The other day I was listening to the radio. A lady was talking about being diagnosed with breast cancer and what it was like to tell people about her ordeal. This reminded me of mine. I was diagnosed with having a brain tumor when I was around 19. But I had forgotten what it was like to tell people what I had, and the look they would give me. I never volunteered the information, but somehow the conversation would lead up to it and I would tell them I had a brain tumor. I didn’t like saying this because I usually got the same look, like they were thinking I was going to die, and their feelings of pity, I am sooo sorry Greg. I didn’t want people feeling sorry for me, because I wasn’t going to die, I was going to get through it one way or another.
But anyways, this radio program brought back that emotion and then I realized how lucky I was. My legs were paralyzed for almost a week after the operation to remove the tumor. But fortunately control of my legs began to come back on the 5th day which was one of the happiest days of my life. I was in tears when one of my toes moved! And today I was driving my truck with a friend to Oak Flats to ride my motorcycle. That ride was epic!
The whole experience with the brain tumor was a turning point in my life. I consider it to be a near-death-experience. I was virtually dead inside before that happened. But from the moment I found out, I had a new lease on life. I knew my days may be numbered. My quality of life had suffered enough during those 3 years that I decided to have the operation and take my chances. And I came out on top. I have a small deficiency in my left leg, it works maybe 80-90% as well, but that doesn’t slow me down. I believe I owe this to the book I read by Bernie Siegel, M.D., called Love Life And Miracles. It talked about the power of the mind in healing which I had never heard about before. I recommend any of his books for those suffering from severe and terminal illnesses. Maybe you will learn that there is no such thing if you believe? CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST…
After rereading my post on Forgiveness and Karma, I realized that some of my outlooks on the subject have evolved. In the past I thought of karma as something similar to revenge. Those wrongdoers will get what they deserve. I still believe in karma, but maybe more in the sense of how we attract things. I attracted these so called wrongdoings, because I hadn’t learned the lesson they had for me. These wrongdoings happen over and over until I learn their lesson. So these wrongdoings aren’t really negative or even wrong, they are valuable life lessons.
After doing some research on the internet on the subject of forgiveness, I realized how important it truly is. There are many forgiveness research projects which I didn’t know. They explain how not forgiving people can lead to serious physical and mental illnesses. It can destroy lives and entire nations.
The subject of forgiveness keeps popping up everyday in my life so obviously there is a lesson in there for me to learn. I don’t feel the need to forgive anybody, because I feel I have not been wronged. I am no longer a victim. I haven’t found the lesson yet, but I am exploring it. Although my exploration has touched other’s lives, so maybe my understanding of this is the lesson?
I found some very interesting reading from a sermon by Vann Knight, Parish Minister, and below is a quote:
What is the relationship between forgiveness and karma? In other words, does forgiveness cancel the consequences of destructive attitudes, words and deeds? The answer is “no.” Though it may not appear so at the times even when we are forgiven, we still reap the consequences of our actions. For instance, the person from whom money was stolen may forgive the thief and cancel the debt, but the thief will in some way experience the consequences of stealing. The consequences are inextricably bound to the action. Once the arrow has left the bow, you can’t call it back. Forgiveness and karma work something like this: If you destroy another person’s hand by holding it in the fire, you may be forgiven by that person and you may be able to forgive yourself, and you may come to know the forgiveness of God, but the burned person will live the rest of their life with a physical scar, and you will live the rest of your life with a spiritual scar. Here’s a spiritual hypothesis that I believe to be true: to whatever degree I inflict injury of any kind on another, I inflict an equal injury of some kind on myself. Forgiveness does not cancel consequences, but forgiveness does mean that I experience those consequences in the context of grace. CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST…
I am almost done with a book called Embraced By The Light which is about a woman’s amazing near-death experience. A person who studied 1,000 near-death experiences wrote that it was the “most profound and complete” that she had ever come across, so I bought the book.
The author claimed to have met God after she died and one of the things she learned was that fear was Satan’s greatest tool. She saw how men and women in authority had become prey to negative energy and had taught belief in God through fear. “Because of their own fears, they were using fear to control others.” I know growing up Catholic, I remember the fear. God was supposed to be vengeful. The term “wrath of God” was used occasionally. So I am to live my life according to the book, or I will be punished for all of eternity.
Now I have seen fear based control in other circumstances. Many cultures live this way and it’s normal. Dictators rule this way. The tradition male role often includes fear and intimidation. Some people train animals like dogs in this way. Beat the dog if it poops on the carpet so it won’t do it again. Smack the wife if she doesn’t do something right and she’ll learn her lesson.
It seems the more I learn about myself, the less I am prone to violence. I heard that violence is the voice of the inarticulate which makes sense. So why would many religions teach in this matter? Why would God rule with fear? It doesn’t make sense to me for a fully enlightened being to act in this manner. Fear seems to oppress people. According to this book, fear prevents us from really loving God. It is the opposite of love. “Since I feared God, I could not truly love him, and in not loving him, I couldn’t love myself or others purely.” This makes sense to me. CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST…
Below is an extended dialogue from Richard Bach and his inner child in the book Running From Safety.
“The world’s not a sphere, Dickie, it’s a big floating pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid is the lowest life form you can imagine, hateful, vicious, destroying for destruction’s sake, devoid of empathy, one step above consciousness so savage it self-destructs the instant it’s born. There’s room for that kind of consciousness, lots of room, right here on our triangular planet.”
“What’s at the top of the pyramid?”
“At the top is consciousness so refined it barely recognizes anything but light. Beings who live for their loves, for their highest right, creatures of perfect perspective, who die with a loving smile upon whatever monster would strike them down for the fun of watching someone die. Whales are like that, I think. Most dolphins. Some people, the human beings among us.”
“In between are the rest of us,” he said.
“You and me, kid.”
“Can’t we change the world?”
“Absolutely,” I said. “We can change our world any way we want.”
“Not our world. The World. Can’t we make it better?”
“Better for me and you,” I said, “is not better for everybody.”
“Peace is better than war.”
“The ones near the top of the pyramid would probably agree. Peace would make them happier.”
And the ones near the bottom…”
“…love battle! There’s always a reason to fight. With luck it’s a burning cause; this war we fight for God, this war’s to save the Homeland, this one to cleanse the Race, to expand the Empire, to get the tin and tungsten. We fight because the pay’s good, because it’s more exciting destroying lives than building them, because war beats work for a living, because everybody else is fighting, because it’ll show I’m a man, because I like to kill.”
“Terrible,” he said.
“Not terrible,” I said, “predictable. When one planet makes room for so wide a spectrum of mind, we expect a lot of conflict. Is that okay with you?”
He frowned. “No.”
“Next time pick a narrow planet.”
“What if there is no next-time?” he said. “What if you’re wrong about other lives than this?”
“Doesn’t make any difference,” I said. “We build our personal world calm or wild according to what we want to live. We can weave utter peace in the midst of chaos. We can destroy in the midst of paradise. Depends on how we shape our spirit.”
I was listening to Oprah and Friends on XM Radio last night. A doctor was talking to an overweight lady about how to lose weight. He said that one of the keys to losing weight is to not eat 2-3 hours before bedtime. He said don’t go to bed starving, rather it’s ok to go to bed with the feeling that you have a little hunger.
What was amazing was when he said that people over eat at night because they tend to feel that their day was unfulfilling. They get home from work or whatever and unconsciously realize they didn’t go for their dreams or accomplish what they wanted. So they react and get temporary fulfillment from eating. But in the long run it’s a viscious cycle. I eat to feel happy, I feel like crap because I am fat.
I’ve never thought of it this way, but it makes total sense. So I thought to myself, do I do this? And the answer is yes. Am I fat, no. But my weight has gone up and down all my life. Now that I feel fulfilled most of the time at the end of the day, I stopped doing this for the most part and my weight is under control. I still sometimes eat late at night. Next time I do this, I’ll stop and think why.
Yesterday my friend Trent and I went riding our trials bikes in the desert. On the drive out there it was pouring rain. It was going to be a challenging ride for sure. But when we got there the rain slowed to a sprinkle which made riding awesome!
Then Geoff showed up as it began to snow and said, “you guys are hardcore.”
We all wanted to ride, so we didn’t let any perceived roadblocks stop us. And we had a blast in the rain, then in the snow. It rarely rains or snows here in the desert of Scottsdale. But when it does, it’s a beautiful thing. I mean how often do you see cactus covered in snow? I’ve seen it maybe 5 times in my life.
After about 4 hours, we headed home. We were exhausted! And soon after I got home, it hailed for about an hour and everything turned white again. There is still ice out on the lawn. What an awesome day.
I just talked to my neighbor Abel. He asked me if I saw the snow. I told him I thought it was hail or sleet, and yes I saw it. He’s never seen hail or snow or sleet in his life. He’s from Mexico and it doesn’t do that there. Imagine being in your 30s and never seeing snow. Hey, there is ice falling from the sky!? I thought it was pretty amazing too and was riding my bike with my tongue sticking out to catch the snow flakes. When I got home I saw my neighbors kids doing the same thing. They were out in the hail running around for at least an hour, having a blast.
Today I got my first comment saying my site is a “load of you know what.” I love it! People are finding my site through the search engines and I am challenging their beliefs. I hope to get more people commenting here that think I am full of it. All of the comments to my posts so far have been in agreement, which is great and everything. But I need to be challenged daily. So if you think I am full of it, PLEASE comment and let me have it with both barrels. Thanks!
BRUXELLES Dans le cadre d’une virée nocturne dans la nuit de lundi à mardi, deux hommes à bord d’une voiture Ford Fiesta ont forcé l’entrée du métro bruxellois Etangs-Noirs à Molenbeek au moyen de leur véhicule après avoir emprunté les escaliers centraux qui mènent à la station, a-t-on appris mardi auprès de la STIB.
I don’t speak French, but what an awesome ride down a staircase!
My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me. - Henry Ford
(Press Play For Some Theme Music)
This quote really resonated through me yesterday. I remember in the past I felt guilty for the good things in my life at times. I have it so good, yet many others around me struggle and seem miserable. Do I deserve this wonderful moment? Do I deserve this wonderful life? Should I hold back and make it seem that my life is not so great? Then maybe others wouldn’t feel so bad. Would I want my best friend to hold back? Hell no!! Do your best and I will do mine. Downplay things and it will pull me down further.
That quote helped me realize that I must be the best I can. I can lead by example. Others can choose to be miserable by seeing me win this game of life. Or they can be inspired and start their own journey of change. Either way I am not holding back. I’ll play my game to the fullest and know that I will win everytime that way. Yesterday was that day and I won, even when I lost. My confidence was 100%. And words cannot describe that feeling. I could have moved mountains had I felt the desire. And it started with attitude. And I think today I shall repeat.
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Greg Hankerson 
Happiness, Enlightenment 
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