A simple step

Consider this. The human race is the only race, animal or being in the world that chooses names for itself. You could argue that other animals simply do not have the ability to select names for themselves, as they do not know how to talk or communicate in that way. They definately identify themselves from other animals of the same breed or type, yes, but they do got give themselves names in the same way that we do. Names provide humans with our identity. Without a name, we are a nobody, a nameless human being. Like animals, without names, we would recognize one another by the features that we physically show, the behaviors that we exhibit and the things that we do or that make us different from others. The things that we do, and the behaviors we exhibit relate to our intent, rather than our identity. Our identity is a label that is given to us at birth, and which becomes the label for our particular personality. Our identity enables others to connect with us, making it easier to di

What does SPACE mean for you? A sky full of planets and stars, the gap between two words on this page, room to move or an empty section of wardrobe? I was reminded today about the need that we all have for space, for clear air around us, room to breathe, time for reflection and this got me thinking about how essential it can be to occasionally stop to seek out space and to immerse yourself in it. For those that have read 'I am That' you will have come across the concept of space indirectly throughout the book. Space in that context being the space between thoughts, peace of mind and serenity. The book encourages you to forget the usual concepts of self, ego and your physical state, and guides you to find yourself within that space between thoughts. It is an insightful read and one I recommend to anyone with an open heart and mind. It is one of those texts that both challenges the intellect and that reminds you of the you, you really are. So next time you have time to stop

Neuroscience is an interesting subject, and for me came to the fore a few weeks ago when I was asked to have an MRI scan to check out a series of pretty 'gnarly' headaches that I have been experiencing for a while... I turned up for the scan which went well (apart from the poor lady doing it having to deal with a broken air conditioning unit half way through which stopped the machine..) and I was given a DVD to bring home which I promptly popped into my laptop to watch ... Wow! It is quite remarkable to behold what is up there within the old 'grey matter'.. A spaghetti mix of blood vessels weaving in and out of brain matter, and that is it. Nothing more, nothing less. Having watched it, I felt quite enlightened to know that (a) there is nothing wrong with my brain and (b) that we are such simple beings. I began to think very differently about myself, how I think, and what I do. I realized that worry really is simply a process our minds go through, which often simply w

How consistent are you in your approach to life? Is consistency important? It is a question that I found myself asking recently when things weren't quite going as planned. How consistent we are in our approach to life and other people helps others to understand us, to understand what we enjoy, what we live for and why we are who we are. It also helps others to see how people can help one another along. Inconsistency can cause people to have a confused opinion of us, or even to find us threatening, self centered or untrustworthy. An inconsistent approach to how we handle and manage ourselves can put doubt in people's minds about our motives, goals and direction. So to enable us to convince those around us that we are good to know, and that we can help, requires a consistent image, or does it? A lack of consistency does not necessarily mean that someone is hard to trust or believe. It may mean that in actual fact, they are highly focused on helping you with your desires or n

It's a thing that puzzles me often - 'what actually is it that makes things happen the way they do?' Energy is at the root of the answer, and around that like a pair of hands holding that ball of energy is focus, direction, will, desire and sometimes just simply, the natural course of things.. When you understand this, doors open - life becomes less busy, we have time to twiddle our thumbs and move ahead with confidence, light on our feet with a smile on our faces. Humans love weather forecasts - we listen or watch them attentively, using the knowledge that the well dressed weather forecaster gives us to decide what to wear tomorrow, what to do or where to go... Predicting the weather is a fascinating thing - because we understand the patterns that typically give rise to particular weather patterns, we are able to assess and predict what may happen. Of course, the forecasts are not always spot on, in fact sometimes they are wildly inaccurate. That said, by and large i

Serenity for me is that feeling you get when you stop thinking and doing and 'be' ... This week I returned from a month's vacation spent mostly in Spain re-connecting with myself and those closest to me. It was an awesome time and I returned to New Zealand a new person (with a nice tan too!). Some personal events transpired which had a negative influence on my state of being, 3 days after arriving home, and I was reminded of the way in which negativity can have a profound impact on our health and state of wellbeing, not to mention our happiness. One negative thought often leads to another and then doubts arise which lead to another and if we're not careful we end up spiralling in a downwards direction, feeling sorry for ourselves and passing our own negative feelings on to others. I reminded myself that how I feel is my decision. How I react to negative energy, is my decision. Whether I react at all, again, is my decision. I used to think that avoidance was th

As the saying goes, enjoy the journey on the way to your destination .. is the journey more important than the destination? And, if you do not have a destination, how does that make the journey feel? We had dinner out this week with a couple of friends and had a great laugh about life, nerf guns, guinea pigs and beards ... we also chatted about our lives and the journeys that we are on and the dreams that we have for ourselves. Faith in our ability to achieve those dreams has been a thread that has woven its' way through this blog one way or another for a while. Seeing life as a breeze, for example, is pretty hard if you are struggling with the way things are going (the journey), or having issues with the direction life is taking you (the destination). My thinking is that you cannot really split the two - one builds on the other. Clear direction and passion for achieving or arriving at a particular place in life will only bring happiness if you are enjoying the ride along the

Zoos are cool places. When was the last time you went to a zoo? This morning (as with most Sunday mornings) was Amelie time, Dad and daughter spending quality time together, so we went off to the zoo.. Wandering along the paths listening to the cries of the spider monkeys echoing throughout the park, we seemed to silently enter another world .. a world that is made up of the energy of living things, a world that does not get concerned with the time of day, the weather or what is going on outside the realm of the animals living there. Time kind of becomes irrelevant. That's peaceful. We saw the cheetahs having lunch, the gibbon sitting in her usual spot on a branch by her enclosure fence, sitting watching people come and go, the baby giraffe galloping across the 'savanna' towards her mother. We smelt the rhinos and watched the ostrich pecking the ground. It always surprises me how calm small children are when they are at the zoo - in awe of the animals around them, or

21 degrees, the sun's rays flickering through the leaves of a pine tree, a cool breeze carrying white fluffy clouds across an azure coloured sky...a fantail chirping, flicking its' tail from side to side, the faint aroma of tea tree..a small stream of water trickling down a low rocky surface. No people. Life can always be like that when we want it to be. In those times when everything just seems to close in around us, too much to do, too many people making demands on us, it is difficult to see the wood for the trees. To just stop and look around. We get more and more 'het up' and why? What does that achieve? Life is easy, life is a breeze - just make it so .. ;)

An interesting word and an even more interesting emotion, (assuming that is is an emotion? certainly feels like one when you feel it!). From the age of around 14 months, we all succomb to feelings of frustration ... and after 42 odd years, those feelings still appear from time to time. At 14 months, they tend to relate to the fact that a square block won't fit into a square hole, because your hand is too small and the block is sitting at the wrong angle. Or, you see a picture of a cat on a book you want, and the book is under a pile of other books in a box you cannot move. Or... you want a toy out of the bottom of the toybox and you cannot reach it. As time passes, those frustrations turn to things like, 'I've lost my keys......, again', or 'why does my computer take 20 minutes to start up these days', 'why hasn't that person called me back with an answer yet'... Wikipedia says 'Frustration is a common emotional response to opposition. Relate

Have a go at this .. go on, it's quite interesting and will only take five minutes or so, and follow each step sequentially without jumping to the next or the end before you have completed the step you're on.. Look around you and find something that you can pick up that is a raw / natural material, like wood or stone, a leaf of seed, a nut or maybe a fruit of some kind. Now hold it in your hand and feel its weight and mass. Close your eyes and sense how heavy or light it feels in your hand. Sense how the object in your hand feels against your skin, how it is warm or cold, soft or hard, smooth or rough. Now place your nose over it and breathe in, sense the aroma it gives off for a minute or so - think about how it makes you feel. Look closely at the object, notice how it looks, its' form its' shape, the space it occupies in your hand. See how it fits into your palm. Look at the colour of the object, the surface of it - is it matt, shiny, bright? Focus on the ob

We (or at least a lot of us) have heard of the law of attraction and the book and film called The Secret - it's interesting stuff... it got me thinking about the amount of time I (and my closest friend) spend playing on PC games and Internet games like Farmville (which recently won an award as a social gaming site) and the fact that the games offer us a means of creating a new, virtual reality for ourselves. They allow us to dream and to form a reality around those dreams - pretty cool stuff. The question I have been pondering from a negative angle, was whether or not these 'virtual realities' that we create could act as a means of blocking us from achieving our desires. For example, if we're playing Sims and creating a new home for our Sims family, based around our personal desires for a new home, does this mean that the Universe will see us as having achieved that desire - the new home has after all manifested itself, albeit in a virtual fashion.. Thinking about i

How often have you heard the words 'control freak'? Quite a lot I'm guessing. I had a meeting today at which the person I was with commented on my tendency to want to control and this got me thinking... In nature, is anything controlled? Does the weather change to suit itself - is it controlled by God or the Universe? Do flowers control their growth? Do animals control their behaviour? We are all keen on achieving peace of mind for ourselves, which in essence could be argued to mean relaxed, at peace, out of control. Feelings of control tighten us, they create seen and unseen restrictions, boundaries. A financial controller's job is to control the purse strings, mission control effectively drive the actions of the crew on the space shuttle, but nowhere in nature do I see or feel control - why is that? Someone once wrote that the best way to obtain power is to give it away, and that principle could apply equally to control - if you have ever suddenly felt 'in t

A funny day. I have my three boys here for the holidays at the moment who are all under 11, and today we decided to get the ferry from Devonport to Auckland City to have lunch with my Partner, Ali. We drove to Devonport and I duly parked the car in the car park, tried to buy a ticket (the machine wasn't working), ran to get on the boat and off we went on the 11.15am ferry towards the Sky Tower and Downtown Auckland. A couple of hours later, well fed and watered, we arrived back at the ferry terminal in Auckland and waited for 20 minutes for the ferry back over the water (it's only a 15 minute trip). The ferry arrived, but this time it was a different type of boat and much busier. We hopped on, checking with the ferry man that the ferry was the right one and going to Devonport (as I had reservations), and off we went.. As we neared the Devonport ferry terminal, Sam, my eldest pipes up .. 'hey Dad, this doesn't look familiar at all. This isn't where we left the car&