During my shift last week, I had a long, emotional conversation with a gentleman whose wife was near death. As is often the case in discussions like that, there was a mixture of tears and laughter on both of our parts as he told me some very personal stories about her, about their relationship, and about his own journey.

Some of the stuff he told me was so foreign to my own life experiences that I had to work hard to keep my jaw from dropping. He talked, very matter-of-factly, about violence and drugs and arrests and brawls and incredibly tragic family histories.

If I had been reading what he was telling me instead of talking with him about it, I probably would have dismissed it all as being so over the top that it had to have been made up. But I have no doubt he was telling me the truth.

Yet, in those moments of grief, he was a very gentle man trying to come to grips with what her life, and his own, have meant, and I found myself feeling a lot of empathy for him. Two guys, from dramatically different backgrounds, talking about the meaning of life.

That experience was an important reminder for me about our unity with every other human being. I’ve always congratulated myself on being able to interact comfortably with people from all walks of life, but I had never met anyone like him, and if somebody had told me about him beforehand, I probably would have had no interest in doing so.

Yet there’s no doubt in my mind that our paths “just happened” to cross at that moment in time, and I believe we both came away from that conversation feeling a strong kinship with each other.

The very first section in the first chapter of Lessons from the Source is called “Unity with God and All Creation,” and there’s long passage about the concept of God (or Source, or whatever term is comfortable for you) being present everywhere in the Universe. When I left hospice that evening, I found myself thinking about this paragraph from that section.

“As you meditate upon this concept, you will begin to come to a spiritual understanding of the unity of all things. If God energy or substance is present in all things, then all things share a unity of being. If, at your most basic element, you share the same reality as all other humans, then there is a basis for communication and love and understanding between you and any other person. If that common element extends beyond human beings to every aspect of my creation, there is a unity that you cannot now even begin to comprehend. Yet, if you can accept that it is there, you have taken the very first step toward an expansion of your consciousness that will alter your life on the planet in ways that you cannot yet imagine and will allow you to make a quantum leap in your never-ending spiritual growth.”

Sometimes it takes a while to be able to make that quantum leap.

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My life has been richly blessed, and I have so much to be grateful for. Being able to get to know, and communicate with, so many people I’ve never even met ranks right up there on my list, and I want you to know how very much I appreciate your friendship and support and encouragement. My best wishes to each of you for a peaceful, joyous Thanksgiving.

“Happy Thanksgiving! The two words go together in a wonderful and perfect way, for joy and thanksgiving are symbiotic. When you realize how much there is to be thankful for and then express that thanks, joy is your natural companion. Likewise, when you are able to express fully the joy that is always within you, the giving of thanks is a natural byproduct.

Let your mind be filled now with the realization of all that you “have” or have experienced that is worthy of thanks. If you can accept the reality that there is good in everything and every experience, then your mind will be like the cornucopia so often seen on Thanksgiving Day—a ceaseless flow of blessings.

The concept of the cornucopia is, of course, a representation of reality. At the small, pointy end of the cornucopia basket, there clearly is no room (from your limited perspective) for much of anything. Yet from this seeming nothingness flows an unceasing supply of blessings and riches. And thus, it is with your life. There are many blessings around you that you think you understand and that you almost take for granted. And yet at a time of need—no matter what the needed blessing may be—you begin to wonder “how in the world” (another interesting phrase of the race consciousness that indicates a built-in perception of limitation because of the perceived limitations of the laws of the physical world) the needed or desired result can ever come to pass.

At such times, remember the cornucopia. Its ceaseless flow of blessings comes from an unseen source and is seemingly impossible, because the flow begins at a point where there appears to be nothing. This flow of blessings is the same phenomenon we have been discussing. The cornucopia is a commonly accepted symbol in the physical world of this phenomenon. Use it as a visual trigger to help put you into the flow. Keep it in your mind as a reminder of your reality.

The giving of thanks is extremely important. This act is an expression of your realization of the source of all of your good. As you give thanks, that realization will become stronger, and you will increase your awareness of your unity with me. Enjoy the process of giving thanks on this day that others have designated for this purpose, and let it serve as a stimulus to you for making the giving of thanks a continuous process that takes place naturally and spontaneously every day of your life.”

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I think I’m supposed to write a blog post today.

For two days now, I’ve been experiencing one of those periods when it feels like the Universe is reminding me that I’m not in control.

Maybe you’ve seen me mention that the audiobook version of Lessons from the Source is about to go on sale. Well I’ve been thinking and saying that for quite a while now and have experienced one delay after another for more reasons than I can even remember – or understand.

Long story short, we were getting very close to finally having everything in place yesterday when my computer started having problems. They seemed a lot like an issue I had encountered a few months ago and that a computer guy had been able to take care of in a few hours.

So I took it back to him, and he’s had it for more than a day and hasn’t been able to figure out what the issue is. I just called to check in, and he asked me to leave it with him again tonight.

I had been sitting at that darn computer for hours on end trying to be sure I had all the bases covered, and suddenly it wasn’t there to captivate me, and I found myself on a forced hiatus.

So after fretting about the situation for a while, I decided to take a walk, and almost everything I saw appeared to be reminding me to be at peace.

The fall foliage in the neighborhood is absolutely spectacular, and it was as if the trees were demonstrating that the life cycle continues to unfold effortlessly for them, and that they can reach that point of extraordinary beauty without any struggle at all.

Then I spent some time walking around a lake that is a natural habitat for several species of ducks. There were literally hundreds of them, and they seemed unfazed by my presence – or anything else. Some were paddling gently through the water, seemingly without effort. Others were picking at the grass, finding the food they were sure would be there for them. And still others would take off and fly slowly around the lake as if they were taking in the beauty from a new perspective.

When I got home, I picked up the notebook that I still use to receive and write down the kind of wisdom that is in Lessons from the Source and opened it to something I had written on January 20 of this year. Ironically, I had been dealing with issues about the audiobook way back then, and this is the first thing I read:

“There is no need to struggle with such a complex web of issues (in fact there is no need to struggle at all) or to allow yourself to become overwhelmed with feelings of responsibility. Be kind to yourself. Approach your days with gentle joy and enthusiasm.”

“Gentle joy and enthusiasm.” Just reading those words made me smile at the realization that I hadn’t been feeling those qualities lately. I clearly had been struggling in recent days, trying to make sure everything about the audiobook was just the way I wanted it to be, so the reminders, from nature and the notebook, not surprisingly came at a perfect time.

Of course God’s timing is always perfect. I obviously needed to remember that and then let go of the struggle, and I had been given the time and a good reason to do so. The release of the audiobook has been pushed back again for a few more days, and while I may not understand why, I’m accepting this most recent delay with gratitude, because I’m certain there is a good reason for it in the grander scheme of things.

And it’s been far too long since my last blog post, so perhaps this is exactly when it was supposed to happen.

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My two young grandsons are bubbling over with the joy of living, and their energy is highly contagious. I feel blessed with each new day I’m given.

One of the most important and rewarding parts of my life is my work as a hospice volunteer, which has helped me arrive at a point of being totally at peace with death.

I’ve often wondered why it is that so many of us have difficulty dealing with death, when there never seems to be reluctance on anyone’s part to share stories (almost always joyous) about the circumstances around a new soul’s entry into the physical world and the beginning of its journey.

Last night, while I was watching coverage of Steve Jobs’ death, I found myself thinking about these lines from Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.”

Kind of intriguing that he mentioned the exits before the entrances, isn’t it?

Those two lines always have struck me as an appropriate and concise metaphor for life’s journey, but I couldn’t remember any of the rest of the passage, so I looked it up and found myself taking issue with some of his descriptions of the stages of life, especially the last one.

“Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history, is second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

“Mere oblivion.” Wow!

I wonder to what extent those two words have affected people’s feelings about death over the centuries.

During my nearly 20 years of involvement with hospice, I’ve seen lots of different reactions to the reality of death, and one thing I’ve always found fascinating is the consistently similar way in which folks react when they learn that I do hospice work.

I would guess that as many as 80% of them get a rather shocked or surprised expression on their faces and then say something to the effect that they never would be able to do something like that.

And when I tell them that spending time with people who have reached the end of their journeys usually is a joyous experience for me, the conversations tend to switch fairly quickly to another topic.

My daughter-in-law is a midwife, and she and I have talked from time to time about births and deaths we have witnessed, and there always is a recognition and acknowledgement of the similarity between the experiences.

Part of that, I believe, is the mystery about where – or what – we transition from at the beginning of life, and then back to again at the end. But there also is the awe and wonder of being able to witness the actual beginning or ending of someone else’s adventure.

We all are on life journeys that began in a specific place at a specific moment in time, but none of us knows where or when – or how – our own journey will end. Is it fear of that ultimate unknown – that “mere oblivion” – that makes us shy away from contemplating death or witnessing the final curtain of some else’s adventure?

I’ve arrived at a point in life where that uncertainty is almost energizing, and it offers regular motivation for trying to live as fully as I can in this moment – and in as many other moments as I might have left.

As part of the news coverage of Steve Jobs’ passing, they showed some clips from a commencement address he gave at Stanford University in 2005, and I believe his perspective on death can be helpful to all of us.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”

Here’s to following our hearts when we make the big choices.

© Jack Armstrong 2011

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Those words, in one form or another, have been coming through to me regularly for more than a year in the messages I continue to receive and transcribe.

It’s as if the Universe were hitting me over the head with a cosmic two-by-four. Sometimes it takes a while for things to sink in for me.

I’ve written before about the early messages I was given as a kid about not being good enough, and for most of my life I felt a need to prove myself – to show the world that I was, in fact, good enough.

That translated into an internal push to “accomplish” one thing or another – to use what I perceived as my own human ingenuity to move heaven and earth (now isn’t that an interesting phrase!) to have things turn out the way I thought they should.

Those efforts over the years eventually led to a series of frustrations or disappointments that, in turn, reinforced my beliefs about my own inadequacies. Talk about a vicious cycle!

Learning the lesson about letting go of the need to make things happen on my own has been an ongoing process, but I keep making progress.

As many of you know, for many years I resisted the regular internal nudges I had been getting about sharing the lessons I had been receiving with others.

The resistance was partly from my fear about what other people would think, but also partly from my concern that I knew nothing about publishing a book – nor had ever had any desire to do so. How could I ever make that happen?

But once I finally was willing and able to surrender to those urgings and simply allow the book to happen, things began to fall into place without my need to figure out what to do next or how I would need to do it.

Letting go can be a life-changing experience.

Several weeks ago I wrote about the frustrations I felt after deciding to become involved with social media. I didn’t understand what to do, and I didn’t have anyone to help me, so I sat at my computer for hours on end, all day long, trying to figure it out and make things happen so the world could learn about the book.

After all, I thought, the lessons had come through me, and they could give people a new perspective on life that might help them make more sense of their own journeys, so I felt a responsibility to find a way to get the word out. Yet the harder I worked to understand it all the more frustrated I became, because from my perspective nothing was happening.

Then I took a long time-out. Over a period of about six months earlier this year, I devoted most of my time and energy to finding a house where Joan and I could consolidate our two homes into one, and then to the logistics of the move and the creation of our new home.

I had let go completely of the need to make things happen about the book.

And then new ideas began popping up in my mind about ways to share the teachings that wouldn’t require me to become an whiz on the internet. I could start blogging regularly. I could give people an opportunity to get excerpts from the book three times a week by e-mail. I could begin doing conference calls where I could talk about the book and answer people’s questions.

The ideas keep coming, and I feel free. And to top it all off, the Universe responded to my calls for help when a friend offered to handle some of the internet stuff I don’t have a clue about!

I’m guessing that the struggle to make things happen on our own is something we all deal with to one extent or another. I want to assure you that it is possible to let go and simply allow.

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My own experience was enjoyable and encouraging. I simply asked the “how are you” question with real sincerity, and most of the people I talked to (maybe 75%) appeared to welcome my questions and seemed eager to start a little conversation.

Those encounters almost always quickly became joyous, and I got the impression that the opportunity to talk with someone who really seemed to care was a gift in itself. (As a sidebar, I found it interesting how many of the interactions concerned the person’s work and often reflected unhappiness or boredom with his or her situation.)

On several occasions, I complimented check-out people at grocery stores about how efficiently they were packing the bags, and that simple compliment seemed to be enormously important. One person even said that I had made her day. Wow!

The most enjoyable report I received about others’ experiments was from Pat McDonald of Alma, Michigan. She wrote:

“Here in our little town we still have a gas station that has attendants who pump gas, wash the windows, check the oil, etc for the customers. So I stopped in today and Bubba was working. I automatically asked, “How are you?” and she said, “I’m sweating my ass off, but other than that I’m fine!” We both exploded into laughter and I thanked her for her honesty.

Then I proceeded to tell her about you and the experiment and how our greetings have become trite and mechanical.  At any rate we did have a very fine discussion about this and agreed that we distance and separate ourselves from the people in our communities mostly out of habit and lack of awareness. Then she opened up and shared her story and the difficult time she is going through. So needless to say, it was a grand human moment we shared.”

And then another voice weighed in.

Most of you know that I continue to receive and transcribe messages/teachings from somewhere outside of my own conscious mind. Apart from the ones in the book, I seldom share them with others, but this is going to be an exception.

During the week last week, I sat down and wrote the following:

“Be yourself today. Truly be yourself – your true self. It is so very easy to fall into the pattern of reacting to people or situations in the physical world around you from the perspective of your human identity without even pausing to focus on who you really are or how your human beingness is falling victim to the illusions that present themselves all day long.

Pause at the beginning of each day (and as often as you can remember to during your waking hours) to acknowledge, and give thanks for, and reconnect with your true identity as a spiritual being.

You are perfect and unblemished and radiant. You are a unique expression of me and of my essence. Your expression of your true identity in the world is a magnet for your good. It is a blessing to you and to others, and it will connect with the true identities of others, whether you or they recognize it at all.

You have been thinking about the mindless chatter of the interactions humans typically have with each other upon their first encounters, and you are realizing that these rote comments, which generally are said without thought or sincerity, are in the form of questions about the well being of the other, and yet in the vast majority of instances reflect no sincerity of interest in the response.

And the responses typically fall into that same pattern – a rote comment that in most cases does little or nothing to convey any sense of truth or honesty about their human condition.

For starters, try to reconnect with your true identity prior to each of those interactions you might have today. Recognize and accept the truth of your own true identity and that of the other person – and your spiritual unity with each other – before uttering a word and initiate the interaction from that perspective. See what happens.

In some instances, the other person’s response may seem to be the same seemingly unthinking, patterned comment to which almost all humans have become accustomed. But in others it will be clear to you that your spiritual beingness has connected with theirs. The truth is, however, that in some way your interactions will be at a higher level, whether or not it is apparent to you.

By taking these simple steps, you can do much to bring greater light into the world. Enjoy yourself today.”

That should offer plenty of food for thought, so I’ll say goodbye for now.

© Copyright Jack Armstrong 2011

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Lately, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about the almost rote and pro-forma verbal interactions we have with other people during the course of the day that most often are forgotten almost as quickly as they happen.

Sometimes they are with people we don’t know at all and might never encounter again, like the check-out person at a supermarket or a customer service agent on the phone. But they also take place with folks we run into regularly – neighbors, co-workers, members of the same churches or organizations.

The typical interaction goes something like this:

1)      “How are you?” or “How’s it going?” or “How are you doing?”

2)      “Fine” or “Good.” “How about you?”

3)      “Fine. Thanks for asking.”

And then it’s over.

It’s almost as if the script is required as part of our participation in the human race, yet we recite it without even thinking much about what we’re saying.

Talk about missed opportunities!

Every little encounter like that offers us a chance to recognize our common humanity, and perhaps even to bring a little light, or joy, or compassion into someone else’s life. But that doesn’t happen often, because it requires one of us to break the pattern of that standard script and open the door to something more meaningful.

We often find ourselves so caught up in the issues and illusions of our daily lives that we allow those opportunities to pass without even thinking about how a genuine, caring, thoughtful interaction – even a brief one – might affect the other person.

I, of course, am as guilty of that as anyone, but I had two notable interactions during our recent trip to Ohio with people whose responses to my Question #1 broke the usual pattern and made me stop and think.

The first was with a family member who had had a very close encounter with cancer some years ago, but who has been in remission for four years. His response to my “How are you?” was “Vertical and ventilating.”

My hunch is that his humorous – yet very serious – comment had become one of his standard responses to the usual patter. But it immediately started a serious conversation about his own well being and how he had dealt with his challenges.

The other was even more surprising and frustrating. We were boarding an airplane, and one of the flight attendants was standing in the cabin door greeting folks as they filed by.

When he said hello, I mindlessly asked him how he was doing, and his response was something like this: “Well, my health is good and my family is OK, but everything else is going down the tubes.”

I was speechless, and because the line of passengers on the completely full flight kept pushing and shuffling down the aisle, that was the end of the interaction. His totally unexpected comment, which clearly indicated a great deal of personal pain, was left hanging, and I was unable to reply.

Both of those responses to a question that usually does not expect a serious answer were from people who were willing to risk sharing a bit of themselves in order to open the door to a meaningful exchange with another human being.

I wonder how many of us – either questioners or responders – might be willing to deviate from the norm enough to nudge that door open a little. It’s possible to ask the question about the other person’s well being in a way that conveys a genuine interest in the answer; and it’s also possible to respond to the question in a way that might give the other person a glimpse, however minor, into what’s going on in our lives.

I’m going to try an experiment for the next week, and I’m wondering if any of you might be willing to join me.

Let’s try to remember to break out of the mold in as many of those encounters as possible, just to find out what happens. Maybe we can set a new pattern for ourselves in how we handle those little interactions. And, just maybe, we can be touching other people’s lives in ways we can’t even imagine.

I’ll report back to you next week, and I’d love to hear your results, as well. Let’s give it a try.

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He never came back.

When our family doctor came to our door a while later to tell us, very gently, that Dad had died while waiting for the barber to cut his hair, the course of my life’s journey changed dramatically.

Last week I was back in Ohio for a family wedding and made a trip to Louisville with Joan to show her where I had grown up and to regale her with stories about my boyhood.

The house where my siblings and I were raised appeared to have been well cared for over the years, but it bore little resemblance to the home I hold in my memory.

More than half of the shops in “downtown” Louisville (which is only one block long) were empty, but I was able to remember the bustling and seemingly successful businesses that once had occupied each of them.

The one place that made me stop and pause, however, was the storefront that had housed Kandel’s Barber Shop.

It, like so many others, was empty, but at some point had been painted black and named The Magic Encounter.

The irony of the name and the appearance struck me immediately. Dad’s transition, which marked the beginning of a black period in my life, was in fact his Magic Encounter with whatever it is that we all will meet and experience at our journey’s end.

And that got me thinking about the many types of encounters we all have every day – with people and situations and opportunities we are not expecting.

Some of them turn out to be life-changing; some are seemingly inconsequential and easily forgettable. But I believe we have the ability to find the magic in any of them, because our reaction to them is always our choice.

If we can truly accept, and live, the teachings in Lessons from the Source that there are blessings and goodness in every situation, regardless of how our human minds might interpret it, it seems logical to me that we can choose to find the magic – or at least to accept that it is there.

I love this paragraph from Chapter Two of the book:

“You are so near and yet so far. When you have a higher perspective, you will see and understand clearly that your good, which seems so far away from you, is always close at hand—closer than you could ever imagine. You can reach out and touch it in spirit and bring it into the material world so easily, if only you can believe. It is there at your beck and call. You must accept the reality (and it is the ultimate reality) that you have ultimate and complete power over what happens to you on the physical plane. Reject the illusion of helplessness, of lack, of all of this being out of your control. Through your faith and right action, your good can come to you in an instant and keep multiplying. You control your own destiny. You are part of infinite goodness.”

We do, indeed, control our own destiny. We can choose how we will respond to any types of encounters in our lives. We can give them power over us and allow them to control our thoughts and emotions; or we can look for the magic and accept the blessings, even though we might never understand what they are. The choices we make on a daily basis help to set the tone for our days, and for the rest of our lives.

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In an instant, often without provocation, we can find ourselves remembering little bits and pieces of our lives.

People, places, situations, songs, smells, feelings – whatever – all are tucked away in obscure nooks and crannies of our minds that haven’t been explored for years, but they suddenly jump back to the forefront and cause us to pause for a moment and reflect on the role they played in our life’s journey.

They’re all little pieces in the ever-expanding puzzle of who we are.

I had an interesting conversation the other day that got me thinking about the power of memories, but I’ll need to give you a little family history in order for it to make sense.

I became an uncle when I was five years old, and I have eleven nieces and nephews, most of whom are in their 50s and 60s with adult children of their own. I don’t know many of them very well and haven’t seen a few of them for decades.

Over the weekend I had a visit from a nephew whose path and mine hadn’t crossed for a very long time and with whom I had not had a lengthy conversation about much of anything for even longer.

It became clear during our discussion that he still has vivid memories of his early interactions with me when we both were kids, and he surprised me by saying that I was the closest he had ever come to having a big brother.

I’ve written before about how we all have our own unique stories to tell, and how important it is that we have opportunities to tell them. Each of our memories, no matter how seemingly insignificant, is tied to something that helped make us who we are today.

Realizing that my interactions as a child more than 50 years ago, with someone even younger than I, are still part of his memory bank was an important reminder of the impact our thoughts and words and actions can have on others.

Fortunately his memories were positive and joyous. But what if I had said or done something that had affected him negatively? What kind of memories might he be carrying around, and what stories might he be telling?

We all are individualized expressions of the same Source energy, and everything we do or say (or think!) can, in some way that our human minds can’t totally understand, connect with that same energy in others.

One of my favorite sections in Lessons from the Source is the one on “The Ripple Effect” in Chapter Six, and I’d like to share a passage from it with you, because it seems to me to make this point beautifully.

“You seldom can understand (nor can anyone on the earth plane) the importance that your interactions with others carry in their lives. We have discussed the unity of all life on earth. If you can accept the truth that the essence of me lies within all things—and especially all people—then it becomes somewhat easier to comprehend the impact that you can have on the lives of others.

Perhaps it is easier to begin to think of this from your own perspective. We have talked before about how you react to someone who is a beacon of joy and enthusiasm and how your own spirits are lifted by that interaction, because your spirit is one with the spirit of the person who has touched your life. Think now, also, of the impact that a person who is totally caught up in negativity can have on you. Or a person who is laughing uncontrollably. Or someone who is sharing genuine grief with you. Or someone who offers advice or consolation. Or someone who simply asks how you are doing and whose asking demonstrates a genuine caring and concern. Even the person who ‘snubs’ you and refuses to speak touches a place in your heart.

Try to think of my spirit as a great, never-ending sea of gelatinous material. It is not visible to human eyes, but it is present in everything and around everything. Think of what happens when you touch the surface of a bowl of Jell-O®: the impact causes vibrations throughout all of the material in the bowl. There is no portion of it that is not affected.”

Every day in our interactions with others, we’re making memories, for ourselves and for them, that become part of the story of our individual journeys. That’s a responsibility we can’t afford to take lightly, and it seems important to pause once in a while to remember our common humanity and to take stock of the memories we’re creating.

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I feel honored and blessed by the way you continue to respond to the little excerpts from Lessons from the Source and the other spiritual quotations that I’ve been sharing with you on Twitter and Facebook. But until now, I haven’t been willing to let you know much about me.

One of the many wondeful things about the social media is that they allow us to meet, and then to develop friendships with, kindred spirits from around the world.

But for some folks like me, who are in the autumn of our years, that still is almost too big a concept to comprehend, and I’m afraid I’ve allowed most of the sharing in our communications to be pretty one-sided.

I sometimes feel like I’ve been hiding behind the book and all those quotations without being open with all of you about my own life experiences.

Each person’s life journey is a series of challenges and opportunities, joys and sorrows, hopes and dreams. When we’re able to share the experiences we’ve had and the lessons we’ve learned along the way with others, we’re recognizing and accepting our common humanity. Hearing another person’s perspective on his or her journey often allows us to gain a better understanding of our own.

One of the reasons I’ve limited my own interactions with you online is that I’ve allowed myself to buy into the concept that you can’t teach old dogs new tricks. We all understand intellectually that that’s a bunch of baloney, but an intellectual understanding doesn’t always translate into a change in the way we live our lives.

As a kid, I was given a strong and consistent message that I wasn’t good enough, that no matter how hard I tried, my best was “none too good.” And that old, deeply ingrained belief has been very difficult for me to let go of over the years.

That lingering feeling of inadequacy, combined with the fact that nothing about computers or the internet has ever come intuitively to me, has made me feel intimidated about becoming more than superficially involved online.

My inner dialogue, which often is dominated by my human consciousness, has been a continuing series of “I can’t” messages: I don’t know what to do; I don’t understand all this technical stuff; I don’t have anybody to help me; I don’t have enough time in the day to figure it all out – and on and on and on.

So, rather than living the wisdom that I have allowed to come through me and that I’ve shared in the book – that our good is always available to us, but that we often block it by giving power to thoughts or people or conditions in the world around us – I’ve gotten caught up in the illusions and allowed myself to struggle with them.

As many of you know, I’ve been receiving and writing down wisdom like the passages I’ve shared in the book for more than three decades, and I continue to do so. One of the most frequent urgings in recent messages has been to simply let go of the struggle and allow my path to unfold effortlessly and perfectly. And I’m making some progress with that.

I’ve given up the need to try to understand all of the intricacies of social media and the internet, because it had become a daily struggle for me, and I finally decided to let it go.

It seems to me that if I can find ways to communicate with you by simply being me, like writing these blog posts as if I were talking to a friend, I might be able to help make the teachings in the book more meaningful to you.

Besides enjoying the written word, one of the gifts I’ve been given is being able to communicate verbally in a way that seems to connect with others.

Recording the audiobook version of Lessons from the Source that will be coming out soon has been a very enjoyable process for me, and I’m hoping it will make the teachings in the book accessible to more people.

I’m also thinking about doing some free conference calls in which we can have conversations about the book and I can answer your questions. And I’m guessing that other ideas will begin to present themselves, as well. In fact, if you have any that you’d like to suggest, I would love to hear them.

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