Choice — Both an Opportunity and Responsibility

Every moment of every day we have the opportunity to consciously choose where we focus our attention.  It is one of the few choices that no one can take away from us.

Maybe it’s more than just an opportunity. Maybe it’s also a responsibility since what we choose impacts how we are, what we do, and ultimately who we become. And collectively, our becoming is what will become of the world.

Here’s a video that we found very inspiring, and we hope that you will too!

This morning we received an e-mail from a dear friend talking about the presidential election. The suggestion in this e-mail is in harmony with what we believe and we will begin this practice tomorrow morning during our meditation. Here is our interpretation of the e-mail we received.

This election has raised much excitement, but also controversy, stress and confusion. If you are like us and the friend that we got this e-mail from, you are receiving very emotional emails and seeing news from both “sides” expressing great fear and anger, and fiercely attacking the other side.

Which man would be a better president–for our country and the world– Obama or McCain?

In our experience what you focus your attention on grows. And what we’re seeing is most people focusing on what they don’t want, their fears, and the worst possible scenarios. This focus can only bring more of this into our lives. So let’s stop focusing on what we “don’t” want and start focusing on what we “do” want.

My friend mentioned in her e-mail, and it is true for us as well, that we have seen the power of intention work wonders. In some cases, seemingly working miracles in fact. So let’s put it work to make this world a better place for everyone.

Below is the e-mail my friend received from someone today. I have no idea if the following story is true (couldn’t find it on online), and I don’t know the person who wrote this. But the idea has great merit in our opinion. And as I said above, we start tomorrow.

Received E-mail message:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let’s join together now with the intention of meditating daily for the HIGHEST GOOD TO COME FROM THIS ELECTION FOR THE PEOPLE AND ALL LIVING BEINGS IN THE UNITED STATES AND OUR WHOLE PLANET

Good Morning Everyone,

This is a true story. I just read an article which reminded me of the power of meditation. The summer of 1988 was hot, the crime rate in the 80′s in this country was rising rapidly in the cities. A study was done in Washington D.C. and published in the Yale Journal of Conflict Resolution (32:776-812) in Dec. 1988 about the results of a meditation study conducted during that summer with the intention of reducing the crime rate in D.C. by 20%. The Police Chief in D.C. said something like it would take a snowstorm in the middle of summer to lower the crime rate. 2000 meditators committed to meditating daily for a few months with the intention of peace and lowering the crime rate in D.C. The number grew to 4000. I think they said that the population of Washington D.C. at that time was over 1,000,000 people (one million). Within 2 months the crime rate of Washington D.C. in the hot summer of 1988 was reduced by 25% with (let’s call it an average of) 3000 people meditating daily for peace!!! That means that 1/3rd of 1% of the population were able to reduce the crime rate by 25% by meditating with that intention! The Police Chief was shocked to say the least – so the story goes. In this hostile election climate and given the importance of the issues before us as a country and a planet today, Let’s join together now with the intention of meditating daily for the HIGHEST GOOD TO COME OF THIS ELECTION FOR THE PEOPLE AND ALL LIVING BEINGS IN THE UNITED STATES AND OUR WHOLE PLANET .

3% of 300,000,000 people in this country = 1,000,000 people. If each of us friends join together with the intention of meditating daily for HIGHEST GOOD TO COME FROM THIS ELECTION FOR THE PEOPLE AND ALL LIVING BEINGS IN THE UNITED STATES AND OUR WHOLE PLANET and we each invite 10 more friends then a million friends (3% of our population here in the U.S.) could join together to start meditating today! And if we all invited 10 friends who agreed to invite 10 friends then our intention would begin today!

These times are crucial for the health and well-being of Earth. Please let’s join together and do this. I KNOW THAT IF WE JOIN TOGETHER WITH THIS SHARED INTENTION WE WILL MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE.

I suggest 10 minutes daily until the election at least.

I ask that each of us invite at least 10 people and ask that our invitation be confirmed.

LET’S START NOW!!!!! There’s not a nano second to loose.

Love,

Diane

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We love this idea.

We believe if a large group of people focus even a small amount of attention each day on creating the highest good to come from this election for the people and all living beings in the united states and our whole planet, only good things can happen.

What do you think?

With love,

Beth and Neill

How do you deal with disappointment, pain, rejection, and the grief that these can bring?

A friend and I were talking today about this. She just called it quits with the man she was seeing and we were discussing the different ways people deal with these issues.

At one point in the conversation, I had said to her that spending time in pain is a choice. And frankly, I don’t quite get the appeal.

If I understood her correctly, I believe spending time in the pain surrounding the end of this relationship helps brings her to new depths of clarity. This clarity then allows her to move forward from that pain. So for her, the pain of disappointment, rejection and grief can be a gift that moves her forward.

For me, and–I am admittedly very cerebral–my process is acknowledging my pain, choosing to focus on uncovering the thinking causing the pain, identifying what was missing for me in the situation that caused my dissatisfaction, and then coming up with strategies that help me focus on the happiness and pleasure in my life. This is what helps me move forward. The pain of disappointment, rejection and grief can be a gift.

We both do our best to consciously move towards the gift that the pain is offering.

I’m positive there is not one “right” way. What I do know is that I often see other people spending time with their pain–delving deeply into it–but seemingly never really moving forward from it.

Coleman Barks in his book, The Soul of Rumi, said: “There is a shedding that’s healing, that makes us more alive, a grieving required to enter the region of unconditional love.

“The heat in the oven cooks us to a loaf that’s tasty and nourishing for the community. Rumi is always affirmative about grief and disappointment, mad with the YES inside all the no’s.

“Rumi eats grief and the shadow and metabolizes them into his bewildered, surrendered self, then tries to live simply and generously from there.

“Rumi said: ‘I’ve broken through to longing now, filled with a grief I have felt before, but never like this.’”

I believe the difference is being conscious about your intention.

What do you think?

With Love,
Beth

You find out more about Coleman Barks and his book, The Soul of Rumi, by going to his website at: http://www.colemanbarks.com

First of all, I dislike using labels such as “terrorist.” Labels such as these tend to dehumanize the person we’re talking about and help perpetuate a culture of “enemy images.” And “enemy images” are the driving force that perpetuates terrorism.

But to unwrap this label, let’s agree that terrorism means: “the systematic use of fear, especially as a means of coercion.” The question that comes to my mind is: How could anyone come to believe that using fear to influence someone else to do what we want is the best strategy? (Just look at the history of the Middle East if you want to see how ineffective this strategy is at truly resolving issues.)

Well, the best answer I’ve found to this question has to do with how we unwittingly adopt our culture’s beliefs and then unquestioningly act on them. I haven’t seen anyone who explains this more succinctly than this talk given by …

Dan Dennett: On ants, terrorism, and the awesome power of meme

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/dan_dennett_on_dangerous_memes.html

Here’s one of those talks that can change your view of the world forever. Starting with the deceptively simple story of an ant, Dan Dennett unleashes a dazzling sequence of ideas, making a powerful case for the existence of “memes” — a term coined by Richard Dawkins for mental concepts that are literally alive and capable of spreading from brain to brain. On the way, look out for:
+ a powerful one-sentence secret of happiness
+ a compelling insight into terrorists’ motivation
+ a chilling view of Islam
And just when you think you know where the talk’s heading, it dramatically shifts direction and questions some of western culture’s fundamental assumptions.
This Is Unmissable.

After viewing this talk, it’s not hard to understand how a dangerous set of relationship memes has hijacked most of the brains in today’s culture, and why people end up acting the way they do on “dating” and Survivor type reality shows.

Fascinating stuff! What do you think?

Committed to Your Success,
Neill Gibson

I’m glad you found us!

A Brief Personal Introduction.

I’m Beth Banning and I’d like to tell you little bit more about myself and why I’m willing to sit in front of my computer exploring the world via the Internet and write these blog posts. I love it, that’s why. I have found this to be one amazing way to investigate new things, develop my own personal understandings, and to share what I know with others.

I am a student of life. Always have been and always will be. My passion is people. I just love us! We are extraordinary, diverse magnificent beings. I’m very curious and interested in our behaviors, motivations and our interactions with one another. This is been true for me as long as I can remember.

The Road I’ve Traveled.

I clearly remember the moment that I decided there was something missing for me in the way people interacted with each other. It was in junior high school during a riot. In those days, sadly, riots were commonplace. I watched my younger brother being pushed down the stairs. This was a terrifying moment for me and also a turning point in my life. I began questioning… What is causing this? Why is everyone so angry? and my questioning has continued to this day.

Because I love people, learning and experiencing life. And I love sharing, giving and contributing anything I can to others, I have made this my life’s work. So in this blog, I will offer understandings that Neil and I have developed, I will offer practical strategies that I have personally used to create a life I love and because I continue to search I will also offer new and useful tips that I find along the way.

My Commitment To You

I offer all of this with love and to support you in boldly exploring your life, consciously choose what works best for you, and live your life authentically and with integrity for the highest good of all concerned. I believe with all my heart, if each of us take 100% responsibility for creating the life we desire, the world will be transformed from one of eat or be eaten to a world that works for everyone. Where we as human beings can live our true nature– where the joy of contributing to each other flourishes and no one goes without. I am here for you.

With love and appreciation for who you are and what you contribute to the world,

Beth