I had undertaken a project that I was beginning to feel was beyond my personal resources to accomplish. I had asked a friend and colleague if I might organize a workshop in the New England area that he would teach. After many months of collecting information, I was at the point of choosing and committing to a conference center. Next would come the advertising, invitations, mailings, registrations, etc. It happened many years ago in the early stages of my new career, and I was beginning to feel that I was in over my head. I began to wish I had never started the project but was afraid to say anything, because I didn’t want to let my friend down.

This change of heart was difficult to acknowledge. I couldn’t heed the internal signals that were telling me to stop because of the louder voice cautioning that I had started something that I needed to finish. Others were depending on me. Listening to the small “Stop” voice was dangerous, because I might disappoint people. It was easier to plow ahead, even if it meant discounting my intuition.

Still, that persistent little voice kept nagging . . .

I decided to call my friend and talk about it, not exactly knowing my goal for the conversation but trusting my intuition. Seeking approval is deeply rooted in me, and at the time it’s pretty much all I cared about. But I’m glad I had the courage to call, because I received a great gift that continues to support me whenever I’m faced with alternative paths.

The Gift
My friend answered the phone, we exchanged pleasantries, and I began. He listened. I think he understood immediately what was happening, and after a pause from me said just a few words: “Judy, go where your energy is strong.”

Yes. It made sense. And it was really simple. Where was my energy strong? Not for this project at this time. It was taking my focus away from what I really wanted to do design and implement my own workshops. That’s where my energy was strong. That’s what I wanted to be doing, planning and thinking about. All at once everything fell into place.

It felt exactly like it does on the mat, practicing aikido a martial art that has become a metaphor for me in difficult situations. If you try to force the technique, it’s all strain and stress and struggle, and you could end up getting hurt or hurting your partner. But when you move from center and follow your ki (life energy), the endeavor is effortless.

As I followed my ki, I knew I would stop the process I had begun, and that it was the right thing to do. Forcing the issue would have strained my resources and, eventually perhaps, the relationship. My friend understood before I did that the timing wasn’t right.

I learned an important lesson that day from a gentle teacher. I try to remember to live by it and it still takes practice. Those who know me know that I call myself an “approval-seeking missile” not that it’s necessarily a bad thing to want another’s good opinion. But now I’m able to notice if it is my dominant motivation and to let my center guide me. Sometimes I go ahead with the project anyway. I like to be liked after all. And sometimes I stop and take a look at my motives. Often there is a way to acknowledge and satisfy both my need for appreciation and the call to be true to my inner wisdom. I have learned to listen to myself.

Why am I struggling? Where is my energy strong? These are living questions. When you feel yourself resisting something, let these questions be your guide. You’ll learn you have more power than you think.

PRACTICE:

* Is there an “either or” decision you’re struggling with? Notice if your head is telling you to go in one direction, while your heart is pulling in another.

* The process of centering integrates head and heart, intellect and emotions, mind, body, and spirit.

* Sit quietly and think about what’s important. You may find that you have two or more values that are competing with each other.

* Write down your thoughts, feelings and reactions.

* If possible, let the question be in your consciousness for a while. Come back to it periodically in different ways.

* Where is your energy strong? In time you’ll know the answer.

If you think music doesn’t affect you, you’ll be changing your tune after reading this. This is a true story of a recent study from Leicester University in England.

You’re off to the supermarket and decide to stop by some shelves offering French and German wine. You make up your mind to buy a bottle of the French wine.

While checking out, you’re asked why you picked the wine. You respond “The label looked great”, or “I liked the price”. Then you’re asked if you noticed the French accordion music that was playing when you took that bottle off the shelf. You say that you did. Did it affect your choice of wine today? No, of course not, you answer.

That’s funny because on the days that French music is played nearly 80% of shoppers chose the French wine. On the days that German music the Opposite happens.

In other words, this study found that if you bought some wine from their shelves you were 3 or 4 times more likely to choose a wine that matched the music than the wine that didn’t match the music.

Guess what these wine-buyers responded when asked at the checkout if the music influenced their choice. Only 1 out of 44 customers said that the music was the reason they bought the wine. That’s 2%!

The influence of the music was Huge but the customers Didn’t Notice or Believe that it was affecting them. It only took a matter of minutes or seconds for music to get into these people’s brains in a powerful way.

Similar experiments have shown that classical music can make people buy more expensive wine.

Here’s another study to chew on. Most of us go out to eat at least once a week. Do you know which music makes you spend more when you’re at a restaurant?

In this study, a British restaurant played pop music, classical music and no music over the course of 18 evenings. Average spending prices per person were calculated for the following categories:

Appetizers, Main Courses, Desserts, Coffee, Drinks from the Bar, Wine, Overall Beverage Bill, Overall Food Bill, and Total Amount Spent

They also measured the total time people spent in the restaurant. Here’s what they found.

There was a Significant difference between evenings when classical music was played and no music or pop music were played. Classical music resulted in higher spending. Across the board in all categories. Other restaurants here and abroad have had similar results.

What does this mean? It’s pretty simple. Classical music relaxes and makes you feel good. And feeling good makes you want the best.

That’s why so many successful people listen to high frequency classical music. They know it helps them work better, think better, and get higher levels of energy. They know it won’t deplete them, get them distracted and raise their heart rates, like hard-hitting low frequency music does.

The amazing effect that music has on your mind and body is being proven in study after study. It’s information that should not be ignored. Especially these days, when we’re exposed to music anytime we enter a building.

Other people are trying to survive in a bad relationship that holds their greatness hostage. They live in fear and anger every day but don’t know how to get out of this prison.

Do you know such people? Does this sound like you? Do you feel lonely, are you dreaming of the right one who will show up one day and end all the misery you’re going through now?

The bad news is this will not happen.
The good news is YOU can do a lot yourself to feel loved.

Let me explain.
Life is like a building. There are a lot of floors : the ground floor, the cellar, the first floor, second floor and so on. The higher you go in the building, the more light there is, the easier and lighter things are, the more friendly and energetic people are, the higher are the vibrations and most of all : the more love there is.

Picture this building of life in your mental eye. In the cellar you will find people like rapers, thiefs, harassers, killers, people who beat their children or companion and others who made a life out of hurting others.
On the groundfloor you will find a lot of people. In fact most of humanity lives here. These are the ones who content themselves by vegetating instead of living. They don’t think by themselves, they undergo life. They do nothing. They live like robots. They go to their job every day, come home every day, watch the same television program every day with a beer in one hand and a hotdog in the other hand. They do not dream. They are stuck in their lifestyle and think everything will always be the same.

Then you go up. As I said, the higher you get, the easier, the lighter life is. Life IS easy, life IS light. The cellar, groundfloor and lower floors are creations from the human mind. We created these lifestyles by our heavy thoughts, thoughts about scarcity, fear, death, anger, sadness, revenge and so on. Here are the lives of those who choose to think low energy thoughts. Those who live in fear, hate, jealousy, doubts, low self esteem, troubles. Those have bad relationships, where struggle and anger and negativity set the tone. They are not happy. They maintain the illusion everything is someone else’s fault and they have either to wait for the other to change, so their life will change, or they have to destroy the other one to have a better life (think of the one who kills the husband of the woman he wants to live with, or those who kill other minded people in order to be free to live like they want). This will never give freedom or love.

So what to do if you want to move up in that building of life and live free and in love?

First you have to make a decision. Yes, you have to decide WHERE you want to be. On which floor do you want to live your life now?

Is it the cellar? No, I don’t think so. Is is the groundfloor? I don’t think it either. Let’s say you want to be at the 17th floor. But you feel you are at this moment in your life at the 3rd floor only. You hate your job, you have a lousy relationship with your partner, you’re in bad shape and your energy is low.
So you decided you wanted a life in the vibration of the 17th floor, where there is love, real friendship, positive expectations, inner strength, power, a job you like, health and wealth.

What to do? You decided where you want to be. What you will do now? Should you wait until someone will knock on your door to take you there? No way! Will never happen! Even if you would meet someone with an energy level of 17, he will never carry you from the 3rd to the 17th floor, because he will be exhausted. It needs to be YOUR decision and YOUR action!!

So YOU have to move yourself up. How? Read! Read more! Read how you can create your life by changing your thoughts and your behavior! Go to workshops where you can learn how to unleash you inner power. Use the wonderful information bank which is called Internet and which offers you a bunch of positive information and e-courses (often for free). Surround you with loving people. Learn how to love yourself.

So first you decide where you want to be. Than you do whatever you can to get there, on your own. You may ask help of course, you may find yourself a coach (which is really a good decision!) but don’t look for somebody to carry you. You will fall down immediately the moment he puts you down. If you didn’t get there by yourself, it won’t last, it is not worth anything because you moved yourself up with somebody else’s energy and you are depending on his energy.

Once you get at the floor of your choice, let’s say 17, you will meet automatically people who vibrate at this level of energy. Energy-17 people. Loving, caring, wonderful people. People who feel good about themselves and who don’t need others to steal their energy. They learned how to generate energy by themselves. They are not slaves. They are not dominators. They love and respect others.

Do you want to meet someone like that? Do you want to share your life with somebody who has a 17-energy (or more)? Go there! Go at their level and you will meet them, that’s a guarantee!

Move yourself up.

If you live in a bad relationship right now, and you do whatever you can to get yourself moving higher, you will see what will happen. Your partner, who is still vibrating on energy 3 or 2 or on cellar-level won’t be able to follow you and you will take separate roads.

Don’t make the mistake of trying to pull someone up who wants to stay at his low level. You will never succeed. Especially women should be aware of this : don’t spoil your energy at trying to get others moving up with you. It’s a waste of time. Everybody should decide for himself. Don’t carry others on your back, you will crack down! Decide for yourself, go for it, and see what happens. The higher you get in energy-levels, the better it will be. There you will agree with me : life is wonderful!

Many will understand the need for inner and outer focus on unity and love. However, many others will remain under the grip of their programmed old ways and thus experience this world with much fear while focusing on dis-unity.

This is a time where our greatest force shall emerge from its hidden inner recesses as we face our greatest challenge: a transformation and trans-evolution of mankind when our thought processes transmute from a harsh concentration on lack toward a gentler constant awareness of the beauty and unity of all within the ONE that we all are here to manifest.

This is a time prophesied for eons where, in this world created around the notion of polarity, the “real” caring and nurturing Female energy is ready to interpenetrate each of our hearts and balance out the Masculine expansive powerful energy that has overtaken alone much of Creation and destabilized it. It is in the balancing and the unity of the two that our inner smiling probable future lays. Please allow this great and sacred energy in, and wish deeply for unity, for in that act lies the path to our happiness and salvation.

All great changes bring about in many much initial resistance, the degree of which will define the course of this Creation for a long time to come.

As many impacting events are about to happen, and even more unfold in the next months and years, often in an accelerated manner, one core issue will emerge as paramount in being the only real question to be asked and the only solution to be had.

“Where does your passion lay?”

Does it lay upon a world where all thoughts and common efforts are on com-passion, forgiveness, unity, happiness, and the notion that we are all – without any exception -connected within the notion of ONE?

Is it your truest desire to unite the parts within yourself, the family without, and our greatest and most beautiful family: mankind?

Or does you passion lay upon events, stories, legends, and philosophies which evoke and trigger separation, elitism, fear, violence, control, gore, and the anti-force to the sacred notion of Unity of all and everything within the One and Only?

Do you want to unify all polarities to usher the proclaimed glorious era, or polarize even more? For this is the only question to be asked.

Please, I beg of you, watch carefully what you invite in your heart.

If you invite within and resonate only with what unites us as one family and therefore exalts life, then the peace of the ONE, wondrous Creation, and life, longer that you can ever imagine, will be yours.

However, if you invite and resonate within upon visions of death, fear, and all that differentiates, divides, and separates us, then war, suffering, insecurity, and death will be yours.

All great spiritual masters came to tell us of this choice and the two ways of seeing the same reality, and some even expressed it in their lives and experiences on purpose, in order for us to understand the consequences.

A glass is either half full or half empty depending on your focus of attention. Both are true at the same time. It is your focus which will determine which path you will experience. You can either focus on what is lacking, or what is wondrous. You can focus on the unity and common thread of all existence, see the spectacular awe-some reality of creation, and experience the miraculous, or focus on what is lacking and then experience nothingness.

Please do not fall into the trap of “passion” for death again.

Please fall in love with yourself again, and with all your human brothers and sisters. For all are precious, magnificent, and sacred expressions of the ONE life force flowing through all living things.

Happy thoughts and Creation,

Gerald O’Donnell

Academy of Remote Viewing and Influencing reality and thought

Yes, do this right now before you read on.

Then draw a tree. When you have finished your tree, you can read further.

Having done this with groups before I can tell you with some certainty what you see in front of you.

If you are like most people you will have drawn a wonderful tree from the perspective of the ground upward.

This tree has a lot in common with many people you see in workplaces all around the world. You see the tree from the ground up, and you see the physical presence of the people on the shop floor in their cubicles and offices.

Did you know that in most parts of the world the amount of biomass of the roots of a tree is at least as much as what we see above ground? In other words, when we are looking at a tree, we are literally only seeing half of it.

So it is with people. There is much more to us than what can be seen. Unfortunately too many people choose to bring their physical selves (their hands), and even their mental selves (their heads) to work (if they didn’t they likely wouldn’t have the job for long), but leave a huge portion their emotional selves (their hearts) at home.

What do you bring to work everyday with you? If you don’t bring your heart, you are missing tremendous opportunities. Here are five reasons why you should bring your whole self, heart included, to work each day.

You’ll have more energy. We strip ourselves of a major energy stream when we disconnect our emotions when we leave for work. Our heart can provide a deep reservoir we can tap into if we have a belief in what we are doing. This doesn’t have to be a one way energy flow however. When we are fully engaged in our work we have more energy to use, but more flows back to us as well.

You’ll be healthier. When you bring your whole self to your efforts you will be richly repaid in more than energy alone. That energy will translate to greater health.

You’ll have more enthusiasm. Dale Carnegie said “act enthusiastic and you’ll be enthusiastic.” It is true. Enthusiasm doesn’t come from our hands or head. Enthusiasm comes from our heart. Let your passions loose! Let your enthusiasm for a project show! You’ll be amazed at how this can change your entire outlook and performance at work.

You’ll get more done. Think about it. When do you get more done, when you look at your list of tasks and breathe a heavy sigh, or when you are jazzed about a particular project? You know the answer. What is the difference? Your heart and soul. There is no doubt that you will be more productive, alone, in a team or when leading others if you put your heart into your work.

You’ll have more fun. I saved this one for last because it is something, unfortunately too many people don’t even think is possible. It isn’t if you only bring half your tree to work. But when you allow yourself to fully engage with your work, you will find opportunities for great enjoyment.

Am I suggesting we all become workaholics? Not at all. In fact, quite the opposite. When we bring our full selves to our work, and gain all of the benefits above we will probably not work any longer. We may work harder, but we will definitely work smarter. And we’ll enjoy all of it much more.

James Patrick Dunne wrote a poem that became the lyrics to a song recorded by Kenny Rogers and is the Official USA Gymnastics Olympic Theme Song. The chorus summarizes why you should bring your heart to work each day…

When you put your heart in it
It can take you anywhere
Who’s to say that we can’t make it
It’s the same dream that we share
When you put your heart in it
It can take you anywhere

Take a moment to think about a time in your life when you made a successful change or developed a new habit. What was your motivation for the change? What was your attitude at the time? What obstacles or barriers did you have to overcome? Your level of readiness to change will determine how successful you are, and how much time it will take. Once you make the decision to change, you must practice that new behavior one day at a time until it becomes a habit – a lasting change.

What allows some people to change, while others don’t? According to Dr. James Prochaska, developer of the “Stages of Change Model,” people cycle through a very distinct set of stages when making changes in their lives – from not being interested in making any changes, all the way through to maintaining a change after it’s already been made. This is the real challenge for everyone, because resistance is always the initial response to making a change. Sometimes people don’t see the positive side of change until it’s shown to them (or until they are forced to realize it on their own). Change is a choice. It’s something we decide to do. The same goes for wellness – it’s a choice, and once you have decided to change, you’ll feel better.

Embracing the concept of change is a big thing, because interestingly, many people think they don’t have a choice when it comes to change. Why? For some it’s fear, guilt, love, pain, time management or even a court order. What motivates one person may not be the same thing that gets another person to act. Everyone reacts differently to changes weather voluntary or mandatory.

To start making a change, let go of certain assumptions or ways of doing things, to make room for new ideas. Work on this one day at a time until you feel comfortable. This often comes into play when I work with sedentary people to increase their activity level (people who work a lot and don’t have a lot of time to exercise). One of my clients’ complaints was, “I don’t want to take an hour or 30 minutes to walk.” My solution was to suggest several two-minute intervals that would equal 30 minutes throughout the day just stand up, walk around and visit people throughout the office, for example. The result was successful. He exercised and actually became more sociable as a result! Once he became comfortable with walking, I got him up to 10-minute intervals three times a day. Now he’s walking 30 minutes at one time and enjoying it. This all took place over the course of a few months.

To make a lasting change, you start wherever you are and stretch a tiny bit more each time. If you fall off the wagon, or experience resistance, identify the cause or circumstances who you were with, where you were, or your emotional state. The key is to get up and get back on the path again. You may go back and forward a few times because making a lasting change is hard. Your level of readiness to change will determine how successful you are, and how much time it will take. But you need to be ready, able and willing to make change happen.

More and more people are regaining control of their lives and changing their futures. They’re setting goals and reaching them, they’re feeling better, being happier, getting healthier and spending more time and energy on what matters to them. Their outlook on life has improved dramatically.

As you know, the concept of wellness covers a broad range with different definitions depending on where you look. But for starters, let’s use the following wellness is the belief that improvement is possible throughout our lives. We’re continuously seeking information on how we can improve. We’re choosing options and making decisions that support our best interests. Everything we think, feel and believe impacts our whole being. You are in command of all aspects of your life physical, career, relationships, finances, spiritual, environment, and emotional well-being, and so on. You can break free and take charge of your life. Try these simple ways to discover how you can start moving towards taking control of your life and wellness.

1. Turn lack of time into more time.
“I don’t have the time,” that’s what John, a corporate attorney, constantly told himself and others. He knew he wasn’t alone. Lack of time was a concern for nearly every person he knew. John really wanted to be happier and healthier, but he just didn’t have free time to date, visit family, exercise, or any of the other things that made him happy. When John decided he had to take control of his wellness, the first thing he did was regain ownership of his time. He examined how he spent his time on an average day. By jotting down his daily activities and realigning his priorities, John found opportunities to include the things he really cared about in his daily life.

2. Reclaim your energy.
Megan, a wife, mom and marketing executive, was always tired. She had no energy to meet the demands of her job, do housework, run errands, cook, take care of her children, or the other priorities that made up her day. Megan desperately needed to reclaim her energy but instead, she let people drain it, steal it and suck it away. To begin, Megan examined the areas of her life that needed more attention and focus. She also drew new boundaries to protect herself, by declaring what she would and wouldn’t allow. Instead of working 12 hours, Megan cut her workday to no more than nine hours. She stuck to her plan, reclaimed her energy, and is there for her family and job with a new, revitalized energy.

3. Make lasting changes.
“Our resistance to making lasting changes is innate,” says Jeff, a mortgage loan officer. “It’s such a big challenge for everybody.” He constantly told himself that his inner resistance to making changes would stay with him forever. Jeff’s first step was to recognize that resistance is always the initial barrier to making changes. For example, losing the 70 pounds his doctor recommended would offset having to take daily medication for his Type II diabetes. Jeff started by being open to seeing the positive side of change i.e., first making a decision to change, and then enlisting help in doing so. He joined the YMCA, and now participates in Tai Chi and walks five days a week. He’s also met with a nutritionist who has helped him gain a better understanding of what to eat in order to maintain his overall health and well-being. Jeff has lost 30 pounds and continues to maintain a healthy, balanced diet.

4. Set boundaries around your life.
What’s one of the shortest words yet so difficult for many people to utter? If you guessed “No,” you’re right on the money. Sidney, a customer service supervisor was so afraid of saying no that when someone asked her to do something, she felt queasy inside because she wanted to say no, but felt uncomfortable actually doing it. The first thing she needed to do was learn her limits. She realized that learning to say no to the things that she didn’t want to do would help her reduce the stress of excessive demands on her time and energy. Sidney could say no in a way that was comfortable to her, yet respectful to the other person. Many people believe when someone makes a request of you, you must say yes, but saying no isn’t that horrible! When Sidney began saying no, it changed her whole life; she found her “to do” list shrinking. She recognized that it was her choice to either overload her schedule or only accept requests to do something when she wanted to.

5. Take excellent care of yourself.
Eden, an emergency room specialist, wanted to improve her quality of life. She was bored with her daily routine, and her social life was nonexistent. Eden began making changes for the better by putting her needs first. She focused on what she wanted, instead of others’ desires. She began scheduling two social activities on her calendar each month, in order to create a social life. Eden never really enjoyed living in the suburbs, but she was close to her job. She put together an action plan for re-inventing her life. The first thing she did was sell her house in the suburbs and move to a more urban environment in which she always dreamed. She could walk to quaint caf

Our difficulty in our society is due to all the conditioning we have had through education and culture that places so much emphasis on our mind and denying our emotions. You have not been properly taught about your true spiritual nature and that the mind, body, and emotions are tools to serve you.

These concepts can be quite challenging to accept, particularly if your family history and life experience is steeped in religion. Yet, all religions, in some way or another, do not contradict what is being said, nor are they contradictory to what science has discovered at the quantum level and beyond. All that is required is the ability to recognize the time period of religious origins, the knowledge and understanding of the day, and that the scriptures conveyed a message in the best possible way that could be understood at that time.

Even in areas where no organized religion exists spirituality is an integral strand in the fabric of society. From bush people to native americans, Australian aboriginals, prehistoric caveman at some point in time, have all had those within their ranks that had a deeper sensitivity to something beyond the common experience. Shamans, medicine men and women, and whatever other titles they were given, all had a relationship with the divine, were more sensitive to the mystical, and had a capacity to understand mankind’s relationship to Creation in the best possible context given the knowledge available to them in that time.

You came into this world for a purpose. Your spiritual self is that part of you that inspires you to action. The soul cries out at the pain of living small, rather than your potential. The soul also carries the pain of the trespasses against the spirit on many other levels; transgressions of mankind against spirit. Remember? Spirit is love and you treat others the way you wish to be treated. These tales and expressions fit the model. Spirit to spirit you and I are the same, are one, and in loving you, I love myself. In violating you, I violate myself. The soul cries in anguish. Live to your spiritual potential, or experience the pain and anguish of the souls experience as it remembers the phsyical experience of being human.

The body, mind, and emotions experience the manifestation of the reality you create. Through socializing and conditioning, particularly between the ages of 10 to 13 years old, as we discover our own reasoning abilities, most will experience some traumatic events in school, family, or life at large. Without the adequate social supports, healthy family dynamics, etc., the child is left to fizzle in the confusing array of contradictory social and spiritual realities that are at odds with each other in their daily experience. Imagine the confusion, particularly in a society that is so bereft of proper spiritual, body, mind, and emotion education.

There is a lot more to us than what we are taught. We are energy, we are spirit, and we are all those aspects we have been taught as well; physical, mental, sexual, and emotional. We are complex and yet, from the energetic spiritual level, everything can be made easier to understand and manage. You then begin to enjoy the experience of being human, of being alive, and learning the meaning and various facets of the physical body:

the mind and its thoughts;
the emotions and the values they represent;
the body and its requirements for safety and security.

We are complex and yet, so simple.

In order to understand the basis of this energetic spirit, it is important that one understand the origins of the universe. All matter is not really matter, it is energy. The science of today has made major discoveries beyond our previous understanding that clearly demonstrates that all matter is made from bands, or strings, of energy. In fact, for a time it was called String Theory. As the anomolies and discrepancies in the theory were resolved, it was renamed M-Theory and clearly shows that we live in a reality that includes 11 dimensions.

For a good basic understanding of the theories and how it all works, visit and watch PBS NOVA Series – The Elegant Universe viewable online. I also recommend watching the movie What the Bleep Do We Know!? which is now available in video stores for rent or purchase. And if you haven’t seen it yet, check out The Official Dr. Wayne Dyer Website and discover the magic of The Power of Intention. This program is aired frequently on PBS stations all across North America. As you absorb all of this new information, watch for the common threads that link it all together, including the great teachings of the worlds religious texts. Science can help make better sense of religion.

One thing I have in addition to what I’m viewing and reading about these discoveries is something more. Where many scientists may now think they fully understand the beginning and end of the universe and its origins, I’m further challenged by the fact that all of this energy came from somewhere. God still exists in this model. Science has always had the means to help us make more sense of the world, the universe, of creation, of God and of God’s instructions.

Are you dressed in fine clothes, rich in colors, warm and inviting to the eye, or are you dressed as a pauper in rags?

The time has come to move onto a higher state of living.

By saying this I am not implying that you place yourself above another human being or view others as beneath you. Rather, I am saying elevate your own self to a place where you are not trudging around in a rut, covered with mud, covered with flies and cursing all the while.

Work on having integrity and being virtuous. Work on being whole. Work on being responsible for what you think, feel, and say.

As we live and interact in this world, it is easy to give into our baser expressions. You know what I mean. Yelling in the car at the drivers behind or ahead of you or lifting that finger and displaying your I.Q. Expressing our displeasure with the idiocy of the store clerk you’re dealing with. Complaining loudly about your wait in line. These things are really not that important in the grand scheme of things. And when you make them important, you belittle yourself and those around you.

We who have the advantage of living in first-world countries have become a spoiled lot. With our computerized, electrified, and modernized lives, we forget the simple things. We forget our manners. We forget that we are not alone here and our energy affects those around us.

We tend to get caught up in the petty things on a daily basis. It is easy to fall into a complainer’s attitude. Why not train ourselves to exhibit a thankful attitude? It is easier on the body, the mind, and the soul and it has a wondrous way of spreading.

When we walk around in our little clouds of negativity – we exude this energy to other people. Haven’t you ever had a bad day? Of course you have.

When you feel a bad day coming on, stop, breathe, look, and listen. Pause for 30 seconds. Think about the alternative to living you could be in a hole taking a dirt nap. Are things really that bad that you have to dump your negative energy on others?

Really take the time and look at the world. I don’t care where you are, but if you look long enough, you will find the beauty in the day.

And there is always beauty waiting for you to discover it. It is one of the many gifts of living.

I know this sounds easier than many of you think it is – but it is as easy as putting on a different pair of socks. It is easy as changing the part in your hair.

It as easy as changing the clothes you wear. Remember: you decide what you’re going to wear.

Realize that your attitudes are the clothes of your soul.

Try dressing up for a change and see if your day doesn’t go a little better.

When I was a young child, back in the land of four seasons and none of them rain (Manitoba), the cold inhibiting days of winter were ushered out with a yearly farm ritual: spring-cleaning. No corner of our home was left untouched by brooms, dusters, scrub brushes, rags and other cleaning weapons. Every inch of closet was emptied, inventories were taken, value was assessed, surfaces were washed and cleaned, and then those clothes that were still ‘good’ were organized in a useful and efficient way. Beds were moved, dressers emptied, ceilings dusted.

My memory of choice is the window cleaning. After windowpanes were removed for cleaning, the windowsill became a place of pure ecstasy! I can easily recall those moments: sitting on my perfect perch, watching the ice break up in the creek behind our home. Huge pieces floated by, cracking loudly, twisting, crunching, piling up in a chaotic proclamation of the new season’s arrival. Fresh air was in abundance; pussy willows to the left, bird feeders with chirping chickadees to the right. It was heavenly!

It was that type of day where I learned that hard work pays off. At that early age, I felt the change of energy in my home and in myself after a day of thorough de-cluttering and cleaning. The house felt lighter, brighter, more cheerful. I felt like skipping.

The best part of de-cluttering and organizing for me today is hearing my clients describe similar feelings of lightness and freedom after a session together. Whether in their home or office, de-cluttering can be a cathartic passing of the old, the start a whole new season in life.

What are your plans this spring? Is a cluttered room or desk stopping you from enjoying your home or office the way you’d like to enjoy it? Have your dust bunnies proliferated beyond a reasonable limit? Do you find spring-cleaning to be a daunting task of Olympian magnitude? Has it never even occurred to you that a good spring-cleaning would be appropriate at the office?