Consider your Input

Posted on January 30, 2013 by kgoodman

These words came back to me this morning as I was considering my mental state.

When I was a child and sang this song, it always put a picture of a God much like Santa Claus in my mind. An overlord determined to catch every misstep and every mistake and write it down in a book for use in the future. Then, when the time of reckoning was upon you, Christmas or the Apocalypse, you would be called to account for your actions, or punished with fewer toys.

However, as these words came to me now, they are accompanied with higher wisdom.

“Consider your input.”

The benefits of the considering your mental diet is very important. With your food diet, if you put in healthy whole foods that haven’t been overly processed, covered with pesticides, genetically modified and denuded of nutrients, you benefit with improved health.

The more processed, contaminated, devoid of nutrients, a food is, the less good it will do for you and potentially even generate harm.

This is equally true with your information diet. By the time a story reaches us, through the news, it has been processed, spun, mangled, rewritten and usually has lost all truth and value. Stories can be spun to mesh with the goals of the storytellers or edited for short attention spans and sensationalism. Regardless of the reasons behind the alteration the results are identical, you’re consuming something that really isn’t good for you and may even be bad for you. We are being fed junk food information.

Consider your input.

I’ve been a little disheartened recently about the state of the world. There is a lot of negatives going on. Wars and posturing for wars.

People fighting over who gets the rights to destroy the planet, by ripping out the natural resources and selling them to the highest bidder.

Conflict over religions ideology.

People terrorized in their homes and schools and persecuted for their beliefs.

But I also see glimpses of hope.

More and more people are finding their own path to spirituality.

The sun keeps rising each morning (sometimes hidden in clouds, but it’s there).

People keep making a choice each day to help one another and make this world a better place, one person at a time.

The world is an amazing and beautiful place full of wonders and marvels.

Remember next time you’re fed, mass media wonder bread, that it’s not real food.

I don’t often quote the bible. But I do think, like all holy books, there are powerful nuggets of wisdom in there. This is one:

“…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things” – Philippians 4:8

Consider your input. Be aware when it’s junk food. Focus on the good things to guide your path.

Namaste,

Kevin

Gratitude For All Things

Posted on January 23, 2013 by kgoodman

I was sick last week. In bed and unable to function for a few days beyond taking my vitamins and trying to drink fluids.

I have an 8 month pregnant wife, and a 3 year old. The 3 year old was also sick and through a blessing beyond measure my wife never got sick.

Needless to say, we were NOT abundant last week in time or energy. My pregnant wife could barely keep up with caring for us and I could barely keep up with blowing my nose and nursing my fever.

We were abundant in community.

So this makes my gratitude and appreciation for the outpouring of help from our friends and communities all the more powerful.

There are times when I feel isolated and alone. There are times when I feel out of touch and out of communication. Last week was not one of those times.

Through a few facebook posts my wife was able to ask for assistance and the offers and prayers came pouring in.

Today, one week later, my body is still on the mend, but my spirit is soaring. Thank you everyone that helped and thought of us last week. You give me courage.

As an individual reading this, know that in your own community you are priceless. Sometimes you are in need, and sometimes you are the caregiver. Embrace both rolls. For everything there is a season.

Namaste,

Kevin

Comparative Reality

Posted on January 16, 2013 by kgoodman

We live in a world obsessed with comparison. We are constantly contrasting every item that comes into focus, trying to determine if it is better or worse than the alternative.

Comparison shopping

Comparison of ideas

Employee evaluations

Rate your experience on a scale of 1-10

We learn comparison at a very early age and then start to apply it to everything around us. It can be very beneficial to compare things. However, comparison goes down a dark path when we start to apply it to ourselves and people around us.

There will be times when you start to compare yourself to those around you.

“I’m taller than him.”

“I’m not as smart as that girl.”

“He’s better looking than me.”

The voice of comparison is strong and constant. It is a fundamental construct of our thinking process. It operates in the background on everything we look at.

There are times when you start comparing yourself to yourself.

“I used to be a faster runner.”

“I think I’ve lost weight”

“I can’t believe I used to believe that!”

There is a time and a place for review and reflection, but it is ALWAYS the right time for acceptance.

A vital skill in this world is acceptance.

Accept yourself as you are.

Accept others as they are.

Unconditionally embrace what is.

Don’t worry about what isn’t.

Release your obsession with judgment of yourself. Express the grace that you need and are worthy of. You are exactly the way you are supposed to be. Break out of contrast and stepping into acceptance.

Namaste,

Kevin

Insider Mindset – Own Your World

Posted on January 9, 2013 by kgoodman

Ownership, of an activity, gives an interesting shift to experience. Ownership is powerful. If you feel ownership you care about the outcome. You don’t suffer the apathy of a spectator, you become a participant.

One of the keys to ownership is feeling like an insider.

Have you ever noticed in a good movie or book, that you care about the characters? Not just care, but actually identify with the characters and find a way that the story could be about you. Good storytelling takes time to introduce the characters and make them relatable.

I was watching the remake of Ocean’s Eleven, the other day. About 30 minutes into the movie a team of eleven people is assembled for a party to begin their scheme. I realized as the camera panned around the room, showing all the participants in the scheme, that I knew them all. They had taken the time to introduce each of the characters and I felt like I knew them, I was even comfortable in this group. It is a group of thieves, normally I am a little uncomfortable when surrounded by thieves, but the film had done a fantastic job of introducing each of the characters to me and making me care about what happened to them. I was invested. Regardless of the merit of their activity, I was an insider now, and I wanted them to succeed.

This is something a good manager does. Building up a good story and explaining it clearly to the team. When someone new joins a company or a team, it is important that they understand the motivation of the organization and the players involved. They need to be connected and emotionally invested.

Take a moment and look at your life.

Think about the activities that you own.

Where do you feel like an insider?

Where do you feel like an outsider?

Observe the differences between these two feelings and the results? Do you participate in more insider activities? Or outsider activities? Why?

In many ways being an insider is a choice. If you don’t feel like an insider you can point the finger of blame at the world. Often being an outside is a result of your own choice or perception of not fitting in.

Insiders are the game changers. They are the game makers. They are the backstage pass holders. They take the stage, while everyone else watches from the sidelines.

Shift your mindset. Remember, you hold the key. Find a way to become an insider. Own your world and begin to shape it.

You are the ultimate insider, nobody else is you!

I would love to hear back on your epiphanies of ownership.

Namaste,

Kevin

Crafting Illusion Into Truth

Posted on January 2, 2013 by kgoodman

School Shootings.

Corporate Greed.

Genetically Modified Foods, Untested and Unleashed on our food supply.

Religions that teach outsiders are wrong or even evil.

Governments that can’t manage their pocketbooks.

It’s not uncommon for me to be frustrated. I am frequently lost in thoughts of how the world should be and the contrast of how the world actually is causes me tension. This cognitive dissonance creates angst and fatigue as I try to comprehend the space between what is, and what should be.

I believe, that as a culture/society/world, we can rise together to become more and better than we presently are.

I believe that we can craft around us a world that we are truly proud to live in.

I believe we have a lot of work ahead of us.

I have a favorite quote from Babylon 5 (a sci-fi TV show from the 1990’s). A character was delusional, believing he was King Arthur. The delusion was causing this person to live a life of meaning and he was making a difference. The doctor on the show wanted to “heal” him, to bring him back to “reality”. Marcus Cole defended the delusional man’s position saying “Better the illusions that exalt us than 10,000 truths”. “Babylon 5: A Late Delivery from Avalon (#3.13)” (1996)

This has always stuck with me. The world is a challenging place. And the truth of the world, that media would push on us, is that we are a violent and out of control people without moral guidance. But I don’t believe that is the whole truth. It is a half truth that only tells the negative parts of the story.

I choose to focus on the illusions that uplift me and allow for a world that can be better. I choose to believe that we can all be a part of the world we want to live in, and make that world the truth.

I invite you, as 2013 begins, to find the illusions that make our world a better place. Focus in on those illusions until they become our truth.

Namaste,

Kevin

Chakra Community

Reminding you why you came to this life

Monthly Archives: January 2013

Consider your Input

Gratitude For All Things

Comparative Reality

Insider Mindset – Own Your World

Crafting Illusion Into Truth