Thinking about being in the present moment brought to mind an experience I had a couple of years ago while at breakfast in a diner in Richardson, Texas…

I love toast.

That’s the conclusion I came to after my experience today during my brunch at The Waffle House. It was an ordinary day, a very pleasant but ordinary meal. Even the toast itself was, by all accounts, ordinary.

What was remarkable about the experience was my reaction to the toast. I was already enjoying the meal, but when I took my first bite of the toast, I found myself relishing every bite. Everything about the toast was absolutely divine – the feel, the smell, the texture, the look, the taste – it was all just a great wonder. It was as though this was the first time I had ever seen, smelled or tasted toast before. And I loved it! The waitress must have thought I was a crackpot as I ordered two more servings in succession, as I sat there utterly absorbed in eating toast.

I thought about the movie Meet Joe Black, in which Joe – who happened to be Death on holiday – tasted peanut butter for the very first time and was enthralled by it. That very thing happened to me while eating my Waffle House toast. The only difference was that I had had toast before.

What I realized is that at that moment, savoring my toast, I was more in the present moment than I had perhaps ever been to date. I was acutely aware of everything about my toast. It had captured my complete attention. I found Zen, the Now, in my toast. Every delicious bite is indelibly embedded in my memory forever.

I look forward to more moments like that – where everything is a wonder, no matter how familiar or ordinary it may be.

Today I had an interesting experience while listening to someone talk about someone negative in their lives. Many of us have such a person: they’re ever the victim, everything in their lives are horribly wrong or going wrong, or if it’s good it won’t last.

Even if something good happens, the good news gets overshadowed by doom and gloom. This particular person was complaining that although their cholesterol and blood pressure was down and they had lost a good twenty pounds or so that they couldn’t afford to buy any clothes that fit properly.

The point is that you can choose what you focus on in your experience. Remember that like energy attracts like energy, so if you focus on the negativity in your life you attract more of it into your life. Fortunately, the same holds true when you focus on the positive. And there’s always a positive. One must simply be open to seeing it.

Our minds also tend to associate actions and events with the emotions and thoughts we experience during or as a result of the event. So by associating becoming healthier with thoughts and feelings of negativity like scarcity and lack, what was a positive experience has been given a negative connotation in our subconscious because of the messages we’ve put out. Given enough of this unconscious programming, one will find it more difficult to become healthier because of the association we’ve unintentionally given it.

So the question is: what do you choose to focus on at every moment? What would you rather have more of in your game? Be aware of your thoughts and what thoughts you choose at every moment.

Love and Light,

Chris

This is a quote from Marianne Williamson. It’s one of my favorites, and is a great reminder of who we all are in truth, and that every one of us can choose the games we desire to play in our lives.

Our Deepest Fear
by Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure about you.
We are born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsiously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

When you think about it, that song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin has some very profound wisdom bottled in a goofy little tune. We should consider ourselves lucky to get this song stuck in our heads as I did earlier today.

These are the official lyrics to the song from Bobby’s website (www.bobbymcferrin.com)

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy”

Here’s a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t Worry - Be Happy
In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it Double
Don’t Worry - Be Happy
Ain’t got no place to lay your head,
somebody came and took your bed
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
The landlord say your rent is late,
he may have to litigate
Don’t Worry - Be Happy
Ain’t got not cash, ain’t got no style,
ain’t got no gal to make you smile
Don’t Worry - Be Happy
Cause when you worry your face will frown
and that will bring everybody down
Don’t Worry - Be Happy

Honestly, that’s something that, until a few short years ago, I never imagined I would ever say.

I used to be someone that took the game of Life entirely too seriously. To me, it wasn’t a game. Life was this thing you had to conquer and dominate, otherwise it would dominate you and keep you down. I didn’t smile much, and even to my friends I was a serious, moody brooding person with a bad temper.

The key here is realizing that at the core, we’re all here in this existence playing a huge game with each other. Just like playing cops and robbers, cowboys and indians, we’re all just playing with one another, be our roles knights, princesses, paupers or thieves. All of these roles and situations are just to make the game more interesting as a whole.

Unfortunately for us, most of us have gotten so caught up in the game that we forget that we’re just playing. Suddenly all the monsters and demons become real to us, and we buy into suffering and pain. Suddenly it’s not fun anymore, and we feel we must endure our experiences because the suffering and turmoil is all there is. In effect, we’re blaming the state of our game on the overall game and its rules.

What we have forgotten is that we created the games in the first place. We can always go back and change the game we play. We can choose to play a different game at every moment. We are free to set our rules for how we want to play. Only our belief that our situation is real and unchangeable limits us.

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned in my transition from that person I described earlier and where I am now - a state of joy and pure bliss that just keeps getting better every moment - is that by remembering that I’m just playing a game I can release the monsters and suffering I had put myself through in the past.

In doing so, I’ve released literally TONS of stress and negativity from my life, leaving me more open to receive the abundance that is the natural state of our lives. We need only be willing to allow ourselves to receive the gifts that Life wants to provide us. I’m able to play my game better. And I’m grateful to all the people around me playing with me and creating an interesting game for us all to play.

What’s the difference between moving towards the positive instead of away from the negative? Aren’t they the same thing?

No, they’re not.

When you move away from a negative influence, your focus remains on the negative. You’re still giving it energy because you’re still focused on it, even though your intent is to move away from it. What that ultimately means is that no matter what direction you move away from it (and it can be hard to tell what direction you’re going in if you’re not looking where you’re going) or how far away you move from it, that negative influence will remain because you continue to focus on it, using it as a measure of your progress.

On the other hand, when you move towards a positive influence, your focus is on the positive. All your energy is on that positive influence. You’ll move away from any negative influence by default - so you needn’t expend any energy towards the negative whatsoever. Plus, you’ll be moving in a clear direction towards your desired outcome instead of simply moving away from something you no longer desire. And the Universe loves clarity.

I found an interesting article today on MSNBC. Apparently the tsunami earlier this year has uncovered part of a previously buried ancient city in a coastal town in India. The area is visited by thousands of pilgrims and tourists each year. I expect with this discovery that there will be an even greater increase of interest in the area, increasing the long term prosperity of the region.

What’s interesting to me is that even in the face of what some would call a devastating catastrophe is that there is always good that comes from it, and opportunities for prosperity to shine through are always present if one is open to receive them.

Here are a few of my own recent miracles I thought I’d share with everybody:

Being able to work from home. Hooray for no commute and flannel pajamas as “business casual.”

Recognizing a scarcity moment and deciding to splurge on lunch.

Finding a couple of pennies while at said lunch. Isn’t it great that releasing a scarcity mindset can lead to receiving free money?

Acknowledging how quickly and effortlessly some of our projects have come together and being grateful for the opportunities that allowed us to move forward so effectively.

Catching up with some out of touch friends while working on various projects.

Sharing these miracles and finding myself in an even greater sense of love and joy as a result.

It’s important to recognize and celebrate the miracles you experience in your life.

What is a miracle, you ask?

A Miracle is a shift in perception. It’s that “Aha” moment when you lift your perception out of the turmoil surrounding you and recognize what’s great that’s happening in your life right at this moment.

It’s that moment when you recognize when you’re thinking out of Spirit (from ego) and acknowledge it, and bring yourself back into Spirit.

It’s recognizing a gift you receive from the Universe, which showers you with gifts at every moment. We need only be present enough to recognize them.

Miracles are not sized. Every miracle, from winning the lottery to finding a penny on the ground should be celebrated and bring you into love and gratitude. The love and gratitude you express as you celebrate each miracle in your life sends a clear signal to the Universe that says, “I absolutely LOVE this! Bring me MORE!” And the Universe does precisely that.

As you share your miracles with the people around you not only are you putting that signal out to the Universe, but you’re also spreading your love and gratitude to others, and raising their spirit and vibration as well. Remember the old adage “what you put out you get back in return.” Sharing your light with the world in turn makes your world a much brighter place for yourself as well.

So I invite everyone to brighten the world! Share your miracles with the world and let’s raise everyone’s spirits and vibrations high!

Love and Light,

Chris

I’m excited to announce that the site has officially gone live as of today! Woohoo!

What a great miracle it’s been that he project came together so effortlessly. Granted, it’s kept me busy al weekend tidying the place up a bit, but all told things have gone really well.

If you haven’t stopped by the site yet, here’s what we have in store:

• A limited time Grand Opening Offer - We’ve cut the cost of the teleclass and mentoring program in half until Wednesday, January 26th. Now’s a great time to sign up!
• A Resources page where we’ll post inspiring articles, books, sites and other odds and ends to inspire you to play your game.
• A forum for members to commiserate, and a special public Q&A forum about the program where anyone can get answers to questions about the program before joining. In fact, we’re building our FAQ there to be interactive.

So drop by the site and have a look. If you connect with us, feel free to get in touch with us and talk in more detail.

We’d also love you to help spread the word about us. If you know someone that might connect with us, please feel free to send them to our site.

To Your Prosperity,

Chris