I saw this YouTube video a week or two ago, and it has stuck with me so much so that I just want to create a separate post here to share it:

—

—

Abraham-Hicks doesn’t speak often about God, but after watching this, and after reflecting on so many of the things happening around me all of the time, it sure feels to me as if God is everywhere and talking to us all of the time.

If I could dial up myself from two years ago and tell me that I would soon be finding this to be true, I would have been amazed, and probably rather cynical.

Ironically, what amazes me today is that we somehow find so many ways to tune out the beautiful signals of light and love that are always streaming towards us.

I love being a father. Kids are awesome in so many ways… but one big way is that they tend to be closer to source. That is to say, they are honest, perceptive, and spiritual beings from birth, and if you have the opportunity to spend time with kids - especially before schools and video games kill off their sensitivity - you get a chance to see that awareness in action.

What’s so funny about it is how some kids just innately know how to tune out us “grown ups” - although it can also be a bit bewildering or outright frustrating if you are not tuned into it and appreciate it. But yes - I do believe Charles Schultz knew what he was doing… that “whaa wha whaaaa” voice of the teacher is what we should all practice hearing when we are being told to believe something or do something against our nature… against our better sense.

I was recently reminded of the inner genius of children when my daughter was talking to me about her fears recently. She’s only 6, but is keenly attentive. We were discussing how we can be afraid of so many different things, but I was trying to explain how we have the power to also think up nice things, and we began to practice by dreaming up the perfect banana split.

That’s when she said - “sometimes, I think of my mind like a TV. Only sometimes it feels like the channel changer is broken”.

What a beautiful analogy for her to make up. We then practiced some more, and talked about how even when it seems like the channel changer is broken, we do indeed have the power to change it… we have this amazing God-given ability to dream and imagine good things, even when it seems like only bad things are “out there”. I believe it was a very empowering experience for her.

Earlier in the week, my 12 year old had come home from school and pronounced quite emphatically - “why do so many people choose to be miserable?”

He was talking about the kids at school, and how he decided to have fun - no matter what - and how noticeable it was that the other kids were simply choosing to be miserable, with all their complaining and whining.

How awesome is that? Not only was he able to empower himself to create the mood he wanted to have, but the contrast he detected around him simply reinforced his choice!

Of course, he was troubled a bit by the same thing I hear so many of us talk about… which is to say, so many of us seem very concerned about our friends, our partners, coworkers, neighbors…. the ones we love and the ones we share this world with.

There is so much we can do to manage our own emotional journey, and find our own bliss - but if we are truly honest with ourselves - I do think many of us genuinely want to do this with our significant others, with our friends.

Years ago, I remember reading material brought forth by Brother Bartholomew - and what caught my attention the most was an idea that we evolve through different states or levels of consciousness as a group. Our kindred spirits are in different places at different times… some may be here in physical form, while others may remain solely in a form-less energetic state.

But what was key was the idea that we all have a vested interest in moving ahead together.

Whether I believe this in absolute terms or not (language is an act of creation, and is ALWAYS open to interpretation, from my perspective) — what’s nice is that this concept offers up a middle ground between the idea that you are alone dreaming the dream - and the opposite extreme - that you can only achieve true nirvana when every single soul on the planet has been freed from the bondage of illusion. Instead, this idea suggests that we do indeed move through levels as part of a group, and we have a vested interest in helping one another.

Likewise, I believe that the group effects one another… at a level we do not fully grasp at a conscious level. In other words, when one asks for help, the others reach out to help - whether they know it or not. In this same way, I believe the group-mind chooses the channel through which it experiences reality.

Think of the power the masses have when it comes to television. Through a series of many individual choices, there arises a swell of attention - which in turn, drives many other decisions and creative and market energies. It is really no different when it comes to energy, and the way in which we give our attention to life.

Although it goes well beyond my understanding of physics, I can only imagine the difference between one positive vibe and many such vibes all moving in an orchestrated fashion. Just as one beautiful note can be pleasing to the ear, a symphony can bring about near ecstasy.

This is, in part, why we care so much about others. It is beautiful to tune our own emotions, and ride the perfect wave that life sends our way. But to be in perfect synchronicity with the Universe, we seem to all know - at one level or another - that this happens only when we are doing so together.

The child that we were when we came forth is still alive and well within us all. And now, if we are fortunate and alive and awake, we have a wise old soul to join in the dance. Together, in harmony, I invite us to collectively change the channel from where we are today, where we seem to be attached to so many untruths.

We need to dance through the fires of our own drama in order to burn away the nonsense, and emerge with a renewed awareness of the pure energy at work inside each of us. That’s what change means to me - renewal, new life, and along with it, a renewed sense of the spirit within.

Life has been busy for me… much is changing, right along with the season.

I dedicate this entry to the topic of change… and the power we all have to embrace change, and navigate our way to better and better choices along the way.

I wrote a private journal entry the other day that contained the phrase “Compass of Joy”.

For those of you familiar with Abraham-Hicks emotional scale, it is like that - except, for me, it helps to not think of it as a top down list. For me, that can stir up judgments… and what a waste that can be. So it helps me to see it as a continuous circle — and I can choose which direction I want to go in by simply looking at which way the arrow points.

In this analogy, the arrow is the way you feel.

It means having enough awareness and honesty with oneself to simply say “I am bored”, or “I feel enraged”… with no judgment. No “shoulds” attached.

That is the look down at the compass. From there, I can say with ease - oh - I am heading towards boredom right now, or I am heading towards anger. Let’s adjust course.

From there - you either know already, or have to ask yourself - where do I want to go? Where do I want to be headed?

My resounding answer - at this stage in my life - is simple, sweet and 100% spirit guided: JOY.

Ok… so let’s see where I am at… right now, I am heading for boredom… to get to Joy, I need to turn towards Contentment. Nice and easy now…. here we go… bored? Who’s bored. This is the sweet life. I am right where I need to be… all is well. Deep breath. Yes. This is good.

Whoa… what’s that? Feel that change? Feels good. The shift. Turning my attention. Intentionally. Almost makes me feel…. hmmmm, what’s this new feeling? Hopeful! Yes. This makes me feel rather hopeful. Oh - I am still new at this navigation thing, let me look at my compass… don’t want to get lost again. Wow - what do you know! I headed towards Contentment and just like that, I swung towards Hopefulness! Cool.

See how that works?

Nice and easy.

It is fun, not work. You can think of it as play. You are captain of your ship.

What kind of ship are you running, anyways??? Who’s your crew? What’s your destination?

Mine is Joy.

I travel there as often as I can these days.

This question has been with me lately…

To what kind of vibe am I attuned?

The more my awareness grows, the more I understand…. that what we experience is really a matter of that to which we are attuned… almost literally. Our experiences are “a matter of” that to which we are attuned.

If you go looking for bad news, there’s plenty of it out there. It’s a very safe bet. If you are convinced humanity sucks…. yup, you’re gonna find plenty of evidence of that too.

The amazing thing, well, it still *feels* amazing to me, is that the opposite is so true too. The more I look around for beauty, wisdom, love, and light - wow… there they are… over here, there, coming at me this way and that.

The world wide web is an amazing representation and extension of humanity…. the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good, however, often gets overlooked.

That’s what High Vibe It is all about. Finding the good stuff, sharing the good stuff, and visiting a place where like minded folks can come and discuss and contribute.

These last few months have been busy for me, so I have done my best to keep the spammers out, and keep a few good links in the publishing queue. But this past week, I have finally found the time to get back into the swing of things.

The site has been upgraded with the latest version of the Pligg engine. I have added google youtube video ads instead of the text/image ads… there is some very interesting stuff that comes through in these videos, and I am intrigued by the interplay of these ads with the content on the site… and from the looks of it, we have a few new members!

So as a way to kick off 2008 here on High Vibe It (hey, better late than never!), I just wanted to point out two new interesting sites that have come to my attention, along with a few published links from those sites:

• From this post highlighting a Flowchart that shows the teachings of the Law of Attraction, I was happy to find a very active forum all about LOA! Always nice to find other active communities on the Law of Attraction! So, welcome aboard Atlantis! If you would like to see some of the other items submitted by this member, you can check out the list here.
• This next site appeared on Digg of all places today. The site is named Think Simple Now… a topic I have become quite interested in this year! The post that caught my eye is titled The Simple Life. It’s a very worthwhile read, and a great site to spend time at.
• There a couple of other sites that have really stood out lately that I also want to bring your attention to… one of them is called How To Live A More Fulfilling Life.
• Another great site that has come to my attention is Tupelo Kenyon’s site. Tupelo has been a member here for quite some time, and is now one of our top users! Take a look at the items submitted by Tupelo for some great reading.

I have a feeling some really good stuff is going to be coming through the High Vibe It site.

I invite you to join the site, share the good stuff you come across on the web, vote for the upcoming stories that you like to help ensure they get published for everyone to see, subscribe to the RSS feed, and participate in this growing community…

Or check back in every once in a while to find fun, upbeat, and uplifting stories, news, and blogs.

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.