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Retired from the rat race, and now a stay at home dad. Amateur photographer who attempts to write American Haiku in the style of Jack Kerouac to go with some of his photography, as he debates about becoming a professional photographer

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Some Thoughts on Affirmation


You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you. - James Lane Allen
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In every moment we are creating or altering our futures. Our lives are a product of our thoughts, our visualizations, our intentions, our emotions, our feelings, our beliefs, our attitudes, our expectations. Our lives are also the products of our spoken words and our physical actions. Added to our thoughts and actions are the programming that is feed to us from our society, our religion, our culture, our family and friends. Each and everyone one of us has the power within to change our life.
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Thoughts are the basis of all manifestation. ENERGY FOLLOW THOUGTS or ENERGY FOLLOWS CONSCIOUSNESS.
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An affirmation from Latin affirmare —n.
1. the act or an instance of affirming; state of being affirmed.
2. the assertion that something exists or is true.
3. something that is affirmed; a statement or proposition that is declared to be true.
4. confirmation or ratification of the truth or validity of a prior judgment, decision, etc.
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Affirmations are one tool that we can use to change our thought pattern. An affirmation is like planting a seed. If this seed is to grow and blossom than it needs to be tended to every day. When working with affirmations daily one may find that each day becomes more joyous than the one before it.
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Notice that I said may and not will become joyous. The reason for that is in order for manifestation, magick, prayer, or affirmation to work one must be aware of and overcome the following negative patterns.

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First is doubt or disbelief or a subconscious feeling/belief that we do not truly deserve that which we desire or that which we are affirming to. These feelings or beliefs will sabotage our efforts.
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For any one that works manifestation, magick, or affirmation, doubt will always overcome your will and intent when using these tools.
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Related to this is that we have habitual tendencies that may lead to self defeating behavior. Bottom line is you have to feel that you deserve to win.
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Another thing to consider is that existence always gives us what we need and not always what we want, therefore, winning the lottery may be what we are trying to attract to us, but the lessons one might learn from winning this is not in our highest interests, so the universe doesn’t produce what we are trying to attract to us. It has been my experience that this is truer when working magick or manifestation, than when working with affirmation and prayer.
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Here are some thoughts on affirmation that I found at various places on the web.
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Affirmations are statements of acceptance that one uses to allow the manifestation of your destiny.  They are powerful and positive thoughts and statements sent out to the universe.  To do positive affirmations, you need to eliminate the negativity around you. You must first believe that YOU CAN manifest your destiny.  It must be a positive, powerful belief not just 'maybe I'll try and see if this works".  Together with Visualizations, you can create the life you want.
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An affirmation is a form of autosuggestion in which a statement of a desirable intention or condition of the world or the mind is deliberately meditated on and/or repeated in order to implant it in the mind. Many believers recommend accompanying recitations with mental visualization of a desired outcome. Affirmation could be viewed positively as a mobilization of one's inner resources. For example, believers would consider "I Am making more room in my life for success every day" a much wiser affirmation than "I will win the lottery today!" Affirmations are always phrased in the first person and usually in a present tense ("I Am") rather than a future tense ("I will") in order to increase the realization of the statement for the affirmation. Affirmations are believed to be a very powerful means of reprogramming the subjective mind. They appear to be most effective when repeated in a quiet and restful state of mind and body, and when the desired outcome is vividly experienced in one's mind and resulting emotions are felt.
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Perhaps the most often used and well-known affirmation is the word "Amen," which can be translated simply as "so be it" or "and so it is," affirming the truth of whatever was written or said immediately prior. While often used to conclude prayer, the word itself is neutral as to its context and exemplifies a logical affirmation more than a spiritual one.

Gra, Dilseacht, Cairdeas -- Love, Loyalty, Friendship
/|\ By Land, Sea, and Sky one hundred thousand Blessings to all who read these words!
 To bring Peace, be Peaceful … A Celtic Warrior.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Everything I need to know about life I learn from Trees


Author unknown to me

As above so below, as below, so above.

The three realms are represented by the tree, the roots for the Underworld, the trunk for the Middle World and the branches for the Upper World.

It’s important to have roots.

In today’s world, it pays to branch out.

Don’t pine away over old flames.

If you really believe something, don’t be afraid to go out on a limb.

Be flexible, so you don’t break when a harsh wind blows.

Sometimes you have to shed your old bark in order to grow.

There are wide years and thin years and the lines show.

Grow were you are planted.

It’s okay to be a late bloomer.

Avoid people who would like to cut you down.

Lean into the sun and rain.

It’s more important to be honest, than popular.

Sometimes you have to pull up roots and move on.

Remember, give yourself time to blossom.

Share what you have learned with those who sit in your shade.

/|\ By sea, land, and sky, a hundred thousand blessings to all who read these words.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Words are like arrows

You Never Can Tell
You never can tell when you send a word,
Like an arrow shot from a bow
By an archer blind, be it cruel or kind,
Just where it may chance to go.
It may pierce the breast of your dearest friend,
Tipped with its poison or balm,
To a stranger’s heart in life’s great mart,
It may carry its pain or its calm.
You never can tell when you do an act
Just what the result will be;
But with every deed you are sowing a seed,
Though the harvest you may not see.
Each kindly act is an acorn dropped
In God’s productive soil
You may not know, but the tree shall grow,
With shelter for those who toil.
You never can tell what your thoughts will do,
In bringing you hate or love;
For thoughts are things, and their airy wings
Are swifter than carrier doves.
They follow the law of the universe –
Each thing must create its kind,
And they speed o’er the track to bring you back
Whatever went out from your mind.
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Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1850-1919
http://www.crcsite.org/Wilcox.htm
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This is a very interesting poem that touches on several things. Remember thoughts are things they become manifested as words, word are sent out and become deeds and deeds become history.
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Words are like arrows so easy to send forth and impossible to retrieve while in flight. Some people do not fully realize the power of words; they can both harm or heal another’s psyche. And there are others that know full well the power of words and purposely use them to cause hate, mistrust, confusion and doubt. Therefore Ms Wilcox is talking about being aware of the impact of our words for they have the ability to lift one up or tear one down. This teaches us two things, awareness of our thought process and the impacts of our words have on others.
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The second stanza teaches the cause/effect of our words and since words can lead to actions it also is a reminder of the cause/effect of our actions. Both my training and my own observation of life I have realize that everything that we experience is the manifestations of our thoughts, words and deeds.
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The last stanza Ms Wilcox talks about Universal Law, the three most related to her poem would be the Law of Attraction, the Law of Manifestation, and the Law of Cause/Effect. The Law of Attraction and the Law of Manifestation are very closely related, since they bring about the conditions and events of our lives.
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The Law of Attraction basic principle is this: Whatever you focus on expands. In other words, think positive thoughts and you attract positive things into your life. The problem is that it works in reverse too. Worry and you get more to worry about. If you think something bad will happen and worry about it, then that bad thing will happen.
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The Law of Manifestation basic principle is that we can manifest things in our life but the thought patterns that we send out.
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Both the Law of Attraction and the Law of Manifestation are examples of the Law of Cause and Effect in that our thoughts are causes which have been manifested thus effecting our reality.
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Everything in the universe is energy, including us, and that energy moves in a circular fashion. At the microscopic level, we are a whirling mass of electrons and energy atoms spinning rapidly. In fact, everything in the world is comprised of energy and we are intimately connected with this sea of energy, this sea of whirling electrons. In the mystical or spiritual realm we are spiritual energy that vibrates at a certain frequency which enables us to become material, or to be able to be manifested in the material world. The lower the vibration level the denser the material.
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In every moment we are creating or altering our futures. Our lives are a product of our thoughts, our visualizations, our intentions, our emotions, our feelings, our beliefs, our attitudes, our expectations. Our lives are also the products of our spoken words and our physical actions. Added to our thoughts and actions are the programming that is feed to us from our society, our religion, our culture, our family and friends. Therefore the energy that we put out is returned to us in like pattern, so each and everyone one of us has the power within to change our life.
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The first step to manifestation is the understanding that thoughts create. They create who we are and the life we live. Thoughts are the basis of all manifestation. ENERGY FOLLOW THOUGTS or ENERGY FOLLOWS CONSCIOUSNESS.
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Things to remember
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- Manifestation is always on; the Law of Attraction is always on. Therefore our thoughts words and deeds impact our reality
- Accept responsibility for our life and the effects of our actions on others.
- Our Karma can manifest for us either from past lives, or from our habitual tendencies in this life
- Energy follows consciousness
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Gra, Dilseacht, Cairdeas -- Love, Loyalty, Friendship
/|\ By Land, Sea, and Sky one hundred thousand Blessings to all who read these words!
To bring Peace, be Peaceful … A Celtic Warrior.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

In the process of moving files from my old computer to the new one and came across the below pondering that my wife said I should post. It was written about nine years ago. It may have been posted to the old Yahoo 360 but I am not positive that it was.

Summer of 2001 or 2002

I haven’t gone away, just been working on uploading photos to flickr. Today I took some photos of the area around my apartment and from the town (?) that I grew up near. Glen Burnie is really a suburb of Baltimore, although when we moved out here in 1959 it was still consider country or Hicksville.

I realize today that the area that I grew up in no longer exists. The drive-in theater at the end of my street is now a shopping center that has a lot of useless stores. The field next to the drive-in where I played sand-lot foot ball is a tire center. The huge empty field across from the drive-in was developed for the following uses:  a mall, more shopping centers, a car wash, Department of Motor Vehicle, a hotel, another shopping center.

The field’s where I had salt rock or perhaps it was buckshot shot at me, as we borrowed some watermelons is now an apartment complex. The woods were I walked pretending to hunt, but really just getting out in the trees are also apartment complexes or condominiums.

The open burning garbage dump is now a landfill. One good thing I guess since the smell of burning material would often hang over the area. No wonder I have bronchitis