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Expansion Encounters - with Dusty I have heard it said that we are attracting everything we receive through our thinking, words and actions. With our words and actions as extensions of our introspection, maybe this is how we invite our experiences - through our thoughts. Even though I have believed the statement for many years, it still gives space to ponder... to be reminded that every thought has an impact on my life. That feels like a big responsibility! Twenty years ago I would have been very uneasy with that statement. Today, I am much more comfortable with it because, through training - meditation, classes, seminars, studies, communion with special friends - I have allowed my experiences to be filled with so many favorable responses that it feels like what I am inviting is continual healthy thoughts, words and actions. There are times, however, when I can't seem to keep my focus. I begin feeling sorry for myself, usually when there is a physical twinge that disrupts my desirable schedule of happenings. I hear myself complaining... about the weather, about personal aches and pains, about responses from others... These don't last long, thanks to those reminders that come on in front of me like a neon light as soon as I begin doing this. I do sometimes have to do an abrupt stop and make a 90-degree turn from my channel of thought. That helps keep me from getting into an unfavorable rut. What are your thoughts? Preparation for Changes by Dusty Reed Endurance is an eminently adaptable, fascinating and coherent way of life. We can make this life as fascinating and satisfying as we desire. Many dream about a preferred lifestyle. Is there something that you would like to do with your life that you have not yet summoned the courage to do? Boredom or frustration can try to conceal it and let you think it is not possible. It may be hidden at the back of your dreams, but it is there. Maybe you laugh and say, "yes, my desire is to be rich and famous." This material will only provide a few practical and focused paths as possibilities for attaining whatever your desire might be. It may stimulate you to step onto your path to experience your heartthrob, your passion, your most preferred lifestyle. Do you know your heartthrob or have you pushed it into the recesses of your mind, convincing yourself that it is not possible to attain this ideal way of living? If you have several possibilities but are undecided, begin a "seek and find" project. Relax your mind from the surroundings of the moment. Dream big. List all possibilities that you have ever wished that could be an enjoyable lifestyle. If you already know the type of lifestyle you prefer, you are half way there. In recent years, more and more are taking the plunge to fulfill a heart's delight, regardless of one's previously education and career. We call it personal fulfillment. Your life is worth expressing in an area that gives you joy. Challenge your thinking. Give yourself occasion to offer gratitude for the opportunity to seek and find what you most desire. Some are content to follow a solitary life dream. Others desire change. Some dabble with variety without making firm decisions about what their heartthrob could become. It may be an eclectic lifestyle. The freedom to change life priorities results in creative activity. Fear of change, or fear of the unknown keep many from feeling fulfillment. Letting go of security, stepping out and grasping new happenings provide fulfilling experiences. Geographical changes can offer new experiences in many ways. A change of climate, educational benefits for our children, being closer to family can all contribute to following our ambition. Moving from Detroit to Phoenix will definitely alter recreation activities. Moving to any new geographical area can create new hobbies and other changes in one's lifestyle. What type of activities does the area cultivate? No matter where the move, if it is a place where one has longed to live, it can offer a clean slate, a way to begin anew with hopes, aspirations and activities. More than one intriguing desire can develop into a full way of life. Once we make the initial decision to say, "yes," to follow our dream, we can look at those hopes that hold highest favor and let a plan for beginning to incorporate them begin to develop. Creative thinking? Why not? It provides much pleasure in the process and can often open channels of awareness toward achieving prosperity. I wrote a series of possible scenarios several years ago, all directed toward a single desire. They included various paths possible to get where I am today. Putting them in writing gave occasion for them to have influence in my decisions along the way. I once wrote a schedule for my ideal day. Through the years, I exercised the regime at various times for a single day. I thought and acted out my day as if I were living my fantasy. Not long ago, I found that schedule I wrote and realized that I am frequently experiencing that desired agenda as a natural part of my life. Make Dreams a Reality by Dusty Reed Many think they must wait until they retire to enjoy travel. There are many means and occasions to travel to desired places worldwide anytime. Again, it initially requires the decision to do so. Where to go? By what means? How long? What to see? These can be answered by first picking up some travel brochures, deciding on a guestimate date for travel, and engaging in the necessary steps to make the dream a reality. Traveling for encounters with nature in various geographical areas can give a deep sense of excitement and satisfaction. You may enjoy experiencing an alternative climate. Travel to New England in the autumn. Visit a horse ranch in the West. Visit a working farm in the Midwest. Travel to a ski resort in the mountains. Travel via hostels and bicycle riding in Europe. Is there something more to your heartthrob, inclusive of travel? Do you desire to study the borealis? Do you desire to learn French cooking from a chef in France? Or to learn to yodel from someone in the Swiss Alps? Do you desire to feel the tranquility of living on a houseboat? Is your heartthrob simply to see geographical areas where you have not been before? Do you enjoy visiting museums? Whether it is for just weekends or for an entire month of travel at one time, it can be accomplished when it becomes a steady heartthrob. There are many employment opportunities available that include extensive travel. Study job descriptions and then prepare for application. If it requires specific education, enroll in appropriate classes. If you have experience in the requirements for hiring, build on that experience in your resume. Learn more about the business; talk with its employees. Make a professional and knowledgeable presentation with your interview. Make inquiry during the interview about leisure time during travel. If it involves flying in somewhere for a morning meeting and flying out that afternoon for most of the assignments, it is probably not going to fulfill your heart throb. Do you desire for your travel to take place with a camper or motor home, by driving a car, taking a train or riding a motorcycle? Flying is sometimes necessary but it leaves out the scenery available between home and destination. Travelling the rail is a fun and relaxing experience and can take you through areas not seen when driving the highways. Plan your destination. Plan your means of travel. Do it! We have a guest author this month! I met Nic online 6 or 7 years ago and have seen both his writing talent and his decorative works in wood, metal and glass. You can visit his site online at Hill Home Forge Bed & Breakfast. PUPPY WHINES AND MOM BUTTONS By Nic East Children nowadays seem to be taking longer to grow up, leave home and “get a life”. Conceivably it could be the economy, or perhaps it has to do with the endless Gulf Wars that our peace-loving president has started. Whatever the cause, a certain segment of our children are fearful or not self-sufficient, and have decided to stay at home and let their parents pick up the tab for their lifestyles. To me, it is a lot like welfare. These kids often get a free room, free food, free laundry service and are given little to do to justify their existence as welfare parasites. Most of these have learned something that they use in order to get what they want; at our house we have identified it as the “Puppy Whine”. The Puppy Whine is the sound that little animals make when they want something from their mothers. Mothers, who are connected to these offspring by almost unbreakable ties of love and habits of nurture, always respond by doing what their baby whines for. It may involve an extra helping of food or a special piece of clothing. It can even be something more insidious like getting their way when they want to go to the mall or borrow the car or stay out late with friends. Mothers almost always cave and give the youngster what they want, for they know that an adolescent will withhold love if they do not. Parents are often more addicted to children’s approval than children are responsive to parents authority. You have seen it happen many times. The child wants something expensive, dangerous or inconvenient and the parent at first says “no”. The child then makes the Puppy Whine and the parent gives in and lets the child do what they want. Usually, if it happens rarely it is not overly important, but eventually, this “transaction” gets repeated and habits always form around this distasteful scenario. When these habits become ingrained it is the child who has taken control of the household even though they may not contribute labor, income or maintenance at all. To me, this type of child is no different than an unruly dog that jumps up onto the furniture, barks all the time or soils the carpets. It is this same mind-set that bespeaks weak parental control in the face of a child that is overly aggressive about getting its way. This unmanageable child has found the “Mom Button” and does not hesitate to abuse it to get its way. This is a sad situation, with parents often held hostage by the whims of the youngster. Children can be brutal if not controlled by a calm and assertive parent who understands the child’s tactics and does not give in. One tactic I have seen that almost always works takes place in homes where there is a single parent and the partner lives elsewhere. The disobedient teenager is told to go and live with the other parent. Usually the other parent cannot be manipulated so easily, is tougher or demands more of the child. Sometimes it may not be a good idea for the child to actually go and live with the other parent due to some other variable of personality, legality or health, in which case another tactic must be tried. This tactic is called “Tough Love”. Tough Love works best where the child is not overly confrontive or pigheaded. Even with an uncooperative child, money control can become a useful lever. By withholding funds such as allowances or clothing expenses and demanding the child earn their way by various means such as chores or getting paying work to do after school and contributing to the household expenses often works. Children that are insane will not understand such a transaction, but I am drawing the line there. For the sake of an objective application of Tough Love, the child must be reasonably sane and tractable. Children need to be given strong frameworks of behavior by their parents or guardians. These frameworks, coupled with strong standards such as respect for their parents and their possessions, care for their own bodies and a clear understanding of the dynamics of deferred gratification. Some children tend to see the world as threatening and will develop defenses against fear-based fantasies. Some children are as uncontrollable as if raised by wild animals. This is because they have never been given principles of behavior and made to obey them. This is often the fault of lazy parenting. Another thing; these kids are getting older and many of them have never learned how to break a sweat for a living. They never exert themselves other than to push buttons on their TV remotes or cell phones. Many of them are becoming parents themselves and still they are at home expecting mommy and daddy to take care of them as well as pay for their often-illegitimate children too. Meanwhile, who is it that is really earning the living in our society? Who is out there “in the trenches” getting down and dirty? It is those adults who have always taken care of the world by getting up and going to work every day, and paying the bills, mending the broken things and healing the sick. I think it is time to turn off the free lunch. It is time for the little birdies to leave the nest and fly away, preferably far, far away! ~ Copyright Nic East, Groundhog Day, 2008 Some sites I recommend: Church of New Thought It is my joy to share with you that I continue to add new rose drawings and some photographs available at art.com! You can view them at Dusty's Roses I now have some of my rose drawings at an auction site, Art By Us And, I have a page with note cards (for sale) with some of my rose drawings. You can check it out by going to Rose Descriptions. I have been posting nearly all of my drawings that are not displayed elsewhere at Rose Garden I have two galleries there. The other is at Reed's Loft. It has various photographs, other drawings, and notecards available. My sister-in-spirit, Sunny, has several of her drawings and has added new photos at art.com, too, at Sunny's Art Work And, for anyone who enjoys playing at ebay, lots of goodies (records, books & post cards - occasionally some nic nacs) are available at Dusty's eBay You are welcome to forward this newsletter to friends who might be interested! If they would like to subscribe (at no cost), they can write to me at cascade@mahaska.org (with Expansion Encounters as subject). Thanx muchly! 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