In Alan Cohen’s long list of great books is one of my all-time favorites, Are You As Happy As Your Dog?
For most of my life, I’ve owned a dog. Or maybe the truth is the dogs owned me.
Dogs, and all animals, can be great teachers for us humans. Even though humans are supposed to be the “superior” species, it’s often the other way around.
Spirit
There’s a dog story—a deeply touching true story—Johnny loves. It’s about Shep, a shepherd dog who lost his master.… Read more
Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. ~ Denis Waitley
Two days ago, on November 25, 2021, the United States celebrated its annual holiday of Thanksgiving.
The message of gratitude often gets confused, misused, and even lost. So it’s helpful to remind ourselves, now and then, of how much we have to be truly grateful for.
Here are some of Spirit’s thoughts about gratitude.… Read more
Today we’re revisiting a post we wrote years ago.
Spirit
How often have you heard it said “Think only of others.” – “Love others unconditionally.” – “Put others before yourself.” – “Be of service to others.” – etc. etc.?
Those are noble-sounding sentiments. But they will guarantee you a life of misery and joylessness.
Many times, you’ve heard us, and others, say you cannot serve another unless you first serve yourself, you cannot love another if you do not first love yourself.… Read more
We’ve talked about happiness many times over the years. Probably because it seems an impossible dream for many, especially in today’s crazy world.
The question we often hear is “How can I be happy when the world is going to hell?”
Good question.
We love talking about happiness. Why? Because it’s such an important part of your lives as humans. And yet happiness often eludes most humans.
You even have organizations who specialize in happiness research. While we applaud those dedicated folks who do that, the focus is sometimes too much on the material aspects of human happiness.… Read more
People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
United States President Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865
I have a little sign on my desk, “Get happy!”
When some folks see it, they ask “How?”
The answer is “Happiness is a choice. So choose to be happy.”
Again, the response is “How?”
I know some folks will disagree with me. But, from my observations over the years, I’d say older folks are generally happier than younger ones.
And my own personal experience of growing older supports that idea.… Read more
Is there someone in your life you have, perhaps, forgotten? Is there some precious memory you have released and want to reclaim? Maybe now’s the time to remember, reclaim and reconnect.
Spirit gave me this message early one dark and cold, snowy morning earlier this week. It’s one of their shortest ever.
This moment on your planet may seem the worst of all times. But, actually, it’s the best of all times.… Read more
Did you know August is Happiness Happens Month? Me neither, until just a few days ago.… Read more
Last week we received a letter from one of our readers, Cinda Miller. With her permission, here’s what she wrote:
Dear John,
I wanted to run something by you and see if it has a ring of truth to it. This is a thought that occurred to me the other day and in order to make sense from a thought I have to write it down.… Read more
Note: I chose that graphic above for this post because my spirit guides are fond of saying exactly that—It (life) is all good, whether or not it seems so.
One of our readers, Cinda Miller, sent us a letter in response to last week’s post, Mr. Smith Goes To Texas. I thought it was a great letter.… Read more
I want to thank all of you who read and commented on our last post about Wayne’s passing.… Read more
The Light Beyond the DarknessI’m generally pretty upbeat, positive, and happy. Life has been good to me. I’m deeply grateful for that, and for life itself.
However, this past year has been full of challenges for my family and me. There have been some pretty dark days. Also some damn good days, thanks to all the angels, human and in spirit, who’ve been there for us.… Read more
Albert EinsteinOne late afternoon a while back I was looking out my living room window at the valley below, and the mountains beyond. The scenery is gorgeous. It’s one of my favorite views in this beautiful place where’s there’s an abundance of spectacular scenery.… Read more
Mountain Climbing ChallengeA couple days ago I finished a “21-day meditation challenge”—the name Deepak Chopra has given his periodic free meditation courses. He presents each of the series with Oprah Winfrey. Their latest, Manifesting Grace through Gratitude, ran the 21 days from July 13 through August 2.
As always, it was a pretty powerful experience for me.… Read more
Portrait of a LionYou’ve probably heard the news of protests circling the planet over the recent death of the legendary, beloved Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe.
Many people, animal lovers or not, are distressed, sad, and angry. Maybe you’re one of them.
As you might expect in such situations, people’s reactions vary widely.… Read more
The Heart of GodThis past year or so I’ve become a serious student of A Course in Miracles. It’s had a profoundly powerful, positive effect on my life and work.
As some of you know, I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church, but drifted away from it as an adult. I wanted nothing more to do with traditional religion.… Read more
IntroductionAs many of you know, our dear friend Barbara Clark published a book last week, Brighter Horizons: Spiritual Illumination from The Magdaleine Group.
The Magdaleine Group are a powerful gathering of non-physical spirit guides whose greatest passion is teaching us we are all connected, and we can communicate with each other in the blink of an eye. We just have to quiet our minds, get into the right vibration, listen and trust.
Here is an excerpt from Chapter 23 of Barbara’s book.… Read more
God Is All That IsLast week someone I’ve known many years killed himself. The details are not important. But our perception of those details, and of the death itself, requires some soul-searching.
Our society assumes it is natural for us to fear death—no matter how, when, where, why it occurs.… Read more
Be SilentLast week started out well. But by the end of the week, I was floundering around, confused and distressed by a challenge I’d never faced before.
One morning, upon awakening, I noticed I could not hear out of my left ear.… Read more
Happy Aging WomanDo you dread aging? Our society places physical youth and beauty on a pedestal, and does all it can to deny the passing years.
Is it possible to grow older, and still be happy and have fun? I think so.
Here are some of Spirit’s thoughts:
Shep, Fort Benton, MontanaImage Copyright © 2007 by Montanabw
I’ve loved dogs all my life. My family and I have been blessed to have many of them as beloved members of the family over the years.
My spirit guides also have a fondness for dogs (and all animals). Here are a few words from them, taken from an article we wrote a few years ago:
“Your domestic pets, especially dogs and cats, are one of the greatest gifts humanity has ever received.… Read more
You fall in love with films because films help you fall in love with life. ~ Neale Donald Walsch
Orbit Ever After
A touching comedy taking place in an unspecified future when life on earth — and above it — boils down to fundamental survival. Can a boy and a girl find happiness together when they see each other only once every orbit?
20 minutes in English.… Read more
We’re living in a time when we hear much — perhaps too much — about the “rule of law.” And how it is seemingly so often violated all over our planet.
Much of your modern society bases itself on what it calls the rule of law. Just what is this rule of law?
Although your many and varied jurisdictions have their own laws and interpretations of those laws, they are all based upon a most “unspiritual” perspective.… Read more
Jumping for JoyAs you can see from the list of “Related posts” below, we’ve talked about happiness a lot in this blog. It’s a subject many folks never get tired of talking about — especially the lack of happiness in their lives.
Here’s Spirit.
Most humans believe they need a reason to be happy. And that reason — whatever it is — money, relationships, health, etc. — will never provide lasting happiness.… Read more
Guardian AngelPeople often ask us how to talk to their spirit guides (or guardian angels). Well, they’re sometimes surprised when we tell them their guides or angels are always right there with them — and want to talk to them.
What do they have to say to us? Their messages are always filled with love and compassion. Here are some of the things my spirit guides say they want to tell us.… Read more
Buddhist Monk
One of our friends recently sent us this note:
“I’m interested in learning more about picking up on, or taking in, other people’s energy. How does that work? How can we learn to separate heavy energy from other people versus our own heavy energy?”
Great question, and one we’ve been asked a lot since 2012.… Read more