Last year we wrote an article called “Happiness.” Since so many folks are struggling today, and anything but happy, Spirit and I thought this would be a good time to revisit the subject.
Happiness is an “inside job.” We must create it for ourselves. Yet so many of us wait for someone or something outside ourselves to do it for us.
John Cali
When I was much younger I was always postponing my happiness. I kept telling myself
I’d be happy when….
What is “normal”? I’ve often pondered that question. Have you?
John Cali
I’ve worn contact lenses for distant vision most of my life. One morning about 16 years ago I was driving down the highway when I realized I’d forgotten to put in my contact lenses. Yet I could see perfectly. My perfect vision, without contact lenses, lasted the whole day.
Was that normal?
In my yearly visit to my eye doctor last month (the only doctor I ever see), he said my vision had actually improved over the previous three years.… Read more
Many folks I know resist change, and some are terrified of it. I used to be that way when I was much younger. Were you — or are you still?
John Cali
As I look back on my younger years, I now realize there were two underlying assumptions in my resistance to change.
First, I assumed change was usually bad, and always undesirable.
Second, I assumed if something was familiar and never changed, I’d live happily ever after.
Wrong on both counts.
It may seem strange to be talking about winter in the middle of August. But it is winter in the southern hemisphere. And here in the high rugged mountains of Wyoming, despite what the calendar says, cold weather’s fast approaching.
John Cali
I grew up in western New York State, which is known for its fierce winters. And now I live in northwestern Wyoming, not exactly a safe haven from cold weather.
Oddly enough, though, I love winter. That probably sounds weird and crazy to those of you who worship the sun.
Spirit and I have been complimented often (and criticized occasionally) for making life too simple. Well, we’re at it again.
John Cali
The simplicity characterizing Spirit’s and my work (and my personal life) has its roots in a time long past. Let me explain.
I made a deliberate, conscious choice to simplify my life when I moved to Wyoming years ago. The life I lived before that in the USA’s Washington, DC area, as much as I loved it, had grown far too complicated, hectic, and “out of sync” with who I had become.
A dear friend I met many years ago recently asked me about God. Might as well start with the small stuff!
Here’s part of what he wrote:
“When somebody is close to God, they are unstoppable. I know God is there but (s/he) keeps well hidden from me. Maybe Spirit would dare to take on the question of how we best attempt to relate to God?”
As you might imagine, this is a question we get often in personal readings.
Nearly the whole world is aware of the April BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. It certainly has been heart-wrenching to see all the trauma and pain the spill has caused humans, animals, plants, and the gulf itself.
Most of the mainstream news media have been doing a lot of hand-wringing, finger-pointing, and projecting dark scenarios far into the future. The focus is almost totally on the problem. That simply contributes energy to prolonging the problem.
Last week’s newsletter article, “Aches and Pains,” generated much more feedback from you, our readers, than you normally give us. It must have struck a responsive chord. Nearly all your feedback was positive. So this week we’re doing a follow-up to that article.
In her feedback on last week’s newsletter, one of our readers asked a couple interesting, perceptive questions:
“…is it possible that some are feeling many of these symptoms and others are feeling nothing? OR are they feeling it but unaware of what is happening and just writing it off as an illness, or old age or any number of reasons?”… Read more
One night a couple weeks ago I was lying around doing nothing — just enjoying be-ing. For whatever reason, I started thinking about several recent clients who’d been dealing with physical challenges.
Thinking about our clients reminded me of several close friends and family also with physical challenges. Most of these folks spoke of “aches and pains,” and sometimes far more than that. Lately I’ve had a few unusual, though minor, aches and pains myself, even though I’m in great physical shape.… Read more
Merle
Last week I finished reading a wonderfully uplifting book called Heart to Heart, from which I took the title of this week’s newsletter article.
The book, by world-renowned British animal communicator, Pea Horsley, was a gift to me from my dear friend Barbara Clark.
The book, as you might imagine, is about Pea’s work with animals. She’s not only a gifted animal communicator, but also a great writer. In her warmhearted way, she’ll have you alternately laughing and crying as she tells of helping people the world over find lost pets.… Read more
“Content with an ordinary life, you can show all people the way back to their own true nature.” Lao-tzu, The Tao Te Ching
How simple and uncomplicated is your life? Probably not as simple and uncomplicated as you’d like it, at least if you’re like so many people in our modern world.
Countless people I know, even here in this remote corner of the USA’s northern Rocky Mountains, lead complicated lives. They’re perpetually stressed-out, with never enough time and far too many responsibilities.… Read more
At one time or another you’ve probably pondered this question: “What€™s real and what€™s illusion?” I certainly have.
Webster’s Dictionary defines illusion this way:
“A perception which fails to give the true character of an object perceived.”
I was a maverick even as a little kid. And I still am — just ask anyone in my family. ☺ So I was often scoldingly advised to “face reality.” You may have had that experience too. I usually ignored the advice, and just went on living in my own reality.… Read more
A Gallup poll a while back reported 2 out of 3 Americans suffer from low self-esteem and, presumably, a lack of self-love. That’s nearly 70 percent of the USA’s population!
The poll didn’t talk about other countries, but I’d guess it’s about the same as in the United States.
There’s been a steady, years-long stream of folks suffering from a lack of self-love and self-esteem coming to us for private sessions with Spirit. There have also been some of my close family and friends who’ve talked with me about their lack of self-love and self-esteem.… Read more
Last week I got a powerful, and painful, lesson in balance.
Spirit and I wrote about this subject around six years ago. That article was also titled Balance.
Now, given last week’s events, it’s obviously time to revisit the subject.
First, a little background.
I’ve lived alone the past 17 years, and also for many years when I was a young adult. So it’s been very easy for me to pretty much spend my time the way I wanted.… Read more
In last week’s newsletter article, Lost, I mentioned a private conversation I had with Spirit. He was helping me interpret a strange dream I had.
There was a part of that conversation I didn’t talk about last week. The part where Spirit “lectured” me about my habit of intellectualizing everything.
I’ve had a years-long habit of being super-cautious before I take any action. I usually analyzed things to death, even after my inner guidance told me to go ahead.… Read more
One night last week I had a strange and scary dream.
John Cali
I used to be a commercial pilot and flight instructor. I’ve always loved flying and everything to do with aviation, though I haven’t piloted a plane in years. I occasionally think about taking it up again, but only as a hobby this time.
Therefore it makes sense that in my dream I was thinking about flying again. Here’s the rest of the dream:
Arnold, a close friend and fellow pilot in “real life” from many years ago, offered to take me flying and give me a “refresher course.”… Read more
Last week I had several “down days.” Nothing serious, but very frustrating and annoying.
John Cali
I have occasional ups and downs, as we all do. But I rarely stay down very long, certainly not several days. Also, I’m in pretty good physical shape. I exercise regularly, follow a healthy diet, meditate every day — you know, all the “right” things. So I was baffled why I was feeling ornery, not my usual self.
One morning after the dark mood passed I was lying in bed upon awakening.… Read more
Over a year ago we wrote an article by the same title as what you see above. We decided it was timely to revisit the subject.
John Cali
Last week Geoffrey Hoppe of The Crimson Circle wrote a wonderful article in their May newsletter with the same title as this article and the article we wrote last year.
Geoff talks about a daunting incident where he was challenged to speak the truth about his work. He managed to make a mess out of the situation until his wife Linda saved the day.… Read more
Whenever I mention the word “death” to people, I almost always get a negative reaction. Perhaps you had such a reaction when you read the title of this article.
John Cali
In just the past couple months we’ve had three deaths among my family and two among old family friends.
When I was younger, I didn’t really understand death that well. After all, I grew up in a large Roman Catholic family of Sicilian immigrants. Death was not something we talked about a lot.… Read more
In an article taken from his book, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul, Deepak Chopra talks about a beautiful Buddhist doctrine.
John Cali
Here’s how Deepak describes the doctrine:
“There is a profound Buddhist doctrine that speaks of a great river that flows through all of reality. Once you have found yourself, there is no more cause for action. (Emphasis is mine.)The river picks you up and carries you along forever after.
“…effort from the personal level, the kind of effort all of us are used to in daily life, become pointless….This… Read more
Ann, the central character in our article last week, finds little or no joy in her life. This week we want to talk about another friend who’s the exact opposite of Ann.
John Cali
Ann, who’s still relatively young, may or may not live a long life.
But the friend we want to talk about today has already lived a long life, and is still going strong.
Jim (not his real name) is in his 90s, closing swiftly on the century mark.… Read more
A while back I ran into an old friend at the airport. Since we were waiting for the same flight, we got to talking. It turned into a most interesting conversation.
John Cali
Ann (not her real name) has a high-profile job. Highly paid too. She’s been very successful in her chosen profession for all her adult life. In her work she gets to travel all over the world to places most folks only dream about.
Ann and her husband are happily married and have a successful business, which he runs since she’s gone so much.… Read more
You’re probably familiar with the lemming myths. Lemmings are real animals, but some of their alleged behavior, though legendary, never happened.
John Cali
Lemmings are small rodents living in or near the frigid regions of the Arctic Circle. Among the myths surrounding these little creatures is one from the 1500s when they were thought to fall out of the sky during storms.
Another myth, popularized by many, including Disney Studios of all people, was lemmings often committed mass suicide, following one another over cliffs, plunging to their deaths.… Read more
I started having this dream long before I moved to Wyoming. The dream ranch feels like my brother Paul’s “real” ranch in Wyoming — it has the same peaceful, yet powerful, energy. (I had visited Paul’s ranch many times before moving to Wyoming.)
As the dream started recurring regularly I began noticing a mystical, even magical theme running through it.
In the dream I’m wandering around Paul’s ranch in the foothills of the Absaroka Mountains when I get the urge to travel to another dimension.… Read more
The other day I read a Science Daily article about acts of kindness. Something you probably don’t often find in a science magazine!
The article talked about a well-researched study published March 8 by the National Academy of Sciences.
Here€™s an excerpt from the article:
“Good acts — acts of kindness, generosity and cooperation — spread just as easily as bad. And it takes only a handful of individuals to really make a difference….When people benefit from kindness they ‘pay it forward’ by helping others who were not originally involved, and this creates a cascade of cooperation that influences dozens more in a social network….Humans… Read more