Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Words Matter (more than we may know)!

I have been up most of the night thinking.  Sometimes the mind is racing and is naturally trying to sort through the "happening of recent days", and put them in their proper mental places (for me)...
To me, this is a process of looking for truth!  If I, or someone else is not in line with the truth, then it feels so out of place to me.  I have to look at it, and see where its not true, or if it IS true, and I'm not aligned with the truth, then I need adjust myself to align and recognize fault, correct myself, and ask forgiveness for not upholding the truth.

I was reminded of a book, "The Four Agreements" where the author (Don Miguel Ruiz) illustrates 4 simple agreements (or rules) on which we should base the rest of our lives.  One of these agreements was "Be Impeccable with Your Word"...the book proceeds to show how our words can be "black magic" and gives good examples of how small things that are said, can have long lasting effects on people; and cause hurt and pain in ourselves and others.
Words can also be "white magic" and establish strong supports and beliefs in ourselves and others.  When our words are true, then they only support and build up the overall fabric of life.
Either way.... Words do matter!

Most people think this is pretty "black and white" in nature.  That they tell a lie or don't tell a lie.  Well, that's a first graders' way of looking at it, and certainly where it begins, but it does go deeper!  I see three levels that deserve a look.

1st level... A "Lie" or "Not a Lie"
2nd level... Are your words supportive or destructive to others?  Do the things you say hurt or help others? Most mean things that are said (the "black magic spells"), are said in the fit of anger or emotionally charged situations.  Even though apologies might be offered.  The lasting effect(s) of what was said does not go away so easily.  If apologies are made, yet behavior doesn't change, then it can get worse and escalate into a third level...
3rd level... The story you tell YOURSELF after saying something mean as to why you said it,.. is what you said true or not true?  Is that person REALLY what you called them or accused them of?  (this one is much more difficult to sort through!)  A process of asking if your own perspective is true or not true?  Much harder to decipher (I think).

How does one really know if their words are casting "dark spells" or not?   I think the easiest way to answer that is to look at your own life right now.  Evaluate your own "Emotional Net Worth".  The net worth in the financial world is the value of your money and assets minus your financial liabilities and debts...whatever is net (or left over) is your net worth.  Look at that on an emotional level.  Is your current emotion net worth filled with assets or liabilities?  Hmmmm!!  Good question!  Maybe look behind you too (metaphorically speaking)  Is your past filled with a wake of disaster and destruction?  or of emotionally rewarding assets?  Taking ownership of where you are now vs where you've been is important to do on a regular basis.

The truth of where you are right now,...is a direct reflection of what YOU have believed, the words YOU have said, what YOU have done, and the choices YOU have made!

If your life (or even a part of your life) is in shambles, maybe you should stop and look at yourself?!  Evaluate what YOU do to contribute to that outcome, and make necessary changes that lead to the life you DO want.  It's hard though!  To look past the hurtful things said, see what's yours' to correct, and what is not yours' at all.  What's true and deserves correction, and what's NOT true and should not be allowed into your own mental blueprint.  Release what isn't yours'!!....and do not let mean things said to you (or of you) grow to being part of your own belief about yourself.

On the flip side...our words can be powerful in contributing to the overall value of life.  Think of positive words that were once said to you, or you read,.. that you'll never forget.  Think of how they changed you and became anchors in your life, on which you have relied in difficult times.  Words can support, or they can certainly tear down too.

Oh how the words we say have lasting effect (especially with children!)!!

"In the beginning, there was the word, and word was with God"... God Is Love!!  Hopefully our words can be as well!

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

What's YOUR measuring stick...?

You wake in the morning, and you do your morning routine.  You get ready for your day and I'll bet you (like most people these days) log into a social media outlet and start to see what "cool" looks like today.  The amazing body we should have, the house we should be living in, the style of clothes we are supposed be buying, the cars we should be driving, and what the perfect continual state of "being in love" looks like.
The take away from such a daily experience is:  "Wow, look at how short I fall of what I (and my life) "should be".

Occasionally, however, we see things that knock some sense into the warped social media perception that resonate with reality, and allow us to wake up a bit.  Such is what happened to me this morning as I had the exactly morning that I have just explained.  It was someone (whom I have never met) that posted the following:
Life measured through social media (such a limited manipulated filter) consisting of mostly strangers that we have never met.  Why do we do it?

Now I don't think there is anything wrong with using these images to inspire or motivate ourselves...  (kind of like a "vision board")  However, when it's looked at in the light of exposing our own lack and the LACK thereof is what receives our energy?  I believe that can be very unhealthy for our own mental and emotional state.  If we focus on lack, then what will grow..?  Lack!  Yet, if these images are used to inspire us to climb higher, yet not forgetting the good that we ALREADY are and already HAVE... then it can be extremely healthy in that specific light.  #perspective
The measuring sticks that we use these days (social media, and even religious demands on what "perfect" is supposed looks like) and the unbelievable ways that they cause us to feel "less than"..."unworthy"..."sinners"...  I think this can certainly work in ways that cause more harm than good!  How can we possibly measure ourselves with "perfection"?

Instead, why don't we just identify what we want, get excited about our own lives, then give it our best?!  As we progress toward what WE want, then we can measure each day with our OWN measuring stick?  Are we progressing from last month to this current month?  Sometimes it's hard to see progress day by day (because bad days DO come along for us all)...but look back 6 moths, a year, a couple of years.

"Years know things that days never knew"
       ~ Gordon C. Peters

Are we generally working toward our personal goals and doing our best?
What's the overall trend of your life from a year ago?  Doing better?  Worse?  The same?  Are we so concerned with what we're not, that it's causing us to miss out on what actually "IS"and who we ARE...?!?!?!  Who cares if you don't have the same life as others!  You have YOURS'!... and you really can simply focus on what you are and what IS!  Everyday just LIVE and be grateful, and life all of a sudden become pretty damn Awesome!  The more one focuses on what they do have in their life, the more what they have does grow.
(Hmmmm... think on that one a bit ;)

You do YOU!  Live and Let Live!!  yet let's STOP comparing ourselves to people we don't even know!

Very interested in your thoughts which I do invite them all!

Thursday, November 24, 2016

THANKSGIVING :)

Thanksgiving Day...

A day that most across the country, experience the traditions of gathering with those they love.  Breaking bread, bowing their heads and giving 'Thanks' to God, for the blessings of life.  This originates back to the pilgrims in 1621 when their first corn harvest was successful. The first thing they wanted to do was gather in the spirit of thanksgiving, and celebration for the successful harvest.  

President Lincoln was the president that officially designated "Thanksgiving Day" as a national holiday in 1862.  At the height of the Civil War, in a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask God to “commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife” and to “heal the wounds of the nation.”

I imagine that the "wounds of the nation" were quite significant!  The nation was in full fledged war!  Lives were being lost, families were divided in their allegiance to either The North or The South, and to have a leader (in the midst of a war) that was present enough to call on the nation and ask all to join in the spirit together in the spirit of prayer and giving thanks... To me, this is remarkably present and an absolute display of awakened awareness.  

What energetically happens when we pause and give thanks?  Is there truly an energetic shift?  Image what would happen if we (as an entire nation) did this!  The acknowledgment and thanksgiving for that which is good and abundant... and letting go of the woes, differences, and problems of life.  Even if it's for only but a day.  When you do this...does a seed of hope somehow find it's way into your heart and mind?  As you think of your blessings, even the most basic of blessings (shelter, food, health, family, friends, and even your God given breath) do the emotional walls that we have begin to feel like they're coming down?  Often times we don't see these walls and experience the "coming together" until someone is gone.  How often do we hear (in those moments) that "I should have forgiven them while I had the chance"... "Why didn't I reach out to them before they were gone, to mend the fence between us?" ... Is it too late to bow our heads, and reach out to those we hold at a distance, and wave the olive branch of peace?  

Love can only bring others together...
Ego is what creates the distance and emotional division...

I am not unaware of circumstances where it's best to walk away from others, in the light of not being in a toxic situation any longer...  However, if you find yourself leaving others behind...think long and hard before you do...and if you still decide it's best to part ways...then do so with gratitude.  Thanking them for the stepping stone that they were in your life.  No doubt you were a stepping stone for them too,..so both could learn and grow and be able to move to their next personal level.

I don't think it's coincidence, that we are instructed in prayer, to give thanks first.  It brings us to a knee in the light of humility.  The more we thank and acknowledge the blessings granted to us, the more the ego dies and the seeds of hope and happiness begin to emerge from inside us.  "The seeds of sorrow can not take root in a grateful heart"... Paul George.

May we truly give thanks (not just eat turkey) as we gather with loved ones today.  May we all try to offer the olive branch to someone that has been estranged, yet we still love and would be devastated if they were gone for good.  Make that attempt to decrease the distance with those that are estranged...  
and may we relish in those that ARE with us and we hold dear on this special day of Thanksgiving!  


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! God Bless us all :)

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Thoughts are Currency

I came across this article (written by Dr. Jeffry R. Palmer Ph.D.)
http://yoga.org.nz/submissions/philosophy/thoughtenergy.htm
I really enjoyed reading this and feel our world deserves so much more of this line of thinking.  Hope you enjoy it as I did!  :)

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Your thoughts are the currencies with which you exchange energy with the universe. 
Do you believe that your thoughts have energy?  Do you believe that a place or an object can retain the energy of the people that have come into contact with it? If you have ever entered an old home and sensed the presence of its previous occupants, or held an antique item in your hands and felt the history of it, then you know the answers.
Scientists are just beginning to accept the truth about thought energy, and have begun to study what many have known for centuries. In fact some of today’s leading scientists in areas of physics, biology,
psychology and many other fields are starting to recognize the importance of thought energy. 
Positive thought energy in the form of collective meditation has been scientifically proven to reduce violent crime! 
In 1993 a study encouraged by one the world’s leading physicists was undertaken in Washington D.C to determine if focused meditation could have an effect on that city’s crime rate. The results were astonishing.
During the weeks that several volunteers meditated, crime rates fell dramatically by 25 percent! This was no accident. This was scientifically validated and proven to be an effective means of countering the criminal inclinations of a very large group of people, an entire city in fact.
All life is energy.
Thoughts have energy. Negative thoughts create negative events. Positive thoughts create positive results. The energy of thought is either stored in physical structures or is transmitted into the universe, it never dies. Consider what this means. Think about the ramifications.
Where did the clothes you are wearing come from, who made them? Were they manufactured by depressed and impoverished people working in appalling conditions for weeks to make the same amount of money that you spend on a cup of coffee in the morning?
Who built the car that you drive?
Was it built by disgruntled and tired factory workers?
Where some of those workers alcoholics?
Did some of them leave work, go home, beat their wives and children and build your car the next morning?
Who built the house that you live in?
Who came into contact with the food that you ate today?
Starting to get the picture? Everything we come into contact with can hold the thought energy of other people. Even the air that we breathe carries the thought energy of those it surrounds. 
What were the thoughts that have been injected into every part of your life?
How much has the thought energy of others affected you? 
Every thought interacts with the energy of the universe. Negative thought looks for other negatives thought energies to bind with. Eventually a matrix of negative thought energy is created and forms a
thought wave. These powerful negative thought waves manifest themselves in our lives in the form of poverty, crime, war, plagues and natural disasters. Negative energy creates a vacuum, it detracts from the life giving nature of the universe Negative thought waves come in many sizes and have been known by many names, bad luck, misfortune, disaster, evil, curses, etc. Call them what you will, the source of their energy is the same. The source is us. 
Positive thought energy also seeks out other positive energies. If you are a source of positive thought energy, positive and beneficial energy will return to you in many wonderful and unexpected ways. Positive thought energy creates a surplus; it is the surplus of positive thought energy that allows for the creation of life.
You are the source and creator of all things. Everything that happens in your life has a direct connection with the type of energy that you are charging the universe with. You alone are responsible for the type of energy created by your life.
Becoming aware of the power of your own thoughts is the most important step in understanding how to handle the adverse influence of the negative thought of others. Knowing the value of positive thought energy allows us to become sensitive to negative energy. We begin to notice it in our own speech, we see it in our relationships, and we notice it in others. 
Being aware is the key. Once we are aware of the negative thought energy in our lives we can take measures to eliminate it and replace it with beneficial, healing energy. It is as simple as noticing it and dismissing it with our minds. A thought enters our mind that we recognize as negative, we simply
dismiss it. By dismissing negativity we take away its power by not allowing it to manifest further negativity in our lives.
There are of course many other techniques available to combat negative thought energy and create positive abundance in our lives; including focused meditation among others. The critical first step however is simply being aware of the existence and effects of these energies. Hopefully this brief article has helped you to allow that first step to be taken.
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Friday, November 11, 2016

Who are YOU? (The REAL you)

I heard recently these following thoughts:

Worrying about the past is called "regret"
Worrying about the future is called "anxiety"
Being present in the moment you're in right this second is all you really have!

I often try to remind myself of this when my thoughts simply become meandering noise.  As I am awake right now, and have been since 2 am... jet lag is kicking my ass tonight as I'm overseas in Guam for the weekend working and having a look around.

Attitude of gratitude ... remaining present and seeing what IS, instead of what ISN'T in my life.  This is really the only way to find happiness in our day to day lives.  To appreciate the wonder and beauty of our lives...  Look at how much society teaches us to focus on what we may not have.  How much are we trained to yearn and long for better, faster, stronger, more fit, and more (what society calls) beautiful?  We log onto any social media outlet and see the utmost expensive, the utmost lavish, the "perfect life".  How easy it can be to get lost in what we aren't, where we haven't been, and what we don't have.  How do we turn this around?  Flip that thought process 180 degrees.  What DO you have?  No really!!!  What do you have?  If you're saying nothing?  Well, is that really true?  If needed.., start with the utmost basics of life.  Do you have food, shelter, water, and the very breathe that sustains you?  Yes.  Are you warm?  Do you have family or loved ones around?  Maybe they annoy you a little (or a lot), but you still have them.  Open the window, or look around you...do you see anything that is beautiful?  Walk down the road and look at the next living thing that you come across... A plant growing in a pot.  It's at peace, and simply loves "being" and existing...in perfect alignment with the laws of nature and the universe.  Can you close your eyes, stop those noisy thoughts, and simply feel that "oneness" with the rest of the universe?  That universal harmony that is happy in the space and moment that is being given to you right this second?  That is where happiness is found.
I have struggled over the years to learn more about that stillness of spirit... How do i calm this storm that rages inside my soul?  Over my recent reading and meditation, I have (in my mind) learned to define 4 layers of life...
This roots back to a question my Mother asked me years before her passing.   She and I were talking and she asked me... "Who is Matthew Reese Davis?"... I was a bit puzzled by the question and responded with "I'm a Father of two kids, I am a presenter and teacher, investor, beginning film producer,..."  She stopped me, and said... "Matt, those are thing that you DO...that's not what I asked... Who are YOU...?"  I was without words, because I had never thought about things in that light.
I didn't have an answer... I have wanted to have an answer, but I guess I honestly didn't know.  That question was then filed away in my mind, unanswered, and yet still wanting to know the answer; but resolved that I would be learned in time.
As I have read various books lately... this topic has begun to come up again, and the answer has begun to at least take form and take shape in my mind.
We are not what we do.  We are not what we feel.  We are not even what we think either!  Go deeper!!
The consciousness that is aware that you're even having thoughts?  That someone that is watching thoughts flash across the movie screen of your mind...?
THAT IS THE REAL YOU!  Who is that?

For years I have wanted to get to know THAT being.  That is the creator of this mortal experience.  That is where stillness can be found.  Thoughts,..they meander here, then bounce over there, and are sometimes all over the place...other times they are very focused on a specific task at hand.  Emotions come and go... sometimes we are happy, sad, confident, shy, proud, ashamed, and these things called emotions can be all across the board too!  This is not who we are either!  The things we do...that's only the outward result of the thoughts and knowledge and emotions we have.

YOU  -  THOUGHTS  -  EMOTIONS  -  ACTIONS  -  THE LIFE YOU LIVE

Each level is really dictated by the prior level!
The life you live is a result of your actions...
Your actions are a result of the emotions you have...
The emotions you have are a result of the thoughts you entertain and allow...
Your thoughts are are result of  The REAL YOU!

Once you are able to reel things back to THAT level... that is where stillness is found.  That person is you... That entity is still and at peace... That being can just...."BE" and is comfortable just being itself!  Present...  HE/She doesn't have anything to prove, can't BE...anything but what He/She "IS"...

Why is this significant?  Because in the silence of meditation, when you are alone with yourself.  Where can stillness and peace be found?  Only by putting aside the things you DO...putting aside the emotions that you feel...putting aside those noisy thoughts that plague our minds...and being silent.  Wipe the drawing board of your day completely clean.  THEN, you are able to create again with a clear clean slate.  Forgive what went wrong prior to then... Allow tomorrow to figure itself out later... You are in that precise moment, and that is ALL THERE IS.  Choose (it IS your choice) what your life will look like today!  You are able to choose what thoughts you will begin to entertain, grateful and good thoughts lead to positive emotions.  If you're feeling "off" or not the way you want to feel... then check your thoughts.  Thoughts, lead your emotions... emotions cause action... and actions create your day...week...life!  It starts with YOU...the REAL YOU!

Sadness can be such an overpowering emotion and it can spiral into depressions, then deep depression, and then we find ourselves unable to even get out of bed for the day.  "What's wrong with me?"...we ask ourselves.  Then we seek a doctors' advise... we don't feel like the doctor did their job if the doctor hasn't thrown a prescription pill at us...a pill is suppose to make us feel better.  Falsely masking our true authentic selves.  These pills then have side effects, so we get other pills to counter balance the side effects too?  This becomes a pill reliant society that is simply masking how we REALLY feel.  Is true peace possible?  I believe it is.

Can we peel back the layers of actions, emotions, and even thoughts...to just be still for a while..?  To experience the quiet peace of just "being"..?  Then choose with what we wish to fill up our mental, emotional, and actual space...?   I again, believe the answer is YES!  I believe we CAN!

At first it's hard.  For me, very frustrating as I began sitting in silence in the morning, and trying to quiet my mind.  My noisy thoughts had such a hold on me.  Thoughts lead this and that way, and all over the place.  Just like anything though, we eventually learn to go deeper, which is more quiet, and then we learn to go even deeper...and the deeper we go, the quieter it becomes.

Let's fill our minds with the goodness of life, and it truly does begin with our thoughts... Peel back to your center (it takes time and practice)...learn to be still - present - honest.  Then choose to fill up your mind, heart, and life with the goodness that IS within our reach.  Creation happens twice... 1st in our minds...then 2nd in the real world.

Monday, April 18, 2016

"Earth Lab"... Learning

"This above all:  To thine own self be true."  William Shakespeare

Seems like an obvious rule by which to live, yet how often do we break this rule?  I think our ability to follow this rule has everything to do with our boundaries and our ability to say the word "No".
No, to the job that causes us to work in an environment that is less than favorable.  No, to the friend that wants a companion in doing mischievous acts.  No, to situations that might compromise who we are, what we stand for, or our family name.  No, to the boss that wants sales "at any cost", and the only thing that counts is the bottom line and performance numbers.

So many times we might "go along" with something that might not be right (for us)... It might be perfectly fine for others.  Live and let live.  But when is not in alignment with who you are, then it WILL weigh on you.  It will weigh on your mind, heart, and soul.  We must LEARN first what boundaries are ours, then patiently learn to respect and keep them.

I'm pretty open minded in my life, and would say that i've certainly explored boundary lines and where they are to be set... I would say that I had to touch the stove to feel it for myself before i accepted the rules that i now have in my life.  I have been patient with myself and I've allowed myself the latitude to learn and explore...  If something I experience turns out to not be right for me...I don't drag myself through the mire of sorrow or depression when i've said or done something that didn't serve in a positive way.  I can look at it for what it is, immediately ACCEPT it, and acknowledge that it didn't serve,.. and resolve to not repeat it again.  I do not understand the shame, self defeating, and horrible punishments that people impose on themselves.  It's OK to make mistakes, and move on.  Nobody is perfect, and we are here in this "earth-lab" to learn and grow.  My therapist calls it "Earth-Lab"... I have grown to love this term because sometimes, in a lab, explosions happen....things get messy...and as the mixture of ingredients occurs, sometimes its perfect, and other times it's not.  THAT'S OK!!  That's why it's a lab!  It's a place where we get to practice and learn for ourselves.

Shall we be less hard on ourselves (and others) and allow learning to occur?!...  As we are learning even our own boundaries,.. and learning those times when the word "No" is appropriate, maybe it's ok to be patient with others (and even ourselves) and not toss them aside?!  Our timing might be different than others'... That's ok! ...Mixing and learning takes time!... but when we DO find ingredients that work, yet still need a little fine tuning...shall we not sabotage it and throw everything out the window?! Time, focus, and patience is what allows something to eventually be not just "good", but better than ever before.  Sounds odd, but oh how people fear even what eventually could be "amazing"... Odd to me.  Sad to me.

Time tends to say what needs to be said...and show what needs to be seen.  I say let's be kind to ourselves and others as we learn the boundaries that are right for us...and maybe its ok to have messes sometimes.  They clean up, and there is nothing that can't be mended with care and patience.

Part of being true to thine self...is also being patient with yourself.

Monday, March 28, 2016

Do you think people actually love the way this song professes?

Rachel Platten - Stand By You

https://youtu.be/bwB9EMpW8eY



Monday, February 15, 2016

Risking "The Stay"

The thought of taking an exit to escape enters my mind from time to time.  The whole hearted and the vulnerable don't take those exits or escape routes.  The wholehearted stay and stare vulnerabilities in the face!  They might get hurt.  They might end up embarrassed or rejected...but they stay nonetheless!  Easy to hide to protect!..but oh how that becomes a habit which results is remaining alone.  

"Your prison is walking through this world all alone."  
Desperado ...The Eagles

Stay!  Be vulnerable! ... if others meet you there in that vulnerable space... Connection, appreciation, respect, trust, and love could be yours'. 

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