My father was quite a character. He had a great light in his spirit that not enough people got to see, in my humble opinion.

He was the type that had a bunch of sayings, and used them often. He was a smart guy… and even though the sayings were a bit cliche - he knew exactly what they meant, and used them with a lot of personality and heart.

As a kid, I just started to tune them out. It is funny to me now though - that I have so many of his sayings replaying in my mind.

One of the things he used to say to me quite passionately was “come down off your high horse”.

Only in my recent self-development and spiritual work have I realized what was embedded in these sometimes heated moments. I would guess my awareness may evolve over time, but my “today snapshot” is this:

1. He cared about me. He cared enough to tell me to do something important.
2. He sensed me judging him and others. He saw a child who thought he had all the answers to life’s problems and complexities.
3. My father was telling me to dismount my self-righteous place in my mind so as to better be able to connect with him and others.

Well dad, I am sorry I didn’t quite make the short journey in your lifetime, but I am here to tell you now - I am off!

I made it!

Of course, that high horse seems to be right behind me — and I have to work at not climbing back up, after all, the view from up there *seems* better at times… you know, looking down on the world and all. But this is where I belong. This feels right… and by right I mean good inside - in my gut. By “right”, I do not mean righteous / justified / valid / good.

You see, for some odd reason, I have spent most of my four decades on this planet feeling like I have to come up with “the answers” to life’s problems. Yeah, I know. Funny… but the world’s problems were my problems. The fate of the world rested squarely on my shoulders.

Starting with my family, extending to my job, and all the way outward - how would anything work and get better if I didn’t work tirelessly and selflessly to come up with solutions… if I didn’t busy my mind with the task of breaking down all the pointless complexity around me. I knew there were others out there like me - but we were of course to busy to find and thus help one another.

I was a text book cynic. I didn’t trust anyone or anything. If it didn’t come from my ego - it just didn’t make sense.

That was the me sitting up on my high horse. That was the me that my dad was trying to help. He reached his hand out to help me endlessly. It haunts me, in a way… just how much he always seemed to know and understand.

How did I get down?

I don’t know, really. Maybe I was knocked off :)

Whatever the case, I believe it is a natural progression and evolution on my path. These past 6 months - I have had a few extreme moments of enlightenment, a few deeply spiritual and personal experiences… but these did not change me in isolation. More so, I feel I have been moving towards this time in my life all along. I was ready for these experiences. My soul was ready to grow.

I will not claim to understand all the forces at work - in fact, that itself is a direct result of the change: I no longer feel the need to know or understand everything.

Because of this, something magical is happening - I am suddenly open to so much more of what life has to offer. All possibilities become available - because I am no longer only seeing what my mind understands. I am Allowing into my life ALL POSSIBILITIES without fear. Now I understand the only real power I have in life is the power to choose how and where I focus my energy. This is also absolute liberation.

As I let in all possibilities, I am also seeing the amazing order and way of things. You can call it whatever you like - God, the Tao, or just call it Love.

You see, I used to be afraid to believe in anything because I didn’t Know. My old self had to Know for sure - because after all, the world was depending on me to get it all right. I HAD TO BE RIGHT. Because I had to be right, I had to know for sure. Because I had to know for sure, I blocked it all out! I had too many mental filters to let it all in.

Now, I don’t care if I am right or wrong. What I care about is doing the best I can. That’s it. I want to feel the best I can. Be as healthy as I can. Do the best I can do for everyone I care about. And it all starts at the center of me.

Now it is easy to believe in my intuition and gut feelings about the world around me because I don’t have to be right to the world. I just have to be right to me… to the me that I am today.

I don’t have to convince anyone else of what I know and experience and feel. Because of this, I am free to know and experience and feel so much more than ever before in my life.

It is like a Chinese finger puzzle. The harder to pull the more stuck you get. When you let go, you are free. When you let go, and when you are free - you see how it really works - you see the truth.

Another way to say this is that you cannot see the truth when you are trying to see the truth. But for me, it came flowing in the moment I truly let go.

Another wonderful shift in my life is that I am surrounded by loving-teaching-learning people in all directions. I see more than ever that every single person is on their own journey in this life.

I feel deeply grateful for all of my interactions on a daily basis. I see how every single person is a teacher and a student. We are all drawn to one another in the right order at the right time.

Although they are no longer here physically, I am learning from my mother and father even now. Here there is a richness and abundance of love and wisdom available to me — if I am ready and open — *if I am grounded* - if I am not sitting up on my high horse!

This is my “coming down off my high horse” story. I know my dad is smiling. And with this, I am sending out a very heartfelt song of appreciation for this amazingly transformative time in my life.

I have been reflecting these past few days about the many ways in which our desires are met in life, and wondering how often we miss the signals when they are present.

What I mean is this - we put forth our intentions large and small all day every day. Asking and receiving do not happen at the same time. So if we are entirely wrapped up in asking for one thing and expecting that one thing to show up instantly, that is where our focus is… how often then are we overlooking the arrival of the thing we may have asked for yesterday? Or last year?

Today is a day of Happiness for me…

I have been seeking it. And today I feel it.

And on my daily hunt for submissions for the high Vibe it site, this is what has come my way - one of which was emailed to me by a friend!

Take a look and if the spirit moves you, please consider clicking the “high Vibe it” link under the vote counter to the left of the story title:

• Self Development - Free Audio Downloads - this is a link to learnoutloud.com - a great resource full of download podcasts on quite a variety of topics. This links directly to the self development section, but there are many more topics at this site.
• Stumbling on Happiness - MotherJones interview with Dan Gilbert - entertaining interview with the author of this timely book.
• Happiness carnival - April 22, 2007 - awesome “magazine style” collection of recent blog postings on the topic of Happiness.

I woke up today feeling pretty good… and could have easily been distracted by all the many things I want to accomplish today. Rather, I was open to receiving that which I have been asking for lately - a sense of lightness and relief, and a little more happiness.

Wanting and intending are only one part of the equation. The other part is to get out of the way so it can show up in your life!

Here is the link to the submission on high Vibe it for HayHouse radio - radio for your soul… check it out, and if you like it, come on back and vote for it by clicking on the “high Vibe it” under the maroon colored vibe counter box. Votes for stories will help others find the material more easily!

Why am I pointing this out? Simply because of the wealth of awesome free material available at the HayHouse radio site.

For those of you that enjoy hearing the voice of Abraham from the Abraham-Hicks material, simply register at the site (which is free), and navigate here for a number of excellent hour long programs. Again, that link will not work unless you have a login email and password.

I forget now which one I was listening to today, but it was interesting to hear Abraham describe why they changed the name of their sessions from “the Science of Deliberate Creation” to the “Art of Allowing”.

Basically, they said that they had noticed that people were getting the hang of the creation side of things quite nicely, but then were all too often blocking out its power and effectiveness by being too attached to how things are now, rather than being open to what is coming.

I laughed when Abraham suggested that many of us could benefit from attending a seminar that would contain the following words: “Go and find something to be happy about. Goodbye.”

The idea is that all you really need to do is to seek what you want and then let it go. The rest is accomplished by simply matching your vibrational alignment to that which you desire, which is always attainable when you are feeling open and alive.

We are best served when we are open to the blissful moments that present themselves each and every day. Abraham suggests that it is only when we are in this open and positive state of being that the things we want will flow into our lives.

Some things are just worth repeating…

so go and find something to be happy about!

Goodbye :)

I came across this phrase in my logs of what people are searching for when they come to this blog: “Answers to law of attraction critics”.

I found it somewhat interesting.

If you are looking for answers to the critics, I would ask you why? Why do you feel a need to respond?

You are in control of your thoughts and your beliefs. You will decide what feels right to you.

This, by the way, is exactly what the critics do… they are skeptical. It is easy to be skeptical. I have chosen that route for most of my life. It is safe, because you can be skeptical of almost anything! As an added bonus, cynics always have lots of company (especially on the web), so there are plenty of people with whom to share the misery.

If you are interested in The Law of Attraction, learn about it, talk to people who have studied it, give it a whirl. You have nothing to lose, except the false constraints you have placed on your life up until now.

If you are entering this space defensively, you may not have as much success with it as you would like. There is nothing to defend, really. The principles are things you can apply at a pace that works for you, and there is no dictate that I am aware of that says you even have to tell anyone what you are doing.

Of course, when it starts working and changing your life, you will want to talk about it. The best thing is to find like minded people with whom you can share these thoughts.

If you stumble across criticism online or in your social circle that bothers you - the thing to ask yourself is why does it bother you? If these are a reflection of your own fears and anxieties - then be grateful you have stumbled across them… now you can pick them up and rid yourself of them, if you so choose.

If they are not your fears and anxieties - ignore them.

You are not here to convince the critics. You are not here to change anyone else.

You are here to create the life you came here to create. You are here to develop and share your unique God given gifts with the world. Studying the Law of Attraction is just one stepping stone on your journey. The teachings contain practicle processes by which you can learn to better use and direct your mind and your energy.

They are gifts. If you are drawn to them, I would suggest you trust the force that was at work in drawing you to them. Study and learn. In doing so, are you not simply growing your spirit, raising your vibrations, and taking your life to a higher ground?

Are there people who will say this is all nonsense? Sure there are. Do I care? Not so much.

Trust me, when looking for good material to post to the high Vibe it site, I come across all kinds of critical posts on The Secret and The Law of Attraction. I have not yet run across one that was written with a loving tone, or from a voice of experience, or even wisdom for that matter.

Mostly, I see fearful and defensive posts based upon such deep rooted misunderstanding that I am almost not able to decipher the real message at all. Occasionally, the ‘good citizen’ side of me wants to stop and say “but wait…. you don’t get it… there is so much more to this!” - but then I realize… the critics are on the journey of their choosing. They often seem to be seeking a negative perspective of things they do not fully understand - and this is what they attract unto themselves. More negativity.

So, if you are resisting the teachings because you are drawn to the criticism, just stop and say “ha, I see what I am doing here”, and let it all go. If you want to.

Embrace that which serves you.

If and when you are so inclined, you will want to learn more about your higher self, and embrace more and more of what serves the “real” deeper you, not just the superficial time-space based ego-you.

In my humble opinion, that’s when things really start cooking!

Do you feel stuck, trapped, weighed down, uninspired?

If so, chances are you are ready to move on to the next stage of your life.

What you’ll find here is a common sense approach to moving towards the next phase of your life. Like so many things in life, these are things we all know, but seem to forget, or lose track of in the busy-ness of life.

This is my working framework for embracing change in my life. This approach is simple by design. You can apply it in a day, a month, or a year. The same approach can be applied to any dimension of your life.

Here is one way to think about the different dimensions of your life:

• the body
• physical space
• the mind
• social environment
• spiritual dimension

The hard thing for some of us to accept is that there is no one silver bullet to kill all of life’s problems. Although many in the self help industry get rich off of this mind set, it is up to each of us to recognize the cycles of life, and to not only accept, but embrace them!

To meet this ever evolving need, this approach is iterative. The good news is that it gets easier each time you do it.

I’ll introduce the approach here, and continue to explore these themes in the coming days with some concrete scenarios and examples.

5 Stepping Stones to the Next Phase

1. Choose - only you can change you… the first and most important step is the decision to embrace change and to grow your life.
2. Make room for the new - clean house, let go, give away, embrace emptiness, detox your system.
3. Be & Allow - pray, be with it, meditate, walk.
4. Accept & Receive - be in the flow of life, pay attention, watch as doors open and opportunities present themselves.
5. Express gratitude - say thank you… morning, noon and night!

Here’s a visual representation of these steps:

This is my current integration of everything I am learning. It is not a one size fits all kind of model. But if it helps or works for you - wonderful!

If this framework resonates with you, check back over the coming weeks. I will be exploring these five stepping stones in more depth across the different dimensions.

To find more articles like this, or share your favorites… please visit the main high Vibe it website!