You are far more powerful than you think.

You are far more powerful than you think. How do I know this? Because I know each of us has the power to create. I can go as far to say that we have the power to create life. How can you not believe you are powerful when you have the power of creation inside of each and everyone of you?

In his book, "You'll See It When You Believe It: The Way to Your Personal Transformation", Wayne Dyer takes the old adage that "I'll believe it when I see it" and expertly explains that that is quite backwards. You will not see anything until you believe in it. You have to believe it first or it will never come to be. Here is an excerpt from his book that speaks directly to what I am talking about in this post.

Chapter 1, Page 14, Copyright 2001: "Every man-made creation starts with a thought, an idea, a vision, a mental image. The thought is them applied in some way to form a new product. At this moment I am taking my thoughts, applying them to a typewriter and creating a new product called a book. We all go through this process thousands of times every day. The ultimate in becoming a transformed person is seeing ourselves as unlimited by our form."

We quite often feel as if we are victims of circumstances or beneficiaries of luck, but in reality things don't just happen to us. Like a magnet we bring events and people into our lives through our thoughts and beliefs. If we believe we can have something, we will send out an energy that will draw back the people, circumstances and opportunities that will assist us in obtaining our goals, if we believe the opposite, we will create the opposite. You are in control of your own thoughts and that is a power that cannot be taken away. You can however give it away, through blaming others for your circumstances and/or allowing the past to hold you there so that you cannot create the future you want.

"Whenever your thoughts are are on what you don't want, you are creating by default. You are creating deliberately when you are aware of your thoughts and consciously thinking of what you do want." - Eva Gregory Copyright 2002 http://www.jeannaandevashow.com/

So, we need to ensure that our thoughts on on what we do want and that we are using our conscious mind to actively create what we do want. Don't fall into the trap of focusing on you do not want, as that will give you more of it.

"The world we have created is a product of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking." - Albert Einstein

We need to take each day and use the power that the universe has given us and create the world we want and deserve.

That's all for today!

May you be blessed always and in all ways!

Harry

Simplify!

It is hard to pick up any magazine, read any newspaper or surf the internet without someone talking about simplfying our lives. What I find a little ironic about it for me is that I have lived my life as simply as possible for as long as I can remember.

When I wrote my book "Rare Sense; One Day It Will Be Common" , I wrote it to be a simple guide to living a fulfilled and balanced life. To me life is nothing if not simple, if you look at it at it's basic level. If you read "Conversation With God" by Neale Donald Walsch, it is loaded with simple ideas on how to live your life. If you read the Bible, God broke it down to 10 simple commandments, all the rest is just filler and reminders. Buddha encouraged simple living in his teachings. The Native American Medicine Men & Women taught their spiritual ideas through simple stories and lessons.

Life is simple, we make it complicated with the weight of all the stuff we pile onto ourselves. The guilt, the fear, the hurt, the anger, the worry and the past.

Here are some suggestions on how to simplfy your life:

1. Get organized.
2. Get rid of clutter.
3. Approach everyday with an attitude of gratitude.
4. Approach everything from a position of love.
5. Set goals.

That's it. Simple! Start with those things and in no time, you will see how simple life can be.

May you be blessed always and in all ways!

Harry

Sometimes you just need a break!

Hi all,

I have not blogged in awhile because I decided to take a much needed technology break and combine it with a little family vacation and business trip. So, my wife and I packed up our car and took the scenic route to my hometown and back, with some diversion in between.

Along the way, we stopped in Newark, OH at the Ohio State Campus there to drop off some things to our daughter, then it was off to Coshocton and Roscoe Village. Roscoe Village is a quaint little place with shops, a museum, canal boat ride, living history exhibits and restaurants housed in buildings from the early 1900's and earlier.

We spent part of the afternoon shopping and having a nice lunch in The Warehouse Restaurant. It was a beautiful day. When we were done, we headed for the back roads and after discovering we had went the wrong direction for a time (even though the scenery was beautiful and led us to a gorgeous lake), we got turned around and came upon Gen. George Custer's birthplace and memorial. We stopped, took some pictures and read some information about Custer. We would probably never had been to his birthplace had it not been for taking a little accidental detour

After the little detour we headed up through Carrolton to Salem, OH. It was getting to be dinner time and by simple happenstance we came across a little family restaurant, Annabelle's. We stopped and had a wonderful dinner. If you are ever in Salem, OH, stop by Annabelle's, you'll be glad you did. One other nice thing about the trip was along the drive, we did not listen to the radio, we just talked and enjoyed each other's company and the scenery.

That Saturday, we went to Southfield, Michigan with our daughter (Melinda) and my Mom to visit my Great Aunt, who will be 94 in November. We had a little adventure as Melinda was coming from Columbus and meeting us in Sandusky to go to the Southfield and somehow thought she was supposed to bring our 70# Chocolate Lab (Toby) with her. Needless to say it was a little crowded in the back seat but all went well. When we got to the Southfield, Melinda and I took turns staying outside with Toby since he could not go into the apartment building.

The visit with Tusa (Romanian for Aunt) Eleanor was great. Even though she is sliding physically, she still has her wonderful wit and sense of humor.

Sunday, I had a speaking engagement in Warren, OH, which went very well. I sold some books and made some new contacts. That evening, Tammy and I went to see a friend of hers that she had not seen in 25 years. It was a nice visit as we were at a camp ground and the weather was perfect, the fire smelled great and the tree frogs were serenading us.

Monday, Tammy and I took the scenic route back home, stopping at an outlet mall for a time. Once again, there was no radio, just good conversation and beautiful scenery.

One of the best things about the trip is I took a break from technology. I did not post, check e-mails, nothing. I did get some reading done and I highly recommend "The Power of Intention" by Dr. Wayne Dyer. It was nice, really nice.

So, after all that, here is the lesson. Sometimes the best things in life are simple and free. The time I spent with family and friends was priceless and the time away from technology energizing. My suggestion is take time away from your hectic life. Take a drive along some scenic byway and just be with the ones you love! It is refreshing!

May you be blessed always and in all ways!

Harry

Are you positive or negative?

From time to time I like to utilize sonderful stories to illustrate points that I teach. Here is one of those stories.

I heard the story about a king in Africa who had a close friend with whom he had grown up.

The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that occurred
in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"

One day, the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown off.

Examining the situation, the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!" to which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to have his friend thrown into prison.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area wherein he should have known not to hunt. Cannibals captured him and took them to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake. As they came close to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb
and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the prison to speak with his friend.

"You were right", he said,"it was good that my thumb was blown off."

And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened.

"And so I am very sorry for sending you to prison for so long. It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "this is good!"

"What do you mean, 'this is good!'" said the King aghast. "How could it be good that I sent my friend to prison for a year?!"

"Well, if I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you, and I would have been eaten!"

I hope you enjoyed this story and can see how a positive outlook may even one day save your life.

That's all for today!

May you be blessed always and in all ways!

Harry

Can you create a positive world by spreading negativity?

Sounds like a really illogical question, right? Or at least it seems like the answer is a pretty straight forward, NO! Yet that is what I hear from journalists that I talk to. You see a majority of them I have spoken with say they are in journalism to help change the world, in a positive way, but how is that possible when most of what they report on is negative?

It has been proven in numerous psychological studies that people exposed to negative images will have negative thoughts about the world. That seems logical to me. If you are constantly bombarded with negative images, it has to have an effect and not a positive one. I have yet to hear anyone say, after watching the news, "Well that was refreshing!" No, what I usually hear is "That was depressing!"

Why is it spiritual teachers will tell you that the easiest and quickest way to improve your life is to not watch the news? It's because most of the news programming is filled with negative images and stories.

Advertisers understand that their commercials have a psychological effect on consumers which, is why commercials are filled with mostly positive images and/or beneficial suggestions that appeal to consumers in some way. Buy this car and you will be powerful or help the environment. Drink this drink or use this body wash and you will attract the opposite sex.

Why is it then that journalists do not seem to get it? They constantly report on the negative and wonder why people are so negative. I know we do get the occasional feel good story of the day but shouldn't the reporting of the "good" news be the norm if we want to change the world for the better?

The next question I have is, when did all this start? Has the news always been negative? If so, what do we need to do to create a paradigm shift in journalism? If not, when did it start? How did it start? And, how do we change it?

I really believe the shift has to come from the journalists and journalism schools themselves. Someone, somewhere has got to recognize that they are source of the problem and do something to create the shift. Don't get me wrong, I know bad things happen but not to the extent that it is portrayed.

I had to chuckle at the headlines I saw this morning after Hilliary Clinton's speech last night. Personally, I am not a big Hillary fan but she delivered a powerful, uplifting, emotional and positive speech of her support for Barack Obama. But what were the headlines I saw today? Hillary Did Not Do Enough to Convince Her Supporters and Hillary Not Persuasive Enough. I have an idea, how about these headlines? Hillary Tells Supporters to Throw Their Full Support to Obama or Hillary Supports Obama All The Way.

I know if we all start to focus on what is good with life, our community, our country and our world, then we will make positive changes. Everything will get better, if we can just get people to focus on the positive.

That's all for today!

May you be blessed always and in all ways.

Harry

Are you argumentative to a fault?

Are you argumentative to a fault? Do you feel that you always have to be right? There obviously is a time and place for debate and sometimes when your character or integrity is called into question, I could see defending your honor.

However, are you always on the defensive? Do you allow space for others opinions? Can you take constructive criticism and use it to grow?

Here are a couple quotes that further illustrate what I am trying to get across here:

"Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy."

"The more arguments you win, the less friends you will have."

I have found that the more I can honor an other's point of view the less I have to defend anything myself but there is a limit.

I can recall a guy I knew when I was a Criminal Investigator for the Army. He worked in the prosecutor's office and was constantly debating and arguing the most minute points of just about anything. And no matter what side you took, he always seemed to fall on the opposite side. In most cases, I do not think he actually was on the other side, he just liked to argue in an effort to show off his debating skills. He was an excellent prosecutor but could not leave his debating and arguing inside the courtroom.

It got to the point where no one even wanted to talk to him out of fear that he would start one of his "debates"! I saw where people would just absolutely avoid him, if they could and if they had to talk to him, they would always have an excuse to cut off the conversation. He was not invited to the office gatherings after work. He was basically shunned.

Well, one day I was dropping off some case files for review when he called me into his office. I cringed and started to come up with some excuse for having to leave, when I said to myself, "this is a golden opportunity to say something." I figured if he started one of his "debates" it would give me an opening.

It took all of about 10 seconds for him to start the "debate". I immediately stopped him and asked, "Why do you always want to argue and debate people?"

By his shocked look and reaction, I could tell that he had probably never been asked that question.

He responded rather loudly: "I DON'T!"

I said, "Really! You are even being argumentative about the question I just asked."

To make a very long story short. I shut the door to his office and we talked for quite awhile. When we were done, he thanked me for pointing out things to him that no one else had ever taken the time to do. He then went out and gathered the whole office together and apologized for his behavior. He worked really hard over the next several weeks to change and even told his colleagues to please point out when he was slipping back into his old ways.

Needless to say, since he was willing to change and was working hard on it, he was forgiven and brought back into the fold. You see, he was not a bad person, he just had circumstances happen in his life that had him choosing to be argumentative and he allowed what was really effective for him as a prosecutor to effect the rest of his life. Once he saw what was happening and we talked about how he could change it, he eventually returned to the easy going, nice guy he had been before. He learned that he did not have to be "on" all the time and you know he actually was a funny, witty and charming guy.

If you find that you are like the guy in the story it does not mean that you are a bad person either. Maybe no one has ever pointed it out to you. Maybe you feel you have to be this way. Either way, if you do not like what you see about yourself, you too can change it. It will not be easy and will take some time but in the end it will be worth it.

That's all for today.

May you be blessed always and in all ways.

Harry

Thankful for my health!

I have not been posting lately because I have been under the weather and it is at times like these that I am so grateful for my health. That may sound starnge coming from someone who is currently not 100% healthy but you have to understand that I rarely am under the weather.

So, when I am not feeling the best, it is when I reflect on all the times, about 99.9% of which that I am the epitome of health. It also causes me to pause and think of all those who are fighting for their lives or have to deal with chonic illness and/or pain. Those that are dealing with those things and remain positive are truly inspirational.

So today I ask. How do you handle it when you are not feeling well? I for one continue to focus on the positive and do everything in my power to help my body to heal and I know that it helps me to heal and reduces both the severity and length of the illness.

I also go inward and reflect on what I may have done to bring about the sickness. If I cannot pin point anything, then I just focus on what I need to learn from the experience and do my best to take in the lesson.

I know that everytime I have had an illness or injury that there was something to learn from it. Maybe I am just being told that I need to slow down and rest. Maybe, it's just that I was doing things that caused me to catch a virus or I was not doing things to avoid it.

Whatever it is, you can use these events to grow both spiritually and personally. Nothing like a good illness and/or injury to make you catch up on your rest or that pile of books you have been meaning to read.

My wish for everyone is that you lead healthy and happy lives.

Until next time.

May you be blessed always and in all ways!

Harry