Leave the Windows Open

The Last Song by Elton John is one of the most hauntingly sad but beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. The first verse is profoundly evocative and heartbreaking, and never fails to

Which WIll You Serve?

Life shifts dramatically when you figure out how to make the law of attraction work for you instead of against you.

The only thing that holds you back from getting what you want is paying attention to what you don’t want.
Esther Hicks

Cultivate a prosperity consciousness by visualizing yourself in the circumstances you desire.

Both abundance and scarcity are inner states that manifest as your reality.
Eckhart Tolle

You are reinforcing a

Brad Stokes’ Triumphant Return to Life

Heidi and Brad Stokes

I’m reading the CaringBridge journal of Heidi Stokes, a good friend of mine. The pain and suffering that Brad, her husband, endured while he was waiting for his second liver transplant is unfathomable to me. But he refused to give up and leave his family with nothing but memories of him. So he fought. And he suffered. And he won. It’s been close to two years since his transplant and he’s doing great.

Click here to read a magazine article about the inspiring Stokes family.

Click here to read an update I posted after Brad’s second liver transplant.

Here is an incredible and inspiring CaringBridge post Brad wrote on September 18, 2010. The fact that Brad is alive today is a testament to what Heidi wrote in an earlier post: “We don’t just believe in miracles, we depend on them!”

Just got back from three days at Mayo – my one year evaluation. Mostly good news: liver function – normal, blood pressure – 115/75, cholesterol (total) – 109, bone density – getting better (was osteoporotic, now osteopenic), hemoglobin – 11.9 (for years I hovered at 8.5 – 9.5), ECG – normal, ultrasound (all abdominal organs) – normal and unchanged, kidneys – …….kidneys?…….hello?…KIDNEYS?!… Well, they’re angry. They are mad about the anti-rejection drugs. They are protesting, but so far their actions are non-aggressive. A lot of grumbling (Creatine = 1.9, renal clearance=30), but so far, no dangerous uprising. Some liver transplant patients end up getting kidney transplants. I’m not there, but I can see the danger signs. We may reduce my anti-rejection drugs in 6 months, but obviously that carries the risk of liver rejection. It’s a delicate balance, but I’m not worried. There is much discussion and drug trials going on looking at alternate drugs and modified therapies to deal with this. I’ve been extremely fortunate that medical science has always been just slightly ahead of my need for it. When I was originally diagnosed with liver disease in the 80s, it was a fatal

Live a Sweet Life

Your thoughts are like paving stones, marking a path into a future of your own making.

If you want sweet dreams, you’ve got to live a sweet life.
Barbara Kingsolver

Expect nothing but the best to happen, and the universe interprets your faith and positivity as an invitation to shower you with abundance.

Wake up every morning expecting

The Waiter Merely Nods

Your thoughts are not just gossamer wisps of nothingness confined to the nether regions of your mind.

I hold it true that thoughts are things,
Endowed with bodies, breath, and wings.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Thoughts are conscious energy that radiate out into the unified field, vibrationally connecting you to all of creation. Thus, where your attention goes, energy flows. Since every

Peace Will Be Your Faithful Friend

Give yourself fully to your destiny and you will discover within yourself an inexhaustible reservoir of strength, skills, and wisdom that steadily propels you toward each succeeding summit to be conquered.

It usually happens that the more faithfully a person follows the inspirations he receives, the more does he experience new inspirations which ask increasingly more of him.
Joseph de Guibert

Stride forward in confidence, knowing that success is assured, for you

Grow As You Go

When you pursue your destiny and do what you are called to do, you will feel a deep and abiding sense of gratitude for the opportunity to serve the world as only you can.

To be obsessed with some vision and to have the continuous opportunity of working towards that vision can be looked upon as God’s greatest gift to anyone.
Henry Moore

Much may be asked of you. Do not worry that you are not up to the task. All that is expected is

Step Forward in Faith

Your destiny is rooted in everyday moments. Every thought, every choice, every act influences your life’s work and shapes and defines your legacy.

We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But what we put into it is ours.
Dag Hammarskjold

Your ultimate destiny and your ultimate destination are

The Big Question

Earl Hipp

Earl Hipp had a nice life. He was happy, content and making a good living. Then an unexpected question from an unlikely source penetrated his heart and sent his life veering off into uncharted territory. Earl’s story was so compelling that I interviewed him and wrote it up.

Can you imagine your own life changing so quickly and so dramatically? Change is a demanding but well-intentioned teacher, for a life of comfort too often degenerates into stagnation and unfulfilled promise. In the deepest part of uncomfortable circumstances stands the gateway to self-awareness and personal power.

Here is Earl’s story.

With one request, a Sudanese refugee named Ojulu Agote changed the course of my life. As a volunteer for the sponsoring organization that brought Ojulu and his family to the U.S., I was meeting with him to help him settle in and get the things he needed to make it through a cold Minnesota February. Ojulu had experienced the horrors of tribal warfare and the abuses of a refugee life. He and his family were living in a cockroach infested one-bedroom apartment and were facing a mountain of practical needs. When I asked Ojulu how I might support him in his new world, he immediately

Follow the Leader

I found this three-minute video about leadership insightful. I wasn’t familiar with the concept of the “first follower” but it makes perfect sense. Over the last few years, I’ve resolved to

Do Not Pray to God

J. Oliver Black with his guru, Paramahansa Yogananda

I like this nugget of spiritual wisdom from J. Oliver Black, a direct disciple of  Paramahansa Yogananda who lived in Michigan. Yogananda honored Black with the title Yogacharya in a special ceremony of initiation in 1951. The Sanskrit word Yogacharya is an ancient spiritual title that can be translated as “yoga teacher,” although it carries more significance and authority.

In the following one-minute video, Black recalls a suggestion from Yogananda that immediately added more power and energy to

Rebecca Thomley: Making a Difference in New Orleans

Astonishing. That’s the only word I can think of to describe Rebecca Thomley‘s commitment to serving others in need. I interviewed Rebecca, the CEO of Orion Associates, a Minnesota-based management services company, and feel privileged to share her spirit and passion with others. Here is her story.

Rebecca Thomley

Volunteering has always been part of my life. As a clinical psychologist with a background in trauma response, I started working with the Red Cross Mental Health Stress Team in 1992 to respond to the mental health needs of people in disasters. When I flew to the Ninth Ward area of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it was the first time in a disaster response that I

Spring Equinox 2011 Update From Astrologer Laurie Baum

Laurie Baum

If you enjoy astrology, you will like this Spring Equinox update written by my good friend Laurie Baum, MSW, a psychological astrologer and psychotherapist in practice in Encinitas, California.

Laurie writes a free astrological newsletter about how planetary alignments affect our lives on earth. Click here to e-mail Laurie to subscribe at no cost, or visit Laurie’s website and click on “Free Email Newsletter.”

Laurie is a former newspaper

Have Toddler, Will Travel

As Saint Augustine so aptly noted:

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.

Me? I’m at the top of page two, and that may be stretching it a bit. I’m quite content and happy with my life, but I certainly recognize that traveling, especially at a young age, would have broadened me considerably and opened up whole new worlds of thought and understanding.

I think it’s great for youngsters to travel, early and often. They will then be more apt to be less judgmental, more socially and culturally aware, and consider themselves citizens of the world.

That’s why I liked this essay I read on Mamapedia Voices, a website featuring posts from up-and-coming mom bloggers and well-known mom experts. So pack up those stuffed animals and start surfing travelocity!

WHY I TRAVEL WITH MY SON
by Kaamna Bhojwani-Dhawan

It’s a question that’s often been posed to me: why do you travel so much? Doesn’t your son get unsettled?

Unsettled? Me, maybe, not him.

I think through all the reasons not to travel: cost (especially now that he’s 2), the inconvenience, the discomfort, the glaring non-parental passengers on planes, and think that’s it’s a fair question.

I travel with my son because

Let My Mind Always Be In You

If I had to state the core teaching of the ancient spiritual wisdom I try to follow, I’d do it like this:

With love and devotion, surrender to divine will and be a source of love, hope and healing energy to all who cross your path.

Is it possible to maintain awareness of God’s presence in every moment? Think of it this way: When you fall in love, you hold the thought of your beloved in the back of your mind throughout the day, even while concentrating on difficult tasks. When you fall in love with the Divine Beloved, the joy of God communion is never far from your thoughts.

Our daily worship of God is not really the process of gradual acquisition of him, but the

Two Phone Calls Lead to a Life Lived With Reckless Abandon

While researching a magazine article I was writing, I found myself talking to Scott Clemente, the president of St. Louis Park, Minnesota-based Mulberrys Garment Care. Scott had a great story about how disappointment can actually steer you toward your destiny. When he lost his job, he momentarily lost hope . . . until his dad uttered two words that sent Scott’s life spiraling off in an exciting new direction. I interviewed Scott and wrote up his story. I trust you’ll find it as inspiring and uplifting as I did.

Scott Clemente

In August 2001, I was twenty-six and working in an investment bank in London. I wanted to make a career move so I accepted a job at a private equity firm, also in London. Before beginning my new job, I took a month off to travel. While I was in Italy, September 11 happened. A week after that, I was sitting in a cafe in Bologna when I got a call from my new boss to be. He informed me that