Daily Awareness

How significant is your life?

When all is said and done, can you say you have lived a life of significance?

This question came to me on Friday evening of last week as I sat by the bedside of a friend who was in transition from the physical plane to her next journey.

The hospital room had an energy of love from not only the people who were with Justine at the time, but also those who had been visiting for many days prior to bid her farewell as well as the energy of those who could not physically be by Justine's bedside, yet there in spirit none the less.

Visitors came to bid farewell and have a closing conversation with this amazing woman. In the time I was in the room it became so evident that Justine is deeply loved by an incredibly diverse group of people.

It was sensing this that brought the question to surface, "Have you lived a life of significance?"

The Miracle Workers

Miracles appear every day, in every way. All we need do is look.

Often, we may think our problems are so overwhelming we don't know how we will get through them. We get through them little by little, day by day, moment by moment.

Then the miracle of seeing someone else triumph over what seems insurmountable odds.

Watch as three young people create a miracle of love for their mother.


When you need a great boost of inspiration simply watch again and again. All things will be put into perspective.

Women of Wisdom Book Excerpt - Spiritual Courage: Put Love Into Action

Today I am pleased to post an excerpt of an amazing book, Women of Wisdom. The following addresses the issue of love in action. Enjoy.

If there ever was a time when we need to put love into action, it is now. Take a look at our world—it is so interconnected, not only by technologies of communication and transportation, but also by technologies of destruction.

War and terrorism can reach the other end of the world in a matter of minutes. So we really are at an evolutionary turning point. We have to join together to lay the foundations for a peaceful world. And this is what I have so much passion for—not only because of my research, but because I am a mother, and a grandmother.

How are we going to make a difference? How are we really going to heal this world—this world that is so full of suffering; where especially women and children are all too often brutalized? How can we even think of peace as long as that violence continues?

I’m not going to exhort, to preach that people should be kinder and better and more loving; because after all, spiritual people have been doing this for millennia. Instead, we’re going to look at how we can create the conditions that will support the kinds of relationships and behaviors we yearn for: relationships of mutual benefit, of mutual respect, of mutual accountability, of non-violence, of caring.

All the universe is conspiring in your favor

“When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person realize his dream,” the Alchemist.

The underlying theme of this magical, entertaining and spiritually-based book is such that one can’t help but realize that we each have a destiny and our only responsibility is to fulfill our calling.

Join the shepherd boy who discovers his hidden passion and how the universe conspired him to to realize his dream in the most amazing ways.

From helping a shop owner increase business, to meeting the love of his life, to being accosted by bandits and finally realizing his dream, the shepherd boy lives in each of us.

Will you heed your calling? Find out by reading The Alchemist by Paul Coelho. I highly recommend this book. 

What motivates people to get involved with TNT

Hear and watch the story of how Team in Training got started and why so many people contribute their time, energy and money

To read my reasons go to my TNT page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/or/portland09/kgagem

Who is Emmet Fox anyway?

The Hidden Power

"Strange as it may seem to you, there exists a mystic power that is able to transform your life so thoroughly, so radically, so completely, that when the process is completed your own friends would hardly recognize you, and, in fact, you would scarcely be able to recognize yourself. You would sit down and ask yourself: "Can I really be the man or woman that I vaguely remember, who went about under my name six months or six years ago? Was I really that person? Could that person have possibly been me?" And the truth will be that while in one sense you are indeed the same person, yet in another sense you will be someone utterly different.

"This mystic but intensely real force can pick you up today, now, from the midst of failure, ruin, misery, despair – and in the twinkling of an eye, as Paul said, solve your problems, smooth out your difficulties, cut you free from any entanglements, and place you clear, safe, and happy upon the highroad of freedom and opportunity."

Emmet Fox
(1886-1951)
One of the most influential New Thought authors of the 20th Century

Many people were first introduced to New Thought - Ancient Wisdom through channels such as The Secret, Wayne Dyer books, Neale Donald Walsch CDs, Hay House Publications resources to name just a few. Others had earlier introductions.

The fact is, New Thought - Ancient Wisdom has been around for centuries. One need simply go on a treasure hunt of sorts to discover how much is really available via the Internet. And much of it is free. You likely will be amazed at how old many of the teachings are. And the fact many of the teachers have passed from the physical plane yet their words continue to influence.

The core of many teachings is "our thoughts create our reality as do our words. The words we speak influence the experiences we have."

Therefore, if your words and thoughts are not congruent, this can mislead and confuse the subconcsious mind. We cannot say we are manifesting something on the one hand and discount our words through what may appear innocent thoughts.

Thus when some people try to "affirm" themselves into the perfect job, perfect car, perfect dress size or whatever they view as perfect they miss the mark by a long shot. You can mouth the words, but if you do not believe what you are saying, your thoughts will be such to discount the words.

Do affirmations works? They do when coupled with thoughts and feelings. Oh yes, and one tiny detail, more times than not our affirmations, thoughts and words must be followed by actions of some sort.

Are you on a diet or living a lifestyle?

On any given day countless numbers of people are either starting or stopping a diet.

Each time one begins the process of dieting, we are convinced this is it! It doesn't matter how many times we commit to our next form of emotional and often physical torture, the thought is likely, "this is the magic formula."

Each time someone commits and then stops they will likely feel more defeated than the time before. It seems to be a never ending process thus creating more self-defeating behaviors. 

You might be wondering why I am writing about dieting on my Daily Awareness blog. After all, isn't this supposed to be a spiritual blog?

Yes, it is. Truth be told, how we take care of our mind, body and soul all connects to our spiritual awakening. When we are bogged down by toughts of "I need to eat better or I shouldn't be eating these bad foods or someday I'm going to start that next diet" we mess with our spiritual well-being.

Rather than viewing a change in eating as a way to drop some magical number of pounds, what if we ate to honor our body, our mind and spirit. By doing this it is more likely we will get to the optimum weight and health.

I don't expect everyone to agree with me on that last statement. I can only speak from my experience.

The fact is, almost any diet will work to drop weight. But is weight loss alone what we want? Or do we want to be so connected with our mind, body and spirit that our level of consciousness rises beyond our current understanding?

I'll admit it; I'm one of those who has tried various diets or bought magazines with articles that "called to me" by way of a quick solution to losing 10, 20 or even 30 pounds in an unrealistic amount of time.

Do you notice the subtle blessings?

Do you ever have those days where it seems everywhere you turn, everything you see, every scent you smell, every sound you hear, you recognize as a blessing? Most amazingly, the more one recognizes their blessings the more they seem to notice more blessings.

Today has been such a day for me. It began with simply waking up. What a blessing to be on this side of the dirt.

Realizing I have a roof over my head, a bed to sleep in, warmth from my coverings, running water to shower in, food to eat, a family I love and who loves me, I have no doubt how blessed I am.

As I was leaving home to drive out and meet a group of folks I am in training with, I came upon a site to behold. Not more than four hours earlier the neighbor's rescue horse had her colt. Randy rescued the pregnant mare a few weeks ago.

When the mare first arrived she was rail thin and in very poor shape. Randy’s focus was getting weight on the soon-to-be mother as well as gain her trust so he could touch her. The mare trusting Randy would be essential in case she needed any help during the birth.

It’s amazing what a lot of love, food, water and attention can do. Within a few short weeks the mare looked like a different horse. And the level of trust she now has in Randy was night and day from when she first arrived.

Fortunately, all went smooth as silk during the delivery. The colt is a healthy miracle of nature. The mother is protective, but not to the degree that she won’t let Randy near.

Content to watch from the side of the road for a few minutes, I went on to meet my team members and trainer. After a two hour work out that allowed me to take in the beauty of one of Oregon’s most beautiful rivers, I headed home in hopes of getting closer to the colt.

Not only was I able to get closer, I was able to gently stroke the colt with his watchful mother close by.

Again, the deep recognition of my blessing became apparent. Here I was, lying in a field with a beautiful animal less than 8 hours old that lay asleep in the grass.

Often our blessings are so simple we can miss them. With a blink of an eye we can miss something so profound OR we can choose to recognize each and every breath we take as the seed that holds our blessings.

Are you making decisions from your humanness or your divinity?

Are you making decisions from your humanness or your divinity? This is a question posed by author, Debbie Ford in her book The Right Questions; Ten Essential Questions to Guide You to an Extraordinary Life.

The book was a present from my good friend, Carol Rozek of Opportunity Barks. Just a few days prior I had been thinking of purchasing the book and presto! I receive a copy for my birthday. Carol had no idea I wanted the book. She said she had a "sense" I would love it. How right she was.

I couldn't have planned receiving the book at a better time. You see, I had a visiting guest at the time Carol gave me the book. My dear friend and colleague, Lorraine Cohen, was staying with me for the weekend. She was here from the East Coast to celebrate the Grand Opening of Opportunity Barks.

Lorraine had her own copy of the book back home. She had been thinking of reading it and after I read one chapter and shared how excited I was to read more, Lorraine said she would definitely read the book when she got home.

Late one evening during Lorraine's weekend visit she and I talked about some things we wanted to change in our life and some things we wanted to accomplish. In a nutshell we both reached a point where we wanted to have more accountability for our health which meant looking at our individual choices around not only our nutrition and exercise, but also our thought processes.