Fishing For Soul
Angling for Spiritual ReconnectionArchive for happiness
What Does It Mean To Pursue Happiness?
One of my renewed commitments to myself is to follow impulses and allow my intuition to guide me more often. That’s a New Year’s resolution that I’ve started working on in the past two weeks.
This morning, as I was having a conversation on the phone with my friend Fred about being true to one’s self and being happy in what one does, I followed an impulse and grabbed Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love from my bookshelf. For those of you unfamiliar with that bestseller, it is “a meditation on love in its many forms – love of food, language, humanity, God, and most meaningful for Gilbert, love of self.”
I looked for a passage in the book that I had highlighted a couple of years ago. There it was on page 260:
“I keep remembering one of my Guru’s teachings about happiness. She says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you’re fortunate enough. But that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don’t, you will leak away your innate contentment. It’s easy enough to pray when you’re in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments.”
I read that passage several times and questions formed in my mind. Ah, the Fishing for Soul process continues.
I asked myself, “How tightly am I holding on to my happiness? How and why do I let my thoughts move me away from my innate contentment?”
In response I heard, “Pay attention. Pay attention. Pay attention.”
Another book, Iyanla Vanzant’s Yesterday, I Cried, beckoned to me. I pulled it off the bookshelf and said, “Show me what I need.”
The following quote by John Randolph Price is on page 253, at the beginning of Chapter 17, which is titled ‘What’s the Lesson When You Get the Lesson but Don’t Know What to do With It?’
“Truth must be realized individually.
It must be realized by you, otherwise it is not your Truth.
Only your Truth, not the truth, is expressed in your life, not anyone else’s.
How do you find your truth?
By seeking and finding the teacher within.
You see, the Teacher and the Truth within are one.”
And so it goes…
Today I am grateful for early morning calls with my action partner, questioning myself, exploring my stressful thoughts, Byron Katie, Rosa and Lorna, my intuition, my blog, my wise cat Wicca, hot tea, Truth and Happiness,
Thanks and peace to all!
Joe
Life Is Your Shopping Center. Are You Getting What You Want?
Two days until Christmas! Does that strike fear in you or send shivers of excitement up and down your spine? Are you still running around trying to find the ‘perfect’ or ‘last-minute’ gift? Are you wondering what Santa will bring you? Are you stressed or delighted?
I’ve been doing my best to stay out of the way of frantic shoppers here in New York. Three hours in Macy’s Herald Square on the last weekend before the holiday can cure any would-be gift buyer. I highly recommend that place if you’d like to witness some silly shopper shenanigans.
I’ve also been doing whatever I can to make sure that my mind is clear about what is always available to me at Christmas and all through the year: EVERYTHING.
That rang in my head and heart last week as I sat in meditation and heard these words: “”Life is your shopping center. Life is your ultimate on-line resource for all goods and services. Just log-in and you will discover a world full of EVERYTHING.”
Yesterday I was reading Byron Katie’s book A Thousand Names for Joy on the subway when this line grabbed me again: “You can’t have it, because you already are it. You already have what you want, you already are what you want. It appears as this now – perfect, flawless.”
My affirmation for the week is: I have all I want and need. Everything flows to me and through me with great ease.
Now on to one of my favorite heart string tugging tunes of the holiday, Do They Know It’s Christmas? The song is 25 years old! Check out Sting, Bono, George Michael, Boy George and others gathering to raise funds for people affected by famine in Ethiopia.
Today I am grateful for the joy that Christmas brings, for kindness and generosity, holiday music, memories of Christmases past, late night’s with a good book, snow, dreams of a hot beach, playfulness, my body and breath, my home, my work, and my computer.
Happy Christmas and peace to all!
Joe
Thanks for the Reminder Madonna!
‘Say what you like, do what you feel
You know exactly who you are
The time is right now
You got to decide
Stand in the back or be the star.’
- from Madonna’s Beat Goes On
Yes, I’m quoting a line from a Madonna song. I’ve been listening to 2008’s Hard Candy on my iPod during my workouts at the gym. The music, especially Beat Goes On, inspires me to move faster and push a little harder. The quoted lyrics have also grabbed my attention as I review this soon-to-be-ending year and decade, and look forward to 2010.
As the new year approaches I am envisioning myself in some new, unexplored geographical locations, growing my business as I speak in bigger venues, reaching more people through my J.O.B., forming new and powerful professional and personal alliances (that would mean I’ve got a new love, baby), and happily sharing more of myself with the world as I shine brighter and brighter.
I am ready. I am willing. I am open.
Madonna’s song rings in my ears: ‘The time is right now, You got to decide, Stand in the back or be the star.’
There is no time like right now to step into your greatness. Go on, be the star. What are you waiting for?
I’d like to send a shout out to my Facebook friend Thomas who often quotes Madonna song lyrics in his status updates to great affect. Thanks for your humor, intelligence, and inspiration Thomas! Rock on.
Today I am grateful for my Facebook friends and their endless stream of humor and insights, the world wide web, my computer skills, Jennifer at the new mani/pedi place in Chelsea (thanks for the tip Leslie!), my dentist, clean sheets, heat and hot water, my happy cat, bare trees, my body and breath, and the god/goddess in all things.
Amen.
Thanks and peace to all!
Joe
A Powerful and Positive You
‘As you continue to move your life forward into the place that you are dreaming of, please give your self permission to experience the joyfully abundant person that you are NOW.
It does not matter where you were born, what level of education you have, how much money you have, what you own, what your skin color is, how tall you are, or what sex you are. All human beings are capable of creating a life that is powerful and purposeful.
The more POSITIVE you are, the more GRATITUDE you SINCERELY EXPRESS, the more IN LOVE you are with everything, the more you will understand and accept that there are no limits, there never have been limits and there never will be any limits on what is possible.
YOU ARE POSSIBLE!
There is nothing stopping you. When will you BELIEVE that?
Breathe possibility.
All is well.’
- At One and JM
A Fishing for Soul YES! I AM Practice
Sit with your spine as long and tall as possible.
Breathe in gently through your nose and out through your mouth. Give your self time to allow any distracting chatter to slow down.
Close your eyes and begin to create an image in your mind of yourself in a very peaceful, beautiful, happy place, surrounded by things that make you feel safe and secure. It could be in a place in nature, your childhood home, a place that you often dreamed of, etc. From that place, begin to call forth images of the successful, positively prosperous, peaceful and powerful person that YOU ARE NOW and will continue to grow into in the future.
What message do you receive from those images?
Look. Listen. Feel.
Be open.
* * *
Today I am grateful for friends with cars, a healing road trip, Leslie, Fred, Lynn and Greg, abundant silliness, corn bread, Rosa and Mark, the NY State Thruway, connecting with a positive and powerful image of what is possible, birthdays, telling the truth, candlelight, Mexican food, my book agent, editor and publisher, Hay House Publishing and Radio.
Amen.
Thanks and peace to all, everywhere.
Joe
What Path Will You Travel?
One day each year (usually on my birthday) I take time to read the passage below from Carlos Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan and recommit to what feels best for me – a path with heart.
“For me there is only traveling on the paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There, I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length, and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.”
What path will you travel?
Today I am grateful to Lorna Roberts for bringing the above quote to my consciousness back in the mid 1990’s, and for helping me to see that a path with heart lies within.
I am grateful to my parents for having the strength, courage and wisdom to bring me into this world and for providing me with great comfort for many years.
I am grateful for the fruitful abundance of this planet and all the beings who walk here with us.
I am happy and grateful to have work that I love, friends who tell me the truth, peace of mind, music to dance to, a bed to sleep in, the ability to travel around the world, time for stillness, silence and conscious breathing, laughter and tears, and a peaceful and prosperous re-birth year.
Amen.
Thanks and peace to all!
Joe
Do You Need A Reason To Be Happy?
I dipped my tortilla chip into the mound of guacamole resting on top of my vegetarian Burrito Bowl and smiled. Was I smiling in anticipation of the pleasure that my tastebuds were going to experience?
It was a sunny and crisp Wednesday afternoon in New York City and I had an unexpected hour-and-a-half free after an appointment was canceled. Maybe that was making me smile.
I polished off my lunch and looked out through the large windows of the Chipotle Mexican Grill and onto 6th Ave. just in time to see my friend Nancy walk into the Mailboxes, Etc. store across the street. The napkin I used to wipe my mouth could not remove my grin. I dumped my garbage in the can by the door, and walked across the street to surprise Nancy.
“Oh, Joe, what are you doing here?”
“I came to see you.”
“Let’s go eat some sushi and drink tea.”
We spent the next hour laughing and talking about Nancy’s recent pneumonia, burials at sea, Mike Bloomberg’s win in the NYC mayoral election, Buddhist retreats, and the YMCA where I teach the Water Exercise class that Nancy attends.
As we said goodbye outside the Japanese restaurant, I was aware of that smile again. It just spread across my face so easily.
I walked one block north, and then hurried to catch the bus I saw on the corner of 15th St. I caught up with a woman who was obviously hurrying to reach the bus as well. Just as we got to the corner, our ride pulled away. The woman frowned. But wait, the hybrid-electric MTA vehicle hit a red light! I stepped into the street, walked up to the bus and banged on the door.
“The driver is going to ignore you!” yelled my fellow traveler in typical New York fashion.
The doors swung open. I was not the only one smiling after that.
Ten blocks later I got off the bus and walked over to my office. My smile caught my attention as it flashed in the elevator mirror.
“Why am I smiling now?” I wondered.
“Do you need a reason?” came the response.
Amen.
Today I am grateful for the unexpected surprises that life always brings, rice and beans, hot tea, the sun, clouds, the moon and stars, the way things magically and effortlessly fall into place, baseball, my body and breath, friends and family.
Thanks and peace!
Joe
Photo by Sarah Sloboda, http://www.sarahsloboda.com
What’s Great About You?
I seem to be more introspective than usual lately. Someone suggested that it may be due to my upcoming birthday and that perhaps I’m doing a little life check-in. Perhaps.
Ever since my birthday in 2001, two months after the events of 9/11 and the passing of a beloved teacher, my intention has been to celebrate myself on my birthday and this year I’m looking for a way to do that again.
As I’m typing at 11:28pm on Sunday, Nov. 1st the song ‘No More Drama’ by Mary J. Blige is playing on iTunes. An excerpt from the lyrics:
“Hooh it feels so good
When you let go
Of all the drama in your life
Now you’re free from all the pain (free from all the pain)
Free from all the games (free from all the games)
Free from all the stress (free from all the stress)
So find your happiness
I don’t know
Only god knows where the story ends for me
But I know where the story begins
It’s up to us to choose
Whether we win or lose
And I choose to win
Ohhhh…
No more pain
No more games
No drama
No more in my life…”
That’s it! No more drama. That’s what I want for my birthday this year, a drama-free life. I’m going to celebrate the amazing turnaround that has happened over the past 12 months as I’ve watched old drama, old stories, old BS fall away, and I’ll gratefully embrace the people, events, relationships, etc. that reflect my deeper sense of freedom and joy.
All the negative chatter in my head for nearly 44 years caused me incredible pain and, quite frankly, I’m through with it. Of course, as Byron Katie might say, I’m open to it coming around for a visit just in case there’s more to learn from it. But I’d rather learn from joy.
Hmm… Maybe I haven’t been so introspective lately. What I notice now is that I’ve been doing a lot of visioning about the next 20 years of my life – beyond the walls of my home, beyond New York City, and beyond my current work environment. Could it be time to create a new Vision Board that visually describes what I am seeing and hearing in my mind, something that answers the question, “What’s great about me”? I like that.
What’s great about you?
Amen.
Today I am grateful for another chance to question my thoughts, to practice positive thinking, to see the sun, feel the cool breeze, laugh with friends, laugh at myself, watch my cat knock things off the kitchen table, savor Mexican food, write my blog, listen to my neighbors celebrate the Yankees win over the Phillies in Game 4 of the World Series, and plan another birthday ceremony.
(Be Open t-shirt photo by Sarah Sloboda, http://www.sarahsloboda.com)
Thanks and peace to all!
Joe
What Is A Community?
There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.
- M. Scott Peck
On Wednesday night the Almost Economically Viable Community met in New York City. Almost Economically Viable is a social and business networking event that launched rather suddenly this past summer when I got together with three other people who wanted to share their unique gifts and bring entrepreneurs and others together in a setting that was interactive and a bit unusual, and that would help prove that ‘Networking Doesn’t Have To Suck.’ We succeeded and found ourselves referring to the participants as ‘The AEV Community’.
Was building a community our goal? Honestly, I don’t remember (Robin, Melea, Sarah, help me out here!), but it has happened nonetheless.
“Frankly, if you create a great product, you may not be able to stop a community from forming even if you tried. By contrast, it’s hard to build a community around mundane and mediocre crap no matter how hard you try,” says author Guy Kawasaki on his How to Change the World blog.
When I looked up the word community online I found these definitions:
1) a group of people living in a particular local area
2) a group of nations having common interests
3) (ecology) a group of interdependent organisms inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other
Social media marketing strategist Jacob Morgan writes, “I think it’s time we move away from defining a community as anything having to do with a physical presence at all. Sure that can be a factor, but in my mind a community is a collection or group of people that interact and share something in common. A community is actually best defined by the person being associated with a particular community.”
Think about people who are connected and who interact on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. Those are online communities that are thriving.
When I facilitate workshops or healing circles, I like to remind people that for the time we are together, we are a community, and that the community may continue to evolve when the weekend or night is over.
What is your idea of community? What types of communities are you a part of? What community building action are you taking today?
Amen.
Today I am grateful for the AEV Community, Robin, Melea and Sarah, a full stomach, endless amounts of cash pouring into my hands and my bank accounts, fantastic new business opportunities, a steady flow of heat and hot water, lilies, New York City, my book agent, editor and publisher, Hay House Publishing and Radio.
Thanks and peace to all!
Joe
PS – I am facilitating a community building workshop of sorts for gay men called The Cosmic Orgasm at Easton Mountain in upstate New York Nov. 13-15. Maybe you’ll be part of that ecstatic weekend.
Community. Common unity. Communion.
What Have You Discovered About Yourself Lately?
“Every one of us has in him a continent of undiscovered character. Blessed is he who acts the Columbus to his own soul.” ~Author Unknown
Monday was Columbus Day and it got me thinking about discovering and conquering. As I considered my latest self-discoveries and what I’ve conquered this year, I encouraged my fitness class participants to use their exercise time to discover something new about the body and it’s amazing abilities, and to conquer a new challenge – do an extra pushup, push a bit harder in the Spin class. Some realized that physical limits often exist as a strong beilef and nothing more. That’s good news!
“And every time you question what you believe, you become a kinder human being.” – Byron Katie
I’m reading Byron Katie’s A Thousand names For Joy – Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are. It reminds me once again of how much has changed in my life this year – 10 short months – and how grateful I am to all who have been a part of my evolution. That’s a good reminder!
One of the greatest things that has happened for me on this journey of self-discovery is that I no longer believe a lot of the old stories that I used to tell myself. I seem to have conquered those ‘demons’. Or so I think. Maybe I’ll discover that there is more work to do there and then I’ll conquer yet another old fear, limiting thought, or self-destructive pattern. That’s an interesting thought!
I went back to my hometown last weekend. I sat in my parent’s house looking at the familiar and unfamiliar things that fill it. I took my three-year-old niece to the the elementary school that I attended and we ran together around the playground and across the soccer filed. I saw myself as a 6, 8, and 10 year-old running around that field that once seemed so vast, competing with ghosts from the past. “I’m certainly not that little boy anymore,” I said to myself (yes, that was relief you heard). That’s reality!
“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” ~Nelson Mandela
I like to celebrate myself and my achievements. I’ve been buying myself flowers again (lilies) and enjoying the aroma that fills my apartment. I bought myself a gift on Sunday – a book that I’ve been wanting to read for quite some time. I was reading it on the subway yesterday and was happily lost in the world that the author created. That’s so rewarding!
And so it goes…
What have you discovered and conquered lately? How will you celebrate your achievements?
Amen!
Today I am grateful for The Work of Byron Katie, time to read, new business opportunities, my amazing clients, an abundance of cash, my warm bed, friends and family, letting go of the past, my beautiful life partner, iContact, Robin and Melea, an island getaway in December, my book agent, editor and publisher, Hay House Publishing and Radio.
Thanks and peace!
Joe
Who’s in Charge of Your Health Care?
On Wed., Sept. 9th President Obama went before the nation to explain a bit more about his administration’s proposed plan to reform the U.S. health care system.
The idea that all American’s should have an option for medical coverage in times of illness or accident sounds like a good plan to me. Getting to that point may take more time and further heated debate. Are we willing to listen, to participate, to envision?
A proposal that provides funds to educate people on how to take better care of themselves through exercise, meditation, breath work, positive thinking and some other non-traditional health practices would certainly have my support. Could those practices decrease the public’s reliance on prescription drugs and other ‘traditional’ medical treatments? I say let’s find out.
An article published on the web site U.S. Medicine titled “When Traditional Medicine Fails, Patients Frequently Turn to Other Sources of Hope and Healing” stated that,
“In 2007, 83 million adults used some form of complementary or alternative medicine, according to the National Health Interview Survey. This is equal to about 38% of the entire population. Those 83 million people made 354 million visits to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers and spent $33.9 billion doing so, making up more than 10% of the total out-of-pocket health care costs for Americans in 2007.
CAM includes yoga, chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation, massage, meditation, dietary supplements that are not vitamins or minerals, and similar therapies.”
Here in New York City there are an abundance of preventive and alternative care options. There seems to be a fitness center every few blocks. New yoga studios keep popping up. Massage therapists abound. Crystal healing, acupuncture, shamanism, and sound healing workshops can all be found. You name it, we’ve probably got it.
Dr. Andrew Weil, Founder and Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, wrote in a Huffington Post article on Thu., Sept. 10th, “…we cannot afford to wait on Washington. We must take responsibility ourselves to eat right, exercise, practice stress reduction and take the other necessary steps to maximize our own health and happiness.”
Looking for yet another perspective on ‘health care’, I sat down to listen for some otherworldly advice on the issue.
“The greatest care giver in the world could be staring back at you each time you look in the mirror.
How do you live each moment of your day? Are you aware of the power of Mind? Are you aware of the power of Positive Intention? Are you aware of your own ability to create a life that is full of the health and wealth that you say you desire?
Take a moment (or two, or three, or more) to get to know your self. Find out what truly makes you feel good and pursue it with a fully engaged heart AND mind. Focus daily on a life – YOUR life – that is easy and joyful.
When every cell of your being knows that perfect health is a state of mind, and YOU are all ways the deciding factor in any ‘health care’ issue, then you loose the desire to argue about which health care plan to choose. With a clear heart and mind, you will automatically attract the care that is most appropriate for you.” At One
Amen.
Today I am grateful for a restful sleep, morning smiles, deep breaths, the US Open Tennis Tournament, warm jackets, big paychecks, my book agent, editor and publisher, Hay House Publishing and Radio, an abundance of new clients, and endless possibilities.
Thanks and peace!
Joe
