Advancing the Curve through Structural Contracting

Greetings my gentle readers to another weeks installment of the “Be Yourself, Often” blog. That wonderful point of time in the weekend that we step back and consider with appreciation that we survived the week that was. That point as well if we wish through mindful reflection to assess what we did, how we did it and what were the outcomes, and indeed were they positive or negative? Were you perhaps indeed the architect of the outcomes and if not, could you become that structural contractor of your life?

We all I believe have the opportunities to look to the large through the proper leveraging of the small. One logistically cannot expect to be handed everything on a silver platter, yet too often that seems to be more and more prevalent. This I believe is an extension of the entitlement that is becoming more prevalent in the First World economies, even as the poor in the Third World become more poor. The famous Huey Long “Share the Wealth” speech of 1935 really has not changed much. At that point, 4% of Americans owned over 80% of the wealth. That figure really has only gotten worse across the past 80 years, and THAT was in a period of depression.

This inherently creates a huge incongruence and stress on the structure that is our lives. That then begets the question as to whether or not we shore up the structure and how can we do it? That will set us well in looking ahead to the winds and flames and darts that will come our way. They come for all, we cannot avoid but we can conceptually plan in order to protect the peace and feelings of being at-ease that we all value. For indeed, is it not in the desire to BE at-ease, for the converse is truly unpalatable, and that is the dis-ease that drives disease?

Through what we do and who we are, and a careful evaluation of our needs, friends and environment we can make a determination are we prone to snipers, fires, flood , famine, tsunamis or hurricanes? The world through its open media sensationalism and proclivities towards anonymous and face-to-face overt and covert bullying creates an idea of how we must protect ourselves.

In advancing the curve and being the architect of our new, reinforced structure that is our life (and indeed the actions we make define next lives), we are then and now presented with a dichotomy. Do we create a structure that returns the evil or kills the negatives with positives? Personally, being aware and able to step back and reflect on what is and being able to appreciate that even challenges happen for a reason allow us to reframe the situation. We do not have to lash out and attack in the absence of the evidence needed to answer the question. Rather a mindful reflection of the root cause and filtered through experiences often helps. Pollyanna-ish, I know… but often effective. Also almost always guarantees that one does not become a statistic on a government chart when the boomerang that you threw comes back and whacks you in the arse. Ouch… that hurts.

In order to achieve this, one needs a solid foundation rooted in belief, faith, hope and a strong dose of spirituality. Not religion, but a Belief in the Spirit and Higher Powers that guide us in times of challenge and times of positive.  Plus a network of similar minded friends and family, who you can discuss these ideas with. Not the name game and full of venom, but an opportunity to stop and reflect and assess. Remember those days? Being Pollyanna-ish and trusting and believing, although without the aspect of patience that comes with maturity? As a child we could help, heal and truly believe. We can and may touch those moments and skills again, making them even stronger and truly step into and be yourself, often.

                        ~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure    January 2013

Rites of Passage

Greetings my gentle readers to another weeks installment of the “Be Yourself, Often” blog found at www.joelwlamoure.com. That time when we can step back on reflect on the moments that have been in the week that was and filter it through the learnings and goals for tomorrow. We do have the ability through our beliefs, which drive our thoughts and actions to make that tomorrow a better place. It is entirely a conscious decision.

In keeping with that thought process, we must consider that each day is a passage and indeed even more a rite of passage. There is so much more in the day than to simply wake up, survive and then go to bed. In a world where we have so much technology and things that are supposed to make our life easier and be more environmentally friendly, why then are we actually more stressed, have less time, making more copies and indeed…surviving?

There are certainly monumental tasks and moments in our lives that transition us along the game of life and advancing through the levels. They may include spiritual, religious or community/societal based transitions such as marriage, confirmation or a spiritual awakening. The ultimate bookends of this of course are the life and death of a person as a physical entity, but certainly not from a spiritual perspective.

If we consider that each moment and each day indeed are fraught with miracles in the moment, then in order to pass through levels and ultimately succeed (at a gaming perspective) at the next level we need items. What are those items and what shall we carry to the next level? These tools, trades and inspirations and insights will drive or success, or failure. Win or game over.

Happiness cannot be measured in stuff. Yes, it may make life easier but often comes at a non-tangible or related cost such as working. The rites of passage and successful completion of the days that are done include comfort and competence with the material that we have been tasked with at that particular level. So sad isnt it really that we aim FOR the next level, all the while forgetting the miracles in the moment that do define and make the level that we are in so intricate, indeed beautiful?

That beauty I feel is what drives happiness and is not rooted in religion, but rather being at-ease which is interfaced with spirituality to be able to see the invisible lines and shadows, and appreciate the learnings of the Fates that transcend our days. Aristotle stated that happiness is “The meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence”. That really means that the physical and the spiritual are in congruency, in perfect balance looking and balance the physical and the metaphysical.

Dr Wayne Dyer stated that “simply put, you believe that things or people make you unhappy, but this is not accurate. YOU make yourself unhappy”. And this is the crux of the matter and the rite of passage of maturity. This is the being at-ease that keeps away the dis-ease and per wit the disease that extends.

THAT comes from being at one with the moment and balancing play, peace, patience, silence, reflection, synchronicity and a willingness to learn and leverage the moments that are to advance to a better tomorrow. For really only then are we able to help others, once we have helped ourselves. It is ok to do or reflect or play.

To deny that connection with the inner child and spirit is to create conflict and prevent you from being yourself, often.

            ~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure   January 2013                      

It Just Is...

Greetings my gentle readers and listeners to another week’s installment of the “Be Yourself, Often” blog.  Welcome to December 2012!!That time in the week when can look to the days that were with love and nostalgia, fear and apprehension and realize that we made it through the whole crazy thing whole. As usual, the reflections on this blog will be provided in my Tuesday night’s radio show on WULC entitled “Prescribing Spiritual H.O.P.E.”, which is live at 9pm Eastern Time and radio archived at http://www.spreaker.com/show/tuesday_prescribing_spiritual_hope

Through the course of the week as illustrated above there have been moments that were dichotomous in nature for all of us. From the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat, it just is. Those are three very powerful words that encapsulate so very much. When I heard the expression earlier, it resonated so intensely with myself as transcending far more than the simple planes that we know and in fact cross multiple theories and axis. So much in fact, there will be a three part series on this, with Christmas falling on a Tuesday, so the 4^th and 11^th will be on the trilogy and the 18^th will be my Christmas message. There will also be a special message I am hoping on December 21^st here and on the air simultaneously, just to help validate the fact we are all still alive on that date and now lets move ahead and help ourselves help each other and provide and ensure safe travels, which the message of unity will tie into the Christmas message. It Just Is.

It Just Is demonstrates the essential ideal perfection of everything. It helps and empowers an individual (if they can embrace this simple concept) that all situations that present themselves, are exactly that. The chance to do something, feel something or be something is exactly right for the situation. The individuals and situations that are on their own vectors inherently cross our vectors all of the time. If one stops and reflects in a mindful and meditative way through a filter and prism of positivity… that is absolutely mind blowing and liberating, all in the same time. As mentioned before however, there are too many “isms” out there and sadly, especially in December where people are so fixated on other aspects that this wonderful gift of healing and love and light may be missed.

My friends, this is truly root cause analysis embedded within the exercise of mindfulness. Why are things here and why did they cross my path and why do I need these learnings and why have I been chosen and what can I give to this situation and scenario? As with most things that are truly opening to the mind and heart and Spirit, this generates more questions than answers. Embrace that.

It Just Is will allow us to have quite a bit of freedom when embraced as it allows us to believe that through the topographical map of life, there will be hills and valleys, dryness and watershed, desert and lakes. Even that simple statement allows us to embrace the fact of our uniqueness. That uniqueness is also embedded in our genetic codes and the opportunities afforded to us. That uniqueness means we all have a very special gift and the next wonderful outcome driven goal is to find and embrace it and then share that gift to the betterment of others. For once a person engages in the embrace of giving away their gifts of the moment with the altruistic desire to educate and advance others… in the long run they themselves advance. Incredible isnt it? It Just Is.

To step away, embrace the moment and beginning to feel these insights means one may have to step away from the toxicity of the “isms”, of which narcissism and consumerism  are 2 powerful detractors. Express and find the whole person that you are, which often can be done by stepping back to be the wonderment of a child and being alive and having fun in the moment. Basically, to give yourself permission finally to be yourself, often.

                                    ~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure  December 2012

The Stone Suitcase: A Time of Reflective Thanks

Greetings my gentle readers to this week’s installment  (albeit a wee bit late) of the “Be Yourself, Often” blog. That wonderful point in the week and a chance to start the week fresh and when we can sit back with the weeds in the wheat and look to the shafts reaching up the sky that we are becoming. A time to reflect on the days done and the road of days that stretch ahead and never will be exactly the same again. The time of laughter, tears, miracles in the moments and challenges and successes intertwined in the tapestry of a life.

These are days of reflective thanks. Although the US has recently completed their Thanksgiving Day and the subsequent chaos that was Black Friday and today is Cyber Monday, there is still a chance to give thanks. In fact, let us go one step backwards and forwards, all in one felled swoop and give thanks today. For indeed, isnt any day potentially Thanksgiving Day? I alluded to this back in October, but why wait?

I believe the American model is one that allows us the reflective filter between two dichotomies to ascertain the insanity of the world even clearer. Seeing some of the news clips (while recognizing the inherent bias of the media) of the DAY OF SALES and the pushing and shoving makes one ponder. Also, the Native community has a plaque in Plymouth that states Thanksgiving in the USA to be a Day of Mourning. Again, such a dichotomous outcome within a 24hr stretch and span of time. Interesting and factual, with a hint of pathology thrown in, all in one.

But although it is easy to be an armchair clinician and look at the snippets of semi-factualism, there is truth of this dichotomy everywhere, in each and every day. In fact, allow me to go one step further and identify the insanity and challenges regarding the “all about me and my deals that were made for ME” is more common place than lying back in the grass and raising our hands to the golden shafts, feeling the wonderful crisp air and looking to the hues of blue in the sky, interspersed with the white fluffiness we call clouds. And we know from past blogs indeed that a good explanation doesn’t explain everything.

So how to capture the moments. Oh, for the ability to be able to take pictures with our eyes that we can readily retrieve. But in a way, we can… those are called memories and the film that we use is lodged in our brain and there are many ways that film gets clouded and fuzzy sadly. The most common ways are not being at one with the moment. There are many clinical ways and diseases that fog the film, but if our lens is flawed and the reflective mirror doesn’t portray a crisp picture onto the film, then the picture we take with our eyes does not resonate. And the “isms” of life tend to cloud that vision…. Mainly narcissism and consumerism… a deadly combination for clear and crisp pictures when combined together. We saw the impact on Friday and in fact, see it every day.

If you want a clear and crisp picture, one needs to polish the lens and be at one with the situation to capture a clean shot that is logged away in the picture album of our mind. That produces memories that will stay long term and may be retrieved with a smile whenever one wishes. The laughter, stories, events, sights, sounds, scents and tastes are all collected on this wonderful film of the mind.

So sad that we cant collect that, isnt it? Yet we can through mindfulness, reflection and gentle exercises that allow one to be more proficient at being here in the now. Realizing that exactly what we have and possess is exactly what we are meant to be and even better that this situation is a class and chance to evolve. For really, that is our choice. To remain static, evolve or devolve.

Doing more with less and being at one with the moment and the senses, perhaps in a way that is counter to the “norm” will titillate the senses and sharpen the hues of the picture. Sort of like being a healing child again. And to be that, touch that, smell that and embrace that is to be yourself, often.

~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure    November 2012

The Stone Suitcase: Balancing the Load

Greetings my gentle readers to this week’s installment of the “Be Yourself, Often” blog and the second installment of “The Stone Suitcase”. That wonderful point in the week when we can mindfully reflect on what we are becoming. A time to reflect on the choices that present themselves.

This week, building on the theory of remembrance, we will look at the approach of how to carry the load of our stone suitcases. It may be a temptation to jettison the baggage, for after all, are we not designed to be free spirited and free of will and thought and actions? To do so would mean that we are constantly as a babe and recall nothing and have no animosities, etc.

But there are certain things that we have evolved across. When we are young, we lament that we wish we were older and somewhere along the line, often in the 30’s we aspire for the opposite.  Why is that? There are the suitcases that we carry that encase the race and culture and history that we are and were.

Eckhart Tolle calls the negative component “The Pain-Body”, which I agree with. These are suitcases that are often not needed, carried as a martyr and drug out for all to see when in reality, most of it is sheer baggage and worthy of jettison, much less paraded in public display. The saddest part about that pain body is that individuals may not even recognize they are carrying it, or even worse use these exceptionally one-sided stories for pity and perceived victimization.  These are experiences of degeneration. There are some pain bodies though that may be useful to remember in the sense where the human entity itself is at some degree of risk, to allow us preventing it from happening again.

On the converse is what I would call the “Healing-Body” and these are aspects and suitcases that we have picked up through learnings across the days and years (and in fact ages!) that allow tips and tools to help and learn and heal. This may be similar to developing and advancing neuroplasticity and in fact healing along the line that we see in a younger individual. Their skin is good and their mind absorbs all of the learnings. This is a time of generation of positives and learnings. We develop language, skills, mediation, play and social interaction. All of these latter skills are becoming sadly more archaic with all the advents of Internet addiction and social media addiction, such as I wrote of the beginning of this year in the Canadian Journal of CME.

So… what to keep and what to jettison? Along and balanced with the suitcases are friends and advisers, mentors and healers, teachers and fellow students, family and loved ones that can help you sort through the positives and negatives. These wise sages DO have some wonderful positive stone suitcases that they have acquired over the years and in the spirit of education, which is a two way format of delivering information I believe, are able to help you help you. That being that they impart their wisdom and enable the carrier of the suitcases to open their minds beyond the tangible horizons they thought was possible. That may include Eastern medicines, Reiki, spirituality, different cultures, religions, languages, thoughts and ideas.

THIS is why we lament to be older when we are young. For that chance and responsibility and the learnings that the elders carry. The elders have imparted these to us and we ideally will advance these objectives through education and social discourse through a positive, mentoring modeling.

Reflections About Peeing in Puddles

Greetings my gentle readers to another installment of the “Be Yourself, Often Blog”. A time when we can step back and reflect on the wonderful collection of memories that may have been captured in our net of dreams, or missed by our incessant driven dependency on being busy. This is a point where if we are brave enough, that we can have the fortitude to sing the praises of the moments that were or wonder how we missed the miracles that happened.

It is an interesting reflection that the mesh of the filter that allows us to see the moment is not static, but fluid depending on what we are doing, how busy we are or our degree of interest or passion attached to the subject and event at hand. Truly is we stop and think, there is so much that tends to escape us, isnt there? We may catch the larger items in front of us, such as a big win, but even that is so dependent on our perspectives?

There are many things that in the course of business that happens… appointments get missed and special moments with family that only come around once may be omitted or lost. At that point, one may be left with a feeling of loss and doing an internal reflection of the checks and balances and address the value systems they have. That almost assigns a value to seeing, doing or missing an event and the remuneration attached. Is it really worth it? Even more important, what is the feeling of the other side? Is the absenteeism noticed? Of course. Will a payment or gift cover it? Of course not. Even worse in our busy world where we are all connect is the presenteeism that occurs in dynamics of family and social interactions.

So many other things get lost or waylaid in the day and yet get lost beyond the larger events like birthdays and anniversaries?  These are the small miracles in the moment that demonstrate that we totally and truly exist in a state where there is a Heaven on Earth. And it is our natural state of being, not that of the large mesh where everything goes through the sieve and we miss these miracles of the moments.

Why might that be? Perhaps we sacrifice ourselves and our health at the altar of the great demi-God, consumerism and capitalism. However, no matter what the –ism, they cannot replace the colour of the sky or the smile of a loved one. It is a very, very heavy price to pay.

It is unknown what we collect, have or will walk away with at the end of days, besides death. When that day comes, we cannot predict or know… which offers some reflection that we should live each moment intensely and if they were our last. Does it TRULY matter what others think of how you dress, how you play or why or how you express yourself? Is it not a gift that we are able to express ourselves in a way that places our fingerprint on the moment that we and others remember? That signature style that is our unique claim to life? Who gave someone else the right to bully, invade our privacy, integrate themselves into what and who we are? All I know is that I feel sorry for those lost souls, as their life is so shallow and their puddle so dry that they must live vicariously or try to piss in someone else puddle and pollute the moment with their toxicity.

I would rather appreciate the depth and breadth of the puddle, embrace it and be a kid, loving the mindfulness of the moment. First one needs to realize that life is too busy and chaotic. But after that, one is empowered to step back, embrace and live and love. Basically, to be yourself, often.

                        ~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure    November 2012