Bring Peace not Pain

Too Long...

2011-12-03T21:52:00.001-05:00

I am most embarrassed to admit that it has been over a year since my last post, but I am even more humbled to have found that even without new postings, hundreds of people each month are still visiting…thank you. Please know that although this blog has been grossly neglected, Bring Peace Not Pain has continued to grow…in it own organic way, as always (please visit http://www.bringpeacenotpain.com/ ).

When I first began these writings it was “2am divine inspiration“…always right around 2am, the words just came and dutifully in a sleepy haze I woke and wrote them down, I truly felt I was merely the instrument.

In the beginning is was nearly every night but gradually the time between these awakenings began to be farther and farther apart…explaining the year hiatus ( although I did feel remiss in not continuing to administer this blog, I do have to admit that I had been enjoying the full night sleep).

However seeing the consistent stream of visitors has inspired me to resurrect the blog. Being realistic about my time constraints I am committing to writing monthly, but will happily post others stories, thoughts and ideas...so please share.

Thank you again for not giving up and believing I would be back.

Suzi
ox

The Power of a Click

2010-06-12T10:04:00.002-04:00

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."
Anne Frank

This moment…lets make it the one. What can we do right this minute, from right here, right in front of our computers to make our world, someone else world, better? With a few minutes and a few clicks we have the power to make a difference. …lets do it!!

We could:
Send someone an email to let them know that you are thinking about them.
Send a “Call to Action” email to your political leaders about an issue you feel strongly about.
Learn more about injustices being perpetrated around the globe…and share that knowledge.
Donate to causes you care about.
Find out about needs in your community...places to volunteer, etc.
Join groups that are committed to working in your areas of interest.
Send in more ideas and we will send you a peace sign necklace!

Thanks…Suzi

Peace Song Challenge

2010-01-03T14:29:00.004-05:00

Bring Peace Not Pain, an organization devoted to prompting peace and global citizenship, announces the winners of its Peace Song Challenge. In believing that music has the unique ability to transcend social and geographical barriers, Bring Peace Not Pain, with the support of musical instrument leader Gibson Guitar, launched the Peace Song Challenge in an effort to create a platform for individuals to share their messages of peace through their music. The challenge which generated over 60 submissions from all over the globe, representing music from most genres had three winners.

The First Place Prize winner was selected after various rounds of judging produced a list of the top ten which was then submitted to the official panel of judges which included legendary music producer Bob Ezrin, international recording artist Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Oscar nominee Thavi Phrasavath, music industry hitmaker Anastasia Brown and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President Terry Stewart.

The judges were unanimous in choosing what BPNP founder Suzi Nance believes is a wonderful choice to represent Bring Peace Not Pain “as its positive message echo’s the sentiments of BPNP that the power to bring about true change in our world rest with each one of us” and Thavi Phrasavath shared “I got goose bumps, the song is jumping out at me with excitement and inspiration.”. “When We Get It Right” by Rockie Lynne, Tim Johnson and Rory Feek, takes home the First Place Award.

The creation of an additional award “The Peoples Choice Award” was motivated by the hundreds of visitors to the BPNP website and their thoughtful comments on the music. After tallying the votes, two songs tied to share this special award James Nihan with his song I See Light in Everything, and EG Kight, Tom Horner, and Bonnie Gehling with their song Through the Eyes of a Child.

Although their musical expertise was evident in the quality of all the winning songs; Rockie Lynne who’s debut single, "Lipstick," spent an impressive 10 consecutive weeks in the #1 on Billboard's Country Singles Sales chart. Tim Johnson a native from western Oregon songwriter and producer has scored 100 major label cuts . Rory Feek known for the last 14 years in Nashville as one of country music's premiere songwriters. EG Kight has been nominated for six Blues Music Awards, twice for Song Of The Year and two of her songs landed on Koko Taylor’s Grammy®-nominated albums. Tom Horner, two time winner of Billboard Magazine's Annual Song Contest was nominated for song of the year in 2004 at the W.C.Handy Awards. It was the positive messages of hope and possibilities in their music that make them the perfect complements to the Bring Peace Not Pain campaign.

All of the winning songs as well as many of the original entry can be found on www.BringPeaceNotPain.com.

Peace Song Challenge

2009-07-07T21:59:00.001-04:00

Only 2 ½ weeks until the Peace Song Challenge entry deadline…so if you have a great song expounding the message of peace there is still time to submit it. Email SuziNanceBPNP@yahoo.com or visit www.BringPeaceNotPain.com for more details and an Official Entry Form.

BRING PEACE NOT PAIN ANNOUNCES FAMOUS PANEL OF JUDGES FOR THE PEACE SONG CHALLENGE

2009-05-17T11:16:00.001-04:00

Legendary producer Bob Ezrin, musician Yusuf, Oscar nominee Thavi Phrasavath, Entertainment Industry executive Anastasia Brown and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President and CEO Terry Stewart make up prestigious judges panel for international song challenge New York, New York…May 4, 2009…Bring Peace Not Pain, an organization formed to further the message of peace through the efforts of individuals and various partnerships and entertainment programs, announced a prestigious judges panel made of some of the best known talents in the music and film industry today. The judges will play a pivotal role in choosing the winning entry for the Peace Song Challenge. Open to anyone who aspires to bring their message of peace through music, the Peace Song Challenge will award one grand prize winning entrant an exclusive Gibson Guitar and the opportunity to spread the word of Peace t hrough their very own words on an international platform of publicity and promotion. The winner will also have the opportunity to present their music to a forum of legendary producers and music industry elite who form the panel of judges of this year’s contest. All entries for the Peace Song Challenge are due by July 25, 2009. The top entries will be judged and a winner announced on or before November 25 2009. Several adaptations to the official rules have been made and interested parties should check the Bring Peace Not Pain website for details and applications.The offici al judging panel for the Peace Song Challenge includes legendary music producer Bob Ezrin, international recording artistYusuf (Cat Stevens), Oscar nominee Thavi Phrasavath, music industry hitmaker Anastasia Brown and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President Terry Stewart.Bob Ezrin’s career has spanned 38 years working with some of the world’s leading artists including Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, KISS, Lou Reed, Roberta Flack, Peter Gabriel, Dr. John, Rod Stewart, Jane’s Addiction, Nils Lofgren and many more. He is co-founder of Music Rising with U2’s the Edge and produced the live extravaganza in 2006 featuring U2 and Green Day which reopened the Louisiana Superdome after Hurricane Katrina devastated it the year before. Currently in production with Peter Gabriel, Ezrin will also direct the upcoming 90th Birthday Celebration in NYC of the legendary Pete Seeger. Singer/songwriter Yusuf, best known for his former stage name Cat Stevens is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator and philanthropist. He has sold over 60 million albums and has been on the top of the Billboard and Hot 100 charts numerous times. In the late 70s Stevens converted to Islam at the height of his fame and adopted the name Yusuf Islam. He left his musical career to devote his time to philanthropy and education. He has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world including 2003’s World Award, the 2004 Man for Peace Award and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace. In 2006 he returned to pop music with his first album of new songs in 28 years entitled An Other Cup and just recently released his current cd ‘roadsinger’. As the creator of the song Peace Train and his strong awareness for Peace related issues and programs, he is a perfect candidate to join such other distinguished judges.Award winning filmmaker Thavi Phrasavath who’s most recent film “The Betrayal” was nominated for an Academy Award in 2009 is a true agent of peace. “The Betrayal” is an exquisitely crafted tale about a country, a family, and a young man who discovers the power and resilience of the human spirit and spans 24 years of his true life experience from war torn Laos to the streets of New York. Phrasavath also has a very strong background in community service working with the NYC Police Department as an interpreter and liaison to the Laotian Community in youth and family crisis intervention. He has also won numerous awards for his paintings and illustrations.
Anastasia Brown’s career has been about breaking the industry mold. In just 4 short years since becoming President of 821 Entertainment Group, Brown has created a Nashville-headquartered medi a company that is financing and producing 16 Heartland feature films over the next six years in partnership with some of Hollywood’s top producers and studios. Brown, who began in Nashville as Miles Copeland’s partner where they managed such megastars as Sting, Peter Frampton and Junior Brown, discovered and developed Keith Urban before transitioning out of management and into film and television. Her credits include music supervisor of AUGUST RUSH, which earned both Oscar and Grammy nominations for music, and BILLY: THE EARLY YEARS, for which she earned a Dove Award nomination. Over the years, Brown’s accolades have included “25 Most Beautiful,” “Top 40 Most Powerful Under 40,” “Women of Influence,” one of 4 women featured in Fitness & Muscle’s “Women of Strength” (September 2007) and Variety featured her among their Multitaskers (November 20, 2006). Brown recently penned “Make Me A Star” and is often interviewed as an industry expert. She also served as celebrity judge for three seasons of “Nashville Star.”
Terry Stewart has been President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for more than a decade. As CEO, he has led the Museum's efforts to expand its reach nationally and internationally with traveling exhibits, technology, collaborations and satellite facilities, while at the same time building its home base in Cleveland via exhibits, programming and the development of a world-class Library and Archives research center. With the Museum’s increased focus on bringing music into the classroom, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's educational offerings have now become one of the most celebrated and award-winning activities of its kind emanating from a fine arts museum in the U.S. Prior to entering the nonprofit music world, Stewart served in chief executive positions at Marvel Entertainment Group and was also named the CNBC Marketing Executive of the Year. Terry is well known as an avid co llector of pop culture memorabilia. His extensive collection includes a world-class record collection, concert and movie posters, autographs and jukeboxes.
Bring Peace Not Pain is a multi-faceted grassroots initiative, which began as a solitary vision by Suzi Conklin Nance of New England and has spread through all points of the globe. Through its efforts both on the ground and virtually, Bring Peace Not Pa in brings together a global following from all walks of life with one common thread – that of which holds true the fact that together we can bring around a peaceful world. The organization was recently featured at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where VIPs, actors and film industry executives enjoyed learning more about the organization at the Gibson Lodge located on Main Street. For more information or details on the campaign’s film series, speaker programs, blogs and interactive website or upcoming events and contests please go to www.bringpeacenotpain.com <http://www.bringpeacenotpain.com/> .The contest is open to professional and amateur musicians who want to share their feelings, hopes and dreams about peace through an original song, soundtrack or music score. The winning entry may also become the official song of the organization and be used for all domestic and international campaigns. Some of the entries will be posted on the website and later may be used for publicity and other promotional efforts. Rules and regulations along with an entry application is available on the website.
The Grand Prize winner will receive an exclusive Gibson Guitar from the world’s premier musical i nstrument manufacturer, an official “Agent of Peace” fleece jacket, inclusion in a major publicity announcement and posting of their song on the Bring Peace Not Pain’s website and YouTube. The winner will also be featured in an international news story and may have the opportunity to perform his/her song at several upcoming events and be given the opportunity to promote his/her music as the official song of the campaign. Five runner-up entrants will receive an official “Agent of Peace” fleece jacket and mention on the website. Submissions for the contest are due by July 25, 2009 and must be submitted with a signed Official Entry form, copy of the Rules and Regulations, a CD of the song and written lyrics. All must be signed and dated by the original composer and be accompanied by a letter stating that they are original works. (this is handled in the Rules and Regulations) Each entry will not be returned. Winners will be announced on or before November 25, 2009 For an official entry form and Artist Release along with a complete list of rules and regulations, interested individuals can email PeaceSongChallenge@bringpeacenotpain.com CONTACT:Suzi Conklin Nance 40... suzinancebpnp@yahoo.com

Please join us for Children of Uganda...Weapons of War

2009-04-29T11:04:00.000-04:00

Bring Peace Not Pain presents....
The Children of Uganda...Weapons of War

Sunday, May 3, 20092 pm

St. Michael's School

180 Rhode Island Ave., Newport RI

Following the screening of "Invisible Children", a film that exposes the tragic realities of northern Uganda's night commuters and child soldiers.

We will be join by
Grace Akallo

former child soldier and author of "Girl Soldier", will join us and share her past experiences as well as her hopes and vision of the future.

This event is open to the public and although
there is no charge
seating is limited so please call or email to reserve your space.

401.835.1736Bring Peace Not Pain,
123 Bellevue Avenue,
Newport RI 02840www.BringPeaceNotPain.com
suzinanceBPNP@yahoo.com

Be part of sending the message…the message to BRING PEACE NOT PAIN to those in power.

2009-04-04T23:56:00.004-04:00

Show your support for a peaceful world...send us your photo either wearing Bring Peace Not Pain merchandise or with a sign that reads BRING PEACE NOT PAIN, add your name and where the photo was taken and it will be printed on the official BRING PEACE NOT PAIN poster that we will distribute to those that need to hear our call.
Your photo will also be displayed on our website.

Thank you for your commitment to create a better world for all!

Suzi

Please forward it to suzinancebpnp@yahoo.com or visit http://www.bringpeacenotpain.com/ or snail mail it to:

Bring Peace Not Pain
123 Bellevue Ave.
Newport RI 02840
USA

Please take a moment....

2009-03-10T14:34:00.000-04:00

Bring Peace Not Pain, has been submitted on ideablob.com to complete for a $10,000.00 seed money grant. The winner is decided by number of votes it receives….so please go to http://ideablob.com/ideas/4841-Bring-Peace-Not-Pain and vote for us . This will allow us to continue to spread our message and sponsor a greater number of films and speakers. So please vote and pass this on, it just takes a second…click on this link http://ideablob.com/ideas/4841-Bring-Peace-Not-Pain and then hit VOTE. Thanks, Suzi

What will we take away from this Financial Crises?

2009-03-01T21:30:00.002-05:00

“Is broke the new black?”
Shiva Kunz

It’s not just that so many of us are wearing it that is relevant, it’s how we wear it. This will come to define us, both as individuals and as an era.

Will we lose ourselves in frustration and anger, spending our mental capitol on an endless debate on how things went wrong and deciding where to place blame? Or will we, admittedly with nostalgia and trepidation, begin to accept this transition and embrace it as an opportunity to perhaps reevaluate and redefine our priorities, goals and life direction. How many of us have gone through life on auto pilot, following the rules, living within the compounds of the “givens” we had come to expect and were expected of us, in exchange for the promise of “the good life”.

For many high school students college was “given”, the vast number of higher educations institutions and the growing availability of scholarships and loans has had college enrollments climbing year by year. This too has changed, as colleges endowments have suffered great losses many schools are shrinking the size of their incoming freshman classes and allocating more funds to students already enrolled, this coupled with the fact that many private college funders are no longer in business has taken the “given” of college away for many students.

Those recent graduates, where are they? They followed our path, excelled at our requirements and now stand ready with their new black suits and polished resumes in hand, waiting for life to begin. It was “given” that they would be fielding offers from companies, corporations and firms enticing them with promises of advancement and stock options. Only now they find darkened buildings with padlocks on what they thought would be their futures.

How about those that had long ago bought and paid for the dream, those that had long since silenced the rebellious rumblings and creative yearnings in exchange for the promise of “the good life“, they too have been discarded and padlocked out.

What now…where do we go from here? Is there no hope for that bight and shiny future we have been schooled to believe is the path to happiness? Did that path guarantee happiness? Were those growing numbers of college enrolment due to the drive and enlightenment of students in their quest for more knowledge, or was it that we, society had laid it out as the only way to ensure your ticket to the “good life”. Did we sell education primarily as a means to an end…‘you need it to get a great job”? Where our eager young graduates seeking entry into the corporate world because they were pursuing their passion or were they merely continuing to accept the “givens”…that upon graduation they would be offered and accept a position that would demand an abundance of their time, energy and skill but in return would guarantee their upward mobility? What about those that were midstream in their careers, those that have adapted their lifestyle to match their status, as their salaries have grown, so has their debt.

So many of us bought it, we accepted the blueprint and began at an early age to build the framework for what was promised to bring us satisfaction, security and happiness and enable us to do the same for our future generations. Unfortunately, for many of us by the time we paused to access if in fact this design was best suited for our personal needs and wants we were too far along in construction to make any meaningful alterations, and the thought of a teardown and rebuild was far too overwhelming. So we continue to roll along adapting and excepting life as it unfolds

Until now…this current financial crisis has cracked the foundation on which we have built our lives, leaving us in a state of uncertainty, the very thing that we have been programmed to evade. However if we embrace this opportunity to not just think outside the box, but actually redefine the box…or better yet abandon the box theory, we will have an opportunity to create the structure best suited to our personal needs. Like all situations, we individually and collectively, have a choice on how we will react to this situation. Will we be driven by fear and panic to just rush in and try to repair the current systems? Or will we see this as the great opportunity to take stock, to look at it with clarity and vision to systematically what was working and what wasn’t.

Let us dig deep inside of ourselves, ignite our inner strengths and passions and begin to redesign and build our lives as we choose. Scary...yes, this demands a complete paradigm shift in our thinking. In order to stay in step and follow the ordained path we have been taught to accept rather that to question and we have allowed fear to dictate our actions. Now it is time to rise above our fear and to question all, to question society, to question government but most importantly…to question ourselves. To question our actions, our reactions, our wants our needs…to self indulge in the quest for self discovery. It is time to take chances, to let our creative juices flow…to challenge the status quo. It is time as a society that we embrace the dreamers amongst us, that we teach our children to be thinkers not just depositories of knowledge.

To the students that will not be starting school in September, and the recent grads that are unable to secure the positions you had hoped to, as disappointing as this is, know that hope is far from lost. Things may not be happening just as you had planned and prepared, but life has some wonderful things in store for you. Take this time to try something you never thought you would, there are millions of programs all over the world as well in most communities that will offer different experiences and exposure to worlds quite different from your own. Open your self up, self teach, explore your self…your likes and dislikes, talk to people that you would never think you would have anything in common with…think…question…create… try new things…trust your self… this is your time, make it count. Realize that you have control of your destiny, make the decisions that you believe are right for you, and if they turn out to be wrong decisions, that’s part of the discovery. Learning what is not right for you is as important as learning what is right…have faith in yourselves. Enjoy!

To those of us caught midstream, with the survival of life as we have known it and as we have worked diligently to create, is severely threatened…it is an opportunity for us as well to redefine our priorities. To step back and evaluate, we have created this abundant life but at what cost? Have we traded years of our precious time…time that could have been spent with love ones or pursuing our passions in exchange for possessions? For many the cost was well deserved, to others perhaps not, there is no right or wrong answer here, just a reminder to look deep and as we move forward do so with a clear vision of where we came from.

Although we didn’t choose for this financial tsunami to hit, we must remember that we can choose how we wish to deal with it, and like all storms this too will pass.

Governmental Failing

2009-02-17T23:18:00.003-05:00

The Thailand Navy abandoned hundreds of Rohingya refugees in the middle of the sea leaving them to die or wash ashore somewhere else…….In Malaysia rather that turn them out to the sea they turn them over to human traffickers at the border of Thailand. …….As the rebel FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda) are brutalizing and savagely killing civilians, members of the Rwandan Army are sent to protect the innocent civilians, but instead they have also been raping and terrorizing the civilians…...Although the Indonesian government is quick to condemn other nations about their lack of child labor laws, it does nothing to protect is own children, many of whom work 16 hour days, 7 days a week, for very little if any pay.

These are just a few examples pulled from recent news stories of where and how governments are falling short in valuing human life. Where does this leave us?

How have we continued to evolve, to learn, to discover, to invent…. to so drastically change the world, in areas of technology, medicine, the arts…yet we have failed to grasp the most basic humanistic understanding? How have failed to recognize that the destiny of man supersedes the destiny of any individual nation?

This leaves us at a time where we must strive to come together, to break down cultural, religious and lifestyle barriers…to see the differences in our daily trappings as nothing more that window dressings…and to know that we are bound together by the blood that pumps through our hearts.

We must speak out…act out…reach out and teach at every opportunity...because one by one, we can, we must and we will universally create a radical change in how we see each other.

Happy Valentines Day xoxo

2009-02-14T14:13:00.001-05:00

In the spirit of Valentines Day, let today be all about LOVE...open your hearts and allow LOVE to freely flow …from others and to others. There is nothing that can alter our mood or our outlook quite like LOVE…both when we share it and when we receive it.
I wish you LOVE in abundance ..today and everyday.

Suzi
xox

HOPE

2009-02-11T09:25:00.002-05:00

"Hope is the physician of each misery"
Irish Proverb

HOPE..
Is there a more powerful motivator? A more potent prescription? A stronger life line? Hope creates the roadmap to a better situation. Hope is the springboard to action. If we can see it...dream it…or imagine a better outcome then we have the option of achieving it….then we have hope.
That hope will nurture and guide us thru our challenges…but we must protect it ..like the last flame on a burning ember...for when that flame of hope goes out...so goes the warmth and light giving us the ability to see our way…leaving us again in the cold darkness of despair.

It is our duty to embrace hope, protect and cultivate hope… not just our personal hope but also to foster hope in all those who touch out lives. A better day, a better life, a better world are all with in our grasp…but the power to bring that to fruition will depend upon hope.

As we go through our day let us allow our hearts the freedom to envision peace in our hearts, a brighter tomorrow and a right and just world. Let us also be mindful of bringing hope to the lives of others…

Embracing the inevitable…when a change occurs that we fear, finding the strength and skill to exercise our power over the effect of the change.

2009-01-29T20:09:00.001-05:00

Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights. ~Pauline R. Kezer

We cry out for change…yet what do we resist more? How is it that innately we are such creatures of conformity yet our instinct is to be agents of change…how do we manage the two…how do we empower ourselves to make the needed and desired changes. There are many kinds of changes...but for the most part they fall into two categories…the ones we desire and implement and the ones that affect our external life yet we have no control over. For now we will focus on change that we desire…change that we hope will enrich our lives.What are the changes we want to see...in our own lives…our relationships…our communities? What are we willing to do in order to enact that change? Do we believe that the identified change will warrant the time/energies taken to achieve the change? How will we go about it? What are the tools needed to support the endeavor? What is our game plan? When at first of blush of things not working out as we had planned will we have the will to persevere? It is in the answers to these questions that we will find the basis for implementing our changes.As daunting as a plan of change can be…it is also most invigorating…it is reminder that we hold the keys to our destiny...that we can achieve our desires.They say Spring is the time of renewal, a time of new growth, of change…I however believe that fall is the true season of new beginnings…of fresh starts. Perhaps as the air thins and the light sharpens, vistas previously blurred by the summer sun’s haze, are now easily with in our view and with such clarity, contrast and brilliance. For many of us fall brings that same precision and depth of sight inward…to how we see ourselves, to see how far we can go, to see the plans and projects we previously abandoned and neglected as we embraced the allure of summer and life outside, we see again with renewed energy and zest.If we take that clarity of vision and like a child on the first day of a new school year, think mainly of the new opportunities, yes, last year was important, its lessons provided the foundation on which we continue to build,…it is from here that we begin anew.As a child September was a time of fresh new notebooks, razor sharp pencils and books that still hold the smell of the ink. It still is …our lives are like those new notebooks…the notebook itself, it’s cover and binding ... is the current structure or framework of our life, but the blank pages …our future…ours to create and enhance. The pencils…the tools we will need to ensure success. The books are our access to knowledge, self knowledge, acquired knowledge and yet to be acquired knowledge, and our willingness to open them.Like a new student full of hope and energy, look at the situation you are choosing to change, look with clarity and honesty and form the list of the changes you wish to make, then arm yourself with the proper tools… a road map, clearly highlighting both your starting point as well as your desire destination… your itinerary, when and how you will be implementing the needed steps…a clear understanding of the importance of the change, a firm belief that you are capable of achieving it, a vision of your life when the change has taken place, and access to any and all knowledge you have that will aid you in your success.So as fall arrives, and the stores are stocked with shiny bright new school supplies…shinny new hope, hope that this will be the year…the year I get all my homework done...the year I make the A team….the year I pay attention in class…that this will be a great year….LET THIS BE YOUR YEAR…your season of CHANGE…Change that YOU design!!!Good Luck…Suzi

The Power of our Assumptions

2009-01-15T11:33:00.003-05:00

My friend Robyn sent me this story this morning...

A Violinist in the Metro
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3-year-old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100. This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Peace..we long for it..in our hearts and in our world...why does it allude us?

2009-01-04T13:20:00.002-05:00

Is our longing for it, that what keeps it at bay?

Is the absents of peace the multiplier that allows our experiences to be transformed into negative thoughts and feelings thus pushing us deeper and deeper into the dark abyss of our minds as we replay the events of such, on our inner screen...over and over again.

What if peace were in our grasps…this very moment? Would we commit to it? Or have we become so accustom to dancing on the rim of despair that the thought of achieving inner peace itself frightens us. The thought of change, transformation…commitment even when we have glimpsed the abundance of rewards can paralyze us.

So how do we shake off our self imposed shackles and succeed in filling our hearts and lives with peace? By conscious choice, with practice and by trusting ourselves that we are not only capable of obtaining and sustaining peace, but that we are worthy of that peace.

Daily Exercise: Starting with three (3) minutes…Sitting in quiet, acknowledge that you alone have control of your thoughts, your mind and your heart…then for the time allotted allow only thoughts of love and acceptance (for self and others) to circulate in your mind…when thoughts of fear or anger appear just redirect your mind. This takes practice but as we continue to practice it will become easier to transcend the negatives and access the bliss and peace in our hearts.

2008-12-31T18:43:00.000-05:00

Wishing you a year with an abundance of love and peace, and fulfillment of all your desires.

As a new year approaches many of us will take this new beginning as a time to reflect on the past year…assess our wins and our loses and begin to set our agenda for the coming year. We will compile a list of things we hope to accomplish and habits and behaviors we hope to transform. For many of us this years list will appear remarkably similar to last years list and perhaps the year priors as well….Why is that?

Action expresses priorities.
Mohandas Gandhi

Intentions reveal the best of who we would like to be, or how we would best like to act in a situation…
( little clarity here… by saying BEST, best is meant as level of measure … not, best, as in highest moral fiber…). Be it a lifestyle action…(exercise more, save more money, write more…paint more...eat less …work more…work less), or a relationship action …(do X for someone…stop doing X to someone) we often start out with the greatest of intentions … but somewhere along way…somewhere, they can get a tad diluted or even completely neglected.
Why is that? We know what we want… we know how we want to perform in a certain way...we acknowledge what we are going to do, what our intentions are...and yet??? Our intentions change?? Did we set too high expectations in the first place? Most likely no…most likely our intentions were not supported by our priorities. At first glance, we might say, “no, I really wanted to do….but …..got in the way”. More often than not what prevents us from achieving our intentions is current behavior patterns. By allowing something else to take precedent over our intentions, what we often find is our reluctance for change.
By identifying change, (reluctance of) as the source of the impediment we can begin to rewire the flow of thought, conscious and unconscious to be in line with our intentions.
Take for example, exercise, you have an extremely busy lifestyle, work, social obligations and what time is left you prefer to enjoy quietly with family and friends. However you are often tired but you know that you need exercise to feel your best, so you tell yourself you will begin to exercise everyday after work. Now although your intentions are sound and justified, unless you begin an inner dialogue with yourself identifying the needed change ( time spent with family and friends verses time spent exercising) and can convince yourself that the change will be more beneficial to your overall life…as committed to your intention as you believe you are …most likely it will not come to fruition.
For our intentions to yield results we must employ our inner GPS and clearly identify and acknowledge the obstacles, the current behaviors that may impede our success. Then decide if the compensation is worth changing them.
Think of an intention as a new enthusiastic Chairman of the Board and your inner thoughts and behaviors the reluctant “Old Guard”…they have their comfort zone and are quite happy there. To turn the tides you must have their support...and that will be gained through understanding of how things are currently operating then identifying the advantages of the change and show a solid plan on how to implement the change.
So with your next intention...no matter the level of intensity make a list of what changes you would need to make in order to complete your intention…(thought changes, lifestyle changes, concrete changes..) look at how the changes will affect you…weigh them and if the payoff from the implementing the intention out weights the results from keeping things as they are…you have a strong chance for success!! Good Luck.
Suzi

Peace on earth...Goodwill to Man

2008-12-27T11:46:00.002-05:00

How would our lives differ…how would the world differ… if we were hardwired to act in manners that only promoted Peace on earth and goodwill towards Man, if we innately knew that we were all interconnected? If thoughts or visions of fellow sufferings were felt with equal intensity as our personal sufferings….how would that have shaped our world?
Perhaps that is how we were wired, but along the way personal and or maternal/paternal survival instinct trumped it, …as life presented challenges that threatened our personal/ family survival we began to make choices to ensure our continued existence, many times at the cost of another’s life. Is it, as we continue to evolve it is our will to live that is strengthened and dictates our actions towards others, while silencing our hearts when they ache for those trampled in the quest?
Or perhaps as we evolve we begin to shift from a myopic view of the world where the universe is seen only in its relationship to us, to our needs and wants, to where the lens begins to widen, we begin to see what we have really known all along, that the world is one, one interconnected and interdependent body of life. With us being just another integral part, no greater nor lesser than any other part. We begin to listen to our hearts and to truly understand that Peace on earth and goodwill to Man is paramount to global survival, and global survival is vital to our personal survival.
Whether it is evolution or enlightenment it is happening…it is here, in every pocket of the world you can find evidence of this thought/understanding…you can find individuals and groups sacrificing for the greater good. You can see the seeds of hope and compassionate caring as they grow and alter the landscapes of some of the worlds most barren vistas.
You can be a part of this shift…turn up the volume on your heart, take action where and when you can…and remember that even the smallest positive action can cause monumental changes. It will take all of us…. individually and collectively to bring peace on earth….but we have the power to do so!!!!

Tis the season of JOY...

2008-12-16T23:21:00.001-05:00

Tis the season of Joy…
For those of us that joy seems to eludes on a daily basis, the pressure is all the greater this time of year…pressure to feel the joy...show the joy…share the joy. That pressure alone is enough to keep joy far at bay. So what if we decided to not buy into the pressure…to just feel how we do feel…stop listening to the media and others telling us how we should feel…and start listening to ourselves?
What would we hear…perhaps our own voices…perhaps we would begin to understand what truly does bring us joy and peace. Perhaps we would be surprised to find that we have achieved many of the goals that give us the inner peace we thought we were striving for in vain. So we must indulge in our own quite…let our minds wonder to the people and places in our lives, past and present…look into our memories…and look at our dreams….what thoughts put an involuntary smile on our face? What memory causes our hearts to skip a beat…and begin our personal journey to finding our joy. For those of us that joy seems to eludes on a daily basis, the pressure is all the greater this time of year…pressure to feel the joy...show the joy…share the joy.
That pressure alone is enough to keep joy far at bay. So what if we decided to not buy into the pressure…to just feel how we do feel…stop listening to the media and others telling us how we should feel…and start listening to ourselves? What would we hear…perhaps our own voices…perhaps we would begin to understand what truly does bring us joy and peace. Perhaps we would be surprised to find that we have achieved many of the goals that give us the inner peace we thought we were striving for in vain.

So we must indulge in our own quite…let our minds wonder to the people and places in our lives, past and present…look into our memories…and look at our dreams….what thoughts put an involuntary smile on our face? What memory causes our hearts to skip a beat…and begin our personal journey to finding our joy.

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

2008-12-10T16:36:00.000-05:00

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Borne out of the horrors of WWII and the Holocaust, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the foundation of international human rights law, it was the first universal statement outlining a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations stating the basic principles of inalienable human rights and guaranteeing the political and civic rights of all people, including the right to freedom from torture, slavery, poverty, homelessness and other forms of oppression. The Declaration represents a contract between governments and their peoples, and the people have a right to demand that this document be respected and fulfilled.
Although it has been sixty years since this document was created and great strides have been made due to its existence, its goals are still far from being achieved. Currently, torture is an acceptable practice in at least 81 countries, people face unfair trials in at least 54 countries and in at least 77 countries freedom of speech is punishable.
To ensure that the mission of the Declaration will be not only remembered in history lessons but will be alive and dictate the behavior and conduct of governments and that we will find its commitments woven through international treaties and national constitutions and laws. It will demand action…continued action...monumental action, taken by nations and small actions, taken by individual citizens. Together we must make a commitment to ensure “that recognition of the inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”

Be a part of Amnesty International's Global Write-A-Thon--December 5-14! Your letters can save a life!

2008-12-05T22:28:00.000-05:00

"Amnesty International's and its members' strengths have been the realization of the release of prisoners of conscience and the establishment of justice around the world where it is long overdue. The letter writing campaign has been a vital weapon in this regard.
It has kept hope alive for all those unjustly incarcerated and has also kept extra judicial governments in check, including our own." - Serj Tankian, System Of A Down singer and solo artist

Save the Date. Save a Life. Register Today!
Be a part of Amnesty International's Global Write-A-Thon--December 5-14! Your letters can save a life!
Register for the write-a-thon as an individual or as a group. Watch as your pledges help light up the Amnesty candle. Spread the word! Encourage your friends and family to get involved by texting or emailing them the link to register: www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon Check out the write-a-thon resources online. This site will provide you with everything you need to participate, including case sheets, sample letters, a checklist for how to plan an event, and promotional materials. For hard copies, please email writeathon@aiusa.org
Write and mail letters from December 5-14. After the Write-a-thon be sure to report back to let us know how many letters were sent. You can either fill out our online evaluation or send us an email at writeathon@aiusa.org.

Paying Attention...

2008-11-28T12:05:00.002-05:00

One of the strongest weapons in our arsenal we can employ to create a more peaceful world is often overlooked and undervalued, it is our attention.
Paying attention to each other, those we see in our daily lives as well as those continents away that we may never see, improves our lives… others lives, as well as the climate of the world.
We may not be able to change the frustrations or quell the challenges others face, but by taking the time to listen and trying to understand their plight it can give hope. When someone really takes the time to listens it sends the signal that we matter…that our voice is heard, which gives us strength.
Listening to each others stories also helps to narrow the divide between individuals and cultures, the more we engage with each other the more we begin to recognize our similarities as human beings and citizens of the earth….and discover that at our core we all share the same basic emotional and physical needs for survival.
So as many of us fly through life at warp speed lets try to be mindful of hearing the need for attention and try to allocate a few moments of our day to listening.
Thanks for listening!!

Thank you...

2008-11-26T20:15:00.001-05:00

On the eve of the day of thanks, I would like to take a moment and thank you…everyone of you for all the things you do to make this world a better place. Each one of you and your positive actions count and make a difference in our lives…so again thank you and enjoy the day!

Hearing the Call

2008-11-16T14:30:00.001-05:00

If we are all one interconnected body of life…if we are responsible to each other and for each other, how can we stand back and watch cruel and injustices inflicted upon our brothers the world over and feel little and do less? Or is it that we do feel the pain …a great pain, but when we believe that we cannot alter the events the feeling of inadequacy and helplessness is so great that as self protection we detach and retreat? Do we foresee any actions that we personally may be capable of as totally insignificant…almost laughable, like a hungry person picking up a dirty penny left on the street thinking it will make a difference. Does that feeling cause us to abandoning our intention all together?
Or do we wait for the call…the call to service…the call to action, pointing the way we can make the world, our world a better place?
Could it be that that call does rings out …every day… softly, but the volumes down and it is easily drowned out by the din of our daily demands? Or perhaps its just not the call we want to hear… because secretly we are waiting for the day that we will be in position to truly help someone...to be a hero, a big screen moment when we will summons all our courage and jump in a frozen river to save a drowning child or step into traffic to pull someone out about to get hit by a car?
How do we shift our thoughts and realize that there is far greater value in the smallest of actions than in the greatest of intentions. When will we understand the power of an action…any action, regardless the size to cause a reaction which causes yet again a reaction and so on? When will we acknowledge that innately we are all Agents of Peace and the power is ours wield in any degree we choose?
Perhaps our first step would be to turn up the volume on our inner voice…listen to our hearts and trust that as minor as a proposed action may be …it will make a difference!

Bring Peace Not Pain

2008-11-15T13:39:00.000-05:00

BRING Peace not Pain…..that should be easy…like bring chicken not steak...it’s a choice we make with every interaction we have. We just forget that it is a choice and react with instinct…the Fight or Flight instinct that was so crucial for early man has proven itself a determent in the emotional evolution of Man.
In early days survival was directly related to the strength of ones Flight or Flight instinct as well as the ability to institutively identify threats…and many times threats were simply the unknown. With so much of the world unknown when confronted with something new, time spent in discovery often lead to death or destruction. It was those that could identify potential danger and deal with it accordingly that had the greatest chance for survival.
As both Man and society have evolved those innate instincts have also continued to evolve. In Prehistoric time the fight response originally revealed its self in strictly physical behavior, (man fighting his opponent). Today, that has morphed from physical to verbally aggressive behavior as well, and while early mans flight instinct was simply that...to physically move out of harms way, that to has begun to manifest itself in emotional withdrawal as well.
The fear of the unknown has survived in modern man as well, however that too has evolved, no longer limited to the immediate, exterior world around us, the fear of the unknown now lurks in our abstract future thought. This fear has also been feed and nurtured in recent years by the constant barrage of media alerts. Thus leaving us in a perpetual state of stress, with our Fight or Flight instinct in high gear. The result…a hostile and aggressive society…

So where do we go from here? How do we rewire ourselves to automatically respond with LOVE and compassion, how do we work to BRING Peace not Pain into our relationships and encounters with others?
How do learn to trust ourselves and others? How do we work to see ourselves as interconnected with all human beings? How do we lay down our pain and our fears...let loose our betrayals and our quests for revenge to those who have wronged us? How do we break down our protective walls we have constructed that have left us in self imposed isolation? How do we rid ourselves of the destructive emotions the eat away at our core, our core of HOPE and LOVE. How?
Before we can bring PEACE we must know LOVE ,LOVE...LOVE is the answer to all…if our thoughts, intentions and actions are motivated by LOVE, pure LOVE...LOVE of self, LOVE of all Mankind, LOVE of Nature, LOVE of individuals, LOVE of life...the list is endless, if we cloak all we see in white light of LOVE then reacting with hate and anger becomes very difficult if not impossible.
Is it easy, easy to turn our emotions, like a light switch…LOVE on hate off? Yes and no, and easier for some than others yet not impossible for anyone. When we came into the world with the seeds of LOVE were firmly planted. If they took root and grew or lay dormant has much to do with the environment of our birth, and our early years of life. Like a flower seed in a soil, the better the conditions the stronger the flower will grow. The optimum growing condition for LOVE is a nurturing supportive environment, with LOVE the best fertilizer for LOVE. However even to those born under the most challenging of circumstance the seed remains and can be cultivated at anytime.

Where do we store our memories?

2008-11-07T19:31:00.000-05:00

Why do we hold on to possessions whose use is no longer of value but are reminiscent of people or times in our past? Do we feel that the objects connect us to that past…does the solid form of the object allows us to imagine our memories as real and tangible as well? Or are they merely a catalyst to recalling that past event? Is it fear that if we part with these items then we may be parting with the memories as well?

For those of us that struggle with the decision of what to keep and what to save…we place values on our things, financial value, convenience value, aesthetic value and emotional value. But what exactly is the value of emotional value? Do we place that above other values? Should we???

Proof

2008-10-29T22:25:00.001-04:00

Innately I have always know that there was more to the world than witnessed by our five senses. I have always believed that we all posses a soul that shares a connection.. a connection to all other souls but with differing degrees. I have always believed that this life is just one chapter in the book of our souls existence. Shall we call this knowing, a spiritual connection.. a core belief..faith? The label ..irrelevant, this knowing I have acceped without question…never expecting nor seeking proof ..but proof has revealed its self.

The proof revealed itself upon the meeting of a stranger..it was as palpable as a hurricane, in a moment I knew this stranger was no stranger to my soul.
How else would you explain the jolt when your soul catapults itself from its elevated place of passive awareness into your head and heart to reveal and reconnect its self to a kindred soul. Like twins torn apart at young ages or loves lost young, that find each other decades later, that connection, that bond of the heart, transcends any feelings of awkwardness or insecurities one may initially feel.
How else would you explain the magnetic connection to another...another human being who’s life mirrors yours only in the facts that you both breath air, need food to survive and have a heart the beats in your chest. Your life experiences differ like the mountains to the oceans, yet you know that all that is immaterial…the packaging of current life holds no stock here. It is heart to heart, soul to soul, our conscious selves are merely the facilitators for the encounter.
Such an encounter is my proof that I have a soul with experiences independent of my current existence.

Just Today….

2008-10-19T10:28:00.000-04:00

If we have just today…just today to make a difference…what would we do…what could we do …what do we want to do?
What is it that pulls at our heart strings…that gnaws on our consciences? Is it global or local …or perhaps is it quite personal?
What stops us from taking the action that our heart dictates? Does its enormity overwhelm us to the point of leaving us paralyzed…or is it seemingly so small and inconsequential that we feel it warrants no action?
Or is it merely a matter of personal economics….lack of time, energy, financial resources?

Have we ever celebrated our inaction?…How about our action?

If we knew that today was our only chance to act…tomorrow…to late…would we act?

Blog Action Day 2008 POVERTY

2008-10-16T00:04:00.003-04:00

As globalization begins to blur our borders, we find our international bonds are being forged more by interdependence and convenience than by true humanitarian goals. The unfortunate result is often seen in in our governments reluctance to engage in areas of the world where the need may be great, yet we perceive no economic value.
What we must come to understand is that the greatest value is not purely economic it is in protecting all mankind, and the responsibility is for all of us to bear…individually and collectively. Individually??

For many of us the daunting enormity of the situation is cause enough for us to humility retreat when faced with tales of starving pregnant mothers who must choose between her children who will eat today, or photo’s of a five year old in India who’s skin is blacken from trying to clean out batteries in windowless rooms so they may have a meal. How can we, with our own mailboxes full of bills, our demanding schedules and our own challenging lives…how can we possibly make a difference?

Actually by helping one person we are changing the life course for their future generations to come. Ok, but how can I …I who is barely keeping the wolf away from my door possible change someone else life??
I recently met a women from Kenya who’s life and life of her family was transformed for the cost of a sewing machine, for less that $100.00 she has created a way to support her family, she is now working to expand her business and help other women in the village support their families by employing them.

So..OK perhaps I can afford to help someone…finding a vehicle to assist in helping can be equally as daunting…we sure don’t want to sent $100.00 and find that $80.00 went to administrative funds…or give to an unscrupulous organization…and who has the time to vett out the good ones? Luckily there are some excellent websites that have done due diligence on many international as well as national programs. Also don’t overlook your own community, is there a local food bank or soup kitchen that accepts donations of food or funds and lastly…and perhaps the most overlooked…someone in you life that could use a little help, unfortunately all too often the responsibility of “helping thy neighbor” has been left to government agencies. It is time here also where we must step up and reach out to one another in need.

We all have the ability to make a difference, and for all of us that do nothing because we lack the ability to do everything… a great deal is lost. Tomorrow what will you do to help?

Small steps can bring great CHANGE...

2008-10-13T09:00:00.001-04:00

This music video by Nickelback lauds several examples of individuals who have stood up to injustice, and won. The examples range from Bob Geldof's Live Aid concerts in 1984 to Nelson Mandela's triumphant release from prison in 1989 and election as South Africa's first democratically elected president.

http://www.karmatube.org/?id=38

Choosing Peace

2008-10-06T21:59:00.001-04:00

"First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others."
Thomas A Kempis

Why is that although we, the vast majority of the citizens of the world, desire to live in peace …in our hearts, in our relationships and in our global communities,… that peace continues to elude us?
It eludes us because for many of us after surviving the mundane challenges of our daily day we have little reserves left to allocate towards creating peace. In many incidents, the resources we do have, our tools and weapons are limited to benign chatter…“Kitchen Bitchen” with the focus on those in power and the frustration borne of our presumed inability to affect any change, either personally or globally.
It is here where we fall miserably short, for the greatest power…the power to bring about a paradigm shift is in each of us. BRING PEACE NOT PAIN is dedicated to helping each of us to establish/reestablish peace and to connect and know our personal power.
To engage this power for our quest for peace…personal, interpersonal and global peace, we must alter our current way of thinking and subscribe to the following two statements:
1) We are all personally and collectively responsible for creating peace.
2) We all have the ability to create peace, in our hearts, in our relationships and globally.
If it is global peace we strive for…the end of injustices the world over, we must begin the campaign by first conquering the demons in our own hearts and minds and embracing our own PEACE. Accomplished by?.. How?….We must acknowledge and believe that we are responsible for creating or restoring our own inner peace., no longer can we alleviate our guilt over our own inactions by placing the burden of healing on others.
We must look with clarity and love at our inner workings, while knowing that we alone are responsible for our inner peace as we alone posses the power that dictates our reactions to all exterior forces that challenge and threaten us. We must decide where we need to shore up or boundaries and where to open the gates of our hearts and allow love to freely flow.
We must practice forgiveness, forgiveness with not only those who have harmed us but ourselves as well…many times it is personal forgiveness that is the hardest to grant.

With a heart freed by understanding and forgiveness, self-governed by clarity and love we will know peace, from here we must allow conscious thought and decision-making to dictate our actions towards ourselves and others.
Conscious thought and decision-making, that is paramount to healthy interpersonal relationships as well. To BRING Peace not Pain is a choice we make with every interaction we have, unfortunately all too often it seems as we have forgotten and react with instinct. We must remember that WE have control over how we will CHOOSE to respond in any situation…we have to retrain our brains to give pause and evaluate the current circumstance prior to reacting. What are our desired outcomes? Have our previous behaviors achieved them? What is different this time? How will responding with Love and compassion affect the result? How will responding with fear based actions? These are questions we need to ask ourselves and continue to ask ourselves as we interact with others. It is here in this state of awareness and conscious actions that we will see our relationships evolve.
When our hearts are at peace and our relationships are governed by mutual respect, honesty and love we must individually and collectively foster these same guiding principals in our pursuit of global peace. We must seize every opportunity we have to bring peace and love into the lives of others...We must see each other as we are…we must appreciate our similarities and celebrate our difference…. But beyond our individual characteristic…we must believe, we must know …that we are not only all equal and deserving of the same rights and responsibilities but even more importantly… much more importantly that we are one...one body of life, one race...one interconnected whole. Pain and injustice against one, is pain and injustice to all man and the suffering felt by one is shared by all. We must strive to cure each part to be whole, we must stop using and (allowing to be use) fear and intimidation to motivate the actions of others.
As daunting as it may be…it is thru these actions and beliefs that one by one ..community by community we will begin an accelerating and rippling effect on society at large.

Givers and Takers

2008-09-29T10:51:00.003-04:00

ACCEPT the LOVE, SEIZE the GOOD…why is that harder for some than… giving the Love…sharing the good?

There are givers and takers, at first blush one might assume that the more challenging task would be in the giving rather than the receiving. However for many of us taking requires a much greater sacrifice... taking requires a drink of humility and trust that for some is just too bitter.

So we quietly attempt to position ourselves in the seat of benefactor …hoping our acts of generosity will mask our inability to receive, but what we fail to see is that we are denying someone else of that very role. What appears altruistic and selfless is in fact our most selfish act...the giving has become the taking and such the taking the giving.

Is this simply another symptom of a hungry ego, a need to feel grand and powerful? Yes and no, ego feed, no doubt, but for many, much more than the need to feel grand is fear…the fear of losing control…the fear of being let down, first by ourselves that we are not capable of answering our own needs...second by others, by allowing dependency on others we are exposing a vulnerability that is often too great a risk.

Trust and Love …again it spirals back to here…like taking a crowbar to a rusted safe as we slowly pry it open the light begins to enter ...changing nothing inside merely illuminating the space...we must pry open our hearts and allow love and trust to irrigate its chambers. From here we will have the ability (if we choose) to cultivate the seeds of faith...faith in ourselves and faith in others and begin to engage in relationships of mutual dependence and support where we will permit others to share not only the joys of our successes but also the pain of our failures. Enjoying...perhaps for the first time in a long time a truly healthy relationship.

MAJOR POINT…. PLEASE do not allow this to be misconstrued in an way as to judge those who give… most who give do so with no ulterior motives, their actions are fueled only by a desire to improve the lives of others.

This is dedicated to those of us who believed we had constructed a fail-safe system to insure the safety of our hearts without realizing the most detrimental effect on our hearts is a lack of love.

Perseverance…the key to success or...?

2008-09-16T13:36:00.002-04:00

“The struggle of the mind to keep itself free from every sort of bondage"
Gardner Murphy

We are taught that perseverance wins the ribbon...and taught rightly so, truly the merits of perseverance are beyond reproach,… but what happens when perseverance becomes the goal….is it possible that we so greatly value perseverance that we turn a blind eye as conditions change and other more viable options appear.

It is said that if a dog spends hours locating and digging for a buried bone and at the very moment his nose discovers its scent and he knows he is minutes away from sinking his teeth into it, someone offers him a different bone… with tail wagging he will happily accept the new bone and walk away from his labors.
Would we...if we have been arduously struggling with a task and as we arrive at the point where we know completion is near …if we are given the option of finishing on our own or being handed the outcome...what would we choose?
For many of us we would choose to finish …in that case have we traded the original goal of a specific outcome for the goal of finishing what we have begun.

That being said ..is perseverance a curse?…a hindrance? ..hardly, the absents of perseverance can guarantee failure at a high rate. Perseverance equates success… isn‘t that the mantra we have practiced, from the beginning we are taught perseverance is a quality found in the most successful, it is the quality we strive to incorporate in all of our challenges. However… is it possible, that cloaked in a cape of perseverance we could be stifling other options…failing to utilize newly acquired information that could positively alter our direction or change our result?

The concern is perseverance for perseverance sake and the self imposed blinders we wear to aid us in keeping our attentions on task, can also prevent us from see other viable options available in achieving our goals... or perhaps even a new ...more suitable goal.

The question to ask is... when a new vision/direction/option comes into play…how do we discern if it is merely a distraction or in fact a truly better alternative?

It is trust …trust, clarity and an open mind …that should guide and govern our productivity and plans. As we, the architect of the plan it is incumbent on us to continuously evaluate the methods and appropriateness of the plan, if we find, thru our diligence, or others, a better way…a different way, we must not be afraid to shift gears…and we certainly should not allow the feeling of failure to dictate our action…for the success of one idea is often borne of the fruits from failure of another.

Embracing the inevitable…when a change occurs that we fear, finding the strength and skill to exercise our power over the effect of the change.

2008-09-07T10:57:00.003-04:00

"Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

Chinese Proverb

When we fail to embrace inevitable changes we are abandoning all our inner resources … our creativity, our ingenuity, our strength…those that would allow us the power to craft the outcome of the changes on our lives. When we are faced with a change/pending change that we would never have wished for…but ones we have no control over...it can be major ones…natural disaster…economic downturn…death or illness…or minor ones, changes at work…changes in your community...maybe you were in car accident and although you are OK your new car is damaged ….if we expend the majority of our mental energies lamenting why or how did this/ could this happen to us, we are compounding the situation… we are allowing the situation to own us…to leave us stuck in the weeds.

The challenge for us is to refocus our thoughts, accept the inescapable reality of the situation, while still acknowledging our feelings… be them displeasure, disbelief, sadness or regret…then take control of the situation and decide our next step. From a clear vantage point, we need to see with clarity and honesty all the factors involved, how bad is it?…how does this affect our lives daily/long term? … where does it leave us? That information will allow us to decide what are our options are…this can be the true challenge...to look without predetermined judgment at our options …why they won’t/can’t work …to take the blame, the regret and the disappointment out of the equation… to see the possibilities with an open mind and heart, and then with a steady hand and firm grip take the helm and chart your course…

Although we may wield little or no control over exterior changes that challenge us….how we choose to respond both in our inner thoughts and with our actions is entirely our decision…”We are the Masters of our Fate…We are the Captains of our souls”
Suzi

Change..we cry out for change…yet what do we resist more?

2008-09-01T13:00:00.002-04:00

Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights. ~Pauline R. Kezer

We cry out for change…yet what do we resist more? How is it that innately we are such creatures of conformity yet our instinct is to be agents of change…how do we manage the two…how do we empower ourselves to make the needed and desired changes. There are many kinds of changes...but for the most part they fall into two categories…the ones we desire and implement and the ones that affect our external life yet we have no control over. For now we will focus on change that we desire…change that we hope will enrich our lives.

What are the changes we want to see...in our own lives…our relationships…our communities? What are we willing to do in order to enact that change? Do we believe that the identified change will warrant the time/energies taken to achieve the change? How will we go about it? What are the tools needed to support the endeavor? What is our game plan? When at first of blush of things not working out as we had planned will we have the will to persevere? It is in the answers to these questions that we will find the basis for implementing our changes.

As daunting as a plan of change can be…it is also most invigorating…it is reminder that we hold the keys to our destiny...that we can achieve our desires.
They say Spring is the time of renewal, a time of new growth, of change…I however believe that fall is the true season of new beginnings…of fresh starts. Perhaps as the air thins and the light sharpens, vistas previously blurred by the summer sun’s haze, are now easily with in our view and with such clarity, contrast and brilliance. For many of us fall brings that same precision and depth of sight inward…to how we see ourselves, to see how far we can go, to see the plans and projects we previously abandoned and neglected as we embraced the allure of summer and life outside, we see again with renewed energy and zest.

If we take that clarity of vision and like a child on the first day of a new school year, think mainly of the new opportunities, yes, last year was important, its lessons provided the foundation on which we continue to build,…it is from here that we begin anew.
As a child September was a time of fresh new notebooks, razor sharp pencils and books that still hold the smell of the ink. It still is …our lives are like those new notebooks…the notebook itself, it’s cover and binding ... is the current structure or framework of our life, but the blank pages …our future…ours to create and enhance. The pencils…the tools we will need to ensure success. The books are our access to knowledge, self knowledge, acquired knowledge and yet to be acquired knowledge, and our willingness to open them.

Like a new student full of hope and energy, look at the situation you are choosing to change, look with clarity and honesty and form the list of the changes you wish to make, then arm yourself with the proper tools… a road map, clearly highlighting both your starting point as well as your desire destination… your itinerary, when and how you will be implementing the needed steps…a clear understanding of the importance of the change, a firm belief that you are capable of achieving it, a vision of your life when the change has taken place, and access to any and all knowledge you have that will aid you in your success.

So as fall arrives, and the stores are stocked with shiny bright new school supplies…shinny new hope, hope that this will be the year…the year I get all my homework done...the year I make the A team….the year I pay attention in class…that this will be a great year….LET THIS BE YOUR YEAR…your season of CHANGE…Change that YOU design!!!
Good Luck…Suzi

Intentions…. what happens to them on the way to action?

2008-08-24T10:23:00.000-04:00

Action expresses priorities.
Mohandas Gandhi

Intentions reveal the best of who we would like to be, or how we would best like to act in a situation…
( little clarity here… by saying BEST, best is meant as level of measure … not, best, as in highest moral fiber…). Be it a lifestyle action…(exercise more, save more money, write more…paint more...eat less …work more…work less), or a relationship action …(do X for someone…stop doing X to someone) we often start out with the greatest of intentions … but somewhere along way…somewhere, they can get a tad diluted or even completely neglected.
Why is that? We know what we want… we know how we want to perform in a certain way...we acknowledge what we are going to do, what our intentions are...and yet??? Our intentions change?? Did we set too high expectations in the first place? Most likely no…most likely our intentions were not supported by our priorities. At first glance, we might say, “no, I really wanted to do….but …..got in the way”. More often than not what prevents us from achieving our intentions is current behavior patterns. By allowing something else to take precedent over our intentions, what we often find is our reluctance for change.
By identifying change, (reluctance of) as the source of the impediment we can begin to rewire the flow of thought, conscious and unconscious to be in line with our intentions.
Take for example, exercise, you have an extremely busy lifestyle, work, social obligations and what time is left you prefer to enjoy quietly with family and friends. However you are often tired but you know that you need exercise to feel your best, so you tell yourself you will begin to exercise everyday after work. Now although your intentions are sound and justified, unless you begin an inner dialogue with yourself identifying the needed change ( time spent with family and friends verses time spent exercising) and can convince yourself that the change will be more beneficial to your overall life…as committed to your intention as you believe you are …most likely it will not come to fruition.
For our intentions to yield results we must employ our inner GPS and clearly identify and acknowledge the obstacles, the current behaviors that may impede our success. Then decide if the compensation is worth changing them.
Think of an intention as a new enthusiastic Chairman of the Board and your inner thoughts and behaviors the reluctant “Old Guard”…they have their comfort zone and are quite happy there. To turn the tides you must have their support...and that will be gained through understanding of how things are currently operating then identifying the advantages of the change and show a solid plan on how to implement the change.
So with your next intention...no matter the level of intensity make a list of what changes you would need to make in order to complete your intention…(thought changes, lifestyle changes, concrete changes..) look at how the changes will affect you…weigh them and if the payoff from the implementing the intention out weights the results from keeping things as they are…you have a strong chance for success!! Good Luck.
Suzi

Inspired by Michael Phelps - The Power of Imagination

2008-08-17T12:00:00.003-04:00

"Nothing is impossible, with so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination, and that's something I learned and something that helped me."
Michael Phelps (on winning his eighth gold medal)

Imagination….a gift…a tool… an innate ability…it is what allows us to see what has yet to exist…it’s power can aid us in being limitless or limited in our thoughts and actions…

Why are we so afraid of our imagination...do we automatically imagine the worst of any given situation? Can we work to redirect…to envision the best of the best. What if when we were faced with a situation and our minds went directly to worst case scenario we merely acknowledged that possibility than allowed our imaginations free reign to explore all of the potential positive outcomes and ways to accomplish them? Many of us have harnessed our imaginations to not only keep us from seeing possible negative possibilities, but from also from seeing the great potential of success, for fear that we will not achieve them and can’t bear to be letdown.

If our thoughts are our reality...can we better deploy our imagination to create our world of choice…to create our life of choice? I believe we can…I believe if we can envision a life of peace…a world of peace, than we can stretch our imaginations and find the solutions needed to take us there.

So action item for today…embrace your imagination…give it the freedom to take you where you want to be. Sit for a moment and indulge in free thought…ask yourself how you would like to live your life…let your mind go…no parameters...no stopping yourself because “that could never happen” or “you are thinking to big...to grand” let your thoughts just go and enjoy the ride. Life is full of possibilities...and our imaginations are the keys to achieving them.
Suzi

We are ONE

2008-08-13T22:06:00.003-04:00

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other".
Mother Teresa

How do we achieve peace…local peace to global peace, how do we work to put an end to any and all injustices inflicted upon mankind?
By understanding on an intellectual level, feeling on an emotional level...believing on a spiritual level that we are not only all equal and deserving of the same rights and responsibilities but even more importantly, much more importantly that we are one...one body of life, one race...one interconnected whole. Pain and injustice against one, is pain and injustice to all man and the suffering felt by one is shared by all. We must strive to cure each part to be whole.

Cultural differences, like many things that we don’t understand can be frightening and threatening. That is why at every opportunity when we are being introduced to persons of varying faiths, nationalities or lifestyles we must endeavor to learn about each other …through that learning we will begin to recognize our similarities and appreciate our differences.

The goal is in no way to try to change peoples traditions or practices, we should not strive to be a melting pot were all of our difference blend together to an unrecognizable state. We must instead see our selves as a beautiful mosaic... where it is the individuality of each piece that creats the splender and the serength of the whole.

As globalization begins to blur our borders our international bonds are being forged more by interdependence and convenience than by true humanitarian goals. The unfortunate result is often seen in in our reluctance to engage in areas of the world where the need may be great, yet we perceive no economic value. What we must come to understand is that the greatest value is not purely economic it is in protecting all mankind.

In our quest for global peace and the end of grave injustices it is easy to engage in rhetoric criticizing those in power yet taking no personal responsibility for the state of affairs in the world today.
One could easily debate that since they wielded little power over those “in charge” they were in fact powerless to affect any change. This is not true, each of us possesses not only the power to affect peaceful changes but are completely responsible to do so. We are it…we are one…we are the them.. we are the government.. we are the world and we are one...collectively and individually responsible for the world.
So today, open your heart, use your head and Bring Peace not pain to all you encounter...Love like hate is contagious.
Suzi
Xox

Thorn Removers or Thorn Cultivators

2008-08-09T22:19:00.002-04:00

A friend and I happened to be walking by a patch of beautiful wildflowers when I started picking a few. He pulled out a pocket knife and asked it I wanted him to cut them, I said no, I was fine just snapping the stalks. Until I saw some beach roses that happen to be unbelievable thorny, I asked if he would please clip me one as I couldn’t touch it due to all of the sharp thorns. As he clipped I walked on and continued picking a few here and there. When we arrived at the car he handed me the roses, a minute later he asked if I had noticed that he had also cut off all the thorns. I said I hadn’t, but I’m sure once back at the office when I was arranging them I would have. He laughed and knowing me so well said “and you would have thought“, “I’m so lucky, of all the thorny stems I got one with out any thorns” I laughed because he was right, I would have thought that.
The next day when walking in the same spot I chuckled, thinking about the story, then it occurred to me …yes I would have thought that and yes, I would have been correct, I was so lucky to get a thorn free stem. How the stem became thorn free was irrelevant. The fact was I was given a beautiful rose that I could hold pain free, unlike the other roses on the bush.
Often we overlook and don't give credit to our most powerful gifts, the people in our lives, the Thorn Removers, those people that many times, quietly make our lives a more pleasant place. Thorn Removers can be complete strangers or members of our inner circle, often they remove obstacles with out us ever even knowing were there in the first place. Thorn Removers are the opposite of Thorn Cultivators those who create challenging issues in our lives.
Let us work to identify and celebrate the Thorn Removers in our lives and strive to emulate them in the lives of others.

FEAR..Why do we feel compelled to foster a fear based society?

2008-08-07T17:03:00.002-04:00

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
Marcus Aurelius:

Why do we feel compelled to foster a fear based society? We allowed the government to promote fear as a way to try to bolster patriotism. We use fear to motivate and discipline our youths. If we know that it is fear that shackles us to a life of mediocrity, a life self limited, why do we continually embrace fear?
It has been said that fear is one of our innate emotions and a valuable tool for survival…with this I have no argument. Initial fear response can heighten all of our senses giving us an acute awareness of potentially dangerous situations.
It is the consistent state of fear that many of us live in that brings detrimental results…to both our physical as well as mental health. Fear can become disease like…contagious, fast growing affecting all aspects of our lives. Living in this state also begins to cloud our ability to clearly see/determine truly dangerous situations.
So how do we recognize/differentiate initial fear as a true warning and the irrational fear that cripples us. How do we accept one as the valuable tool it is and protect ourselves from the other. By being aware...looking at the situation with clarity and honesty, by evaluating outcomes. Is this a situation that truly gives us reason to fear for our safety or our we being held prisoner by baseless thoughts?
If the latter, it is only by facing the fear, that we can free ourselves from it. Ask yourself “what is the worst thing that can happen in this situation“...imagine that outcome, even if it is totally devastating… look at it, then look at what happens after...what are your options to deal with what comes next...remember you are just looking at it hypothetically don’t let fear stop you from looking at the situation. By not looking at it you are in no way keeping it from happening. You are practicing owning the situation not letting fear own it or you. What will happen will happen whether we worry or not, but we will be much healther without the worry and fear.
_______________
Once a new client came in my office, as we were talking he kept jumping up to look out he window...finally I asked him what was the matter...he said he was afraid that his car (brand new BMW) was going to get hit. I asked if worrying and constant checking was going to it protected it?
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Fear of change is one of man’s greatest fears… change of career, home, relationship, etc, when faced with theses changes the following questions are very helpful in finding clarity in your thoughts.
Thinking about your present situation answer these questions:
1) Where am I now?
2) What is good about it/ what is working here?
3) What do I have to lose if I no longer _____ here?
4) If I stay here what is the best I can expect?
5) Are my emotional, physical, financial, spiritual needs being met...to what extent?
6) What are the external forces holding me here?
Thinking about the future answer these questions:
7) Where do I think I want to_____?
8) What is good about it/ why would it work for me ?
9) How will my life change?
10) What is the best thing that could come out of this? Can I handle that?
11) What is the worst thing? Can I handle that?
12) If I didn’t have to worry about_______ would I make the change?
13) Do I anticipate emotional, physical, financial, spiritual needs be met...to what extent?

Choice...what does that mean? Is it a freedom to relish or a responsibility to bear?

2008-08-05T19:45:00.004-04:00

Both...by accepting the freedom of though and action that choice affords us, we are also accepting the responsibility for the outcome (or lack of) due to a decision.
For some the fear of making the wrong decision is so great, that they would rather relinquish their decision making powers than be held accountable. In doing so they are surrendering their greatest power.

It is that power of choice that grants us our greatest freedom The freedom to choose what we want out of life and the freedom to make the choices that support that goal. The freedom to think. The freedom to believe what we want to believe. The freedom to choose who we want to be. The freedom to choose how we will interpret the actions of others, and most importantly how we will allow those actions to affect us mentally and how we will react to those actions. We are free to choose what we will bring to our relationships and what we will take away from them. We are given the opportunity of choice every day, every hour, every minute…prior to each thought or action we take we have the ability to choose what that action or thought will be, and post every encounter with external influences we have the ability to choose our responses.

Often times we haven’t consciously relinquish our ability to choose, we have just forgotten our power to exercise it and we respond with instinct. It is our default system that submit our responses. Unfortunately, those initial instincts don’t always yield the most desired results. Whether it is an innate instinct like our “Fight or Flight’ instinct, or reacting to a situation using old information instead of seeing the situation with clarity and freshness…being blindly reactive, either can hamper the outcome .
What do we want out of relationships… relationships with ourselves, with others...global relationships? Do we desire healthy, compassionate, safe, peaceful ones? Are we acting in a way as to support that objective?
For many of us, daily interactions with others afford us countless opportunities to choose if we will be agents of peace. The opportunities present themselves with all from total strangers to those in our inner circle, our work is to allow our desire for healthy, peaceful relationships and outcomes to dictate our actions.

If we strive to be agents of PEACE, then we must work to be proactive as opposed to reactive is dealing with others. In being proactive we learn to take pause and be cognizant of the fact that bringing PEACE is the outcome we desire. That may be as simple as a smile or allowing someone to go in front of us in traffic, or as challenging as stopping before reacting in the same “knee jerk reaction” when confronted repeatedly with aggressive behavior by the same offender. If PEACE truly is our quest, we must keep that in the forefront of our minds and remembering, that the most frequent and important choices we make is how we will engage with others and ourselves.

Clarity...mental clarity, clarity of thought, clarity of vision...paramount to achiving inner peace.

2008-08-02T22:37:00.003-04:00

Clarity

“That inner voice has both gentleness and clarity. So to get to authenticity, you really keep going down to the bone, to the honesty, and the inevitability of something.”
Meredith Monk

Without being fully cognizant of one current state of being as well as the events that have brought us there, one cannot begin to heal past wounds.
It is like attempting to chart a course knowing the destination but not the starting coordinates.

It is from where that first step initiates that determines the direction of the journey. Our inner journey is no different, if we do not honestly and completely look at ourselves, our total selves, our inner selves, our outer selves, our wounds, our hurts, our disappointments, both those perpetrated by ourselves as well as by others, we cannot expect to move forward.

To achieve clarity of mind is to step back and really look inside our hearts and minds, like opening a suitcase take out each wound, and really look at it, not wallow in it, just look at it and accept it. Whether it is yours to own or not..irreverent, it is a part of you... but not the whole of you, unless of course you allow it to be.

Only from this state of clarity and acceptance can your journey truly begin.

Why do we hold on to pain... pain inflicted by others or self imposed?

2008-08-02T20:53:00.001-04:00

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned"
Buddha

FORGIVNESS

Do we believe that we are punishing those that caused the hurt by holding on to the pain? Or do we believe there is redemption in suffering? Have we so blurred the borders of pain and pleasure that we can’t differentiate between the two? Do we so teeter on the brink of an emotional void that the presence of any feeling is a welcome reminder that we are still alive? Do we believe that pleasure must be born of pain, without out one the other can not exist? Or does one derive pleasure from pain?

Whatever the motivation, many of us not only hold on to the pain, we revisit the wounds, ensuring that they stay fresh and open…like picking at a scab, as the body works to heal us, we deliberately work to impede that healing.

Holding on to this pain and suffering is keeping us on a self imposed tether line, allowing us to venture only so far, only so far on our road to inner peace and personal evolvement. Again it comes back to LOVE, self LOVE.

When it is self LOVE that governs our thoughts and actions, that demands the highest and best quality of physical, spiritual and emotional life, then we have no option other than forgiveness.

It is in forgiveness, forgiveness of ourselves and others that we will find our inner peace.

Our power and responsibility to create peace.

2008-08-02T18:59:00.002-04:00

"Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

To work toward personal, interpersonal and global peace we must subscribe to the two following statements:

1) We are all personally and collectively responsible for creating peace.
2) We all have the ability to create peace, in our hearts, in our relationships and globally.

To talk about being responsible for peace, we must first acknowledge that we are responsible for creating or restoring our own inner peace. Requesting that we take responsibility for our peace in no way underscores any pain or suffering we have endured. For those that have been personally persecuted or have first hand lay witness to a life of injustice and pain, finding that inner peace may be a far more daunting task.

Or perhaps not…perhaps its equally hard for just us...the ordinary people…the ones who’s wins and losses can’t be found in any book or on the news, those of us who suffer silently from the benign chill of the world rather than the Artic frost, to turn a loving eye on ourselves and others.

I would never attempt to rate one’s suffering against another’s, nor begin to judge the affect of ones life on any human heart. We are all wired differently, my thought is just that suffering on any level can harden ones heart and we need to work to soften it.

Going on the assumption that we have all been hurt, even if we have lived a life entirely supported by the most loving and nurturing people we can not walk away unscathed by the events that have unfolded in our lifetimes. We all need to heal… heal our hearts and embrace peace.

So if much of the pain we feel has been cause by others, how do we take responsibility for our peace? By understanding that although we may have little control over events that happen to us, we do posses complete control over how we wish to allow those events to effect us.

We are “Captains of our souls, Masters of our fate”. How we see the world and our place in it is entirely up to us. We are the stewards of our souls and of our hearts. In many ways, for some ,granting someone else the power to form our lives relives us of any responsibility to the outcome. It allows us full admission in the blame game.

Although living in a controlled environment one may endure a life of pain and frustration, for some that pain and frustration may be alleviated by embracing the role of victim. Not to say there are not true victims, every minute, everyday, there are victims, victims of violent crimes, victims of natural disasters, as well as victims of circumstance, and not to say that the wounds from theses acts are not real, or they do not bleed. They are real, they do bleed, they bleed from our skin and they bleed into our hearts and our souls. But the power to stop the bleed is inside of us.

The power to govern our hearts and souls is ours alone, one cannot have access to the inner sanctions of our hearts and souls without our permission. We must believe that the true power is the power inside us is ours, ours alone to protect or give away.

How do we achive that?

2008-08-02T18:10:00.002-04:00

If it is global peace we strive for…the end of injustices the world over, we must begin the campaign by first conquering the demons in our own hearts and minds and embracing our own PEACE.
Accomplished by?

... How? By looking with clarity and love at our inner workings, while knowing that we alone are responsible for our inner peace as we alone posses the power that dictates our reactions to all exterior forces that challenge and threaten us.
By practicing forgiveness, forgiveness with not only those who have harmed us but ourselves as well…many times it is personal forgiveness that is the hardest to grant.
Then with peace in our hearts we must allow conscious thought and decision-making to dictate our actions towards others.

Remembering that WE have control over how we will CHOOSE to respond in any situation…the decision as to whether we will bring PEACE or pain is entirely ours.
Only then will true peace begin to spill into our interpersonal relationships, which will then begin an accelerating and rippling effect on society at large.

"When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.
I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.
When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town.
I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.
Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could
have made an impact on my family.
My family and I could have made an impact on our town.
Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.”
Rabbi Israel Salanter