Batten down the hatches!

This is proving to be a very active start to the winter - a huge storm heading for the East Coast, a quake off British Columbia, and that's just this weekend. I hope everyone is safe and have been able to find basic provisions. We're reading that water cannot be found in some areas, and store shelves are empty in some places as well.

We finished our bug-out bags for our daughters this weekend, and the man at REI stated that half of his customers for backpacks are for bug-out bags (backpacks packed to survive for 72-hours.) As mentioned in Synchosecrets - the collective consciousness is preparing for something. We all have different issues where we live - for us it is earthquakes and wildfires. For our daughters it is flooding, ice storms, and active volcanoes.

We are all vulnerable to mother nature in one way or the other, so batten down the hatches and stay safe wherever you are!

Haunting

Have you ever watched something on television, or in a movie, read something in a book, or newspaper, that continues to haunt you for days afterward? I have had that experience just recently. I was watching a segment of Nightline regarding the explosion of shootings by gangs in Chicago. This segment went on for two nights and ended with the gangs getting together to try to stem the bloodshed of not only gang members but innocent children, grandmothers, people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The numbers are astounding. Literally, 419 people just this year - more than all the soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined!

But what haunts me is the excerpt from a young man who pleads for America to help him and others like him to have a chance at life. A chance to grow up and have a job, home, children. He doesn't want to be in a gang, he simply feels he has no alternative. It is either be preyed upon or be the prey. As we go into the voting booths in the next few weeks, we need to think about the America we want to pass on to our children. We're at a crossroads. Our choices are going to determine whether we turn our backs on these young people, or we stand together and insist that things change. It's time to make our representatives responsible for We The People, and not multi-national conglomerates that want to up their profits by controlling our Congress and sending our jobs overseas. If we don't start investing in the people of this country, instead of the Military Industrial Complex, Chicago is coming to a town near you.

Please watch this 1.5 minute segment and look at this young man's face. It's haunting, and also, strangely... sweet. He's just a kid. Somebody's little boy. He deserves a chance to live.

No, he deserves a chance to thrive.

Is This Better?

It was suggested by one reader that the black background was hard on the eyes, so I am trying a new color. I have older eyes and anything that makes it easier to read is appreciated. Thanks for the suggestion.

Happiness

Happiness is something that all people strive for. If you ask the average person on the street what is most important to them they will tell you; to be happy. So what constitutes happiness? Is it where we live, what we wear, what we drive?

In doing research for my book, I came across the film 'Happy,' directed by Tom Shadyac - of 'I AM' fame. The film discusses how to be happy, and exactly what goes on in our brain when we are successful.

First and foremost, happiness does not come from more money. After basic needs are met, such as food, shelter, clothing, etc., more of these things do not actually make for more happiness. In fact, at some point the Hedonic Treadmill kicks in and we become used to what we have and then want more. Despite being twice as wealthy as we were 50 years ago, Americans are not any happier.

Researchers have found that people are 50% programmed by genetics. In other words, regardless of outside circumstances we go back to a genetic set range regardless of the good or bad going on in our lives. 10% comes from our current circumstances - job, social status, health, money. The other 40% appears to be intended behavior. We tend to overestimate the good and bad in future events, and how that will affect our overall happiness. In fact, people tend to do well when things are really bad. A key ingredient is how quickly one recovers from adversity.

So what works in the realm of intended behavior? How can we help ourselves be more happy? There are several things that we can do that actually releases dopamine in our brains - a necessary neurotransmitter for happiness. And what's more, it has been found that the brain is somewhat like a muscle - use it or lose it. The more we do to be happy when we are young, the healthier we tend to be as we age.

• Variety is the spice of life. Change that route you are running or walking. The brain likes change.
• Physical activity
• Getting into the zone. I see this as being mindful of whatever you are doing. Get into it!
• Cultivate close and supportive friends and family. Social bonding is how we inhibit our own self interest.
• Cooperate. We are programmed for cooperation and it releases dopamine.
• Count your blessings. Be appreciative of what you have.
• Meditation for kindness and compassion. These meditations have shown to actually light up cortical areas in as little as two weeks time.
• Play
• Do things that are meaningful.
• Do acts of kindness. This works best!

Gratitude, compassion, love, caring, are all spiritual emotions that help you focus on something bigger than yourself. Spending just a tiny amount of time each day focusing on these principals would make the world a better place and would change our brains for the better. Happiness is a SKILL. And while the formula is not the same for everyone, moving towards a more authentic you is a step in the right direction.

A Heavenly Dimension

This doctor's experience with a heavenly realm while in a coma for seven days is remarkable in many ways. Not only was he was under intense medical supervision the entire time he traveled outside his body, he is also a neurosurgeon who didn't believe in the afterlife. One of those physicians that believed all those stories were just a malfunction of the cortex. In his case, not only was his cortex malfunctioning - it was completely off. Not functioning at all!

We live in interesting times.

444

I woke up and looked at the clock - 4:44 a.m. "You will only be allowed to take what you need, not all that you want." That sentence repeating over and over. I thought of the stream of water running behind my home - only taking out a bucket or a cupful - as the water continues on down its path to the lake. I only take what I need and allow the rest to find its way to others downstream.

I rarely remember my dreams, but this morning when I woke up and noticed the time I remembered what I was dreaming about. It had to do with my book, which talks about changing paradigms and what will emerge in the near future. Only being able to take what you need, and not all that you want, may be a part of what is emerging. Our planet is reeling from the notion that one should be able to have all that they could possibly want just because they can pay for it. Maybe what is emerging is the concept that taking more than you need is offensive and detrimental to others. Maybe what is emerging is being happy with enough, so that others can have some too.

Information can emerge from mysterious sources. You just have to open yourself to it.

From Doreen Virtue's Number Sequences From the Angels:

444 - The angels are surrounding you now, reassuring you of their love and help. Don't worry because the angels' help is nearby.