Self Improvement Information

Positive affirmations can only work well if they are applied carefully. This is one area where even the top self help gurus did not make it clear to most folks.

Just think about it, do you make these highly-overlooked mistakes with positive affirmations?

• Repeating your positive affirmations many times a day. (Just like a loud & noisy gong.)
• Writing an affirmation that you have difficulty believing in. (You can say what you want but if you do not believe it in your heart, you can forget about achieving it.)
• Using only conscious affirmations. (You forgot to feed your subconscious mind with some subliminal audio or brain wave audio or binaural audio.)

Here’s how you can fix these problems.

Repeating your positive affirmations is never good enough. First of all, write positive affirmations that you can believe. Short & simple messages work best.

As you read it, read it with emotions, close your eyes & visualize right after you read it.

Most audios that feed the subconscious mind will require stereo headphones for the effects to take place sooner. Earphones have much lesser effect.

What is easier than being in a relaxed position & simply listening to audio? Listening duration is not a problem, more than 10 – 15 minutes per session is fine. Listening frequency should be as often as daily to get the optimum effect.

In summary, affirm your subconscious as well as your conscious mind, do it frequency & see what you can achieve. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Ancient Success Secrets Revealed: instantlifehacks.com” target=”_blank Sun Tzu’s Art of War

Just about everyone has heard a personal story about a new beauty representative ordering a ship load of products she couldn’t afford, even taking out personal loans and expecting a quick return on her product. Frustration set in when sells didn’t come quick enough, her husband became angry about the investment and she blamed everyone else for the products she now stores in her garage.

LADIES…. Mary Kay, Avon, Jafra and other home businesses are not GET RICH QUICK PLANS, regardless of what you’re told by the representative that is trying to recruit you into the business. Unfortunately a small hand-full of recruiters don’t always represent the company or conduct business in an ethical manner. A potential beauty representative should be counseled on minimum inventory requirements and other inventory options without making her believe success is only obtainable with a large inventory purchase.

There are many beauty representatives that are very successful rather quickly, but not everyone has the same drive and determination. Before becoming a beauty representative that requires inventory set realistic goals to determine exactly why you’re entering into the business and determine what you want from the business and how you’ll accomplish the task. Realistically think about the inventory options and determine if an initial investment before accumulating customers or orders is feasible for you, if not consider hosting a party or having someone host it for you to meet the minimum inventory requirements.

I originally became a beauty representative to socialize with other women and a large inventory was not an option for me, so a friend hosted a party which allowed me to place my first order. As a result, I wasn’t stressed over the financial investment. I didn’t worry that my products weren’t selling quick enough and some of my customers became good friends.

Every one purchases the same starter kit for their business of choice and you will only get out of the business what you put in. Customers don’t just fall in your lap, relatives aren’t always receptive of your endeavors and you are the only one that knows what you can afford in inventory. If you’re unsure about your decision to become a beauty representative attend a few meetings first, shadow your recruiter on a few parties, talk to other beauty representatives about the ups and downs of their business before deciding how much to spend on initial inventory. If you have the finances and the potential customers go for it, but if you don’t have much contact with many women and you don’t know if this business is going to work for you, have a party first and go from there. You can still be a successful beauty representative starting with minimum inventory. I believe the bottom line for everyone involved should be to build a strong team, which will in return produce income for all involved.

Exercising common sense with the financial aspect of the business along with having fun and loving what you do will prevent you from becoming a disgruntled beauty representative with a ship load of products in your garage.

Pamper yourself, have fun and follow your dream!

Article by

Christi Booth, owner of Soulful Aroma Bath & Beauty. Pampering bath products that moisturize your skin while the aromas relax your mind.
soulfularoma.com soulfularoma.com and beautysolutions.blogspot.com beautysolutions.blogspot.com

copyright 2006 Christi Booth All rights reserved

If you have, ummm, “issues” related to building wealth, abundance and scarcity, it’s likely that you have explored positive thinking, visualization, and the Law of Attraction. If you are getting what you want from applying these principles, you can stop reading now.

When a sweet idea turns sour

If you love the idea of attraction but stub your toes when it comes to getting consistent results, believe me, I understand.

Perhaps, like me, you remember a time when you first realized the power of your thoughts. Wow! There you were, confidently stepping into a future that was not determined by your past, and the whole enterprise was imbued with enthusiasm (en-theos; filled with God) and lightness. What’s not to love?

And then perhaps, attraction and positive thinking seemed to stop working. No matter how you badgered yourself, regardless of how much inspirational literature you read, you appeared stuck in an unsatisfactory current reality. And then, maybe, you tried harder.

You can’t steer when you are holding on for dear life

Trying to make the Law of Attraction work against apparent evidence to the contrary is like climbing onto a unicycle at the top of a hill and trusting momentum to keep you from falling. The more energy you put into your carefully crafted (and sincere) intentions, the harder you hit the ground when intention crashes into Reality.

When the Law of Attraction is working, the rewards far exceed your efforts. When it isn’t, no matter how much energy you put in, you stay stuck. Fortunately, there is an explanation for both outcomes, and it can restore you to right relationship with infinite possibility.

A short, painless detour through physics

It’s impossible to get more energy out of a system than it is put in. That is the law of conservation of matter and energy, and neither you nor I are in a good position to contravene it. When the Law of Attraction produces results that outstrip your efforts, the only possible explanation is another source of power.

I call that power Reality. You may call it God, Spirit, Consciousness, The Universe — the name is immaterial. What matters is recognizing that attraction works by virtue of a power other than and greater than yourself.

Good news and bad news

The good news about the Law of Attraction is that it works. The bad news is that you are the Tonto to Reality’s Lone Ranger, the Sancho Panza to Reality’s Don Quixote. And that, friends, is why your best efforts can run you ragged instead of producing the results you long for, be it building wealth or anything else.

Whenever you use The Law of Attraction to escape something undesirable or get to something you think will be better, it is doomed to failure. That is because you are objecting to Reality, the senior partner in your enterprise.

When you try to manifest change without accepting Reality, you are up against the principles of leverage and traction.

When a lever is just a stick in the mud

The Law of Attraction magnifies your intentions and actions to produce significant change just as leverage amplifies a relatively small force to produce a relatively large result.

Investors use leverage when they borrow money in the expectation that the rate of return will exceed the cost of the loan, thus making it possible to generate earnings even when they don’t have the cash for an investment.

In mechanics, leverage is produced when you push down on the long end of a stick resting on a fulcrum so that the short end moves upward with great force.

In physics and metaphysics, no fulcrum = no leverage. If you can’t repay a loan, you won’t profit from borrowing money. Push on a stick without a fulcrum, and, at best, you sink the stick in the mud.

If you rely on the Law of Attraction to produce results without grounding your vision in current reality, no amount of positive thinking or visualization will be sufficient to get what you want.

Reality is the fulcrum without which the lever of attraction is useless.

Power without traction equals spin out

If you’ve ever hit the gas when driving on a wet or icy road, you know that adding power when you don’t have traction results in loss of control. You can go fast, but without traction you have no control over where you are going.

Similarly, when you use affirmations and positive thinking to ramp up your energy without being firmly rooted in acceptance of What Is, you will spin your wheels every time.

Accepting — even loving — Reality is where the rubber meets the road. It is the key to traction.

The power of attraction starts with loving what is
Accepting yourself and reality here and now is the missing piece of the attraction puzzle, but how do you do that? What if you find yourself devoutly wishing that someone would just put you away so you won’t have to deal with yourself for a while? (Or am I the only one who feels that way sometimes?)

When the truth is that you don’t like the way things are, then that’s the place to begin your practice of acceptance. Stop. Look. Listen to yourself. Make room for the uncomfortable thoughts and beliefs that you are so eager to get rid of.

There’s a lovely story of the Tibetan saint, Milarepa. One day he was meditating in front of his cave when the demons of anger, greed, and fear arose before him. They were truly horrible being, and the sounds they made were gut wrenching.

Rather than push them away, Milarepa invited the demons in for tea. One by one they entered his cave, and in the light of his clear regard, they dissolved.

Finally, only one demon remained, the most terrifying of them all. It roared and howled, and far from dissolving, it grew. At last, Milarepa stood and bowed, baring his neck and thrusting his head between the demon’s fangs. As he breathed in the sulfurous stench of the creature’s breath, Milarepa whispered, “Teach me your pain.”

When your own demons howl in protest at what is, when doubts assail you and you feel like divorcing your sweet self, it’s time for tea and radical surrender.

Are you still with me? I hope so, because here’s the magic formula that restores balance to the Law of Attraction. Acknowledge, accept, and question (not argue with) your stressful thoughts. Sit in the answers that arise from within.

How do you do that? The best way I know is The Work® of Byron Katie. The Work is a direct route to acceptance, and from acceptance, creative ambition can’t help but flower.

(But wait! Please read on and then tell me what you think about all of this. Send your thoughts and reflections to me at letters@authenticpromotion.com.)

Molly Gordon, MCC, is a leading figure in business and personal growth coaching, writer, workshop leader, and a frequent presenter at live and virtual events worldwide. Visit her website to reinvent the relationship between

About 14 million Americans abuse alcohol on a regular basis. It is commonly believed that these people have an illness, referred to as alcohol dependence. Alcohol dependence is curable. If one has the will, the cure often lies with alcohol treatment centers scattered all over the nation.

Often, an individual may not be able to overcome alcohol abuse by himself and may suffer withdrawal symptoms as he attempts to do so by simply cutting back on his intake.

Alcohol treatment centers use a plethora of approaches to help suffers recognize and eventually overcome their addiction.

The most common types of centers are residential, outpatient, inpatient and short-term treatment centers. In residential alcohol treatment centers, a patient stays in a conducive environment, with constant help and supervision from the staff.

These residential programmes often have variable length of stays, ranging from one month to several months, extending up to even a year, the average stay period being six months. This way, they offer treatments to suit patients with varied needs.

Some of these treatment centers even provide patients with sober living homes, so they can overcome their addiction in a structured, supportive environment. These programmes entail, therapy, medication, counseling, along with through- the-day- supervision.

Some such residential treatment programmes are offered by, Alice’s Wonderland Residential treatment Center for women (in Arizona), New Found Life Residential treatment Center (in Long Beak, CA), Spencer Recovery Center (CA), Stepping Ahead Recovery Residences (in Florida) and Choices Residential Treatment (in Texas).

While these are just a few names, you can find a residential treatment center in almost every city of America. The search for such treatment centers is made easier by National Drug and Alcohol Treatment Referral Routing Service that provides a toll free number- 1-800-662-HELP (4357). This could route you to the treatment centers in and around your area.

e-AlcoholTreatmentCenters.com Alcohol Treatment Centers provides detailed information on Alcohol Treatment Centers, Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers, Inpatient Alcohol Treatment Centers, History Of Alcohol Treatment Centers and more. Alcohol Treatment Centers is affiliated with e-AlcoholTreatment.com Alcohol Treatment Centers.

Sick of what you are doing? Ready to leave your old world but not sure what your new world is? In that painful in-between place? Ahhhhhh transitions. The tricky challenge of moving from one world or way of being into another. When life kicks us out of our comfort zone so we can become our next self.

I have been going through a big transition myself these last couple of years and as it picks up speed and completes (at least on one level) it seems at every turn I am encountering others who are going through the same, sometimes really challenging process. So a little article on transitions and that awkward uncertainty stage called ‘the neutral zone’ seemed in order (to both reassure myself and others that transitions really are perfectly normal and a necessary component of a well lived life).

Stages of Transition:There is a terrific author named Bill Bridges, who has done a lot of research and writing on the topic of transition. I particularly like his book called The Way of Transition. In it (and in his other books) he explains the typical stages of transition. That we tend to do through three big ‘Ds’: disenchantment, disidentification and disorientation (the neutral zone) before we pop out the other side into a different way of being and stabilize again.

Disenchantment Phase: Disenchantment is the phase that I see a lot of folks in lately. They come for coaching or my specialized graphics training because they are looking for something different – the same ol’ same ol’ just doesn’t cut it and they look for something that will add spark, spice or excitement to their life. Get them out of the ‘ho hums’ they have been feeling for a while. Disenchantment is the same as the first stage in my SHIFT-IT process: Satisfaction Interrupted.

Might be an entrepreneur who wants to change the nature or pace of their business. A skilled professional who is good at but bored by their status quo. A corporate employee who is thinking about jumping ship into a free agent lifestyle. Whatever the circumstances, they are disenchanted with the phase they are now in (which once suited them fine) and are looking for something different.

Dis-identification Phase:After or during the disenchantment phase you enter into disidentification. In this phase a person either voluntarily dis-identifies themselves from their old life, or something happens to them that causes a separation. Their old identity starts to break up. For myself, this happened when I was no longer satisfied with being a Graphic Recorder and started the convoluted process of becoming a Graphic Facilitator and then a Graphic Coach. The proverbial s#it hit the fan as my geographical location radically shifted and a core relationship also broke up – paving the way for greater shifts. I had to drop identification with one identity in order for a new one to emerge. For me, this identity drop and shift has taken about six years and has gone through multiple levels.

This is the same for many of my clients who are in career or business transitions. They have done something for quite a long time, and might be very good at it and get accolades, but it no longer ‘does it’ for them personally anymore. Others might identity them that way still but they themselves no longer do. They often also have the challenge of having their livelihoods and incomes wrapped around this old identity – so it is tricky to find a better feeling replacement right away. So they keep the ‘day job’ so to speak going, long after they have any vested identity in it. Kind of get stuck, especially when feelings of doubt and uncertainty prevail.

Wandering in the Neutral Zone: What happens next is a disorientation phase, where one can feel really lost and confused and alone. Where you have let go of the old on an emotional level (maybe not physical) but the new hasn’t come into focus yet. A limbo land. Like letting go of one trapeze and hoping the other one will emerge in time for you to grab it.

Bridges has coined the phrase ‘the neutral zone’ to eloquently describe this experience. Like wandering in the desert or being on your own personal pilgrimage. It is often in fact a kind of spiritual experience to get through your neutral zone and emerge out the other side. Difficult to hang in there when you don’t really know what you are doing or where you are going. Or how things will somehow stabilize into a new reality.

Natural Process Like the Seasons: It is fitting to be writing about transitions as we go into winter. When you are in it, the neutral zone can seem like it goes on forever with no end in sight. However that is not the case. It is ‘not terminal’ as Bridges reassures. It is just the prelude to something new. A time of endings and beginnings – just like winter is and then spring follows. All seems to stop for a while but it does pop back up again just when all seems dead or despairing. It really does!

The Bigger Picture:To get a sense of these cycles it is often very helpful to map out your life journey to date. So you can SEE your own cycle of transition and change and view how things really do morph and find their own conclusions, like a stream finding its way through the landscape. Your story does go on. It always has. It always will. Creating your Life Map will help you appreciate that. To develop some faith that this too shall pass and certainty and confidence will return again and you will get moving and going again.

Other Things That Can Help:It also helps to just appreciate and accept the process you are in - to give into it and trust it. As opposed to fighting or resisting it. And to just do whatever little steps are in front of you that you do have some interest or energy for. One little, better-feeling step at a time. Doing your best to notice and identify what you do like and do feel good about and move towards that as much as you can. Like will attract like.

You will eventually “SHIFT-IT” and move into a new identity (which you will eventually transition out of too – cause that is just the way life goes, change never really ends!). As someone is quoted as saying ‘life is just one darn thing after another’ and that actually isn’t such a bad thing when you really consider the alternatives. It is all in how you look at it.

All the best with navigating your transitions and in making it through the ‘icky’ (that is a technical term - smile) neutral zone – stability really is somewhere just around the corner. Hang in there!

© 2006 Christina L. Merkley

The SHIFT-IT Graphic Coach

Christina Merkley, “The SHIFT-IT Coach” and creator of the SHIFT-IT Graphic Coaching Process® is a Visioning and Planning Expert specializing in Graphic Facilitation and Law of Attraction techniques. Based in charming Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, she works deeply with individuals, couples and groups in defining and getting what they really want in work and life. For more information visit: shift-it-coach.com shift-it-coach.com and makemark.com makemark.com

Wealth creation works according to a law first found in the book of Genesis. “He said” and the result was Light. In this practice is contained the Amazing Power of Spoken Focus. You have the authority to use it. Choose. Use - and you will be news. You will be the next wealth creation success story.

Before you can use the Amazing Power of Spoken Focus you need to be absolutely clear on the steps you are going to take to put your wealth creation program in place.

Clear and committed thinking is the key to ongoing success. If your wealth building program centers on the development of a real estate empire then visualize your first property deal. Actually picture your first house.Do a house inspection in your imagination and note details about the flooring, the appliances in the kitchen. Even the view from the front of the house.

You will now be able to engage the Amazing Power of Spoken Focus as you describe to others the first goal in your wealth creation program.

In my city there was once a young missionary who came - with nothing but a vision and Spoken Focus - and declared over a run down waterside hotel that one day he would build a world class hotel on that site. Today on that site stands a marvelous addition to the Marriott Hotel chain.

It all started with spoken focus.

You can start using this powerful tool today.

Copyright 2006 Kenneth Little

Kenneth Little is a writer, teacher, public speaker and the publisher of a re-released classic - in a revealing ebook- that will show you how to get the best of health and wealth out of all your future years. Find more on this at:
Young-at-Sixty.com Young-at-Sixty.com

True success will be yours no matter what your age. Amazing “How I Became Young at Sixty” brings renewed strength to your body, hope to your mind and increased prosperity to your lifestyle.
You Can Get your Free ebook “How I Became Young at Sixty” by going to:
Young-at-Sixty.com/get-your-f-r-e-e-ebook.htm Young-at-Sixty.com/get-your-f-r-e-e-ebook.htm

Seeing a larger world
The Great Physician seeks not only to heal lameness and leprosy, but also the whole person. Most significant is His operation on the inner eyes, enabling them to observe not only the world of sensory perception, but also the more essential though invisible world of the spirit.
Jesus speaks of this in the Sermon on the Mount:The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, you whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! —Matthew 6:22-23).

Eliminate the “evil eye”
Our Lord said this in a context of the use and misuse of money, drawing on the Jewish terminology of greed as ‘the evil eye.’ His description of the effect of the eye on the rest of the body certainly has a financial application. How you spend your money is determined by your perceptions—what you see is important and what is trivial.

But there is a broader application as well, and in fact it embraces all of life. You could use people’s financial transactions as one indicator of their basic approach to life, as their outlook or worldview.

Spiritually myopic
It’s our spiritual insight or blindness that directs how we live, what we do, how we treat other people. If your “eyes” are good, your whole being will be flooded with light. If, however, you are spiritually myopic, too short-sighted to see beyond the here and now, then you are engulfed in a darkness that is both profound and terrifying.

Paul puts it this way:The natural man does not perceive the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things. —1 Corinthians 2:14-15a

Only half a universe
In other words, those not enlightened by the gospel to see the world as God sees it live in only half a universe, regarding only the things of the sensory world—what can be measured with the telescope and the transit and the microscope—as being real. All else beyond the empirical is at best an artificial, human construct.

It’s as if such a person is a fish in the ocean with no conception of life above the water, or a lizard living beneath the rain forest canopy. How different the fish would see the world if it could jump above the surface if only for a moment! How different the lizard would view the jungle if only it could climb the tallest mahogany tree and poke its head past the highest leaves!

“The mind of Christ”
Paul says Christians have been granted that perception, not as an achievement of human endeavor, but as a gift from a gracious God. “Who can know the mind of God?” he asks, confidently expecting the answer, “No one.” Then he adds, “But we have the mind of Christ.” And that makes all of the difference.

* * *

Copyright ©2006 Steve Singleton

Steve Singleton has written and edited several books and numerous articles. He has been an editor, reporter, and public relations consultant. He has taught college-level Greek, Bible, and religious studies courses and has taught seminars in 11 states and the Caribbean.

Go to his

I am sure it is your desire to achieve something worthy of celebrating this year. As it is common all over the world, we all enter the New Year with so much expectations and enthusiasm. We dream of all we are going to achieve by the end of the year and so many other good things that will happen to us.

It is pitiable to see how many people will achieve anything at the end of the year. There will be so many people that will abandon their dreams, some few months/weeks into the year just because of other people’s opinions. There are so many negative people out there and they are always ready to pick holes in any dream you share with them.

Dear friend, I want to let you know that no matter what you want to achieve, people will always talk. Whether your dream is BIG or small, there will be people around you that will want to discourage you from pursuing your dream. It is a fact of life that there will always be critics.

The reason people will criticize you, is that they can’t see where you are going and no matter how hard you try to impress it on them, they will NEVER understand. If you are sharing your dream with people that do no understand what it is to be dreamers, be prepared for discouragement. Since you know they don’t understand, what are you going to do?

I find it so difficult to understand why so many people give up on their dreams all because of the opinion(s) of an uninformed person. It is really baffling. I am not sure a man with two eyes will ever ask for direction from a blind man, but unfortunately that is what is happening in our time. If a blind man tells you, you are going the wrong direction, will you agree with him when you know you are on the right track?

Instead of the opinions of others weighing you down, it should serve as a tonic for you to continue working on your dreams. If it is your desire to succeed this year, you must NEVER allow criticism to derail you, you need to be focused on just one thing and that is achieving your dreams.

One fact I discovered years ago is that people will ALWAYS talk! No matter what you do there will always be something to say; if you achieve your dream, people will talk and if you don’t, they will still talk. Why don’t you then get focused on achieving your dream so that they can have something positive to say about you at then end of the day?

I tell a lot of people I meet that I won’t have been able to get to the point of encouraging others to follow their dreams if I had listened to all the distracting voices that surrounded me when I started years back. There were so many people that told me it was useless starting with nothing but a dream. Most of my family members disagreed with me on my decision to set out on my own at a rather young age against the decision to get a comfortable job. I had the choice of listening to them and abandoning my dreams, but I knew I will forever regret that option. Now they all know better.

It is your choice to determine where you will be at the end of the year and you must make a decision to be where you have set out to be. You will not have anybody to blame but yourself if you allow people to take you away from the right path you have set for yourself.

This is to your success as you remain focused this year and beyond.

Adebola Oni

Adebola Oni is the Author of “The Lessons Of Life”. So many lives have been touched by his newsletter, Life Lessons Digest. You can have a copy delivered to you every week by visiting his website:

This is part 4 of the overlight series. If you read parts 1, 2 and 3 and are still with me then this information may have been meant for you. Part 4 is where we will be getting very “woo-woo” so if you can, stay with it and you will see how it all fits together.

The entire human lifetime process is broken down into seven separate stages.Each stage has a purpose in the overall evolution of the soul. All seven stages have a specific purpose to enable the mastering of the 12 primary life lessons.

Stage One..The Planning Stage.. prior to birth.
This stage occurs prior to birth when we actually plan the life we are about to experience. It is during this stage that we ask certain people to play various roles to help us with the specific lesson we have chosen to work on in this lifetime.This stage is rarely remembered. The reason is if we did not have on a “veil of for forgetfulness” in place, the game of life that we have come here to play would have very little meaning.

Stage Two..The First Transition..conception through the first year.
The most difficult transition we will make is the journey we take through the birth canal. The process of birth is when the soul transitions into physical form by intentionally lowering it’s vibration. This experience is the most dramatic vibrational shift a soul will experience in physical form.

One of the first things that happens is to bond energetically with our parents or guardians, then with other family members and any other important people in our environment. As soon as these connections are made, the search for higher meaning begins. This stage and the next three stages of life are spent searching for a definition of God.

The first definition is to think that the parents or the caretaker is God. This is when the baby first looks to the omnipresent being hovering over them taking care of their every need as God. This is also where we get the idea that God is in the sky above us.

It is at this time that we begin to look outside ourselves for answers.

We are also looking to connect with an “energy role model”. This is someone with the same wiring. It could be mother, father, aunt or the gentleman on the bus. If you think to your childhood memories there will be one person that will be remembered as very important to you and is often not the parent. The connection is made through eye contact and lets you understand that you are safe and everything will be okay.

Stage Three..Age Two through early Teens
As the soul gets comfortable in the human body it begins exercising power. This is also known as the “terrible two’s”. Now the scream that used to be a cry often becomes an expression of power.

This is the time we begin our relationships. It is through these relationships that we begin to experience our power.This stage is here we receive energy stamps.Energy stamps are events like emotional, physical and sexual abuse. These are directly related to our personal power. It is also the set up for taking our personal power in the years ahead.

These years are spent learning the art of creation in human form. The expression of personal power is very important in this stage. If one fails to express ones power, it is then possible to turn the creative energy inward. If our creations are rejected or forcefully overridden we usually learn that it is dangerous for us to express our power.

This stage is the set up for the tone of your lifetime and it doesn’t have to be abuse it can be positive. The difference is it is harder to master your lesson with a positive experience. A negative experience is much more effective for learning.

Stage Four..Responsibility and First Maturity..Late Teens through mid Thirties:
Here we, as souls in physical form, begin to take our power by attempting to make decisions that direct our lives. We often rebel in this stage simple to exercise our power.

Nothing is sacred and all things are examined with a fresh perspective. Strong beliefs from parents and teachers are examined and possibly rejected in the new power of the first maturity.

We also learn that with power comes responsibility. We learn that personal responsibility is the balance or trade off to personal power.

This is when the primary life lesson will begin if it hasn’t begun already. A catalyst will be introduced into your experience such as a spouse or close associate that will trigger the emotions needed to will start you on your way to creating your “story” and setting up your life lesson circumstances.

Stage Five… Maturity… Forties through Seventies
This stage is where we discover what is really important. We become enlightened seekers in the area of our passion.

We have survived the times of raising children. This is a stage where we learn to allow and draw to us the things that bring us joy. Life begins at 50 is a phrase that many repeat during these times.

This can also be a time when the life lesson may be reactivated bringing up old stuff that we had thought we had dealt with. We re-define our relationships with everything and everyone around us. This can appear as “mid-life crisis” but it is a re-evaluation of everything in one’s life. Old relationships and possibly marriages end as a result of this process of priority examination.

It is also the time when spirituality develops if it hasn’t already. We start to look at the big questions of what life is about.

Stage Six..Simplification..Becoming Childlike
This is a very important stage of life. It is where we prepare for the final transition. Many of the illusions of life have been removed and we now choose simplicity. This stage may be short or it may go on for years.

Matthew 18:3
And he said: ” I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Adopting a simple childlike attitude enables the final stage to complete the process. We see older people becoming more dependent. We watch our parents become children again. This is not a negative event but one to be celebrated not dreaded. It is a natural occurrence and the end of a lifetime. People who fail to become like this can experience mental or physical effects that can push them in this direction i.e. Alzheimer’s and other like conditions help the soul to accomplish this.

There are people that fight this transition and will live an extended period of physical or mental pain that affects all the people around them. The loved ones watching will often be wishing for the end to come for the good of all.

The second transition, death, is much easier to experience. We only have to deal with the fear of the unknown. There is an important part of this transition and it is a contract made with someone close to the heart. That person gives permission to leave with the final contract being acceptance of this permission.

Stage Seven..Acclimation..Incorporating Life Experiences into the Core:
This is the stage of life where a soul reviews all choices, experiences, actions and results. This is called life review, judgment day, purgatory and many other labels.

We evaluate whether we have mastered the primary life lesson that we came in to achieve. All experiences are remembered as a joyous human experience. Even the pain is recalled as a joyous event.

As we revisit every experience we will decide which ones to incorporate into our core personality and which ones to reject.

Well, if you are still reading this then hopefully you gained some insight into a perspective of life that is at the heart of the Overlight process. Even one small part that may answer some questions for you about what this human experience is all about.

There is really only two questions that need to be asked in the seventh stage of life and those are;
Did you dance in your passion?
Did you play in your joy?

Seth Garrison is a certified Overlight Facilitator and creator of the energy healing system called “Back to Perfection”. Overlight is a spiritual psychology that is designed to identify the root source of their dis-ease, be it mental or physical, and create a space for them to feel comfortable enough to heal themselves. More topics from Seth can be found at thesourceishere.com thesourceishere.com

A multi-vehicle trauma! This is what it is all about, I thought, as I followed my senior resident to the stairs. While my age placed my training against a St. Elsewhere’s backdrop, my excitement was more consistent with the modern, high-energy ER soundtrack. The emergency room itself inspired excitement, and as a third year medical student I had not yet developed the healthy fear that affected more senior, and more answerable, members of our surgical team. As we approached the cubicle I noted that the patient was small, maybe two years old. Red froth bubbled from his mouth as the emergency room staff frantically removed his cervical collar. I heard the word ‘tracheotomy’, and someone said “hold him down!” as his arms reached into the air. I grabbed his hand and held tight, grateful that I had found a mission that I could handle.

To my surprise, the hand gripped back. And suddenly… time stopped. Small fingers wrapped around my finger, and at once I was sitting with a small boy, stillness around us. I looked beyond the red froth, to see his clear, blue eyes gazing forward. No longer aware of the work to be done, I began to understand a tragic story. Through pieces of conversation I realized that the boy’s mother and father lay dead on gurneys in cubicles behind me, victims of a drunken driver. In a flash I could see all of what our experience on earth offered: life and death, hope and despair, beauty and horror.

After 15 years, I still feel heaviness in my heart as I remember that night. I have not attempted to describe the scene before, but I have sometimes felt the moment’s essence, as a secret part of what has since become ‘me’.

I have many secrets. I remember the 5-year-old girl who I met in the oncology clinic, with newly diagnosed leukemia. I silently winced in pain at the smile on her small face, an innocent unaware of the needle-sticks ahead of her. She sat with her mother, whose expression betrayed the knowledge that her daughter would be forced from the world where she belonged; a child’s world of security and happiness. I remember the seven-year-old child who died of sepsis in our recovery room after hours of attempted resuscitation, and I remember the horror that filled the room as we accepted the futility of our efforts. And I wonder, how have these secret images affected me? Am I a better doctor, or parent, or friend, or do I now carry a seriousness that has driven some of my personality inside, and beyond reach? Will I be a better psychiatrist? Am I more tuned in to pain, or has my exposure given me a resigned, grim acceptance of suffering?

For much of my life, my approach to learning was that all learning was good learning. My goal was to face life’s experiences as a sponge, seeing as much as I could see, and experiencing as much of life as possible. My assumption was that humans had the capacity to keep the wheat and discard the chaff; to assimilate the positive and to disregard the negative aspects of experience. The end result would be a ‘complete’ personality, free of bias, unfettered by misconception, and nourished by the ultimate sustenance of personality, information.

At some point my early opinions about learning became tempered with caution. I began to see that in regards to learning, experience, and personality, at least in my own case, I am what I eat. As much as I wanted to believe that I was capable of learning only the desirable aspects of experience, I saw that my personality was affected in ways that I hadn’t predicted. I remember briefly facing these questions as a college student, when I wondered, in 1970’s fashion, if there was in fact any evidence that people were ‘smarter’ after formal education. I thought more about the topic during a period of my life when I actively meditated, as I became aware of the constant parade of thoughts that drifted through my consciousness, despite my best efforts to limit them. This view of personality as an unorganized collection of experience is more Eastern, more consistent with what I have read of the developing ego, and more consistent with my experience as a parent of teenagers. Some things, once learned, cannot be unlearned. Some bad experiences are unconsciously assimilated and eventually inhibit function, much like adware on a Windows 98 computer. Memories accumulate like boxes of artifacts in a darkened basement. In my own case, half-opened boxes litter the floor, and some emit frightening noises.

As I work toward becoming a psychiatrist, I would like to develop an understanding of the biases that shape my attitudes; biases that have the potential to interfere with neutral observation and reflection. It is easy to identify the obvious examples of personal experience that interfere with the neutrality that I desire. For example, I can easily recognize the barriers that stand in the way of my feeling compassion for the playground bully. And the death of one of my best college friends during the attacks of September 11 undoubtedly affects my opinions of America’s role in the world. But while in psychiatry we learn to identify personal and historical events that have shaped our attitudes, I wonder if work and training experiences are incorporated in potentially prejudicial ways as well, perhaps beyond question because of their endorsement by common medical experience. I would like to identify the ways that my experiences in medicine and psychiatry change my view of the world, in order to have foresight into bias that will develop in the future. Of course, unique character traits result from experience in all professions; as I sit in the auditorium prior to my daughter’s band concert, the principal, oblivious to the ages of the assembled parents, reminds us to remain quiet and respectful during the concert. But with admitted narcissism, I see the experiences faced by physicians as particularly memorable.

The experiences faced in psychiatry training, while less overtly dramatic than the world of CPR and tracheotomies, force one to incorporate a different type of emotional experience. In my short training, I have been moved by the isolation of schizophrenia, by the emptiness and despair of depression, and by the ravages of families wrought by addictions. It is often difficult to come to terms with reactions to psychiatric experience because of the lack of formal resolution. Psychiatric diseases for the most part are not cured, and yet are not fatal by themselves; so there is no exclamation point to treatment successes and failures, and less opportunity to place experience on the opposite side of the line that protects our present world view from the tragedies of the past. There is also a learned frustration that develops as we accept that the will of our patients does not always coincide with our desire to help. And again I wonder, what have I begun to ‘understand’ about mental illness? Can I make a difference? What is the meaning of life in the face of such suffering?

At these moments, I try to find gratitude for the opportunity to seek psychodynamic understanding. The beautiful, horrible experiences of life weave tapestries, unique to each of us and to each of our patients, with fibers visible only to those willing to see them. And in the tapestries lie the questions, and the answers to the questions, and the answers to all of the questions to come. To study the fabric of these tapestries is to study the essence, and the meaning, of life itself. It may be asking too much to weave our own tapestries by design, but one can be aware of the admonition of Aldous Huxley, that experience teaches only the teachable.

And once again, we are back to the original question. Is all learning beneficial, and are all experiences enriching? Is it true that what does not kill us makes us stronger? Perhaps the answer is moot, since no matter our preferences, experience finds us. Maybe I can make an occasional decision as to what to remember, or face life’s challenges and disappointments with the respect required to ease cynicism. Perhaps I can embrace the feelings and the meanings of life events, rather than attempt to diminish their awareness. Perhaps all I can ask for is to find experiences with my eyes open, and to place my boxes in a well-lit room, where I won’t trip over them.

The author, Jeffrey T. Junig MD, PhD, worked as an anesthesiologist, as a pain specialist, and as a psychiatrist. He teaches medical students, and has written a number of scientific and educational articles. He enjoys consulting for businesses, legal firms, and individuals to translate medical records and jargon into usable information. He can be reached through his web site at explainmedical.com explainmedical.com