Finding Awareness at the Food Court
©Nick Grimshawe

I do not like food court food. As a result I take a lunch with me to work. Yesterday, as I walked to the mall food fair, where I usually sit to have lunch and read, before going outside for my walk, I felt my ham sandwich and banana would not be enough. I needed a little something else.

I went over to the sandwich counter and ordered a cream of Broccoli and Cheese soup, large size please.

I found a table and began my meal and pulled out my book Finding Your Way Home: A Soul Survival Kit by Melody Beattie.

I started a section entitled “Healing Fear”.

I finished my sandwich while I read, but ended up with a lot of soup to finish which I consumed quickly because I wanted to go on my walk. After the soup, I enjoyed my Banana, packed away my book and headed for the mall doors.

Now I need to step back for a minute to add one more thread so I can give you a clear picture of how all these pieces came together.

About a month prior I started to meditate using the Holosync method. This system takes you from your waking brainwave pattern in mainly beta waves to the deep undisturbed sleep of Delta brainwaves. Your first week consists of half hour meditations, which then become an hour.

This particular morning as I meditated unbelievably harsh hunger pangs disturbed my meditation. I knew this meant I was undergoing some kind of change within me but didn’t have a clue what that might be. I just persisted with the meditation, had breakfast and headed to work without another thought.

Back to the Present Time:

Now as I am heading out of the mall feeling a little uncomfortable with all the soup I consumed, I asked myself why I ordered the large size of soup. I had a choice of small, medium or large after all.

The answer popped immediately into my mind, “Because you fear not being full enough.”

I almost missed the significance of the answer. Then, bang, the universe did a zoom in…zoom out kind of thing and I stood stunned at the garbage receptacle with the empty bowl of soup in my hand.

Then all the wheels started churning away as I made it outside for my walk.

• What on earth would have caused me to have such a fear?
• No wonder I’ve battled a weight problems most of my life.
• Where did the fear come from?

Then whoa, this is not just about food! This is about everything! Finances, relationships, life!
A pattern of non-survival behaviour, never before seen, jumped into my view.

I clearly saw a string of decisions taken to assuage that fear of not being full enough.

As I write I am still exploring all the ramifications. I caught myself delving into childhood memories to see if I could spot the root cause of the fear, but I really don’t need to find it, that way leads away from knowing, into think (a much lower gradient).

This is a pretty ingrained automatic response mechanism. I know I will need to be vigilant to spot all the times this mechanism kicks in.

The joy, however, is I have moved an unconscious way of acting into conscious awareness. I cannot be the victim to this creation of mine, ever again, unless I allow myself to slip into unconsciousness.

Of course this brings me to the point I want to share with you.

All eastern philosophies have this as a central theme: live in the now! Be aware of this present moment. If you do, the unconscious behaviours you created to handle some past hurt or pain, cannot touch you.

Yet for me, an even more important point is the journey to self discovery is a path full of surprises, untold joy, and fulfillment which makes the effort worth the struggle to wake up from unconscious sleep and rise up into the light of conscious awareness.

Am I there yet? No. I doubt it is ever possible to be completely there while in human form. However that doesn’t negate the journey: the joy of trampling down the Great Way, learning, growing, shining, and lighting the path for other to see.

In reading this article I know you are with me, even if you haven’t formally recognized the path you’ve chosen to walk along.

At this precious moment, there are tears in my eyes, tears of joy, for despite all the suffering in this world, there is beauty and joy and peace enough for every single human being alive today.

Our responsibility, in our own lives, is to live with consciousness, so that others too will have the chance.

Nick Grimshawe

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An author of the million-plus copy bestseller, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, as well as the classic, The Life You Were Born to Live. Dan is considered one of the most prominent and influential teachers of our time. His seminars, with their messages of hope, humor, and spiritual wisdom, draw thousands worldwide. A youthful grandfather, Dan lives with his family in northern California.

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Photo Courtesy of Susan Brearley Camp Hehoha

“The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.”

Source : John Updike, September.

I woke up this morning and saw September. The morning carried a chill in the sunlight. For many of us the back to school jitters, excitement, new workbooks, new cloths, new friends, a new start,all come crowding back as memories pressed on emotions. We pause for a moment, startled by the time.

How did I get here? How has my course been run?

Now is the time for new beginnings after the long languid summer afternoons.

Now is the time to gather up what you have sown, time to celebrate the treasures of your harvest, and the treasures of your heart. The cycle of the seasons is the rhythm of our hearts.

Embrace the new dewy mornings, and gather in friends for the coming down night.

Count your blessing, show gratitude for all that you have, and recognize the abundance dancing in your life.

What you are seeking is seeking you.

I look forward with joy at the chance to share with you the spirit of a beautiful summer morning in all the days of the year.

Happy September. I hope you enjoyed the long weekend and that you came safely through the storm.

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Nick

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This video held me spellbound. I hope it does the same for you. This about the heart of life.

Have an Awesome Sunday with Family and friends.

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Last year Amazon.com introduced its electronic book reader called Kindle. In our electronic age where we are digitized in everything we do, the printed word has been an annoying hold out. Books are still books, even though the lines have blurred for many other products. I just watched recently as someone`s I-phone located him inside a building in a mall! He then took a picture, emailed his boss, and updated his Facebook page.

Amazon.com has not been forth coming with the popularity of their new device, Kindle. Rumors suggested a new updated versions was due out soon, but Amazon put out a brief press release denying they where planning a new version.

What does it all mean?

I’m old school born and raised on the smell of ink on paper and loving the feel of a book in hand, caressing a shinny new paperback cover before it got all dogeared and creased.

Below is a video review of the product.

If you are interested in obtaining a Kindle you can use my link (please) right here:

Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device

What Do You Think

Will books ever be replaced by electronic media?

Let me know what you think.

Mean while back at the real book world:

Here are this weeks:

Beautiful Summer Morning Top Five Inspirational Books

1. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
TW #1 LW #1 # of Weeks 18

2. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
TW # 2 LW #2 — # of W 30

3. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (Oprah’s Book Club, Selection 61) By Eckhart Tolle
TW # 3 LW #4 # of Weeks 27

4. Money, and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Wealth, Health, and Happiness by Esther and Jerry Hicks
TW #3 LW 3 # of W 5

5.StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths
By Tom Rath
TW #5 LW #5 #of W 4

Be Inspired, Read a Book!

Nick

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Poems are entities: they come directly from the world of the spirit. When I write poetry, a door way opens and the words flood through. I am very careful not to interfere in the process. A long time ago I tried to “write” poems. Poems were the first form of writing I tried my hand at. But until I can allow that doorway to open and touch that center from which all things flow, my efforts seem rough, and difficult.

When I can be in that presence: then the music flows. I suspect it is the same for all art, but for poetry, there is a special surrender, a giving-up to something more uniquely creative.

I do not judge or evaluate a piece, and use the most minor touches of editing. I give them to you now as they were born to me.

Nick

Touching

© Nick Grimshawe

The after glow has come and gone,
There is just the silence now:
The silence of indrawn breath,
A heart still racing slows.
Skin to skin we touch,
Where warmth reminds of sunlight,
Precious life, and love.

Truly Care

© Nick Grimshawe

My heart was meant to Dance,
Under the Living Sky,
To frolic here,
Learn to truly love,
and truly care

The Kingdoms of Sand

© Nick Grimshawe

The sea grass grows in tuffs upon the hillocks of sand,
by the water’s edge.
The long green spears gritted with sand,
eternally bend to the on shore breeze.

Eyes cast against the blows of sand,
survey the long sweep of the shore line.
Then squinting in the sunlight seeks the horizon.
Was the sea our Eden from which we were cast out to the shore,
And left to grow legs, and arms, and lungs?

The surf rolls in with much clashing and clattering and moaning,
one soldier wave upon another marching in the eternal tide of life.
Hair whips across the face stinging tearing eyes.
The gulls’ cries harkened down the alley ways of air,
And a seashell washes up to rub against cold toes.

White caps dancing at yearning distances,
Call out the stories of heartache and woe, of love and joy,
all submerged in a wavering world of blue,
Which caress the heart in all of it places
and calls forth the sanctity of human touch:
hand to hand, arm to arm, hip to hip,
Sadly knowing you are not One,
“But you are” says the whispering sand,
Slithering over the hillocks past the sea grass to where you stand.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

I’d love to hear your comments. Scroll down to the very bottom of this post, where it says either “no comments, or “comments”, click the link and have your say.

Nick

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Law # 1: When in a hurry, slow down. Or, when you are in a hurry a train will always cross your path.

I pride myself (there, right there is the problem—pride) on understanding the toll our high paced society is having on the human spirit. I’ve written about the importance of slowing down and finding solitude. Yet the other morning, with a drive into the (big) city and the need to pick-up a co-worker and arrive on time, I felt the need for speed pushing on me.

Of course as hurry would have it, I left the house five minutes late before I even began. I found myself glancing at my dash board clock more than the speedometer. I cleared by first time obstacle, the Mission Bridge with ease. But as I came down off the ridge onto my normal commuter route, the railroad crossing light began to flash. Briefly, I even considered running the lights, but fortunately all the times I have condemned others showing such utter stupidity caused me to put on the breaks and take my medicine, and count train cars.

While I sat idling I realized that if I carried on like this all the way to my down town meeting, I would certainly arrive late, exhausted from the commute and oozing negative vibes about the state of traffic in Vancouver.

As all this went through my head while I craned by next to see down the track to spot the last car in this very long train, I experience an ah ha! moment. Giving myself a sore neck straining, to see a car that would arrive in its own good time whether I watched for it or not: made no sense. With effort I turned my head to watch the train going away from me. I was tempted to look back in the opposite direction just for a peek to see if the final car was in view yet, but I steadfastly resisted.

The last freight car sped by in no time and I resumed my journey in a very different frame of mind.

I resolved to slow down.

I recalled a quote I had recently posted on these pages:

When you drink tea, just drink tea .Enjoy drinking your tea.Please don’t drink your suffering, your despair, your projects. This is very important. Otherwise you can’t nourish yourself.”
Source: The Art of Power by Thich Nhat Hanh

For the rest of the journey I would just drink my tea. I looked out the window to enjoy the beautiful summer countryside. On the freeway, I stayed in the slow lane, and focused on just driving my car. I didn’t listen to the radio which meant I missed those incessant traffic updates about how bad the traffic is up ahead. (I turned the car radio off several weeks ago and have not turned it back on since and I don’t miss it at all.)

Despite the train I arrived to pick-up my co-worker right on time.

As my co-worker got into the car, after the morning greetings, I said, “We should just make it in time.”

After that I paid no attention to the time. I enjoyed the drive in, chatting with my co-worker as we breezed along.

Soon the high-rise towers appeared on the horizon, and before we knew it we were amid the towers of glass, sparkling in the sunlight.

“Looks like we’re early, we have time to go have a Starbucks.”

We arrived downtown 40 minutes early!

On our drive down I explained my First Law of Inverse Logic to my co-worker who found the whole idea amusing but true.

So there you have it, proof that my First Law of Inverse Logic works.

When in a hurry, slow down!

Nick Grimshawe

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The pace of society has been a constant theme of mine for a long time. My readers here and at Beautiful Summer Morning Inspirational Newsletter, have heard me talk on this subject many times. Now I invite you to listen to Carl Honore, speak on the same subject and hear his inspiration on the subject.

Journalist Carl Honore is best known for his advocacy of the Slow Movement. His book In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed (Plus) dissects our speed-obsessed society and celebrates those who have gotten in touch with..

I hope you enjoy the talk and slow down and enjoy your Sunday with Family and Friends, and walk in quiet places.

Nick

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Achievements IQ Moments
By Stanley F Bronstein

I best start this review with a definition of Achievement IQ.I quote from the book: “A measure of a person’s or an organization’s ability to (i) recognize details and opportunities most others do not see thus putting themselves IN A POSITION of readiness;(ii) put themselves IN A POSITION to attract opportunities; (iii) POSITION THEMSELVES to be ready to take advantage of these opportunities once they do come their way; and (iv) then take action upon these opportunities in a manner that most others would not, thus putting themselves IN A POSITION to be more successful than most.

When I first heard of the book, I found the idea of slogging through 50 profiles of people who, by Stanley Bronstein’s determination, displayed an Achievement IQ, daunting to say the least: Pleasantly, that turned out not to be the case.

Instead we have a book of snap shots of the lives of people who have shown an unusual sense of positioning to take advantage of the opportunities that come their way. The book is in no way exhaustive. I am sure there are many more Achievement I.Qers out there. These are just a sampling of the people Mr. Bronstein found on his IQ 2007 Vision Quest Tour which turned into a 50-day journey down 10,292 miles of new paths—all across America.

Most of the people in the book you probably have not heard of which makes their stories all the more interesting. Many of you will be familiar with Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, who wrote one of the first self development books I ever read. You might also be familiar with Jim Craig the goalie for the US Olympic Hockey team that silenced the might Russian machine at the winter games in Lake Placid New York. Most of the other people featured were not familiar to me. Each one of you will find “heroes” who resonate personally with you. I have marked up the copy a bit with my favorites so that I can come back to them for inspiration.

Each profile can stand alone, like a brief magazine article about someone who has achieved something interesting, but taken as whole there is a cumulative effect that begins to register about half way through the book. That’s when you start to understand what Mr. Bronstein is talking about. By the end of the book you begin to understand the process of an Achievement IQer, and begin to access your life in terms of Achievement IQ Moments.

For me, one profile stands out and is well worth the price of the book because of this person’s stunning brilliance in solving a huge problem by harnessing the power of the internet in a very simple way. I won’t go into detail or spoil it by telling you what this stroke of genius is, except to say you’ll discover the answer in Chapter 48.

The book is an inspiring glimpse into the great minds that are shaping this planet with their abilities to take advantage of their Achievement IQ Moments and who are living examples to us all to be ever aware of the opportunities that cross every life from time to time.

I reviewed this book from an advance copy. The book is not due to be published until early October.
For more information you can go to http://books.stanleybronstein.com

Top Five Inspirational Books for Weekending August 23 2008

1. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
TW #1 LW #1 # of Weeks 17

2. Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
TW # 2 LW #3 — # of W 29

3. Money, and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Wealth, Health, and Happiness by Esther and Jerry Hicks
TW #3 LW 2 # of W 4

4. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (Oprah’s Book Club, Selection 61) By Eckhart Tolle
TW # 4 LW #4 # of Weeks 26

5.StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths
By Tom Rath
TW #5 LW #5 #of W 3

A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man’s mind can get both provocation and privacy. ~Edward P. Morgan

Well that’s a wrap for this week on books.

Get Inspired! Read a Book!

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What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
Source: Richard Bach from Illusions

Perspective is everything. What you see, someone else will view differently. When you have a problem if you change your view of it, step back away from it, look at it with different eyes,then what appears to be a problem becomes a golden opportunity.

The caterpillar see it’s death, but to the god force we have a transmutation to another form.

Are we like the caterpillar?

We see the coffin, not the transmutation of human to angel:(for want of another word.)

From our perspective (exterior from the caterpillar) we see the metamorphosis as a beautiful metaphor for life, but from the point of view of the caterpillar it views the chrysalis as the coffin.

Being in the “now”, allows us to sluff off the viewpoints of the past, and allows us to contemplate a different reality, a different way.

This Friday and for the weekend, take the time to alter your perspective, look at the world from the eyes of a snake,or the eyes of an eagle. Write about it in your journal.

Here is a movie that illustrates my point beautifully,

Paper Airplane

Have a great weekend.

And walk in quiet places.

Nick

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Photo courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/charlestilford/ AE739 Purple Day Lily

When we learn to work with our own Inner Nature, and with the natural laws operating around us, we reach the level of Wu Wei. The we work with the natural order of things and operate on the principle of minimal effort.

Source: The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

When we are in touch with our Inner Nature we operate on a “common sense” effortlessness that causes our lives to flow in a smooth and natural way.

We can find your way to the ocean the same way as a river. We move along finding the easiest places to flow into on the way. A river doesn’t try to flow up a mountain, that would take way too much energy and require all sorts of complicated things, like electricity and pumps and heavy equipment to make it all work. A river just rolls on; going around obstructions and obstacles without effort and eventually gets to where it is going.

We are trained to push hard for what we want, to reach for our goals, to strive for excellence in all things. In return, we get stressed, become frenetic, develop ulcers, curse our lack of time and then sit and wonder sadly why life seems so short, hard and unrewarding.

I am as guilty as anyone in forgetting this most important lesson.

Just this afternoon, for a little while, I found myself rushing about trying to do far more that time allowed, while telling myself I just have to get a little more efficient, manage my time just a little bit better and all would be well.

And you know…he’s right.

Fortunately I picked up The Tao of Pooh and found Pooh Bear reminding me that he doesn’t do much of anything that things just sort of happen.

When I picked up the book I was looking for a quote, not a reminder to slow down and just let things happen. I found the message I needed, right when I needed it most.

This morning I created four webpages, got them linked and published, without doing much of anything. It all just happened.

Stop. Take a breath, and ask yourself, are you fighting up hill or flowing to fill all the low places?

Be a river, not a bulldozer.

Walk in Quiet Places

Nick

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Here is the website I created this morning. Have a look and let me know what you think.

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