Transient Beauty

Transient Beauty ~ Maggie Kalas © ~ www.soullightcoach.com

Nothing stays the same. Everything is in constant change. Whether you notice it or not, every moment is completely different. When you do catch yourself in between the spaces, a strange and wonderful thing happens. As one moment transitions into the next, if you let your mind go into suspended animation, an unusual sense of peace washes over you. Your awareness expands, bringing everything into oneness. This is the eternal now, and it feels like freedom.

Souls Frozen Soles

Souls Frozen Soles ~ Maggie Kalas © ~ www.soullightcoach.com

A beautifully sunny clear day Sunday morning here on Long Island. Oh yeah, it was extremely chilly; only 20 +/- degrees.

Sunken Meadow Beach, usually filled with walkers, was seemingly empty. And then Spirit pointed out the symbolic frozen footprints left on the boardwalk by the many souls who have walked its path. They were showing me that even though we cannot see it with our eyes, the beach is never empty. It is always filled with the energy of all the souls who have left their energetic footprint.

When positive energy is left, it feels good. And conversely, when negative energy is left, it doesn't feel so good. Their message was to be aware of the energy of our being… what are you leaving with every person, place or thing?

When we choose to leave a positive footprint… in love, in joy, in kindness… we inspire others to do the same.

In those times when we have left a negative footprint... in upset, in anger, in ignorance... we have an opportunity to transmute the energy by shifting our state of being... in love, in forgiveness, in compassion... thereby recreating our soul's intended positive footprint.

Problem-Solving Through Shifting Awareness

"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." Albert Einstein

Are you stuck? Are you in your own way? Do you have a situation that is not resolving?

If you want something to change, if you want the energy to move forward... before taking any action, you must shift your state of being. Change is not something that you reach for, it is something that you allow. Shifting your perspective, raising your vibration, or opening to a new level of awareness happens right where you stand.

Positive change comes when you tune into a higher frequency. Begin with love. Love breaks all barriers. It strips away the illusion and reveals the truth. Problems are solvable when you let love be your lens. Make peace with where you are and let the light of love illuminate the answers you seek.

www.soullightcoach.com

Acceptance with Compassion

In a meditation the other day, I got a message for a dear friend; she needed to learn acceptance with compassion. Though meant for her, I thought, "Who doesn't need to learn this very profound lesson?" I know it certainly rang true for me. Accepting 'what is', with the gentleness of a compassionate heart, has been the number one theme in my growth. Releasing the conflict within myself of what was happening and what I wanted to happen. Getting to the point were I gave up the fight, and saw the fact of the matter. Acceptance was the first step I took toward positive change and healing. 

The article below sums up the power of acceptance quite nicely. Perhaps you will find it a valuable tool to add to your Spiritual toolbox.

The Spiritual Power of Acceptance  

by Matt Zavadil

Acceptance is important to living a life of abundance. This is the way to inner peace. The world teaches you that you must always be stressed out and worried about things in your life that you can't control. The "ego" part of you loves getting you all worked up over what's not fair. Your ego tries to convince you that it's important to prove yourself over and over. It tells you that you're not worth anything unless you're constantly striving to validate that worth.

This isn't true. One of the first aspects of acceptance is to know that you are fine just the way you are right at this moment in time. You have no need to prove anything. By living your life with this type of attitude, you begin to remove fear and doubt. These emotions impede your inner peace.

Your higher self has no need for them, as you already know deep inside that abundance is yours. Allow yourself to tap into this knowledge. Now, this isn't to say that you just accept things as they are and then become lazy. It's a way of thinking. A thought process. A knowing.

As you work toward making your physical goals reality, you exist in a state of mind of acceptance. This state of mind frees you from inner anxiety and anguish when things don't go as planned. You understand that some things you can change and influence and some you cannot. There is a feeling of inner peace that will come to you when you can live with that which you can't change. It is what it is.

When you live your life from this perspective, it opens you up more to that which you can influence. When this happens, you're able to be more productive than you ever could or would be when you listen to your ego and make yourself miserable over the unfairness of life.

Another aspect of acceptance that will lead you to abundance and inner peace is that it helps you eliminate judgement from your life. There's no need for you to pre-judge. This is one of the ego's best weapons against your inner peace. In this world, we are brought up with many stereotypes and thoughts on what others should or shouldn't be doing. Pre-judging others is prevalent. It's not your place to decide what is right for others. Notice how you feel inside when you pre-judge or judge another person.

Are you filled with inner peace and contentment? Most likely, you feel inner stress. Your body tightens up. Your ego is loving it! But, your higher self knows that an acceptance state of mind is much healthier for your spirituality. The next time you start this judgement process, be aware of it. Replace it with the thought that you don't want this poison inside of you.

See that other person as an extension of yourself. Understand that you are both of the same spiritual energy. Know that you are no better than this other soul; they are not beneath you to be judged by you.

Acceptance can be summed up with the old Zen saying,

"If you understand, things are just as they are.

If you do not understand, things are just as they are." 

One Change, Changes Everything

---

ONE

CHANGE

thought

feeling

insight

action

moment

CHANGE

ONE

---

One change, changes everything.

Choosing to Transform Your Life

After entering my 48th year of this life experience, my world began to change. Not because outside forces presented circumstances that would change my life. The energy of this change began several years prior. It began when I started to get clear about my life. I focused on what I desired. I noticed what I did not like as well as what I liked. I paid attention to what was missing and what was showing up everyday.  I assessed it all. I reflected on it for a while. And then I made deliberate, decisive choices.

The first choice I made was to spend time each day in meditation. Not just the usual meditation I had done previously either. I had decided to try something different. I wanted something that would help me get the energy started. What I needed was to get out of my own way and let the Universe do the work. So when I came across a Kundalini meditation from JJ Semple, Golden Flower Meditation based on the Secret of the Golden Flower, it seemed like the right choice to make.  I sat for 20-30 minutes a day for more than a hundred days straight, breathing a rhythmic breath from my diaphragm. Just when I had almost forgotten about the effects of doing such a meditation, it happened. I activated the Kundalini energy within my Chakras.

That's when my life finally opened up and began to change for the better. This new energy within me cleared my thinking and offered the momentum I needed.  It has been a little over a year since this pure positive energy activated within me and now I have completely transformed my life. Not just one thing, but every area has been affected. For me, it is all good. And it is still underway.

I allowed for the release of old belief systems, thoughts, actions and choices that were toxic in my life, as well as opening up to new, unexpected opportunities that emerged from my new state of being. What I have also noticed is that my positive changes has seeped into the lives of others in my inner circle. Shedding the old and embracing the new...it is all part of the transformation process.

If you want to transform your life, you must first be willing to make deliberate changes. You must be willing to release the old and embrace the new. You must be willing to take time to be still, to get clear and to take action only when it is the next logical step on your journey.

The one thing I learned is that you must resonate with the changes you want in your life. For me, the best thing I have found to release resistance and to align with my heart's desire was to simply sit and breathe. Doing some form of meditation--breathing, Kundalini, mantras, affirmations, guided, brainwave therapy, nature walks--whatever your preference, is truly the secret to transforming your life.

When the show is over, only love remains

Life is like a Broadway show. What character do we play today? Villon or hero? Friend or foe? Victim or healer? Husband, wife, worker, parent, child, teacher, student? The casting call is endless.

We get up every morning and immediately the director in our head--our subconscious mind--yells,  "Action!" Without another thought, we obediently get into character.

Like in the movie, Ground Hog Day, our lives become a repeated drama.

Consumed as stars of our own show, we release all moment by moment decisions to the producer--the ego--and simply perform as the writers--society--has written in the script. Sure there are some standing ovations and elated encores, but often performances bomb and there are poor reviews. 

Nevertheless, the show must go on!

Actually, if you look real close, many are only stand-ins. Sure, it looks like them, it sounds like them, but if you look into their eyes you can see they are not there. Clueless to the perpetual retake, they blankly move through each scene of their life as if it were a new show.

People are either performing, crashing in between curtain calls or rehearsing the same scene over and over again. Co-actors may change, the scenery may change, but the lead actor remains the same.

"Bravo! Now can't you see it was only another performance?"

Yes, different performance, but essentially, it is the same production.

What I like about the message in the Ground Hog Day movie was that Bill Murry, the lead actor, recognized that he was reliving the same day over and over again. With that awareness, he made the best of each day by exploring new territories; new parts of himself. While everything else seemed to remain the same, he began to change, his choices within the seemingly repeated day. His asserted efforts changed his perspective. Creating new realities. In the end, the real next day came, but this time, he was a new man--realized in beyond the illusion. He was ready to embrace every day with a whole new outlook.

To be a successful actor, one must give it all from the heart. There must be passion...desire...joy...the love of every moment.

To be a successful human, one must give it all from the heart. There must be passion...desire...joy...the love of every moment. 

In the performance of our lives, when the show is over only love remains.

Considering life from a window of light,

Mags

There's No Place Like Home

Can you feel it? There is a push or perhaps a pull. An energy that is tugging at your soul. Sitting on the fence is no longer an option. Ascend or descend! Change is at hand. The secret is being revealed to us like Dorothy’s 'aha moment' in the Wizard of Oz--“There’s no place like home.”

Home? Where?

Home is a state of Being that brings Peace, Fulfillment and Joy. The amazing power to get there is not behind the curtain, or in other people’s perception of truth, or the doom and gloom of the outer world’s illusion. It’s lying dormant within us, waiting to be awoken. Those, of course, who resist the resounding internal wake-up call will simply roll over and miss the illuminating fireworks. Lost in a dream-like reality of witches, flying monkeys and fear, they will not find their way home to peace--at least not in this lifetime.

What I have discovered, on my yellow brick road to self-realization, is that the only one I can truly count on to get me home is Me. I am blessed with many who may point me in the right direction, but in the end, it is up to Me to get me there. In the beginning, the journey seemed far and ominous. Now, it’s mostly a pleasant ride, like taking a Sunday drive with no specific place to go. There are a multitude of terrains and conditions: hills, valleys, rain storms, sleet and ice, sharp turns, gentle breezes, sunny skies and bumps, many bumps. However, all of it feels good...because I know I am on my way.

Here I am. Another fork in the road with decisions to make. This time the choice doesn’t feel so difficult. In fact, it seems more like a spontaneous shift in the right direction. Like following the wind on a sailboat, I am swiftly making a turn downstream. The wake behind me and the horizon ahead. The voice inside saying, “Tacking,” and I follow obediently. Usually I resist this voice or drown it out with distraction and drama. Now I am listening to its gentle whisper calling me Home.

What is this inner voice? God? Source? The Universe? Life Force?

“All of that,” I could hear Abraham(-Hicks) answer emphatically. It is the Primal Spirit, the Power within, your Higher Self, your Soul. In all spiritual teachings throughout history there is an Ethereal Force that creates life. The Creator is not separate from us; we are One with it. The physical world is a Co-creative process. In ancient Sanskrit, this corporeal energy is referred to as Kundalini. A subtle power source sitting at the bottom of our spine awaiting activation of its restorative purpose. What I have learned is: no one can ignite its healing fire but me.

The embodiment of Kundalini-Life Force was evident within every word written by JJ Semple in his book Deciphering the Golden Flower One Secret at a Time. I was drawn in by this power to read it, and soon discovered the power was reading me. You cannot turn away from truth once you have awareness of it. Even if you try to dodge it or slip back into old, complacent ways, it’s still there. The call of your destiny will only haunt you if you don’t comply.

This was my realization about the Kundalini-Life Force; it is who I am so I cannot deny it. The Light within has been giving me cues all my life. Mostly I ignored it, for the past decade I have paid it heed, seeking personal development. For me, Semple’s story reflected an imbalance in me wanting to return to balance--NOW, not later! And so, I believe a new script to my life is about to be played out and the scene involves engaging in the Golden Flower Meditation.

In consulting the I-Ching, an ancient Chinese oracle known also as Book of Changes, I discover--as Semple had--its precise wisdom and guidance. With a toss of the coins, my journey begins with six in the first line, indicating a movement in the foundation of my life is apparent. The subsequent tossing of the coins builds five fixed solid lines, creating a Hexagram* that sheds light as to where I am heading--straight to Heaven!

While that sounds well and good, the changing break in the bottom line blatantly implies that this will not be a direct path and discipline and focus will be required. I must face whatever needs to be altered in me with unwavering faith for a positive outcome. The shadows of the ego will resist, but with deliberate fortitude, and management of the awakened Kundalini within me, I can surely rise above the wind to return home--to joyfully be Me.

Today the air is still outside mirroring my directive to be still inside. I am the eternally grateful student and the Golden Flower Meditation acts as an intermediary teacher, preparing me for the arrival of my ultimate Master and my ultimate transformation.

I can hear the voice saying, “There’s no place like Home.”

In gratitude and joy,

Mags

AttitudeLift

P.S. The decision for me to explore the transformational aspects of Golden Flower Meditation by no means implies that it is the only way for healing, enlightenment or a life of joy. There are many paths that lead us to our intended purpose. My philosophy has always been to live life in moderation. Being in alignment with who you are is key. We all need to find our unique yin/yang in life. May you find your way home in peace and joy.

*I-Ching - Book of Changes
Request: Guidance regarding pursuing the Golden Flower Meditation

Hexagram 44 -- Kou - Coming to Meet
-------
------- above Ch'ien-The Creative, Heaven
-------
-------
------- below Sun-The Gentle, Wind
---x---
The Judgement: Coming to Meet. The maiden is powerful.One should not marry such a maiden.
The Image: Under heaven, wind -- The image of Coming to Meet. Thus does the prince act when disseminating his commands And proclaiming them to the four quarters of heaven.
Changing Lines: Changing yin at the bottom means--It must be checked with a brake of bronze. Perseverance brings good fortune. If one lets it take its course, one experiences misfortune.Even a lean pig has it in him to rage around.

The change at the bottom produces the outcome:

1. Ch'ien - The Creative
------
------ above Ch'ien The Creative, Heaven
------
------
------ below Ch'ien The Creative, Heaven
------
The Judgement: The Creative works sublime success,Furthering through perseverance.
The Image: The movement of heaven is full of power. Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring.

The Shift Keeps Shifting

About 9 years ago, my sister and I began experiencing a change in our lives. It was like we were moving simultaneously into a new reality. We both had always been intuitive, especially since the passing of my mother in 1985. However, now things seemed a little different. Something new was being revealed to us. Synchronicity began to happen. Like getting a "brick in the head," life began to shake us up; or shall I say, 'wake us up'. It's not that we didn't already have lots of challenging episodes in our lives before; we each had our fair share. At this particular moment in time, there was a different change that came more from a soul level. There was a distinct clarity and insight that began to take place. It was like a fog had lifted and we could clearly see what was really going on above the drama in our lives.

We were in our own separate world of insight and connection. Something amazing was happening within us. We mutually had new spiritual insight; glimpses of knowing or wisdom. We felt excited and blessed that we were experiencing this new perspective together. Little did we know at the time that we, like many people around the world, were experiencing an evolutionary phenomenon now referred to as "The Shift."

Students and sisters of light. We had experienced a "Shift" that would never revert back. Together we had proclaimed to ascend with full intention to reach our highest potential during this lifetime and beyond. With eyes and hearts open, we asked for the Shift. Not as a singular experience, but as ever expanding life journey. It was our realization and desire to shed what no longer served our highest good and to allow our True Selves to emerge. One of compassion, of humility, of gratitude, and of joy.

What seemed so private to us then is now showing itself as universal; a transformational shift in humanity to open to a new state of awareness. "The Shift" I am talking about is brilliantly portrayed in a new movie of the same name starring Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. Like the proverbial fly on the wall, in this movie you observe the intertwined tales of three individuals dealing with intense life challenges. As their lives become cocooned for transformation, the viewer also begins to recognize a higher truth, as Dr. Dyer poignantly interjects teachings about living life with meaning and purpose.

All I can say is that from the time I had my first "Aha Moment," it seems that they are a daily occurrence now. The Shift keeps on shifting. We are becoming the change we seek. It is a metamorphosis not a quantum leap. Everyday a new skin is shed and a new light is revealed. It takes commitment and intent to persevere. The Shift is a beginning to creating a new life here on Earth; one that has the makings of peace and joy.

The Shift... I highly recommend it.

In light,

Magsjoy

Maggie Kalas

Rediscovering Your JOY

Keep it simple. That statement says it all when you consider every area of life. Opening up to simplicity is a powerful step toward expanding your personal life experience.

Here are seven simple steps for living from your JOY center:

1. Love (always begin with self-love)
2. Appreciation (recognizing through love)
3. Responsibility (acknowledging your role)
4. Desire (knowing what you want)
5. Focus (directing your point of attraction)
6. Allowing (opening to change; receiving what you desire)
7. Being (your natural state; path of least resistance)

Change begins with one simple step. I just gave you seven.

Mags

GET UNSTUCK AND GET GOING

We all have a little "procrastinator" in us-- putting off those things we just don't want to do. But what about the things we DO want to get done and yet, we still find ourselves not doing them.

If that sounds like you, perhaps it's time to get unstuck. Here are 10 things you can do to encourage positive growth:

1. Deciding To Do 'It' And The Willingness To Take Action
2. Purging/Cleansing/Releasing Physical, Mental & Emotional Baggage
3. Daily Meditation And Prayer
4. Balanced Nutrition/Supplements/Herbs
5. Physical Exercise/Yoga/Breath work
6. Goal Setting
7. Personal Accountability Plan
8. Psychological Therapy
9. Personal Development or Success Coaching
10. Books, Cd's, Workshops & Seminars relating to the above

Change can often be difficult. However, with the right tools, change can not only be easy, it can feel really good...and maybe even be fun!

It all starts with step number 1 -- then you can pick and choose which steps suits you next!

Keeping the light on,

Mags

Living a Life of Authenticity

For the past few years, every week or so, I have been going to a bible fellowship with several ladies in my community. It has become a place of comfort for me, as my fellow students and teacher are also my dear friends. We gather with great intentions to open our hearts to God, to seek out personal healing and to, perhaps, marvel in a moment of peace from our all too hectic lives.

Prayer may begin our gathering or end us as we depart; both are equally a blessing. Sometimes we chatter for an hour about life, our kids, our husbands…even political subjects, of which, we all do not agree. Nevertheless, our fellowship is always a treasured joy simply because we unite as one in friendship and Light.

Kathleen--who graciously opens her home, offers warming tea on cold days and a spectacular view of Northport’s harbor on warm days--is always prepared with a new tidbit of insight or higher Truth. Even if she did not formally prepare, she spontaneously follows the lead of Spirit by gracing us with her soft, passionate voice as loving words gently flow from her lips. We always leave feeling uplifted; changed from when we arrived. We come with open hearts and leave with them filled.

This year we decided to follow a teaching from a book called “The Life Model, Living from the Heart Jesus Gave You”. As we began reading, it occurred to me that it may be the most important lesson of the year; especially in these changing times.

The introduction reads, “The Life Model is not just a theory, it is a model...it does not just talk about growing, it gives you practical steps on how to mature...it does not just promote recovery, it identifies specific ways to heal traumas. And lastly, it does not offer casual reading, it challenges you to change and grow and be the person that God designed you to be.”

And who are we designed to be? Simply stated, “We are to be whole.”

Over the next few months, we will be taking our time reading each chapter. Not just to digest its words of wisdom, but more importantly, to deliberately apply this wisdom to our daily lives. For me, as a student who is also a teacher, I will joyfully share its profound message with those who are willing to open their hearts and live a life of authenticity.

In light, always,

Mags

Keep the CHANGE!

"If you want something to change, change something!"

If change is possible, why does it seem like one of those insurmountable obstacles? We dream our dreams. We imagine the possibilities of what could be. Yet, we stay in the same place, doing the same things, and wonder why change seems so impossible.

Is it fear? Is it complacency? Is it laziness? Or is it something more? What keeps us in a place of discomfort instead choosing something comfortable? Maybe it is because we get comfortable with the discomfort. The same old, same old feels more comfortable than the different new, different new. Change, even if it is what we want, feels strange. The numb sensation of the unknown can stop us in our tracks like a deer in headlights. We want to move; actually every part of our being is screaming MOVE! Only the body, and our life, stays in the same place, stiff and rigid.

In choosing 'no action', we suddenly realize that change is happening whether we do something about it or not. Most times, it is not the change we would have intended. Like the deer frozen in the road before being pummeled by the tractor trailer, life is moving at you fast so you need to be ready to move swiftly. It's about being flexible and being willing to 'take action'.

KEEP THE CHANGE... DUMP THE EXCUSES!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life! Do something different. Alter your course. Shift your mind. See a new perspective. Become transformed. Take a leap of faith!

Change something. Who knows? You might just save your life!

Keeping the light on,

Mags

Raising Consciousness?

Back in the summer of 2005, I was a committee chair for a community endeavor called "Consciousness in the Courtyard." A group of local residents organized a forum as a platform to express fresh ideas, inspiring thoughts and creative solutions. We held this monthly gathering in a tiny, yet charming courtyard nestled between the main street's stores and some office buildings on the back street. There was a water fountain, a lovely maple tree and a bunch of enthusiastic individuals all ready to bring their personal voice to the program. Sadly, it lasted for only four months.

The first gathering started with an uplifting speaker (Jim Ryan) addressing the high points of choosing happiness in daily life. Although it was greatly received by the crowd of 25 or more residents and community neighbors, the visionary of the forum, a local lawyer, preferred agendas like racism in our community, Constitutional Rights, a counter-cultural revolution, Generation X/Y icon, and raising self-actualizing children. As the next couple of months moved on, a mixed view was stirring on what "raising consciousness" meant in what was to be a non-judgmental, apolitical forum.

The final gathering was hosted by its creator, which turned out to be an interesting close. The Cherokee Indian in him came through with sage smudging along with some retro tunes on the piano as a "Beat Generation" hold over from the sixties. Our meeting then concluded with him passing paper to the crowd and asking them to put down their nationality and the number one issue they thought needed attention not only in our community but in America.

The reason I am blogging this is because while filing recently, I came across the folder with the responses. It seemed to me important data that should be share with more than just a small handful of attendees at that meeting. So, here is what was anonymously posted on each paper as the heritage and number one issue:

• German - RELIGION (corruption was the initial response then crossed out)


• Irish American/Spanish - FEAR


• Greek - SEXUAL ABUSE


• Irish/Spanish/Scottish/Cherokee/English - COMPLACENCY


• Irish/German - LACK OF SPIRITUALITY/MATERIALISM


• Irish - LOSS OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH


• German/English - RAMPANT MATERIALISM


• Irish/German - ABSENCE OF COMPASSION


• French/Filipino - FREEDOM

I close my blog with a poem sent in by a local artist who never attended in person but still wanted to share her perspective.

Center
By Victoria Twomey

from the center of every flower, everywhere
something greater gazes out

it looks up at night
from the top of a rain forest canopy
and sees the crackling of its own reflection in the liquid pupil of heaven

it looks down
from the great height of a homeless dandelion
bent and battered, struggling to raise itself up from a sidewalk crack
and sees a million stories beginning and ending

looking out, from death adorned
it sees the faces of all who mourn through the flames of the funeral pyre
the iris of its vision closing as each blossom is consumed

no matter . . .

your garden has a thousand eyes

always waiting for the awakening -
that exquisite moment when eyes widen in surprise to see
in the shadowed heart of a simple flower
a round and minute window
behind which lies a sizzling galaxy
crisscrossed with shooting stars

We humans certainly are a mixed bag of nuts. Isn't the diversity delicious!

Keeping the light on,

Mags

AttitudeLIFT

Change is Possible

“An atom that is ready to rearrange itself in a particular way and give off light of a particular frequency can in fact be provoked into doing so by the arrival in its vicinity of another particle of light of the same frequency.” --Albert Einstein

We are energy. We are light particles. We are atoms. When we give clear intent to change, we activate a signal that transmits to every single cell in our bodies as well as to every particle in the universe. And although we may not see it right away, an immediate change takes place. This is where the universal laws come into play. Your clear signal (your intent to change) attracts like frequencies. It is what makes your physical reality come to pass.

We are continually transforming ourselves, whether we are consciously or unconsciously doing it. We, like the universe, are forever expanding and contracting. We are vibration, always transmitting a frequency. Just like Einstein’s theory, when we are ready to make a change, just the mere thought of it sets off a series of events. As we give focus to anything, we begin to resonate with it. We become a magnet to it and it shows up in either our inner world or outer world depending upon the request.

For example, let’s say you decide to change the car you drive. You begin to bring your focus on all the automobiles that pass you by. You notice them in the parking lot, while on the highway and even on television ads. Then your desire for a particular car becomes clear. Perhaps it is a BMW, like the 3x I recently leased. Suddenly, every where you look you see BMWs. Soon after you see more and more of the particular model you like. You consider cost and financing. But most of all you want to test drive it. You experience how good it feels when you sit in it; even enjoy the smell of the new leather. You thrill at the sensation of the drive. Your attention to this car is more intense than any other time you think about a car. If you maintain this clear focus, without any resistance, you soon find yourself driving out of the dealership with the car of your dreams. And then, to your surprise, everybody and their uncle seems to be driving around in your style car.

Okay, the car seems too superficial. So let’s say you decide to change your attitude from pessimist to optimist. You only want to see the glass half full or even completely full. Your attention becomes drawn to see only the good in people, places and situations. As you do so, the universe rearranges itself just for you. You now find that the people you run into begin to be of that same mind. Good things keep showing up for you. Your decision to have an optimistic attitude now reveals opportunities that weren't there before. It is not that the outside world has actually changed for you. It is that you have transformed yourself to match the part of the world that you have chosen to see. Your vibration rearranged itself, emitting a different frequency which receives a matching signal that shifts your reality.

Change is always possible. What appears impossible is only your distorted view from a place of resistance. Once you allow yourself to align with the change, the change happens. What is the key? It takes pure intent…and unwavering faith in the process.

"As we become what we desire, what we desire becomes us."

Maggie Kalas, MagJOY Blog, AttitudeLIFT

Mindfulness and Meditation

Breaking the Chain of Pain

In contemplation of the human experience, one might find that we are like hamsters stuck on the wheel of life. Everyday people all over the world practice suffering in some form—physically, mentally, emotionally, even spiritually. Some feeling damned from birth. We keep hoping for an ideal lifestyle, a better way of being, only to find ourselves back to square one--unhappy. It is not a conscious behavior; it is unconscious, a vicious cycle that has been a part of our existence from the beginning of mankind. In our constant quest for finding something outside of ourselves to fulfill an empty void inside, we get caught up in the illusion of what is and then we perpetuate a chain of pain. Our hope for happiness turns to despair in a blink of an eye as soon as circumstances darken or attention is brought to our unfulfilled desires.

After reading about the life of Buddha in Deepak Chopra’s new book of the same name, I was fascinated by this one man’s innate desire to figure out the truth; and his courage to find it. I had only known of the master we call Buddha, the enlightened one. The truth is he was a confused man, a fearful human like the rest of us. He had a dysfunctional family, unanswered questions and challenges at every turn. His life represented perhaps the worst of any. Yet, it also revealed that we have the power to change, moment by moment.

Our suffering, just like our pleasures, is like names on a voter’s ballot. You get to choose the one you want. You can even choose a neutral party; the one that is detached from either result. In his quest to stamp out suffering, Buddha discovered it was not only impossible, but more importantly, it was unnecessary. Each play a significant role in our growth. When we release ourselves from attachment to both our pain and pleasure, we can experience life from its purest state. He called it nirvana. No more blindly running on the wheel of life. No more expectations. No more worries. No more fear. No more illusions. In our detachment to everything, we find we want for nothing. Only our infinite self remains.

Not only has our human existence been chasing a phantom life, we have also been asleep at the wheel, clueless to what is really happening. We are ego driven. In other words, we are on autopilot. In denial, we dupe ourselves daily; blaming others for our troubles, convincing ourselves that our unhappiness is the result of some outside source. We are totally ignorant to our own self sabotage.

This naive state reminds me of the plea Jesus made from the cross, literally for those who were to murder him, but metaphorically to all of humanity. “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” He was fully awake and knew that all of humanity was sleepwalking; having no clue as to our own light, which really is what connects us all.

How do we escape the trap? How do we snap out of the daze and open our eyes to our fullest potential? Buddha says it is through the ongoing practice of mindfulness and meditation. By bringing stillness to the mind, we spontaneously break the chain of pain. We are illuminated by the peace and joy that already exist in us. And, with this new perspective, we will see that everything else was only a shadow of the truth.

Awakening is a decision. It involves making changes; some big and some small. Some will challenge you, all will enlighten you. Every journey is different, unique as every human. Success is not in the destination, it is in your unique journey. No right or wrong; just the unfolding of awareness.

So where do you begin? Start by spending 10 minutes twice a day just sitting with your eyes closed and breathing. Notice your thoughts. Notice you emotions. Begin to notice life from a place of stillness. Then let me know what you are noticing.

As you embark, remember what Buddha told his disciples,

“Just do your best.”

Maggie Kalas, RM, ATP

AttitudeLift, Take Your Potential to the Next Level

http://www.magsjoy.blogspot.com/