Daily Commitment to Humility.

It's simple: I do not want an ego but understand that ego resides within the mind. That, we cannot escape. Fear exists within the mind, therefore, to live a humble existence, every day I strive to relinquish attachments (emotional, mental, physical) and to objects, ideals and expectations of myself and in turn others. I have a commitment to living this way each and every day through stillness, reflection, trust and intuition. No matter where I am or what I’m doing within my spirit, I express gratitude and deep thanks every single day regardless of all circumstances or situations.  

Gratitude.

If we really wanted to, we could find fault in absolutely everything in life. If we wanted to, we could also be grateful for absolutely everything we have in life. It’s a choice and it takes a while for all of us to realise this. In the past I’ve read - “The more I understand the mind and the human experience, the more I begin to suspect there is no such thing as unhappiness; there is only ungratefulness.” And when you truly focus on every single thing you can be grateful for, each and every day, you’ll soon see, know and trust that it’s a choice to be unhappy, just as much as it’s a choice to be truly happy. What are you grateful for today? Are you going to choose happiness over ungratefulness? 

Go Forth In Peace.

It's a beautiful feeling being open towards people from all backgrounds, cultures and nationalities because its simply not a nice or rewarding feeling thinking you're better than others; more deserving or more capable. We're all born into different circumstances, situations and illusions. Imagine being born into circumstances lesser than your own? What would you do? How would you be? Put yourself in others shoes and learn to empathise. At the end of the day we're all equal, we're all one. There's no such thing as being better than the person next to you, just different. You’re not “cooler” or more important, just different. We are all divine individuals of God, here for a purpose, with just as much relevance, importance, love and ability within all of us. We’re all here on planet earth to serve a purpose and bring about balance and harmony. So go forth in peace. 

Faith.

What’s the point in not having faith? What else are you going to have? Sometimes we lose perspective of the faith we’re capable of having and that’s okay. But faith in its grand meaning encourages us to be still and to trust ourselves, to trust our intuition. To listen to the quiet voice inside with love. Our heart and soul always knows best. 

Mysteries Of The Road Ahead.

Take a different road today and see where it takes you. Drive a different route tomorrow and see how it inspires you. Journey a new path and trust the lessons it teaches you. 

Two Parts of You.

Your body and your mind are one, two-parts of the one YOU. This might not be news to you, but even if it isn’t news to you, you may not still be living as though they are one. You may still blame or reject your body when it is unwell or when it is in pain.

Un-wellness and pain are messages from the body to your conscious mind, messages from one part of yourself to another part of yourself. They are messages about problems. How often do you pause to listen, to enquire, and seek to understand what the messages are about?

One of the communication systems that connect the mind and body is the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). The ANS has two main arms: The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). The SNS is our “Fight and Flight” nervous system, and the PNS is our “Rest, Digest and Repair” nervous system.

The SNS is responsible for quick responses to threat and danger. It is the system that stimulates, that creates alertness. It is our stress response system.

These two-systems can’t both be running fully at the same time. When the SNS is on-line, the PNS is off-line. Because most of us lead busy, overstimulated fast paced lives with little focus on rest and relaxation and plenty of focus on stress, trying to keep up, keep on top, stay in control and prove ourselves our SNS is hogging the airwaves.

When this happens, our immune systems become suppressed, our digestive function becomes compromised, there is a rise in inflammation in the body, and biochemical imbalance occurs. All of which drive illness and pain.

If we want to be healthy, we have to look at our lifestyles, the choices we make, the ways in which we push ourselves, and the beliefs and stories we operate our lives by.

Slow down, be kind to yourself and learn to say no. What’s the worse thing that could happen if you do? You might be healthier, happier and more at peace.

Written by Adam Cootes, Arising Self - http://arisingself.com 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Arising-Self/153987954634003 

Everything Happens for a Reason.

In September of 2012, I got a parasite in Nepal called Blastocystis Hominis. I’ve heard of people embarking upon third world travel, only to return with either worms, bacteria or parasites in their system, however, naively, I never thought this would happen to me.

In the past 6 months, I’ve experienced intense symptoms of chronic fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, lack of concentration, dizziness and I hate to admit it, but feelings of depression as a result. It’s the first time in my life I’ve had to truly relinquish control over my health, many aspects of my life, and realise the value of good health - good health I had always taken for granted. 

We always say that we appreciate how lucky we are, but it wasn’t until I was personally knocked down for 6 months that I could truly understand the value and sheer importance of looking after yourself. It’s not as though I asked for a parasite or intended on attracting one (or extremely high quantities in my case) into my life, but it happened and I’ve had to step up and grow rapidly as a human being in my process of healing. 

No words could describe how “off” I felt most of the time. Friends couldn’t comprehend that I was still sick, day after day, week after week. People didn’t want to understand why I was doing my best to avoid alcohol, sugar, yeast, wheat and dairy or getting skinnier and skinnier. 99% of people had no concept of a parasite being able to have this affect on someone, but it can. Suddenly, the usual fun, free, open and spontaneous “me” felt deeply trapped in a cage with no escape, still no answers and boring explanations as to my sudden “dark change”. I wouldn’t wish this experience upon anyone. 

The parasite essentially infiltrates your emotional nervous system by living in your intestines and gut. It consumes all goodness you put into your body. It scrambles your brain, confuses every aspect of your digestive system and basically screws up your emotional nervous system. You can’t think straight, process information well and you constantly feel as though there is something inside of every part of you, negatively controlling all aspects of your being. The symptoms have different degrees of affect on different people. 

The thing that “saved” me was trialling a procedure in an “antibiotic infusion” through the Centre of Digestive Diseases in Sydney, Australia. Google it. I had to wait 6 weeks post this procedure in order to do more results to see if I’d managed to get rid of it. These 6 weeks were also grueling. I firstly felt pretty shitty post the procedure, but then a couple of weeks later I felt amazing. A few more weeks after that, I suddenly felt extreme waves of nausea, some days had extreme bloating, then nothing; and others, strange symptoms. The doctors described this as “antibiotic euphoria”. 

But what I also embarked upon were healing’s of a different kind. I’ve committed to meditation, reiki, naturopathy, emotional freedom therapy, psychotherapy, integrated body healing (inner child work), spiritual healing and neurological emotional therapy / kinesiology. I’ve wanted to explore it all - as much as I could. The past 6 months has been as good a time as any to do this type of exploring into the realms of good health and healing.

And here is why everything happens for a reason. If I hadn’t visited my sister in Nepal, I would have never got the parasite. If I had never got the parasite, I wouldn’t have invested all the time, effort and money into self development and improved health - mentally, physically and emotionally. Through this whole experience, my perspective has changed; not only towards myself, but towards the experiences I’ve endured in life, my family, friends and the world around me. I’ve also learned who my true friends are and that at the end of the day, family is who you can truly rely on, even if the family picture “ain’t ideal”. 

I have more gratitude in my heart, deeper self love, appreciation and self-acceptance; I’ve worked hard in recognising ego driven behaviour and thinking, versus heart based thinking and feeling, and I can see exactly why I’ve arrived at the point I have today.

And so, directly from Nepal... “Namaste” to you and most importantly, to myself.    

Valda

My grandmother passed away on Easter Sunday of 2012. Valda was her name. She had the wit of Woody Allen and the charm of Marilyn Monroe. She loved her cigarettes, champagne, Christian Dior sunglasses and Gucci shoes. With bright red hair, she was a hoot. Always finding an opportunity to laugh, inspire others with tales, pose inquisition and express her curiosity for all aspects of life. Once upon a time she was a ballet dancer, a community ambassador, an aid worker for war victims and socialite who regularly featured in the national papers. But she also suffered great loneliness post the death of her husband, my grandfather. 

Valda had to find ways to dream again. She turned to musicals, romance novels, audio books and writing letters on her old typewriter to friends and family far and wide. Valda would strike up numerous conversations with other women and men in her retirement village, which she humorously referred to as “The Green Mile” (note Tom Hanks multi award winning film, The Green Mile), but they were no where near filled with the vitality and energy she was. According to Valda, they could hardly ever hear or comprehend what she was saying. Despite these aids to break her free from feelings of entrapment of old age, her child within would cry out for love; for the company of family who rarely visited. Valda still needed to be held, to be acknowledged. She just wanted friendship, some understanding and essentially the opportunity to love and dream again. In Valda’s mind, it still wasn’t too late. But when loneliness and isolation stifles the ability to dream, its hard to awaken an inner strength of hope that things will be okay. 

In the final year of Valda’s life and to all of our surprise, she was able to find love again. It just so happened that the man living underneath her apartment on the floor below became a dear friend. Bob was his name who shared many stories with Valda on politics, history and religion. For lighter entertainment and every night of the week, the two of them would congregate in Bobs apartment to watch ‘Two and a Half Men’ over prawns, oysters and champagne (and in Valda’s case, most likely a cigarette or few). They found solace in one another; a deep and meaningful friendship, peace and great fun. Evidently it’s never too late to find love and you never know where you’re going to find it. 

As Valda held my hand in her own final hours, she barely managed to communicate ‘you will be a wonderful woman. You were so beautiful as a child. Don’t ever give up on your dreams’. And Valda that day as her own child once again laying before me, with her eyes closed, still portrayed the utmost value in having and pursuing thy dreams. 

Upon reflection of Valda’s life, she was a great teacher with the message that community is still key. Harnessing deep and meaningful human relationships substantially contributes to the awakening of your inner child. Through others you can share a reflection of one another’s dreams. You’re able to share stories, tales and laughter; ideas and theories; challenge one another to think and see differently and ultimately be there as the warmth of company to replace loneliness and isolation. Whilst we are all born alone and essentially die on our own, we still must journey through life with others and share relationships of high communicative value in an interpersonal setting. And... All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them (Walt Disney).