Wednesday, 21 August 2013

Creating the Reality We Want

Creating the Reality We Want

(Composed at camp - August 19th) 

We’re just lighting the campfire at Rabbit Blanket Lake Campground in Lake Superior Provincial Park after another spectacular day. 

Mark lighting the campfire


It started off at 5:00 a.m., when we rose early to head up north of Chapleau to the Game Preserve in the hopes of catching some wildlife as they began to be on the move. We had seen a bear the night before, but no sighting of wolves – either last night, or this morning - though we did catch a wonderful sunrise.

Sunrise in Chapleau Game Preserve


(The next bit may sound a bit esoteric, so please feel free to reinterpret according to your own understanding!)

After breakfast, we left for Wawa taking the highway northwards. It was at this time, I began to realize that I had perhaps not seen wolves because I had mixed my thoughts of hope with thoughts of disappointment and so I decided to tidy up my vibration.

Inside my head, I told myself that I had taken action before doing the vibrational work of getting into alignment with what I wanted. At one end of the ‘stick’ was the presence of wolves, and at the other end was the absence of wolves. I had been vibrating somewhere in the middle so I realized that I could not have rendezvoused with them.

I started to tell the story of what I wanted – as if it had already been achieved. I said to myself, the Universe has absolutely no doubt about what I want, as I’ve been wanting to see wolves in the wild for many years. Therefore, it’s already done – it’s already in my vibrational ‘escrow’ waiting for me to be a vibrational match to it. So, all I had to do was to visualize it as already done, and find thoughts on any subject that would make me feel good, knowing that this would take me right into the vortex where I would rendezvous with my heart’s desire. I decided to share this aloud with Mark.

I had barely finished the sentence, when we turned the corner, and right there, ahead of us, was a beautiful black wolf crossing the road!!!  We did not have the camera ready, and it had disappeared into the bush by the time we arrived at the spot where it had crossed. I HAD SEEN MY VERY FIRST WOLF IN THE WILD!!!!


The Wawa Goose

After a brief visit to the beautiful town of Wawa to replenish supplies,we headed south towards our next campsite at Rabbit Blanket Lake. On the way, we turned the corner on Hwy 17 and fell upon Old Woman Bay. What a fantastic view that was – and with Lake Superior stretching out towards the horizon.

Old Woman Bay
Lake Superior Provincial Park
  
After setting up camp, we took a 10 minute ride back to Old Woman Bay and spent some time jumping the waves, collecting stones, and just having fun! The water was a little cold, but we didn’t notice it after a while. 


After creating an almost perfect day, we’re looking forward to a really good sleep under the gentle sounds of the wind in the trees at our campsite.


Tomorrow, we head south towards Sault Ste. Marie, passing through some amazing vistas about which so many people have told us.

Can life get any better than this? You bet!  The best is yet to come!!


 
Alan - the 'true camper' composing this blog on camp!

Saturday, 10 August 2013

36.7 million dollars in the last 11 years...... A Butcher's Story




Quote from my business partner, Jimmy 'the Butcher' Smith:

"This is the only profession I know where you can fail 90% of the time and still become a millionaire!"



David Wood
David Wood, an international money-making expert and success trainer, gets up close and personal with Jimmy as he shares how at 84 he is still living a Kickass Life by helping others do the same. 

After being forced to retire because of an injured back, “Jimmy the Butcher” Smith had earned a grand total of $400.000 for 40 years of work. His wife suggested that he become a crosswalk attendant at a local school and accept the inevitable, that there was nothing out there for an injured 56 year old butcher.
Jimmy 'the Butcher' Smith

Jimmy stumbled across a tape that changed his life and the lives of millions of people! Today he and his two daughters have earned almost 30 million dollars, and last year he paid more in taxes than the president of the United States earned! (August, 2012). 

Over the last 11 years, he and his family have earned in excess of 36.7 million dollars. 

Listen to the full podcast:  Jimmy Smith - the Millionaire Butcher.

(For the actual interview, skip to minute 13).

(Courtesy of David Wood's website: http://www.thekickasslife.com/)


Tuesday, 6 August 2013

Putting Ourselves First - A Path Leading to Love?

While the plane taxied out of the gate at Toronto Pearson Airport the other morning, on the small screen in front of me, they were showing an ad which showed a sullen child who was pouting no matter what toy was shown to her. After several attempts to encourage the child to smile, the parent had nearly given up when the girl looked up at a passing sales cart and saw a soft toy which brought about a change in the child’s demeanour.



The father immediately bought the toy, presented it to his daughter, and was rewarded with a smile and a joyful hug. The point of the ad was obviously to sell the toy to the watching audience.

However, I felt that there was also an underlying message that this child should be placated, no matter what. No way should this child be allowed to be unhappy. After all attempts to improve her demeanour failed, the pouting only stopped when she got what she wanted. The father jumped through all the hoops he could in order to please his daughter. It was a supreme example about putting others first, no matter what the cost.

In life, we often find ourselves putting others first – and there are occasions when this serves everyone involved. In fact, many philosophies and belief systems subscribe to this ideal. The word, ‘love’, is often defined as the action of putting others before ourselves. However, if we establish a pattern of living our lives for others – we may realize that we have fallen into the trap of being ‘people pleasers’. If this continues, we may be sacrificing our own joy and may even begin to feel a little resentful.

Minutes later, while nearing the runway for take-off, they were running through the emergency procedures and something caught my attention. When it came to the part where we were told that there may be a drop in cabin pressure, it was explained that masks would drop down to supply oxygen for each passenger. If you had a young child with you, it was imperative to put the mask on yourself first and then only after you had done this, should you put the mask on your child.

I remember the very first time I saw this, it struck me as odd that the parent would serve themselves first, before securing the mask on their child. Shouldn’t it be the other way round? Upon quick reflection, I realized that, if the parent became incapacitated in any way, due to the sudden lack of oxygen, then she would be in no position to help the child. Very quickly, it became obvious to me that, by putting herself first, the child’s safety and well-being was more likely to be secured.

It may seem incongruous to say that by tending to our own happiness, we are ultimately going to be more effective in what we have to offer others. Being ‘selfish’ enough to ensure that our own inner alignment is in place may be the most loving thing we can do for others.

The founder of Christianity is portrayed as teaching people to ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God, and then all these other things shall be added unto you.’ Elsewhere, he exclaimed that, ‘The Kingdom of God is within you’.

The Buddha also taught that, ‘The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart’; and elsewhere, ‘Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.’

It would seem that these seekers of wisdom had come to know that, unless we are in a good-feeling place ourselves, we will have very little to offer anyone around us. Inner Alignment is the most important thing we need to achieve in order to be in the vicinity of unconditional love which will overflow into the hearts of others.

Once we come to understand that we have not come into this life experience to be people pleasers or to feather the nest for others, no matter how close we may be to them, we will be free to seek first the inner peace and calm tranquility that can become the stepping off place for real change and loving transformation of those around us. When others witness our inner alignment, we are then in a position to influence them to their own alignment from which their peace and joy will flow.

Maybe we should have the courage to be a little more ‘selfish’, so that the world may become a happier, more peaceful place.