So much of the world seems to be run by desire.

We see it on the tv everyday: new cars, new clothes, new gadgets.  In magazines we see the ideal mate, the ideal body, the ideal social life.

It seems as though a wantingness arises within us automatically and we often find ourselves chasing a fantasy.

Punctuated between the moments of times when we actually get what we want (or what we thought we wanted), we may ask ourselves…Will this really make me happy?

If we have the courage to look deeper, there may even arise a realization that nothing we “get” can actually bring us happiness. 

So, naturally, the next question that comes up is, “What will bring me happiness?”  Or even, “What is happiness?”

The energy of desire…

It can fuel our deepest dreams or it can create a proverbial carrot on a stick that seems to always be just out of reach.

In my own life, I’ve progressed from being unconsciously driven by my desires to surrendering them to a deeper purpose (though it’s still an ongoing process).

Through this process, my understanding of desire has transformed.  Where earlier in my life I was enslaved by this energy, now I am empowered by it.

I’ve come to learn to differentiate the desire born out of our animal (or human) nature versus desire born out of our spirit (or higher self).

In this article I hope to share with you the differences between the two, as well as methods to release unwanted desires and instead create the space for inspiring desires to come into your life.

I call the desire that arises out of our animal/human side a Craving.

It’s a naturally occuring part of our evolution and maturation to move through this level of desire. 

Basically, a craving is a deep, often unconscious, extreme wantingness.

It is a powerfully emotional experience in which it seems as though the body itself has the wantingness.

It originates in the solar plexus (a couple inches above the belly button) and it feels like one is trying to “pull” that which it desires to itself.

This craving is actually born out of our human evolution in which our survival rested in the ability to “get” from the outside world – “get” food, “get” a mate, “get” territory, etc.

This paradigm of “getting” creates the reality that one is inherently insufficient as one is, that one needs something or someone else to survive.

This process actually creates the illusion that survival depends on our ability to “acquire”.  Because of this, a person in this energy field is very fearful and competitive. 

Questions arise such as, “What happens if I can’t get enough stuff?” or “What happens if someone takes my stuff?”

It is a never ending cycle of neediness and fear – if one doesn’t have, they crave what they “need”, if one does have, then they are afraid they might lose it.

One is never at peace; they can never rest.

Not only that, this desire and this fear is actually arising out of one’s own consciousness or energy field (even though it looks like it is happening “out there”).

So when one “acquires” what they want, they may receive momentary satisfaction but they are not truly fulfilled and will immediately go back to craving something else. 

Happiness is always out of reach.

We see this type of craving all over.

One example is getting caught up in the search for social status.

Most young people, especially men, have never been taught how to actually love themselves on a daily basis (or even that it’s a worthwhile virtue).  I know because this is how I was. 

We often find ourselves falling into the culture’s path for us.

What does this path entail?  What does it say is the way to happiness?

My interpretation of it is this-

For a man, it is his job, no his responsibility, to accumulate a lot of money (now don’t get me wrong money is great in a different context, which I explain in a minute).  Not only that, he’s gotta be cool, a ladies man.  Now to do that, he’s gotta be a rough and tough badass.  This means he’s gotta be able to fight, drink, and sleep with as many hot women as possible.

To do that, being big and buff is a key part, as well as having the right “hook-ups” and a kickass social life.  Also, the guy better not show any of those “girly” emotions or show any weakness or imperfections.

Oh man, that whole scenarios is a total joke!

I was caught up in much of that for years.  I would go to the gym and take protein 5 times a week to “get buff”.  I would spend all my money on booze and partying on the weekends.  I would hook up with 1 or 2 or even 3 girls some nights out so that I could feel like a “cool guy”. 

How about emotions?  Ha!  Forget that pansy stuff.  “I like beer violent videogames and straight up logic”.

Ultimately, I began to realize the more I “acquired”, the worse my quality of life became.  The more social status I got, the less fulfilling my relationships became. 

The more beer I could “pound”, the worse my health became.  The more time I dedicated to kickass videogames, the more my life lacked purpose. 

It seemed like I wanted more and more, yet no matter what I got, my life didn’t change for the better.  (Keep in mind though, that none of these activites are “bad” or “wrong”, it’s simply how I was using them that was draining me – I was using them to fill a void within).

Slowly a new form of energy started to rise up within me – A new form of desire, one that I describe as a Calling.

This new energy seemed to work in exactly the opposite way as the craving energy that had consumed my life earlier.

Instead of trying to pull my desires to me, this energy was pulling me to it!

Instead of a driven, frantic wantingness, this new energy was relaxing, peaceful, and fulfilling.

Instead of overwhelming emotions coming from my torso, it was a subtle and all encompassing shift in awareness, as if I was being enveloped in a borderless ball of silent energy.

It didn’t seem to originate from the body so much as from the heart, or the soul.

The more that I tuned into this energy and listened to it, the more it began to take over my life…for the better. 

When I would drink beer with my buddies, I would feel this pull to let go of alcohol all together.  Thoughts such as “What would it be like if I did?” seemed to lovingly challenge me.

Questions began to arise such as “What could I do with my life if I wasn’t always playing videogames?” or, “What would a truly loving relationship look like?”

I soon found out that the way to use this energy to transform myself was to surrender to it and let it go to work.

I had to, (and still have to), continuously let go of trying to control everything.

I had to let go of old habits, old relationships, and old beliefs that limited me.

I had to open myself to doing things I never imagined myself doing, like doing healing work one on one with family members in need. (As a computer technician and web designer, I would have never imagined myself doing this type of work).

As this process unfolded (and continues to unfold), my quality of life has jumped so tremendously I am still amazed.

Throughout my studies, I have come to discover that this process literally changes one’s brain chemistry.

That by making the choice to actively love myself, mend my relationships, and hold my life to a higher standard of living, that my brain actually creates a very high amount of of biochemicals like endorphin and serotonin, resulting in feelings of peace and joy nearly all the time.

With that kind of stuff pumping through you (without the guilt or hangover of drugs), it’s pretty hard to stay mad at others or get in fights.

What I’ve discovered is that a calling is basically like having your soul suddenly evolve to a new level of consciousness, then having those changes transfer down to the personality. 

In this way, your higher self has already evolved, it’s simply a matter a bringing that new state into being.

I like to imagine this process like a parent helping a child to walk for the first time.  As the child stands up, the parent walks backward, while facing the child, urging it to take one more step towards them yet they are still within reach in case the child falls. 

Many of the times these callings will ask you to do something that makes absolutely no sense…to the mind.  In fact, I think a big part of it is to help you develop your spiritual backbone because you will have to listen to the voice within rather than the voices of your friends, family, and society. 

A perfect example of this is in the movie “A Field of Dreams” in which Kevin Costner’s character hears the inner voice, (his soul), calling on him with “if you build it, they will come”.  Of course, it makes no sense, but he follows it and the miraculous unfolds magically.

That is what starts to happen when you surrender to your calling. 

One question that may arise is, “How can we differentiate between the voice of our soul and the voice of the mind?”

This is a crucial one, since you don’t want to be listening to those voices that judge you, belittle you, or lead you off to activities that waste your energy.

The thing with spirit is that it doesn’t compete for your attention.  It is the softest, yet strongest, voice within you. 

The voice of the mind, and that of instinctual emotions, rise up with a force that demands you listen to it and all its power is in the short term.  The voice can say one thing today and the complete opposite tomorrow. 

It is chaotic and frantic, going in all directions and is influenced by others and by its environment whereas the voice of spirit is consistent, ever present, and infinitely compassionate.

The best way to hear spirit is to become clear.  

How do we do this? 

I’ve done this in many different ways.  The easiest way was to start to let go of all unnecessary media sources:  tv, music, news papers, blogs.  I only consume the media that I know is good energy. 

I used to always be reading sites like digg, and staying up to date with the latest happenings in the paper and on tv but I realized that I actually didn’t need any of it.

I forgot that news is a business and their top priority is not necessarily my well-being.  As I stepped back, I could begin to see how often each headline was crafted to engage my emotional survival system.

Now, I hardly read any blogs, almost never check the news, and mostly only watch a few tv shows or baseball games.  I’ve found that all those voices within, the ones that were driving me all over the place, have begun to quiet down. 

Now I am driven to a much higher degree by my callings rather than my cravings.

When done in this way, it doesn’t matter so much about the activities, because now the attitude toward them is healthier. 

This means I can work out and develop a healthy body, build wealth, or do any of those other actions that I had given up, and it will be in a way that supports me rather than drains me. 

The reason is because it will be within a context in which the source of fulfillment is in the process rather than the end.

I can find joy in working out because the working out itself is the end (the healthy body and other benefits are just a bonus).

When I would be doing something I didn’t like for what I would supposedly “gain” at the end, I was selling out my spirit for an illusion.

The more we can reclaim our spirit from these journeys down the path of illusion, the more integrated we become. 

All our power becomes aligned within us; it’s a great feeling.

So how does one let go of cravings and allow one’s calling to arise?

Of course, I first recommend things like Emotional Freedom Technique, Tapas Acupressure Technique, A Course in Miracles, Holosync, Yoga or Gi Gong, and The Work of Byron Katie.

Another very simple technique that I am now starting to use is as follows -

When a craving comes up such as seeing a “hot chick” and feeling that caveman-like urge of “I want her”.  Feel into it, let go of any and all resistance of this cravingness.  Let the sensations come up, even welcome it and ask for it all to be brought up.

It will often feel like a pulling sensation in one’s gut or solar plexus – a neediness.  Let it flow through you without judgement and just observe it.  Notice where it is happening and what it feels like.

This energy is coming out of our animal/human nature and as such it is limited, so eventually it will run out.

As you continually do this process of allowing and observing with awareness, you will begin to transcend the desire itself.  It will literally unlatch itself from your energy field and you will fee freer, lighter, and more alive.

As you keep releasing, you create space within you for your true calling to surface and began to pull you in the direction of your highest potential – which I guarantee, you will be in for the ride of your life.

You will find life a continuous and joyous ride of exciting and unexpected twists and turns.  Sort of like your own amusement park. 

How have you tapped into your deeper calling? 

Feel free to share your experiences in the comments section.

Also, here are some programs that I recommend to help you release cravings and tap into your inner calling:

Entrain the Brain – Remove Fear & Anxiety by Listening to a CD 
Abundance "Tapping" – Remove Subconscious Money Blocks
Total Well Cleanse – Detoxify your Body for more Energy

Share this with friends:

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Ask backflip blinklist BlogBookmark Bloglines BlogMarks Blogsvine BuddyMarks BUMPzee! CiteULike co.mments Connotea del.icio.us

Digg diigo DotNetKicks DropJack dzone Facebook Fark Faves Feed Me Links Friendsite folkd.com Furl Google

Hugg Jamespot Jeqq Kaboodle kirtsy linkaGoGo LinkedIn LinksMarker Ma.gnolia Mister Wong Mixx MySpace MyWeb

Netvouz Newsvine oneview OnlyWire PlugIM Propeller Reddit Rojo Segnalo Shoutwire Simpy Slashdot Sphere

Sphinn Spurl Squidoo StumbleUpon Technorati ThisNext Twitter Webride Windows Live Worlds Movies Yahoo!

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML: 

 If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

More »

[Like this article? Receive powerful subscriber-only trainings and techniques to improve your Sexual Energy, Power, and Confidence when you download this free Mens eBook.]

This is one of those questions that can be a very sensitive topic for many people.

Who is God?  Or better yet, What is God?

I know for me, the meaning of this question has changed quite profoundly in the past few years.

Like many in the west, I seemed to have this notion of a judging, watchful, man in the sky who would dole out punishment to those who did "wrong" and help those who did "right".

I can understand when people question "if there even is a God" or reject the ideas that were handed down to them earlier in life.

What is God?

For one thing, God is subjective; a little different to each person.  To some it is a silly fantasy, while to others, a lifelong companion.  

For most of Western man's history, the way to know God was through a middleman – a priest, rabbi, or otherwise holyman.

For the average person, the experience of God was just not a possibility, let alone a part of their life.

Because of this setup, most men had to rely on their designated holy man to guide them in spiritual matters.

Of course, in their humanness, there were some who misunderstood or misused their position and overtime this notion of God became a mixed bag of ideas, agendas, misunderstandings, and wisdom.

Soon a dogma formed around "God" and many positionalities became entrenched in some of the organizations and people.

(A dogma, in my opinion, is a strict adherence to an idea of which the person does not have any direct experience regarding.  A positionality is the state in which a perspective is skewed to one polarity, or side, of the mind, which blocks out a large, opposing, part of reality).

Fast forward to today and we see a new definition of "God".  As we stop relying on outside sources to tell us what our own personal spirituality is, we begin to take our power back.

No longer is God an idea or a belief system…rather God becomes a direct experience.

What is God?

To me, when I sit quietly, close my eyes and calm my mind, I allow my awareness to fade out.  I let all that is going on in the world drift out of my mind and I become open.

Soon I feel a presence, a feeling within me yet also encompassing me.  I feel a connection, a communion is you will, with an intelligent field of pure love engolfing my being.

My awareness extends beyond my personal self and I begin to feel as if I am going up, not up as "in to the sky" but more "back" as if I were drifting out of this dimension of existence.

In these moments, it feels as though all is well, and a powerful peace encompasses my awareness.  I feel a deep and personal love; a 2 way love going out and coming in. 

I am the giver and the receiver all at once.

Waves of blissful energy pulsate through my body and for a moment, I am home.

Then I return to my world, but this time, I bring more of that loving state of peace with me.

And every once in a while, during my day to day life, I will run into someone who says "God doesn't exist" or who "Isn't sure about God".

And I smile, knowing that they are really just releasing an outdated concept; a belief system.

I know that as they search for their own truth, they will come to experience that same presence as I have.

With this awareness, there is no longer any question about it.  There is nothing for me to argue or defend.  Instead, I just allow…and trust.

All IS well.

I know that this question of "what is God" is a reflection of our relationship with our own inner masculine energy. 

Do we deny it?  Or do we realize our own true nature?

I know that as our culture finds what true masculine power is and begins to heal it, it will come face to face with this question of "What is God".

 For God is the ultimate masculine, the unmanifest, the silent presence…"The Father".

As we heal our relationshiop with God, through direct experience, we begin to integrate true masculine power.

As we do that, we also begin to integrate our deepest purpose and, simultaneously, start to live from our authentic, loving, and joyful Self.

Share this with friends:

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Ask backflip blinklist BlogBookmark Bloglines BlogMarks Blogsvine BuddyMarks BUMPzee! CiteULike co.mments Connotea del.icio.us

Digg diigo DotNetKicks DropJack dzone Facebook Fark Faves Feed Me Links Friendsite folkd.com Furl Google

Hugg Jamespot Jeqq Kaboodle kirtsy linkaGoGo LinkedIn LinksMarker Ma.gnolia Mister Wong Mixx MySpace MyWeb

Netvouz Newsvine oneview OnlyWire PlugIM Propeller Reddit Rojo Segnalo Shoutwire Simpy Slashdot Sphere

Sphinn Spurl Squidoo StumbleUpon Technorati ThisNext Twitter Webride Windows Live Worlds Movies Yahoo!

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML: 

 If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

More »

[Like this article? Receive powerful subscriber-only trainings and techniques to improve your Sexual Energy, Power, and Confidence when you download this free Mens eBook.]

Are we more empowered when we say "Yes" or "No" to life?

What role does our peer group play in our ability to choose?

How do we manage our energy in such a way that each choice strengthens us and improves our life?

I recently had a chance to see the movie "Yes Man" with Jim Carrey and I gotta say I really enjoyed it.

It's good to see him back doing comedies again and it's also good to see a movie with an overall positive message and uplifting vibration.

One thing that amused me during the film was the whole concept of being a "Yes Man" and how Jim Carrey's character seemed to empower himself and improve his life by saying "Yes" to more and more requests from others.

It was funny because, in my experience, it has been the complete opposite.

Don't get me wrong, there is definitely a good side to being open to life and to be able to give a full yes with all of our being, yet I've come to learn that this is only possible if we can also give a full no if the situation calls for it.

"No" is one of the most empowering words in the human language. 

Every time we take back our power, we say "No" to something we are no longer choosing and in that moment we are becoming conscious.

In those times when we say "No" to something that we have unconsciously said "Yes" to for all the years past, we are waking up and reclaiming a part of our spirit.

In every full "No", there is the seed of a full "Yes" to something else.

When we have the inner strength to say "No", it is because we have decided what we are no longer willing to accept in our life, and instead, we have figured out what we do want in life and we will not compromise our spirit in the meantime for anything less.

Many of us fall into doing things because they are easy, comfortable, and safe, even though they are not what our soul longs for.

We often do things because that's how everyone does it in our social group and we've never consciously chosen these things for ourselves.

Other times we do things because those we depend on choose for us and we may not be strong enough to withstand their disapproval or rejection.

In all of these situations, when we gather enough courage to break free from these outside authorities and consciously choose for ourselves, often it is in the form of a solid and unwavering "No".

Saying "No" is like a tool for inner energy management, a door that we close to all things that are not in alignment with our inner being.

It is the guardian of our inner integrity; a way to silence the cries of need that come out of fear and insecurity.

What you say "No" to in life determines how you use this divine currency known as choice.

Let me give you an example to illustrate this idea.

For many years during college and afterwards, I would party with my friends at bars, clubs and other events.  We drank a lot of alcohol, of course.  In fact, it didn't matter as much where we went so long that we got drunk and had a good time.

I had many good times doing this (though my health was suffering), yet I don't really remember there being a point where I said "Yes, I'm choosing this drinking/partying lifestyle" (from a deeper level, that is).  I just sort of fell into it since this is how everyone in my social group did it.

Only this past year did I start to question this pattern of excessive drinking and start to separate myself from it.  I soon realized that almost everything revolved around drinking and that there were many "issues" under the surface that pushed one to drink. 

As I healed these "issues" within me through constant use of things like EFT, TAT, Holosync, and other spiritual practices, I started to not feel so driven to drink.

I also realized that I was not honoring my body, my physical tool for bringing divinity into physical form, by drinking so much.

Eventually I realized that I felt so good normally (both physically and because of the self-love), that drinking actually made me feel worse without any of the "high" that I used to get.

After I realized this, it became time to strengthen my backbone…by saying "No".  

I began to turn away drinks, or spend nights out with friends at bars and clubs completely sober.

Sure, I would get flack from the guys about not drinking and at the beginning I would sometimes cave and drink a few, but eventually my inner "No" became more powerful than their outer "Yes".

(In fact, I think that sometimes our friends will put a lot of pressure on us if we try to improve our lives  because it subtly means that they will have to face all the issues they have been avoiding or denying in themselves, but that is another story).

Now it's at the point where any outer "Yes" is so quiet, if someone throws one out there or tries to pressure me in anyway, I either laugh it off or don't even give it a second thought.

One thing that I notice as I hang out with my friends while embodying this choice to not drink, is that just by my example and presence, something in them is waking up.  They are starting to question this need to drink, yet now they have someone who can anchor this reality for them.

I truly believe the most powerful catalyst for change comes from living the change yourself.

Your example, as communicated by your presence alone, is potent enough to wake up the hearts of those around you (even though their minds may resist you at first).

The way to embody your powerful presence starts with consciously choosing "No" to all things that drain you.

This applies not just to addictions but also to relationships, thought patterns, habits, and any area of your life where your power of choice resides outside of you.

Keep in mind, also, that I'm not saying "No" to alcohol itself, but rather to a tribal belief system or the way in which alcohol is used.

We never say "No" to the specific substances, person or activity at hand, we are saying "No" to the energy field which determines the role these things play in our life.

In my case, I was not saying "No" to the alcohol because "it's wrong to drink alcohol" or anything like that, I was saying "No" to the underlying energy field that subconsciously says that alcohol is the way to have fun and is the answer to life's problems.

See, this is where people get caught up.  They think that breaking free of an addiction means never using that drug again or never seeing that person to whom they've given away their power.

So they avoid that specific substance or person and think they are healed or "clean", until one day they find a new substance or enter a new relationship and they find themselves in the same addictive power struggle all over again.

The root cause is never the outer substance or person (they are just a trigger), it's the underlying energy field that we have not yet evolved out of; the context of how one relates to the world.

Make one conscious choice to let go of a type of addiction and you've let them all go, for good.

Two people can be having a beer in the same bar, yet be in two completely different worlds on the inside.

The path of empowerment comes to us as a process of waking up to this inner world and using this awareness to make better choices; one's that lead to peace, happiness, and self-love.

Share this with friends:

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Ask backflip blinklist BlogBookmark Bloglines BlogMarks Blogsvine BuddyMarks BUMPzee! CiteULike co.mments Connotea del.icio.us

Digg diigo DotNetKicks DropJack dzone Facebook Fark Faves Feed Me Links Friendsite folkd.com Furl Google

Hugg Jamespot Jeqq Kaboodle kirtsy linkaGoGo LinkedIn LinksMarker Ma.gnolia Mister Wong Mixx MySpace MyWeb

Netvouz Newsvine oneview OnlyWire PlugIM Propeller Reddit Rojo Segnalo Shoutwire Simpy Slashdot Sphere

Sphinn Spurl Squidoo StumbleUpon Technorati ThisNext Twitter Webride Windows Live Worlds Movies Yahoo!

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML: 

 If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

Powered by Bookmarkify™

More »

[Like this article? Receive powerful subscriber-only trainings and techniques to improve your Sexual Energy, Power, and Confidence when you download this free Mens eBook.]