How can we change the world?

This is such a big question upon so many people’s minds as they look around them to a world with so many issues that seem apparent to each particular individual. Note it is issues that seem apparent to each particular individual, as the experience of one reflects issues important to the individual. Each of us has a sense of heart-driven desire to see a positive outcome occur for our pet-world-issues, or causes. Does the enormity of the issues cause your heart to pause?

You can make a difference. We can all make a difference. It is so much easier when we can see where and how.

One Man Can, One Woman Can

Getting the changes we’d like to see happen in the world meet resistance as politics, cultures, and business appear to create blockades to creating change. When Princess Di passed, millions bought flowers, crowded streets, and lamented her loss and the lesser impact for change that represented.

And yet, were each of these millions to pick up one actionable item, to donate rather than buy flowers, the impact of these millions would have dramatically impacted the causes Princess Di pursued. The little things we can do, do make a difference.

How to Get Volunteers

Many organizations seeking to create positive change are often challenged to find the support in their communities. Getting volunteers out is a job that also requires financial and human resources, along with creative ideas to reach out and find the hearts that beat.

We the People create change, have power, as the old adage “United we stand, divided we fall” reminds us. Amassing ourselves to support our causes with real intent…. well, imagine the impact.

TimeRaiser: A Vision Whose Time has Come

First noted is the Vision of TimeRaiser:

Our vision for the Timeraiser is to make it the most memorable, engaging and impactful civic engagement program in the country.

Our hope is that, in a few years, thousands of Canadians will be able to trace their engagement in their community back to the Timeraiser. We want to plant the seeds of life-long civic involvement.

From 2008 through 2010, we will host 16 Timeraisers across the country, that generate 250,000 volunteer hours, engage 5,000 Canadians in the charitable sector, invest over $300,000 in the careers of emerging artists and enable the valuable work of hundreds of nonprofits.

The expansion to other Canadian cities does not come at the expense of going deep in the communities we are already in. The Timeraiser will play the role of catalyst, bringing the emerging concepts of community development to the audience of volunteers and agencies that participate. Our experience shows that when given the right opportunity, people who get involved, stay involved.

Finally, we will be developing really cool strategies to leverage the involvement of professionals in the fields of Human Resources, Accounting, Organizational Design and Information Technology to elevate and expand the Timeraiser programming.

Second, visit the TimeRaiser website to learn more, and Vancouverites, be ready for more.

Getting involved your community isn’t always easy. That’s why VOLUNTEER VANCOUVER and FRAMEWORK FOUNDATION are proud build on the successful 2008 program to co-host the 2nd Vancouver Timeraiser. The Timeraiser has made it simple for Canadians in their twenties and thirties to find meaningful opportunities to fit their busy lifestyles. After successfully launching campaigns in six Canadian cities, the 2nd Annual VANCOUVER TIMERAISER will be held on Thursday September 24th at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown.

What Others Say

Volunteer Vancouver’s Chair states:

No other Vancouver event impresses the depth of impact and richness of innovation. If the arts inspire your heart, community engagement uplifts your soul, and camaraderie nourishes your being, then Timeraiser is where you need to be” says Chilwin Cheng – host of the 2008 Vancouver Timeraiser, Chair of Volunteer Vancouver’s Board of Directors and Principle/founder of Legal Process Solutions

Download 2009 Vancouver Timeraiser Press Release of August 26th, 2009 for more details.

A fog rolled in, quietly slithering in low to the ground, imperceptible at first until it was too late to escape the chill soup.

It’s not You, it’s the It!

What the…? Do you even know what you’re talking about?

It! It’s the It, man! You’ve got it, and typically, we’ve all got it in some way, shape, or form. The beautiful thing about it though, is that It isn’t You. It just is what it is.

You, on the other hand, are the pure seed of creation seeking out its fullest potential through growth. Trouble is, you spend so much time in an imperfect world taking the hits that life throws at you, that you don’t even realize that you’re experiencing wounds and stunted areas you perceive as your imperfections. People own it as a life sentence instead of seeing their opportunities!

——-

Tell a story, or just write? Stalled by what I thought might be a clever devil, rather than an authentic self, I questioned. This is a big deal, a big moment, a potential turning-point. Dare I be so bold as to flow with it?

When a bunch of heavy puzzle pieces fall into place, a wave of emotion rushes to every pore as tears of release threaten to flood. The realization of a source that is a cause to so much of life’s difficulties, as I experience it, is profound. Reeling, my brain suddenly feels emptied, and yet, a fog is preventing focus and memory to serve normally through my day. This is some big stuff I uncovered.

It’s interesting: To sit in this experience at this moment, it is simultaneously a pleasing and unpleasant experience. It is full of rich emotions, with below-the-surface remnants of sadness, anger, frustration, and confusion swimming around freely, while a stronger emotion of wonder accompanied by curiosity, has more conscious power, even though it sometimes sees fear. Ready for a big change?

Awareness, now sees the truth as it happens, recognizes the reactions, and the choice to change the old-patterns of reaction to a healthy response living authentically. The exercise of mind, to choose differently, to commit to the process, and to engage actively with that process, will prevail over old-patterns. It’s an interesting fight.

I can see the resistance too. There is a devil in the experience of change that wishes to stay within the security of even the most foul life experiences. It is more afraid of the unknown, than it is of the painful reality it has managed to find some solace within. Even though you and I can sit here and recognize this, we also feel that other sense screaming, “No, this is not the experience of life I signed up for! There is more! Much more!” Pay attention.

Knowing it is one thing. Acting upon it is quite another. Need it be so difficult? We’ll discover more on this as the story and research unfolds.

Please note, this post is not recommending people do not seek proper medical advice, nor stop their medications without first consulting their supervising physician.

In many respects, mental illness can be overcome with a concerted effort that applies the mind to the task of creating change. The problem for most is they feel overwhelmed by and completely identify with whatever condition has been applied to their particular problem. Does this mean you’ve been diagnosed incorrectly? Not necessarily. It means you have more power over creating change than you might otherwise believe.

Bad things happen to people all the time. Sometimes, the effects are more traumatizing than other events, times, places, etc. Whatever the trigger, a cause and effect occurrence has resulted in a mental illness. Instead of simply treating the symptoms, anyone suffering also wants to treat the cause, to get to the root, to find the missing link, and solve the outcome of the current experience they are living. How is it possible?

The main thing to recognize is your experience of self. First, the mind and it’s thoughts – all that thinking. What’s going on with that and are you identifying yourself with those thoughts? I think most people are so naturally accustomed to the mind through years of schooling and so forth, that when the negative spark that triggers a direction down an unhealthy path, the creeping in of that negative experience and those thoughts goes unnoticed until it is too late to nip it in the bud. Now more intentional effort has to applied to overcome what has built up over a period of time.

The second thing is the emotions. We do feel things. Ironically, we rarely realize that emotions can be unreliable, even though they can be quite wonderful at times. These emotions often times are actually creations of the mind. Events happen that make us happy. Why do they make us happy? Usually, it relates to who we are, what we value, and what we believe to be true, not to mention that we’re so good at imagining positive outcomes that we desire in any moment that a wonderful emotion is triggered. Again, these emotions are most often triggered by the mind, and they also carry chemicals that create physical feelings that reinforce emotions which in turn reinforce thought.

Are you seeing the pattern?

Now I’ve mentioned the body too, and I’d say that is a third thing to be aware of too. As emotions are expressions of feeling, the body also carries feelings that actually have little to do with emotion. Discomfort, pain, and quite honestly, a whole plethora of physical sensations too numerous to mention and sift through. What is important to realize though, is that it is the physical body that can speak to you more frankly and honestly than both the mind and emotions. What needs to change? It is giving you clues all the time.

Now the secret ingredient. You – the real you. When suffering from anything – mental, physical, or emotional – we become absorbed by that state of being. However, the mind sometimes barks at the situation – all the self-talk we’re familiar with – expressing its frustration at this current reality. The mind remembers the good, the bad, and the ugly, but mostly compares. Why am I like this now, when I was amazing before? It knows, and shows, and the emotion kicks in as frustration begs for release and freedom from this painful reality.

So who is this Real You I speak of? When all the storms of your condition overwhelm you, have you ever noticed another aspect of yourself noticing? It just sits there, another voice, that speaks silently in awe, wonder, sadness, love, or curiosity, and surrenders to your choice. However, when we’re quiet with it, we recognize that it simply is Aware.

This is You – Awareness. This awareness recognizes what is happening with the body, emotions, and thoughts, but has to wait for you to connect to your awareness before it can start bringing about change. Awareness also knows it is a process, that it is in a physical world of natural law, and that nature’s laws have cause-and-effect creating courses in our lives, and it knows that with nature’s laws we are all subject to the processes of nature.

That includes how our bodies work, how they heal, and all the various obstacles that represent the blockage we must overcome to get our lives back on the right track. The closer you are to your Awareness, the better equipped you are to deal with what life throws at you. The more tightly connected your remain to your Awareness, the more able you are to weather those storms, whether it is anxiety, a phobia, depression, and a host of other mental and physical illnesses.

It isn’t always about getting it right again. Sometimes it is about becoming right in the cirumstances that have you. It’s all in the mental game and can only be won with exercising that muscle that brings Awareness into authority over the mind, body, and emotions.

All the best, it is a process, so stay at it. Falling is moving forward.

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THE ANXIETY REVERSE SOLUTION INCLUDES

• Introduction to the limbic system and its reprogramming
• Specific diagnostic module
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• Breathing techniques to regulate the neurological and chemical balance of the brain
• Specific module for Generalized Anxiety disturbs
• Specific module against Panic Attacks
• Specific module to solve Phobias
• Help desk and technical support available 24 hours a day, 360 days a yearFind Out More

people with bad backgrounds can make a difference

There it is. A search phrase.

In case you’re wondering, it’s mainly what I do nowadays. Understanding searches, traffic, websites, internet marketing, etc. So I check my stats and look at what traffic brings people to my site. It’s interesting too, because instead of focusing heavily on keyword optimization tactics, and aside from some bookmarking that has helped people find me, it is odd phrases that bring the most amount of traffic to my site. And I LOVE IT.

This represents an interest by someone, somewhere, with a question, a wish to gain more perspective, on sensitive issues. I’ve been told my writing, whether it be argument or style I don’t know, leaves no quarter for discussion. I was rather surprised by that, but then, maybe that is because there is so much conflict, paradox, as well as the good, the bad, and the ugly within the being of the human experience. We are driven by more forces than our mind can accept.

Consciousness knows you, as I might know you, the one visible to me where I can see all of your goodness in your eyes and heart. Yet, the physical forces of our existence here is driven by the forces of nature, and whether natural function, a disorder or disease, or the hormones and the brain-stem, it is all really irrelevant. Awareness is the bridge between these two experiences of self, where the Consciousness, a part of us that is puzzled at our ineptness to break free from whatever is holding us back, meets the Knowing sensation driving the physical body with experiences we can only describe as emotional.

If you think that isn’t you, see where you are 10 years from now and decide which direction you went, and whether you could have impacted it differently had you been less resistant, or made better decisions, or. whatever… but this isn’t about judging, it is about accepting that there is a variety of forces acting upon our human experience as individuals, and that with more conscious effort at improving our awareness in our individual situations, each one of us can make great strides to counter and overcome these forces. Did I mention the power of the mind? The power of thought? That’s what it is about.

Just as prolonged periods of negative emotional experiences can send someone into a spiral of depression, positive thoughts and counter-intuitive thoughts can bring balance and healing back to the physical body. Spirit over Matter? Sounds like someone’s idea of it once upon a time, and yet, since consciousness cannot be defined, maybe it still is true.

If you’re having trouble accepting this, it is important to note that the thoughts and emotions create a dynamic relationship in the physical body that continually reinforces the negative until such time as the brain’s rewiring has the thalamus pumping the wrong doses of chemicals throughout our body. Then there are our entertainments and vices and their impact, as well as our personal situations, relationships, and environment and their impact on our chemical balance in our body.

So go easy on yourself, and on others, and persevere.

people with bad backgrounds can make a difference

There she be, what a beautiful statement. I’m glad it found its way to my site today. I’m glad it allowed me to share this with you and I am really glad to not only be able to say “YES!” to this statement in agreement, I can also say that I know of people who are proof positive. And then there’s the fact that none of us are angels any more or less than anyone else. The change begins within, with awareness and exercise – choice – and that choice determines difference is what difference gets.

peace out

Whenever things aren’t going well in life, it can be observed long after we’ve survived the struggle that all we had to do was make a change we didn’t want to, or were struggling with, or didn’t want to change. As the year of transitions to end a decade of transitions continues, I have at times been perplexed at the trouble climbing the hill. Try as I might, I kept stumbling and falling down.

Recently, the work, work, work, push, push, push, method I’d been adhering to crushed me with tension, headache, backache, etc. Yes, we’re pushing a new project up a steep hill and there are times when we can put in the extra effort. This wasn’t just putting in the extra effort. It was the underlying fear driving that effort. It isn’t a sustainable energy – it is a destructive energy. Turning it around, takes the indirect approach.

Balance is key and self-care is key. That fear suggested at a lack of trust – at its basic root – toward myself and my abilities to meet the challenges of each day and my future. Ultimately, that is at the core, even where other circumstances may also be present. It has taken a few conversations with some good people to gain perspective, to see what I was missing, and to relax into the positive nature that the proactive steps embarked upon months ago materialized today. Taking a breath, it is easier to see the other areas of life still in deep neglect.

Time distribution values all areas of One’s Own Life:

• Physical Well-Being
  • eating regularly and healthily
  • getting enough sleep
  • following as regular a routine as possible
  • getting some exercise
• Mental Well-Being
  • time alone to process, reflect, and let go
  • time to be creative and to recreate
  • stimulation from diverse sources of interest and exposure
  • develop the ability to quiet the noise
  • clear the clutter – physical spaces affect mental spaces (subjective levels of experience)
  • like-minded people for increased clarity
  • diverse people for challenge and growth
• Emotional Well-Being
  • find ways to give to the people around you
  • participate in community life
  • share your love (for things, subjects, places, pursuits, people, etc.)
  • find your physical expression partner – get over your belief blocks
  • be honest to yourself
  • stay in your integrity (true to your values, your heart, your gut, your instinct – not by another’s value of integrity)

As with most things, I’m certain you have more to add to the list. These are some of the things I’ve recognized the most over the years.

One way or the other, life goes on, and so do we. And if we don’t? So what!

Children are wonderful sources of love, life, laughter, joy, and so much more, including inspiration.

They’re also a pretty good example of “So What?”

One path is closed, take the other. Remember how much of an exciting adventure life was when we were younger? The trick is to recapture that zest and outlook again.

I guess I should realize my own advice more intentionally. I seem to want to keep bumping into closed doors repeatedly, thinking I can break through, until I eventually move on to something else half-heartedly and all bruised.

Keep following the open doors, and don’t waste too much time pushing against closed doors. Your life will move into much more exciting times this way.

From the archives August 28, 2006

Getting excited about life can sometimes seem elusive when we’re dealing with many challenges and the associated stress. We always want to experience the best that life has to offer. At times, this preference may have us trying to avoid the challenges life throws our way. Regardless of my preference though, life seems to proceed and the challenge is survived. Along the way, as multiple challenging life situations are simply allowed to co-exist, I discovered an important quality that sustains and fuels my spirit. Not only does this quality help with the journey through difficulty, it also attracts positive experiences that can act as a counter-balance. This quality is gratitude.

Gratitude is more than just acknowledging thanks. It is more than intellectual exercise. It is much more than an obligation. Gratitude is a state of being that appreciates all that is good and welcomed in our life. Gratitude appreciates from the mind through intentional thought that recognizes the richness of our emotional connections with others, and all good things that bless our lives. Relationships are the most significant source for virtually all experiences of gratitude.

Relationship is at play in every interaction and opportunity with another living being. This is one significant reason why pets have been recognized as having a therapeutic and healing effect on patients. The positive experience and exchange of loving energy is present in that moment creating a brief encounter of gratitude, love, and joy. The worry and fear related to a loss of health is momentarily forgotten allowing the fullness of the positive experience to work its’ magic. Taking hold of this perspective, if we acknowledge and allow this focus to become a guiding presence with every connection to another life, I wonder how much more gratitude would be experienced and how much more magic would be enjoyed? I have been enjoying this experience of gratitude and how it positively affects my outlook and each day. With this enjoyment also comes the fuel to go further, not just with gratitude, but also with every other area and dream for my life. A large part of this is the gratitude for the unknown.

The unknown represents the many surprises that show up every day. Too often, we’re so busy with our daily agenda that we don’t take the time to notice the unexpected and discover what surprise might be available for us in that moment. This is when the unknown can be thought of as the Unknown, the Mystery, the Universe, the Creator, etc. Whatever your belief system, there is an invisible element to the beauty and magic that has created all that we see and experience around us every year. Noticing the surprises that show up each day can enhance the experience of the unknown, strengthening the relationship with the Unknown, and increasing the experience of gratitude. With a focus and attention on gratitude each day, the experience of it in your body, in your being, heightens a sense of energy that could be thought of as aliveness. This energy, also a powerful and positive energy, attracts likeness. This is where it is important to know that gratitude is more than an intellectual exercise.

Experiencing, or feeling the energy of gratitude fully in the body is as important as the mental focus on those things you are grateful for. The mental process assists in the transformation to living a life of gratitude. The bodily experience will arrive with consistent mental focus, capturing the negative thoughts and replacing them with a positive thought, preferably combined within the context of gratitude. Consistent effort equates to practicing until this outlook and way of being becomes a habit – a positive habit that replaces one or many negative habits. As you can see, this is not an exercise of obligatory duty, offering kindness, thanks, etc., out of a sense of responsibility to others. This is an act for your own freedom and well-being.

If we are resentful we cannot experience gratitude. Trying to express gratitude out of duty to another is misplaced and misdirected. Gratitude isn’t about what you are giving another. Gratitude is about you – being in gratitude – and what it gives you. This again requires that some attention and focus must be given to the negative thoughts that are preventing the beautiful and powerful experience of gratitude. Inquire within yourself to understand the root that blocks your progress. Acknowledge the weakness once it is identified and invite the weakness to observe while you dance with possibility through exercising gratitude. In time healing and transformation will occur. Be patient with the process and yourself.

Too often we want to see results today, let alone tomorrow. As with the nature of all things, seeds need time to take root and grow. Even here you can experience gratitude, knowing that the Unknown is also acting invisibly upon each see that you plant. The best aspect of this possible reality is that it relinquishes your need to fret and worry about the results. This permits other qualities to arise within your being that also contributes to the fullest experience of gratitude: Faith and trust. Continue with the journey of gratitude and transformation knowing that you are going to see results without worrying what those results should look like. Don’t look at where you’re not, look at where you are and be joyous!

This thing was eating at my gut. Sitting at the computer playing my little games wasn’t filling the time. Something is urging me toward action, toward more activity. Where, to what focus, and for what purpose?

I log in to check my site stats. I’ve got lots of archived articles from the old scheduled for release this week. What else is there to do? As I ponder ever so briefly at my WordPress dashboard, eyes glancing over the posts, incoming links, and comments recently added by site visitors. That thing is still pushing.

As quickly as I launched into my WordPress account, I hit the Write Post link and start typing. I feel it gnawing at me, wanting to give voice to the violent push and pull that happens sometimes during transition. Having experienced a few too many set-backs stacked back-to-back, a defensive posture wants to cringe back from the resistance. Big mistake when that happens.

The word success in the title represents becoming the best that you can. It’s not about material wealth, although it would not be without material comforts given the passions, ambitions, purposes, and values that drive you. There is no right or wrong, there are just differences, just as there are many people. With life having crashed reality back down the personal evolution chain, a time may arise when there is no belief, will, or strength to continue.

Push on! This is what it is to become anything. Overcoming has been the milestone in every achievement set upon by any person, at any age, for any reason. From learning to tie a shoe-lace, to reaching the summit of Mount Everest. Frustration, fear, anger, tears, and all that negative garbage that gets in your way, is just stuff for you to overcome.

Push on! Face it Head-On, and Change Toward Success!

Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed, “Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.”

I remember when I was parenting young children how rules, discipline, and boundaries created a stronger sense of security for both of the boys. For a time, trying to be ultra-modern and free, we offered much more leeway and freedom. We found during that period that the boys seemed to shrivel, become uncertain, and ironically crankier.  Something I’d heard previously brought us back to our senses, giving the boys a much stronger foundation that saw them flourish.

Boundaries, rules, and discipline are necessary elements of societal life, and is encountered in every adult encounter inter-personally, organizationally, and culture to culture. We don’t have it right, but if history is any judge, we are in many ways getting better. Before naming all the things that are wrong, keep it in perspective; our getting better also means we’ve discovered, invented, and implemented new tools and resources, ideas and politics, and a slew of choices that see many mistakes being made. Considering the societal norms of today versus 250 years ago, we have made progress.

With each generation we are challenged to operate in a societal culture of norms that need growth and change, amongst the tide of resistance to change. We know change to be inevitable, yet another facet of life and changes sees people resisting change as they seek to find a sense of peace and stability – maybe just to have a rest. Others, are just plain obstinate. Me too, at times.

And here it is, our biggest want, observed by Emerson, is to have someone willing to make us do what we can. We are capable of so much, and yet often find ourselves doing so little with our talent, passion, and dreams. Someone willing to make you do what you can also must be willing to assert rules, boundaries, and yes, discipline. You know what? In some ways it does feel uncomfortable, but I’ve also recognized the suck-it-up factor, acknowledgement, encouragement, belief, and empowerment that fuels my next moves.

Step-by-step, it gets better. Step-by-step, I improve. Step-by-step, I sometimes fall. Showing up each day, getting back into the fray, and communicate with those who matter with the stakes in your life. Choose, open, and grow with each challenge and opportunity to discover more of your potential. Step-by-step, my someone will still tell me when I’ve appreciated their feedback and made an invitation for more. Thank-you, I feel that force of ability to achieve my personal potential. What about you?
Have you got your someone?

Need I say more?

Dealing with the turbulence that comes often with changes, I can lose my cool, lose my patience, lose my calm, lose my mind, and even lose my way. This happens as the physical calm of routine vanishes and the mind enforces new routines and both the mental and physical aspects of our experience need to adjust. Fancy explanation for the jitters. So what the heck can you do to weather the storm while the transition is underway?

What did I say already? Hang on!!

Duh! Seems like pretty loopy advice, doesn’t it? Oops, sorry about stating the obvious. Hang on? Hang onto what? Well, as I’ve come to see it, hang on to the present moment. Every time I freak it seems to be when I start worrying about tomorrow, how it will work out, whether I’ve got the chops for it, and on and on. Whenever I catch my emotions and thoughts embarking upon the freight train of worry, I’ve got to haul out the Stay Calm Conductor to delay that train.

“Halt!!!” he hollers, and the emotions and thoughts ready to run amok are put back into park, sent out to pasture, and I use whatever mind-trick my imagination can creatively use at any given moment. Hang on to the present moment, to NOW…. there is and never will be any other time. This is the place that you win the battles that eventually help you to win the war.

Funny side thought. Some people get critical when I use negatively charged words (like fight, battle, war) and yet that is exactly what we do within our own mind, between each other, and around the world everyday. Maybe if we could come to terms with that on all levels – namely the internal battles we all face – maybe then we could start securing peace around the world.