Living the Dream or Dream to Live? (Part 2]

Greetings my gentle readers to another week's installment of the "be yourself, often" blog. As usual, this is the time when we can step back and reflect on the moments that were, the moments that are in the moments that will be if we make the conscious decision to make the right decisions in the here and now. Too often, we don't make the right decisions as they are influenced by external sources that aren't necessarily the best for us.

Last week we took a look at living the dream and this week we will take a look at dreaming to live. Too often many of us merely dream to live and don't actually get to live the dream. That is because we are so tied up in all the challenges, chaos and frivolities of the day. If we ask ourselves the question move this matter in 100 years, most of us will have to say no. However, even worse, if we ask ourselves with this matter in six months than often most of us will have to say no with the situation that is stressing us out and shortening our life.

That means that most of us are dreaming to live. We don't see ourselves as instrument is rather loudly. That is very sad my gentle readers for that means we are not embracing life is a fully can be embraced. With respect are karmic batteries, it means that we are dead in the moment and not able to recharge or offer ourselves or our resources or our gifts to ourselves or others.

Why do we dream to live? It is because that we are often sucked into the challenges and chaos of the moment. It means that within the moment there is very little us and very little me in the situation. If we stop and take a look at the events that have transpired, we see that we have influenced very little or not at all. And what a sad place that is to be. At the end of the day, do you go to sleep tired with a good tired or a bad tired? Harry Chapin once said that to go to sleep with a good tired although you may have lost each and every battle in the day, they were a year hopes your goals your dreams and your objectives and they were your battles that you fought. They were not other people's.

As such, sometimes a day that you lost may be a day that you actually won. For you’re the chance to translate some of these challenges occurred within the course of the day and realize that there was a lot of you with in the day. And each and every day is a new opportunity, a present, and a gift. We can take with these gifts than these presents what we decide to do. And truly to have all of these presents is to be present in the moment and be aware of our gifts, talents and what we mean to the moment.

Dreaming to live means that you don't know beyond what man makes, constructs and dictates that thou must do. It is a sad place to be. As we stated last week, you can truly lived a dream. And to live that dream is to love the moment. And to love the moment is to be yourself, often.

~~~Rev. Dr Joel Lamoure   February 2013

Metaphysics in Mid February

Greetings my gentle readers to another installment of the "Be Yourself, Often" blog. As usual, this is the time when we can step back and look at the moments that were in time fully reflect on how the decisions that we made in the past have influenced on these days of our lives. For indeed although we do the things that we do, we rarely think about the potential implications of the actions. Even the smallest of throwaway gestures can boomerang, collect interest and impact you or your life years to decades later.

It is unusual to do a reflective blog in the middle of a month. However, this is been a month unlike any I have had in a long time. February 13, 2013 was my father's 65th birthday. Understandably, as he passed away in July 2012 was a time of quiet reflection, tears and the blend of giving thanks coupled with the human aspects of missing a person. For to have these feelings of loss, periods of tears and grief, is to define and reflect and remind us indeed that we are human.

However, there is so much more than simply being human. There is far more than the simple blue marble rolling around in space. If we are alert, aware and pay attention to the moments we can actually pick up the signs and read the signposts that delineate our path. The past five days have very much been that way.

The middle of February 2013 brought many challenges. It brought an asteroid passing Earth's orbit closer than our television satellites. Within the same 24-hour period, a meteorite struck Russia, causing widespread damage and almost 1000 casualties. One can't help but wonder if these are signs, signals or more along the thought process similar to the movie "Armageddon". Beyond the asteroid, the meteorite there was a people in the Roman Catholic Church as the Pope, for the first time in 600 years, has resigned.

This is a time when the knowledge of history is exceedingly useful. A good knowledge of history and application of history will ensure and help that we will prevent the same errors in our future. Looking back to the concepts statement regarding the Pope's resignation, looking at some of the Quatrains of Nostradamus cannot help but to be brought to light. These are days that are reflected in the Zen statement "a good explanation does not explain everything".

One cannot help but wonder if these are days where the invisible lines and shadows are more likely to present themselves to those of spirit. Indeed, it is not just about being human but rather spiritual entity rooted in hope, faith and belief that are having a human existence. Intentionally, to those who are willing to proceed eyes wide open, reflecting and healing the energies that we have visited child, and being willing to play as such these are days filled with metaphysics. Metaphysics interspersed with science perhaps may help us advance ourselves and ultimately advance human outcomes. These are days of intuition blended with science blended with spirituality.

It is a reminder of our healing status of being a young child, our potential for everlasting life and the need to be mindful in the moment in the miracles of the day and embrace play. Speaking of play, within the past 24 hours that boomerang effect twos come back to myself. Now remember, this is 96 hours after my father's 65th birthday. You 1971, I had a couple of cars that I played with, when I was two years old. These two cars were a Tonka purple dune buggy with a white cover, and an orange Tonka Dune buggy. Although I prefer with my little hands the purple Tonka, the orange one got more play, as I got older because a good fit my Lego figures within it. Truly always idolizing my father, these Lego figurines were often police officers and in fact carried walkie-talkies. They would patrol in their orange Tonka  “flower power" 1971 orange dude buggy and undercover vehicle in town. The car, although extremely tacky and not a suitable police vehicle given its purple and yellow daisies on the front suited to young imagination very well. That young imagination could put the legal police officers in all their gear in the front, with a great metal rollbar which was exactly the right size for a  young hand to pick up and carry the car around. That metal bar also gave great leverage in order to give good push action. Man, that car was groovy and could really spin out. My cops always made their bust.

Somewhere along the way as my parents divorced, and toys became no longer important to a person that was looking already at beginning to make their mark in the world, these became lost. Photography, and other more adult benchers became more important. I haven’t seen the car in 35 years.

However, the importance of play and a reminder for my father came to me on February 16, 2013. Although it cost me $20, the orange Tonka "flower power" dune buggy came back to me. As I sought in the antique store in Woodstock they call to me. I walked around with it in the store, not intending to buy it, but just reflecting on the moments that were. Because I carried it around the store so long, one of the sales vendors asked me if she could take it to the front counter, likely she figured I was going to pilfer it. I hummed and hawed not wanting to part with the $20 but agreed.  Almost didn’t buy it because of the lineup, but did. I brought the toy home, trying to clean off the sticker on the trunk, without damaging the enamel tacky 1970’s paint job and as I shook the car, a little time traveler from 1978 fell onto my desk.

That was a standard issue black Lego police walkie-talkie.

One can't help but believe in miracles. If we are wise, astute and ready, then these will reveal themselves to you. It is a reminder of play, a reminder of metaphysics, and a reminder of a parent's love even transcending death.

That young hand and imagination have evolved to become a father, professor, scientist, diplomat  and minister. The car looks exact as I last remember from 1978 and the pictures from 1971 show. The walkie-talkie is mine.  This is a humbling and ethereal moment.

I will post this when my Internet is back up and running.  Maybe. Not surprising as I often discussed with residents and students, strong emotional energies can change electrical devices. There are much energy that abound at this point. These include resignations, meteorites and asteroids. These are days where the veil of normalcy is thin where we have the chance to embrace the spirit driven life which we truly are. This tells me these are days to be yourself, often.

~~~Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure   17 February 2013

Living the Dream or Dream to Live? (Pt1)

Greetings to another week's installment of the "be yourself, often" blog at www.joelwlamoure.com . This is a time of the week we connect you stop and step back and reflect on the moments that were in the moments that will be. This is a point in time that we will never get back again and so it is important that we look with mindfulness and reflection at the valuable increments that are sands through an hourglass.

This is the first of a two-part series. Although I have written about this before, I think given some of the discussions that have happened and transpired of late, it is important that we stop and look at what we do. Are we for sure getting our absolute all to the moments that are or are we deflecting for a future time that may or may not come? Are we stopping and being at one with the moment, or are we adversaries with the moment?

For the first week we will take a look at the living the dream question. I believe if we take a look at ourselves from a spiritual entity having a human existence than that becomes very clear. However, if we look at it from the converse, and we are merely humans than we may not feel the excitement, love and joy that transcends each and every moment.

First Peter chapter 3 verse four states, "rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. My gentle friends, we have the opportunity to be a gentle and quiet spirit, as opposed of and within the chaos that exists in the here and now.

We have the opportunity to assist us in a pool of isolation within the sea and tsunami that exists around us. This is our choice. We can truly live the dream, drink the margaritas and enjoy the surf, sea, sun and sand that a balance about us. That is truly living in the moment, living the dream.

So how do we do this in the busy life that we exist in? Does it have to be such? This is a choice that we have my friends taking a look at the free will covenant that exists within each and every one of us. We have the choice to embrace the insanity society or step back and truly be ourselves, at one with the moment.

As we find and become ourselves, we can realize that we are not alone. And our island of isolation is full of people similar like us. It is not about the commercials, magazines, celebrity worship that we have been sold. It does not have to be like this. Indeed, we can have the best life ever. It is about stepping back and looking at the healing parameters at each and every one of us has within us. So how do we unlock it?

That is about being comfortable with the moment. It is being at one, mindful with the tastes, touches, smells, sights and embrace them fully. It is about not caring what others think and about embracing our individual inner child. It does not have to be about worshiping others, but about finding and being ourselves.

And in order my gentle friends to live the dream we need to identify what is the outcome that we are looking for. What are our hopes, goals, dreams, and aspirations and how do you think that we can make them happen? Embracing the child within, not having a worry about being judged. Judge not, lest you judge thyself. And in order to realize what is important to us, we need to stop and reflect with mindful awareness of exactly what we are able to do. These gifts and transitions that we have, what we do for ourselves and for others, will truly ultimately identify and become and be yourself, often.

~~~Rev. Dr Joel Lamoure   February 2013

We Do Reap What We Sow

Greetings my gentle readers to the "be yourself, often" blog at www.joelwlamoure.com. This is a time of the week when we can sit back and quietly reflect, meditate and was deliberate mindful thought see the week that was. Last week, we took a look at karmic batteries and how to determine whether the battery was charged, under charged or dead.

As we were able to conclude with last Tuesday’s night radio show,  “Prescribing Spiritual HOPE” http://www.spreaker.com/show/tuesday_prescribing_spiritual_hope “, sadly there are too many people that are existing with a dead battery. How can it be, that they consider this to be living? Perhaps my friends it is because what they are living is what is encouraged by our societal and item driven society. There are very few opportunities that last across time, person and space that allow for an internal validation and continuous win. To use a comparison, it is not unlike a person with diabetes getting a high sugar meal and the resultant microvascular and macro vascular complaints and problems that occur long-term. Even a person without the complications of diabetes if given a high sugar meal will have a corresponding drop with fatigue, feeling down and lack of energy.

Why then is any difference from a spiritual perspective? If we tend to reap what we sow, then all we are achieving inner item driven world is small term successes that will cause an increase in dopamine, which is our pleasure reward neurological hormone. We well know from a clinical perspective, the increases in dopamine in the corresponding reductions afterwords are linked to a dependent state. Therefore, with constant reinforcement based marketing, advertising, idolizing of celebrities we reinforce this psychopathology. What is the cost? It means that not dissimilar to an addiction, which is a real medical condition rooted in brain circuitry changes, we too can become addicted in this market driven life.

That my gentle readers is what we have sown. Why then should we be surprised when we have karmic energy and karmic batteries that are dying? We go from high to low, victory to failure, never appreciating the true balance of life and always striving for the next rush. Basically, in a first world society we are nothing more than rats in a Skinner maze. Now that may seem a little blunt, but the general constructs of control of human society are exactly that.

If we want to achieve a more positive spiritual driven life, we need to take a look at what are our outcomes that we are looking to achieve. If we take a look back over 2000 years from a purely Biblical perspective, this is clearly identified in Galatians chapter 6, verses seven through eight. This piece of Scripture states "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man so with, that shall he also reap. For he that so with to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that so with to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reaps life everlasting."

In my mind, and from my clinical and ministers perspective this means that we need to go beyond that of flash. We need to engage ourselves into beyond what our eyes are able to capture. It is the mindfulness and miracles of the moment that we should embrace. These moments of mindfulness and embracing sure you are writing about a level of positive influences and sister entering our thought stream. And as we well know, our thoughts will define our actions, and our actions will define our outcomes. As such, when we step outside of ourselves we are able to take a look at the world that exists beyond the here and now. Although not quantified by science, this is an area that is addressed in the world of metaphysics.

Metaphysics it allows us the opportunity to conceptualize a spiritual driven life. That driven life goes beyond the world of the highs and the lows, the world of the celebrity idolization and certainly beyond the world of a root dopamine surge system. It is a world where we can talk to each other, dialogue with each other and engage in healthy appreciation for one another. And truly that is the definition of love, which is an intelligent concern for others.

Who could have imagined that sowing the seeds would have such a positive outcome? For it seems far easier to approach this world of spirituality as opposed of killing ourselves in the process of achieving items that won't matter at the end of our days.

This is about learning in a healthy way the concept of mindfulness with regard to color, taste, senses, sound, sight, smell and touch. In mindfulness, we are able to become a beacon of light that radiates out and inspires others. We start to see, how what we reap is what we have sown. We start to see, how we can become a positive influence simply by one person being more attuned with the metaphysical parameters that exist in every cell, and every atom, and every quark around us. It is an opportunity to be able to realize exactly what is happening is exactly what is meant to be.

Perhaps as we learn what is meant to be and appreciate that what is meant to be is exactly right for this particular moment, and we have contributed to what this moment is, then perhaps you can truly be yourself, often.

   ~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure    February 2013

Groundhog Day and Karmic Batteries

Greetings my gentle readers to another week's installment of the "be yourself, often" blog. This is the time of the week when we can sit back and reflect on the moments that were, the moments that will be, in the days that we have to look forward to.

As we progress through time, it's a matter of taking a look at what inspires us what has inspired us, and what will inspire us. Today in North America is February 2, 2012. As we well know here, this is Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day is a day when we tend to look forward to spring, or determine number of weeks [8] that winter will continue upon us. In the famous movie,  “Groundhog Day", Bill Murray lives/exists experiencing Groundhog Day over and over again until he can actually get it right. What he is striving for is positivity, energy and love.

These are the days that we are living. It is a matter of us being able to ensure, that what we do, it's ultimately the best for what is. There are no second takes my friends, we have one chance in order to ensure that what we do in this moment that is and was in this life is done correctly. There are so many doubts and questions that we reflect upon in the course of our day. Often, we are left quivering and unsure as to whether or not our decisions that we make are indeed timely, sensitive, reflective, and accurate for the situation and situations that have transpired.

My gentle friends, it is ultimately our beliefs which drive our thoughts, and our thoughts which drive our actions, and at the end of the day our actions to drive our endpoints and results. If we want to ensure that are endpoints are positive, robust and directly proportionately positive for ourselves and those around us, we will ensure that our beliefs and our thoughts are positive in nature in pure.

It would be horrible if our thoughts and our actions were primarily or mainly negative in nature and as such we have to live these moments over and over again.  But if that happened? That is truly what we see born out in karmic energy. Karmic energy and the resultant batteries are a way that our negative thoughts and negative actions will come back and bite us in the arse over and over again across this lifetime and not surprisingly across the next life spans.

In order to ensure a positive now in the healthy energy supply, and a positive next life, we must derive a life that is positive in belief, positive interactions, rooted in Scripture, and rooted in healing positive.

As we progress forward, we exist within the free will covenant, as such our choices; our beliefs and their actions are centered in the ability to make a decision, rooted often in our beliefs. Groundhog Day does not have to be a day that we merely exist within over and over in order until we get it right, but an opportunity wherein we can make decisions accurately the first time, which are rooted in all critical factors: hope, faith and belief and all filtered through our actions which optimize this current life that we have. Indeed, we only have one life, one chance, and it is a matter of making this time matter. And this is a life and a gift, a present, truly a spiritual entity manifests as a human existence.

My gentle readers and friends, we truly do have a life altering choice. This choice is to wallow in what we have if it is negative, or we can make a decision, a conscious choice, in order to the optimize the NOW. That now is about paying it forward, translating small successes and leveraging them into bigger and more positive wins. This helps in now and helps the future.

Quite intriguingly, the best way in order to achieve and leverage these biggest and wins, is to intensely focus on the smallest miracles of the moment. The smallest miracle of the moments manifests themselves robustly and we seethe healthy selfishness of being a child.  Those terms are counterintuitive in a Western culture "healthy selfishness”. It basically means, that we need to look after ourselves first and foremost before we are able to help others.  It is a matter of not considering what others think, how you dress, what you do, how you play, or how you act. It is a matter of being right for you in the moment. It is being willing to be lighthearted, open-minded and willing to play.

It truly is about being at one with the moment, appreciating the smallest miracles of the moment. The smallest miracles of the moment can manifest themselves in sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste.  At the end of the day the smallest miracle ultimately reflect themselves along the paradigm that "man is the maker of straight lines". It is about being able and willing to color outside the lines, look at the contraries and shapes of the leaf, or appreciate the smell, belt witness, or curvature of a simple flower petal. This is a miracle my friends,  considering potentially exactly how much we can optimally translate, yet we don't, and yet how much that we could absorb, through simple play.

So in order to build the mindfulness of the moment and recharge your batteries, ensuring also our karmic batteries are charged to their fullest then lightheartedness, inspiration and play must seriously be considered and implemented. Sometimes my gentle friends, this is a matter of stepping back from the demands and challenges of society and truly finding and at full charge be yourself, often.

~~Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure    February 2013