We Welcome Your Comments About This Post

The big Arizona political news today turned quickly from the U.S. Supreme Court NOT handing down its decision on the Arizona Legislature's case challenging Arizona's Congressional boundaries to Rep.youtube.com Ann Kirkpatrick (D-CD1) announcing that she will attempt to dethrone Senator John McCain next year. Of course, the two news stories ARE related. If the Supreme Court justices - as many are guessing - overturns Arizona voters' establishment of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, then the Republican-controlled state Legislature will attempt to re-draw boundaries to whittle away advantages held by Kirkpatrick and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-CD9) in those swing districts. Much speculation has swirled about Sinema challenging McCain, and Kirkpatrick's announcement is more surprising. We welcome your comments about this post.


Wrong. This metaphoric analogy is filled with very practical everyday down-to-earth usefulness. Getting out of the boat to the side of the river and watching the stream go by is like taking a break or meditation. You are watching the stream of life pass-by but not taking part in it. This type of meditation allows you to consider your trip up to now, to determine which streams you would like to go down next (possibility of divergence). The "observation from outside" allows you to gain perspective rather than be caught up in the automatism of it all. It also allows you to take the desperately needed break from "fighting against the water", from upstream behavior.


When you get back into the stream (finish meditation) it is more probable that you will then be flowing with the stream rather than against it. Because you've taken that time out to see in which direction the stream is actually flowing. The two helpful modes are therefore swimming with the stream or taking a break at the riverside. It is not helpful swimming against the stream. And it is not helpful to try to take a short-cut to another stream (reality) by carrying your boat across land. That would be more waste of time and energy. Nevertheless its how many people behave.


They have to "reach a goal" or "create a reality" at once. In their impatience they drag the boat out of the river and try to find that stream on their own. Would they have stayed in the boat they would have come upon a crossing point naturally. Of course we can also see that arriving at a crossroads and not deciding will get us stuck in the middle land protruding in front of us. One who has trouble deciding which stream to go down is caught in the illusion that one stream is somehow "worse" than the other. They are, however, both water. They are both life energy. And they will both lead to good destinations.


The point of this analogy is not to define whats good or bad, but to tell you: If you are interested,, there´s an easier way to go about life. In contemplating the stream analogy there are thousands of things your mind can derive from it, of which I will only name a dozen or so. You can let the waters and winds lead you naturally. If you wish to change stream, only a little bit of steering is necessary. This "little bit of steering" is what I created the reality creation materials for. This "little bit of steering" is not hard work.


Its only an alignment of attention and intention with preferred streams. Thus "Psychonavigation" or "Intention Lists". Doing intention-lists on a regular basis is actually the process of steering your boat in the general direction you prefer. The "feeling good" exercises of the course are not to steer but to make sure you are still flowing with the stream rather than against it. Why do I recommend you trash your to-do-lists, goal-lists and weekly-plans and diaries? Because the "goal list" is focused on a stream not present in the here and now. Steering according to another stream would make your navigation look awkward "Goal-lists" are based upon "I have to do X and X and X, and then I can be at that river".


However, as you see in the analogy, you don't have to do anything to continue progressing down the river. You don't have to leave the river or struggle. Same with to-do lists. The prime block to progress is making all of this too complicated and assigning too much importance to certain things. Assigning too much significance to various events such as rocks protruding from the water or events at the riverside, diverts your attention and makes calm navigation along the stream difficult. Assign too much importance / relevance to something negative and you feel yourself tense up and navigate improperly.


Assign too much importance / relevance to something positive and the same thing happens. You become tense and unable to act. A beautiful mermaid pops up out of the river in the near distance. Beautiful yes, enjoyable yes. But if your assignment-of-importance is too strong you will loose your calm and attention and cause a boat wreck. Same thing for an ugly alligator swimming through the river. It is the assignment-of-importance towards that alligator that focuses you on it. So instead of steering clear of the alligator you move towards it. Thats just the opposite of what you wanted damn it!


But you cant stop thinking of that alligator over there. It is therefore wise and wizardly to "manage your importances" or the meaning you give certain things. Not significant. Not relevant to who you are. You see, you are not suppressing or ignoring it. You are simply not giving it any power over you. Yes..there´s an alligator swimming over there. But if I don't give him attention, he will not give me attention. Deep in your heart you know this to be true. You knew it even better as a child. Remember playing hide-and-seek as a child and not being found by the others once you stopped giving them attention?


But it is not very important. Its only important. If it is very important you become slave to it. Maybe we should even drop the word "important" and replace it with the even more neutral "interesting". If you want to have something try also being OK without it. This type of non-neediness will make it so much easier to have it. You also know this to be true, perhaps from adventures with the preferred sex. And intending is as easy as taking the tiny action of steering the boat to the left or to the right. Let me demonstrate this: Please raise your arm up into the air.


That was intention. Now sit there and only "wish" to raise your arm up in the air. Or "need" to raise your arm up into the air. Or have the "goal" to raise your arm up into the air. Nothing happens. Pure intention has no expectation attached to it. Has no waiting-for-manifestation attached to it. Has no doubts attached to it. If there are any doubts whatsoever about something, then that something is not an intention but only a wish. A wish has no power. Did you have any "doubts" about raising your arm? Not really. If you had any doubts that you could raise your arm you wouldn't be able to raise it.


Doubts only arise when you start wanting things that are not within reach or start focusing on the how, when, where of a "goal". Because your soul and mind are already at that destination. Its only your physical body that requires a time-span, and We Welcome Your Comments About This Post it is thus pulled in that general direction. How long will it take to get there? As long as you have already created a reality within and are happy with that reality (believe in it), it doesn't really matter how long it will take. Asking "how long will it take" is presupposing that its not already real anyway.


Its an expression of distrust towards your inner power and belief. And as it is yours to keep forever, it becomes totally irrelevant when it comes, when it happens, how it happens, from where it comes, etc. Instead, enjoy the scenery as you float along the river. The river is taking you there automatically and naturally. Enjoy the scenery, whether it has something to do with your desire or not. "Identifying with the version of yourself for who something is already true" also causes your body to notice things it wouldn't have noticed before. This is why this specific visualization exercise of the RC materials works so rapidly.


"Omens" and "signs" and "coincidences" appear, showing you which streams to choose. These "omens" are mostly "omens" of stepping stones towards the final destinations and not indicators of the final destination itself, by the way. Often there are several stations you arrive at before the intended reality becomes manifest. Its all a matter of how comfortable you are with a chosen reality. My job is to visualize, feel and embody. Life will do the rest. The river will do the rest. Navigating the stream of life is strictly speaking neither control nor total loss of control. It is soft control.


With total control you will not move anywhere on the river but only make your life miserable. With absolutely no control you will move quickly, but there is no telling where you will end up (except that it will not be too bad of a place as all rivers lead to enlightenment). The reality creators way is exercising just a little bit of control, a soft touch to the general direction of the boat. The way to get back into alignment with the stream is either to relax completely or to choose thoughts or intentions or activities or surroundings that currently feel a little bit better to you. This is the purpose of the exercise "looking for better feeling thoughts".


Mis emotion is an indicator of either some thought or some plan or some surrounding or some person or some intention not being in alignment with the stream (warning: also some so-called "positive" thoughts are in misalignment with the stream). The solution is to deliberately find the thought or action or surrounding that feels better. Example: Does it feel bad to give up a project? Alright. Either your thoughts about giving up the project or the your planned actions (giving it up) must be changed. So you´d either not give up the project (and if that feels better you've found alignment with the stream) or you´d make a list of thoughts that feel better until you find one that really does feel right.


And if "Giving up the project will open me up to new possibilities" does not give you relief, continue the list until you find a thought that does. Its really as simple as that. Do that and you´re back on the stream for awhile. With some practice, in time, you will no longer be turning your boat around every time something looking slightly troublesome comes up. Thats why people start going upstream in the first place: They see rocks coming up in the river. If you go for them right now, you will have the energy to jump over them or navigate around them. Nobody is forcing you too choose extremely fast streams.


Nobody is forcing you to put on no paddle brakes on those fast streams. You can choose more calm waters and you can choose to put in a few brakes. Following the context of this analogy you can see the danger of going at extreme speeds. Extreme speeds are best left to expert-wizards. In other words, if you are a beginner at reality creation and you are visualizing like crazy on a daily basis, your boat speeds up. Not being accustomed with the various parameters of navigation and the life stream you can crash into rock or land. Had you gone a bit slower, the crash wouldn't hurt you. You´d be back into the stream again within minutes.


Having gone much too quick, because your ego is impatient to finally "prove" his worth and "get" the money or whatever it is, the crash could injure you and the boat. Or in other words: If your state/mood is level 5, you don't get into a wild level 8 river. Instead you choose a level 6 stream. So go easy on yourself. Never give anything too much importance (in any case, define your importances yourself) and keep guiding your attention to the beautiful, the enjoyable and the simple. The stream analogy does contain everything required for a happy and effective life.


But you can also extrapolate the metaphor to find out more things, other aspects and even well kept world secrets. A metaphorical story is a tool from which you can gain answers to many different things. Thats why I set the template with this stream analogy: So that you can do some further thinking and gain further insights on your own. Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Author's Bio: Fred Dodson is a life coach, musician and author of several books on metaphysical subjects. Please Register or Login to post new comment. Why Should You Have a Personal Injury Lawyer on Your Side? Corporate Team Building Unifies, Increases Job Satisfaction, and Productivity. How Self-Confident Are You? It's Time to Shine! Just What Are High Self-Confidence and Low Self-Confidence?


Many business owners and even personnel departments are not versed in every labor law, especially when it comes to discrimination laws. These can be tricky and often the determination on what is discrimination and what is not depends on the circumstances. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) oversees workplace discrimination laws, rules and requirements and takes complaints from those who feel they have been discriminated against. So, you think you know all there is to know about discrimination at work? Here, we challenge you to take our short 12 question quiz! If you don’t score as well as you’d like, don’t worry! At the end of the quiz, we’ve provided some valuable resources for you to review and then you can retake the test!


OMG, It's October Already! Somehow I let September slip by without setting one monthly goal (OMG). Now I'm jumping right in on the first day of October so I won't forget again. In addition to a couple of guild deadlines -- one was due in September (see what I mean?) -- my goal this month is to finish assembling blocks for Grand Illusion. This was Bonnie Hunter's mystery in 2014, I think. I was churning right along, keeping up with the clues until it came to the final reveal. I disliked it so much that I just stopped then and there.


But the end result is pretty drab -- another reason not to finish. The sashing pieces might have added some life, but they made no sense (in my mind) to the overall design. So I've already upcycled the sashing pieces into another quilt. I think all the bits for the blocks are made. At any rate, I'm going to assemble what I have, then decide on a setting. I've seen several quilts on Pinterest where the maker strayed from the original instructions and did something different with the sashing. So that's my very manageable OMG for October. I encourage you to check what other q1uilters will be doing this month at Elm Street Quilts.


Here's my take on Tropical - Pineapple pattern paper and pink Flamingos from Reverse Confetti!youtube.com Flamingo's always remind me of my son. When he was a little guy he had a hard time with speech. It wasn't unusual for us to make a game of charades when I didn't understand. One time on vacation he was trying to call my attention to something he saw - (keep in mind he was probably around 4 years old) - I'm trying to figure out what hes saying.. I look down at him and he's standing on one foot! He wanted me to see the Flamingos! Life is challenging sometimes, but we make it through.


As I'm weeding and winnowing things in anticipation of our next move, I've come to realize that I have far more finished quilts than I can use. I have been thinking about people in my life, especially women, who have played important roles in my adult experience. My goal is to let them know how I feel by giving them a quilt. The first one was Sharon, a woman in our church who has served others, both professionally and personally. She has been the main coordinator of our women's monthly breakfast, many times filling all the roles of host, cook, and worship leader on a single Saturday.youtube.com I was responsible for the devotion at the September breakfast where I planned to surprise Sharon with a quilt.