Where Does Attention Come From?

Is attention different than life itself?

 This is an exercise where I need a timing mechanism to “block and focus” over a defined time and then return to paying attention and ponder where my attention goes.

 It’s a loop; I am my attention, seeking to know where my attention comes from, and to focus my attention on where it is going.

 What of these attention loops?

 I remember altered states in which I chose to maintain my ‘sanity clause’ by creating a routine, ‘go to the orange tree, pick an orange,  peel, eat, toss the peel, repeat.’ It was soothing, calming to the mind as I minded the edges and allowed some very strange experiences to pass. I was still my attention, uncertain where the attention came from but certain of the loop and its importance and certainty.

 This loop is often used to describe infinity, an unbounded space, time, or quantity.  Does that mean our attention is infinite?

  I love the concept of love being a cornucopia, a never-ending supply of acceptance and appreciation, which at its’ core is attention.

 Looping back to the Beatles “♪All we need is love….love is all there is…♫

 Attention comes from attention and leads to attention. It is inside us and outside us. It’s everywhere.

 My Attention brought me the questions ‘where is God not at?

Garius

I draw upon the olden days when I would have been Garius, Roman orator, leafing thru the latest by scribes for inspiration, or taking quill and ink in hand to scribe inspiration.

 "The only independent element in our selves is the attention of our mind-not our passing thoughts, but the force of attention that is obscurely linked to our thoughts….all great spiritual disciplines are rooted in the understanding of the attention factor in human life and seek to develop in man a stronger and more enduring quality of independent attention."*

  William James wrote that the power of attention is the only aspect of human nature for which we are truly responsible. All ethics and morality are founded on how we direct our attention.

 Many of the Hip generation took great knowledge from Baba Ram Dass's brown paper bag original Be Here Now. The Oprah-ites pay homage to Eckhart Tolle's, The Power of Now. The power embodied in Now was captured from Emperor of Rome, Marcus Aurelius, the wealthiest and most powerful man of the time when he wrote:

 "If thou wilt separate, … from thy ruling faculty, the things which are attached to it by impressions of sense, and the things time to come and time that is past…and if thou shalt  strive to live only what is really thy life, that is, the present-then thou wilt be able to pass that portion of life which remains for thee up to the time of thy death free from perturbations, nobly and obedient to the god that is with in." **

 As for sermonizing, I'll lengthen my attention, shorten the writing, and continue to be to explore Now, Attention and the meanings of Life.

 *Jacob Needleman, Money, and the Meaning of Life, pg 274

 ** The Thoughts of Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus book II #3 translation pg 291.

Managing Identities - The Teaser

A teaser is my least favorite non-violent identity. I do not like being teased!

 The definition of Tease comes from an old-world word used in shearing sheep. The root of the word tease is from an attempt to pull apart; derived from how the sheep wool tangles were separated to create fibers for cloth. To tease is a useful shearer worker verb. A skill involved in creating the thread for fabric to control the comfort, protection, and beauty of the thread. But tease has evolved into “To annoy or pester; to vex. To make fun of; mock playfully. To arouse hope, desire, or curiosity without affording satisfaction.”

 My father teased me. It was his way of giving me attention. It hurt me. I decided I would not tease others. I did not want others to experience that pain. Thanks, dad, for the lessons and learning to not be a teaser.

 Teasing can be good-natured jesting or poking fun at a too large an ego. Many families and friends play the teasing game with great intensity and clever turns of phrases. It is a form of attention. For some being teased is a form of caring, a show of love.

 Comics often use teasing as the shtick for humor in stand-up comedy. It is degradation as an art form, and self-abasement as a way of earning a living.

 For me teasing felt like a way my father was rejecting me. It felt stupid and wrong.

 Why would a father, any family member, or anyone in general reject anyone else?

 Is it because the other person is different?

 Did they tease out of fear, or anger, or because they didn’t know a better way?

 Is there a positive intent when being teased? Teasing can be painful, so is there a positive intent behind pain? 

 I felt a lot of pain from my gout and found a positive intent. Though I suffer the  pain,  I am not miserable.  The positive intent of gout was a further awareness of my body. A greater acceptance in learning to like what I/it dislikes. 

 I write to free myself and others who have been teased to release their fixed attention on the pain and to feel the fun and positive intention of teasing. To mock our over inflated egos playfully with good intent. To be gentle so that the teased feel the love.

 Show care when teasing a child. Let the child be with their miss takes. Support their challenges and sufferings without vexations.

 We are all doing the best we can with the information we have. We can use a helping hand, a gentle heart, and a kind word. Maybe save the teasing for your own selves. 

You University Attention

The college of who you are. 

 How can you get far if you don’t know who you are?

 If you do know who you are wasn’t school fun.? Weren’t there more friends at school, more like-minded beings, newer and exciting stuff?

 Mom and dad weren’t there.

 I loved “show and tell”. The kid with the insect collection, the stories of trip to Yellowstone, the girl who went to the ballet and the kid who got Willie Mays autograph.

 But school was mostly someone else’s agenda.

 They taught the three R’s, with two of them misspelled. Rithmetic, Riting?

 Maybe they meant Rites of Passage, and Rthymetic my new word for keeping the beat.

 Well now those of us who are Elders in Waiting; those who have attained Elderhood; and those youngsters who so patiently wait for the Wisdom of the Aged, it’s time to head back to school.   What do you want to learn?

 What would you like to change, alter, or enhance in your life?

 Is it business, fitness, health, nutrition, arts, home economics, psychology, or building your gratitude muscles?

 Is it about doing what you love?

 Is it time to start a revolution, and take over the campus?

 To develop Co-ed living quarters and pass, no pass grading.

 Time to be student, instructor, and the dean.

 Be a cheerleader, and the captain of the team. Be the B.M.O.C.!

 Have fun back in school and be sure and listen to some Chuck Berry♫.

Fear

Our greatest 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 doesn’t serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

You are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us; it’s not just in some of us. It’s in everyone!

And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we liberate from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Attributed to Marianne Williamson.

Yes, And

This is from lessons in Neuro Linguistic Practice (NLP) and exercises in Improv, a way of growing your attention, and recognizing the interconnectedness of all things from both Quantum Physics and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

         In Improvisation, while on stage, you are given a line, a topic, even a prop and it’s time to create. Saying “Yes, and” to what your partner or team says.
         Yes, I accept you and from your idea and I will build you and your idea to look and be better.

My goal is to make you and thus us look better, and entertain.”
         “Yes, and” can lead to great humor, new ideas, and a great sense of presence in the NOW. 

         “Yes, and” requires paying attention.

         In NLP “Yes, and” changes my world. It changes how I feel. “Yes and” allows me to own all of life, instead of the separation, stuckness of not belonging. 

         I am whole and a part of all things is one of the affirming mantras of new age consciousness lifting. 

         Here is an example of how “Yes and” can add attention, connection and peace to your life.

         Feel the difference between these two statements:
         We went on vacation but, it rained.
         We went on vacation and it rained.
         Which one felt better?
         Which one rained on your parade?

         Using “Yes, and” is communication that empowers and does not create a separation between you and your experience. It does not negate or separate you from your experience with a butt.

         Butts are best made for sitting, and observing.

         Change those separating butts into and's and feel the difference.
 

 ~~~

 How to Own the Stage - Keys to empowering your message available.

Willingness

 How to use the lesson in Yes, And?

One of my favorite and most influential teacher said, “With little or no doubt I say yes.”

 I not only say yes, I say “Yes, and”,
I act it out with willingness.
  Willingness, moving toward desires, and wants. Moving toward being, having, acknowledging, and appreciating.

 Willingness is a pathway to enthusiasm, excitement. It makes life a party, as in to participate.

 To play is a willful act.
 Will is a powerful name, William, Will I Am, may say it all. All I am is my will.

I use my Will to choose, it’s the vehicle from which I decide.
 Willingness moves from a verb, a doing, to a noun, a way of being.
 It was an epiphany when I realized that Willingness is the opposite of resistance.
 Does Willingness build Will power?

 Does choosing to ‘show up’ build Will power?

 “Yes, and” showing up in life is a major act of Willingness. It requires putting away being right, ones’ fears, and not being attached or identified with outcome. Willingness is risking, choosing to have fun, to be creator of your own world, to be responsible, accountable, even Setting A Good Example by the grace with which Willingness manifests.

 Where did I get my Willingness?

 My favorite teachers were always willing to go along with my enthusiasm, and bringing excitement to the learning game. The best of them play “Yes, and.”
 My coaches loved my Willingness to try ‘it’ another way.

They supported me with “Yes, and” your
way works, and try this.

 My spiritual teachers were all major
players in resisting not evil. 

They said to fully experience and be here and now, putting Willingness forward.

You didn’t have to believe what they said, just be willing to listen, and maybe see if it works for you.

 Where would we be without will?

 Perhaps humanity would be downgraded into indoctrinated servants of the most willful one, relegated like the ants in the wizardly tales of Merlin, aspirations and possibilities lost as robot like beings. 

 Does will ever join forces with evil?
 Can it ever join with vengeance or revenge
to “get them, get even?”
 Does will ever become habitual and lose its
purity or intensity?

 Is the human spirit best judged by our Willingness to be the other virtues, Compassion,

Grace, Patience, Trust, Honesty, and Forgiveness?  
 Willing is not who I am, it is how I chose to be. 

~~~

 How to Own the Stage - Keys to empowering your message available.

Get your copy NOW available as an e-book at www.Iownthestage.com

Do you believe everything your mind says?

Dear Friends of The Church of Attention  in all of life there are seasons of change-Transformation.  As we change so to do our institution need to change.  The Church of Attention is now The Society of the Mirrors

Reflections

The mirror, re-creator of images, self-induced for those who wish to see themselves, their actions, reactions, poses, pauses, passes, repasts, the unencumbered actions, tagless, without labels or adverbs, or adjectives, or limits, definitions, or any fence concreting the spontaneity of creation.

The mirror reflects, and possibly frames, who you are.

The Society wishes you to focus past limiting thoughts into the new ever-evolving Free You.

Do you believe everything your mind says? 

That old reticular activating system that protected us from Saber Tooth Tigers’ fear, is still at work. The NLP folks are calling that ‘brain’ the ‘critter brain.’ It still is at work giving fight or flight messages.

Perhaps a little subtler than millenniums ago, but our brains have Velcro for negativity & Teflon for the positive. An axiom in the beauty business is,  do a great job & 5 people notice & give a compliment. Give a bad haircut & they tell 250 people. It’s that critter brain in action.

Negativity, ‘stinkin-thinkin’ makes a bigger longer lasting impression than our positive affirmation of value, esteem, and certainty, & seems to run off at the mouth as chronic complainers, worriers, glasses that are half empty, & spreaders of the gossip from radio station K-LACK broadcasters of bad news.

Sez Who?

It’s not just psycho-babble but brain researchers are finding that’s how we are wired, but isn’t it time to rewire the critter brain. Turn off or turn down the volume,  Change channels”, as Yanet Gonzalez says.

Easier said than done?

Good question. Yes the question is the answer. It’s about Questions for Success.*

Who says my thoughts are anything other than mine & them being true are subject to question.

Sez Who?

What’s another way to look at this? How else can I think about this? It is not necessary to question every thought, only the ones we begin to believe. It’s back to the question of “What do I want to Believe?” What do I want to believe about me, the world, my thoughts, & my life?

You can & do control your thoughts & beliefs by the questions you ask yourself. These are not always beliefs about right & wrong, or good & bad, but everyday beliefs we believe are so real they control our life.

They’re held in place by the watch dogs of stinkin-thinkin, ALWAYS, NEVER, HAVE TOO, MUST, CAN’T, and chief of ego security BLAME.

The cursed identity that finds it’s your fault. Us New Ager’s can become very subtle in how we have transformed our blamer into It’s in the food’, retrograde mercury, generic genetic issues, high/low blood sugar, obstructed Qi, a bad hair day, or  WHATEVER.

Ask & ye shall receive.

*For more info about "Questions for Success,"

Inspiration 101

Have you ever wanted to be an inspiration? Not just a MUSE, but an agent of CHANGE? 

To offer new areas of insight with a dynamic ability to move people, strangers, friends, family, colleagues to action? To engage them to step out of their comfort zone, or discomfort zone & let them know what they thought was impossible is possible?   

What they thought was impossible is possible? 

I used to believe I was too shy to assert myself. I was too scared to speak from my heart. At some point I became grateful for all the wonders that have occurred in my life, & maybe my being grateful & appreciating what I have, to love myself without conditions or an aura of conceit, that I was moved by a strong desire to inspire others.  To create & keep ‘IT’ alive. 

I can see how each & every one of us can change. 

How we are not trapped, but free to change our lives, our world, & serve those around us. How we can step away from habits, fears, & doubts & go for what we want. I am here to say, again & again Yes we can, Yes we can Yes we can! 
Others have lead the way & what others have done we too can do.

“Be the change you want to see!”
Gandhi did. Martin Luther King did, Oprah does everyday.
Nike says, “Just do it.”

I say, just decide. Yes just decide; really decide because change happens in two seconds. 
Then work & join forces to keep it alive. Keep your supporters change alive, & take the rest of your lifetime to keep that change, your inspiration alive.

Start by stopping your world. Stopping the inner chatter, the ‘stinkin thinkin’ that makes fears-FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL alive. Stop the world that lets doubt sink our ship before it ever gets a chance to set sail or land. 

Decide I am an inspiration. Choose how & where & who you will inspire.

Walk the walk! Gather your support. Become other’s supporters. Learn to put your attention on others & stop allowing yourself to indulge in any negativity.
Ask your self, AM I MOVING TOWARD MY GOALS or AM I MOVING AWAY FROM MY FEAR?

Its time to begin moving toward what you want. 

Time for a new motivation because, like THE LITTLE TRAIN THAT COULD says Yes I can, Yes I can, Yes I can!

My values are my business

I believe that writing these essays is a long affirmation, a way of creating a world with values, imagination, & free attention. At times:

• It is a questioning process-Who R U?

• It’s another way of looking at life.

• It’s a way to remember to remember to remember.

With this essay I wish to create our values as our business.

There are at least three ways to hear & feel my title statement depending on your intent, your vocal emphasis, & your point of view (POV).

My VALUES are MY business! 

This ego driven version states what I values are my business & none of yours.

Stay out of my business.  I’m not sharing values. The attitude & attention is fixed!

My values are my business? 

This is the questioning approach. Are my values reflected in my business? It’s a time to take an inventory of my values & my business.

Am I playing win/win? My attention is free & my attitude is in ‘that’s interesting’ mode.

My Values are my BUSINESS. 

What I value is what & how I run my business & my life. I am willing to share my values to enrich the world. My values sustain & enrich my life & all those I contact. I like this one.

Three values that reflect my life & business are:

• HONESTY

• FLEXIBILITY in communication, that right & wrong are on a continuum and the more flexible our communication the more we understand each other.

  There is no right or wrong, just feedback, and increased listening skills.

• Because I present with the Law of Three, I value CHOICE.

  Yes, no or maybe.  I value the world as not black or white, but often something different.

  The value is in knowing there is always a choice. Sometimes choices may not be hard facts, nouns, but verbs of attitude.

I believe I am creating a world of values, one essay, one sentence, one word at a time.

Noun or Verb, It’s Your Choice

One of the tenets of Church of Attention is that attention is a verb, not a noun. Attention is an action, not a fixed object-person place or thing.

Attention is flexible, fluid; it teams well with other verbs & disappears when thought of as a noun.

Attention can be interesting & curious. Maybe anything that isn’t interesting has no attention to it.

Attention can be inspiring, informative & motivational.  Maybe that which is not inspiring has no attention to it.

Attention can be caring & healing. Maybe what is not caring or healing is missing attention.

Attention can be the carrier of change.  What does not change, what is fixed, has attention stuck, glued and limited.

Attention is also on a gradient, a continuum from mindless, mechanical sleep walking, merely breathing attention, a form of habits that stretches to a conscious, creative, awareness of designed & deliberate action aimed with intent toward purpose, goal or desired outcome.

Then there are the big QUESTIONS.

• How can I get to the conscious, aware end of the spectrum?

• How can I stay there?

• What are the ten tricks to staying present?

• Do you know the five secrets to waking up?

• Have you found the three methods of keeping love alive?

• Do you know the two types of people in the world or do you know better?

• What is the one word of wisdom to pass on to your next of kin?

• What is the one word you want to eliminate from your private speaking?

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One thing I know is that they are not nouns.  It’s fun to ask, "How do you do it?"

How about going fishing today?

When I fish I spend a lot of time being patient. 

Patience I once was told by a very wise grandmotherly lady is the only virtue. She was right, being patient people make up the nicest things about you while you’re doing nothing. They think you’re wise as you contemplate still waters, a rapid river or a tumbling cascade.

Henry David Thoreau wrote “Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.”

Have you ever gone fishing for memorable memories? 

Bring your best bait, cast your line and wait for your mind to still, your wits to sharpen and the universe to reveal magical moments, hidden treasures, and answers to the questions you truly fish for.

Once sitting on a sandy river with stick in hand, string tied on with a carrot for bait, a fish the size of my 5 year old finger, gave a tug and I can still feel the excitement and still feel the trust that this moment life is all there is. I once made the time to do what all men used to want to do, fish.

TO bring home the big one.

To feed the masses, and sing a tune ♫♫ I ‘m a gonna fishin, yep I’m going fishing and my baby going fishing too♫♫

Teach Your Inner Children Well

Not your biological off-springs, but the pre-school nursery kids that exist within us.

The inner child, the innocent one who risks, dares, challenges, gets wild, whips & whoops it up, the sweet, tender, precious, instinctively curious toddler within.

That child may stay hidden, coming out only on rare occasions with a flush of embarrassment, on a whim, or from a memory.

What if the inner children could evolve, grow and learn, while saving their innocence, curiosity and courage?

Would that inner child be lost?

Time works by freezing us, and allowing us to grow. I am 66, and 6, and 10, and 14 and 20, an identity that a song, a friend, chocolate pudding reacts and recalls those frozen moments in time.

Those stimuli bring back identities.

“Interesting concept Mr Writer, but how does it work? What are the lessons?”

How do you teach anyone anything? 

Though our current educational system has its flaws at its core is the Socratic method of inquiry. We can educate the child within, increase our adult curiosity and interests with a series of questions.

Such questions as:

• What do you want? What would you like to know?

• What would it be useful to know?

• How will you know when you have it?

• How does that work?

• What’s another way of looking at that?

• And an occasional, Why?

The inquiry gradually distills (the gradient approach), or instills a flash of insight that leads to change and/or the next question. The process encourages curiosity, an open mind and life long learning.

 It is the basic scientific method.

"I know you won't believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and others," said Socrates.

The intent is to teach our inner children well. 

“What’s that,” were my son’s first words. I filled in the blank with what it was. He asked a lot of questions. Still does.

For me it wasn’t till my Nana gave me clues as to who to listen too. She had patience, told stories that made points and encouraged me to remember.

The points were:

• “Yes you can.”

• Do this little thing now and that belief transfers to bigger things.

• Decide you can do it.

• And when you do it and get it, practice.

I think children’s games were developed to teach this skill. “Tag, you’re it.”

3 Questions to Ask Yourself to Handle Resistance

One of the tools to handle the natural resistances we face, a prime cause of Seriousitis™, are the questions we ask ourselves, for example:

• What do I want?

• What’s another way to look at this?

• What am I learning?

The concept of questioning can be a deep probing tool, asking until there is no questions left to ask. Having the courage to see what is under that, And that, And that.

With this type of questions, going deeper, probing, I find a new to me word ‘probity’-a noun described as “integrity, uprightness and honesty”.  It is what you will find when you go for the core with courage and intent to align your beliefs.

The courage to go beyond the dreaded, “I don’t know.” We do know, and following the questions, the paths of what we know, and going past the fear of the unknown, beyond the fear of nothing (i.e. nothing to fear) our beliefs are aligned.

“Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn't make sense anymore.” -Rumi

The Disassociation Doctrine:

States that you are not your words, your thoughts, & you are responsible for your actions & can separate yourself from any & all identities & be a neutral observer to your actions & events.

A Doctrine of Freedom! Here is an exercise to practice: staying neutral. All my clients, & most of my friends are entrepreneurs, as I am, one of our biggest challenges is self-judgments.

The boss lives inside of us & can be more critical than necessary. Is criticism necessary? Isn’t it all just feedback? This exercise is in the “stick & stones may break my bones but words can never harm me” mode. It is designed to stretch your self & intended to be fun & fall into useful versus useless suffering mode.

I ‘m stupid & wrong! Stand in front of a mirror, full length if possible, & call yourself ‘stupid & wrong’ until you can say it without any emotions arising. Get good at calling yourself out. Exxxxxxaggggggerrrrrr8.

Taking an exercise to an extreme provides the best opportunity to learn. When you have the ‘I am stupid & wrong’ flattened, switch to the blamer role with “You are stupid & wrong.’

Have fun with the blame game, point & wag that finger, notice when you are pointing the finger at another, three are pointing back at you. Then divide your attention becoming the camera person & zoom in & zoom out on the lead actor, you.

Just watch, the intent is to be neutral to disassociate & allow you freedom from reaction. You are more than the role; you are the director, the star & audience.

With ‘neutrality’ as a tool it becomes possible to create Correction without invalidation. This is a corollary of stupid & wrong, perhaps an antidote. This requires more thought.

Again stand in front of a mirror & find fault with your image. “You’re too ____, again exxxxxaggggerate8 & offer correction without invalidating the person in the mirror. Phrases aimed at yourself, such as, ‘You may,’ ‘Could you,’ ‘Notice that’, all neutral, judgment free, attention that points to making personal changes without pain.

“Gary, you may want to do some more editing before sending out this Church of Attention.” Or, “Could you find another way of saying that?” Or, “Notice your favorite jeans are shrinking again this holiday season.” Pain is such a catalyst for change, but not always necessary.

When I have the clarity & freedom from moments of embarrassment, discomfort even trauma & recall one of those times I wish would have gone differently & replay how it was I’, OK. Notice it happened, you survived, maybe even some humor occurs as you disassociate from that pain.

What you can do in your imagination, you can make real. You are more than your actions, more than your feelings; you can just watch & appreciate whatever happens. It’s called life.

Listless

Aside(*) I am a curious wordsmith and love words with multiple and insightful meaning. Listlessness-an archaic word now replaced by the ever present nonsensical ‘whatever,’ with the Valley Girl accent. It is a buffer or shield that keeps joy out of the present, Yes

AND the word says more-it says a lack of a list.

Translated as not knowing what one wants AND not knowing what to believe AND not taking the action, AND not showing the courage to create life as you want. The solution (soul-it-on) to make a list. To take the next step list the HOW’s. “I want to finish my next book.’ HOW-writing on it daily. Editing what I have written. Read the writing aloud, AND with Aside-courage read it to an audience. (One is an audience).

A psychology professor at the University of Miami knew his students expected a terrifyingly long final exam. To play with their minds a little (what do you expect from a psychology professor?) he only put ONE question on the final exam.

He watched the reactions of the students as they all opened the exams and saw the one question. Initially they all looked relieved, but as the difficulty of the question began to sink in, those relieved faces sagged to confusion and consternation. All, that is, except for one student. He read the question, tapped his pencil into his palm a few times, then jotted something down on the test paper. He walked up to the professor, handed him the final, and walked out.

The professor blinked in surprise, looked at what the student wrote, and smiled. The professor wrote "100%" on the top of that student's test.

The question: What is courage?

The student's answer: This is.

“So long as we can laugh we are not completely under the domination of fear…to be able to laugh in time of danger is a sign of courage…deepening our feeling of self-worth and dignity.”

(*) Aside-To understand how to use the ASIDE when speaking Please see page 11 of How to Own the Stage.. Autographed copies are available-

"Grandpa Gary, I just want to be a regular person."

This from the wisdom of Trent, when he was five years old. He is very into Thomas the Train, Vader from the movie CARS, and Speed Racer. He loves to hide, play tag, get chased,  chase, and sanitation. He is a hand washer and toilet seat cover expert. He is cute, & playful with artist talent and moods just like your children, grandkids and all children. He is a player and a gift to the universe. 
             
 Recently Trent was asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Expectations were train engineer, race car driver, or artist, he replied “I just want to be a regular person.” 
    
Wow, what a surprising & curious answer. It felt like when one notices the first falling leaf of fall, or the first snow flake. It was cool; I wish I had said that.
    
 Grandpa Gary pondered this and began asking  questions.
    
    What does he mean? 
    What is a regular person?
    How has his experience of life lead him to this moment?
    Can he keep this simplicity?

        'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
        'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
        And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
        'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
        When true simplicity is gain'd,
        To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
        To turn, turn will be our delight,
        Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Will Trent stays this simple? Will life be this easy for him?  I don’t know, but I hope so.  I hope Trent, and our other grandkids Zoe and Gage and your children, all children can feel, love & enjoy a happy world. There will be suffering, but misery is optional. 

There is so much unknown in the mind of a five year old and this soon to be 63 year old.

I know I want, have desires, needs, goals, excuses, and much more.

I know children head down the garden path and will fall in the mud, smell and step on the roses, get lost, get found, cry & laugh & have little pockets of silence and converse with the divine.

I hope the simplicity and magic happens and we share it with each other. 

Making the Week Strong

This Church of Attention is dedicated to other entrepreneurs who create their own schedules.

Plus, those whose life has freedom, purpose & are attempting mastery. That’s all of us.

To those exiled by corporations, those who retired to pleasure & fame, those caretakers & givers, those with the freedom to ad lib & those who wish they knew what to do next, here is some feedback from Organization 102 at the University of Gary.

At age six, I was sent as emissary of the Smith family to the local Baptist Church. No one else in the family ever went, but my Sunday morning was structured.

I attended regularly even received a 2 year attendance pin. It was an experience I couldn’t wait to get over. I now realize I have an identity that regrets those times when I couldn’t wait to get it over. {Aha, a new entry in Managing Identities class-‘The Regretter.’ A ‘Regretter gone chronic I call ‘The Invalidator.” }

My Sunday night had a hole in it. Filled first with TV, Lassie, then Maverick and bedtime, I was missing something.

Missing a purpose to move toward, something more than the next week of my life. This feeling of emptiness followed me for years. It was somewhere between ‘Do not go gently into the night’ & ‘A long lost tea time of the soul.’

It was a revelation from my 2010 U of G class on Organization 102, my final essay, “How to Build A Monday (BAM) that Sunday night got a purpose.

This is what those Sunday nights ‘something else was all about. It was “The time of Preparation.’

The Sacred time of Initiation of my week. Time to ask what do I want? What can I have? Who will I see? Any incompletes, areas of consideration, new or refined goals, tools & skills needed. It is how to make my week strong & have a strong purposeful week.

Build a Monday (BAM) over a 6 month period evolved a new organizational tool Triday, a rolling together of Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday.

There was a pattern that repeated & more than a day was needed for completions. It was not a tryday, with a why or an effort that gets no where, (Just try and do something) but three days in one lump with three very useful naps. Three meetings, 2 classes, and one purpose, handle the BAM.

Today gives me a Friday that’s free to file & read what I write so I can find out what I am thinking, doing, & wanting.

Organization 102 has cleaned the desk & is starting to look like TGIF, Today Golf Is Fun.

As for Saturday, it’s class day. Be in class, share class, be classy, & for best results sit in the front row.

Conscience

One of the goals of the workshops is to find what you WANT and begin MOVING TOWARD that goal. The process is a wake-up, an opening up, it’s UP to you to do it; with the help of your team.

We use the Mark Twain quote: "I have met the enemy and it is me. However I underestimated the numbers"-Mark Twain. The alignment is assisting the enemy in becoming your teammates. For some the captain of the team is their Conscience.

In making the motivational switch from moving away from what you don’t want to be moving toward what you do want Conscience plays a big role.

Contrary to the mainstream beliefs where Conscience is conceived as the negative voice speaking the “thou-shalt-not- the constrictor of action, Conscience, ‘the still small voice’is the capacity to tap into our deep levels of insights, purpose and values that do not oppose us. Conscience is a guide, ‘beyond good and evil”, to an enlarged experience of yes And.

As Jiminy Cricket said, ”Let your Conscience be your guide.”

Or Will Homer decide?

Conscience gets bad press-“A clear conscience is a sign of a bad memory.”

“A conscience is the part when all the other parts feel good.”

“Why does a man have a clear conscience? Because it is unused.”

“Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking.”

“Health food may be good for the conscience but Oreos

taste a hell of a lot better.”

Yes, and Conscience is said to be the taproot to courage. If you knew you were doing the RIGHT thing would you hold back?

If your Conscience said to do it, wouldn't you?

Is your Conscience telling what to do or not to do?

Bob Trilia recently said that Transformational goals workshop is about finding your voice. That voice is Conscience.

Church of Attention: What Do You Want?

Pain is a catalyst for change, but it is not always necessary. When you have the clarity and freedom from moments of embarrassment, discomfort even trauma and recall one of those times you wish would have gone differently and replay, notice it happened, you survived, maybe even some humor occurs as you disassociate from that pain. What you can do in your imagination, you can make real.

You are more than your actions, more than your feelings; you can just watch and appreciate whatever happens.

It’s called life.

The question is what do you want?

EXERCISE-Write down three things you want.

• AREAS OF CONSIDERATION:

• Mental

• Physical

• Spiritual

• Professional

• Emotional

• Personal

Declare to the world what you want! Share on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/seriousitis