The Outrageous Power of Accountability

Written by Jafree Ozwald and Margot Zaher

Do you ever get super excited about creating your ideal dream life then find that energy just fizzles out while you’re distracted doing other less important things? Would you like to know the secrets to continuously taking inspired action every week and truly manifesting your heart's desires? Take a deep breath and get ready to start creating the most empowering year of your life! By applying the following information below, 2008 is going to be your most successful year in history!

"You really can change your world if you care enough." ~Marian Wright Edelman

The most important thing you can do to ensure that you manifest your dream life is to join a manifesting support team. A manifesting support team is a group of inspired souls who will hold you accountable for showing up for manifesting that life that you love, and are willing to give you empowering feedback to stop any dastardly procrastination or saboteur type behaviors that get in your way. When you choose to surround yourself with people who will help you to retire from the land of procrastination and abandon all laziness, you instantly jump on an inspired action plan to success. When you consistently hang out with high vibrational people, you yourself become a high vibrational person inside.

"The success of the decisions you make depends ultimately on what you make of your decisions." ~Jeff Esper

We have found that it is more effective to invite a team of people who are not close friends, family, or relatives, since they would typically rather keep the relationship with you kind and sweet, than be direct about any lack of integrity or accountability in your life. Welcome those who encourage rather than discourage, and ask questions rather than become hyper critical when you don’t follow through with your word. Choose those beings who are interested in building more integrity in their own lives, and not afraid to speak their truth with you in a loving yet direct manner. If you feel that you cannot locate people according to the description we have described, we have an opportunity at the end of this email where you can join a group of like-minded manifesting souls who will support you and help you take your vibration to the next level.

“Every child is an artist. The challenge is how to keep creativity as an artist once you grow up.” ~Pablo Picasso

Many of us don’t realize how impacted we are by our environment and those people around us. We are often easily swayed by the negative opinions and limiting beliefs of those around us. Limiting patterns in others who are close to you can be infectious and often leave an imprint on you, causing you to feel disempowered, lazy, and procrastinate manifesting your dreams. Surround yourself with people who can follow through with their promises and are impeccable with what they say they will do. The energy, consciousness, and motivation you’ll receive will inspire you to move through that deeper stuckness that is blocking you from success.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed…nothing can be changed until it is faced.” ~ James Baldwin

Imagine what could happen by the end of 2008 if you met every week with a group of like-minded empowering manifestors who were willing to help you manifest your dream life. The ability to remain inspired and on purpose is what being accountable for your dream is all about. This is what sets apart those who manifest true abundance and unending success in their lives from those who settle for a mediocre existence. Dreams do come true when you are held accountable for them. When you know that there are people who care about you enough to ask you what is really going on, you will find yourself following through with everything you say you’re going to do.

“Every great work, every great accomplishment, has been brought into manifestation through holding to the vision, and often just before the big achievement comes apparent failure and discouragement.” ~Florence Scovel Shinn

The more people you have helping you focus on your dreams, and visualizing that they have already manifested themselves, the faster they will materialize. The fact is that we are all powerful manifestors. Yet, when we are not reminded of this natural power, we tend to slip back into the old societal pattern of struggle and distraction. You can manifest anything that you deeply desire if you keep your intention focused on your vision long enough. The key is to reach out for support and allow the community to help you take massive inspired action every day. By allowing yourself to be supported by other manifesting beings, you will naturally raise your vibration to an outrageous level of accountability and take massive action towards your dreams.

RISE ABOVE ALL ODDS

When you see beyond the impossible, the way to achieve your destiny clearly surfaces, says Marlene Buffa

We hear things such as someone is on a path of self-destruction or acts as his own worst enemy. Rarely do we hear accolades of emotional rebirth or those rising from adversity or overcoming obstacles. We need to turn our attention and focus to different routes of growth and methods of self-evolution.
Destruction, the all-too familiar phrase used tirelessly by our culture to exemplify a person not acting in his own best interest. Perhaps we recognise behavioural patterns which provoke weaknesses or a propensity for failure, or perhaps we point our ever-judgmental fingers at others in order to avoid pointing them at ourselves.
When we notice the self-sabotage at work in someone else, it’s only because it’s all too recognisable in our own experience. Nonetheless, destruction surfaces when the demons of fruition of effort begin to rise from the fire of impossibility. We tend to destroy our opportunities through various methodologies which some call coping mechanisms and continue down the spiral staircase of failure.
As social beings, we adapt to our environment. In doing so, we select the best part of ourselves to demonstrate our competency to the world as a productive member of society. Perhaps we adopt a likeable laugh or a pleasant appearance to fit in with our immediate social strata. Or, sometimes we may change the language we use to fit in with smaller groups of people who can easily relate to the colloquialism. Undoubtedly, aware of our socio-structions or not, we all mould ourselves into an acceptable façade for the approval of
our society at large. While some may consider this malleability as selling out or even as disingenuous on it's face, it remains something we rely on, for our survival in a world where adaptation ensures survivability.
The other day, i told a friend, “I am on a fast path of self-construction!" I’m not tearing down anything as with destruction. ‘Con’ means ‘with’ or ‘together’ and our common use of construction conjures up images of building and civil engineering. Why not engineer a new life for yourself ? Work with the structure you already possess and build a new you that is positive and makes the best and most of your talents and abilities.
Take a look within yourself. In what ways do you put your finest qualities together to create something even greater of yourself ? In what ways do you make the most of your lesser characteristics and work with your strengths to present to the world a surprising, revitalised you?
When we build ourselves and our lives using affirmative elements, we can bask in the shining accomplishment of a newly created self, standing tall in the world and strong in foundation. Move forward with only the best ingredients of thought and action you can gather and your constructive efforts will reward you.
Like it or not, we don’t go through life alone. We may think we do, but every day our interactions with others balance our sense of self with the rest of the world around us. Sometimes our partners help us to costruct something far larger than the relationship at hand.
Together, we can work towards common goals and build even greater contribution to the world. Two heads are better than one, but any size group, working in unison holding similar visions with focus and balance can produce exponential and extraordinary results.
Often, we are reminded to read between the lines when looking for a situational meaning not evident on its surface. The same holds true in inter-structing your life. You may perceive that your gifts and talents are unrelated and when first recognising your abilities you cannot imagine how they would interact with other characteristics you possess, but step back and see how interstruction can bring about a more fulfilling expression of your spirit.
At first glance, you may not envision a practical use for your sense of artistic taste, but when coupled with your love of cooking and a solid business sense, you may create a fantastic restaurant visited by many patrons who appreciate how you've assimilated your flair. Turn your attitudes away from negating your delicious eclectic nature and treat the world to your unique panache!
Each one of us faces the challenges of impasses. Certain situations, or even emotional or attitudinal roadblocks attempt to prevent us from our greater good. However, when you see beyond the impossible, the way to achieve your destiny clearly surfaces and you reach the other side of the river of your discontent with a new mobility of spirit. Visualise what lies ahead of you and focus on the other side of the issues and be willing to go beyond what you know and transcend into the champion you were born to be.

Be Gentle with Yourself

By Jafree Ozwald & Margot Zaher

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” ~Gandhi

How often are you gentle with yourself? Perhaps you have pondered this idea, yet never knew how to implement it. We will teach you how, it is easy! First we invite you to truly wonder what your life would be like if you were just a little more gentle with yourself. This means that if you screw up in life, miss your exit on the freeway, or even lose your cool with your mate, that you treat yourself with more loving kindness and gentleness. We invite you to explore this experience all throughout this week. Notice how many times in a day you are “hard on yourself”, and see what happens when you gently replace that hardness with gentleness.

Live your life gently. Be more like water. Water is soft, flowing, and yielding, yet with time and direction it can cut through any solid metal or rock. Look how simple yet powerful the river is that flows through the Grand Canyon! With this new commitment to being gentle with yourself, you'll soon see how easily you slice through any hardness inside. It is this hardness that creates arguments and eventually dis-ease in one’s life. Remember that the human body is made up of 65% water, and 70% of the brain is pure water! Four hundred gallons of water are recycled through our kidneys each day. Your life truly is more fluid than you think it is.

"Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” ~St. Francis de Sales

This moment contains the possibility of a miracle because YOU have the choice (right now) to respond to your life and everyone in it differently. This conscious ability to respond to others from a more enlightened, free, gentle and loving space comes from practicing these qualities with oneself. Others treat you how you treat yourself. When you are constantly being gentle with yourself, others will only be gentle with you. This gentle energy of self-love is MUCH more productive than anything else you can do with your time here on Earth. No amount of therapy is going to fix you if there is no self-love. Gentleness is the doorway to loving and truly caring for yourself again.

"Be gentle and you can be bold." ~Lao Tzu

Who is the Authority of Your Life?

By Jafree Ozwald & Margot Zaher

"Listen to all, plucking a feather from every passing goose, but follow no one absolutely." ~Chinese proverb

If you look at the word "authority" you can see the word "author" in it. This refers to the one who is writing the script of your life. You may notice there is always this inner dialog that is creating this script inside you. There is an orchestra and circus of voices in your head trying to define what you want, don’t want, and what is true and not true. We’ve found that the greatest authority of all these voices is the one that is the quietest and most at peace. This is quiet voice that will allow you to relax deeply and at the same time give you a more powerful presence in your life.

It’s good to know that every voice inside (or outside) you has something valuable to teach you. Just as there are many wonderful flavors of ice cream to choose from, there is no such thing as the “wrong” flavor. Life is a rainbow of flavorful experiences. Each experience in life is a choice that allows you to taste a new flavor of life. So if there is no such thing as the right or wrong flavor to pick, does it really matter who is the authority choosing the experience?

"Experience life in all possible ways. Good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light, summer-winter. Experience all the dualities. Don't be afraid of experience, because the more experience you have, the more mature you become." ~Osho

Once we can let go of any resistance or defense to authority, we can relax and realize that we were always in charge. This freedom allows you to feel connected to that voice who is making those small everyday choices and also those gigantic decisions that shape your life, and create who you are next year. Take today to notice if there is anyone else outside of yourself who you’ve made to be the authority of your life. Get quiet and see which voices inside you are deciding your level of income, love life, health, and how free you feel about yourself today.

"Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” ~Charles de Gaulle

Notice when you tend to lean on the outer world for any feelings of authority, safety, security or freedom. This is the habit of that helpless immature child within you that has not truly grown up yet. The more you are aware of this, the more you will truly become the Authority of your life. You fully master your life when you master this awareness. This outer authority is just an illusion, created to help you wake up and eventually turn your attention to this divine authority within. We have only needed this outer authority as a springboard to re-discover this true Authority within ourselves. Only by continuously turning your focus back towards your inner world will you discover the divine powerful being you truly are. This power inside you is unstoppable, unshakable, and truly the guiding light for your future.

"Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Stop reading for a moment after this sentence and notice WHO or WHAT is the authority making the choices in your life? What did you discover? If you look deep enough, and remain in pure unstoppable curiosity, you’ll see that there is something purely silent and radically quiet at the core. You may discover that there is nothing tangible at your core which is responsible for these thoughts and decisions. They are coming directly out of pure unlimited potentiality. Abide in this place; this is the divine essence of who and what you truly are.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ~Mahatma Gandhi

How to Meditate with Joy and Effortless Ease

By Jafree Ozwald and Margot Zaher

For 15 minutes everyday, start with sitting comfortably. Breathe deeply and slowly consistently for the first 3 minutes into your belly. As you do this gently practice, focus on relaxing your body and just sitting peacefully in silence. Release any thoughts as they arise. Do not follow them. Just release, release, and release. Make it simple. There is nothing to do, and nowhere to go. As you sit simply releasing and relaxing, let your awareness soak up the pure consciousness that is present. Do not get caught in "how to's". Just keep letting go and allowing yourself to melt into the silence and stillness beneath the thoughts. Do not try to change, analyze or resist anything. Just practice infinite patience with yourself, and accepting whatever happens inside as you sit and let the body breathes for you. Notice any reactions you have to thoughts, but don't get attached to them. Watch ideas, plans, desires, past and future. Just be in the experience of "Now" and maintain a present moment awareness of the eternal "is-ness" that exists as you.

"Look within, see the Self. Then there will be an end of the world and its miseries." ~Ramana Maharshi

Perhaps these incrediable benefits (listed below) may or may not motivate you to meditate daily. Yet, imagine what your life would feel like if you allowed for a few of these benefits to enter your life...

*The Physiological Benefits of Meditation:
- Deep rest-as measured by decreased metabolic rate, lower heart rate, and reduced work load of the heart.
- Lowered levels of cortisol and lactate-two chemicals associated with stress.
- Reduction of free radicals- unstable oxygen molecules that can cause tissue damage.
- Decreased high blood pressure.
- Higher skin resistance. Low skin resistance is correlated with higher stress and anxiety levels.
- Drop in cholesterol levels. High cholesterol is associated with cardiovascular disease.
- Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing. This has been very helpful to asthma patients.
- Decreases the aging process.
- Higher levels of DHEAS in the elderly. An additional sign of youthfulness.

The Psychological Benefits of Meditation:
- Increased brain wave coherence.
- Greater creativity.
- Decreased anxiety.
- Decreased depression
- Decreased irritability and moodiness
- Improved learning ability and memory.
- Increased self-actualization.
- Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation.
- Increased happiness.
- Increased emotional stability.

* Exerpts and data taken from the Holistic-online.com website at: http://1stholistic.com/Meditation/hol_meditation_healing.htm#Benefits

Remember it takes no effort for your consciousness to observe itself. Just sitting still and quiet in a room alone is enough effort in itself. The ocean of being inside you is who you really are. Be present to its depth and this pure silence will awaken you and magically grow outside of you! There exists this special energy inside you that is always guiding you to live from this magical blissful place. It's found by going into the deepest and highest places inside yourself, and comes out in your life to manifest all the peace, prosperity, and love you can handle.

How to Spiritually Motivate Yourself into Inspired Action

Authors :- Margot Zaher and Jafree Ozwald

Do you find yourself trying to get excited about your life or a project that you're doing and feel ridiculously unmotivated? While you may know that the most important goal of life is to ENJOY the ride, you may have forgotten on the way how to do that. In this super hectic and busy age it can be easy to feel trapped, lethargic and stuck spinning our wheels just trying to get through the day. We can get entangled in "getting things done" and hypnotized into achieving some future end result while forgetting to enjoy the experiences we having right now. If you find yourself drowning in busy-ness or some hum-drum whirlpool of stuckness that is not jazzed with excitement about your future, you may need a little perspective "tune up" on the inside.

"It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours; it cannot be taken from you." ~Buddha

We'd first like you to take a few minutes to think about what gives you excitement, motivation and energy in your life. If you cannot come up with anything, think about what used to gi ve you energy in your past. When you were young what was it that made you want to get out of bed in the morning and felt like you were jumping up and down with a big "YES YES YES!!"? Now whatever this was may not be what excites you now, yet the more often you think about these old feelings and let them resurface, the more you allow yourself to expand that NEW EXCITING FEELING within. The more often you welcome these feelings that make you say YES, the higher you raise the frequency of your body/mind and open the doorways to seeing your own soul. When you make time to bathe in these liberating expansive feelings throughout your day, you will naturally move into what we call natural inspired action.

"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

True inspired action is simply living your life from a more spiritual vantage p oint. This means you've got one foot in the world of FEELING the bigger spiritual picture of your life, and the other foot on the physical ground where you're at. To start spiritually motivating yourself into inspired action today begins with seeing that you are already a divine infinite spiritual being in a human body. Within this context we want you to know that as a spiritual being you have the power inside you to manifest miracles in your life if you wish. When you take any action in the world from this "spiritualized" perspective you start to experience a lot more energy. You realize that everything you do is part of a much larger journey and you stop taking your life so seriously! You can step back from your worries and choose to have FUN doing anything and everything you want. Yes, even doing the dishes and laundry can become an in-spirational event when your mind is connected to this larger metaphysical perspective.

"Activity is not achievement. It is not enough to rush about beginning a lot of things and keeping busy. A well-spent life is one that rounds out what it has begun." ~Eknath Easwaran

If you notice the word "inspired" more closely you'll see that it stems from the words "In Spirit". Living IN SPIRIT means that you are connecting with that which emanates from the divine infinite prescence (or your spirit or soul). One simple way to determine if you are connecting with spirit in your actions is to notice if you feel expansive when you are taking action. If you can feel your heart or chest opening and expanding, your soul is saying "yes" to whatever you are doing! If, on the other hand, you feel contracted, smaller and imprisoned, you are not seeing the truth that you live in a boundless infinite Universe with unlimited possibilities and are still operating from a place of f ear or ego.

Learning how to trust in taking inspired actions is about following your heart. It doesn't mean that you stop doing everything that you don't like doing (like the dishes) and go on a permanent vacation from your life; it means doing what is essential everyday and doing it consciously and lovingly. What's the purpose of manifesting your dream life in the future if you're not enjoying the journey to get there? Learning how to consciously manifest your desires with JOY means you are recognizing that we all are much more than just physical beings living in a physical world. As you increase your awareness of this infinite divine spiritual being that you already are you will attract your greatest dreams much easier and faster! As you learn how to explore your daily actions from this more expansive awareness you'll find the positive energy grows and is reflected back in everyone around you.

"Enlighten ment is all about a deep understanding that there is no problem. Then, with no problem to solve, what will you do? Immediately you start living. You will eat, you will sleep, you will love, you will work, you will have a chit-chat, you will sing, you will dance - what else is there to do?" ~ Osho

Below are 3 easy steps that will get you LIVING in Inspired Action today:

#1 Make "Living In Spirit" Your Driving Force!

Deepen your commitment to seeing the bigger spiritual picture of your life. When you decide to take any action, let yourself feel what would it be like if you had an INFINITE amount of time to complete this action. Truly take the time to feel this eternal feeling...its well worth your time! If you cannot make this leap then visualize you are doing your action and then imagine what kind of spiritual growth you COULD experience from it. If you are used to taking action fro m a place of "I should do this" or "I have to do this" you will only create a lower vibrational experience which attracts more stuckness in your life. So amke all your actions a choice. Before you take any action, look inside and determine if you are consciously choosing to do this action and are coming from a deeper place where your action can FEEL connected to a divine loving infinite source of energy.

#2 Jump on an Inspired Action the Instant it arrives!

When you FEEL inspired to do something, start doing it!! The Universe is made of pure energy and the moment you feel this exciting creative energy run through your body its the entire Universe calling you into inspired action in that moment! Sometimes you may find yourself doing 10 different inspired tasks randomly, yet if each task is coming from an excited, alive and creative space you'll find yourself ENERGIZED at the e nd of day and more eager to complete your tasks tomorrow. If there is something that has to get done today, stop and meditate on how you'd like to FEEL after you've completed it. When you consciously invest your energy into something you pump up your energetic state to a higher level. The more energy you have running through your body, the more excited you will be to do every project, and the easier you will naturally move into a multitude of inspired actions throughout your day.

#3 Focus Focus and Focus!

Getting totally unstuck from an unconscious lethargic pattern actually requires that you dramatically shift your focus ON what you want and OFF of what you don't want. When you redirect your focus onto something that inspires your soul, you will soon completely change your energy and vibration. Your mind is like a super power tool when its energy is harnessed in one direction. It can create massive waves of progress and recei ve divine spiritual benefits down the road. If you allow your mind to wander off into uninspired territories, you tend to put the brakes on your vibration and can even throw your energy into reverse! If on the other hand, you continuously refocus your mind on what you are inspired by, your mind will support you in getting you off of your duff and into inspired action.

Two important elements to keeping your mind focused are:

1) Doing a daily meditation practice

2) Creating a specific and simple plan of daily inspired actions.

The act of meditating is really not an "action", it is a way of simply being present which trains the mind to stay in the now. When you meditate, you want to gently bring your mind back from its useless worrying & wanderings and get back into the present moment where the REAL inspired action lives. The more you simply practice, "Being Here Now", the easier the mind will remain focused on what is exciting for you.

To start meditating now, relax your focus on your breath, on a andle flame or even the sounds of nature. Relax...your mind does well with a specific path of action to follow which is simply relaxing. If you don't relax the mind you lose strength of its capacity to remain still. The mind will wander where it can and especially likes to get caught in states of indecisiveness. This is when you want to relax even more into every cell throughout your body. By being strong with your mind, your body will follow this strength inside and chart a course for an inspired life of success!! Just make sure you don't force the mind. Treat it as if you are taking it on a gentle walk in the park and watch out for those plans that feel as if you are about to climb 100 Mount Everests. In your daily acti on plan create baby steps towards your long term goals and you'll find yourself having the time and energy to dive into the spiritual being that you are along the way.

"Only in growth, reform, and change, paradoxically enough is true security to be found." ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

The 8 Secrets to a Rich and Fulfilling Life

Life is not a dress rehearsal. You have this one opportunity to live an extraordinary life that you love. You have this one body, this one mind, and this one soul. Each moment of life is extremely precious because this exact life will never be repeated and it could be our last. We never really know how long we will be a part of this planet.

When you live your life fully without holding back or holding on, you automatically manifest more prosperity because you are open and ready to receive new opportunities. You can easily move forward and take inspired actions everyday instead of procrastinating because you're so excited you just can't help it! When you jump on to the playing field of your life you become very attractive (like a magnet) because you're not just watching life from the sidelines. You are consciously participating in life! Everyone is attracted to this type of energy because deep down they too want to be engaged, inspired, and actively participating in their life. Making this choice to participate energizes you, sending out a strong manifesting vibration to the Universe.

Here are 8 secrets that will reconnect with the fullness and richness of life you deserve!

1. Do something this week that you have always wanted to do, yet have
previously feared or resisted doing. For instance, you could take a pottery class,
learn to belly dance, go skiing, fly a kite, write a poem, meet someone new, start learning a foreign language, etc..

2. Create time everyday to connect with people, nature, and yourself. As a society we are either working or entertaining ourselves. We rarely take time out from our busy lives to connect deeply with ourselves, and have a NEW experience of this world we live in. When was the last time you walked outside in nature, and connected with the trees, the sky, the flowers, etc.? When was the last time you spent quality time just hanging out sharing inspiring stories, having fun and laughing with your spouse or children? Quality time means we are truly ALIVE and happens only when we are engaging in a meaningful and real dialogue without the distractions of the TV, newspaper, or the cell phone.

3. Call a friend or family member and tell them how much you love them, and how they have enriched your life.

4. Forgive somebody who has wronged you in the past. Grudges only drain and harm you, while forgiveness brings you peace and joy.

5. Clear out some space in your busy calendar so that you can enjoy life today,
instead of waiting for a better tomorrow to arrive.

6. Just say "no" to activities and tasks that no longer inspire you! Delegate or eliminate energy drains from your life so that you can take time to relax and smell the roses.

7. Take time out to admire the sunset each day. This helps you reconnect with the awe and beauty of the world we live in.

8. Begin manifesting your dreams, instead of dreaming about your dreams. Write down
your dreams and work with a coach, mentor, or trusted friend to make those dreams come true. It often takes supportive partnership to help you overcome the obstacles blocking you from manifesting your dreams and desires.

And always remember this famous

"For yesterday is but a dream,
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today -- well-lived,
Makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!

Such is the salutation of the dawn!"

~By Kalidasa, Indian poet 1200 B.C.

Thinking of You

To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.
Thomas Campbell

Sophie's face faded into the gray winter light of the sitting room. She
dozed in the armchair that Joe had bought for her on their fortieth
anniversary. The room was warm and quiet. Outside it was snowing lightly.
At a quarter past one the mailman turned the corner onto Allen Street. He
was behind on his route, not because of the snow, but because it was
Valentine's Day and there was more mail than usual. He passed Sophie's
house without looking up. Twenty minutes later he climbed back into his
truck and drove off.
Sophie stirred when she heard the mail truck pull away, then took off her
glasses and wiped her mouth and eyes with the handkerchief she always
carried in her sleeve. She pushed herself up using the arm of the chair for
support, straightened slowly and smoothed the lap of her dark green
housedress.
Her slippers made a soft, shuffling sound on the bare floor as she walked
to the kitchen. She stopped at the sink
to wash the two dishes she had left on the counter after lunch. Then she
filled a plastic cup halfway with water and took her pills. It was one forty-
five.
There was a rocker in the sitting room by the front window. Sophie eased
herself into it. In a half-hour the children would be passing by on their
way home from school. Sophie waited, rocking and watching the snow.
The boys came first, as always, running and calling out things Sophie
could not hear. Today they were making snowballs as they went, throwing
them at one another. One snowball missed and smacked hard into
Sophie's window. She jerked backward, and the rocker slipped off the
edge of her oval rag rug.
The girls dilly-dallied after the boys, in twos and threes, cupping their
mittened hands over their mouths and giggling. Sophie wondered if they
were telling each other about the valentines they had received at school.
One pretty girl with long brown hair stopped and pointed to the window
where Sophie sat watching. Sophie slipped her face behind the drapes,
suddenly self-conscious.
When she looked out again, the boys and girls were gone. It was cold by
the window, but she stayed there watching the snow cover the children's
footprints.
A florist's truck turned onto Allen Street. Sophie followed it with her eyes.
It was moving slowly. Twice it stopped and started again. Then the driver
pulled up in front of Mrs. Mason's house next door and parked.
Who would be sending Mrs. Mason flowers? Sophie wondered. Her
daughter in Wisconsin? Or her brother? No, her brother was very ill It was
probably her daughter. How nice of her.
Flowers made Sophie think of Joe and, for a moment, she let the aching
memory fill her. Tomorrow was the fif-teenth. Eight months since his
death.
The flower man was knocking at Mrs. Mason's front door. He carried a
long white and green box and a clipboard. No
one seemed to be answering. Of course! It was Friday Mrs. Mason
quilted at the church on Friday afternoons. The delivery man looked
around, then started toward Sophie's house.
Sophie shoved herself out of the rocker and stood close to the drapes. The
man knocked. Her hands trembled as she straightened her hair. She
reached her front hall on his third knock.
"Yes?" she said, peering around a slightly opened door. "Good afternoon,
ma'am," the man said loudly. "Would you take a delivery for your
neighbor?"
"Yes," Sophie answered, pulling the door wide open. "Where would you
like me to put them?" the man asked politely as he strode in.
"In the kitchen, please. On the table." The man looked big to Sophie. She
could hardly see his face between his green cap and full beard. Sophie
was glad he left quickly, and she locked the door after him.
The box was as long as the kitchen table. Sophie drew near to it and bent
over to read the lettering: "NATALIE'S Flowers for Every Occasion." The
rich smell of roses engulfed her. She closed her eyes and took slower
breaths, imagining yellow roses. Joe had always chosen yellow. "To my
sunshine," he would say, presenting the extravagant bouquet. He would
laugh delightedly, kiss her on the forehead, then take her hands in his and
sing to her "You Are My Sunshine."
It was five o'clock when Mrs. Mason knocked at Sophie's front door.
Sophie was still at the kitchen table. The flower box was now open though,
and she held the roses on her lap, swaying slightly and stroking the
delicate yellow petals. Mrs. Mason knocked again, but Sophie did not hear
her, and after several minutes the neighbor left.
Sophie rose a little while later, laying the flowers on the kitchen table. Her
cheeks were flushed. She dragged a
stepstool across the kitchen floor and lifted a white porce-lain vase from
the top corner cabinet. Using a drinking
glass, she filled the vase with water, then tenderly arranged the roses and
greens, and carried them into the
sitting room.
She was smiling as she reached the middle of the room. She turned
slightly and began to dip and twirl in small slow circles. She stepped
lightly, gracefully, around the sitting room, into the kitchen, down the hall,
back again. She danced till her knees grew weak, and then she dropped
into the armchair and slept.
At a quarter past six, Sophie awoke with a start. Someone was knocking
on the back door this time. It was Mrs. Mason.
"Hello, Sophie," Mrs. Mason said. "How are you? I
knocked at five and was a little worried when you didn't
come. Were you napping?" She chattered as she wiped
her snowy boots on the welcome mat and stepped inside.
'I just hate the snow, don't you? The radio says we might
have six inches by midnight, but you can never trust
them, you know. Do you remember last winter when they
predicted four inches and we had twenty-one? Twenty-
one! And they said we'd have a mild winter this year. Ha! I don't think it's
been over zero in weeks. Do you know my oil bill was $263 last month?
For my little house!"
Sophie was only half-listening. She had remembered the roses suddenly
and was turning hot with shame. The empty flower box was behind her on
the kitchen table. What would she say to Mrs. Mason?
"I don't know how much longer I can keep paying the bills. If only Alfred,
God bless him, had been as careful with money as your Joseph. Joseph!
Oh, good heavens! I almost forgot about the roses."
Sophie's cheeks burned. She began to stammer an apology, stepping
aside to reveal the empty box.
"Oh, good," Mrs. Mason interrupted. "You put the roses in water. Then you
saw the card. I hope it didn't startle you to see Joseph's handwriting.
Joseph had asked me to bring you the roses the first year, so I could
explain for him. He didn't want to alarm you. His 'Rose Trust' I think he
called it. He arranged it with the florist last April. Such a good man, your
Joseph...."
But Sophie had stopped listening. Her heart was pounding as she picked
up the small white envelope she had missed earlier. It had been lying
beside the flower box all the time. With trembling hands, she removed the
card.
"To my sunshine," it said. "I love you with all my heart. Try to be happy
when you think of me. Love, Joe."
Alicia von Stamwitz

Someone to Watch Over Me

The passengers on the bus watched sympathetically as the attractive
young woman with the white cane made her way carefully up the steps.
She paid the driver and, using her hands to feel the location of the seats,
walked down the aisle and found the seat he'd told her was empty. Then
she settled in, placed her briefcase on her lap and rested her cane against
her leg.
It had been a year since Susan, thirty-four, became blind. Due to a
medical misdiagnosis she had been rendered sightness, and she was
suddenly thrown into a world of darkness, anger, frustration and self-pity.
Once a fiercely independent woman, Susan now felt condemned by this
terrible twist of fate to become a powerless, help-less burden on everyone
around her. "How could this have happened to me?" she would plead, her
heart knotted with anger. But no matter how much she cried or ranted or
prayed, she knew the painful truth her sight was never going to return.
A cloud of depression hung over Susan's once optimistic spirit. Just
getting through each day was an exercise in frustration and exhaustion.
And all she had to cling to was her husband Mark.
Mark was an Air Force officer and he loved Susan with all of his heart.
When she first lost her sight, he watched her sink into despair and was
determined to help his wife gain the strength and confidence she needed
to become independent again. Mark's military background had trained him
well to deal with sensitive situations, and yet he knew this was the most
difficult battle he would ever face.
Finally, Susan felt ready to return to her job, but how would she get there?
She used to take the bus, but was now too frightened to get around the
city by herself. Mark volunteered to drive her to work each day, even
though they worked at opposite ends of the city. At first, this comforted
Susan and fulfilled Mark's need to protect his sightless wife who was so
insecure about performing the slightest task. Soon, however, Mark
realized that this arrangement wasn't working it was hectic, and costly.
Susan is going to have to start taking the bus again, he admitted to
himself. But just the thought of mentioning it to her made him cringe. She
was still so fragile, so angry. How would she react?
Just as Mark predicted, Susan was horrified at the idea of taking the bus
again. "I'm blind!" she responded bitterly. "How am I supposed to know
where I'm going? I feel like you're abandoning me."
Mark's heart broke to hear these words, but he knew what had to be done.
He promised Susan that each morning and evening he would ride the bus
with her, for as long as it took, until she got the hang of it.
And that is exactly what happened. For two solid weeks, Mark, military
uniform and all, accompanied Susan to and from work each day. He
taught her how to rely on her other senses, specifically her hearing, to
determine where she was and how to adapt to her new environment. He
helped her befriend the bus drivers who could watch out for her, and save
her a seat. He made her
laugh, even on those not-so-good days when she would trip exiting the
bus, or drop her briefcase full of papers on the aisle floor.
Each morning they made the journey together, and Mark would take a cab
back to his office. Although this routine was even more costly and
exhausting than the previous one, Mark knew it was only a matter of time
before Susan would be able to ride the bus on her own. He believed in her,
in the Susan he used to know before she'd lost her sight, who wasn't
afraid of any challenge and who would never, ever quit.
Finally, Susan decided that she was ready to try the trip on her own.
Monday morning arrived, and before she left, she threw her arms around
Mark, her temporary bus riding companion, her husband, and her best
friend. Her eyes filled with tears of gratitude for his loyalty, his patience,
and his love. She said good-bye, and for the first time, they went their
separate ways.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.... Each day on her own went
perfectly, and Susan had never felt better. She was doing it! She was
going to work all by herself.
On Friday morning, Susan took the bus to work as usual. As she was
paying her fare to exit the bus, the driver said, "Boy, I sure envy you."
Susan wasn't sure if the driver was speaking to her or not. After all, who
on earth would ever envy a blind woman who had struggled just to find
the courage to live for the past year? Curious, she asked the driver, "Why
do you say that you envy me?"
The driver responded, "It must feel so good to be taken care of and
protected like you are."
Susan had no idea what the driver was talking about, and again asked,
"What do you mean?"
The driver answered, "You know, every morning for the past week, a fine
looking gentlemen in a military uniform
has been standing across the corner watching you when you get off the
bus. He makes sure you cross the street safely and he watches until you
enter your office building. Then he blows you a kiss, gives you a little
salute and walks away. You are one lucky lady."
Tears of happiness poured down Susan's cheeks. For although she
couldn't physically see him, she had always felt Mark's presence. She was
lucky, so lucky, for he had given her a gift more powerful than sight, a gift
she didn't need to see to believe the gift of love that can bring light
where there had been darkness.

How Giving Raises Your Manifesting Vibration

How Giving Raises Your Manifesting Vibration

Written by Margot Zaher and Jafree Ozwald

Giving freely and lovingly to others dramatically influences your ability to manifest more abundance and prosperity into your life. When you give energy to another in any form be it a physical gift, a hug, a gesture, a loving word, you are literally sending out energy to the Universe that will come back to you through the law of attraction. As you know, like attracts like, and sending out expansive positive energy attracts to you a higher energetic frequency such as abundance. Therefore, the energy with which you give a gift to someone directly impacts what you manifest into your life. If you give a gift to someone from a conscious place of love with no strings attached, that loving open energy goes out into the Universe and comes back to you a hundredfold in the form of more abundance, loving connections, and opportunities.

“For it is in giving that we receive.” ~ St. Francis of Assisi

Since the holidays season is upon us you may feel an urgency to venture out into the busy shopping centers just to find a gift for your family member or friend. Before you go, we encourage you to choose to consciously purchase your gifts from a place of abundance, freedom, and joy instead of just giving something out of a sense of obligation. When you purchase a physical gift, imbue it with love, and think about how much you truly care about this individual as you purchase it. When you give your gift to them, let it be a symbol of your love for this amazing being. Let your light shine through it and visualize the person beaming with happiness upon receiving it. This clear image of seeing them radiating with joy and feeling their lightness will be the true gift that you're giving them.

“To give without any reward, or any notice, has a special quality of its own.” ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Sometimes people tend to get caught up in worrying if the person will like their gift, or if you spent enough money on them, or even concerned if you gave them too much. Instead of going down this old road, focus on the energy with which you want them to receive it. Give your gifts freely with no thought of what you may get in return. This creates expansive energy in your body that allows you to attract more abundance into your own life. Anytime you give out of a sense of duty or even grudgingly, you actually contract your energy field which directly impedes your ability to manifest what you truly want.

"I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver." ~ Maya Angelou

The very act of giving is rewarding in itself, and will create a warm loving glow in your heart. Your heart energy opens and expands every time you give freely to another. In fact, it is only through giving to another that you can fully feel alive and vibrant. When you stop giving to others, you literally shut down your energy field and cut off your connection to the Universe. When you focus exclusively on what you don't have or deeply need, you automatically contract your energy, making it very difficult for anybody to offer you something to fulfill that need or want. However, by relaxing inside and consciously giving to others, you re-open your heart and abundance soon starts to flow into your life. So fully embrace the experience of giving, and see what amazing things manifest into your life!!

The Invitation

The Invitation
By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon, I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain, I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human. It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true, I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul: if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy. I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it’s not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours, and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!” It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children, It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here, I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied; I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else fall away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

May you manifest your dreams easily and effortlessly...

How to Fully Embrace the Gift of Change

How to Fully Embrace the Gift of Change

Written by Margot Zaher and Jafree Ozwald

We are so blessed to be living in an ever-changing Universe. Everything is always changing. Everything is always fresh, new and alive! Change is the greatest spice of life and without it life becomes a dull predictable monologue. This changing nature is always bringing you unimaginable possibilities, new opportunities, blessings, and new experiences in each moment. Because of the ever-changing nature of your world, there is always something new at your door. There is always something new to support you and challenge you to evolve into the divine soul that you truly are. This constant dynamic changing moment allows you to fully be alive and truly savor each experience since you don't know if it will be the last time you experience it.

"Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

One of the golden essential keys to embracing the divine gift that change is cultivating trust in the Universe. The truth is that the Universe loves you, and wants you to experience everything that you desire. Hasn't it always provided for you in your life up until this moment? All the changes the Universe sends you are really gifts for you that it wants you to unwrap and discover the beauty of. And best of all these are gifts that you have asked for on some level because you are creating your reality in each new moment. You can trust that the Universe and your infinite nature are working together to support your evolution as a soul, and therefore you can deeply know that all change that you encounter is here for the purpose of your on-going abundance, and awakening to the truth of your being. Stop and realize that you are the divine co-creator behind the scenes, continuously creating this awesome experience that is about to come your way and change will heed to your beck and call.

"The core of your being is permanent; things in the world are not. They are fleeting phenomena passing on the screen of the mind. Only consciousness is eternal and stationary." ~Ramana Maharshi

There is only one thing in the Universe that is permanent, and never dies. This is the essence of what/who you truly are. The divine infinite being that you are is always here now, awake, present and conscious. This remains changeless, and timeless forever. The good news is that no matter what changes in your outer world, you will continue to remain. Perhaps it's the end of a relationship, or the beginning of a new relationship, the core of your being remains untouched and changeless through it all. You are not touched by the periphery. The true you that never dies can never be tainted by all of these seemly important or not so important changes that happen in your life. You will always be. You are an eternal being that continuously resides in a forever deepening pool of inner peace and contentment. Knowing this, you master the whirlwind of chang e around you. The next time that change comes a knocking at your door, open the door and receive it with open, loving arms. You will be amazed at how much easier your life flows, and how much more abundance you manifest when you can allow all types of change to be a part of your life.

"It's not so much that we're afraid of change, but that place in between that we fear. It's like being between trapezes. There's nothing to hold on to." ~ Marilyn Ferguson

What's interesting is that some people spend their entire lives resisting change. They try to stop it by procrastinating, avoiding and getting upset when the possibility of change arrives at their door. Sometimes change knocks at your door disguised as a dirty homeless person. Most people may immediately say "NO" and shut the door on this person, looking the other way. What they don't understand is that at their doorstep is the most abundant Kings and Queens of this Universe who are wanting to offer you their entire kingdom. When they knock, it is your job to open the door with appreciation and say, "Thank you! Come in! How can I be of service to you?" When you greet change this way, you tend to master the wheel of change instead of feeling it has mastered you.

"You cannot step twice into the same river, for other waters are continually flowing in." ~ Heraclitus

When you start embracing change, especially the changes that your mind believes to be wrong or bad, it will create an unimaginable state of liberation and freedom in your life. It is only when we resist change that we experience suffering, sadness, and fear. It's like breathing, when you resist the next breath of air, you start to suffocate and get weaker inside. It's only when you go with the flow and welcome the next inhalation and exhalation that you truly feel alive! When you fully open yourself up to this experience of welcoming life, you discover a power inside you that is unstoppable. You are afraid of nothing and are willing to experience anything the Universe offers. From this place, the Universe will bow down to you and hand over everything you want on a silver platter. All you get to do is sit back and let the abundance come pouring in.

How to Find the Key that Unlocks Your Heart

How to Find the Key that Unlocks Your Heart

By Margot Zaher and Jafree Ozwald

Often it happens that life will invite us to grow and evolve into a higher state of consciousness by offering us a challenging emotional experience. In this challenge, we always have the choice to respond to it by either shutting down and closing off our heart to it, or opening up our heart and being willing to experience something more expansive and new. Sometimes we get into these habits in life where we close off our heart as a way of trying to protect and defend ourselves in order to survive. This can cause us to live everyday with a heart that is either halfway open to experiencing life, or completely closed. This experience of having a habitually closed heart is not something permanent, wrong, or something to be afraid of. It's just another experience and challenge that your soul asked for to initiate massive growth and nudge you to dive inside to discover a deeper spiritual experience at your core.

“The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.” ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

One of the easiest ways to unlock your heart energy today is to consciously send loving energy to everyone you meet. As you go through your day imagine loving every human being you see or think about with your mind. Love is the key that opens the door to your heart and the path to your soul. It is amazing how this simple sweet exercise will transform your energy in a matter of minutes and raise your manifesting vibration. Whenever you meet someone, be it a stranger, an old friend, or your spouse, focus on directing loving energy towards them. The easiest way to do this is to connect with their innermost soul by looking into their eyes, and recognize that Divine essence and sparkle inside of them. Meet with that radiance and send them a silent loving thought like, "I see the beauty inside of you, I notice your Divine Nature, or I love you." The more you consciously direct this loving energy outwards, the more your own heart opens allowing you to f eel full of love and totally alive.

"The highest reward for an act of kindness is not what you get by doing it, but what you become by doing it." ~Unknown Author

You'll find that the more open your heart becomes, the more you become like a magnet that is constantly attracting the experiences, people, and things you desire into your life. By simply choosing to continuously open your heart all day today you are automatically going to attract more experiences that make your heart sing tomorrow! Inside your heart is the essential energy behind manifesting your desires into this physical reality. The specific feeling and frequency of where your heart is at now, literally magnetizes or repels a specific experience or thing into existence in your future. Thus, more open and expansive your heart is, the more you magnetize powerful, loving and expansive experiences into your life.

“See if you can stretch your heart and expand your love so that it touches not only those to whom you can give it easily, but also to those who need it more than you.” ~ Unknown Author

It's important to realize that if you are always sending love to others, that you also stop to let it in for yourself. Loving yourself is another powerful way of unlocking your heart and allowing this great richness into your life. A daily practice of self-love will keep your heart opening to life rather than closing, and will allow you to feel more loving support from every soul in this world. You can instantly send love towards yourself by consciously choosing to relax into your heart and accept yourself exactly as you are. Simply open your eyes to seeing that you are perfectly O.K. exactly as you are right now. Notice how your heart tends to open, soften and relax instantly. Another effective way to boost your self-love is to look into a mirror at your own beautiful eyes, and speak gentle, loving affirmations to yourself. Say things like, "I love you, you are so beautiful, or I love everything about you." If your heart is closed it may take a few minutes before it sinks in, yet you will be amazed at how you feel after you spend as little as 3 minutes sending yourself this powerful love energy. You will feel loved, expansive, and unstoppable which will translate into easily manifesting experiences that resonate with these powerful feeling states.

"When the heart is innocent and the walls have disappeared, you are bridged with infinity." ~Osho

We just discovered something that is so amazing that it makes us think, "Why didn't we know about this sooner?" It's called "The Heart Essence Learning System" created by Radiant Heart Expert Susan Castle. This is a powerful new course on how to identify and clear old thought patterns, hidden blocks and even your deepest fears that prevent you from realizing your most treasured goals and Heart's dreams. What makes this program unique is that it teaches you how to tap into what Susan calls your "Heart's Intelligence" and to manifest from this powerful state of being. It allows you to get out of your own way and create the life you truly desire. If you've ever wondered what life would be like to live fully from your Heart and let go of all the trappings of the busy ego mind then you won't want to miss Susan's special free audio recording. We highly recommend that you take look at "The Heart
Essence Learning System. It could hold the key to solving your biggest problems in your life. Visit this link to learn more at: http://www.relax-online.com/HeartEssenceLS.htm

A Nice Poem

lyrics: Mary Frye


Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die