November 10, 2023

A mindset of scarcity blocks us from abundance. We choose something we value, and we think it is our life’s blood. In scarcity, we focus on accumulating and protecting our most valued things because we fear losing them. Therefore, we stockpile these things to prevent our life’s blood from “hemorrhaging.” Some may call this approach self-reliance, and others may call it isolationist or the silo phenomenon. In any case, the mindset of scarcity thinks that abundance is created only by our own efforts.

November 9, 2023

People of conscious faith approach abundance quite differently from people who are primarily ego-driven. Ego-driven folks either work for a constant flow of abundance or complain about a lack of abundance. Neither strategy works. But those striving for conscious faith are aligned with the natural rhythm of the universe. They understand abundance is like the ebb and flow of the ocean's tides.

November 8, 2023

So many of us fear scarcity which is, of course, the opposite of abundance. At times, there is real scarcity. For example, in the American Great Depression of the 1930s, jobs, food, clothing and everything money could buy were scarce. Money itself was scarce. The entire world was in a global financial crisis.

November 7, 2023

As a boy growing up on the Gulf of Mexico, our little group of friends would run to the beach for a swim, sometimes two or three times a day. We'd dash over the hot quartz crystal dunes into the cool surf. Then, we would jump head-on into the waves.

November 5, 2023

In a trauma requiring resilience, we nurture ourselves unfailingly. We do not distract ourselves from our needs by focusing on the needs of others. In self-compassion, we attend to our needs, and then compassionately extend ourselves to others. In this way, we open ourselves to the love of others and we are affirmed, even in the midst of turmoil.

November 3, 2023

We receive and give Divine energy, resources, presence and wisdom. We absorb these gifts and freely let them flow through us to others. We do not withhold ourselves or our soul from others.

November 1, 2023

By becoming conscious of the Divine, we manifest our higher self. Through our higher self’s qualities, we adapt to adverse circumstances that our egos alone could never do. So, instead of disintegrating into blaming others, crumpling under the Inner Critic, panicking, losing hope or going into despair, we pull from a treasure chest of spiritual capacities.

October 30, 2023

At Point Three, another essential aspect of resilience is called Reality-Based Action. This means that we take action when we are traumatized, but we first embrace the realities of the situation, regardless of the pain involved.

October 27, 2023

We are fortunate to have a blueprint of how to build resilience: the Enneagram’s inner flow against the arrows shows us all nine energy points. Each point represents an essential spiritual energy that is a building block of resilience. By going to each point, we build resilience.

October 25, 2023

Love and sleep are related in many ways. I recall the many evenings I tucked my kids into their beds. After a busy day and evening, I lay beside my children, reading a story and then saying a prayer. By the time I finished the prayer, my child was asleep, and I was so relaxed that I often drifted into sleep as well.

October 23, 2023

Yes, we have a much better chance of sleeping when we shut down our overactive ego. One of the most influential and non-chemical ways is through systematic relaxation followed by prayer. This is not a light matter because prayer is the reconnection of our mind, body and heart to the One True Source of All Being.

October 20, 2023

As a child, I fought my parents about going to bed. I wanted to stay up for more TV or more play and could not understand why I was made to go to sleep. I was mad at my parents because sleep was like dying for me. During sleep, I had no life and no excitement. I didn't even remember what happened in those eight to ten hours.

October 18, 2023

When in tune with our essence, we can better know if a challenge is relevant to our destiny or if it is an unhealthy egoic desire. The essence senses when a challenge is essential and connects us with the ideas and qualities we need to work through it. It does not mind if we have to push the reset button because our failures are not viewed as shameful but for learning.

October 16, 2023

I wept at my desk one evening while doing homework. I did not understand Algebra, no matter how hard I tried. I felt ashamed because I'd never had trouble with my subjects before this year in Junior High, and I prided myself on making good grades.

October 13, 2023

Shock points are the experiences in life that interrupt our regular pathway. According to Gurdjieff, shocks come in twos in the transformational cycle, which contains seven stages, like the musical octave.

October 11, 2023

Some of us are insatiably curious. It is not only Ego Type Fives who want to know; any of the ego types can be unendingly curious.

One reason many of us are curious is that we want to know if our hunches are correct. We also wish to fill in the information gaps. Curiosity is a wonderful gift.

October 9, 2023

The ego writes a story of how life should go, so it tends to collect information to support its storyline. Therefore, we are curious about things that will confirm our ego’s story and its hunches. On the whole, curiosity is a wonderful attribute that opens up worlds we’d never have known. But sometimes, curiosity crosses the line becoming nosey, prying or snoopy.

October 6, 2023

Curiosity has its roots in our souls. Most fundamentally, it is the desire to find forgotten parts of ourselves. Curiosity is the quest to fill in all the inner spaces of things we are interested in, have an affinity for and want to re-member. Why would you explore something you could not relate to or were not interested in consciously or subconsciously?