so the cycle begins again.

Life has been less stressful since I stopped trying to re-situate then. I keep myself busy but without direction or goals. Volunteering has not provided me with satisfaction. Is my career trauma responsible for this or is there something else to explain my sense of ennui? I have tried many avenues in search of satisfaction or meaning without the hoped for results. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Depression of the kind you describe is caused by self-hatred or, to use another description, by anger turned in on yourself. You are still an angry woman - angry that you lost your career, angry that "the system" - Medicare, the Justice Department or whatever - let you down, angry at not being listened to, angry at not being accepted for a new job or new career, angry that your talents and contribution were not appreciated, angry at the injustice of it all - after all, weren't you doing the "right thing." You are angry because you did not get the results from your actions you expected, you feel betrayed and let down and most corrosive of all, you turned all this anger in on yourself, by blaming yourself for embarking on this path. What can you learn from this experience?

It is vitally important that in life we do our duty as it presents itself to us. Sometimes our conscience (which is an aspect of inner guidance) will prompt us to confront powerful vested interests and in this confrontation sometimes we may be defeated. Being defeated is not important. The aim is not to "win," the aim is to act with integrity, since without integrity we have no freedom. Therefore, the aim is to grow! So what are the lessons here? As I see it, here is your learning from your experiences...

You need to learn to:

• Forgive yourself (seen from the higher perspective of personal development there are no such things as mistakes)
• Act without any attachment to attaining a particular result
• Have compassion and understanding for your opponent
• Accept defeat gracefully
• Have a different understanding of what the word "goal" means
• Become even more dependent on inner guidance than you already are

You believe this was an issue between you and "them" - but was it? What if there were no "others". What if everything worked out perfectly, but you just can't see this at the moment. What if it was never between you and "them" - what if it was between you and someone or something else? What if that someone or something lies within your anger, were you to have the courage to own it - to embrace it - and in embracing it to go beyond it, to transcend it and in transcending it be able to forgive yourself, heal your depression and find a renewed sense of purpose. On whom or what would you be dependent then?

In life we must first taste the unreal defeat to find the real victory.

Further Help and Resources
My reply has perhaps created for you more questions than answers. To address these questions I refer you to my book, Unfold Your Wings and Watch Life Take Off. The book is about my own experience of defeat, suffering, depression and loss. In its pages you will find these transformed into inspiration, realization, passion, healing and enlightenment and you will have all the help you need to heal your depression and your life.

This week's Get Help :: Take Action offers a set of resources that will help a person recover and move forward after a major loss in their life.

See more questions on this topic | Send this Q&A to a friend

Heart to Heart Coaching – Get Help :: Take Action

Coping with and learning from a major loss in your life
Most people are afraid of the unknown - of not knowing the outcome of an action, a relationship, or a decision - so they gravitate to what they already know and then cling to this apparently safe comfort zone. Many choose the same course of action repeatedly even though it has not brought the results they desire.

But times arrive in our lives when we have to face an abrupt reality, and we are forced to step out of our comfort zone. Unexpectedly, the experience can be liberating and life transforming, if we are willing to learn the lessons we had put off for so long. And as we are no longer bound by the old circumstances, new choices and opportunities arise.

At times of great loss, we grieve in the way that is most meaningful to us, and then we re-awaken to our lives. That is our chance, then, to move forward. Please check out the links to relevant articles, courses, books and websites below. You will be empowered to renew your life in your own time and in your own way...

Relevant products

• Start a New Life!
  This home-study course, published by Trans4mind, is intended for just this purpose: to help people re-establish their identity, life purpose and intentions, and to move forward on firmer and higher ground.

• Hypnosis Downloads
  The Job Loss, Get Over a Relationship, Get Over Divorce and Dealing with Grief audio downloads are powerful sessions, using self-hypnosis as an effective learning and self-discovery tool.

Useful articles

• Turning Fear into Power by Connie Butler
  Life is richer when we learn to walk into the unknown. When we can do this we build our personal power: the power to make change, and to bring more of ourselves out into the world and into our work.

• Creating A Meaningful Life by Wendy Betterini
  What transforms a person's life is how present they are in their day to day tasks. Allow yourself to really experience life. Take frequent moments throughout your day to breathe, feel, BE. Too many of us spend our days in a rushed fog and don't take time to awaken and enjoy.

• Gratitude, Choice, and the "Why Did This Happen to Me?" Syndrome by Gabriella Kortsch, Ph.D.
  My practice brings me in touch with many people telling me about something terrible in their lives. My heart goes out to them... not so much because of the content of their stories, but because they don't have to feel this way, and learning and understanding the truth of that statement is frequently one of the hardest things I ask my clients to do. But once they grasp it, life becomes infinitely easier.

• Detoxing The Soul by Angel Shadow
  Detoxing the soul is a process. A process that takes time and patience. It involves acknowledgement, healing and releasing the issues we'd rather keep buried. But we'll never be free of these issues if we keep them locked inside, buried under an avalanche of emotion. Shadow work has never been more important.

• The Morning After Mourning by Chuck Gallozzi
  We may escape the ravages of killer earthquakes and hurricanes, but we cannot escape from the need for mourning because one day we will lose a loved one. The time to think about mourning is now, before the need arises, for when that day comes, we'll be too distraught to think clearly.

• Why Grief is Different for Each Person by Sherry Russell
  When a death invaded your family circle, did someone sit down and explain how the family dynamics would now change? No. It is simply amazing that something that is as much a part of life as birth, we avoid discussing at all possible costs. It is no wonder we are so unprepared for the emotions and changes grief brings into our lives.

Books on this subject
These best-selling guides on developing life purpose and intentions are available on Amazon.com...

• Conquering the Mysteries and Lies of Grief by Sherry Russell
  The book clarifies how and why grief catapults us into a crisis, threatening our mental, physical, and spiritual health. Through the revealing frank conversations, you discover fresh information on how to take an active role in your grief, while adjusting to new realities. Grief is miserable, unpredictable, and intimidating work, however, by understanding the domino effect of loss you can go on to live a life of graciousness and radiance.

• Life After Loss: A Practical Guide to Renewing Your Life After Experiencing Major Loss by Bob Deits
  From one of the most recognized and trusted authorities on grief recovery, a revised edition of the classic guide to coping with loss in all its forms. Loss can be overwhelming, and recovery sometimes seems terribly daunting, if not impossible. But Bob Deits demonstrates that the only way past grief is through it. With practical and compassionate advice, personal stories, and helpful exercises, Life after Loss is not just about understanding grief - it's about doing something about it.

Video
Watch this video online now for free...

• Self Help. This is the first short film by Rob Krauss. A character learns what dealing with lost love is all about. Follow him as he searches for solace in support groups and finds what he so dearly needs.

Podcasts
Listen to this podcast online now for free...

• Doris Jeanette interviews Peter Shepherd, who describes a critical time in his life when all was lost... but this was actually a turning point - a Cultivate Life! and shedding of old skin - that enabled a new start, with the benefit of clear insights and important lessons learned. That terrible time of loss in fact opened the doors that made everything possible.

And more...
See the questions that have been submitted to Wallace Huey on the topic of 'Coping with and learning from a major loss in your life' and his replies here: Coach Yourself to Success.

Find further good web site resources with Personal Development Search. This Google-powered facility looks through Trans4mind and a bunch of other highly recommended sites to find just the information you're looking for.

See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
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Working to Heal Humanity

A growing number of people, from all walks of life, are familiar with the healing influence of divine energy. So many of our present day ills stem from blocking the natural flow of energy from our higher natures, from the God within. The need to re-connect, to re-create the circuit through which Soul energy can flow, is a crucial step in the healing process.

What is true for the individual is equally true for humanity as a whole. Many of the problems that we face in the world exist because we have distorted or blocked the divine circulatory flow from our higher, spiritual nature. Humanity today needs to strengthen this inner connection to enable the soul energies of light and love to qualify human thought, activity and relationship. Our separative thinking has led us to lose sight of the reality of inner connectedness. The split between humankind's spiritual essence and its outer form has generated many forms of disease. Not only does it cause physical disease, but also psychological disturbance. The effects of this split can be seen too in other forms of disease such as the pollution and the environmental degradation that threaten so much of life on earth.

One initiative that is working to establish this re-connection, and which involves tens of thousands of people throughout the world is Triangles. Triangles is an idea for using techniques of meditation and visualization to create a unifying web of light and goodwill through which spiritual energy can flow into human minds and hearts. People link each day in thought in threes, seeing each person in the triangle as a point of light and visualizing goodwill flowing between them. Having linked up in this way, light and love are visualized pouring into the triangle, energizing it, vitalizing it until it becomes a triangle of scintillating brilliance. The energy is then released, directed out from each point of the triangle as light and goodwill, to flow across the network of triangles being created by people around the world, to irradiate human consciousness with spiritual life.

The Triangles service is challenging, yet really quite simple: a few minutes of dedicated thought each day. It is not necessary to be physically present with your two co-workers or to synchronize the timing of the link. Because the work is activated on subjective levels it transcends the space-time equation.

All thinking people of goodwill are acutely aware of the challenges that lie ahead of the human family. Triangles is a project that is helping to reconnect humanity with its divine source and so bring about a more balanced and holistic approach to life.

Triangles workers use the Great Invocation to focus their appeal for light, love and spiritual direction. The Great Invocation voices in a simple and direct way humanity's need for light on its path, love in its relationships and the spiritual will to work for the good of the whole. The work is an act of service, a service to humanity and a service to the evolutionary process working out on our planet.

If you would like to be a part of this growing global network of light and love, and contribute to a process of healing and renewal, please visit the website Triangles or contact Triangles by Email.

Triangles is a network of light and love. It is a spiritual initiative launched in 1937 to help foster right relations within the human family. The triangle is an ageless symbol of the nature of divinity and echoes throughout many of the world's spiritual traditions. Today, there are thousands of men and women of goodwill drawn from many races, faiths and sections of society who link up daily in their triangles to heal humanity and the planet.

See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
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The Way to a Woman's Heart

My personal search for meaningful relationships began with the quest for romance. Romance implied closeness or sharing, as well as intimacy. This closeness as in "true friendship" seemed to have priority over all other values when seeking the right romantic short- or long-term encounters. Humor is a necessary ingredient. Recently, I have required dentures. It's amazing how this alters your idea of being attractive. Learning how to eat and speak all over again is enough to have to deal with, so I certainly wouldn't have a clue about the logistics of a passionate kiss! Replacing one loss with another, I now have started to add girth to a once svelte and shapely form. Maybe that's just fine, too - who am I looking for, a 24-year old Adonis?

The 21st century multi-tiered and -taxed lifestyle has spawned a need to create a new paradigm for happiness and self-fulfillment - and perhaps a new format for romance. That seems like a big assignment and perhaps an impossible one. Yet nothing else in our lives has stood still, so why should we romantics be frozen in time? What used to be traditional romantic protocol has disappeared along with Marcel perms and gloves. With this global information age and the internet, we may not marry the boy or girl next door, but jet across the Atlantic or Pacific for yet another experience with a new and different specimen.

And, that's exactly where I headed. Like a true modern-day pioneer, I ventured out beyond the back yard and went West, East, South, and North. Wherever I pitched my tents turned out to be fertile territory. In the Southeast/Deep South I found courtesy and gentile traditions; in the Northern Midwest, I encountered the more stoic descendants of miners, many of Norwegian heritage. In the Southwest, I dipped into the emotional heat of Latino/Hispanics... with much gusto, I celebrated the ethnicity of America's great melting pot.

Like many others seeking romance, the Internet turned out to be a virtual gold mine of untapped potential. Risk was everywhere, and so was adventure. Behind the veil of copious emails, one can voice hopes and dreams that might never be shared should we meet in person - especially if we perceive the "stakes are high" and we don't want to disappoint or be disappointed. We can also choose to be as romantic as we wish, without destroying the essence of ambiguity and evasiveness - two important ingredients for any introductory experience on the Internet. We can be free with compassion, kindness, tenderness, and even hint at forthcoming passion, knowing the recipient doesn't need to be Mr. of Ms. Right. But just in case, we've got our bases covered.

Posted profiles on the Internet match sites can be fascinating and deliberately misleading - which is part of the gamesmanship. I tend to go for profiles that stray from mere multiple choice "yes's and no's" or list of adjectives. I like narratives with a flair that deliver personal experiences flavored with humor, pathos or deeds of derring-do. This indicates there's a pulse and blood actually circulating. Sometimes you just jump, and learn to fly on the way down.

The ability to take risks without expecting every encounter to work out is the most important ingredient for preparing any romantic stew. Positive values and outlooks, a "destiny path" and a set of goals form the basis for any lasting relationship. Self-help material abounds and I suspect their popularity is the ease with which they give us the illusion that we have already achieved those lofty goals ourselves, when in fact we are only vicariously experiencing the success of others. It has been my personal experience - and what better teacher can there be but the bruises and scratches from our own life's catwalk - that whatever our needs, whatever our desires - regardless of how much wisdom we've culled from others - ultimately, we have to do that work ourselves, our way! We also need to find a path of service that suits our own calling and connection to the God Source.

One cannot possibly expect another human being to fill every one of our needs or respond to all of our desires. Yet, Western culture focuses on individuality, and when we stop to think about it, we realize that our contemporary lifestyle, although rich with social interaction, is essentially a one-on-one type of existence. This means we almost set ourselves up for times when we feel lonely. Here's a reality check: It takes time to build a relationship. Perfect synchronicity of belief systems, backgrounds, etc., is both unrealistic and unavailable.

I wouldn't be human if I hadn't been emotionally bruised a few times from some of these Internet match encounters. And yet, I'll be the first to tell you these experiences have been a terrific education. I am grateful for each; they have not only taught me about what I didn't want in a romantic relationship; they also showed me how to be more discerning. And most of all: the failures did not stop me from trying again.

I'm the kind of person who needs commitment, especially when sex is involved. Lust is grand; those rampaging hormones are the best reminder we have about the power and beauty of the life force energy. But when you add that radiance that comes from "true love" and appreciation, you have an unbeatable set of ingredients for a delicious Romantic Stew.

Ayn Rand suggests that love and sex in a relationship that includes intimacy, are our response to our highest values. Let the sex be the spices and herbs; let it be tenderizing ingredients. But the "meat, vegetables, and potatoes" of a love relationship should be a deep and lasting friendship that consists of trust, honor, respect, lots of laughter and shared experiences of growth. As in the song, "there's more to us than surgeons can remove." Don't be afraid to turn up the volume.

Excerpted from Becky Ruff's new book, Romance Stew: The Way to a Woman's Heart. If you've ever tried to cook up a man or woman in your life, you're going to love Becky Ruff's colorful description of her multiple Cauldron Crashes. Today's excess of Internet "match" websites provides sizzling opportunities for relationships of every flavor. Like any women with a healthy appetite, Ruff decides to taste them all. She regales the reader with her unpredictable Kitchen Capers that keep manifesting the same fatal endings yet leave her feeling far from being a femme fatale. As she continues her pursuit, one day she discovers to her amazement that she has created a dish fit for a queen: herself. Her optimism and self-esteem fall in love with each other and the chemistry and timing prove to be perfect. Life has become a feast of inner wisdom. You will want to keep Becky Ruff's Cookbook by your bedside (or maybe even take it to bed with you).

Becky Ruff is a professional copywriter and editor as well as an entrepreneur who has founded and managed a variety of companies offering support services to busy professionals and parents. Her latest enterprise, ruffpersonalassistant.com, provides fee-for-service shipping, secretarial, Internet and administrative services. Ruff has two daughters, a son-in-law and two grandchildren, and resides in Montana.

The Secret of Truly Effective Affirmations

Affirmation has been used by successful people for centuries. It has helped many ordinary people achieve extraordinary results in their lives. It has turned many failures into successes. It has made many miracles happen in the history of human evolution. However, the majority of people who use affirmation find that it doesn't work. Why is this the case? What are the elements that people have missed when they use affirmation techniques? I constantly ask myself these questions, and seek for the answers. The result is, no one book gives the complete answer. Some tips given in one book work for a specific situation, but not for others. Other books give other tips that work for other situations, but not for this. I have tested and filtered out the ineffective ones, and left only what I call the ultimate effective technique secrets.

The purpose of affirmation
Before I give you the effective techniques, I must make you understand the true purpose of affirmation. Simply stated, the purpose of affirmation is to pass a command from the conscious mind to the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind has the ability, in anything it accepts as true, to do whatever it takes to turn it into reality. The purpose of an affirmation is to pass a message to the subconscious mind, and to make it believe the message is true. So this brings us to the first element of an effective affirmation.

1. The affirmation must be believable to the subconscious mind
   Most of the affirmations people use, fail at this first stage. They tend to give an unrealistic message to the subconscious mind, hoping for a positive response. If you are financially broke, and you say to yourself "I earn $100,000 per year", is this believable to your mind? If your body is totally out of shape, and you say to yourself "I am very attractive", is this believable to your mind? I doubt it.

   What if you are currently broke, and you want to make $100,000 per year? What if you are out of shape, and you want to make yourself attractive? I find the best and easiest way is to use the word "I choose" in your affirmation.

   Instead of saying "I earn $100,000 per year," say "I choose to earn $100,000 per year."

   Instead of saying "I am very attractive," say "I choose to feel that people find me attractive." Do you feel the difference?

2. The subconscious mind seeks for proof
   There is a misconception that the affirmation must be repeated thousands of times before it can be installed in the subconscious mind. This is not necessarily true. You can use the repetition method to embed your affirmation, but there is an easier way. It is, at the time you find the proof, state your affirmation. Many people stay in poverty because they associate pain with money. Whenever they spend their money, they think of their bills, loans etc. This will automatically lead to ultimate pain. It is the feeling you attach to money that makes you rich or poor.

   How can we turn this to our advantage? Instead of feeling pain when spending money, what if we associate pleasure with it? Next time when you go out shopping, at the moment you take out your money or credit card, say this affirmation to yourself "I always have more than enough to spend."

   See how you feel. This works because the subconscious mind sees the proof. As long as you have some money left in your pocket, this affirmation is always true, so the subconscious mind will believe it.

   How about if we combine the first and second methods together and make an affirmation like this: "I choose to feel that I always have more than enough to spend." Say this at the time you spend your money. See how you feel. You don't have to repeat it thousands of times, a few times of real life proof will make your subconscious mind believe it.

3. The affirmation must trigger feelings
   A fact about the subconscious mind is that it does not speak in words, you can only communicate with it through feelings, and emotions. There are two methods that you can use to trigger your feelings. The first method is to use words that involve feelings. Words like "fun, enjoyable, comfortable, delightful" will work effectively. The second method is to use imagination. Visualize that the situation stated in your affirmation has already come true. See yourself in that situation and feel the feelings.

4. The affirmation must obey the 3 Ps factor
   The 3 Ps are Positive, Present tense and Personal. Affirmations must be stated positively. Instead of saying "I am not fat," say "I choose to stay slim." The reason for this is that before the mind knows the meaning of "I am not fat," it must think of what fat means first. So saying that statement will inevitably lead to the feeling of being fat.

   Affirmations must be in the present tense. Many books mention this. However, I only agree to some extent. If you say "I have a luxury car", your mind will not believe you. The reason I include this here is that once it is combined with the first technique, it will work perfectly. Now say "I choose to have a luxury car". Your mind will do its best to bring it into reality.

   Affirmations must be personal. Your subconscious mind only works for you, not for others. If you say "Ann loves me", it will not be effective, because you have no control over Ann. Now say "I choose to feel that Ann really loves me". This time you are in control, because you can control your own feelings.

5. Personal development affirmations should be stated in the comparative
   "I am confident" may not be as effective as "I am becoming more and more confident." An even better affirmation might be "I choose to feel more and more confident." The reason for using the comparative, is because there is no end to how much more confident you can become. Otherwise, your mind may think you are already confident enough, and it will not need to do any more work.

Song Chengxiang is the author of popular online ebooks "Rapid Manifestation" and "The Lost secrets of Manifestation". His words have helped thousands of people greatly change the quality of their lives and manifest their true desires easily and effortlessly. He has recently developed a powerful mind programming system - Quantum Mind Power, with a top brain-wave entrainment engineer Morry Zelcovitch. Check out this amazing new system and get a free 5 part Quantum Mind Power ecourse. Or download the free report, Retrain Your Brain For a Better Life by Morry Zelcovitch, creator of "Quantum Mind Power" system.

Where's Your Head At?

There are essentially two types of travelers in this world. There are those who are consumed by 'ticking boxes' and traveling to all the 'major attractions' just to say that they've been there and done that. Then there are those who truly travel for the experience of traveling and who soak up everything along the way. The real purpose of traveling is not to reach a destination, but to travel.

This is also true in the journey of life. So many people go through life reaching for destinations and they end up never 'traveling'. Wherever your mind is, that is where you are. See, your whole life is actually lived within the confines of your mind. It is not what happens to you, but how you process it in your mind. Wherever you put your focus is where your attention will be. So often we fall into the trap of the 'someday-somewhere' mentality, where we think that 'someday' when we are somewhere else or with someone else or with something else we will be happy. 'Then' we will do x, y and z. We almost live in this other place that we aspire to and we end up forgetting where we are right now - which is all we've really got anyway.

Life is lived in the 'now'. Now is all you will ever really own. Although you can escape to some future place in your mind, a place that you think will make you happy, you only really want that to experience that in a moment of now anyway. It's only when you are firmly rooted in the present moment and when all of you is here, that you can really experience something fully.

Being firmly rooted in the present does not negate having goals and aspiring to great things. In fact, it requires that. An awareness of where you've been and a vision for where you are going will color your experience of now. Set your course for where you want to go and then make sure that you are firmly rooted in the present. If you are driving your car and you are focused on something a mile ahead of you, you will miss both the hazards and the beauty that is right in front of you. Always remember that the purpose of traveling is not to reach a destination, but to travel - it's all about the experience.

The danger in always being focused on some future goal or accomplishment is that it distracts us from taking action right here, right now. Procrastination is a 'future thing'. When your mind is at some place in the future, you tend to absorb all the potential problems that this (imaginary) future might hold. Since most of our fears are only imaginary we tend to start imagining potential problems and challenges that breeds procrastination. Remember that procrastination is designed to 'protect' you from unpleasant tasks and to keep you from taking action on those things that will be unpleasant. When you are rooted in the future you will continuously fabricate situations and circumstances that will encourage procrastination. When you are rooted in the present you will be empowered to take action because all you have to deal with is what's in front of you.

There is immense power in 'now'. When you are firmly rooted in where you are instead of where you want to be in some nondescript future, then you are mobilized. Procrastination immobilizes you and even if you know where you want to travel to, you will remain stranded in indecision and fear. You will be overwhelmed by everything that you think you still need to do to get you where you are not. If you are focused on the now, then all you have to do is what you can do right now with exactly where you are right now and with exactly what you've got right now. You don't need to wait for anything to be different before you can take action. Your attention is focused on what you can do NOW. This is empowering.

It's true that action will not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action. Procrastination steals your future by stealing your present moments. Be in the present moment. It will free you from the fears and problems that will keep you locked up in procrastination and indecision. To overcome procrastination, look at what's right in front of you and start there. Always ask yourself what you can do right now - and do that! Never waste your present moments with what you 'could have' or 'should have' done and don't be held captive by your future. Always be mindful of where your head is at, because that is where you are, and where you are is what will determine what you will or will not do.

Deon Du Plessis is the author of A Course of Action, a free e-Course designed to empower you to break through your limitations, take action and transform your ideas into reality. Visit The Self Improvement Gym for immediate access to this great resource.

The Art of Listening

The art of listening is a simple, innocuous sounding phrase but it has a profound significance in life. Most of us just hear and do not listen. Hearing is, of course, not listening. For example, one goes to a lecture given by someone who may be an expert on a subject that one is interested in. As soon as the speaker starts talking the mind imposes a filter between the speaker and the listener based on one s conditioning and prior knowledge. In this process the mind starts analyzing and dissecting what is being said instead of really paying attention to it. In effect the person is hearing his or her own noise and not the words being spoken.

The significance of listening is even more compelling in personal relationships. Many problems in relationships of any kind arise from the fact that we do not really listen to what the other person is saying. We impose our own filters and interpret the meaning accordingly.

Listening involves giving undivided attention to what is being said (or heard). The mind can pay attention to only one thing at a time. When one is listening to something, there cannot be any other thought there. Otherwise it is not possible to truly comprehend what is being heard. This is true for listening to anything. If we are listening to an enchanting music, we cannot enjoy it if we start thinking about its composition. The effect of the music comes from its totality and not from the component parts. The parts by themselves do not have the property of the whole. The whole has an emergent property that makes it enchanting.

This aspect of listening is not necessarily related to hearing in the physical sense. We can listen to silence as well because sometimes silence can be more eloquent than words. For example if we are sitting on a sea shore or a riverbank watching the waves and ripples during sunrise or sunset, we are listening to nature. Just as in the case of listening to the enchanting music there is a feeling of becoming one with the object of our attention. In an abstract sense this is a phenomenon of merging or inter-penetration. It is sometime referred to as being lost in the music or the nature. This state of perception transcends the mind and involves the heart and soul.

This leads to the distinction between hearing and listening. Hearing is essentially passive involving the physical sense organ; listening involves the entire being. Sound is simply a set of configurations of vibrations in the air to which the ear responds. The human ear can respond only to a small range of these vibration frequencies, but the vibrations exist beyond this range at both ends. Listening includes responding to all existing vibrations through the non-physical aspects of the human existence.

There is yet another aspect of listening that does not involve anything external. It is listening to our own inner voice. There are times when we get what is called inner inspiration or intuition. At times the intuition can be a better guide than the rational thinking of the mind. Most of the great ideas in both science and philosophy have resulted from listening to this inner voice.

Listening requires that we clear our minds of all prejudices and preconceived ideas and give whole attention to the object of hearing perception at least for the time being. This is not an easy task but with persistent effort the habit can be cultivated.

Dharmbir Rai Sharma is a retired professor with an electrical engineering and physics background. Dharmbir maintains the website Cosmos Ebooks, mainly devoted to philosophy, science, and self-development. You can download his ebook, "Where Is God," which traces the development of the concept of God.

The Positive Party–the Beyond Ideology Think Tank

I'm trying to start a "pro-humanity" lobby group, to promote government policies which help free citizens to achieve their aims rather than repressing and restricting them. My reason for doing this is the increasing negativity and reactionary tone of the political scene in both my home country (the UK) and elsewhere in the world, what I would term "the politics of fear." This plays to the "chimp" element within us, i.e. scaremongering, racism, xenophobia, religious bigotry etc. I feel there is a need to promote the holistic - the pursuit of real happiness - in society as opposed to the materialistic, which is always going to leave man fighting against man.

One of the most depressing facets of politics today is the amount of cynicism, defeatism and negativity shown by both politicians and the media. I believe this feeling is shared by many people of different political persuasions. In a bizarre twist on Labour's 1997 anthem, we are now singing "Things Can Only Get Worse."

The Lord's Prayer urges us to do on Earth as is done in Heaven - to have ideals. I am not talking about the failed philosophy of communism. Such ideals can be found in all political beliefs...

Conservatives claim that building a pleasant society is the responsibility of the wider community - through personal responsibility, enterprise and participation - and not the State. This is surely true.

Liberals believe that civil liberties make the difference between democracy and tyranny. Also, the safest societies tend to be the most liberal ones. This is also true.

Socialists believe that a more equitable society is more morally justified and cohesive - and as wealth is power, more democratic too. Again, this is true.

Finally, Environmentalists believe that our surroundings - both natural and man made, at work and in leisure - contribute the most to our quality of life. Who can argue with this?

We would like to award positive politicians and media figures, not based on the outdated concepts of "left and right" but on forward-thinking, intelligent ideas, and a sense of humanity. I am seeking members who simply share a desire for a pleasant and exciting future for mankind in Britain and beyond.

If you are interested in the Positive Party, please email me See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
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Anti-Bullying Skills and Techniques for Children

Bullying is a big problem in our schools today. However, bullying has always been a problem. The main differences between bullying today from the past are the nature of the bullying and the violence that occurs in the aftermath. Cyberbullying is becoming a popular and more destructive form of bullying than traditional bullying. More children today are bringing guns to school to seek revenge on others. Bullying has been around and will probably remain for years to come. Not only was I bullied as a child, but I continue to get bullied today as an adult.

I do not believe that we have the power to rid the world of bullying. I believe the answer to the issue of bullying rests with all of us, especially the victims of bullying. I am not suggesting that victims of bullying are responsible for bullying. On the contrary, what I am suggesting is that victims of bullying have the power in themselves to think, behave, and react in ways that limit or eradicate bullying. As a society, we spend so much of our energy identifying and punishing the bully, that we fail to spend enough time empowering the victims of bullying. We should spend more of our energy on the things that we can control rather than the things we have limited or no control over. We need to teach children about the power that they already possess. Let me elaborate on a few issues that parents should teach their children regarding the issue of bullying.

Low self esteem
Let's first talk about the characteristics of bullying. Typically, bullies and their victims share the same characteristic - low self-esteem. It just depends on whether they internalize or externalize their feelings - that will determine if they will become a bully or a victim of bullying. Typically, negative situations and events in the child's life can trigger low self-esteem. Externalizing feelings can cause some children to become bullies as they attempt to control their environment to compensate for their lack of control in their family. For instance, if a child's parents are divorcing and the child is very upset about the divorce, he or she might feel powerless in their ability to keep their parents together. As a result, the child might take out his or her rage on others for purposes of seeking control, to compensate for his or her lack of control over their parent's impending divorce.

Given the same scenario (parental divorce), some children internalize their feelings by not talking or acting out how they feel. Instead, they become depressed and withdrawn feeling like a failure. Often, they develop a negative image of themselves and their physical appearance. They look at others and the world around them with shaded lens. When a bully validates this child's feelings about themselves, this child often reacts negatively to the validation because he or she feels the bully is correct in their interpretation.

Often times, children with high self-esteem do not respond negatively to bullies because they already know that whatever the bully says negatively about them is untrue and therefore they do not feel the need to defend themselves against the foolishness of others.

As human beings, our behavior, thoughts, and feelings are never dictated or controlled by others, situations, and events unless we allow this to occur. Simply said, others, situations, and events can trigger a reaction based on what we are thinking. In other words, if I really didn't want to go to work today and my car has a flat tire, I might experience happiness because I didn't want to go to work. On the other hand, given the same event (flat tire), I might want to go to work today to take care of some undone business. Because the flat tire might delay or eliminate my chances of getting to work, this situation might cause me anger.

How could the same event in both situations cause two different feelings? It wasn't the event at all that triggered the feelings. It was what I was thinking about the event that triggered my feelings. Therefore, manipulating the way we think can alter how we feel. We all have the ability to take ownership and control over our thoughts. We however have limited or no control over specific events, situations, and the behavior of others. Sometimes, we attempt to control events, situations, and others but become frustrated when our attempts fail.

Now, how does the paragraph above apply to the issue of bullying? The main goal of bullies is to attempt to get their victims to experience fear, anger, or sadness. Once their victim demonstrates signs of these emotions via the words he or she uses and/or their body language, the bully has complete and total control over them. The bully will continue to bully their victim until the victim no longer verbally and/or physically displays fear, anger, or sadness in response to the bullying. The bullying will end once the victim responds the opposite of what the bully expects.

How to react differently
How do we get children to react the opposite of what the bully expects? This is where role-playing comes in handy. Parents should regularly sit down with their children helping them learn to react the opposite of what bullies expect. Often times, this task is much easier when the parent knows what hurtful words or phrases bullies say that makes their children feel fearful, angry, or sad. Using these hurtful words and/or phrases in role-plays will emotionally prepare children when they are approached by bullies.

It is also important to teach children that they have the power to change or affect the agenda of bullies by the words they use. For instance, if a bully calls a child stupid, the child could defuse the bullying by stating to the bully, "That's nice," "How about that," "Oh, well," and so forth. The worst thing that the child could do is respond by telling the bully that he or she is stupid or make any other negative statement. A negative response will only inflame the situation encouraging further bullying.

The right body language
In addition, parents should teach and role-play with their children, specified forms of body language that differentiate a child with high self-esteem from a child with low self-esteem. Body language communicates feelings, more so than spoken words. If a child yells at a bully that he or she is not bothered by their behavior, the bully knows that the child is bothered because of the yelling. Lack of eye contact, looking down, slouched posture, lack of hygiene, and low tone of voice can be viewed as symptoms of low self-esteem.

Parents need to teach their children that bullies rarely get angry with them. Bullies are typically angry at themselves and/or events that are or have occurred in their own life, for which they have limited or no control. Bullies indirectly take out their anger on the ones they could easily control.

Parents should never teach their children to physically fight back when approached by a bully. The problem with fighting back is that children will get themselves into trouble for engaging in physically assaultive behavior. Think of it this way - bullies rarely ever throw the first punch. They always entice their victim into throwing the first punch. This way, when they are asked who started the fight, the bully could easily and truthfully state that their victim started it. In addition, there are significant legal ramifications that can arise as a result of physically assaultive behavior.

Defuse the situation
It is important to remember that physical violence typically occurs after a negative verbal interaction. Violence typically is provoked and rarely unprovoked. Therefore to avoid violence, the conflict can and should be defused during the verbal exchange. This is why the words victims say and their body language are so significant and detrimental to the outcome of bullying. Recent school shootings suggest that the shooters were bullied by their classmates. The bullying subsequently provoked the school violence.

Parents should be cautious when teaching their children to ignore bullies. The problem with ignoring is that the bully knows that their behavior is irritating, annoying, and controlling their victim. Therefore, the bullying will continue.

Parents should be cautious when teaching their children to constantly report bullying to an adult. Parents should encourage their children to first attempt to resolve the bullying on their own with the skills taught above. If their children are unsuccessful resolving these issues on their own, they should be encouraged to report the bullying. If their children automatically report the bullying without attempting to defuse the situation on their own, they will be perceived and labeled as a tattle-tale which will encourage more bullying.

Parents need to teach their children the correct definition of the word "tattling." Some children feel that reporting misbehavior to adults is considered tattling. Parents need to teach their children that reporting on others just to see them get into trouble is indeed considered tattling. A child that reports to his or her parents that their brother is picking his nose is tattling. However, children always need to report to an adult if they were physically, sexually, or verbally harmed by others, or if they witnessed others engaging in destructive or illegal behaviors.

It is very easy to feel sorry for and sympathetic toward victims of bullying. However, it would be more helpful to the victim if we are more empathic to their needs, by empowering them to diffuse bullying on their own. As a result, their ability to defuse the bullying would ultimately raise their level of self-esteem and self-worth.

If you would like additional bullying prevention skills and techniques or if you would like to attend an online educational seminar, please feel free to visit our website: Building Strong Families National Seminars.

Mark Lakewood, with a Masters Degree in Social Work, is a Relationship Specialist, Author, and a Motivational and Professional Speaker. As CEO of Building Strong Families National Seminars, he authored the Sudden Compliance Program designed to swiftly improve the behavior of children, and the Standing Up To Bullying onsite community-based bullying prevention program.

New Age City

It all began with a mysterious fire in my belly, a burning desire to go everywhere, meet everyone, see and do everything. It began with a life-or-death decision to remove the Needle of False Security from my arm, turn away from the Medusa of Routine, part the Veil of Bogus Guarantees and pass on into that vital place where, regardless of the question, all you have to say is yes.

It began with the Wisdom of Foolishness, a commitment to remain fluid, receptive, in process, part of the Membrane of Things as I struck out on that spiritual Route 66, the Experience Trail, determined to follow it to the end. It began with yours truly spontaneously ceasing to be myself and becoming someone else, assuming in the blink of an "I" the role of a drifter, a rolling stone, a wayward mariner lone and visionary on the High Seas of Chance and Possibility.

Actually, it began with a grueling Trailways bus trip since that was all I could afford with the money I'd probably stolen--three forgettable, sweaty, malnourished, backbreaking days and nights west from wherever across the tedious interstates of America. Feeling greasier than a TV dinner, I ended up in California in a town called New Age City, which seemed an appropriate starting point, a promising beginning for what I considered the dawning of my own "new age."

New Age City was a kaleidoscopic pastiche of architectural designs that simultaneously delighted and bewildered. Gothic spires and modernist high-rises towered over straw-bale houses, adobes, log cabins, tepees, earthships and yurts, next to which Buddhist temples, dojos, mosques and shiny Bauhaus edifices competed for space, while the storefronts featured everything from rococo facades and stained-glass art nouveau awnings to medieval placards and flashing neon signs.

My impression, shouldering my trusty old buffalo leather duffel bag (containing the essentials: toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, spare underwear and Swiss army knife)--I say, my impression stepping down from the bus and squinting into the bright sunlight that first May morning was that the driver had taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque and dropped me off on Mars. And I wasn't far off the mark, as I soon found myself whistling along Mercury Street into the heart of downtown.

The only way to convey my initial reaction to New Age City is to compare it to that pinch-me disbelief a kid feels visiting Disneyland the first time. There was no dirt in New Age City. No crime. No drugs. No graffiti. No youth gangs since there were no youths. No class issues since there were no classes. No racist slurs, sexist jokes, right wing slogans or homophobic propaganda.

Wherever you looked everything was in pristine condition, and the parks were safe and clean, and all the cars were late-model imports, and all the people were white and over forty and expensively dressed even when dressed down, and the restaurants (though exorbitant) featured multicultural menus on recycled paper, and you could always get a decaf mocha latte even in a convenience store at midnight, and those who drank drank in moderation, and those who smoked smoked only American Spirits, and the police themselves were paragons of environmental consciousness as they rode smiling on shiny mountain bikes up and down exquisitely maintained streets.

And the extraordinary services! New Age City was a cornucopia of Transsexual Breathwork, Colonic Hypnotherapy, Psychotic Readings, Women's Foot Massage Circles, Men's Menstrual Networks, Nymphomatic Drainage, Applied Tautology, Body Piercing for the Inner Child, Alternative Unbirthing, Soul Upheaval, Past Life Digressions … To say nothing of the extraordinary products available through independent distributors of network marketing companies: Self-esteem Creams, Psychic Gels, Clairvoyant Eyedrops, Aboriginal Aphrodisiacs, Ostrich Feather Energy Bars, Irradiated Healing Clays, Chai Enemas …

I didn't know where to start. I wondered about my inner child. In fact, I was troubled. Did I even have an inner child, I asked myself, given that, in essence, I'd just been born? On the other hand I thought it might be interesting to try a flavored enema or have my nasal septum pierced.

Confusing as my options were, it soon became crystal clear the little cash I had on me wouldn't last long in a place where a bag of peanuts cost ten bucks. So what if they were organic.

My first instinct was to get a job--an idea immediately followed by a crippling wave of nausea. I literally vomited in a trash can on the sidewalk where I'd been pleasantly window-shopping. I found the idea of a job repulsive. Life was too short to waste being a productive member of society. My job was my imaginary life, and I felt deeply I should be paid to live it.

Such a conviction did nothing to put food in my belly or a roof over my head. The hotels and B&Bs were so expensive one weekend would have bankrupted me. It didn't take long for my homelessness to sink in. It just took shivering night after night on a park bench only to be mercilessly prodded awake at five by a smiling policeman urging me to move on; pissing in the woods, shitting in the bushes and wiping with leaves I prayed weren't poison ivy; then finally spending my last penny and feeling genuine hunger set in as a layer of sweat and scum encased me like a second skin.

And so, as is conventional in such cases, I resorted to begging. Begging is much more difficult than it looks. Contrary to popular belief, it's a high art form that takes years of dedicated practice to master.

Granted, I was no master--but I seriously doubt Helen Keller could have pried any change out of the citizens of New Age City. I tried every trick in the book. I stood and begged, sat and begged, lay down and begged, begged on my knees. I drew little signs indicating I was unemployed, I was retarded, I was a starving artist, I was an orphan, I was deaf or blind or mute, I suffered from dengue fever, I had a broken heart. I changed locations and times. I faked whiplash, a fractured femur, an abscessed tooth. I moaned and groaned, gnashed my teeth and wailed as I sat impossibly twisted on the sidewalk. I even squirted ketchup swiped from a deli all over my jeans and complained of intestinal bleeding. But nothing, I mean nothing worked! Nobody gave me a dime. People practically walked on top of me without even looking in my direction.

Morning after morning the smiling policeman politely prodded me awake, and day after day my hunger hollowed me out from the inside. I no longer gave a damn about my inner child. How long would it be, I wondered, before I completely withered, turned to a crisp, lost my marbles and took to conversing with myself in different octaves in my own little one-man play scripted by misery's lunacy?

One especially traumatic afternoon I found myself seated on the sidewalk in the middle of Mercury Street being ignored by streams of polite people who managed to be cold as distant stars, so engrossed in their own "process" (a word I often overheard them use) that--this is what occurred to me--if the Good Lord Himself had suddenly materialized in a blinding flash, the situation would have been no different from that story where Christ returns to Waco, Texas, but nobody lifts a pinky to receive Him. I remember slumping sideways following this realization and crying a salty tear or two, no longer hungry (that had thankfully passed) but bitterly disillusioned.

Later that night, stretched on my park bench in a state of physical and emotional exhaustion, yet miserably unable to sleep, I realized I had to escape. I had to get out of that plastic place--even if it meant perishing in the attempt.

The problem was how. How could a beggar get out of New Age City? Not by hitching, that was for sure. Nobody would give you the time of day, much less a ride. Speaking of, where were all the beggars? Surely I wasn't the first drifter to show up expecting to live off the generosity of such an enlightened place.

Sleep being out of the question, I decided to go for a stroll to brainstorm. It must have been around three and besides yours truly not a creature was stirring. At that hour New Age City resembled a stage set more than a real city, a nearly convincing theater backdrop, the buildings two-dimensional like crushed cardboard boxes. As if they weren't solid, as if you could pass your hand through them with no effort.

This impression, strange as it was, persisted and actually grew stronger the longer I walked through the deserted streets where a surreal, pastel twilight prevailed. By the time I arrived at the outskirts of town, dawn was shooting yellow jags up through the inky sky. But instead of feeling gladdened by the new day, a wave of panic washed over me. I was certain another day in New Age City would be the end of me.

Panting with terror, feeling daybreak fry me like a vampire, squeeze me like a trap room in a B movie, I did something that in any other town would have resulted in a broken nose: I turned and plunged headlong into the nearest wall. Instead of stone I passed through something that felt like water but wasn't wet. When I reemerged, I was no longer in New Age City.

I didn't know where the heck I was--just that I was alone in a dark alley that smelled like piss and rotten beer. I leaned back against the alley wall (a solid one this time) and took a few deep breaths, disoriented but happy to be alive.

But just to make sure, I pinched myself (it hurt) and tried out my vocal chords. "Echo?" I yelled into the shadows.

"Echo? Echo? Echo?" the shadows replied.

Copyright (c) 2007 by Sol Luckman. All Rights Reserved.
Sol Luckman is author of the internationally acclaimed nonfiction Conscious Healing: Book One on the Regenetics Method and the Beginner's Luke Series of novels. "New Age City" is the opening of Beginner's Luke, for which a respected New York publisher, with authors featuring a National Book Award finalist, recently offered the author a contract that was declined in favor of an experiment in self-publishing. Luke's signature obsessions with self, sex, satire and slapdash highlight a serious point: consciousness creates. The point is there is a point to living in the imagination--for only through it can we reinvent our ourselves and our world. Currently, the author is giving away the first 2012 electronic copies of Beginner's Luke. To take advantage of this FREE offer, or to order the paperback, visit the Beginner's Luke site.

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