Who among as at some point has not felt ‘offended’? Someone says something rude to us, something to belittle us or make fun of the way we look – or does something just to make themselves feel superior by making us feel inferior. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Think of the people in your life who must always be correct, have the last word, or elevate themselves by being seen as the wise teacher (even though everybody else just thinks they’re a fill-in-the-blank!).

Recently someone did this with me – it wasn’t as much what they were saying as much as it was something I felt they were projecting – giving me ‘credit’ (of sorts) for thinking something I wasn’t even thinking. And so the more I thought about what I wasn’t thinking about…well, the more offensive to me it became. And as this person has been a friend for some time, there was ample baggage I could heap on the issue. I wanted to tell this person, as a roommate of mine in college used to say, ‘Hey, don’t throw your muck in my backyard!’ I wanted to say ‘deal with your own stuff but leave me out of it.’ Continue reading…

Postmodern dialogue?! While there are many definitions for the word or category ‘postmodern,’ the way I’m employing the term here is in the broad generic sense that ultimate knowledge (truth) escapes us, whether that is because it cannot be known or is helplessly situational; i.e., it’s up to individual perspective(s).

Like other levels of development on the spiral of consciousness (such as warrior, traditional, modern) the postmodern level of consciousness carries its own set of dignities and disasters. What I will attempt to do in this post is mention some ideas I have centered around one of its plusses, even though this simultaneously means the possibility that some will no doubt miss the point and reply with an entire litany of minuses (oh the joy of blogging!). Continue reading…

Though I don’t typically delve into politics – mainly because I always feel smarmy even wading into those waters – there’s a thing or two on my mind today.

I was reflecting on my ‘real’ job which is peace and reconciliation via The David Group International. Specifically I am evaluating plans for a fall meeting in the Middle East. It may or may not happen, but just the idea of it triggered a plethora of thoughts in my mind.

Governments are corrupt. Often to the core. What a shocking statement, eh?

There are times when, while looking at the big picture of anything from corporate greed leading to the abuse of third world countries to political and geo-political war games, power struggles, egoic madness, et.al, that I’m tempted to say that things are relatively hopeless regarding justice for what has become the nameless/faceless masses of earth’s citizenry.

It takes a while to talk myself down from these episodes – usually a good long cigar and a bit of Frangelico helps – added to that a very large dose of ‘just do what you can do and leave God’s business to God’ and eventually I rebound again.

But today, for whatever reason, I couldn’t get past these political statements of ‘regret’ put out by the U.S. over such issues as the recent Gaza blockade debacle where innocents (one of them a U.S. citizen) are slaughtered – yes, I believe that’s the appropriate word – and little if any action from the international community is taken.

For our part, the word from the Oval Office was that we ‘regret’ that the Israeli government has committed such a senseless and lawless act upon the high seas.

How nice… a group of people (unarmed and representing no particular government) giving their lives to putting politics aside in the name of extending humanitarian aid are killed and the best we can say is, “we regret this.”

Wow, way to invoke justice on behalf of the victims of this lawless act of unabashed murder. We showed them, didn’t we? We REGRET what they’ve done.

Let’s say that President Obama’s oldest daughter gets mad at his youngest daughter, bloodies her nose and shoves her down the steps and out onto the White House lawn. What should he do? What would he do?

Can you imagine the absurdity of telling his youngest that he ‘regrets’ what her older sister has done and then leaving it at that?! Really? No punishment. No discipline. No consequences whatsoever? Is that what happens in the real world of parenting? Could even the most abusive of parents respond that way?

Eckhart Tolle says that the only thing more insane than the “I” is the “we.” It seems that when the collective is involved all sense of reality is sometimes lost. And so it is that the collective world looked at the actions of the Israeli government and responded with sheer, unabashed insanity. Not even a slap on the wrist.

Do you remember the 60’s song War? The lyrics blare with the words “War, good god ya’ll, what is it good for?!” I’m hearing it in my head right now… except it goes “Regret, good god ya’ll, what is it good for?!”

365 Ways To Get Fit… And Counting!

Can you tell any difference in the way I look by viewing the pictures below? The first one was taken on my birthday last June 25^th. The second one was taken on my birthday this past week, one year later. The first is what 335lbs on me looks like. The second is what 223lbs looks like. Hmmm, which one do you think I like most?

Just a bit of a difference, eh?

I read a lot on health and fitness these days. I’m often amused at the different tips for losing weight, getting fit, gaining strength, and often am baffled by all of the contradictory stuff that is offered regarding all of the above.

One nutritionist says to drink milk while yet another ‘scientific study’ says to avoid it. Some call for cutting carbs, some argue to add them. There are opinions on what to eat, when to eat, how and how often to eat. There are fad diets, fast diets, easy diets, purging diets and more whacked-out ideas and opinions than you’d hear at…well, just for today we’ll leave religion out of this.

And through the years, I think I’ve tried them all. But now I’ve found “the way, the truth and the life” to better fitness. Are you ready for the answer? The great discovery? The never-before-thought-of-solutions?

Well, here’s what’s worked for me: Every day (every stinking day!) make the decision that your actions will vote for life! This means no shortcuts to better health. It’s going to be a challenge – every day – to make better choices regarding what and how much you eat. It’s also going to be a challenge – every day – as to whether you’re going to make a time to exercise your top priority or not. Do it and you win… it’s a vote for life. Skip it, blow it off, allow yourself to get side-tracked and you lose… by being lazy or undisciplined you vote for weight gain, decreased strength, a lethargic mental status and a plethora of physical problems you don’t even want to think about.

Is it hard? Yep. Does it hurt sometimes? Yep. Are some days great and others impossible? Yep. Are there relapses? Yep. Are there rewards for sticking with it? Well, I think the pictures above could clue you into that answer.

A while back I was doing a conference and spoke about my new commitment to vote for health, fitness and life in general. Afterward a woman came up to me and told me that I was an inspiration to her. Recently I did another conference at the same place. The woman was even heavier than the last time I saw her and she was walking with a cane…I guess I wasn’t an inspiration after all.

I hurt for her. It reminded me of the difficulty that I’ve had through the years coming to the level of consciousness that guides me today. And I honestly don’t think I’ll ever go back. And to make sure I don’t, I’m very careful to write down every day all that I eat for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. I also post what I did that day for my strength and fitness.

I do this because I know that if I ever stop doing it, it will be a vote toward a lot of things I never want to go back to again. So, 365 days and counting… 366, 367, 368… yep, it’s hard, no lying, but it’s so worth it.

What about you? Can you do it? Can we do it together?

Let’s vote for life.

And health.

And feeling a whole lot better about ourselves.

One of the challenges of spirituality is keeping the language grounded. By ‘grounded,’ I mean using terms to which people can relate rather than antiquated ones that a lot of people have heard, but can’t really track with in everyday lingo. There are a lot of strong spiritual principles for living that are helpful to address, but unless we can frame them in more familiar and useful ways, my experience tells me that they are likely to do more harm than good.

For me, the word ‘righteous’ (and all of its derivatives) is such a word. It is one of those religious-sounding, antiquated words that we may be better off reframing. For instance, ask most people what they think when they hear the word ‘righteous’ and I’m betting they say something like, “the need to be more pure and holy; to be more disciplined in avoiding sin.” And if they did say something like that, let’s say as they strolled through the local mall or conversed at your favorite coffee shop, what would people overhearing such a conversation think? Continue reading…