By Guest Blogger on May 6, 2010
By Philip McCluskey
As I sit in front of my computer and ponder the last four years of my life, I can hardly believe it was “me” living it. There have been many days that I would find my eyes welling up with happy tears and laughing at this newfound joy and happiness I discovered.
I’ve been overweight my entire life, tried over 30 diets and was always the biggest kid in school. At 400 pounds, I felt I was a victim to an obese father, a broken family and the list goes on. The thought of giving motivational lectures and authoring books on weight loss was so far removed from my reality. The only highlight of my life was my yearly vacation (escape) from work and even that ended up being stressful. But I was soon to find out that the Universe has a funny way of mixing things up a bit.
Four years ago, I switched to a 100% raw vegan lifestyle. Besides the dramatic weight loss, one of the things I discovered birthing in me was a desire to actually LIVE, to really live—like I never had before. I decided to take ideas that had only been in my mind or on paper and create a reality that would line up with them or would enable them to happen in sync. I really let loose here too: I included the girlfriend I always dreamed of, the freedom of traveling around the world and exploring, new friends, new business partners, family, love, life. My goal was to live with as much freedom and love that my heart could handle.
But, where to start?
Faith
Trusting in the Universe has been a wonderful learning process. Learning that I manifest the world around me was originally a new concept for me, and I have gained so much from it:
-There is no such thing as coincidence.
-I am a co-creator, not a victim.
-Responsibility is all mine.
-The Universe only has good things for me.
-Be still and know that everything is perfect.
From the moment I began to release the reigns a bit, I found that I was actually able to truly enjoy life for the first time. So, what happened? I began attracting new friends from all over the world. Raw food communities were popping up, and it seemed like support was everywhere. Companies began to contact me and opportunities for adventure began to present themselves. I got to share my story on CBS. People began to ask me to speak all over the world. “What luck,” some might say. Ha, no such thing! It all started with visualization and positive thinking.
Positive Thinking
I came to find that living life everyday with the attitude of having “The Most Amazing Day Ever” presented more than I could ever hope or dream for. I decided not to put my future in a box anymore but rather to be completely open to whatever was to come. Expecting the best in every situation and being in a space of gratitude, no matter what was gifted to me, was a new way of thinking that turned into a new way of manifesting. If we create the world around us with our thoughts and our intentions, why not create it the very best way possible, way beyond the status quo?
Here are a few tools I found that helped me along the way:
1. Affirmations. Most people have a terrible day because subconsciously they don’t feel they deserve anything good in life, usually due to a lack of self-love. You can reverse that by affirming you love yourself in the mirror daily. I dare you. Do it until you actually believe yourself or until you crack up laughing.
I would tape notes on my mirrors and walls around the house reminding me to do my affirmations, including “I Love Myself,” “I Accept Myself,” and “I Appreciate Myself.”
2. Creating Your Day. Create your day by writing down exactly how you want your day to go. It’s quite simple and should take less than five or 10 minutes. Don’t be skimpy on the details either. If you are having a problem with a coworker, write down how you would like them to act towards you and see that person as cordial and pleasant. Whatever the situation, see it in your mind and write it down. Get wild here; don’t limit yourself!
3. Visualization. Spend 30 minutes once a week (or more frequently) and picture your future the way you want it to be. You get to direct your own movie and be the star!
Your goal may be to lose 40 pounds and go to work in a new tailored pinstripe suit. If that is the case, picture yourself as that person: trim, strong, muscular, confident and looking amazing in your new suit. Picture what it feels like when you walk around and interact with people. Feel the emotion of the moment. The emotion and intention are what sets the process of creation in motion.
I have been picturing myself as a trim muscular guy for pretty much my entire life. After losing over 215 pounds from a maximum weight of 400 pounds, I would say I manifested that dream or visualization. It may have taken a little longer than expected, but I’m still learning.
Accepting ourselves, accepting change, being in the moment, and creating with our words, thoughts and intentions is how we shift and transform our bodies, our lives and even our future. We have been taught to look outside ourselves for the answers. We run from guru to guru, from the hottest yoga teacher in India to the latest retreat in Mauritius, always looking, always seeking. Is anything wrong with any of this? Of course not. Just remember the hidden treasure is in an earthen vessel, which is you. You have everything you need inside you already. Yup, everything!
You are empowered to affirm, create and visualize your life to be whatever your heart desires. You always have been.
Philip McCluskey is a motivational speaker, author, and is incredibly passionate about raw foods! Being overweight his entire life, he surpassed morbid obesity and skyrocketed to a max weight of 400 lbs. After switching to a 100% raw vegan diet overnight, he has lost over 215 lbs, completed a 100-day juice fast and a 60-day liquid fast, and is on the fast track to rediscovering his new superhero existence. His recipe book Raw Food, Fast Food can be found at www.lovingraw.com.
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By Guest Blogger on March 16, 2010
By Amy Ahlers
“You don’t deserve it.”
“Who do you think you are?”
“This will never work out for you, you know that, right?”
Recognize that voice? It’s the voice of your Inner Mean Girl.
She’s negative. She’s catty. She’s judgmental.
She compares your worst to everyone else’s best—in her eyes, you lose every time.
She spews cruel words at you and makes you feel like you are in seventh grade again. Her favorite thing to do is make you feel small, inadequate, and unworthy. She’s always finding evidence to prove her theory: you are not enough.
It’s time to stop letting her run the show!
Try the three steps below to stand up to your Inner Mean Girl once and for all:
1. Identify your Inner Mean Girl’s top ten places, situations and environments where she likes to show up and criticize. Is it at work? Social events? In bed? Every time you look in the mirror? Once you know what circumstances are likely to trigger her, you can be better prepared to deal with her.
2. Next, draw a picture of your Inner Mean Girl. Is she fat with big glasses? Perfectly pressed and all in pink? A slob with a cigarette in one hand and a martini in the other? Don’t worry if you think you can’t draw; no one will ever see this but you, so go for it! And if you really don’t want to draw, can you find an image in a magazine or on the Internet that captures your Inner Mean Girl? It’s important that you have a clear mental image of that voice that tortures you.
3. Get to know your Inner Mean Girl. Notice what makes her happy and notice what makes her power diminish. What happens if you just yell “Shut up!” at her? What if you look her calmly in the eye and reassure her that everything is going to be all right? Maybe she needs a compliment every now and then. After all, Inner Mean Girls need love, too.
I’ve got news for you: your Inner Mean Girl is a liar.
She tells you big fat lies to try to maintain the status quo and keep you in your comfort zones—even if your comfort zones aren’t all that comfortable. For example: poor body image, constant financial distress, or any addictive behavior can be an area where your Inner Mean Girl thrives. She will tell you over and over again that “you can’t change” and “you’re a loser.”
But those are lies. You can change and you are certainly not a loser. In fact, you are magnificent.
Once you realize that she is a liar, see if you can’t catch her lying to you. (Hint: whenever you’re feeling bad about yourself, she’s probably right there with a megaphone.)
Then, take these three simple steps to see through your Inner Mean Girl’s lies:
1. What is my Inner Mean Girl saying? Write it down. Can you identify the lies?
2. What does my higher self/inner wisdom believe? Write it down. Can you see the truth? (Hint: it helps to sometimes close your eyes and take a deep breath before asking this question. The truth is always there, waiting to set you free.)
3. Now write down an action you want to take in light of this new information. Is there something or someone you need to commit to? Something you must stop doing? A new perspective you will hold? Do you need to forgive yourself or someone else?
Here is the truth: your Inner Mean Girl is really a voice of insecurity and anxiety. Uncertain of her own power, she becomes a bully. Once you start really listening and writing down her rants and accusations, it’s easy to put her in her place.
The truth is, you are fabulous.
And I know, because my Inner Wisdom told me so.
This article was written by Amy Ahlers, creator of The Women Masters and CEO of Wake-Up Call Coaching.
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By Guest Blogger on February 25, 2010
By Meg Wolff
It’s been two months since I had reconstructive surgery on my leg, and I believe it was successful. I’m flying to New York City today to be evaluated for a new prosthetic leg, and I’ll soon be walking on two legs again. Woo-hoo! While healing, I experienced the power of positive energy. My mother-in-law, Alice, came to stay with me the week after the surgery. It sure helps to have a positive and upbeat person around, especially when you’re convalescing. (Heck, it’s great having positive people around ALL THE TIME!). I consider myself to be a very lucky person. She even cooked and ate vegan food!
I spent four days in the hospital before coming home. Each day, a group of doctors from the pain team came into my room to check on me. With this sort of surgery, the first four days are generally painful. One doctor, whom I saw two of the four days, told me how good I looked and how well I was doing compared to most people who have this surgery. I think he was sincere because I felt I was doing well, too, all things considered. I thanked him because it was nice to hear those words. His positivity contributed to my well-being and peace of mind. I believe there is a LOT of power in this because I felt better!
Speaking of positivity, my friend Colleen brought me a delicious lunch. Just what I needed: an assortment of colorful vegetables and a black bean dish. The vegetables were small—sweet brussel sprouts, carrots, kale, and cauliflower—along with her favorite green drink!
Late yesterday afternoon, a new friend came by to purchase a copy of my book as a gift for her friend. She loaned me a copy of the DVD of Louise L. Hay’s “You Can Heal Your Life,” the expanded version, with featured appearances by Wayne W. Dyer, Cheryl Richardson, Candace B. Pert, Ph.D., Mona Lisa Schulz, M.D., Ph.D., and Christine Northrup, M.D. (many of whose books I’ve read and recommend!). Dr. Northrup wrote a blurb for my book “Becoming Whole, The Story of My Complete Recovery From Breast Cancer.”
I know there has been a lot of controversy about being positive when you are healing from an illness. How do I weigh in on this? Personally, I feel that it is important to have hope and surround oneself with positive people. Still, I don’t think that I could have created good health through positive thinking alone; it also mattered that I chose to change how I ate. If I hadn’t changed my way of eating, an important piece of the cancer “puzzle,” I’m positive that I would not be here today, alive and cancer-free. I believe in cause and effect as seen in “The China Study.”
That said, I’m certain that being able to let go of the fear of an advanced cancer diagnosis by focusing on what I could do and taking positive action had some sort of positive effect on my immune system and wellness. When you’re told that you are going to die, it is (of course) an extremely stressful experience. It has been proven that stress affects the immune system and its ability to fight cancer cells. But by changing what I ate and living my life fully in spite of a cancer diagnosis, I let go of the outcome (and the fear) and made some positive changes in my life.
I believe healing is a multi-pronged approach. Is being negative or not looking on the bright side of life going to kill you? Probably not. But if it keeps you locked into your patterns of behavior that make no contribution to your health (like a high fat, low-fiber, junk food way of eating), than maybe so.
For me, being positive helped me stay with what I believed would help me—a way of eating based on organic whole grains, vegetables and beans. It had helped others, so I believed it could help me. And it did. The only time I was negative was when faced with putting anything into my body that didn’t promote health. I also avoided negative people, depressing movies or books, and anything that would bring me down. I wanted to feel good and balanced.
After watching Louise Hay’s DVD today (which I loved), I agree with all of her suggestions. Really loving yourself and repeating positive affirmations will lead you closer to positive actions. For me, that meant cooking the food my body needed to heal. Louise and some of the other contributors talk about the scientifically-proven methods of changing our vibration. I think changing eating habits fits right in with all that they promote, because macrobiotics teach that food is vibrational. In fact, so are air, water, excercise, and spiritual practice.
Do I believe that changing your thoughts (or attitude) can change you life? Absolutely! The glass can be half empty or half full, and I prefer the latter. I believe that we have to focus on what is right, and good, within us. We can change focusing on our misfortunes (or things we once considered bad) to focusing on the aspects we like about ourselves with a shift in attitude. Likewise, changing your food intake can change your life. That’s “food for thought.”
What has helped you in your healing journey?
Meg Wolff is a two-time cancer survivor who teaches people about the vital link between health and a plant-based diet. Meg lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, and has a popular blog where she is building a community of people who believe in a healthy lifestyle. She is the author of Becoming Whole. You can learn more about Meg at www.megwolff.com and www.becoming-whole.com.
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By Guest Blogger on February 24, 2010
Tama J. Kieves
By Tama J. Kieves
I am committed to allowing myself to receive more freaking goodness than I can imagine. To begin, I know that, independent of anyone else’s predictions or convictions, my life can be fantastic. I am going to stop calling negativity and limitation “realism.” Instead, I am just going to call them negativity and limitation.
We have all bought into the superstition that goodness is a soap bubble about to burst. But I challenge you to think of sadness and strain as a bubble, too; a bubble that can burst just as easily. It all depends on where you put your focus and what you call real.
Let me tell you a personal story. Years ago, to support the release of my first book “This Time I Dance! Creating the Work you Love,” I put myself on the road. It was a brave move to invest in myself. At the first event of my “tour,” I spoke to a high-powered women’s business group. They loved me, and I did cartwheels inside.
That afternoon, still cartwheeling, I walked into one of those stores that sell ethnic home accessories, fun art, and things you really don’t need but suddenly have to have. I sashayed down the aisles, boogie author, she who had just nailed her first real talk on this adventure. I picked up a piggy bank, a leather olive green pig with red and purple wings. “When pigs fly,” I thought to myself and grinned. My journey of writing and launching the book has(had?) seemed like realizing the impossible. I held the little crafted object. I should get this, I thought, to symbolize shattering the customary, rising above the gravitational pull of doubt and fear.
“Yeah, but you know how things go,” another inner voice pipes up. “It’s just the beginning of your trip. You don’t know how the rest will go. You could be disappointed, and then you’ll feel silly with your triumphant, hopeful totem here.” The voice throws me a bone. “Let’s wait and see how things turn out,” it says. It’s my rational voice—the one that controls the checkbook, buys only the sale flowers at the florist, and never orders a brownie with her tea. I put the pig back down.
That night, I had a book signing that broke my heart. So few people came. I looked at the empty chairs, and thought about how much plane fare, hotel, and other “manifestations of faith” this trip would cost me. I felt like a piñata, clubbed until the sweetness fell out of me. “Good thing you didn’t get that silly triumphant pig,” said the voice inside. I cringed at the thought of having believed in myself, believing everything would turn out just right, believing I was now finally on that roll I’d always dreamed about.
Today, years later, I think I should have bought the pig. I should have bought my celebration totem, because in that moment I felt alive and I believed—I knew something true, deep in my bones. The following disappointment didn’t change the truth of the original dazzling moment, until I let it. When I doubted myself, I relinquished my power. It was a vote to make moments of pain carry more weight than moments of joy and realization.
“I’m having more fun than I’ve ever had in my life,” a client said to me recently, giddiness in her voice. Her business was taking off, and she felt her luck changing. “I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop,” she said. I was struck by the realization of how often we do this to ourselves. We tell ourselves that life can’t be that good: it has to stop, it has to end; what goes up must come down. “We are meant to grow and expand,” I tell her. It is our evolutionary instinct to strengthen, blossom, and develop heightened capacities. I share a quote with her from Esther and Jerry Hicks: “The better it gets, the better it gets.”
Just because negativity is familiar doesn’t necessarily make it significant. When you’re in your joy, you are more intelligent, resourceful, and present to possibilities. It is who you really are. Circumstances that follow may tempt you to forget your passion and knowledge, but the disillusionment is really the illusion!
For me, the path of being self-employed, having a dream and moving it into the world in a big way has been one of constantly remembering a sweeter reality, no matter what conditions look like. The circumstances fluctuate, but my good does not. I’m always on the road to even more grace. There are so many fantastic opportunities that are waiting to come into my life right now the moment I allow myself to fully accept my value and welcome them. I’m not denying reality; I’m claiming it.
Of course there are suffering and pain in the world. But these are the places where we, the members of humanity, haven’t gotten it right yet. Why would we make these the standard of reality if it is not a reality we wish to create?
Good things are knocking at your door right now. Open the door. Allow yourself to believe that you can have the dream you desire. Take in the abundance wherever you are and allow more to shower upon you, with your arms wide open for as long as you can. It is never too much for you to handle—you were designed to blossom. Practice allowing yourself to be loved just as the Sufi poet Hafiz describes: “And the sun and the moon sometimes argue over who gets to tuck me in at night. If you think I’m having more fun than anyone else on the planet, you are absolutely correct.”
I urge you to try on a new sense of realism. When good things happen to you, don’t wait for the other shoe to drop. Expect something even better now. You’re just getting started!. Remember, being in your joy is being in your power. I’d say the shoe on the ground… is about to fly.
Tama J. Kieves is the bestselling author of “THIS TIME I DANCE! Creating the Work You Love (How One Harvard Lawyer Left It All to Have It All!)” She is also a national A Course in Miracles presenter and sought-after speaker and career coach who has helped thousands world-wide to discover and live their true life’s work. Visit her at www.ThisTimeIDance.com and sign up for FREE inspiration and support through her monthly e-newsletter or download her FREE Transformational Report on “Finding Your Calling Now.”
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