Signs From The Universe

As you read this, it is probably long past the point of what happened, but I still have to share it.  I made a major decision a couple of weeks ago and if you've been following this blog, you probably have already seen it.  If not, then by the time you read this, I will be gone from the job that I worked in and was killing me physically and mentally and spiritually.

Today as I had a major shift the other day during the Free Unlimited Abundance Webinar, I am noticing many different signs from the universe.  They are showing up in different ways, forms, shapes and sizes.  In fact, it is almost amusing watching what is transpiring since the shift the other night.

From people coming up to me and wanting to talk to me, to sitting in a deserted place and all of the sudden being swarmed by various individuals to just seeing people react different to me.  In addition, there have been emails that came at the right time and other little things I've noticed.  Some of the messages have been straight forward and very obvious, others just fit in with what is going on.

The World We Barely Know

Too many are quick to judge.  Too many just have no idea what it is like to live in a world that I saw today.  This isn't the first time I've seen this and I doubt it will be my last.  I'm not even sure I could fully grasp what these people go through on a daily basis.

To these people who live there, it is a way of life.  I doubt they fully grasp what it is like to not live in the world they do.  I mean, do they really know what it is to live outside of what they are accustomed to in life?  Its easy for others to see the side they don't see and understand what they may not get to experience.

I grew up in a family that often had very little.  Yes, we always had a roof over our head, but sometimes that roof was not heated well.  I remember being very cold and using a space heater to get the bathroom warm enough on Saturday nights to take a bath.  I remember going to bed hungry or having some popcorn to eat as supper.  I remember not having new clothes except for something special bought at Christmas.

Never Felt Safe Growing Up

The quote below in Dr. Bessel Van der Kolk's book, The Body Keeps The Score, is by far one of my favorites.  For those who never felt safe growing up, this one is for you.  If you're one of these people, then you know firsthand how true these words ring.

I am one of these people that grew up in a home that was anything but safe.  If I could have filmed every second from the time I was born until I left home, it would most likely be a horror flick.  There was not "safe moments" in our house and if there were, they were far and few between in my life.

 I concluded that, if you carry a memory of having felt safe with somebody long ago, the traces of that earlier affection can be reactivated in attuned relationships when you are an adult, whether these occur in daily life or in good therapy. However, if you lack a deep memory of feeling loved and safe, the receptors in the brain that respond to human kindness may simply fail to develop. If that is the case, how can people learn to calm themselves down and feel grounded in their bodies? - Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk, The Body Keeps The Score.

Having a safe moment here and there doesn't do much when the world you live in is chaos.  When a father screams or makes threats.  When a parent abuses or threatens abuse.  When a sibling treats you in the same manner they have been treated, it means there are no safe moments.  Included in all of this is when you watch the violence and abuse and screaming that is taking place.

Stress Overload Video

This video is of a day long past now, but what I was going through at the time with headaches and back pain from exhaustion in my life.  A job that I loved, had turned toxic and it was slowly killing me.  Much has now changed in my life, but at the time I recorded this, I could barely keep myself awake in the day, let alone accomplish anything.  My doctor put me on a medical leave of absence and I once again began to find myself.  My body and mind were overwhelmed by stress and I had to stop and rest.  There was no going on until I did.

 YouTube Video:  Stress Overload - Pain And Headaches

I Love My Blendtec Blender

When they say this is the last blender you'll ever need, I believe it.  We started using our Blendtec Blender in 2009 and I love it!  We were a little concerned about spending as much as we did on this blender when we bought it, but those concerns were short-sighted.

We use our Blendtec Blender every day to do whole food smoothies.  You might have read other blog posts that I have written reviews about this or have seen my YouTube video, but this blender gets heavy usage.  I'm sure it will last us many more years to come.

Our whole food smoothies include grinding up avocado seeds, whole apples, beets, carrots and many other things.  When it blends these things up, it blends them well.  Seeds, skin and all.

I know I saw on some videos before I bought our Blendtec Blender that it would grind up a broomstick handle.  Of course, we don't do that with our blender, but that's good demonstration of just how powerful this is.

Chronic Pain Is A Public Health Crisis

A 2011 report issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) calls pain a “public health crisis,” emphasizing that more people are suffering from chronic pain than from diabetes, cancer, and heart disease combined.

 

Book:  Freedom From Pain by Peter Levine
Levine, Peter A. Phd; Phillips, Maggie (2012-07-02). Freedom From Pain . Sounds True. Kindle Edition.

Letting Go In Life

We all hold on to so much in our day, in our lives and in our bodies.  We carry this through each moment as tension, pain, numbness, fatigue and various other ways.  Letting go in life is not easy.  It is difficult for most people to do.

We are all masters at holding on to things in life, but letting go is much more difficult.  Have you felt the tension in your back by carrying too great of a load in life?  Has your life become tiring because you felt like you had to keep plugging away and not stop or let up?  Do you just not feel life fully because you've carried so much around your neck for so many years?

Holding on in our life shows up in many ways and it usually shows up in the body.  If we are attentive and conscious, we will see it.  If not, we will hide it through numbness.  Even if we smile a lot and recite mantras all day long, it does not mean we have this under control.  In fact, it might most likely be the opposite.  Again, letting go in life is difficult but holding on is the norm.

Hyperbolic Social Media

I see it all the time.  This really gets on my nerves.  Hyperbolic social media posts are a pet peeve of mine.  Whether it is in social media posts on Facebook or Twitter, or if it is an email newsletter or blog posting, it is all the same.

Recently I started out subscribing to a daily newsletter.  At first, the information seemed relevant and good.  As the days wore on, I began to notice a pattern.  Everything stated in the newsletter was over-the-top hyperbole.  This was from a well-respected leader in the new age world.

As time has continued, I noticed that some of the things this person wrote about are not 100% true.  Yes, they are using facts to make their statements, but the facts are so twisted you could make a hurricane out of a tornado.  Often by what they wrote, you could tell they truly didn't understand the facts they were presenting, but it did not stop them at all.

Impact Of Mom And Dad on Abundance

Sitting through the call today, I came front and center with this part of my life.  It was the first session for the Unlimited Abundance Live program with Christie Marie Sheldon.  While I'm not surprised at just how much impact is there in my life from my Mom and Dad, I was shocked at the heaviness I felt when the topic came up.

I've been through enough healing work to know that a heaviness means that there is stuff coming up that I need to release.  I felt this much more when we were talking about our Dad's philosophy on income, debt, spending and overall money.

In fact, for a short time on the call, I really didn't feel anything.  I was disconnecting with it as if it didn't exist.  It was very overwhelming.  As Christie instructed us to bring in more light, I felt like I was beginning to connect with it, not hide and run from it.

Making The Right Decision

I think we all struggle with knowing what to do at times in our life.  Making the right decision is difficult at best on small decisions and horrifying when the tough ones show up.  In fact, if you look at the different services offered in our world, you can see just how difficult it is to do.  People make careers out of helping others make the right decision.

People go to other people in hopes of these healers, psychics, ministers, politicians and authority telling them what they should do.  Of course, not everyone thinks they do this, but if you break it down to the pure essence of what happens, this is what takes place in my opinion.

It is difficult when making the right decision.  It is hard knowing what decision to make.  I get it.  I'm not much different I don't believe than anyone else out there alive in the world.  I have my struggles and my insecurities and fears just like the next guy.

In The Garden Played By Don Shetterly

This is one of my favorite videos I have made.  It is a song my mom dearly loved and I loved it as well.  In memory of her, this is for her.

From the YouTube Description:
http://www.donshetterly.com - This was one of my Mom's favorite hymns and so this song is played in her memory as a tribute to her. The Hymn, "In The Garden" was written by C. Austin Miles in 1912. The video you see is my mini concert playing this hymn. And to you, Mom, I Love You and miss you.

Too Quick Too Judge

We are far too quick to judge and way too slow to forgive.

Vulnerability Is Complicated

“I hate uncertainty. I hate not knowing. I can’t stand opening myself to getting hurt or being disappointed. It’s excruciating. Vulnerability is complicated. And it’s excruciating. Do you know what I mean?”

Book:  Daring Greatly by Brene Brown (pg 5)

Observing Stress In My Body

If you sit back and see the bigger picture, it is amazing sometimes what you see and observe.  Observing stress in my body is an eye opening practice.  If you look closely at it from the eye of an observer, you'll see things in ways that you have never seen.

As I write this, I've been under tremendous amounts of stress almost every hour of the day and its gone on for some time.  It isn't easy.  I'm trying to deal with it and cope with it.  I'm trying to find an exit strategy that allows me to be okay with it or make an exit from it.

Observing stress in my body allows me to not only see how it impacts tension in my body, but every cell and fiber.  In fact, the other day I had a wake-up call because as I was experiencing an extremely difficult moment of stress, I could feel something in my body unlike anything I have before.  It was a rare moment and I could feel it all the way to my core.

Use And Abuse

Business these days seems to be clueless from what I see happening all around me with so many I know.  Its the number one principle in business to earn mega dollars.  The principle that is practiced states the following:  Use And Abuse Your Employees!

Use and abuse your employees for when they have no more left to give, you will expect them to give more while shaming them into not giving enough.

Yes, folks - its the use and abuse your employee principle.  They use their people acting as if they are nothing more than a pen or piece of paper from the supply closet.  When its used, you just get another.

Oh yes, I know that the same businesses will tell their employees how much they value and respect them.  That's what I continually hear from my friends as they complain about burnout to me.  Yet, you know, actions speak louder than words.

I get it and I try to explain to my friends that businesses are only in existence to make money.  People are a commodity.  When the commodity is consumed, they go shopping for a new one.  Of course, if I share that with them, their eyes roll as if daggers are being directed at me.  Hey, I'm just the messenger.  Don't kill the messenger.

Some days I dream of a day when business will treat their employees as something of value to respect, honor, and put their money where there mouth is.  Of course, that's when I'm startled out of my utopian dream.

I think we could improve the world if we just didn't use and abuse employees.  If we cared about them with actions, not mere words and slogans.  You can't burn a person at both ends and expect them to make it in the business forever.

What do I know?  I'm just one that hears all of my friends talking about how the business they work in treats them.  I feel for these people and the greed that the businesses put above all else.  All hail to the Corporations, for they are people too.

Feeling Overwhelming Stress In The Body

Yep, its there!  Yep, I can feel it.  Sure, we all think we can really feel what is going on in the body at times, but most of the time were actually pretty numb.  I've been doing some special therapy to help me get through this overwhelming stressful moments in life right now, and believe me I'm really feeling it in my body.

Feeling the stress in my body isn't easy.  It is intense.  It is overwhelming at times.  It is more than I care to experience some days.  There is no mistaking it.  There is no escaping it.  I really feel it.

Today as the chaos struck and went on for hour after hour in a nonstop fashion, I felt my breathing change. I felt my body tense up.  I felt the exhaustion and fatigue set in.  There were moments where every fiber of my being was withdrawn and trying to survive.  I literally felt all of this in the most magnified way I ever have.

Worst Day Ever

I saw this poem and thought it was too good to be true.  Most likely you've seen it on Facebook or other social media.  If not, the 11th grader, Chanie Gorkin was brilliant when she wrote this.

I realize you can't read the words in the picture, but I've retyped them in this blog post.  Hopefully I'm not stepping on anything copyrighted and if I am, please let me know.  I just thought this was so profound and wanted to share it with the world.

You can read more about this story at patch.com.

Everyday Is A Great Day

These are two YouTube vloggers that I love to follow.  They have such an amazing spirit that they share with the world. 

Their main slogan is "Everyday Is A Great Day".  If you click on the picture, you'll see them explain this much more and why they chose this slogan.  

I enjoy watching their ventures in life and how they embrace each day.  Of course, I do realize that editing your life down into a few minutes can pick and choose which moments to share.  However, they make life look fun and we all need that!

YouTube Vlogger:  MarkE Miller 

Stop And Rest

It is the weekend.  Take some time this weekend to stop and rest.  Feel the sun and summer air on your face, your arms, and your legs.  Feel the ground beneath your bare feet.  See the beauty of the blue sky.  Take in the world around you as if you're a bird flying above.  Then, stop and rest awhile.

Angels and Low Vibrations

When people are afraid and most in need of Heavenly help, their vibrations are too low to hear and feel the pure love of God. The angels, who are closer to Earth, are easier to hear and feel when someone is fearful or stressed. Then they can lift the person’s vibrations and help him or her be unafraid and at peace and return to a clear connection with God.

Book:  The Angel Therapy Handbook by Doreen Virtue (Pg 5) 

Over The Top

It always amazes me.  When you don't put things in a nice little neat box, it can really throw people off.  I'm always amused at how humans perceive things and how they respond or ignore it.  It can be in the work place such as an email, a blog post, or social media share.

I had one such situation recently and while the content of the article was good, the title scared people.  I could see it in the number of hits or views.  Actually I'm laughing at the result, because it is almost like people were so afraid to read it, that they didn't.

Yet, if you make a headline that is over-the-top, people will click on it.  We see it all the time in news media and social media.  Its the over the top items that get the attention.  People may complain, but they click.  That folks, is what advertisers and websites want.

Its okay if people didn't click on the article.  I'm not hung up on it.  I'm just amused by it because while it was probably over the top, it was done in a reverse way.

Learning Lessons From Pool Repairs

I often seen lessons in different things in life. I wonder if it is just me that sees that or others do to.  Regardless, if you look, the little things will show up that become a teacher for the day. Today, the pool was my teacher.

You see, a tiny little resistor on the circuit board of our salt cell generator had burnt out (or whatever the proper name for it is).  As you'll quickly tell, I'm not electronics repair person, but I've stayed in a holiday inn once.  Sorry, I can't miss an opportunity to have a laugh in here.

After searching on Google, I found that others had gone through the same exact symptoms.  I could tell that the salt cell was showing a "no flow" light, but there was no power light and no generating light which should be expected.  Of course, the pool was starting to turn green too, so I could tell there was no chlorination being generated.

Realizing that it was the resistor on the circuit board and everyone said it was easy to repair, I ordered the part.  Keep in mind, I've never replaced anything on a circuit board and I've hardly ever soldered anything in my life.  I've watched it done, but this was a first.

Repair Anxiety By Men

I'm one of those people that can figure things out.  Everyone sees me doing that.  The thing is, I get so nervous.  I'm so often afraid to try to fix things.  The anxiety levels rise to a maximum degree.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this, but of course I'm a guy so I'm not supposed to acknowledge it.

For me, it is almost like I'm afraid that I will fail.  If I'm afraid that I will fail, the path that I travel on this is that why do this repair?  Why screw it up?  After all, I have to be perfect.  This is what I was taught as a little boy.  If you don't think that conditioning or teaching by example and force doesn't permanently mess with your mind, let me set you straight - it does!

The anxiety though about going into the unknown of a repair and quite possibly messing things up or not being able to complete it is paralyzing.  It truly is.  Maybe that's the procrastination by men when it comes to doing items on the honey-do list.  Okay, I wouldn't say it is the only reason, but since men don't talk about things like this, it very likely could be.

Overwhelming Outbursts Of Anger

Its overwhelming.  It is difficult to say the least.  By the time anyone reads this, things will hopefully have changed, but I just want to write this.  I want to record what is going on in hopes that others will learn or feel like they are not all alone.

We all put a good front on to the world.  We make it look like everything is okay.  They don't often get to see the ugly side of us with the depression, anxiety, suicide attempts, and unleashed anger.  After all, our ego keeps us from displaying this side.

For me lately, the stress has been overwhelming.  The overwhelm is overwhelming.  I've been trying to get through the days, but I feel like I'm in a boat tossed in a stormy sea and have no way to steer or row out of it.

As a result, my angry outbursts have increased.  It gets so difficult that the only way I can even begin to deal with it is just scream, pound the desk, slam the doors and hit the walls.  Those in the house including the cats run for cover.  Of course, I'd never hurt anyone or any pet, but they have no desire to be close to me in those moments.

Orange Cat Therapy

Every cat owner has those special moments with their cat.  In our case, Corey The Orange Cat knows how to chill and relax.  So, I'm posting this just as a moment to stop in our busy life and allow Corey to teach us a little something.

YouTube Video:  Orange Cat Therapy with Corey 

Sum Total Of All That I Am

Today is not the sum total of all that I am, because tomorrow allows me the possibility to be more than I am today.  

 (Don Shetterly, Somatosync)

We Need The Clouds

While it would be nice to have only days of sunshine in our lives, we do need the clouds and the rain. Imagine what the world would look like without clouds and rain. It is the same in our life. It allows us to compare and contrast feelings, emotions, and experiences.

Book:  Hope And Possibility Through Trauma by Don Shetterly  (Pg 76) 

Stress-aches

We all tend to get them.  Some of us hide from them.  Some of us self-medicate.  Some of us drink them away.  Introducing the one and only all encompassing visitors of the night, give it up for stress-aches.

Have you ever woke up on the wrong side of the bed with a stiff neck and sore shoulder?  How about that back that just aches after a long hard week in a stressful job?  Maybe, its the constant headaches that build up and bring you to your knees?

There are a number of things that show up as stress-aches.  From back pain, to digestive issues to headaches, colds, stomach illness and everything in-between. These can be chronic issues that flare up and drive us to the brink of our endurance.

We all know them when they show up.  Yet, we don't always seem to connect why they are showing up with what is happening in our life.  Hey, I'm just like the next person.  I tend to minimize all that is going on around me or in my life.  I pretty much fail to see the connection to the pains and aches and stress-aches that are happening in those moments.

My Body Reacting To Stress

For some time I have been going through a very stressful experience in my life.  While I'm writing this well in advance of when it will actually publish to the blog, I'm recording what is happening.  It is a journey that you can follow along and has been unfolding.  I've tried to write and share as much as I can.

I've been struggling to make a decision.  I've felt this in my body.  It has come out through neck tension, back pain, headaches, increased anxiety, difficulty sleeping and an overall feeling of being so frustrated and depressed, I could barely go on at times.

Don't let anyone tell you that stress does not show up in the body.  In fact, when the body experiences pain and discomfort, it is usually a result of what is going on in your life.  Many of us are disconnected from it and many use all kinds of ways to numb out so they don't feel it.

I have gotten to a point in my own healing and consciousness where I feel it all.  This can be intense and difficult, but it is also a very good thing, contrary to what you may think.  The more you feel and connect with in your body, the more you can take care of yourself.  This includes the good and bad, not just the good.

Looking Forward In Difficult Moments

Sometimes it helps.  Sometimes it helps to have a goal or something to look forward to when you are going through difficult moments.  As I write this, there are many of those insurmountable moments I'm facing.  Most likely by the time someone reads this blog posts, things will have changed.

Just knowing that you have options can sometimes help you get through difficult moments.  Realizing that there is a way out is like a breath of fresh air.  It helps you see that you're not locked into what is, but the potential of what can be still exists.

Seeing that there is a game plan to look forward to helps lift your thoughts and energy from despair and depression, to one of forward movement.  Even if it feels like you're hardly moving at all, there is hope that tomorrow or the tomorrow after it, will be better and brighter.