Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install LOVE. Can you guide me though the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it O.K. to install LOVE while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running?

Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge, and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem. LOVE will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory, but it will no longer disrupt other programs. LOVE will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent LOVE from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?

Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your Start Menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.

Customer: O.K. Done! LOVE has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, “Error – Program not run on external components.” What should I do?

Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance, then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: O.K. Done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the “My Heart” folder. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all folders and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So LOVE is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. LOVE is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

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She speaks about the importance of letting go of the past so we can live fully in the present. The past doesn’t exist, except in our minds. Letting go frees our perceptions, which frees our future as well.

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Hidden amongst the lush rain forests North East of Melbourne, Victoria, is the rare jewel that is Bruno’s art and culpture garden.

The original and unique artworks of sculptor and painter Bruno Torfs have brought joy and inspiration to thousands of visitors from all over the world.

Unfortunately, on the 7th of February, 2009, a bushfire raged through the township, decimating everything in its path without mercy and claimed the lives of friends and neighbours indiscriminately. Bruno was extremely lucky to survive, and the rest of the family are safe and well.

Bruno’s home and art gallery were completely destroyed in the blaze, with Bruno only managing to save a handful of paintings. The damage to the main attraction, the sculpture garden, is yet to be discerned, as we are unable to return to Marysville until the police have finished investigating the scene and identifying the remains of those who perished in the fire.

Also, all remaining copies of the book and the DVD describing the garden were destroyed during the fire, but new special editions of both these products will be available soon and can be pre-ordered (see links below).

Bruno, Andrew Kade, and the family have made the choice to rebuild the gardens and have already begun their quest. Here is Bruno’s vision for the future, in his own words.

We want to restore the garden as quickly as possible. If we can bring people back to Marysville soon, this will bring much needed hope to the community. It is going to be a difficult and challenging time, but everyone from the town I have spoken to has a lot of optimism, despite losing so much. We will recover.

“Deep Within” is an award-winning documentary by highly talented director Jerome Pelletier. “Deep Within” delves into the mysterious enigma that is the artist, Bruno Torfs, and explores the hidden world full of fantasy and humour that he has created beneath the canopy of the rainforests of the alpine township of Marysville. Few people who undertake this journey are left untouched.

All remaining copies of the original version of the DVD have perished in the fire. Therefore a new special edition of the DVD has been produced. This special edition contains an interview with Bruno shortly after his narrow escape from the disastrous blaze, retelling his account of that ill-fated day.

Click here to pre-order the DVD.

Click here to pre-order the book.

Click here to see a slideshow of many of the lost art works.

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What’s a 7 letter word for setting a goal, trying through thick and thin to make it happen and realizing you’re just not going to make it?

F-a-i-l-u-r-e? That’s what most people might call it. Heck, that’s even what I’ve been calling it until recently. The dream I had invested my money, time, and heart into achieving is no closer today than it was eight years ago when I began. Failure.

But, here at the turning point…at the moment of acceptance, I do not see this as failure. This time, I see it as h-o-n-e-s-t-y.

Author Robert Holden, Director of the Happiness Project, calls this single-minded focus upon the achievement of our goals Destination Addiction. Those who can only see the end target, fail to appreciate the journey. To them, the journey is merely a means to an end. It’s only the “end” that’s valued.

Of course, anyone who has achieved a goal knows that the euphoria is short-lived. The moment the end is reached, a new goal takes its place and celebration fades in a mad rush toward the next end.

Eight years ago I began a new life; not fully formed in thought or reality. Like most, I was focused upon what I needed to DO in the world. I wanted to be of significant service to others. I wanted to free people of their fear shackles and provoke them into realizing how truly magnificent they really were. Sure, I also wanted to be well-known and respected for my own magnificence. My ego gets the better of me sometimes and I wanted to be the one on the top of the best seller list. I wanted to be the one Oprah called to be on her show. I wanted to be the one carting cash to the bank every day.

And none of that happened. For a long time I looked at this discrepancy as a puzzle to figure out. All I needed was the right combination of focus, opportunity, hard work, and luck and it would happen. I just needed to stick with it longer. Work harder. Network more. Market more. Be more visible. Get a mentor. Create more product.

Friends would scratch their heads and wonder in confounded voices why I hadn’t been discovered. “It’s just a matter of time, don’t give up,” they’d advise. And I’d hang on longer and buoy my lagging emotions back up and put on a happy face.

I had Destination Addiction. In my mind, unless I made the dream happen, nothing else mattered. I’d lost myself to the target. All this…the stuff my days were made of…none of it mattered. It was just a means to an end. Until I realized that the end was just an end – one I had envisioned as my nirvana. One my ego had chosen as its proof that I was worthy. One that no one, but me, cared much about.

How many billions of people have been born, traveled through life and died? That’s how many times we’ve tried to figure out why we’re here. After eons of best efforts, the way seems no clearer. We still reinvent the wheel with every new-born’s cry.

Here at the later stages of my life, I’m throwing out the rule book. It’s not worked for me so far. It feels like I’ve been playing poker with a  deck of tarot cards. It just doesn’t work. Instead, I’m not going to try to control every last element. I’m not going to work myself into a stupor. I’m not going to become addicted to the destination.

This time I’ll paying as much attention to the means as to the end. I’ll be present and look at the value of this day, not just tomorrow. I’ll honor my inner growth, not just an external accomplishment. I’m learning to pay attention, not control. If my self-chosen end isn’t my God-chosen end, then so be it.

My life is here to be used to serve. The avenue through which that happens is almost inconsequential. If I pay attention, I’ll be guided on this path to the fulfillment of my every hope. I’m learning, slowly, to listen with new ears and see with new eyes. Not to force, but to allow. Words I’ve heard, and even espoused, for a while…I’m finally learning the meaning of them. It’s a new path for me and so far, I’m enjoying it.

Karen Wright is the owner of www.wrightminded.com, a site devoted to personal development, aimed particularly at women, but definitely applicable to men as well. Karen also provides the Hearts-on-Fire Radio Show on BlogTalkRadio.

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By any standards, we look to be in a bit of economic mess right now, and in many ways the future looks bleak and uncertain. If you are in danger of losing your home or your job, you know this only too well. If you are in a predicament like this, I don’t doubt that you are feeling fearful, angry, and worried about your future. Who wouldn’t be?

But as you may know, in the Chinese language, the same character is used to mean both danger and opportunity. Knowing, as you do, a little more about how the Universe works than do most people, might you perhaps be wondering whether there could be an opportunity contained in this situation for you?

I don’t know any more than you do, perhaps, what that opportunity might be at this time, but I have met many people in my life who told me that losing a job or being made redundant was the best thing that ever happened to them. Something else far better opened up for them, and it changed their lives. Does it work for everyone? No. But it sure does work for some.

“How can I make that happen for me, then?” you might well ask. “How can I create that kind of opportunity for myself given the predicament I am in now?

There’s two ways to answer this question. First, it has to be seen as an issue of consciousness. Second, there are some practical steps you might want to take that will help you move into the energy of new possibility. I will deal with the consciousness issue first.

To become open to new opportunity, you need to develop a consciousness that will draw that opportunity to you. By that I mean developing a willingness to see the Universe as being infinitely abundant and trusting that you are always supplied as needed. It is also being willing to accept that the situation you are in at this moment is self-created, and you have chosen it for your soul’s growth. This empowers you because you accept that you are responsible for creating your life, which in turn means you (your Higher Self) can actually manifest the opportunities you want.

Now, of course, we all know that developing this abundance consciousness is not easy, especially if you are already in trouble. The fact is you need tools to help you. The best technology I know for this is Radical Manifestation. It provides tools that work, not by reprogramming your monkey-mind, but by using your own innate Spiritual Intelligence to connect directly into what David Bohm, the noted physicist, calls ‘the implicate order.’

Bohm says that everything that ever was, is, or will be is enfolded as potential in the implicate order just waiting to be released and made ‘explicate’ through our conscious intention to make it happen. When you use the tools of Radical Manifestation, your Spiritual Intelligence does this for you. This is the best way I know of creating the space for the desired opportunity to occur. It puts the Law of Attraction into action for you.

Now let me provide some further food for thought about how you might take some practical steps to place yourself in the flow of opportunity and increase your income.

One of the principles of Radical Manifestation is that while we need to give our manifestation requests over to Spirit, we also need to go on with life and to be in action about what we have asked for in the only ways we know how. In other words, we have to give Spirit something to work with.

Define Your Purpose
One really important action step to take that could lead you in the right direction and raise your consciousness is to first discover, define, and refine your purpose or your mission. Nothing is more likely to put you in the flow of your right and perfect life’s work than doing this. Even if you are not in the position of possible job loss or income decline, creating a strong statement of purpose will enhance what it is you already do and pull you forward into even greater possibility.

When people who develop clarity about their purpose lose their jobs, they usually attract work to them eventually that is much more in alignment with who they are. (Note: Sometimes people subconsciously “create” losing their jobs in order to force themselves into a move of this kind.) The job they “lost” may have been OK for providing money and benefits, but it didn’t feed their soul. Losing their job gave them an opportunity to evaluate their lives and make a decision to do something more meaningful.

Being of Service to Others
What this often turns out to be is doing something that enables them to be of service to others. Over the years we have noticed that this is nearly always the primary motivation for people who enroll in our professional, online certification programs.

It is in times like these that we need to look for the opportunities both to raise our consciousness and to make the necessary adjustments in how we are living and working. These are not in opposition to each other. In fact, they are two sides of the same coin. As we make practical and down-to-earth changes in our lives in response to events, while at the same time raising our consciousness, then we shall be guided by Spirit toward doing that which is in our highest and best interest. So stay calm while everyone is panicking, do what seems to be right in the moment, and trust the Universe to take care of the details.

About the Author:

Colin Tipping is the creator of what has come to be recognized as the most powerful leading-edge technology for personal and spiritual growth today — Radical Forgiveness. He is the acknowledged authority on the application of this technology to the “healing” of individuals, families, races, corporations, and communities. He is also the author of five popular, ground-breaking books.

During his career as a teacher and motivator, Colin Tipping has, together with his wife JoAnn, founded the Institute for Radical Forgiveness, Quantum Energy Management Consultants, LLC, The Georgia CancerHelp Program, and Together-We-Heal, Inc., a 501-c-3, non-profit corporation. An inspiring conference keynoter and retreat leader, Colin’s workshops — delivered in several countries on three continents — are praised as life-changing experiences.

Learn more about Colin and his Radical Forgiveness strategies at:

http://www.radicalforgiveness.com

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It was June 15, and in two days I would be turning thirty. I was insecure about entering a new decade of my life and feared that my best years were now behind me.

My daily routine included going to the gym for a workout before going to work. Every morning I would see my friend Nicholas at the gym. He was seventy-nine years old and in terrific shape. As I greeted Nicholas on this particular day, he noticed I wasn’t full of my usual vitality and asked if there was anything wrong. I told him I was feeling anxious about turning thirty. I wondered how I would look back on my life once I reached Nicholas’ age, so I asked him, “What was the best time of your life?”

Without hesitation, Nicholas replied, “Well, Joe, this is my philosophical answer to your philosophical question:

“When I was a child in Austria and everything was taken care of for me and I was nurtured by my parents, that was the best time of my life.

“When I was going to school and learning the things I know today, that was the best time of my life.

“When I got my first job and had responsibilities and got paid for my efforts, that was the best time of my life.

“When I met my wife and fell in love, that was the best time of my life.

“The Second World War came, and my wife and I had to flee Austria to save our lives. When we were together and safe on a ship bound for North America, that was the best time of my life.

“When we came to Canada and started a family, that was the best time of my life.

“When I was a young father, watching my children grow up, that was the best time of my life.

“And now, Joe, I am seventy-nine years old. I have my health, I feel good and I am in love with my wife just as I was when we first met. This is the best time of my life.”

Author Unknown

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I believe that this is only a sign of the times to come, where the lion will lie down with the lamb, as prophesied in scriptures. It’s a time when peace will reign on this planet Earth. And it’s coming to a place near you, one day at a time.

If animals can learn to live together in peace, why shouldn’t we, with our supposedly vaster complex of abilities and insights?

There is hope for tomorrow, today.

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This movie is based on that concept. It ties together beautiful pictures of pets and owners, inspiring words, and sets them against the backdrop of the inspiring music of the song Perhaps Love, sung so beautifully by John Denver and Placido Domingo.

Enjoy.

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Hello Jim,

I definitely understand your frustration. I’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt, as they say. And we go on. It’s what we’ve been through that got us to where we are today. And it’s what we do and go through today that will take us to where we’ll be tomorrow.

A tree right here can’t be a tree over there. And this particular tree can’t be that particular tree, or another tree. It can only be the exact tree that it is. And that’s enough. That’s its purpose. It brings a piece of the puzzle to the party that no other tree has. So do we.

We get into trouble when we start comparing ourselves with others. We get into “I’m not enough” mode. But the truth is, we are enough. God created us and gave us the freedom to choose whatever we choose to do, have, and be. If we don’t like how that’s worked out, we can choose again, and focus on changing how it works out in the future. But in the mean time, there’s no other being on the planet just like you, with all that you’ve been through, learned, and know. Only you can be you. Being you isn’t difficult. What’s difficult is trying to be a you that you aren’t. Giving yourself permission to be the holy child of God that only you are frees you up from lots of unnecessary anguish.

In my own life, I found that everything changed for the better, at least my attitude did, and that’s the beginning of changing everything else, when I discovered who I really was–a holy child of God, put here to “be God in my little neck of the woods.” You may be the only one in your space that’s “being God” to those around you, sharing His love with them. Or you may be being that more genuinely than most others are. “Being God”, to me, is simply allowing the goodness we ascribe to God to flow through you, like water flowing through a pipe. When water flows through a pipe, the pipe gets wet, too. When you allow God’s love to flow through you, you get the benefit of that love too, since you’re experiencing it first and then sharing it with the rest of the world.

People would much rather see a sermon in action than read or hear one. That’s where we come in. “Be God in your little neck of the woods.” Be the lover of humanity. Be the consoler of humanity. Be the comforter of humanity. Be the helper of humanity, right where you are. You’re naturally doing that all of the time, in your volunteer work, in helping others, in all the many little things you do for others. You’re making a difference in someone’s life all of the time, even if it’s just a smile you share, a kind word, a helping hand. That’s “being God in your little neck of the woods.”

You’re not “wasting your life” when you’re expressing kindness and love to others. You could be totally paralized and bedridden and still be a blessing to the world, by simply beaming out your love to the world. Your life would not be a waste. It would be a beacon, sending light and love to everyone everywhere, whether or not they even knew you existed. Nobody has to know your name or even know that you exist for you to make a difference in the world! All that has to happen is for you to be the love that you already intrinsically are, as a holy child of God. That love will be felt and will make a difference, even if no one knows you exist! That’s how powerful love is. Others will feel that love and be moved by it, even if you can’t move.

Act in ways that you think God would act toward those around you. Remember “What would Jesus do?” It’s like that. When you start “being God in your little neck of the woods”, you don’t need to spend so much time asking of God or imploring God. You’re allowing God to be Himself through yourself. You’re His voice, hands, feet. He isn’t somewhere off in the skies. Jesus taught us that the kingdom of Heaven is “within you”. You don’t need to look somewhere outside of yourself to find God. He hid himself inside of you, the last place most humans look. That’s why Jesus had to remind us of that.

Unfortunately, the Christian church has taught Christians to deny themselves, to denigrate themselve, and appreciate everyone else. Yet what did Jesus teach? He taught us to love others “as we love ourselves”. How we love ourselves is the standard by which we should love others. But the church has taught just the opposite, causing so much trouble for people. I suggest that you get a red-letter New Testament or a red-letter edition of the Bible, and just go through it reading what Jesus said. You’ll find that he didn’t teach most of what “Christianity” teaches. And you’ll find that “Christianity” teaches many things that Jesus never taught. Duh! There seems to be a problem there. Yet most Christians have never seen it! They never stop to compare what Jesus taught with what they’ve been taught. I believe they should.

We’ve been taught to think of ourselves as separate from God. That’s so those “in power” in the church can beat us over the head to do what they want us to do. The church, as an institution, is about power, money, and control over people. Jesus fought the same battle with them in his day. He taught us that “I and the father are one”. And he didn’t limit that to himself. He wasn’t the “Great Exception”, as he’s been portrayed. He was the “Great Example” of what we’re to be. But we haven’t been taught that. Yet he taught it himself.

But the church doesn’t listen to Jesus. They listen to Paul. And Paul is the Saul who tried to kill off Christianity. When he couldn’t do it from without, he went underground and did it from within, by twisting Jesus’ teachings, teaching things Jesus didn’t teach, and not teaching things Jesus taught. Mission accomplished. The church became a tool to control the masses, for the agenda of those in power. You don’t have to play their game. You can follow Jesus, if you choose, instead of following the church. They aren’t necessarily the same.

My question is, Why doesn’t “Christianity” teach what Jesus taught, instead of what Paul taught? The answer is very simple. Because Paul worked over Christianity to make it fit the power structure of his day’s agenda—to control the people. Paul taught things Jesus never taught, and he didn’t teach things Jesus did teach. Jesus never tried to control people. He just taught them how to live. He never taught them that they were damned and doomed, but Paul did. Instead, Jesus taught them that the kingdom of Heaven was “within them” and that they should give up everything less to take hold of that treasure, already within themselves. He simply taught people how to live, loving one another as they loved themselves.

You do that by “being God in your little neck of the woods”. There’s an ancient saying that expresses something like that: “Before enlightenment, chopping wood, carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood, carrying water.” It’s us that change when enlightenment comes, not what we do, necessarily. It can, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. You don’t need to go looking for God outside of yourself when you know that He is within you, that He is what you are, that you are His expression, His emmisary, “in your little neck of the woods”.

You wrote: “It seems like no matter what I plan, something happens to stop me.” That’s the story of Bill’s life, too. [Author’s note: Bill was Jim’s younger brother.] We don’t make progress in life because there aren’t any obstacles. We make progress in life when we overcome the obstacles that are there, despite their being there. People who achieve in life don’t necessarily face no obstacles. Many of the most successful have overcome worse obstacles than most have experienced. They find or make a way around the obstacles. And they keep on keeping on until they do find or make a way. They insist on overcoming the obstacles, instead of being overcome by them. That’s all any of us can do.

Bill would face an obstacle and become overwhelmed by it instead of focusing his ingenuity and insights into finding a way around it. I saw that happen over and over. If that’s happening to you, you probably just need to narrow your focus. You can’t do everything all at once. But you can do something at once. When faced with an obstacle, do whatever you can do to make progress. It may be only a little thing and you may make only little progress, but you’re moving in the right direction. A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, such a small act, and continues, step after step, until the journey is completed, one step at a time, not one mile or many miles at a time. As they saying goes, “Yard by yard, life is hard. Inch by inch, life’s a cinch.” Take the inches that are available to you each day, and you’ll be moving in the direction of your intention. The past year got here one day at a time, but that was fast enough.

I’ve found this rule helpful in my life, “Do what you have on hand to do, and when you’ve done that, you’ll be given more.” When you’re driving at night, you can’t see all the way to your destination. You can only see some yards ahead. But as you go those yards, you can then see further, and so on. That’s how life is. Work with it.

I know that you’ve worked hard, achieved things in your life, and aren’t a quitter. But things are majorly different for you now, compared to more “successful” times in your life. But this is now; that was then. Today is the opportunity you have in front of you. Today may not require of you what yesterday did. Even though I don’t have a lot of money now, I don’t feel impoverished. I have enough for my needs, and I’m working on more. But I’m enjoying what I have along the way. Allow yourself to enjoy your retirement even though you may be working toward more. Today is all we have. Don’t lose it by contemplating only tomorrow and missing all of the joys right in front of your nose.

And above all, be kind to Jim. Your church hasn’t taught you to do that. But Jesus did. Follow him. He was a much better example. He allowed others to give to him and to bless him. And he thanked them for it and approved of their doing it, often to the dismay of his disciples. He accepted their gifts while he also gave gifts to others. Follow his example.

I hope that you’ve gotten some encouragement and insight from all of this. That was definitely my intention and my hope. Some of what I’ve written may sound strange to you. But I encourage you to at least evaluate what I’ve said, to see if any of it rings true to you. If it doesn’t, just leave it. It’s always your choice.

Know that you are loved, honored, and adored by All That Is Holy, which you normally call God. It couldn’t be any other way, since He made us for Himself. Only mankind has taught otherwise. Stay with God’s version.

Charles

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