What if it's only . . . HOPE?

Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope. ~ Author Unknown

Photo courtesy: fall out of line

Someone asked me recently, "What if all they're selling is "hope?" By they, she meant people like Oprah, Abraham-Hicks, The Secret, Marianne Williamson, Louise L. Hay, etc. etc. I know this because I asked her to tell who they were. She wanted to know if that's all they were really doing? If there was nothing behind their books and TV shows and seminars? If the only real truth they were giving people was . . . HOPE. My answer was, "Maybe that's all they're giving. But, maybe, that's all we need."

As many of you know, I'm a huge Oprah fan. I love the teachings of Abraham-Hicks and find great comfort and truth in the words and affirmations of Louise L. Hay. I've just practically begun my journey into my own personal truth. I'm still learning every single day to break down the patterns of old thinking. There isn't a day that goes by that an old tape wants to start playing in my mind and therefore, competing with my current play list. The old tapes filled with doubt and self-image issues want to get into rotation. The ones that go on and on about how we have to work hard and suffer and nobody likes to work but that's how life goes. You're not supposed to like what you do for a living, you're supposed to just work to make money and have two weeks vacation. And on and on these tapes can go.

But, from listening to Abraham, The Secret, Louise L. Hay and the rest, I have gained the knowledge needed to stop those corroded tapes from spewing their tired old lies. In their place, a symphony of hope begins to play. With a simple affirmation, I can erase the damage of years past. By watching a YouTube video from Abraham, I can raise my vibration to a better-feeling state. By opening a book and reading the soothing and comforting words of Dr. Wayne Dyer, I can view the things around me in a different way and thereby changing the way I let them affect me. By playing a good Oprah episode filled with some one's dreams coming true, I can see evidence of the possibility!

Maybe all they're "selling" is in fact hope. Maybe my friend is correct in asking that question. The thing is, I have no objection to that. There is nothing better than to hope for something. It's what dreams are made of. Little particles of brilliant, smashing pieces of HOPE. Every time I shoot a rocket of desire for something I want, it is HOPE that propels it into the air. I'll delve a little deeper into the connection between hopes and dreams on Thursday. Until then, you know I have to give you a little assignment. :-) Take stock of the little things that bring or give you hope on a daily basis. Those little miracles that keep you moving in the direction of your dreams. They are PRECIOUS* gifts and the more we take notice of them, the more they will multiply to help us on our journey.

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

*I went to see Precious this past weekend and I urge you all . . . URGE!!!! . . . to take the time to see this movie. It will leave you breathless, inspired and filled with great HOPE. Talk about believing in the impossible and making it POSSIBLE! Outstanding!

The power of two, three or more . . .

"The human mind is a form of energy, a part of it being spiritual in nature. When the minds of two people are coordinated in a SPIRIT OF HARMONY, the spiritual units of energy of each mind form an affinity . . . " Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich)

When I was growing up, I remember reading and hearing the following words from the bible: "Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I will be . . . " or something like that. I remember being fascinated by that possibility. It was one of the few things in the bible that I found interesting. In all honesty, I'm not a fan of the book and most of what's written in it. Maybe it's the way it gets interpreted, but any book that blatantly calls for the discrimination of people, isn't at the top of my Book Club Selection list. But, that's for another blog entry at a later date. Returning our attention to those words, I do remember being intrigued by them, especially as a little kid. I remember asking my mom to really explain them to me. What exactly did they mean? Who was present? Jesus? Jehovah? Who!??

I think she said that it was Jesus and maybe a few of the angels or something. Well, I was even more interested in the whole thing. I kept on waving my hands through the air trying to see if I could feel anything. Much to the horror mixed with amusement of my mother. There was something that rang true to me about the statement. I actually felt deep down inside that this was something possible and true. I was too young to really understand it, but most likely, what I felt was the energy that Mr. Napoleon Hill talks about. Whether I agreed with what my mother and the other Jehovah's Witnesses were doing or worshiping, just the fact that they were together and united in one room with the same purpose, this was creating an energy force. In this case, we were dealing with Communist Cuba where my parents and other JWs weren't really allowed to practice their religion in freedom. Therefore, these clandestine gatherings were all they had. It was their only way of communicating and sharing their hopes and beliefs and love for their god. So, yeah, there was definitely an energy in the room and I was definitely tuned in to something going on.

As the years passed and we left Cuba and I became less and less willing to deal with the JWs, I forgot all about this. It wasn't until recently when I read Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich that I remembered those words from the bible. I also remembered that Eckhart Tolle had briefly spoken similar words during the Oprah webinar for A New Earth last year. I think he mentioned that due to the technological advances with the web and Skype, etc., we were all united in sharing the same energy. I'm not sure of his actual words but it was basically this concept of two or more people coming together for the same purpose and what an amazing energy and force it created. I was again extremely intrigued and fascinated by the whole thing.

Can two or more people gathered together for the same purpose or with the same objective in mind, really have some power? Are they generating some energy that only those people at that moment can produce? Hmmmm I've seen what can happen when a mob gets together with the intent to destroy. It does seem like there is an energy that goes from person to person and builds in that kind of situation. But, in a more controlled setting, can healing, supportive, caring, peaceful and loving energy be produced? Is that energy a powerful energy, able to soothe, calm, support or inspire?

I know it is! It's not only possible but in many ways, it's necessary. The need for our coming together as humans has never been greater. I've had many amazing experiences lately when I've been involved in groups of like-minded, beautiful people. I'll share some of these this week. Until then, be aware of what kind of energy you are conjuring the next time you interact with another person. Is it loving, kind, caring, for the greater good?



Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

A tree . . . really isn't a "tree" . . .

"When you don't cover up the world with words and labels, a sense of the miraculous returns to your life." ~ Eckhart Tolle from A New Earth

As most of you know, I'm a big fan of Eckhart Tolle's work, especially A New Earth. I've read that book twice now and took part in his Webinar with Oprah last year. The entire book had a huge impact on my life and there are passages from the book and moments from the webinar that are still with me. One of those messages has to do with the subject of labels and words in general. There was a point in the webinar in which Eckhart took a call from a mom in, I believe, Sweden. She was wondering how she could start teaching her son to start understanding about ego and not be become attached to material things and possessions, etc. Eckhart advised her to start getting him in contact with nature and while she was pointing things out to him, such as trees or birds, etc., to say to him, "We call this a tree or we call this a bird." He explained that a tree, really isn't a tree. We don't know what it is. Tree is the word we've assigned to it but in actuality, nobody know what it is. He went on to say the same thing about us. We're not "humans." Human is just a word assigned to our species to be able to identify ourselves.

I swear to you my mouth dropped when I heard this discussion. Up until that point, I had never realized how true this was. Of course a tree isn't a "tree." We are not "humans." We do not know what a tree really is or a bird or a dog for that matter. Our dogs and cats probably look at us and wonder why we keep calling them these words. This really opened up my mind to new ways of thinking and viewing the world around me.

This new way of thinking made one of Eckhart's exercises even easier to do, which was to go out in nature and just . . . be. I remember spending a Sunday afternoon in Central Park with Jhon and attempting to do the exercise. At first it wasn't easy. We are so accustomed to noticing something and immediately knowing what it is. But, the more I spent time not thinking about what I was looking at but instead conjuring up a feeling of wonder and awe, the easier it became. I particularly remember this tall tree that had all these different markings and colors. I walked up to it and just placed my hand upon it and walked around it. I made it a point to not even bring up the word "tree" to mind. This was just some thing that I had stumbled upon. I pretended that I had never seen anything like it before. This experience was nothing short of magic. There was an energy and vibrancy in that moment that I find hard to explain. In fact, this was over a year ago and right now, as I sit here in front of my laptop, if I close my eyes, I can see every single detail of that tree trunk and the surrounding area. By being as present as is conceivable and really placing my attention without judgement or preconceived notions on the object in front of me, everything about that moment just popped. There was energy and life!

Ever since then I make it a point to do that exercise as many times as possible. I've written before about how on my way to catch the bus, I look up at the sky and take in the clouds, etc. I do this exercise and every single day I am in awe because it's always a little different and I'm never sure what I will see. This practice also opens your eyes and mind to the beauty that is always around us. A beauty that we sometimes take for granted because we're so used to it just being there. How many times do you pass by a tree or a garden and not even notice it? Next time, make it a point to stop and just observe the miracle that is before you. Without immediately acknowledging what kind of tree or flower you are looking at, just take it all in. View it as if you are seeing whatever it is for the very first time. Notice how the miraculous and the ethereal in a flower becomes evident. I promise, if you approach this exercise with an open mind and with the sense of wonder of a child, you will reap amazing benefits.

My Flowers (22) by Llima Orosa

You see, there is an even more important reason to do this exercise. Eckhart advises to start in nature because it's so much easier to look at trees or birds or animals and not immediately label them or put them in a specific category. The ultimate goal of this exercise is to then do the same to people. How many times do we encounter others and immediately place them in a certain box in our mind? How does this affect our interactions with each other? How does this affect our relationships with ourselves?

I'll go into this next time. There are valuable lessons to be learned from viewing our fellow human beings as just that, humans . . . being. Everything changes when you can truly understand how we are all ONE. Until next time, go out there and be as present as you can. Be as open and full of wonder and excitement as you can. Look at the world around you as if you were seeing it all for the very first time. Get rid of the names and definitions for things and just observe them. You'll notice how even that annoying fly that sneaked into your apartment can be a mysterious and fascinating thing.

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

Repairing our connection . . .by "checking in."

“Learn to let your intuition—gut instinct—tell you when the food, the relationship, the job isn’t good for you (and conversely, when what you’re doing is just right).” ~ Oprah

Every time I've gone against my gut instinct, I've paid the price. And I do mean, every single time, without exception. I have recently been more attuned to it and have made a conscious effort to truly listen and pay attention to my gut at all times. It's how I've come to create my art. The fact that I now work on something that brings me so much joy and feels so good is all due to following my gut instinct and listening to Inspired Action.

This hasn't always been the case. I have plenty of experiences where I decided to either listen to other people, or I've let my ego get in the way. When I've done this, I've completely turned my back on my inner voice, my intuition, and the results have always been disastrous! That is because we come into this physical world reality with this miraculous built-in connection to Source Energy. I mean, we are born with this otherworldly GPS device already programmed with all that we'll ever need to guide us in this world. From the start it is giving us information to help us along. As babies we cry when we're hungry or sleepy or need changing. Nobody told us to do this! This was all instinctual. We came here knowing this was how things had to be until we learned to communicate with these beings that were our parents and started using words.

As we get older and get exposed to outside influences, we tend to start listening to other people, maybe a little too much. We also start dealing with our friend, ego. And our ego, if we let him or her, will take over our lives. Dr. Wayne Dyer likes to say that the word ego stands for Edge God Out. I think he's totally right. That's one of the things our ego loves to do. It gets in the way of our gut instinct and tries to shut it down. Ego believes it has what's best for us in mind when in reality, it's only thinking about what's best for ego to survive. The more it can get in the way of our connection to our Source Energy, the better its chances of sticking around telling you what to do.

So, as the years go by and our ego gets stronger and we start listening to other people, we tend to rely less and less on our gut instincts. We pay less attention to that built-in GPS system. Especially if what our guide is telling us to do goes against what everyone else thinks we should do.

We all have stories of times when we went against our instincts and things went horribly wrong. What we have to do is remember these instances when a similar event happens and we're about to do something we feel deep down that we're not supposed to do. It's important to exercise our instinctual powers. Really get in touch with our inner voice and get that connection to Source Energy or God back in fine working order. One of the best ways to do this of course is by spending some time actively seeking to repair the connection.

In the mornings I like to do Ah Meditation sessions for about 10 minutes or so. But, I've started to extend this time a little at the end and do what I like to call a "checking in" exercise. I check in with my core and make sure that all is well. How do I feel about the state of my life at this very moment? Are there areas that feel wrong, that don't fit with me? Are there things I'm doing that I know I shouldn't be doing? Am I happy with my life?

When I first started "checking in", I found that ego liked to come in and answer the questions for me. It liked to come up with excuses for any of the questions that I instinctively knew the answer to. But, the more I calmed my mind and quieted ego, the easier it got to repair that connection to Source, that invisible line going straight from my core, my center, to Source Energy. Now in my periods of checking in, the answers come immediately. I can't even say they come in the form of words but more as immediate feelings. My gut remains calm and peaceful whenever a question is asked and I'm living in its truth. If I ask myself a question and I'm not in a good space with that question, my gut lets me know in the form of a small yet palpable twisting feeling. Whenever I get that response, that lets me know that I'm dealing with an area that needs further investigation. It doesn't mean that I now have to berate myself and that I've done something wrong. This just means that it's time to look inward and seek for the answer, which is already there, at a deeper level.

To start repairing this connection to Source, or make the connection you already have even stronger, I do recommend doing the "checking in" exercise a couple of times a week. As always, I like to make things easy, because you know what I believe . . . if something is easy to do, the more likely you are to DO IT consistently. So, depending on how good your connection is, then that can determine the amount of time spent checking in. At first, like I said, ego might like to get in there and mess with you, so it could possibly take a little longer to get through the questions.

The questions are simple ones. You can come up with your own set but I usually start with these:

• How are you?
• How is your life?
• Are you happy?
• Is there anything troubling you?
• What is going right for you?
• Is there anything you'd like to see change?

These are just a few examples. It really helps to customize your questions to whatever is going on in your life at the moment. I like to do the checking in exercise before I undertake any new project, no matter how exciting or lucrative it might seem. Checking in with specific questions relating to the issue at hand really helps to clear my thoughts and get in touch with my gut instincts. If all my questions come back with a positive response and my core remains calm and relaxed and at peace, you better believe it, I'm going ahead with that project. It's that simple.

Spend some time checking in and see how your connection to Source will help to guide you in the right direction. The stronger the connection the easier it will be to immediately trust your inner voice. It is right. Every. Single. Time.

Peace and Light to you and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel

The powerful combination of dreams and inspired action!

If you don't believe that dreams really do come true, then let me tell you about Bernard Lachance. He was featured in last week's Oprah show called Harpo Hookups. The Oprah show hooked-up deserving people with tremendous opportunities. One young lady got to spend an entire week in New York with the cast of SNL and the entire country became eligible for a free meal at KFC, etc., etc.

Midway through the show, we were introduced to singer Bernard Lachance. On April 2, 2009, Bernard had posted a vide on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tohGOH20aGA) asking Oprah to come and claim the two tickets he had reserved for her and her best friend Gayle, to his show at the Chicago Theatre on June 6th.

Bernard rented the theatre for his performance, costing him a total of $18,000 for the night (his entire life savings). In order to promote the show and sell tickets, he stands in front of the theatre with a cd and headphones and stops people in the street. He asks them if they'd like to listen to his music and then gets them to buy tickets to his show. If they accept, they get to cross off their seats on the specially made t-shirt he wears with the theatre's seating chart.

This is what he was hoping would happen with Oprah. This was his dream. It turns out, his dream came true, not exactly as he thought but in many, many ways, the reality was even bigger and better! The Universe has a way of rewarding us with bigger dreams than we can come up with for ourselves.

The Oprah show producers found Bernard's YouTube video and sent Gayle to claim the tickets from Bernard himself. When Gayle steps out of the car and calls his name, there was this moment of confusion right before he realizes what is happening to him, that is priceless. After he calms down, Gayle tells him that unfortunately Oprah would be out of the country on June 6th and therefore unable to attend his concert. This where his dream becomes even bigger than he imagined.

Since Oprah wouldn't be able to attend his show, she was then extending a personal invitation for Bernard to join her on her show and make his American television debut!

A week later Bernard Lachance was on the Oprah stage singing an English/French version of "The Impossible Dream" in front of Oprah, the world and his parents who joined him via Skype!

Is that amazing or what? During his interview, he told Oprah that the night before Gayle showed up at the Chicago Theatre, he had broken down in his hotel room and had finally given up trying to get Oprah to come to his show. He had realized that he needed to concentrate on the actual show and had released and surrendered. And the next day, Gayle shows up!

I couldn't believe it! To see someone's dream come true like that is always empowering and inspiring. Although he said that he had finally given up the night before Gayle showed up, what he actually did was release any attachment he had to this dream. The energy was cleared and in turn, the dream had a way in. And it was instant. The next day in fact!

He had been working towards this moment for years. His dreaming with inspired action paid off. That is the lesson here. I strongly believe that by dreaming we are creating our reality, but, there has to be inspired action to support those dreams. Bernard is proof of that. His innovative way of promoting his shows and his music was the action behind his dreams. Constant dreaming and constant action gave him tremendous results!

What an incredible story. Bernard's performance was amazing on the show. The minute the orchestra began to play, he looked straight at the camera and you could just tell he was ready for it. What he'd been dreaming about and working for had finally happened. It was brilliant!

More information on Bernard Lachance can be found on his site officiel: Bernard Lachance . com

His cd While I Remember You is available on iTunes and it's pretty great. I'm not a music critic so I won't go into details but it's a great combination of pop/adult contemporary songs, including one of my favorite songs, Nessun Dorma. I strongly recommend it. Support a dreamer!!

Oh and his appearance on the show happened on Day-Dreaming Tuesday of course!

Peace and Light and KEEP DREAMING!

Gene-Manuel