Inspiration Archives

How You Can Change the World

Happiness, health, prosperity and peace, a better world for our children - all of us want these same things in life. I believe that our wish for a harmonious world begins and ends with doing good. This holds the power to positively transform us from the inside and then ripple out in ever expanding circles, impacting the world at large. You can find your place in life by choosing to think good, speak good and do good. Good starts with each one of us as an individual. It's a personal journey filled with opportunities on which you can choose to…

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The Journey to a Meaningful Life

I am grateful to offer my perspective on the pathway to a meaningful life. I hope that these insights assist you on your journey. I have found these to be the basic principles of a well lived life: Know we are life itself Express life with passionate loving intent Experience the privilege of forgiving others and accept forgiveness graciously Celebrate daily Live life a moment at a time When we understand that we are life itself, it frees us from the unconscious terror of feeling alone. We become aware that we are the very breath that sustains the bodies we inhabit…

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Make Time for What Matters Now, Not ‘Someday’

“Someday is not on the calendar.” Since 1988, that has become my motto. It was on a cold November night that year when my beautiful 23-year-old sister died four inches from my side in the passenger seat of my car. We were hit head-on by a drunk driver. Death of a loved one, or our own near-death, always offers new perspective on what truly matters… and what is simply irrelevant or insignificant. It is an acute reminder of both life’s fragility and unpredictability and, for me, a “note to self” that while our dreams have no expiry date, our physical…

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Connecting with Nature

Connecting with Nature helps synchronize your rhythms to the Universal Heartbeat. - Doreen Virtue Everything we need to survive is given to us by the natural world: food, water, medicine, supplies and resources for shelter and living. But in addition to meeting our basic needs, nature has other benefits that help us to truly thrive and enjoy life. Studies are showing that time in nature decreases stress, increases happiness, relieves fatigue, increases creativity, and may promote compassion and kindness.  Before electricity, before all of the devices we now have to keep us occupied, people were in tune with nature and her…

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How You Can Make the Infinite Your Reality

Never underestimate the power of your heart. Be bold. Be daring. Be courageous—shatter the mold. Be your Self. The world needs you. You are Infinite. You know this... yes? You feel it in your bones. Now, make it your reality. Let your Highest Self dance in every mundane and sacred situation. How? By opening yourself to Wholeness, unashamed and unafraid. Your divinity moving into the moment transforms creation, simply through Being. Act like a seal, belly up in the ocean, allowing the nourishing beams of divine light to seep into your skin—it feels amazing! Give your Highest Self permission to…

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Your Inner Guidance System & The Puzzle of Life

When I was homeless and struggling with everything from self-esteem to survival, I ignored my intuition and the inspiration it offered. I couldn't believe that some part of me was connected to a wiser source and was trying to guide me. Because I have free will, I could ignore the internal signals. And as long as I did, I suffered. What I learned is that everyone has an internal guidance system. We can get quiet, tune in, and feel our way through life. The more we listen and obey the inner callings, the better life is for each of us…

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When Are You Living An Inspired Life?

To me the word "inspired" means guided by a mystical power from within, or as Webster's Dictionary defines it "divinely influenced". I don't mean to evoke the image of a separate God intervening in the affairs of people but rather to imply that when a person wholeheartedly gives himself/herself to a worthwhile cause, goal or dream he/she calls up an innate brilliance which defies common comprehension - that's inspiration, the source of brilliance. Author and sage, James Lane Allen, wrote, "The Divinity that shapes our ends is in ourselves." The Gospel of Luke puts it this way, "...the Kingdom of…

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7 Life Lessons To Light Your Path

The things I know for sure at this point are deceptively simple in mere words, but they are as follows: As you evolve, your world evolves - it all starts with your own development. Grow with every challenge to give you the opportunity for transformative healing. Align with what feels right; your spirit knows more than your conscious mind. Trust and let it grow you to match the infinite consciousness of your being. You are creating your reality; own what you've created so far to give yourself the permission and the power to create your new future. Be conscious in…

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Seeing the World Through Loving Eyes

The peace that you wish to experience in your life begins with you. Make a conscious effort to see through the eyes of others. Instead of judging them, try to fully understand what they are going through and why they do certain things. While it may seem that the main purpose of seeing through the eyes of others is to please everyone else, it really is to obtain peace within yourself. Remember to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you, and how your life is better because of them. They may not know how you feel, and…

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Principles for Making Your Life a Creative Process

Living can be difficult sometimes, but being alive is wonderful, exciting and full of possibility. The dissonance between these aspects of “life” can be confusing and seem unresolvable. Why is that? How is it that quality of experience can diminish quality of life? Why do some people feel they are not worthy – they make no difference, no contribution, create no benefit? Sadly, some believe they should not be alive at all, a tragedy that besets far too many. Recently a good friend who is an architect asked, “How do I get people excited about what I do?” What a question to…

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Become your True Self – the Divine Spark

How can we live a full life if we don’t allow the ups and downs in our daily experience to be softened by the love that is resident deep in our heart? This fullness is possible upon discovering our real nature, a deep inner beingness that exists beyond time and space. Our true self is the divine spark within that connects to everyone and everything. It is the most beautiful aspect of humanity and we should seek it within ourselves and in others. We bring our true self forward when we are gentle and kind - even when we say…

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Matthew Catlett

The Binary Myth

How can we be happier? The answer seems to lie in self-examination, where you must choose a crafting table. You can choose questions about work. Should you work more or less? Harder or more efficiently? Emphasize relationships or profit? Security or passion? You can choose politics. Patriot or world citizen? Pro-establishment or independent? Democratic or Republican? You can choose sexuality. Married or single? Straight or gay? Male or female? Chaste or promiscuous? You can choose spirituality. Meditation or prayer? Faith or charity? Mysticism or dogma? Enlightenment or salvation? Whatever you choose, you must next judge whether you are right or…

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Let Go to Achieve Your Dreams

Life is about making choices. Each one of us has our own story with twists and turns, choices and opportunities. You may think you know where your story will take you. You may think you have control to direct your own path. I believe that none of us has control – we have choices. Every choice you make points you to the next opportunity to choose. Don’t be passive and let life or circumstances choose for you. And don’t let fear of making the wrong choice keep you from making the best choice that you can. It is possible that…

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5 Truths For Taking Action In Your Life

"Scheming and dreaming will fill your mind; taking action will fill your life." As a couple approaching middle age, we've had our fair share of successes and setbacks. Throughout them all - marriage, divorce, remarriage, cross-country moves, career ups and downs, and finally traveling the world with just a backpack - we've come to 5 consistent truths: 1. Eliminating the negative and focusing on what feeds your spirit every single day will change your life far more dramatically than achieving one big goal. This is when you'll have the space, energy and perspective to see opportunities in front of you…

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Choosing the Path of Least Resistance

Stay naive in the belief that everything is going to be all right. Because if you don't trust that this is true, the Universe won't be able to assist you. Don't take your thoughts too seriously. Learn to laugh about yourself. Choose the path of least resistance, which isn't the lazy or comfortable one, but the one led by your enthusiasm and joy. Understand that happiness can only be experienced now, in the embodiment of the present as it is. Happiness isn’t excitement. It’s not even an emotion. Happiness is a state of no-resistance, of acceptance of what-is. It’s neutrality within, regardless…

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Speak Briefly, with Compassion and Warmth

There is one piece of wisdom that I believe would make this world a better place to live: “Speak briefly, speak warmly, and fill every sentence with kindness, clarity, and optimism.” We're all bad communicators, but don't realize it. The human brain can only absorb about 5-10 words and recall them with any degree of accuracy. That's one sentence, about 10 seconds. But most people talk for an average of three minutes before pausing. That means that the listener can only recall about 1/20th of what you said, and it is often the wrong 10 words! That's why, when I…

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Why Your Life is Unique, Powerful, and Needed

Humanity has always confounded me. We are supposed to be an ever evolving species and yet we make choices to destroy each other, the planet and its resources. However, not all humans are destructive or violent…people to people we usually see our differences and learn. But politics, power, and greed get in the way of love, abundance and freedom. My wish for all who read this is to know that we all have a unique purpose, a one of a kind story to play out while we are alive. We are relationship beings who are more alike than different. My…

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Dare to Dream

I am sitting in a self-development workshop. The year is 1989 and I am 52 years old. The leader asks us to think of three things we'd love to do before we die and likely never will. My "Bucket List"... climb Kilimanjaro, climb the Matterhorn and see Everest Base Camp. What, I'm not a climber? Little did I know where those wishes would take me. Fast forward to May 22, 2007. It is 8:08 in the morning and I am standing at 29.035' on the top of Mt. Everest, the world's tallest mountain. Aside from two Japanese people, I am…

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3 Ways to Live Happy and Healthy

When my mother died, I was filled with such pain that I yelled at God and said I wasn’t going on until I understood what was happening. I could not see the sense of loving a mother and then losing her. What a painful joke. That night God’s messenger came to me and explained everything about life. As the years unfolded, I have been gently led to more and more understanding. As I sit here today, I believe there are 3 things that are helping me to live a happier, healthier, prosperous, and meaningful life. I have been learning that…

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6 Positive Intentions For Getting What You Want

Energize your imagination to get more of what you want. Be as specific as you can with how it feels, tastes, sounds, smells, to live your dream now. Write your dream down in words that makes you feel good when you read it and read it daily. Make your dream a priority by setting up systems of accountability to get what you want. Set up a mastermind group, hire a coach, dedicate time every day to focus on your dream daily, offer to help people who have achieved your dream. Set specific parameters for your dream so you become a filter for…

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Becoming Part of the Solution

It was during the early morning hours of June 7th 1998 that 49-year-old James Byrd Jr. of Jasper, Texas was dragged nearly three miles behind the bumper of a pickup truck to his death. Just the day before my wife and I brought our second newborn daughter home from the hospital and I wondered if we had done the right thing. Was it fair to bring child into such a troubled world? I asked how it was possible that three individuals could wrap a fellow human being in chains and drag him to his death simply because of the color of…

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