Being Perfect

I love what I read in Rev. Kathianne Lewis's newsletter this week. She talks about the word "perfect." She says in Aramaic the word "perfect" has other meanings, some of which were 'complete,' 'fulfilled' or 'mature.' That's Perfect! (sorry I couldn't resist it). At the heart of this lesson is "I am perfect, whole and complete - just as I am right here and now." How much time and energy have I spent comparing, critizing, condemning myself against others - a lot over the years. How much time do you and companies in particularly do the same - all with the intent of competing and "beating" others so they may be the perfect alternative for consumers. In reality, there is only one me. There always has been and always will be. There is only one you. Each of us are perfect just as we are - with all of our character defects right in there in the mix of things. It is that light and shadow that makes us this lovely tapestry that we call the world. And it all weaves together in harmony and balance - at least that was the intent of our creator. Finally, I love what Kathianne says about spiritual maturity. I am not the same person I was as a child. And that's not simply my mind and body that has evolved - it's my connection with source. For all those formative years when the world is constantly bombarding children with how to be, do and have - to "survive" in this world. Instead, wouldn't it be perfect if we realized we co-exist in this tapestry and in celebrating my perfection I celebrate yours and on and on and on. Join me in celebrating your perfect-ness, just as it is right here and right now.

The Saints

I am so uterly excited about the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl last night. Before I explain why, know that I am not a football person at all. The most football I watch in the past couple of years was the last 30 minutes of the game last night. Here's why I am excited. I believe we all contributed to the consciousness that showed up on that field last night. All of us rooting the people of New Orleans on for a big boost of energy - of resonance! To me last night and the coming weeks/months is not about football at all. It's about a team that has and will ignite the biggest fire in a long time - a fire of the heart. This victory is a celebration of a people who have been to the bottom and now have a chance to be catapolled to the top. It's a celebration of the countless people and organizations that have been (and continue to) rebuild New Orleans. From Habitat for Humanity volunteers to engineers and health care workers. Finally, yes it's sad that it takes such epic natural dissastor to wake us up - and it's a heavy price to pay. Maybe that's what is required - one nation at a time, one community at a time - to get us up on our feet, to put our arms up in the air and scream - YES WE CAN! Yes I Can! Yes You Can! Keep that positive radiance shinning folks - it works if you work it!

Have a Little Faith

Michael Franti is my new music hero. I love pretty much all of his album that I bought on an impulse thanks to Shazam app on my iPhone (it picks up a song from for instance the radio and let's you buy it instantly at iTunes). The words that really hit me hard are: "and when the rain falls down You know the flower's gonna bloom and when the hard times come You know the teacher's in the room and when the sun comes up You know that I'll be there for you" Yes, the teacher is always "in the room" - in me. Each time I am provoked by anything - I have the opportunity to choose to learn from it. And when I know that the teacher is a higher power, that is part of me (and I am a part of that one power) then life is what it's meant to be - a series of lessons that evolve my soul's journey. I invite you to go listen to Michael's song if you haven't already - here it is on YouTube.

The Resonant Man

Friends, if there's one video that I found distills almost all of the lessons I've learnt in years of growth - this video summary of what Will Smith believes in is 100% on point. He distills the concept of "conceive, believe, achieve" as best as anyone I know. PLEASE invest 10 minutes to watch this and if you choose, comment about it! May you have all the success you desire, starting by giving 100% of yourself.

The Power of Laughter

Actually, it's the Power of Joy but I choose that title as laughter is probably the strongest action one can take to instantly step into joy. Please watch this video that a friend shared with his circle. I ask that you stick with the full 6 minutes. I also invite you to post your comments about what happened for you when you watched the video and if anything else came up. Thank you for making the world a more joyous place today, by being you!

Tiger Woods: What is within this story

Today, I want to talk about the core purpose of events like the Tiger Woods story. They are not about a celebrity - they are about you and me. In every story lies the opportunity to look within. To look at those places in us that we relate to a story and learn from them - either as "me of the past" "me of the now" or "me of the future." In addition, the magical power of such events lies in looking at what shadows come up for me. What, if anything, am I hiding, denying or suppressing. What is mine to forgive (including myself) that such a story brings up for me? Today, take a few minutes for yourself and ask yourself - what part of Tiger's story is my story? And please - go beyond the obvious. My invitation to you is not about adultry, it's about living your truth in all parts of your life. How many of us are in jobs that we don't feel we belong in? How many of us have truly explored the route cause of our anger/resentment about someone/something? That, my friends, is the work we have in front of us - if you choose to accept the invitation. P.S. A reminder to check out: http://theshadoweffect.com/ if you haven't already.

Contribution

As we are in the season of celebration, I will focus a bit on it this month.

As much as I love receiving gifts and surprises, I truly love giving a whole lot more. To see the excitement and delight in every cell of my kids is totally precious. And to give annonymously is even better. The silent act of contributing to a cause or a person is a magical experience of "paying it forward."

So how does the season of giving tie in with being a Resonant Man? It ties 100%. At the heart of living fulling is the contribution I make in the world. Not just material but the intangibles are key. My words, my feelings I radiate out to the world - spoken or unspoken, and most importantly my thoughts.

As we prepare for 2010 - what contribution do you choose to make - to yourself, your immediate family, your immediate world and the universe all up?

Life - Part 5

"And it's not who's appeared, but who you've summoned." In closing with the fifth line of this quote, I just love this part. How often have I been surprised at the miracles that appear? The times when I think something and it appears at least in three ways in my life. And I go - "wow - how cool is that?" but come from a place of surprise and coincidence - as if I really don't believe in the power of a universal spirit that I am connected with - a part of. When I do recognize that I am one with that power, I am at ease and at my best. When I recognize that I summon all that I manifest, then I am living my truth. Wen I recognize that I am responsible for EVERYTHING that appears in front and around me - the projections that I choose to notice, then I have clearly invited those experiences/people/things into my reality. What have you invited into your precious reality today?

Life - Part 3

"It's not what you've experienced but how you've remembered it." I love this one. It provides me with a new perspective on a core belief. I always rebelled when I was young that I have to experience stuff to learn and grow. Yes, that's true. And it's really my interpretation of the event that I remember that makes the experience unique for me. For example, me and millions around the world likely watched Obama's acceptance speech last year around this time - and each of us experienced it totally differently. Yes, there were some common elements and still party-lines drawn. In the end, I'll remember it my way and you will remember it your way. Neither is right or wrong - it's just what we remembered. Which leads me to why I'm a fan of the word "remember." It's become a trigger word that brings me great joy and bliss based on my ManKind Project New Warrior Training Adventure experience. That one word captures the essence of my experience of my weekend. What joyous experience serves to remind you of your glorious self?

Life - Part 2

"It's not what you've felt, but what you've decided." Yes we are in an age where men are awakening to their feelings. Definitely important to be connected to my feelings, vs. suppressing them. And what lies beyond feeling is what I make up based on my feelings - what I decide to project on the world. So often I have made myself angry (decided) over the smallest things: long check out line at the market, someone showing up late for an appointment with me, something someone has said. Always it's what I made up about the situation, based on how I felt about it - which makes all the difference. When I can step back, remove myself from the emotion (without denying it) then I can see more perspectives and be open to seeing the love in everything vs. fear. If you choose, write in or share with someone today - what highly charged feeling has led you to decide something that may or may not be the truth?

In Your Eyes

Greetings readers - I am delighted to announce that through September I will share songs that "hit" me and my interpretation of them. The one that caught my attention this morning was an 80's favorite for me but maybe revolting to some - Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes." I truly listened to it today, even though I've heard it for over 3 decades! Here are the lyrics if you want them all and here is what got my heart early this morning driving into work:

• Love - he starts with that eternal word and stops. As many of us believe, there are only two emotions - love & fear, what a great way to bless a song.
• Lost - "I get so lost some times... this emptiness fill my heart" all that escaping I do. Running away and denying my true gold. Seeking ways to fill the emptiness inside.
• From the inside - "I come back to the place you are" and the facade falls and I return to my instincts, without my pride "I reach out from the inside." Wow! Folks, if I'm the only one who's missed the beauty of this song then shame on me, so just in case - I share it with you today.
• In your eyes - "the light, the heat, I am complete, I see the doorway to a thousand churches, the resolution of all the fruitless searches..." Again, WOW! I mean this song says it all folks. For those of us that believe that we are all spiritual beings having a human existance (rather than the other way around) - this song says it all.

Today, stop for a moment and check inside of you. What keeps you from connecting with your higher power/God in every moment? What keeps you from seeing God in the eyes of everyone you encounter? And most importantly, what keeps you from sharing the God in You with those you encounter? Make it an awesome day!

Be Your Truth

OK, so if you read the last 3 entries I made - awake, aware and alive, then read on. If not, I encourage you to read those first for this to truly make sense! As MaryAnne Williamson says: "... it's not our darkness that we are afraid of, it's our light." The light within, the TRUTH, that we are all One, we are all from one source, one Universe - call it higher power or God or ... And this whole game of life is about remembering this truth. As cliched as it is, the saying "the truth shall set you free" is 100% what life is about IMJ (in my judgement) and the one lesson we all have to learn in this human/earthly existence of our soul. Some learn it very early on and retain that delicate innocence that we all are at birth. Others muddle around neither in "speaking" a lie, nor living fully. And yet others live such a blatant lie (to themselves more than externally) that when they explode and come "clean" it's an amazing turn-about. Twelve-step programs are a great place to practice the discipline of being accountable to others, being in integrity with yourself and living "clean" how ever you choose to define that based on your agreed "bottom-line" behaviors with your sponsor. There is so much rich learning in the steps and before one even contemplates taking the steps - the first condition MUST be truth. Be true to yourself, first and foremost. To your God/higher power. And to those who you lean on for support (e.g. sponsor, loved ones). The topic of truth will be my exploration for September. Please do contribute with what you've learnt about the truth.

I am Alive! - Part 3

One of my favorite songs is a Jewish chant "Li, la, la, lai, la la lai la lai - I am alive!" And then it goes "And who, is this aliveness I am, if it's not the blessed holy one!" That's aliveness to me. When I can remember that I am part of my creator and so are you - all created from one source. That I am responsible for creating my own heaven on earth and when I do that with love and giving to others I am alive. When I am living each moment on purpose, I am alive. When I am living a life of joy and love, I am alive. When I live a chant of releasing and letting go of what eats me, I am alive. When I accept my shadow and lean into it, just as much as my gold, I am alive. When I witness the God in you, I am alive. What's aliveness to you?

Awake, Aware, Alive - The Cycle of Life

I thought it would benefit our readers to provide a refresher on the purpose of this blog. It's simple - at the Resonant Man we seek to inspire men to their aliveness. We do this by sharing many observations and perspectives, both contemporary and not. Almost always, the blog entries are based on people, events or lessons learnt that inspire the writer and he wants to share them with you. So what makes for aliveness? It's a simple but not easy 3-step process: Awake: To become awake to ones truth is a journey that many don't embark upon all their life. To have the courage to look at your life and honestly evaluate yourself, in all areas of your life. If you are short of a 10 (on a 1 to 10 scale where 10 is the best) in any area and awake to knowing you are there, that's the first step. Aware: Once you are awake to the truth of where you are, to become consciously aware of your choices is step 2. Aware that there is a greater good possible for you, if you choose. Aware that you have not been satisfied in one or more areas of your life and are willing to make changes. That's a great place to be. Alive: With the groundwork set, the work done to make the change - you have the opportunity to accept that greater good that is available to all of us, once we are awake to it and aware it's in our reach. This is the step when we radiate at the highest energy and live fully in harmony with our purpose. Remember, life purpose is what it's about. It doesn't matter what it is as long as you are clear that it's what your inner-self has called you forth to step into. It doesn't matter big or small, what matters is you feel alive when you are being, doing and having the life you always dreamed of having - right here, right now! Finally, when you do hit "10" in all areas of your life - build your next 10 and go for it! That's the cycle of life as we are born alive every morning and we die every night, simply having the opportunity to start over when you awaken the next morning.

Chronos or Kairos - Which do you choose?

I am so grateful for having learnt of these two types of time, thanks to a leader in the ManKind Project. Here's how Wikipedia defines them: "Kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment). The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former means chronological and sequential time, the later signifies a time in between, a moment of undetermined period of time in which something special happens. What that something special is depends on the person using the word." So think of chronos as quantitative and kairos as qualitative. There is certainly a place for both types of time and I believe the true magic (inspiration, insight and purposeful action) happens when I am open to the flow of what I am doing. I am so immersed in it that nothing else happens. Be it work I love, a person I am connecting with, a project or form of entertainment - I am fulled emersed when I am in kairos time. So if you choose - consider giving yourself permission to play with kairos time or as I like to call it "fuzzy time." A tip-of-the-hat to our ancient Greeks who articulated these words.

CNN = "constantly negative news"

OK so I feel like I'm perpetuating negative thoughts by even putting this out and having this title but as many of you already practice this - it's important to focus on the positive inputs we take in (audio, visual, sensory) to keep our thoughts at a higher vibration. That's what The Resonant Man project is about. Sure stuff happens and mostly it's external. What I choose to do with myself internally is what it's about. How do I choose to respond, instead of react to a situation? Do I get sucked into the black-hole of fear or can I lean in, take a look at the chaos, lean back, stand firm and go "Hummm... I choose to view this differently." And then make sure to jump up and down and laugh loud, just because. Go make it a loving and joyous day!

The Glass Pavilion

I happened to learn about The Glass Pavilion at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. What an architectual wonder. Some 32,000 sq. feet of straight glass. From a metaphysical perspective, this is what struck me: the metaphor of a glass house is all wrong. It's not about it being easy to break/shatter our dreams etc. Instead it's about the being translucent (def: having a glowing appearance as if light was coming through). Ah! How refreshing. Imagine if we all could be open receivers of the light that comes through each of us - instead of putting up the brick walls as if we were living The 3 Little Pigs? What I also love about this architectual wonder is that the glass walls are solid (I'm assuming, not being an engineer - I trust who built them). This translates to - I need to set my boundaries, to shield myself from the projections and opinions of others as they are not mine to take on. Instead, they reflect back on the person putting them out - as does glass when light shines upon it. Shine your light today and break down the brick walls!

Moxielicious

Yes I've coined the term. But moxie is a word (a noun) that means: vigor, verve, pep, courage and aggressiveness, skill know-how. In this little book of quotes (where I learnt of the term) they say: "it's a street smart spirit that's as old as recorded history, and as new as the rising sun. David had it; Goliath didn't." This is my favorite term right now for a couple of reasons, all culminating in - it's timely. Given these uncertain economic times, with lots of people going through transitions at work and otherwise - it's this spirit of prevailing that will keep us thriving. It's about making your life what it can BE rather than focusing on the past or the future. I encourage you to consider this quote from Beverly Williams (don't know who she is - will have to look her up) in my Moxie book: "I will dare to just do what I do. Be just what I am. And dance whenever I want to." This is the day to be the best you there is. This is the moment for you to dance your song, now. Go for it!

This Is It

I remember going to see a play (as a child living in Jamaica) titled "This is It!" and the song continued to say "This is it! The moment you've been waiting for." How many of us wait for heaven? Believe that based on our karma we plant the seeds for heaven or that other place :)? Hopefully most of my readers believe in the concept of "heaven on earth." It's not a destination to strive for but present all around me, all the time. I just have to open to accepting that This IS it. I mean, imagine if when I died they said "well, how was the vacation?" And I look back and go - but wait a minute, they told me that was "the work" and this is the place to strive for? Today, take the concept of The Power of Now to the next level. Don't simply live in the now but celebrate every breath of it as if this is it. This is the moment you've been waiting for. All your hearts desires, all your dreams, your bucket list of 101+ things, all the words you want to share with those you love, all the service you want to give the world, all the ways in which you live your mission. Now go have fun, be happy and celebrate your greatness you amazing angel you!

I Think I Can

I love it when something hits me more than once in a short period of time. The concept of "I can" has been such a thing in the past few days. I'll spare you all the magical "coincidences" through which the concept has been hightened in my consciousness but here's what I learnt: Most of the time I strive to believe: "I know I can." I can concur my fears, my doubts, my "it's impossible" etc. Yes, the "I can" is very powerful and at the heart of my favorite affirmation: "I am that I am." Then there are times when I don't really believe in the depth of me that "I can." So I don't feel confident in knowing that I can. At times like these I have learnt it pays to fake it! The more I fake it to myself the sooner I'll start to truly believe it. That's the "I think I can." Try this form of faking it (to yourself) this week and comment on what you learnt about this powerful concept.