Healing Past Hurt - Our Evolving Language

It is wonderful to find something that simply must be forwarded in its entirety because it is so important to consider in our daily lives. What follows is today's DailyOM online message. DailyOM can be found at www.dailyom.com.

I send this message in honor of my brother David, who has suffered with the stigma of  schizophrenia for decades. Another reason to think twice when tempted to say that someone is "schizophrenic" when they are all over the place and can't make a decision.

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We can create positive change by choosing not to use these words and phrases as we come across them in our vocabulary. 

There are many troubling phrases in our language that we use without considering their full meaning simply because they have been accepted into common knowledge. Even as our ideals progress, our language maintains some phrases from our past that no longer serve us, for example: Boys don't cry; good child; boys will be boys; problem child; illegitimate child; and many more. While these phrases may be used without harmful intent, they are inherently negative. Children can be especially sensitive to such phrases, which may stay with them their whole lives, adversely affecting their self-image and wounding their self-esteem. We can create positive change by choosing not to use these words and phrases as we come across them in our vocabulary.

It is challenging to examine our habits in terms of the words we use to express ourselves, but it is also exciting. Language is an area where we can exercise our free will, creating positive change in the world around us by simply choosing carefully the words we use. It may seem like a small thing, but our words have a rippling effect, like a stone thrown in a pond. People naturally pick up on the way other people speak, consciously or unconsciously changing the way they speak in response. We don't need to actively try to influence people; it happens without our even thinking about it. All we have to do is choose to be more conscious ourselves, putting to rest words and phrases that are outmoded, insensitive, or harmful. We can also exercise our creativity by creating new phrases that carry positive and loving energy to replace the old ones.

You may already have some ideas about phrases you'd like to transition out of your language, and now that you’re thinking about it you may come across many more. As you consciously decide not to use these phrases, you may feel lighter and more joyful, knowing that you have chosen to drop baggage that was handed down to you from a less conscious time. As you do so, you elevate the language for future generations who would no doubt thank you if they could.

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A Daily Dose of Inspiration

I don’t know about you, but sometimes just getting up and stating my day can be a challenge. I’ll hit the snooze button at least 2-3 times and put the pillow over my head thinking that it just can’t be the morning of another workday!

This is especially true now, in December when the sun doesn’t come up over the horizon until 7am at the earliest. Your body is saying to you, “I am getting up in the middle of the night to go to work. Why?” It turns into a mind over matter exercise, which is often not much of a battle because my mind is still dreaming!

Once I get through breakfast and start my 30-mile drive to work, I’m usually in pretty good shape. My brain goes from dreaming into the process of sorting through what needs to be done that day and prioritizing all of the many categories of tasks I have in front of me. Now, during Christmas week, the categories can stretch from mailing Christmas cards to writing a contract for a new client.

Through it all, I know that I can’t do all of this alone, that’s why I am so grateful in my prayers at night that I have God at the helm keeping everything in order. Still, I have to surround myself with an environment that promotes action during my day. In my office, I have filled half of one wall with motivational quotes from people as wide-ranging as Buddy the Elf to Leonardo da Vinci. I call it my “Wall of Inspiration” and I’ve invited people to come by any time they are feeling a little low in the motivation department.

One of my favorites is an Irish proverb that says, “You’ll never plough a field turning it over in your mind.” Any time I get stuck on something, I’ll look at that quote and convince myself to get the thought out of my head and act on it. Another good one is, “Obstacles cannot bend me. Every obstacle yields to effort.” That’s the one by Leonardo da Vinci. He accomplished a few things in his 67 years on this earth!

If you’re looking for more of these quotes, go to www.givemore.com. There are plenty of them surrounded by other good and practical tips.

No matter what technique you choose to use, I know that it has helped me to surround myself with positive words and images. You create an environment of energy that can support you just by being there. Just by you looking across the room and becoming renewed and inspired. Give it a try and see what happens!   

My Christmas Angel

Today's my youngest son's 18th birthday. It's amazing for me to think that it was 18 years ago that he came home for the first time and took his place as the youngest of three boys.

That was a tough time for me, right from the start. I came down with an intestinal bug when he was in the hospital and couldn't come and visit him until it was just about time to bring him home. I was also in what was the beginning of problems within my marriage that I was hardly even aware of. It was just a general sadness, which over time grew into an issue that couldn't be fixed.

Peter was my pal as soon as I saw him. He was actually due on Christmas day, but he decided that he couldn't wait that long. Still, I called him my Christmas Angel. He was a gift from above for me, and he's been that way ever since.

When Christmas arrives in a couple of weeks, look around the room that morning. Sure, you'll see your gifts under the tree and hanging from the mantle in stockings, but your real gifts are in the smiles of your family and in the loving messages from your friends.

Happy Birthday, Peter. I couldn't have done it without you. -Dad.

The Primal Gift of Music

As Christmas gets closer and closer, you hear lots of joyous music filling the air. Your hear in it malls, on the radio, in church. It makes you feel relaxed and happy, doesn't it? It brings back memories of Christmases when we were young and times were simpler. It even conjures memories of the delicious food that we have eaten at Christmas celebrations. The entrainment effect that music has on all of us is amazing, and we hardly think of it. We just experience it.

That's why I think of music as a primal gift. It has literally been in our bodies and brains since the beginning of time. We beat logs in rhythms to communicate, we chanted and sang stories as part of our oral history before the written word. These stories have been passed down unaltered sometimes for centuries.

You may be thinking how can music be in our bodies and brains? We remember songs that we have stored in our memories sometimes for a long time, that's for sure. But, I am referring to what music is made of - vibration - that has a physical and emotional effect on our thoughts and general well being. For us musicians, it sounds a little crude to think of our precious passtimes as "making vibration", but that's the way our ears receive it. Because music is vibration and vibration is converted to electricity, it literally reaches every cell in our bodies.

Knowing that the music we listen to affects our entire bodies, what an amazing healing tool we have right at our fingertips!

It's well known that classical music opens up our minds. There's has been discussion saying that babies that listen to classical music from when they are born are smarter. That's not exactly true. What is true is that classical music "primes" babies brains for complex tasks, like putting together puzzles and other spatial activities. If one of those activities is learning to play an instrument, that can improve their spatial tasks by up to 30%. 

Conversely, loud rock music has the opposite effect. I'm not saying that children shouldn't listen to rock music. Hey, I grew up in the 60s! It's just that rock music doesn't prime the brain for learning the way that classical music does. An interesting study took two of the same kind of plants and put them two separate aquariums. One had a speaker with classical music, the other had a speaker with rock music. The classically-fed plant grew toward the speaker while the rock-fed plant grew away for the speaker!

At its most fundamental level, we are made of music (vibration). Everything in our world vibrates, even things that we would never expect, like rocks and the earth itself. Eastern teachings say that the earth emits a determined tone - the tone of Ohm. This is why mediation and sound healing often use the sound of Ohm as a core part of the practices. These teachings go on to say that man, as part of the earth, is also tuned to the tone of Ohm, and that Ohm is the basis of everything, eventually evolving from its Sanskrit origins to the Jewish and Christian "so be it" - Amen.

So, this Christmas when you are listening to and singing "Silent Night" and "The First Noel", think about how these beautiful carols make you feel. Feel the peace that is within you and appreciate the gift of music that has been given to us all.

Credits:

• What is Healing Music? Amrita Cottrell
• http://www.om-healing.org/
• http://www.educationoasis.com/
• http://www.splashesfromtheriver.com/

  

Uncomfortable

I'm a pretty big fan of Christian rock. No surprise, right? Anyway, tonight I was listening to Brandon Heath, a top artist on the charts talk about a time when he visited India and had some stomach issues. When he was getting better, but still not feeling great, he said that he wrote some of the best music that he's written.

That really got me to thinking. When have I been the most creative? It's usually when I'm tired, or upset about something. There are times when my thoughts start flowing when I am on top of my game, but I want to say that is in the minority.

It's a pretty odd thing, don't you think? Why would we tend to be more creative when we aren't feeling quite right? Maybe it's because we are more inwardly focused when there's something wrong. We are not as aware of what is going on outside of us and are happier focusing inward in hopes of relieving the pain. And as we help ourselves get through it, we tap into an energy that we didn't think we had.

Now, I'm not hoping that I am uncomfortable any more than necessary. But, when I am, I'll think of it as an opportunity. Kind of crazy the way it works.

We've Got It Covered?

A lot of people think that openly religious Christians are strange, weird or fanatics. I have to say that it is the strangest thing and I think about it a lot. Why would that be?

A recent ABC News poll found that 83% of Americans identify themselves as Christians. But, how many of those people openly proclaim themselves as followers of Christ? If asked the direct question, "do you believe in God?", 83% of Americans say yes. Yet, if asked the question in a different way, like "do you love Christ?", you're going to get a different answer, or no answer at all.

Why does that happen? Why do so many of us not feel comfortable to proclaim our love for our God? What is the difference between saying that you are Christian and proclaiming you are Christian? I think that it is a vast difference. It's a chasm that is filled with our humanness.

When your answer to "do you love Christ?" is followed by a squirm and then, "well, I guess so", what does that mean? It means that we are allowing our pride, our protective image and our cowardice to lay in front of us like a rock that we are hiding behind, or in this case, stepping around.

Think of the apostle Paul. He was a Roman citizen and studied with a member of the Sanhedrin. Yes, the same Sanhedrin that turned Jesus over to Pilate ultimately to be crucified. Yet he directly heard Jesus' call and received His commission to "teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:20).

What did Paul ultimately get from his commitment to God? A death because of his beliefs and acts. Is that what we are afraid of? Is it an ancient fear that we will be persecuted and will suffer these same judgements?

Well, I will tell you what I think. I think that we all need to own up to who we profess to be, in mind, body and spirit. No one will crucify us or have us beheaded like in those early days. We need to be brave in the face of our own fears and proclaim our dedication to our God.

We are at yet another moment in history where the power of God is being questioned and minimized. All because so many of us believe that we don't need faith and religion in our lives because "we've got it covered". That couldn't be less true. Every day as the economy wanes and more people succumb to the numbing effects of joblessness is evidence that we need God more than ever.

Don't think for a moment that we can do all of this alone. We are God's children. We need to hear and read the words of our Father. Those words with be our guiding light through today's darkness. This too shall pass, but only by His way.