When you surrender and let go of the past,
You allow yourself to be fully alive in the moment.
Letting go of the past means that you can enjoy
The dream that is happening right now.

- Don Miguel Ruiz

the ability to feel happy depends on the ability to let go from lucky experiences in the past. If you don’t let go, they turn into painful experiences.

Why are people so sad, even though they experienced love and happiness many times in their lives?

People are not sad  because they have bad luck.

They suffer from not letting go.

They spend much power in sad feelings.

People don’t learn to let go, why should they, parents rarely explain something like that.

There is no subject, no lesson, no course or workshop called ‘let go’.

It is to stop a relation to something.

You have to learn it on your own.

Some people never learn to let go and have troubles to feel lucky.

We tell ourselves…we can do it …yes we can.. we know we can but there are times when we ask, Why am I in this position? How did I get here? It’s like a never ending adventure….life that is…. the challenges we are faced with…the battles we fight…but we must go on…we must not give up..we may falter but we must not stop…and with God’s grace and a whole heap of faith we will make it… just that things don’t necessarily happen when we want them to nor how we would like them to..but it is all a part of a plan God’s plan for our lives is to prosper us.. there was a stage in my life when I wondered what was amist when I wondered…when that light at the end of the tunnel would be more than a speck … well my friends I can say that God does things in His time… not ours…and when He does they are well done…allow me a moment more of your time…don’t feel discouraged….I wanna share an experience..which may set off alarms in your head when you realise like i did that that’s God…There were two vacancies  and I applied for a position which I knew I was more than capable of doing and was I elated to go for a second interview for that post but guess what I was not offered the position I wanted and I could NOT Understand it, my friends and colleagues either, I was totally floored when I was offered the other position boy was I furious and extremely disappointed but you know what God had a plan for me and it has been manifested, I took the other position after much hemming and hawing and I have not regretted it today, you see I get to interact with people on amore regular basis, people come to me to vent, I get to make a difference in peoples life, the section has received many compliments and gained a better reputation with staff and we continue to make strides..I am right where God wanted me to be, NOT I, GOD…. so let go and let God…

Perdona si te hago llorar
Perdona si te hago sufrir
Pero es que no esta en mis manos
Pero es que no esta en mis manos
Me he enamorado, me he enamorado
Me enamore
Perdona si te causo dolor
Perdona si te digo adios
Como decirle que te amo
Como decirle que te amo
Si me ha preguntado
Yo le dije que no
Yo le dije que no
Soy honesto con ella y contigo
A ella la quiero y a ti te he olvidado
Si tu quieres seremos amigos
Yo te ayudo a olvidar el pasado
No te aferres, ya no te aferres
A un imposible, ya no te hagas
Ni me hagas mas dao
Ya noooo
Tu bien sabes que no fue mi culpa
Tu te fuiste sin decirme nada
Y apesar que llore como nunca
Ya no seguias de mi enamorada
Luego te fuiste y que regresabas
No me dijiste y si mas nada
Por que? no se
Pero fue asi
Asi fue.
Te brinde la mejor de las suertes
Yo me propuse no hablarte, no verte
Y hoy que has vuelto
Ya de eso no hay nada
Ya no debo, no puedo quererte
Ya no te amo!, me he enamorado
De un ser divino, de un buen amor
Que me enseo, a olvidar
Y a perdonar.
Soy honesto con ella y contigo
A ella la quiero, a ti he olvidado
Pero si tu quieres seremos amigos
Yo te ayudo a olvidar el pasado
No te aferres, ya no te aferres
A un imposible, ya no te hagas
Ni me hagas mas dao,
Ya nooo!!! no no no no no

I can barely say, what has gone through my heart and mind today.  It feels like an entire week and yet only a day.  I went looking around at different things about people who are contacted by ET’s.  I sent my last video to someone, that I never wanted to lose, but never really gained to begin with.

And I tried very hard to stay up.  But when someone pushes you out, then, time to flee.

What’s odd, is, I now feel lighter.  Like a huge burden has just been lifted from me.  Just weighted me down.

I had seen a vision of letting two people go.  I imagined that I let these two birds go.  Except one just flew in circles and the other was so weighted that it couldn’t fly.

Little did I realize till just now actually, that those birds were me.  I literally did not know what to do.  But now that I made my choice for the last time, I understand what the birds were saying to me.  How I spent 1 and a half years going in circles with these people and in the end, I was just completely weighted down.  Couldn’t fly.

I’m a balloon now.

Have you ever had one of those days- more like periods- during which you are wishing with all your head, heart and gut to forget? Of a specific person, a city, the talks, the details, the memories? I am going through that right now. I am trying to avoid New York at all costs. I came home, I am keeping myself distracted, I am surrounded by my big, fat family, I have a 7-hour time difference with ‘that world’, my cell phone is off and even if I was weak enough to want to reach out, I wouldn’t be able to.

Put aside all the songs on the radio, the all-American movies (I need to call the national broadcasting channel and complain), comments that people make, women that walk down the street, my aunt and closest friends harassing me,  my little cousin asking about the show-white, everyday things I would want to share, and a number of other universal elements that are deliberately ‘playing’ against me, I wake up this morning only to find that along with my very greek Monday paper, came a gift (you know one of those free publications papers usually give away to their readers): The National Geographic Traveler Guide for New York City. I mean…seriously now? Dear God…(please see: ‘everywhere and everything’ on my top.10 list – maybe I should move it up a little.)

I used to be this very private, introverted guy, who would be the go-to person for everything and everyone really but one who would never be able to openly express his inner emotions because I was reserving them for that someone special. But look at me now: open (for crying out loud, this is a public blog! -what the heck Schott?), expressive, unafraid of the emotionality associated with what I am saying, unable to put on my strong hat and say ‘a NYC guide- cool, so what?’

How does this thing work? What do you do when the whole universe has conspired against your decision not to look back? How do you let go, if the world doesn’t want you to? And if the world doesn’t want you to, then, what kind of differentiated life are you after? For isn’t life believing that, all powers can’t be seen?

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Get a grip. I say that a lot now to my son when he’s outside of himself, caught up in a storm of emotion, as happens with five-year-olds. When he gets like this, I look him in the eye and remind him to breathe and it centers him and the winds stop blowing. Sometimes though I like to let him cry, to let go of the handles and fly, to get tossed and turned. Does that sound cruel? I don’t think so. I think it only sounds right.

I remember the first time I heard that expression. Get a grip.

I was six, maybe seven. BMX track, riding with friends. They’re all older than me. They’re performing tricks, showing off. They tell me to get a grip, a good strong grip on the handlebars, and pedal fast like I’m being chased. Then when I reach the top of the hill, they tell me, lift up with my whole body and I’ll soar for a brief moment.

I’m nervous, maybe a little scared.

My fingers clasp firmly around the handles, holding on for dear life as my legs churn in a revolution, carrying me up and over each dirt hill. I gather momentum. A bike and a grip. I hold on to the handlebars. I pedal. I wince with the pain in my legs, the burn of the turning. I want to fly. I am flying.

I jump a hill, turn my handlebars to the side, just like the BMX rider on the poster in my bedroom. I lift up. I feel like I’m floating — timeless and suspended. Just as quickly — too quickly — I’m down. The front wheel lands perpendicular to the bike’s frame, hard and violent. There was no time to turn the wheel back. I feel the force in my elbows and knees, which go slack like a kite without any wind to carry it. My feet leave the pedals and my hands leave the handles. I let go. My body is hurdled. I’m flying through the air, light as a balloon. My head’s cocked. Up in the sky I see a black bird high above me. I watch it soar and coast on the hot air pockets. I watch the bird fly for what feels like forever. Then I’m down. My chin skids across the dirt, my elbows and knees thump thump thump into the ground. I’m down. I’m bleeding. My friends rush over. I’m alright, I say, and I get up and brush the dirt off my pants and touch my chin. I feel the dark, sticky residue on my fingers. My chin stings a little, but I try to conceal it. My friends pat me on the back and disperse back to their bikes and we ride some more.

I remember two days later it was time for school pictures. My mom was mad. In the picture I’m wearing a chinstrap of dry blood and courage from the time I let go of the handlebars and tried to fly.

You ruined your pictures, I remember her saying.

I wonder if I still have the picture. I’m sure I do somewhere.

I think I’d like to show my boy the time his dad let go of the handles. I think he’d be proud. He’d probably ask me to do it again. But I think I’d rather learn to watch him let go and come back down again on his own, cuts and all.

Ghosts from my past, that’s what you were.

You are not the same person I fell in love with, the one I felt in love was a fantasy man, now I’ve realized you are human, and no human is perfect, therefore, you have imperfections that I didn’t see before, and now I do understand you, I don’t hate you anymore, I am not perfect either, I am human too.

The good part is that I am not in love with you (or the idea of you) anymore and it feels okay, I am okay to finally let you go, it doesn’t feel the same around you anymore I am just glad I saw you after so long, it wasn’t bad. I just don’t get excited, nervous or feel butterflies inside when you are near, oh don’t get me wrong I still admire the professional side of you and I appreciate the knowledge and kindness to shared it with me and of course all the support that you gave me when I needed it, I will always do and I remember the good times too, but not with sorrow in my face anymore or regret, just as an experience that I had, that makes me part of what I am and I am comfortable with the person I am now.

I forgive you for everything you did even unintentionally and please forgive me if I am not what you expected I would be now, I was so innocent back then, I’ve grown, I am not the same person you met some years ago.

Finally you can go now, I let you go, and yes we can be friends if that’s makes you feel better. I will always remember you, and appreciate your kindness, I wish you only good.

Consider this passage more figuratively – as if God were asking you if you’d like to be set free from whatever holds you back from reaching your ultimate potential. If you were offered freedom from what holds you back, are you ready to take it?(thedailyverse.com)

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be healed? John 5:6

Power Thoughts
1. “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
2. “How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.” ~ William Shakespeare
3. “Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.” ~ Danny Thomas

Will keep talking to you from time to time, that makes me feel better  and I know it makes you feel better too, eventually I will be able to let go of you just as I did with him by talking to him, or at least that what I hope (I wish).

Know that there is nothing that can
separate you from your true nature
from the truth of who you are
not even the illusions that overtake your mind
that infest your consciousness with
confusion
the connection you have with your highest and best self
the connection you have with source
is immutable
and will always guide you through
even though you are free to choose as you decide
yes
there will be no harm that can ever come to you
realize that all fears and feelings to the contrary
are illusion
you fear what you do not understand
what you do not know
you create suffering by looking at things from the fear and conditioned thinking you have learned
such a limited perspective and understanding of what is
realize there is a greater overstanding
that you can acquire through alignment
and you will then see there is no harm that can be experienced to that which is real
the harm you experience is always to the temporal
to the illusions
but what has given things life
what has given these things space and being in your consciousness

that which gives all things life
cannot be harmed and that is what is most important for you to recognize
your fears of famine
poverty conflict war
etc. are illusions
though these things are experiences
though these things are in your consciousness
they are not lasting real or true
they are suffering of ignorance
and can easily be cured with love
yes
but even where the illusions persist
source is there
yes
even where the unwanted suffering persists
source is there
realize that you can give up the
wondering give up the concern
give up the stress of and resistance to these illusions
for they are not real
death is not real
the conditioned suffering you have accepted poverty and starvation to be is not real
YES THERE IS KINDNESS AND LOVE IN GIVING TO THOSE IN NEED
YES THERE IS NEED FOR THESE ACTIONS
BUT NOT TO GLORIFY POVERTY OR STARVATION
NOT TO GIVE THEM POWER
SIMPLY TO EXPRESS LOVE
REALIZE THAT WHERE POVERTY AND STARVATION ARE NOT MET
THERE IS NO GREAT TRAVESTY
WHY
BECAUSE THESE EXPERIENCES ARE WHAT THEY ARE AND PART OF THE WHOLE
PART OF THE BALANCE
PART OF REALITY
FOR THOSE WHO ARE COMPELLED WITH LOVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING SOURCE CHOOSES TO EXPERIENCE THROUGH THEM
YES
FOR YOU
WHAT IS NECESSARY IS FOR YOU TO TAP INTO WHAT YOUR HEART DESIRES WHAT SOURCE HAS IMPLANTED DEEP WITHIN YOU TO EXPERIENCE IN YOU AS YOU THROUGH YOU
AND YOU WILL SEE YOUR ROLE YOUR PATH OF LOVE UNFOLD
BUT BE NOT DISTRACTED OR CONCERNED WITH ALL THE ILLS AND PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD FOR THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU ARE HERE TO DO
YOU ARE HERE TO BE LOVE TO LOVE
A PATH OF LOVE UNIQUE TO YOU
AND YOU WILL FIND YOUR PASSION YOUR CALLING BY GOING DEEP WITHIN TO ASCERTAIN EXACTLY WHAT SOURCE HAS PUT IN YOUR SOUL
YES
THAT IS YOUR ROLE
AND THAT IS WHY YOU ARE HERE
YOUR PURPOSE
ASK SEEK KNOCK AND IT SHALL BE OPENED GIVEN AND UNFOLDED
YES
THAT IS THE TRUE ESSENCE OF LIFE
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE ILLUSIONS
KNOW THAT THE BEST AND THE HIGHEST IS
ALREADY
AND BE NOT AFRAID OF ANY CIRCUMSTANCE ANY EXTERNAL OBSERVATIONS
FOR ILLUSION IS FEAR
TRUTH IS LOVE
SEE ALL THAT IS WITH LOVE
ALL THAT IS WITH TRUST
ALL THAT IS WITH CONFIDENCE
THAT SOURCE IS BEHIND WITHIN AND THROUGH EVERYTHING YOU OBSERVE
THERE IS NO CHAOS THAT IS CONTRARY TO THE ORDER SOURCE HAS INSTILLED WITHIN EXISTENCE
LET YOUR MIND REST FROM THESE CHAOTIC DESTRUCTIVE ILLUSIONS AND REST IN THE PEACE THAT COMES WITH TRUSTING SOURCE
REST IN THE PEACE THAT COMES WITH KNOWING YOU ARE AN EXTENSION OF THE ALMIGHTY
THE ALL POWERFUL ALL KNOWING SOURCE
REST IN THIS PEACE AND ALLOW SOURCE TO GUIDE YOUR STEPS YOUR ACTIONS YOUR THOUGHTS
MOMENT TO MOMENT
KNOW THIS AND RESIST NOT
FOR YOU HAVE PRACTICED THE CONTRARY LONG ENOUGH
LET GO AND LET SOURCE
AS YOU SAY AND HAVE HEARD SAID
ALL IS WELL AND ALWAYS WILL BE
AND SO IT IS

- Morning stream of consciousness writing from John Stringer

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Avril Lavigne is back with a new album and a new tour, ‘The Best Damn Tour’, but that’s not all that’s new. Avril, a far cry from her ‘Try To Shut Me Up Tour’ when she first hit the scene, has dumped her famous look of baggy jeans, loose tank tops, ties and sweat bands and replaced them with tacky fishnet tights and iddy biddy miniskirts for ‘The Best Damn Tour’. Her jeans and tanks reappeared later in her performance but have become tighter fitted. Ironically enough Avril branded Britney Spears a “slut” for the outfits she wore on stage. Avril had even claimed, “the clothes I wear onstage are the clothes I would wear to school or go shopping”, although Avril is mocking girls that dress in miniskirts and fishnets she seemed to appear quite comfortable in them.

In ‘The Best Damn Tour’, Avril has even incorporated choreography in her act as she attempts cheerleading and dancing, perhaps the peroxide has damaged the former punk pop princesses brain. Perhaps Avril should ask her Sum 41 front man punk rock husband, Deryck, for some advice before she becomes just another pop star.

Thankfully Avril has not lost her connection or energy with her fans, performing songs from all three of her albums and even dedicated ‘Losing Grip’ from her first album ‘Let Go’ her fans that have been with her since the beginning, what few original fans there were seeing as most of the audience consisted of girls who were probably only learning to crawl and talk when Avril first hit the charts, accompanied by reluctant parents.

The O2 although busy, was not sold out or even close to being sold out, with some of the audience leaving after the opening act The Jonas Brothers had finished their set; suggesting that perhaps Avril is Losing Grip of her status as punk pop princess as she begins her descent into plain old pop. The two year break in touring seeming to have been a time for Avril to change and loose her edge, what with the choreography and backing dancers we can only wonder how long it will be before Avril truly joins the world of pop and starts lip synching.

Last month Avril had lost her voice due to laryngitis and forced her to cancel six shows on the American leg of her tour. The loss of voice still showing that she is still recovering as she took breaks in songs, sounded hoarse and she struggled to reach the notes that she had ordinarily reached on previous tours; at least I hope that her voice is still recovering and not that her singing has become sour otherwise her 2003 tour should have been called ‘The Best Damn Tour’ and her current tour ‘Try To Shut Me Up’.

Considering I’m crazy for traveling on the road that will end our union;

I toy with your emotions creating further confusion.

Guiding you down the wrong route;

Knowing for sure at then of the journey I’ll hear you shout.

I make the trip everlasting;

well atleast make the minutes seem like hours, and the hours seem like days.

I couldn’t possibly think of love suicide in more dispassionate ways.

Sooner than  later reality is risen.

Fostering my fault; my mind becomes prison.

I yearn to shake you of my soul pestering;

by leaving you behind , but only in a subtle gesturing .

Maybe the simulated adoration for me will wane;

leaving your heart intact and sane.

I’ll just wander along the road of guilt, and face the consequences my dormant conscious has built.

Have you ever knew the outcome of a situation but continued anyway?If so share…

Continuiamo la nostra trasmissione con la prossima canzone. Ero un po’ indeciso, non sapevo quale scegliere. Però alla fine ha vinto lei. Il suo primo singolo, un po’ come un’etichetta di presentazione. Stiamo per ascoltare la magica, mitica, popstar canadese Avril Lavigne, con Complicated, dall’album Let Go.
Siete in ascolto su RadioBlog 235!

“If you start feeling doubtful and your old reasoning gets in the way, remember to maintain the stance of being miracle-minded. Things can change in an instant – get out of your own way and stay open to the possibilities…Your doubt is normal, so don’t judge yourself for it; notice it, keep with the program, and let it go.

“When we act as if we are already the people we dream to be, life lends itself to support that testament of faith.”

Kathy Freston, Expect a Miracle

The little gymnast

So, every six weeks a new session begins at Gymnastics. And every first day of the new session is a smattering of mothers mumbling under their breath the anger of the inconsistency of the teaching staff.  What gives?  Why is it the fault of the Gymnastics school that the teachers have changed?  This is a phenomena I do not understand.

I dropped my daughter off yesterday afternoon 5 minutes late to Gymnastics class (as always).  She popped a kiss to me and bounced right into the warm-ups.  Behind me was a mother cursing loud enough for just a few of us to capture what it was she was complaining about…”New Teacher!  She was just getting used to the other one, now they change, dammit.  She’s all out of sorts…” She went on for a while, hoping to find some sympathy in the room.

None to be found here.  Now, I know, perhaps her child has special needs and requires the consistency in their lives.  Well, not so much for this little gymnast.  She’s my daughters age, and has been going to the classes as long as my daughter has.  No excuses mom.  I watched from day one this little girl clinging to her mother, and mom coddling her in return.  Come on!  Break the umbilical cord already.

Why do parents feel this abandonment?  Yes, it is the parent who is feeling abandoned.  Why would you put your child in the class, angry they won’t let go, then smile casually as you hand a screaming , crying, miserable child to a Gymnastics Teacher?  In my world children are this way because 1) We allow them to do this and don’t  follow through on our actions, and 2) they simply are not ready for an extracurricular activity without the womb.

Don’t sign your children up for activities unless you can let go.  Please, don’t watch the class, unless you’ve been invited in.  It’s like watching paint dry and you will only critique the way they are working with your child.  The gymnastics academy my daughter attends has two “viewing windows”.  They are 24″ x 24″ total.  This is for a reason.  Take the hint.

Six weeks comes and goes.  Teachers, instructors, coaches, come and go when you sign-up for extracurricular activities that are on a cycle.  Think before you sign-up.  Have a positive attitude towards these people who have the patience to work with your little one.  And, wait until they are truly ready for you to let go.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four