I originally learned that meant whatever I saw in the world/people around me only reflected something within me. Specifically, whatever I rejected in others, in the world “outside” me, only pointed at the same quality within me.

At first, that pissed me off.

I despised my father’s obvious arrogance; there was no way I was arrogant like him. I despised my then-girlfriend’s shallow judgmental thoughts; I didn’t judge people like she did. In fact, I was awesome. Quite possibly saintly, even. After all, the only way I could see how judgmental and arrogant other people were was because I was so unconditionally loving and accepting.

So, saintly being that I was, I used “the mirror” as a spiritual weapon to vanquish the unseeing.

This came in handy when that girlfriend complained about me. I learned how to use “the mirror” to my advantage with blunt precision; I would simply smash it over her head (metaphorically speaking) at the slightest provocation.

It generally went something like this:

“Say what? You think IIIIIIII’M selfish, disrespectful and immature?? …. Weeeeell, what does that say about you??? … After all, I’m just your mirror!!” [SMASH!!!]

It was basically the spiritual version of “I’m rubber, you’re glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you!”

Obviously, I sensed the wisdom in the idea but struggled with it greatly.

One day, a friend reacted very angrily to a news report of a child being murdered. He refused to accept that his angry reaction to the story meant that he also was violent and could do such a thing.

I understood his objection. It seemed a solid refutation of the idea that the world is our mirror.

I went home and meditated on it. … And then it popped.

It hit me clearly that perhaps he wouldn’t do actual violence to a child, but he would do violence to that violence. He would, with his own violence, eradicate violence.

It burst into my awareness like sunlight through an opened window that only arrogance can have a problem with arrogance. Only judgment can think less about another judging. Only aggression can tell aggression to “suck it!”

My mind was blown wide open.

During that 4 year romantic relationship, I had developed a long list of “intolerable ways that my partner was.” Now, I was face to face with the realization that all those things I swore she was … somehow, I was.

Everything supposedly in her I had been rejecting – her shallow judgment of others; her rude arrogance and blind selfishness; her emotional cruelty – I was suddenly confronted with the realization that I was all those things.

Only my shallow judging could get stuck on the limited part of her that judged, refusing to see the depths of her wondrous nature as a child of the universe. Only my selfish desire that life revolve around me could upset me when she insisted life revolve around her. I was even emotionally cruel … at least towards myself, for only a lack of emotional respect within me could have me continue living out such a painful experience.

Suddenly, there was nothing I could pin on her that I couldn’t pin on myself, too.

I would love to say from the moment of that realization life completely changed for me. It would be more fair to say this is a lesson that only continues to deepen in me every day.

Life continues to “offend me” in endless ways – aggressive drivers, cell phones at the movies, higher taxes on the poor, lack of romance, this body that just can’t dunk a basketball, etc.

Rather than blaming life for showing up as unkind, every uncomfortable reaction I have is a brilliant opportunity to go inside and see how I’m being unkind to myself … to observe how my own arrogance would smugly vanquish yours … to notice how my own shallow judgments diminish the miracle that humans are even capable of making judgments!

What’s so thrilling is now I’m able to welcome offense; it’s a juicy opportunity to bring awareness around the internal stuff that only gets in the way of being deeply, wildly in love with this amazing world … and with you … exactly how you show up.

To feel great, I no longer need to manipulate, force or beg you to be different than how you choose to be. You get to show up and be you. I get to be exactly me. And I get to love you for the miracle that you are, even if you judge me, curse me, cut me off, or unfairly tax the poor.

Because you’ve been sent to teach me something about myself. You really are my mirror.

QUESTION: What was your most recent strong, angry reaction to someone/something outside of you? Can you find the offense inside you, as well?

About Bryan Reeves

Bryan Reeves manages transformational music artists and blogs about his experience at www.ManagingTheMagic.com. Bryan was once a Captain in the US Air Force before becoming the worldwide PR Spokesperson for an Oprah-endorsed human energy research company. He currently manages pop-spiritual-fusion music band HERE II HERE (www.hereiihere.com) and electro-pop artist Ash Ruiz whose hot, lyrical music raises the volume of Your True Nature (www.ashruiz.com).

Creation happens by creating. Period. And we are not creating if we are uncreating, aka fixing and saving.

It is a new, old, yet radical understanding of the process. Bypass the middle steps. Go for the gold. The old will not, cannot, create the new. In fact, if we don’t want history to repeat itself, then we must focus on the present (and only the present) because this moment of now creates the love. Yesterday’s moments created the need and the belief that something had to be forgiven. If we hold on to them, we just keep plodding along and going the same way, with the same energy, and the same work and the same burden. That is not the description and the decree for 2012. 2012 is all about FREEDOM. And the only place to create freedom is within ourselves. If we want to create the stuff that gets us freedom, we must create the stuff of us first as free.

Fast on the heels of this clarity came the next command: success and power directed through Divine Love is what we must accept and create now…..and that accepting our power and success through love is actually a VIRTUE. You remember the seven original virtues:

1. Faith is belief in the right things (including the virtues!).
2. Hope is taking a positive future view, that good will prevail.
3. Charity is concern for, and active helping of, others.
4. Fortitude is never giving up.
5. Justice is being fair and equitable with others.
6. Prudence is care of and moderation with money.
7. Temperance is moderation of needed things and abstinence from things which are not needed.

Well, now we have an eighth. 8. Empowerment is the act of claiming our success and power through divine love now. The meek may inherit the earth, but not heaven on earth. And, my friends, I truly know and believe that that is why we are here: to know how to work with energy so completely and create with it that we experience miraculous creation right here, right now. We were given free will to create our desires NOW. So why are many of us not doing just that? We know how. We have the simple formula: 1) Say what you want, 2) choose to be happy, 3) keep your focus on that, 4) keep living in an open heart and 5) keep balanced in masculine, feminine and child energy.

So, what’s stopping us from living this simple, naive, joyous way?

I guess because we have been taught not to/we can’t/that’s blasphemous/it’s impossible blah, blah, blah by people we love and revere. The message, “Forgive them Father, they know not what they do,” comes to mind. But then, forgiveness is an old idea. I choose to just love them. And now I am off to create me…….

Dee Wallace has worked with every kind of co-star from Cujo to Lassie, as well as countless directors, producers and some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Peter Jackson, Stephen Spielberg, Wes Craven, Stephen King and Blake Edwards.

Dee became an icon in her role as the mother in ET: The Extraterrestrial. Her 130 films range from some of the scariest to the funniest ever made, including Cujo, The Howling, Ten, The Frighteners and Critters – In fact, as one of Hollywood’s reigning “scream queens,” when asked about how working on so many horror films affects her career as a healer, she responds, “Well, it has certainly made me an expert on fear.” She has starred in four television series and more than 400 commercials and is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after TV guest stars. A beloved acting coach, she is also an internationally known healer, with two global radio shows and a series of healing seminars.

Although, the walk came to an end in my home state of Florida this week, the “Path to Peace” requires sustained willingness, commitment and action to become a reality. When our social climate is one of political, religious and, socio-economic divisiveness, it is easy to let cynicism and righteousness pervade our awareness but, now is not the time for complacency. Now is the time to band in unity to reform destructive views and renew our basic nature of Peace.

Beginning with our family unit and neighborhoods, WE CAN create bonds that support, strengthen and nurture a core foundation that, not only expands cohesiveness, but builds independence from limiting bureaucracy. I can attest first-hand, that “local” and “sustainable” movements, along with a growth of trail and park systems, are emerging throughout our country as a testament to our growing desire for change and connectivity. Together with the ever-expanding social networks, the potential for self-reliance and harmony is imminent. With a course set for common ground and the courage to overcome limiting beliefs, we can navigate our “Fellowship” through a “Sea of Tranquility”.

~ Cassandra Curley

Cassandra has been an athlete and student of health for almost 40 years. She entered into the healthcare profession as a personal trainer, added licensed massage therapist to her repertoire, then became co-owner of three health centers. Her private practice now incorporates advanced training in the energetic healing modalities of CranioSacral Therapy, Bodytalk, Reiki and most recently, Zero Point Cranial. These therapies, though subtle, facilitate deep healing within clients by allowing their innate self-correcting mechanisms to engage. Through her work, she has learned how vital it is for us all to follow our inner guidance, which is exactly what she is doing in her walking mission today.

Cassandra has been a contributor of health-related articles to numerous publications and has published two books, What’s the ‘Matter’?: The Key to Creating Your Reality and A Path to Peace.

For more info, visit www.cassandracurley.com

Where are you on your path to remembering the five elements of life we came to work on? To refresh your memory, that would be… Love, Truth, Honesty, Humility and Gratitude… Simple right… yes I agree, all that is simple on the other side of the veil!!! But in the earth school… Not so simple… Our classroom is filled with duality… and, naturally… we get caught up in the opposites… All is good though, cause soon enough, We All Remember… All of us… Namaste, Brian

Inside each of us is unconditional love… a love greater than any of us can imagine while we are visiting the earth school… likewise, we are loved more than we can ever know while we walk on this planet… and that is exactly the way we wanted it as we stood in line, awaiting our opportunity to manifest here, and experience… Earth School… and all that it has to offer… Ain’t it Great!!!
Namaste, Brian

According to Unicef…

Some 21,000 children die every day around the world.
•2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation
•1 billion children are deprived of one or more services essential to survival and development
… •148 million under 5s in developing regions are underweight for their age
•101 million children are not attending primary school, with more girls than boys missing out
•22 million infants are not protected from diseases by routine immunization
•7.6 million children worldwide died before their 5th birthday in 2010
•4 million newborns worldwide are dying in the first month of life
•2 million children under 15 are living with HIV
•500,000 women die each year from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth

I am not posting this to upset you… just thought we could take a look behind the curtain together… most of us don’t pay attention to these daily tragedies… out of site, out of mind…
However, what if… one day, you or a loved one is reborn in a developing country… Who will pay attention? What have we done with our precious time on this planet today to help our fellow travelers reawaken to the truth of oneness? What signposts or symbols will be flying in a hundred years? That’s less than 37,000 days from now… Who around our world will be concerned about our sanitation, food, water, and medicine needs… Will we have caretakers, schooling, doctors, or freedom 37,000 days from now??? What if… today we hold the key in our hands for the changes we would like to see before 37,000 days pass… Spread the signposts, which connects us… anything less, is not enough…
Namaste, Brian

Take a second if you will, and breath in deep all that you are… Don’t think, just Feel… Thinking creates an inability to even scratch the surface of who we are… Feeling however… Changes Everything… Feel It? Namaste, Brian

“Some Enchanted Evening” is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. The lyrics start out; “Some enchanted evening you may see a stranger… You may see a stranger across a crowded room… and somehow you know, you know even then… That somewhere you’ll see her again and again… Some enchanted evening, someone may be laughing… you may hear her laughing across a… crowded room…and night after night, as strange as it seems… The sound of her laughter will sing in your dreams… Who can explain it, who can tell you why… Fools give you reasons, wise men never try”… ))

We are ALL blessed with incredible intuition… We all have tools that most of us never use… We’ve all listened to our share of fools… The earth school gives us plenty of everything, and if we tune in long enough, we become the wise men and women… and then, we have nothing to say, we simply are… Namaste, Brian

The light and love we spread in our world, is only a fraction of who we are… and… because we are members of the earth school, we are as much a part of the problem as the solution… thus as we have heard a thousand times… Judge not…
Namaste, Brian

To be, or not to be, is not the question… there is nothing we are… there is nothing we are not… there is no beginning… there is no end… we are… and the truth is as simple as this… LOVE… the most misunderstood word in the human language… Namaste, Brian

The Universal Flag is only a signpost… It points to the often-overlooked truth that there is no separation between anyone nor anything… So why is it important for this symbol to spread throughout our world?… Because… if we don’t start reminding others, of the simple truth that our signpost stands for… soon, there will no longer be an earth school for our children, and our children’s children to experience… Namaste, Brian

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s mantra was, “there is no place like home.” I whole-heartedly agree with her mantra…and just as Dorothy found herself in a different state of consciousness, trying to find her way home… we find ourselves in the same place, on earth… The earth school surrounds us with the good and the bad witches… the helpers and the hinderers… All of these characters are p…laced perfectly in our life journey, in order to help us find home… While it may not seem that way as we travel the up and down path of life, soon enough we wake up from our dream… and just as Dorothy… we find ourselves back home again… Surrounded by Unconditional Love… a Love that in reality never left us, and once back home, we remember that we have always been and always will be… a part of God… Namaste, Brian

It is time for us earth students to reawaken to the simple truth of interdependence… There is absolutely nothing that separates any us from any manifested or unmanifested energy… Ah… the earth school, what a great place to wake up and remember!!! Namaste, Brian

On facebook, just one Coca-Cola page has 22,138,488 likes… Starbucks, 19, 386, 229 fans… Red Bull, 15, 002, 57 fans… Oreo Cookies, 16, 509, 052 fans… Converse All Star shoes, 16, 509, 052 fans… Do you suppose that the majority of our world’s population, 50% of which are functionally illiterate, have time to think or care about what they like? The small percentage of those I have visited …in person, struggle with how to secure one bite to eat a day… They struggle to find clean drinking water and a safe place to rest… The number of homeless, parentless street orphans is overwhelming… There are no orphanages to check into… There are no able caring foster homes to be taken in by… I thought I had problems because there were no toilets and no toilet paper… Then I saw that they lived without electricity, running water, housing or food… I’m not saying that it isn’t right to like what we like, and show it… But what I am saying, is that it is our responsibility to spread this Universal Flag and Symbol and what it stands for to the ends of the earth and beyond… For if we do not do that, WHO WILL? If we do not teach our children a new truth, who will? In your next life, if it is you who have incarnated in India or Africa or any of the slums around our world, WHO will be there for you? What symbol would you like to represent you? One that represents the oneness interdependence of all, or one that represents the few… The opportunity to spread truth rests with you and me… When this page and others like it, have 300,000,000 fans, we will just be beginning to change our world… Thank you for your support… Namaste, Brian

Truth is not proprietary… if you happen across those who would charge you for what they believe they know… RUN… Namaste, Brian

The host of “A Call to Consciousness” radio, Brian D. McClure, is also the founder and managing director of The Universal Flag and its affiliate companies. He has authored numerous popular children’s books, all which share a common theme of the interconnection and oneness of all. Brian is currently writing a book about his journey into consciousness aptly titled, A Call to Consciousness. His personal mission is to make a transformational difference in the world, by helping others to remember that everything is connected.

Now, at last, there is some sort of good news for these rodents. New guidelines suggest that the cages for females and their babies should be larger than they currently are. And this has researchers in a tizzy because it will cost them more money to house them and they may not be able to breed as many as they currently do. The new guidelines suggest that a female mouse and her litter should get at least 51 square inches, while a female rat plus her litter should get at least 124 square inches. Do the math—it’s recommended that a family of mice should be housed in about a 7 x 7 inch cage and a female rat and her family should be housed in a 12 x 12 inch cage. These are not exactly large areas.

It’s important to recognize that the new recommendations are not hard-and-fast rules and there’s no consequence for ignoring them. According to the NPR report, “The National Institutes of Health [NIH] is taking comments on the rodent housing issue until the end of the month. And research institutions have about a year to evaluate their program and decide whether they need to make changes to comply with the new guidelines.”

Please take the time to comment on the above wishy-washy guidelines. You can contact members of Congress and also write to the NIH. You can directly contact Dr. Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, at 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, MD 20892; email: francis.collins@nih.gov; telephone: 301-496-2433.

Let’s make the lives of the tens of millions of captive rodents better as we also work to end research on them. Although the Animal Welfare Act does not consider them to be animals, they are, indeed, members of the animal kingdom, and are highly sentient, sensitive, and empathic beings at that. They deserve far more protection than they receive.

Marc Bekoff is a former Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He has won many awards for his scientific research including the Exemplar Award from the Animal Behavior Society and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Marc has written more than 200 articles, numerous books, and has edited three encyclopedias. His books include the Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare, The Ten Trusts (with Jane Goodall), the Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, the Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships, Minding Animals, The Emotional Lives of Animals, Animals Matter, and The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons for Increasing Our Compassion Footprint. In 2005 Marc was presented with The Bank One Faculty Community Service Award for the work he has done with children, senior citizens, and prisoners. In 2009 he became a scholar-in-residence at the University of Denver’s Institute for Human-Animal Connection and a faculty member of the Humane Society University. In 2009 he also was presented with the St. Francis of Assisi Award by the New Zealand SPCA.

Original article: Psychology Today, Published January 16, 2012

To learn more about Marc, please visit the links above!

You are not your shame, your fears, your addictions, your games, your guilt, the internalized remnants of negative messaging… You are not your resistance to your true path … You are not your self-doubt… You are not your self-distraction patterns. You are not your escape hatches… you are not your pessimism about a life of meaning and purpose. You are not here merely to survive and endure.

You are Sacred Purpose.

No matter what others have mistakenly told you about who you are, no matter what mistakes you may have made in the past, you are here with a sacred purpose living at the core of your being. If that weren’t true you never would have made it down the birth canal. You never would have overcome what you have already overcome in your life.

You are Sacred Purpose.

Whatever your ways of distracting, postponing, delaying, armouring, avoiding, altering, feigning, artificializing, externalizing, superficializing your life… I encourage you to STOP IT NOW. This really is no game, this is completely real, this sacred purpose that courses through your soul veins crying out to be heard from below the surface of our avoidance. I cannot say this with enough assertiveness… To the extent that you identify and honour your true path in this lifetime, you will know genuine satisfaction, real peace in your skin.. You will be infused with vitality and a clarified focus, new pathways of possibility appear where before there were obstacles. You will know a peace that will buffer you against the madness of the world, a clarity of direction that will carry you from one satisfaction to another… Life will still have its challenges, but you will interface with them differently, coated in an authenticity of purpose that sees through the veils to what really matters. To the extent, that you avoid the quest for purpose, you will live frustrated, a half-life.. your avoidance manifest in all manner of illness, perpetual dissatisfaction, emotional problems, depression, addictive patterns, ALL REFLECTIONS OF YOUR own alienation from the purposeful root of your being.. You see, there really is no escape from reality, all there is, is postponement. you should be more afraid of avoiding your path than walking it.

You are Sacred Purpose.

AND It doesn’t matter what anyone tells you about who you are. There is so much of that. This is your journey. Even those with the best of intentions, cannot know the path you are here to walk. The REAL journey is not one of adapting ourselves to someone else’s vision, but instead, shaping who we are with our own two hands. The unique clay we work with lives deep inside our soul bones, awaiting our own detection & expression. You are the sculptor of your own reality- don’t hand your tools to anyone else. Only you can know the path u r here to walk.. it’s a personal decision, and it doesn’t have to be grandiose. Your purpose can be as simple as learning how to listen better, how to enjoy the moment without getting in your own way.. wherever the growing is, wherever you find genuine peace with path, wherever you feel unmasked and genuinely real.. in the survivalist world that we are coming from, we defined ourselves by what GOT US through the day, whatever masks got food on the table, whatever way of being endured this challenging life.. but we are at the beginning of a new way, a way of being that is sourced in who we REALLY ARE, not our egoic face, not our survivalist face, not the false face of our hidden power, but the real face, the real path, the no bullshit no hype no pretense expression of WHO u REALLY ARE and a life that fully and deeply expresses the magnificence that lives within you.. Your sacred purpose may be covered in dust, it may be HIDDEN FROM VIEW, but its still in there, sparkling with infinite possibility..

You are Sacred Purpose.

This is a call to action. A call to authenticity. A call to dig yourself out from below the bushel of shame and self-doubt that has plagued humanity. A call to get off the dime and do the real work to call yourself on your distraction patterns and excavate your own purpose in this lifetime. What are you here to learn? What are you here to overcome? What are you here to express? What does your authentic face look like? Who are you, above and beyond all the noise and haste.. this is not about money, or bullshit ideas of abundance, or gratifying your ego, this is about the real thing, the real deal, the vulnerable and courageous truth about who you are and why you are here. I ENCOURAGE you to take the question of sacred purpose seriously… to not postpone it for another hour, or week, or till you retire, until the next lifetime, til you finish school, or end your relationship, but to take it seriously now… To work like a dog to find out what lives inside of you, what you are here to express, what you are here to manifest and express, what you are here to give, to share, to learn, to create, to dance, to art, to walk… You don’t know how long you have, it may be 60 years, it may be 60 seconds, you may not make it to retirement, you may not make it to tomorrow morning, at least if you are questing for your purpose, living your truth, you will not suffer when its time to leave your body in this lifetime, you will be living in your authenticity, this is no small achievement in this distracted world, where the unconscious media and manipulative marketers try to turn us generic and frightened so we will be locked into their script. Fuck that. You are already have a script and it lives deep inside you…that script is your purpose, what you are here to express, to learn, to embody, to humanifest… So you decide which script to read- the fictional novel written by those who do not SEE you, or the HOLY BOOK written by your glorious spirit. When you walk through the gateway of purpose, you walk into yourself. You are sacred purpose, you are sacred purpose, you are sacred purpose. Don’t stop until you find it.

ABOUT JEFF BROWN

A former criminal lawyer and psychotherapist, Jeff Brown co-founded the Open Heart Gang, a benevolent gang with a heartfelt intention. Their first act of gratitude is the nearly completed production of a documentary about his connection to Bhagavan Das (of Be Here Now fame). Called Karmageddon, this film includes wonderful dialogues with Jeff and spiritual teacher Ram Dass, yogis Seane Corn and David Newman, and chanters Deva Premal and Miten. Jeff was interviewed by CNN Radio and New Dimensions Radio. He also appeared on the ‘God Talk show’ on Fox News.com. Additionally, Jeff was invited to write five Weekly Inspirations for ABC’S Good Morning America and articles for the Washington Post’s On Faith Blog, Insight Magazine (Australia) and Synergy Magazine.

To listen to Jeff’s interview on A Call to Consciousness, click here.

To learn more about Jeff, please visit www.SoulShaping.com!

But when we consider the amazing potential of the human spirit combined with the incredible rate at which humankind is progressing, could it be that world peace is sitting right on our doorstep and we don’t even know it? Forget waiting centuries! Maybe the lofty goal of ending all of earth’s major conflicts is doable within the decade.

Contrary to what many believe, data suggests humanity is already living in a golden age of peace, as the number of recorded war deaths has consistently declined over the past century. This means the world today is already the most peaceful it has ever been… and this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Human society is now advancing forward at such phenomenal speeds, with new breakthroughs being discovered sooner and sooner. Technologies which would seem magical just 20 years ago, like nano-sized medical robots or 3-D printers (devices worth Googling if you’ve never heard of them), will likely become commercially available in 5 to 10 years.

Not only is our rate of technological progress skyrocketing, so too are our societies evolving at unprecedented rates. Sweeping reforms are taking place all over the world, as evident by the widespread demonstrations sprouting up on every continent.

Humankind is harnessing the Internet to magnify the collective voice of the global village, giving us the means to counterbalance earth’s most wealthy and influential entities. We’ll be able to leverage this power of solidarity to fundamentally alter the way the system works, thereby removing the inherent violence of an unjust economic model.

Uniting as a species will not only give regular people great political clout, it will also reveal how, by allowing wars to happen, we’ve only been fighting and hurting ourselves. Once we see members of foreign nations not as threats, but as part of our own extended family, we’ll begin to hold our governments accountable for the suffering they inflict upon our brothers and sisters overseas.

Letting our leaders know we no longer want war will be a great step, but another key to peace will be to strip the grease which lubricates the war machine, namely, the billions in profit generated annually by the military industrial complex. Like a giant class action suit – Humankind V. War-Profiteers – we’ll work together to systematically eliminate the financial incentives which encourage the perpetuation of war.

As with anything in life, there’s no certainty in our future. Yet with each passing moment, the potential of attaining peace gets higher and higher. Pretty soon, even the most staunch pessimist may be pleasantly surprised to find world peace sitting perched on the porch, just waiting for us to open the door and let it in.

ABOUT RICK DICKINSON

Rick Dickinson is the founder of the WorldPeaceIsComing.com Project, and muses daily at http://www.u4ya.ca/blog. The goal of the WorldPeaceisComing.com Project is to share a hopeful yet realistic vision that, as long as enough people want to make it happen, humankind can abolish large scale conflicts by 2020. Dare to dream!

I’m now 37. I’ve spent many a moment since that remarkable experience upset about some seemingly important happening – a girlfriend’s criticism, my dad’s disapproval, a traffic ticket, missing my exit, someone eating my last french fry. But when life recalls my attention back to that day when my own death was vividly imminent, I remember I’m living in bonus time.

It’s like a knock upside my crown chakra!! My story of whatever I think is happening at that moment just completely, utterly, fantastically implodes as a much larger awareness explodes through my being of how lucky I am to even be living this unfathomably juicy life!

It hits me … It’s all a gift.

My lover is breaking up with me … Wow! I got to experience having a lover!

My car needs an expensive repair … Wow! I get to experience owning a car!

My mom is sick … Incredible! I emerged from her body; how remarkable that I now get to participate in its well-being.

Look, it’s one thing to know from an intellectual perspective that life is a gift, that there’s only this present moment, that we should be grateful for all we have, yada yada yada.

It’s another to really marinate in the living awareness that by all calculations, you should be dead at this very moment … as if you should have ever been born at all. Do you know how many other squiggling sperm you competed against for one lone prize? Something like … zabillions!! Do you understand the odds against your success? Why, you’ve already won the most statistically impossible-to-win and insanely-stupid-to-spend-your-money-on Powerball Lottery in the entire known Universe!!!

Your Prize?

One roundtrip of uncertain duration to Planet Earth. Which you’re presently experiencing. Congratulations on your impossible success!!

My beloved wisdom school, Tai Sophia Healing Arts Institute in Maryland, has a wonderful saying that calls attention to our wild fragility: “You never know what comes first, tomorrow or your death.”

I adore what Steve Jobs asked himself everyday when he woke up, “Do I feel good about what I’m going to do today? Do I like who I am?” As he shared in his famous Stanford Graduation Speech, Steve lived with the constant awareness that death was always knocking and would inevitably someday come through his door, whether or not he was ready for it.

So with full awareness that your being alive right now is wildly improbable, here are two simple questions for you:

(1) What are you doing with the bonus time you’ve been granted? You’re completely free. To do whatever you want. You owe nothing to anyone (anyway, they’re just as lucky as you to be here). So how are YOU going to enjoy YOUR bonus time today?

(2) Why are you complaining about whatever you’re complaining about? Just smile (at least internally) and know that this moment is simply part of your Grand Prize package trip to Planet Earth.

… which will be over soon enough, and perhaps just when you start getting the hang of things around here.

About Bryan Reeves

Bryan Reeves manages transformational music artists and blogs about his experience at www.ManagingTheMagic.com. Bryan was once a Captain in the US Air Force before becoming the worldwide PR Spokesperson for an Oprah-endorsed human energy research company. He currently manages pop-spiritual-fusion music band HERE II HERE (www.hereiihere.com) and electro-pop artist Ash Ruiz whose hot, lyrical music raises the volume of Your True Nature (www.ashruiz.com).

About Ash Ruiz

Ash was raised around the globe, traveling as a member of the Latin teen-sensation band, Menudo. At 16 he traveled to Machu Picchu for a video shoot. When he stepped off the helicopter and touched the ground, everything disappeared. There was no Ash Ruiz, no Machu Picchu, no llama, no Peru, no Earth, no Universe. All that was present was the ordinary radiance of clear all pervading awareness, and from that moment on his life would never be the same. Since, the reality of love and causeless joy have inspired music as the fragrance of his heart, constantly coming through in ever-exciting ways. To learn more about Ash’s new music project (post-“Here II Here”, his conscious-pop band for the last 14 years) visit www.ashruiz.com. You can also stay connected with him on Facebook by Liking his page here: http://www.facebook.com/ashtribe

About Peace Messenger Cassandra Curley

I am walking 50 miles in all 50 states in 50 weeks to remind listeners and readers that we have forgotten our true nature of Peace. As a messenger of Peace, my goal is to bring awareness to those open to seeing the World in a New and Unified way – to invoke a willingness to achieve Peace through our Universal need for Love, Connection to one another and Purpose. Willingness and a commitment to resolve differences by seeking a common ground will change our world.

~ Cassandra Curley

Cassandra has been an athlete and student of health for almost 40 years. She entered into the healthcare profession as a personal trainer, added licensed massage therapist to her repertoire, then became co-owner of three health centers. Her private practice now incorporates advanced training in the energetic healing modalities of CranioSacral Therapy, Bodytalk, Reiki and most recently, Zero Point Cranial. These therapies, though subtle, facilitate deep healing within clients by allowing their innate self-correcting mechanisms to engage. Through her work, she has learned how vital it is for us all to follow our inner guidance, which is exactly what she is doing in her walking mission today.

Cassandra has been a contributor of health-related articles to numerous publications and has published two books, What’s the ‘Matter’?: The Key to Creating Your Reality and A Path to Peace.

For more info, visit www.cassandracurley.com