Lesley’s Blog

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” Henry David Thoreau This is one of my favorite quotes and my constant reminder that with any goal I set I must imagine myself walking as if I have already achieved it. I think those thoughts that will bring me to the goal I desire. After I wrote “Did you set your Goals for the New Year” my girlfriend Patti sent me an email “Well said my philosophical friend!” I took it as praise for the writing but what struck me was the word philosophical. I had to ask did I set out to write lofty ideals without realistic expectations. No, I wrote what I believe. Now it would be nice to connect the dots, to give understanding to others. Every morning we awake and take stock of our bodies by stretching our limbs and give thought to what the day will bring. If upon awaking you find yourself grumpy, irritable, and/or angry than your day will reflect your inner mood. The good old stub you toe and the rest of the day bring you much of the same pain. If on the other hand, you awake joyful, peaceful and full of love your day will find a path of ease. My day starts off with declaring “This is going to be a GREAT DAY! Even now as I write those words I can feel my heart chakra opening up sending out a pulsing wave of love throughout my physical body. The animal world sends out their own unique waves of energy. Dogs that wag their tails so hard that the whole body wags are sending out vibrant vibrations of love / joy. When I work with horse that have past to the other side I am often greeted with head bobbing up and down, a whiny and a slight shutter that runs all the way down the spine and out the tail. Cats are a bit more demure in the sending of love and joy with the purr that resonates within the core of their bodies. A purr can be so subtle and soft you wonder if you are really hearing it. Flip, whose nervous system was thrown out of whack when he was struck by distemper as a young kitten has a purr that is so slight that I often touch him just to feel the vibration. Where my Jasper’s purr is one of the loudest purrs I have ever heard. Only Jasper can wake you up in the night by purring and he’s not even on the bed! In humans, it is the thoughts in our mind that send energy waves throughout out body and into our heart. This energy quickly scurries throughout our physical body and into the energy field that surrounds us. It doesn’t stop there it keeps going outward like a pebble in a pond, carrying that vibration to people near us. If the emotion is strong it the energy will be sent even further. There are times when my day is happy, moving along with effortlessly only to feel ill at ease. I run a quick mental check of my own thoughts and of my energy system. Is it me I ask myself? Or is something else that has happened? When I have determined it is not me I will often turn on the TV or public radio to hear what is happening in the country or world. During times of high stress and trauma people send out waves of emotional energy. Like a beacon from a lighthouse that energy broadcast can be of unhappiness, alarm but mostly big time fear. As animal reacts on instinct so do humans. The fear of the unknown is one of our biggest obstacles and our greatest teachers. Ask yourself if how you are feeling is true to how you really feel or are you just reacting to another’s emotional energy. When we react to energy that is sent our along the Ley Lines of the Earth we are feeding what is know as the collective conscious. We are helping to spread that emotional turmoil to others who are not physically apart of the trauma. It also works the other way. On January 20th, I like many millions more was caught up in heart warming joy that filled my very soul with hope. I watched riveted to my seat as President Obama to the oath of president sending a message by the way he stood holding his body and through the vibration of his spoken words. The energy waves of joy, hope and love were then transmitted by the people standing in the mall listening. Their minds grabbed onto everything around them. Their hearts took the feelings projected by the mind and sent out waves upon waves of overwhelming joy, hope and peace. This is the type of energy that gives you a massive high. For days after wards you bask in the glory of the day reliving it every time you tell where or what you were feeling. As I watched the people on the mall explode with cheers a memory flittered across my mind. It was when I was a child in my grandfather’s cow field with my siblings and cousins. We were walking through the pasture to the electric field. The older kids telling the younger ones “It wouldn’t hurt! Don’t be a chicken!” The bravest of us stood nearest the electric line the rest of us held hands in a straight line parallel to the fence. The fence was grabbed and the electric current ran though all of us sapping the last in line with a gasp. That was the current that ran through people as they listened to President Obama. Setting your goals can give you that same high, your ego is bursting with pride from all you will accomplish in the days to come. The reality is that if you do not take action toward accomplishing your goals you will crash and burn with your ego reciting in your mind all the excuses of why you will not succeed. That is why I tell the ego: “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind” It is said that it takes “21” days to form a new habit. So give your goal(s) daily attention for 21 days and see what happens. Another signpost that is always talked about is the first “100” days in office, “What will the President accomplish in the first 100 days?” proclaims the news media. Since the president was speaking to all of us a movement of called The Pledge has been launched. People are making daily pledges designed to help the president and the country by doing their part. Some declare the simplest of changes to be made in their everyday lives. Some pledges talk about enormous change that will take many people and many resources to see it become a reality. Each pledge is neither too small nor too big when is a personal commitment to change. It is the same for our personnel goals How will I take steps in reaching my plans for myself and in doing so helping others reach theirs? By walking a path that is true to who I am and what I believe in, talking the talk and walking the walk. Everyday I see and read my vision board where my goals are posted. Everyday I think of ways to work on my goals, I form and reform my plans. One of my goals is to write and publish a book dealing with Shamanism and animal communication. I have been encouraged to write and submit a proposal to an agent. I have an ego that says “What makes you think you have anything to say that people will want to read?” At first I enthusiastically I researched everything I could on “writing a successful book proposal” I brainstormed all the particulars that needed to be included in the proposal. I wrote out paragraphs detailing the whys and wherefores of my story. Then I sat down to write the actual proposal and found that I had a so called formula that had worked for others only I didn’t hear my voice within what was written. I felt like I had lost a part of what makes me who I am. Fear set in, I took a deep breath released it slowly letting go of the doubt and setting aside all I had prepared. I went for a walk, listened to the sounds of nature and asked for guidance. When I returned home I had a plan to sit at the computer every day and write. No time limit, no expectations and no ego i.e. inner critic telling me no. This is my “100” day commitment to one of my personal goals: To write my story everyday in my own voice. Some of what I write you will see and some you will have to wait for the book. I am following Henry David Thoreau’s quote to help me find my way. “To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” As a side note: I pledge to continue to seek ways to protect our natural resources. To speak up for our four legged, winged, swimming friends who have no voice of their own by writing to congressman and senators. I pledge, to continue to volunteer my time at the local animal shelter, by raising money, helping to plan its future and to do healing work on the animals in its care. I pledge to stand up and make my voice heard.

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” Henry David Thoreau This is one of my favorite quotes and my constant reminder that with any goal I set I must imagine myself walking as if I have already achieved it. I think those thoughts that will bring me to the goal I desire. After I wrote “Did you set your Goals for the New Year” my girlfriend Patti sent me an email “Well said my philosophical friend!” I took it as praise for the writing but what struck me was the word philosophical. I had to ask did I set out to write lofty ideals without realistic expectations. No, I wrote what I believe. Now it would be nice to connect the dots, to give understanding to others. Every morning we awake and take stock of our bodies by stretching our limbs and give thought to what the day will bring. If upon awaking you find yourself grumpy, irritable, and/or angry than your day will reflect your inner mood. The good old stub you toe and the rest of the day bring you much of the same pain. If on the other hand, you awake joyful, peaceful and full of love your day will find a path of ease. My day starts off with declaring “This is going to be a GREAT DAY! Even now as I write those words I can feel my heart chakra opening up sending out a pulsing wave of love throughout my physical body. The animal world sends out their own unique waves of energy. Dogs that wag their tails so hard that the whole body wags are sending out vibrant vibrations of love / joy. When I work with horse that have past to the other side I am often greeted with head bobbing up and down, a whiny and a slight shutter that runs all the way down the spine and out the tail. Cats are a bit more demure in the sending of love and joy with the purr that resonates within the core of their bodies. A purr can be so subtle and soft you wonder if you are really hearing it. Flip, whose nervous system was thrown out of whack when he was struck by distemper as a young kitten has a purr that is so slight that I often touch him just to feel the vibration. Where my Jasper’s purr is one of the loudest purrs I have ever heard. Only Jasper can wake you up in the night by purring and he’s not even on the bed! In humans, it is the thoughts in our mind that send energy waves throughout out body and into our heart. This energy quickly scurries throughout our physical body and into the energy field that surrounds us. It doesn’t stop there it keeps going outward like a pebble in a pond, carrying that vibration to people near us. If the emotion is strong it the energy will be sent even further. There are times when my day is happy, moving along with effortlessly only to feel ill at ease. I run a quick mental check of my own thoughts and of my energy system. Is it me I ask myself? Or is something else that has happened? When I have determined it is not me I will often turn on the TV or public radio to hear what is happening in the country or world. During times of high stress and trauma people send out waves of emotional energy. Like a beacon from a lighthouse that energy broadcast can be of unhappiness, alarm but mostly big time fear. As animal reacts on instinct so do humans. The fear of the unknown is one of our biggest obstacles and our greatest teachers. Ask yourself if how you are feeling is true to how you really feel or are you just reacting to another’s emotional energy. When we react to energy that is sent our along the Ley Lines of the Earth we are feeding what is know as the collective conscious. We are helping to spread that emotional turmoil to others who are not physically apart of the trauma. It also works the other way. On January 20th, I like many millions more was caught up in heart warming joy that filled my very soul with hope. I watched riveted to my seat as President Obama to the oath of president sending a message by the way he stood holding his body and through the vibration of his spoken words. The energy waves of joy, hope and love were then transmitted by the people standing in the mall listening. Their minds grabbed onto everything around them. Their hearts took the feelings projected by the mind and sent out waves upon waves of overwhelming joy, hope and peace. This is the type of energy that gives you a massive high. For days after wards you bask in the glory of the day reliving it every time you tell where or what you were feeling. As I watched the people on the mall explode with cheers a memory flittered across my mind. It was when I was a child in my grandfather’s cow field with my siblings and cousins. We were walking through the pasture to the electric field. The older kids telling the younger ones “It wouldn’t hurt! Don’t be a chicken!” The bravest of us stood nearest the electric line the rest of us held hands in a straight line parallel to the fence. The fence was grabbed and the electric current ran though all of us sapping the last in line with a gasp. That was the current that ran through people as they listened to President Obama. Setting your goals can give you that same high, your ego is bursting with pride from all you will accomplish in the days to come. The reality is that if you do not take action toward accomplishing your goals you will crash and burn with your ego reciting in your mind all the excuses of why you will not succeed. That is why I tell the ego: “As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind” It is said that it takes “21” days to form a new habit. So give your goal(s) daily attention for 21 days and see what happens. Another signpost that is always talked about is the first “100” days in office, “What will the President accomplish in the first 100 days?” proclaims the news media. Since the president was speaking to all of us a movement of called The Pledge has been launched. People are making daily pledges designed to help the president and the country by doing their part. Some declare the simplest of changes to be made in their everyday lives. Some pledges talk about enormous change that will take many people and many resources to see it become a reality. Each pledge is neither too small nor too big when is a personal commitment to change. It is the same for our personnel goals How will I take steps in reaching my plans for myself and in doing so helping others reach theirs? By walking a path that is true to who I am and what I believe in, talking the talk and walking the walk. Everyday I see and read my vision board where my goals are posted. Everyday I think of ways to work on my goals, I form and reform my plans. One of my goals is to write and publish a book dealing with Shamanism and animal communication. I have been encouraged to write and submit a proposal to an agent. I have an ego that says “What makes you think you have anything to say that people will want to read?” At first I enthusiastically I researched everything I could on “writing a successful book proposal” I brainstormed all the particulars that needed to be included in the proposal. I wrote out paragraphs detailing the whys and wherefores of my story. Then I sat down to write the actual proposal and found that I had a so called formula that had worked for others only I didn’t hear my voice within what was written. I felt like I had lost a part of what makes me who I am. Fear set in, I took a deep breath released it slowly letting go of the doubt and setting aside all I had prepared. I went for a walk, listened to the sounds of nature and asked for guidance. When I returned home I had a plan to sit at the computer every day and write. No time limit, no expectations and no ego i.e. inner critic telling me no. This is my “100” day commitment to one of my personal goals: To write my story everyday in my own voice. Some of what I write you will see and some you will have to wait for the book. I am following Henry David Thoreau’s quote to help me find my way. “To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” As a side note: I pledge to continue to seek ways to protect our natural resources. To speak up for our four legged, winged, swimming friends who have no voice of their own by writing to congressman and senators. I pledge, to continue to volunteer my time at the local animal shelter, by raising money, helping to plan its future and to do healing work on the animals in its care. I pledge to stand up and make my voice heard.

There is always talk about making your New Years resolution and about not keeping them a month or two down the road. What is it about the word “resolution” that sets people up to fail? Nothing, the dictionary says the state or quality of being resolute, when you look up resolute you find not hesitating or wavering. All good things to think about we set out our resolutions for the year. It is the energy thought form that has surrounded New Year’s resolution for many, many years that sets us up to fail. Let me give you an example. If at a New Year’s Eve gathering you hear people talking about making and keeping this year’s resolution, then in the last sentence they declare that they will probably fail again to keep their resolution. You know that they will fail for they just voiced that they would. Thought follows action. Over time other people will believe that if they too make a resolution that they too will fail. Your ego loves this kind of chatter for it begins to tell you that you will also fail so you feel defeated even before you begin. It is called collective consciousness. To get away from the collected consciousness, I ask that you look at the New Year with its new opportunities differently. I ask that you set your goals. A goal is defined as the purpose your endeavor is directed; an object. It is setting your intention to achieve a specific want, desire or need. From there you can always make or plan or be open when an idea that leads you to your goal appears. For the path that may have felt like the right way to go may not be when a different opportunity presents its self. The key is to let go of your expectations when you reach that goal. Visualize instead of how it will feel when you reach your goal, let that sensation permeate your entire being. Whenever you see yourself achieving any goal remember to feel what it will be like to already have what you desire. My dogs have one common goal in mind; that is to keep the squirrels off the bird feeder. The squirrels come most mornings through the trees, across the yard, up on the deck to scurry up the pole that holds the large bird feeder. The dogs check the kitchen window in the morning looking to see if the squirrels have invaded. At other times they can be sound asleep in the living room when both hear a squirrel noise, jump to their feet and run to the kitchen door. The mastiff, Malloki sounds the alarm; her aim is to run out to the edge of the deck barking loudly as she goes, place her front feet on the bench that runs the length of the rail and look up to the trees to see if she can spot the offending squirrel. Elera the Great Dame runs full speed across the deck, flying over the stairs, transverses the lawn leaping up into the stand of trees. As she runs she is searching the ground incessantly till she sees the squirrel then chasing it through the snow stopping short as the fence stops her short. There are those rare times that Elera believes running up the tree will help her in her pursuit of catching a squirrel in her sights. Having completed their goal for the day the dogs come into the house with swaggers that say “There, our bird feeder is once again safe from invading squirrels!” The lesson from the dog world is set your goal and when the opportunity arises go for it! With all the gusto you can muster up. Animals don’t fuss over the how, what, when or whys in reaching their goal. You don’t see them turning back or worrying about the outcome. A dog does it for the pure joy of doing something that brings fulfillment. Friends of mine told me how each year they write down their goals for the year, share them with each other and then place them in an envelope until the next New Year. A day or two before the 1st they open the envelope read the goals that they had set for themselves for the past year. If they obtained the goal great if not no big deal, it may not have been as important of a goal as they thought a year ago. Then they burn the list and are ready to create their new list of goals. I also set goals, in the past I have only set about 3-4 for the year; to me they were very obtainable ideas that pertained to where I wanted to be headed. In September of 2008 I had a reading with a very talented lady from Columbia South America. She voiced to me aspects of my life that I was aware of and a few that I was not. At the end of the reading she told me that 2009 was a year of transition for me, in fact she said I was already in that transition. Now I needed to write 9 goals for the year and place them on a vision board. I already had a vision board that I look at daily that was no problem, but “9 GOALS”! Wow, that seemed like a lot. I started envisioning the “12 Labors of Hercules” I thought I had to be careful with the words I used for thoughts lead to action. I brainstormed writing down everything that came into my head. I rewrote those thoughts into goals and the thoughts into phrases only they weren’t quite right. Before I knew it I was making the expression of these nine goals into an unobtainable task. I was feeling defeated before I even began. So I set them aside, no more thought, no more emotional energy tied up in what could be or how to express them. On January 2nd I briefly glanced at the paper next to my chair with what I had written during my initial brainstorming of writing my “9 goals”. Then without any further contemplation I picked up a pen and paper and set down my intentions on a fresh pad of paper. Six solid goals were written and posted on my new golden vision board near my alter. I decided to let the others goals work their way through my brain till they were ready to be written. On my daily walk with the dogs two more goals surfaced and I added them to the vision board. The last goal is a blank piece of paper, which signifies that I am open to the endless possibilities, in which there is an infinite number, that the universe my place in my path as I transverse this road we call life. When our New Years resolution is to be present every minute of every day, you create a space in which you see, hear, feel and touch the miracles of life. Let your resolutions include being open to all the possibilities.