In the morning remember it is a new day, a new beginning. Have a decision deep in your heart that “Today I am not going to waste this opportunity. Enough is enough! Today I am going to be aware, today I am going to be alert, today I am going to devote as much energy as possible to the single cause, the cause of meditation. I will meditate in all my acts. I will do all the activities, the usual day-to-day activities, but with a new quality: I will bring the quality of awareness to them.”
Osho

Pink Glove Dance

  One of the things I have learned while working in the arts is that growth happens in shared experiences. This dance is a great example. Very very simple, very powerful. The goal was to build breast cancer awareness. I think we all know about breast cancer, and I didn’t learn any new facts about breast cancer from watching this. I did want to get behind these dancing people!! Please, grown ups, remember, having fun with someone is really really powerful and very very easy!!

I bet you weren’t aware of this!

December Named National Awareness Month

November 17, 2009 | Issue 45•47

WASHINGTON—In an effort to combat what organizers are calling “our current epidemic of complete and utter obliviousness,” the American Foundation for Paying Attention to Things has declared December “National Awareness Month.”

Despite organizers' best intentions, many passersby who aren't already off in space will confuse this poster with an ad for an upcoming movie.

“All across the country, millions of men and women are dangerously unaware,” AFPAT spokesperson Karen Teeling said during a press conference Monday. “What’s worse, the vast majority of those suffering from this debilitating state of mind don’t even know it.”

“That’s why this December we’re asking that all Americans stop whatever it is they’re doing, and take a moment to open their eyes for once—just once—in their lives,” Teeling added. “It’ll make all the difference in the world.”

According to AFPAT, planned events for National Awareness Month include a 10K charity walk, during which participants will be forced to actually interact and engage with the outside world for a change, as well as several advertising campaigns, which will help get the word out about things other than what currently happens to be playing on television.

Awareness-month organizers will also hand out large reflective ribbons, in hopes that, by wearing a 9-inch yellow reminder on their chests, citizens across the country might actually remember that something is going on.

“Obliviousness doesn’t discriminate,” said volunteer Robert Fargo, who added that his own father might still be alive today had he been more aware of his surroundings. “Adults, children, the elderly, those staring slack-jawed as their very existence rushes by—obliviousness can strike them all.”

Defined as the ability to realize what one is doing, to whom one is doing it, and what the consequences of doing it or not doing it may be, awareness is considered to be a major factor in a number of modern human endeavors, among them: decision-making, prioritizing, and just basically walking around without always bumping into things.

While lack of awareness—or “unawareness,” as the foundation calls it—has reached dangerously high levels across the nation, organizers said there are still steps that can be taken by everyone to address the issue.

“A simple self-exam once a month can greatly reduce the chances of becoming unaware,” AFPAT founder Michael Poe said. “First, position yourself in front of your bathroom mirror. Second, make eye contact with the reflection in the mirror. Now, while still maintaining eye contact, take three to five minutes to think about the fact that you exist as a human being.”

Added Poe, “As long as you can remember to do that and not just completely tune out for an entire year or so, you should be all right.”

In addition to distributing literature about raising awareness of awareness itself, and launching a series of bus ads featuring such slogans as “Hey, you! Come on, snap out of it,” organizers listed a number of symptoms Americans can look for when attempting to deduce whether or not they’re aware.

“Lack of coherent thought is usually a sign of being unaware, as is a fleeting attention span, and forgetting what this particular sentence pertains to midway through reading it,” said Dr. Howard Sturges, who has treated several hundred cases of acute obliviousness. “If you suspect you have such a disorder, please contact a health professional immediately, or, as you likely know him, the man in the white lab coat with the shiny thing around his neck who has that office with all the chairs and patients inside of it.”

Though they remain confident about the success of the upcoming monthlong event, members of the American Foundation for Paying Attention to Things maintained that the cure for the national unawareness epidemic ultimately lies with the individual.

“We’ll do what we can to help, but at some point it’s really up to all Americans to make sure they can leave the house in the morning without setting the place on fire, show up to work without looking like a complete moron, or carry on an intelligent conversation without getting distracted by different tile patterns on the floor,” AFPAT chairwoman Sheila Winters said. “Hello? Hello?”

Awareness. Compassion. Tolerance

I am in love with the new International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) print campaign. It has got to be one of the most consciously aware and creative campaigns I have seen in awhile.

Definitely TEXTure worthy.

IFRC is the world’s largest humanitarian organization.  Since it’s founding in 1919, IFRC’s mission has been to create a world of empowered communities, better able to address human suffering and crisis with hope, respect for dignity, and concern for equity.

This new campaign perfectly illustrates IFRC’s mission.

Love it.

TVO is exploring the history and impact of reading in its new documentary, Empire of the Word.  From prehistoric peoples writing on cave walls to the Internet – the documentary traces readings’ origins; examines how we learn to read; exposes censors’ attempts to prevent our reading; and finally, proposes what the future might hold for this creative act.

Trudy Lothian, President and Chair of the OLC Board of Directors, appeared on TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin on Wednesday, November 25 to help introduce the documentary. Trudy did an amazing job as part of a large panel discussing reading and issues around literacy. She talked in length about the challenges of learning as an adult. Click here to watch the discussion.

The 4-part documentary airs Wednesdays at 10 pm from November 25 to December 16 On TVO. Learn about origins of reading and writing and its impact on 5,000 years of human history!

Holidays call for celebration, and many of us know the consequences that come from overindulging in alcohol and food. Sometimes, despite out best intentions, we overdo it. This holiday season, detoxify and recover naturally with the tips that follow.

Ayurvedic medicine views proper digestion as the most essential component in living a long and healthy life. Your digestive function is made up of numerous organs all working together to break down, absorb, and process all of the nutrients in the food you eat. Without healthy digestion, you can become malnourished and toxins will build up in your body, leading to degenerative diseases. Indigestion is caused and made worse by overeating–especially rich, fatty, spicy foods, alcohol, coffee, and acidic foods. These remedies will get your digestion on the right track.

 Walk! Walk it off after a large meal. About one hour after eating take a 15 to 30 minute walk. Aside from the proven benefits to your heart, walking is the perfect gentle exercise for promoting digestion and encouraging cleansing of the lymphatic system. Walking helps food move along the digestive tract, improving digestion and absorption. 

Drink Teas:  Herbal tea brings relief Relieve that feeling of fullness with herbal teas that target your digestion: Steep 1 teaspoon each of Coriander Seeds, Cumin Seeds, & Fennel Seeds  in a cup of hot water. Drink after each meal to soothe and prevent bloating. Ginger and Peepermint tea are other good choices for settling the stomach. 

 THE MORNING AFTER: Apple cider vinegar is traditionally used to remedy digestive distress, support liver detoxification, normalize digestive juices, and reduce intestinal bloating. Mix 1 tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar with 8 ounces of warm or (room temerature) water, and drink in the morning on empty stomach. Feel free to add a little honey or maple syrup. Lemon water is also helpful, but does not have the same healing effects as the cider vinegar.

Eat right to lighten up! Breakfast: Eat oat bran cereal, brown rice, or any other warm grain cereal (as long as it is unbleached and does not contain any added sugar or chemicals.) Pair with unflavored soy milk or almond milk. Lunch/Dinner: Eat any combination of beans, brown rice, vegetables, if you eat meat dont eat more than 3oz. and make sure its organic.

 For a powerful Super Cleanse Broth, simmer any combination of the following ingredients for an hour: collards, Swiss chard, kale, mustard greens, cabbage, dandelion, Brussels sprouts, daikon radish, watercress, seaweed, shitake mushrooms, cilantro, garlic, leeks, fennel, anise, fresh ginger, and turmeric. Strain and drink 8 ounces twice a day. 

 Try a detoxifying exercise This movement is from Liver Cleansing Qi Gong, a body-mind exercise that was designed by ancient Chinese physicians to help stimulate the liver and drain the excess toxins from the body: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart in front of a tree. Inhale while raising your right leg and exhale while placing your right foot on the ground in front of you between your body and the tree. Inhale while raising both arms from the sides until they come together over your head. Exhale while lowering your hands in front of your face. Visualize green light running down your face as your hands move down to your chest. Inhale as you move your hands to the right rib cage over your liver. Exhale as you move your arms down your right abdomen and right leg, as if pushing down and out with your hands. Visualize the green light moving the toxins out of the liver, down the liver meridian on the inside right leg, and out the big toe.

ALCOHOL – The liver is one of the hardest working organs in your body and performs a wide variety of functions. Its most important ones include the processing of nutrients, the production of bile to help in digestion of food and eliminating wastes, and cleansing the blood of toxins such as drugs, alcohol, and other dangerous substances. The liver has the ability to regenerate itself, but the effects of alcohol eventually wear down the liver. I strongly suggest that you keep your drinking to a minimum for the longevity of your liver and your health, but on that rare occasion when you overindulge, consider these remedies.

Liver Cleansing: Ginger tea to the rescue! In Ayurveda Ginger is the go to remedy to minimize the symptoms of hangovers and indigestion. Ginger has been found to soothe the digestive lining and balance gastric juices, making it a great remedy for overeating, too.  Cut a 2-inch piece from fresh ginger root, and thinly slice. Bring three cups of water to boil in a pot. Add the sliced ginger and reduce heat to a simmer. Brew for about five minutes. Then sip the tea slowly. You may also add honey to taste.

DRINK WATER! Whatever your weight divide by 2 and drink that much water in ounces! Example 180lb person divide by 2 is 90 ounces. That is approx 5 160z glasses of water per day. Though this is hardly a secret remedy it bears repeating.  Most things you put in your body dehydrates your system, so drinking plenty of water will help combat some of your unpleasant symptoms, rehydrate your body, and flush out toxins. Drink a few glasses of room temperature, filtered water after a night of holiday extravagance. The morning after start with lemon water Drink one lemon squeezed in 8 ounces of warm filtered water. Lemon activates your liver to release toxins and helps to cleanse and move the roughage that stays behind in your intestines.  Try these herbs in teas to cleanse and prevent a buildup of toxins and wastes in your body: Chrysanthemum flower is traditionally used to cleanse the liver and neutralize toxins. Hawthorn berry is used to cleanse the blood of plaque and other toxins. Turmeric supports the detoxification process in the whole body by increasing bile production and releasing and eliminating toxins. Simply put a tablespoon of the spice in a pot and stir over medium heat for five minutes. Milk thistle protects and restores the liver, due to its content of silymarin. Dandelion root has been found by studies to enhance the flow of bile, relieving liver congestion, which in turn aids the body in detoxifying.  I hope this article helps you recover from the effects of overindulgence this holiday season!

Namaste’ Gary

Friday November 27, 2009 By Kevin Morrow

Actually it already has been done. I have this concept of time which leads me to believe that there really is no time. I feel that anything I want to do is already done and I just have to catch up with it. When I think about doing things I remember this – “Be, Do, Have.” This implies to me that there is no time.

Other people have told me what they think I should be doing. I’ve even been told what I was doing was not giving me knowledge or putting money in my pocket. I understood where this came from because I observe levels of mind in interactions. Had I been only about money, this comment would have motivated me to become a better salesman. That’s not what I am however, I am not a salesman. Money is not my motivation, in fact motivation does not have the same meaning to me anymore.

Inspiration is what I relate to the most. I feel that it comes from the spirit. Any belief I have tends to limit me to a perception. The trouble of limiting myself to a perception is that when you I’m more aware and something that required more awareness comes along, I’m not be able to accept it.

So if I’m going to believe something, I might as well chose to believe in something that will not limit my awareness. That’s what I mean when I say I have an open mind.

Here is how I experience reality.

This is just within my mind, and it doesn’t mean that it’s true to anyone else. This is how I chose not to limit my mind. I see reality as if it’s one big dream. Life is like a video game being played within the minds of people. I use these terms to create a visualization within the minds of those who read this. I think there are fundamental basic rules and then the player believes in what they choose to be reality.

In this life there is a physical aspect and a spiritual aspect. I cannot function well in this reality without being balanced within those realms. I see that everyone has a mind and that the minds are similar in how they perceive and construct reality.

I also realize that I’m the only one conscious in my reality. Meaning there are other players in the game, but I am the only one consciously perceiving from my eyes, and through my point of awareness. Where that point is I cannot tell you, but as you can see, you are reading this from your point of awareness.

So, it seems that reality can be molded like clay. Therefore the mind can be molded like clay. I feel that my mind should be molded to benefit the highest good of myself and of all people. This is my reality. I see this reality as already being done. I’m just catching up to it.

ONE MIND…

The above is a segue into my belief in one mind. Of course language and words can be misinterpreted, so let me explain what I mean. I don’t believe that anybody is separate from me. I feel as though the one point of awareness is shared by all as if there is one mind.

The reason I say this is because the more I look outside of myself and see separation, the more I see dysfunction. I see unity in great teams, families, projects, and even gangs have an element of unity. In all themes there is general acceptance to one frame of mind.

So it seems that at a deeper level, maybe the one mind is fragmented and therefore experiencing in many different forms. Just like I was not the homeless man on the freeway in Vegas, I could see myself as him and therefore I had to help him. If I saw him as insignificant or as something negative, I would not have helped him. But I saw no purposeful reason to not help him. I was looking for any way that I could help him.

Some people call what I’m talking about “The watcher of the thoughts.” That is the consciousness. The consciousness must be in another realm of existence than that of physicality. So words like awareness have been formed to describe that which we are discussing. The people that seem to be outside of me, eat, sleep, and use the restroom just like me. No matter how rich or how poor they are. This to me is a sign of the “real” reality.

I have dreams, and I awake from the dreams into a physical reality. Sometimes I don’t remember the dreams. How do I know that I don’t wake up from physical reality as if it’s a dream and I just don’t remember it? I don’t. There must be a reason for that.

The reality of pain

I feel as though reality is in the mind. What you believe to see is what you see. What you believe you can have is what you have. What I believe I can be I am at any point in time.This is possible because there really is no time, everything happens now. When in pain, I believe in the pain until I have reason to believe that it’s gone. I have literally believed pain to disappear and it did.

This leads me to feel as though anything I want to accomplish is already done. Anything in consciousness that has been done can be done. Anything that can be done through consciousness, can be done. Essentially everything has been done, or will be done, in the realm of conscious ability. Great projects are formed first in the mind, which means they can be done when aligned with physicality.

Physical reality is slower than mental reality because its vibration is much denser. Look into the world and you can see evaporated water moves faster than raindrops. Observe your own self and you will see thoughts move faster than your hand.

There are different levels of thought, it takes thought for you to move your hand in the first place. Once I believe something is “possible” that already was “possible” it becomes automatic. Just like moving my hand.
In order for my consciousness to win something like the lottery, the money would have to come to me not from a form of lack, and FOR the greater good of myself and others. Otherwise I don’t believe its possible for me.

Intentionally, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Who I am right now at this very moment is ready for something like that to happen. But what are the deeper levels of belief? What are the deeper levels of direction? Those are the true questions.

Conflict in relationships and between minds

I occasionally witness conflicts in relationships and between minds because they feel they are separate. As things that are separate they operate for survival of self. Whether it be ego identification or something else. To me this is my mind working itself out. I have to forgive things that I think matter and heal my mind. Therefore what I do to others is like I’m doing it to myself.

“Peoples judgments are more about you than they are about themselves.”

There is this show on TV that my sister watches called “Bad Girls Club.” The girls on the show tend to have a lot of pain. Pain comes from fear of separation. A good majority of the women on the show hurt other people because they are hurting on the inside and don’t know how to heal it.
The mind mirrors into reality what is being fed to it. So if your hurting you will see and create more hurt.

I see this within my own mind. I see that there are things that I may believe as true that may be hurting me, so I must forgive them and move on. What’s the purpose of holding on to something like that?

It’s not my fault syndrome

Anything you want to accomplish can be done. But when you blame others for it not happening, or say it’s not your fault, you create this reality in your mind. I have to be responsible for my reality. My thoughts and beliefs create it. Separation creates pain, so I have to heal my pain. If I blame it on other people, I’m really blaming it on myself.

Doing that creates a cycle within minds and it gets repeated over and over. The same way it does within your mind. That’s why I say “One Mind.”

Perceptions of reality

Perception always limits awareness. It narrows awareness down to a point of view. A perception is like sitting in the nose bleeds at a basketball game or sitting court side. Awareness is seeing the game from all possible angles with no distinctions. This is something the mind may not be able to comprehend, therefore it operates through perception.

Fear is a perception

Anything I want to do can be done, and is done. That is a perception, because it leaves the idea that it can’t be done, which is also a perception. Why wouldn’t something be accomplished? Take the time to ask yourself the question. The only reason something would not be able to be accomplished is because for some reason fear becomes reality.

Fear is a perception, if I were to look at something I wanted to do from all awareness at once, why would I be aware of the fact that it can’t be done? What’s the purpose of seeing that way? To me there isn’t a purpose to that.

If I’m experiencing in a physical world and I have the choice of operating from a source of love, faith, and belief, why would I chose fear?

So what is it that I Want to Do?

I’m doing what I want to do right now. Some people see it as weird because of what it appears to be. Some see it as cool because what it appears to be to them. To me it appears to be what I want to do. I see it as healing the minds of others and my own at the same time. I provide content that’s interesting and follow my intuition. I have created my own job. The things I need are already inside of me, and are provided to me right now. As fact my reality that appears outside of me reflects my beliefs. The things within in me that I have already, appear available to me in my outer reality. This includes, money,transportation,tools,people, and anything else needed to be of overall good to all.

My articles get better as I write them, and I do what I say I will do. As I provide more truth and more value, my income mirrors that. Right now I have no worries about money because I know that I’m never poor. I’m always rich no matter what my physical world may say at the moment.

College completed faster than “normal” happens in my awareness because I believe it to be possible. This is something I see as possible within myself. Money flows to me in avalanches of abundance because I provide value from my spirit. Not because I lack money, but because I believe myself to be valuable. I see others as apart of me and anyone in my awareness is there for me to help in some way, or vice versa.

Some may not understand because it’s not the main stream approach to reality, and that’s okay. To me it means I have limitless potential. Every person I meet is an opportunity to heal the one mind. Everything I think,do, and believe, is opportunity to heal. I feel so much love right now.

found on my bedroom floor, visiting the cable nest

.

*

.

*

.

there is a deepness in the moment

standing still

pausing

breathing

noticing the loveliness all around

becoming aware

being filled

with the loveliness

of small things

until everything is light

Here is a passage from my 2005 Bestseller, “The Translucent Revolution.”

The most powerful gift we can bring to our relating is the conscious practice of honesty. Under Iago’s spell, telling the truth evokes many conflicting reactions. We may try to be honest to protect an image of being a morally superior person; to prevent the other from leaving us; to avoid guilt, fear of punishment, and other uncomfortable feelings; or to conform to a learned
moral framework. We may also avoid being honest in an attempt to look good, to protect the other from hurt feelings, or to rebel against moral conditioning. We can also adopt honesty as a discipline to deepen presence, to expose and evaporate everything we carry within us that interferes with love. It can be a spiritual discipline, rather than something done in service to separation. Honesty is not just a moral principle. When we avoid the truth, we are cut off from ourselves. If you lie to another, you’ve also created a wall between you and yourself. We split infinity into two, and divide our own intrinsic wholeness. Brad Blanton, who has been a clinical psychologist for more than thirty years, came to translucence through the rigorous and sustained practice of radical honesty. Blanton describes honesty as being completely present and describing your experience just as it is:

“You can take the whole awareness continuum and divide it into three parts. Notice what is going on right now outside of you in the world, what is going on within the confines of your own skin, and what is going through the mind right now, and that’s all there is. Noticing and reporting what is here is honesty. . . just saying it right out as though you didn’t know any better.”

Blanton thinks of honesty as a spiritual practice more than as a moral virtue:

“We know meditation develops your capacity to be present. It becomes more complicated with eyes open, and even more challenging when it involves feelings and interactions with other people. Radical honesty is simply the predisposition for meditation that involves interactions with other people. Honesty and intimacy are really the same thing. When you’re honest, the boundaries between yourself and the other break down, and you experience more oneness or more of a mutual beingness.”

Entering into mutual agreements with your partner, friends, and community to end withholding and deception may be more challenging than first meets the eye. But it is worth the price we have to pay. The old habit that creates most separation, and that pulls attention back most forcibly into Iago’s grip, is the tendency to withhold. Says Blanton:

“The biggest rationalization for lying is “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings,” the second is “I don’t want to offend anybody,” and the third is “I don’t want to make a fool of myself.” I recommend that you do all three. But stay present with people and let them stay with you until you feel your way through it and get clear. I recommend that you hurt people’s feelings till they get over having their feelings hurt, and offend people but stay with them; don’t do a drive-by. Make a fool of yourself, be a fool in life, be embarrassed, ashamed, whatever emotion comes up, do it out loud, and if you’re scared, feel your way through it and go on to the next limit.”

While researching this book, I was hard put to find anyone who had added honesty to their awakening and later regretted it. Practicing honesty as a translucent discipline is not just a disposition; it involves cultivating very specific skills, which in many ways run counter to our habits. Kathlyn Hendricks gives her definition of being honest:

“It is to describe what is going on in any given moment in a way that doesn’t blame anybody. It’s a whole set of skills: being able to pay attention, to notice what is actually occurring, and then to describe what is occurring in a way that matches the experience. And the act of doing that is tremendously enlivening. It literally will flush out and create a burst of aliveness; it flushes out any old grit, either physical or emotional. It is very, very powerful, but it is also a skill that people can learn and can develop. They don’t have to either know it or not know it; they can literally develop it.”

To read more about translucent honesty and translucent living in general, pick up your very own copy of Translucent Revolution today.

We are here to elevate you into a new understanding
to elevate your mind and conscious awareness
so that you might receive constant guidance from source in a clear manner
we are here to lead you away from the confusion
the conditioned darkness you have wandered in
and into a new way of being a new light to illuminate all problems
to bring forth goodness and love in a vibrant manner
so that all who come into your presence will be moved and touched by your healing power
this is the calling this is the life you can lead now
and this is the love you are here to be
thankfully, you are on the path to enlightenment because you have decided by your own desire this is what you want
this is where you are headed and this is the path that we continuously guide you toward for the benefit of all concerned
know that there is nothing that can separate you from the love of source
from the love of God from the love of who you are
because it is part of you
you are an extension indeed
but even more importantly you are filled with this love
it is simply a matter of letting go of resistance and giving into this love that fills you now
know that source is always present equally throughout your body throughout your mind throughout your circumstances throughout the universe
there is no lack of source no lack of love no lack of the presence and power of God anywhere
for as you know source is all present all power all knowledge and all love
there can be no lack of source anywhere
take responsibility for any shortage of what you want in life and figure out how to let go of your resistance your blocks
your uncertainty
figure out how to allow source to move freely through you so that you can fulfil that heart’s desire

know that no good thing will be kept from you
you must undue the conditioning undue the limits
you have put upon yourself
you must cleanse your mind and allow source to fill it with possibility potential love and hope
you must allow source to show you the truth apart from the illusion and insanity of modern-day thinking
let it go and allow source to elevate your consciousness to a new way of being a new way of allowing and a new way of thinking
let source fill your mind with beauty and passion let your mind be free to dream to love to endure with grace and gratitude
that all is well in this moment
and is always so
be sure to remember that now has everything you need
now has all the beauty joy and love you desire
if you would but allow it to come through
allow now

- Morning stream of consciousness writing from John Stringer

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Spirituality and personal well-being

Many cultures practice prayer and spiritual rituals and believe it affects their health (for example Christianity).

Spirituality plays a central role in self-help movements such as Alcoholics Anonymous: “…if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead….”

If spirituality is understood as the search for or the development of inner peace or the foundations of happiness, then spiritual practice of some kind is essential for personal well being. This activity may or may not include belief in supernatural beings. If one has such a belief and feels that relationship to such beings is the foundation of happiness then spiritual practice will be pursued on that basis: if one has no such belief spiritual practice is still essential for the management and understanding of thoughts and emotions which otherwise prevent happiness. Many techniques and practices developed and explored in religious contexts, such as meditation, are immensely valuable in themselves as skills for managing health and aspects of the inner life.

This post is long overdue, but earlier this year, Pamoja Mtaani - a videogame I co-wrote and consulted on for Warner Bros was awarded the Global Business Coalition’s Core Competence Business Excellence Award. The excerpt is below.

Congratulations to Award-Winning”PAMOJA MTAANI” (”Together in the Hood”), Behavior Change Video Game

The “PAMOJA MTAANI” (”Together in the Hood”), Behavior Change Video Game, created by Warner Bros, won the Global Business Coalition’s Business Excellence Award.

As a key component of the Partnership for an HIV-Free Generation, this open world five player LAN-Based PC game educates youth in Kenya.

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria honored Warner Bros. Entertainment with the Core Competence Business Excellence Award for the video game “Pamoja Mtaani” (”Together in the Hood”) at the GBC Business Excellence Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C. “Pamoja Mtaani”, Swahili for “Together in the Hood”, is an open world, five player LAN-based PC video game created by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in collaboration with technical experts within the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and noted serious games developer, Virtual Heroes, Inc.

Warner Bros. Entertainment, in partnership with PEPFAR, applied its core competence to develop an action-based videogame pilot that is delivering targeted HIV prevention messages to East African youths. The videogame combines traditional gameplay with messages aimed at changing behavior, focusing on key behaviors that can reduce HIV infections among youth. The game development is part of The Partnership for an HIV-Free Generation, a  public-private collaboration among PEPFAR and businesses with critical core competencies such as messaging, new technologies and market research.

The “Pamoja Mtaani” videogame can be played at select youth venues in Nairobi, which are an integral component of this new initiative to revolutionize HIV prevention. The game, intended to engage youth through fun interaction, is designed to help influence HIV risk perceptions, attitudes and behaviors among young people in Nairobi.

Pamoja Mtaani also featured at Games for Health 2009. Below is the presentation that Producer, Kirsten Gavoni, gave some details on what it was like making the videogame (It was Warner Bros. first such project in Africa)

Pamoja Mtaani is available to play at three centres in Nairobi right now, two centres in the Mukuru slum and the National Youth Service along Thika Road. I’d suggest you go play it.

Sometime back I was searching for some flash games in net for my nephew’s.While surfing I happened to see this game and I was surprised and shocked when I came to know what type of game it was. I heard about toon sex and all a lot, But never thought even in my wildest dream it will present\available in a kids site (later I found that there was not one but many which initially looked harmless but very nasty which is good enough to pollute\damage those innocent minds). I just don’t understand what traffic, what income they need by polluting and exploiting these innocent minds. My nephews (9 and 6 years old) often surf Google for games but the very thought of this – just one click can take them to most explicit site which is beyond imaginable scared me.

Now day’s kids are fast and they easily grasp things. But unfortunately same can’t be told, when it comes identifying what is right or what is wrong. And also can’t blame them for that because they don’t know that is bad and they are innocent or not big enough to identify good\bad. Unfortunately if we failed to find it out or notice it, probably they will consider it as not a big deal and also it will adversely affect or say damage their personality, finally the aftereffects will be disastrous I guess(they will believe what they see or their friends, more than there parents or other elders).
It is not only kids who are vulnerable but unfortunately our teenagers too. There are countless pages \ groups in social networking sites like Face book, my space, orkut which serve forbidden fruit ,that is easily accessible to anyone at anytime. And we don’t need the help of any surveys to guess that how many teenagers\minors visit, join all these (Common Interest – Sexuality) kinda groups. Another dangerous thing is chat rooms. There are lots of psychos (pedophiles) who are looking especially for minors for exploiting those (few years back a school girl is seduced by a group of guys through orkut in Delhi and killed by the same later is one example.). If they fall for them once, it will affect them mentally or make them feel guilty about it and finally it may result in serious consequences. Then another one is web cam, which is good enough to make anyone porn star in seconds or strong enough to make you regret for a lifetime for making a small mistake.
I’m not trying to say all the technologies, everything is bad or something likes that. If we take some small care or safety measures it will be wonderful things that will enhance the quality of life. If you follow the points mentioned below, I think that is more than enough to keep your kid\little brothers\sisters from trapped in ‘net’ (to a big extend).

All the parents believe there kids are best and they can’t be\won’t be bad. But that doesn’t mean we can give\guide them license\opportunity\show the way to be bad

P.S : Many of the young parents are technology-illiterate to there kids .But it doesn’t mean they can outsmart you, i.e. always try to be smarter than them .

Here are Ways #s 4 and 5 from the last post which promised you 5 Ways to Be More Great-full (Boost Your Gratitude Attitude)…

#4: FAMILY (or couple’s) GRATITUDE BOOK
We just spent a very pleasant hour doing this great art & writing interactive project. So simple and yet so meaningful and fun! Quality family time!

We do not watch television, nor do our children. We are dedicated to parenting consciously and strive to support a vibration of love in our household. Yet, given that my husband and I are both entrepreneurs, with seven businesses between the two of us, and given that our children are still quite young, we know how important and sometimes challenging it can be to come up ideas (not to mention time, energy and materials) for positive family experiences.

I myself am about the least craftsy person you will ever meet and can draw a stick figure on a good day! So believe me when I tell you: Yes, you CAN do this project, and probably with what’s already available in your home. It really ranks high on simple, high on fun, high on memorable, and low on expense. (I can NEVER do those Origami things, puuleeeeeazzze, can we talk?)

Thanksgiving weekend is the perfect time to do this Family Gratitude Book…but of course so is any day that ends in “y.” Monday, Tuesday…. Enjoy!

Materials:

All you need is:

Some blank paper (we used printer or copy paper, white)

Construction paper

Ribbon or brass brads to secure the book

Markers, pencils, hole punch and/or scissors

Optional: Stickers, stamps, other art supplies, scrapbook, photos

Definitely: A little bit of time and lots of love!

We started by making a brainstormed list of everything we are grateful for. You can do this any way you like; follow your own creative impulses & inspiration. We have four family members, so I decided to color code what we wrote on this collective page or you could just all write and draw without attributing who said/drew what, or make a chart, have sections of the page, etc. The things my 6-year-old called out first were written in yellow, my 10-year-old chose blue, I picked purple and my husband green. We made a color key on the page and wrote and drew various things we are thankful for: Our dog came first, followed by a lovely torrent such as family and friends, food, a good home, music, the Earth, music, health, God, life and so on.

Then I gave each family member a separate page on which to do whatever they like, the only requirement being that whatever is on the page relates to or represents what they are thankful for. We stuck in some more blank pages, so we can add more later as we are inspired.

The kids each got to pick a color for the front and back covers. The older did the words, the younger did the drawings. We punched holes, added brads, all signed the masterpiece and voila! A Family Gratitude Book.

Not only a wonderful way to spend part of our Thanksgiving Day, but a precious keepsake, and, I trust, a new family tradition as well. We will be sharing this book with family all weekend long and inviting them to add to it as well. And of course, it can be done any day! Every day bears its own gifts if we just open the package.

Today we focused mainly on what we are thankful for in our current lives (now), but we could also include wonderful memories (past) and gratitude for all the blessings on the way! (future)

Alternative for Couples: You can also do this as a Couple’s Gratitude Book or Journal, a beautiful way to show appreciation and deepen connection. So few marriages last or are happy, as we all know, and I am blessed to have a deliriously, deLIGHTfully ecstatic marriage, 12 years strong and better every day. One of the reasons is of course, the selection of the right mate; but in order to do so, we had to do the necessary self-healing and inner preparation to bring whole, healthy individuals to the relationship. Much of this work is presented in my book: The Radical Self-Love Workbook. But it is also essential to nurture even the best of relationships, and my husband and I do so daily in many creative ways such as this.

More tips on love and relationships are at

www.LoveandSpirit.org

and at my love blog: loveandspiritblog.wordpress.com.

Whether you do the Gratitude Book as a homemade book like we did today, like a scrapbook or journal, and whether you do it as a family activity or a couple’s relationship-enhancer, it will help you see your life through the eyes of love and gratitude, and bring you even closer with those you love. Enjoy! And I welcome you to send me a comment or email to share your experience.

#5: Honor the 4 Directions and 4 Sacred Elements:

Earth, Air, Fire, Water

You do not have to be Native American to appreciate one of their traditions, which is to honor the Medicine Wheel, facing each of the four directions, thanking each one for their gifts. This is also a tradition in all indigenous cultures including pre-Christian Europe (a.k.a. Wicca, Druidry, paganism, et al.), Africa, Australia, Hawaii and South America.

In fact, if you scratch the surface beneath contemporary religions on any part of the Earth, you will find an ancient shamanic tradition that honors all the directions and all of nature as sacred.

All things follow this cycle of birth, growth, fruition and quietude, whether we are looking at seasons, a lifespan, a day, or a garden. The beauty of Medicine Wheel ceremony and the paradigm itself is that it can be applied to our lives in so many ways.

So how do you honor the directions and elements, to give thanks for what they give to us so generously? Here are a few ideas:

* Altar: Create an altar to each direction or a Medicine Wheel altar encompassing all the directions/elements. This can be in your home or outside. My husband specializes in creating Medicine Wheels as a sacred practice on the land, and has helped others to do this as well.

* Cherokee Dance of Life – You would need to learn this in person from someone who has learned it, oral tradition. This is an incredible moving meditation to all 4 directions, peoples, and elements which also honors Mother Earth and Father Sky, balances their energies as sacred partners in our hearts, and helps us give away the gifts of Spirit that are our special medicine to share with the world through our right work and service. Occasionally my husband and I share this Dance with our community. If you live near Sacramento, and would like to experience this dance, let us know so we can invite you. Or perhaps Spirit will guide you to another teacher of this beautiful tradition.

* Drum, chant, play flute to each direction

* Give offerings such as cornmeal, tobacco or sage smoke to each direction

* Speak aloud from your heart to each direction and give thanks

* Sweat lodge

* Vision quest

If you do either sweat lodge or vision quest, please do so with the guidance of a Native elder to be sure you do it properly and safely.

* Journal or journey (shamanic meditation) to discover what power animals comprise your personal Medicine Wheel of your own energy field. I love to lead these meditations when I am called to do so. Honoring your own inner Medicine Wheel supports a strong aura and keeps you connected to your spirit guides, if this resonates for you.

Associations with Each Direction

Depending on which culture or even which tribe you consult, there are somewhat different associations with the directions, colors, elements and meanings, the medicine or power that direction helps us receive and embody. The one I am most familiar with follows but this is not dogma, merely a summary of what I have found to be the more universal associations. Follow your own heart and work with any spiritual practice in the way that resonates for your own heart and inner truth.

While I have a small amount of native blood, I was adopted and was not raised in that tradition. I discovered shamanism after my initiation and spiritual awakening 15 years ago. I do not claim to be a tribal elder or teacher of any one tradition. I am an interfaith minister, meditation teacher, hypnotherapist, energy healer and intuitive life coach. I have been on the path of Spirit, studying, practicing and sharing healing and wisdom teachings from many cultures for several decades, so I offer here a simplified summary as a starting point for your discovery journey. You would do well to study more in depth with a local teacher steeped in the particular tradition that calls to your spirit, and of course feel free to research further on the Web, in books, classes, and listen to your own inner guidance. I always say the best way to pray, do ceremony or ritual is the way that feels best to you, with harm to none, of course. But we do need to honor the specific traditions so they are not all diluted through multiculturalism.

From the East we have the yellow people (Asia) and the gift of Air, Brother Wind, clarity of vision, inspiration, the new day, new beginnings, establishment of purpose and intention, and springtime.

From South, we receive the wisdom of the black people (Africa), Fire. The tools, strength, perseverance and energy to follow through and manifest, midday/ noon, summer, also humor and passion, innocence and trust.

The West gives us the culture of the Red people (such as Native Americans), the setting sun, Water, emotions, the fall season, self-evaluation toward completion, looks-within time, peace, rest and healing.

And the North represents the White (European) people and all their cultural gift. The sacred mountain, winter, midnight, time to slow down, go within and be still to receive guidance for what comes next. Completion, what you keep from the past cycle and all that you have accomplished and learned. It is also associated with the Spirit and wisdom.

Note: You can also honor the other 3 directions: Earth (below), Sky (above) and Center (within).

I hope you enjoyed these five creative ways to give thanks and I wish you abundant blessings on your journey!

Finally, in the spirit of Sufi mystic poet Rumi, I invite you to kiss the ground. Blow kisses to the sky. Bow to everything. Everything is sacred.

With Love,

Sage

More resources for your path, including free special reports on abundance, love, transformational classes, soul and energy healing sessions, intuitive readings, matchmaking and more are at:

www.LoveandSpirit.org

Taylor@LoveandSpirit.org

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.

There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

- Rumi

Image courtesy of brookes-bearnecessities.blogspot.com

Well!

I knew it. Of course I knew it. But somewhere along the line it slipped from my awareness again.

And yet, there it is once more, confronting me with such glory and such delight that it dizzies me.

Do you want to know?

Here it is:

Food enjoyed – and I mean, really enjoyed, with that close-your-eyes-and-experience-the-taste-to-the-full kind of intensity – almost a Capital Letter Enjoyed! – oh, such food is how one should eat most of the time. That’s not the principal discovery, though.

It is this:

When food is truly Enjoyed like this, you need only a little to satisfy you completely.

This week I lunched at a restaurant and had an aubergine vegetarian stack: aubergine, tomato, feta, mozzarella and … hmmmmm! basil pesto – and I swooned with pleasure. I ate both little stacks on my plate, but afterwards realized just one would have sufficed. So little!

There are probably tons of research about this phenomenon, but I don’t need research to figure that when you enjoy food with all your senses, your brain just gets that message so much more completely that you are actually nourished.

This is the second time in as many weeks it has happened to me, and I realize that contrary to my normal belief, I really enjoy eating truly good food.

I used to have my nose in the air about haute cuisine. All those large plates with tiny morsels on them, surrounded by curlicues of some sauce, I said. Served in seven courses combining to less than a full plate of homecooked food, I said. How pretentious! I said.

And then, one single time in my life, I enjoyed such a meal. And I learned, much to my surprise and my eternal delight, that eating small, beautifully prepared portions enabled me to really appreciate what was on my plate. To fully experience the food with all my senses! It was one of the times in my life I felt the most nourished, the most replete.

It made me pause.

After this week’s experience, I’m converted.

Do you realize the implications? What would happen if ALL our food was served beautifully, delighting the eye and the nose as much as the palate? What if ALL our food was a wonderful combination of complementing fragrances and tastes?

I dare say we would have a world full of thin, healthy, happy people.

Could anything be more wonderful than really enjoying food the way you really enjoy moving your body or drinking in a breathtaking view? They’re all the same. They speak of living with passion. They speak of LIFE.

It needs to be fully enjoyed.

Oh, and I do!

Happy Thanksgiving!

“The eye, altering, alters all.” – William Blake

I recently saw the movie Up with my family and we were touched by the sweet message that it is the most simple moments that have the most meaning for us. I call those moments, like when Russell sits on the curb counting red and blue cars with his dad and then with his new (grand)father figure at the end of the movie, the “pearls on life’s necklace.” Individually, they are precious and delicate, yet strung one after another, they form a true treasure.

In an earlier post, I shared several reasons why it is so essential to enhance our gratitude attitude. So now, as promised, here are some fun, practical ideas for how to become even more grateful (great full), how to count more of those pearls and value them with your heart, while they are in your hands:

1. My Feet Touch the Earth.

A Native American custom is to give thanks to Mother Earth each morning upon rising, when your feet first touch the floor or ground. This helps us remember that the land we live upon is alive and sacred, worthy of our deepest respect and greatest appreciation. It also helps you receive her bounty, through food, health, abundance and every good thing you can touch or experience through your senses, and to feel more grounded and “in your body.” Another thing I love about this practice is it takes zero extra time; it’s just a shift in consciousness, and isn’t that what we are most striving for?

2. Write a (different kind of) Thank-You Letter.

Well, you already know about the traditional thank-you-for-the-gift kind of letter. I believe it’s on the Endangered Species List. (When’s the last time to sent or received one of those?) I highly recommend we resuscitate these as they bring and spread so much joy, especially the kind of letters, cards and notes you can actually…what’s that called?….Oh, yeah, TOUCH with your actual hands and reread over and over without having to go online. What a concept!

In addition to writing to give thanks for specific gifts or favors you have received, I propose you explore writing Thank-You Letters to:

* Your loved ones…just because

* Yourself

* God/The Universe

* Your Body

* Money

* Your Ancestors

* The Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Sun, Moon, Stars…

You see, the possibilities are as infinite as your abundantly grateful heart.

3. Take a Gratitude Walk.

Dedicate a walk to the awareness of thankfulness. This is a walking meditation and is best done in silence or punctuated only with your statements of appreciation or a simple mantra such as:

* Thank you, God, for all that is.

* Right here, right now, beauty all around me.

* I give thanks.

* I am thankful.

Your gratitude mantra can also just run in your mind without being spoken aloud. You can rhythmically coordinate the mantra to your steps, or not; follow your own guidance and what your body tells you to do.

Another option is to think or praise something with each step or everytime you notice something you are thankful for, such as: “Thank you for my feet that I may walk. Thank you for these trees I see…. Thank you for the air I breathe. Thank you for my children (husband, wife, etc..). Thank you for my home. Thank you for my dog. Thank you for my car. Thank you for my work. Thank you for music….”

While you are walking, you may give thanks for gifts from Spirit which you can see and hear and touch in the present moment, or other blessings in your life, counting your pearls, but the key is to keep every step, every breath, every moment focused on hearful, mindful appreciation.

This is an excellent exercise which combines nourishing your body through the movement itself with nourishing your mind, heart and soul by returning your awareness to what is precious and good, all around you and within you.

As a meditation teacher for the past 11 years, I have frequently met beginning students who lament, “I can’t meditate because I can’t sit still so long. My body hurts and gets fidgety.” Some meditation disciplines and teachers simply reply to this: “Just sit. Let the distraction of the mind chatter and body aches just fade away and just sit anyway. They are all illusions, and your mind will eventually clear as you ignore the ‘monkey mind.’”

This is true for some people, some of the time, as with so much wisdom. However, some people really do need to move more often. This can be due a medical condition, a tendency toward being highly kinesthetic, and/or a need to move energy and remember they have a body through touch and motion.

I am solidly in the latter category myself and find that I benefit optimally from a kaleidoscopic, multicultural meditation practice, drawn from Eastern and Western traditions – like the Meditation for Busy People course I designed for and taught at Kaiser Permanente. Sometimes still, some moving, sometimes silent, others with chanting or music or sacred sounds, sometimes focusing on the heart, third eye, or other chakra, other times aware of the whole body and energy field, sometimes open-eyed (gazing meditation is called “tratakam” in India), sometimes closed, focused on the inner space. Let me know if you would like to me to share more of my knowledge of meditation in this blog column. I teach many methods in my workshops, teleseminars and private practice and share them also on my meditation audios.

For whatever reason, if you do not enjoy an extended sitting meditation practice, you will likely give up on it, so I highly recommend exploring moving meditation such as Tai Chi, Chi Gun, Native American Dance of Life (Dance to the 4 Directions) and even some dynamic forms of yoga, or simply authentic body movement and dance as a meditation. Walking meditations like this gratitude walk is another wonderful way to integrate Body, Mind, Heart and Spirit, so give yourself permission to move while you meditate, and give yourself credit for “meditating” if you are moving consciously and feeling a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefit.

Anything you do that brings your awareness to the present moment, that cultivates mindfulness and what I call heartfulness, is a form of meditation, be it walking, stretching, drinking a cup of tea, even cooking or cleaning.

As Buddhist monk and teacher Thich Nat Hanh says, whatever you are doing, even if you are washing dishes, it is the most important thing in the world.And it can be done joyfully and gratefully. Absolutely anything and everything is a meditation when done with focus and appreciation. Right here. Right now. Love.

So I invite you to join me in striving to live Life as The Grand Meditation. The Prayer of Thankfulness that Never Ends. The moment of choice, the moment of change, the moment of power, healing and grace, is now.

∞

As for me, time to go practice gratitude with my family. Right here. Right now. We are about to create a Family Gratitude Book! I’ll let you know how it turns out, and I suspect that may become Gratitude Tip #4.

Your life can change in a moment’s notice.

And the moments you notice can change your entire life.

So, my friends, have a beautiful day…and another…and another…Keep adding to, and treasuring those precious gifts of moments of simple pleasure, in oneness, and in the company of loved ones, the pearls on your necklace of life.

With Love, Sage

P.S. Please share in comments:

What part of this article did you most resonate with?

What are your favorite ways to deepen your gratitude attitude?

And what are you most thankful for this season?

(what are some of your precious pearls)

Just click on the article title to add a comment if the box is not visible below. Thanks for visiting!

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Are we dreaming? Do we know when we fly? When do we go? Do we die? Can we live forever? Are you dreaming?” QUESTION! – System of a Down

Seeking an answer is sometimes a process when we go from obscurity to obscurity.

In a specific issue, I can experience that we are trying to prove that our answer is the right answer. We are in many cases forcing ourselves to respond on someone’s statement. When talking with one person, we feel very comfortable with answering things. We know that if the other person would disagree with us, we will be able to debate it with equal power (e.g. 50/50 %).

How do I feel when I question the other person? Even if the knowledge about the specific topic is the same for everyone or not, it could be okay with questioning. A question from one guy must not always be seen as a sign of absence to the topic to the other guy. We can accept that this person is curious about my knowledge and I feel good that this person is interested in what I am talking about. It is also a sign of presence.

How is it if we have a conversation between three people? For example, we can experience that two persons is included in the conversations and one person is excluded. If now the excluded person should ask a question, we can experience it as something annoying. It depends on how the question is asked!

Let’s say that the excluded guy asks the question in a challenging way. I could either feel offended, or I could feel confused. Does this person know more than I do? Often when we feel uncertainty we use our reptilian brain. That part of the brain is where we go when we want to survive. So uncertainty can be a feeling that tells us that we should defend ourselves! Trying to use a “deeper” part of the brain is often a way of dealing with these kind of situations.

Can I see this kind of thinking in society? (Reptilian brain versus “deeper” brain)

Yes I can? I can see it in how people are dealing with crisis. A crisis is something that we feel that we have to defend us to rather than find out the deeper meaning with it. If I should know that the see level should rise five meters and my country should be under water within five years; what should I do? Often, we should use our reptilian brain here. How are we suppose to solve this? What can I do to change myself and what can we do as a collective to change ourselves? Using our deeper part of the brain here, we can focus on the purpose of the crisis. Can we see a meaning why this crisis is happening? Is it a sign that I need to change?

I would suggest that rather than changing what’s bad, improving the things that feel right for you!

According to the climate crisis which is a very serious issue for humanity, we are often trying the “pull the handbrake solution”.  Suggestions such as geo-engineering are a great example of that! Geo-engineering is basically about to create places where we can store the pollutions, the carbon dioxide. Doing that, we keep the ice from melting or we keep the sea level from rising etc. Einstein said that “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”. This is exactly what geo-engineering is about. We think that we can find out technologies that stop the climate crisis mainly created by the industrial revolution and the consumption era.

So what is right for you?

Thursday November 26, 2009 By Kevin Morrow

A couple years ago I set out on a mission to BE MYSELF. I really didn’t know exactly what I meant, but I knew it was something I needed to do. I felt like I was doing what other people were telling me, and not what I felt was right for me.

To be yourself you have to let a lot of things that don’t matter go. I have slowly realized this. I feel like a lot of people measure progress by time. Like four years from high school you graduate college and that is an accomplishment. I tend to see things a little differently. I think that your progress is really an uncovering of your self.

But it seems to me the more I hold on to things that are restricted by time, the more I am measuring my growth based on something that fades away. Every accomplishment will eventually fade away with time.

I have to ask myself, “What is self improvement really?” What does it mean to me?

My answer has to do with my mind and the reality that I experience. In order for me to do this I feel like I have to live my self image. Which at times has a lot to do with money. I look at money though and I see something that I would not want my self image to represent. As far as the the paper material.

I feel as if my self image is much bigger than I actualize. I know this to be due to how my mind sees reality. The thing is, if I put my self image value into material things that pass away, I am building a foundation on a spider web. Another way to put it it, “I’m skating on thin ice.” So what is the strongest foundation.

For me my strongest foundation has been that I know I can do better. I know I can be more loving in all aspects of my life. I feel that love is my real self image. But if I limit myself to something then I’m not open to other possibilities.

Also, when I identify money with my self image, something else shows up. The idea of loss. If I need money that means I’m lacking something, and when I have money that means it’s possible to lose it. This is where worry shows up.

A lot of people tell me that they are afraid to lose money, or they are afraid to lose their boyfriend/girlfriend, and this really makes me think. If I identify with money as my personal growth, I’ll limit myself from a lot of experiences.

I have told myself that I’m no longer afraid to be a what I know I can be. Instead of studying other people, I studied myself and then I compared my thoughts to those who were in positions I viewed as “high achievements.”

I have to ask myself what is it that I think I have to achieve? Me, and nobody else, what do I have to achieve? I had no answer for myself.

The only thing I know for certain is that I want to strengthen my faith in the higher power. In my mind I feel as though I don’t have to strengthen my faith. I feel like I just have to remember it.

Now I have come to a good solution within my mind. This is how I can live my life without being afraid. If I live my life out of unconditional love, remember my faith in the higher power/which in turn strengthens my faith in the higher power, I will have my real achievement.

Imagine I have no fear of money, therefore situations appear to mirror that reality in my life. This means to that however the money comes to me, I will not be afraid to lose it. I’m not afraid to lose it because I know that no matter what happens I will always have it. Why? Well because I’m not afraid to lose it.

If your not afraid to lose something, it must mean you have it. Either that or you don’t have it, or don’t care for it, but I used the first example as an illustration.

Worry and doubt are the opposites of FAITH

I’ve learned in my life that worry and doubt are the opposites of faith. The things I have faith in happening, actually happen in my life. This is something I rolled around my thoughts until the light bulb clicked.

There is a difference between me being a multimillionaire that thinks the money is who I am, and being a multimillionaire that knows the money is just a material tool. The more I feel the money is who I am, the more depressed I can get about the amount I have right now. But if I don’t look at it like that, I open myself up to infinite possibility.

My relationship with basketball has helped heal my mind…

The best examples I can give come from my relationship with basketball. I use to identify who I was with how I could play basketball. This was very shaky with me because my self image definitely is bigger than the current situation looks like. The key though, is that it only appears that way if that’s how I’m looking at it.

Today it doesn’t make sense to me that I put my self worth into how I perform on the court. There will be on days and off days. Some days I will dominate the court and some days I may not. So where does my self worth rest? To me it’s in who I help, and how I contribute to the team, whether physically or mentally or both.

That is a big challenge to me. I don’t want to dominate other people, I want to help everyone be their best, and in turn be my best at the same time. I also have a different view of domination. I see it as will-power instead. The will to win, the will to overcome defense, the will to overcome mental lapses. That’s what I view what some call domination. When I play against someone, I want them to make me better.

I see myself in people I know…

A lot of people I know play college ball, play pro ball, and I up until this blog I haven’t played as I see myself. These are creations of my mind. Because I get thrilled when I see somebody I know playing college ball or pro ball, all I want to do is help them become better in any way I can.

I love to see people live their dreams, its fun. I know a guy right now who plays basketball in northern Cali, and I think that he has the ability to play in the NBA. Maybe apart of me sees myself in him or something. Maybe that’s what happens when I see anybody I know playing college or pro. I think to myself, if I were them I would want to know that other people believed in me.

I know a few players who lived in my same city who are playing overseas and or about to. It brings a smile across my face. Something that they may never know, but I know. I feel it within me everyday.

It may sound strange but this is my blog and I put it all out there. I had a conversation about rappers calling themselves the king of rap, or even the God of rap as Jay-z would say.The thing with that is, there can never be a clear winner, and they are claiming something that will fade away. What is the point?

And what good is being a King if you don’t help other people?
I’m not saying they don’t do these things, I was just throwing the idea out there.

Check this out, if I put my worth into how I can play basketball, then anytime I’m defeated I may feel as though I’m nothing. Instead I should remember that I am SOMETHING, and focus on what should be done to win the next game.

I’ve been there. I can play basketball with the best of players. But when I identify and look at my situation then depressed feelings come in because my current situation is not what it could be. These are all things of that past that I no longer do. But I’m using my past to illustrate how the mind shapes its reality.

These are all images in the mind. I play the game because it’s fun. To me it’s fun when everyone on the team is on the same page, and the highlights are flowing, and the defense is intense. I love the energy of the game. But if I think that’s who I am, I become vulnerable to things that are counterproductive to who I think I am. Unless of course I know who I am.

I only view it as self improvement when I’m identifying with things that are subject to change. If I base my self-image off of things like love, teamwork,making others better, and contributing to the overall good of all, then I feel a true sense of accomplishment. It seems that’s just who I am.

I could play for any team in the NBA and contribute to them mentally and physically and I know I would contribute in a positive way. Where I am mentally I can feel this as true reality. Even if I didn’t play, I know that mentally I could help any team just based on how I view reality.

When I say things like this, it’s like I’m remembering myself.
When I set out on this journey that’s what I intended to do. I felt like I knew there was a greater me waiting to be uncovered.

It’s like coming out of amnesia, the whole time people are telling you who you are or were, but you have to uncover who you are for yourself. And who you are is always there no matter what. Everything that’s not real fades away, while everything that’s real lives on. That sentence is deeper than it looks for those that view themselves as “thinkers.”

Thank you for reading.

-Kevin

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s great to have many continuity plans and strategies to prepare for and respond to, disasters.  However, if they aren’t validated they don’t carry any weight and there’s no way of knowing if they would be any good – useful – when a real situation occurs. 

BCM practitioners may make the case for exercising plans but sometimes management may not want to provide the resources – physical & financial – available to validate the plans.  There are a few questions that can be posed to executive management to possibly allow for the right kind of commitment and support to validate continuity strategies and plans.

1. Will an exercise increase overall BCM awareness within the organization?  Well, let’s face it, if you’re exercising BCM plans, of course you’ll be increasing BCM awareness.  Depending upon what you’re exercising and how you manage / facilitate the exercise, awareness will be increased but make it a positive experience or else BCM will end up being something negative in participants eyes.  (I’ll be writing another blog on how to turn exercises into positive experiences later.)
2. Will the exercise identify potential ‘gaps’ in documented BCM plans and procedures? Let’s hope so.  Not only do you want to validate what you have documented and discussed with numerous representatives but you also want to find things that may be wrong in the plans – not just what’s right.
3. Is there potential for the exercise to provide ‘learning opportunities’ for participants and the organization in general?  If managed correctly and viewed as a positive experience, then employees will learn from the exercises – and from each other.  In some cases, they may even be working with people they wouldn’t normally encounter in their daily operations.  
4. Will the exercise provide an opportunity to leverage the results for further corporate gain and benefit?  They should.  If you can show that you’re exercising you plans – and have documented proof of them (Exercise Charters, Executive Summaries, Issue Logs etc) then you can use this information to help respond to RFPs etc and develop a stronger case for a potential client to choose your organization over a competitor.  Having a strong BCM program can be used for competitive advantage.
5. Can the exercise provide skills and knowledge transfer between participants?  Depending on what is in scope for the exercise, participants may need to seek assistance from other people in the organization for guidance.  For instance, if a Single Point of Knowledge (SPOK) isn’t available to rebuild the payroll server because they are busy with other initiatives, they may be able to pass along their knowledge – as best they can – to another resource who will do it for the exercise, this way people are talking to each other and learning from each other.  This is a simple example but you get the idea.
6. Can the exercise increase the responsiveness and effectiveness of the organization should a real disaster (or other severe event) occur? Simply put, the more practice people get the better they become, whether that be BCM or in any other area.  Enough said.

If any answer is ‘yes’ to the above questions, you’re well on your way to securing the support for validating continuity strategies and plans.  Exercising only makes a person – or in this case, a program – stronger more robust.