Much to Give Thanks For

I have been away for quite a while, but (believe it or not) this blog has crossed my mind several times...

There was a reason that I stepped away (aside from a certain amount of honest laziness). It was that I felt the need to focus a little bit more on living my life than writing about it. I read a quote that says, "He who conceives must first unfold his concept." And I have been working in earnest (some days more true than others) to do just that. My desire is to be that version of me that I know I can be... It's the best and perfect Idea of me... I'll talk a little more about that at a later time :-)... But I am extremely thankful, as well as humbled by people who have stopped by to see what I may (or I guess may not... heh) have to say.

There is much to be thankful for... Always. Even in what could be considered by some as "bad" situations. The good thing about bad or crisis situations is that one is inevitably improved by those situations. This is, of course, provided the person chooses to learn from said situations rather than let it consume them. Another quote that from an author I read frequently reads, "Defeat I shall not know. It shall not touch me. I will meet it with true thinking. Resisting it will be my strengthening. But if, perchance, the day shall give to me the bitter cup, it shall sweeten in the drinking." - Walter Russell (excerpt from "Salutation to the Day")

In making the choice to be thankful for all experiences, one makes the choice to live a more joyous life. Further, in that choice one will find true strength to persevere in difficult conditions or situations. I have been blessed to meet some people who have been through remarkable difficulties, betrayals, etc. Yet they still have this extremely joyous glow and positive outlook on life. I can look in such a person's face and see the joy in their smile and the strength in their eyes. It is really very inspiring to see. (One of the reasons I felt moved to write this.) Conversely, I know people who's lives seem extremely hard/unhappy, even though they haven't been through the things some others have. The bottom line is that it's all in how we perceive it, and how we choose to respond to it.

Give thanks.

With Love,

Regular Guy

Desire Is Not a Bad Thing

A lot of times desire can be thought of as a dangerous thing. At times, we suppress certain desires that we have because “it’s not in the plan” or “I should be content with the way things are.” Further, I’m sure that there are many of us who have, at some time or another, let some deep seeded dream or goal fall by the wayside because of [insert arbitrary reason here].

Understand that desire is the force that wills things into being. There is nothing that has been created without there first being a desire for that thing to be created. Without God’s desire to extend his Life and Love to us, we would not exist (nor would anything in this Universe). Further, understand that your existence to this point is the sum total of the fulfillment (or lack of fulfillment) of your desires. You are what you desire to be.

Your desires, along with your unique talents and gifts, are in you for a reason. They combine to form your purpose, for which Life is extended to you to fulfill. Just like a blade of grass has its purpose to manifest the idea of “blade of grass,” just like whale has its purpose to manifest its idea of “whale,” just like Nature and the Universe as a whole exist to manifest the idea of God’s One Whole Idea of Creation, you have the purpose of manifesting the idea of YOU. We all have our equal part in manifesting the Light that is within us; which is the Source from which we all came and to which we all will eventually return. Our purpose is to seek and understand that Light, and further extend and manifest that Creative force, which we are.

Being in the state that we are in our ever unfolding spiritual and mental development, we have not yet become completely aware of God in us, and, as such, sometimes our thinking is not aligned with God’s thinking. This is how we get desires that are not balanced, or how we allow our desires to throw us off balance. A desire for a new job that causes you to falter on your current job is not balanced (more correctly you are not balanced). You have allowed that desire to throw you off. A desire for a new position at a company that requires you to lie on (or otherwise mistreat) a co-worker is not balanced. A desire for a new car that will leave you broke is not balanced. A desire for another man/woman that causes you to cheat or lie is not balanced. Always remember that Balance is the law that governs the spiritual and physical universe. Any action or thought that you put out will be returned to you.

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” - Matthew 7:12

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” - Galatians 6:7

It is our duty to first (and always) seek and understand the all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful Light from which we are extended. This, in itself, will align your thinking and desires. You can then trust those desires.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:33

Another big part of this, is manifestation of these desires through action. It is not enough to sit idly and just “want” things. If you desire something, you can make it happen. Furthermore, it is our duty to do so. The moment you begin to take steps toward your desires, your desires take steps toward you. The sayings, “Where there is a will, there is a way” and “Treat others how you want to be treated” are not just abstractions or little “rules” that we tell kids to encourage them or get them to act right. God’s perfect and inescapable will and law are at the root these things. Cast your excuses to the side, understand your purpose (and the reason for your purpose), and go after it.

With Love,

Regular Guy

Love... Hurts?

During one of the many phone conversations in which we discuss the respective relationship issues we may or may not have, a friend of mine said (with a slight tone of despair), "Love hurts." This got me thinking, and I’d thought I’d write about it (This topic is actually the reason I decided to start a blog in the first place.) I think we all have had experiences of either being (or causing) hurt in relationships. I know I've had my fair share of both, so I understand where this sentiment can come from. However, this hurt that we have experienced or caused cannot be attributed to Love, for Love in its truest essence is completely balanced and cannot cause hurt.

The essence of Love is giving. The law of Love is rhythmic balanced interchange between all givings and regivings. In the case of romantic love, it can be thought of that each person giving fully and truly of themselves to the other, the other person returning that love for regiving, and thusly the cycle repeats over and over. Each giving and regiving balances the other. Balance is the underlying essence which the giving and regiving simulates. Balance and Love are one and the same. The hurt that people experience can be for a variety of reasons, but none of those reasons are because "Love hurt them." The hurt that we perceive is because of the imbalance that we feel/experience in the relationship.

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." - Matthew 7:12

Hurt generally arises from a) a lack of knowledge of what Love is... b) a lack of knowledge of who one's partner is... and/or c) lack of self-knowledge and self-love. (That's in no particular order by the way :-)).

First of all, you have to truly understand and love yourself before you can love anybody else. Being able to honestly say, "This is me, I love me, and this is who I am" is the first step to finding someone who truly matches that. People are like puzzle pieces; we all have certain thoughts, opinions, desires, quirks, needs, etc. that make up the "shape" of who we are. It's hard to find a matching shape when we don't even know (or accept) our own shape. (How many times have we been in relationships and realized that they are not what we really wanted? or that we are not what they wanted?) Also, relationships should not be used to validate the love one should already have for oneself. That’s how people end up getting “dragged through the mud;” losing themselves in their attraction to someone else and doing things they know that they normally wouldn’t and shouldn’t do. Love can be a fulfilling thing, but one should have inner fulfillment before they go and try to find joint fulfillment with someone else. Not having a strong sense of (and love for) who you are and what you are about would bring imbalance to the relationship before it even starts.

Further, it's important to have a deep knowledge of who your partner really is. Amongst many other reasons, this knowledge will help you recognize the unseen essence of Love in your relationship. How can you tell if someone loves you? It is not necessarily in the physical manifestations of love (i.e. the things someone does or doesn't do for you). It is in the reasons why your partner decided to do those things in the first place.

I have also seen (and experienced) hurt because "I like someone and they don't like me in the same way." Well, if someone is lamenting over the fact that "he/she doesn't even know I exist" or "he/she doesn't like me the way I like him/her" then Love is not what they are feeling for that person. What they are attached to and desire is the physical manifestations of Love from that person. They want that person that they desire to give them some type of affirmation of Love (which is actually a selfish thing when you think about it.) Here is a (not-too-distant) past example from my life. There is a certain female singer that I think is fantastic. I admire her talent, and more so I find myself attracted to the qualities she exhibits in her music, her interviews, and her life in general (from what I know at least). How funny (and selfish) is it that I would see her in concert or watch a video and have a "bittersweet" feeling; thinking that "Well I'll never get to meet her" and "She doesn't even know I exist." I "hurt" myself with my own selfish version of affection for this woman and she doesn't even know who I am! In retrospect, I think it's pretty funny. I later realized, that she represents an idea of the type of woman that I vibe with, and that spark that she ignites in me really is a greater awareness of that idea of "type of woman for Regular Guy." That spark is the inspiration for the desire to Love that “woman”, and that idea of woman can and does have its manifestation elsewhere (i.e. in another woman who captures that as well as the other ideas that fit the rest of my "shape"). Therefore, I can be thankful to that particular celebrity for awakening that inspiration of Love in me, and I can have that Love for her whether it's ever physically manifested with her in particular or not because that inspiration still exists and will manifest with someone else. (And yes you can Love the idea of the person you want before you ever meet a person who is a representation of that idea.) Remember that what makes a person who they are is not the body of that person. It is the unseen inner qualities (which the body is a tool to manifest) that make someone who they are. So the point is that type of person who fits your needs does exist, and is not necessarily confined to one particular manifestation of that idea (which, by the way, probably wasn't even the fit you thought it was because if it was then that other person would have seen it too). True Love doesn't have a price tag on it... Love gives unconditionally and not "on the basis that it's returned." However, because of the law of Love, whatever is truly given will undoubtedly be returned (good or bad).

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." - Galatians 6:7

So, love truly... love deeply... Don't turn your back on opportunities for true Love because "I don't want to be hurt again." Realize that true Love would not purposefully misuse you, and if you see that imbalance then you know that Love is not a part of that. You then have the choice to act accordingly.

With Love,

Regular Guy

The Reasons You Shouldn't Worry

This is my first blog post... I'm pretty excited :-). My first post is actually an email I sent to a dear friend, who had been told by her doctor about some issues in her body. While it had not been confirmed that it was serious, she was pretty worried and was somewhat freaking out. We were talking online and we had to cut it short so this is what I wrote up for her:

The Reasons You Shouldn't Worry

I didn't get a chance to get to the meat of what I wanted to tell u, so I decided to write a little something for you.

We already talked about point #1: It's probably nothing :-)

Point number #2: Let's say that it is something serious (which I don't think it is... but for the purposes of discussion let's suppose)... The ultimate question is, what is worrying about it really gonna change?

25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

- Matthew 6:25-27 (NIV) (Jesus speaking to the disciples during the Sermon on the Mount)

I'm not an overly-religious guy (but of course I believe in God and am definitely Spiritually minded)... And I'm not about to get preachy or anything so work w/ me... The reason I mention this here because it mentions several truths that I think that are important when we are talking about why you shouldn't worry.

First of all, we can go straight to this quote, "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" When you think about this, it kinda smacks you in the face because even on the surface it's a pretty undeniable truth. BUT, The key thing to realize is why can't you add or subtract from your life. The answer to this question, which comes from an understanding of what Life really is, is that Life is ETERNAL and you can not add or subtract from that which is forever.

Well, what is Life? To answer that, let's ask a few other questions first. Have you ever given thought to what it is that makes you who you are? It's not your arms, legs, mouth, hair, etc. etc. It's your thoughts, your thinking, your loving, your opinions, your insights, your ideas, your desires... Those are the things that represent are what your Soul is... Your body is just a tool to express the unseen essence of YOU. Why then, do we have such an attachment to a body? Another thing, have you ever thought about the fact that the body is solely a tool for this planet? You have lungs that breathe oxygen in our atmosphere; You have feet that are meant for walking/running on the ground. If you were to place that body ANYWHERE in space or on any other planet in our solar system (left to its own devices), it would be totally useless and you would be "dead" within seconds. The body is just a tool to manifest the idea of Life; the body by itself is NOT alive. So back to the question, What is alive? What is Life? Inside every living thing is that unseen Inner Self which comes from the One all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful God. God extends his One Life and Love to us for us to further manifest and replicate His idea of Life and Love (we can talk about Love later... a whole other topic... but, paradoxically, the same topic). The body by itself could not take it's next breath or heartbeat with out God's will to extend and manifest Life (which is extended to us).

The real you, the Inner You, is something that has existed, does exist, and will always exist. Everything that seemingly "exists" in the physical (such as the body) must go through the cycle of "life" and "death" as we observe it here on the physical earth. The "Life" and "Death" of the body as we observe it in the physical are really just two halves of the same cycle that repeats forever. Just like the leaf of a tree falls to the ground and "dies" in the fall, in the spring time it will undoubtedly be back again to manifest the idea of Life (and of "tree leaf" and "tree" for that matter... but I digress :-)).

Of course there is more detail to this, but I think that is what I'm gonna leave you with for now. In the end, I just want you to know that it will be ok. We can definitely talk about this later. Toss it around in your Mind and feel free to let me know what you think.

With Love,

Regular Guy