Online Obsession

Every day I try to log on to my social media accounts, I see obsession with particular individual or world events.  No, I'm not going to name them because it is secondary to what I am writing.  The obsession online is mind boggling.  It seems to be all that anyone can talk about, focus on or share with everyone.

I just don't get it.  Unless everyone is locked into the trauma of the situation, isn't there more to this life and the world?  Does every waking moment need to be about one person or one event or one whatever it may be?  I know, that's a rhetorical question.

Of course, social media tends to be for the most part about superficial topics.  We go from one sensationalized headline to another, one celebrity to another, all the time oblivious to what our life is really like.

If you can't tell, I don't follow 99% of that stuff online.  We don't have cable anymore and from what I see playing out in social media, I don't think I'm missing a thing.  I don't watch the TV news - not any of the TV stations, so I don't get swept up into the frenzy of fear most days.

There is good online...

Yes, there is some great stuff online in social media where it is truly trying to make a difference.  This obsession online though with the repeated over and over single focus drives me insane.  It serves no purpose, but everyone has to eat, breathe and depend upon what is being fed to them.

I'm not saying you have to give it up but maybe it is more helpful to find some balance in our day.  It doesn't do your mind and body any good to stay this engaged in the fear and hyped up engagements of the day.  It isn't good for your nervous system, your overall health and your mental health.  It is damaging if you stay in this stuff every day.

Yes, I know it isn't easy walking away from it.  Everyone thinks they have to like, share, and post it all day long.  If you go to YouTube it is there.  If you go to websites, ads pop up with all of it.

Another world outside of this...

If you can begin to step away from it, you'll find that there is another world outside of this.  There is a world that exists which is much more deep and fulfilling than this online obsession.

It reminds me of a city I lived in, who had to build up the barriers between the cars on the expressways.  If there was an accident or a car stopped and people going the opposite direction could see it, traffic would back up.  It was like everyone had to just look and see the accident, even though it was usually horrible to view.

We are like that online.  Even though we think it is horrible or it makes us fearful, we stay so engaged to it.  It is like a deer in the headlights.

We need balance and we need it badly.  No, it doesn't begin with everyone else.  It begins within each one of us.  What we choose to take in each day says so much.  If we are engaged in that which we so despise, then we are just as much a part of the problem as that which we complain about in our day.

#OnlineSocialMedia 

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

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Living Life Without Obsessing About Life

A struggle I've been having in life, trying to live in life without being overtaken by it.  I see many obsessing with the news of the day and while that is of importance to my life, I am so burnt out on it.  I can't take it most days.  I can't deal with it most days.

In my mind, I keep asking myself, how do I go on living life without obsessing about life.  To me, there has to be more than just the latest news story of the day.  There has to be!

I no longer watch TV news of any type.  We gave that up years ago and I am so happy that we did.  There is a much greater peace of mind without seeing the screaming pundits talk about one subject after another.  And no - I'm not taking sides here because all sides do this.

Yet, if I log on to twitter or go online, I have the news shoved in my face.  I have obsession with the news shoved in my face.  It is almost like there is nothing else that matters in this world than the latest news story of the day.

It often makes me want to puke.  I scream out in my house, but what does that get me - cats that run and neighbors that probably wonder.  I just can't deal with the news stuff and seeing it at every turn in life, is more than I can take.

Overtaken our lives...

I wonder though if the obsession that most seem to have is a good thing.  It truly feels like to me that it has overtaken our lives and left us reduced down to a single focused entity.  It doesn't feel healthy to me in the least.

I see people screaming all day and I see many not listening.  I see people just telling everyone how they should think and believe, but no one is listening to the other.  Yes, I've written about this subject before, but it just seems to wipe out the enjoyment of life.

Am I saying we should go hide in a closet?  No!  Am I saying we shouldn't engage on issues that we care about?  No!  Am I saying we should just all get along in a peaceful world with no conflict?  Probably not!  That may just be wishful thinking.

Reach out with our hearts...

Yet, I think there is much we can do to help this world along by listening and trying to reach out with our hearts.  I think there is a lot we can impact by not being so obsessed with the latest news story of the day.

Heck, most of these news stories, regardless of the source, are biased and presented as fact, but are the opinion of the news delivery service.  None are better than the other because they ALL do it!

I don't know.  I don't have the answers either.  I just see people being so obsessed with some of the things in life rather than living life.  It is robbing us of joy.  It is robbing us of peace.  Is there a way we can engage without obsessing?  I'm not sure.

The thing I do know is if we are all screaming at the top of our lungs at one another, we're probably not going to get anywhere.  Some things are as they are for whatever reason we may not understand in this moment.  If we let them rule our day, then we've lost our life.  If we don't keep focus and balance, then we will become too weak to stand.

My hope is that we all learn how to use our hearts to listen more and scream less.  My hope is that we begin to see each other (and that means everyone) as human, not as enemies.  We're all on this planet earth and if we don't learn to work together, it may get to a point one day where it will be too late.

#Balance

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

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Tomato Plants Teach About Stress

I've been trying to do something I've never done and finding out this is a learning process.  This is the first time that I've tried to grow tomato seedlings from little seeds.  I really had no clue how to do this and so I just jumped in with both feet.  Of course, the tomato plants are teaching me well!

Since I am growing them close to where I work in my home office, I keep a constant eye on them.  While they were doing quite well, I've been noticing that they aren't able to stand straight up as they grow taller.  At first, I thought they were just stretching for the light, but today I noticed that it was more than that.

Going to google and doing a search, I started to see conversations about plants doing "legging" as they called it.  If a plant was not getting enough sunlight, they would tend to grow taller and move anyway they could towards the light.  I believe that is what is going on with my plants and right now, I've got them outside on the patio getting as much sunlight as they so desire.

It got me thinking though about stress.  Here is an opportunity for me to learn as the tomato plants teach me about stress.

Of course, we may not always recognize how much stress a plant goes through, but in this case, I think not having enough sunshine or light is stressful on the plant.  The plants need water, food, and sunlight to grow.  When one of those is not in enough supply, it creates stress on the plant.

We don't fully see stress...

As I apply this to the mind body, if we have stress in our day which most of us do, it has an impact upon us.  Often we don't fully see the stress and often we are so numb and disconnected that even if the stress is pointed out, we never see it.

To me, at its basic level, stress is the result of not having what you need at that moment even if it is a perceived lack of something.  In this case of the tomato plants, it is the lack of light or sunshine.  I realize, this is greatly simplifying what stress is, but I think it is at the essence of it.  To fully describe it, would take another blog post.

It doesn't necessarily mean someone or something is bad to you, but that in its basic form, what is needed is just not available.

We overcompensate for stress..

In this case, the tomato plants try to overcompensate by growing in different directions and trying to grow taller as if to get more daylight.  We too, as humans, do the same thing.  We overcompensate every day by numbing, disconnecting and doing things that take us away from our mind body connection.

The way for us humans to come back is by stopping and observing the felt sense of our body and where we are.  It is about stopping to feel what we know in our minds with where we feel that sensation within our body.  It is about stopping to feel a sensation in our body and then allow it to connect with our mind through the felt sense.

Make changes to find balance...

I know that stress is often perceived as something that is bad or you are weak if you are stressed.  I've heard all of it in life.  If we look at stress as being something that we either perceive to not have in this moment or are lacking in our life, than the corrective action would be to make changes to balance this back to normal.

I know, it is easier said than done to do this, but I think if we alter how we perceive stress and if we actually recognize it, we've taken major steps to bring our mind and body back into balance.

To live in a day has stress present.  I'm not sure you can get through a day without some type of stressor upon your life.  Even the smallest of stressors still impact us and if we let those continue, the compensation behaviors we do often build up and come back to bite us in the butt!

Work to identify the stressors in your day and allow yourself to recognize them.  Next, stop and observe what you feel in the body and then allow your mind to connect those things together.  The more you can do this, the more your nervous system stays in balance and there is more resiliency in your nervous system for the larger things that show up in a day.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

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We Need Balance

Everyday I see and hear conversations that make me wonder about the human race. If I was an alien, I'm not so sure I would want to explore this planet at times.  Am I being too harsh?  I don't think so.

These days, especially in social media, we are so disconnected.  Our mind works, but our heart lays dormant.  Our mouth and fingers spout off all kinds of things, but the love from our heart is discarded as if it is no longer needed.

Not everything in a day has to be a controversy.  Not everything in a day has to be name calling.  Not everything in a day has to be about politics and power and control and ego and... to name a few.

We proclaim how much love we have for others, but the words we say depict some of the most awful parts of the human race that I weep with sadness.  If you're up there grandstanding and proving to the world through your screaming words and actions all you think you know, most likely your heart is not the dominant part of your mind body connection.

We need balance...

We need balance in this world and in our lives.  We need balance badly because things are swinging so far out of balance that I really fear for our civilization.  It is up to each one of us how we either bring balance or chaos into our world.

No, its not about the other guy needing balance.  No its not about you being right and everyone else is wrong.  No, its not about calling those you don't agree every name that you can think of in a day.  No, it isn't about claiming you know all and the others are unenlightened.

Balance starts within us...

Balance starts within us.  We must find balance in our own world if we ever expect to find it in the world-at-large.  Balance comes from being fully connected to your mind and body and letting your heart have control.  Balance is not the brain and mouth and fingers running off on every subject that comes along in social media.

I see far too many that spout one thing and do another.  I see far too many that claim they have it all together, but yet balance is a 1000 miles beyond the next mountain range.

When you have found balance through your heart and love is more than just something you say that you do, it is then that the world looks different.  It is then that the petty disturbances of a day don't define your day.  It is then that your mind and body are truly connected which opens up greater possibilities than we can ever imagine.

We need balance.  Let us find balance deep within our mind and body.

Let me remind myself that I need balance in my day as well.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

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Being Happy Isn't All It Is Cracked Up To Be

There it is again.  I see it.  We all see it.  Now what in the heck is this person talking about.

Well, girls and boys - its about being happy.  Actually that isn't it is cracked up to be.  We might think it is, but we need to think again.

This happy business needs to have a reality check.  Hey, its okay if being happy is a good thing.  There is nothing wrong with that.  It is just that by only being happy, we're missing out on what true happiness really is.

Let's start off by telling a story to illustrate my point.

You see, in a village far, far, away, there was this little boy that was fighting monsters and evil people every day.  They would come at him constantly and sometimes more than one monster would attack at a time.  He tried to smile through it.  He tried to hide the pain.  He tried to show everyone how strong he was.  They didn't get to see any of what happened to him, they only saw him happy and smiling and acting like the world was okay.

You see, this little boy seemed so happy to everyone.  He smiled all the time.  No one saw anything but a happy little boy.  The only thing is that it was all an illusion.  It was meant to keep people away.  It was meant to hide the enormous pain he felt.  It was meant to evade others so they didn't know the true shame that he experienced.

The worst part is though, being happy all the time to everyone almost killed the little boy.  If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm the little boy.  In 1991, going through a Conversion Disorder, I almost lost my life for good.  Yet, no one saw the pain I buried deep inside so far removed from the happy smiles I gave to everyone.

It is easy to promote the "be happy all the time" agenda through memes and nice little quotes on social media, but in all reality, it isn't all its cracked up to be.  In fact, you can do more harm than good by convincing people that are hurting to just go crawl in their hole and hide.  Sure, that may not be your intent, but it does become the reality.

We really need to learn to be real.  If you're happy - that's great!  If you think you can be happy 100% of the time, then you're missing what happiness is because without sadness - happiness becomes an illusion. There is no happy without sadness.

No, I'm not saying - walk around depressed and in sorrow or pain.  No, I'm not saying you can't try to be happy even when you don't feel that way.  If that's what you're reading, then you're missing the point or I'm failing to explain my thought.

Being happy recognizes the pain and sadness.  It knows the moments when happiness is lost in the woods.  It gives balance between all emotions because without feeling all emotions, you're only one sided.  We need the good with the bad.  We need to feel and experience the range of all there is, not just one emotion.  Otherwise, it is not healthy lifestyle!

There are many people suffering in pain and when they are forced to believe that their pain and hurts and experiences don't matter, it only drives that crap deeper inside.  When you drive it deep down inside,  you're just setting yourself up for a catastrophic healthy failure.

Don't force someone in pain to live in darkness and despair.  Show them your smile, but show them your authentic side where you have the bruises and scars.  All happy all the time is a recipe for disaster and harm.  Be real - be human - be conscious and aware.  Don't disconnect and live in a fantasy world because reality is just too much to deal with.  It will lead you down a very dark path.

We need authentic people in this world.  We need those that can share from a compassionate heart, not one that acknowledges a one-sided view of emotions.  People are hurting and in fact you might be hurting too if all you think is that being happy is the only thing to be.

Take it from someone who almost breathed their last breath trying to be happy all the time!  It doesn't work!

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

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Do We Need To Engage?

Balance is not alive and well in our country today or in the world.  It seems that everyone is at polar opposites and either on one side of an issue or another.  There is no common ground.  Furthermore, we take that to social media and we engage on every subject and tweet that comes across our screen.

I think being human is learning to pick and choose your battles.  If an army fights every enemy that it thinks exists, can it sustain this?  Can the fighters go continuously before they are exhausted and depleted?

This is what I see today online in social media and in the news if I happen to catch it.  We are so conditioned that we need to have a response to every situation and event and statement put out in a day.  It is that moment where we engage when maybe we do not need to engage.

At one time, I would have heard this as someone creating drama, but these days it is so commonplace that we don't even know drama from reality.  It all appears the same to us and we can tell that by what gets tweeted, liked, and shared along with the topics that are trending.

It will take something so outrageous...

If you keep your engines revved up constantly, you are going to burn out or run out of gas.  Everyone will get used to hearing your engine and will no longer notice it as something out of the ordinary.  The more you try to rev the engine up, the less it will get noticed and so it will take something so outrageously loud for anyone to hear you.

Sometimes we need to focus and find balance.  We need to find that moment where we really are passionate because it is something that personally affects us and we need to go for it.  However, make sure you don't become a clanging symbol in the band, or the music will not be anything anyone wants to hear.

 

We are losing site of what matters in life and we are doing it at breakneck speed on social media as if humanity has already been obliterated.  Sure, I am passionate about subjects as well, but a well thought out answer or plan to help elevate the discussion will get you much further than throwing bombs everywhere you go.  Not everyone that disagrees with you are bad people.  We need to learn to embrace that from our heart.

We need to find balance because the more we yell and scream at one another, the more we are hurling this planet into a galaxy that may not be good for us.  It may take us to the point of no return and we all have a choice in the role we play in this every day.  Choose wisely because choices have impacts upon others and the world in ways we don't always see.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

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Do You Live A Conscious Life?

It is easy to go through our day on autopilot.  The experiences we've endured along with the uncompleted tasks of our day can often keep us from living a conscious a life.

Do you truly live a conscious life or is it an illusion that you do?  It is easy to convince our self that we do and it is easy to attempt to convince others that we do, but do we truly live a conscious life?

Being conscious means that we feel and sense all that is around us.  Being conscious means that we are aware of what is going on and how we are impacting the world whether it is in a negative or positive way.  It means that we go through life knowing the much greater picture of who we are and why we are on this earth.

Being conscious means that we see each other through the eyes of love, not of judgment and jealousy.  Being conscious means that we know there is a higher good for all, even for those that sometimes challenge us in our day.

Feel the pains and the joys...

Being conscious means that we feel the pains in life, but we also know that by surrendering into the difficulties, we experience the joys.  We know that life is a balance, not just the happy and good, but the moments of sadness and pain.

In order to be conscious, we become aware of all that is around us, all that we know or do not know as of this point, and what the potential there is in life.  Our consciousness is not one with limits and boundaries, but with hope and possibility while understanding the limitations of being human.

Does not hold on to fears...

In order to be conscious, we have a higher vibration that does not hold on to all the fears found on this earth.  Whether it be the latest news and political report or the collective unconsciousness of the latest headline, the conscious vibration does not get taken under by these things.

Consciousness goes hand in hand with a balanced nervous system that has found elasticity to be its friend.  It knows that through all the heartache, there is a knowing of things much greater than the average person often sees.  It knows there is a place of peace and joy and no matter what hits us, it can be reminded that these things exist - that there is a way back to peace and joy.

Consciousness is not something you proclaim.  It is a life that strives for more and tries to understand more.  It is a life that wants to have a greater positive impact in the world, but realizes there is much pain and strife.  Consciousness is something that helps you rise above all that exists in this life, rather than becoming one with the masses.

Embraces all things...

Consciousness does not hold on to the followings and teachings of others, but it strives to prove to itself that which is truth in life.  For it knows that even what people believe to be true, is not necessarily truth.  It may be nothing more than a collective consciousness of group thought.  For consciousness, there is a willingness to allow one's self to go in and touch their own sorrow so that they may truly come to know in a physical way what is real and what is not.

Consciousness embraces all things and seeks to understand all things.  Consciousness works to be better and more enlightened today than it was yesterday.  Consciousness works at being okay with the ugly parts without judgment so that it can soar to greater heights in the days ahead.

No matter where we are on the spectrum of consciousness, there is always room for more.  It is in how we allow ourselves to travel forward that we either hinder or help our own lives become more than they are today.  Hiding our head in the sand and proclaiming we are conscious has no bearing on how truly conscious we are.

Consciousness means balance in all things - the good, the bad, and the inbetween where it rises above all things as an observer, not just as a participant.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

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Fears And Conspiracy Theories

I've never seen this quite so bad as I'm seeing it now.  Almost every day there is a new fear or conspiracy theory about someone or something floating on the internet.  While most of it cannot be fully backed up with hard evidence, there are always the pieces that give just enough spark to the fire.

I'm not here to debate if all these theories are true or not.  I doubt that even if we spent the next year discussing many of them, we would still not be at the outcome which is provable beyond a shadow of a doubt.  Some of these things are pointless in my humble opinion because of that statement.

What bothers me more though, is that we are succumbing to our own fears and projecting that on to things that are totally unrelated.  We don't realize how much we are doing this, but an open eye can see it quickly and without much effort.  Fear is driving us.  Fear is controlling us.  Fear is making us believe things that are just not necessarily true.

It is okay to question and observe and learn.  There is no doubt in my mind that these are good things for all of us.  However, when we do them without being grounded, we lose so much of our self, our truth, and we chip away at what little of humanity is left.

We need to find balance...

We need to find balance, rather than chasing our fears.  We need to stop and notice what it is that we are feeding our own fears, rather than pointing the finger of alarm at all those we can get to listen to us.

Yesterday I started watching and reading some stuff on a website and it was rather disturbing to say the least.  Not that it was disturbing and frightening to me, but that it felt like the conversation and words were very dark and fear-based.  They were of a lower vibration.  In fact, it was more than annoying to try and continue to read and watch the various videos.

Fear is being propagated...

I know there is dark and scary stuff out there in the world.  I know there is fear that is being propagated at every turn in our day.  I know that we as a human civilization swallow up all the fear-based news of the day, chomping on it as if it is the last morsel of nutrition for our life.

There will always be things that take us away from our peace and safety.  It is a sad fact of life and the universe from what I have grown to understand.  However, if we allow the dark and scary stuff to latch on to the fears we have in our own life, we are only holding back ourselves and the collective consciousness of the world.

When we walk in fear, we destroy the universe and all the inhabitants.  When we walk in the darkness that permeates civilizations, we will not find peace.  It is only when we go deep within and clean out our own closets, that we will have taken fear by the hand and kicked it out the door.

May we all rise to greater heights and instead of chasing fears and conspiracy theories, let us find the good in one another, the peace deep within our own mind and body and the love that connects us as humans.  May we all rise to meet the challenges of the days, not wallow in the mud pits of fear, darkness, and things that ultimately will bring us down.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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Helping Find Balance In A Crazy World

Lately, it seems like things are upside down.  It feels like we live in a crazy world and finding balance in it can be anything but easy.  The more the voices scream and the rabble-rousers get attention, the more it just spirals out of control.  After awhile, I think we all want to say, enough is enough!

I try to limit my daily intake of the screaming about politicians and other crazy things of this world.  A little consumption every day can be fine and good, but too much of it and it quickly becomes toxic.  A few years ago, I stopped watching the news on TV because it seemed like it was becoming nothing more than a bunch of screaming.  There was no listening.  There was no balance.

Today, things have multiplied and while I don't think we need to silence people, I do think that people need to evaluate what it is they are saying every day.  I think people need to evaluate how they are portraying others and if they truly have the love in their heart that they do.  Finding balance in a crazy world is not as easy as those that scream at the top of their lungs hurling insults at one another or showing no respect and love for one another are too plentiful.

In my email today, another mailing came through from a major online company that deals with personal and spiritual growth.  While I love some of the products they put out, I'm really not willing to entertain frequent emails from them about their political views.  It doesn't matter if I agree or disagree with them on politics.  I did not sign up for their email newsletter to have yet, one more source of rabble-rousers to wade through each day.

According to their email, some let them know that they did not appreciate these types of emails and the owner of this company scoffed in their face.  If you try to reply back to the email, you get this message that "no one reads it".  So essentially, he can say whatever he wants and force it into my email inbox, while I'm held hostage by his actions.  This, to me, is not an enlightened spiritual and personal growth person.  It doesn't add balance to this crazy world.

My only recourse is to unsubscribe, which I have already done.  They just lost a customer and no, I won't be going back.  If they want to put out a political viewpoint newsletter, give me the option of signing up for it.  Don't just shove it in my face and make me out to be the bad guy for not wanting to read it.

In this crazy world, we can choose to do what we wish to with our days and I've more than had enough of the rabble-rousers on both sides of the political spectrum.  All anyone is doing is screaming at the top of their lungs while the opposing voices are doing the same thing.  Does anyone think that any good will come out of that?  Not everything has to be about politics.  There is much more to life than this.

This company is more than free to do what they want to do, but so am I.  I can and did choose to unsubscribe and no longer purchase their products.  That's how I am exercising my rights.  If we really want to be enlightened, then maybe some of these same people should begin acting like they are.

I try hard to not write about politics.  My attempt if I mention it is to discuss ways we can help the world using some of the real life examples of the day as a platform to lead the discussion.  My political views have nothing to do with what I write about or who I am.  They are but one tiny aspect that makes me human.  There is 99.9% of me that is made up of things in this lifetime that I find far more important than politics.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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Embrace The Negative

I see people time and time again only focusing on the positive.  They only embrace the positive.  They only invite the positive into their life.  While there are good reasons for that, you're only grabbing half of life or healing or whatever the issue may be.

I know, you're probably ready to click off of here and say, "he doesn't have a clue what he is saying in this blog," but hopefully you will hear me out. I think it is an important part of life that many miss out on, especially those in healing.

No, I'm not talking about hanging around with doom and gloom people all day life.  I'm not talking about immersing yourself in the negativity.  I'm talking more about moderation and a shift in awareness and consciousness on negative people and thoughts.  I know that if you hang around this stuff, it can really bring you down.

Unfortunately, it isn't so much about the other person being negative as it is what the negative part brings up in each one of us.  Think of it as your teacher because it is showing you something that you are mirroring out and reflecting to the world.  Yes, I'm sure that is not easy to read, but it is true.  Its part of our human experience.  It is part of living in a human body.

If you only focus on the positive, you're exhausting so much energy to keep the negative away from you.  By doing this, you are giving power to the negative and actually attracting the negative, rather than seeing what it is in the negative that is there to teach you.

When you embrace the negative, you take the power back.  You take control and harness the energy because now, you have the ability to conquer it or learn from it.  Maybe it is a stepping stone to something more in your life.

Focusing only on the positive means that you're giving up half of your existence and your continued growth.  It means you're not seeing the whole picture.  It means that you're locked in a pattern of consciousness and awareness that will limit you, rather than free you.

Most of the time, humans do not want to be around the negative because it is like asking a person who is carrying a lot of luggage to carry also carry a 50 lb weight.  Instead of being upset with the extra 50 pound weight, we need to learn how to let go of the luggage we carry.  If we do this, we will be further ahead.

Being human in a human body is a learning curve.  It is a process.  It does include embracing the negative along with the positive to find balance in our life.  Do it in moderation and you will be surprised at just how much power you reclaim.  Use the negative as a teacher and soon you will move to the head of the class.

Here is some interesting information from 2009 on negative or positive thinking.

Question of the Day
Do you try to embrace positive thinking in your life or do you struggle with negativity?  What are your thoughts on the subject.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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Power To Change Our Mind And Body

Its far to easy to think we can't!   It is far to easy to think the odds are stacked against us.  All too often, we don't believe in the power to change our lives.  We think that to change requires a drug, surgery, device or new age cure.

Yes, there are times when these things are may be necessary, but many times we have not exhausted our options.  We fall for the "fear" of having to do "something" to treat whatever condition we have.  We fall for the fear of listening to the hype in the media or online of how to find some substance and cure to treat ourselves.

All too often, we chase after the placebos and yet we don't even realize it.  We look to outside sources and we look to the modern day miracle cures as if they were our only salvation.  Yet, we do not stop to look within and tap into the natural healing power we posses.

We may think we aren't smart enough or not talented enough to do this.  We may think that this only applies to a special few.  We may think it is just new age mumble jumble and only God heals us if we're good enough.

Our bodies strive for health and balance.  We have many biological processes that help us maintain homeostasis in the body.  When we input stress constantly, we disrupt the balance.  When we carry around the baggage of a lifetime, we disrupt the balance.

When we inject substances into our bodies, one part of our biological system is helped while another is short-circuited.  In that moment, we force our body to find a way to bring us back to homeostasis.  Instead of working to balance out that which is not working, we introduce yet another entity that now the body will need to overcome.

There are far too many cure-all substances out there that get pushed every day.  Many are not backed up by science and some that are, were done in research studies with so much bias that they are no different.  It does not stop anyone from pushing the drugs, miracle cures and unnecessary stopgap measures.

We have far more power in us to do that which is laughed at in modern society.  We chase too many nonexistent rainbows when all we need to do is believe in the power we have to change our mind and our body.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Afraid Of Fear

We're there!  We've been a downhill trajectory for a long time and now we're just digging deeper into fear.  So many and I mean so many are so afraid of fear that reality isn't even a close relative now.

At one time (maybe it was just an illusion), we all were not a bunch of fear freaks scampering to every potential thing that happened in a day or didn't happen.  Now, we are all waiting it seems to run from anything that might make a whisper.

It is really sad to be honest.  We are at an all time high for panic and depression.  We are at an all time high of trusting no one and fearing everyone.  We're afraid of people who look different than us.  We are afraid of sounds that turn out to be nothing meaningful.

I thought it would balance out at some point, but I think I'm wrong.  We are so afraid of fear that I wonder just how long it will be before we reach the ultimate, point of no return tipping point.  I'm not sure we are that far away from this.

In the meantime, fear is causing not only mental disturbance issues, but all kinds of health issues.  Fear is forcing us to do things we wouldn't normally do and consuming us to the point where normal things in life look frightening.

Everyone thinks that by following the constant minute by minute replays of news, they are somehow giving themselves sustenance and facts, but in many ways, they are just adding to the fear.  News isn't news and it is only designed to hook you and reel you in, but that doesn't stop anyone. 

Everyone thinks that by taking more and more health procedures that we are somehow handling the crisis.  Unfortunately this just takes everyone further and further from being connected to their body.  It takes them further into the dark whole where the health issues compound themselves and grow with unbridled expansion.

Instead of learning to respect and love one another, we treat everyone as the enemy.  We and our politicians degrade anyone that is different than us and anyone that might help us gain more power, money or control.  It doesn't matter which side of the issue we are on, because we all do it through what we mind numbingly share and like on social media every day.

It is sad how we have lost site of where we are and who we are at in a day.  I can see the nervous system spinning out of control in most people I meet, but we still walk into the fog, thinking that we are walking into the sun.

Where will it all stop and reverse?  I am not sure.  I can't see how we can continue on as humans in this manner.  The universe strives for balance and the further we swing one way or the other, the more it will take to bring us back into balance.  May we all do that before it is past the point of no return.

If only we could do little things every day, rather then hiding our heads in the sand.  If only we could figure out what it truly means to be grounded, not just something that we tell the world that we are.  If only we could get back to discovering what it means to be aware of our innermost self instead of looking to blame, ridicule, mock, and disrespect others.

I know, it seems like a dream right now.  It continues to be my dream and my hope.

Listen to the YouTube Video below of Joy Harjo and the Fear Poem. It is powerful!

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Blog Post And Images (c) 12/26/15 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
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Finding Balance Once Again

Not long ago, I quit my job.  I walked away from something that was bringing in a nice income because the stress level had become to great and my exhaustion was almost not manageable. A job that I had grown to love and enjoyed had become toxic and so it was time to move on.

Finding balance once again after going through the nonstop stress and rigors of the past few years without a rest, is difficult to say the least.  Even after many days since I quit, my body and mind are still in that revved up mode feeling like I have to be getting this task done or taking a call or preparing for a meeting.  It just isn't easy to stop and walk away from it.

My body was so struck in the rut of letting this job consume me, that to find balance is as difficult as trying to get me to sky dive out of a plane.  Yet, I know that as the days go and as I seek rest and relaxation, I will find balance once again.  I know that as I catch up on my sleep, my mind will once again see possibility, rather than the dread of going another day.

Protest Everything

Every day I keep thinking, what's next?  What is it today that I'm not supposed to use, partake in, consume, enjoy, or associate with?  I mean, every day I read all the social media posts urging me to protest just about everything in life.

If you lined up everything that someone thinks you should protest, I'm not sure I could budge out of my house.  I don't think there would be anything I could do or consume or eat or enjoy.  Someone out there would be urging people to protest said products, companies, and organizations.

Don't get me wrong here!  I realize all these causes are great and worthy.  In fact, I agree with so much of what is the reason behind the protest.  Yet, I can't help but think we're maybe going just a little too far.  We're quickly becoming a single focused entity that only sees life in a singular issue of the day.

Are You Adding To The Discussion

How many days do we go through that we see the same old and tired worn out postings on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media?  It seems like the same stories, the same feel good pictures, the same articles to get worked up over, the same posts and forwards and shares all just continue time and time again.  If you didn't see it the first million times, don't worry!  There will be another million times to see it.

My question is to the masses.  Are you adding to the discussion in the day?  If not, why?

This goes for things that everyone deems as being good because they feel good.  If you oversaturate the day with all of these, they all become diluted.  If all you share in a day is feel good stuff, I think it becomes like the boy who constantly cries wolf.  Soon, no one hears it.  If they hear it, it becomes just noise in a day.

Time To Wake Up World

Time To Wake Up World

In a recent CNN article, the population should now be over 7 billion on this earth.  That is a staggering number when you think about it. 

Often, I wonder where are all the new people are going to live because it seems as if we keep cutting down the trees and paving the land with a parking lot like in the lyrics of the song, "They Paved Paradise".

Of course, the more human inhabitants that arrive on earth, the greater the needs and unfortunately the more destruction of our earth that takes place.  The economic realities can appear harsh as our population increases while trying to find enough food to feed everyone becomes a burden on all man kind.  It is clearly a challenge that we are facing as a world civilization which not only affects us today, but in the years ahead.

While many do not want to think about these things, if we don't begin to do this, at some point it will catch up with us as a civilization.  It will no longer matter what boundaries we have between each population subset of our world.  It will no longer matter how we interject politics into the basic issues of the earth.   At some point, we will be past the point of no return and then as a civilization, we will be forced to deal with the issues we are leaving behind.

If You're Talking, You're Not Listening

Today, I received a phone call from a place I do business with and the person on the other end felt it necessary to talk nonstop. Of course, every time I would try and say something, they would start in a mile a minute never once listening to a thing I said. In this case, it had to do with billing and I was trying to make sure they did not get double billed.

This isn't the first time I've run into this nor the first person that ever has done this. It seems to be an ongoing thread in our society. We don't listen to the other person, we just talk and talk and tell them everything that we feel they need to hear, rather than listening to them.

No matter what you do or how much you try to talk, these people just don't listen! They keep going on and on and getting louder and louder until they have drowned you out. What you have to say may be very vital to the conversation but unless you want to get in a shouting match, it doesn't matter. They are not going to hear you.

Growing up, my father and a brother was this way. They still are this way because they think they have to be the one yapping their gums louder than anyone else, or life doesn't go on! Neither of them would listen while I was growing up and they still don't! You could have told them the house was on fire, and I doubt they would have heard you.

It all boils down to how much more importantly we see ourselves than everyone else. If you're talking nonstop and louder than you need to, than you're not listening. If you're not listening, you're not valuing the other person much at all. You are treating them as if what they have to say or what concerns them does not matter.

A human body has two ears and one mouth. It would stand to reason that we use the ears twice as much as the mouth. Many humans do this but there are far too many that don't. If you don't believe me, just spend 15 minutes observing people around you or on the news. It will be quite obvious.

We can offer so much to so many by listening or at least finding a balance in a conversation. By closing our mouth and opening our ears, we lift the other person up and show them they are important to us. Let us try to use our ears and our mouth appropriately instead of using one more than the other! I'll bet if we all did that, our world would be a different place!




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Blog Post & Images (c) 6/10/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
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Quiet Please, Just Listen

I feel like there are times when I live in a world full of talkers. You know, the ones that just sometimes won't be quiet for two seconds. Whether it is on the phone, in person, or even through online methods, it just seems like there is no end in sight.

Have you ever been in a restaurant and you get seated close to some talkative people where they are not only nonstop but somewhat loud. Or what about the person that gets you on the phone and you can't get a word in regardless of how many attempts you make. They just go on and on until you begin to wonder what they said to you.

My Dad loved to hear himself talk, regardless if you wanted to sit there and listen or not, you had no say or choice in that matter. Some of what he said was good and a lot of it was dribble.

When we constantly talk and dominate conversations, there is something that is out of balance. Yes, there might be something good in what you say, but if you are not engaging the listener, than are you truly being heard? If a talker is not listening to the other person, are they really respecting the listener?

It always frustrates me when I encounter these people because to me, if they think they have to run the mouth off, who am I to force them to stop. They don't listen for a moment any way. However, I get to the point where I avoid them because it is no longer fun trying to have a conversation with them and I feel invalidated and disrespected.

We were given two ears on our body and one mouth. Our minds are meant to control the flow in and the flow out. Giving the mouth more time and energy is not finding a healthy balance with the ears. Remember, if you have two ears, there should be more time given to listening rather than talking.

Try listening a little more and you may find just how much you learn as those around you may feel a little more valued. Not everything we speak is important for the world to hear but when you listen to someone, you've given them a valued place in life that could be life altering.



Blog Post & Images (c) 4/28/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

Nervous System Resiliency

One of the things that I am learning firsthand is how resilient our nervous system in the course of our day. Many of the things that I write about here are ones that I have been introduced to and then I learn about them by living through experiences that become my teacher.

It is not just concepts that are told to me and I continue the story. They are very real lessons that I experience firsthand within my body. When you can experience something within the body and feel the connection within, then there is no doubt that it is a real, truth altering experience.

For a long time I felt overwhelmed in life where I could not seem to get my balance as the winds of various events would come along and knock me off balance. It never seemed like I would get past many things in my life because I always felt overwhelmed. Then one experience in particular that I had on the table with Dr. Paul Canali brought this home in a very real and vivid way.

In this particular session, I came up against some of the root energy where very real and intense anger perpetuates and grows within me. As I pushed through this, my body felt physically awful for several hours but then as the energy of the release began to balance itself, I noticed a major change within my body. For the first time, I noticed a peacefulness and calmness that I had never felt before. It is more than difficult to describe here but it was real and I knew it wasn't just a temporary peace or calmness. It was a life changing moment.

As events of the following week transpired, I noticed that most of these were just rolling off my back. Yes, some of them were pretty intense and I was not ignoring the feeling of them but they were just coming in and almost like bouncing through me. It is then that I came to understand just how resilient our nervous system is meant to be and if treated properly, it can perform in ways that we may not be able to imagine.

For months, I did not think about this entire scenario until I recently went through a very stressful week. In that week, I noticed something about myself and how I was dealing with the stress. While the stress was intense and difficult to be part of, I noticed that much of it was just bouncing right through me. I'm not going to tell you that it was an easy week but without this happening within myself, it would have been much more difficult.

Please don't misunderstand me here because I'm not talking about "thinking happy thoughts" here either as many tend to do. This is about going deep within and connecting to the grounded part of your cells, your body and your mind. It is about having the nervous system at a healthy point that it can absorb these things and let them go. It isn't about avoiding any of the feelings or affects of the stress but feeling all of it and just swimming through it as if you were swimming in a pool.

Of course, most humans go through life in a hurried fashion barely ever taking time to take care of the body, oblivious to the fact that this is taking place. We like to self medicate ourselves with things that keep us from living in reality and keep us from getting to truly know ourselves in an intimate way.

All too often, I've heard many people tell me that they don't have time to get a massage or relax or to take a vacation. In this day of electronics, people cannot even get away from their jobs for a minute. We keep ourselves and our nervous systems in a heightened state of arousal and stress but yet we expect our bodies to hit peak performance.

We go through life dabbling in this or that new age therapy or we turn to religion, doctors and our families to help us exist in our day. However, none of these things will help you deal with the stress in your life unless you go in and stand up to the fear and the ego within your body and your mind. You can fool yourself all day long into thinking that various things are helping you and they may be temporarily, but if you really want to leap upon the mountains, you need to journey within yourself.

The nervous system is meant to act like a rubber band where if you pull it and stretch it, when let go, it should go back to its original shape. However if you stretch it beyond those limits time and time again, you may alter the shape of it. If you stretch it beyond what it is capable of, then there will be a break. The body acts in much the same way.

If we as a society really wanted to improve the overall health of our world, we would be focusing upon learning how the nervous system works and how we impact it every day of our life. We would focus upon learning how to reclaim it and harness the power that we hold within our bodies and our minds. The nervous system should be our friend but much of the time in our world, we barely even notice its existence.




Blog Post & Images (c) 2/20/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com




Photo by NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org

Healthy Relationships

My partner and I have some great moments and then we also have moments where I'm sure both of us question our relationship. To me, this is a balanced relationship because one without the other would be boring I suspect (at least to me) or maybe not balanced!

We've been together for almost 11 years now and the relationship has changed as we have changed. (through both the good and the bad).

One thing we both see is how we've grown individually and as a couple. We're not the same people we were when we met and that's a good thing. The important part though is we've grown together as we've grown individually. Both parts I think are important. Sometimes though the rate of growth has been different between us which does account for some of the push/pull parts of our relationship.

We had a rough period of time when we first got together until we learned that some things matter and some things don't. The little things that we were getting so upset over, really didn't matter in the end. Once we focused on what we shared and what we loved about the other person, many of those things just diminished in view. They just weren't as important for us.

We've learned to allow the other person to feel miserable and like crap and be sad, depressed, crying... etc... and be ok with it. It isn't always easy to see someone you love struggle, but we just try to support each other and allow the other person to continue on their journey. That can get very tough to do! But it has allowed us to both grow in some intense ways and I doubt we would have grown if the other person would have been trying to fix each other's problems.

Early on in our relationship, I could barely have much touch or hugs or even sex. So we developed a way that if something made either of us uncomfortable, all we had to do was say "stop". No questions asked and no reasons for it other than we just needed to stop. It gave us so much personal power and control that usually helped us move through those issues. The trust we developed as a result has been very helpful and nurturing.

Sometimes we find we get in a rut and life becomes predictable. We get in a routine and then things get boring. So every now and then, we just take a day and run off to the beach or some city or park or something that we find fun. It gives us a break away and just allows us to have fun. We try to have those silly moments as well to really just be kids and enjoy life. Life can get difficult enough without us adding to it.

We're together a lot because both of us work out of our home. Sometimes, we just need a break from each other and so we make sure we find things to do by ourselves that give us that. It may be sitting out by our pool, reading a book or going to the fitness center or whatever it is. Time spent apart is just as valuable as the time we spend together.

We also have many differences in our personalities and our likes but we've learned to be with the other person in some of those activities. We just share them with each other and while they are activities either of us would not do on our own, they are something different that we can share together and enrich not only our own lives but our relationship.

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