After doing what I do for more than a decade and working with thousands of entrepreneurs, I’ve come to recognize a few core questions that clients come to me to get answered.

Each of them is big and has potentially huge ramifications when truly considered and become a focal point for significant transformation as a result of taking action.

• Why am I stuck?
• How do I know my purpose?
• What am I supposed to be doing?
• What makes me special / unique?
• How do I know I’m doing the right things?

And, the one that only the most courageous ask…

·         What am I missing?

Answering these questions is vital for an entrepreneur to make meaningful progress toward their business goals.

The ‘new’ model of entrepreneuring is powered by the entrepreneur’s soul and deeper purpose because your business can grow only as fast as you do. 

Your business is a reflection of what’s happening in your internal world. You, as an entrepreneur, get to see the results of your innermost beliefs quickly because your business results show them in a real-world way.

That being said, I need your help.

I’m creating an avant-garde brand-new program designed to support entrepreneurs in knowing their soul’s insights with undeniable clarity.

Please send me the question(s) you ask yourself about your business, who you are in your business, who you are here to be in your business by leaving a comment below or by going to www.JustAskLynn.com.

What challenge is holding you back from shining your light brighter and expressing yourself in business more boldly?  Where is your business limited? Where do you feel constricted in your business?

I really want to know – I’ll be using this information in this new program, which will be rolling out shortly.

Thank you in advance for your question(s)… again, please leave a comment below or go to www.JustAskLynn.com to let me know the business boogeyman that is draining your energy from making progress in your business.

To Your Clear Success In Every Way ~~~

Lynn

by John O’Donohue

May you have the grace and wisdom
To act kindly, learning
To distinguish between what is
Personal and what is not.

May you be hospitable to criticism.

May you never put yourself at the centre of things.

May you act not from arrogance but out of service.

May you work on yourself,
Building up and refining the ways of your mind.

May those who work for you know
You see and respect them.

May you learn to cultivate the art of presence
In order to engage with those who meet you.

When someone fails or disappoints you,
May the graciousness with which you engage
Be their stairway to renewal and refinement.

May you treasure the gifts of the mind
Through reading and creative thinking
So that you continue as a servant of the frontier
Where the new will draw its enrichment from the old,
And you never become functionary.

May you know the wisdom of deep listening,
The healing of wholesome words,
The encouragement of the appreciative gaze,
The decorum of held dignity,
The springtime edge of the bleak question.

May you have a mind that loves frontiers
So that you can evoke the bright fields
That lie beyond the view of the regular eye.

May you have good friends
To mirror your blind spots.

May leadership be for you
A true adventure of growth.

© John O’Donohue. All rights reserved. For more info, please see http://www.johnodonohue.com.

Today is a powerful 3 day in a 3 year (March, 3^rd, 2 + 1 = 3) – it’s a big day!

According to numerology, three is the number which represents the Universe – think man/ heaven/ earth or mind/body/spirit or past/present/future. Good things come in threes, right?

Three is also the number of communication, words / images and creativity. Using powerful communication in creative ways is a path to freedom in life and business.

The shadow side is that when we withhold either our creativity OR our communication, it creates a negative energy that can become trapped emotion or create dysfunctional patterns that result in stress for ourselves and others. It is through words that we know others to form relationships and create trust. And from an entrepreneurial standpoint, it is through our creative communication that we persuade people to take action for their best good which may be counter-intuitive to their natural resistance to change.

The energy of three (and especially THREE three’s!) is to reach our potential through optimism, enthusiasm and life artistry in living our personal truths. This is deceptively simple because it actually requires cutting through the noise, persona, distractions, opinions, judgments (from ourselves and others) to embrace every part of who we are – even those parts we don’t want to acknowledge.

When there is a part of us that lives in shadow, there is energy that is being not only underutilized but that is taking energy from our present moment to ignore it. The more we do not acknowledge in the shadows, the greater the psychic debt and the more energy it drains living in the present. These shadow areas are the invitation for healing and doing ‘the work’.

Part of the energy of three is innovation, fresh ideas and new ways of understanding, which can result in a sense of being scattered or distracted. This combined with communication energy can set the stage for rumor, gossip, hearsay, trivial conversation and a focus on the superficial words or rushing through dialogue as opposed to relating to the powerful energy creating them. That creates a shallow perspective where it’s easy to connect to the obvious when the substance that we crave is actually deeper. Today (and this year!) is an opportunity to practice conscious language. 

Conscious language is spirit made audible through vibration. In using language consciously, be aware of the words you choose because that is what you are focusing on and choosing to give life force energy in creating. For example, do you say “before I forget” or “while I remember”? Which feels better? Do you laugh and say “that kills me” or on a day that isn’t going well, do you say “I wish today was over with already”? In either case, you are wishing away your life. Remember, by using language as the powerful tool it is you call into being what you desire to manifest.  (Note: the word want implies lack while desire is much deeper – notice where you are wanting and where you are desiring in your life and business.)

Three is the number of children (1 is father, 2 is mother and 3 is child); this again relates to your own potential healing as many of your most limiting patterns are the ones you inherited or imprinted as a child. Release the patterns that no longer serve you, or aren’t even yours, in order to consciously open new energy pathways in life and business. Metaphorically, this also relates to the projects that you create in your business as your symbolic offspring so pay attention to what you’ve already created to see if it requires nurturing or if it’s time to let it go. And if you have not yet created a signature product or program in your business, now is a good time to ‘birth’ it.

3 is also the number of appearances which, in the case of business, is about your branding. Make sure the image that you are presenting to your potential and current clients is accurate and the one you want them to have of you; if it’s anything less than authentic, it creates a situation where you either have to live an inauthentic persona or have inauthentic relationships that will not produce the results you desire.

Lastly, as referenced earlier, three is the energy of mind, body and spirit. This is the time to create clarity within and conscious alignment between these vital parts of your being: your intelligence and intellect, your physical body and your soul, or radiant energy that is your inner light. Pay attention to each individually to discover where to honor what needs nurturing and attention as well as expressing gratitude for what is… then pay attention to how each relates to the other.

When all three of your bodies are in harmonic alignment, you can feel it and your life flows easier.  The convergence point between the physical and ethereal worlds is the heart. Love is the second most powerful energy there is – the first is your choice in expressing, receiving and savoring it.

So make the powerful choice to be your best self through aware love for yourself and others, create a new relationship with those parts of you that have been in the shadows, use conscious language in manifesting your desires and take advantage of the creativity and communication that is available to you today and throughout the year as your path to freedom in life and business. 

Please leave me your comments about how your 3/3/2010 is going below!” And that may work for FB too? “Please let me know how your 3/3/2010 is going – I’d love to hear!

Lynn Scheurell works with people who want to accelerate their personal evolution through focused clarity. Going beyond what they expect, know and find familiar can be chaotic and overwhelming; Lynn’s unique way of facilitating conscious awareness helps people naturally quantum leap their growth for powerful life transformation. Download a free e-guide “Own the Wisdom Within: Five Keys to Using Life’s Turning Points for Transformational Success” at www.MyCreativeCatalyst.com.

Someone recently asked me a question that I thought others might find helpful re: getting out of debt. This is the exchange – hopefully, it gives you or someone you know some good support in facing this same challenge. Please leave me your comments at the bottom as to your situation and ideas about how to handle debt. Thanks.

The Question:

Lynn, I have a problem with lack of focus. I have gotten into so many web based programs and bought so much junk that I have gotten in debt big time. How do I pull out of it?

My Answer:

Hi -

I SO understand! The allure of good marketing has the power to just suck you right in… I’ve done it myself and have shelves full of stuff to prove it! ;+)

My first thought is, naturally, do not buy anything else! Next, go through what you have to see if there’s anything in there that you can leverage to make cash. If not, put it on craiglist or ebay and pass it on…

Re: getting out of debt, there are a few things I would suggest. As with anything I say, please feel into and see if it feels good for you – it it doesn’t, please disregard it. ;+)

Anyway, just like a diet, you’ve got to ‘own’ the number. Know how far you are into debt so you have no surprises – you know what you’re shooting for in terms of a result. Next, negotiate with the lenders so that you can either freeze the interest or work out a reasonable payment plan.

Then follow the energy of your money opportunities – create a mindmap about how to generate cash. Take a piece of paper and write the number you need to create in March – add $1000 to it for good measure. From there, draw out, like wheel spokes, all the ways that can come to you… commissions, garage sale, affiliate marketing, consulting, clients, etc. Brainstorm on what you can do to create that money. Then use that as a roadmap to prioritize what you focus on next.

Please bear in mind that I am a Midwestern girl at heart, so the solution has to be practical. AND, I am a spiritual teacher so I believe in invoking in all the energy that’s required to help make that happen. One of my clients did the above mindmap, set her intention to increase from 2 students/wk to 10 paying students/wk. Within 2 wks, she was at 8 students/wk – and that was after going for 6 months without an increase! It works…

I invite you to join me on my mailing list as I send out resources and information often. Also, at the risk of tempting you with something else, I am teaching a class on how to face your fears. I figure there are no coincidences here… ;+)

If you’d like to check that teleclass out, it’s $39 and you can see it www.LynnsClasses.com. It’s both a lecture AND a separate Q and A call, so that’s 2+ hours in there.

Meanwhile, I send you good energy to power up some positive momentum! Please keep me posted… I know you can get it handled. :+)

With good vibes ~~~

Lynn

Lynn Scheurell
Creative Catalyst

When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my first answer was always the same – ‘to help people’. And that answer revealed my true gifts in a profound, sweet way… it’s also that answer that has held back my business growth over the years.

Now I’m able to articulate my natural wisdom points – I’m a teacher, a healer, an intuitive and business visionary. So, ‘helping people’ is really how I’m wired from the inside out – these are talents that I’ve never really had to ‘learn’ because I just naturally know and express them.

However, I struggled for years beginning in corporate America and then as an entrepreneur. And people couldn’t really help me either – they just knew they felt better and that things flowed better when I was around. Unfortunately, as a business owner, not being able to pinpoint what you do is the entrepreneurial black hole.

I spent literally decades trying to sort my way through how ‘helping people’ was not a niche market. ‘People’ don’t know who ‘people’ are, right? After years of frustration and many different businesses, my current business is tailored to exactly the people who can most use my natural wisdom AND everything I’ve learned along the way.

The bottom line: I teach renaissance / spiritual / creative / conscious entrepreneurs how to find and translate their soul’s wisdom into a viable business. I want to help every entrepreneur offering a natural talent, message and/or gift to express it through their business because, for me, that’s our highest calling. One’s life purpose made manifest through service, creating and generating value for self and others, is the whole point of being here.

So, I’m still ‘helping people’… and now they know who they are and I am living my purpose when we make that connection. ;=)

What did you say when people asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up? In what ways has that come true? How has that guided you in your life? Please leave me a comment – I’d love to hear your story.

Sir Ken Robinson (who I frankly had never heard of) gave a TED Talk about creativity. As much as I like to get new perspectives on, well, everything, I wasn’t going to watch this 20-minute video because it was described to focus on education and creativity. And then something told me to watch it. It was eye-opening.

This speaker described the dilemma of educational systems today as having to educate for something that we don’t know is coming, that we are innovating for what we can’t yet see and that current systems actually stigmatize making mistakes. By making mistakes, and being criticized, judged and minimized for them, we learn to follow an intellectual system of perfection.

We are educated above the neck and to the left side (linear brain). He calls it academic inflation, as education systems focus on cultivating for university admittance (the equivalent of ‘strip-mining the mind’). The result all this is that some of the most intelligent, creative, innovative people around don’t know how amazing they are because they fear making a mistake and being wrong.

This wisdom is foundationally relevant to any entrepreneur because it is in risking who we are that we create and generate value. Our imagination and creativity is the key to solving problems that we don’t even know exist yet. Our original ideas that have value are the very core of creativity, in Sir Ken’s description. He says ‘take a chance – don’t be frightened of being wrong!”, degrees (credentials) really aren’t worth anything and that it is the richness of human capacity that matters. I couldn’t agree more.

You can always change your mind, but the greatest mistake is not taking action on expressing who you are with the world. The greatest tragedy is feeling shame for being divorce, dynamic and distinct as a person (the speaker’s definition of intelligence), not valuing those very qualities for the power held within them.

Here are three keys that entrepreneurs can use from this video.

1.       Be prepared to be wrong so you can innovate beyond what’s known.

2.       Cast aside rigid structures that limit and make bland your natural gifts.

3.       Express the core of who you are in what you do.

To see this video yourself, go to: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

Be prepared to be inspired.

And please let me know how your world is different as a result of that inspiration by leaving a comment below – thanks. ;+)

Sandra  Bienkowski  January 19, 2010 

Marcus Buckingham is a leadership expert, internationally renowned speaker and New York Times best-selling author of several books, including First, Break All the Rules; Now Discover Your Strengths and Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently. He’s the founder of TMBC, a management consulting company, and has been hailed as a visionary by corporations such as Toyota, Coca-Cola and Microsoft. He has appeared on Oprah and Larry King Live and been featured in major newspapers.

SUCCESS: What led you to bring your life-strengthening message to women in particular?

Marcus Buckingham: The leading data on women’s happiness over the past 40 years is compelling and disappointing. Women have gained greater power, broader influence, higher education and more money, but according to research by the National Bureau of Economic Research, women’s daily life satisfaction has gone downhill in the last 40 years. Men are actually slightly happier now that they were, probably due to the slight increase in prosperity we have had, while women’s daily satisfaction has dropped steadily, even given that greater prosperity. It’s true of women in the work force, those not working, those who have kids and those who don’t. As a researcher, I find this trend discouraging: half of our population is experiencing decreasing net happiness and satisfaction with life. When we look at what makes people engaged and fulfilled with their lives, everyone from economists to psychologists seems to agree that the feeling of self-efficacy, feeling valued and effective in your strength zone is critical. The happiest and most successful people are those who have figured out ways to play to the best of themselves in each part of their lives. They feel in the zone.

SUCCESS: What is causing this ongoing dissatisfaction and unhappiness in life?

Marcus Buckingham: There are two causes. One is excess of choice. Life’s tricky for women because they have more choices than men. Most women don’t get much help in knowing what choices will strengthen them, or how to have a strong internal compass so they don’t wonder about or regret the choices made. The second cause is that the advice women have been given is misleading. Women are told to strive for balance. It’s impossible to balance a morning let alone a day or a life. You’ll never balance perfectly the amount of hours spent on each particular aspect of your life, and it’s not satisfying when you try. If your goal in life is balance, you’ll forever be disappointing yourself.

SUCCESS: What do you mean when you say that the happiest and most successful women know how to catch and cradle?

Marcus Buckingham: The challenge of life is not to juggle, the challenge is to catch—to select a few clear strong moments from each aspect of your life and reach for those, draw them in to you. I call this “catch and cradle.” In contrast with manic juggling, there is a deliberate reaching for specific moments to cradle. When you cradle a baby, you concentrate on it, you feel its weight, and allow it to move you; you’re very responsive to it. Cradling is a very nurturing position; you’re not grasping it to you, there’s hopefulness to it. If you want to live a full life, a life that fulfills you, then you need to know in each part of your life which the specific moments that really renew your energy, and bring you joy, and go after them. You want to imbalance your life toward creating more of those specific moments. It’s a very different approach. It’s not “learn to say no” it’s “learn to say yes.” Learn who you are clearly enough to know which moments you need to say “yes” to, and understand that the moments won’t be the same for your sister or your next door neighbor or your coworker.

Source: http://www.successmagazine.com/1on1/PARAMS/article/977

Those who think they’re unlucky should change their outlook and discover how to generate good fortune, says Richard Wiseman

Richard Wiseman
Published: 12:01AM GMT 09 Jan 2003

A decade ago, I set out to investigate luck. I wanted to examine the impact on people’s lives of chance opportunities, lucky breaks and being in the right place at the right time. After many experiments, I believe that I now understand why some people are luckier than others and that it is possible to become luckier.

To launch my study, I placed advertisements in national newspapers and magazines, asking for people who felt consistently lucky or unlucky to contact me. Over the years, 400 extraordinary men and women volunteered for my research from all walks of life: the youngest is an 18-year-old student, the oldest an 84-year-old retired accountant.

Jessica, a 42-year-old forensic scientist, is typical of the lucky group. As she explained: “I have my dream job, two wonderful children and a great guy whom I love very much. It’s amazing; when I look back at my life, I realise I have been lucky in just about every area.”

In contrast, Carolyn, a 34-year-old care assistant, is typical of the unlucky group. She is accident-prone. In one week, she twisted her ankle in a pothole, injured her back in another fall and reversed her car into a tree during a driving lesson. She was also unlucky in love and felt she was always in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Over the years, I interviewed these volunteers, asked them to complete diaries, questionnaires and intelligence tests, and invited them to participate in experiments. The findings have revealed that although unlucky people have almost no insight into the real causes of their good and bad luck, their thoughts and behaviour are responsible for much of their fortune.

Take the case of chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not. I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities.

I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs, whereas the lucky people took just seconds. Why? Because the second page of the newspaper contained the message: “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper.” This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than 2in high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.

For fun, I placed a second large message halfway through the newspaper: “Stop counting. Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win £250.” Again, the unlucky people missed the opportunity because they were still too busy looking for photographs.

Personality tests revealed that unlucky people are generally much more tense than lucky people, and research has shown that anxiety disrupts people’s ability to notice the unexpected. In one experiment, people were asked to watch a moving dot in the centre of a computer screen. Without warning, large dots would occasionally be flashed at the edges of the screen. Nearly all participants noticed these large dots.

The experiment was then repeated with a second group of people, who were offered a large financial reward for accurately watching the centre dot, creating more anxiety. They became focused on the centre dot and more than a third of them missed the large dots when they appeared on the screen. The harder they looked, the less they saw.

And so it is with luck – unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and as a result miss other types of jobs. Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for.

My research revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

I wondered whether these four principles could be used to increase the amount of good luck that people encounter in their lives. To find out, I created a “luck school” – a simple experiment that examined whether people’s luck can be enhanced by getting them to think and behave like a lucky person.

I asked a group of lucky and unlucky volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person. These exercises helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky, and be more resilient to bad luck.

One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic: 80 per cent of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and, perhaps most important of all, luckier. While lucky people became luckier, the unlucky had become lucky. Take Carolyn, whom I introduced at the start of this article. After graduating from “luck school”, she has passed her driving test after three years of trying, was no longer accident-prone and became more confident.

In the wake of these studies, I think there are three easy techniques that can help to maximise good fortune:

• Unlucky people often fail to follow their intuition when making a choice, whereas lucky people tend to respect hunches. Lucky people are interested in how they both think and feel about the various options, rather than simply looking at the rational side of the situation. I think this helps them because gut feelings act as an alarm bell – a reason to consider a decision carefully.

• Unlucky people tend to be creatures of routine. They tend to take the same route to and from work and talk to the same types of people at parties. In contrast, many lucky people try to introduce variety into their lives. For example, one person described how he thought of a colour before arriving at a party and then introduced himself to people wearing that colour. This kind of behaviour boosts the likelihood of chance opportunities by introducing variety.

• Lucky people tend to see the positive side of their ill fortune. They imagine how things could have been worse. In one interview, a lucky volunteer arrived with his leg in a plaster cast and described how he had fallen down a flight of stairs. I asked him whether he still felt lucky and he cheerfully explained that he felt luckier than before. As he pointed out, he could have broken his neck.

Richard Wiseman is a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire. His book, The Luck Factor (Century), is available for £9.99 + £1.99 p&p. To order, please call Telegraph Books Direct on 0870 155 7222.

By Earth Changes Media
Nov 11th., 2009 -

Carlos Barrios, Mayan elder and Ajq’ij (a ceremonial priest and spiritual guide) of the Eagle Clan. Carlos initiated an investigation into the different Mayan calendars circulating. Carlos along with his brother Gerardo studied with many teachers and interviewed nearly 600 traditional Mayan elders to widen their scope of knowledge.
 
Carlos found out quickly there were several conflicting interpretations of Mayan hieroglyphs, petroglyphs, Sacred Books of ‘Chilam Balam’ and various ancient text. Carlos found some strong words for those who may have contributed to the confusion —

Carlos Barrios: “Anthropologists visit the temple sites and read the inscriptions and make up stories about the Maya, but they do not read the signs correctly. It’s just their imagination. Other people write about prophecy in the name of the Maya. They say that the world will end in December 2012. The Mayan elders are angry with this. The world will not end. It will be transformed.”

“We are no longer in the World of the Fourth Sun, but we are not yet in the World of the Fifth Sun. This is the time in-between, the time of transition. As we pass through transition there is a colossal, global convergence of environmental destruction, social chaos, war, and ongoing Earth Changes.”

He continues: “Humanity will continue, but in a different way. Material structures will change. From this we will have the opportunity to be more human. We are living in the most important era of the Mayan calendars and prophecies. All the prophecies of the world, all the traditions are converging now. There is no time for games. The spiritual ideal of this era is action.”

Carlos tells us: “The indigenous have the calendars and know how to accurately interpret it — not others. The Mayan Calendars comprehension of time, seasons, and cycles has proven itself to be vast and sophisticated. The Maya understand 17 different calendars such as the Tzolk’in or Cholq’ij, some of them charting time accurately over a span of more than ten million years.

“All was predicted by the mathematical cycles of the Mayan calendars. — It will change –everything will change. Mayan Day-keepers view the Dec. 21, 2012 date as a rebirth, the start of the World of the Fifth Sun. It will be the start of a new era resulting from and signified by the solar meridian crossing the galactic equator and the Earth aligning itself with the center of the galaxy.”

At sunrise on December 21, 2012 for the first time in 26,000 years the Sun rises to conjunct the intersection of the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic. This cosmic cross is considered to be an embodiment of the Sacred Tree, The Tree of Life, a tree remembered in all the world’s spiritual traditions. Some observers say this alignment with the heart of the galaxy in 2012 will open a channel for cosmic energy to flow through the Earth, cleansing it and all that dwells upon it, raising all to a higher level of vibration. Carlos reminds us: “This process has already begun. Change is accelerating now and it will continue to accelerate. If the people of the Earth can get to this 2012 date in good shape without having destroyed too much of the Earth, we will rise to a new, higher level. But to get there we must transform enormously powerful forces that seek to block the way.”

The date specified in the calendar Winter Solstice in the year 2012 does not mark the end of the world. Many outside people writing about the Mayan calendar sensationalize this date, but they do not know. The ones who know are the indigenous elders who are entrusted with keeping the tradition.

Carlos tells us: “The economy now is a fiction. The first five-year stretch of transition from August 1987 to August 1992 was the beginning of the destruction of the material world. We have progressed ten years deeper into the transition phase by now, and many of the so-called sources of financial stability are in fact hollow. The banks are weak. This is a delicate moment for them. They could crash globally, if we don’t pay attention.  Now, people are paying attention.”

The North and South Poles are both breaking up. The level of the water in the oceans is going to rise. But at the same time land in the ocean, especially near Cuba, is also going to rise. Carlos tells a story about the most recent Mayan New Year ceremonies in Guatemala. He said that one respected Mam elder, who lives all year in a solitary mountain cave, journeyed to Chichicastenango to speak with the people at the ceremony. The elder delivered a simple, direct message. He called for human beings to come together in support of life and light.

“Right now each person and group is going his or her own way. The elder of the mountains said there is hope if the people of the light can come together and unite in some way. We live in a world of polarity — day and night, man and woman, positive and negative. Light and darkness need each other. They are a balance.”

“Just now the dark side is very strong, and very clear about what they want. They have their vision and their priorities clearly held, and also their hierarchy. They are working in many ways so that we will be unable to connect with the spiral Fifth World in 2012.”

“On the light side everyone thinks they are the most important, that their own understandings, or their group’s understandings, are the key. There’s a diversity of cultures and opinions, so there is competition, diffusion, and no single focus.”

Carlos believes the dark side works to block unity through denial and materialism. It also works to destroy those who are working with the light to get the Earth to a higher level. They like the energy of the old, declining Fourth World, the materialism. They do not want it to change. They do not want unity. They want to stay at this level, and are afraid of the next level.

The dark power of the declining Fourth World cannot be destroyed or overpowered. It’s too strong and clear for that, and that is the wrong strategy. The dark can only be transformed when confronted with simplicity and open-heartedness. This is what leads to unity, a key concept for the World of the Fifth Sun.

Carlos said the emerging era of the Fifth Sun will call attention to a much-overlooked element. Whereas the four traditional elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water have dominated various epochs in the past, there will be a fifth element to reckon with in the time of the Fifth Sun — that element is ‘ETHER’.

The dictionary defines Ether as a “hypothetical substance supposed to occupy all space, postulated to account for the propagation of electromagnetic radiation through space.” Perhaps it could be defined as the “space between space”. I would suggest it could be manifest as the alignment of charged particles from our solar system (Sun), and our galaxy (Milky Way) surge.  The Ether element represents spiritual energy.

“The element of the Fifth Sun is celestial. Within the context of Ether there can be a joining of the polarities. No more darkness or light in the people, but an uplifted unity. But right now the realm of darkness is not interested in this. They are organized to block it. They seek to unbalance the Earth and its environment so we will be unready for the alignment in 2012.”

“We need to work together for peace, and balance with the other side. We need to take care of the Earth that feeds and shelters us. We need to put our entire mind and heart into pursuing unity and unity now, to confront the other side and preserve life.”

“We are disturbed — we can’t play anymore. Our planet can be renewed or ravaged. Now is the time to awaken and take action. Everyone is needed. You are not here for no reason. Everyone who is here now has an important purpose. This is a hard but a special time. We have the opportunity for growth, but we must be ready for this moment in history.”

Carlos says: “The prophesied changes are going to happen, but our attitude and actions determine how harsh or mild they are. We need to act, to make changes, and to elect people to represent us who understand and who will take political action to respect the Earth.”

“Meditation and spiritual practice are good, but also action. It’s very important to be clear about who you are, and also about your relation to the Earth. Develop yourself according to your own tradition and the call of your heart. But remember to respect differences, and strive for unity. Eat wisely — a lot of food is corrupt in either subtle or gross ways. Pay attention to what you are taking into your body. Learn to preserve food, and to conserve energy. Learn some good breathing techniques, so you have mastery of your breath. Be clear. Follow a tradition with great roots. It is not important what tradition, your heart will tell you, but it must have great roots.”

“We live in a world of energy. An important task at this time is to learn to sense or see the energy of everyone and everything — people, plants, animals. This becomes increasingly important as we draw close to the World of the Fifth Sun, for it is associated with the element ‘ether’ — the realm where energy lives and weaves. Go to the sacred places of the Earth to pray for peace, and have respect for the Earth which gives us our food, clothing, and shelter. We need to reactivate the energy of these sacred places. That is our work.”

“One simple but effective prayer technique is to light white or baby-blue colored candles. Think of a moment in peace. Speak your intention to the flame and send the light of it on to the leaders who have the power to make war or peace.”

Carlos reminds us this is a crucially important moment for humanity and for Earth. Each person is important. He said the elders have opened the doors so that other races can come to the Mayan world to receive the tradition. “The Maya have long appreciated and respected that there are other colors, other races, and other spiritual systems. They know that the destiny of the Mayan world is related to the destiny of the whole world.”

“The greatest wisdom is in simplicity. Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness. It’s not complex or elaborate. The real knowledge is free. It’s encoded in your DNA. All you need is within you. Great teachers have said that from the beginning. Find your heart, and you will find your way.”
Sir Chandan a.k.a. Sir CeeGee
www.tantraguru.ning.com
www.newspiritservices.com/vedic.astrology.html

You may not remember this, but I had some large unexpected medical bills a few months back. I want to share with you now the results of that campaign, as well as the life-changing lessons I learned along the way, and how it all finally turned out this morning.

First – The Overview:

You might remember that I thought I was having a heart attack a few months ago. Being the good closet geek that I am, I googled what to do when I was having unusual symptoms at 2:30 am one August morning – all web suggestions were ‘get thee to the ER’. So I did. And the bills that came in for all the providers were staggering as an uninsured person.

One of my clients / friends decided to launch a donation campaign to help defray those costs; the original goal was to raise funds to pay for the ER facility fee, ER physician fee, cardiologist fee and labwork. Within the first week, enough was raised to handle all the ancillary fees and the first payment to the hospital. Altogether, the final total of $2200 was gifted by both people I knew and who I had yet to meet (which boggled my mind, to be honest – the generosity of human spirit in action is a humbling experience, especially when it came my way). ;+) I had been a professional fund raiser way back when in my corporate career days, but this gave a whole new understanding of philanthropy in an up close and personal kind of way.

Second – My Big A-Ha (or, The First Insight…):

I went wayyyyy beyond my comfort zone by asking for what I needed, to share my vulnerability with people and trust that I would not be judged for it. I had significant reservations about the whole thing. And I can’t say that I didn’t have a couple of unexpected responses from people, but it was then that I learned how glad I am to have had the physical experience to listen to the voice of my inner fears made tangible so that I could conquer them by looking at the truth of it. And 99.5% of the responses were overwhelmingly positive and supportive as people shared with me their own experiences.

People said that they now had courage to ask for what they needed themselves through my example, that they were going to be more responsible with their health, and that they were inspired to go beyond their own comfort zone as a giver to receive help and support from the people who love them. All amazing and wonderful bits of personal stories, which were heart-felt and most appreciated to hear… what a gift.

Third – An Overdue Growth Opportunity:

I learned to receive. This may sound deceptively simple as a summation, but it was – and continues to be – something that has rocked my world. A big part of my personality rested on my ability to be the giver, to be ‘the rock’, and to not be ‘needy’ as I could always manage, to get by, that other people needed support much more than I did. I always figured I could handle ‘it’ on my own, and I did for a long time. Then my world cracked open, and I nearly didn’t have a choice. It took a physical scare of this magnitude to show me the power of compassion for myself and to allow others to give to me. This is something for which the people who donated to my cause, as my teachers, have left an indelible mark upon me forevermore with the spirit of support and generosity.

Fourth - I Had to Get It Again…:

In every lesson, there’s an opportunity to slip even when you know what you know. That is, after the initial push of the donation campaign in September, and I had paid what I could on the bill, things quieted down. I needed to handle what was left of the outstanding balance (now about $5500). People encouraged me to file for financial assistance with the hospital, but I didn’t think there was any possibility there so I didn’t for a couple of months. By October, I realized that I was again doing my old patterns – handling it all on my own, bravely (maybe stupidly) against the odds trying to figure out a way to get this balance handled as quickly as possible.

Finally, a friend visiting me for a week convinced me to file the paperwork with the hospital, to do it different, to show up in a new way with myself and to ask for support in a new way (notice a pattern here?). So I did. And, despite my follow-through on that filing process, I was told there wouldn’t be an answer for at least 90 days. On top of that, I wasn’t pregnant, terminally ill, a single mother, a minority, disabled or on assistance from any other agencies (darn it), which they told me would have been helpful to make a determination in my favor. I had the misfortune of being basically of whole mind and body, caught between the cracks of a system that has inefficiencies built into it in order to make it work. It wasn’t a happy time for me to take in the enormity of what that meant for me personally.

Fifth – My Biggest ‘Takeaway’ From It All:  

The Universe always has my back. Today, as I was sorting out my year-end bookkeeping, as I was assessing where I am this year vs. last year (and noting this particular balance owing on the books), I got word that the provider review was complete. Against all expectation, the outcome of the situation is that the hospital forgave my entire remaining balance! My new balance is zero.

I have to say it was an emotional experience for me on so many levels. I’m so grateful that this resolution occurred during December, the last month of the year (and the last month of a 9 year for me, in case you know numerology). And all of this has occurred during a month where I set a personal intention to ‘quantum leap’ myself… that process alone has been insightful, transformational and something that I believe will become the foundation of the next level of my work with clients. It IS possible to quantum leap! It’s not for the faint of heart, but that is another conversation… ;+)

My point here is to share with you my gratitude for my powerful teachers for me this year, to thank all who showed up in my world for their generosity and support, and to let the world know how much I honor their lasting contribution in my world. And, honestly, to flat out celebrate with big joy and gratitude the inspiring outcome of what I initially thought was a situation of trauma and despair as it has now shown itself to be – a multi-faceted experiential gem of discovery, gratitude and connection.

Most importantly, thank you for your contribution to my journey in whatever way that turned out to be… Know that you and your generosity is blessed daily. And that it is being paid forward… thank you for being in my world. ;+)

Sending you and yours wishes for abundance and radiant blessings throughout this holiday season and beyond ~~~

Lynn