What's on your hot list?

"The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: decide what you want."

-- Ben Stein

A Hot List is basically a to-do list with one key difference: it only includes topics or tasks that really matter to you, those that genuinely affect your quality of life. You know -- the ones you never get around to! The ones that will make your life your own!

Keep a prioritised Hot List handy to remind you to claim 5 to 15 minutes to focus on and write about what counts in your life. Even 5 minutes is better than nothing. Start small and the momentum will build.

"You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage -- pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically -- to say 'no' to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside."

-- Stephen Covey

Access your own inner wisdom by tapping into your subconscious and intuition. Release stress, blocks and negative emotions, and spark imagination and greater vision. Go deeper… reach higher... 

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Compassion...

"What I want in my life is compassion, a flow between myself and others based on a mutual giving from the heart."

-- Marshall B. Rosenberg

"The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings, which are all part of one another, and all involved in one another."

-- Thomas Merton

"When we experience the pain of another person, we instinctively want to take away that pain. But by taking away the other person’s pain, we also take away his or her opportunity to grow. To be truly compassionate, we must be able to share another person’s suffering and pain -- knowing there is nothing we can do to relieve it and that we are not responsible for it, and yet knowing and understanding what that pain feels like."

-- John Gray

Compassion is a quality of soul.

Journey through the traps of ego into a life of meaning, purpose, joy and service. Embark on your own soul journey... 

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What are you feeling?

"We know too much and feel too little. At least, we feel too little of those creative emotions from which a good life springs."

-- Bertrand Russell

Many of the qualities that bring fulfilment in life are feelings, like love, joy, freedom and gratitude.

In our overly rational world, we tend to think about how we feel, which, of course, is not feeling at all -- it’s thinking.

Honour your feelings and be willing to experience them. They give us valuable feedback about what is and what is not working in our lives. They are the signposts to meaningful inner work.

"With just a little education and practice on how to manage your emotions, you can move into a new experience of life so rewarding that you will be motivated to keep on managing your emotional nature in order to sustain it. The payoff is delicious in terms of improved quality of life."

-- Doc Childre

Explore and get in touch with your feelings...

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Appreciate the mystery

"The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced." -- Aart Van Der Leeuw "I believe there is no source of deception in the investigation of nature which can compare with a fixed belief that certain kinds of phenomena are impossible." -- William James "Your theory is crazy, but it's not crazy enough to be true." -- Niels Bohr "To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge." -- Copernicus "Curiouser and curiouser!" -- Lewis Carroll We don’t change overnight. Personal growth requires persistence...

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Do you give to get?

"I have sensed a growing discontent amongst many who are on their spiritual path. A common theme appears to be -- ‘I have been serving God for so long and have given up so much and it has been such a struggle -- when am I going to get my reward?’"

-- Wendy Munroe

It’s interesting to become aware of how we participate in the dynamic exchange of giving and receiving. When we give, do we do so whole-heartedly? Or do we do so with the ulterior motive of wanting something in return?

It’s not wise to be always looking for a deal. The universe never short-changes us. We can afford to be generous. The Koran spells out a value-for-value principle. When something of value is given, something of value must be returned.

"It’s not how much we give but how much love we put into giving."

-- Mother Teresa

Understand the spiritual principles of manifestation.

Tackle your financial challenges holistically! Learn the basic steps to managing money, explore your beliefs around wealth, and open to the spiritual laws of abundance...

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Forgiveness brings joy...

"The greatest evil that can befall man is that he should come to think ill of himself." -- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Do you feel worthy of having joy? Do you feel you deserve it? The first step to activating our inner joy is to eliminate the blocks to it. We can start by truly forgiving ourselves and all others. Forgiveness calls for a shift in our perception. It is easier to forgive ourselves and others when we really understand that each of us has always done the very best we knew to do at that time. "If we don’t forgive ourselves for our mistakes, and others for the wounds they have inflicted upon us, we end up crippled with guilt. And the soul cannot grow under a blanket of guilt, because guilt is isolating, while growth is a gradual process of reconnection to ourselves, to other people, and to a larger whole." -- Joan Borysenko Bring the joy and happiness that are already inside you to life...

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On sadness...

"Our sadness is an energy we discharge in order to heal. …Sadness is painful. We try to avoid it. Actually discharging sadness releases the energy involved in our emotional pain. To hold it in is to freeze the pain within us. The therapeutic slogan is that grieving is the ‘healing feeling.’"

-- John Bradshaw

"To weep is to make less the depth of grief."

-- William Shakespeare

"There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and recovered hope."

-- George Eliot

"Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of unhappiness."

-- Lao-tzu

"When the heart grieves over what it has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has left."

-- Sufi epigram

Who are you, REALLY? To truly know yourself, you need to explore your subconscious mind.Go deeper to feel it...

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On sadness...

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"Our sadness is an energy we discharge in order to heal. …Sadness is painful. We try to avoid it. Actually discharging sadness releases the energy involved in our emotional pain. To hold it in is to freeze the pain within us. The therapeutic slogan is that grieving is the ‘healing feeling.’"

-- John Bradshaw

"To weep is to make less the depth of grief."

-- William Shakespeare

"There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and recovered hope."

-- George Eliot

"Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of unhappiness."

-- Lao-tzu

"When the heart grieves over what it has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has left."

-- Sufi epigram

Who are you, REALLY? To truly know yourself, you need to explore your subconscious mind.Go deeper to feel it...

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Be willing to repeat!!

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix."

-- Christina Baldwin

Sometimes we repeat the Inner Journey messages in the series. Please guard against saying, "I’ve seen this one -- I don’t need to read it again."

The truth is: we are always changing. Who you are now is different from who you were when you read the message the first time. The circumstances of your life have changed as well. As a result, you may be open to new perspectives this time around.

Our ego is prone to think it knows it all, but life always offers us fresh and new experiences.

"It all depends on how we look at things and not on how they are in themselves."

-- C.G. Jung

Know Yourself – Go for an adventure in self discovery! Become aware of your subconscious limitations, your character strengths, weaknesses and potentials, your life challenges, gifts, talents, and your deepest desires and aspirations... 

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Making a difference

"The spiritual life is a call to action. But it is a call to ... action without any selfish attachment to the results."

-- Eknath Easwaran

Many of us feel deeply that we want to make a difference -- we want our lives to mean something in the bigger scheme of life. While this is a noble motive, we might want to explore what lies at its root.

Does the drive to make a difference arise from ego’s need to feel worthy? If my ego is not convinced that I matter, I may want visible proof that I do by making some kind of impact on life.

Soul doesn’t need proof that it’s worthy. Soul thrives in being awake and connected. Perhaps if we let go of the pressure we feel from our ego’s need to be recognized, we will be more open and able to simply live soulfully. And by doing that, we WILL make a difference!

"A person’s worth is contingent upon who he is, not upon what he does, or how much he has. The worth of a person, or a thing, or an idea, is in being, not in doing, not in having."

-- Alice Mary Hilton

As we are spiritual beings, the root of all of our life challenges lies in the spiritual realm. Get in touch with your spiritual nature now...

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Be true to yourself

"In the final analysis, we count for something only because of the essential we embody, and if we do not embody that, life is wasted."

-- C.G. Jung

Where are you not being true to yourself?

All blocks arise when we’re not being authentic, when we’re not being true to ourselves. We know we’re not being authentic when we feel discomfort of any kind.

When our thoughts, feelings and actions align with our essence, we express the qualities of soul. Always trust that your soul knows what’s best for you.

Believe in yourself and act on your ideas. Give yourself permission to do what you want with your life. Take the initiative to set meaningful goals for yourself and achieve them. Begin to tell yourself why you CAN have what you want!

"A true knowledge of ourselves is knowledge of our power."

-- Mark Rutherford

We don’t change overnight. Personal growth requires persistence. 

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Rediscover your sense of smell

"Smell is a potent wizard that transports us across thousands of miles and all the years we have lived." -- Helen Keller Many of us are so wrapped up in our thinking and activity that we have lost touch with our senses. Sensing brings us fully into the moment. Only when we are aware and conscious can we receive the gifts of experience our senses continually bring us. Today, set an intention to be aware of smells. Focus on your nose and awaken to its sensitivity. As you smell more consciously, let go of your judgment of the aromas. Don’t label them good or bad; simply experience them for their individual qualities. Also note when smells revive old memories. "When you start using senses you’ve neglected, your reward is to see the world with completely fresh eyes." -- Barbara Sher Awareness is the key to all change. Begin to trust yourself more deeply as you uncover new dimensions of who you are. Go on a journey of self-discovery...

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On death and dying...

"Don't strew me with roses after I'm dead. When Death claims the light of my brow No flowers of life will cheer me: instead You may give me my roses now!" -- Thomas F. Healey "The call of death is a call of love. Death can be sweet if we answer it in the affirmative, if we accept it as one of the great eternal forms of life and transformation." -- Hermann Hesse "What is here is also there; what is there, is also here. Who sees multiplicity but not the one indivisible Self must wander on and on from death to death." -- Katha Upanishad "Is death the last step? No, it is the final awakening." -- Sir Walter Scott

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Nothing needs to be fixed...

“Real life isn't always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only to survive but surmount our difficulties.” -- Sarah Ban Breathnach As we understand it, the spiritual journey is not about becoming perfect. It’s about acceptance, releasing judgment, and embracing everything in wholeness. This is a great challenge for our personality. We’ve grown up comparing ourselves to others, always judging how we’re better and worse than those around us. And many of us are very good at finding fault with ourselves. If we release judgment, then nothing needs to be fixed -- including you. Explore inviting your soul to help you accept all that is and experience a whole new way of living. "Wherever you are is always the right place. There is never a need to fix anything, to hitch up the bootstraps of the soul and start at some higher place. Start right where you are." -- Julia Cameron

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Make friends with time

"We race to win, but at what price? Driven by the threat of time, we wonder why we feel so empty at the end of action-filled days."

-- Diana Hunt

Do you fly through each day with your eyes always on the clock? In western cultures, we’ve been taught that we need to impose our own order on life. As a result, we think we need to control every aspect of our day.

How might you enter into a new relationship with time? How might you take back the power you’ve given to the clock?

This is the time of your life. How are you spending it?

"When busyness is the measure of time, no matter how much time exists it is never enough."

-- Diana Hunt

Never have time for what you really want in life? Take control of the time of your life by changing your mind!

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Co-creation

"[Manifestation is] the art of fashioning a co-creative, synchronistic, and mutually supportive relationship between the inner creative energies of a person’s own mind and spirit and their counterpart within the larger world in order to bring a new and desirable situation into being." -- David Spangler I have always understood that Spirit works through us. Only recently have I really come to appreciate how Spirit works WITH us. The divine life force partners with our unique perspective, our passion and our skills to create new life situations. We are not passive vessels for God’s will. To realize our highest potential, we must co-create with the divine. "We must see ourselves as co-manifestors -- partners in manifestation -- all engaged in the primal act of unfoldment and emergence. Each act of manifestation may be directed toward a specific outcome, but it also contributes to the greater manifestation of the wholeness, love, compassion, and creativity of the primal source from which we all come." -- David Spangler

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Time to change direction?

"Employ the power of positive quitting. Most of us view quitting as something negative, but it’s not. ‘Winners never quit,’ we’re told, when, in reality, winners quit all the time: choosing to stop doing things that aren’t creating the results they desire. When you quit all the things that aren’t working for you, when you quit tolerating all the negative things that hold you back, you’ll create a positive ‘charge’ in your life as well as create the space in your life for more positive experiences." -- Jim Allen "I like thinking of possibilities. At any time, an entirely new possibility is liable to come along and spin you off in an entirely new direction. The trick, I've learned, is to be awake to the moment." -- Doug Hall "Persons and societies do not submit passively to surroundings and events. They make choices as to the places where they live and the activities in which they engage -- choices based on what they want to be, to do and to become. Furthermore, persons and societies often change their goals and ways; they can even retrace their steps and start in a new direction if they believe they are on a wrong course. Thus, whereas animal life is prisoner of biological evolution which is essentially irreversible, human life has the wonderful freedom of social evolution which is rapidly reversible and creative. Wherever human beings are concerned, trend is not destiny." -- Rene Dubos Photo courtesy: Fransceo Olivito

Francesco Olivito

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You are never a victim

"When we blame, we give away our power."

-- Greg Anderson

ALL of our personal physical, psychological, and social problems arise from a lack of alignment between the body, emotions, mind and the soul. As a result, we are never victims of outside forces.

The soul challenges us to grow with problems, illnesses and/or injuries. These painful events trigger our subconscious blocks. This gives us the opportunity to SEE the blocks and release them.

"People who consider themselves victims of their circumstances will always remain victims unless they develop a greater vision for their lives."

-- Stedman Graham

"No matter how frustrated you may feel, there is Always a way out. In every situation that arises, we choose to be powerful or powerless. It may not always feel like it, but it is a choice. And there are consequences for these choices in terms of the results we get, and the subsequent increase or decrease in our power and influence. If we choose powerlessness, it is often because we doubt there is any other option."

-- Blaine Lee

Who are you, REALLY? To truly know yourself, you need to explore your subconscious mind. 

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Are you serving?

"You may be good, but what are you good for? You’ve got to be good for something. You’ve got to be about some project, some task that requires you to be humble and obedient to the universal principles of service."

-- Stephen R. Covey

"We had to learn ourselves, and furthermore we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life but instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life, daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for the individual."

-- Victor Frankl

"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room."

-- Anita Roddick

Why are you here? Open to more meaning and fulfillment by exploring your life purpose. 

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What if... ?

"The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper." -- Eden Phillpotts What if you were to pretend that you were healthy, wealthy and wise? What if you were to decide to be happy, no matter what else was happening? Take the power of ‘what if...’ seriously, and you will grasp the power to create a world of your own design. Everything, EVERYTHING begins in the imagination. Put it to work constructively for you. "The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes." -- William James "Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast." -- Lewis Carroll Access your own inner wisdom by tapping into your subconscious and intuition. Release stress, blocks and negative emotions, and spark imagination and greater vision...

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