Greetings my gentle readers to this weeks instalment of the "Be Yourself, Often" blog. Thank you all for your continued reading and sharing this link across wherever and whatever forms of communication that you may use to help advance insights and more importantly, thoughts.

Its a big world out there and we really, when we step back can realize exactly what challenges there are out there. Death, war, floods, famine and so very much more. But a time also for reflection on exactly what a small component of this world, yet can play such a very big part. I have discussed the chaos theory in previous blogs and the impact that that will make hypotheses by and through our existence and actions. And based on the law of diminishing returns, even by being alive we make an impact... yet as we rev the engines too high, we vote ourself (or are ungraciously voted off) this big blue marble. However, this allows us in these 2 somewhat parallel theories to look at the bright lights that enter our life and what we can do to keep that candle lit, allow it to burn brighter and optimize potential... that then does ripple out in concentric circles in the pond of life.

But our candles do not exist in isolation (unless you are a nihilist). Hope, Faith and Belief is a huge pilot light in our life. Candles and the lighting of candles is a wonderful way to mark the first Sunday of Advent. I will speak of this with the first Sunday of Advent tonight more in The Sunday Mass at 730pmEST on the ULCNetwrk Radio Show (link embedded). We each light our fires from others and fire can be used one of two ways. That being to help and cook and aid and warm. The other side is that of destruction... if you knock the candle over. Herein lies the theories of mindfulness and being aware of why and what we do and who, where, when and why. There are always challenges and sometimes our candles feel deprived of oxygen and light and we must turn to others to feel that candle lit.

At all times our light and fire tends to get weaker and more dim... and we must know where to turn to have that safe port, where the candle of the individual will beam and reflect bright light and guide us there. It is almost always a friend, the port in the storm. Faith is wonderful here and wishing with the wide eyed thoughts and hopes of a child, coupled with a strong spiritual Belief will make a huge difference. There is the adult self that keeps us able to function in this world of ours. I had the wonderful opportunity to listen to a psychiatrist this week who spoke of that inner child and embracing them and the warrior within to offset the negative self talk and critic. Was a superb discussion and makes one think of Faith... who is your inner critic and what does your warrior and child look like? I look forward to future thoughts and reflections on this topic.

A period of thanks and Thanksgiving. Not Black Friday, Cyber Monday or all that stuff. Thanks for my close friends (old and new) and their lights and this week for the clinical insights of Dr. Marcia Sirota at our conference on addiction management. 

Back to pulling all these thoughts together. Yes Joel, we will do that and seem less fluffy and loose tangential. Basically, know your flame and who or Who lights your flame and keeps the candle lit. Certain situations may need different ports, so knowing yourself is critical. Some deep seated self honesty, humility, integrity and effort and lack of hypocrisy is paramount. That comes from healthy reflection and mindfulness of who and what we are and being at-ease with that to prevent dis-ease and thus disease. Embrace the inner child within and love and feel and appreciate the moments as that ripples out to impact other people and overcoming challenge can allow you to be a hero, if done through the right filter. Love the moment as if it was both your first and last time. The eyes and spirit of a child wanting to play and the warm temperament and feelings obtained across the years as an adult. In regards those that are willing to take that courageous step, I know a few of them and they have the power to make big changes by their actions. SO wonderful. More on these thoughts in my radio show "Prescribing Spiritual HOPE" on the ULCNetwork radio at 9pm Tuesday, November 29th.

And then, as the butterfly flies from its cocoon.... you look in the mirror that is reflecting back to you and you see that you are being yourself, often.

 

---- Dr. Joel Lamoure   November 2011 

Greetings my gentle friends to this week's instalment of the "Be Yourself, Often" Blog. I would like first off to thank all those that have read the blog, shared it and most especially used this forum to advance themselves and their goals and objectives in order to advance humanities and HOPE.

You will find many links here and in this webpage to the fact that I believe that items and things and feelings and the end objective should very much be holistic in nature and that we strive for an end objective that is outcome driven. Per with, that is our outcomes that we are travelling to and hope to achieve. That the journey is personalized and infused with connections, people and especially spirituality is key. The E is empowerment and empathic skills and understanding what the needs are from all aspects. There is another E, which is Ego that has been written about quite extensively the past 4 weeks that will not necessarily advance human and spiritual goals and dreams as the deadly sins extend from ego-centric approaches.

I have written much of forks in the road and dynamics and challenges... but never stated what happens when one senses that a belief system and outcome are to change when  choice comes up. There certainly are certain voices that exist within the winds of war that allow and have a person look to different end points, if they are willing to see and appreciate and have enough fortitude to believe that Thy will be done, not My will be done. Huge, huge difference my friend and gentle readers. Fascinating indeed.

It does take alot of belief and hope, faith and belief to see signals in the road and travel down a new Path with new Faith. The past 3 months have repeated that over and over to me. Differences in communications, faith, skill-sets and practices have all been poking away. So what to do,and this happens to us all of the time and each of us have a quiet reflection to make, coupled with the map in their mind and a few close friends and family, and 1-2 very close advisers. The best thing about a close compatriot that may be an adviser is they may not even realize the wisdom they impart. BUT, the skills that they offer is a valuable key at the time to reading the map in the mind.

These are uncertain times my friends, with the only notable comparator being the period between 1966-1974 and the Vietnam War. This was a period that ripples outwards and the End of Innocence one may think and reflect. The Occupy Movements, drug advancements and trials and experimentations, query of authority and most of all the brave people dying. What will 5 years from now bring after the "Arab Spring" and "European Winter" ahead? We know not. These are winds of change.

So, what do we do and how shall we act and believe? With honesty, integrity and effort and be gentle to those around us for we need not more toil. Perhaps rather to look to the river and reflect on the mindfulness, beauty and simplicity of the day and carry a soft word and innocent smile more than a baton and pepper spray. More unification and realize that we are more similar than different. There are only very small genetic code differences across the world...

I do believe that a strong person and one of integrity is not one who fights for a rigid belief system, but rather one that is willing to listen to the silent voices in the wind and be willing to change their practice systems. Once we change thoughts, it changes beliefs and once we change beliefs, it changes attitudes. And here the vector changes as attitudes will beget actions will beget outcomes. And thus our vector changes. 

To go and realize and appreciate and apply that, it to travel with the wind and allow you to be yourself, often.

 

 

--- Dr. Joel Lamoure   November 2011 

Greetings my gentle readers to this week’s installment of the “Be Yourself, Often” blog- a chance to look at and experience the mindful miracles of the day that go on all around us.

Sometimes it a wise idea to look an reflect backwards in order to be able to look ahead and plan to see where we have been and likely to keep going if we continue down the same vectors without a deviation of the path that we are taking. Perhaps some of this melancholic reflection is secondary to events in the day and also with it being Remembrance Day on Friday, November 11, 2011.

For a vector and path is absolutely essential to know where has a plan to go. However, history has a pattern of repeating itself if we do not learn from it. While we may think that is applicable to larger countries and nations in respect to wars given the context of wars and Remembrance. But if stop and reflect, wars are territorial and belief based differences between countries that are often based in problems with countries and idealisms. One is often the victim and the other the aggressors. Yet fascinating, both sides have exactly the same thoughts and can be the victim and aggressor all in one. Bipolar in nature and indeed pathological.

However, the country’s behaviours are manifested by a pattern of behaviours that are conducted by the leaders and the mobilization of the armies to reinforce the root belief systems of the country. Basically, it comes down to the level of the individual that is relied upon at each level on a myriad of co-existing fronts.

Now back to the vectors…. The end goal is victory of course, but that inherently comes at a cost, even for the winner in the situations and events that the brave men and women see and experience and then translate back home. Things that we as humans are not designed or equipped to be able to process. That is a vector that sadly will result in problems for these individuals. And as we are all individuals… do we not each experience situations in the course of our lives that seem to derail us? What sort of mental training and equipment do we have in order to be able to deal with the aftermath of the battles with pathological individuals or crisis situations?

I can assure you that building social networks in a non face-to-face situation or environment through the current day Towers of Babylon that exist in electron format and the subsequent worship of those is not to our asset. While we may tend to learn more and live longer… at what cost and what is the end vector? Do we aim for the long-term goal of retirement, only to arrive battered and bloody because of the battles fought along the way?

Might I suggest that the vectors be smarter along the way, or per wit SMART? That the immediate goals be engaged and lodged in the minutiae of the minute and these goals and “interim vectors” be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realististic and Tangible? That they be able to be quantified by the reflection in the puddles, the scent of the air and all is taken from the perspective that it is exactly as meant to be given this situation. That our plans are a step, versus the end objectives and that challenges are placed there for our benefit versus our BMW entitled (Bitching, Moaning and Whining) perspectives?

Want to win the war and achieve the objective? Try to love and appreciate the small vectors along the way, as we become veterans in the story by being yourself, often.

 

                                    --- Dr Joel Lamoure    November 2011

Greetings my gentle reader friends to this week's blog installment. Been quite a week on so many levels and as usual, a week of high and lows... a week of challenges and opportunities and most importantly, a week of choices.

I decided this week to take a look at what we are capable of doing, to reflect that the sky is truly the limit and even beyond that into the Universe. For we must adapt a ego-centric, all about me mentality in this discussion or we will be lost. This has been discussed before, in that being yourself sometimes means giving away in order to receive and to look towards a more minimalist approach, while at the same time being able and willing to address a degree of pluralism.

The words chosen are so very deliberate and buffet can mean either a large feast table or a strong wind that can take one from their course. Again, the discussions are one of dichotomies and one way or the other. Take the red pill or the blue pill? Take the left fork on the road or the right fork? Take this interchange or another? There are always choices and always signs. As the Five Man Electrical Band stated "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign". But are WE acute and aware-enough to recognize these signs? Blend it with the concept that "every snowflake falls in exactly the right place". What keeps us from these valuable insights and awareness of the fact we are headed down a road that is closed, bridge out...see ya baby and don't write? Booya.

I believe this has to do with the fact we are as humans being driven by that dog called ego and the tail that wags the dog is the culture that we have created and I do not believe that we are able to fathom or manage. Let me tell you my friends... that is one evil, mean, unhappy, ticked off dog. And he's hungry and drooling on our shoulders. Ouch...see ya baby and dont write. Booya.

We do have a way to lock this beast away... first way is through awareness. How do I develop awareness?Through Belief and connection with your higher powers through belief. How do you get Belief? Spirituality and mindfulness . How do you get those? The secret is so easy as to be laughable and links to the law of diminishing returns. That being that the harder we work, the less productive that we are, ESPECIALLY if we are chasing the Ego-Dog that lies within us... full of teeth labelled as the mortal sins including pride, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth and more. Want evidence that dog is biting and the standard path is biting us in the arse? Look to www.cnn.com or any news outlet. Want to make it personal, then look at your workplace? No job? Then look at the situation around and surrounding you. Spirituality has a root that muzzles that Ego-Dog.

Herein we come back to mindfulness. That is being at one with the momenet and by doing less for more. Fill yourself with your Belief instead of the sin of gluttony that we are bombarded with. False expectattions, false idols and false beliefs. If I told you that your could fly with wax wings towards the sun, would you believe me? Nope...silly premise. Howdid it work for Icarus? Seriously. See ya baby and dont write. Booya. 

And herein lies the simplicity of becoming a vessel to receive, not snatch and grab and fill with the sins of the mortal. They are mortal for a reason. Ouch. Dog bites arse, gets infected and then a slow spiritual death and physical demise. Disease has a very strong biomedical root in dis-ease. Thus is the interface of religion, spirituality and bio-medicine. If it isnt that way?....See ya baby and dont write. Booya. When we remove our premise of going for the goodies and sit down, shut up and realize we are but a blade of grass on the lawn of life, something incredible will happen with repeated exercise. Colours become clearer, sounds sharper and what is meant to be, will be and we will be at ease with that. There are Miracles in the Moments that can only be appreciated through mindfulness and belief that the world and ourselves are far, FAR much more than we our ourself.

And when that insight comes, and life is lived in the moment and appreciating the gifts that dont come from a store and the silent voice in the wind speaks to you and the sea turtle is seen in the clouds, only then can you advance and Believe without hypocrisy and be as innocent as a child and truly be yourself, often.

 

--- Dr. Joel Lamoure November 2011