I choose

See you there…

You are your own creator

Love is Energy

One love – no fear (never give up)

No fear in the now

Abraham Hicks – If You Feel Disconnected (You Have a Destiny Waiting for You!)

Before Our Eyes – A message about peace

Courtesy of the Facebook page ‘Freedom is a Choice’ With permission.

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by Freedom is a Choice on Saturday, 18 September 2010 at 13:44

There are so many things that need to change in this world, so many symptoms of the same problems.  Injustice is part of the fabric of our society and, shockingly, a lot of people seem to actually support it, or at least don’t care enough to oppose it.  The people that are placed in positions of power do harm rather than good and the common man is content to sit at home and be programmed by his television.  Why doesn’t anyone care?   Why don’t they notice the chains around their feet?

Faced with such a monumental task such as changing the world, one might be discouraged by all the apathy stacked against them.  One might be scared of the powerful forces intent on crushing them if they get too loud.  It seems like an overwhleming goal to have.  “Change the world,” it sounds like a joke, like something someone might say to mock you.  There are times when I lose hope and become sad when I think about where this world may be headed.  I feel lost and helpless, like a spectator watching powerlessly as his existence crumbles around him.  It always passes after awhile, and it is this realization that drives that lonely feeling away.   We aren’t alone.  There are people all over the world who feels as we do.  There are almost 1500 of them that follow this page.  We are just a fraction of the many people asking the same questions and seeking the same peace.

We don’t have to worry about changing the world.  We need to worry about changing ourselves first and foremost.  Then we need to try to project that ideal of self improvement and self discovery to the people around us.  We can share our discoveries with others and prompt them to question what they are told to think.  Show your favorite videos to people.  Send them links to anything that has guided you on your journey.  Print off flyers.  Start your own webpages.  Print a newsletter.  Send in articles to your local newspapers.  And above all, approach everyone with love and understanding.

Put the message out there anyway you can, and one by one, you will see people’s chains fall to the side.  You are the change, and so is everyone else.  They just don’t know it yet.  Affect what you can, and with enough effort and passion, I believe we will see the world change before our eyes.

Consumersim is unsustainable: offsetting isn’t enough

Photo: NASA Goddard Photo and Video

While it can help to reduce the amount of new carbon pollution created, carbon offsetting is not the cure to the vast environmental problems we face in the world today. Carbon credits merely prevent new pollution in the amount purchased from being created, but does not reduce the amount of pollution that already exists in any capacity.

The hype created around carbon offsetting is that it will help to reduce a carbon footprint to zero. What is often ignored is the fact that it does not reduce the additional pollution caused by daily life such as garbage or non-degradable plastics. These credits can become a token gesture in the larger sense in that there are still other environmental tolls created through daily living.

Photo: j.reed

Carbon credit fraud is another major concern to those who seek to purchase credits to offset their pollution. Often the money paid to these carbon credit companies disappears without proof that the pollution has been offset sufficiently. When combined with the reality that existing pollution is not being reduced, carbon offsetting is not a viable option in trying to sustain the growth of society.

The only effective and lasting method to stop the increase in pollution is to sharply curb society’s mass consumption. By limiting the methods in which these consumables are produced by enforcing tighter restrictions on pollution and sustainability the outgoing pollution will be reduced. Further incorporating means in which to better filter and reduce the carbon pollution generated by commercial endeavors will also help spare the environment from the hefty toll put on it by commercialization.

Ways to limit consumption in daily life include only eating local produce when available, purchasing items that contain minimal packaging and recycling every possible type of waste. Composting and using this material to feed into gardens will also help to gently clean the air around the home.

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Don’t believe everything you think

Do you believe your thoughts? If you’re anything like me, you probably do — especially the ones you think and obsess about most (i.e. the negative, critical ones). However, what if our thoughts aren’t true? In many cases, they’re not — they’re just stories we’ve made up over time and continue to perpetuate with our thinking, speaking and acting.

This past weekend, my wife Michelle and I went to a day long workshop with teacher and author Byron Katie. The workshop blew us both away. Katie (as she goes by) created a simple, but profound inquiry process more than 20 years ago called “The Work,” which consists of four questions and a turnaround.

To utilize “The Work” you identify a specific negative thought (a complaint, a judgment of another person or situation, or something you criticize about yourself) and then ask these four questions:

1. Is it true?
2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?
4. Who would you be without that thought?

After you have investigated your statement with the four questions, you’re ready to turn around the concept you’re questioning. Each turnaround is an opportunity to experience the opposite of your original statement and see what you and the person, situation or characteristic you’ve judged actually have in common.

A statement can be turned around to the opposite, to the other and/or to the self. You then find a minimum of three genuine, specific examples of how each turnaround is true in your life.

For example, let’s say you have an issue with your friend Joe. Your statement might be, “My friend Joe is too critical of me.” If you turn this around, it could be: “My friend Joe is accepting of me,” or “I am too critical of Joe,” or “I am too critical in general.” Then you’d look for multiple examples of where each of these turnarounds are true in your life.

The idea with this process isn’t to make yourself wrong or to live in fantasy land, it is to consciously question reality. Most of what we deem to be real (especially when it causes us to suffer) is made up of negative ideas, beliefs, judgments and thoughts that we’ve come up with as a defense or justification. By questioning our truths, we expand our thinking and begin to see new possibilities. In other words, by not believing everything we think, we take back the power we often give away to our mind.

As I sat in the workshop and listened to Katie work with people one-on-one about some very intense circumstances and situations (grief, abuse, mistrust, guilt, conflict and more), I was amazed by the freedom they were able to experience by simply inquiring into their negative thoughts and questioning them with an open mind.

It made me realize how many of my own judgments, complaints and self criticisms go unchallenged and how I let my mind simply take over and run the show in certain areas of my life (especially the most stressful ones).

Not everything we think is true, thank goodness! The more willing we are to challenge our own thoughts and beliefs, the more peace and freedom we can create and experience in our work, our relationships and our lives.

Mike Robbins is a sought-after motivational keynote speaker, coach and the bestselling author of “Focus on the Good Stuff” (Wiley) and “Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken” (Wiley). More info www.Mike-Robbins.com

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