The Life Changing Journey From Mile Marker Zero

This is the first in a series of articles about the journey of a life time: the journey to make significant change; a journey that has a beginning but has no absolute ending, only a set of pre-planned destinations along the way. These destinations will change over time and become clearer as you learn what the real meaning of the journey is.
Every journey starts at the beginning. This "beginning" is the point at which you decide to go in a different direction. You decide to take an action that creates a move in a direction you may not have been going before. Or, at least, a direction in which you have been directed by someone who has been to the destination you desire to go. As with all journeys, this journey will have a Mile Marker 0.
The Mile Marker 0 on US Hwy 1 in the United States is located at the corner of Fleming and Whitehead streets in Key West, FL. It is the end of the highway near the Southernmost Point in the U.S. If you are here, you must decide to change direction and head off on a journey to another place or you will end up in the ocean; all wet and maybe drowning.
Mile Marker 0 is the point at which you decide there will be a change. It is the point at which you decide there will be no more going south (no further down). It is the end of one journey and the beginning of another. There must be a change in direction if you are to arrive at the ultimate destination your heart, mind and soul truly desires.
You probably do not have the skills, knowledge or mindset necessary to reach this destination but, you are looking for a map; a map that has been drawn with explicit instructions and marked with interesting stops along the way. This map has been generated by others who have been where you have been, made the same decision to change direction you have and have reached the ultimate destination you so strongly desire. How did they find the way? The same way you are going to find the way: by following a well-defined map outlining the route which is posted with mile markers along the way to ensure you get to where you want to be.
The road you travel must have "drunk bumps" on it to remind you to stay on the road and in your lane. "Drunk Bumps" are those small, reflective speed bumps found on the outside and center of a road lane for the purpose of getting your attention when you become distracted or weary. These "bumps" are other travelers you find along the way who you will build relationships with. These people will be available to you, lest you stray from the roadway or get lost.
It doesn't matter the change you are trying to make. It only matters that you want to change. You are now standing at Mile Marker 0. Where do you want to go? Do you want to start your own business? Do you want to rebuild a relationship? Do you want to be free of an addiction? The key to the beginning is the desire to change. Turn in a new direction and start following the map others have drawn for you from their experience of their "time in the seat".

P(dot) Mark Cook is an ex-funeral director.embalmer and current poet, writer, internet marketer, teacher, leader, logistics and Excel expert, husband, son, brother and friend.
Pdot Strives to Believe in the Possible and Live the Amazing.

How To Become Relevant

Have you ever wondered how others keep making things happen? Each letter in the word RELEVANT will give you an action step that you can use to move into greatness.
Read and proceed with 8 strategies that you can begin to implement today.
(R) Reinvent Yourself. Look at the career of Sean Combs. He started off as Puff Daddy. Puff Daddy emerged into P Diddy who innovatively became Diddy.
The fast pace of the internet allows you to create a brand in seconds. The time it takes you to set up a Facebook or Twitter account is how long it will take you to get noticed.
(E) Enjoy what you do. Find the fun in your work. Search for ways to bring the happiness to your environment. When you are passionate and excited others will see and take notes. This makes it easier to make deals when you are wanted.
(L) Learn form others. Research what seminars are taking place in your area. Listen to podcasts and tele-seminars. Seek out a mentor who can take you to the next level. Watch videos of how people speak and conduct themselves.
(E) Entrepreneur your expertise. Use what you do best and give your job a rest. Use what you know to grow. Even if you never leave your job being in business will help you get some tax write offs.
(V) Visit your elders. Life is about paying dues and paying respect. Give back to the generation that has given to us. (Discuss hanging out with Bubba)
(A) Ask for feedback. Golden nuggets of wisdom are found when we ask those close to us how can we improve?
(N) No Your Way. You have to say no sometimes. Every opportunity is not for you. Learn what is for you and not for you. Learn how to make the most of each opportunity that is right for you.
(T) Teach others. Keep your legacy growing. We are taught so that one day we will teach. Passing on the knowledge keeps entire communities and cultures alive over centuries.
In these days and times in order to be relevant you have to reinvent yourself so you can enjoy what you do. When you learn from others you can entrepreneur your expertise. Take time out to visit your elders and ask for feedback. When you no your way and teach others the life you leave behind will be forever relevant.

Using the Mind to Heal the Heart

In Saint Exupery's The Little Prince, he states, "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye." The heart is not just a physical organ, it is an energy center, a place of consciousness, a space of expanded awareness of the existence of essence, the essence of the universe which is love, that lives and pulsates inside of us. It is our most natural state. Our "other" states are those of lifetimes of learned distortions of the essence of our True Self.
My teacher says, "We use the mind to heal the mind." He is referring to the True Mind, which lives near the physical heart, not the brain. All distress that isn't life threatening is based in learned distorted perspectives of our mental patterns, sometimes referred to as "belief systems." These belief systems repetitively replay like cassette tapes in our mind. Our belief systems can either perpetuate a state of well being and ease, or a state of distress. Some of us who may already be working with positive thinking, understand this concept. But the question is, if "positive thinking" were really that effective, why hasn't it worked for me consistently? Why do I still struggle with old repetitive negative hurts?
If you look at a cell under a microscope its natural life force impulse is to move. If you restrict its path, in one direction, it will look for movement in a different direction. If you continue to restrict its path until it can no longer find a path for movement, it will pulsate in place, its walls will begin to thicken, and finally, it dies. Inherent in our nature are spontaneous creative impulses looking for life force expression in every direction. When one direction is thwarted, we create defenses, we then look in another direction until we can find movement. The more restricted our possibilities for movement, the thicker our walls become. These restrictions and walls create rigid patterns in the neurological matter of the mind.
The subconscious and unconscious mind retain these deeply patterned thought rigidities. These patterns have an energetic dynamic that originated in our childhood, infancy, and uncountable past life times. These unconscious patterns express themselves as restrictions to our present life interactions, relationships and ambitions. They cause us pain, distress, a sense of low self esteem, insecurity and other limitations. As much as we may possess an intellectual, rational understanding about "why" we may feel defensive or insecure in a particular situation, it often does not diminish our feelings of discomfort. Our frustration lies in the knowing presence of our True Mind that senses we are capable of more pleasure.
When we explore the invisible electromagnetic realm of the physiological and energetic dynamic that contains the constricting experience of discomfort, the light of consciousness exposes the distorted cellular memory message and brings about a "combustive experience" that necessitates change. Conscious awareness of the emotional content, life force (unconstricted breath), and cognitive understanding, release the cellular trauma from its rigidified state and allow that once stagnant rigidified energy of the belief systems to again flow freely. It can feel something like an internal shower of tingling sensations, that can be experienced as invigorating, highly stimulating, small body spasms, or fluid electricity that floods throughout the body. This energy then "washes" over the mind, the experience itself bringing new insights and clarity where there might have been confusion or doubt.
This process is not "magical," it is physiological, though our responses to it sometimes feel as though it is miraculous, enlightening, and uplifting. This process is the activation of the body's natural innate self-correcting healing mechanism bringing us closer to the heart's natural state which is one of unconditional love and The True Mind's natural state, which is one of clarity and serenity.

Laura Fine has a Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from San Diego University of Integrative Studies and a Masters of Arts Degree from University of Miami. She has practiced as a licensed Holistic Health Practitioner for 30+ years in the field of body/mind therapies and is co-founder of Lionheart Institute of Transpersonal Energy Healing. Laura originated The Energy System of Acting (ESA), and is a graduate of the Barbara Brennan School of Healing as well as two years of Kabalistic Healing with The Society of Souls. She has taught at several alternative healing schools and developed a research project in wholistic healing for post-surgery heart transplant patients at U.C.L.A Hospital. Laura's career has bridged the creative and healing arts having worked for twenty years professionally in the theater as a director and acting teacher such institutions as Manhattan Class Company, Barnard College and Riverside Shakespeare Company in New York. Having faced, survived and healed from a life-threatening illness, Laura has a recognition and value of each moment of life and compassion for the struggles of the mind and heart. She shares her experiences in her book, "Laura's New Heart, A Healer's Spiritual Journey through a Heart Transplant", also available through Amazon.com. Laura Fine is currently the director of Lionheart Institute of Transpersonal Energy Healing in L.A. http://www.LionheartInstitute.com, 818.640.6444.

The Importance Of Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking skills are at an all time low in the US. In public and private a huge segment of our population seems incapable of logically and intelligently thinking thru an issue or problem. What exactly is critical thinking? While definitions of critical thinking can vary slightly, a good basic definition is the ability to use reason, experience and intelligence to evaluate and solve an issue. Also to evaluate the quality of your information and to arrive at a logical, common sense solution.
Imagine you have a student about to learn about the American Civil War. One teacher tells the student that the war started in 1861 and ended in 1865. The South had slaves, the North didn't. The war was fought to keep the Union together and also to free the slaves. At the end of the war over 600,000 thousand men had died. The teacher then tells the student to memorize these facts for a test. A different teacher tells a student about the preamble leading up to the war, maybe focusing on the problem of adding free states and slave states to the Union. In addition they might talk about the rights that states possessed to succeed, and that most states would never have agreed to enter the Union without this ability to leave. This teacher might also add that freeing the slaves didn't enter the picture until after the war had already started. Then after giving the student this information, and the opportunity to get more on their own, they would tell the student to give it an honest, thoughtful evaluation and arrive at their own conclusion. The first teacher is pushing propaganda and the second is trying to instill critical thinking in the student.
Unfortunately our culture in the US has bred a citizenry that is happy with sound bite news, shallow analysis and superficial concern. A lack of critical thinking and understanding of issues naturally leads to an easily lead and manipulated population. Too many people passively accept information being dumped on them with absolutely no serious or thoughtful analysis. The so-called Elites are more interested in maintaining power then they are in any specific ideology. That is why people of both sides of the political spectrum need to fight to make sure they keep all of their Liberties and have unfettered access to information (this does not include reasonable National Security secrets). Controlling the availability and dissemination of information is how the busybody elitists keep control and maintain their power. This is why a limited government and more local government is so important. The less government is involved in peoples lives and the closer it is to home, the more people can affect change. As a consequence people will be using their critical thinking skills more often and the resulting thoughtful and reasoned decisions will make for a more informed and stronger country.

Increase Your Brain Power - Can You Be The Next Einstein?

Well they say Einstein was a man who was able to use 7% of his brain while most of us only use 3% of it. They also say that our memory is much better than 10,000 10 GB USB drives. The point is 'they' always say stuff which either motivates us or demotivates us. For a majority out there, increasing mind power is not really much of a concern. But, for those who actually want to do it, the solutions are not difficult.
First off, one fact needs to be acknowledged - not everyone has a powerful mind. Not everyone is born with a brain that can solve Einstein's Riddle - 'Who Owns the Fish'.
Why?
Simply because not everyone has brains that can solve mathematical or logical riddles!
So, even though Einstein's riddle is considered to be the toughest riddle of the world, it does not stand as the final psychometric test. If you are a wizard of logic, you will solve it, but those who aren't, can't. That, however, does not determine that someone's brain power is lesser than yours. Maybe they are the artistic types or the creative types who can create things from scratch. So, just because they can't solve the riddle doesn't make them any inferior.
Can you increase your brain power?
Certainly! Everything in this world has a solution, and Einstein didn't come from outer space. Some individuals are born and brought up in environments that automatically increase their brain power without the need of extra efforts. So, to be like them, you have to live like them.
So let's get started!
Here are simple ways which can substantially increase your brain power. Again, don't expect to be the next Criss Angel! Increasing your brain power has nothing to do with being an illusionist. But, you can expect to become more efficient at work or at college for sure. Try out these exercises and you'll gradually realize how it works.
Deep Breathing
How many of us practice that? Almost no one actually! Nobody wants to take out time just to 'breathe'. But, believe it or not, deep breathing does have a huge impact on your brain power. The process here is simple -- the more oxygen you inhale, the more oxygen goes to your brain. The result? You feel relaxed and your brain becomes more active. All you need to do is to breathe deeply through your nose which would draw more air to your lungs. Either make it a regular practice or do it whenever you have the time - your call!
Improve your posture
Most people may snort when they read this. However, your posture has a lot to do with your thinking process and brain power. Sit up straight, do some glute bridges daily to reduce stress on your spine, and try sleeping on your back. All these exercises contribute towards improving your posture. The better your posture is, the more enhanced your thinking ability will become.
Meditation helps!
Everyone recommends it and it's not that hard to do. In fact, most of us meditate without even knowing it. The easiest way to meditate is to close your eyes, sit up straight and pay attention to your breath. All you need to do is exhale slower than you inhale. It will relax your body and brain, and eventually increase your brain power.

Conventional Wisdom From the Aged

Wisdom is the soundness of judgement. It is the ability to know what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. The ability to know what to say, when to say it and how to say it. Many people make the mistake of thinking that simply because someone is educated s/he is wise. They mistake knowledge for wisdom.
I know of many educated fools. They have very impressive resume's yet they lack the principal thing - wisdom. My late grandmother never went to school. In fact she never got to step into the vicinity of any school. Yet when she spoke many wanted to hear. She advised all. Young and old, men and women, boys and girls. Despite her lack of formal education she had wisdom. She was the greatest influence in my life. she taught everything about life especially integrity and dignity.
Years later after she passed on I sat down to reflect on her legacy. I realized she had taught me the major thing. That is to be a student of life. To seek to learn all you can from life. That life has its upturns and downturns and that neither my crying nor whining will make things better. That just like everyone else I will have to work to eat. Its amazing that in our schools we do not have wisdom as a course or subject yet without it on is lost. Through her wisdom I learnt many invaluable lessons.
I learnt that when you hate someone and you keep a grudge against someone, you hurt your self more emotionally than the person you hate. I also learnt that the greatest thing you can have in life is love. That love opens doors. That with love a parent wins over an impregnated teenager back into her heart and helps rebuild her life. One of the lessons from my grandmother was that the guide in your heart should the peacefulness in your heart whenever you are doing something. If your heart is not peaceful then you are not in agreement with what will be going.
My grandmother taught me that in life not everyone will see meaning and rationale in whatever I will seek to pursue in life. She told me that I will never be able to please everyone at the same time. She told me that I had to remain focused on my goal and not listen to naysayers and discouragers.

Silas Matamanda is a dynamic motivational speaker and author who is passionate about inspiring people to become who they were meant to become. He has written a book entitled "What you need to know about happiness" yet to be published. He is also a Research Scientist and an Internal Auditor.

Find Your Special Talent And Develop It

"The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one's destiny to do, and then do it." Henry Ford
Wise words indeed from the great Henry Ford, who found his special talent which was engineering while growing up on the family farm. He then went on to produce the model T car which was the first mass produced car of it's time and revolutionized the car industry.
We were all born with a special talent, something that we can do better than thousands of others out there and finding it is something that can only be done through constant learning and practicing of new skills.
Some, like Henry Ford, are lucky enough to grow up in the right environment, the one that is responsible for their discovery of their talent but most of us have to discover our special talent on our own.
The world needs our gift and if we don't endeavor to discover what it is, then it will go stale. However, if we make it our personal mission to constantly improve our existing skills and acquire new ones as we grow, we shall surely find that which is ours to excel in.
Once you discover what it is that you are naturally good at, stick at it and constantly seek to improve on it so that you become incredibly gifted at it. Don't try to be good at everything because that is a tall order for even the most intelligent of people. Use your skill to prosper and create abundance in your life because an advantage is only an advantage when it is used.
That which you are naturally gifted at is obviously going to be the thing that you enjoy doing most, which is another reason why constant improvement is important. Imagine doing a job you love and making lots of money from it at the same time!! Most people think that is something that is unreachable for them, like a distant dream or a wish. The fact is, that all it requires is for us to keep on trying to improve in many areas, and through the constant improvement, we will see that we shine more in one area than the others, then all we need do is take a closer look.
"Follow your bliss and doors will open for you that you never knew existed. Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors for you where there were only walls." - Joseph Campbell
Don't settle for mediocrity because this might be the only life there is, we can't say for sure. Life is about exploration and growth and when we are not doing either of them, we are stagnating and feeling depressed and unfulfilled aren't we? Start discovering, start living!

Get Rid Of Those Excuses And Live

There are so many people out there that hold themselves back with excuses and reasons why they never achieve anything. Unfortunately, excuses may seem valid or sometimes reassuring but in the end, you achieve nothing and this is why it is in your best interests to stop excuses once and for all. Completely put a stop to them and I mean COMPLETELY, because one excuse breeds another and so forth until a person does nothing but make excuses. You are either a person that makes excuses or a person that gets things done, there is no in between.
Negative language
The human brain has enormous storage space and whatever you put in, you will get back, so just imagine the amount of excuses you can have stored there, one for every situation imaginable. Why not store reasons for achievement and growth and solutions to problems instead?
Common negative language that fills people's minds are sentences like:
1. I am not educated enough
2. I'm not smart enough to do that
3. This is too hard
4. I can't...
5. I never...
6. I'm not that kind of person
This kind of thinking damages confidence and limits a person from achievement or growth. So try to wipe out negative thoughts from your thinking and replace them with a positive version such as "I can" or "I am." Paint whatever picture you wish, after all, it's your canvas
Forget yesterday, concentrate on this moment. Think about what is best for you now, take the action that has the most benefit and the biggest reward. It's quite simple actually, because when one realizes that everything is ultimately an individual's choice when it comes to things like, how we react to circumstances, other people's opinions and our future; then we lose the fear and stop making excuses.
Make your own decisions based on what is best for you and that means not listening to anyone else, because most people base their opinions on what they have experienced themselves, or their own limiting fears and beliefs. They are ruled by their past and as a result, any advice coming from them is invalid and doesn't apply to you. Decide, today that you are going to be the person YOU decide. Excuses are only fear and lack of confidence controlling you, so grow your confidence and conquer fear by replacing any excuse with a positive reason as to why you can and will do it!

How To Challenge And Replace Limiting Beliefs

Beliefs are so deeply embedded within our minds that we often don't even realize that it is they that are in control, and not us. People tend to blame outside forces for their current set of circumstances, when in actual fact, the problem lies within and not without.
The cause of what is happening in our outer world lies within us, not without. Our beliefs are the cause and the effects are the circumstances whether good or bad.
Beliefs become firmly rooted in our mind due to a moment in our lives, usually when we are younger, when something happened or someone said something that stuck with us, and we reinforced it by internalizing it and thinking about it often. Our personalities are developed this way naturally, although I think it was meant to only be for those beliefs that serve a useful purpose. As using our mind is not exactly something that is taught us from a young age, we unwittingly program countless negative beliefs into our system without really knowing what we are doing.
There are ways to challenge and replace those negative beliefs though and one of the best ways is to bring them to the surface and analyze them, showing them for what they really are. They are nothing more than deadweight pulling us down and holding us back from ever achieving anything substantial.
Ask yourself these following questions and answer as truthfully as you can, because in doing so, you are facing them for the first time and can go about replacing them.
The questions:
1. How did this limiting belief form in the first place?
2. Who came up with the idea of it originally, you or someone else?
3. How does this belief limit you?
4. What caused you to decide that this was true for you?
5. Does the belief serve you in any way at all?
6. How is it helping you?
7. If you hold onto his belief, what will the consequences be in regards to your family, health and career?
8. What would you like to believe instead?
9. With this new belief, how will things improve?
10. How will this new belief make things worse?
11. What is the best thing that could happen based on your old belief?
12. What is the best thing that could happen based on your new belief?
13. What might stop you from adopting this new belief?
14. How will your new belief fit with your view of yourself?
Once you have answered these questions you should have come up with a new belief to replace the old one, as well as realized that the old one is useless baggage that needs to be offloaded.
In a notebook, draw a grid with 3 columns. Head column 1: "life area" and in this column put all the areas of your life, each in a separate row. Head column 2: "Limiting beliefs" and for each area of your life write a limiting belief that is holding you back. Finally, head column 3: "New empowering beliefs" and in this column, write the replacement beliefs.
Each day look at the grid and keep the new beliefs fresh in your mind. Repeat them over and over throughout the day as affirmations. Whenever you feel the old beliefs resurfacing, brush them aside and bring your new belief to the fore with repetition. Within 30 days, you will have reprogrammed your mind with a new belief, and sometimes it takes less than that, it all depends on you. Good luck!!

Investing in Your Emotional Well-Being

Emotions are the responses you make to situations, but aren't necessarily an accurate interpretation of the events around you. Everyone has them, but we all display them differently. Investing in yourself emotionally is a very important investment. Some of us are emotionally stronger than others. We know there are people out there who rarely, if ever, cry; they are resilient to any situation or circumstance and have a poker face that wouldn't give anything away. Some would say these people have achieved a high emotional tolerance, not letting emotions appear at the worst of times.
Then, there are those of us who aren't quite as strong, we tend to wear our emotions on our sleeves, crying during Hallmark Commercials, trying to keep it together when we speak to a superior about an issue at work and panicking at the mere thought of something going wrong - we tend to show our emotions more fluently than others.
Neither of these types of emotional people are right or wrong. We all display our emotions differently and that's apart of making us unique. But, knowing when to show emotions and having control over when you don't want to is a trait we may be able to invest in.
Part of being emotionally strong requires you to get lots of rest. Being up all night with children or going a few nights without sleep could end up in a session of tears or misguided anger and frustration. For example, I have a daughter who will work 60 hours a week and when she gets home after being overly exhausted, you can bet she is easily derailed. Sometimes she will take things more to heart because she is tired, and will end up crying. Other times, she can just seem more irritated at every little thing.
I'd like to assume that having instant emotions like she does means she is mentally and physically exhausted, and perhaps, she isn't as emotionally stable as normal. But, like I tell her, there are many things that can be done to help her get back on track towards a more stable emotional state.
First thing you need to invest in is uninterrupted sleep. Studies show that adults require as little as seven and as many as 10 hours of sleep per night. Investing in things that make your bedroom and bed environment comfortable (like lighting, music and calming bedding/walls) will help you create an oasis. You should also try going to bed at the same time every night, don't eat late night snacks and do relaxation exercises or meditation to help you get the sleep you need.
Next, you may need to recharge your batteries. Have you ever called your employer and said you are taking a mental health day off? Try it. Then, invest the whole day in you. Try pampering yourself, turning off the phone, avoiding the computer, staying in bed until you catch up on your sleep, taking a leisurely bath, or attending a museum or sports event. Do something you enjoy and forget about all of your stresses for one day.
There is one more thing that needs to be done to keep you emotionally healthy, body conditioning. This included exercise, eating healthy and keeping your immune system strong. You should try yoga, it help focus your mind, clear your thoughts and centre your psyche. Also, investing in a full our cardio workout class will help release endorphins in the brain, which causes what is commonly known as a "natural high".
Life isn't perfect and neither is the world we live in, but another way to keep a healthy mind is to remind yourself of all the positive things around you while you push the negative away. Read positive quotes when you are down, take a step back before responding in an uncomfortable situation and always remember to take a deep breath and smile. Having the discipline and determination to do so and to make the choice to be around positive people will add to your self-confidence, courage and self-esteem. Investing in your emotional well-being is well worth it. And for those of you 'rocks' out there, it's okay to shed a little tear.