Thursday, October 31st, 2013 Focus: I choose to fully explore life and live each passing moment to the fullest.

Stressful times may cause depressed immunity, but self-healing personalities will bounce back. When we believe that we can heal we help activate the mechanisms that foster immunity and healing on every level.

Work on removing old fears and emotional blocks and replacing them with courage and responsiveness to the adventures and challenges of every new day. Build up your determination to be well. Take up daily practices that build emotional strength and supercharge your immune system. Try meditation, guided imagery, self-hypnosis, positive affirmation, relaxed deep breathing and other techniques. And do not forget to take the time to understand and express yourself.

To sustain well-being and a strong immune system, one must accept being in the world and honestly expressing one’s feelings. Healing is not about the avoidance of death, which is an inevitable part of life, but about the full exploration of life and living each passing moment to the fullest.

Excerpted from the article:
A Self-Healing Personality Can Be Yours
by Elaine R. Ferguson M.D.

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RECOMMENDED BOOK OF THE DAY

Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life
by Jude Bijou, M.A., M.F.T.

Attitude Reconstruction is your inside guide to building a better life, right now. It blends the best of western and eastern approaches, and shows you how to harness the innate tools you were born with to build a life of joy, love, and peace. This step-by-step guide will get you there if you’re open, willing, and ready to fly.

Click here for more info and/or to order this book.
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Wednesday, October 30th, 2013 Focus: I recognize opportunities for growth when they present themselves.

Getting along with others can be simple or complicated, depending on how you look at it. If someone annoys or irritates you, for what appears to be no apparent reason, it’s usually an indication that you sense or feel something in this person that you also sense or feel (sub-consciously) in yourself, that you don’t like. In other words, the person annoying and irritating you is only a reflection of you — a mirror.

An example of this would be:

You are a clerk in a retail store. Someone comes in to be waited on. From the very beginning of your encounter with this person, they demand your undivided attention. They act as if they’re the only one in the store. Their behavior really “bugs” you, they are so demanding. You can hardly wait until they have completed their purchases so you won’t have to put up with them and their attitude any longer.

What you don’t realize is that you possess these same qualities — qualities of superiority or of being demanding in your attitude, or you would not be resonating with them… they would not be bugging you. This person is only mirroring something that is in you. This person is giving you a great gift. This person is there to teach you. When you have this kind of experience, a great opportunity for growth is presenting itself

Excerpted from the article:
Getting Along With Others: Simple or Complicated
by Karol Kuhn Truman.

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Tuesday, October 29th, 2013 Focus: I choose to believe in my potential and allow myself the luxury of dreaming.

Before you can identify the need and desire to make a change, it’s imperative that you get past the blaming stage. Blaming keeps you in the past.

No matter how much you believe in your excuses, you simply cannot deny that your success depends on the choices you make. You may have a tougher time than others because of barriers beyond your control (race, gender, age, and so on), but probably your toughest obstacle is the one you’ve created for yourself by failing to believe in your potential.

To overcome this obstacle, you’ve got to allow yourself the luxury of dreaming. If you’ve been struggling for some time, it might be tough to begin this process, but it’s free and can be a lot of fun.

Excerpted from the article:
It Is All Up To You: Choosing the Ideal as Your Guide
by Diane Chambers.

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Monday, October 28th, 2013 Focus: I get in touch with the underlying emotions beneath my anger.

Invariably, when we feel the desire to forgive someone or something, we have at some time felt anger toward them or it. Anger actually exists as a secondary emotion. Beneath anger lies a primary emotional pain, such as hurt pride, shame, frustration, sadness, terror, or fear. Anger represents energy in motion emanating from the suppression of that pain.

All too often when people talk about letting go of anger or releasing anger, they really mean trying to get rid of it. They judge it as wrong and undesirable — even frightening. Since anger represents energy in motion, resisting it just keeps it stuck within us — until the volcano erupts.

The Radical Forgiveness process asks us to get in touch with not only the anger, but the underlying emotion as well. This means feeling it — not talking about it, not analyzing it, not labeling it, but experiencing it!

Excerpted from the article:
Anger: Love It, Then Leave It
by Colin C. Tipping.

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Sunday, October 27th, 2013 Focus: I am open to learning from my experience, instead of resisting it.

Have any of you noticed that sometimes when you try to create something certain obstacles will come up which question exactly what you’re trying to create?

These are things which can be used to alleviate the current emotional stress and return oneself to being a creator of their own good. Continue with your efforts, and know that they are the right things for you to do at the moment, but surrender any attachment you have as to the outcome.

It’s the attachment to outcome, to things being a certain way, that brings us pain. Peace comes with letting go, surrendering, and acceptance. It also makes us more open to learning from our experience, instead of resisting it.

Excerpted from the article:
When You Have A Critical Moment of Emotional Stress
by Michelle J. Johnson.

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Check out my new album A Long Time Comin’ distributed by TuneCore and live on iTunes!

Check out my new album A Long Time Comin' distributed by TuneCore and live on iTunes!.

Thursday, October 24th, 2013 Focus: I am learning to understand and develop the intuition that is inside of me.

Some speak about feeling some kind of “instinct,” but they doubt themselves too much to act on it. Many talk about getting “signs” but are not sure how to interpret them. All of these concerns can be alleviated dramatically by understanding and developing your intuition.

To some degree, you and every other person on earth has this spiritual perception, this skill. For me it was very intense; for others it is quite subtle. It doesn’t matter if it is strong or faint — what matters is that you learn how to listen to it.

It doesn’t benefit anyone for you to be less than you are. To not use your intuition is to be less than you are. To not know and live by your own truths is being less than you are. To ignore your energy body is being less than you are. As you develop the intuition that is inside of you and learn to think more for yourself, you can go out into the world more aware, confident, and strong.

Excerpted from the article:
Opening the Door to Trusting What You Are Feeling
by Julie Tallard Johnson.

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RECOMMENDED BOOK OF THE DAY

Teen Psychic: Exploring Your Intuitive Spiritual Powers
by Julie Tallard Johnson.

Award-winning author Julie Tallard Johnson provides a fun, meaningful process for developing your intuitive powers, as well as practical guidance in applying those powers to your personal spiritual journey. The wisdom teachings of numerous traditions blended with activities — such as meditations, exercises, journalizing, and quizzes — will help you tap into a reservoir of inner strength and knowledge, increasing your confidence and self-esteem.

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Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013 Focus: I make a conscious effort to question whether or not my perceptions are actually true.

We human beings have many prevailing perceptions we share as a culture. These perceptions are the prevalent beliefs our society accepts as true, generally without question.

Psychologist Carl Jung described this phenomenon as “the collective unconscious”. Ernest Holmes called it “race-mind consciousness” (referring to the human race). Many of these shared perceptions form the basis of our human awareness.

If we do not make the effort to question whether or not a perception is actually true, it will automatically become part of our belief system and, consequently our experience.

Excerpted from the article:
Get Out Your Mental Eraser: Changing Limiting Core Beliefs!
by Victoria Loveland-Coen, RScP.

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Please forward today’s Daily to a friend! Share the blessings 🙂

RECOMMENDED BOOK OF THE DAY

Attitude Reconstruction: A Blueprint for Building a Better Life
by Jude Bijou, M.A., M.F.T.

Attitude Reconstruction is a 2012 ForeWord Reviews gold award winner in BOTH Self Help and Psychology, the 2012 winner of the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Award in Self Help, winner of the 2012 Nautilus Silver Award for personal growth/self-help/psychology and Indie Excellence Book Awards finalist. It is your inside guide to building a better life, right now. Attitude Reconstruction blends the best of western and eastern approaches, and shows you how to harness the innate tools you were born with to build a life of joy, love, and peace. I guarantee this step-by-step guide will get you there if you’re open, willing, and ready to fly.

Click here for more info and/or to order this book.
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Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013 Focus: We are innately wise, capable of accomplishing anything we choose.

How wonderful it feels — and how powerfully it works — to regard ourselves and each other as innately wise, capable of accomplishing anything we choose, greater than any task or challenge before us. Wouldn’t you like to be regarded as magnificent?

You already know how to be magnificent. Let me help you remember.

At any given moment we have two voices in our head: one which tells us we can’t, and another which tells us we can. Which will prove true? The one we give the most attention to. The one we act on. The one we make a stand for.

Excerpted from the article:
Helping You Remember: We Are Innately Wise and Magnificent
by Alan Cohen.

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RECOMMENDED BOOK OF THE DAY
Dare To Be Yourself: How to Quit Being an Extra in Other People’s Movies and Become the Star of Your Own — by Alan Cohen.

In this powerful map to self-discovery, Alan Cohen shows how we can let go of the past, overcome fear, and discover the power of love in our lives. Once we are engaged in the work of truly being ourselves, each challenge becomes an opportunity for growth, each choice a lesson in commitment, each relationship a renewal of God’s work. Dare To Be Yourself will dramatically enlighten, empower, and enliven you as you awaken to life and love and the unique gifts that are yours to give the world.

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October 20 All serious daring starts from within. —Eudora Welty

Compassionate Communication and Addictions

People often ask me how Compassionate Communication works with addictions. There are no easy answers and there are many twelve-step programs that help people overcome their addictions. Remember that everything we do is an attempt to meet needs. Compassionate Communication complements what people learn in other programs by helping them focus on finding new strategies that will better meet their needs.

When looking at addictions, consider what needs the person is trying to meet. I’d guess that behind all addictions is a desire for ease, comfort, relief and protection from painful emotions or life situations. Each person’s situation is different, but the underlying needs are the same.

The addictive substance, then, is the strategy people use to meet these needs. Most times there are other strategies that will meet them more effectively. Behind every addiction is a person in pain. Empathizing, listening to someone’s feelings and needs, can bring great relief to the person and to your relationship. Rather than saying, “You shouldn’t smoke so much,” consider empathizing and say, “Do you worry that you will be under a lot of stress if you try to quit smoking?”

You might be surprised by what you learn if you enter into a conversation about the feelings and needs of the other person. Even if he doesn’t stop his addiction, you may both feel much more connected.

There are no easy answers, but the more we connect with the needs a person attempts to meet through their addiction, the greater their opportunity for recovery.
Consider the needs people are trying
to meet through their addictions today.
Get 15% off Peaceful LivingThis reflection is an excerpt from Peaceful Living: Daily Meditations for Living with Love, Healing, and Compassion by Mary Mackenzie, published by PuddleDancer Press, and is offered courtesy of NVC Academy and Mary Mackenzie.

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