If you mix the two, what do you get??? Not a physical place, but rather, a space to act, be, and dream responsibly. Sip your metaphorical tea or coffee brew and partake of renewed senses.

(Note: Please remember, “everything in moderation…..” as Grandpa D. used to say….
And he lived to the ripe old age of 96.)

The first line of books was the unique Sillwee Wobbert Picture Book series which has been an immediate success. It brings a multidisciplinary approach to education and continually expands into more interactive programs and activities. In this light, the author acts as a safe advocate for kids, parents, teachers and healthcare professionals. The second line of ebooks tackles issues in the form of a cornucopia of genres. The sky is truly the limit in regard to these subject matters.

This new and evolving company seeks vested feedback from all its customers to insure the newest most available material for all. Both sites offer interactive blogs, articles, podcasts, and free material to wet any appetite for learning more. And becoming a fully healthy you….

A brief history: Publishing, in general, has transformed more as an industry in the last thirty years than it has in the last 300 years. Until the 1970’s, the usual way to get one’s writing in print was to approach one of the major publishers and sell out to their slower, monolithic, institutional processes. However, most people never realized that Washington Irving, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain and Henry David Thoreau, and Ben Franklin, to name a few, all initially self-published their works. With the growing technological advances in the 1980’s and 90’s, this industry has seen emerging small competitors. In the last decade, small publishers have increased by over
300 percent.

The publishing paradigm changed in 1996 from 52,000 medium to small publishers to now, in 2008, 83,000 small or self-publishers. Self-publishing has become a financially viable option for many in light of the newest digital advances in the 21st century. Ebooks are the newest rage. As distribution channels have become economically friendly, based on online techniques, and the stigma of getting reviews has diminished substantially, because of niche marketing.

Dream Publishing Co. was founded in July, 1999 by G. Robert Lyles, III, Director, who spent a year sabbatical in careful study and research of the self-publishing industry. As the author and publisher, Rob wanted the opportunity to reach and touch the heart strings of children and adults by offering a quality product as reflected in his enthusiasm to create this “dream.” It is his desire to perpetuate a continued sense of dreaming for a more fulfilling life and ultimately living that dream which was the basis for this entrepreneurial venture.

Rob’s experience professionally is diverse. As an licensed attorney, he practiced law in not only one of the largest firms in his state but also became partner at a boutique one as manager. He took a break to teach middle level English at a private prep school and to coach sports. After that, he decided to take a risk to live his dream beyond the office and classroom. For more information, please read Rob’s free articles on his Self-Publishing (link) website page or contact him directly at 313-882-6603.

###

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This Agreement is subject to change at any time. An updated Agreement will be posted to this site. 6/09

(7 Recyclable Days… Plus a Bonus 8th Day)

Day 1:  Love’s knocking on the Door.  Do I open it?

I chose this symbol, a personification, of love being a person knocking at your front door.  In today’s times of security issues and terrorism, whenever I hear someone knock on my door, I flinch.  My first gut reaction is “who could that be?”  Then my brain receives flashes of pictures:  mailman; salesperson; boys or girls scouts; church solicitor; or just plain friend.  But it usually is all the bad negative thoughts that I register.  I have even (I am afraid to admit it) hid in another room silent hoping the stranger would go away.  I’d peak out after a few minutes to check.

But, in this case, the knocking continues.  It won’t go away.  It really bugs me when people from the outside, so to speak, try to interrupt my quiet time, especially in the evening, like some annoying telemarketing message.  “You’ve won a prize….  Call us!”  What award will I win if I open the door to love today?  It is so mysterious.  It could be dangerous.  I am scared.  I prefer my life the way it is.  I am fine.  Oh, yeah, a little adjustment here or there, but OK, really.  I am shocked and amazed at how many dysfunctional persons will say they are well balanced when asked about their emotional stability.  They cannot see themselves hiding behind a shroud of darkness.  They are borrowing the coat of this world, which can be tainted with weak threads, holes, and lice.  We need a new tailor.

Knock, knock…..  and then it stops.  Finally!!  I hope whoever it was, that he or she has left.  Leave me alone.  What would happen to your soul if love stopped knocking on your door?  Would you be forever lost, sold to slavery in the sense of your heart being held in prison, ruled by an evil master.  It may be too late!

You cannot frighten me into guilt or whatever to react.  There was no knocking.  I heard nothing.  And that may be true.  You need to be open to hear it.  You need to be in tune with your God to feel it.  You need to recognize the sign, accept its calling, and become the loving person that is desperately waiting to come out.

So, the next time love knocks, hesitate a moment, then willingly open the door, and let all of love’s strength fill you up like a refreshing breeze.

Day 2:  Up North

No matter where you live or where you go on vacation, there is always an “up north.”  It is a place to go and escape for relaxation and rest.  It allows for some revitalization and mental comfort.  When I arrive I feel a decompression slowly pervading my soul.  When my head hits the pillow, I fall into a peaceful sleep, which might include vivid dreams, waking up once or twice throughout the night, but in the morning I could sleep soundly for hours yet.  It’s hard to get out of bed, but the sunrise colors are beautiful and the sun shines through.  There’s a good big breakfast mid-morning.  Maybe a drive, shopping, and an afternoon nap.  Some leisurely reading and sitting on the deck open to it all.  Off for a quick boat ride, a swim, watching the clear water, mesmerizing.  As sun sets, the sky is aglow with brilliant shimmering hues.  The northern lights gearing up for a light show later?!  The cool wind, the sense of one with nature, and then sustenance at dusk.  The best part is when it’s completely dark and the stars fall upon you like the ceiling of your cottage.  You could almost touch them.  They flicker.  A shooting star…..

You feel so excited and happy inside.  Find that place and rediscover you.

Day 3:  “This the day the Lord hath made, Rejoice and be glad in it.”

This was a saying my mother used to say as she was beginning her daily routine when I was a child.  I remember her many chores as homemaker starting at 7 am fixing breakfast for my father and us 4 kids.  She roused us up for school, dressed us, and made sure we had our supplies, like book bag, brown bag lunch, and scarf & mittens.  If it were summer, if I was home, I’d see her clean portions of the house, like vacuum and dust; then she’d do several loads of laundry; go off to the grocery store for provisionals; run other errands, like to the post office or pharmacy; back home to iron downstairs in front of the TV watching some soaps as a break; then get ready for my dad’s return from work exactly at 5:30 p.m. for dinner, which she had cooked from scratch prepping it (without microwave) by cutting veggies, heating up canned food, peeling potatoes, employing stove and oven, and pouring milk into glasses around our pre-set plates.  Afterward, she’d clear away the table, wash the dishes since we had no dishwasher, and get us ready for bed.

Day in and day out.  24-7.  No wonder she told herself to rejoice, cause the rest to me, seemed hard and tedious.  We must remember to take a moment and breathe, smell, observe, and reflect on the parts that are good in life:  what we have to be truly thankful for.  I’m sure she did.  And I honor her role in my life.

Yet sometimes, this quote may be all that we have to get us through the day.

Day 4:  I can do all things in Christ Jesus who gives me strength.

I don’t know how true that is, but it was the other adage my mother used to say to me as a boy.  I have invoked it only when I was desperately in need of help, moral assistance, or longing.  It was the “Hail, Mary” call.  For who would really listen to this pitiful plea but the supernatural, the heavens, the holy spirit.  No one else cared.  I’d be alone again.

However, there’s a challenge ahead and no matter it’s actual size and relative seriousness, it is huge as you see it.  Confront it, you must!  Yes, it does sound like Yoda instructing Luke or Leia.  It is the old story of good versus evil.  Do you have the fortitude to win?  Are you afraid to succeed?  Won’t it be much easier to lose and categorize the loss as a sacrifice?  God would prefer I’d turn away from this temptation or problem.  Unfortunately, the path is narrow at times and we must chose….

The hardest one is usually the right one.  I have found that as I overcome more and more, I, in fact, do get stronger in every nature; and, by succumbing, I get weaker and remain stagnant.  So, ‘strength begetting strength’ is the formula and Jesus’ teachings reinforce that miraculous growth.

Over time, the choices become easier to make as renewed imagination provides a plethora of healthier opportunities.

Day 5:  To thine Own Self be True.

I first heard these words, quoted from Shakespeare, at a high school graduation picnic at my English teacher’s house.  There was a new instructor just hired from college to replace a retiring professor of grammar and literature.  This young man was sincere and nice.  I shared some of my apprehensions of moving forward, and he said simple that his grandfather had told him these words at a difficult time in his life.  Initially, I generally grasped the meaning.  Scratching the surface, I understood.  But, when you truly dissect this comment, you realize how extraordinarily complicated 6 words can be.

First, what is the essence of “thine own self”?  When our lives are shrouded in fog and clouds, we could mistake that identity for one that’s cruel and mean.  It is amazingly difficult trying to apprehend the meaning of oneself.  Who are you genuinely?  In all honesty, what are you here for?  Your purpose in life?  I believe to clearly see it, you must stray away from the darkness and use the light, as you comprehend that, to read the way.  Once you catch a glimpse, it is there where you must hold true.

Which begs the question:  what is being “true’?  Truth to many has several definitions.  Many rationalize good and bad interpretations to justify their own behaviors in any form.  Regardless, truth is from God.

Let it permeate your light to live freely.

Day 6:  666

Yes, sometimes temptation gets the best of us.  I have always been a numbers freak.  If my tea and scone cost $5.39, I know it is a good sign and will be a good day.  But, when it is only 6 or more 6’s, it may be lethal.  For my favorite numbers are 3,6, and 9 and in various combinations, or even standing alone with the exception of 6.  The number 5 is OK since my birthday is the 15th.  This sounds eccentric and whimsical, but that’s who I am.

Your superficial philosophy may be channelled to a different and unique force.  Maybe, you read the astrology pages and follow the messages of your sign.   In any case, some days are better than others.  In my life, I can sense when I have fallen.  This  mood may be obvious or just interpreted in that way.  The temptation, or failing to overcome, you most likely know or prefer not to reveal.  But, when it happens, you rationalize that it’s normal.  For me, I see that God is unhappy.  Something invariably transpires to show me that I need to be more diligent or disciplined in thought.  It may expose itself in a cold sore, a sty in the eye, a rash, a cancelled meeting of importance, a muscle pull or ache, a lost deal, or something that epitomizes the necessary and opposite reaction.

Either way, it is more of an obstruction:  a reminder to carry on in God’s will.  Some mornings it may be essential to pray when you wake up and understand you are a servant, a messenger, and a friend to God’s promise.  So try to keep that promise.

Day 7:  What is it About People?!

Will there ever be a time in our lives where we surpass the every day, mundane, defeatist attitude?  Do you ever try to be and act unselfishly or in the best interests of a child, or another, or simply show a compassionate, caring face at work?  I have discovered that most other people don’t have time for love.  They are too busy.  There’s work to be done.  It’s all a mess.  Rush!  Rush!  Rush!

Forget manners and thoughtfulness.  Be mean and lean, and bring in the money.  This forever goal of survival overlooks the simple, basic needs of humans.  We all appreciate a smile, a pat on the back, a “job well done”, any form of positive reinforcement to show our worth.  The trap or vicious cycle is the “put down.”  It happened to the person before you and so on.  That’s not a good reason to continue the same treatment.  Unfortunately, the majority of people like this method by default and as a result don’t respond to kindness.  They prefer disaster and gloomy outlooks to approach each new day.

I know it’s hard, but try to forgive those who’ve hurt you and be conscious about moving forward in a light worthy of your being!  Your focus should be on your heart’s beatings and soul’s enlightenments.

Day 8:  Who Are You??  (A personal day of reflection)

There were many things in my life I wanted to do as a kid:  firefighter, rock star, sports god, teacher.  But the one that continued to resurface for me was that as the hero:  saving a girl, or the world from destruction.  Something super-great!!  Well, after college, I convinced myself and felt pressured into pursuing a legal career.  I never wanted to be a lawyer.  That option was just starring me in the face as a no brainer.  As an alternative, I saw dollars and cents to rationalize this decision.  But not real sense.  For when I passed the bar exam and was finally hired by a small firm, I gave that path my all to help people in this arena.

Over several years, I realized that my passion took a backseat to the goal of collecting more clients, more fees, and more prestige.  My innate caring of people to connect were ignored by my superiors, mowed over again and again, like an irrelevant advantage, so that all that was required of me was the ability to argue objectively without feeling and win cases, bottom line, with no complimentary remarks for job well done.  Period!!  No creativity, no real me!!  So I left.  I tried being a school teacher next, since I really enjoyed working with other people’s children.  They understood me and responded to my genuine loving attitude.  I thought I made the right decision…..

As a teacher, I learned a lot.  My first year as a 7th and 9th grade English instructor, I was eaten alive by the students.  Always pushing the envelop.  I worked long hours to compensate and each day returned emotionally drained by the taxing labor of love offered to each child’s growth.  In the end, I realized that place was where I needed to be; however, what I couldn’t tolerate were the administrative issues.  It was law all over again.  There were files to be maintained, paper trails, reports, extra meetings with parents, principals, other teachers to measure up.  More work upon, what I felt was, useless documentation, in addition to doing your average paying teaching job.  Money could help.  But there was none to go around with budget shortfalls.  Most of my colleagues let the system take over, and they accommodated it by flushing the students through, without headache, distributing B grades regardless if the kid deserved it.  Learning took a backseat to survival.  So I left the school environment too.

Yet, I decided not to abandon the children.  My nephews, nieces, godchildren, and friends’ kids have helped me regain my confidence.  Now my goal is to help those less fortunate than I, in many ways ….. as best that I can…..and draw on the insight of this Sixth Gospel as a medium for comtemplation each day.

(A Preface to Weekly Reminders)

I decided to write this daily devotional one day as the impulse came to me as an epiphany in the shower.  I had just denied my savior three times within a 12 day time frame right after I devoutly and earnestly promised to devote myself for this holy purpose.  But, like Simon Peter, I failed, and, in fact, the cock did crow thrice.  Previously, I had an insidious addiction that I believed to be sinful, wayward and base.  That weakness came out of remission, three times.  I had refused to live in the moment but preferred stressing over the past and future.  Again, how you handle and react determines your course.  So here I am naked and laid bare for all to see.

As a boy, my father also had certain obsessions.  I give him credit in trying to overcome them on a regular basis.  But, in general, ghostly burdens, life’s hatred, and absence of integrity in the business arena would get the best of him.  However, he gave me a book his aunt had given him.  It was Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His Highest. I began to read it every morning after breakfast.  Although at times, I had not fully understood or appreciated its meaning, I sensed its words affected my disposition to do good at such a young age.  As a teen, certain things were considered uncool and I slowly stopped reading this book.  Over time, I felt myself spiritually having difficulty expressing my inner truth.  I made fun of it internally as a character flaw.

However, God was instrumental in sending me an angel:  my wife.  It was my profound belief that she was an agent of my being saved again.  I chose being married on my birthday as a symbol of my resurrection into a new life and acceptance of a love I’ve never known.  After 5 years we renewed our vows.  And after 10 years, we did so again in an informal manner outside.  It was here that I promised myself that life’s 40 years of wondering were over and I re-dedicated my mind to a more focused existence.  For I had felt myself slipping, falling off track and losing my heart felt intentions.

As an latent reminder, I pretended hearing Moses’ reprimand attempting to collect God’s people once again to be on the team of goodness and love.  I even heard an inner voice calling, “Saul, Saul, why do thy persecute me?”  I wanted desperately to become Paul; transformed to a new me, more evolved.  I prayed for that recognition.  And here I am now, at the bottom, of shame I sit, sad, lonely, and unforgiving of my revisiting Satan’s snares.  I am indeed that same Peter who had rejected Christ the eve of his hanging.

As I cried inside the depths of my soul and tears wallowed in my eyes, I was searching for images, remembrances to help.  I saw a man named Orville Bitner from my church as a kid who had given me a book entitled, Borden of Yale, about a college graduate who left his comfortable surroundings to become a missionary.  I see my Sunday school teachers offering their dutiful care to teach me about love, joyous song, and forgiveness.  In particular, I see Mrs. Clark, a cheerful, generous woman who shared her home with us for a teen party after we were baptized, that final rite of passage.  A large part of my life was spent at this God laden facility.  I’ve always struggled with who I really was and tried to reconcile it with the trappings of this world.

That has brought me full circle to this offering of the written word in a habitual format.  As an ex-teacher, I know guidance and coaching can be critical.  So I dedicate these daily readings to all those in denial and who need a helping hand.

1.  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s …

It is extremely hard to not feel sexual tension with members of the human race that are considered a temptation or an attraction.  The Internet, TV and print media reveal scenes and shows of sexual betrayal, lust and wanting.  The pressures of this material world are great.  Our jobs require an undue amount of work for minimal pay and no real vacation.  Our families mostly take us for granted and we end each day exhausted and spent such that the only reaction we exhibit is anger, hatred, and abusive language.  The reason is because the barrage of all these factors force us to choose the easiest path of “ignorance is bliss.”  Do what our predecessors did?!  Repeat the past which was considered acceptable.  To attempt change may result in more turmoil and strain?!

Forget about it all and wallow in your sympathy for yourself.  Suck up all the emotional energy around you.  Who cares what others think and feel when you don’t care what you think and feel.  Breathe negativity.  Be the victim.  Blame others.  Run away…….  Am I being facetious?  Maybe.  Instead, try at the very least, to think about something or someone you love, and extrapolate, speculate, and engulf your senses in the world of your boundless imagination.  Breath deeply into the pain, with a positive vibrational force.  And try it again later, but keep trying….

The feelings that surfaced, which left your conscience, may get buried.  But it can help lead you onto the path unknown, untravelled before, and overgrown.  Re-focus, remember the goodness that was your birth, the special times in your childhood or life.  And if you find none, create new ones for yourself.  Those around will feel the difference.  If mistakes were made, it may be time to own up to them.  The reckoning is not far now, and the dreariness of life has evolved into your “test.”  Fear of loneliness raises its scary head, but celebrate it and draw from its negative prospects.  “Good” will draw forth.

And there will be no need to covet anything.

2.  “….and you shalt have a clarity of vision like you’ve never had before.”

Driving along the freeway, gazing out the front windshield at the landscape and horizon, I see for the first time a hawk in the air, in a wispy cloudy sky against a light effervescent blue background with the changing leaves of the fall trees standing out as if in 3D.  I felt like I was seeing this panorama like a kaleidoscope lodge in the back of my head.  My eyes moved smoothly without zipping back and forth, my body felt calm and at peace, and it all seemed to flow in slow motion.  That sense lasted only a few minutes and I tried hard to remember that sensation in order to try to recreate it in the future.  It felt great; I felt relaxed.  It was the first time in my life that I took life as it came and tried to be accepting of its directional pull and input on my being, on my perspective.  The reward of not succumbing to evil actions, to bad temperament and procrastination, or to all my default behaviors, like I had witnessed from myself and my predecessors.

I can imagine through blood stained eyes, this to be Jesus’ view as he stretched out on the cross.  It is a moment of the death of something in you that is inherently flawed, like humanity, that the resurrecting flow of life-renewed emerges.  This vision is a sign of growth…..

Overcome Angst:

To purge mistakes from my life.
To rake over the side paths taken.
To spread the disease passed for playing the fool.

Sorrow, selfish pain, regret and
remorse are weak alternatives to beginning
anew, fresh and full of meaning.

Diving into insincerity breeds more loss
and dismay.  Staying the path takes
courage and strength.

Age is not a barrier; leverage!

Think on the vastness of earth:  Africa.
Think of the infiniteness of heaven:  up north’s evening sky.
Think of the depth of these states of:  what they encompass.

Insert their being into your soul
and live as one in a humble coat.

3.  “Your life, thoughts, ideas and deeds shalt stand like a physical monument forever….”

There are subtle reminders in life of how evil can insidiously rip at your very core.  And your first reaction is anger, fear, and retaliation.  I have found at the end of the day, humility and modesty prevail.

There is nothing worse than being lied to, especially after someone says to trust him or her.  Say for instance, you need your “personal computer” fixed but you rely on your partner.  You believe he is able to assist.  Engaged in contract, he says he can deliver something that appears on its surface, viable.  Then slowly over a short period of time, problems arise.  He makes you feel like the bad guy, like you are at fault even though his promises don’t hold water.  He wants more; he has your hard-drive hostage; so you stop paying and all hell breaks loose.  Now, you have violated, according to him, every rule in the book.  He acts as victim, threatens a lawsuit, and his true colors reveal themselves:  he only wants the financial solution without you or no further transacting.  In spite of petitions, attempts to compromise, he feels insulted.  When ultimately, the new product doesn’t work properly and you must hire another contractor to fix the job.  Sound familiar.  And when you stand up for your rights – bam!  They hit you over the head as the guilty party.

Extrapolate:  refer this to going through a separation or divorce.  You pick your role.

Sometimes, bumps in the road like that can have a profound effect on your next decision in life.  First and foremost, you must forgive, let go, and move beyond that being.  They are hurting you and will bring you down to their level:  fighting.  Second, you must accept the fact of a lesson to be learned, be accountable, and move on.  Be open to your past misperceptions.  Otherwise, he wins and you become emotionally stunted.  Third, once you have re-consulted with other “professionals,” like therapists, you can actually see facts initially lost.  You have led the horse to water and it’s willing to drink.  As the love in you grows, so will your (and children’s) future.

Now, you have freed space in your own computer chip of a brain that was infested with “spyware.”  Fill it with new, inspiring thoughts.

Once visiting a used book store, I discovered a section of a 1964 edition Playboy, about 1/2 inches thick.  I leafed through it and discovered only 6 pages of soft nudity.  Nothing graphic.  Today, the magazines are less articles and almost all very close, raw pictures of flesh.  This evolution has spawned a new derivative version of sexual imagery.  These again take up space in your mind.  Like a scary movie, they stay with you indefinitely until they are somehow purged.  Up until several years ago, I noticed carrying around the trailer of my first porn video as a teen in my head.  It needed to be excised as excess.  Laser surgery, figuratively, was required.

What does that tell us about our society; the people we interact with; a partner; the example of the trusted spouse?  It is a mirror reflection of sadistic hearts living an unhappy existence and perpetuating their emotions, oozing this tainted blood of guilt onto more vulnerable hearts, and their drilling, trying to lodge within our system.  Over time, this new culture of “hackers” expects us to become weary and tired.  Their persistence here is meant to break our backs.

Look to grandeur ideas.  In your powerful brain lies foundations and structures more durable than any man-made building.  Your legacy is the good and positive thinking and its by-products on humankind.  What starts like the mustard seed of a lonely soul, say in the form of one Jesus, Gandhi, or Budda, becomes nourished and filled with hope, and from a few, to a bit more, to many others, and in 2009 still, blossoms into a global following.  How did one grain do that?  The extent of such motivational passion is as strong as its subservient subversiveness polar opposite as in the prodigy of a Hitler or your modern day unloved, angry old man or woman.

We must stand up for what we know to be right.  No fight is needed, but only a patient, thoughtful holding forth of the concept of integrity.  Strength will be rewarded in an intensity beyond recognition.  “Trust yourself to do right” is the banner on your shield and your armor remains unblemished.  Step by step, decision by decision, you improve and life becomes more livable and relaxing and fun.

You are ready for it NOW.

Note:  Repentance shalt become a day to day routine….

….There are times in our lives when we succumb to minor indiscretions or foibles, sins of the flesh, mind and spirit.  They are always hovering about, tempting us, annoying us, and just down right harsh.  And I have found only one good way to overcome falling into their trap:  avoidance.  Yes, you’ve heard about abstinence to preclude getting pregnant or catching a STD; well, same rationale.  But, in this case, I prescribe a slap in the face, about face, turnaround, closure.

What I mean is that when the urge arises, at that instant, focus or refocus on your worthy task at hand.  And continue onward without a second thought; otherwise, like a flood of water, it will pound and push until it finds a weak spot, a crack, and begin to leak and infiltrate your soul.  When that does happen, it usually starts the countdown and you’re a goner.  What next?  Repent!  Be redemptional!  Yes, immediately try to recover ground.  Yet it will take its toll.

Repentance is not easy but it should be a daily ritual.  We must recognize our faults, be conscious of our actions, and pray to be better.  In prayer, the door opener, you take the first step to recovery.

Like a brain, there are two sides.  The one is meant for worthier acts, to follow in the mold of a “Christ” figure who may live and breathe within each of us like one side of this backyard tree.  The other side, in fact, is not this side.  Despite appearances, it is unhealthy in many ways.  It seeks nourishment from corruption and demonic spirits.  It longs for the mental frames that reveal sickness and lust.  It thrives on evil, longs to exploit and kill, dreams of horrible situations.  But, still lives just the same.

To cut the one side of this flourishing, beautiful tree would cause the other to fall over in a non-symmetric twist of fate.  It needs the balance that the other offers to hold it steady when it rains, snows, or blows the wind hard.

I feel the solution lives with its source, its beginning, its start.  By reexamining one’s past as a reading glass to one’s being will help with the transformation process.  It will take time and courage.  It will be tough and difficult to maintain.  Ultimately, it will require an emotional commitment to avoid straying into the dismal abyss of sorrowful feelings.

So, without making this ordeal seen insurmountable, lets practice.  It may be best to simply think of an object you find lovely.  Start there, just observing a limited thing and explore the limitless possibilities of its existence on this earth and beyond.  What is its critical, or rather essential, truth?  Why is it true?  What makes it true to you?  How should its truth become a part of your very soul?  This exercise is a building of self:  a reconstruction of a traditional state into a more rebellious train of thought.

It will require time in a hectic and fast-paced environment.  Be quiet.  Sit still and listen to the invisible air blow throw the tree limbs.  Resurrect your depth as a person:  no longer letting others be the responsible party for your actions.  As victim.  The goal is to make your immediate circle of life become a mirror image of your true and loving soul.  Other powers and forces will attempt to shut you down forever.  Obstacles will abound; fear will surmount.  The option of giving in is only human.

But keep to the source and weakness will turn into strength, and the entire tree will be ONE again in its complicated interwoven form of many tributaries, struggling against all life’s foes and enemies that are in store for it yet.

With that said, herein rests the untold Gospel of the disciple, Robert, me, once a lost soul.  Discovered where anyone would least expect to find him.  Yes, I knew without a doubt about this soul’s veracity and only wish it will shed the brightness of enlightenment to all who read and digest its story:  feeding your soul to overcome day to day adversity and giving you the fortitude to share that same sense of empowerment with your friends, your family, a stranger, an acquaintance, yourself, over and over again.  For the well is deep for those who refill it daily.

May love inspire us as a society made up of individual threads to weave ourselves into eternal happiness.

Now, in the stirrings of your emotions, pour those images in, and picture your bigness:  your dreams, your passions, your love, your interests, the core of where and how your happiness lies.  Accept it all in this melting pot stew and partake.  Eat!  Digest!  Feel full!  Big!  Merry!  You can almost wrap your arms around it in a magnanimous hug.  That’s your soul’s embrace of your being bigger than the pettiness, dregs, and pollution of evil that resides and maintains its spreading as some bizarre strain of disease, incurable, insufferable, unbearable, unless you employ these methods.

Best of luck, and the divine in place emanating from the inside out will overcome your small ways…….

First, we must re-examine commercialism.  Correct!  Our global economy wants to offer more benefits in their products that they hadn’t covered in the past.  Why not see it as a judge ruling on a legal case.  They usually rationalize the holding (i.e., result) based on the facts.  Deciding ass-backwards, as I overheard.  How did we get to a condition of taking this particular pill?  Why do my neck and back continue to hurt?  Why does my eyes ache, head pound?  Why can’t I move better?  Why do my ears ring?  Why are my joints sore?  What is going on with my body?  Well, since we tend to focus all our energy there, in pleasuring our gluttony, greed, and lust for uncontrollable urges, it only makes common sense that it is in this area that you complain.  Yet, what is that underlying cause?  Why is it have to be like that?

There are no quick fixes on this earth.  Time is needed, in many instances.  And in all circumstances, the basics.  Lets talk about KISS:  Keep It Simple Silly!  When in doubt, we should always go back to basics.  In order to be BIG, simple steps should be taken.

For example, if I’ve been diagnosed a diabetic, then insulin is prescribed.  However, in order for me to feel my best, to accept the concept of “bigger is better,” I must apply exercise and nutrition.  That’s as basic as it gets:  30 minutes of solid exercise, like brisk walking; bicycling; swimming; figure it out; yes, AND, a healthy diet, regulated, to a certain calorie limit, with a good combination of all the food choices, that is customized to meet your physical situation.  Weeks, months, maybe years, are in store as well as a hefty dose of discipline, in the beginning as a catalyst, to get started.

As an aside, in our hectic, rush-rush, daily existence, we are deluded in believing there is no time left.  Fortunately, when this easy formula is inserted, I have found how little time is involved, and realize how much time has been tragically wasted.

Try another example on for size.  Say you inherited degenerative arthritis that slowly and insidiously provokes weakness and slowness of your fingers, hips and knees.  Initially, consulting a doctor, chiropractor, or therapist is recommended.  Though in the end, the basic course will prevail:  morning stretches to loosen up the muscles; strengthening later to build the muscles that support the bones; and maybe a brace or such to give stability; apply hot shower or cold compress.  Sounds like rehab, well, maybe.  Either way, you take on the instruments of self-correction.  For who better knows you, your body, your thoughts, than you.

Second, in all these approaches, there is a critically basic characteristic that must, unequivocally, accompany these treatments:  a positive attitude.  But you’re a negative person, hate everyone, and don’t want to comply.  All in good.  Unfortunately, I could pretend in telling you that reading Norman Vincent Peale, Scott Peck, Wayne Dyer, the Dali Lama, and others will modify your perspective.  I sincerely believe that would help; however, even the entire reading of the Bible may not solicit the power you seek.  Having said that, daily motivational versus each morning or night wouldn’t kill ya.  This involves the basic matter of faith.  Just trust it.  Do it.  Be positive, over and over and over again, until it sticks.  You’ll be amazed the difference.  The mind, teamed with the heart, provides the bigness to march forward.

A caveat:  Fear will always be present.  So…..  Keep it fun.  Try to laugh, encourage a smile.  The brain will relax by accepting, appreciating, admiring, becoming the bigger aspects of life all around us and often unobserved consciously.

And third, the race is won over time.  Guess what? It’s not a sprint, but a marathon.  What counts is endurance, again, not the quick fix.  Little Band-Aids turn us into mummies and preserve our current state of decomposition.  We must move forward and avoid letting this endurance test squash our chances from the beginning.  Remember, for some, that finish line may be tomorrow.  It’s in the process, the journey, the adventure, the exploration, the quest, the trip, how we handle the situation, how one individual is sufficient, enough, and how each of us and all of us, of whatever culture, has worth.

It’s that simple.  Be deliberate in the basics.  Think long-term.