I have been practicing “being still” over these last few weeks. I recently began re-studying the Seth materials as well as Charles Haanel’s The Master Key System. It is still amazing to me that someone born in 1866 could have such knowledge of the levels of Mind. The interesting aspect of the Master Key System material is that you cannot move on to the next chapter until you have mastered the exercises in the previous one. It can take as long as 30 days (or more) to move from one chapter to the next, IF you indeed set your intent for mastery. So far, I have reached 20 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes at night; and the insights from this have been nothing short of amazing! 

--Michael McLane--

I came to car ownership late. I used to ride my, not so common, Olmo, an Italian road racing bicycle. I even rode from Pasadena to Bakersfield and back because I was so entranced with a young lady's - - - -ah, well her stuff.

I made that ride with another insane friend in early July 1959, the day after my birthday. It was after completing my first year of college. Oh, this is getting into a story.

OK, my first car was given to me by my uncle after I got out of the Army. It was a 195??? Opal. I soon found out that Buick bought the company the year it was built. It's fame was that it was made of parts from the US and Germany. Guys might imagine what fun it is to work on cars that are made of both metric and US nuts and bolts. That was fun. Also, my uncle was a tinkerer. He made one of the first propane conversions to a Chevy pickup with help from an article he found in Popular Mechanics magazine. More stories here to bypass. Before he gave me the Opal, he converted it back to sanity for me (sort of). He did a lot of desert driving so I think he had increased the engine oil capacity to about 150 gallons.

The Opal's paint was light flat oxidized, blue and later spotted with a kind of Leprosy white. The spotted white came from parking it in the last spot available to me at our family home—under a sycamore tree, a favorite of the neighborhood birds, hence it's name: "Toilet."

Toilet's rear view mirror was mounted on the top of the dash and from that mirror hung an old tie. The tie also supported a kind of a mock critter which was about the size of a tennis ball, covered with fur. it also had feet that looked like a part of a Shmoo. Remember Shmoos?

Anita Burns--

I received a beautiful email from Nancy Senior about her gratitude for 2013. I love Nancy's sense of humor blended with inspirational, thought-provoking goodness. It started me thinking. I have a tendency to be a bit acerbic at times and I have been known to rant about things I feel are important. What is so easy to push into the background are the good things, large and small.

Nancy mentions a Gratitude Jar. I'm not sure if she meant this literally or figuratively, but I am going to take it literally. Today, I am putting a large jar on my kitchen counter labeled, "Gratitude." I'll leave a sticky-note pad and pencil on top. Every time something happens that I feel good about, grateful for, or inspired by happens, or a miracle comes into my life, I will note it, date it, and put it into the jar. At the end of the year, I will look at and, probably write about them.

I think I might also have a Gripes and Rants jar. I will put into it all the disgruntlements, not-for-polite-society rants about the way things are. I might also put in my hurts, griefs, and sadness.

If I had done this in 2012, I know I would have written a tome about my feelings when my mother died and my favorite kitten died. But those are double-edged issues. Both sadness, grief, guilt, and anger coupled with relief, gratitude, and other mixed emotions.

As I write this my Tech-head self is suggesting virtual jars on my computer. "You know you won't actually take the time to write with a pencil, in long hand. What are you thinking? Use the computer. Who ARE you anyway? Have I taught you nothing?"

Tech-head has a point. I am more likely to keep it up for 12 long months if I can type it instead of write it.

Then again, the Get Real part of myself is yelling  in my head, "Don't listen to Tech-head. She is just lazy. The act of writing it out with your fingers wrapped around an actual pencil will make it more real, more valued. Be a woman. Write it out and see the jars filling up. Much more satisfying."

My head parts are fighting. I think I will have an actual jar but type out the entries and print them. Then I can cut them apart and place them into the appropriate jars. "Okay Tech-Head and Get Real? Will that do?"

"Yes."

So the first thing going into my jar is Nancy Senior for her email that inspired me. Thanks, Nancy.

Happy 2013 to Everyone.

Anita Burns
anitaburns.info
metastudies.com
anitasrealfood.com
rehutek.com

Luke Broad -

Do you believe that life is a series of random events?  Do you believe that some people are just ‘lucky’ to have a joyful, satisfying lifestyle whilst others are just ‘unlucky’ to have a hard, stressful lifestyle?  What is your willingness to learn?  What is your willingness to change your current belief system and adopt a new outlook on life?

Many people consider stress and hardship as normal because they repeatedly affirm to themselves “That’s life”.  On a mass scale, normal is something that is believed to be true by the majority of people.  But normal is not always right!  It was once normal for black people to have fewer rights than white people.  It was once normal for women to have fewer rights than men.  It was once normal for women to stay at home to cook and clean for the man.  And in some cultures, it is normal for men to marry young girls against their will.  These are just a few examples of how ‘normal’ can be wrong!

If you are driving a car and you come to a parked vehicle, most people will indicate to go around it.  However, the official law is that you do not indicate around a parked car, but most people do so because they are following the actions of those in front of them.  So if ten people drove around a parked car and nine of them indicated and one did not, the nine people who indicated would have been perceived as correct because they outnumbered the one.  But the person who did not indicate is actually the correct one.  Similarly, we tend to follow the beliefs and actions of those people who we are around the most.  So if we are surrounded by people with limiting beliefs and a negative outlook on life, we will also have limiting beliefs and a negative outlook on life.  That is until we become aware of our negative habits and are willing to change.  

Luke Broad -

In 2007 I was diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease - an inner ear disorder that causes violent attacks of tinnitus, which is so loud that I was virtually deaf in the affected ear.  The tinnitus then causes dizziness, which results in vomiting.  Attacks are unpredictable and can come at any time anywhere.  The specialists told me that there was no cure and that the illness could result in permanent deafness in the affected ear.  All they could do was prescribe me the strongest medication possible that supposedly helped to reduce the frequency of the attacks.  This illness dominated my life for two years.  During this period, I was backpacking and my enjoyment would often be interrupted by violent attacks of this illness.  Attacks became so frequent that I had to return home.  When I arrived home, I was bedridden for a number of weeks with one attack after another.

When I first began learning about the Law of Attraction, two years earlier, I was depressed and living undesirable circumstances.  I felt trapped by my contract in the British Armed Forces, so much so that I developed a desire to commit suicide.  If I had not come across the Law of Attraction, I would probably not be here today.  I began imagining myself on the beach in Australia and I trained my mind into a state of belief and positive expectation.  Just three months later, I was on a beach in Australia and I was a qualified fitness instructor! 

So, two years later, when I reached the point where I was bedridden for a number of weeks because of my illness, I decided to change my mindset regarding my illness.  I threw my medication in the bin and I began visualizing myself back in Australia, in a bar with my friends sipping champagne.  I visualized myself as healthy and I imagined myself telling a family member the story of how I used my mind to heal myself.  I believed in my vision and I imagined it with conviction and clarity.  I trained my belief and expectation and I began feeling optimistic, excited and eager, even whilst I was bedridden with dizziness and vomiting.  One month later, my attacks stopped.  Three and a half months later, I was back in Australia, in a bar with my friends sipping champagne!