READ: Are You Addicted to Struggle? by Mike Robbins

During a session I was having with my new coach last week it became clear to me that I’ve been addicted to struggle for much of my life. While I wasn’t super excited to admit this, it has actually been quite liberating to address my struggle addiction directly and to see how it impacts just about every aspect of my life and work. How about you… are you addicted to (or at least very familiar with) struggling in your own life?

As I’ve thought about it more over this past week, I realize that I have some real resistance to allowing things to come easy and that my attachment to struggling runs deep within me (as it does for so many people I know and work with). Here are some of the main “reasons” I’ve used and beliefs I’ve held for many years to justify my own struggling:

If I don’t have to struggle for something, it doesn’t really mean all that much
If things come easy to me, other people will get jealous, won’t like me, and/or won’t respect me
It’s not fair for things to be easy for me (i.e. I have to struggle) – especially with so many people having such a hard time these days
I actually get off on struggling and suffering – I’m quite familiar with it and I’ve used it as motivation to change and “succeed” for much of my life
My ability to work hard, overcome adversity, and rise above challenges are all things my ego uses to feel superior to others
If I don’t struggle for something, when it happens I won’t feel like I deserve it
Struggling allows me to avoid taking responsibility for certain aspects of my life and keeps me “focused” so I get to avoid uncomfortable feelings, situations, and circumstances I don’t really want to deal with
Can you relate to any of these? Maybe you have others as well.

Getting in touch with some of these reasons and beliefs has been both painful and eye opening at the same time. As I think, talk, and write about them – I realize how ridiculous some of them are and how much of my life’s energy I’ve been giving away to them in the process.

It’s almost like I’m walking around worried that someone’s going to say me, “Mike, you have it so easy,” and I’m preparing my defensive responses, “Oh yeah, well let me tell you how hard I work, how challenging things have been for me, and how much stuff I’ve had to overcome along the way.” What’s up with this? It’s like I’m preparing for a fight that doesn’t even exist. Do you ever do that?

While working hard, overcoming challenges and adversity, and being passionately committed to important and complex things in our lives aren’t inherently bad – resisting ease and being attached to struggle causes me and so many of us a great deal of stress, worry, and pain. And, in many cases this difficulty is totally self-induced and unnecessary.

What if we allowed things to be easier? What if we started to speak about and own the aspects of our lives that are actually easy to us and started to expect things to get even easier? What if we let go of our attachment (or addiction, as it were) to struggle? Easy doesn’t mean lazy – that we aren’t willing to work in a passionate way, or that we expect a “free ride” – it means that we’re willing to have things work out, trust that all is well, and allow life to flow in a positive and elegant way for us.

Our desire and ability to embrace ease in our life isn’t selfish, arrogant, or unrealistic – it’s profoundly optimistic (in an authentic way) and can actually enhance our ability to impact others. The more energy and attention we place on surviving, getting by, or even “striving” for success – the less available we are to give, serve, and make a difference for other people. Although it may seem counter-intuitive to us, letting go of our addiction to struggle is one of the best ways we can show up for those around us – both by our example and with our freed up positive energy.

My coach suggested that I start wearing a “struggle patch,” like a nicotine patch that people wear in their process of breaking an addiction to smoking. While at first it seemed a little ridiculous, I actually took her up on the suggestion and put on a band aid as a representation of my “struggle patch.” I’m allowing the band aid to represent my own commitment to break this addiction and it actually has been altering my perception of myself and my life. Feel free to use this technique yourself!

As Richard Bach famously stated, “Argue for your limitations and they’re yours.” What if we stopped arguing on behalf of how “hard” things are, and started to allow our life to be filled with more peace and ease, instead of perpetuating the struggle? While the idea of things authentically being easy may not be, ironically, the easiest thing for you to embrace – I challenge you (as I challenge myself) to take this on in your life and become more comfortable with it… maybe it will actually be easier than you think!

Are you addicted to struggling? How does this manifest in your life? What can you do to let go of struggle and allow things to be easier? Share your thoughts, ideas, insights, actions, and more.

Mike Robbins is a sought-after motivational keynote speaker, coach, and the bestselling author of Focus on the Good Stuff (Wiley) and Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken (Wiley). More info – www.Mike-Robbins.com

 

 

 

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The Benefits of Tears by Mike Robbins

Something extraordinary happened at Candlestick Park in San Francisco two Saturdays ago, January 14th.  Sure it was an amazing ending to an NFL playoff game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints (which the Niners won in dramatic fashion, making all of us fans here in the Bay Area very happy); but the monumental win wasn’t was made it so remarkable to me.

ENERGETIC REBIRTH By Cynthia James

We are living in accelerated times. Everyone is moving fast. The level of information that is bombarding us is staggering. My clients consistently talk about feeling over-amped and overwhelmed. As I began to think about these facts, it came to me that it is time that we consider “energetic rebirth”. That means that we are called to inventory how many places are draining our energy and find new ways to become vital.

 

READ: Because I Can by Edie Weinstein

“I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.”

Stephen Grellet (2 November 1773 – 16 November 1855), a French born Quaker missionary was the  likely author, according to Wikipedia, but this quote has been attributed to William Penn, Mahatma Gandhi and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I have long appreciated these words because they speak so clearly to a calling I heard as a child and was modeled for me by my parents who in addition to their full time jobs both in and out of the house,  were dedicated life long volunteers into their 80′s. It wasn’t a sense of less- than- greater- than in terms of relationship with anyone to whom they lent a helping hand. Sometimes it was anonymous. They were also just plain kind people, smiling at ‘strangers’ on the street, laughing and playing with children who crossed their paths, offering a listening ear to anyone who happened to need it. In my childhood home in Willingboro, NJ,  we had a ‘helping hand’ sign in our front window as a signal to the neighborhood kids that ours was a ‘safe house’ in case they were in any danger.  When my parents retired to sunny South Florida, the children in the condo community would stop by to visit. The last Halloween my mom was alive, some of them came into her living room, dressed in costume and were greeted with a hug and candy. I was heartened by witnessing that they were more focused on time with her than the treats she gave them.

They encouraged us to be grateful for what we had and to share it when we could, whether it was material, financial or experiential.

I was on a trajectory throughout my life to become a ‘helping’ professional and these days, it takes the form of being a licensed social worker, interfaith minister, transformational writer and inspirational speaker. I am also known as the ‘go to’ person for promotion of folks’ service work in the world. On a daily basis, friends approach me with the request…”can you spread the word about my writing, music, art, cause…..?”  I always say yes, simply because I can. I’m not a saint, believe me, but I also know that if I have the wherewithal to do something, and if in any way possible, I can use my gift as a connector to stir up more love in the world, then it feels incumbent on me to do so. I have many friends who feel the same way and am gratified to see them do it and delighted to see the results of their kindness. On the flip side, I have also sadly observed that out of fear of competition, there have been others who haven’t been as free with their energies. My experience has been that when one succeeds, all succeed; when one reaches a hand out, it elevates all of us. Through the years, I have been the recipient of the sweetness of ‘fairy godmothers’ and ‘fairy godfathers’ who have opened doors for me and I have willingly done the same for others. I invite you to take any opportunity to don your invisible wings and flap them in support of those who cross your path.

http://youtu.be/f2H-GiiDfnE Try A Little Kindness by Glen Campbell

Rev. Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a Renaissance Woman and Bliss Mistress who delights in inviting people to live rich, full, juicy lives. Edie is an internationally recognized, sought after, colorfully creative journalist, interviewer and author, a dynamic and inspiring speaker, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, offering uniquely designed spiritual rituals. In addition, she is a PR Goddess, promoting events and transformational teachers, healers, writers and artists. She speaks on the subjects of wellness, spirituality, sexuality, creativity, time management, recovery, body image, mindfulness, self esteem, stress management, re-creating yourself, caring for the caregiver, loss and grief. She is a frequent guest on radio and TV. Edie is currently writing her first best selling book entitled The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming the Ordinary Into The Extraordinary and is offering a workshop for women who want to re-create their lives, based on those concepts. A 20 year old journalistic vision came to pass in July of 2008 when she interviewed His Holiness The Dalai Lama. It was a potent reminder to never, ever, ever give up on our dreams. Over the years, Edie has written for mainstream and transformational publications. She has interviewed hundred of notables in the transformational fields, including Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Debbie Ford, Leonard Peltier, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Beckwith, Jonathan Goldman, Gregg Braden, Neale Donald Walsch, Mary Manin Morrissey, Dan Millman, Alan Cohen, Ram Dass, Jack Canfield, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Patch Adams, Ben and Jerry, Donna DeLory, James Twyman, Elizabeth Lesser, Michael Franti and Jean Houston. Her website is http://www.liveinjoy.org 

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Crazy Whirled by Edie Weinstein

Music feeds my soul and singer songwriters are the farmers whose craft of cultivating fertile fields of rhythm and rhyme, harmony and lyric, bring to the table all manner of nourishment. I am blessed to know many talented musicians in this genre. Among them are a foursome that call themselves…

How to Deal with Anxiety Using the Power of Positive Affirmations by Chantal Beaupre

It can be difficult to do anything with your normal passion and excitement if you are feeling anxious. Anxiety can squelch your motivation and control your life – if you let it. If you have experienced an anxiety attack, you may be fearful of having another one; but living in such fear means you are living in a state of perpetual anxiety. This can happen just because you are afraid of the anxiety itself!

 

Technorati Tags: Glen Campbell, Mahatma Gandhi, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Stephen Grellet, Try A Little Kindness, Wikipedia, WIlliam Penn

READ: Law of Attraction Technique to Work with Money (or Anything else) by Hemal Radia

What this does is it gets you in touch with the positive aspects of something without having to deal with possible mixed thoughts of whether it is in your life or not. You are not making a list of money in your life (unless it feels comfortable to do so) but in what ways money in general is good – you are focusing on and practicing the positive associations to it and about it.  As you do this, you are drawing this more and more into your energy and becoming more and more of a vibrational match.

Technorati Tags: Hemal Radia, law of attraction, manifesting, The Secret, universe, vibration

READ: Tantra Alchemy ~ The meeting of Contradictions by Mahasatvaa Ananda Sarita

The world we live in is made of contradictory elements. Night and Day, summer and winter, male and female, earth and sky, sex and spirit, the list is endless. There is a wonderful story in the Hindu tradition, that Brahma, (The source from where everything comes and to where everything returns) was all-alone, and feeling bored in infinite space. He created a divine play of opposite polarities in order to amuse himself. The name used for this divine play, is Leela.

First, Brahma created a cow, and then turned himself into a bull and began chasing the cow. The cow, in trying to escape from the bull, transformed herself into a deer. The bull then transformed himself into a stag and chased the deer. The deer, in running away from the amorous advances of the stag, transformed herself into a snake, and so on. In this way, through the courtship play of many species, our dual world came into being. And of course, as part of this scenario, we search for our other half, endeavoring to return to the original state of oneness.

I love this story, because it expresses the playfulness inherent in all of life and yet indicates the great alchemical secret of existence. If we wish to lift the veil and discover the essence of life, we simply need to bring opposites together, and in so doing, will discover Brahma hidden behind the apparent duality.

When practicing techniques of Tantra meditation, we are offered the opportunity to know the source of life through our own direct experience, and it is surprisingly easy to do so.

Awareness acts as the catalyst for the experience of Wholeness. This is so, because the smallest particles of matter that make up our physical reality, respond dramatically to the power of intent. Science has recently discovered what mystics have been saying for millennia, that physical reality is shaped by thought. As we think, so God actualizes.

The more aware we are, the closer we come to the creator. In fact, we become co-creators. This brings with it great responsibility. It means that whatever we intend, will happen. When you apply this quality of powerful, aware presence to bringing opposite polarities together, the result will be an instantaneous merging into the Godhead, or Brahma, which is described in Tantric terminology as orgasm with the universe. When we are divided, we remain weak. When we are whole, we become extremely powerful. We discover our Godliness.

The ability to merge opposite polarities is inherent in every human being. We come from oneness, and will return to oneness. It is our source of being. In fact, the experience of oneness is no further away than our nose. Tantric meditations are designed in such a way as to support us in experiencing our original nature, easily and naturally. Spiritual attainment is demystified and made simple and accessible to all. Our own bodies and all of physical life is recognized as the microcosm of the macrocosm.

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SEX, LOVE AND SPIRIT

Sarita is a world renowned Tantra master and mystic offering courses and retreats across the globe. Having received a direct transmission from Osho, she is true to the spiritual essence of Tantra and leads us on the path to self realisation. At the same time she takes care to help us transcend the psychological blockages that we carry as a result of our cultural background and past experiences. She is also a master healer, author and consultant. website: http://www.tantra-essence.com

 

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Tantra and the Divine Feminine by Mahasatvaa Ananda Sarita

In the last 2000 years or so, women have been considered to be the weaker sex in much of the so-called civilized world. In actual fact, women have simply forgotten how to access their own power, the Divine feminine. In Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, he says: “The valley spirit never dies It is named the mysterious female And the doorway of the mysterious female Is the base from which heaven and earth spring It is there within us all the while Draw upon it as you will It never runs dry.”

Tantra and the Divine Masculine by Mahasatvaa Ananda Sarita

The Divine Masculine is a timely subject for 2012, as this is the year when the old world transmutes into a new world, according to the famous Maya predictions. Bring it on! The old world has been dominated primarily by an imbalanced masculine, which shows itself in the number of wars and general raping of planetary resources. This has happened because the masculine has been divorced from the feminine for a few thousand years, and by so doing has gone into a fevered testosterone fueled orgy of competition and destruction. I am by no means saying,…

 

 

Technorati Tags: brahma, enlightenment, inspiration, leela, Opposites, orgasm, Sarita, Tantra, vivid life

WATCH: Award-winning author G. Brian Benson shares a personal, intimate story on the power of visualization

G. Brian Benson (www.gbrianbenson.com) is a multiple award-winning author, award-winning filmmaker, actor, speaker, musician, entrepreneur, workshop facilitator, finisher of over 50 triathlons (including 4 Ironman distance races), cross-country bicyclist, inspirational poet and committed advocate of helping others be the best that they can be. Brian currently finished a movie project that he wrote, produced and acted in called Guitar Man that was filmed in downtown Reno, Nevada. The movie was written by Brian with the idea of sharing the messages ‘that we all have a lot in common’ and ‘that our true gifts reside within ourselves.’ It recently won an honorable mention prize in the 2011 Los Angeles Movie Awards. Brian is the author of five books, (Brian’s List and the eBooks The Art of Balance, Onward and Upward, Cave Man No More! and Discover Your True Self). His first book Brian’s List – 26 1/2 Easy To Use Ideas On How To Live A Fun, Balanced, Healthy Life! was the winner of a 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Award in the Self-Help category. It was also an Award-Winning Finalist in the Self-Help Motivational Category of the National Best Books 2009 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News” Brian considers himself an everyman who has learned how to trust his intuition and listen to his heart which has led him to follow his goals and dreams and make them reality! A graduate of Oregon State University with a degree in Worksite Health Promotion, as well as CTA (Coach Training Alliance), Benson lives in Reno, Nevada. In his free time he enjoys hiking, creative endeavors, acting, improv, sports, movies, travel, writing, hanging out with his son and playing the delta blues on his guitar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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