HOW DO YOU PLAY YOUR ROLES?

"What concerns me is not the way things are, but rather the way people think things are."
-- Epicetus

When we are basically unconscious, we live according to social roles. We perform as sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, employers and employees, as society expects us to.

As we grow in awareness, we gain the freedom to bring our own unique perspectives to these roles. We can express ourselves authentically and creatively, without letting our roles dictate how we should behave.

"Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth."
-- Katherine Mansfield

*** Awareness is the key to all change.

WHAT MESSAGE DID YOU MOST NEED TO HEAR?

"One word frees us from the weight and pain of life; that word is love."
-- Sophocles

In exploring the enneagram, Riso and Hudson have identified 'lost messages' that we needed to hear as children but didn't. The absence of these words may be at the heart of our most basic fear. And unconsciously we may still be seeking to hear these words from others.

Review the following messages and note if any one touches you more strongly than the others:

"You are good."
"You are wanted."
"You are loved for yourself."
"You are seen for who you are."
"Your needs are not a problem."
"You are safe."
"You will be taken care of."
"You will not be betrayed."
"Your presence matters."
"Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are -- chaff and grain together -- certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away."
-- Dinah Mulock

Become aware of your subconscious limitations, your character strengths, weaknesses and potentials, your life challenges, gifts, talents, and your deepest desires and aspirations.

ON SELF-HONESTY

"No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true."
-- Nathaniel Hawthorne

"You cannot fake a relationship and feel right with yourself or anyone else. Changing yourself to fit what you think other people want doesn’t work. Pretending to be someone other than yourself only broadens the distance between the person you are and the one with whom you’re trying to establish closeness."
-- Mary Manin Morrissey

"Just as surely as distress must follow self-deceit, healing must follow self-honesty."
-- Vernon Howard

"Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got."
-- Janis Joplin

Our process is clear. First 'know yourself' - your personality and direction in life. Then 'create a plan'. Next 'heal yourself and what holds you back. Then you can expand and 'grow yourself'. Are you ready to commit to changing your life for the better?

THE FIRST STEP TO FORGIVENESS

"To get to forgiveness, we first have to work through the painful experiences that require it."
-- Christiane Northrup

To forgive, we do not have to say that whatever happened was okay. In fact, before we can forgive, we need to allow ourselves to really feel the pain of the experience. If we don’t fully acknowledge our hurts, we will continue to carry them subconsciously and they will drain our energy.

To forgive, we need to decide that we won't allow the memories of the event to poison us any longer. We're ready to heal this wound from the past and open to a fresh new beginning.

The blessing is that when we're really ready to experience our pain and we open to it, it usually fades away. By honouring our pain, we release it.

"We must let ourselves feel all the painful destruction we want to forgive rather than swallow it in denial. If we do not face it, we cannot choose to forgive it."
-- Kenneth McNoll

VALUE THE PROCES


"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear ... as it is, infinite."
-- William Blake

When we stop and pay attention to ourselves, we begin to see clearly the habits and patterns that have kept us asleep and confused and misled for so long. With awareness, we can choose to shift from the selfish and narrow outlook of our personality to the all-embracing generosity of our soul, simply by changing our perspective.

Change your mind and you’ll change your world.

"You watch your mind to see who you are not. I watch my mind to gain a sense of its content, which has always been my pain. As I watch it, I get a sense of its impermanence. Thoughts come and go as part of a process. I see how content dissolves into process and begin to see the patterns in the process. Realizing it isn't MY suffering, MY pain, it becomes THE pain. I’ve gone from the tiny, the small, and the individual to the universal. I feel OUR pain. When we do, we go from fear to compassion. Fear is MY pain, compassion is THE pain."
-- Stephen Levine

*** Awareness is the key to all change. Begin to trust yourself more deeply as you uncover new dimensions of who you are.

CREATE CONSCIOUSLY

"No man has a chance to enjoy permanent success until he begins to look in a mirror for the real cause of all his mistakes."
-- Napoleon Hill

The law of karma is the law of cause and effect. It works unavoidably when there is no consciousness -- when we are not present in the moment. When there is no consciousness, the past creates the future.

The law of Love supersedes the law of karma. It intervenes in the process by focusing in the present. In fact, one could say that Love is being fully present. When anything is initiated in Love in the present, the future of that reality will be purposeful, meaningful, loving and powerful.

"He who is false to present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and will find the flaw when he may have forgotten its cause."
-- Henry Ward Beecher

"In my beginning is my end."
-- T.S. Eliot

*** Tackle your financial challenges holistically! Learn the basic steps to managing money, explore your beliefs around wealth, and open to the spiritual laws of abundance.

BELIEVE IN MAGIC!

"...for magic to happen in your life, you must believe in magic."
-- Grandmother, quoted by Lynn Andrews

"Most of the time, we fall in love but can't remain there. The world then calls the state we were in a delusion or infatuation ... But we merely lacked, or someone else lacked, the emotional skills to hold on to the magic when the morning came. ...In truth, we can go to the moon and retain its magic for a lifetime."
-- Marianne Williamson

"We think, sometimes, there’s not a dragon left. Not one brave knight, not a single princess gliding through secret forests ... What a pleasure to be wrong. Princesses, knights, enchantments and dragons, mystery and adventure ... not only are they here-and-now, they're all that ever lived on earth! Masters of reality still meet us in dreams to tell us that we've never lost the shield we need against dragons, that blue-fire voltage arcs through us now to change our world as we wish. Intuition whispers true: We're not dust, we're magic!"
-- Richard Bach

Access your own inner wisdom by tapping into your subconscious and intuition. Release stress, blocks and negative emotions, and spark imagination and greater vision. Go deeper...

DANCE THROUGH YOUR DAY

"Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans: it’s lovely to be silly at the right moment."
-- Horace

Today, we invite you to do the Take-Your-Time Tango. In his book 'Games for the Soul,' Drew Leder challenges us to dance through our days with the graceful, slow elegance of a tango dancer.

"Slow down a notch," Leder counsels. "Do whatever you do in a calm and leisurely fashion. ... As much as possible, don’t be driven by inner fear, external deadlines, or rushed companions to stumble through a speeded-up dance. Act as if you have all the time in the world. Come to think of it, you do: No one else has any more hours."

So stand (or sit) tall. Raise your chin as you gather your full concentration, dignity and self confidence to glide smoothly and beautifully through the day.

"We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigor, the mystery, the humor, the variety, and the wonder of life."
-- Martha Graham

Never have time for what you really want in life? Take control of the time of your life by changing your mind.

WHERE'S YOUR ATTENTION?

"Only one thing has to change for us to know happiness in our lives: where we focus our attention."
-- Greg Anderson

What do you usually focus on: problems or solutions?

When our mind dwells on a problem, we stay stuck. Woe is me! But when we can shift to ask how we might achieve a solution to our problem, our subconscious mind, thinking and creativity move into gear. New possibilities open up.

Get in the habit of asking for solutions!

"Every choice moves us closer to or farther away from something. Where are your choices taking your life? What do your behaviors demonstrate that you are saying yes or no to in life?"
-- Eric Allenbaugh

*** Awareness is the key to all change. Begin to trust yourself more deeply as you uncover new dimensions of who you are with the Journey to Awareness email series.

Unclog your senses.
Loosen your emotional attachments.
Go beyond your limiting beliefs.
Be your authentic self.

BREAK OUT OF ROUTINE

"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star."
-- Nietzsche

Where do you need to do some ‘out of the box’ thinking and living?

We are creatures of habit, of patterns. While initially the habits may have served us, they may now be limiting our ability to experience more of life.

What aspect of your life has become routine? How might you bring new life to it? Do some outrageous dreaming! Then do something completely different today.

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."
-- George Washington Carver

There is never a money or life problem, only an idea problem! Explore different ways to generate more ideas, options and solutions in your life.

REMEMBER YOUR SPIRITUAL SIDE

"The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays."
-- Soren Kierkegaard

Reminding ourselves often of our spiritual natures truly changes the quality of our lives. It helps us relax, slow down, lighten up, and generally find more space and joy in life.

When we get down on ourselves or life, we can pull back and ask, "How might my soul regard this situation? What am I being invited to experience?"

This shift in perspective helps us let go of the resistance that always comes with negativity. As energy once again begins to flow, our outlook brightens.

"Spirituality is the sacred center out of which all life comes, including Mondays and Tuesdays and rainy Saturday afternoons in all their mundane and glorious detail. ... The spiritual journey is the soul's life commingling with ordinary life."
-- Christina Baldwin

"It is not my business to think about myself. My business is to think about God. It is for God to think about me."
-- Simone Weil

What is soul? What is personality? How do the two work together? Explore your own spirituality with our online Grow Yourself workbook and 30 days of email support!

Unclog your senses.
Loosen your emotional attachments.
Go beyond your limiting beliefs.
Be your authentic self.

HE GIFT OF JOY



"Joy is prayer - Joy is strength - Joy is love - Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. She gives most who gives with Joy."
-- Mother Teresa

Some people unconsciously believe it's not okay to feel more joyful than the people around them. Out of a mistaken sense of caring, they squelch their joy and tune in to the sadness of the one they are with.

In truth, joy is one of the greatest gifts we can give to people around us. Those who are unhappy need our joy, not our sadness.

"Never miss a joy in this world of trouble ... that's my theory! ... Happiness, like mercy, is twice blest: it blesses those most intimately associated with it and it blesses all those who see it, hear it, touch it or breathe the same atmosphere."
-- Kate Douglas Wiggin

The Inner Journey is brought to you by John & Patrice Robson of Higher Awareness, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

DO YOU ENGAGE IN VIOLENCE?

"There are three kinds of violence: one, through our deeds; two, through our words; and three, through our thoughts. ... The root of all violence is in the world of thoughts, and that is why training the mind is so important."
-- Eknath Easwaran

While there's plenty of violence in the world, not many of us engage in violent actions. But are we violent at times with the words we speak? How often do we think vicious thoughts?

We may assume our thinking is an internal matter that has no bearing on the quality of life in the world. Perhaps we need to think again.

"The ancestor of every destructive action, every destructive decision, is a negative thought."
-- Eknath Easwaran

"We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far."
-- Swami Vivekananda

*** Restart building a new foundation for your life. Clear blocks and transform your life. Discover a whole new way of working with life's challenges.

CREATE HAPPINESS RIGHT NOW

"It is our basic right to be a happy person, happy family, and eventually a happy world. That should be our goal."
-- Dalai Lama

Little adjustments to our attitude and approach each day can create a major difference in our appreciation of life. On the surface, nothing changes. At the same time, absolutely everything does.

Use your awareness or your imagination to bring happiness to this moment. Find something to appreciate. Do this as often as you remember to do so, and your world will transform.

" ... we can no longer afford to throw away even one 'unimportant' day by not noticing the wonder of it all. We have to be willing to discover and then appreciate the authentic moments of happiness available to all of us every day."
-- Sarah Ban Breathnach

HONOUR YOURSELF

"I'd gone through life believing in the strength and competence of others; never in my own. Now, dazzled, I discovered that my capacities were real. It was like finding a fortune in the lining of an old coat."
-- Joan Mills

Take a moment to stop and think about what you give to the people and life around you. Don't think about what you're not doing right. Look instead at all you do that is a blessing. Many of us continually beat ourselves up for not doing or being enough. But imagine for a moment that you are great just as you are. Feel the relief this brings! Now open to the possibility that this is not a daydream. It’s true! Believe it!
"People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success."
-- Norman Vincent Peale

"We cannot rise higher than our thought of ourselves."
-- Orison Swett Marden

*** Do you feel an urge or calling in you to be or do more? Then honour it and open to more meaning and fulfillment by exploring your life purpose.

MY WILL OR DIVINE WILL?

"It is important not to 'need' what you are calling to you but rather to have a certain detachment about it. Let it be all right if it doesn't come, or if it comes in a different form than what you expect. After you have asked for something, surrender to whatever comes as being appropriate."
-- Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer

"Acceptance says, True, this is my situation at the moment. I'll look unblinkingly at the reality of it. But I'll also open my hands to accept willingly whatever a loving Father sends me."
-- Catherine Marshall

"This business of hozho. The way I understand it ... I'll use an example. Terrible drought, crops dead, sheep dying. Spring dried out. No water. The Hopi, or the Christian, maybe the Moslem, they pray for rain. The Navajo has the proper ceremony done to restore himself to harmony with the drought. You see what I mean. The system is designed to recognize what’s beyond human power to change, and then to change the human’s attitude to be content with the inevitable."
-- in 'Sacred Clowns' by Tony Hillerman

LIVING IN HARMONY

"Peace comes not from the absence of conflict, but from the ability to cope with it."
-- Unknown Source

Angeles Arrien says that life will be simple if we follow the four-fold way counselled by indigenous peoples:

Show up, being present with all four mental, emotional, physical and spiritual intelligences.
Pay attention to what has heart and meaning.
Tell the truth without blame or judgment.
Be open to outcome, not attached to outcome.
"Peace is not won by those who fiercely guard their differences, but by those who with open minds and hearts seek out connections."
-- Katherine Paterson

Our process is clear. First 'know yourself' - your personality and direction in life. Then 'create a plan'. Next 'heal yourself and what holds you back. Then you can expand and 'grow yourself'.

HOPE AND DISAPPOINTMENT

"It's precisely the disappointing stories, which have no proper ending and therefore no proper meaning, that sound true to life."
-- Max Frisch

"Don't get your hopes up!"

Were you warned of this as a child? What does this say? It says that life is bound to disappoint you. It says, don't aim high because you're not likely to get what you want. It says that we can't expect good things to happen to us.

As our thinking creates our reality, this kind of thinking dooms us to a mundane existence. It's time to change our stories. Why not focus the immense power of our hearts and minds on bringing to fruition the very best life has to offer? Allow yourself to hope and believe in all possibilities.

"Hope is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles."
-- Samuel Smiles

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof."
-- Barbara Kingsolver

LET GO OF BLAME

"My days of whining and complaining about others have come to an end. Nothing is easier than fault finding."
-- Og Mandino

We often expect other people to meet our needs. When they don't give us what we want, we may feel anger, resentment and even revengeful. Rather than blaming others, we could choose to get in touch with our needs and then fill them ourselves.

"Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame."
-- Erica Jong

"Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity or registering wrong."
-- Charlotte Bronte

Access your own inner wisdom by tapping into your subconscious and intuition. Release stress, blocks and negative emotions, and spark imagination and greater vision. Go deeper...

POWER

"There are two kinds of men who never amount to much: those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else."
-- Cyrus H. Curtis

How do you relate to people in authority? Depending on your character and upbringing, you may react defensively or meekly to those you perceive to hold more power than you do.

Hierarchical power dissolves in the presence of authentic power. Your true personal power has nothing to do with status. It is determined by how attuned you are to all aspects of yourself and to the needs of others.

In any exchange with a person 'in power,' focus your attention on meeting your mutual needs and the relationship will be both equitable and fruitful.

"Compassion, caring, teaching, loving, and sharing your gifts, talents, and abilities are the gateways to power."
-- Jamie Sams

Become aware of your subconscious limitations, your character strengths, weaknesses and potentials, your life challenges, gifts, talents, and your deepest desires and aspirations.

POWER

"There are two kinds of men who never amount to much: those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else."
-- Cyrus H. Curtis

How do you relate to people in authority? Depending on your character and upbringing, you may react defensively or meekly to those you perceive to hold more power than you do.

Hierarchical power dissolves in the presence of authentic power. Your true personal power has nothing to do with status. It is determined by how attuned you are to all aspects of yourself and to the needs of others.

In any exchange with a person 'in power,' focus your attention on meeting your mutual needs and the relationship will be both equitable and fruitful.

"Compassion, caring, teaching, loving, and sharing your gifts, talents, and abilities are the gateways to power."
-- Jamie Sams

Become aware of your subconscious limitations, your character strengths, weaknesses and potentials, your life challenges, gifts, talents, and your deepest desires and aspirations.

DIRECT YOUR EVOLUTION

"Consciousness is the basis of all life and the field of all possibilities. Its nature is to expand and unfold its full potential. The impulse to evolve is thus inherent in the very nature of life."
-- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Unlike other species, human beings can monitor our own evolutionary process. Better yet, we have the awareness and power to design our evolutionary path.

As creators, we are not limited to evolving through tiny, incremental steps. With our potent imaginations, we can design and manifest dramatic, profound change. How remarkable! What an awesome responsibility. What fun!

Our challenge is to break free of our present concept of reality to create brand new dreams that will bring the ideal to life.

"There is only one thing more powerful than all the armies of the world, that is an idea whose time has come."
-- Victor Hugo

"We lie in the lap of immense intelligence."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

GUILT

"When guilt rears its ugly head confront it, discuss it and let it go. The past is over. It is time to ask what can we do right, not what did we do wrong. Forgive yourself and move on."
-- Bernie S. Siegel

"I have made it a rule of my life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy . . . you can't build on it; it's only good for wallowing in."
-- Katherine Mansfield

"If we don't forgive ourselves for our mistakes, and others for the wounds they have inflicted upon us, we end up crippled with guilt. And the soul cannot grow under a blanket of guilt, because guilt is isolating, while growth is a gradual process of reconnection to ourselves, to other people, and to a larger whole."
-- Joan Borysenko

"Light burdens borne far become heavy."
-- French proverb

*** Restart building a new foundation for your life. Clear blocks and transform your life.

INTUIT AND DO IT

"If doubt is challenging you and you do not act, doubts will grow. Challenge the doubts with action and you will grow. Doubt and action are incompatible."
-- John Kanary

To reap the greatest benefits from intuition, we need ACTION. Be in motion. Act as if your highest expectations have already happened. Be in front of more opportunities and people. Let go of any blocks or attachments. Create mental space and physical space. Plan your work and work your plan.

Miracles rarely happen by doing nothing. Most miracles happen through other people.

What actions can you take that will move you towards your goals?

"Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle."
-- Annie Besant

CONTEMPLATE UNITY

"Poverty is in separatism. Abundance is in unity."
-- Torkom Saraydarian

Watch for those times when you perceive yourself to be separate from the rest of the world. When you find yourself feeling uncomfortable, threatened or isolated, remember Neale Donald Walsch's words: "there’s only one of us in this room."

When we perceive differences in thinking and behaving, we might remember that these are merely different expressions of the one universal life force. We can release judgment as to whether those differences are right or wrong or good or bad. We can drop the labels that divide the world into pieces, and simply appreciate the rich variety of ways that energy can manifest as form.

"If we are to achieve a rich culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place."
-- Margaret Mead

FINDING CONTENTMENT

"When the sun rises, I go to work. When the sun goes down, I take my rest. I dig the well from which I drink. I farm the soil which yields my food. I share creation. Kings can do no more."
-- Chinese proverb

Do you sense the peace and contentment that can come from an appreciation of one's place in the cosmos?

How do we get there with the complexities and pressures of our current lifestyles? Perhaps it's a matter of becoming aware of what we truly have as opposed to what our egos believe we need. If we look closely, we may find that our ego 'needs' are just desires.

When you find yourself longing for something, stop and ask, "What is missing from my life? Is it a need? What are the essential qualities of what I seek? How can I experience that now?"

"If we have not quiet in our minds, outward comfort will do no more for us than a golden slipper on a gouty foot."
-- John Bunyan

"Try to be like the turtle -- at ease in your own shell."
-- Bill Copeland

*** Step by step, progressively learn basic meditation methods to relax, concentrate, focus, reflect, contemplate and illuminate. Learn to meditate with new exercises.

REVIEW AND RECOMMIT

"Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just think: When we are driving, we know where we want to go and we plot out our route. When we plan and prepare a meal, we follow a recipe and monitor the food as it cooks.

How much attention do we give to planning the direction of our lives?

Taking the time to review our quality of life gives us a chance to re-evaluate what we are doing and where we want to go. It lets us fine-tune our direction, to ensure we are on track for what we most want.

Stop and think about your last 6 months. What did you learn? What would you like to do differently? Where do you want to recommit?

"Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up."
-- A. A. Milne

"Always have a plan, and believe in it. Nothing happens by accident."
-- Chuck Knox

Access your own inner wisdom by tapping into your subconscious and intuition. Release stress, blocks and negative emotions, and spark imagination and greater vision. Go deeper...