Life - Part 4

"It's not what you've forged, but what you've allowed."
Said a bit differently, it's not what you've put concentrated effort into, it's what you've welcomed.

I love this one. I have often put great effort into something - at work, in a relationship etc. And until and unless I welcome the outcome I desire - it's a drain on my energy and the journey is a drag. By simply allowing myself to feel, I open myself to the many possibilities ahead, without attachment to the outcome.

How often have you been locked in how something must be? I invite you to welcome the many possibilities on whatever is dragging you down energetically today.

Life - Part 3

"It's not what you've experienced but how you've remembered it."

I love this one. It provides me with a new perspective on a core belief. I always rebelled when I was young that I have to experience stuff to learn and grow. Yes, that's true. And it's really my interpretation of the event that I remember that makes the experience unique for me.

For example, me and millions around the world likely watched Obama's acceptance speech last year around this time - and each of us experienced it totally differently. Yes, there were some common elements and still party-lines drawn. In the end, I'll remember it my way and you will remember it your way. Neither is right or wrong - it's just what we remembered.

Which leads me to why I'm a fan of the word "remember." It's become a trigger word that brings me great joy and bliss based on my ManKind Project New Warrior Training Adventure experience. That one word captures the essence of my experience of my weekend.

What joyous experience serves to remind you of your glorious self?

Life - Part 2

"It's not what you've felt, but what you've decided."

Yes we are in an age where men are awakening to their feelings. Definitely important to be connected to my feelings, vs. suppressing them. And what lies beyond feeling is what I make up based on my feelings - what I decide to project on the world.

So often I have made myself angry (decided) over the smallest things: long check out line at the market, someone showing up late for an appointment with me, something someone has said. Always it's what I made up about the situation, based on how I felt about it - which makes all the difference.

When I can step back, remove myself from the emotion (without denying it) then I can see more perspectives and be open to seeing the love in everything vs. fear.

If you choose, write in or share with someone today - what highly charged feeling has led you to decide something that may or may not be the truth?

Life - Part 1

Yes it's been over a month since I've blogged and it feels great to be back writing again.

Here's what inspired me this morning - an email from a friend, actually from The Universe. I will be sharing my perspectives on the quote about "life" by breaking it down into parts. Here goes:

"Life - is not what you see, but what you've projected."

Let me start with a simple example with an inanimate object - a water bottle that's sitting on my desk right now. I see a bottle. That's it. What I project about it can go on for many paragraphs but I'll spare you and illustrate with just a few examples. I project out to that bottle that I like it's color. I like that it's metal. I like the art that is stenciled onto it. I am sad the art is fading on it. I project that I need to clean it. It gives me the water of life that I believe helps me stay healthy and keeps my brain alert. I see it as my companion that goes with me everywhere.

So imagine if my bottle was a person... would it know that I have just projected all this stuff about him/her onto it unless I share? Would that person care what I put out? Probably not as he/she is too busy projecting out to me, unlike the bottle that simple is being what it is - a bottle.

Here's the other thing about the bottle. There is no other water bottle like mine out there. Yes there are many mass produced versions that look like my bottle but there's only one that's been touched by me. Who's art has faded just as mine has. That has my germs on it. Now imagine if we could all recognize the beauty in each of us as a unique expression of a higher power - the one source that connects us all.

Share comments if you choose and stay tuned for Part 2.

Chai Wallah

I was reminded of ChaiWallah's thanks to Seth Godin's recent blog entry. If any of you have been to India and traveled by train, you know the magic of the chai wallah. When your train stops at that remote little village in the depths of rural India, and there's a morning mist - it's a welcome site to be greeted by "Chai, Garam Garam Chai" (hot hot tea). He's about the only voice you hear as you rub your eyes from barely having slept over night in a second class 3-tier compartment with no air-conditioning. Regardless of how cool or hot the temperature is, a Chai Wallah is always welcome.

Seth's point is around focus. The ChaiWallah has one purpose and one purpose only (as per me) to delight his customer and make their day.

What's your purpose for the day?

Father and Son

It's been and is a very busy time for me right now. And I want to keep sharing on the theme of how songs can impact my life. "Father & Son" by Cat Stevens is an anthem song for many men. I don't think I need to say more so here are the lyrics and if you choose watch the video.

In Your Eyes

Greetings readers - I am delighted to announce that through September I will share songs that "hit" me and my interpretation of them.

The one that caught my attention this morning was an 80's favorite for me but maybe revolting to some - Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes." I truly listened to it today, even though I've heard it for over 3 decades! Here are the lyrics if you want them all and here is what got my heart early this morning driving into work:

• Love - he starts with that eternal word and stops. As many of us believe, there are only two emotions - love & fear, what a great way to bless a song.
• Lost - "I get so lost some times... this emptiness fill my heart" all that escaping I do. Running away and denying my true gold. Seeking ways to fill the emptiness inside.
• From the inside - "I come back to the place you are" and the facade falls and I return to my instincts, without my pride "I reach out from the inside." Wow! Folks, if I'm the only one who's missed the beauty of this song then shame on me, so just in case - I share it with you today.
• In your eyes - "the light, the heat, I am complete, I see the doorway to a thousand churches, the resolution of all the fruitless searches..." Again, WOW! I mean this song says it all folks. For those of us that believe that we are all spiritual beings having a human existance (rather than the other way around) - this song says it all.

Today, stop for a moment and check inside of you. What keeps you from connecting with your higher power/God in every moment? What keeps you from seeing God in the eyes of everyone you encounter? And most importantly, what keeps you from sharing the God in You with those you encounter? Make it an awesome day!

Be Your Truth

OK, so if you read the last 3 entries I made - awake, aware and alive, then read on. If not, I encourage you to read those first for this to truly make sense!

As MaryAnne Williamson says: "... it's not our darkness that we are afraid of, it's our light." The light within, the TRUTH, that we are all One, we are all from one source, one Universe - call it higher power or God or ... And this whole game of life is about remembering this truth.

As cliched as it is, the saying "the truth shall set you free" is 100% what life is about IMJ (in my judgement) and the one lesson we all have to learn in this human/earthly existence of our soul. Some learn it very early on and retain that delicate innocence that we all are at birth. Others muddle around neither in "speaking" a lie, nor living fully. And yet others live such a blatant lie (to themselves more than externally) that when they explode and come "clean" it's an amazing turn-about.

Twelve-step programs are a great place to practice the discipline of being accountable to others, being in integrity with yourself and living "clean" how ever you choose to define that based on your agreed "bottom-line" behaviors with your sponsor. There is so much rich learning in the steps and before one even contemplates taking the steps - the first condition MUST be truth. Be true to yourself, first and foremost. To your God/higher power. And to those who you lean on for support (e.g. sponsor, loved ones).

The topic of truth will be my exploration for September. Please do contribute with what you've learnt about the truth.

I am Alive! - Part 3

One of my favorite songs is a Jewish chant "Li, la, la, lai, la la lai la lai - I am alive!" And then it goes "And who, is this aliveness I am, if it's not the blessed holy one!"

That's aliveness to me. When I can remember that I am part of my creator and so are you - all created from one source. That I am responsible for creating my own heaven on earth and when I do that with love and giving to others I am alive. When I am living each moment on purpose, I am alive. When I am living a life of joy and love, I am alive. When I live a chant of releasing and letting go of what eats me, I am alive. When I accept my shadow and lean into it, just as much as my gold, I am alive. When I witness the God in you, I am alive.

What's aliveness to you?

Aware

Once I am awake to an issue - from my inner consciousness, different perspectives and choices start to emerge. "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone" is an anthem song for me. Once I am awake I can see what's in-front and all around me better than before.

Becoming aware of the options, the alternatives is the beginning to a true inner power and peace. I am starting on the path of not being a victim or perpetrator to anyone or anything. I step up in responsibility to change what has not been right in my life and in doing so I make my world (the world) a better place.

So a tangible example - the financial crisis. Instead of pointing at the bigger picture of corruption and greed on Wall Street, let me bring it home. Pre-recession, I spent liberally - unconsciously. Post-recession (or I guess in the midst of it) I am getting better at more conscious/aware decisions on how I spend. I am grateful to continue to have a well paying and rewarding job. Still I step into responsibility - not out of fear of what may lay ahead but out of a decision to live differently. I ask myself before spending: "do I really need this?" and it's just as important to ask do I want something.

How is self-awakening and self-awareness showing up in your life?

More on "awake"

It's been a week since I wrote about the cycle of life - awake, aware and alive. This week I'll take you through these a bit further with some examples. See if they fit.

Basically, this first stage of becoming awake is "coming out of the cold" or coming out of a numb/robotic/zombie state where you convinced yourself - this is how it is. I love how we live in a world where we think this is The most intelligent civilization in history. That with technology - this is it. Don't you think the Romans, the Greeks, the Incas thought the same way? What happened to them? What's happening with the global economy right now and other areas of raising our awakeness and awareness is just the same. The collapse of the old and the beginning of the new.

Change is not welcome by most people, it is feared. Imagine if you lived life like a game - yes, the Game of Life. You would be able to look at these opportunities and say "bring it on." Persavering and overcoming challenges is what is in our base DNA, we just have to call it forth.

What ever you are facing today and in your life right now - call forth the champion in you to bring it on and with faith the solutions will emerge.

Awake, Aware, Alive - The Cycle of Life

I thought it would benefit our readers to provide a refresher on the purpose of this blog. It's simple - at the Resonant Man we seek to inspire men to their aliveness. We do this by sharing many observations and perspectives, both contemporary and not. Almost always, the blog entries are based on people, events or lessons learnt that inspire the writer and he wants to share them with you.

So what makes for aliveness? It's a simple but not easy 3-step process:

Awake: To become awake to ones truth is a journey that many don't embark upon all their life. To have the courage to look at your life and honestly evaluate yourself, in all areas of your life. If you are short of a 10 (on a 1 to 10 scale where 10 is the best) in any area and awake to knowing you are there, that's the first step.

Aware: Once you are awake to the truth of where you are, to become consciously aware of your choices is step 2. Aware that there is a greater good possible for you, if you choose. Aware that you have not been satisfied in one or more areas of your life and are willing to make changes. That's a great place to be.

Alive: With the groundwork set, the work done to make the change - you have the opportunity to accept that greater good that is available to all of us, once we are awake to it and aware it's in our reach. This is the step when we radiate at the highest energy and live fully in harmony with our purpose.

Remember, life purpose is what it's about. It doesn't matter what it is as long as you are clear that it's what your inner-self has called you forth to step into. It doesn't matter big or small, what matters is you feel alive when you are being, doing and having the life you always dreamed of having - right here, right now!

Finally, when you do hit "10" in all areas of your life - build your next 10 and go for it! That's the cycle of life as we are born alive every morning and we die every night, simply having the opportunity to start over when you awaken the next morning.

Chronos or Kairos - Which do you choose?

I am so grateful for having learnt of these two types of time, thanks to a leader in the ManKind Project. Here's how Wikipedia defines them:

"Kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment). The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former means chronological and sequential time, the later signifies a time in between, a moment of undetermined period of time in which something special happens. What that something special is depends on the person using the word."

So think of chronos as quantitative and kairos as qualitative.

There is certainly a place for both types of time and I believe the true magic (inspiration, insight and purposeful action) happens when I am open to the flow of what I am doing. I am so immersed in it that nothing else happens. Be it work I love, a person I am connecting with, a project or form of entertainment - I am fulled emersed when I am in kairos time.

So if you choose - consider giving yourself permission to play with kairos time or as I like to call it "fuzzy time."

A tip-of-the-hat to our ancient Greeks who articulated these words.

CNN = "constantly negative news"

OK so I feel like I'm perpetuating negative thoughts by even putting this out and having this title but as many of you already practice this - it's important to focus on the positive inputs we take in (audio, visual, sensory) to keep our thoughts at a higher vibration. That's what The Resonant Man project is about. Sure stuff happens and mostly it's external. What I choose to do with myself internally is what it's about. How do I choose to respond, instead of react to a situation?

Do I get sucked into the black-hole of fear or can I lean in, take a look at the chaos, lean back, stand firm and go "Hummm... I choose to view this differently." And then make sure to jump up and down and laugh loud, just because.

Go make it a loving and joyous day!

Apollo and You

Take time to remember what a awesome day it was for those present to witness July 20, 1969. The first time when men stepped on the moon. Visit NASA site to read a lot more if you choose.

Here are the three things that came up for me about this today:

- Gratitude: for the 3 men who represented huminity in-person for the first time. The Heros.
- Humility: for the scores of people who got them up there and BACK. The Warriors.
- You & Me: what is mine to do with this historic event?

On that 3rd one, here's where I am - see if this fits for you:
Imagine what I (you) can do if I strived for such an accomplishment and believed I can do it? Does have to be this lofty but more importantly is something that all of my being really knows is right for me? For instance, I deserve to give 100% of my gifts through the work I get paid for. Until I can fully FEEL that it's 100% and live that with every breath - I haven't landed on the moon. Having said that, the journey as we know is equally important. I would add - when there is focus.

Without focus - we'd never get to the moon. Imagine if the goal was - "let's land on any other planet" - not as effective in achieving the clear goal that was accomplished in 1969.

So what's your Apollo right now? Go Apollorize your day my friends!!!

Fun with Trash

I don't tend to focus much on recycling (we do it) or green and every so often I am intrigued by something that just makes sense. Today a friend posted this site on her Facebook comments. The title of the story today is "Plastic Trash Become Drums in West Africa." Makes tons of sense to me. And note how attractive they are too.

I rarely "go negative" or whine about stuff but really we must get over the hygiene phobia in the US. Yes we recycle. Yes we've come a long way with being green. And are we reUSING enough? I am just as guilty - so I love the awareness brought forth by such reminders.

Today and hopefully for 40 days (it's known to be the magic number to cement a new habit) I commit to reusing as much as I can:
- those compost forks/spoons/cups at work
- plastic bags for a biggie
- water bottles
- ... (I will keep adding and feel free to send me suggestions)

Happy reusing to us all!

The Glass Pavilion

I happened to learn about The Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. What an architectual wonder. Some 32,000 sq. feet of straight glass.

From a metaphysical perspective, this is what struck me: the metaphor of a glass house is all wrong. It's not about it being easy to break/shatter our dreams etc. Instead it's about the being translucent (def: having a glowing appearance as if light was coming through). Ah! How refreshing. Imagine if we all could be open receivers of the light that comes through each of us - instead of putting up the brick walls as if we were living The 3 Little Pigs?

What I also love about this architectual wonder is that the glass walls are solid (I'm assuming, not being an engineer - I trust who built them). This translates to - I need to set my boundaries, to shield myself from the projections and opinions of others as they are not mine to take on. Instead, they reflect back on the person putting them out - as does glass when light shines upon it.

Shine your light today and break down the brick walls!

Moxielicious

Yes I've coined the term. But moxie is a word (a noun) that means: vigor, verve, pep, courage and aggressiveness, skill know-how. In this little book of quotes (where I learnt of the term) they say: "it's a street smart spirit that's as old as recorded history, and as new as the rising sun. David had it; Goliath didn't."

This is my favorite term right now for a couple of reasons, all culminating in - it's timely. Given these uncertain economic times, with lots of people going through transitions at work and otherwise - it's this spirit of prevailing that will keep us thriving. It's about making your life what it can BE rather than focusing on the past or the future.

I encourage you to consider this quote from Beverly Williams (don't know who she is - will have to look her up) in my Moxie book: "I will dare to just do what I do. Be just what I am. And dance whenever I want to." This is the day to be the best you there is. This is the moment for you to dance your song, now. Go for it!

This Is It

I remember going to see a play (as a child living in Jamaica) titled "This is It!" and the song continued to say "This is it! The moment you've been waiting for." How many of us wait for heaven? Believe that based on our karma we plant the seeds for heaven or that other place :)?

Hopefully most of my readers believe in the concept of "heaven on earth." It's not a destination to strive for but present all around me, all the time. I just have to open to accepting that This IS it. I mean, imagine if when I died they said "well, how was the vacation?" And I look back and go - but wait a minute, they told me that was "the work" and this is the place to strive for?

Today, take the concept of The Power of Now to the next level. Don't simply live in the now but celebrate every breath of it as if this is it. This is the moment you've been waiting for. All your hearts desires, all your dreams, your bucket list of 101+ things, all the words you want to share with those you love, all the service you want to give the world, all the ways in which you live your mission. Now go have fun, be happy and celebrate your greatness you amazing angel you!

I Think I Can

I love it when something hits me more than once in a short period of time. The concept of "I can" has been such a thing in the past few days. I'll spare you all the magical "coincidences" through which the concept has been hightened in my consciousness but here's what I learnt:

Most of the time I strive to believe: "I know I can." I can concur my fears, my doubts, my "it's impossible" etc. Yes, the "I can" is very powerful and at the heart of my favorite affirmation: "I am that I am."

Then there are times when I don't really believe in the depth of me that "I can." So I don't feel confident in knowing that I can. At times like these I have learnt it pays to fake it! The more I fake it to myself the sooner I'll start to truly believe it. That's the "I think I can."

Try this form of faking it (to yourself) this week and comment on what you learnt about this powerful concept.