“Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power”; Lao Tzu said that, and it’s so true. So often we are concerned with others will think. Will they think I’m pretty enough in this outfit?; will they like my hairstyle?; can I get them on-board with this proposal? It takes a great deal of energy and strength to get others to jump up on our band wagon. One thing is for sure, we expend a good deal of energy and strength in that process.

But when we turn the looking glass inward we see a completely different picture. Instead of expending energy and strength, it is within that we find extra stores of it. There is nothing more convincing or beautiful than your authentic self. When we are who we are meant to be then things start falling into place. And for those things that do not fall into place … well we realize that there was really no place for them at all.

Let them go. – you know why you’re reading this today.

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard

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“We have nothing to fear but fear its self” Franklin D. Roosevelt said that, and while I understand the meaning, like so many other things it’s not so easy in practice. We all have fears: fear of spiders, fear of open spaces, fear of closed spaces, and the grand daddy of fears – public speaking.

I think there is one fear that is more pervasive then the fear of public speaking. This fear immobilizes people worse then any other; the fear of failure. The thing I’ve noticed about the fear of failure however is how ironic it is. Usually when we are concerned about failure, we are in a place where we have the desire to move forward. In other words we’ve probably already experienced some form of failure, (that’s why we have the desire to move forward), but it’s failure that we’re afraid of; does that make much sense to you?

So, maybe we’ve come full circle. So maybe, just maybe, FDR –

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard

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Choice. The freedom of choice is one of the ultimate powers given us by our Creator. But how often do we deny that fact? “I have no choice!”, we protest. On a daily basis it seems we justify things to prove that we have no choice.

Now millions of people are finally learning about the law of attraction and such, and are being told every thing is your fault. If it’s happening to you, no matter what “it” is, you created it by your thoughts in some way. Even I’ve said that. That concept is true, but it must be clarified. Every thought that comes into your head does not come to be physically manifested. Our thought will get the ball rolling that is for certain, but there are a lot more components to actually manifest things into your life.

Life is not always what we would call fair. There are events that happen in this world that were not completely of our own making. There are times when we are swept into the energies of another. But we still have the freedom of choice. We have the choice of how we will respond to the events of our life. And remember, even choosing to do nothing -

is a choice.

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard

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On this Memorial Day, when we take the time to remember our fallen military heroes (and they deserve all the time in the world) I want us to also contemplate on what it means to BE a hero. If you go to a man or woman in uniform today to thank them for their service to our country, it’s my bet that many of them would be thinking, “I’m just doing my job”.

Being a hero does not only mean rushing into a burning building to save a life … it’s not only grabbing the arm of a armed criminal saving life and property … it’s not only going to strange, foreign places to defend a broken people and bring back to them justice and some kind of peace … yes, it is all those thing, but these are almost super-hero feats.

Being a hero is simply seeing what should be or must be done, and doing it. It is the woman who can walk out of her abusive relationship … it is the adolescent that can stand against peer pressure to remain drug free … it is the man needing a drink, but walks past the bar every night to be with his family. There are heroes all around us every day, and most importantly there is a hero inside of you!

“Courage does not always roar, sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I will try again tomorrow’” (Mac Anderson).

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard

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The law of attraction states in a nutshell, you are what you think. Spiritual masters have taught us this from the beginning of time. The Buddha said; “What you think, you become”, Jesus said; “Ask and it shall be given, knock and the door will be answered”. This is a powerful thing, but it only goes so far.

The other half of the law of attraction is full of a bunch of things. It’s where the “buck” truly stops. The other half is the “action” in “attrACTION”. The law of attraction may be, “you are what you think”, but the law of success is, “you are what you DO”.

Our thoughts bring much to us, but if we do not answer the door when opportunity knocks then we have no one to blame but ourselves. So put your glasses of perspective and persistence on, and be prepared to push open that door. God rarely throws gifts in our laps. God presents to us the opportunity to go out and obtain the gifts; the gifts are there – we just have to grab the golden ring.

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard

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“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet”, Jean-Jacques Rousseau said that, and it certainly rings true to me. It is because of this that so many people seem to lack patience today; they don't want to take that bitter pill. We live in a fast food disposable society where instant gratification is the norm. Technology has given us control over all the information we want, when we want it. We can call anyone, any time, we can access the internet any time, some of us can even go to work any time. You want it, you got it.

But what has that done to our society? I’m not knocking technology – I think it’s great. Were it not for technology you’d not be reading this right now. But our instant, fast, disposable society has its risks. Are you impatient? Can you stand in a line without thinking, “three’s a crowd?”. Does the DMV drive you CRAZY! Impatience is the by product of this fast lane society (and if you look at my road rage, the fast lane is no longer fast enough!).

The problem with this is that patience is a key emotion/skill for perseverance. Not everything will come to you to fulfill your feelings instant gratification. There are many things that will take perseverance. We’ve all heard the saying, “Good things come to those that wait”. This is what Rousseau is talking about, when he writes, “… but its fruit is sweet”. Patience and perseverance will bring to you all you want. Add a third “P” to the equation, and I will guarantee you success:

PASSION.

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard

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“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength” … Marcus Aurelius

It’s amazing how little has changed over the centuries. A Roman Emperor said that around 170 AD, and it echoes even today in the hearts of many. Yes, it’s true that we have limited control over outside events, but I’ve always said, while we might not be able to control what is happening to us, we can always control how we react to it.

There is strength in doing this as Caesar points out. Our integrity and sense of righteousness depends on our ability to do just that. You will find that if you “stick to your guns”, while it may be difficult at first, it does become easier and easier. If it does not become easier than a reevaluation of your values is needed.

You can come out on top. You just have to see it from the right perspective.

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard

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“To change one’s life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly.” William James said that, and it’s a pretty wise statement. I think we all can appreciate the need for change. How often do we think or say, “my life sucks”? We look at this or that, and wonder what it would look like if things were different.

Things can be different. Amazingly, beautifully different, but just thinking about it won’t necessarily make that happen. Thinking about it is only the first step. The next step is what William James is talking about: Start immediately. Actions always speak louder than words, and if actions are louder than words, you can imagine how much louder than thought they are! So start, and don’t give yourself time to think about it. Often when we think about it, we start second guessing our own wisdom. Or the more we think about it, the more our shadow, or negative self talk, will take over and scare us out of our drive.

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard

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Most of us have heard of the story of Icarus and his very talented, engineer father, Daedalus. Daedalus was exiled to Crete, and in order to escape the exile built a pair of wings, for he and his son, from wax and feathers. Before leaving the island he instructed Icarus not to fly too close to the sun or the sea. If you’re not familiar with the story, Icarus became giddy with the freedom of flight, and flying closer and closer to the sun lost his wings and fell to the sea, and his death.

There are just as many interpretations of this myth as there are in the telling of it. Some say it is about how our children need to obey their parents; others talk about how we need to follow the “middle road”, as Icarus was instructed to stay between the sun and the sea spray for his survival.

While these are valuable lessons, I see the story of Icarus as being about awareness. Both Daedalus and Icarus were successful, in the beginning, with the escape from Crete. It was only Icarus however that lost himself in the pleasure of flying who ended up in the drink. I remember (as a child especially) there were times when I was having so much fun I would fail to recognize the time, and come home late to face upset parents. Even in our adult life awareness is a key component to our success. If we can’t see the forest because of the tree in front of us, we will experience disappointment.

David Richo writes about the five “A’s” in his book, “How to Be an Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Loving”. They are: attention, acceptance, appreciation, affection and allowing. These are basic components without which none of us can live a fruitful life. Personally, I would add another “A” to that list: awareness.

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard

There are some things in this life for which we expend far too much energy. In some cases it’s normal, especially if you have any kind of ego. Since we all have ego (and I am not one of those that says we must learn to surrender our ego) we are going feel anger, resentment and disappointment.

Many of these feelings though are brought about because of our inability to see a different perspective. Of course I understand it’s pretty difficult at times to see a different perspective, but it is never impossible.

One very difficult emotion to master (especially if you are a parent), is worry. But it is worry which is right up there with anger and hate that will eat a hole into your soul. And worry is tricky because some of the time it is our love that makes us worry.

If you want to be a master of your worry than you have to have unfaltering faith in two things; you must have faith by accepting ‘the now’ as perfect, and you have to have faith in God (the Universe, Source, Great Spirit – call it what you want) and know the Supreme Being has it figured out and has provided for your happiness. When we start to have confusion on this subject, it is the confusion that takes over our life.

So, in the infamous words of Alfred E Newman start each day with the affirmation, “What me worry?!” You’ll feel much better.

Love and Bright blessings ~ Richard