The Path to Love – Help a Million vs. Make a Million

For decades now people, even those in spiritual circles, have lived according to the notion that the goal in life is to make a million (or even a billion) dollars.  But, as my book BEYOND THE SECRET revealed, this approach leads us far away from the path of love.  It is almost common knowledge that after people get their basic needs met (and I mean basic), their capacity for happiness goes down if they don’t become good stewards of their money for the good of all.  To compensate for their egotistical (and sometimes sociopathic) tendencies they resort to more and more addictive, controlling, and abusive tendencies.  In many ways they are “stomach down people.”  They are people who live from the lower drives of power, pleasure, and security and ignore the higher needs of love, compassion, honesty, integrity, vision, and unity with all.

Yet, before the masses become critical of those with wealth let us remember that there is nothing wrong with wealth per se.  As I have often said, if the 1.250 billionaires in the world gave away only 1 billion of their many billions to the 7 billion people on the planet, we would not have significantly less difficulties in the world today.  Fortunately, a number of wealthy people are good stewards of their wealth, though many are not.  But, here is my point – giving away money from the rich to the poor is not the answer.  Raising consciousness is the answer so that we live according to an ethic of LOVE.

What does an ethic of love look like?  Well, it doesn’t look like what most magazines present to us that glorify excess consumption.  Over and over we see celebrities spending anywhere between $30 million dollars on a wedding to $6000 on a pair of boots.  And, we are supposed to be excited and impressed by this?  Consider then how many lives could have been saved on this planet for this same amount of cash.  $100 can keep a child alive for a year in Africa.  So that is 60 lives that could have been saved for one pair of boots or 300,000 lives that could have been saved for a year for one wedding bash.  Yet, instead of feeling repulsed by this, magazines that show us these excessive lifestyles make a ton of cash.

So, why are we doing this?  And, are YOU doing this?  What are we teaching our children around the world with this kind of unloving ethic?  And, why do we want to glorify making a million over and over again as if excessive consumption, greed, and self-indulgent egotistical excess leads to happiness when over and over again we learn that it doesn’t?

An ethic of love looks much different.  It helps a million over making a million and the magazines would then be full of people who live relatively simply giving most of their cash away to help others once their basic needs are met (which can be done at about 50K a year).  Plus, when you are focused on service and helping others, there is nothing to fear. You can lose your money and your power.  But, you can never lose an opportunity to reach out and love others.   At least that is what my BEYOND THE SECRET book asserted one year before the economic crash happened (which I predicted was coming as early as January 2008).  And, I still assert it now.  HELP A MILLION and insist that those who have a million help a million as well.  That is the path to love and the new ethic that will lead us onto that path in the future.

Blessings,

Lisa

Copyright 2011 by Dr. Lisa Love. All rights reserved.

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Take Back Your Power and Love Yourself

As a professional counselor for years I would tell people they needed to learn to love themselves.  But, beyond a platitude, how do you actually do that?  Ironically, one of the ways I discovered how to love yourself, was to consider all the ways people (especially women) were not loving themselves.  And, the more I thought about that, the more I realized that one of the main reasons women were not loving themselves was because of what they were being taught about love (almost all false) especially from movies.  Starting way back as young as when women are girls, they are being taught a variety of false notions about love.  These notions include:

• Putting yourself last and your man first.
• Waiting to live your life until a man comes and finds you.
• Tolerating beastly behaviors.
• Playing dumb and refusing to see the shadow side of life.
• Misunderstanding how men learn to love and then confusing sex with love.
• Settling for half a relationship instead of a whole one.
• Much, much more!

Ultimately, these false notions were changed into their opposites creating a blueprint for how women (and men) could take back their power, love themselves, and learn to really love each other in the process.  Some of those opposites include:

• Putting yourself and your dreams first in a healthy way.
• Getting conscious about what you really want and finding healthy ways to pursue it.
• Teaching others to treat you well because you know what good treatment looks like and feels like.
• Knowing how to deal with the light and shadow in an effective way.
• Discovering how to get a man to really love you.
• Bringing together love and sex in a playful and healthy way.
• Learning how to be whole so you can have a whole and truly loving relationship.
• Settling for half a relationship instead of a whole one.
• Much, much more!

Now that you know some of the basics why not find out how you can expand on these basics by taking one of the top courses about loving yourself on DailyOM?  Go here and learn to take back your power and love yourself now!

Love and blessings,

Lisa

Copyright 2011 by Dr. Lisa Love. All rights reserved.

http://www.doctorlisalove.com

http://www.facebook.com/drlisalove

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Or, call me for a coaching session. Learn more on at this address.

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Why I Am a Revolutionary of the Heart & Want You To Be One Too!

When my son was small I took him with me to help a homeless man I had decided to visit and care for on a regular basis.  When we left the man (who was a Vietnam vet), my son was dumbfounded by the idea that there could even be people without a home.  He was around three at the time and felt just as confused when I showed him a Sesame Street book and explained to him how people had different eyes, noses, mouths and skin types and it was up to us to love people in all their glorious ways of being; but, some people were mean to others because of these differences.  

When we are children we have a natural sense of what is love is.  We know that all things are interconnected and worthy of love, celebration, and respect.  Yet, too soon we hit the reality of a world full of the opposite of that love. We are told that differences are bad and are taught to live in fear.  How does this happen?  I am sure the answer is far more complex, but I can’t help but believe that one of the reasons is we are taught to glorify the very things that lead to entitlement and fear.  

Especially in the United States as I grew up I struggled early on with the ever escalting worship of wealth.  As I wrote in my BEYOND THE SECRET book, my first crisis regarding this happened in my mid-twenties when I married a relatively wealthy man who told me when I married him, “I would never have to work another day in my life.”  True.  Rapidly, my life became about ski vacations, visiting luxurious golf courses, and contemplating how much I could pamper myself.  

Only one problem, I was naturally mystical as a child and had an almost desparate desire to know who God was.  I was also conditioned by a few main factors before I entered in that marriage that made me keenly sensitive to the state most people live in on this Earth.  To begin with, I was raised with an ethic of helping those in need, especially the troubled and the poor.  While most young people around me were glorifying in their youth, I was steeped in reading books on psychology, comparative religions, and getting heavy into meditation.  I was also working professionally with troubled youth, specializing at the time in those who had been physically and sexually abused.     

Literally, I went from living in a dangerous neighborhood in downtown San Bernardino in what some liked to call “the arm pit of Southern California”, while I was struggling to get through graduate school, to having two homes and a couple Mercedes.  And, I went from helping homeless youth, gang kids, runaway teenagers, and abused children to worrying about my nails, my ski bunny outfit, and my golf game. Until one day I was sitting in the jacuzzi in our home on the golf course in Palm Springs and it hit me just how many of these homes were empty about eleven months out of a year!  It impacted me in a deep way that so many people around where I was sitting in that jacuzzi had second (or third) homes they almost never visited, while billions of people on the globe didn’t even have one home to begin with.  The crisis of that realization led to the rapid end of my marriage.  It was also the beginning of a life long struggle that continues for me this day.     

And, it catipulted me many years later into my years of studying in depth the topic of Wealth and Spirituality when I undertook a Ph.D. dissertation.  There I researched what every major religion had to say about how to use money in a spiritual way.  I researched the lives of billionaires past and present to find out what these people were actually like.  And, I was asked to interview fifteen wealthy people who had a minimum net worth of 5 million dollars for ninety minutes, so they could talk to me about how they used their money in a spiritual way. Though I was sure these wealthy and spiritual people were out there, here is the irony, I went broke trying to find them!  (As one former IBM CFO told me, “Finding wealthy people who use their money in a spriitual way is like finding a needle in a haystack.  Good luck!”).   

In my research I also became super aware around 2003 of the growing gap between the rich and the poor in this world and how the United States of America was no longer a democracy (government by and for the benefit of the people), but a plutocracy (government by and for the benefit of the ultra rich).  That reality became a public fact when Michael Moore released a document by Citigroup (one of the world’s richest and largest banks) released around 2007 – 2008, where they talked openly about how they (the super rich) could get even richer on the backs of the poor.  (Rent his DVD Captialism to learn more).    

When my book BEYOND THE SECRET was released (read more about my book and what it is about at http://www.doctorlisalove.com/products/beyond_secret_book.html) just months after the book THE SECRET came out, I was on the radio as of January 2008 declaring that the economy around the world was about to collapse.  I remember some callers were furious with me.  I was a Law of Attraction teacher.  How could I say such a thing?  I was saying it based upon the teachings I wrote about in my book on how to use the law of attraction in a spiritual way.  I was saying it based upon certain mystical realizations I had experienced in 1989 that revealed to me the profound unity of all existence.  And, I was saying it based upon my my years of research from 2000 – 2005 that made me aware of the growing rule of the  plutocrats around the world. On the radio shows I spoke on, I referred people to the Dr. Suess story, Yertle the Turtle.  Yertle was a typical plutocrat (worshipper of wealth), who believed his job was to own and rule over everything he saw.  So, he stacked up hundreds of turtles so he could see more and own more.  That is until the tiny turtle at the bottom of the heap got sick and tired of it all and burped.  That is all he did and Yertle fell to the floor.    

As I asserted on the radio (and this was January 2008, just ten months before the collapse started to occur), we simply cannot have a world where 1% of the world’s population (about 7 million people) own 95% of the world’s resources, property, and wealth.  As much as they want to declare themselves rich, famous, and powerful they are simply NOT GETTING IT!  They are not getting that true wealth, true freedom, true power, comes from the capacity to LOVE and BE LOVED.   That means learning how to love everyone.  Why?  Because we are everyone.  Not only are we each a part of the world; in a very essential way we are the world.  What we do, who we are, how we live, and especially how much we do (or do not) love impacts everything and everyone around us.   

Here is one example from my life that brought that fact concretely home to me.  In the early 1990’s the Rodney King riots happened.  I stayed up all night worried because I was once again working with gang kids.  My new husband and I took a walk in the morning and he asked me, “How do we want to remember this day?”  I thought hard and went into action.  The very next day I was down in the riot zone with a truck load of supplies collected from various churches in the Orange County, Southern California town I lived in.  A small handful of us (my husband and I, a truck driver who had suddenly appeared to drive the truck, and a couple who thankfully brought along a cell phone – the archiac huge kind that very few people had in those days) arrived first at the Agape church run by Michael Beckwith.  But, we had too many supplies (donations had come in from so many churches so fast the truck was packed), so we were sent to two other churches.  One was right in the riot zone.     

The church we arrived at was closed.  Just a few blocks from it a crowd had gathered.  What I remember most was a man with a bull-horn who was saying out loud to the crowd, “Next time it’s the rich people’s homes who will go up in smoke.”  One year later on the anniversary of the Rodney King riot, rich neighborhoods in five counties in Southern California were lit up in flames.  I still reflect on if I was witnessing the seeds of that horrible destruction of property due to frustration, anger and rage that night.   

But, the larger point is this, I believe in the deepest part of my being it is time, it is way past time, to STOP our glorification of wealth.  The point of life is NOT TO GET A MILLION DOLLARS.  As I have said many times the point of life is to discover your human potential so you can OPEN YOUR HEART UP TO WHERE YOU WILLINGLY AND JOYOUSLY CAN HELP A MILLION PEOPLE.   

Now, as I write this millions of people are amassing in Egypt and more are gathering around the world.  And, here is the message I am hearing.  They are fed up!  In a very real way, they are “burping” or speaking up!  Thankfully, they are doing it in a peaceful non-violent way following the examples of Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr.    

Well, I am doing much the same.  Once again I am pleading for all of us to stop this notion of believing success means wealth.  It doesn’t.  A month ago I watched the premier of The Happy Movie (www.thehappymovie.com) where I live in Ojai, California.  Please get it and watch it.  In the United States we say we have the right to the pursuit of happiness, yet we seem clueless as to what brings happiness in the first place.  And, guess what!  It isn’t money!  Yes, if you don’t have your basic needs met it can impact your happiness.  But, once they are met (and I am talking basic needs, not luxury needs), the more you focus on externals like outer appearances, money, and stuff the less happy you are.  Happiness is created by things such as having lots of loving relationships, being able to regularly get out into nature, having variety in life, finding ways to be creative, buildling a sense of community, practicing random acts of kindness to improve the lives of others and more!  

Look, there is nothing wrong with money or even wealth.  IF EVERY BILLIONAIRE said to him or herself (and some of them have), “I will be sure to help at least one billion people have a better life with my billion dollars” everyone on the planet (all seven billion of us) would have our basic needs met.  And, if we measured happiness based upon GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS (and the factors that make us happy), instead of Gross National Product (with the insane cancer like proposition that our duty in life is to consume, consume, consume until there is nothing left on the planet and we all die off trying), we could all really be happy in life.  I mean all of us.  All seven billion of us in this world.  

On a final note.  Here in the United States we like to make a big deal about freedom.  Well, I am a Daughter of the American Revolution twice over (see being a revolutionary is in my blood).  I have a famous relative, Admiral Matthew Perry, who helped fight the war during the American Revolution at sea.  So, what is it that brings about freedom?  ONE THING.  LOVE!  Got it?  It’s that simple.  Love.  Love makes us free.  Love makes us happy.  Love helps us live in a better world.   

But, to love we have to feel our connection to each other as a reality, as a fact!  I experienced that fact during a series of mystical episodes in 1989 and have struggled to understand how to implement that realization in practical ways in my life ever since.  One thing I know, what helps me, helps you.  What hurts me, hurts you.  That is why I follow the words of one of  my heroes, Brother Wayne Teasdale, when he wrote, “Live simply, so people can simply live!”   No, that’s not socialism.  It’s not a flattening of everyone down to mediocrity ville.  Rather, it is an internal ethic that the more abundance and talent we have, the MORE WE JOYOUSLY DESIRE TO GIVE OF THAT ABUNDANCE to help others realize and share their gifts and potential.  That is what creates happiness in this world.  Why aren’t we pursing it?    

Just to let you know, when I was doing my Wealth and Spirituality research I also studied philanthropy.  And, here is what I found out.  Those who were wealthy who wanted to use their wealth in a spiritual way often reversed the usual equation of giving 10% to charity that many religions promote.  Rather, like Andrew Carnegie, they vowed to give away 90% of what they had, while they were alive, and gladly lived on the remaining 10% of their wealth (which was plenty anyway).  And, it was their JOY to do so.  Why?  Because they felt their connection with everyone.  Because they lived out of an ethic of love.   

So, let’s join our hearts together.  They are doing it in the Middle East as I write this.  Why not do it everywhere?    

In conclusion, here is a video I have been playing as I write this. It says what I am trying to convey to you best of all.  It let’s you know the truth. There is so much magnificence in me, in you, in us, in the world.  Let’s get busy.  Let’s capitalize on that and find ways to let all the magnificence in all radiate everywhere around us.  

So Much Magnificence – Miten & Deva Premal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG-YE8IiV5U&feature=related

 Love and blessings,

Lisa

 Copyright 2011 by Dr. Lisa Love. All rights reserved.

http://www.doctorlisalove.com/ 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Lisa-Love/48936741770

http://www.twitter.com/doctorlisalove 

Want help with the above? Check out my website: http://doctorlisalove.com/

 Or, call me for a coaching session. Learn more on at this address.

http://doctorlisalove.com/coaching.html

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Self Respect & Setting Standards

“If you don’t set a baseline standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it’s easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life that’s far below what you deserve.” — Anthony Robbins

Dr. Lisa Love Reflections.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the notion of setting standards, especially when I consider using the law of attraction in a spiritual way. And, it’s occurred to me in light of what is happening in the world today, maybe as a whole our standards just are not being set high enough. After all, we live on a planet where 1,000 plant and animal species are going extinct everyday. Yesterday, the news announced that in the United States 40% of all children that came into the world in 2008 are born to single mothers without fathers involved in their child’s care. Increasingly around the globe civility is dead, more wars are taking place than ever before (Mexico is now considered more of a threat than Iraq is due to the drug industry) and slavery is the largest it has ever been in human history (almost all human slavery these days is of women and children being forced into the porn and sex slave industry, with most of them being exported to India and Asian countries for prostitution there).

Apart from just trying to bum everyone out with horrible statistics, I think it is time that as human beings we joyfully set our standards a little higher. To help along these lines I recommend the following three books I have had the pleasure to read lately.

THE LOVE DARE (and don’t miss the movie Fireproof that goes with it. I loved it! It’s Christian based, but regardless of your faith this book is one of the best I have ever read to help people learn what real love is! One of my favorite topics by the way).

ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A MAN (a book that reveals how especially women need to get off the Cosmo trip and start to rethink how they are encouraging men to treat them with disrespect, leave them or treat them like “rent” — temporary hangouts — and are not being encouraged by women who give into their bad behaviors too easily to be the best men they can be).

THE FALL: The Insanity of the Ego in Human History and the Dawning of A New Era (A book that shows that the horrible way men and women can treat each other and how to go beyond treating others and our Earth in such disrespectful ways. Only then will we gain more respect for ourselves, each other, and this world).

In short, it is time for us to raise our standards and understand that we have attracted this world because the baseline bar has been just to low. Time to get motivated, grow in love, and learn to really love and respect each other and our world. The results will be more than worth it.

Blessings,

Dr. Lisa Love
Dr. Lisa Love Website

Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Love. All Rights Reserved.

About Dr. Lisa Love

Best-selling author of BEYOND THE SECRET: Spiritual Power and the Law of Attraction. She is also a Life, Relationship, Law of Attraction, and Tranformational coach. There’s a reason my clients tell me by working with me they get major breakthroughs fast! Decades of coaching and counseling experience combined with my extensive training and work with clients from all backgrounds help my clients make shifts in a rapid way. Contact me to discover what I can do for you.

FREE GIFTS ON MY WEBSITE: Go to: http://www.doctorlisalove.com/freegifts.html

What Will Help the Money to Flow?

Dear Dr. Lisa,

I never seem to have enough money to reach my goals in life. I’ve tried some spiritual affirmations and visualizations, but they don’t seem to really work. What can I do to change this situation and finally get the monetary flow I need?

David
South Bend, IN. USA

Dear David,

The question of money is an interesting one in my own spiritual life. This is why I wrote the book Beyond the Secret: Spiritual Power and the Law of Attraction that was based in part on my Ph.D. research on the interface between wealth and spirituality. Through this research, I examined what the various religious traditions (ancient and modern) have to say about money. And, I studied the lives of multi-millionaires and billionaires to get their take on how to use money in a spiritual way (or not).

Though my research I discovered that none of us really have a money problem. We have a vision problem. There is plenty of money in the world. The question is what to do with it all? Or, more specifically in relation to you, the question might be “what would you do with it all, especially in a spiritual sense?”

This is an important question for you to answer because it will help you root out your fundamental beliefs and conditionings about money. These start early, both in relation to what your parents taught you about money (or didn’t), and what any religious or spiritual background believed about whether money was spiritual or not. Though affirmations and visualizations can be powerful tools for change, if you do not get to the basic assumptions you hold about money to begin with, they may not be enough.
Typically, there are three basic assumptions about money, especially about accumulating great sums of money, I am finding. First, money is viewed as something that can spiritually corrupt us. Second, money is viewed as something that we have a spiritual “right” to. Third, money is part of life and we go through developmental stages in relation to it. Let us briefly review these and see which belief you might really be holding.

Many spiritual paths assert that the spiritual life is about learning to give the most of what we have in service to others. Through the development of love and compassion we see ourselves in others, and no longer wish to exploit them through over-consumption or greed on our part. Within traditions that emphasize this, money can be seen as a corrupting influence because it reverses the emphasis into a desire to consume at a never-ending rate. Those who have been conditioned by this assumption are often confused about money in their lives, never knowing what is and isn’t acceptable to have in one’s life. This can lead to being a loving and well-intentioned person, without the resources to actualize your talents, or the power to change the world for the better.

The second idea that money is our spiritual “right” comes in different forms. In can appear in the classic idea that “God gave me my money” (as John D. Rockefeller asserted in his life), because we “deserved” it more than others somehow. This can be attributed to being more spiritual, more intelligent, or having used magical processes (prayer, affirmations, etc.) more effectively than others. The only difficulty with this idea is that selfishness and the ego can creep in causing us to justify excess and even cruelty in our lives, in the name of our being spiritually superior to others in our accumulation of wealth.

The final idea explains that money, like eating, is a natural part of life. Like eating, the more conscious we can become of our use of it, the more effective we can become in our lives. Thus, the quest for money is part of a process, that eventually we master and even sublimate as other spiritual needs take over (like developing wisdom and compassion). Here, it is not so much whether you have money or not, but what you do with it when you have it.

Which leads us to the fundamental question. What would you do with money if you had it? Here is where “vision” comes in. Is this “vision” mostly about how you would live in the lap of luxury? If so, you may achieve this, but spiritually there may be a cost. Is your vision about wanting to use your talents to really contribute something? Then, I suggest you drop the emphasis on money, and turn instead to getting the resources (money is only a part of this) to help this come true. Resources include: believing in yourself and not being afraid to cultivate your God-given talents; letting people into your life who believe in what you are doing and want to support you (financially or otherwise); and having integrity and wisdom in relation to using your talents and the resources entrusted to you. With this much in your life, money can’t be that far off.

As for an affirmation, try these on, “My talents are cultivated to serve the greatest good. Others support me emotionally, creatively, and financially to manifest my vision. I live with integrity and wisdom as I utilize my talents and resources for the benefit of myself and others.”
Let me know how it goes.

To Your Prosperity,

Dr. Lisa

Want help with the above? I’m here to assist you.
Contact me at Dr. Lisa Love Website

Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Love. All Rights Reserved.

About Dr. Lisa Love

Best-selling author of BEYOND THE SECRET: Spiritual Power and the Law of Attraction. She is also a Life, Relationship, Law of Attraction, and Tranformational coach. There’s a reason my clients tell me by working with me they get major breakthroughs fast! Decades of coaching and counseling experience combined with my extensive training and work with clients from all backgrounds help my clients make shifts in a rapid way. Contact me to discover what I can do for you.

FREE GIFTS ON MY WEBSITE: http://www.doctorlisalove.com/freegifts.html

How Do I Deal With Disappointing Events in a Spiritual Way?

Dear Dr. Lisa,

Recently I was asked to give a presentation for my work. Though I thought I had prepared well, it was not well received. Some of the criticism was even quite harsh. I know I should be able to “ride with this” with detachment, but it has not been as easy as I would like. Do you have any ideas that might help me?

Paul, Santa Fe, NM. USA

Dear Paul,

Spiritual practice is ultimately learning to apply what we know even in difficult circumstances. During this process we want to honor our human frailties, even as we remain open to transforming them. Though there are a number of methods and approaches that might be successful in helping you do this, I often begin with the psychological level. This involves simply embracing the hurt and disappointment as a parent embraces a child who has taken a bruising fall. Though it is not always popular for men to take this approach in regard to their own emotions, this comforting inward embrace, lets us know we are OK, we can cope.

Next, it is important to consider the lessons lying underneath the disappointment. This requires the capacity to detach from the emotional impact and lift into a space where you can look at what is happening with a more detached and impersonal perspective. Though it might feel natural to simply focus on those who criticized you, it is best to begin with a careful analysis of your own part in the process. What were the strengths and weaknesses in your presentation? Were there parts that you feel you did well on, no matter how it was received? For example, maybe you took more time to prepare than usual, something to be commended regardless of the impact. Or, as far as weaknesses may have been concerned, maybe you failed to read the real needs of your audience, something you might want to research and prepare more carefully for in the future.

After this process of detachment and analysis, it is important to take it a step further, into the spiritual level. This includes attempting to understand the deeper motivations underneath the criticism you received. For example, criticism designed only to tear you down, instead of used to help you move on to your next step, is never helpful. Destructive criticism is not the same as criticism used in some spiritual traditions, like Zen, as a wake up call. A father may speak sharply to a child who has entered a street unwittingly. Though the child may feel hurt, he is grateful when he sees the impending danger of the car the father was altering him to. So, try to get a sense of how the criticism directed at you was used. Is it waking you up to become more professional in your approach? Or, is it tearing you down out of jealousy or ignorance on the part of others? If it is waking you up, be grateful to these teachers. If it is tearing you down, exercise your compassion. Those who employ such methods, usually do so because they have been treated harshly in their own lives, and do not know another way to be.

Finally, move into a process of putting the entire event into an infinite perspective. Though we may tend to forget this step when impacted emotionally, and have to work our way back into remembering it, it is the most helpful step of all. Start by considering a span of five years and ask yourself how important will this event really be in your life? Move on and contemplate to a stretch of ten years, twenty years, a hundred years, even a thousand years of time. Notice how rapidly the event dissolves into insignificance. From this space, come back, and ask yourself, “If this was the last day of your life, what would you really want to remember about this day?”

Recall three specific positive qualities or events. These may include: a loving moment with a spiritual teacher, a lover, a relative, a friend; a beautiful scene in nature; a piece of music, a time of triumph, anything that reminds you again of the “good, the true, and the beautiful.” When you have recalled three specific items you would want to remember on your last day on Earth, you might even want to close with a prayer, meditation, or mantra (spiritual chant or phrase). As you do so remember that you are an infinite being, and not the little problems that ebb and flow in your life. Reabsorb yourself into this spiritual identity and let it dissolve the small tribulations of your life.

Blessings,

Dr. Lisa Love
Dr. Lisa Love Website

Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Love. All Rights Reserved.

About Dr. Lisa Love

Best-selling author of BEYOND THE SECRET: Spiritual Power and the Law of Attraction. She is also a Life, Relationship, Law of Attraction, and Tranformational coach. There’s a reason my clients tell me by working with me they get major breakthroughs fast! Decades of coaching and counseling experience combined with my extensive training and work with clients from all backgrounds help my clients make shifts in a rapid way. Contact me to discover what I can do for you.

FREE GIFTS ON MY WEBSITE: Go to: http://www.doctorlisalove.com/freegifts.html

Simplicity as KEY to Using the Law of Attraction Spiritually

Here are some key messages about Simplicity I have found since being inspired by Obama’s Inauguration.

SIMPLE GIFTS
(Lyrics to the song they played
before Obama took the oath)

‘Tis the gift to be simple,
’tis the gift to be free.
‘Tis the gift to come down
where we ought to be.

And when we find ourselves
in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley
of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,
To bow and to bend
we shall not be ashamed.

To turn, turn
will be our delight,
‘Till by turning, turning
we come round right.

WAYNE TEASDALE QUOTES

From his book, The Mystic Heart.

Why Simplicity is an Urgent Issue

Simplicity of life is one of the inner resources that advances our common responsibility. It can have a major impact on altering how we relate to the earth, other species, and the poor. This element of global spirituality is necessary because we must simplify our lives if the Ecological Age does not require squandering our precious resources, degrading the environment, oppressing other species, and depriving the poor, simplicity of life reveals itself concretely as a great generosity of spirit.

In our social realm, the adage “live simply so others may simply live” wisely demonstrates the practical efficacy of true spirituality. This dictum is a way to concentrate our minds and our efforts on changing how we live. It is not enough merely to talk about the need to change. Wee must in fact change! This change has to begin with each of us, or else our words are meaningless.

Simplicity as a virtue, knows only what is real. It will not tolerate useless complexity in how we live; it always challenges us to reduce everything to the essentials. It is not impressed with many things, but with few things used well, especially in service to others. Simplicity of life sees reality as it is: like humility, is is only comfortable with the truth. Simplicity is truth in how we live, unadorned and free. available and inviting to all, open to the world, and welcoming of its demands on us.

FROM PEACE PILGRIM

I took my vow of simplicity. I shall not accept more than I need while others in the world have less than they need. And that was what motivated me to bring my life down to need level for me. And, I realized that the need level of a pilgrim is about rock bottom. Most people would need much more than I need. For instance if you were called into the family pattern you would need the stability of a family center for your children. There are needs beyond physical needs. I’m not telling you that your need is the same as mine, but I’m just saying you find your need level. When I found my need level I found a wonderful harmony in my life. What I want and what I need are exactly the same. You couldn’t give me anything. I don’t need it. — Peace Pilgrim.

Dr. Lisa Love
Dr. Lisa Love Website

Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Love. All Rights Reserved.

About Dr. Lisa Love

Best-selling author of BEYOND THE SECRET: Spiritual Power and the Law of Attraction. She is also a Life, Relationship, Law of Attraction, and Tranformational coach. There’s a reason my clients tell me by working with me they get major breakthroughs fast! Decades of coaching and counseling experience combined with my extensive training and work with clients from all backgrounds help my clients make shifts in a rapid way. Contact me to discover what I can do for you.

FREE GIFTS ON MY WEBSITE: Go to: http://www.doctorlisalove.com/freegifts.html

Feeling Like a Fool? The Positive & Negative Roles of the Fool in Your Life

It’s April Fool’s Day, a time when people enjoy making a fool of themselves, or love to be fooled.  But, as many of us know, being fooled doesn’t always feel so great.  Sometimes it is, and isn’t fun, to be made a fool of.
 
In many cultures the fool can be known as the clown and the trickster.  As the clown, the fool invites us to laugh at our troubles, to look on the bright side of life, to lighten up, and not take ourselves too seriously.  The “clown fool” also helps us see our true worth, even when we feel foolish, or fooled, by others. 
 
As the trickster, the fool reveals to us the ways we lack wisdom making us feel downright stupid. The “trickster fool” has the opposite effect of the “clown fool.”  Instead of feeling better about ourselves, we end up feeling worse.  That is because the “trickster fool” uses the tools primarily of lies and deception, consciously or unconsiously, taking advantage of us somehow.  After an encounter with the “trickster fool” we usually end up feeling deceived, lied to, wounded, bruised, and taken advantage of.  Getting fooled in this way can really hurt.  It may even take years to recover as our energy, trust in others and life, and ability to honor our own wisdom and judgment is seriously depleted. 
 
So, what are the positive and negative ways to “play the fool” or “cultivate the fool” in your life?  To begin with, if you have fooled somebody in a hurtful, harmful “trickster” way, don’t fool yourself in return.  Pretending as if it was all the person’s fault for being naive and foolish, is only a way of you avoiding responsibility for your own destructive and foolish behaviors.  Be more than the fool.  Take a look at yourself and the hurtful impact you may be having on others, even if unintended.  Wise up, apologize, make amends.  Take time to grow your heart, to empathize with others, to become a more compassionate and wise human being. 
 
And, what about if you feel like someone has fooled you?  How do you overcome the anger, feeling of betrayal, and hurt?  Once again, be willing to own up to the fool inside you.  Accept the fact that you were naive.  Discern how you were unable or unwilling to see the truth. Be compassionate with yourself for any hurt you sustained.  Then resolve to be less foolish next time around.  Keep your heart open to others, but let your head guide you as well.  As you heal, take time to forgive those who tricked or hurt you.  After all, as stated above, by staying in ignorance, they were only fooling, and hurting themselves, even more than you!
 
Now, that you have wised up to the “trickster fool,” change course.  Invite the “clown fool” into your life.  Find a safe and healing way to laugh at your own human sorrows and mistakes.  Let others in who will treat you in a loving and playful way, gently or outrageously coaxing a smile and laughter from inside of you.  Let those who really care about you surround you.  Allow them to show you how to play again and get the enjoyment out of life.  There are people out there who do have your best intentions at heart, who are willing to be there for you in life, who will be loving companions and friends, and who know how to use their “fool” energy in a healthy and healing way as they reveal to you the radiant and beautiful human being you are.    
 
Happy Fools Day to all of you!
  
Dr. Lisa Love

http://www.doctorlisalove.com

Copyright © 2010 by Lisa Love. All Rights Reserved.

P.S.  Want some great humor?  Visit the website of one of my favorite “fools” and a good friend of mine, Steve Bhaerman, aka Swami Beyondananda at http://www.wakeuplaughing.com/

Forgiving, Forgetting, & Boundary Setting

Is it really possible, or practical, to forgive and forget if someone is only going to repeat abusive and harmful behaviors? It is, but it requires a little more clarity on the entire process of boundary setting in conjunction with forgiveness.

In the past several years I have become even more savvy on the dynamics of abuse. I have also become aware of how abusers pretty much count on people forgiving them and forgetting about the harm they cause as a way to escape from the consequences of their destructive behaviors.

Which is why I want to draw upon the Christian teachings I was raised on. Because to me Jesus is a major example of forgiveness. Yet, when Jesus famously forgave those around him, at one point he also proclaimed, “Go and sin no more.” In other words, all of us, when we are given the blessing of forgiveness, have at the same time a responsibility to become more conscious of our destructive patterns. And, once aware of them, we need to actively move to change our behaviors so we sin (or harm ourselves and others) no more.

What about forgetting then? Though I have no idea what the roots are of the words forgiving and forgetting, it has not passed by me that the words can easily be broken into “for – giving” and “for – getting.” Looked at this way I can almost imagine acient folks looking at two people who have harmed each other, and then telling them to both step into the center of the room for the purpose of “giving” and “getting.” Or, to put it more simply for the sake of apologizing and making restitution with each other so the scales of justice (or karma) are set right.

Yet, sadly forgiving and forgetting has often turned into, “Ok, I’ll be a nice person and let you off the hook entirely. You don’t have to get conscious. You don’t have to change your behaviors. I’ll just let the whole thing go. And, you can go on being hurtful like you were before.” Quite frankly this is the fundamental reason why abusive relationships continue. Abusive people never have to suffer any consequences for their destructive behaviors. And, their forgiving spouses (who continue to ignore the abuse) end up getting hurt again and again and again.

So, what is the better way to forgive? First, it is true, when you don’t forgive you remain stuck in the past. Your thoughts spin negative. You are not able to create a more positive future for yourself. In many respects you continue the abuse cycle. Only this time instead of the other person harming you, you are harming yourself. That is why forgiveness primarily helps YOU. It helps you let go, move on, and move forward in your life free from the negative impact of the person who wounded you in the first place.

But, it is also true that forgiveness requires being able to stand in a place of spiritual power. As Jesus conveyed, now that the other person has been given a second chance, they now have a responsibility with that chance to become a better person. I am reminded of the famous play and film Les Miserables, which is a major story of forgiveness. In this tale Jean val jon steals silver from the home of the priest and is caught. Though the priest could have easily sent Jean val Jon back to the labor camps, he did not. Instead, he forgave Jean val jon. But, in forgiving him he also requested what he now wanted from Jean val jon (which was the priest’s way of saying what he would be “getting” in return). He said, “With this silver I have bought your soul for God.” Meaning he now held Jean val jon responsible for waking up, setting things right, and becoming a better human being from now on. Thank God, Jean val jon did.

As I see it then real forgiveness requires a great deal of spiritual power and spiritual perspective. To get to this point you do need to use forgiveness to heal enough to embrace more your own value and dignity as a human being. Letting go of your pain will help you get there, which is why forgiveness is a tool that mostly helps you. Once healed and free from the wounds of the past as a powerful and dignified human being, you then have the responsibility to learn about how to better protect yourself from such hurtful behavior. Then, you need to develop the capacity to set boundaries so you prevent that person from wounding you anymore. And, if you can manage it, you can even learn to develop enough spiritual power that with dignity and grace you are able to convey to the person who has harmed you, that in being forgiven, they have a responsibilty to wake up and become a better person.

With these steps everyone gives, everyone gets, and balance is restored for the good of all.

Blessings,

Dr. Lisa Love

Dr. Lisa Love Website

Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Love. All Rights Reserved.

About Dr. Lisa Love

Check out my NEW BOOK: SOUL SUCCESS: How to Create Joy & Prosperity in Good Times or Bad Buy the book and receive bonus gifts at my website.

Best-selling author of BEYOND THE SECRET: Spiritual Power and the Law of Attraction. She is also a Life, Relationship, Law of Attraction, and Tranformational coach. There’s a reason my clients tell me by working with me they get major breakthroughs fast! Decades of coaching and counseling experience combined with my extensive training and work with clients from all backgrounds help my clients make shifts in a rapid way. Contact me to discover what I can do for you.

FREE GIFTS ON MY WEBSITE: Go to: http://www.doctorlisalove.com/freegifts.html

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong. — Ghandi

Heal Your Emotions, Heal Your Life

Kerplunk Game

Dear Friend,

If times are tough right now and you are going through fear, loss, sorrow, frustration, confusion, disappointment, desperation, anger, or more…

…. then I know I can help you. My name is Dr. Lisa Love and after decades of living through both good times and bad I know intimately that the number one thing that will help you get through is knowing how to heal and shift your emotions so they no longer stop you from moving forward in a powerful and successful way.

Consider this!  It’s a childhood game called Kerplunk that best illustrates why this program is so important for helping you recover from any difficult situation you are in.

Marbles = Thoughts
Pickup Sticks = Emotions
Tray Bottom = Actions Following Through

Now, the goal of the game is to get the marbles down through the chute to the bottom. Or, to get our thoughts into actions we follow through on. At times, however, our limiting beliefs prevent us from even putting the marbles into the tube. So, we never get started. But, if even we do get started and put our positive beliefs and thoughts (the marbles) into the tube, they can still get blocked. Why?

Because the pickup sticks represent all our unhealed emotions that sabotage our ability to follow through or act in the right way, despite all our positive thinking and good intentions. That’s why emotions are considered “the power factor of manifestation.” They e-mote us, or move us, into the direction we need to go to attract what we need to for a better life, or not!

The name of the game, then, isn’t just positive thinking it’s positive feeling! So, how do you get your feelings working at the highest state so they can aid you? Here’s how!

Heal Your Emotions, Heal Your Life CD Set

CD ONE: Shifting Fear Into Love
CD TWO: Shifting Confusion Into Clarity
CD THREE: Shifting Sorrow Into Compassion
CD FOUR: Shifting Anger Into Energy
CD FIVE: Shifting Jealousy Into Fulfillment
CD SIX: Shifting Happiness Into Joy
BONUS CD: Healing Your Emotions Visualizations

That’s right. In this program I will show you how you can shift six major emotional states into their highest level, where their true gifts can be revealed to you.

Learn about the giftseach emotion gives if you handle them at the highest level, allowing you to “remove the pickup sticks” or energy blocks that stop you from getting motivated, moving into action, and manifesting what you need to, especially in a harmonious way.

Discover how each emotion operates at an unhealthy, average, and healthy level.

Get a variety of practical exercises to help you shift each emotions in a positive way.

Be led through a visualization helping you to work with the emotion at the highest level.

Each CD is 60 minutes in length or longer.

Remember, when you feel as if your life is not going the way you wish it would, whether you are experiencing good times or bad, nothing seems quite right. Often that is because you don’t understand how to manage your emotions at a positive level. But, that no longer has to be the case. You can learn to gain mastery over your emotions and keep yourself positive, energized, and ready to act in an effective way.

Wouldn’t you rather have love, clarity, compassion, energy, fulfilment, and joy in your life over fear, confusion, sorrow, anger, jealousy and fleeting moments of happiness?

Then learn more about this CD SET HERE to heal your life once and for all.

Blessings,

Dr. Lisa Love

Dr. Lisa Love Website

Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Love. All Rights Reserved.

About Dr. Lisa Love

Check out my NEW BOOK: SOUL SUCCESS: How to Create Joy & Prosperity in Good Times or Bad Buy the book and receive bonus gifts at my website.

Best-selling author of BEYOND THE SECRET: Spiritual Power and the Law of Attraction. She is also a Life, Relationship, Law of Attraction, and Tranformational coach. There’s a reason my clients tell me by working with me they get major breakthroughs fast! Decades of coaching and counseling experience combined with my extensive training and work with clients from all backgrounds help my clients make shifts in a rapid way. Contact me to discover what I can do for you.

FREE GIFTS ON MY WEBSITE: Go to: http://www.doctorlisalove. com/freegifts.html