Dropping Ego

We are all aware of what the word ego means. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ego as "the self, especially as contrasted with another self or the world." What strikes me about this definition of ego is that it is based in separation. Ego is the individual you when separated from everything else. Why would we need to drop ego at this critical time? We need to drop ego because the problems we have in the world today have been created within a state of separation.

When I look at my own ego, I see problems. It's my ego that gets offended when someone treats me poorly. If I allow myself to stay in ego instead of reverting back to my BEing (that is joined with Oneness), I will act out aggressively instead of understanding their poor treatment is the result of the abuses they themselves have suffered at the hands of others acting through ego. It's my own ego that seeks to build itself up instead of acknowledging the value and worth of others. This, in turn, feeds into all the other separation that is in the world. While ego has been necessary to experience duality in a conscious way, we have come to a point in time where it has created enough separation we will destroy the planet. We need to get ego under control if we are to survive.

Dropping ego requires opening the heart and living from that place. This is because our hearts are what connect us to Oneness. Oneness is the space where the illusion of separation is shattered. It is within Oneness that the solutions we seek for our dying world come to light because everything exists there. All information is accessible. It is from the heart that we understand what is necessary for the health and well-being of the whole.

We cannot solve problems through the same thinking that created them. It is in ego the problems were created in the first place. It is time to drop the separation mindset. It is time to drop the ego and learn to live together as One.

~CSE

The Difference Between Victim And Victor

You see them everywhere: victims and victors. Some people seemingly go through life with a black cloud overhead. Other people appear to waltz through life easily, without any major bumps along the way. While the circumstances of both look like a matter of luck, the difference has nothing to do with luck. The difference between victim and victor is responsibility.

Victims play the game of everything being the fault of someone else. Victims never deserve what happens to them. They just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and the people with the real power take advantage. The fact of the matter is, if you believe yourself to be powerless to change your circumstances, you are powerless. You become the victim at every turn.

Victors are very different. It isn't that bad things don't happen to them. Bad things happen to everyone. Victors have a unique mindset. Instead of sitting back and watching things happen, they take responsibility and take control. When something bad happens, they look at the situation and say, "What can I do to change this?" They then begin to take corrective action. They may not be successful on the first or even the hundredth attempt. They just keep trying different things until they hit upon an idea that works. While it appears that victors have an easy life, they have just learned to take responsibility for what happens to them. They roll with the punches and do not let the negative get them down for long.

Do you feel in control of your life, or are you enslaved by the actions of others? Only you can save yourself. Accept responsibility for what happens in your life and you will transition from victim to victor.

~CSE

    

The Problem With Arguments

I'll admit it. I have a few soapbox issues that will still make me want to argue with other well meaning people. I'm better at recognizing them now than I was in the past, but I am still a work-in-progress. The thing is, arguments do not take us to a good place. They take us to a distracting place, and that is the whole problem.

Look at the debate on gun control. On one side of the debate you have people who do not like guns. They don't like the fact guns can be deadly. They don't like the perceived pain guns can cause. These people wish guns did not exist.

On the other side are the people who own guns (or at least believe people should have the right to own them). These people will use the guns to protect themselves. Sometimes they use them to hunt or just the thrill of shooting a target at the shooting range. One thing they don't do is go around shooting other people. Yes, every once in a while there is a tragic accident or someone becomes enraged and acts before thinking, but the VAST majority of gun owners go their whole lives without incident.

While I can see both sides of the argument, I also see this: arguing about the right to own guns gets nobody anywhere. All it does is serve to piss people off so they don't cooperate in other ways. The other sad truth is, neither argument addresses the real issues!

Instead of arguing, we should be asking questions! For example, why did the most recent shooting take place on an Oregon college campus? Was the shooter mentally ill? Was he on drugs? Was he angry? The point is, mental illness, drug use and anger management are the issues that need to be addressed!!! Giving someone a gun or taking one away is not the point!!! You can kill someone with a knife or a car or a baseball bat just as easily as you can kill someone with a gun!!!

When we wrap ourselves in arguments over things like guns or religion or politics or marriage, we unwittingly wrap ourselves up in the problems instead of the solutions! Arguments serve no useful purpose at all, unless you are one of the world's power brokers. The people in power are invested in our arguments because arguments distract us from our true callings. This is why the media (which they own and control) brings these arguments to us in every way imaginable--even through our entertainment!

Arguments do not allow us to fix the world. Want to create a new and improved world? Stop arguing and focus on solutions!!! It's that simple.

~CSE

Focus On Connection

This morning I feel like I am sitting on a powder keg. Right now, everything seems calm and relatively normal. However, it feels like it would only take one little match to set everything off in flames. It is for this reason I would urge you to focus on your own personal connection to God/Source today and in the days that follow.

Take the time to get out in your environment. Feel the earth under your feet. Get a sense of the rocks, and trees, and water, and everything in your environment. If you happen to be in a city, take the time to sense the buildings, the street, the cars and people. Allow yourself to be very aware of what goes on around you. Be intentional about it.

As you begin to sense individual things, allow yourself to focus on the energetic interactions between yourself and whatever object you are focusing on. Feel the connection and interaction between it and yourself. Ask if there is anything important you need to understand.

At times of great change, it is important to understand your connections to all things in order to gain the wisdom and insight those connections hold. When you feel your connection, you are able to see solutions where many people can only see the problem. You become the answer.

Problems are only problems when you don't have solutions. Remain connected to God/Source and you will have the answers you need.

~CSE

  

On The Other Side Of Fear

Wars and rumors of wars. Disease. Environmental destruction. Failing economies, falling stocks and poverty. The world is one great big mess. Most days it is easy to get lost in the negativity of it all. Being fearful is the natural result of such a focus. The thing is, there is so much more on the other side of fear.

There is friendship and peace on the other side of fear. Many people work behind the scenes every day to bring cooperation to situations that are on the verge of becoming volatile. The fact of the matter is, most people worldwide do not hate and dislike the idea of fighting. It is only our supposed "leaders" who fight for control of the world's resources that take us into conflict in the first place. We have the power to change this by making our voices heard.

There are cures for disease on the other side of fear. Often, finding them requires looking beyond what we are told. Some of the cures we know about. Others still require finding. Our world and even our own bodies can reveal secrets to how to keep our bodies in health.

The world's money problems continue to play in the forefronts of our minds, thanks to the media. Markets all over the world are volatile and in freefall. The thing to remember here is, you can't eat money. Even though we believe we need money to survive, the reality is we don't. We need food to survive. We need water and air and access to clothing and housing. Understand the things we need to survive already exist. We just need to rethink the system that gets them to us.

Stepping into the other side of fear requires us to focus on improvements that need to be made. The only reason we need to even acknowledge the fear is so we understand exactly what needs to be changed in the first place. Fear does not need to be given place in our hearts.

It is time to step out on the other side of fear, and change the world.

~CSE

  

Why Are People Starving?

Overpopulation. Climate change. Resource depletion. Such is the nature of the arguments as to why we can't feed the population of the planet. I have one word to say in response. Bullsh!t!!! Solutions are out there!!! We have just been dumbed down to the point we are no longer asking the right questions on how we can change the situation!!! There are things people are doing all over the planet--things that could be replicated on a global scale--that would go a long ways to fighting starvation!!!

There is a farmer in California's Sonoma valley who produced $100,000/acre last year during their record-breaking drought!!! He didn't use GMO's, pesticides, or herbicides. He didn't have to weed. He used 10 times less water than the average farm. How did he do this? He did it by innovating. He did it by breaking the rules. (You can read the details here.)

Paul Kaiser farms just under 8 acres. Interestingly, he doesn't plow his fields. He doesn't have to. He uses compost so well that university agriculture specialists have tested his fields and found four feet worth of amazingly rich topsoil, produced through the extensive use of composting. Imagine all the nutrition that comes from eating the veggies he produces!!! For me, this is the way farming should be. Small scale. Local. Sustainable. 

The way most food is produced here in the United States is through huge, unhealthy disease ridden and literally poisonous practices. GMO's. Overspraying of pesticides and herbicides. Soil that has been depleted of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Food produced in such ways comes out with very little nutritional value and toxins that need to be processed away (which pretty much kills any nutritional value the food might have had to begin with). Obesity is a common problem here as people's bodies crave more nutrients than the food contains. 

But I am basing my theory on just one anecdotal story, you say? This is just one example of land in California's breadbasket? This is not something that can be replicated in the rest of the world, right?!!! True. This probably would not work in the desert. Colder climates could also be factors in growing enough food to feed the planet. 

There are solutions out there!!! It's really more a matter of asking the right questions and looking/listening for the results!!! There is a project going on in the middle of Milwaukee, Wisconsin where over a million pounds of food is produced year round on three acres of land. If you know anything about Milwaukee, it is a cold climate during the winter that sees a great deal of snow. How do they do it? They use an aquaponics system within greenhouses heated only by the sun in the warmer months and compost production in the winter months (the composting process builds heat). To make it even better, they produce organic food that includes protein sources in the form of fish!!!

(Learn about the program here.)

Food production even in places like India can be increased tremendously using different farming techniques than what "science" claims is best!!! Certain farmers there have been experimenting with a technique known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). It focuses on improving the management of soil, water and nutrients instead of on the seeds. (You can read more on this here.)

The point with all of this is, there are farmers out there who are asking questions and trying new techniques with amazing results. Why is this not the norm? Seems to me that farmers need to be asking their own questions and not looking to the status quo for answers. Not only would they produce higher quality food, but they would produce more of it (and make more money)!!!

Solutions are out there! There is no reason we need to just accept the idea the world cannot possibly sustain the population! Dare to be different!!!

Why are people starving? Because we just stupidly accept what they powers that be tell us about the condition of the planet instead of asking our own questions and trying new things!!! It is through our own apathy and laziness that we destroy ourselves!!! It is only when we are willing to accept responsibility for what exists that we are able to change the world. 

Take responsibility! Ask questions! Change the world!!! 

~CSE

  

Ignoring Problems Will Not Make Them Go Away!!!

I have a lot of friends who believe you have to focus on what you want (instead of what you don't want) if you want to make good things happen in your life. While I believe this Law of Attraction principle, I also believe those who focus purely on the "good" are also missing something. Fact of the matter is, ignoring problems does not make them go away.

"Oh! But if you focus on what is wrong with something you'll get more of what's wrong!" Yes. If you spend all your time dwelling on the problem it will probably continue. How then can we get beyond the problem and into the love and light portion of the program? We need to recognize the problem and then ask what we can do to solve the problem! The key is to focus on the solution!!!

Asking questions is one of the best tools we have for overcoming obstacles. The question is what enables us to see new perspectives. What is the problem? Why is it a problem? Is there a way around it? Can we use this problem as a stepping stone to better places? What other ways are there to look at this problem? As you ask questions with an open heart, you begin to access new information. Solutions become available to those who ask for them!!!

Problems are actually a huge part of the learning and growth process. They challenge us to think in new ways. They force us to think outside the comfort of our well-worn boxes. If you don't have problems, you probably aren't growing much either.

Problems are a part of life, whether you choose to see them or not. Recognizing a problem will help you if you allow it to be used as a jumping off point to new adventures. The key is to focus on potential solutions. That way, you are in a positive, creation mode, which will enable you to get closer to those things you actually do want.

You can both recognize a problem while working to fix it all at the same time!!! It's the best way I know of to create a better world!!!

~CSE

How Corporations Rule the World

I have a good friend who has an interesting personal history. She grew up in Chile. When she was young and married in 1973, when there was a political coup involving the military. The people had managed to elect a socialist president, Allende, who wanted to take back the country's resources for the benefit of  the country and its people. It was then the CIA came in and destabilized the country. They created riots and chaos, which gave them an excuse to use the military to take over. My friend told me they could all see what was happening, but besides being activists they could do nothing to stop it. Her husband was eventually put into prison for his activism. Upon his release, they managed to flee to Spain and relative safety.

The United States has done this all over the world in various countries in order to help multinational corporations maintain control of the world's resources (at the expense of the world's people). The following video gives specifics as to how the whole process works.

If you are not aware of this situation, please watch with an open mind. Ask your heart to verify what is true.

Ignoring problems does not make them go away. Understand what is actually happening, and then set the intention to focus on ways we can solve the problems.

BE the change you wish to see in the world!!!

~CSE

To Think As ONE

Here on planet earth, our state of separation causes us to think as separate entities. Even those of us who are concerned with how we treat others sometimes make decisions that can have a negative impact on others or even the whole.

In order to try to control the chaos, rules and laws were put into place. Rules and laws are designed to be used as guidelines for behavior, but what they really do is limit our choices and take away our integrity and personal responsibility. With rules and laws we no longer take action on what we innately feel is correct. Rather, we weigh potential actions against the consequences of breaking the rules and act from that place. This is what I like to call thinking with the head or the brain.

There is another way to think. It is to think through the heart. Even looking at these words through your brain thought process, you innately feel that connection. In its broadest sense, our hearts connect us to all other hearts through love. When you think through heart, you automatically understand you are connected to the whole of creation--to the ONE. The actions you choose from this place are different because you understand where those actions may help or hurt. The heart makes decisions based on the path that feels the least resistance. The heart makes decisions based on what feels like an enthusiastic yes or a gut-wrenching no. Understand that the less extreme the feeling, the less overall impact your decision is likely to have. Strong feelings are an indication you must act now!!!

When you think with your head, your knowledge and information a limited to what you have learned through your life experience and the immediate information your body picks up through the five physical senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell.

The heart, on the other hand, is connected to the ONE. The heart is connected to everyone and everything. Consequently, when you are connected to heart, you have access to unlimited knowledge. (Note that does not mean you are necessarily thinking about it all at the same time. It just means you can ask the question and the heart will take you to the answers.) Decisions based on this heart information benefit the whole.

To think as ONE, you must begin a practice of focusing in on and living through your heart. There are many ways to do this, but for me it is important to sit in meditation and clear my head of the jumble of thoughts and noise that enter in through those five senses. Allowing yourself the time to be clear and then allowing your heart to expand out into the Universe, you can begin exploring in a whole new way. You begin thinking in a whole new way!!!

The world as it is now is one huge mess. Many of us spend time trying to fix it, but the problems remain. The problems remain because we continue to try to fix them using the same mentality that created the problems in the first place--thinking from the head. When we begin to think through the heart, we will see solutions that we didn't see before because we will have access to all available information.

Begin thinking through heart. Begin to think as ONE!!!