Monthly Archives: June 2010

Overcome Fear of Flying: Acceptance & the Power of Now

Die to the past with each moment that passes. If you do this, there will be no suffering in mortal death.

Do not resist your fate. Accept your fate, doing anything else is insanity.

A Sordid History With Travel

Travel has never been a pleasant thing for me. Vacations and exploring new places have always been divine, but the actual act of “traveling” has always been painful. My mother gets extremely anxious as family trips approach. The morning-of is a nightmare. Unfortunately, I inherited her travel anxieties. On top of that, I’ve always had a terrible fear of flying.

Yet somehow, over the last 4 years, I’ve ended up traveling & flying quite a bit, whether for work or for my frequent desire to explore new places. In this time, something magical has happened, my pre-travel anxiety is gone. I realized this during my last two trips. As I was getting ready to drive to the airport, my heart did not race, there were no familiar knots in my stomach, and I didn’t feel sick or panicked at all. It was amazing.

I attribute the disappearance of my pre-travel anxiety to two things: 1. experience (which makes everything easier) and 2. acceptance (the knowledge that everything will be okay and if it’s not okay, it’s not the end).

One Fear Gives Way to Another

On the other hand, my in-flight anxiety is still alive & well. My body wretches in horror during takeoff & turbulence. Anytime that the plane is not 100% stable, my body & mind revert to sheer panic. My mind is flooded with horrific images of the plane going down. I am completely unable to form coherent, rational thoughts.

Instead, I do three things. I grip my seat handles until my knuckles are snow white. I breathe as deeply as I can to avoid passing out. And I silently repeat familiar phrases over & over again—for example: I love my dog, Bella. I love my cat, Mika. I love my dog, Bella. I love my cat, Mika.

While these coping mechanisms “work” for me, they are unacceptable. I refuse to be driven by fear in life & time spent in a plane should be no different. I should practice acceptance and embrace the power of now whether in a plane or in everyday life. And recently, for the first time in my life, I was able to do this—while flying!

As I write this, I’m 30,000 feet in the air on a prop plane, home bound from Columbus, Ohio to Newark, New Jersey. I experienced my first true moment of “acceptance in the air” a couple of days ago on my outbound flight.

Takeoff was fairly smooth, but we hit some turbulence later in the flight. I started to plummet into my usual throes of panic. Then suddenly, I could hear the voice of the great sage, Eckart Tolle, in my mind. Die to the past with each moment that passes. If you do this, there will be no suffering in mortal death.

My mind was flooded with clarity. I knew that I had to let go of everything—my fear, my past, and my future.

The music in my ears from my ipod became the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.

The light-infused clouds sparkling in front of the sunset became the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

That moment was the most beautiful moment I had ever known.

There was nothing truly profound about it. The song was a song I had heard hundreds of times before. The sunset, while pretty, was a scene I had viewed thousands of times before. But what made that moment so incredibly beautiful—the most beautiful I had ever known—was the fact that it was the present moment, the now.

Finally, it all made sense. There was no fear, no past, and no future. I realized that every single moment has that power—the power to be the most beautiful moment of my life. With that great knowledge there was no fear in my heart, especially not of death. How could I be afraid to die during the most beautiful moment of my life?

When you accept the incredible beauty & power of the present moment, your entire being is filled with the Peace of God. It is a feeling of true joy, not false man-made, shallow joy; but a far-reaching, everlasting peace. The Peace of God is the realization that divinity is within you. Understanding the true nature of the present moment is commandment of the Universe. It is the sudden realization that you possess divine power.

On the Path

It is amazing and overwhelming, isn’t it? However, I have a confession. Even after experiencing this divine state of acceptance, I still experienced moments of paralyzing fear during that flight and again, during this flight.

This begs the question: If I am so enlightened, then why am I still afraid? Why do I experience peace during some moments of turbulence, but blinding fear during others?

The answer is simple: I have not yet learned to harness the power of the present moment completely. I have only seen a glimpse of it. It will take practice to harness the power completely and to be able to control it at will.

It is a lot like meditation. When one first starts to meditate, she only gets glimpses of complete inner silence. As she continues to practice meditation and deepens her skill, eventually she will experience extended periods of complete inner silence and peace. With years of practice, she can call upon the tranquility of deep meditation at anytime.

With much practice and dedication, I will sharpen my ability. The great sages of this world have learned to live in this state of inner silence & peace nearly 100% of the time.

Risk Your Life, Embrace the Now

The power of now is not simply a tool to be called upon during bumpy flights. This power can be used in any scenario that causes anxiety—from social situations, to phobias, and so on. We should strive to experience this power in everyday life as much as possible.

As human beings we spend a great deal of time resisting & regretting our fates. This is insane. That is not a judgment, it is a fact.

A close friend of mine is terrified of flying. When I expressed the fact that I was taking a weekend trip to Ohio for a wedding party, my friend asked me, “Why would you risk your life getting on a plane just for a wedding party?”

I responded that I risk my life every single morning when I get in the car for my morning commute. In fact, I risk my life every single moment of the day. We all do. If you want to remain completely safe then you might consider investing in a good bubble suit or a padded room. There are all sorts of “risks” out there—car accidents, heart attacks, stray lightning bolts, killer bees, and so on.

Despite those things you won’t catch me in a bubble suit anytime soon

My flight is about to land. Time to shut my laptop.

Carousel—06.25.10

1 Reply

Every Friday, I post my favourite links, posts, & resources from around the Web. Expect to learn, grow, & be inspired.

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1. Tree-Hugging For Money: How can companies begin practicing sustainability & taking real responsibility for their actions? This post explains how it is done and shares two excellent examples of companies that are already doing it.

2. The Tale of GoDaddy, Ukrainian Hackers, and one WordPress Blog: Remember when my blog got hacked back in May? Well now I know what happened. Thanks to Nubby for sharing the tale. It makes me feel a bit better knowing that I was so not alone.

3. Love Note to Summer: The Pencil Box is a blog created by my friend, Kate. She shares little bits & musings from her beautiful life. Her photographs & optimistic writing always make me smile. I loved her most recent post about the lovely summertime—check it out.

4. Sometimes “good enough” is good enough.: Like the title suggests, this is a post about why sometimes “good enough” really is good enough, especially during a home renovation. Take it from someone who knows. My home has been under renovation for 18 months now, but the end is near & the results (so far) have been totally worth the wait!

5. You’re already self employed: More words of wisdom from my favourite marketing guru, Mr. Godin.

6. Our 5th Week in the Gulf: I’ve read countless posts about the Gulf but for some reason this one from the Anderson Cooper team struck me more deeply than the rest.

7. “Real” Life, Travel, and Work: lessons from 10 years on the Road: An epic post from a man who has been living the “vagabond lifestyle” for ten years. He shares new insights regarding the way that that the rest of the world perceives his lifestyle.

8. Living Outside Your Comfort Zone: Ready for a change, but lacking the confidence & motivation to make one? Check out what one incredible couple has been doing to push their own limits. If this doesn’t inspire you, I don’t know what will!

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Have a gorgeous weekend!

In love & light,

How to Stop Worrying

9 Replies

When I am anxious it is because I am living in the future. When I am depressed it is because I am living in the past.

Hello. My name is Dena and I’m a recovering worrier. I’ve been a “worrier” since I was a little girl. Worrying came naturally to me.

When I was in preschool I was at the top of my class in terms of intellectual development, but even then I was anxious. As I grew up, so did my anxiety. All the while, my worrying was applauded. At school being a worrier made me a conscientious student (always straight A’s). At home being a worrier made me a good big sister.

When a child’s actions are applauded and met with positive reinforcement, the child will work even harder to obtain the desired outcome. In my case, the desired outcome was worry.

Like all good little girls, I wanted to make everyone happy. And so I did what made my teachers and parents happy—I worried & I worried & I worried. My anxiety manifested itself in many forms. I woke up with knots in my stomach. I developed a startling preoccupation with the whereabouts of my younger sister. I escaped to the school nurse’s office & cried hysterically until I was sent home because I didn’t know all of the answers on a science test.

No one ever told me to stop. I was a good daughter and a good student. Why would anyone tell me to stop?

A WORSENING SCENARIO

As I got older & life became more complex, so did my worries. I worried about my parents a great deal—their marriage, their finances, etc. I worried about the state of the world. I worried about my future. My worry was often accompanied by disappointment. I grew to hate myself because I wasn’t perfect. Straight A’s were not good enough, I wanted straight A+’s. When I entered high school, I began a half-lifelong battle with obesity. Eventually, as it usually does, my anxiety turned into depression.

My mind was in a near-constant state of negativity. When I wasn’t worried about the future, I was beating myself up about my past. Inside, I was a wreck. I know that this is a sad story, but for me, there is a happy ending. In my later teens, I began practicing the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which would eventually save my life. For many—maybe for you—the happy ending hasn’t come yet. The depression & anxiety still reign. The good news is that there is hope.

I started this post by introducing myself as Dena, a recovering worrier. I describe myself this way because like alcoholism, worrying is not something that you just overcome. An alcoholic is an alcoholic until the day he dies—whether two weeks clean or two decades clean. Likewise, a worrier is always a worrier until the day she dies—even when she has the tools to stop worrying temporarily. If you are a worrier by nature, this post will not change that; but what it will do is give you some tools to stop worrying and to get your anxiety under control.

THE MOST USELESS EMOTION

If you are driven by common sense then perhaps understanding that worrying is completely useless will be the thing that makes you stop.

Why is worry completely useless? Because anyone who spends a great deal of time willfully worrying is rightly stupid. Would you agree that a person who deliberately spends a great deal of time & energy banging her head against a wall for no good reason is stupid? What about a person who tries the same thing over & over again and expects different results? Worry is just as useless as these stupid activities are.

Back when I was a full-blown worrier, I would get insulted when someone said that worrying was useless. Worrying was such a huge part of me, that calling it useless was like calling me useless. After all, I spent a great deal of my life worrying! I would adamantly defend my worrying. Worrying makes me a good person. Worrying makes me a good student. Of course, I realize now that this was completely insane but I couldn’t see it then.

All of those carefully crafted defenses were nothing more than excuses. There is not one factual reason in the world that explains why worry is a good thing. If you are being stubborn and refuse to accept what I am telling you, let’s look at some examples:

1. You are a student and you worried about an upcoming test. What is the purpose of your worrying? Does the worry benefit you somehow? Will it help you perform better on the test? No, of course not.

2. Your spouse is late coming home from work. You are worried that your spouse is having an affair. What is the purpose of your worrying? Does the worry benefit you somehow? No, of course not.

3. Your company is in financial turmoil. Layoffs are imminent. You are sick with worry. What is the purpose of your worrying? Does the worry benefit you somehow? No, of course not.

4. You are hiking in the woods when suddenly you fall into an abandoned mine shaft. There is no way out. It is getting cold & dark. You become paralyzed by fear & worry. What is the purpose of your worrying? Does the worry benefit you somehow? No, of course not.

There is no limit to the number of things that we worry about constantly. Tragically, all of this worry is nothing but wasted energy and pointless, negative mind-chatter.

Here are some action items, in place of worry, that would actually be useful in the examples above:

1. Rather than worrying about the upcoming test, study for it. Find out what method of studying works best for you and make the best use of your time by studying. Practice visualization and imagine yourself doing well on the test.

2. Rather than worrying because your spouse is late coming home from work, you have two options. If you have no reason to mistrust your spouse, reassure yourself and remember how wonderful & devoted your partner really is. Be sympathetic to the fact that he is stuck at work when he would rather be home with you. Invest your energy in something productive like working out, reading a book, or mowing the lawn.

If you do have reason to mistrust your spouse, use this event as an opportunity to seek the counseling that your marriage has been needing. Therapy might help, but worrying definitely won’t.

3. Rather than worrying about getting laid off, do something about it. Make yourself indispensable. This doesn’t mean kill yourself working hard, instead work smart. If your very best is still not enough, then start your job hunt early. Begin focusing your energy on finding another position. Or, use the layoff (and the unemployment checks) as an opportunity to embark on that start-up you’ve been dreaming about forever.

4. Alright, if you’re stuck in an abandoned mine shaft then this is an acceptable time to worry. But the fact remains that worrying will not get you out of the shaft. Rather than worrying, try to remain calm. Explore every option that might lead to escape. Look for a log, an exposed root system, or a stray ladder. If all else fails, remain calm in hopes of conserving your oxygen supply. This is a great time to harness the power of positive thinking.

AND THEN ONE DAY, I WOKE UP

Many of the major, positive changes that I’ve experienced (overcoming anxiety/depression, losing 70 pounds, etc.) took place about 4 years ago when I began practicing positive, rational thinking (CBT). However, it took much longer to get a good handle on my worrying. Worry was so deeply embedded in every aspect of my life. Moving away from it was like losing a a close friend. I didn’t know how to function without it.

The best weapons in my battle against worry were positivity and presence. The more that I infused positivity and presence into my thoughts, the easier it became to stop worrying. My final—and perhaps greatest—victory came when I realized just how useless worrying really is. It was like waking up from a bad dream. When I catch myself slipping into worry now, I just remind myself how pointless it is.

THE POWER OF POSITIVITY & PRESENCE

I started this post with two extremely powerful statements: When I am anxious it is because I am living in the future. When I am depressed it is because I am living in the past. When you accept these statements as facts, you will begin to overcome the pain of worry. You will find that anxiety is a always result of living in the future and depression is always a result of living in the past. The cure for these negative mental states is simple: remain in the present moment. Live in the now.

Anxiety is just repeatedly experiencing failure in advance. —Seth Godin

My favorite quote about anxiety comes from Seth Godin. Seth says that anxiety is just repeatedly experiencing failure in advance. This is so powerful because it is so true. Stop experiencing failure in advance. Stop worrying about what might happen. Start living in the now. Make what you want to happen, happen. Create the life of your dreams!

Carousel — 06.18.10

10 Replies

Every Friday, I post my favourite links, posts, & resources from around the Web. Expect to learn, grow, & be inspired.

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1. TRANSITIONS & FEAR AND PERMISSION: Two must-read post’s about dealing with change & overcoming fear from my new crush, Chris Guillebeau.

We make these rationalizations because we know that if we’re really going to acknowledge fear, if we’re really going to engage with it and find a way to overcome it, then it’s probably going to involve some kind of dramatic, uncomfortable, personal change.

&

Don’t try to be fearless or pretend you aren’t impacted by fear. Just try to prevent fear from making your decisions for you.

2. Tomorrow’s another day: The beautiful thing about the Move to Portugal blog is the raw honesty infused in each post. I always enjoy reading a blog that tells it like it is without trying to sugarcoat everything. “Tomorrow’s another day” is a short-but-sweet post about being disappointed, but understanding that another opportunity is always just around the corner. It reminds me of a favorite quote:

Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday. —John Wayne

3. 11 things to do (and not do) when you’re burned out: Do you read Danielle LaPorte’s blog? At first I was put off by her. For some reason I thought she was arrogant. How silly? After watching some of her videos, I am smitten. She is beautiful & eloquent. I really enjoyed this post about being burned out because recently… I was. (No worries though, I’m getting my groove back.)

4. Stunning photographs of animals inside womb: This took . my . breath . away. No words, just look!

5. De-Oiled Birds: Good for BP, Bad for Birds & Post release survival of oil affected sea birds: If it’s not completely obvious by now, I am deeply affected by the BP Oil Spill. I have to pry myself away from reviewing the coverage sometimes. However, it is important to me that I stay informed about what’s going on and to continue to do my part. Check out these posts and decide for yourself: Should we be de-oiling the birds? I’d love to hear your take.

6. Goodbye to the office: Leave it to Seth Godin to push my buttons in all of the right ways. I could not agree more with this post—true, true, true! Offices & gas-guzzling commutes must become things of the past.

7. The end of busy: My favorite posts at Zen Habits are always the posts about Taoist philosophy and this one is no exception. Taoists prefer to work smart, not hard. How brilliant!

8. Top 5 reasons to celebrate mistakes at work: I just love the culture at Zappos, whatever I read about that place makes me swoon. This is a great post about how Zappos turned a “mistake” into a learning opportunity. Great advice for the workplace, but also for life in general.

9. Be Here Now: Dr. Dyer needs no introduction, does he? The man is a self-development genius. I don’t know why I only just now discovered his blog.

10. You’re Still Young, Do It While You Can: Despite the sound of the title, this post is actually a counter-argument to the idea. As Henry Ford once said: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”

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Finally, I truly appreciate all of your support in helping me to spread my critical message about the BP oil spill in the Gulf. If you have not done so yet, please check out the post here: The Gulf Oil Spill & spread the message as far as you can!

Have a beautiful weekend.

In love & light,

The Gulf Oil Spill

14 Replies

How is it possible that humans killed in excess of one hundred million fellow humans in the twentieth century alone? Humans inflicting pain of such magnitude on one another is beyond anything you can imagine and that’s not taking into account the mental, emotional, and physical violence; the torture, pain, and cruelty they continue to inflict on each other as well as on other sentient beings on a daily basis.

Do they act in this way because they’re in touch with their natural state, the joy of life within? Of course not, only people who are in a deeply negative state, who feel very bad indeed, would create such a reality as a reflection of how they feel. Now they are engaged in destroying nature and the planet that sustains them. Unbelievable, but true.

Humans are a dangerously insane and very sick species. That’s not a judgment, it’s a fact. It is also a fact that the sanity is there underneath the madness. Healing and redemption are available right now. —Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

One reason for my recent silence is the fact that I have been deeply affected by the BP oil spill in the Gulf. It has been difficult for me to express my feelings about this, as I imagine it has been for many people. However, the excerpt above from The Power of Now is the closest thing that I can find to express my current feelings toward the human race.

The Blame Game

Much of the finger-pointing that has gone in the wake of this tragedy is fruitless. I have heard individuals blame BP, the government, the American people, and even Barack Obama. The truth is that everyone is responsible for what happened. The United States is a nation consumed by greed, sloth, and excess. This is not a judgment, it is a fact. And yes, I include myself in the equation.

The question is not, who is at fault, but rather, what are we going to do from here on out? How are we going to prevent this from happening again? How are we going to treat the root of the problem—our dangerous dependency on oil?

Accountability

Despite the fact that I hold everyone responsible, I still believe that BP must be held accountable for the dangerous, unethical practices that caused this tragedy.

Internal documents from BP show that there were serious problems and safety concerns with the Deepwater Horizon rig far earlier than those the company described to Congress last week.

The problems involved the well casing and the blowout preventer, which are considered critical pieces in the chain of events that led to the disaster on the rig.

The documents show that in March, after several weeks of problems on the rig, BP was struggling with a loss of “well control.” And as far back as 11 months ago, it was concerned about the well casing and the blowout preventer. —NY Times

This criminal negligence led to the death and injury of countless human beings and animals. The individuals involved must be held accountable and criminally prosecuted. BP must be made to pay reparations to all of the individuals and business affected at whatever cost. And it is the duty of the United States government to ensure that this happens.

The positive-spin public relations campaign that BP has launched is a sin. During the first stage of my research for this article, I thought about sharing things that you, my readers, could do about the spill. I typed, “what can i do about the gulf oil spill?” into a Google search. I was horrified by the ad featured at the top of the search results. See for yourself.

“Learn More about How BP is Helping.” Seriously? What is your definition of helping? You can not help a human being after you murder her. Likewise, you can not help the environment after you murder it.

When you click the link (which I could not do without cringing) you are taken to a site featuring smiling men and women helping animals, hosing feathers, cleaning oil, and so on. It is a lie, a false beautiful depiction of humanity—a false coming together.

The truth is that this positive-spin public relations campaign is an insult to everyone. More, it is an insult to the environment and the animals that have been raped & destroyed at the hands of greed.

There should be a mandate that forbids anyone from supporting BP’s positive-spin public relations campaign. Google should remove the ad that I’ve captured above as well as any others like it.

Instead of photographs of lies, we must share photographs of the truth. If BP will not do it, then the rest of the world must.

To see more photographs depicting this devastation, see the Huffington Post’s Animals in Peril.

Where Do We Go from Here?

Like I mentioned above, I thought about using this post to share things that you, my readers, could do about the oil spill. However, since then I have decided not to. There are many brave, wonderful people and groups working to combat the oil spill right now. I do not discourage you from supporting those causes.

On the other hand, though, I am hesitant to ask people to give money to the Gulf crisis. I believe that BP should be made to cover the costs of these damages. Should the American (and global) population be encouraged to donate money to the clean up? BP has enough money at this point to run top placing ads and launch an intense positive-spin public relations campaign that must have cost millions. At this point, shouldn’t BP’s money be forcibly spent on the crisis in the Gulf instead?

Rather than encouraging you to support any specific cause or donate dollars to any foundation, I simply encourage you to do two things:

1. Ask yourself, “What am I going to do TODAY to begin combating my dangerous oil dependency and the dangerous oil dependency of my nation?”
2. Share this post with as many people as you can and help me spread this critical message.

Click the share buttons to the right to share this on Twitter and Facebook!

Review: The Shadow Effect

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You only have to gaze around you at the natural world to see the proof that beauty, form, order, and growth have survived for billions of years. In dealing with your shadow, you are aligning yourself with the same infinite power. The shadow isn’t a fearsome opponent, but a worthy one. Powerful as it is, the power of wholeness is infinitely greater, and by a miracle of creation it is within your grasp. —Deepak Chopra

The dark side of human nature has been called many things. Freud called it the ego. Cartoons portray it as the devil on your shoulder. In The Shadow Effect, authors—Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, and Marianne Williamson—refer to it as the shadow. Regardless of the name by which we call it, there is no doubt that this element of our “self” is an important & powerful one.

The Shadow Effect dives deep into the realm of this human dark side and teaches how we can use its power to cultivate compassion, confidence, and courage to live our best lives. I have broken this review up into three actions that will help you make your “shadow” a guiding light in your own life.

1. Accept what is. I don’t claim to know all that much about love. I am not an expert by any means. On the other hand, my grandparents (who are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year) know quite a bit on the subject. The factor that has sustained their romance & love after all of these years is simple—acceptance.

True acceptance means loving a person for all of her beautiful traits and her terrible ones. True love is unconditional. It is the recognition that sometimes you will not like your partner’s actions; but you will always love her person. This is the key reason why my grandparent’s have been in love for sixty years and are still going strong. (Well, that and the fact that my grandmother is a saint.) Although my own current relationship is only three-years-old, I too have learned that unconditional acceptance is true love. After three years, I am just beginning to scratch the surface.

After reading The Shadow Effect, I realize that such unbridled acceptance of myself is just as important as acceptance of others. Self-love is critical to a life of happiness. Further, if I am going to truly love and accept myself, then I must love all of the parts of me—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The parts of ourselves we try to avoid may be hidden from our view, but they exist regardless. —Debbie Ford

I must recognize that there will be times when I am disappointed by my own actions; but I will still love & accept myself. We can live in harmony only when we come to terms with this truth and recognize the need for acceptance.

2. Understand duality. In my post, An Unexpected Encounter, I wrote about a conversation with a stranger/friend in which we talked about religion. In the conversation, I mentioned the fact that (like most of my generation) I am extremely spiritual but not very religious. I got into my old “religion is responsible for more death & war than money, politics, and hatred combined” speech. But then, he stopped me in my tracks. He hit me with an idea that I hadn’t previously considered: War is necessary. There is a great balance in the Universe and all things are necessary. Without bad there could be no good. Without hate there could be no love. And without war, there could be no peace.

This is the true nature of duality. On one hand, we praise certain aspects of ourselves such as intelligence, strength, and patience. And on the other hand, we hate certain aspects of ourselves such as ignorance, weakness, and frustration. But this is insane. We can not condemn these so-called flaws because without them our virtues would not exist. Without ignorance, there would be no intelligence; without weakness, there would be no strength; and so on.

We could never recognize a thing of beauty if we did not first recognize its opposite. In fact, these seeming dualities are actually one and the same. Weakness comes from the same circle as strength. Darkness comes from the same circle as light. And so on. Debbie Ford explains this beautifully in the book:

If we know courage, it is because we have also experienced fear; if we can recognize honesty, it is because we have encountered deceit.

3. Embrace the shadow & grow. True happiness occurs when you understand that what is meant to be will be. When you stop struggling against every element that you hate, dislike, fear, and so on, you will be able to focus on creating the life of your dreams. That is true happiness.

In order to stop resisting the will of the Universe, you must first embrace your whole self—shadow & light. When you accept both of these elements, you become like a plant that accepts water & sunlight, the elements necessary for growth. You will find yourself growing to heights higher than you ever imagined possible. When you accept what is, understand duality, and embrace the shadow, you will live a life of higher consciousness.

Higher consciousness is the answer—the only lasting answer—to the dark side of human nature. —Deepak Chopra