The Greatest Gift God Has Given Us: That Quiet Still Voice Within The greatest gift that God has blessed us with is that quiet still voice on the inside. Some call it the Spirit, some call it consciousness and others call it God. God has blessed us all with a place to go to within ourselves where there is comfort and peace. No matter how loud the world is, no matter how much stress and chaos. No matter how tough the economy is or how you get talked about or bullied at work, there is a place for you. It’s God’s greatest gift and a savior in the midst of pain. The knowledge that I can go within myself and find a sense of peace after a tired long day, gives me strength. Biblical Quotes About Peace 1. John 14:27 Peace I leave to you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives I give to you. Let your hearts not be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 2. Isaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, I will not be afraid for the Lord is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. 3. Mark 9:50 Salt is good but if the salt has lost it’s saltiness, how will you make it salty again. Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another. 4. Romans 8:6 For to set the mind on flesh is death but to set the mind on Spirit is life and peace. From a God believing standpoint the path to finding peace is finding the God within yourself. That still quiet voice is where you will find God. This is why it’s important to meditate daily, to become closer to the quiet voice and Spirit of God within. We instinctively know how to get to this place because we have all been there, even if only for a moment. Anything can trigger it, whether looking at nature or holding a baby. In the midst of a fast, fearful world, we forget our ability to go within and be peaceful. We knew how to as a child, even without being aware we were doing it. But after being programmed by the world, we are so caught up in distractions of the world, we forget to look within. The only peace we will find, is within ourselves. If you want to find peace look within your own Spirit. Greater is He who is within, than He in the world. The kingdom of God is within and it’s here that you find peace.

The Most Powerful Manipulative Trick Of The Mind Having a peaceful mind and feeling good is something everyone wants. But there are a lot of obstacles to finding it. One of the biggest obstacles to finding inner peace is the tendency for the mind to analyze and rationalize rather than letting go. Rationalization Is The Most Powerful Trick Of The Mind Rationalization is a weapon that unknowingly keeps us in bondage. For an example, a co-worker says something about your clothes. You laugh it off but your feelings are actually hurt. Now you could just decide to let it go so you can be at peace. Instead you decide to rationalize.” Why would she say that? Maybe she’s just jealous. Yes she’s insecure, that’s probably why she’s single. She’s overweight also. The next time she says something she’ll pay.” Sound familar. We do this a lot with situations. What’s really going on is the mind is trying to find peace. Similar situations are spoken about in the book called the untethered soul. If we to be at peace we must learn to observe our thoughts and become the watcher.

Let Go, Let God: Releasing Negativity Energy and Having Faith God Will Take Care Of It The key to finding happiness in life is letting go and letting God. There is so much negativity in the world but the only thing we truly have control over is our mind. The ability to let go and having faith that God will take care of it is a powerful thing. There’s always a way and no need to worry. There are literally infinite possibilities. The mind is not always the best place to work out your problems because the mind has limits. The mind can only process and come up with so many possibilities, but God and the universe are infinite. How audacious of us to believe since we have no answer to a problem, that the answer doesn’t exist. How audacious to be hopeless. We have a universe that will lend a helping hand if we just align with it. Give your problems over to God and the universe created by god. Relax your mind, let go of your burdens and have faith that all will be okay.

It’s Going To Be Okay: Relax Let Go and Let It Flow At the end of the day, it’s all going to be okay. 90% of the things we worry about never happen. With that said take a deep breath, relax and just release all negativity and anxiety. We tend to stress ourselves about things that will never happen. We have to have faith that everything is going to be alright. No matter what happens we will always be okay. You will always find a solution. So let go and allow everything to play out. I can remember an incident last semester in college where I thought I was going to do really bad. I started off by missing 3 weeks of school in one class. I decided to have faith everything would work out anyway. After talking to my instructor, I realized she wasn’t going to going to go easy on me. But after doing my best and staying as positive as possible, she said I was her most improved student. She liked my positive attitude and how I never gave up or complained like her other students. I got an A. I worried for months for nothing. Worry only takes away from the moment. Tips On Relaxing and Letting Go

1. Meditation- Allow yourself to let go of thoughts, negativity and stress by relaxing your mind and meditating. Be the watcher and the observer of your thoughts, rather than focusing on not thinking. Focusing on not thinking is the best way to get too caught up in your thoughts. 2. Have Faith – Know that God and the universe will take care of you. All will be well. Keep affirming that things will be great until you believe it. Faith can move mountains. It can create a shift in the universe that positively changes the outcome in your favor. Keep the faith and all will be well. 3. Breathing Exercises – Take deep breaths in and out. Try to focus on your breathing and let go of any anxiety. At the end of the day, there is no reason to worry. Not only does it feel bad but it doesn’t do anything, to make you feel better. By relaxing, meditating, having faith and doing breathing exercises, you create a shift within yourself, that moves the universe in your favor. Your energy is so persuasive in this universe. Use your energy to relax and have a positive effect on your life. All is well.

Why Giving Money Doesn’t Truly Help The Homeless I once listened to an audiobook called 101 positive thoughts, by Loiuse Hay. She said that if you divided the money equally across the world, after a few months, the rich people will be rich and the poor people will be poor again. Now initially I thought no, can’t be right. Then I decided to open my mind to the fact, that she could indeed be right. After awhile, I decided I agreed. The Homeless Demographic I don’t in anyway want to make homelessness seem like an issue that is as simple as filling out a job application. It’s a complex issue, especially considering the fact that 40% of homeless men are veterans. A lot of people who are homeless are chronically homeless which is defined as, “an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition (e.g., substance abuse, serious mental illness, developmental disability, or chronic physical illness) who has been continuously homeless for a year or more”.In these particular instances, homelessness is a much more complex issue, than a lack of finances and just giving money won’t be enough to fix these issues. Giving money is a kind, warranted and necessary. At the same time it only a temporary fix to a much more serious problem. Poverty Is A State Of Mind Giving money to homeless people can help to a degree but poverty is a state of mind. In other words poverty occurs in the mind before it ever manifests in our finances. If someone really wants to help the homeless, paying for them to go to a seminar to help them to think the way rich people do, could be of good help. Take the popular, classic timeless “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” for example. The author Robert was about to figure out that the rich dad and the poor dad had different mentalities. Rich Dad Poor Dad A person with a poverty mindset can’t maintain money. This is why 75% of athletes lose their money a few years after retiring. This is also why rappers, lottery winners and other people who attain money fast, lose it fast. They don’t have the mindset to keep it. This is why I believe it’s important for people who have made it to, educate others about the mentality it takes to keep money. You can’t be a baller, when you are first starting out and be rich. You have to save, invest and work hard. I do believe in giving money to the homeless to help them. I do believe in giving to the less fortunate. I just also acknowledge that it won’t fix the problem. Even if everyone gave money to the homeless I don’t believe it would end poverty. It is the right thing to do but a person can only maintain the money they receive, if they have the mindset to do so. If a person doesn’t have the mindset to accumulate and maintain wealth they won’t. I Blame The Rich People At one point, I blamed the rich people. It’s their fault. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Of course, rich dad poor dad warns us about this mentality. But we can’t blame rich people. People who are in poverty have to blame their own mindset. We should still help people who are in poverty but they need mentoring more than money. Money will only truly help a person when they lose the poverty mentality, that put them in poverty. This doesn’t mean that I am completely negating the fact that the economy is falling apart, people are getting laid off, having a hard time finding a job and other REAL, CIRCUMSTANCES that lead to poverty and homelessness. I understand that circumstances can present themselves that we didn’t expect and that can knock us off our feet. Ask Donald Trump who was mentally rich but still lost all his money at one point. Hard times can hit, but if you have a rich mindset, you will eventually, land on your feet. Though Donald Trump lost all his money, he still landed on his feet and became richer than ever because he had the right mindset. If he had a poor mindset, when he lost his money, he would have never overcame it. Their would be no “The Apprentice.” Nothing Can Stop People With A Strong Mindset, Whether African American or College Dropout No matter what your obstacles are, there is no true excuse to stay broke. I acknowledge that being African American or uneducated or little work history, the bad economy and the general structure of society can be obstacles to being rich. But there is nothing that can truly hold you back but a weak mind. If you truly believe, since your African American you won’t get a job, then their you go. If you truly believe that since you don’t have a degree you won’t be successful, suit yourself. But there are people who are African American with no degree who are successful. I’m not even counting entertainment and sports. Anything is possible and obstacles are only challenges meant to build character. You can acknowledge your obstacles but don’t allow them to define you. Anything is possible.

Meditation Techniques: How To Meditate For Beginners Meditation is a technique that has been used for thousands of years to bring upon many benefits including, relaxation, health benefits such as lowering cortisol levels (stress hormone), finding the God and peace within yourself. Meditation is about more than just quieting the mind (which takes years of practice for most people to achieve anyway), it’s about being aware. Meditation is a safe haven. It is a blessing from God because it shows us at any given moment, no matter how much stress and chaos is going on, there’s a quiet still place you can go in, within yourself. Some people call this place the true Self, some call it the spirit and others call it God. How To Meditate There are plenty of meditation techniques that can be used. These are 4 of the meditation techniques that I have received the most benefits from. 1. Focusing On Your Breath Focusing on your breathing is one way to meditation technique. You try to relax and let go. Accept the fact that thoughts are going to come to your mind, unless you are at one of the higher levels of meditation. But be aware of those thoughts. For example this thought may come past your mind,”Gosh what am I going to cook for dinner.” Now it’s okay to be aware of that thought but don’t entertain it. Let the thoughts pass by. Focus on your breath and slowly breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. 2. Mantra Meditation Another meditation technique is the mantra meditation. A mantra is a phrase you repeat in your mind and focus on. In the eastern religions they have mantras that are repeated in a different language and is said to be superior to doing an English mantra. For me personally, I have gotten equal results with both. You can create any mantra. One of my mantras is “relax and let go.” Another is “I honor the divinity within me.” In this meditation you also relax and then you focus on saying your mantra. You slowly repeat your mantra, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. 3. Walking Meditation I particularly like this meditation technique. It allows me to meditate on the go. I have a 20 minute walk to school and I practice this meditation either one of two ways. One way is to be present of all the things around me. I live in a pretty decent neighborhood and I have neighbors who plant nice gardens out front. But for all long time I missed all the beautiful flowers. So when I walk I try to be conscious and aware of all that is around me. Which is something you need to do when outside anyway. I make it a goal not to miss the flowers, which is also symbolic of all the beauty I miss everyday in life, when I walk around unconscious. 4. Awareness Meditation Awareness meditation can be done many ways. For me I just allow myself to be aware of as much as I can. True consciousness is aware of a broad amount of things at once. So I start of focusing on my breath, than expand it to my heart beat, my pulse and keep expanding to other parts of my body. I try to be aware of all these things at once. Then I expand it to the things around me. I try to be conscious of as much as I can at once. It is a good practice since society teaches us to focus on one thing, which can be useful at times. But true consciousness is broad. Awareness is just aware. It is endless. These are the different meditation techniques that can be used. Have fun practicing.

The Fear Of People Seeing Our Imperfections I have suffered from the fear of having and showing my imperfections since I can remember. I spent my childhood years trying to look good enough and act in a way that would make people like me. Unfortunately, this behavior has continued into adulthood. Between acne, blemishes and being really skinny, my self esteem has been affected. I am also going on 26 but can still pass for 12. But I am learning to accept my imperfections instead of fighting them. Fighting against imperfections are just wasted moments we could have spent, living, laughing, playing, talking to friends and just truly being in the moment and enjoying life. The battle against allowing our imperfections to be seen, is a battle that has mentally enslaves us for most of our lives. I realized I had things that people perceived as flaws and how deathly afraid I was of them being pointed out. But so what. Someone points out the obvious and after that’s out the way, everyone can move on. Its obvious I don’t look 25. Though I despise people pointing out the obvious, let them. That way everyone can move on. Its okay they think I’m bony or look 12. If your confident and just be yourself, they’ll get over it. If they don’t get over it, its a reflection of there own insecurity. Let them think. We all have thoughts. It seems silly to worry that someone may think a thought. Well that fine. People will think a thought or say it out loud, then its over. No one cares n everyone moves on. It won’t stop real people from liking you and even so, that would be fine. I don’t need everyone to like me or to be popular. If I’m not popular by now (which unfortunately I’m not) then likely I never will be. But there will always be people who like me. Even if its only a small amount of people. Some people may like you and you might not even know it. Just like I like and admire people and they don’t know it.