Dear Readers,

Thank you for all the amazing signups for this blog site. They are up to about 15 new readers per day, and I am so happy about this.  I am also in hopes that you are experiencing the best Holiday Season ever, and that you are expecting and experiencing the miraculous in many ways, large and small.

My topic for today concerns the process of giving a “reading” for another human being.  By far the greatest majority of my clients for readings, are themselves therapists, ministers, and people who seek to help others.   Some do not call themselves by these names, yet function at a micro level, a daily level, as helpers, angels really, in their families, at work, and even on the highway, stores, streets, and other mundane day-to-day scenarios.

As you know, I have been giving Evolution Angel Life Readings for many, many years.  I would estimate I’ve given over 10,000 by now, even at places like Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E., Unity Village, and other fascinating venues.  Now, I give them from home, but limit myself to one per day in order to keep them fresh.  I would like to offer to you some advice as to how to do this, because I believe it will help you make you function even better when you are seeking to improve another’s life and state of well being.

The first thing I’ve always done to start a reading—and most of my colleagues who do this professionally do the same thing—is to start with a prayer.  I used to have this one great spiritual adviser that I would call when I had a problem I could not solve on my own.  His advice was so consistent that after a while I no longer had to call him because I knew what he was going to say.

He would always start by asking me very simply, “Have you actually invited the Universe into the situation?”  Often my response was, “Well, not exactly. I, uh, sort of just know he is there and of course helping me.”  His response was, “Then do it, exactly! Spirit is not a co-dependent being.  It doesn’t always go about helping people without being asked.  You don’t, as a physician, go around healing people who don’t ask you to heal them do you?”

So, the first step, and I cannot possibly emphasize this strongly enough, in reading another person, or helping them in any way, is to invite Spirit in, literally.  Stop and make a point of it.  I actually ask my clients if I may use, say, the Lord’s Prayer, and even lots of Jewish people, or those of other faiths, have no problem with this at all.  The mere recitation, out loud of this or a similar powerful prayer, begins the healing process automatically, and draw’s Spirit into the situation.  Would it be awkward for you to do something like this with a person who comes to you for help, even in a phone call, or a chance encounter? Although it might sound weird or awkward for you to do this, believe me, it’s not.  You would be amazed how relieved, and enthused people are to hear someone else say a prayer for them out loud.  Try it if you don’t believe me.

The next step is to ask the person you are working with to just let their thoughts flow freely about what they are concerned with.  Just listen.  Try not to interrupt too much, except to have them elaborate on certain points where you can tell they are blocked, or trying to avoid, because it is too painful to touch that area of their soul within.  It is often that very area where the problem–and the answer–lie.

As this happens, stay centered and keep your mind with Spirit, constantly evoking its wisdom.  This is an amazingly effective thing to do.  Because Spirit, once evoked, once asked, will kick in and start to bring in fresh insights and inspirations.  For experts, this happens very fluidly and abundantly.   But for even rank beginners, the process happens surprisingly well also.  Listen to the person talk and simultaneously listen to the “still small voice” within.  As you do, I assure you, answers will start to present themselves.

Often, at the beginning of a reading, there will be a period in which you will find yourself wondering, “I have no idea how to answer this person’s dilemma, I have no idea what I’m doing.”  Never fear.  This is entirely normal.  Just stay calm and give it time.  As you continue, your role in the process will naturally begin to “gel” and the reason you have been asked to help will become crystal clear.  Persist!

It is important, very important, to give this enough time.   This is why my own readings are “open-ended.”  This means that I never watch the clock and never charge by the hour.  My own readings take as long as they take.  When I was a physician for 20 years, I had to constantly watch the clock and keep moving from patient to patient rapidly, especially in the ER and Trauma bays, where so many people were waiting and needed help.  During those years I often caught myself wishing that I could somehow, some day, be in a position to just take…as long as it takes.  So, now, my own readings just go on until the client has gotten every single question, issue, problem, out of their soul and answered in an effective way.

The client almost always knows, at a subconscious level, at the level of Spirit, what the answers are.  Trusting in this, knowing this, staying conscious of this allows the client’s own wisdom to shine through—shine though both them and through you.  I have had almost no experiences in which satisfactory answers failed to appear if sufficient listening, sufficient time was given to allow the person you are working with to get everything out in the open

Not infrequently, I find myself working with people who are actually older, wiser, smarter and more evolved than I—not that that would take that much!  But even the oldest and wisest of us can benefit enormously from consulting with another sentient, caring soul, who has conscious contact with Spirit, with God, with the angelic realm.  I mention this in order to encourage you, all of you, to trust in the process.  Because if you follow these basic guidelines, it will not be you that is giving the answers, it will be Spirit.  You don’t necessarily have to be some kind of great guru or sage or credentialed expert to help someone else.  Just keep remembering that as long as you have evoked Spirit, evoked the angel’s help, that they will be there, they will help, they will answer.

There is so much more that I could tell you about this process, but I hope this may give you a decent boost in your morale and confidence to at least try helping others. Spirit always has an answer, always helps, always is motivated to get involved if asked, and will always come through. Trust in its power and love and all will be well.

Happy Holidays, and many blessings to you all.  Dr. Todd

NOVEMBER 20TH, 2011

I was watching the protesters today on Wall Street.  This isn’t going away. It’s pretty intense and is starting to take on an almost Armageddon type appearance–and I definitely do NOT believe in Armageddon or anything even close to it.  We’re all going to live through this and lots of other things and the world is going to go on for many centuries no matter who tells you other wise.  But this stuff that is erupting is not trivial and it is getting more and more intense, not just in the US, but around the world.  People are starting to ask why so few people are so incredibly wealthy while they are working their tails off and can barely make ends meet, if at all.   But what troubles me is that they are not proposing any concrete solution that would really help things.

The core of their dispute, their unrest, seems to rest on the fact that a tiny handful of people in the US own a VAST amount of wealth–MANY MANY BILLIONs, that means thousands and thousands of millions, of dollars.  While the other 99% live lives of quiet, or not so quiet, desperation.

I started to think about this.   What would a solution be that would help everything, something concrete, doable, and effective that would change the face of the country in a very dramatic way and improve the lives of every man, woman, and child in the country in a dramatic and permanent way.

This idea slowly hatched in my mind.  On the surface, you may at first find it completely idealistic and even, perhaps, stupid.  But, it’s not necessarily stupid.  Hear me out.

These wealthy people have so much money, the billionaires, that they can’t possibly ever spend that money on themselves.  Even if they were to have their wealth reduced by, say, 1 or 2%, they would still have enough to do every single thing they could ever want to do and provide for the wealth of countless generations of their progeny down the line.

What if?  What IF, just even a few of these billionaires could be contacted respectfully and intelligently and asked to do something really big to help.  What if, say Warren Buffet, or Bill Gates or one of these kind of guys could be convinced to voluntarily start a fund.  They would each contribute a few million dollars, an almost infinitesimal percentage of their wealth, to a special fund.  The goal would be to collect about 300 million dollars–again, a virtually imperceptible percentage of their combined wealth.

When the goal is reached, and I would humbly suggest a time would be set for the goal to be reached, one million dollars would be released to every man, woman, and child, in the country.

The consequences to these wealthy people would be imperceptible–they wouldn’t even notice that amount of money being taken out of their unfathomably deep accounts.  The consequences metaphysically for them would be, as you and I know–people who study the laws of abundance, the laws of giving, the laws of the Universe-would be that each giver would be prospered at least 10, perhaps 100 fold.  We who know about how things really work know that this would be inevitable.  It is impossible to give without being prospered.  You can only give to yourself.  If you give, you automatically receive.  And they would be heroes in the true sense of the word.  It would not only NOT hurt them, it would HELP each and every one of them.

Is it completely insane to think it this is possible?  I don’t know.  There is a whole lot I don’t know.  But I don’t really think so.  I think if one or more of these really wealthy people could spearhead this idea and start the fund, and appeal politely and intelligently to their colleagues, that 300+ million dollars could be easily accumulated.  And then distributed to the citizens of the US.

What would the consequences be?  It is hard, very hard, if not impossible, to see ALL the consequences to any change in the web of cause and effect.  I suppose you could make a case that there might be some untoward effects–people using the wealth they had been bequeathed in less than ideal ways, foolish ways.  It might even be argued that it might ruin some people’s lives.  I have personally know people who have won the lottery and within a year or two their lives were ruined.  They had lost their footing, their friends, their lives had been so dramatically disturbed by the unexpected influx of so much money, that they ended up depressed and all messed up.

But, that is a kind of codependent thinking that I personally choose not to engage in.  I would argue that the healthiest way to think about it would be to just let the wealth flow into their lives and allow them to use it in whatever way they wished, trusting in them, and the Universe, to handle the situation in a healthy way, free of control and all the rest that comes with codependent thinking.  Maybe it could even be released to them incrementally so as to not disrupt their lives too abruptly.  Maybe $200,000 to start with, then $100,000 a year for another nine years.  Something like that.

What would I do with my million dollars?  What would YOU do with a million dollars?

Haven’t really thought about it have you?  I know I haven’t.  Until now.

The first thing I would do would be to give away a decent proportion of the money to the very poorest people in the world I could find.

I would then pay off every single, solitary debt I have ever had.

I would then save a fair proportion, invest it.  Probably most people would do the same.  They, like me, would probably set up some kind of annuity so that they would be taken care of reliably for the rest of their lives and their wealth protected.  This inflow of money into the investment sector, would stimulate the economy in an almost unbelievably profound and positive way.  It would prosper the entire country.

I would then get myself a decent house.  Nothing that big or anything, just a plain house, and pay cash for it.  Probably most of the other people receiving their million dollars would do the same, or pay off their mortgage.  This, in turn, would do absolute wonders for the lenders and help them out of their own predicaments–having lent money to people who can’t pay it back and defaulting on their loans–causing all kinds of problems upstream that I don’t pretend to understand, but would posit are contributing to the financial crisis we are experiencing in very negative ways.

Yes, yes, I know:  It sounds ridiculous on one level. But on another level, when you really think about it, getting together one million dollars for every person in the country would barely touch the assets of the truly wealthy.

I’m just trying to think.  Rather than just sit here and watch these protesters and watch the country going down the drain, and feeling bewildered and powerless, I’m trying, TRYING, to use my mind to think of something that might help.

Are their any precedents for this?  I don’t know right off hand, but I can’t immediately think of any. I know that a number of extremely wealthy people like Andrew Carnegie and even Bill Gates have given billions of dollars away, and in some pretty creative and effective ways too.  After Bill Gates fell in love with his wife and got married, he started giving away a lot of his money on her sage advice.  He thought, with that gigantic brain of his, how his wealth might have the greatest impact possible on the suffering in the world.  He ended up getting vaccinations and innoculations for many poor people around the world and, in so doing, prevented untold suffering. Andrew Carnegie built all kinds of libraries and other institutions that still stand today as a testament to his generosity.  He knew that he couldn’t take his wealth into the life after this one, but I suspect he knew that he could take the goodness, the love, that his generosity along with him as a permanent upgrade to his soul.

And their are people like Oprah.  Yeah.  I like her a lot.  She understands this kind of thing and acts on it all the time, giving away all kinds of things.  This has prospered her, obviously, and anyone can see that she has it made.  Like Mother Theresa, she is a conduit for giving.  She receives all kinds of money, and lets it flow right through her and back out to others who need it more than her.  She appears happy.

How could such a movement be started?  I’m not sure. I’m not a fund raiser. Far from it.  I’ve struggled much of my own life with economic insecurity, though I have finally reached a point where I have just enough to make sure I can live without fear any more for the rest of my life and take care of may family no matter what happens.  The point is that I am not the guy to get the ball rolling.  Then again, maybe I am short-changing myself.  Probably am.  Like most people, I have a tendency to view myself as far more limited than I really am.  As a child of God, the wealthiest entity in the Universe, I am probably capable of much more than I give myself credit for.

Maybe I should start writing polite, intelligent, and cogent letters to a number of these mega-wealthy individuals to see if one or more of them are willing to put their weight into spearheading such a movement.

What would the country look like if every single person was a millionaire?  Hard to say.   But I believe it would be a far more relaxed, peaceful, happy, joyful place, where people would be free of the vast amounts of conscious and subconscious fear that plagues them every day.  Instead they would be investing, spending, paying off their debts (and that might be made one condition of the deal, that everyone who owes money pays it all off), pursuing their dreams of becoming what they really want to be.  People getting up in the morning and working, playing, at things that really want to be doing,  have dreamed of doing all their lives. The crime rate would fall dramatically.  The psychiatrists offices wouldn’t be so busy, and substance abuse would fall.  Hatred would diminish. Generosity would blossom.  Health would increase–I KNOW that, because after having been a physician for over twenty years working in the trenches, I can tell you surely that the vast amount of disease is caused by stress, when traced back to its ultimate cause, by poor diet, and poor exercise.  With a million dollars, most people would have the sense to use their new time and freedom to have fun, exercise, relax, and do positive and creative things that would greatly lessen their stress.  They would take care of their teeth and have them all fixed.  Maybe they would buy treadmills or ellipticals, or put a gym in their house.

Granted, some people would quit their jobs and there could be temporary problems with having a lack of people to do some of the really disgusting and menial jobs that keep the country running as it is.  But there could be ways that wise people, far wiser than I, could figure out how to head this kind of problem off,  so that when the wealth was distributed, all the machinery would keep running just fine, perhaps even far better.  That would be doable and a problem that could be headed off intelligently before it happened.  Money has the power to do a lot of positive things and there could be provisions made within the fund to make sure that things kept going just fine.

Would this permanently change everything for the better and solve everyone’s problems once and for all?  That would be stupid to think.  Dumb.  Of course not.  In time, the effect might wear off and we could be back in the same boat.  Many people are as foolish as foolish can be and would squander their wealth and end up right back where they started.  But again, that is codependent thinking at its very worst.  I say, let them do what they want.  Trust them to live their own lives without interference.  Who is anyone to tell anyone else how to live their life?

OK.  It’s just an idea.  But everything good that has ever happened has started with an idea.  And for me, watching the unrest and turmoil and fear in the US and the world without stopping to bother to THINK about what might help in unacceptable.  Oh, and by the way, lest there be no confusion or self-interest in this project, the ONE person that would not receive any funds should this dream ever unfold is me.  I don’t want to profit from this in any way.  For my own peace of mind and integrity, I should be the first to step aside and say, “Just give it to the others.”  Does that make me special?  A really “high” person?  No, not at all.  It’s just common sense.  Common courtesy.

Would there be enormous arguments about what to do with the money in that fund?  Oh yeah.  Of course.  Their are always lots and lots of people ready to argue about all kinds of things.  Extremists from both sides would have fits over this.

But the simplicity of the idea intrigues me personally.  Just redistribute one million dollars to everyone and watch the economy soar, the unrest evaporate, the fear within the populace decrease dramatically, and along with it all kinds of neurosis, drug abuse, and disease that fear causes.

Is little Todd Michael writing about such an idea likely to make any difference?  Arguably not.  But then again, I am of the mind that I should at least try.  I am really interested to know if there could be a tiny fire kindled, and then blown into a real movement, and that this could be made a reality.

I am also interested to know if we could, as part of a movement in this direction, simultaneously collect, (might as well think big, if you’re going to think, doc!) a billion dollars to distribute to the very, very poorest people on the face of the Earth.  That a committee be set up to figure out who exactly are the poorest and neediest people on the Earth, and how to release to them a goodly sum of money or other resources, that would help them as well.  Even collecting a BILLION dollars, in addition to the million for everyone in our country, would make a virtually  dent in the accumulated wealth of the wealthiest Americans.

What would be the great obstacle to this plan?  Easy.  Greed.  Plain and simple old greed.

Greed is such a human quality that it seems almost genetically programmed into us.  The people that got that rich didn’t get that way, mostly speaking, by being generous.  They got that way because they are greedy.  They accumulate enough to satisfy all their needs for the rest of their own lives and do anything, ANYTHING, that they could ever possibly want to do.  And then they just keep going and going as though they can never be satisfied.

They are kind of like dogs.  I’m a dog lover and have heard the term “canine hunger.” Canine hunger means that a dog, with the right kind of food before her, will just eat and eat and eat until they literally die.  I’ve seen it happen more than once.  Some rich people are like that.

I know some rich people.  Some are great people and very, very generous.  Some are greedy as can be, super right-winged, (and NO, right-winged does not mean you are automatically greedy), and full of hate and spite for the poor.  I even know one guy who got rich by essentially becoming a high powered hatchet man.  He developed a company that touted that it would “increase the production of any company dramatically,” and made himself out to be a motivational speaker.   But what I found out, in the end, was that he accomplished his “increases in productivity,”  by basically going into companies and ruthlessly and with not an ounce of consciousness or shame, just firing huge numbers of employees and making all the others work twice as hard. Didn’t both him a bit.  In fact, he was enormously proud of himself and his “company.”  Nice.  Got him really rich, but he is obnoxious and there will never be enough money to satisfy him or his family.

So, knowing this, knowing about greed and what it really is, how stubborn and pervasive it is, I do feel a sense of hopelessness in thinking that the very wealthiest individuals in the country could be convinced to release, say, a mere .2% to .5% of their accumulated assets, to a fund that would prosper every single person in the country.  Many of the rich I know cling to their wealth as though it were a life or death matter to lose a single penny.  You all know what I am talking about.

But then again, there are some enlightened rich people, so rich that they wonder what they should really do with their money.  They WOULD like to give some of it away, but they are stymied by HOW to do it equitably.  That is why I like the million dollars to every man, woman, and child plan.  It is extremely SIMPLE, and completely fair and equitable to everyone.  There would be no arguments to be heard or contemplated by the committee operating the fund — to listen for one second to the appeals of any extremists, left or right, that so and so should NOT be given their million dollars.  Just give it out completely equally and with NO CONDITIONS attached, except perhaps, that they pay off any debt that they owe.

Yep, I know.  I sound like an idiot.  A dreamer with no sense of reality.  At least, I probably sound that way to some of you.  But there are others out there that GET it.  That understand what giving really is, and that the impossible, the miraculous, CAN happen, IF the right mind set, the right INTENTION, is set and held.

Now, I will mention one concern I have about this solution, and that is that if everyone got a million dollars all of a sudden, then a huge amount of people working in the education sectors, minor technicians, garbage collectors, etc. etc. would simply quit their jobs.  That would bring the country to its knees in very short order

One possible solution to this, would be to put a few basic conditions on the gifts.  First, as above, it could be distributed incrementally, not all at once.  Second, there could be some basic, sane, rational, wise conditions placed such as, you are required to save and/or invest a certain percentage of your gift, you are required to pay off all your debts and mortgages, stuff like that.  As I said, I am no financial genius to be sure, but these billionaires are, and the more generous and high minded of them could figure out how to solve this problem and place wise conditions on the gifts in perfectly acceptable ways so that no harm is done to the day-to-day working of the country and economy.  It’s entirely doable.  It could easily made so that, “It is all good.”  I don’t think that is naive at all.  Consult the financial geniuses and see what they come up with.

That’s my two bits for the day.  Think I’ll go for a bike ride and see if I can help my friend clean up his basement as he is having problems getting around after a heart attack and his wife is in the hospital with Huntington’s Chorea.  Then, I shall paint–oil painting being one of those things that I always wished I had pursued formally rather than the sterile, cold field of medicine.  I’m retired now and I can do it.  So, I better actually do it!  And have fun while I’m doing it too.  And, of course, I will give one Evolution Angel Life Reading, to one soul, and make it the best I possibly can, concentrate fiercely and one-pointedly on the problems and trials of some other soul for an hour or two until they feel like their life has been straightened out, or at least their plan to straighten it out solidified.  Then, I will make dinner for my sweetheart and have a nice quiet pleasant evening.

PLEASE COMMENT IF YOU WANT TO HELP GET THE BALL ROLLING!

Many blessings to all of you, and to all, a good night.

Dr. Todd

THERE ARE FEE AUDIO BOOKS YOU CAN LISTEN TO ON THE “STORE” PAGE.  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM.

BELOW IS A SERIES OF LINKS WHERE YOU CAN WATCH ME SPEAKING ON A VARIETY OF TOPICS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4tDOkveeVk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KPctHmM9PY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwdhLYpOsTY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_CiMcbvVFw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwt2MFq86E8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KPctHmM9PY

The following is an excerpt, quite long, from the new book, The Evolution Angel, Book Two: Gaia’s Vision.  Recently, a PhD reader/fan, contacted me for a Life Reading, and during the reading, told me that she thought this material was so compelling and had helped her so much that she wanted me to republish it within this blog site.  It is from a chapter called “Somatic Visualization” and explains in great detail exactly how to build in your mind and your heart, the new life of your dreams that you have always wanted to live.  There are many many things written on this subject, but quite a few people have suggested that this is one of the most effective summaries they have ever read on the subject.  I hope very sincerely that it will help you and have absolute confidence that it will, if you follow the instructions.

We live in a quantum world.  It is not magic, and trying to build a better life for yourself with positive visualization techniques is not magical thinking or crazy.  Far from it. Somatic Visualization works with the natural laws of the universe and WILL work.  So often, even the most evolved of us, fail to consciously work at our INTENT each day, and end up sending out random, somewhat chaotic intentions that are not focused or consistent–intentions that are not working to your best advantage.  I hope you enjoy the reading below and remind you that you can go to the store page of this site and listen to the author read this to you absolutely for free.  You can even download the audio reading and burn your own CD that you can put in your car and listen to regularly so that you can keep reminding yourself, keeping yourself on track, to making your life better, more generous, more pleasurable, more secure, more abundant, and more…well, HAPPY!

Discussion with The Evolution Angel group recorded and transcribed by the author in 2008:

How are you?

Laughter.  In a state of ecstatic bliss.  Of course.

Of course.  Laughter.  How stupid of me.  I should have known

Pause.  I want to discuss something with you.  Something important…Someone told me that they thought the most important concept that had been brought out in my second book, The Twelve Conditions of a Miracle, was the notion of “somatic visualization.”

Now, this caught my attention, because this was a very sharp person.  And what she indicates is that, although she understands the concept, and although she immediately recognized it as an extremely powerful technique, she is not at all clear on how to actually execute it.  She says that she can’t quite figure out how to do it.  And if she can’t figure it out, I can only assume everyone else is having difficulties with it too.

It is hard isn’t it?  Al least at first.  Later when you have practiced it, it will become second nature:  You won’t even have to think about it.  But I happen to know, having been in a body with the veil drawn, that performing the technique is very challenging.  There is a fairly sharp learning curve that you have to get over.

But you have to do it.  You don’t really have a whole lot of choice in the matter.  One of the whole reasons you chose to incarnate and go through all of the things you are going through is to drive yourself to a point where it is necessary to learn this kind of sophisticated visualization.  That’s what human beings do for a living.  They put themselves into situations that force them to learn how to see something with their mind’s eye that is better than what they see with their physical eyes

Why?

Because the universe, God, betters itself, recreates itself through beings in bodies.  You are at the cutting edge of creation.  Creation occurs through beings like you.  And you have volunteered—very enthusiastically, I might add—to be at the leading edge of creation as it unfolds.

You are at the crest of the wave as it blossoms out into nothingness.  And the way that you participate, the most effective way that you participate, begins by seeing what it is that you want to happen.  So this is a very good thing to discuss and I am thrilled that you have finally gotten around to asking me about the technique.  Your editor is right; this is one of the most important topics we can possibly discuss.ders know these things, at some level, but it is critical to go over them before we get into the actual technique.

I have a feeling that you are going to tell me there are some inherent pitfalls to avoid.  That there is a certain preliminary mindset that we should enter into before we begin to exercise the technique.

Obviously, yes.  Above all, you have to first determine not what you want to visualize and create, but whether or not you should visualize and create it to begin with.  This is done by at least thinking about it. By at least asking this important question:  Will the thing I am going to visualize promote the higher good or not?

No one can answer that for you.  As soon as you ask we will do everything to help you answer the question, but it is your responsibility, your right and your privilege as a human being with free will, to create what you want.  And billions of people create their own universes, their own realities, exactly as they please.

But it would certainly improve matters for everyone everywhere if more people did this responsibly.  And being responsible starts by thinking about the appropriateness of what they are creating.

How do we ask?

You ask.  It’s not that difficult.  The point is that you try to be conscious of what you are doing and bother to at least ask.

Then we will be given the knowledge necessary to allow us to make a decision on whether to proceed or not?

Yes, always.  But you have to listen and pay attention and be ready to hear the answer, ready to believe the answer.  Sometimes, the answer will be, “No, what you are trying to create is not necessarily the best thing to spend your energy with.”  That may be hard for you to hear.

When this happens, you will find yourself feeling unsure as to whether to proceed or not.  But the feeling of uncertainty is useful and definitive, in and of itself.  Use uncertainty as an automatic signal, a clear signal, if you will, that you are not to proceed.

But don’t worry.  We aren’t stupid.  The universe doesn’t act like an inexperienced parent telling a child to stop doing something.  You know from your experience with children that this is an ineffective and destructive strategy.  What is a better way to handle a child who wants to do something that is not appropriate?

To redirect their energy?  To give them something else to do.  Children have to do something; you can’t just tell them to stop.  They’ll go crazy..

Correct.  So, if you begin the visualization process by asking, by being conscious, and by listening, we will help redirect your mind so that it has somewhere to go.  Somewhere better.  Somewhere better for you and for all concerned.

Some of the things you want to create will end up causing you a lot of pain.  That much should be obvious.  And God doesn’t want you to have anymore pain than you already have.  God wants you to have fun, to be free, to have a really great time and will go out of his way to help you achieve these positive states if you will just ask and pay attention.

OK.  Then what?

The next thing to do is to determine whether the creation you are intending will be an attempt to change something that can be changed or something that cannot be changed.  We have gone over this before but it bears repeating.  In fact, it bears repeating numerous times because it is so important.

And you like the so called Serenity Prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Yes, that is the crux of the matter.  Laughter.  Do you know who first said that?

No.  Nobody knows.  I believe it is “anonymous.”

Perfect.  As you know we consider it highly professional to stay anonymous.

That was you?

Me and my ilk, yes. A guy that was working for us. Laughter.  There aren’t a whole bunch of us here.  There is only one, for all practical purposes.  I prefer to think of the author as “The voice of humanity.”  It was you and all your friends, and all of your nations.  Doesn’t matter really.  It worked, didn’t it?  In fact, that is who we are.  Those that you want to call angels are the voice of humanity, the intelligence of humanity the will of humanity.  Which is none other than God.  I will remind you that you, angels, and God, are all the same thing deep down.  They are simply different names for the same thing as it is viewed from different vantage points.

Pause.  Yes, it worked.  That prayer has helped many many millions of people.

So, you say that prayer and ask for the wisdom.  And it will be given to you.  It is always given to you.  And the same concept holds for the answer you will receive:  If you ask and you still aren’t sure, then you have to assume automatically that your uncertainty is a clear signal that what you are about to change is actually something you cannot change.  That you are dealing with a situation that you set up, that you locked yourself into, for a specific reason in advance.

And two more things should automatically be brought into the pre creation evaluation process.  From square one try as sincerely and honestly as possible to honor the concept of integral need.  Before you even think about creating something do everything you can to remember that what you will create will affect the whole universe.  Be as scrupulously conscious as possible to have the greater good in mind.

If you don’t start with the higher good in mind, things will become difficult later.  It is very difficult; sometimes impossible to get started with a creative process and then try to tack on something later that will include the higher good.

The higher good should be the very very beginning before the seed even germinates.  That way it will grow with the creation as a fully integrated organic component of the living creation.  That way, the higher good will permeate the creation through and through at all levels, and at all developmental stages.  When this happens, the vast currents of the universe at large will have a vested interest in promoting and manifesting the creation.

Then we can proceed?

Well, it is not as though you ask these questions one time and then proceed, no.  Think of these preliminary steps as states of consciousness to be cultivated and constantly held.  Constantly return to them over and over and over.  Think of them as the touchstones of creation.

Creation is not as linear as you seem to think.  It is an ongoing process, a beautiful, fanciful, playful flux, that loops back upon itself, recreates itself, reevaluates itself, readjusts itself all the time.

I understand.  But at some point a new process of creation has to begin.  Once we are clear in consciousness that it is appropriate to proceed, how exactly do we begin?

Well…give me an example and I will tell you how to properly begin.

Let’s take something simple…Let’s say you want a really great relationship.  I chose that example because people are constantly wanting this.  They either want a new relationship because they don’t have one, or they want to make the one they have better.  I know because when I am working as a life coach, the average client spends at least two thirds of their time talking about this.  If you want to create a new relationship how do you do it via the process of somatic visualization?

The main thing to understand is that somatic visualization is simply a way of working with the universal law “like attracts like.”  Perhaps the most utilitarian way of stating this is “whatever you feel will automatically attract circumstances that will support those feelings.  When you feel something using somatic visualization—assuming, of course, that you have gone through the preliminaries in the proper way and given yourself the proper authorization—the universe will literally rearrange itself around you to support those feelings.  It rearranges itself by splitting off a new child universe.

It rearranges itself as only it can, as a radial universe.  In other words, for all practical purposes, a new universe is created in which that which you are attempting to create becomes possible.  This new universe splits off from all others and goes it’s own way.  In this new universe, this new “child universe” that which was impossible or improbable in the “parent universe” is now possible.  It is very hard to explain to a being with neurological hardwiring designed to support survival in a perceived “linear universe,” but that’s how it is note the less.

Why is it this way?  Why has the universe set itself up in this way?

Just look at yourself.  You were created in the image of God, in the image of the universe.  Do you like to create?

Yes.

Do your friends like to create?

Mostly, yes.  Not all of them.

Then is it so hard to understand how the personality of the intelligence that creates the universe might like to create too?

Hmm…Not all people like to create though.  Some are so terrified of change that they try to keep everything the same.

Laughter.  And how well does that work?

Poorly at best.  Everything changes for them anyway.

That’s because they are changing their own realities, splitting off their own radial universes all the time—whether they like it or not.  Just because they are afraid of change doesn’t mean they can alter the fundamental nature of the universe.

Even their fears of change create new universes.  Like will attract like no matter what.  The law is inexorable and absolute.  So, that which they fear—in this case change—will manifest in order to support their feelings.  Laughter.  You cannot circumvent this principle in any way.  You can’t sit there at the top of the wave and try to keep from being swept forward.  The more you resist the more turbulent your ride is going to be.  The best you can do is to get with the program and learn to surf and surf with joy, with verve, with passion, and with skill.

The process of somatic visualization is a way of learning to surf.  You can’t learn to ride it, steer within it, as gracefully as possible—and have as much fun as possible.  Never forget the fun factor!  Laughter

It’s all supposed to be about fun.  The wave is not there to hurt you. It is impersonal.  It is the sum total of the chains, the webs, the rivers of cause and effect as they unfurl and blossom into existence.  Any hurt you feel during the process is only the hurt you have created for yourself to force you to states of consciousness you would otherwise have not been able to achieve.

To continue the analogy of the surfer, hurt is what happens when you fail to steer and glide within the currents, as they exist.  As you progress in skill, as you become a better surfer, you will get better at riding the currents.  You will fall off your board less frequently.

What you are going to learn today will, in a sense be your surfboard—the vehicle that will allow you to ride the wave, your wave, with skill.

So.  Where do we begin?

You begin with a day.  A day is a period of time that you have been programmed to accept as reality.  You are asleep at night and often in another reality. When you awaken the increment of your personal reality begins anew.  You go through your day, the sun sets, it gets dark and you eventually fall back to sleep, back into the subconscious, the universal mind.

The day for organisms on earth is a period of time that has been programmed into your deepest self for billions of years.  You carry within your very DNA the sense of the “day.”  The earth has been rotating as it is now for time immemorial.

So you use the period of the day as the framework, the lattice upon which you weave your own creations.

How exactly?  I want to be very specific on the exact steps that need to be taken so I can understand precisely what I need to do to get this to work.

You set out to create within your mind what can best be called “the perfect day.”  In other words you don’t just willy nilly start visualizing things for yourself.  You proceed in a very orderly way.  You visualize what it will be like from the time you will awaken in the morning to the time you will go to sleep at night.

When you can do this, when you can see this perfect day, and feel what this day will be like, your new radial universe will begin to bud from the stem of the universe you currently find yourself within.

Is this something that is done mentally?

Meditation is involved but there is a lot more to it.  Certainly you will have to think to get the job done, but there is more.  Writing your plan down is essential.

Remember, thought is the first level of manifestation.  Putting your thoughts into words is the second level.  Speaking the words involved is the third.  Writing them down is the fourth level.

When you write your plan down, it congeals, crystallized.  A purely mental plan is fluid.  It can change.  It can dissolve in a sea of doubts and distractions.  A written plan, by contrast will remain solid and stable.  Even when you are plagued by doubts—and you will be, of course—the words on the paper will stay the same.  They will therefore function as an anchor that will keep you focused.

We will talk about how to handle doubts a little later.  Failing to address the issue of doubts would be naïve.  So you will need very specific techniques and guidelines to work with them.  Note that I said “with them.”  Not against them.  Your doubts and fears and anxieties and distractions are part of the wave.  You don’t want to fight against them. You just need to learn how to surf lightly on top of them as they crest and roll with the rest of the wave.

That’s do-able?

Sure.  You haven’t been placed—or rather you haven’t placed yourself—into a milieu of change and creation without any tools to deal with it.  Handling doubt and fear is well within the reach of any sincere conscious being.  In fact, as you will see, it will be a lot easier than you might think.  Because “you”—the little you—won’t have to do the work.  The little you doesn’t have the muscle it will take to deal with your fears and doubts.  For the most part, they are far too powerful for you to handle.  You will learn how to hand them off to a higher power that does have the muscle.

OK.  Back to the perfect day.  How specifically do we begin?  And if I might be so bold t ask, would you consider giving me the instructions for the technique as a series of numbered steps?

Not at all.  Numbered steps can make the learning process easier.

Step one, ask whether what you are considering as a creation is appropriate or not.  Ask whether it is something you should be creating or not.  Then listen for the answer.

Step two; determine whether your creation will be an attempt to change something, which cannot be changed, or something that can be changed. Then listen for the answer.  And remember: If, after asking, you still can’t tell, use your uncertainty as a sign that you have come up against something that cannot be changed.

Step three; begin consciously thinking about how your creation will integrate with the greater good, how it will become an organic and valuable part of the overall wave of creation as it flows towards a state of love and compassion.

Please, whatever you do, don’t skip this step or try to gloss over it in a superficial way.  You are setting yourself up for failure if you do.  You can’t fake this part.  The universe knows.  Begin by considering the higher good and, as you proceed, continue to keep it in your thoughts.

If you set up your creation so that it is an authentic part of the greater wave, the power you will harness will be beyond comprehension.

Step four?  Get out a piece of paper and you favorite writing instrument.  You asked me to be specific.  This is specific.  The most powerful thing you can own is a blank piece of paper.  You know that.

Step five, close your eyes, your physical eyes and imagine what it will be like to wake up in the day that will be perfect for you.

Be specific, and be very sensual.  Use all your senses.  You are going to write in the same way as any good creative writer.

You mean, use all the senses?  Describe things in such a way that you include sight, sounds, smell, touch and taste—the things all writers learn in basic writing classes?

Yes.  Except you will not be writing for someone else.  You will be the reader.  Now, you will have to pick an example of something that you want to create and I will walk you through the process.

How about a relationship?  Everybody is constantly asking me about this

Too complicated for right now.  That deserves an entire section of its own.  Give me something a little more basic

OK.  How about a job?  How would you go about creating a job?

Be specific?  What job?

Pause.  Let’s say I wanted to be a healer, a therapist.  A lot of people I speak with hold this as a treasured dream.

Fine.  You’re asleep and you wake up. Waking up is when your Day begins.  Start here. Now, describe the room where you are waking up.  Describe how the room feels.  What does the bed feel like?  What sounds are coming through the window?  Who are you waking up with if anyone?  What does it smell like?

What does smell have to do with it?  I can’t figure out what smell is associated with the job of “healer.”

The smell doesn’t have to be associated with the job.  But you have to have some smell.

Why?  That seems odd.

Because smell—and taste—are the most ancient of the senses.  Even one-celled organisms have smell and taste.  These are the ways an organism senses fundamental chemical changes in its environment.  All organisms that have preceded you, from which you have evolved, have used smell and taste to survive.  To move toward areas, which have nourishment, and away from areas that are dangerous.

Because these chemical senses are so ancient they are hardwired into the most ancient areas of the brain.  When they are brought into the process of somatic visualization the brain begins to experience a very palpable and concrete “reality.”

I smell the lilacs in bloom outside the window.  I smell the clean sheets.  I smell coffee brewing in the kitchen.

Good.  Now you’re getting it.  The brain can hang its hat, so to speak, on those kinds of sensory images.  You are beginning to create a world within which your job can exist.

Now. Remember: This is a perfect day.  Don’t limit yourself in any way shape or form.  What do you eat on this perfect day as a healer?

I eat a perfect breakfast, I guess. Perfectly healthy, delicious, even, in a perfect world, perhaps made for me effortlessly.

And?  What is that perfect meal like?  It is an integral part of healing right.  If you are going to heal people, you want to be healthy yourself.  Describe how the meal looks, how it smells, how it tastes.  Be lavish.  Be creative.  Be specific.  Be very sensual.  Make the meal luxurious and incredibly delicious.  See the kitchen.  See the view from the window where you will be on this day.  Feel the sun shining through the window onto your skin.  Hear the sounds of the conversation you will have at breakfast.  Hear the words, hear the birds chirping outside.

Be detailed.  Build this world.  Build it brick by specific brick.  Enjoy yourself.  Be generous and lavish and playful and outlandish.  Don’t limit yourself.

And here is the most important thing of all.  The magic breath that will blow life into the whole creation: Imagine how the whole thing will feel, how you will feel, experiencing the sum total of these sensory impressions.  How do you feel waking up?  How do you feel eating that breakfast before work?

I feel excited when I wake up.  I feel that sense of bubbling excitement I felt as a child when I woke up on Christmas morning.  That something extremely pleasant is awaiting me.  When I awaken, I am still sleepy and I can’t quite remember why I feel this way.  It takes a minute to remember, “Oh great!  I am going to my new office, seeing my patients, having lunch with incredible friends and colleagues.”  Am I on the right track?

Great! Now you’re getting it.  That is somatic visualization.  You are feeling with your whole body, your whole being, the new radial universe you will create.

That is all your reality is anyway—a series of feelings.  The word “feeling” is a term that describes the entire experience of your reality as it is experienced by your body-mind.  Smell, taste, touch, sight, sound, mental thoughts, conversations, interactions, experiences—all of these are integrated into one overall sensation that is called a “feeling.”

Then what?

Go through the rest of your day in the exact same way.  Step by step by step.  Go through what your shower will be like, your drive to work, parking at the office you will work within, walking up to the office, sitting down at your desk, talking to your colleagues, greeting your first patient.  See what they will look like, feel what your hands will feel working with them, smell the leather of your chair, taste the water in the water fountain, hear the ambient sounds in the hallway.

Build this world brick by sensory brick.  Take your time.  Be lavish.  Be exorbitant.  Be playful.  Have fun with it.

And at each step along the way, remember to describe the precise feeling you will be having.  Feel the excitement this job will bring you.  Feel the joy, feel the concern, the compassion, and feel the challenge.  Feel everything and describe, describe, describe.

Describe lunch, the afternoon, your departure, the drive home, arriving home, exercising, eating dinner, speaking with your loved ones, relaxing after dinner, getting ready for bed, and falling to sleep.  That is step five.

Now what?

Step six is a little bit more difficult.  It’s not that it is any harder, per se, that the other steps.  It’s not.  It’s just that you will have difficulties executing, difficulties just doing it.

In step six; you are going to practice feeling all of these feelings.  You are going to sit down or lie down or center yourself in some other way, every single day and deliberately practice feeling the feelings you have just described.

There is no shortcut for this.  It is a regular, daily practice that you will engage in.  Like attracts like.  As you practice feeling happy, feeling satisfied, feeling excited about your new job, the universe will begin to rearrange itself around these feelings so that your external reality conforms to them, supports them.

As you do this, you will begin to germinate a new universe.  And I am not in any way being metaphorical.  The new universe will be a different universe, a very real universe that will bud, radiate, from your current universe.

In this new universe, the laws will be slightly different.  That which was impossible in the parent universe will now be possible in the child universe.

It is an amazing fact, a very wonderful fact about the world you find yourself within.  You are actually allowed to build your own new universe.  You are not only allowed but are encouraged to do this.  That is why the great creator made you.  That is why he, it, made you in his own image—as a new creator.

This creator has sanctioned you, empowered you, to create new worlds, better worlds.  It is not only allowed, it’s actually your job, your function, your duty to do this.  For this is how the universe makes itself better.  This is how the universe elaborates upon itself and takes itself to the place it wants to be.

You are not passive in the overall process of universal creation.  You have been given free will and desires and ambitions and a great deal of power specifically so that you can pitch in and help with the whole process.

Keep at this.  Don’t falter.  Have faith.  As if you have, are, planting a seed beneath the surface of the earth.  You cannot see the seed germinating, spreading roots, gathering raw materials, molecules and ordering them into tissues and cells and a real plant.  But this is occurring nonetheless IF you are continuing with your intentional visualizations.  Intent.  It is incredibly powerful.  And it is not “magical” or  paranormal or anything like that.  It is perfectly  natural and works with the same laws that quantum physics is revealing year by year.  The Heisenburg Principle:  The observer alters the observed.  It is inexorable.

Keep at it.  Keep seeing and feeling and smelling and tasting this new reality, and the universe will rearrange itself around you to accomodate the direction your intention is directing it to.

For a free copy of the entire book, The Evolution Angel,  Book Two: Gaia’s Vision, email the author directly with your request at EvolutionAngel55@gmail.com.  We have open-sourced this material to make it freely available to everyone.

For an authentic Evolution Angel Life Reading, you can also contact the author at evolutionangel55@gmail.com and he will contact you to set up your reading. Go to the Life Readings page of this website to read more about the readings, or read the previous post below, to read the story of a recent reading so that you can understand how they work.

Finally, if you have the time, please feel free to go to the “store” page on this site, and find literally many hours of absolutely free excerpts in both written PDF formats that you can download, save and print.  And in audio form, where you can simply press the button and hear the author reading the books in his own voice.

Greetings!  I hope you are having a wonderful fall day.  I am writing today because I have been flooded with questions about the Evolution Angel Life Readings.  I have decided that one of the best ways to answer these questions is to give you an example of a reading.  It isn’t hard to find a good example, as I have had three this week that have been with extremely interesting people with very interesting questions, projects, and problems they are working with.  One was even with a couple.  The husband had a 90-minute reading, and then the wife had a 75-minute reading.  Finally, they both spoke to me at the same time, talking about their relationship and ideas they wanted to explore to increase intimacy, coordination of purpose, and overall happiness.

Yesterday, a man from Arizona contacted me for a reading he had been thinking about for some time.  He was a singular, unique individual.  In his childhood, he had been thought to be mentally challenged and was put in special classes.  However, it turned out that he was simply dyslexic, and when exposed to higher-level classes in due course, he flourished and became a talented and successful engineer.

He contacted us because he was having difficulties with traditionally trained therapists that he had tried to work with.  They did not seem to understand what he was talking about, he told me, and he kept leaving their offices more confused and uncertain than when he entered.

After a calm opening prayer, he began to talk about his life.  He had been meditating for about 35 years.  He had grown up next door to a monastery and had had the great fortune to be exposed to many advanced souls who had taught him how to meditate in effective ways.  He took this very seriously, kept at it, and had begun to experience some very unusual phenomena that he could not explain.

He was experiencing unusual surges of powerful energy, sometimes manifesting as literal heat coursing through his spine and body.  He also found that he had begun to be able to heal other people and even animals, using this energy which was very strong, consistent, and controllable.  Nothing that would suggest that he was having some type of neurosis or pathology.  Far from it.  The more I spoke with him, the more it became obvious that he was experiencing a type of enlightenment, that his kundalini was rising, that he was blooming—experiencing the fruits of his many years of meditation.

I was able to explain this process to him and he seemed surprised.  He had thought something might be “wrong” with him, when in fact, he was becoming a highly energized and spiritually talented being of the highest order.

I asked him a question I often ask:  If this were a perfect world and you could do anything you wanted to do for a living, what would it be?  His answer was that he wanted to be a healer, and a teacher.

We then began to explore exactly—and I mean with great specificity—what precisely was stopping him from doing just that.  I speak with many individuals who have a strong desire to become some kind of healer or teacher and most of them say the same thing: That which is preventing them from becoming a healer or teacher or author is…yep, money.  (I hate when that happens!)

Now, this gentleman was already making a very good living working as an engineer.  It was not advisable for him to “quit his day job” at all, and I made sure he understood that.  Rather, we decided in tandem, working steadily together, that the best was to “feather in” his healing work, while slowly stepping out of his engineering work.

Having started four successful medical practices during my years of formal work, I told him that starting a healing practice of any kind is a gradual process that requires patience, persistence, and faith. I didn’t have any qualms in encouraging him to do this which surprised him a bit because he said that his entire family and his spouse seemed to think his ideas were crazy and that he was completely off track.  The reason I felt so sure that he would succeed is that when I asked him to describe what happened when he conducted a healing session, he told me things that only a true healer could know or articulate.  When he was healing someone, powerful, heated energy would flow through his body and his hands, and his patients felt this energy.  Even one doctor, who was a doubting Thomas that wanted to experience a healing with the idea of discrediting him and discouraging him, distinctly felt the energy flowing from this man, and into his own body.  Several conditions that had been bothering him subsequently disappeared and he was indeed healed.  When a healer has that kind of talent, word of mouth will inevitably expand his or her practice automatically.  When a true healer is able to inject powerful energy that can be distinctly felt and has truly positive benefits, his patients cannot help but tell their friends and family of their experience.  Slowly but surely, the practice will grow.

I told him that it was important that he be very patient and persistent.  That new healers will have days in which no one at all shows up, and other days in which several come.  I told him that he should not expect there to be any sort of dramatic start up phenomena or surprised or discouraged when it failed to occur.  However, I had little doubt, and told him so, that if he persisted for a period of several years, that within five years or so, he would be able to rely completely on his healing practice to make his living—that if he stayed with the process, treated every client with extreme personal care, and had faith in himself, he would be “living the dream” in due course.

I told him that in my own experience, the best way to proceed when evolving along spiritual lines, was to actually stop talking to one’s family and friends about the subject.  Family and friends, although almost always well-meaning, simply cannot see you as being something different, something bigger than you already are.  They are not in a position to offer supportive comments and help.  I told him that this was entirely normal and did not mean anything was wrong with his relationships—or his dream.

He also mentioned to me that he had had a long-lived aspiration to one day write a book.  However, due to his dyslexia he really had no significant idea that this would be a real possibility.

So, we began to work on that, as it was obvious this man had lived an extraordinarily interesting life, had met many highly evolved and fascinating people, and had many, many stories that people would love to hear.

I told him about voice recognition software.  He had heard a bit about it, but really had no working knowledge regarding this subject.  We began to make his “action list,” something I have all clients do, and put at the very top to buy a high quality voice recognition software program, get it installed on his computer, and begin to work with it.  As you may know, voice recognition software such as Dragon, has gotten so darn good, that you can virtually use it right out of the box—as opposed to the “old days” when you would have to “train” the software for days or weeks to recognize your voice and become accurate enough to really use effectively.  Now, the technology is so good that almost anyone can just buy the software and start writing their book immediately.

So, number two on his action list, was to outline the chapters of his book.  “When,” he asked me.  “Now!” I told him.  “You have evolved out of the stage of being a student, and a reader of books.  Now, with your age, what you know, and what you can do as a spiritual evolved being, it is actually your obligation to begin teaching, writing, and sharing your knowledge with others.  As you do so, the Universe will automatically kick in and help you in ways you cannot currently imagine.  But don’t write your book about theory or “teaching” per se.  Instead, begin making an “idea list” – a list of all the interesting stories, events both positive and negative, that you have experienced.  Using your voice recognition software, you can just talk into your microphone, telling your stories naturally, just like you were talking to a friend.  The stories will write themselves, and as they do, they will become the framework for the “lessons” and metaphysical principles you want to teach.  In this way, your book will be full of life, color, experience, and your wisdom will naturally shine through.  Your book, in this way, will be a success, something others cannot help but read.

He was rather blown away but all this at this point and almost two hours had elapsed since we had begun speaking.  I could tell we had accomplished what we needed to accomplish and did not want to overload him with anything else.  I wanted him to focus on these fairly simple and reasonable, attainable goals for the time being.

Both of us, at this point, were feeling highly energized and excited.

So, this is an example of how one of my readings went.  Yours, if you choose to have one, will take on its own character and have its own resulting goals.   They will be exciting too.  If you are experiencing any problems, we will include very specific points on your action list that will lead you to real, effective solutions.

It has been a pleasure writing for you today, and I hope we might speak in the future in this healthy and constructive way, so that your life can advance to the next level with confidence, clarity, and vision.

Many blessings for you and yours,

Dr. Todd

My dear readers,

I have taken a small hiatus from my posts in order to deal with a difficult life event.  Those of you who have followed my work, know that I have spent most of my time retranslating, from the original Greek, over 1/3 of the words of the great teacher, Jesus of Nazareth.  This has been of great comfort and inspiration to me, especially during times of trial and tribulation.  Now, in reviewing this work, I see that I have fallen short of what I could have done.  I could have been more meticulous and thorough, but I did close to the best I could with the circumstances I had at the time.  It is my fondest hope, having heard so much feedback, that these translations of the master’s words will continue to inspire you to live a better life of purity and compassion, and joy.

I want you to know very simply, that you must realize and be aware of the fact that you are constantly being guided and surrounded by the light and love of God, and in the Holy Spirit, who was sent to comfort us and guide us.  This light and wisdom is available to you at all times and is accessible through the simple and direct process of prayer.  It is available to everyone at every moment.

Please know that you are loved and cared for:  Immaculately, and with great care and precision.  God is a very personal and loving presence in your life, even when you are not aware of this.  His love for you is infinite and all-encompassing, and He will never leave you, even in your darkest hour.

Know that you are forgiven all that you of which you sincerely seek to be forgiven.  Grace starts now.  Right here and now–regardless of what you may have done or failed to do as an instrument of peace.  Your efforts are courageous and very much appreciated by Spirit.

Grace starts now, in this Holy Instant, and will continue for all your life through all your efforts and projects.  Know that you are blessed and cared for right now.

With warm regards,

Dr.  Todd

In my last blog, I talked about the perils and pitfalls of codependency, of getting yourself involved in other people’s problems and in giving unsolicited advice and so forth.  I promised to follow this up with a brief guide to giving healthy advice, being a good friend when someone has a problem, and not falling prey to the tempting and “natural” tendencies we have, (oh yes, me too), to becoming overbearing, codependent, and meddling.

To begin, I will give you an example: I had a client who was contemplating whether to have a surgical procedure or to let his condition heal naturally, was deeply depressed, doing something in his life that I did not “approve of”, had become addicted to pain medicines, and had numerous other disturbing and very painful problems which I empathized with strongly.  I “knew,” or at least thought I knew, a whole lot of great advice that would surely “help him.”  But he did not ask me about any of these things. I caught myself dwelling on his problems—blatant codependency.  So, I wanted to invite him for coffee, sit down with him and have a “little talk” with him so that I could tell him all about what I thought would surely help him.  I felt frustrated, even a little insulted that he would not ask my opinion, even though I was highly experienced and “knew” all about the nature of his problems and their solutions.  What was I to do?

In another circumstance that was presented to me, I had a friend from another area of the country that had a very serious problem.  The friend had gotten, through innocent inexperience and naïveté, into a situation in which they ended up getting hurt, very badly. I want to try avoid falling into the pitfall of judgment by saying that the circumstances were heinous or sociopathic, only God has the authority to judge such things, but simply that they were extremely painful and unfortunate for everyone involved.  This person was considering taking legal action, doing some other things to help including psychotherapy, and did want my advice—wanted me to help decide what to do.  What was I to do?  I have seen people file a “well justified” lawsuit, for example, and they will end up “winning,” and do OK.   But I’ve also seen some people “win” and end up creating even more problems for themselves down the line. I’ve even seen, by extension, at least three people win the entire state lottery, and one or two years later, their lives had completely fallen apart.  They had lost their purposes in life, their careers, their meaning, couldn’t trust many of their “friends,” even family, who now seemed more interested in their money than their friendship, even lost their spouses–who could not tolerate being with someone who was rich and seemed to now “own” them and the place they lived in, and had the power to do anything they wanted any time with no discussion.  At least two ended up on antidepressants and had serious suicidal thoughts. All were miserable and had lost all the love in their lives.  Tragic.  So, “winning” a conflict, or a lot of money, or a lot of prestige, or a lot of, well, anything, may not necessarily be in someone’s best interests down the line. We as simple human beings cannot see that far ahead.

In this situation I was not only sorely tempted to judge the party that had hurt my friend, but also tempted to encourage her to “go after them,” that “they deserved it,” etc.   But on second thought, I realized that little Dr. Todd has no idea whatever what the ultimate outcome of any action might be, and that except for supporting the friend emotionally, which was very very important indeed, it was basically none of my business.  Two years from now, I do not want to have on my conscience, the realization that I may have contributed to the ruination of a great person’s life by rashly and ignorantly giving cavalier “advice.” I’ve seen more than one person “win” a lawsuit and end up in worse shape than they were in in the first place.  These things can get really tricky.   What IS the best thing for me to do in this situation?

THE BASICS OF HELPING SOMEONE ELSE

1) The very first thing to do when a friend has a problem or worry or difficulty, is to do nothing. That is correct.  Don’t do anything—to them at least.  First, work on yourself to make sure that YOU are in a high enough place that will enable you to pull them up to a higher state of consciousness. Now, if you are yourself troubled, this does not necessarily mean you cannot help someone else at all.  I’m not saying that.  In fact, being in pain yourself might even have some advantages to helping you reach another troubled person, helping you to be able to actually empathize effectively.

What I am saying is that no matter where you are, in a good place or in a not so good place, make sure that your faith, your hope, your belief that something better can manifest, for you, is in good shape. Center yourself.  Meditate if necessary.  Ideally, get some great exercise to clear out the cobwebs in your body, and then clear as many conflicts and confusions as possible from your own heart and soul.  Remind yourself of the obvious:  There is a loving, personal presence in the Universe that cares and responds to our thoughts and prayers.  Access this presence and do all that you know to maximize your relationship with Divine Intelligence regarding all your own states of affairs.  Only now, are you are ready to help someone else.

2) Second, wait to be asked.  This is not a hard and fast rule, but in general, a pretty good one to observe.  There may be circumstances in which you become aware that a friend or loved one is having pain and trouble.  But perhaps they are too proud, or too shy, or to “unworthy,” or too depressed to reach out.  There is nothing wrong necessarily with reaching out to that person and offering your support, in a very generic kind of way.  When this happens, it’s OK, advisable even, to at least call this person and just say, “Is there anything I can do to be a good friend?”  Then BE QUIET AND LISTEN.

For sure, and I know this from actually working in the trenches of the healing fields and ministry for over thirty years, the very first thing that is advisable is just to listen.  That doesn’t mean just being absolutely silent, of course.  Many people are shy or proud and will not want to elaborate on their problems.  It is OK, even admirable and advisable, to get them to elaborate on their statements.  “Tell me more about what you are going through, I’m really interested.  I really care.”  (And mean it) Get them to talk as much as possible about them, without giving ANY advice of any kind.

Say things like, “I can’t imagine how you must feel, but I really want to know.  Maybe you are feeling worse than you are telling me.  How bad do you really feel?”  Reassure them repeatedly, and MEAN it, that what they are telling you will be going into your own psychic vault.  That you will never repeat anything that they are saying to anyone else. And under no circumstances break your promise.  This is always disastrous, always gets back to them, it seems, and never fails to keep them from confiding in you again.

3) Go with the person who is in pain, deep down into their pain, into their own personal hell, their own life of quiet desperation, and STAY there with them for a while. Even if you were to do this alone and stop, doing nothing more–this alone can suffice to do wonders.  In fact, in some cases, stopping here might even be a good idea.  But make sure you really go with that person into their pain and just BE with them there.  This first critical step in interacting with the person you are seeking to help is so often neglected as to be shameful.  Even trained psychotherapists and physicians can’t seem to do this sometimes. But it is absolutely critical.  When you go with that person, into their space of trouble, you are performing an act of authentic love and compassion, and this NEVER fails but to help and to prepare you for the next step.

Take your time. If you don’t have time, MAKE TIME.  Ask them questions to get them to open up about how they really feel at the deepest level. Most of us are just chomping at the bit to TELL the other person how to solve their problems, render our “correct” opinions and advice, or in the worst case to silently–or not so silently– judge them in some subtle way—without even taking the time to listen to the full extent of their problem.  Ridiculous.  And wholly ineffective.

4)  Next, continue to restrain yourself from telling them what you think they should think or do.  Instead, once you have accomplished the above—which again will by itself suffice, in many cases, to bring about considerable comfort and help—think of a situation in your own life, past or present, that is analogous and/or relevant, to what they are going through.  Talk about your own experiences and how you solved them, how Grace helped you through. Talk about how you survived. How you made it through.

Concentrate to some degree on the spiritual aspects of how you survived your own trial of life.  Remind them that, in the end, it was your letting go and letting God that helped you the most.  Remind them of the obvious—that the more you put the situation into God’s hands, the better things got.  Concentrate on how you felt, and how hard it was for you to get through.

5) Now and only now are you ready to render “advice.”  And how exactly do you do this?  If possible wait to be asked for your opinion.  Or, if they are very confused and in turmoil, ask them politely if they would care to know what you think, if they would like some polite advice.  Ask.  Do not assume. Never assume that someone else wants your opinion. If they decline, be graceful and mature.  Don’t be pouty and insulted.  That is highly inappropriate.  Remember that having performed the preliminary steps outlined above has already done a great deal of good.  Maybe enough.

If they respond affirmatively, immediately, and I mean immediately, ask God, however you conceive of Him/Her to help guide you so that you only render advice that will bring about, in the final analysis, beneficial and healthy results. Be very very careful here.  Keep reminding yourself that you have absolutely no way of knowing what the ultimate consequences of any decision may be in the end.  Life has some really peculiar ways of taking what appear to be “good decisions” and turning them into weird curve balls that end up causing all kinds of mischief and damage months or years later.

Very often the best advice is to turn the question around the other person and say, “This is a decision that you and only you can or should make.”

Ask them if they have done the really obvious things. You would not believe how many people sort of assume they have done the obvious spiritual basics like “Inviting God into the situation,” praying and asking for guidance, and taking a few seconds or a few minutes several times a day to “see,” what things would look like when the problem is solved.  I can attest to the truth of this.  About ten years ago, I had a spiritual adviser once that I would call when I had a really bad problem.  His answers were so consistent and so reliable that after a while I didn’t even have to call him physically.  I could just picture him in front of me, ask him my question and he would ask these simple but very powerful things:  Have you actually sat down and literally asked God to help you with this?  Or have you just assumed this because you think you are some kind of  “expert, because you write books about this stuff?”  “Have you actually taken even ten seconds to picture in your mind exactly how things will look and feel when the problem has resolved?”

This guy was really good.  And I mean really good.  He refused to make any decisions for me, or to even lean me in one direction or another.  He was much too wise.  Instead, he would just ask me those two questions.  Then, he would tell me to go.  “Go and ask God, go picture what things will look like exactly, feel like especially, when things get better.  Only then, call me back after you have done these things.”

Nine times out of ten, I didn’t have to call back.  That is how a lot of the really great ones are.  They are not anxious to render their opinions.  They are very reluctant to give anyone any “advice” on anything.  They know too much about the way things really work.

I hope this helps.  It can help make you a really great friend, the kind of friend that people cherish and admire and want to hang with. It is distilled wisdom that I have received from a lot of really great people through my life, and have the distinct obligation to pass forward.  A lot of people have spent a lot of time working with me, as they have with you. If the results were good, then they were all sent by God.  They were all, in a very real sense, angels.  Angels are just “messengers,” by definition, and they may very well take the form of caring, compassionate human beings.

Be an angel! And don’t forget to have some fun today and get some exercise for gosh sakes!  It’s summer!  And don’t forget to have some fun today and get some exercise for gosh sakes!  It’s summer!

For those who are lonely, worried, afraid, in pain, or doubt—even just a little! This website has changed it’s mission statement as of February 2011.  Now, after surviving two horribly painful and life-threatening illnesses by the Grace of God, it is my only desire to help those in pain.  I have technically retired from medicine and now, only wish to use my words to heal, both here and in my books.  Please find a great deal of free information here, many free and generously sized personal readings of my books, and other information on the “store page.”  Hey, just go to that page and click on “play” on one of the audio books, kick back and enjoy.  We’re in the process of making it all Open Source anyway, but there are hours of free stuff there already.  There is no attempt to “make money” here, but we do appreciate any support we can garner to help us continue this work. Receiving is a good thing too.  Finally, if you are financially challenged and cannot afford a book or tape right now that would help you, just contact me and I will see personally that you get what you need.  Many warm blessings, Dr. Todd

PS.  Don’t forget to make it a point, to have as much FUN as you possibly can!

The Worst Thing in Your World and,

How to Get Rid of It

Before you can know what the worst thing in your world is, you have to know what “your world” really means.  According to cutting edge quantum physicists—and this has been written on extensively—it is everything you project.  Everything you see around you, is your projection, a reflection of all the decisions, perceptions and intensions you have.  Nothing else.  Though we are inundated by TV, media, all sorts of other people in our lives and at work, and our past “understandings” that would tell us intuitively otherwise, your world is everything you think about, and do.  Nothing else.  No one else has anything to do with it really.

So, what is the worst thing in your world?  The answer then, is YOU.  By extension, you are also the Best thing in your world.  And by further logical extension, the ONLY single thing you can work on to make your world better, the only thing you have any BUSINESS working on, is YOU.

It has been said, and I firmly believe rightly so, that the primary psychopathology of the human race is called “co-dependency.”  In the most simple terms, this means, being nosy, meddling with other’s lives—thinking about others opinions of you and themselves, and worse yet, trying to CHANGE other people.  As my wise brother Matt often says, “What others think about me, is none of my damn business.”  That is healthy.  Thinking only about yourself, working only on yourself, concentrating only on yourself, is HEALTHY.  Anything else is very, and I mean VERY, unhealthy for you, and will only end up causing you pain and sorrow…Not necessary!!

Different cultures, nationalities, religious sects, political movements, certain parts of the country, and many other groups of people, are well known to have rampant codependency.  You can recognize one of these groups by several characteristics that present themselves:  First, they believe that they should give others unsolicited advice.  They believe they know what is best for others and take it upon themselves to give them little talks or otherwise attempt to influence them to change, to their way of thinking.  Second, codependent groups believe their way is “right” and that other’s ways are “wrong.”  Thus the little talks and lectures.  Third, people that inhabit codependent societies and groups talk about others behind their backs.  In plain English, they gossip.

Gossip goes like this.  “Oh, so and so told me this very sensitive, personal thing–they confided in me, but I am so “worried” about them.  I just have to talk to someone about this.  I know I can trust you not to let this go any further, of course. You would never do that.  But I just have to talk to someone about this or I fear for this other person’s soul. It’s my responsibility.”

Nonsense. In doing this, you break your confidence with the other person, and sure as sure the sun rises in the East each morning, you can be absolutely certain the person that you are “confiding the secret in” will spread it like wildfire and in no time at all everyone in that group will know the poor person’s innermost and sacred thoughts and feelings.  There is no excuse for this. None whatsoever.  It has been said, again rightly so, I believe, that if you were to take all the disease, and war, and bombs and horrible things you hear about in the news together, they wouldn’t even come close to matching a single percent of the harm that gossip does in this world.  For gossip, when analyzed carefully, rarely amounts to anything more than subtle or not so subtle character assassination.

And, because it is all your world, when you assassinate another’s character by breaking your bond of trust with them, you assassinate yourself and end up causing yourself and unbelievalble amount of pain.  You can’t see this most of the time—it’s very hard for you to put this particular cause and effect together—but it absolutely true that much of the pain and lonliness and heartache, lack, conflict, and disharmony you experience in your own life, is the simple result of this primary pathology—thinking about what others are doing and thinking—and trying to “correct” them, instead of concentrating on your own problems and attempting to do what is necessary to correct them.  This is universal truth, and I will not equivocate or back down about it one bit.  Think about it.

A person asked me recently, “How can you tell if someone IS trustworthy, IS worthy of asking advice, IS worthy of confiding in?”  I would not presume to know the entirety that answer but in my own experience there are a few simple things to look for when picking a person to confide in.

First, and foremost, that person is HAPPY.  That person has what you want.   For example, if you want advice about a relationship, pick someone who HAS a relationship, a successful relationship, a functional, healthy, lasting relationship.  For in the end, one thing is absolutely certain.  When you take advice from another, you are going to end up being, little by little, LIKE THEM.  So, if you want to avoid a lot of heartache and confusion, ONLY pick people who are sane, balanced, healthy, happy, well-adjusted, have great interpersonal relationships, are prosperous and grateful, and noble in their bearing and intentions.

Second, pick someone who DOES NOT WANT TO GIVE YOU ADVICE.  Yep.  That’s right.  I’ve seen this over and over and over.  The very best advice givers don’t want to give any advice.  They aren’t interested in changing anyone else.  Why?  Because they aren’t codependent.  They don’t sit around “worrying” about what other people are doing, or how they run their lives.  They don’t want to.  In fact, they avoid it like the plague.

There is a thing I have observed for many years, coming from a family with many psychiatrists and psychotherapists, which I call “Young psychologist syndrome.”  But you don’t have to be a psychologist to have it.  So many of us take it upon ourselves to believe we are some kind of psychologist or qualified advice-giver, even though we have absolutely no training of any kind, and lead relatively miserable lives of quiet desperation.  Regardless, what I have noticed is that you give a person  a few years of training, some New Thought education, and/or maybe a degree or two, and they have this natural fervor to want to analyze and correct everyone around them.  Everyone, that is, but themselves.

You see this everywhere.  Like I say, it is not a syndrome isolated to psychologists, because so many people fancy themselves “experts” that know more than you and “know” what is best for you.  You see it also in newly educated and spiritualized people—they can’t help it and mean well, to be sure.  It’s all natural and there is not judgement regarding it that should be entertained.  They are just excited about learning about their new spirituality and want to tell everyone else about it.  It’s OK, I say this with no judgment, but then again, something to learn how to grow out of.

So, to summarize again, pick someone who doesn’t have any interest in giving you advice.  The oldest, wisest, most seasoned and mature souls I have ever known, really don’t want to give advice.  It is something they have done for so long that it is boring, work, for them.  Wow.  If you can find one of these people, run, don’t walk and ask them for advice.  And don’t be dismayed if you have to ask twice.  Or even three times.  The more reluctant they are to give you advice on how to run your life, the more qualified they are to do so.  Trust me on this one.

Third, and this is really important, pick someone who never talks about anyone else.  Pick someone who seems to be a kind of psychic “vault.”  What goes in stays there and doesn’t come out.  It is not as though such a person is trying really hard to restrain him or herself from talking about others, i.e. gossiping—to use common parlance—it’s just that they have lost all INTEREST in thinking about and talking about others.  Such people are rare, but not all that rare.  You can recognize them because in your conversations with them, you will virtually never hear them say a single word about anyone else.  They just ain’t interested in meddling in other’s affairs.

Fourth, pick someone who has a strong tendency to think a lot about his or her own problems.  They talk about their own shortcomings and faults.  And they seem to be trying really hard to correct them. Such people, if you ask them, will say things like, “Oh, I don’t know anything.  I’ve got so many character defects and problems that I’ve got my hands full working on my own issues.”  Or they will say, “No, no, no.  I am NOT a wise person.  I am just like everyone else.  Go find someone who is much wiser and experienced than I.”  They apologize a lot too.  Sincerely and in a heartfelt way.  They never blame anyone for their own problems and always take responsibility for their own plights.  They are quick to admit their wrong words and actions and quick to amend them. Find one of these and, Bingo: You’ve hit the jackpot. That is a high soul.  That is the way you want to be and, like I say, whoever you talk to is going to rub off on you.  Would you like to be humble, and non fascinated with the “problems” of others?  Yeah, you would.  If you don’t want that now, you’ll figure it out.  You DO want to be like them.

I have been blessed to have many such people in my life.  But not randomly.  I learned, the hard HARD way.  I learned, by incredible pain and suffering, to associate myself only with people like this.  Dr. J, Dr. George Spady MD, Dr. Michael Metzler MD/PhD, Elaine Hansen PsyD/JD, David Rosenthal MD, my brothers Matt and Jon, my dear mother Nancy, Joe Lynch, Paul Nelson and Sherry Zappato, Ken and Glyndon K., Robin Ryerson, Brad Sykes, and a bunch of other folks I am embarrassed to leave out at this moment but will surely mention in due course.

So, to summarize this whole blog:  The Worst Thing in Your World, is YOUR tendency to want to change how others think.  Yes and yes again: The very worst thing in your world could very well be your tendency, if you have it, to “worry” about others, “obsess over their “wrong” ways of living their own lives, and your tendency to take it upon yourself to “correct” them—so that they think the “right way” – YOUR way.

This brings pain, dear ones.  IT BRINGS YOU MORE AND MORE PAIN, AS IF A WELLSPRING OF INTERNAL SUFFERING THAT SEEMS TO HAVE NO END, NO BOTTOM.  Pain that is subtle, insidious and ever so hard to associate with its cause. If you find yourself alone without love, in financial crisis all the time, depressed, worried, anxious, restless, lacking self-esteem, and just plain UNHAPPY, it is my most sincere desire to bring you some measure of relief.  I’m so far down the road of my life now that I really don’t care a whole lot about anything but protecting and nurturing my loved ones, and relieving as much suffering as I can.   I wish I didn’t have to lecture you or risk being “preachy,” which I most certainly am, lol, but I really want to help you find the way out of the maze of pain that baffles you at every turn.

So: Stop it. Just stop thinking about what is wrong with others.  Stop thinking about what is wrong with the country, or the president, or some other country, or the financial system, or the IRS, or the other political party, or your neighbor, or your friend, your son or daughter, your husband or wife, or anyone or anything else that is not YOU. And don’t expect to just stop it once and be done with it.  The mind develops these little ruts in its road, and the tires keep falling back into them.  You have to keep pulling yourself out, steering yourself out, over and over and over.  How long will it take?  I don’t know.  It will take as long as it will take. But I do know that it will be worth it.  For when you have accomplished this, a huge proportion of your psychic discomfort will have mysteriously albeit naturally, disappeared.

You can only change ONE thing in this world.  And that is YOU. Hey.  It’s not something I made up; I’m not that smart.  But I did have people teach this to me.  Two accidents and illnesses involved got me in so much pain a few years ago that I finally stopped thinking I was the big expert on everything, admitted I didn’t really know all that much, and started listening—to people that met the above criteria.  That’s when my life changed.  And now, solely by the Grace of God and their love, I am free and happy, and I love my life—every second of it.

So, if you will excuse me, I must go now and work on my own darn character defects, including being too self-centered, being too codependent, being overly sensitive, not being generous enough, not being pure enough, not having that last 1 or 2% of pure forthcoming honesty I hope one day to achieve, still bearing a few resentments I struggle with…I don’t know…all the usual stuff.   But I have HOPE.   Because even these things are technically “impossible” for an Iowan farm boy to really change, I have this big card in my back pocket that I’m going to keep pulling out to help.  Call it whatever you want.  I just call it God now, because that is simple enough.  Call is LOVE, call it Nature, all it Divine Intelligence, call it your own Higher Self, it doesn’t matter at all.  Semantics.

So, I hope that you will continue to give me all the great feedback I have been getting, sometimes constructive criticism which is very intelligent and loving, through emails to EvolutionAngel55@gmail.com, and I will answer everyone. And I so look forward to getting this site to the point where it is completely Open Source. We’re working on it.  So that you can have any and all of my audio and PDF book, CDs, everything, either for free or for $1.  I have no right to make money on God.  And that’s the source for all of this stuff.  Who am I to “charge” for that?  Yeah, I’m still going to have to charge a nominal fee for my Evolution Angel Readings, but I’m slashing that by 2/3s to the point where I can just subsist.  But the rest is going to be pretty much free.  That makes me FEEL like a MILLION DOLLARS!

Have as much fun as possible and let me know if I can help out in any way.  Always glad to help my neighbors and readers.  It’s purely selfish really, but that’s OK. The law says this:  You can ONLY GIVE TO YOURSELF.

With warm regards, and happily,

Dr. Todd

PS  My next blog will be about how to help others, how to give advice—if asked–to others in the healthiest way possible.

All of us have to deal with people in our lives, from time to time–people who make things even more difficult for us than they already are. Sometimes, we can even fall prey, innocently enough, to the machinations of people who are sociopathic–who are not who they say they are precisely, or to people who are mean or unforgiving.

I have received a great deal of wise counseling on this matter over my lifetime from a multitude of great ministers, teachers, mentors, and colleagues. What I have learned can be summarized fairly easily and it is nothing new.

Whenever you encounter a person who hurts you, cannot forgive you, condemns you, rejects you, fails to show human compassion and understanding, or otherwise goes out of their way to make your life miserable, realize that these people are in pain.

People that act like this, in our experience, are almost invariably people that lead loveless lives. Deep within, they are in great pain, isolation, loneliness, and conflict. They seek, almost more than anything in the world to experience true intimacy, love, family, friends, and warmth in their lives, but they have somehow failed. They are in agony within, often completely unaware of this fact, and they take it out on others around them.

Perhaps it is because they are afraid of what that intimacy would mean. Perhaps it is because of abuse they suffered as children. Perhaps it is because they are almost genetically hard-wired to respond to other people’s suffering and problems with coldness and judgment. Perhaps they are depressed or experiencing anxiety and fear.

There are any number of reasons that people can act as if they are “mean” or cold, or judgmental. But at the end of the day, the reason, per se, does not make any difference to you. It is only your reaction to this kind of mental violence–and it is a kind of mental violence, however quietly stated–that you can control.

I recently watched a good friend undergo a terrible mental lashing and rejection from an elder. She knew this was coming and what she said about how she was going to handle it taught me a lot. Rather than arm herself with a lot of similarly spiteful and cutting comments to “fight back,” she told me that her goal was to be “the bigger person.” “I want to react only with peace,” she told me, “because that is the only way that I will end up feeling peaceful myself.” As a result, she simply took her beating quietly and with amazing grace and maturity, never once lashing out or making any attempt to “fight back.”  Then she turned to her other mentors, who were more stable, loving, and mature in their attitudes.  The result:  Her life got better, not worse.

Breaking the cycles of violence have been the focus of most of world’s most influential teachers, Christ, Budda, Ghandi–there are many examples. The phrase, “Turn the other cheek” is perhaps one of the most difficult things in the world to accomplish, but it is only by doing this that we can do our own small part to diminish the violence and confusion and hatred that dwells within others.

Remembering that these people are in their own way “sick” and in psychic and emotional pain themselves, can help a great deal. Fighting rarely has any benefit as we all know, and sometimes the wisest thing is to be like my friend, to try to be the bigger person, and simply refuse to react.

It is so difficult as to seem impossible sometimes. Yet it can be done.

I don’t want to come off as a Pollyanna that believes that you must never fight back when an injustice has been committed. Sometimes, it is your civic duty, for example, when you observe a crime, or are the victim of a crime, to report this, so as to protect yourself and your fellow citizens.

How can you tell the difference? Get some advice. Don’t try to figure it out yourself. Get the opinions of at least three other good people, people who are at peace within themselves, people who you seek to be like, people who have already mastered the art of refusing to react to violence with violence automatically. People who have good, solid loving relationships, and love within their own lives. Such people are hard to find sometimes, to be sure, but we all know a few. Run the situation by them and get some words of wisdom and some support. I promise you this: If you ask–for this kind of wisdom–you will receive it. And your life will steadily become more peaceful. The people in turmoil and pain that want to cause you and others pain will fall away naturally, and you will be left with supportive, healthy, happy people to help you live your life with the kind of happiness and peace of mind you seek within your soul.

Dr. Todd