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Giving Tuesday

11/30/2021

You have probably been bombarded by shopping ads and sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but today is all about helping others. Today is #GivingTuesday, a day dedicated to helping charities help people in need and that is something way more exciting to me!

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving has been tagged as the global day of giving. Bringing people together around the values of service and giving back and to encourage and amplify small acts of kindness. Giving Tuesday unites people and countries around the world by sharing our capacity to care for and empower one another.

Today people and countries are coming together to celebrate kindness and generosity. Practicing gratitude for what we have in our lives, as well as what we can do to help and be of service to others. I love the concept of a global day of giving for many reasons, two of which are proven to be key pillars of happiness...gratitude and generosity...service and kindness.

The Dalai Lama in his book, The Book of Joy, says, "As one of the seven billion human beings, I believe everyone has the responsibility to develop a happier world. We need, ultimately, to have a greater concern for others' well-being." He goes on to say, "Too much self-centered thinking is the source of suffering. A compassionate concern for others' well-being is the source of happiness. We have to take care of ourselves without selfishly taking care of ourselves. If we don't take care of ourselves, we cannot survive. We need to do that. We should have wise selfishness, rather than foolish selfishness. Foolish selfishness means you just think only of yourself, don't care about others, bully others, exploit others. In fact, taking care of others, helping others, ultimately is the way to discover your own joy and to have a happy life. So that is what I call wise selfishness."

The Dalai Lama starts each day by setting his intention for the day. His intention is for the day to be meaningful. For him, meaningful means, if possible, serve and help others. If not possible, then at least not to harm others. He believes that, "Everybody wants a happy life...and our individual happy life depends on a happy humanity. So we have to think about humanity, discover a sense of oneness of all seven billion human beings." The path of joy is connection and the path of sorrow is separation.

Bringing people and countries together to celebrate our oneness, our kindness, our gratitude, our generosity to care for, empower and lift each other up, creating a happy humanity.

Science supports that when we see someone perform an act of kindness or of generosity it warms our heart. This warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you have witnessed human goodness is called moral elevation. Studies have found that the natural high of moral elevation makes people want to behave more altruistically toward others, causing kindness to be contagious. Elevation motivates those who experience it to open up to and assist others. Elevation makes an individual feel lifted up and optimistic about humanity...something I think we could all use a bit more of these days!

Let's finish out this year of 2021 by intentionally practicing giving, being of service, acts of kindness and of generosity. Let's create moral elevation, so we can all feel lifted up and optimistic about humanity and our future together.

What can you do over this next month to create moral elevation? What small act of kindness, service or generosity can you perform? What act of compassion will make someone else's day brighter and lighter? Let's practice wise selfishness instead of foolish selfishness during this holiday season. I invite you to join me in creating ripples of moral elevation.

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Thankful

11/22/2021

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This week, many of us will be celebrating Thanksgiving. It's a time to pause, to reflect and give thanks for our blessings, the people and things that we feel truly grateful for in our lives.

This week especially, I would like you all to know how very grateful I am for you. Thank you for receiving my posts, for taking the time to ponder their message, for taking a moment to leave me a comment, for sharing with me your insight and wisdom, and thank you for sharing it with others. I appreciate you inspiring me, for keeping your hearts open to light and love and infinite possibilities. Thank you for being curious, for being vulnerable, for practicing with me, and for helping to create so many beautiful ripples. I am truly grateful for each of you.

Being grateful is an active daily practice of mine. Intentionally in the morning and before bed, but also throughout my day recounting and expressing gratitude for the many blessings in my life. This practice has changed and enhanced my life. Gratitude changes the lens upon which we see everything in the world. Have you tried it yet? Do you have an active gratitude practice?

I have spent a lot of time studying and researching positive psychology and happiness and the one thing that consistently comes up over and over again is the power of gratitude in leading a positive, happy, joyful life. It's truly a game changer!!

Our brains are programmed for a negatively bias. We are 3-5 times more sensitive to negative information. Our brains are trained to scan the world for the negative, for the threats, so that it can help us to survive. Our brain is like velcro for negativity and teflon for positivity.

Negative emotions put us into fight or flight mode and narrow our ability to think. Positive emotions broaden and build our brain's ability to think and see. Positive emotions flood the brain with dopamine and serotonin. Chemicals that not only make us feel good, but that dial up the learning centers of our brains. This helps us to organize new information, to keep the information longer and retrieve it faster.

There are many scientifically documented advantages to having a positive brain versus a negative brain. So how does this all relate to giving thanks? Gratitude is a system to offset the negativity. It amplifies the goodness. Gratitude is the gateway to happiness, the gateway to the advantages of having a positive mindset. The practice of gratitude invites joy into our lives, not the other way around.

When life is going well gratitude allows us to celebrate the success. When life feels like it is going poorly and we are challenged, gratitude gives us perspective. It is a beautiful perspective shift. Gratitude is an engine for holistic change. When you are grateful for what you have, you make energetic space for more abundance to flow into your life. When feeling grateful you feel more open, generous, connected, aware and alive.

This week, in honor of Thanksgiving, I invite you to go deeper with your gratitude practice. Each day journal at least 3 new things that you are grateful for, be as specific as you can. Or, take a few minutes each day to write a thank you note to someone, thanking or praising them for something they have done to make your life lighter and brighter.

Make gratitude an active routine, independent of how you feel and not just on Thanksgiving, but all year long. This Thanksgiving, don’t express gratitude only when you feel it. Give thanks especially when you don’t feel it. Let's turn up the volume on gratitude and ramp up the vibration this week. I know I could use it, how about you?

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The Compass And The Captain: A Metaphor For Emotional Intelligence

11/16/2021

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You may have heard that your level of emotional intelligence is more important to your success than your IQ. While IQ is a strong predictor of academic success, it alone is not enough to set you up for success in life. Researchers have shown that our success at work or in life depends 80% on emotional intelligence and only 20% on IQ.

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to understand and manage emotional encounters. Individuals who score highly on emotional intelligence tend to be better able to handle everyday stress, foster a greater number of meaningful close relationships, be more socially competent, and reach their goals and aspirations.

In my new program offering, The Compass: An Emotional Intelligence Program, our function in life is compared to the journey of a sailboat. In particular, the elements of the compass and the captain serve to demonstrate the use of emotions as data to the individual.

A compass is an instrument used for navigation and orientation that provides feedback on the current direction in which we are heading. In a similar vein, experiences like feelings, emotions, bodily sensations and intuition serve as a tool for navigation and orientation in our lives.

Both positive and negative experiences are signals that provide feedback on the route we are taking in life. They can serve as a valuable guide on our journey and provide us with key emotional data. For this reason, it is important to pay attention to them and allow them to be present.

The captain is the master of the boat and interacts with the compass, however, the captain is not the compass … just as you are not your emotions. The captain is the agent … the one who takes action.

An emotionally intelligent person can be compared to a captain who uses the compass of their boat wisely. For a compass to be of most value, the captain must be able to read it and use its feedback in a way that ensures a prosperous journey. Likewise, the emotionally intelligent person knows how to “read” emotions and manage them in a way that promotes well-being.

A person who has difficulty handling their emotions is like a captain who is unable to respond to the feedback from the compass and is not using the feedback in an adaptive way. Have you struggled with this yourself?

When it comes to positive emotions, an emotionally intelligent person uses them to speed up the creative process, similar to the captain using the compass’ feedback to hoist the sails and allow the boat to move at a higher speed. Do you utilize positive emotions to your benefit?

This program is designed to increase your level of emotional intelligence in four key areas … noticing and understanding your emotions, effective regulation of your emotions, using your emotions to facilitate performance, and noticing and understanding emotions in others. Please reach out to me if you are interested in learning more.

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The Evolution Of Collective Consciousness

11/9/2021

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Last week's post explored the idea of consciousness. Now let's dive into the idea of collective consciousness. In particular, as it relates to the current challenges we are facing as a country and in the world.

Collective consciousness is defined as the set of shared beliefs, ideas and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society. Just as our individual consciousness can evolve or ascend, so can the collective consciousness.

In last week's post, I suggested that a higher consciousness is an increasing awareness of your spiritual essence, the meaning of life and of the underlying spiritual nature in and of all things. It's elevating your awareness beyond your normal thought processes to your true nature. The same holds true for the collective consciousness.

I also mentioned the idea that life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of consciousness. Many spiritual leaders believe the challenges that we are currently facing as a nation and as a world is a collective challenge. Its intent is to raise the consciousness of a large group of people all at once. From a higher consciousness perspective, being challenged is a good thing and the crisis is a natural part of evolution.

Eckhart Tolle explains that sometimes as part of this evolution, we first regress backward. Two steps forward, one step back. It is a cycle, you revert backward, so you can spring forward further. He believes that we have regressed, but that we are positioned to bounce forward collectively.

The choice for each of us is to see the craziness, to see the challenges that are happening now, and the other is to see from a higher perspective that what is happening now is part of the evolution. Right now we are standing at a big fork in the road and the question is, will we stay on the same path and cling to the craziness, or be brave and bold and venture down a new path?

We can choose to work toward the evolution or to work against it. You may be wondering, how do I choose to work toward it? There are many things that you can do to foster the growth of the collective consciousness. A global shift cannot occur until we acknowledge and own our actions and then take action in the world.

We can choose to stop taking sides and fostering separation. This is not about us versus them. This is not about republicans versus democrats. This is not just about men versus women. This is not about blacks versus whites. This is not about blaming, deflecting or defending. This is about all of us working together. It's about understanding that we are all one. A collective higher consciousness means we stop acting as though we are separate, but instead work toward the good of the whole.

We can choose to practice empathy, compassion and loving kindness. What is it like to be you? As Brene Brown says in her book Braving the Wilderness, "People are hard to hate close up, move in." Stop dehumanizing people and start humanizing. This can start with listening.

We can choose to exercise the ability to truly listen to one another. Listen without judgment. Listen with curiosity. Listen with an effort toward understanding. Listen without the goal of responding not reacting. Listen with the awareness that each of us has our own set of unique life circumstances. In this moment of stillness where you are listening you are not only aware of what that person is saying, but you can also become aware of the deeper essence in the other person that goes well beyond what they are speaking.

We can choose to do something, big or small, and do it with conviction. Stop making excuses for doing something...I can't right now because I'm too busy, maybe next week. Do something and do it with conviction and commitment. What's your passion? Is it racial injustice? Homelessness? Human sex trafficking? Hunger? Clean water? The environment? Whatever your passion is, take action toward relieving the suffering. Find your tribe, your circle of like-hearted individuals who have the same passion and together create ripples. Use your voice to call attention to the suffering.

Author and spiritual teacher, Brother David Steindl-Rast, sums it up this way, "See everything as an opportunity. The current challenges that society faces is a huge opportunity. It is a moment in time that is calling each and everyone of us to step into this opportunity. It is a gift, a great gift. We have the opportunity to stretch even further than people have ever stretched before. An opportunity to stretch to understand each other more, to listen to each other more, to come to a common hope."

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What Does It Mean To Be Conscious?

11/2/2021

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The reference to people being "conscious," "awake," "woke" is being used a lot. Have you ever wondered what it means to be conscious from both a physical and spiritual perspective? It can be a hard concept to put it into words.

Consciousness is defined as the state or quality of awareness. It refers to your awareness of your thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations, triggers, and the environment. Consciousness is an individual’s awareness of their own internal states, as well as the events going on around them. Being conscious is part of what allows us to exist and understand ourselves in the world.

Being an awake and loving presence in the world is about focusing within. Healing and overcoming our own shadows creates an existence where we naturally act in harmonious and mutually beneficial ways more often.

On the surface, or physical level, consciousness is the ability to be awake and process information. Doctors determine if people are conscious or not depending on their wakefulness and how they respond to external stimuli.

Do you consider yourself to be conscious...beyond the medical definition that is? Are you aware of your own internal states, as well as the events going on around you? Sometimes I can be conscious, but I'm on auto-pilot and not operating consciously.

From a spiritual perspective, consciousness is all of those things mentioned, but also regarded as an evolving process. One from what might be considered a lower level state of consciousness, or awareness to a higher level or more evolved state of consciousness, awareness, or awakeness. This is also referred to as spiritual ascension or spiritual awakening.

Higher consciousness is an increasing awareness of your spiritual essence, the meaning of life and of the underlying spiritual nature in and of all things. It's elevating your awareness beyond your normal thought processes to your true nature...the journey toward wholeness.

Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle says that, "Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness." He goes on to explain, "How do you know if this is the experience that you need? Because it's the experience that you are having." It's as simple and as complex as that. He suggests that we accept each moment as though you have chosen it for your evolution.

Eckhart Tolle believes that, "The most important thing is not what's happening out there, it's your own state of consciousness. what happens to you is much less important than how you respond to what happens. It's then that you are not at the mercy of what happens to you." He goes on to explain that our minds create all kinds of negative thoughts about our experience and that is what creates most of our suffering.

There is much discussion in the spiritual community about raising our individual consciousness and the collective consciousness. Collective consciousness is the set of shared beliefs, ideas and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society.

I believe the most important thing we can do for ourselves, and the world we live in, is to raise our level of spiritual consciousness. The more you are able to raise your level of consciousness, the more joyous, peaceful, and meaningful our experience of life becomes. The more we raise our level of spiritual consciousness, the more we change our mind, the more we change the world.

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Giving Tuesday

Thankful

The Compass And The Captain: A Metaphor For Emotional Intelligence

The Evolution Of Collective Consciousness

What Does It Mean To Be Conscious?

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