A simple step

The recent earthquake in Japan and tsunami that followed were truly devastating. Another quake in Tonga today. The earth truly is on the move. Until a few weeks ago, 2011 in New Zealand was ticking over quite nicely. The economy stirring from the doldrums, the weather sunny and warm the whole summer through, and the kids had all gone back to school. People had returned to work after the annual 'month off' and everyone had started to get excited about the Rugby World Cup. Then another earthquake struck Christchurch killing many people, injuring others and causing more devastation than this small country has never seen. I doubt that anyone living in New Zealand is completely unaffected. This, just after Christchurch had picked itself up, dusted off it's shoulders and started to rebuild. My thoughts are with all those affected people and families. The City is shattered. Go well. Christchurch is an outstanding place and community and the City will flourish again. Quakes a...

Acceptance is a very powerful word, and one that often has a real influence on our direction and our future. The things that happen, the events that occur and how you react or respond to them helps to shape who you are and where you are going. Sometimes we react against things, fighting against what we believe and consider to be wrong, inappropriate or unsuitable. Typically, this reaction relates to things that have been, or that have occured. Sometimes it also relates to things and events that are on the horizon, pending or about to occur. In traditional psychology, pundits talk of 'flight or fight' as a response to things that affect or are likely to affect us in a 'bad' way - there is no obvious space here for doing nothing and simply accepting things as they are. Acceptance often brings peace of mind, no matter what the situation. Provided you are able to see fear for what it is, acceptance helps you to breathe. When you breathe, you often find that you can se...

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...

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...