Company Gloom Vs. Company Bliss

Introduction: Einstein stated that we use less than 10% of our brain power. I believe that our intuition and those hunches we sometimes get to take certain actions or speak certain words comes from that other 90%. Perhaps, if we tap into that other 90% on a regular basis, we could actually hear the words of our angels, our inner being, our spirit guides, and even from Jesus Christ and from God Himself. So just imagine that this story is one of those Tales from the Heart.

If you accept the premise that your thoughts help to co-create your everyday and long-term reality, then that indicates that you have a grave responsibility that should not be squandered. What thoughts are most dominant in your consciousness at any given moment?

Do you typically invest your time on thinking about your endless do list of tasks? Do you prefer to invest your time on worrying about yourself, your loved ones, the economy, the things you hear on the news or read on the internet, your favorite television characters, or the unknown future? Do you make time to ground yourself in prayer or meditation or some activity or practice that helps you feel centered and strengthened? Do you spin your wheels looking for the next big adrenaline rush so that you can feel vital and alive?

What do you think about in those quiet moments when no one else is around to distract you and no activity or job is requiring your total focus and attention? When it is just you and your thoughts, how do you feel? Do you mostly feel bored or angry or worried or jealous or distracted or restless or fearful or conflicted? Or do you mostly feel safe, content, peaceful, loving, and loved? What emotional range drives you the most?

Let's say that you long to be part of the solution toward peace. You would love to see world peace happen; however, you are willing to at least settle toward familial peace or peace within your network of family and friends and work associates. How do you make that happen? What can you really do to see that longed-for reality come to fruition?

It absolutely starts with you. It is often said that you can't really love others until you love yourself. To generalize, Christ Jesus states that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love mankind. How do we do that? Let's imagine that you had the enviable opportunity to sit down with Jesus face-to-face. If you asked the Son of God how you can best love God and love mankind and help bring about peace, what guidance do you think you would receive?

Let's try an experiment. Since it is said we are all of us God's children and Jesus is the Son of God, then that would indicate that he is our big brother in Christ Consciousness. So imagine that you are granted the opportunity to have a conversation with your big brother. Knowing how much God loves you and your big brother in Christ Consciousness loves you, what you do you think he would say? At the end of reading this very paragraph, close your eyes for sixty seconds (longer if you like) and feel with your heart for the answer you would receive. During these moments of silence, ask this question of Jesus: "How can I best show my love for God and others? Also, how can I help co-create a peaceful world?" I will pause in my writing and you pause in your reading and let us both try that experiment now.

Welcome back. How do you feel? Did you receive some answers that were helpful? I know I did. It sounds like a conversation that I would like to continue at great length and more frequently. Perhaps it is even a question I might find helpful to pose each and every day. I am confident that you received some wonderful and enlightening answers; for after all, we are each our own master teachers. I would love this to be a two-way conversation or a conference call. In other words, if you feel comfortable sharing your answers, feel free to make comments below. The answers I received may only work for me; nevertheless, I will share them anyway. Just know that my answers are simply something to think about. Weigh them against the answers you received. Perhaps someday, we can compare notes. In the meantime, here is some of what I felt in my heart. Rather than translating the words as if they come from me, I will tell them to you as if they really came direct from OUR big brother. So if you are willing, take this leap of faith with me, and listen to what I was told.

My question: How can I best show my love for God and others? Also, how can I help co-create a peaceful world?

Our big brother states: It all begins with you. And since I know that you are going to share our conversation, I will re-state to say that it all begins with each one of you. If you want to create peace for others, you must be and feel peaceful within yourself. Do you? How much of each day do you feel peaceful?

Me: (long pause) There are parts of each day where I feel very peaceful until ...

Our big brother: Until?

Me: Until my husband - we both are writers and work mostly at home - makes a comment about a computer glitch. Or I read an article or e-mail about school bullies. Or my husband comes home from a visit to his mother in the nursing home indicating that she was having a bad day filled with paranoid delusions. Or I hear about a distant relative of his who appears to be a sociopath lacking in conscience or consideration. Or I think about the health issues of my parents or my brother who got laid off from his job? Or I listen to the news. Or I get overwhelmed with my do list. Or I get a little concerned about having enough paid work coming my way. Other than that, I feel relatively peaceful.

Can't you just imagine our big brother chuckling? Did he chuckle with you when you starting listing all the ways you found to not be peaceful rather than looking for the positive aspects in your life that affirm your reasons to trust God's constant and abiding love and care for us all?

Our big brother: It sounds like you have found more reasons or justifications for not feeling peaceful than you have found to embrace peace. I would like to suggest that you fight on the side you wish to see win.

Me: What do you mean exactly?

Our big brother: Recall that Native American story you heard about the young Cherokee boy who had a dream about two wolves. One wolf was bad. The other wolf was good. They fought. The boy asks his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The grandfather replies, "The one you feed."

Our big brother continues: As you know, I am a great fan of parables. They speak volumes. Let me give you a specific example.

The other night, you were watching TV with your husband. He accidentally dropped something. He's getting older and is having some physical challenges such as some pain in his thumbs that causes him to not always be able to easily grasp items. He yelled out and spent some time loudly complaining about the situation.

Me: Yes, I remember that. I had the perception that he was doing a combination of whining and beating up on himself. He sounded extremely frustrated and angry. I was not sure what to do in that situation other than to be soothing and to listen to him grumble. It is kind of hard to maintain my feelings of peacefulness when somebody is complaining in front of you. Also, I feel helpless to help him other than to allow him to vent and to be there for him. Is there a better way?

Our big brother: Okay, to use our analogy of the two wolves, if you are thinking in your private thoughts that he is whining and complaining and beating up on himself, wistfully wishing he would choose to laugh or shrug it off, which wolf are you feeding?

Me: Well, I am certainly not feeding the good wolf if I am thinking negative thoughts. So, please tell me, how can I only feed the good wolf in that situation?

Our big brother: Like I said at the beginning of our conversation, it all starts with you. If you accept the premise that everyone is a mirror of what is going on inside of you, in what ways are you whining and complaining and beating up on yourself rather than demonstrating a sense of humor or peaceful acceptance?

Me: Wow! That's a big one. I guess it's like that Bible saying about the mote and the beam. Excuse me while I Google it.

http://bible.cc/matthew/7-5.htm

King James Bible
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Bible in Basic English
You false one, first take out the bit of wood from your eye, then will you see clearly to take out the grain of dust from your brother's eye.

Okay, so I can see that one way to be helpful to him is that I must put a more positive spin on what is happening in every moment of my day rather than giving in to worry or frustration or anger. But let's say that I get a better control of my thoughts regarding my life, how can I be more soothing to my husband since something similar to that seems to happen every few days?

Our big brother: It's all about radio frequencies.

Me: Please explain.

Our big brother: Let's say that you own a radio that only transmits two stations. One station only speaks of positive things that help you feel good. The other station only transmits negative things that help you feel bad or sad or mad. In between those two stations is snowy static. Imagine that this radio is totally tuned into your every thought and emotion. Now let's imagine that you accidentally stub your toe.

Please Google the quote from Sir Isaac Newton:

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/GBSSCI/PHYS/CLASS/newtlaws/u2l4a.html

Newton's Third Law of Motion: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

So in our imaginary scenario, the action is that you have stubbed your toe. You now cannot help but have some type of reaction. That reaction is either going to feed the bad wolf or it is going to feed the good wolf. That reaction is also going to either cause the radio to transmit the positive station or the negative station. Your opportunity to choose your reaction happens in those brief moments between the action of stubbing your toe and the reaction that you emit. What typically do you do?

Me: I have to admit that I usually, "speak French," as I like to say - no offense to the French. That is simply my silly kind of way to state that I would quickly say a four-letter word either out loud (if alone) or in my head (if with others). So to continue your analogy, I am not only tuning the dial to the negative radio station, I am also feeding the bad wolf. Oops! When I express it that way, it doesn't sound too good. But at least, I am only affecting me. Uh-oh. I have the strong impression you are going to state something different.

Our big brother: You are exactly right, dear one. The answer is multi-leveled. Let's imagine that you stubbed your toe and you reflexively said one of your most-favored curse words. Now you have two actions to react to. You have the pain of a stubbed toe and the word weapon quickly expressed with some level of venom. By the way, when you say that curse word, who or what are you directing that angry word toward?

Me: Hmmmm. I guess I am directing my curse word and anger or frustration toward the hard surface that I stubbed my toe on and to me for not being more conscious of where I directed my feet and to the circumstances that caused me to be distracted enough to have this collision of toe and hard surface happen.

Our big brother: Do you typically stay feeling upset or do you rather quickly get back to your normally sunny disposition?

Me: I guess that depends on what has been happening prior to that moment. If other frustrating or disappointing things have been happening before that moment, than I probably am going to remain tuned to that negative radio station for a while, throwing food toward that bad wolf. If things have been going well that day, I probably would manage to get back to feeling good again fairly quickly after the pain of the stubbed toe goes away. So to use your analogy, I would be tuned to that negative radio station for a while, but then before too many minutes had passed, I would change the station and my focus to the positive one.

Our big brother: Would you agree that if frustrating things had been happening prior to that action of stubbing your toe, which means you had already been feeding that bad wolf and tuned to that negative radio station for a while, you perhaps set yourself up for further bad actions such as stubbing your toe?

Me: Yeah, I can see that. So because I didn't get hold of myself sooner back to a place of peace, I was simply perpetuating the potential for further bad things to happen.

Our big brother: Exactly.

Me: Yeah, but, what about the times when I stub my toe and it has been a good day. In other words, I'd been tuned to the positive radio station and feeding only the good wolf. Then, all of a sudden, I stub my toe. Where's the justice in that?

Our big brother: My answer is two-fold. Most likely, the stub would be more of a grazing or a less-severe impact due to you being vigilant about your thoughts and attitudes. Therefore, you would get over the pain of the impact much more quickly and resume your peaceful pursuits beyond that moment. However, if the collision between your toe and the hard surface is very painful, than consider this to be an act of character and faith.

Me: Oh, do you mean like Job from the Bible?

Our big brother: Yes, exactly. In the book of Job, all these bad things happen to Job as a test to see if he could remain faithful to God or would turn to Satan. Thankfully, he was able to maintain his faith and was justly rewarded by God in the end.

So to follow this line of reasoning, consider the stubbed toe as a test of character. Will you allow this event to ruin what had otherwise been a good day to take that negative detour or will you quickly re-align yourself on your positive path and go on with your day thanking God for the quick pain relief and for guiding your steps now and in the future?

Me: Okay, I think I get it. It's not that God guided my toe to get stubbed. I could have allowed myself to get distracted. Rather than being truly present in the moment, I might have let my feet get ahead of my head or vice versa.

Our big brother: Exactly. Think back to that day you got lost on the mountain in Norway when you had to cross all those rocks.

Me: Yeah, I'll always remember that day. For those of you who have not heard me perform the story called "White Reindeer" or read my book titled White Reindeer, Kudzu Monster, & Other Tales of Wonder written under my pen name of DJ Lyons, I kind of accidentally, on purpose climbed a mountain in Norway when I was 21. In my quest to reach the top of a beautiful waterfall, I came to a spot where there had been a rockslide some time in the past. Hundreds of rocks peppered the 100-foot slope below me and blocked my path for as far as my eye could see. One wrong step could start a new rockslide with me being the biggest rock. I carefully and prayerfully considered whether I dared to try to traverse all those rocks or whether I had better turn back. My inclination was to continue as I so longed to carry on with my quest; however, I also just as strongly wanted to remain upright and unharmed. That was the moment when I first felt like I allowed the voice of God to speak directly to me. In my heart, I distinctly heard a voice say, "Debbie, if you place your foot precisely there, it will be okay. Now put your foot there. Now there." It truly was an incredible and awesome experience that lasted for about an hour until I finally got past all those hundreds of loose rocks without dislodging even one of them. I was so grateful that God and His angels kept me safe past that obstacle and the other obstacles that potentially threatened my life as my adventure continued.

Our big brother: Yes, your innocence, your youthfulness, God and His angels, and your faith kept you safe on that day. With the exception of about an hour, you were feeding the good wolf and tuned to the positive radio station for most of the day. And of course, your book details the consequences that occurred for some other characters on their parallel adventures who allowed themselves to invest their time and energy in feeding the bad wolf and being tuned to the negative radio station instead.

Me: Everything makes total sense to me so far. I feel that your answer is going to get more complicated now.

Our big brother: Yes, it is; however, you and your readers have the ability to understand this. There is a saying that states, "With knowledge comes responsibility." If you really wish to help co-create world peace, than it is vitally important that you focus the majority of your time and energy on feeding only the good wolf and staying tuned to only the positive radio station."

Me: I'll ask the obvious question. Why?

Our big brother: Let's imagine that everybody in the world owns the same type of radio. Each owner had a radio that automatically responds to whatever thoughts the owner is thinking and feeling. If he or she is thinking negative thoughts, the radio dial turns on its own to the negative radio station. The bad wolf is being fed, giving this wolf the ability to get bigger and stronger and more powerful. More pleasantly, if the owner of the radio thinks positive thoughts, the radio dial turns on its own to the positive radio station. The good wolf is being fed, giving this wolf the ability to get bigger and stronger and more powerful.

Now, let's imagine that there are two competitive businesses out there. One of the businesses is the owner of both the negative radio station and its mascot of the bad wolf. Naturally, that business wants to be the most powerful and popular business in the world. The other business is the owner of both the positive radio station and its mascot of the good wolf. Just as naturally, this business prefers to be the most powerful and popular business in the world, not only because it would like to be successful but because it truly wishes to perpetuate world peace for one and all. As you can imagine, the other business would like to perpetuate crisis and many other bad things.

For the sake of our analogy, let's call the two businesses Company Gloom and Company Bliss.

Me: Okay, Company Gloom transmits the negative radio station and has the bad wolf as its mascot.

Our big brother: That's right. And more happily, Company Bliss transmits the positive radio station and has the good wolf as its mascot.

Me: Okay, I'm with you so far. Now what?

Our big brother: Imagine, if you will, that for every minute of the day that you are supporting Company Gloom by thinking and speaking negative thoughts and feeding the bad wolf, they are pulling in advertising dollars by the truckload. And for every minute of the day that you are supporting Company Bliss by thinking and speaking positive thoughts and feeding the good wolf, they are pulling in advertising dollars by the truckload.

Me: I'm guessing this is not just true for me.

Our big brother: Exactly. It is true for every person out there. Now obviously, you cannot control other people and the choices they make. They have free will to think and act as they choose. However, you do have the power to influence them in two ways.

Me: Oh, I bet one way is like the "Butterfly Effect" that I've heard about where a butterfly flaps its wings in one part of the country and it causes a tornado in an entirely different part of the country.

So if I smile at someone and they smile back, before that smile has a chance to be wiped off his or her face, perhaps they smile at somebody else who also smiles back. And before that person has a chance to wipe that reactionary smile off his or her face, they smile at someone else who smiles back. And this could carry on until the smile I started could travel for miles and miles and miles. That smile could cause all kinds of positive things to happen that help lots and lots of people.

Of course, the polarity of that is that I could frown at someone. My frown could cause one or more people to frown. Their frowns could cause one ore more other people to frown. All these frowns could travel for miles and miles and miles. That frown could turn into a verbal fight or a physical fight or worse.

On the negative front, I recall this saying about the horseshoe nail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Want_of_a_Nail

For Want of a Nail

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Our big brother: Yes, that is all very true. The other way you can influence people positively or negatively is vibrationally. Quantum Physics states that everything is vibrational. Each and every time that you choose the option of feeding the good wolf and tuning in to the positive radio station which makes Company Bliss more powerful, this makes the world be a more peaceful place. The reverse of that is also true. Each and every time that you give in to feeding the bad wolf and tuning in to the negative radio station, Company Gloom grows more powerful. You are also aligning yourself with all the other people who are succumbing to Company Gloom's agenda as well. This causes the world to be less peaceful and chaos to gain strength. There is indeed strength in numbers.

Me: Isn't there also that saying that one on God's side is a multitude?

Our big brother: Yes. One person can have great power and influence. Look at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Look at Gandhi. Look at Mother Theresa.

Me: Look at you, Jesus Christ.

Our big brother: Thank you. But you do not have to be famous or well-known to have great power and influence. Each of you has the power and ability to change the world for the better.

Me: Please explain.

Our big brother: Okay, let's go back to your stubbing toe analogy. The action is that you stubbed your toe. If you choose a prolonged negative reaction, you strengthen the bad wolf, you tune in to the negative radio station, and you help support Company Gloom's agenda. You are sending out strong radio waves that can impact others.

Me: Is this kind of like that story of the hundredth monkey?

Our big brother: Yes.

Me: For those of you who have not heard, mass consciousness was such that monkeys everywhere would eat fruit regardless of it being covered with dirt or clean. One day, on one isolated island, a monkey was reported to make the decision to wash his piece of fruit before eating it. All of a sudden, many monkeys from many other diverse locations suddenly felt themselves motivated to also wash their piece of fruit before eating it.

It was like a swing of the pendulum. Mass consciousness was weighing the monkeys down with the decision to eat dirt-covered fruit because the food got into their systems more quickly. On the other side of the pendulum were the monkeys that were disturbed with the fact that they were also swallowing dirt along with the fruit. A few monkeys here and there began to wash their fruit before eating it; however, that was not a popular or common occurrence. The pendulum was slowly starting to swing toward the desire to only eat clean fruit. When that monkey on that isolated island made the choice to wash his fruit before eating it, he was thought to be the hundredth monkey to choose this option. Those hundred monkeys formed a critical mass that impacted mass consciousness everywhere. Suddenly, monkeys all over the place found themselves gravitating toward making that same choice.

Our big brother: Very good. So now, to continue with our stubbed toe example, let's say that there are some people out there that are kind of in that in-between state of listening to the snowy static. They are neither tuned in to the negative radio station or the positive one. They are just kind of in-between. If you stub your toe and choose a prolonged visit to Company Gloom, you send out negative radio waves, like ripples in a pond, that can vibrationally cause that person to also gravitate toward supporting Company Gloom. On the other hand, if you quickly regain your composure after stubbing your toe or manage to go the whole day tuned only to the Positive Radio Station and feeding the good wolf, you are sending out positive radio waves that, like ripples in a pond, can vibrationally cause that person to also gravitate toward supporting Company Bliss. Does this make sense?

Me: Wow! So that means I almost have a responsibility to maintain my sense of peace if I really want to contribute to world peace. Oh, I just thought of something. Let's say that I don't have the ability to come up with the cure for cancer or some other important invention that could help others, but that person who was in that in-between state did have that ability. So combining the idea of the Butterfly Effect and that poem about the horseshoe nail, if the smile I started eventually reached that key person or I sent out positive vibrations that eventually reached that key person, and those good feelings were just the feelings he or she needed in order to feel inspired to create or invent, then that cure for cancer or that essential item does get invented. But if instead, a frown reaches him or her or negative vibrations that cause him or her to feel uninspired and tired, that cure or invention might never take place.

Our big brother: Excellent! You have really caught on.

Me: Okay, what about my original question about my husband, how do I help him maintain his sense of peace when he accidentally drops something and blames himself and the circumstances of age and health?

Our big brother: First, make certain that you are in a peaceful state yourself and that is he is not simply acting as a mirror so you can see that you have allowed yourself to veer off your path. If you are indeed peaceful, than your main job is to think only positive thoughts regarding his experience. The thoughts you think in your head are sending out radio signals to him. They are either radio signals that are helping his pendulum to swing toward Company Gloom or Company Bliss.

Me: Okay, I think I get it. Instead of thinking in my head that he's whining and angry and I would rather he could laugh it off so I don't have to listen to him vent in such a manner, I need to put a more positive spin on it like he has so many parts of his body that are functioning beautifully and in a healthy manner. I could also focus on the thought that he is striving toward having dexterity and good health and strong reflexes. I can ponder that this is a great thing to strive toward and that he has so many abilities that demonstrate that he is strong and healthy and dexterous most of the time. I can think about how much I love him and am grateful for the opportunity to be there for him as I know he is always there for me. I can focus on all the positive aspects about him that I can think of and perhaps express some of those compliments out loud. Probably, before we both know it, we can continue with our time together watching television feeling good about each other, ourselves, and our couple-time. How did I do?

Our big brother: Excellent! How do you feel?

Me: I feel really good and quite peaceful. I appreciate all that I learned from our time together today. I look forward to future times when we can talk and share again. Thank you so much, big brother! I am very grateful to you and to God! Amen