May 29
About 4:30 I got up as I often do to go to the bathroom. I will often go into the study and lay down on the sofa. It supports my back and is a cozy way to get more sleep. I did this today and drifted off to sleep pretty quickly. Some time around 7am I began to drift out of sleep into the netherland zone that is that zone betwen awake and asleep.
If I am dealing with anything emotionally, it will usually show in this neatherland. What I encountered this morning was the very opposite. I had a deep sense of peace as I was in the zone. I had the sense that I had found that peace I have been searching for.
When I was in college Campus Crusade did a marketing campaign entitled, I found it. It was obviously about finding the love of Christ. I thought the whole campaign was a little hokey. This morning, though, there was nothing hokey about it. I had the sense that I had found it. I had experienced that peace that indeed passes all understanding.
It was nice.
Monday, May 31, 2010
May 28
I had a great day with a client today. I also had the craziest ride home ever. I have a Mazda MX-5 convertible. It was a beautiful day and I was meeting Patty for supper in Athens after work. I decided to make the right with the top down. The ride to Athens was great until I got to Arcade. I saw the dark cloud ahead, but thought I had time to stop and get my top up. I was wrong. As soon as I passed City Hall I saw sheets of rain ahead. There was no place to pull over. As long as I was moving I barely got wet. But the minute I stopped to get the top up I was soaked.
Great meal with Patty. It has been a while since just the two of us had supper together.
I had a great day with a client today. I also had the craziest ride home ever. I have a Mazda MX-5 convertible. It was a beautiful day and I was meeting Patty for supper in Athens after work. I decided to make the right with the top down. The ride to Athens was great until I got to Arcade. I saw the dark cloud ahead, but thought I had time to stop and get my top up. I was wrong. As soon as I passed City Hall I saw sheets of rain ahead. There was no place to pull over. As long as I was moving I barely got wet. But the minute I stopped to get the top up I was soaked.
Great meal with Patty. It has been a while since just the two of us had supper together.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
May 27, 2010
Worry, what a waste of time. How difficult it is, thought, to stop. That is my thought for the day. There was something looming in the near future for me the past two weeks. Even though everything has worked out over the past four months, how easy it was for me to worry that everything would fall apart. Logically it did not seem to be that way, but I found it virtually impossible to keep the worry at bay.
Finally, yesterday, it all played out. It was exactly as I thought it would be. There was no need to worry. The worrying was probably the tipping point that sent my back into spasms a few weeks ago.
If one is to live intentionally, there does come a time when one must recognize the worry for what it is – emotional gravity trying to pull you back to the belief systems that have driven you in the past. Sure, the thoughts will still come, but they are simply thought. You do not have to be controlled by them.
The positive lining in the past few weeks is that even when I struggled to keep the worry and anxiety at bay, I was still practicing the art of finishing them. Getting things done to move forward is now the name of the game.
Worry, what a waste of time. How difficult it is, thought, to stop. That is my thought for the day. There was something looming in the near future for me the past two weeks. Even though everything has worked out over the past four months, how easy it was for me to worry that everything would fall apart. Logically it did not seem to be that way, but I found it virtually impossible to keep the worry at bay.
Finally, yesterday, it all played out. It was exactly as I thought it would be. There was no need to worry. The worrying was probably the tipping point that sent my back into spasms a few weeks ago.
If one is to live intentionally, there does come a time when one must recognize the worry for what it is – emotional gravity trying to pull you back to the belief systems that have driven you in the past. Sure, the thoughts will still come, but they are simply thought. You do not have to be controlled by them.
The positive lining in the past few weeks is that even when I struggled to keep the worry and anxiety at bay, I was still practicing the art of finishing them. Getting things done to move forward is now the name of the game.
May 25, 2010
Rest is critical. Working long hours and doing multiple things at the same time tends to wear you down. It is also one of the places where you separate those who make the change and those who are content to slow down or stop. The greatest challenge, even when you are making the change, is staying focused.
The father/son weekend was great, but very tiring. There was no time to rest. Went immediately into completing work with a client and then on the road today to work with another client. Sometimes it is hard to see the progress. One has to keep moving with the confidence that it is working toward a new future.
Maybe Mario Andretti, the great formula one driver, was right, “If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.” Things are definitely are not seeming under control.
Rest is critical. Working long hours and doing multiple things at the same time tends to wear you down. It is also one of the places where you separate those who make the change and those who are content to slow down or stop. The greatest challenge, even when you are making the change, is staying focused.
The father/son weekend was great, but very tiring. There was no time to rest. Went immediately into completing work with a client and then on the road today to work with another client. Sometimes it is hard to see the progress. One has to keep moving with the confidence that it is working toward a new future.
Maybe Mario Andretti, the great formula one driver, was right, “If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.” Things are definitely are not seeming under control.
Monday, May 24, 2010
May 24
A couple of exciting things happened last week. I mentioned in my blog last week that a client and had a tremendous breakthrough. She wanted to really change her life but had to face some difficult experiences from her past for that change to occur. She did it. She still has other things to explore, but she is on the right path.
This weekend I watched as many of the fathers and sons in our BAM father/son weekend had major breakthroughs in their relationships. All of these dads wanted to have deeper relationships with their sons. What most of them needed was the structure and process to build that deeper relationship. That is what happens in the BAM weekend – intentional structure to build relationships.
I realize on reflection that most of us want to make change, but we have two dilemmas that get in the way. We either don’t know how to make the change or we are afraid to take the step to make it happen. To get through both of these dilemmas, one critical action must occur. We must ask for help. Help is out there. But if you don’t ask for help the future becomes almost impossible to manifest. When you ask for help, though, and then follow through with what is within your control, the future beings to materialize.
We have everything within us to become the wonderful person we were created except one thing. We need a guide to help us see the things we can’t see on our own and help us take the steps that we may be afraid to take.
I am realizing more and more that the role of the guide is one of my major gifts.
A couple of exciting things happened last week. I mentioned in my blog last week that a client and had a tremendous breakthrough. She wanted to really change her life but had to face some difficult experiences from her past for that change to occur. She did it. She still has other things to explore, but she is on the right path.
This weekend I watched as many of the fathers and sons in our BAM father/son weekend had major breakthroughs in their relationships. All of these dads wanted to have deeper relationships with their sons. What most of them needed was the structure and process to build that deeper relationship. That is what happens in the BAM weekend – intentional structure to build relationships.
I realize on reflection that most of us want to make change, but we have two dilemmas that get in the way. We either don’t know how to make the change or we are afraid to take the step to make it happen. To get through both of these dilemmas, one critical action must occur. We must ask for help. Help is out there. But if you don’t ask for help the future becomes almost impossible to manifest. When you ask for help, though, and then follow through with what is within your control, the future beings to materialize.
We have everything within us to become the wonderful person we were created except one thing. We need a guide to help us see the things we can’t see on our own and help us take the steps that we may be afraid to take.
I am realizing more and more that the role of the guide is one of my major gifts.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
May 23, 2010
I have not blogged for the past two days because Drew, Tyler and I were leading a BAM Adventures father/son retreat with Falling Creek Boys Camp in Tuxedo, North Carolina. We had our first weekend with Falling Creek last fall. Ten father and son pairs were a part of that great weekend. This weekend, though, was more challenging.
Twenty four father and son pairs gathered at Falling Creek this weekend for the BAM Adventures weekend. In addition, another sixty father and son pairs attended a regular father/son weekend at Falling Creek. It was a full camp of fathers and sons – over 150 people in all.
What an exciting weekend. The BAM Adventures guys did a great father/son adventure race on Saturday morning. In the afternoon they built sling shots and had a competition. In the evening the fathers presented their sons with a special gift symbolizing their journey to manhood and then we shared a very meaningful time around the campfire. As we do in all of our father/son weekends, there were plenty of intentional discussions between dads and sons. Watching fathers and sons talk openly is one of the most exciting parts of the weekend.
This morning was one of my favorite times at our BAM Adventures father/son events – the circle of affirmation. This is a time when the sons identify what they like about them selves, what they are good at, and what they enjoy doing. They then share this with all of the men in the group. It is a great time of affirmation and confidence building.
One of the highlights for me is doing it with Drew and Tyler. They are both such confident and dynamic men. They were like pied pipers with the sons.
After lunch we spent time debriefing the weekend with Yates Pharr, owner of Falling Creek, and Watson Mulkey, a tremendous member of the Falling Creek and now BAM Adventures team. We have a huge program coming us at the end of camp in August with another group.
The weekend reminded me of the power that is discovered when you put fathers and sons together in an intentional environment where they do things together and the have intentional pre-planned discussions. Add the incredible camp setting of Falling Creek and it doesn’t get any better than this.
In the forward to Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Peace in Every Step, the Dalai Lama wrote these words, “Although attempting to bring about world peace through internal transformation of individuals is difficult, it is the only way.” I thought about those words this weekend as I watched the relationships between fathers and sons blossom. The only way to change the world is one person at a time. The best way to change growing young men is to help them build a strong relationship with their dad. That is what BAM Adventures is all about.
I have not blogged for the past two days because Drew, Tyler and I were leading a BAM Adventures father/son retreat with Falling Creek Boys Camp in Tuxedo, North Carolina. We had our first weekend with Falling Creek last fall. Ten father and son pairs were a part of that great weekend. This weekend, though, was more challenging.
Twenty four father and son pairs gathered at Falling Creek this weekend for the BAM Adventures weekend. In addition, another sixty father and son pairs attended a regular father/son weekend at Falling Creek. It was a full camp of fathers and sons – over 150 people in all.
What an exciting weekend. The BAM Adventures guys did a great father/son adventure race on Saturday morning. In the afternoon they built sling shots and had a competition. In the evening the fathers presented their sons with a special gift symbolizing their journey to manhood and then we shared a very meaningful time around the campfire. As we do in all of our father/son weekends, there were plenty of intentional discussions between dads and sons. Watching fathers and sons talk openly is one of the most exciting parts of the weekend.
This morning was one of my favorite times at our BAM Adventures father/son events – the circle of affirmation. This is a time when the sons identify what they like about them selves, what they are good at, and what they enjoy doing. They then share this with all of the men in the group. It is a great time of affirmation and confidence building.
One of the highlights for me is doing it with Drew and Tyler. They are both such confident and dynamic men. They were like pied pipers with the sons.
After lunch we spent time debriefing the weekend with Yates Pharr, owner of Falling Creek, and Watson Mulkey, a tremendous member of the Falling Creek and now BAM Adventures team. We have a huge program coming us at the end of camp in August with another group.
The weekend reminded me of the power that is discovered when you put fathers and sons together in an intentional environment where they do things together and the have intentional pre-planned discussions. Add the incredible camp setting of Falling Creek and it doesn’t get any better than this.
In the forward to Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Peace in Every Step, the Dalai Lama wrote these words, “Although attempting to bring about world peace through internal transformation of individuals is difficult, it is the only way.” I thought about those words this weekend as I watched the relationships between fathers and sons blossom. The only way to change the world is one person at a time. The best way to change growing young men is to help them build a strong relationship with their dad. That is what BAM Adventures is all about.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
May 20, 2010
Had a phenomenal experience this afternoon. A friend and I are bartering services. I needed some assistance and she was ready to make some real changes in her life. It has been a mutually beneficial process. Today, we made a major breakthrough on her journey. The process that I experienced and have refined for exploring your subconscious is indeed a pathway for growth for those that are ready. She had tried numerous paths to address some emotional events from her past, but always came up short. Not any more.
Using the same process that I have experienced and now understand with great detail, we were able to get back to a major emotional wound in her past and she found the personal power to confront it and bring healing to it. It was quite exhilarating to be able to help someone breakthrough and find the personal power to confront the past.
I am learning more every time I help someone with this process. I am now confident that the vast majority of us need a guide to help us unravel our subconscious and find a new future. We can’t do it alone. A guide, though, is not responsible for taking the journey for us. The guide is there to light the path. We must take the journey. That is what I actually did with this friend.
She had tried meditation in the past but was too afraid to face the past alone to venture very deep. Last week she was able to get back to the experience but was so frightened by it that she came of the meditative state. Before we started today, we talked a good deal about the experience as best she could remember it. I then offered her my assistance should she need it. We visualized a key that she put in her pocket. When she got back to that place of pain again this week, if should panicked and wanted to run, she was simply to say key and I would provide the supplemental energy to face the fear. She never had to use it. She found the strength within herself to face the moment and subsequently, begin the process of creating a new future.
There is still work to do, but facing that first painful wound is the key. Once you realize you have the personal power to confront the past and emerge victorious, you are energized to explore deeper.
Afterwards we talked about the book, The Secret, which she had read. The essence of the book is that you manifest what you think about. So, if you want something different you have to think about something different. The basic idea of the book is correct. You do manifest what you think about. But it is not your conscious thoughts that you manifest, it is your unconscious thoughts. You can say, “I am worthy,” or “I am successful,” all day, but if in your inner being you don’t really believe that, the mind and body always pay attention to the inner conversation. Change that, which we began doing today, and you will indeed change your life.
The human mind is a wonderful gift. If we know how to unlock its secrets, we will be rewarded with a richer and fuller life.
Had a phenomenal experience this afternoon. A friend and I are bartering services. I needed some assistance and she was ready to make some real changes in her life. It has been a mutually beneficial process. Today, we made a major breakthrough on her journey. The process that I experienced and have refined for exploring your subconscious is indeed a pathway for growth for those that are ready. She had tried numerous paths to address some emotional events from her past, but always came up short. Not any more.
Using the same process that I have experienced and now understand with great detail, we were able to get back to a major emotional wound in her past and she found the personal power to confront it and bring healing to it. It was quite exhilarating to be able to help someone breakthrough and find the personal power to confront the past.
I am learning more every time I help someone with this process. I am now confident that the vast majority of us need a guide to help us unravel our subconscious and find a new future. We can’t do it alone. A guide, though, is not responsible for taking the journey for us. The guide is there to light the path. We must take the journey. That is what I actually did with this friend.
She had tried meditation in the past but was too afraid to face the past alone to venture very deep. Last week she was able to get back to the experience but was so frightened by it that she came of the meditative state. Before we started today, we talked a good deal about the experience as best she could remember it. I then offered her my assistance should she need it. We visualized a key that she put in her pocket. When she got back to that place of pain again this week, if should panicked and wanted to run, she was simply to say key and I would provide the supplemental energy to face the fear. She never had to use it. She found the strength within herself to face the moment and subsequently, begin the process of creating a new future.
There is still work to do, but facing that first painful wound is the key. Once you realize you have the personal power to confront the past and emerge victorious, you are energized to explore deeper.
Afterwards we talked about the book, The Secret, which she had read. The essence of the book is that you manifest what you think about. So, if you want something different you have to think about something different. The basic idea of the book is correct. You do manifest what you think about. But it is not your conscious thoughts that you manifest, it is your unconscious thoughts. You can say, “I am worthy,” or “I am successful,” all day, but if in your inner being you don’t really believe that, the mind and body always pay attention to the inner conversation. Change that, which we began doing today, and you will indeed change your life.
The human mind is a wonderful gift. If we know how to unlock its secrets, we will be rewarded with a richer and fuller life.
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