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Section Title

INSPIRATION6 Allowing Success: Syncronicity vs. Strategy9 On Motivating Others

TRANSFORMATION4 Conscious Business in the New Age7 Helping the People of Peru Walk in the Light8 Positive Change: Transform through Travel20 Your Relationship with Your Career

TOOLS & TIPS10 Conscious Communication for Business12 Live Responsibly, Invest Responsibly15 Developing a Conscious Business17 Ask Dr. ZZ24 Prosperity in a Conscious Universe

SPIRITUALITY11 Practical Spirituality: The Creative Connection14 Angels & Inspirations19 The Way It Is: It Ain’t You or Me, It’s Us23 Spiritually Speaking: You Are Gifted!25 Reincarnation: Do You Believe?

HEALTHY LIVING22 Captain’s Compass: “Right Livelihood”

© Copyright 2012 Transformation Magazine. All rights reserved.

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Conscious Businessin the New Age

We live in perhaps the most exciting time in human his-tory. In a changing landscape of globalization, we find ourselves experiencing a collective and individual shift—an awakening to a new way of life.

As an entrepreneur, I see firsthand how rapidly our fi-nancial and corporate economies are changing, and I believe that for the most part these changes are positive—yes, positive. The outdated and unsustainable systems from which our current age has evolved is naturally falling away to allow for a future of conscious business and world unity.

For the greater part of the last century, Americans have lived in a relative state of apathy, content to accept the status quo so as not to upset the apple cart. Recent world changes have tipped many people’s apple carts, throwing apples astray and revealing the rotten fruit that has been hiding just beneath the surface of the pile. As individuals shift to recollect and rebuild their lives, the structure, content, and purpose of their existence is being reevaluated.

As with all things, there is a silver lining and greater purpose contained within all struggles. For those who have been displaced from their homes or careers, opportunities for trans-formation abound if they are conscious enough to open their minds. Most people choose security over happiness, passion, or growth, and only when life sweeps them down stream do they release their hold and ride the current toward their destiny.

As unemployment has risen, so has enrollment in college, as more and more

people recognize the opportunity of free time and restlessness and put it to good use!

Unemployment is the perfect time for personal growth. Many people have found themselves thrown out of a career that was not serving them and are for the first time taking steps to-ward living a life of purpose. Enrollment in alternative health pro-

Spiritually Speaking

with MarciaBender

An Apple a Day

With D. Carol Roberts, M.D.with Rev. Marla Sanderson

Ask

Dr. ZZEnlightenedRelationshipsAwakening

with the Editor

Natalie Amsden

grams and metaphysical colleges has increased dramatically as more individuals are following their calling into the healing arts. “Solopreneurs,” or independent contractors, such as massage therapists, intuitive counselors, life coaches, and energy heal-ers, have been coming out of the woodwork. For some, career displacement has triggered their passions and for others the tug-ging they have felt at their heartstrings beckoning them to live their purpose has finally become strong enough that they have taken the leap of faith and followed their bliss.

In the remainder of this article I will make suggestions for books that you can use in following your bliss or developing your conscious business.

“You’re the same today as you will be in five years except for two things : The people you meet and the books you read.” — Sharon L. Lechter

and Greg S. Reid, Three Feet from Gold

If you find yourself somewhere along the spectrum of transition, open your mind and heart to allowing yourself to be guided to make a living that is in alignment with your true self. One book I highly recommend for evaluating your natural talents and passions is Do What You Are by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron, who are experts on the theory behind the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI), which is the most common (and useful in my opinion) psychological tool used in the busi-ness world. Another powerful transformative tool I suggest is The Purpose of Your Life by Carol Adrienne, who coauthored books in the Celestine Prophecy series with James Redfield. Adrienne’s book looks at the coincidences through the history of your life in conjunction with your natural talents and inclinations to determine the purpose behind the trajectory of your life. I per-sonally utilized these books during my own period of transforma-tion, which directed me to where I am today.

Exploring these resources may unlock your latent pas-sions and trigger a career shift. If you are committed to or con-tent with the content of your work, but desire greater freedom, I recommend examining the mind-set offered by author Timothy Ferriss in The 4-Hour Work Week. Whether employee or busi-ness owner, learning to automate, delegate, and restructure ef-ficiency into your workday will free your time and mind to a whole new world of opportunities for growth and adventure.

“I will take as a given that, for most people, somewhere between six and seven billion of them, the perfect job is the one that takes the least time.”

— Timothy Ferriss, The 4 Hour Workweek

In the business world, the Green Movement has cre-ated an abundance of opportunity. New technologies for sustain-able energy are creating new jobs, businesses are reconsider-ing their environmental impact and restructuring their processes, and work environments are changing to minimize commuting and utility expenses by transiting to telecommuting positions. What this means for you, as a worker, is more opportunity to

Natalie, Publisher of Transformation Magazine, has worked with thousands of people seeking to live a life of purpose and genuine relationship with their true selves, others, and their world. She is the former Director of a counseling center for at risk teenagers and their parents. She is also a public speaker and leads workshops and re-treats on Practical Spirituality, Finding Joy, Discovering Your Purpose, and Enlightened Relationships. www.transformationservices.org

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Transformation

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gain freedom of time and location by working your way into a telecommuting position where you can work from home and avoid the inefficient use of your time due to office distractions. As an employer, you have many options for cutting down your own working hours, while at the same time lowering your costs by utilizing the methods offered by Ferriss in his book.

As awareness of global warming and resource scar-city has spread, innovators from around the world have been pushed to create and discover technologies that can not only fix the problems industrialization has created but provide a better future than we have ever dreamed in our past. For example, just recently a fungus was discovered that can live off of polyure-thane alone, which means it eats plastic. Best of all, it can do this without sunlight, which is why scientists are making plans to grow this fungus inside of landfills around the world where it will devour our mountains of plastic bottles naturally and safely. Nature always finds a way to sustain life!

When pushed to the precipice, all living systems be-come more efficient and evolve more rapidly, and humans are no exception. Although many believe we are facing a global cri-sis of energy and environmental destruction, these struggles act only as fire to ignite the human ingenuity that always steps up to the plate when needed the most. We all know that humans have amassed and continue to produce an unimaginable and unmanageable mound of trash and waste, however few of us have heard of new technologies on the brink of release that can turn our trash into a safe, efficient, and powerful form of energy. This new technology produces no harmful byproducts and has the potential to create so much energy that it will not only solve our waste problem, but could very well elevate us to a new level of access to energy that a whole new world of technologies will be developed that would previously have been unimaginable.

In this changing world of conscious business, even our biggest problems are becoming our

greatest catalysts for transformation.

Conscious business people exist within all facets of commerce, from employee-focused corporate giants like Google to the spiritually-minded small business owners, accountants, lawyers, and even car dealers. Our dollars are one of our most powerful tools for creating change in our world, so vote wisely by selecting who you do business with and supporting businesses who represent and implement the values and conscious busi-ness practices that are in alignment with you.

If you are an employer, ask yourself if you are operating your business or managing your staff in a conscious manner. Do your employees know clearly what results are expected, do they have the equipment and support to do his/her work right, and do you praise for them for good work and care about their development as a person? According to Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, authors of First, Break All the Rules, these factors are the most important for increasing productivity and retaining talented employees. This book is based off findings from an in-depth study conducted by the Gallup Organization that interviewed over 80,000 managers and found that what mat-

ters the most in a truly successful business often goes against conventional wisdom.

As a conscious business person, it is vitally important to recognize that your most

important customers are your employees.

This is not just because research has shown that it be-hooves you to do so. As an employer you have the most amazing opportunity to change the lives of those you work with by devel-oping their talent while at the same time co-creating your busi-ness’ success. Conventional wisdom says that a right-handed person is proficient with that hand and so focuses on improving the weaknesses in the left hand, whereas the new paradigm sug-gests that the greatest use of all talent is to develop that which is naturally predisposed for greatness.

Imagine if talented artists focused on improving the skill of their non-dominant hand instead of allowing creativity to flow

where it belongs.

In the world of conscious business, perseverance and allowing yourself to follow your passions are key, whether you are an independent practitioner offering healing or inspiration to your clients or a large company providing services and employ-ment. Napolean Hill original popularized the true story of a man who gave up “three feet from gold.” A recent book by the same name by authors Sharon Lechter and Greg Reid offers power-ful insight from today’s most innovative and influential entrepre-neurs. In this story, a man who had gold fever staked his claim, started digging, and found a vein of ore. He returned home to raise the money for machinery and when he returned to mine his ore the vein stopped. He kept digging but found nothing and quit out of frustration, sold his machinery to a junk man for a few hundred dollars, and returned home.

The junk man always knew he would be rich and had saved his meager earnings so that one day, when the opportu-nity presented itself, he would take action and claim the riches he knew in his heart were already his. The junk man called in a mining engineer who checked the mine and calculated that there was indeed another vein of gold, and sure enough he found it just three feet from where the original miner had stopped digging and went on to make millions.

The moral of the story: Believe in your own success, be prepared to recognize and take

opportunities, seek expert counsel, follow your bliss, and never give up three feet from gold.

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Inspiration

Synchronicity vs. StrategyLike any entrepreneur and business owner, I’m certain-

ly no stranger to lists and action plans, but I have noticed more often than not that even the most calculated strategy pales in comparison to the perfect-place-with-the-perfect-person-at-the-perfect-time-type outcome that ALWAYS occurs as the result of synchronicity. For example:• After a string of “character-building” romantic partnerships

and doing what I needed to do to “get out there,” when I think back on how I met my husband, there is no way I could have arranged the details any better! I was singing at an outdoor bar during a time he happened to be driving by with the windows rolled down! Or when and how our first kiss went down: It was utterly magical!

• After “pounding the pavement” over several weeks and getting way too close to “rent due” day, I was offered a five-night-plus per week music gig that came to me via a phone call my musical partner received at the end of a show around 2a.m. I was even asked if I could start THE NEXT DAY! Talk about an answered prayer!

• After my husband and I decided it was time to welcome a new feline friend into our home, we visited several adop-tion centers and sent countless e-mails to breeders to no avail. One day, a kitten literally showed up on our doorstep and made herself at home—just after we had jokingly said, “Perhaps a kitten will just be dropped off on our door step.”

• After spending countless hours and many weeks research-ing multiple publishing options, Staci B., the editor I had just started working with, just-so-happened to connect me with a publisher (which at the time I did not even know ex-isted!). This person believes that authors should maintain creative control of their work, is incredibly flexible, beauti-fully like-minded, phenomenal with follow-through, passion-ate about my book, and truly the IDEAL fit for me! Once again, synchronicity totally trumped all of my best efforts!

Opening Up The fact of the matter is that each of us has our own col-

lection of stories that have played out in our lives and, when we really pay attention, it is amazing to note that synchronicities can

even occur on a daily basis! HOW do we open ourselves up to deliberately experiencing more of these occurrences? Here are some of the things I’ve discovered in my own journey:

1. Use The Power of AUTHENTICITY: Go to the heart of your desire. Sometimes we get too caught up in that which we think will lead us to what we want, rather than focusing on the big picture and end result of what we’re really searching for. Don’t get fixated on a specific job, opportunity, or client and make THAT the goal, when what you’re really looking for is a feeling of security, enjoying what you do with your time, and/or having the kind of income and time that allows you to live a life you love. When you focus on the heart of your desire and make THAT your goal, you open yourself up to the IDEAL vocation situation.

2. Use The Power of TRUST: Replay “The Trust Tapes” by recording and revisiting your own evidence. In the book, AL-LOWING Your Success!, I discuss two ways of Allowing success which are: feeling good, and believing it is possible for YOU.

Though there are many great stories and examples of synchronicity in action, nothing builds confidence, trust, and belief more than personal experience. Monthly, weekly, or even daily, take a few minutes to write about times that synchronicity and great results happened when you were simply enjoying your journey. By doing this, you get to revisit the good feelings you experienced (meaning you get to feel good NOW!) and compile evidence that reinforces the belief that synchronicity (and hence, having what you really want!) IS possible for you! Feeling good AND believing is 2-for-2 when it comes to Allowing YOUR Suc-cess, baby!

3. Use The Power of HARMONY: Stay in integrity with your current belief/strategy—for now. When it comes to expe-riencing synchronicities and ALLOWING your success, it is an overall good move to stay in integrity with your current beliefs and follow through on a strategy that makes sense to you right now. I’ve noticed that when I feel that I really do need to do “x” to get “y,” NOT doing ”x” or doing something else that doesn’t feel feasible to me rarely nets good results. In those cases, I go ahead with my strategy, but keep myself open to the possibil-ity that the things I truly want can come to me in a multitude of different and more joy-filled ways. When I compare the two it is easy to see that keeping an open mind is well worth the trade-up:

Strategy Synchronicitywork/effort ease and flow!can be fun always fun!

mixed bag—people plan, God laughs!

always the perfect place, perfect time, perfect people, etc.!

destination-fixation all about enjoying the journey!

Success in business or any other area of life all boils down to some variation of ENJOYING the journey. When you allow yourself to enjoy NOW, live deliberately, and open yourself up to events and connections that make life feel like the awe-some, magical adventure it was meant to be, isn’t that the stuff that true success is made of after all?

Perhaps there’s even a little synchronicity at work right now…

Terez Hartmann is the President/CEO of ALLOWING Your Success & BEYOND!, LLC, author of the book ALLOWING Your Success!, a professional Keynote Speaker, Retreat and Workshop Facilitator, Coach, Recording Artist, Show Host and Singer-Songwriter. For more about Terez, access to FREE Allowing resources and “Words, Music, Adventures & BEYOND for LETTING Good Happen and ENJOYING the Journey!” visit www.AllowingYourSuccess.com To order her book, ALLOWING Your Success! visit www.Transformation-Publishing.com

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by Spirit to help Washington (“Washi”) Gibaja Tapia, a Peruvian Shaman who is dedicated to improving the lives of the Incan In-dian descendents living in the Andes Mountains of Peru. A friend who came to my church asked for my assistance in promoting Washi’s efforts and in one week we set up three days of events and touched the hearts of more than 150 people. All the money we raised helped 70 families in Peru to receive chickens so they could become more independent and self sufficient in the future.

Washi is a true Angel to the Peruvian people. At the age of 18, he was inspired to open a restaurant and feed all the children in his region of the Andes for free seven days a week, in a world where every 6 minutes a child dies from starvation, according to UNICEF. Washi also goes to small Andean villages on Christmas Day with gifts of hot cocoa and sweet bread for the children.

I will be working with Washi again as he joins us in Florida to promote his campaign to supply solar flashlights to the people of the Andes. His goal is that all families have ac-cess to safe, efficient lighting in their homes to work longer hours and help children study. (Paradoxically, you can see Washing-ton Gibaja Tapia talking about this project on YouTube, while the people he serves live in homes without even the basic neces-sity of electricity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLCD6pxV-zw&feature=plcp.)

According to Washi, most people in the mountains of Peru use kerosene lamps and/or candles, both of which are dim and unsafe. For example, when Ignacio Sallo, a descendent of the Incas, invited Washi into his home, it had a kerosene burner which lit only part of the kitchen and the mud floor. He brought them three solar lights and, “They had light!” exclaimed Washi in a recent recount of the tale. “Tears ran from their hearts because they had lived for so many years like this, and their children were still living in the dark. But today, thanks to solar energy, they could see the four corners of their home.”

This is a year of fulfillment of “The Inca Prophecies,” which say that when the Condor

of the South and the Eagle of the North unite, the whole world is to come together as

ONE.

I encourage us all to come together to truly help the people of Peru have the opportunity to “walk in the light.” By lending our support to bring these families solar powered lighting resources, we will help to vastly improve living conditions and learning opportunities for the people of Peru.

Rev. Debbie Dienstbier is the minister of the Heaven & Earth Spiritual Center in Palm Harbor, FL. For more information on Washington Gibaja Tapia or donating to his cause, contact Deb-bie at 727-433-3896 or email spiritualdeb@gmail.com. You also can find out how to join “Washi” for a spiritual Vision Quest to find your journey and Life Path. He currently has a tour planned to Peru for 12/12/12—a day of awakening for the world.

Transformation

By Rev. Debbie Dienstbier

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow

men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as courses, and they

come back to us as effects.” —Herman Melville

On my personal journey I have been very blessed in un-derstanding the benefits of being of service to all. While a large number of people spend most of their lives looking for the light, there are those who are fortunate enough to learn to walk in the light, where the truth is clear and easy to see. In our world of rapidly expanding consciousness, I have been among this fast-growing group—those who have experienced the shining brilliance of Spirit and opened themselves to living in love and helping mankind to transcend the barriers of separation.

There is a deep wisdom within our very being, a knowl-edge that connects us with each other in ONENESS and to many other realms, such as the Angels. It is not known precisely where Angels dwell: whether in the air, the void, or the planets. It has not been God’s pleasure that we should be informed of their abode. However, we can be assured that Angels have no philosophy but LOVE, and one of the many lessons they teach us in our physical world is that the purpose of life is to love a life of purpose. In fulfilling this goal, we connect with the Angels to reach out and help others in need here on Mother Earth.

That’s exactly what happened on the day I was guided

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Although it’s popular with tourists (2.5 million visitors annually), Rothenberg retains its old world charm, especially at the end of the day when most of the tourists have departed. Bryan and I walked much of the wall surrounding the city at sunset, which was a de-light for a history buff like me.

We only missed one train, and it happened on our way from Denmark into Germany. We were a second too late in board-ing as the doors locked and the train began driving off the large ferry. Fortunately, the train stopped about 200 meters on shore which gave Bryan and me an opportunity to practice sprinting. I enjoyed a can of champagne and piece of chocolate to celebrate the continuation of our trip.

When we arrived in Cologne on the Rhine River, we were initially surprised to see so many same sex couples walking to-gether holding hands. We learned later that Cologne was hosting Europe’s largest gay pride event. Most Europeans are ambivalent about gay lifestyles and many are also disinterested in conven-tional religion. That’s easy to understand given their history.

The best part of Europe is experiencing so much history and culture spanning thousands of years. I also enjoy seeing the contrast between classical and modern architecture and art.

We saw bikes, trams, and trains everywhere we traveled. More than 39 percent of workers in Copenhagen commute to work on two wheels. A gentleman in Amsterdam told us children begin riding bikes as early as three or four. The skill we witnessed watch-ing thousands of bikers of all ages riding through busy traffic was impressive. Now imagine the value to your health if you spent sev-eral decades riding a bike almost daily. It was difficult for us to spot anyone that was seriously overweight during our entire vacation.

We also saw wind turbines everywhere and not just as demonstration projects. Our own nation was built on automobiles and petroleum, which explains why we continue to live the para-digm of dirty energy and oil dependency. Many of the European nations are more serious and innovative about alternative energy.

It’s disappointing to hear politicians decry Europe as a “failure” because of the financial difficulties being faced by some of the nations there. The people we encountered appeared content and less stressed compared to people in the United States, for example. Some critics here are afraid of the European example where governments feel compelled to support their larger popu-lation. The odd bashing of European sensibilities and assertions about “the evils of socialism” is mostly an effort to discourage our own transformation.

On a lighter note, here are a few travel tips: Buy your airfare three months in advance to save money. The online travel websites are convenient, but don’t trust their best rate. Use Google to source out your own hotels instead of third-party websites. Most of our trip included private rooms at popular hostels. Prioritize the attractions you want to visit and budget time to rest and explore with no agenda. Find out where the locals eat and drink instead of going to the more expensive restaurants and pubs in the tourist areas. And finally, be sure to visit the national museums to learn more about a region’s history and culture.

Bryan and I are already planning our next few trips, and I hope I have inspired you to consider doing the same. Bryan might play a disc golf tournament in Copenhagen next year, and that could be an opportunity to explore more of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. We are also interested in taking a trip from Vienna through

Transform Through Travel Visiting other places in the world is a transformative expe-

rience, not only because we see new vistas and meet interesting people. Stepping away from our daily routines also makes it easier to be reflective about our lives, relationships, and future choices.

I recently pondered this as my son Bryan and I returned from an amazing vacation to Europe. We visited Denmark, Ger-many, Czech Republic, and Holland for 18 days of exploration and fun. Our itinerary included Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Rothenberg ob der Tauber, Cologne, and Amsterdam. These ex-periences added to the treasury of memories we started building during three weeks spent in Switzerland and Italy on vacation in 2010.

So many reminiscences, and here are some highlights. Copenhagen is a gem that often gets overlooked by tourists. It’s beautiful and interesting. Christiania, a counterculture squatters’ colony in the heart of the city, was especially memorable. In 1971, when I was a junior in high school, 700 Danish citizens established squatter’s rights at an abandoned military barracks. The police tried to expel them, but the people fought back. The majority of Danish people supported the rights of the squatters and the government backed down. Today, Christiania features a mix of former hippies, idealists, non-materialists, and lots of happy children. You can also purchase marijuana openly, which helps explains why Christiania has become the third most popular attraction in Copenhagen.

Amsterdam is another city comfortable with visitors smoking pot at numerous coffee houses. We also visited the fa-mous red light district to exchange smiles with hundreds of prosti-tutes selling sex. I asked a restaurant owner her opinion about the permissiveness toward recreation drugs and prostitution. She told me she supported the openness because it reduced crime and venereal diseases, while helping the economy.

Berlin was the largest city we visited, and the muse-ums and monuments were impressive. Bryan and I got caught in a major downpour our second evening; the iconic Brandenburg Gate became an unforgettable umbrella on our dash to the metro. Prague was appealing visually, which we expected, but Rothen-berg in central Germany was a pleasant surprise. It’s Germany’s best-preserved medieval walled town and a visual masterpiece.

Randy owns Triple 3 Marketing. He’s a long term advocate for positive change, having owned community magazines since 1999. Randy sold Positive Change Media in April 2009 and took a year off before launching Triple 3 Marketing. In addition to help-ing business owners, he also provides private coaching. Randy has a masters degree in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he studied persuasion and at-titude change. Contact Randy at randy@triple3marketing.com.

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happy are those who are so focused on what they’re doing that they don’t have time to think about whether they’re happy or not. Every morning when they wake up, they feel like they have something to contribute to the world—and if they don’t do it, they’re simply going to burst.

Most of us spend our entire lives waiting for some-one else to tell us what our unique expression is, or we kind of intuitively know what it is but are waiting for someone to come and reinforce it. Trust your intuition. It knows. Your intu-ition is the compass that will lead you toward the life that you are meant to live.

3. The third pillar is to have a forward vision, three to five years out, of what your unique creative ex-pression looks like in the world. People need to give their energy a direction to move in. Otherwise, they flounder. It’s like getting in a car without a navigation system and driving around with no idea where they’re going.

4. The fourth pillar is to find a way to give to oth-ers rather than to look for what you can get out of your dealings and interactions. It may seem like a cliché, but I believe it is true that the more you give the more you will receive. If you’re solely focused on what you want to get, chances are you’ll get nothing. It’s a weird paradox, but when you let go of wanting anything, you can have everything. But don’t take my word for it—the only way to see if this is really true is to put it into practice with sincerity and for an extended period of time and evaluate the outcome.

When a leader operates from this place, and can generate tangible success from this foundation, then his or her influence becomes an organic process that in many ways is the antithesis of the fear and manipulation and the short-term reward approach. Learning how to cultivate this more authentic type of influence is an important part of creating the improved business world that many of us long for.

Jeff Gitterman is an award winning financial advisor and the CEO of Gitterman & Associates Wealth Management, LLC. (www.gawmllc.com). He is also the co-founder of Beyond Suc-cess (www.BeyondSuccessConsulting.com), a consulting firm that brings more holistic values to the world of business and finance. This article is partially adapted from his first book, Be-yond Success: Redefining the Meaning of Prosperity, published by AMACOM, the publishing house of the American Manage-ment Association. Over the past several years, Jeff has been featured in Money Magazine, CNN, Financial Advisor, London Glossy Magazine and New Jersey Business Journal, among others. In 2004, he was honored by Fortune Small Business Magazine as “One of Our Nation’s Best Bosses.” He also serves as chairman of the advisory board to the Autism Center of New Jersey Medical School, an organization that to date has raised over $1 million for autism research and support services.

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By Jeff Gitterman

As an employer, my interest is in creating long-term changes that hopefully lead to better moral and ethical decisions from both myself and my employees. With this in mind, I’ve gener-ally found that there are two ways to go about motivating others. The first is to affect them through fear and manipulation tactics or by offering them some kind of positive reward. While this type of influence can often bring about results in the short term, in my expe-rience, it rarely leads to long-term behavioral change. The second way I believe people can be motivated is to be the kind of person, through direct action and personal example, that other people want to emulate. For me, this is an open-ended and ever-evolving pro-cess that is based around creating conditions in the workplace that foster a safe environment for people to drop their fear-based behav-iors and begin to show up more authentically.

In essence, the kind of motivation I’m talking about is a top-down leadership approach where the employer comes to be seen as somebody who operates from a place of integrity and level emotional disposition. And by integrity I mean someone who is coming from a place of high moral and ethical standards in his or her own life, a person who behaves in a way that he or she can then justifiably expect employ-ees to strive towards emulating as well.The Four Pillars

My financial services company is based on four core prin-ciples, or pillars, which I hope trickle down to my employees in some way. I hope that you can find some benefit from their use as well.

1. The first pillar is to have some daily practice of si-lence/meditation. Find a technique that works best for you, and take some time each day to quiet your mind and senses so that you develop more control over your thoughts and interactions. You will be able to think more clearly and function more effectively. Stress is contagious, but so is stillness.

2. The second pillar is to understand how important it is to find your true purpose in life. The people who are truly

Inspiration

Budapest, the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, and Greece, with a final leg in Istanbul.

My longer-term goal is to visit most of the countries and major cities in Europe over the next decade and perhaps retire to

a castle or cabin in the old country. Our dreams are limited only by our field of vision, and the best way to expand that panorama is through experience. If we learn to grow through the journeys of life, there is no telling how far our roots may eventually spread.

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By Linda Williams

Is verbal communication a challenge in any of your busi-ness relationships? Is there at least one “challenge” person with whom you would like to have easier, smoother interactions? Who comes to mind at work: a boss, colleague, vendor, or client?

Most people want the same things from verbal interac-tions: for the other person to listen to them, to allow them to safely express feelings and desires, and to be treated with respect. To achieve these results, we need to become aware of our own be-haviors and how to modify them through steps that foster mutual growth and understanding.

Communication is situational. Within each exchange, we co-create the interaction moment by moment, allowing opportuni-ties to learn and grow. We are each other’s teachers.

Are we conscious communicators in our business environ-ment? “Conscious” is defined as being “present” during the interac-tion, being aware of our environment, thoughts, and actions, and not reacting or judging. It is listening with curiosity. What messages and feelings are being expressed? We are partners in this communica-tion dance with our “challenge” person. If one of us changes the familiar steps in this dance, then the pattern is broken.

Many of us have come to accept that we cannot change the other person. However, we do have the power to change our own thoughts and behavior, thereby influencing the culture at our workplace. It really is an individual choice. Each of us can contrib-ute to a work environment to help ensure “conscious” communica-tion continues to grow and flourish.

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”—Gandhi

This “must” is the individual commitment to change.How You Can Make a Difference

In the process of developing a more conscious commu-nication style, you become more self aware, you can choose to speak your truth, you can modulate your tone of voice or body lan-guage to better reflect your true intentions, and you can choose to “pause” during any interaction instead of losing your composure.

The following agreements, which I developed and copy-righted in 2008, are a basic blueprint for the communication les-sons you can learn by observing both yourself and others. One of

your core intentions can be the adoption of a win-win perspec-tive by acknowledging each person’s freedom of expression and then really listening to the different points of view. This new attitude permits the recognition of each person’s individual truth without having to adopt the other’s truth as your own.The 12 Communication Agreements©

1. I accept responsibility for what I say, how I say it, and how I feel.2. I identify my true communication intentions.3. I express clear, complete messages and appreciations.4. I acknowledge the feelings of others without having to agree with them.5. I honor my needs and the needs of others.6. I listen in order to recognize and respond to the needs behind what others say to me.7. I use open-ended questions to encourage communica-tion.8. I value my right to make requests and the right of others to make requests.9. I consider my body language.10. I monitor my tone of voice. 11. I choose to react or respond in any situation.12. I apply these skills to each interaction each day.

Into ActionHere are examples for three of the 12 Communication

Agreements.Agreement 2. I identify my true communication intentions.

Based on previous experience, I feel that a specific conversation with my “challenge” coworker might be difficult. So instead of finding her and launching into an ambush, as I have in the past, I can set the stage for this important conver-sation. I can state the topic of what I want to discuss, estimate about how much time we might need, and invite her into the scheduling decision.

“Jean, I want to discuss the customer service poli-cies with you. When do you have 30 minutes open tomorrow or Wednesday? I am interested in sharing our points of view.”

This gives advanced notice for thinking about the topic and invites more readiness for a conversation. When the meet-ing is in progress, remember to focus on the “different points of view” being expressed, rather than judging. You can always say, “I see (think about, remember it) differently.” In fact, conflict is about different perspectives, values, information, etc. Your judgment about differences contributes to a negative emotional reaction from the other party.Agreement 3. I express clear, complete messages and appreciations.

You want to improve the quality of your relationship with a specific person. Your “challenge” coworker finishes a work-related task. Instead of just saying, “Thanks, Joe” or “Thank you,” you can always be specific about what he did (ac-tions), how you feel (in relationship to the actions), and how it helped the work environment (needs and values).

“Joe, I appreciate the charts you prepared for the monthly report. I feel grateful for your willingness to meet the timeline. Your attention to detail contributes to the success of

Tools & Tips

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The return on investment of changing your behavior at work is that these same agreements can easily transfer to your personal life. Imagine that the quality of your professional and personal relationships improves one interaction at a time. Then the 12 Communication Agreements can change from “I” to “We.”

“We” are now consciously being the change we wish to see in the world.

Linda Williams is an experienced consultant and teacher of skills and strategies related to communication and improving the quality of personal and professional relationships. She has a Master’s De-gree in Education with a concentration in group dynamics and is a skilled mediator. Linda develops a safe, supportive, interactive and fun learning environment in her workshops and individual mentor-ing sessions. She is based in Sarasota, FL, and can be reached at 941-400-1270 and lw1270@gmail.com.

.

It wasn’t long before an opportunity came to join an unusual business endeavor, so I quit my job and never looked back. Things weren’t always easy, and finances were unstable, but the whole situation was so rewarding and exciting that none of that mattered. Stark terror was a small price to pay for such freedom and happiness.

Fortunately, the workshops we were teaching gave us tools to deal with fears as they came up, and that meant becom-ing experts in what we taught. As they say, you teach best what you most need to learn.

Love and fun were a big part of the teaching, so we’d often take a Frisbee break on the office building lawn across the street. We sympathized with the employees who watched from their windows as we played in the sunshine. There, but for a choice, sits me.

Business is a great way to discover new abilities, and if your budget is tight you quickly learn to write copy, design bro-chures and fliers, provide customer service, and market your product. You also get to take responsibility for whatever happens and make adjustments.

Once you learn to access that Creative Intelligence, you have a world of options. You become master of your life, and you get to make your own choices. You can set your own priori-ties, pursue your dreams, and enjoy the trip. You can stretch and grow all the way to the bank, and if one thing doesn’t work, you can do it better or differently. Whether life gives you opportunities or challenges, you can approach them with courage, confidence and a creative mind-set.

You are never alone when you exercise your Creative Connection. You are, in fact, tapping into the ONENESS that is everything.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Marla Sanderson has been a student of spiritual practice for more than 35 years. She began as Assistant Director of The Next Step, a psychic and spiritual community in a New Mexico ghost town. As workshop leader, teacher, practitioner, and minister, she has led relationship and personal growth workshops, taught psychic development and meditation, Living Love, and the Science of Mind. Marla is available for workshops and speaking engagements. She recently founded the New Thought Center for Creative Living. www.newthoughtctr.org

Conscious Business and the Creative Connection

The Science of Mind teaches us that we create our real-ity with our thoughts and that there is an Infinite Creative Intel-ligence within us that knows all. We can tap into that intelligence and be guided by its wisdom. When there are decisions and choices to make, this same Power is full of ideas and solutions. We only need to tune in to it.

So it’s no wonder when I learned to apply the Science of Mind techniques and meditate regularly, I became eager to get out of my boring job and on to a more exciting life.

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Spirituality

our company. Thank you.”Agreement 11. I chose to react or respond in any situation.

My “challenge” coworker and I have a pattern of inter-action that makes me feel frustrated and then angry. I go into a mode of offensive attack behavior in which it looks like my head is shaking “NO” while she is talking, and my tone is sarcas-tic when I speak. I want to change my pattern. Before we meet again, I will work on responding rather than reacting. I can learn to click on ‘Pause’ because it is impossible to click the ‘Delete’ button after the interaction. I can also “Pause” right in the middle of the behavior I am trying to change.

I can say, “Ann, I just heard how I sound and I don’t like it. I have been working on changing my behavior. So I am sorry for my tone and body language. I would like to come back later and continue the discussion with you in a different way. Would an hour from now work for you?”

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

—Gandhi

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By Jennifer R. Figurelli

I suspect that most, if not all of the readers of Transformation magazine are so-cially responsible to a large degree. That would include those of us who separate recy-clables from our trash, eat organic food when possible, purchase eco-friendly products, and maybe volunteer for a charity. But when it comes down to managing our finances, are we truly making a positive impact on people and the planet?

You may wonder if there really is such a thing as investing in companies that are environmentally and socially responsible and, if so, what does being socially responsible mean?

In simple terms, Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is an investment strategy where one aligns investing values with personal values. It is an extension of an indi-vidual’s lifestyle.

SRI began more than 200 years ago during the Methodist religious movement when its founder, John Wesley, urged his followers to refuse investing in their neighbors who profited from alcohol, tobacco, weapons, and gambling. During the 1960s, SRI grew as many young people who were in opposition of The Vietnam War protested against companies that manufactured firearms and other weapons used in the War. In the 1970s, social activism grew in the management of corporations as unions were formed against unfair labor practices and worker safety issues. Concern for the environ-ment became another consideration, as the first Earth Day was celebrated on March 21, 1970. In the late 1970s, apartheid in South Africa led to an international protest and trade embargo.

SRI then gained notoriety in the financial industry in the 1980s with the estab-lishment of screened mutual funds, Social Funds, Citizens Mutual Funds, and Calvert Funds. By 1990, there was such a growth of popularity in SRI to warrant an index to measure performance. The Domini Social Index was created in May 1990, and it in-cludes 400 large-cap, U.S.-based companies comparable to the S&P500 Index. The companies in this index were chosen based on social and environmental factors. Sub-sequent to the Enron fraud, “governance” has received heightened awareness and has become an added to the criteria of evaluating a company. Embracing SRI

So, how do you become a socially responsible investor? The process begins by analyzing a company’s environmental, social, and governance factors (ESG).

Tools & TipsESG can have a material impact

(either positive or negative) on a com-pany’s brand image, costs of operation, relations with regulatory agencies, and ultimately the stock price.

For example, on April 5, 2010, the worst mining disaster in nearly 40 years occurred in West Virginia at a coal mine owned by Massey Energy Company (MEE). Investigators at the mine discov-ered that the explosion could have been prevented by proper ventilation and es-cape routes. What is further disturbing is that the FBI had MEE already on its “warn-ing” list, as federal authorities had ordered MEE to shut down the mine on 60 differ-ent occasions the year prior to the tragedy. The stock price fell 11 percent one day af-ter the explosion. (1)

On the other hand, Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) and McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) are examples of two companies that exhibit strong ESG factors. WFM is a foods supermarket chain based in Austin, TX, which emphasizes natural and organic products. The company has been placed third in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of Top Green Power Part-ners.(2) MCD works with its suppliers to promote socially responsible practices in its supply chain as part of its supply chain strategy. As explained in MCD’s corporate social responsibility website, it has its own Code of Conduct for Suppliers which ex-plains how MCD’s expects its suppliers to treat their employees. (3)

However, growing awareness of SRI is not limited to individual investors. Similar to SRI is Mission Specific Invest-ing (MSI), which focuses on narrower attributes or interests, such as religious views, animal rights, or alternative energy. Investors with a specific “mission” need to be aware that every investment decision has a social, environmental, and gover-nance impact that can either further the institution’s mission, or detract from it. For example, if you own a business that sup-plies pet products and your stock portfolio includes companies that perform animal testing, you are not following socially re-sponsible practices. Likewise, if you are serving on a board of directors for a non-profit that supports green/conservation initiatives, it would be prudent to review its endowment to ensure that it does not in-clude companies that have demonstrated

FACTOR EXAMPLES:Environment: Pollution controls, energy efficiency, product safety, waste, and

energy useSocial: Workforce diversity, ethical standards, community involvementGovernance: Accounting policies, compensation plans, political activities, concen-

trated Board

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ment portfolio, you can be a socially responsible investor.

REFERENCE NOTES1. Market Reacts to Massey Energy Disaster, by Eric Rosenbaum, The Street, April 6, 2010 2. EPA Top 25 Partners in the Green Power Partnership, US Environ-mental Protection Agency, January 8, 20073. Corporate Social Responsibility at McDonalds, by Jo Bilson, www.suite101.com, March 10, 20104. 4 Funds for Socially Responsible Investors, by Will Ashworth, Investor Place, February 13, 2012.5. US-SIF Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions and Answers- June 2011

Jennifer R. Figurelli, CTFA, is a financial planner and co-founder of Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. She is responsible for coor-dinating her client’s financial affairs with the firm’s various financial concierge capabilities. Having worked alongside Andy for over 10 years at various bank trust companies, Jennifer co-founded Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. in January 2010 with the desire to of-fer high-touch and personalized client service to deserving clients. Jennifer is actively involved in the community, and her volunteer work includes service with the David Lawrence Foundation, The Conservancy of SW Florida, Habitat for Humanity, and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of Collier County. Call or email Jennifer at 239-777-3129 or fig@responsibleadvisors.com.

poor environmental records. Will SRI Make Any Money?

A growing number of academic studies have demon-strated that SRI investments perform competitively with non-SRI investments over time. One of the newer SRI indexes is the USAA ESG Select Social Index Fund (KLD) which began in January 2005 and includes only American companies. Its five-year annual return is 1.57 percent—which is 84 basis points bet-ter than the S&P 500 (0.73 percent). Having only 175 holdings versus 500, the fund managers at KLD appear to be doing a great job of replicating the entire U.S. stock market, regardless of applying the ESG screening process. (4) According to The Fo-rum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment’s “2010 Report on Socially Responsible Investing Trends” there are $3.07 tril-lion in total assets under management using socially investment strategies. From 2007 to 2010, SRI grew more than 13 percent, increasing from $2.71 trillion in 2007, and 12.2 percent of the $25.2 trillion dollars in total assets under professional manage-ment in the United States (1 out of every 8 dollars) is involved in SRI. (5)

In summary, the growth of SRI is justified as the prob-lems of weak corporate governance and escalating commodity prices provide opportunities. Whether you are just getting started with a savings account, or if you have a highly diversified invest-

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Raising Human Consciousness

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times. We want to remind you to honor you self worth.Desire is driven by your soul’s intentions and your

soul’s blueprint. It is an urge that urges you to expand in expres-sion and in honoring your worth; expansion in adoration. Since time began, man has devalued their worth and capabilities for sincere greatness. Develop the attitude that honors your worth and expansion.

Dear ones don’t forget you are valuable to us, valuable to God, valuable to all. Deep down inside your soul knows this without doubt. It’s a knowing derived from your core. See it now and feel it now. The need to degrade your essence has never been inspired by God, but by man’s ill perception of the truth. See your self value, see yourself whole. You are special and you are good. Delve into this truth and see the expansion that will fol-low. The truth is that no one can ever take this truth from you. Not with words, not with action. Your true you is perfect and whole and always sustained by the same force that sustains us.

True reality [the reality that represents the truth of who you are and the Divinity that surrounds us] is one that is rarely seen by man. You are more of an intrinsic part to this truth that you are fully aware of. Sincerity of your spirit will align you to this knowledge. A knowledge fueled by love and Divine miracles. Feel us, see us. Let us carry you our friend. See the wonders found in the temple of your life, in the glory and beauty of your life. The circumstances [that surround you] don’t govern the truth, spirit fuels the truth. Your spirit is the truth. Eternal and strong, diligent and able, aware and amazing in magnificence.

Fields of energy surround your human bodies. Fields that shape and impact every being. These fields are sustained by a powerful infusion of light and love. Awareness of this can shift your whole reality. It can help you to realize that you, yes you, are capable of magnificent experiences. You are able to navigate through circumstance more equipped with Divine pow-er and capabilities. See yourself as we see you and ignite the potential buried within your soul. Divine magic is for you for the taking. Ask and receive. See yourself as beautiful and whole and you will create their manifestation. Sincerely look at what truths are guiding you. What ill perceptions have taken hold of you. Are they the ones that sustain the essence of God or are they ones that negate your Divine essence? Seek clarity in your days and know it will be given. Through clarity of mind a vortex is created for rapid transmutation of all experiences.

Delve now, not leaving this important action for another day. Do this now and we’ll infuse our presence within and all throughout.

Be simple in words and quick in action. Divinely or-dained are your actions when driven by love. Sustained in fear when derived from malicious intentions. Simplicity of the mind leads to words of wisdom. Words of wisdom create inspired ac-tions and sustainable results.

Breathe and embrace the love being offered. Breathe and feel the peace that is being given. Breathe and know the there’s wisdom within your soul. Breathe and know you are nev-er alone.

Much love,Angels

Emily Rivera Andrews is a certified Angel Healing Practitioner, Reiki Practitioner, and an Angel Manifesting Master Practitioner. Emily shares techniques that have helped her become a Gifted Intuitive, In-tuitive Channeler, Healer, Manifester, and Angel Communicator. To ask your Angels a question, attend one of Emily’s local events or email emily@LivingtoInspire.com

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •Honor Your Worth

Good day to you…In this moment, just like every other moment, you are being loved. By your side resides a beautiful, loving presence known as your Angel(s). It is gently offering all that you are seeking, all that you are hoping for, in more ways than I can give words to convey.

Before you continue reading, please close your eyes and take in a few deep breathes. As you breathe, you will be-come present. As you breathe, you are becoming more recep-tive to the love being shared. So breathe and let go of anything that is not being of service within this moment.

Every month the Angels share a message that is most needed by Transformation’s readers. To best be an instrument of love and Divine guidance, I stay open to the messages that eventually become the words that fill this column. As I stay open, I receive messages of hope, love, and inspiration. They have shown me that every time you read their words, they are lovingly and powerfully creating shifts of awareness, and creating move-ments of energy for healing and understanding within your mind and body, while simultaneously helping you to release limiting thoughts, stagnant energy, and beliefs that no longer serve you.

We are all in a global state of transition. Some are ea-gerly anticipating and welcoming this change, while others may be finding themselves experiencing fear and disappointment. We are all being encouraged to become more aware of our true essence and the blessings that surround us—blessings that may be overlooked due to our current circumstances. Take time to breathe into your moments. Take time to become present and aware of the inspiration, strength, encouragement, and clarity being offered by the Divine.

The message that follows is purely of love and Divine inspiration shared directly by the Angels. I have added remarks for clarity within parenthesis. The rest are the words they shared with me as I sat to listen to their wisdom. My intentions are to share Divine Guidance and to be of service. May love, light, and peace be your daily companions today and for every day that follows. Namaste.

Treasure your loved ones, the air, and all that surrounds you. It is a gift from the All. A token of love and admiration for your worth. You are here for a special reason and during special

Spirituality

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Tools & Tips

By Gary Loper

Far too many times, too many people for too many reasons look for shortcuts to get where they want to go. If you were driving and selecting a route that saved time and expenses, that shortcut would be a good thing. However, we all have seen people in their relationships and business try to take shortcuts and wind up with more trouble than they could have imagined.

In both relationships and business, following a proven plan of suc-cess without cutting corners is vital to your long-term success. Moreover, creating your business in a consciousness model will set you apart from any other company that may provide similar offerings. All things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like, and trust, so let’s look at some steps that you can take to improve your odds of building more sustainable business relations in today’s evolving world.Understand the Impact of Thought and Expression

In a world that serves up thousands of impressions to people dai-ly, potential clients have countless choices of where to invest/spend their money. For your business to stand head and shoulders above the others, you need to understand the power of thought and expression. By consider-ing and then practicing the following exercises, you will help to create an unequalled advantage with your customers and prospects:

• Change your conversations to be more positive, both internally and externally.

• The thoughts running through your head will make or break you, so concentrate on making sure they are uplifting.

• Choose positive speech and a positive mindset.

• Be mindful that your subconscious will mani-fest your most dominant thoughts and cannot differentiate between a negative or positive thought.

• Whatever you give the most attention to will be attracted to you, so focus on what you want to achieve rather than worrying about possible failures.

• When you catch a negative thought, replace it with at least six to 12 inspiring thoughts.

It’s so easy for negative thoughts from people around you to seep in

and impact your reality.

Friends and family members who have lost their dreams will believe they are protecting you from their failures by offering discouraging words. How-ever, what they actually are doing is crushing your inspiration. It is best to separate yourself from those dream stealers as fast as you can. In some cases, when you cannot bear to remove yourself from fam-ily, at the very least you must take responsibility for your dreams and protect them at all costs. With talk-ing with people who cannot support your dreams, it is up to you to shift conversations away from plans and onto a more generic topic such as the kids, weather, sports, etc.

It is very important to surround yourself with “YES” energy people, those who can figure out how to get

things accomplished.

For example, masterminding with positive people who have already accomplished what you de-sire to achieve will be an incredible advantage to your business success. Tap the Power of Source

Your faith also is critical in your success. Know that you have experienced all you have in life so that you can better serve others which, in turn, will help you to create an even better life for yourself. Recon-nect with your Source/Higher Power through prayer and meditation, not asking for results, but requesting to be directed in service toward others to take full ad-vantage of your unique gifts and experiences.

When you recognize your own gifts and shift your thoughts of “getting” to “giving,” you will find a new level

of confidence in yourself.

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That will attract more people to you, which will give you a great number of experiences, and from those experiences you will produce positive results. In time, you will be ready to serve an even bigger audience and dream even bigger of what has yet to come. You will move ahead with certainty and confidence knowing that Source has your back and is directing you to serve the best way possible. Leverage the Expertise of Others

Often, when a business begins to grow the do-it-your-self entrepreneur will drown in a sea of tasks that needs atten-tion. Essentially, he or she has created a job rather a consciously inspired business.

In understanding your gifts and talents, you also will come to realize those tasks you do not do very well because when you are doing them it takes you away from the things that create a positive flow of energy and business. Surround yourself with people who play at the things you don’t like to do. Maybe it’s designing your website, bookkeeping, accounting, fulfillment, or even social media. Many pieces are needed to make your business thrive.

Failure to delegate uninspiring tasks to a team member will leave you without the motivation

to pursue your dreams and customers.

Be AuthenticAlso remember that every time you leave the office and

engage others or speak on the phone you are representing your business’s services. The most valuable gift you can give your customers is yourself, being authentic in every way. We all can tell (or should be able to tell) when someone is not being himself or herself. For example, when people dress in a way that they were told would impress, but it is obvious that they are not them-selves or comfortable in that attire.

When you speak, speak from your heart, not a script.

Focus on the needs of customers, listen intently to their words, and affirm their words back to them because we all have a deep need to be understood and validated. Zig Ziglar’s famous quote applies,

“You can get anything you want by helping others get what they want.”

When you have the mindset that you place the needs of others before your needs, you will receive in kind from un-expected people, at unexpected times. When we treat people as gifts and not as transactions, they will tell their friends about that positive experience, and you never know who those peo-ple know. There are many stories of a third- or fourth-genera-tion referral that eventually found its way back to a conscious business owner and presented new opportunities beyond any expectations.

By applying these suggestions, you will be well on your way to a thriving conscious business, but only if you allow your-self to receive all that comes back to you. All of nature works on the universal law of giving and receiving. You cannot continually give without receiving—and still continue to thrive in business. Try to only exhale for more the 30 seconds; you’ll run out of air and have to inhale (receive) to exhale again. Being open to re-ceiving a compliment, a favor and, most importantly, compensa-tion for services will feed you and provide the energy you need to serve the world knowing that the natural cycles are in perfect working order.

In creating this conscious business model and serving and enhancing all the lives you touch, your dreams will come to life. Empower yourself to dream massive dreams, and remember that people with YES Energy flow in rapid rivers of abundance from which they can create more opportunities to serve the world.

Gary Loper is an inspirational speaker, social media expert, and life and business coach who has enthused and empowered individuals within all walks of life. He teaches his audience strategies and tac-tics to become successful, to produce and maintain positive solu-tions, to stay in a positive mindset, and to attract and manifest true wealth. Gary believes there should be an integrative approach to all things in life and business. With his diverse background in yoga, spiritual studies, healing modalities, and relationship building, he helps others to discover their gifts, develop confidence, and create better relationships with themselves and others in their lives. Visit Gary at www.GaryLoper.com or connect with on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GaryLoper.

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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •Question: My boyfriend and I live in an apartment building. For the first month or so, we kept to ourselves. Then, about a month after we moved in, I made the mistake of chatting with a few of the women who sit outside in front of the building all day. Now, they won’t leave us alone. Every time we leave or come home, they want to know where we’re going, where we’ve been, what we have with us, etc. Recently, I spent the afternoon with a male friend, and they said things to my boyfriend that suggested I’d been unfaithful. It caused quite a stir, and I am beginning to hate living here. Everyone wants to know our business. Ignoring them is pointless. They heckle. Moving is not an option because we signed a lease. How can I get them to leave us alone so that we can resume a fairly normal life together again?

Dr. ZZ: It all seems rather adolescent, doesn’t it? No matter how much we may want to believe that other people are simply so-ciable and like to chat, an almost constant barrage of the same old questions quickly becomes annoying and bothersome.

The positive purpose of gossip is to serve people in defining their community, their surroundings. Simply because you are there, you become grist for the gossip mill. The part that feels belittling is probably due to character weaknesses in the people who are gossiping. When people feel unworthy or unimportant, they often tell true or imagined stories that others don’t know yet, as a trick to make themselves feel special.

Engaging with the gossips greases the wheels. The best solution is to ignore them. Any response is a reaction and will only fuel more of the same. If you can truly not take any of it personally (pretend, if you have to, that these full-grown adults are inno-cent children who “know not what they do”) then you may be able to pass by with a sense of calmness that discharges the behavior. Short of that, all the usual barrier methods apply: wear sunglasses, make no eye contact, wear a headset and Walkman or talk on a cell phone when you walk past. See if you can find an element of genuine humor in the immaturity of these silly people.

Dr. ZZ’s bold, upfront, directive style plays an inspirational role in the lives of people she touches. Drawing on a non-traditional Ph.D. in counseling and natural healing, ZZ works in Sarasota with shaman elder Jack Alexander (“Golden Feather”), who offers land blessings, shamanic training, Life Purpose readings, and all-faith, community-based spiritual guidance. This forum proposes potential solutions on health, emotional, and personal matters.

Question: This is the oddest thing. I have no judgments against what people do with their lives, but I am starting to think that all the women I meet lately are prostitutes. I intentionally avoid the bar scene because that’s where you would expect to find “ladies of the night,” but even the women who work at the banks and restaurants think nothing of engaging my attention beyond the customary level of flirting when they already have boyfriends on the side. One married woman with a baby ap-proached me the other day in a rage because her boyfriend hasn’t sent her any money this month to care for her child. Yet, this woman is married to another man. When I asked her if she isn’t in fact married, she said yes, and that she has a boyfriend too. Huh? I don’t get it. Maybe I’m in the wrong business. What is the world coming to?

Dr. ZZ: They don’t call it “the oldest profession” for nothing. Rather than the world coming to something, it seems to be re-running the same old program. In my experience, I rarely come across any of these women. Perhaps I simply don’t notice, or else I choose not to notice. Chances are if you’re meeting an excessive number, there’s something in the coincidence for YOU to look at. Perhaps it has to do with the part of you that says, “Maybe I’m in the wrong business.” At some point in life, almost everyone has to ask themselves just how much personal autono-my they are willing to sacrifice for the sake of the almighty dollar.

Question: My parents have never liked my partner of eight years and make no effort to be nice to him. My dad hardly speaks, and my mother contradicts everything he says. For holidays and birthdays, they give him only a token gift – not a proper one like my siblings’ partners. Yet he’s such a nice guy; it’s all water off a duck’s back to him. He even takes them on vacations with us every year and insists that they pay nothing. Still they are unap-preciative.

Now he’s unhappy that our children, six and four, are reaching an age when they’ve begun to notice. He says that I should visit with them on my own from here on out, that he’ll still be available for holidays for the kids’ sake, but nothing more. Is that the answer? My mother is very spiteful and won’t change her ways.

Dr. ZZ: I’m not sure why you have tolerated these insults to-wards your husband for so long. Chances are he cares more than he lets on. Who wouldn’t? He’s right to expect respect from his in-laws, even if they don’t like him. Tell him that he comes first with you—then see your parents on your own. Explain kindly and firmly that you’d like them to behave more reasonably. If you don’t feel as if you can do this, you must ask yourself what kowtowing to them is doing to your own self-esteem. This is not a healthy situation.

Disclaimer: All information provided in this article is intended as general information only and is not to be misconstrued as medical or psychological advice, diagnosis, treatment or cure for any condi-tion or ailment. Send queries or comments to askDrZZ@yahoo.com. All identifying information is kept strictly confidential.

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Gregg Sanderson has a rare view of the metaphysical universe. He traveled the road from Christian Science through Judaism, Agnos-ticism, Atheism, Living Love, Psychic Development, Spiritualism, Teaching of the Inner Christ, all the way to the International Centers for Spiritual Living where he is a licensed practitioner. He is the au-thor of What Ever Happened To Happily Ever After? and Split Hap-pens – Easing the Pain of Divorce. Gregg’s latest venture is Spirit With A Smile — The Way It Is (Unless It’s Something Else). Email to gregg@spiritwithasmile.com.

It Ain’t You Or Me, It’s UsThe seven words of my title tell all you need to know

about a “conscious” business relationship.It’s an attitude that works, although admittedly it works

best when everybody you deal with has it. As a database de-veloper and independent consultant for (OMG!) more than 30 years, I’ve had the pleasure of conscious relationships with co-workers, “competitors,” and clients.

I’ve also had the displeasure of unconscious relation-ships with coworkers, competitors, and clients. Pleasure is better.

The hallmark of the former and the downfall of the latter in every case is unity—a sense of oneness which allows us to work better together in mutual support. The basis of failure is a sense of separation, and the false idea that one prospers only at the expense of another.

My partner Burt and I never had a written contract, al-though we were in business together for many years. He was the technical genius and I was marketing guru. We bid on jobs, and never discussed ahead of time how we’d split the fee. Some-times he’d do more of the work and get a larger share, some-times I would, and we never had a dispute. We instinctively knew the whole of our company was greater than the sum of the parts

and acted accordingly. It wasn’t him or me, it was Us.The idea of competition comes from a sense of lack.

Some people get the absurd idea that an infinite Universe can run out of the stuff that contributes to their success, so they have to attack anybody who does the same thing. How silly.

My book Spirit With A Smile (shameless self-promotion) is aimed at the same audience as Dennis Merritt Jones’ book The Art of Being (shameless other promotion), yet he wrote an endorsement for mine. We both lead workshops for the same target market, and I wrote an endorsement for him.

It wasn’t him or me, it was Us.Our New Thought Center for Creative Living is a teach-

ing with the same roots as Unity. We hold our services at Unity of Clearwater at the same time they hold theirs. There’s not a soupçon? of competition, only enthusiastic mutual support.

It isn’t them or us, it’s all Us.As for conscious business relations, my favorite ex-

ample is Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. Over the 15 years they’ve used our software, Burt and I modified and customized it almost beyond recognition.

The extraordinary element of this relationship is that we rarely use formal specifications. I get an idea of what they want and we work together to hone it to a final product that works for everybody. I charge a fair price, they pay right away, and we work in a friendly, informal atmosphere of respect and trust.

Our business is not without its share of miscommuni-cations, misunderstandings, and mishaps. All are solved easily because we know:

It isn’t them or us, it’s all Us.Now that I’m also a famous author, I couldn’t discuss

conscious business without a shout-out to Transformation Pub-lishing, my intrepid publisher, with whom I first signed a contract months after the book was already out. Of course there’s mutual trust, and by now you know why.

That’s right. It isn’t them or me, it’s all Us.Are we conscious yet?

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Spirituality

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that he sells everything he catches to a local restaurant. He said he makes a great living while being in the place he loves the most: the water. It reminded me of a friend who went to get his bachelor’s and then his master’s because it was the “right thing” to do. In the end, he decided to follow his passion for being in the water and moved to Texas, opened a scuba diving chartering business, and is doing very well for himself.

Most of the individuals who have revolutionized our lives started by following their true passion and honoring the blessing

that they had to give.

Many of them did so while initially being limited finan-cially. For example, I had an opportunity to meet Jimmy Whales, founder of Wikipedia. He explained that he dropped out of gradu-ate school and saw an opportunity to share information online by placing the content of old encyclopedias on his site. His ap-proach was different in that he made it open to everyone. This means that you can actually go to his site and change anything you want. He thought that if you believe that people will do good and treat them as such, they will. To the surprise of many, that is exactly what happened. Now you have experts from around the world who edit and maintain content on Wikipedia.com as vol-unteers. Therefore, if someone adds content that is not factual someone else will fix it within minutes. Through this venture he has helped to educate countless people from around the world while becoming financially abundant.

On a different scale, I meet people on a routine basis who have chosen to follow their true path. I believe that we are moving and shifting towards an era in our history in which people value their worth and their ability to contribute by follow-ing their passions.

These are some of the lessons that I have learned from these people:

Utilize resources that are out there: We live in an era where the click of a finger can reach millions of people through the com-puter or phone. At the same time, you can utilize the information that others provide to learn how to develop your passion and monetize it. Why reinvent the wheel when all you have to do is modify it? One way that I get information and inspiration is to get audio books from the library on a variety of topics and listen to them as I drive. The more information you expose yourself to, the easier it will be to think creatively. Remember, creativity comes from information that you acquire and how your brain puts it all together. Therefore, everyone can become more creative.

Be open to sharing your passion and your journey: You would be surprised with the insight that people will give you if you share what your passions are. In fact, they may say one small comment or idea that will completely shift how you see things. At the same time, they may know someone or meet someone that may open up doors and opportunities for you.

Seek a mentor or an organization that is already doing what you love: This mentor can be in person or gained through lis-

Follow Your PassionOne of my biggest passions is entrepreneurship and

creation. I love to hear people’s stories of how they followed their passion and either created or found a career that truly fits who they are. This is in large contrast to many whose jobs, careers, or personal businesses are not in alignment with their passions and so with time deprive them of joy.

Some studies show that 80 percent of people are dissatisfied with their jobs, which is

unfortunate because our relationship with our career is probably one of the most important

aspects of our journey.

If you think about it, most people spend 40 hours a week, if not more, working for a living, and that may not be count-ing prep time or drive time. Therefore, we must understand that our careers strongly influence our ability to live a life that honors our path and our level of joy and satisfaction along the journey.

What some people fail to see is that they can find wealth through any passion that they have.

I say wealth in the broad sense, since it is much more than financial abundance. In fact, I used to teach Career Devel-opment at a college and I used to play a game with the students where they would tell me their passion and I would bet them that I could help them come up with a way to make money doing it. To this day I have not lost a bet.

Recently, I was snorkeling in Puerto Rico and I met a man who serves as a great example of following your passion. I was intrigued by what he was doing and approached him as he prepared to go out into the water with his spear gun and net. When I asked him about it, he proudly stated that spear-fishing was his living and that the ocean was his office. He told me that he swims out until he fills up his net with lobster and different fish, as he enjoys the marine life in the process. He explained

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Joeel A. Rivera, M.Ed., Ph.D. (ABD) holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling and is currently completing his dissertation for his Ph.D. in Psychology. Joeel’s extensive career as a relationship coach includes certifications in P.R.E.P, a 30-year research-based program for couples, Nurturing Father’s curriculum, and Parenting 21st Century. Contact Joeel at joeel@transformationservices.org

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tening to an audio book by your favorite teacher who can give you insight to what you love and give you a general roadmap to follow. Also, by getting to know the organizations that offer what you’re passionate about you may be able to work with them or find others ways of getting your foot in the door. It may be through volunteering to get experience or getting to know people in an industry. You can also call and ask to interview someone who is already doing what you want to do. You would be surprised by how many people would love to share their journey with you.

Find a support system: May times you will find blogs or fo-rums that will have a number of people who share your pas-sion. Participating in these groups will offer valuable insights and help you to avoid repeating the same mistakes. At the same time, find people around you who will serve as your cheerleader and who believe in you and avoid those who put you down or doubt your dreams.

Get motivated: Motivation is movement towards a goal com-bined with having a big enough motive for doing it.

Most people don’t get motivated or stay motivated because their dreams are not big

enough to make the effort worth it.

Decide what you want and your reason for it, make sure your reason is big enough, and then take action one step at a time. Every week write clear goals and slowly chip away it at. A house is built one brick at a time.

It takes a village: Remember that anything successful is never about one individual. Whether it will be your own business or working for another organization that meets your needs, your ability to work with others can define how well you will do. Col-laboration on the job allows each individual’s talents to be best utilized and hiring skilled experts and workers allows business owners to focus their energy on what they do best.

Bring it full circle: Remember, as you genuinely bless others and the community, the community and others will bless you; it always comes back full circle. When people see that someone comes from a place of passion, compassion, and gratitude they want to see them succeed. Therefore, be as open to receiving as well as giving.

You are a powerful being, like a seed that is ready to flourish in every aspect of life. Your only job is to continue to create the proper environment and provide the proper soil to let yourself grow. This can be done through your own entrepreneur-ial creation, through partnering with someone, or through work-ing with an organization that truly values you and want to see you thrive. The more people that find the courage to do what they love the better world we will have, as people will live in more joy and share it. There are no obstacles, only learning experiences. Your potential is limited only by your belief in your self. Change can happen quickly, so embrace the beauty of life.

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The Wood element encompasses the liver and gallblad-der and is most active in the spring. The Wood element brain-storms, makes plans, and creates blueprints. It represents the ambition of that little seed in spring, just starting the daunting task of breaking through the soil (or sometimes asphalt!) into the great unknown. Notice that the Wood element is responsible not only for making plans, but for following through as well. We may have a wish list of businesses that we would like to start or be involved with, but without the decision to follow through, where does it leave us?

We might next consider the Metal element, which cor-responds to the lung and large Intestine. Just as precious met-als have to be mined from the dirt, so too must we find value in what we have to offer. We must not shortchange ourselves, but truly realize the value in what we have to offer the world. In some situations, this means setting prices that are fair, not only to the consumer but also to ourselves. Too often, when we love what we do (and the people we do it with), we feel compelled to give our services away, shortchanging the energy exchange that takes place. It’s worth noting here that the Metal element cor-responds with autumn, when the earth must abandon that which does not serve it anymore. Are old habits or thought processes keeping you from your dream business? A sharp Metal element can help cut them loose.

It is important when setting up a business to recognize the bigger impact it will inevitably have, and this is where the Earth element enters (referring back to the stomach and spleen). Think of this element as Mother Earth at harvest time (this ele-ment’s season), embodying care and kindness for everyone in-volved with the business, striving to see that there is “enough to go around.” This element strengthens compassion in your busi-ness—enacting fair practices to employees, minimally impacting the Earth’s resources, and establishing a system in which it is easy to give back to the community at large.

Once our business is established, this is where a strong Water element kicks in. Water, which dominates the kidneys and bladder, is all about willpower and self-determination. Much like the earth during wintertime (Water’s season), a strong will is needed to survive this harsh season, knowing that the new growth of spring is just a few months away. The early months and years of new endeavors can be difficult, and it takes a strong spirit to hunker down and fight for survival.

Finally, the Fire Element (relating to the heart and small intestine) allows us to fully embrace and love our chosen work. This element (whose season is appropriately summer) strength-ens our connection to community, friends, and family; a healthy Fire element manifests in pure joy. After the careful planning and execution of our business plans (and the exhaustion that can bring), we need a gentle reminder that our careers should ulti-mately bring us joy. Ideally our businesses will become tightly knit within the fabric of our communities and that sense of con-nection that Fire thrives on will be strengthened.

Confucius said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” If we choose the path of Right Livelihood, then our jobs are merely extensions of our-selves and our integrity, not a chore.

You don’t need to own your own business to be in a

Christina Captain, DOM, AP, SLP, FSC is a board certified acupunc-ture physician and the founder of The Family Healing Center. She earned her degree in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine from the East West College of Natural Medicine, Sarasota, Florida, where she is now a senior faculty member and advisory board chairper-son. Christina received additional training in acupuncture injection therapy and earned a Masters degree in Speech Language Pa-thology and Communication Disorders and is an expert Feng Shui practitioner and teacher.

Aligning for “Right Livelihood”

Imagine 11 years of working 24 hours a day, seven days a week—no lunch breaks, no going home, not even a bath-room break. That’s 4,083 days—98,000 hours, if you’re a clock watcher. Now take it out of the realm of the imaginary, because that is the amount of time you will work if you entered the working world at 18 years old and retire at 67, working 40 hours a week with two weeks of vacation a year.

Although we do go home every night, more of us are working through our lunches, staying late, going into the office on the weekends, and spending hours commuting. And even when we do go on vacation, we don’t truly “unplug.” All said and done, we spend an enormous amount of time—and perhaps even more energy—focusing on our jobs. What if this focus is not in alignment with our ideals and beliefs?

Buddhism has a concept of the Noble Eightfold Path, eight directives to help ease suffering. One of them is “Right Livelihood.” The other seven paths are also closely intertwined with this idea, making a Right Livelihood even easier to achieve. They are: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Ac-tion, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. In essence, we need a way to earn a living that does not compro-mise these precepts or our integrity.

In his book The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “To practice Right Livelihood, you have to find a way to earn your living without transgressing your ideals of love and compassion. The way you support yourself can be an expression of your deepest self, or it can be a source of suffering for you and others.... We should be awake to the consequences, far and near, of the way we earn our living.”Balancing the Elements

Keeping the body healthy and harmonized can help make this task easier. According to the Five Element model of Chinese Medicine, each element, when properly balanced, can bring a distinct quality to our emotions and actions. When we look at every element in turn, we can see how the characteristics of each one can do much to help us find (or create) a suitable, inspiring, and empowering livelihood.

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Healthy Living

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You Are Gifted!Are you psychic? Yes, YOU are! We are all psychic to

one degree or another, and we can increase that inherent psy-chic ability IF we choose to do so.

I realize that a large majority of you are reading these words and shaking your heads from side to side. “Not me,” you are thinking, “and Marcia cannot be such an excellent psychic herself if she thinks that I am!”

Well, I assure you that I have complete confidence in MY psychic powers, and that confidence comes from years of study and perfecting my abilities. We all enter this incarnation with the choice of filling our lives with all things or nothing, and the use of our psychic abilities is one of those choices. Many people find it interesting that I do not have the word PSYCHIC on my business cards. I am reminded of a phone call that I received many years ago from a person who had come into contact with my business card. This individual obviously looked for the word Psychic on the card and didn’t find it. He still figured that I might be able to send him to someone who could help him and phoned me.

The first thing he asked was, “Can you recommend a good psychic?” My answer was not what he expected. I said, “Sure, look in the mirror.”

I broke the long silence that followed with a chuckle and an explanation. I assured him that I could help him with his “is-sues” and “decisions,” and that I could also aid him in developing his own psychic abilities.

In order to make use of your psychic abilities, you first have to know that you have them.

I have just informed you that you do have them. How do I know this? Because we are all psychic. Now I seem to be talking in circles but I am really just trying to convince you to, as Indiana Jones said in Raiders of the Lost Ark, “TRUST ME.”Finding Your Gifts

What are psychic abilities? The term “psychic ability” generally refers to the ability to obtain knowledge through means other than the physical senses. So, a person who has intuitive knowledge of the future is said to have psychic ability, for example.

Even the Bible mentions many instances of individuals predicting the future by means of dreams, signs, and prophecy. These messages were usually sudden and unsought. This is called Spontaneous Revelation, where knowledge of the future enters directly into one’s mind, and no external aids such as Tar-ot Cards or I Ching coins are necessary. There are many ways in which one’s abilities can be practiced and understood.

There also have been many studies that prove psychic abilities can be developed, or at least understood and “used.” Too many people, because they are such confirmed rationalists, IGNORE messages that come to them as “non-rational phenom-ena.” We must train our mind to respond to messages that come to us. We must “open” our mind to the use of intuitions, which is just another name for psychic abilities.

I know that everyone reading this article has had “many” psychic experiences in their lifetime. I feel very safe in stating this fact. Maybe you need a little help in recalling them and, most likely, you did not even realize that you were having a psychic experience! Have you ever known that the phone would ring BE-FORE it does? And even more interesting, you knew who would be on the other end of that phone? Have you ever KNOWN that you are making a mistake BEFORE you made it? For example, walking down the aisle at your own wedding and KNOWING that you shouldn’t be there? Have you ever dreamed something and then had it happen? I could fill up my allotted space for the next year’s worth of columns with examples! What I would ask you to do is try to remember some of these on your own. You will be

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Spirituality

Marcia began her career as a school teacher, working with pre-school through inner city high school students. She has worked with all aspects of Metaphysics for over 40 years and specializes in Tarot and Numerology. Marcia’s clients and students are in every state and throughout Europe. Marcia has taught over 400 students to “read” the Tarot for the purpose of self-guidance and to use the powerful symbolism of the Tarot to reach higher levels of spirituality. Her column, Spiritually Speaking, originally ran for 8 years in At-titudes Magazine in the Sarasota area. Email marlou2000@aol.com

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •Lauren Rathvon, DOM, AP is a nationally board certified Acu-puncture Physician and Doctor of Oriental Medicine. She re-ceived her education at the East West College of Natural Med-icine in Sarasota where she earned her degree in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine. Certified in acupuncture point injection therapy, Lauren has also been trained in Constitutional Facial Rejuvenation. She currently serves on the Oriental Medicine faculty at Mountain Meadow Massage School in Ruidoso, NM, in addition to being an adjunct professor at the East West Col-lege of Natural Medicine.

workplace that shares your core values. You simply need to be clear on what those values are. One of the best ways I’ve found to gain clarity is to make sure the body is in complete balance; my favorite method is through acupuncture and dietary therapy. In this way, all of the Elements can bring their strengths to the table, putting the “live-ly” in Livelihood.

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amazed at the length of your “list” of unexplained experiences.Intuition in the Age of Aquarius

Now that we are in the 21 st Century, there is tremen-dous interest in psychic experiences. One of the largest areas of growing interest is in the “contacting” of loved ones who have crossed over to the “other side.” This is NOT something new! The “energy” of our loved ones remains with us beyond their physical passing. If we could have faith in this, we would be open to the messages that come through to us. There are many tal-ented and spiritual people who can assist us in making these contacts, BUT choose a reader wisely and carefully. However, even more exciting is the fact that we are capable of receiving these messages for ourselves by working on the greater devel-opment of our psychic senses. This is just one of the benefits of working with our own intuitive powers.

It is most important to realize that working with one’s in-tuitive/psychic ability is not a new invention. Research into these areas takes us back to the first recorded histories of civilization—and beyond. The only difference now, in the Age of Aquarius, the Golden Age of Peace and Enlightenment, is that we are once

again encouraged to work with our own innate psychic powers.Looking back in history, we are shown how the vision-

aries who chose to use their “abilities” were considered a threat to rulers, church, and government. It was thought that when the people could self-guide, perhaps they would be more independent and not the dutiful followers of the rules and regulations of society. The knowledge of the ancients was kept only for the few, those chosen to keep the masses in line. Those who chose the path of knowledge had to learn and study in secret and the persecution of the “enlightened” can be found in all of the history books!

Now, the knowledge is once again beginning to surface, and it is there for all those who seek Higher Knowledge. Should you choose to delve into the psychic/intuitive aspects of your-self, your answers will be forthcoming. I admit that Metaphysical Study is not for everyone and that is the beauty of living in a time when we are encouraged to find our own Path to enlightenment.

Remember, Knowledge is the Greatest Power, so Walk in the Light

By Jim Del Vecchio

Do you have prosperity and abun-dance in your life? If not, you may wonder when you will get it. You may also wonder how to get it. Looking at the issue of abundance from a spiritual viewpoint, I intuitively feel that many are not aligning with their abundance

because of what they are thinking, feeling, and doing. If you need help moving past these obstacles, there are some tips you can use to help shift the operation of your mind so that you will be more open to the divine flow of abundance in the future.

It’s important to note that abundance includes much more than financial success. It spans to all major areas of your life: spiritual, physical, intellectual, emo-tional, social, and livelihood. The acronym I use for these areas is SPIESL. For purposes of this article, however, we will be focusing more on money and how you handle it in your life.

Before getting more detailed, it’s important to state that money is not evil. There is nothing wrong with it at all. It is neutral. How you get it and what you do with it is what makes it seem like it can be good or bad.

It is really the choices people make that determine if it seems money is being used for good or for not-so-good purposes.

Managing the Abundance of MoneyMoney is just what comes to us all by using energy to work, save, and

invest. Let’s look at those last three in more detail. WORK: The first step is how you get money. Some are born with a “silver

spoon” in their mouth, but most of us have to work to make a living. How do you make your living? Is it honest? Does it honor yourself and others? Or does the work call on you to be less than honest or ethical? If you are steadfastly holding to work that is uplifting—work that you feel good about—it will aid you in manifesting abundance. Positive feelings will stimulate the secretion of healthy chemicals that will course through your body. The resulting vibration you send out to the universe can lead to many positive changes in your life. Changes beyond prosperity. The positive changes could be a new or improved relationship, better physical health, more stable emotions, better relations with friends and family and more.

How you acquire money falls into the arena of choosing the right career for you. It may be a career where you work for an employer or it may be that you will be the employer. In either case, I believe if you conduct yourself with high ethics and values, treat people well, and basically give a diligent effort to your tasks, you

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probably will be successful. Once you are successful, usually more money follows in the form of raises or increased business.

SAVE: After you get money, what do you do with it? Do you squander it on gifts or expenditures that are too expensive, not needed, spur of the moment buys, or fad buys? Learning to complete and stick to a budget is very helpful. When you have enough money, do you store up the excess in a financial institution for investment purposes or for a “rainy day” or do you help charity with it now? My research into spirituality seems to suggest that when we get enough and more than enough, we might be doing ourselves a favor by helping those less fortunate. That’s not to say you cannot have fun. My advice is to save, save, save and then when you obtain a critical mass, then start giving more to charity.

The sad fact is most Americans are not saving nearly enough for themselves and will face a

difficult future unless they make big changes now.

An easy way to find out now much you will need to save is to determine what you spend now and add an amount for inflation into the future. The long-term inflation rate is about 3 percent, so you might add 3 percent each year as you project into the future. Most financial planners say we should have enough money to pro-vide about 80 percent of what we were making before we retired. They also use a conservative rate of return of 5 percent to estimate income on your investments. Let’s say you will get Social Security of $15,000 a year and want another $15,000 a year income. To get an income of $15,000 a year at a 5 percent rate of return on your investments, you will need to save $300,000. If you have a company pension, that will lessen the amount of investments you need. It is easy to see from this simple example that many people need to do more to plan for their future.

INVEST: The next principle is, “How do you grow your money.” Do you stick it in a bank, put it under your pillow, bury it in tomato cans in your backyard? Or do you work at it a little bit to find the best ways to invest your money? It turns out the stock market is one of the best investments for the long term. In the book, Manifesting Abundance: The Universal Key, I go over

a four-step process for beating the best money managers in the world on five minutes a week. For now I will just say it is not as hard as you might think. Adding a little bit of knowledge to what you already know makes all the difference.

Stocks have a long-term record of gaining about 10 per-cent per year. That figure includes all the down years as well as the up years. The up years can be substantial and so can the down years. If you are nearing retirement or in retirement, you would not want to take on all the risk that comes with the market, so I suggest a “conservative growth” strategy that captures most of the market gains and avoids most of the losses.

If you can get 1 percent more return on your invest-ments over the long term, that can lead to big changes in your retirement nest egg. To illustrate the power of a combination of saving and investing, if a young person saved just $5.00 a day and put it into a Roth IRA at a 10 percent rate of return for 40 years, it would grow to more than $888,000. If they in-creased their saving rate to $5.70 a day and got just 1 percent more rate of return, their account after 40 years would amount to over $1,343,000. The moral is clear: If you need to start mak-ing changes, do it now. Even small changes can add up to large amounts over time.

Industrious action, thrift, and investing one’s resources wisely are values that spiritual

people have espoused for millennia.

Every faith tradition that I am aware of extols the virtue of such principles. They also extol the virtue of helping the poor and sick people of the world. By having more money by making wiser choices, we can put ourselves in a position to have more fun and live a nicer lifestyle but also to be able to help more people who are in need.

Jim Del Vecchio is the author of Manifesting Abundance: The Uni-versal Key, available in paperback or ebook from Amazon.com or audiobook from jimdelvecchio.com.

Jesse James, Wyatt Earp, or the Cisco Kid, and I might have been Geronimo or Cochise. It was somewhere in that time frame that I first heard about the concept of reincarnation, and for whatever reason I believed in it right away. It simply rang true to me from the moment I heard it.

Reincarnation is the belief that our soul returns to the earth plane again and again until it becomes perfect and reunites with its Source. Some believe we can be a human in one life

By Barry Homan

As a child I spent most of my free time playing outdoors. Oftentimes my friends and I would play games of make believe, where we would each pretend to be a character from the past. For instance, if we were playing cowboys and indians my friends might have been

Spirituality

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Do You Believe?

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that come from India. For instance, in 1926 a young girl was born in Delhi. Her name was Shanti, and when she was 7 years old she told her parents that she had lived a previous life in the town of Muttra. She described her life in great detail, claiming she had been married and had three children. Unfortunately, she had passed away giving birth to the third child. A few years later a man came to their home for the first time, and Shanti claimed that the man was her husband’s cousin from her past life. The man did come from Muttra, and he did have a cousin whose wife had died in childbirth. The parent’s had the husband visit the home without telling their daughter, and immediately upon seeing him she rushed into his arms. Shanti was then taken to Muttra, where she was able to identify places and people from her former life. She picked out other relatives and even spoke the local dialect despite never having encountered it in her cur-rent life. The only person from her former life she couldn’t identify was her third child—whom she had never seen.

Can reincarnation be the explanation for child prodi-gies? How is it that Mozart began composing at age 5, performed for royalty a year later, and at age 8 wrote his first symphony? Chopin was another composer who had two completed works by the time he was 7. Picasso began painting almost before he could talk. H.P. Lovecraft wrote complex poetry at age six. Wil-liam Sidis had written four books and was fluent in eight lan-guages by the time he was 7, and two years later he gave a lecture at Harvard.

More recently, Akrit Jaswal became India’s youngest university student and surgeon ever. He performed his first op-eration at age 7. Gregory Smith enrolled in university at age 10 and founded an advocacy group for peace and human rights. In 2002, at age 12, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (losing to Jimmy Carter). Then there is Kim Ung-yong, recog-nized by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the world’s highest I.Q. He entered university as a physics student at age THREE, and four years later NASA invited him to study in the United States.

Were these just really smart children, or did they bring memories and talents of a past life with them into their next life? Everyone must come to their own conclusion. As for me, I couldn’t even spell physics when I was three, so I’m choosing the reincarnation route.

Reincarnation can be a fabulous topic to daydream about, and there are many fine past-life regressionists in the area if you want to take it a step further. In the end, however, we must heed the advice of the Buddha. While he claimed to have experienced his former lives, he cautioned the monks he taught not to become too preoccupied by them. We came here for a purpose, and the life we are living now is the one we need to concentrate on.

*Bhagavad Gita, A New Translation, by Stephen Mitchell, Harmony Books, NY, copyright 2000.

Barry Homan is the author of Whispers Through Time, a novel about reincarnation and soul mates. For more information visit his website at www.barryhoman.com.

and an animal in the next. Others believe that we progress from form to form and once we have moved on to the human level we never return to the animal level. The Bhagavad Gita says:

“Just as you throw out used clothes and put on other clothes, new clothes, the Self discards

its used bodies and puts on others that are new.” (2:22)*

Recent polls show that about 27 percent of Americans

believe in reincarnation, although some polls put the figure as high as 40 percent. This figure is up from polls taken back in the ‘60s and ‘70s when the New Age movement really began to take hold. Back then the figure was around 20 percent. Interestingly, many polls show that about 55 percent of Americans believe in an afterlife, but only half of them believe in reincarnation.

As someone who spends a great deal of his time around the spiritual community, most of whom believe in the concept of reincarnation, I find the 27 percent figure to be surprisingly low. The figure is obviously higher in other countries where the concept is taught by the area’s religion. For instance, in India the belief in reincarnation and karma are major tenets of the Hindu religion.

It may surprise you to know that belief in reincarnation was also a fundamental part of the Christian religion during the time that Jesus walked the earth. This is shown in the Bible when Jesus asked his followers who they thought that he was. Some of them said Elias (Elijah), some said Jeremias (Jeremiah), while others said one of the other prophets (Matt 16:14). Obviously they thought he was reincarnated from a previous time. Jesus had already proclaimed to many of his followers that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elias (Matt 11:11-14).

In A.D. 451 the Council at Chalcedon reinforced the church’s belief in reincarnation as a major tenet of the Chris-tian faith. Among those agreeing to this were Roman Catholics. However, reincarnation was removed as a tenet of the Roman church in A.D. 553 at the Second Council of Constantinople by the Emperor Justinian, who was attempting to bring all of his empire under one belief system. The punishment for believing in reincarnation was death. Ever since then the Catholic Church has denied the existence of reincarnation.Testimony of Reincarnation

Stories of reincarnation can be extremely fascinating. Many of you may have heard the story of James Leininger, which first broke in 2004. At age 2 he began having memories of a past life. Once he learned to speak he told his parents that he was a fighter pilot in WW II. He was fascinated by airplanes yet had horrific nightmares about a plane crash. By the time he reached age 6, James had named the aircraft carrier he had been sta-tioned on, the type of plane that he flew, and the name of a fel-low pilot who had witnessed him being shot down. Eventually his parents found the pilot, who verified James’ story, and they even found his sister from that past life. After meeting James, the girl believed that he was in fact the reincarnation of her former brother. Eventually James met some of his fellow pilots from the carrier. He knew them all by name.

I have heard many interesting stories of reincarnation

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