How do you Learn How Amazing You Are?

 I created a video a short time ago that addresses a very important topic we often give no focus.  It's unfortunate because if we did or knew how to focus on this topic, we'd understand so much more about life, our lives and the purpose of all of those amazing and wonderful exchanges we have as we go through each day.  Through every interaction we have here incarnate, we have an opportunity to learn something.  Not only can we learn from those individuals we interact with, we can also learn much from ourselves.  We can learn probably the most amazing things just by tuning into what we feel and I'm not talking about emotion created by thoughts, beliefs and assumptions.  I'm talking about something much more powerful deep within the core of you.

I’ll include the video below this article as it deals with this topic and actually shows you how you can attempt to grasp a concept that might seem too intangible to easily touch. I called the video Amazing because really, the concept IS Amazing as are you.  Consider a few things I’ll succinctly put forth for your consideration:

1. Feelings, thoughts and emotions while connected are all different facets of our conscious experience. Although they all seem to be one and the truth, that isn't necessarily so.
2. Emotions and their connected thoughts do not represent facts.  Often, these represent only the culmination of assumptions we make from the data we take in through the filters of our Environmental and Psychological conditioning.
3. Our beliefs are often formed through the complexities involved in the above two very key aspects of physical experience.  If we do not understand how our beliefs are formed, we could end up unfairly judging others or worse, ourselves and letting untruthful thoughts roam free wreaking havoc on us emotionally speaking.
4. All around us are messengers great!  These messengers from within and without are all trying to tell you something about you, the world and the lesson plan you are perhaps unconsciously creating.  The cool part is that you get to decide who you will continue to learn from and how you will do it or not.
5. You truly are a miracle of conscious creation.  Consider the striations in just the commonly known levels of consciousness:  Awake and Asleep or dig a little deeper via psychology and you’ll find a few more such as:  Consciousness, Latent Consciousness and then the Unconscious aspects of our being as Dr. Freud observed and wrote extensively about.  Then consider the vast expanse of the unconsciousness and its collective as written extensively about by Dr. Jung.  Your consciousness/Consciousness is a miracle.
6. Consider again all the vast possibilities that exist in this life, your life.  Consider the messages and messengers that have represented the totality of your life’s experiences.  What have you learned?  What do you want to learn?  If you are unsure, your body will tell you if you pay attention to it and learn how to read its messages.  Your environment will begin to tell you when you learn how to pay attention to it and learn how to read its messages.  Even your unconscious mind will begin to tell you when you learn how to pay attention to it and learn how to read its messages.

Have a look at the video below. It begins to deal with the first part - understanding your own internal messaging. I created it to teach you about how your body communicates very important messages to you.  It’s about 11 minutes long so review when you have the time to focus.  If you’re curious about further exploration of the conscious self, stop by my website at Http://www.ministryofconnectedconsciousness.org.  You may find some things of interest there.  I do offer a class on the Exploration of the Conscious Self and will be working on a video shortly to tell you more about it.  In the mean time, the class is ready to go, just write me if you’re interested in it or would like to learn more.

Are you ready for a shift in perspective?  Sit back, get comfy and have a look and listen.  Let me know if you tried the exercise and what you thought about it.

Blessings for higher love and learning! :)  You Are Amazing!

© 2014-2015 JL Harter (Jaie Hart)

Painful Life Lessons: Extraordinary Teachers and Precious Moments

I wonder about life as I sit here quietly tapping away on my keyboard.  Outside my wind chimes make a beautiful tinkling sound in the sunny sea breeze of a beautiful day.  The things I have seen have filled the pages of my life with so many things.  There has been much comedy, love, disappointment and tragedy.  I’d say the most important of all was the painful life lessons.  It was those and the teachers who gave them that I am most grateful for.  I may not have thought so at the time and I might have chosen to harden my heart and mind against this world seeing only villains and victims within it.  But something within me, so very deep within me said, “stop, these are not the thoughts we wish to think and these are not the perspectives we most wish to carry.”  I listened some how to that still small voice that must have been shouting above the din of my ego’s poor me feelings.

I laugh gently at myself now for those glory days of tears and anger, frustration and disappointment.  I don’t think I’d like to walk through them again and I don’t think I care to venture into the future either.  I’m finding such peace in a simple moment that I care not to venture outside of it.  Breathing into the amazing wonder of the moment at hand is such a precious gift.  You don’t realize what a precious gift it is until you are breathing it peacefully.  In those moments of ragged and fearful breath there isn’t much to appreciate.  I’ve seen many such moments and I’ve felt the clammy cold terror and panic of letting the mind get too far ahead of itself in “what if.”  There is no “what if” I have learned and to consider otherwise is only borrowing trouble.  Why do we always do that?  Rhetorical question.  These days I think  I try not to let my thoughts get too far away from me.  I can let them stretch back in a few moments only to go over what I think I have learned and realize I did get the lesson and fully. 

Lately I have given much thought to teachers and students and how much we are all that in every moment of our lives.  I smile now as I realize those teachers I decided most to continue learning from and those who with gratitude I blessed as they went on their merry and sometimes not so merry way.  There are worlds from which we can gain so much understanding if you’d get yourself outside the typical paradigm of language, thinking and stretch, stretch, stretch into the beauty of the unknown within this precious moment.  We are here, there and Elsewhere all the time I suppose.  What a treasure that thought is in a moment such as this!

The leaves have begun the process of rebirth from my favorite tree and I can hear her song, Singing River.  The wind rushing through the leaves always soothes my soul like a lullaby.  Precious seconds have escaped in this moment and still here it is, right where I’ve left it.  Paradoxical or not time is sweeping and changing, perceived only and still seemingly rearranging.  It’s a fascinating thought at least I think.  I let my gaze drift from the screen to the sky.  Soon those cerulean blue skies will turn indigo and then black and the stars will be out in abundance and I will still be in this moment.  What a curious thing this moment is.  Our lives begin and end in a moment.  Yesterday was just a moment ago.  Tomorrow may be here in just a moment.  For now, I am still and time?  Who cares.? Life is too precious, too beautiful and I love it.  I’ll be back, in a moment but don’t’ wait for me.  Go have fun exploring this dream.  Just do yourselves a favor and don’t take anything but love and compassion seriously.  Bless.

© 2015 Jaie Hart (photo/words)

NEW BOOK RELEASE: Understanding Forgiveness by J.L. Harter

There is nothing humanity struggles more with than the concept of forgiveness. Religious teachings paint one perspective; philosophy paints another as does psychology, metaphysics, spirituality and the more common every-day understanding. But, what if not one of them alone is wholly correct and as you move through this so very important life lesson, every path leaves you wanting, desperate, suffering and with no seeming way to get free? This book offers a strategy for understanding for it is only through understanding that you may begin to see that forgiveness is just a concept and that like learning 1 added to 1 is 2, you can learn this concept and set yourself free."

An excerpt:  

"...Finding forgiveness is sometimes much like taking a very long road trip with no map on a twisting, winding and very dark road.  There is no right and perfect way to navigate it and despite what others may tell you, there is no right or wrong way to do it.  Some would say there are things that are unforgivable.  I say, Not So!  There is nothing unforgivable.  The things we think most unforgivable are likely those very things we have not yet found a way to forgive within ourselves.  If we mire ourselves in a prison of an unforgiving world with an unforgiving God and an unforgiving populace, my what a dreary place we’ve trapped ourselves within..."

4 x 6 Paper back, full color on black and white, packed full of perspective changing ideas that may help you as you travel down the road of understanding forgiveness.  Exclusively available in print at http://www.Jaiehart.com.

 

Orbital Focus

-->

Wandering through the days and months I ponder all the discoveries made.  Each day in life is born of our dreams and so many wondrous intangible things.  Would that we could understand there is more to the horizon our eyes might perceive.  This life and all of humanity is perfect even in its seeming imperfection.  We focus so much outside ourselves, decry the misbehavior of others but what does that do in the end?  We have not the power to change another.

As I let my mind drift through my own experiences filtered by my useless perceptions I come to understand a thing or two.  First and foremost, this life has not much to do with how you envision or experience others living it but how you rise and live and lead by example.  We can change the world only to the extent we are willing to change ourselves.

It takes much courage, strength, integrity and honor to open yourself to the world at large.  Humanity can sometimes seem so cruel and if you focus there and only there, you’ll find no shortage of horrors and tragedies.  You can engage in this world of conspiracies and evildoers creating victims and villains in a huge wake of pain.  You can also engage in this world with great faith and knowing that you can choose to stand and walk, live and breathe in your own light, living your own dreams just as you truly intended.

I watch the leaves spring forth from the once bare naked trees.  Their slumber stirred by the changing of our orbit.  They return to yet another state of growth and showing the world their true beauty.  What if we are like that?  What if we each have our seasons of growth and bright beauty and then darkness and nakedness?  We have our moments of moving ahead and our moments of slowing down.  Asking why with any conviction at all is committing yourself to chasing the tail of an illusive dragon.  It is not really our place to question why but to know we intuitively already understand but just haven’t realized it yet.  We will, I think.

© JL Harter (photo:  NASA)

Tired of Toxic People? Time to Get Curious

-->

We see these quotes, concepts and ideas thrown about on social media related to ditching the toxic people, get them out of your life and just flat out do not engage or hang around with them.  You hear about them in the work-place, in family gatherings and even during social interactions with friends.  Believe me, in my life-time I have had my share of people I might perceive as toxic that would lead my ego to completely agree with the idea of ditching toxic people

Here’s the thing and there is a thing, in this world it takes all kinds of people to make the world work, from saints to sinners, sane to crazy and creative to mundane.  This world can seem a crazy place and anyone you hang out with or situations you engage in that create toxic energy for you is not a healthy thing to do until at least, you begin to understand what is really happening.

I can only explain this concept by asking a question.  When people do the crazy things that they do that evoke that toxic feeling reaction from within you, aren’t you at least a little curious about what within you would give those folks permission to slide in right underneath your skin and irritate or hurt you?

In a world where pop-psychology is so mainstream, we all get the basic idea of “People who attack and insult you are telling you about them and not you.”  For the most part, I really think this is true.  But there is something else going on here too.  When you react to toxic people you are giving them permission to get your goat.  If you weren’t giving them permission, it wouldn’t bother you as much as it does.  So, where is your goat tied up and how on Earth was it created?

Let’s face it, we’ve all lived on planet Earth and experienced both the joyful and unsavory aspects of it.  We’ve all taken on some form of malware in the operating system of our psyches whether we are aware of it or not.  In every interaction, it takes two to create the reaction.  There is stimulus recognized and then there is reaction.  But what if we realized we didn’t have to react to begin with?

Lets go back to curious again for a minute.  Consider carefully for just a moment the following question:  What within you would give someone permission to seemingly control your emotions?  I’m not going to dig into anyone’s psychology because that is just none of my business.  What I’d like to do is empower you with some thoughts that might shift your perspective just long enough for you to understand the true intent and purpose of an exchange. 

When someone can so easily “push your buttons,” did you ever wonder about where the buttons came from?  How come you have a button to push?  People go on all day long about this or that and nothing sticks to you that you know with certainty is untrue.  You’ll hear something insanely thrown at you and you won’t react.  But the moment someone pushes your button or you’ve let them under your skin (towards that very tender place where the button was created at some point in your history), you’ve shifted your focus externally in defense when the internal concepts, goats and buttons are really trying to get your attention – not for the guy or gal who seems to be putting you in that position but for you.  You are reacting and that reaction is deserving of some curiosity.

I don’t mean to suggest that we walk this life like zombies, never feeling, never reacting and never acting, well, normal.  I mean to suggest that with some understanding, you may be less perturbed by what you feel is unsavory behavior in others.  You may find that button within you, understand it and heal any wounding beneath it thus eliminating the possibility forever more that someone with ill intent can find it to push it.  And there are always other strategies too – get off the battlefield for starters before you engage in something you may later regret by immersing in the toxicity or the blind reacting stage of having your buttons pushed. 

When we’re emotionally triggered, we can’t think straight and we certainly cannot be curious about anything.  The better cause of valor may be to close your mouth and shut down defensive thoughts and contemplate that urge rising from your core with emotion.  Speak again only when you can respond rather than react.  Find understanding and get curious before you engage in any button pushing attempts you perceive from another.

All of these interactions and human to human verbal skirmishes are designed to get you to look within you and understand the amazing wonder that you are.  That is a bit hard to see when your light is buried under years of debris created by unchallenged beliefs about yourself, your world and the people who have been or are in your life. 

Dealing with toxic people is a challenge but it can also be an opportunity.  But opportunities can be taken advantage of only by those aware enough that they exist and also those who are curious enough to explore for proactive prevention of recurring reactions.  It’s really all up to you and how you most wish to spend your time and energy here in life.   This world is amazing and so is every single aspect of humanity, especially you.  Consider what makes you tick, focus on your own behavior and let the toxic people be as they are.  You can’t change them.  Only they have the power to do that.

I can tell you that as weird as it sounds, I’m really grateful for the toxic people that have crossed my path.  When I got so sick of reacting I began to realize I could learn from my reactions.  I’m a root cause, fix-it kind of person.  I don’t like the feeling of reacting and definitely not because of the psychology of toxic people.  Spoilers: I’ve learned to see that toxic people bring up the toxicity within me.  When I see that, I have a beautiful opportunity to detoxify my own beliefs and thinking.  Sometimes it takes at lot of reflection and courage to look within.  It takes great strength and integrity of character to honor yourself by allowing people to be who they are without your input…even toxic people.

Some food for thought. 

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy some of my books.  Please check them out if you’d like at http://www.jaiehart.com.  If you’re interested in a little help with spiritually exploring your buttons, I am in the business of consulting and would be honored to assist you.  Just visit me at http://ministryofconnectedconsciousness.org to learn more about me and what I do.

© 2015 J.L. Harter (photo and words)

Book by Jaie Hart: Changing Perspectives

We Start With Ourselves

If we are willing and we desire to make a difference in our lives, the lives of our loved ones and the world at large, we have to start small. We start with ourselves. We have to be willing and open to taking a look at ourselves and contemplating a few questions:

1. What is not working in my life today?
2. What patterns exist in my past that may provide insight into what is at the source of my pain?
3. What is the source of my pain?
4. What can I do with the pain to acknowledge it, accept it, transform it and heal it?
5. What can I watch for in my present behavior that indicates when my defenses are getting in the way of my desires and what do I do when I notice something?

An excerpt from Changing Perspectives by Jaie Hart.

Available at Http://www.jaiehart.com/

Book by Jaie Hart: So It's Over. Now What?

One of life's greatest challenges is finding and maintaining a happy and healthy relationship with another. This book is written as a guide book and resource for those going through the end of a romantic relationship. Rev. J.L. Harter provides some alternative points of view to assist those facing this very challenging moment in their lives to understand what they are going through, to consciously engage in the healing process and to use it not as a devastating blow in life but an incredibly amazing and valuable opportunity to get to know and come to understand and love yourself. This book covers the challenges of the beginning of the end and walks you through the thought processes and challenges of the early stages following the ending of a relationship to that point in which one may better understand the lessons learned, find healing and strive for a greater sense of hope, health and well-being. This work is available now at http://www.jaiehart.com/