Scumbag mind.

I’ve had to learn to watch these rationalizations and excuses very carefully, in order to make the changes I’ve made in my life: a healthier diet, regular exercise, meditation, minimalism, writing daily, getting out of debt, quitting smoking, and so on.

If I hadn’t learned these excuses, and how to counter them, I would never have stuck to these changes. In fact, I failed many times before 2005 (when I started changing my life), because these excuses had complete power over me.

Let’s expose the cowardly mind’s excuses and rationalizations once and for all.

First, the main principle: the mind wants comfort, and is afraid of discomfort and change. The mind is used to its comfort cocoon, and anytime we try to push beyond that comfort zone very far or for very long, the mind tries desperately to get back into the cocoon. At any cost, including our long-term health and happiness.

“There is a secret about human love that is commonly overlooked: Receiving it is much more scary and threatening than giving it. How many times in your life have you been unable to let in someone’s love or even pushed it away? Much as we proclaim the wish to be truly loved, we are often afraid of that, and so find it difficult to open to love or let it all the way in.” ~ John Welwood

Most of us are not talented receivers when it comes to love. Whether or not we are able to give love has surprisingly little to do with its polar opposite of being able to open to the love coming towards us. We refuse the love we say we want when we complain about the packaging it arrives in. We refuse the lover we say we want when we blame them for what they are not. We refuse the love and the lover we say we want when we justify our refusal in the storylines of anger, guilt and inadequacy. In fact, most people when pushed to the edge of their refusal to receive love will admit to what may be the most painful universal wound of all – the belief that underneath it all we don’t deserve the love we say we want.

Joshua Krause, Guest
Waking Times

The Medieval era is well known for being littered with feudal societies, ruled by royalty and served by serfs who kept the system running with back-breaking labor. Contrary to popular opinion, though, the serfs weren’t exactly what we would call ‘slaves.’ They definitely had more rights and opportunities than many of their ancestors from the Roman Empire, and they weren’t owned by other people.

Instead, they were merely ‘tied down.’ They often didn’t have the freedom to move about, not because there were walls and watchtowers keeping them penned up, but because they were beholden to the land. They had to pay part of their income if they wanted to stay on that land, and if they wanted any kind of protection.

God said:

My children often wait for circumstances to change before they will make changes within themselves. Putting this wall up is how to stay the same. How closed or open you may be regarding how you view your Life may determine your progress or your status quo. You may prefer an old menu to the new one on general principle.

Want to change your circumstances? If you really want to change the externals of your life, something inside you has to give. Something of the old has to make way for the new. Of course, this will happen one way or another.

Don’t get up in arms now. It is so simple, yet I understand it isn’t so simple for you. In order to change within, to honestly change, you have to let go of something, and therein is the rub. You would let go of something if only you could count on life’s changing as you want it to. Yes, something has to give, beloveds – and it has to give within you.

Life isn’t a trading post. You can't make a deal. Not often, maybe never. You can’t say to life: “Let’s do it my way, Life. Give me a welcome change, and when all is assured according to my desire and my will, then I will give up something of less or equal value.”

I see - you want a deal! You want to strike a hard bargain. The thing is: Let something go so that there is room for greater.

Source: www.preventdisease.com | Original Post Date: March 5, 2014 –

Since ancient times we have seen pictures and paintings of different spiritual leaders across various traditions but one thing that is common among all of them is the halo that surrounds their head which is known as the Aura- energy field. Many have dismissed Auras, especially those professed to be experts in natural sciences. However, with the assistance of highly sensitive cameras scientists have been able to photograph this field some experts believe could become a tool for use in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases.

This aura represents your physical, mental, emotional as well as spiritual energies. The aura is often seen a mix of fine coloured frequencies where each colour defines its own individual nature and characteristics.

Source: www.trueactivist.com | Original Post Date: February 11, 2014 –

If all people decided to take action every time an injustice was witnessed, there would never be any need for squabble to detract from the opportunities at hand. This is exactly what Jadav Payeng decided when he realized his home in India’s northern Assam region needed more trees to protect its wildlife.

It all started in 1979 when large floods washed a great amount of snakes ashore the sandbar near the then-16-year-old’s home. After the tide had receded, Payeng found the place dotted with the dead reptiles; this spurred a turning point in his life.

“The snakes died in the heat, without any tree cover. I sat down and wept over their lifeless forms. It was carnage. I alerted the forest department and asked them if they could grow trees there. They said nothing would grow there. Instead, they asked me to try growing bamboo. It was painful, but I did it. There was nobody to help me. Nobody was interested,” says Payeng, now 47.

Why do you exist?

We all exist, our senses tell us this much. There are objects all around us, some created by the intellect of man, some created by the mother we call “nature”. We know why almost every one of these things exists, we know why the sea is salty, we know why televisions are around and we know what our shoes are for. Everything has a purpose and a place in the world. On an individual level however, most people don’t have a clear view of purpose, they just know that they want their life to mean something, yet all too often accept that it never will. Why is this? What have we lost? Here’s my perspective.