When asked How are you? or How’s your day going? many persons answer by saying “not too bad.” In most cases, their reply is often automatic, with little or no awareness about what they’re telling the world or themselves. Although we may consciously interpret their reply to mean “I’m fine,” or “good;” that’s not the actual message that the subconscious mind hears.

Whenever we think or make a statement with not, never, and no, our mind dismisses the term of negation and focuses on what follows. This function is hardwired into our brain; it’s just the way that it works. If you doubt this could be true, please consider the following:

• Do not think of an pink elephant (You just thought of an pink elephant).
• Never think of a dancing Chihauhau. (You just thought of a dancing Chihauhau).
• No stress (You just reaffirmed stress).
• Not too bad (Your subconscious mind heard bad).
• No problem (Your subconscious mind didn’t hear “it’s okay;” it heard problem).
• No onions (Your server at the restaurant just heard onions, and now has to remember them–so as not to place them on your burger).

My point is related to our understanding of the Law of Attraction; which is basically stated as that which is like is attracted. It’s important to remember that our essential nature is that of divine co-creators. We’ve been conditioned to believe that we’re only flesh and bones; but we’re so much more! We’re the highest expression of the Absolute; and as such, we create in the same manner as our Creator. We use thoughts, words, focus, and actions to create what has been impressed into our mind. If we desire to have days that are not too bad, we don’t need to change anything; but if we desire to raise the bar and strive for GREAT days, and a WONDERFUL life, I suggest the following changes. So, once again, with feeling: How are you?

• I’m great, thanks!
• Excellent!
• Fine, absolutely fine!

I’m not suggesting that we should become automatons, repeating answers that aren’t always true. When we’re feeling depressed or frustrated, it may be appropriate to express our feelings and move on. But, if we’re using expressions such as not too bad as space fillers, rather than a reflection of how we’re actually feeling, it’s to our advantage to use a space filler that leads to better results. The subconscious mind is incapable of discernment or reason; nor can it interpet nuance, inflection, or sarcasm. It simply accepts content and meaning literally; at face value, 24/7.

Our choice of words is directly related to the quality of our lives. Please contemplate the following illustration: Imagine that you’ve been given the opportunity to be an instructor to an up-and-coming golf star. You’ve been entrusted with teaching him the intricacies of the game; and it’s been strongly implied that your job depends on the outcome of a certain tournament. You know that if he wins, you win. You also realize what happens if he loses.

An hour before the tournament is due to begin, you take the promising young player aside, look him squarely in the eyes, and deliver the following pep talk: “I know that you’re probably feeling a tremendous degree of pressure right now, which is understandable. I just want to give you some last-minute pointers. First: Do not, whatever you do, overshoot on Hole Three. Second: Don’t catch that gaping bunker on Hole Seven. Third: Never, I repeat never, lose your focus whenever you’re putting! Got it?“

With what you’ve understood about words and the manner in which the subconscious mind functions, what instructions do you think the subconscious heard prior to tee off? Right! Overshoot on Hole Three; catch the bunker on Hole Seven; and lose your focus while putting! I think you also realize that your career as a golf instructor ended the next day! The good news is that we can use this knowledge to our benefit; in situations that have far more important consequences at stake:

• “I am vibrantly healthy;” versus “I am not sick.”
• “I am creating great prosperity,” versus “I am not poor.”
• “I am going to ace this exam,” versus “I am not going to fail.”

The words that we emphasize through habitual use make a world of difference. Our subconscious mind is always listening, always present, always ready to act. It’s in our best interest to give it something great to overhear. By the way, “I’m great.” Thanks for asking. (If you’re curious about learning more about the law of attraction, I offer more information in my YouTube video entitled The Matthew Effect.)

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

In this article, I offer several quotes from various authors and deep thinkers that point to a very different way of interpreting reality; especially when compared to that which the majority have been conditioned to assume is true. It’s my hope that the quotes will resonate with you and inspire you to investigate your true Self and the nature of our apparent “world.”

“The world as seen only exists in the mind of the observer. It has no independent existence.”

– David R. Hawkins.

“This world, with all its animate beings and inanimate objects, is nothing but the creation of the mind. When the activities of the mind cease, there is no world, no duality. There is only God.”

– Gaudapada

“Every phenomenon that exists is a creation of thought.”

– Huang Po

“The truth is that God is the mind and life of the individual. God is the only I.”

– Joel Goldsmith

“Your Self without ‘you’ is the one you seek.”

– Mooji

“God is man’s consciousness, his awareness, his I Amness. The drama of life is a psychological one in which we bring circumstances to pass by our attitudes rather than by our acts.”

– Neville Goddard

“What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”

– Plutarch

“The universe is a mere appearance and the ego-sense is a mere concept.”

– Ramesh S. Balsekar

“There is no difference in our actual experience between the substance of the apple that appears in memory and the substance of the apple that appears in ‘real time.’ Our only knowledge of both is made out of mind–out of seeing, touching, smelling, and tasting, and the substance of mind is only Awareness.“

– Rupert Spira

“Everything is in consciousness, nothing else.“

– Shri Ranjit Majarah

“Thought creates the world. Thoughts bring things into existence.”

– Sri Swami Sivananda

“Phenomena only ‘exist’ in the mind that perceives them.”

– Tibetan Book of The Dead

“No thought of form can be impressed upon original substance without causing the creation of that form. A human being is a thinking center and can originate thought.”

– Wallace D. Wattles

Note: For readers who are eager to learn more about their true Self and the nature of our apparent world, I offer my Youtube video entitled Offering Dots: (You Decide If They Connect).

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

The Law of Attraction–always functioning, ever present, one-hundred percent of the time. What we think about, we bring about. Due to it, we experience that which is in accordance with our habitual feeling-imbued thoughts. With that in mind, let’s examine the title of this post in more detail.

Most of us are familiar with the custom of tossing a coin to make a determination. It usually plays out as follows: A coin is selected and both sides (Heads and Tails) are shown. A spokesperson for the players involved (perhaps two teams of children) states his/her choice and waits as the coin is tossed into the air. The coin is caught and slapped onto the back of the tosser’s other hand. The covering hand is lifted, revealing the verdict. It’s simple: The team that called it goes first, or plays from a certain end. How that coin toss applies to the Law of Attraction is found through a saying of mine: You can never slice a coin so thin that it won’t have two sides. Please read that again and contemplate it deeply. What do I mean?

Based on circumstances that we witness, it can often be easy to assume that Life, Itself, has arbitrarily divided us into categories, in much the same way as the coin toss. On one side, Heads, we may mistakenly believe that only winners are allowed. They will be the rich, the famous, the ones with the great career, great family, and great health. On the other side, Tails, we may mistakenly believe that only losers are found. They will be the poor, the downtrodden, the ones with minimum wage jobs, dysfunctional families, and poor health. In this article, we’re going to challenge that belief through the Principle of Polarity, which is discussed in a book of esoteric teachings entitled The Kybalion.

All of us are aware of seeming opposites: Hot and Cold; Up and Down; Right and Left. The Kybalion informs us that both (although apparently opposites) are actually just poles, or extremes, of one thing. In the matter of “Hot” and “Cold,” no one can state where hot begins and cold ends; for both are merely differing degrees of the one; which in this example is temperature. So, how does this mystical teaching apply to our lives? It means that if we are experiencing the negative pole of any situation, we can mentally slide our attention toward the other pole, and, thereby, change our attitude. This would be accomplished through deliberate and conscious mental effort. If a situation is unfavourable, mentally toss the coin again–seeking the good that absolutely must be there! ! Please contemplate the following: The Tails side of the coin literally can’t exist in the absence of the Heads side! In time, as we mature as co-creators, we realize that we (via our thinking) possess BOTH sides of the coin about any situation. Each and every time, we may choose to toss the coin again and discover the good that exists within Infinite Living Mind. How, though, could our thinking possibly make any difference in our actual “real world” circumstances that we encounter? The reason is because this “reality” is not what it seems.

This article isn’t a Pollyanna exercise in trite sayings. It’s fact. We are the one having our life experiences, and we are the one labelling them. I’m not denying that challenging life situations will never occur; they do. I’m saying that in every situation we may toss the coin again (applying The Principle of Polarity) and discover the favourable side of the coin. On a grander scale, we may even realize that situations once labelled “bad” were actually blessings in disguise. We can change ourselves (our thinking and attitude) and, thereby, attract more better circumstances. (If you’d like to learn more about the Law of Attraction, I believe you’ll find my YouTube video entitled “Consciousness, and The Law of Attraction” helpful.)

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers” 

Times change; they surely do. In fact, change is paradoxically one of the constants in this changeful realm called “Earth.” On a daily basis, perpetual change is witnessed–minute to hour; morning to evening, and year to yesteryear. We know with absolute certainty that what’s popular and apparent today–in science, medicine, politics, and culture–will surely change. It’s just the way of expression here.

As a teenager, I once wrote a poem about the nature of time. Curious then, as I still am, I wrote that I didn’t want to know what made the clock tick–I wanted to know what made the tick tick. From my unaware perspective, I suppose I was searching for meaning in this mysterious clockwork mechanism in which we’re apparently enmeshed.

Initially, we may be somewhat unaware of the flow of time; for we, who are seemingly being swept along in it, barely notice its movement. From the perspective of the “person,” our attention is almost always focused on objects of fancy, or those which we wish to avoid. One year, such may be a goal to achieve business success; the next year, a romantic relationship; and the following year, plans to travel the world. Change, change, change–all of which we’re accustomed to labelling favourable or unfavourable.

What if, however, our habitual understanding of our “self” and time is all backward? What if we’re not the “person” within time in a great big world, but actually the true Self in which the apparent “person,” time, and the world appear? This shift makes a tremendous difference in how we process experiences and interactions with “others.” From my understanding, there’s only one thing (not a thing) that holds eternal value. The knowing of it, at least to me, is what makes the tick tick. Through all of the changing times and seasons, I believe the only tick that gives REAL MEANING to our lives is this: to express, and exemplify, the quality of our true Self, which is LOVE.

Note: (If you’re eager to investigate the deeper dimension of true Self, you may find my YouTube video entitled “Children of The Light” helpful.)

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

Alice kept a close eye on time. It was a major driving force in her life. She was fascinated by it, at least when it wasn’t driving her around the bend. The thought of ever being late was a stimulus that could set heart racing. She had a small collection of watches; one for every type of occasion. Every spring and fall she synchronized them with Greenwich Mean Time to ensure that they were as accurate as possible.

One afternoon, Alice and Blake (the new tenant down the hall) engaged in a brief conversation. It began when they stepped onto the elevator of their apartment building, and he noticed her glance at her watch.

“Nice watch,” Blake said, smiling. “Is it new?”

“Thank you,” said Alice. “I’ve had it for about a year.”

It’s odd, isn’t it” said Blake, “we count something that doesn’t exist.”

“Say what?” said Alice, with a puzzled look.

“Time–it’s just a concept. All there actually is, is the eternal now; but humankind mentally divides it into arbitrary slices that we label seconds, minutes, hours, and days.”

“But there’s even atomic clocks,” said Alice. “They’re incredibly accurate.” The elevator doors slid open, and they stepped out, onto the 8th floor.

“Yes, I know,” said Blake, “but they’re still just measuring a concept.”

“I’m not sure that I know what you mean,” said Alice.

“Can we sit for a minute?” said Blake, with a glance toward the bench opposite the elevator. Alice nodded, and they sat down.

“This might help,” he said. “Time is just a convenient concept. It’s basically a framework that we use to arrange our lives. It allows us to schedule appointments and a conceptual future.”

“Conceptual?” said Alice, perplexed.

“Yup, conceptual. Let’s try this,” said Blake. “If I asked you to meet me at McMillan Park this Saturday at 2:00 p.m. to go for a walk, when do you think that would take place? That is, if you agreed.”

“Well, this Saturday at 2:00 p.m.”

“This is where the idea of time gets tricky,” said Blake. “Our walk at the park could only take place now.”

“But that’s crazy!” exclaimed Alice. “Now, we’re sitting on a bench in our apartment building.”

“Is it?” asked Blake. “Can you ever live the future, even half an hour from now?”

Alice became still, and a grin swept across her face as the answer popped into her awareness. “No, I guess not.”

“We only live now,” said Blake. “It’s all there is.”

“I agree,” said Alice. “It’s important to be in the moment.”

“We can never actually be in a moment, either; because a moment is still a measurement of time. It might help if you considered the Now as a constant backdrop, rather than a measurement. We literally can’t escape it.”

“This is so strange,” said Alice.

“I agree,” said Blake. “We live our lives as though a real past and a real future actually exist; but they don’t. And they never will. The past is just a conceptual period in memory; and the future is just a conceptual period in imagination.”

“So, if I understand you correctly,” said Alice, “you’re saying that this morning at my job doesn’t really exist.”

“Not beyond memory, no,” said Blake.

“Sure feels real,” said Alice.

Blake smiled. “I know. I learned something from Eckhart Tolle that helped me understand this stuff more clearly. Here’s an example he once shared: He said that if you had a time machine and could push a button and travel backward to the past–say to the 17th century–that you would still step out of the machine and say, “Now, I’m in the 17th century!”

“I get it,” said Alice, smiling. “And now, I guess I better get these frozen groceries into the refrigerator before they melt!”

With that, Alice and Blake stood and headed in opposite directions to their apartments. He had only taken a few steps, when he turned around and said, “What do you think about having a walk in McMillan Park? Would you like to go sometime?”

“Sure,” said Alice, with a smile. “Now?”

***

Dear Readers: Have you been carrying worries that belong to the conceptual “person” of space-time? They don’t belong to the real YOU. “Time” (of several weeks, or even longer duration) also seems to occur in our dream-state dreams; but when we merge once again with waking-state reality, we realize that such occurred within minutes. Therefore, can “time” be fundamental? If you’d like to investigate your essential nature more deeply, I offer you my YouTube video entitled “The Nature of Reality.”

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

As we delve into the nature of our true Self, please imagine, if you will, what it’s like for a newborn baby to look upon the “world.” Everything would literally seem new, fresh, and alive. Without the function of higher mental faculties, the baby would be incapable of discerning the difference between its arm, foot, or hand and the sides of its crib. The baby would be innocent; it would not have learned that it was a “baby” and that it was different from “other” babies. It, would, thus interpret everything through it unique focal point of I Am.” True to its essential nature, the baby would naturally be Love, Being Love.

So, the point, Mr. Russell? My point is that our mask, or avatar of name and form, is a learned perspective. It’s an apparently physical-psychological costume comprised of name, gender, race, nationality and other downloaded bits of data related to an Earthly “i”-dentity. It’s not the foundation of our essential nature. Before I ever knew that my full name was Ronald Arthur Russell, “I” was and still “Am.” My true Self is that irreducible essential nature that’s impossible to remove. In spite of all the triumphs and tribulations that Mr. Russell may have taken so seriously, I remain “I Am.” Such also applies to the real “YOU.”

While its understandable that we must don a costume in order to assume our role in this Earthly play, it becomes problematic when all that we know of ourselves is the costume. It leads us into temptation to use “others’ for our own benefit and is the cause of great suffering within Consciousness. Depending on the environment into which we are born, we learn all or some of the following:

• I’m different from “others.”
• I’m more special than you or, sadly, believe to be not as good.
• “They” aren’t our kind of people.
• I must compete, and win, to have value.
• I can only love people of my same colour, race, nationality, and creed.
• I will take from “you,” so that I (the “person“) can thrive.

Due to our identification with a purely conceptual “i”-dentity, actions are performed against “one another” that Love would never knowingly do. Most “humans” don’t realize that when we harm another, we literally harm ourselves. Why? Because…

LOVE recognizes that we are all One.

***

Every Being that dares to dive deep into Self inquiry and knowingly recognize his/her essential nature elevates the expression of God on Earth; and where there’s more God Awareness…

there’s more love, more joy, and more peace.

Surely, surely, surely that’s a worthy goal.

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

I offer you my latest video about our essential nature, which I’m suggesting is Consciousness.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

Many, if not most, of us are familiar with the children’s rhyme: “I’m the king of the castle, and you’re the dirty rascal!” It relates to a children’s game in which boys and girls race to the top of a hill and defend their right to proclaim that they’re the king or queen of the castle. The origin of the game seems unclear; but by some accounts, it was played in 16th-century France and 17th-century Scotland and, perhaps, earlier.

Let’s investigate the rhyme and discover if it could possibly refer to an underlying spiritual meaning related to our essential nature. In support of this, I offer the following verse found in John 8:58:

“Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.”

To be clear, the verse doesn’t state that Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I, ‘Jesus,’ was”–it states “I Am.” I offer that Jesus was conveying that “I Am” (Consciousness) is prior to physical form (as illustrated by mentioning Abraham). Consciousness is the very foundation of our Being. Objects, both physical and mental, appear in Consciousness and are known by Consciousness. Research into the field of consciousness adds weight to this assertion; for try as they might, scientists have been unable to determine how physical processes give rise to consciousness. Ancient teachings assert that the body-mind arises in Consciousness; not the other way around, as materialists assume. In other words: “I Am” (Spirit, Consciousness) is the Reality (Castle) of each apparent King or Queen. A similar message is stated in 1 Corinthians 6:19:

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.”

My dirty rascal, “Art,” had it backwards for apparent years. “He” fooled everyone, including “himself.” Due to ignorance, ego “me” declared that he was the king of Being. Such seemed to occur only because the Real King–“I AM“–hadn’t, as yet, been recognized. Because of the veil of amnesia, which is an inherent mechanism of our apparently human journey, we must set out on a spiritual journey to knowingly rediscover our True Self. When we do, we knowingly assume our rightful “place” as Universal Consciousness, which is our eternal nature.

To realize the Ruler of the castle we must be It. When such occurs, it is not a pretense made by the mind; it is a “remembering” or re-cognition of that which is our true Self. The realization can be facilitated through meditation. Psalm 46:10 directs us clearly to the method: “Be still and know that I am God.” In John 14:6, the following is stated: Jesus saith unto him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Can you see the parallel message contained in the nursery rhyme (“I Am the King of the Castle“) and the Biblical verses mentioned?

What can we do with this recognition? Live by it, as it. By being That, the quality of life will improve dramatically. Old energies related to the perspective of the false self will fall away as we remain as “I Am” Awareness. And when “I Am” notices thought patterns related to fear and competitiveness, we can turn away and deliberately focus on our positive visions. “I Am” is intended to be the ruler of our kingdom. As Spirit, our essential nature is beyond name and form. (For those who would like to delve deeper into this subject, I offer my YouTube video entitled “Children of The Light.“)

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

From the moment he was born until the age of approximately seven, the subconscious pockets of Bobby’s mind were being filled with a multitude of thoughts and beliefs about himself and the nature of his world. He had no choice but to accept the type of information that was placed within them. By the time he reached adulthood, his pockets were bursting at the seams. Although Bobby wasn’t aware of it, the energy of his negative assumptions about reality far outweighed the positive. Here are a few that were lurking inside his pockets:

• You’re just like your father–a loser!
• I’m a failure.
• You take after me; you’re terrible at math.
• I’m not smart.
• Our family can’t afford vacations like other families can.
• I’m poor.
• You’re not smart enough to create your own business.
• I’ll always have to work for someone else.
• Persons like me don’t go to university.
• I’ll never amount to much.
• Life is hard–very hard!

Estimates about the number of thoughts that an average adult has on a daily basis vary (depending on whether they’re conscious high level or underlying mental events); but it’s safe to state that our thoughts are highly repetitive and that negative thoughts are more salient. If you doubt that the nature of the thoughts make a difference in the quality of your experience, I offer the following quotes from In Tune With The Infinite, by Ralph Waldo Trine:

“Carry any kind of thought you please about with you, and so long as you retain it, no matter how you roam over the land or sea, you will increasingly attract to yourself, knowingly or inadvertently, exactly and only what corresponds to your own dominant quality of thought.”

“To be sure minded is to be sure footed.”

It’s important to realize that we’re not experiencing the world as it is; we’re experiencing the world as we “are.” Our “self” image is intimately related to the nature and quality of our reality. In support of this, I offer the following quotes from Thought Power, by Sri Swami Sivananda:

“As you think, so you become. As are your thoughts: so must be your life.”

“Thought creates the world. Thoughts brings things into existence.”

“This world is a play of the mind.”

And from The Master Key System, by Charles F. Haanel, I offer you the following:

“The law is that thought will manifest itself in form.”

A similar message is related in spiritual terms in Proverbs 23:7:

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

What we think in our heart is what we know in our essence, without having to think about it. In this regard, it’s much easier to realize that a greater degree of success is possible when we recognize our true Self, beyond the limitations associated with our egoic identity.

Dear Readers: Are you letting other persons’ definitions of your avatar (the “person”) in the game of life determine your level of success? What is the nature of the thoughts that you’re carrying in your pockets? How do you feel about you? Are you unwittingly carrying a negative story and, thus, creating less than ideal results? If so, perhaps it’s time to begin anew and choose to fill your pockets with some high quality ideas. You might find my YouTube video entitled “Law of Attraction: Key Points” helpful.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

Recently, I, Heart, heard several rapid-fire knocks on my door. When I opened it, I saw Mind dressed in a loud plaid suit and holding a briefcase. Mind told me that it had some information of great importance to share and that it would appreciate a few minutes of my time. As I didn’t wish to be rude, I invited Mind to come in. We sat across from each other at my kitchen table.

“This is your lucky day,” said Mind, as it snapped opened its briefcase, “because I have a plan for your life; and I think–rather, I know–that you’d be wise to follow my advice. At FollowTheCrowdInc., we have a monthly installment plan that makes payments easy and affordable.” Mind then slid a colour brochure toward me that was filled with graphs, glossy photos, and gobbledygook. “It seems to me,” said Mind, with a few judgmental glances, “that you could use some help putting your life in order. How lucky you are that I stopped by–chuckle, chuckle, hack, hack! Here’s a few questions to get you thinking:

“Are your taxes in order? What about savings? Income property–do you have one? Have you considered multiple streams of income? And what about the Joneses down the street–can you not only keep up with them but also outdo them? I noticed that your car looks a little long in the tooth–can you afford a new one? What about your children, if you have any–can you help them financially? Retirement, whew, now there’s a topic! How many years before you get the golden handshake? Do you have continuing benefits? Dental coverage isn’t cheap you know–you don’t want to be gumming it at the golf course. And what about funeral arrangements? Have you made them? Are you thinking burial or cremation? What about plans to travel before you’re too old and doddery? Have you got your name on a nursing home waiting list yet? And last but not least, have you filed your GYBTB-4321-Yellow Form yet? Don’t want to be late with that one! As you can see, there are so many details to be arranged. Thoughts?” asked Mind, as it surfaced for air.

With a soft smile, I, Heart, handed the brochure back to Mind and said, “Yes, I do. I plan to live my days to the fullest, without carrying the burden of an illusory past or anxiety about a future that never arrives. I keep my focus on being present, enjoying this wonderful experience called life. I keep my worries low, and my enthusiasm high. I frequently wake early to view a sunrise and occasionally go for a walk in the rain. I make sure that I watch what I think, not a television. I eat well, love myself, and live by the Golden Rule. I write and paint when I feel inspired. Oh, and I sing in the shower and have been known to skinny dip at midnight. But that’s probably a little too much information, isn’t it?

“Yes,” said Mind, gagging forth an awkward smile, “I think it is.”

And with that, I politely showed a very glum-looking Mind to the door.

***

Dear Readers: Now is all there ever “is.” Do you, Awareness, really want to let Mind (ego) dictate how to live? If you’re curious about our essential nature beyond name and form, my YouTube video entitled “The Nature of Reality” may be of interest.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”