Tasty little morsel…

Uncategorized

Do you ever get moments of clarity from God? I mean simple little things that you would never notice unless you were present and paying attention? Little gifts from that Divine Spirit God right within us? We have all had them just some of us neglect to pay attention…well here is my experience with one just now and I would like to share…

So lately I have been feeling lost and powerless! So certain about something in the depths of my heart and yet the physical manifestation of that is no where in sight. It is actually completely opposite from what my heart and gut says! Now this caused immense confusion for me and has been driving me crazy, but tonight God gave me a tasty little morsel!

You see I have been blaming myself so intently the last month that I forgot to see MY beauty! I have been so hard on myself that I completely forgot how amazing I was!! Yes, I messed up in the past, more so than I ever thought I could or would, hurting someone so close to me that I hurt myself! And I have been so hard on myself and unable to forgive myself that I no longer so my perfection. And I know we all do this, it’s part of learning and being human! 🙂 However, God answered my prayer tonight! God gave me my confidence back! He saw my perfection even when it seemed at times that I had the blinders on! Now I always had my strength and God always allowed me to see it, but it was as if I was on a teeter-totter going back and forth from feeling somewhat in control and okay to completely powerless. So just now I began to see the beauty that lies within me!!! I had been so hard on myself that I had done so many things incorrectly that I forgot all of the things that I do correctly and all the qualities that I possess that make me who I am!! Now this is about to sound cocky but I say these things with the utmost humility…truthfully…I just now feel my strength and power again and want to share so that those who feel like I did regain theirs as well…so here we go!

My perfection immediately lit up my thinking! I truly am perfect for the man I envision myself to be…now that doesn’t mean I’m perfect in your eyes but that does mean that I am perfect for me and in God’s eyes…I am athletic, I am extremely spiritual, I am kind, I love and am great with kids, I play guitar, I dance very well, I am loving, I enjoy cuddling a lot, I am very smart, I help others freely and willingly, I am strong and sure of who I am, I own my own business, I am extremely driven to succeed at whatever I put my mind to, I succeed at whatever I put my mind to ;), I’m funny, I’m outgoing but can relax and enjoy down time, I eat healthy, I wear my heart on my sleeve, I am loyal, I’m a great kisser (well at least I think so ;)), I am passionate about life, I’m adventurous, I love animals, I can heal others through touch, I give incredible massages (been told that too many times ;)), I have a sexy body, I’m handsome, I have a great smile, I’m appreciative, and most importantly I see the light that not only resides within me but within all of us and connects us eternally!!!

So you might be thinking, Zach you are crazy, cocky, egotistical, silly, weird, very different, or whatever the case may be, but I want all of us to start noticing our beauty!!! Make a list of things that you see in your self that make you perfect!!! No matter what anyone else tells you, you ARE PERFECT!!!! It is for you to decide whether or not you see that perfection in yourself!!! God built us in his image!!! God only creates perfection…don’t let your mind/ego disrupt His glorious creation!!!! See the perfect presence within your self and understand that all the qualities you possess make you perfect…look at my list…that makes me perfect and makes me feel better because yes, I have gotten lost from who I am, very very lost, and have disrupted God’s beautiful creation, but I am deciding now to become what God has created me to become…Love and Light!!! So make a list of all the qualities that make YOU perfect…because You are!!!

Thanks for reading!!!

With All My Love,

Zach 🙂

And please share the message so we all start living in absolute perfection!!! 😀

Decision to change…

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization, Uncategorized

So I have been meditating A LOT lately! What I’ve come to continually ask myself is…if I feel this amazing, abundant, creative source within me, surrounding me, and filling me up with its infinite Truth and Love when I meditate, why do I not take that Universal Life Force with me through the rest of my day?! Why do I not live it? Why do I not completely throw out all of the disallowing thoughts, words, and actions? Why do I continually fall into repetitive patterns of not trusting God, that Life Force; of feeling worried, concerned, sad? When is it time to become the change I want to see? What is it that causes that change? Is there a catalyst or do you just one day decide to make a change?

For the last 2 weeks I have been feeling very back and forth on this topic since breaking up with the most amazing woman I have ever known. I will feel sad, or scared, or doubtful and then I will meditate and those feelings will shift to empowerment, love, gratitude, faith, and trust. And those emotions will carry me for a while through the day, then those negative emotions come flooding back in after a moment of contradicting thoughts. So when is it for me, or us, to decide to become the change we want to be and see? When is it time to embody our God-given right? When is it time to become our True nature? When do we let that Universal Life Force, God, flood our physical bodies and permeate every fiber of our being? I can tell you that my time is now!

I know now that I am tired of feeling concerned! I consciously understand and know that a negative emotion is caused by God having his thought of my perfect nature and my thought in that moment not matching up with his thought for me. And contrastingly, when my thoughts line up with what God thinks about me I am feeling joy and love…so then why would I ever in my right mind think a thought contradicting God’s thought of me?! God is this all-seeing brighter perspective that is guiding me on the path that I have chosen. What I mean is that when I consciously intend to create an experience or health outcome or whatever, God now guides me on the path to the manifestation of the intention. And God guides me through my emotions. If I’m not on the path to creating my desire then I feel bad, and vice versa. So why do I, and I’m sure you too, consistently take myself off the path and feel bad? That is so silly! Is that not silly?! God wants all the good for His children that they can create, and I today am going to start creating!!!

I am over being tired and worn-down emotionally! I am done with questioning God’s infinite wisdom and Love for all His children and am going to NOW follow His desire for me, which is to be happy and create as I choose! I get to choose what it is I want to experience and because of God’s infinite Love, He creates through me! I am NOW choosing to be the God-man that is my, and our, True nature! I am NOW choosing to embody what God has bestowed upon me! To create as I choose! To love all beings as myself! To bring light to everyone around me! To help all those that need assistance in any way! To change the consciousness of the world through my own demonstration! To show the way to the light through my thoughts, words, actions, and life!! I can no longer have this knowledge and continue to do nothing with it! I must fully embody the Universal Life Force and live the life of that Truth! It is time for a change! Within myself and for the world! We are Divine creators by nature and I wish that all my friends begin to feel this power within them as well! I hope we can all find this Truth and begin to live it together!!

With All My Love,

Zach

Truth…

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

Now this afternoon I had one of the most incredible meditations I have ever had. I ended up meditating for exactly one hour without a timer. I didn’t realize that until just now, but I think it’s pretty amazing that my body KNEW to meditate for exactly one hour. However, while I was meditating I began to ask questions. When I felt that I was done asking myself questions I focused my attention on my breath. I felt the breath move in and out of my nostrils, and also felt it cause my belly to rise and fall.

For the first ten minutes, I would say, I was having somewhat of a mind battle. The one where I try to focus my awareness and then I start thinking of something, then try to focus my awareness and then start thinking of something again, etc. Once my mind battle was over, I truly began to FEEL my breath. I felt the sensations of the air flowing in through my nose, touching every nasal surface, and then flowing out. My breaths began to start getting deeper and more powerful and I could feel more pressure within my nose. And suddenly I began to affirm to myself, “I AM GOD.” This is an affirmation I use when I feel that my awareness is drifting and while I am breathing I will say “I AM” during the inhalation and “GOD” on the exhalation. I continued to do this until I felt I no longer needed to. Thoughts then started flooding my mind. Thoughts such as: “God is non-physical energy, as I am an extension of non-physical energy in physical form, I am God.” “Since I am God I have all that I have asked. When I ask, it is given. Now that I know I am non-physical in a physical vessel that carries God, all that I ask is given.” “Since I have all that God has, seeing as that God and I are One, I no longer need to worry about anything because I have everything I could ever need.” After I had accepted these thoughts and felt the purity for which they were I began to visualize my desires.

Typically I try not to visualize during my meditations but for some reason I felt that I should do it (maybe that was God telling me to do it). As I began to visualize what it is that I desire, I felt at ease. I felt the fluidity in which I was able to visualize my body being in complete wholeness, all the money I needed being supplied, my relationships in perfect harmony, and it felt INCREDIBLE!!! It felt like life just flowed through me and I was LIFE! I was all that life is and I didn’t want to release that feeling. I then began to think of those who I know who are ailing in some way. At that moment I felt the white light in the middle of my body (my heart) and imagined sending that white light to those who are in discord. I focused on sending these individuals the white light of love and life and saw them as whole. Their bodies were in their natural states again, wholeness.  The power of God felt as if it was flowing through me!! Once I spent maybe 5 minutes, I think, visualizing my desires and seeing others in their natural states I once again focused my awareness.

I again began to affirm, ” I AM GOD.” As I continued, thoughts overcame my awareness once more. This time however, all that came in was, “GOD is ALL. GOD is NOW. I AM GOD.” I have never liked affirmations much, but these came in with such force! The Truth to which these resonated inside of me was astounding! As I continued to affirm these statements I simply thought of the word, TRUTH. Immediately, the statement, “Truth lies in the eye of the beholder” popped into my mind. I discontinued the affirmation and pondered that statement briefly.

Now here I was having an incredible experience, feeling connected with the Source from which I came, KNOWING that I was on a path of cosmic or universal or divine understanding and knowledge, and yet so many others did not feel or think the same . So does that make one of us wrong? Was I fooling myself? Or was I starting to take my blinders off while so many others still had them on? My answer was this: Our true nature is Love. God is Love, God is Life, therefore Love is Life and Life is Love. So, if we are allowing Love to fill our physical vessels, in that moment we are God. Love is kind, it is compassionate, it is caring, it is patient, it is forgiving. That means that if we are truly Love, if we allow ourselves to be fully enveloped in Love, allow it to penetrate and fill up each and every one of the cells in our body, then we are truly God. That means that nobody needs to be right or wrong, that means that to search within ourselves is to find God, that means not looking at others to bring you happiness but finding it within yourself, that means to acknowledge a friend, loved one, or stranger and KNOW with full certainty that we have all come from One infinite Source, that we are all here to benefit the world with our Love and internal Light! This I KNOW with full certainty!

I KNOW that if we all search for Truth within ourselves that we would all come to the conclusion that life is more than earning hoards of money, more than spending most of our lives at a stressful job, more than worrying about another, more than fear and pain. Our answer would all be that life is meant to be lived, to laugh uncontrollably, to see beauty all around us, to feel the presence of God within us and around us, to uplift those surrounding us, to feel strength and security in Spirit, to know that we are always making a difference and when we are conscious of it we are changing the world for the better, and to KNOW that we are all connected and that LOVE is who we are and will always be! That, I KNOW is Truth! I know that those who are searching will find this.

“As above, so below. As within, so without.”

With All My Love,

Zach

Water the roots….

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

Hello friends,

So my incredible girlfriend has really been making me think lately.  Every time I seem bewildered by some thought or belief I have she will simply reply, “Well are you?” or “Do you?” It is as if she is telling me to look within myself and find the answers…truly look within my self, get rid of all the garbage I have in my mind, and genuinely look within and find the answers…and here is what I’ve come up with 🙂

I came to realize that I am very judgmental and self-righteous. I always look at other individuals and think to myself, “You do this which is wrong because I do it this way!” When I watch other personal trainers I think, “Your way of training is ineffective because it is not the way that I train!” When I speak to someone about religion or spirituality again I think, “that is crazy to believe what you believe because it is not what I believe and what I believe is Truth!” All of these are exaggerations, but the at the core of what I am thinking are those thoughts. They may be thought somewhat differently, but they all revolve around me being right and you being wrong. What is that? Why do I always have to be right? Aren’t there enough ideas and beliefs and whatever for everyone to have? Why do I have to make everyone train the way that I train, or eat the way I eat, or believe what I believe?

After looking within I found that I have a huge ego!!!! Not the ego where you think you’re beautiful and amazing and so forth, but the ego that separates me from my divine nature, God. I always have to be right, and the smartest, and most knowledgable, and get the accolades, and me, me, me, me, me!!! And that is not a good thing! It’s a little crazy honestly. I would actually start fights with Sara, my perfect girlfriend, about something to question her beliefs and then tell her how she always had to be right…when in actuality I was the one trying to prove to myself about how right my differing opinion was! Does that not sound ridiculous!?!? For me, being right was a virus, and it caused a tremendous amount of turmoil in my life. But what the cause of that virus was, was my EGO!!

I took a wintermester yoga class at UNR a few years ago. My teacher was a martial artist and was discussing Bruce Lee one day. She was explaining how he was her favorite martial artist ever, but mentioned that what got in his way and perhaps killed him was his ego. Now I am not sure if his ego killed him, it very well could have, but the point is that what she said stuck with me. I was a martial artist as a child and idolized Bruce Lee. He was the one and only martial artist for me. So as I started looking within recently, I found that my ego is doing the same thing as Bruce Lee’s. It is getting in the way of my spiritual expansion. It is holding me back. Then I wondered what this thing I call my ego is?

I feel that my ego is all the ideas I have taken in from the outside world that has caused me to believe that I am separate from everything in this world. That I am, for some reason, one single person in the entire universe and can only trust myself, and will only have myself forever, and only know myself, and me, me, me, me…AHHHHHH!!!!!!

I have lived my life going in and out of feeling connected to all others and everything and being self-righteous and ego driven! And it sucks!!!!! Some days you are as high as a kite and a week later you are feeling separate and self-righteous. However, I never took the time to truly look within myself and find the answers for myself, so that is what I have been doing these past 2 weeks. I have always known the answers, just never took the time to truly accept them. Somewhere I knew that I was being held back by my beliefs, and knowledge, and everything else that I have gathered along my 24 years. Not all of it was bad, in fact a lot of knowledge I have come across has helped me grow immensely and has led me to this point in my life. However, I know that it is time to take out the trash.

The trash in my mind…the beliefs that are not in accordance with who I really am, Spirit. It’s time to be accepting, by listening and being understanding of other individuals’ beliefs and values and opinions simply because they are what that person thinks. It is not up to me to change everyone’s mind and make everyone believe as I do, if that was the case this world would be really boring and really crazy!! 😉 I need to treasure and be grateful for the immense diversity on the planet…that is what makes us so beautiful!! All I can do is become the change I want to see…become that which is my True Self, Spirit, and live the life that is in harmony with that. Not judging or condemning anyone else for feeling or thinking differently, but know that we are brothers and sisters to whom I get to love and be grateful for.

I like to leave you with something I experienced this morning. While I was watering our terribly dry lawn a thought came to me…”If you only water the top layer of grass it will get burned and die, it is only when you water the deep roots that the grass will thrive and grow.” The reason this meant so much to me was the reason for me writing this. I had, and continually have to, search the depths of myself to grow. It is then that I will thrive with the understanding of myself and Spirit.

I hope that if you read this it helps you as much as it helped me!!!

With All My Love,

Zach

Fear…

Hope, Self-Realization

Lately I’ve been having some breathing issues. My wonderful girlfriend Sara looked through her book of health problems and affirmations to help cure those problems for breathing issues, and it said breathing problems represent fears. So, I decided to look within and ask myself what I’m fearful of…and what fear is…and after some meditating this is what I’ve found for myself…

Random thought…what does it mean by, “You having nothing to fear but fear itself?” When FDR said that, what did he mean? Was he tapped in to infinite intellignece? Was he partially tapped in? If I have nothing to fear then why should fear even concern me? And why the hell I am so scared of whatever it is I’m fearing?

Is fear not the worst emotion possible? It leaves me feeling completely helpless…completely out of touch with who I KNOW I truly am! I KNOW that I AM!! I am infinite beauty, intelligence, the Source of all Truth, all knowledge, all LOVE, as are we ALL. So if I KNOW that deep within my being then why do I fear…the answer…because I do not fully trust that knowing. And why do I not trust it? Some would say it is because I have no control or that their is some evil causing that within me…but I disagree. I honestly KNOW within my heart of hearts that by creating what it is that I desire within my mind , and am doing this for the betterment of myself and humanity, that God, the Divine Source of all, will flow through me and create that which I desire. I KNOW that I, as well as everyone else in this entire world, was created from and of that Divine Source, God. I KNOW that I am an extension of God, always having a connection with God, at all times, only allowing myself to feel that connection or disallow it. So, if I KNOW all of this, why then would I fear?

If I am an extension of God, then by divine inheritance what belongs to the Father belongs to the Son. We are all children of God and that means we all have the ability to create our desires, to heal, to love divine. And why does fear consume me when I find something to fear? Why does it engulf my mind and hold it’s grip tightly on me. The only answer I can find is that what thoughts I am thinking are in discord with the Divine Source that is present within me. If my thoughts create the image, and Spirit manifests that image, then what I am thinking and what God is creating are contrasting one another. Why else would I feel so bad? So fearful? If there lies within me power to create worlds what should I ever fear? Nothing!

I should never fear anything because the Spirit within me, and within you, is responsible for the creation of the universe! Responsible for the creation of each one of us…we are the created, and now by rightful inheritance, the creators! So my conclusion is that my fear is the complete disallowance of who I really am…Spirit. The rejection of my true nature. Fear is the result of getting engulfed in the world that surrounds us and forgetting the Source that flows within us. Although God is everywhere, we don’t always recognize what God is. My fear is my questioning of that Source. So I guess to overcome that fear I have to work on continuing to look within myself to find that Source, so that everywhere I look I see God. No longer seeing the destruction, hate, dis-ease, but seeing the divinance in all that surrounds me and lies within me. My fear is nothing more than a concept in my mind that must be overtaken with Love, Truth, Joy, Appreciation, and Forgiveness. For I am Spirit…and to share that with the world I must first find that within myself.

I’d like to leave you with 2 quotes that are helping me KNOW my true nature…

“The ocean does not recognize when a drop of water has extracted itself from the ocean, but the drop of water feels the connection when it has returned to the ocean.”

“During the darkest hour I know that God is. During the times that I am afraid, I trust more definitely in God, my Father, right within. I rest quietly in the assurance, knowing fully that all is well and that my perfection is complete and finished now.” – BTS ‘Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East’

With All My Love,

Zach

Life…

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

 I’m not sure why but I felt like writing after a few experiences I had today. There has been a lot on my mind and I want to express it in writing…I hope the words and thoughts come out appropriately…if you like this or agree with it please share it 🙂

Why is it that we have become so disconnected from one another? When did we forget to love each other truly? There are murders and fights because of religion, skin color, beliefs, money, and so much more. We have gone so far to acknowledge our diversity that we have forgotten about our unity. We look at our differences as keys to our individuality, but what about the thing that connects us? Our diversity is such a beautiful thing meant to be enjoyed and marvelled at, not something that seperates us! Of course we are individual physical beings but what about the Spirit or Life Force that resides within us? That Spirit that connects everything and All.

We look at each other and say “You are different from me! I cannot treat you with the love that I treat myself with!” And that is not simply differences in physical attributes, but because we do not all believe the same thing or like the same thing. It truly hurts my heart to see how out of touch we have gotten with our true selves. Why have we inundated ourselves to believe that we are less than beautiful divine beings? Every religion tells us that we are created from ONE Source, so why do we fight over who’s Source is better than the other? Why are we so self-righteous? Why are we so angry? What has anger ever accomplished? Has it healed a scar? Has it mended a broken heart? Has it ever done anything worth noting? All it has ever done was bring about much choas in a world that is meant to be so beautiful and bright. Does the river cease to flow because an angry man jumped in it? No, it gently moves to the man’s side and flows around him! Why then do we feel the need to push through the man instead of simply acknowledging him and moving around him as the river does?

Life is so beautiful, with so much wonder and amazement, and yet all we seem to do is complain about this person or that person, this job or that job, this ailment or that ailment, this bill or that bill. We forgot how to be child-like…we forgot how to see the world as a brand new experience, a new adventure to be explored and enjoyed each and every day! Our parents and radios and televisions, although they may have been well-meaning, brought and taught us nothing but fear and overwhelming thoughts. We were taught to work hard for money, we were taught to be careful on our bikes so that we didn’t get hurt, we were taught that we could be anything that we wanted, but then we were taught to be realistic, we were taught to share, but then not to be too giving because we’d be taken advantage of.

Not once were we taught that within all of us was a Spirit that connected each and every one of us, that this Spirit has the power to heal scars and sickness, transform lives, and create worlds!!! Not once were we taught to hold steadfast to our desires and trust that the Spirit that is within us and surrounds us shall always provide what is needed. That because we are children of God, or Spirit, or Divine Source, that we are always taken care of. We are told to look for the answers from outside ourselves, from others. But the answers always come from within!!! It is that Spirit that illuminates our physical bodies that delivers the answers to us! When you ask it is given!!! Why would Spirit question whether or not you are worthy of the answers that are your God-given right?! We are worthy beings!!! When those answers will not only benefit you, but the rest of the world how could Spirit not jump at the opportunity to bless you with those answers?! Is our purpose on this earth not to bring forth the light in ourselves but in others as well?! Of course it is!! To truly connect with the Spirit within and lead the path for others to do the same!! It should be our privilege to help our fellow brother or sister! However, we first must find that beautiful light within ourselves so we can share that light with others!

We first need to start with ourselves by recognizing that we are forever eternal, forever beautiful, forever expanding, forever love!! For once we know this, it is then time to help others on their path as well!! It is much easier for another to tread the path once the footsteps have already been laid. This world needs light more than ever right now and I wish for all the world that we find the eternal Spirit within ourselves, one by one, until this world is shining as brightly as it is capable of!!! I hope that this finds you in someway and we can all begin to demonstrate and shine our eternal light in this world!!

With All My Love,

Zach

Emotions…what are they?

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

I’m not sure what I want to write about but for some reason I’m inspired to write. 🙂

Do you ever have those moments where you are just inspired to do something? You have no idea why or how to do something but deep within there is a huge push to do something? Lately I have been having that feeling quite often. And the only explanation I have for it is that the Divine Source, or God, is telling my spirit to do something. To be honest, whenever I follow through with the push I am always rewarded. Even when it is the smallest reward I am still rewarded. Has anybody else had the feeling? I’m sure that most of us have, but in a world where we’re allowed to question everything we seem to trust less and less in ourselves and instead question that feeling.

Who has ever questioned a feeling they’ve had about something and when they did they didn’t feel very good? Or how about if you have followed through with that internal push and felt amazing? Why don’t we listen to ourselves? Seriously! We listen to our parents (well most of the time), we listen to teachers, to counselors, people we feel hold a position of power, but never ourselves! What is with that? Why is what someone else is saying more important than what the Source is telling us? Of course others contain knowledge about topics and experience  in areas we would like to learn about, but how can you listen to someone else without first listening to yourself? Our emotions and “gut feelings” are there for a reason! 🙂 Not simply to make us feel uncomfortable, but to guide us! 😀 To guide us on the path that we have chosen and told the Source. We constantly go day-to-day experiencing situations that we want and don’t want and we unconsciously let the Source know what it is we want!!! When our contradiction between ourselves and the Source arise that is when we feel bad! Think about it…your boyfriend or girlfriend tells you you’re not good enough for him or her. You begin to feel awful, your body is tired, and you have a horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach. That is the disconnect between what you are thinking and what the Source feels about you! When someone praises you, and you feel good, that is the Source agreeing with what you are thinking in that moment! 🙂 Consider that. Think for yourself about the purpose of your emotions. Why would we be given the ability to feel emotions if they didn’t have a purpose?! Everything in this vast universe has a purpose no matter how many people disagree with that! EVERYTHING HAS A PURPOSE!!!

I ask you, whoever reads this, to take what I’ve said into consideration and see if it helps you a little bit. 🙂 Come to your own conclusions and make use of the greatness that is within you!!!

With Joyous Love,

Zach

“When the voice and the vision on the inside become more profound and more clear and loud than the opinions on the outside, then you’ve mastered your life.” Dr. John F. DeMartini

A Story of Love…

Appreciation, Hope, Joy, Love, Self-Realization

You never know when someone will need your smile or just a friendly hello. Let this story fill your heart with love, joy, and appreciation and maybe brighten up your day a little.

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell.
He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups and
set about nailing it to a post on the edge of
his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the
post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked
down into the eyes of little boy…

“Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your
puppies.”

“Well,” said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat
off the back of his neck, “These puppies come
from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.”

The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then
reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a
handful of change and held it up to the farmer….

“I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take
a look?”

“Sure,” said the farmer. And with that he let out
a whistle.. “Here, Dolly!” he called.

Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran
Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.

The little boy pressed his face against the chain
link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the
dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy
noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.

Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably
smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat
awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward
the others, doing its best to catch up…

“I want that one,” the little boy said, pointing to the
runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said,
“Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able
to run and play with you like these other dogs would…”

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence,
reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his
trousers.

In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down
both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made
shoe.

Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see sir,
I don’t run too well myself, and he will need someone
who understands.”

With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and
picked up the little pup.

Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy..

“How much?” asked the little boy “No charge,”
answered the farmer, “There’s no charge for love..”

The world is full of people who need someone who
understands..

It’s National Friendship Week.

Show your friends how much you care.
Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND.

If it comes back to you, then you’ll know you have
a circle of friends.

With Love,

Zach

A look within…

Self-Realization

Hello beautiful ones,

So this is my first blog…I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it but I had a feeling to start one and so that’s what I’m doing. Today I just wanted to talk about what has happened in the last few days with myself.

For some unknown reason I have been wanting to meditate quite often the last 2 days. It’s almost as if my inner self has been telling me to look within deeper and I have been following orders. I’m not sure why I have had such strong urges to meditate but simply that my spirit has been needing it. My girlfriend left for Las Vegas on Friday and constant feelings of insecurity and love have been spewing out of my soul. A strange combination, but it is what it is. I have only been together with my girlfriend for almost 7 months, but I have never felt anything so strong for anyone in my entire life! It is as if I am already whole, ayet when we are together it just makes everything that much better. I can truly say that I am head over heels in love with her, and that is somewhat frightening yet exciting for me. She is the first girl I’ve been in a serious relationship with and I am learning day by day with everything. I know that she is my True Equal within my very spirit, yet I still have feelings of insecurity within me. I haven’t been away from her for more than a day since we became “boyfriend and girlfriend” and the last few days have been tough.

Someone who chose to thrive

Since she went to Vegas I have been extremely scared that something might happen and she’ll find another guy or see what else she could have that could possible be better than me. Now, I know all of this is coming from my own insecurities, but at the same time it worries me. The connection I feel with her is irreplaceable and to lose that would be more than devastating. However, it is interesting to look within myself and realize that I truly am not as strong as I thought. I feel as though I am confident and fully trust her, but I understand that there is no controlling the journey of others. I have concluded that I like to strangle things to death in order to control them. It is almost as if I am holding a faberge egg and I don’t want to drop it. So, because I don’t want to drop it I hold it tighter and tighter. When finally I squeeze it too tight and it breaks. I do this quite often and I know that we all do this as well. We feel so out of control in our lives, or in some aspect of our life, that we find something that we can control and so we hold on to it. Some it’s food (overeating), others it’s their body (bulimia/anorexia/over-exercising), some it’s relationships (abuse), others it’s drugs and alcohol, amongst many others. And when we think about it, there truly is very little we can control in the totality of life. Yes we can eat healthy and exercise to keep our bodies in shape, yes we can meditate and pray to maintain our spiritual connection, yes we can maintain relationships to develop a sense of oneness with others, and all of these things are wonderful, but these don’t control our lives they simply make them more fulfilling. We all have different journeys and paths to take in this life…some it’s sickness, some it’s addiction, some it’s separation, some it’s abuse, but each of these paths make us who we are. You have the choice to ride the wave and thrive during those troubled times and realize the lesson that is being given to you (as I do now), or you can choose to take the lesson as negative and try to control all around you. Of course some don’t know that it is a lesson, such as young children, but if this has happened to you in your childhood don’t you think you have the choice to see the benefit in it rather than the negative now? I’m not saying that things weren’t rough and scarring, difficulties are an everyday part of life, but don’t you believe you have the strength and courage to engage the situation and see how it was given to you to make you stronger?!

There’s a story I like that goes something like this…”One day a woman was looking out her window when she saw a cocoon hanging in her tree. Each morning she would watch the cocoon waiting for it to hatch. One morning she saw that the butterfly was struggling to get out of the shell of the cocoon and thought to herself, ‘I’ll go and help the butterfly so it can be free and fly away.’ So, she went to the tree and helped the butterfly out of the cocoon by peeling away the shell. When she saw the butterfly it was weak and fragile and looked deformed. She brought the butterfly into her house and put it in a cup to gain its strength. She fed it daily but the butterfly never ate. She watched the butterfly wither away without ever having flown until it died.” Can you see the moral of the story? We are given trials to overcome to make us stronger…with the butterfly it was breaking out of the cocoon…whatever your obstacle was it was given to you to make you stronger, it’s your choice to decide if you want to take it as a lesson or a loss. My challenge to you is to take a look within and decide for yourself whether or not you will thrive or wither away. I shall do the same.

With Joyous Love,

Zach

“Our greatest glory consist not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” -Oliver Goldsmith

“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.” -William Ellery Channing