The Universal Law of Reversibility

“You can be anyone you want here!”

-      Rex C. Reeve

The Universal Law of Reversibility

I had been attending college for about a year and a half when I decided to take some time off.  It was important to me give back by volunteering in a different community.  It was also a chance for me to take a close look at the path I had been on in school to make sure it was the path I really wanted to be on.

Not long after my plane landed in the location assigned, my supervisor took the time to sit down with me and talk.  I told him what I was hoping to discover about myself while I was there.  I’ll never forget what he told me at that time, “You can be anyone you want to be here!”

It is the first time I can remember catching a glimpse of the “Universal Law of Reversibility.”  This law is highly important because it enables you to foresee your inverse transformation once the direct transformation is verified within.  If you knew how you would feel when you realized your objective, then, you would know what state you could realize were you to awaken in yourself such feeling; believe you already possess your goal and you will.

This truth was taught to me again today as I sat on a red, velvet covered couch speaking with one of my close friends.  He carefully described the transformation of his life over the past five years or so.

“Once I accepted the realization of my goal, my whole life changed over night!  I finally knew that the future I had envisioned was mine.  It was mine.  I accepted it!  Now my marriage and business are just amazing!” 

All of us have had the feeling of “swimming upstream.”  My friend said that when he decided to stop this process, the illusion of constantly looking at the past as if it continued to live, his life reversed its path of difficulty and he was propelled forward as if swimming with the strength of the stream.

I sat entranced as he told me his story.  I could feel his pain and his triumph.  But, mostly I could see the truth of his description of the Universal Law of Reversibility.  His eyes poured the truth into my soul.  I knew again that I could reverse any negative path I would ever encounter.  If difficulties exist then the reverse must also exist.

For a long time electricity was produced by friction without the thought that friction, in turn, could be produced by electricity.  It is the new thought that caused the reverse to occur.  If you want to electrify your life, use your imagination to create a new thought that will cause the reverse you desire.  Everything in life is reversible!

On the Heels of Success

“I was just telling her that it doesn’t do any good to worry. I know she already knows, but sometimes we all need to be reminded.” – Susan Coble

On the Heels of Success

Fashion Week in New York City is a gathering of the world’s best clothing designers and everyone who supports the fashion industry.  During this short make or break period, attendees know that their year can be made or lost.  They spend their time setting the stage for their coming year’s financial and professional success.  Everyone works at a frenetic pace hoping to get as much out of their efforts as possible and when it ends, participants sometimes have a huge mental and physical let down.

“Dad.” My Daughter Jessi said on the other end of the phone.  “I’m just exhausted!”

She was calling me to give me an update on the last couple of weeks since we hadn’t gotten time to speak together during Fashion week.  “I just finished with a real successful show!  I got a chance to have lunch with my friend Susan today.  It was great to have some down time with a friend who would understand.  I was feeling real down and Susan, a fashion model, said to me, ‘don’t worry about the future.  It will all unfold the way it should.’”

Jessi was describing something that I’ve experienced myself over and over again.  It’s the let down that often comes after a huge success.  It’s a feeling that creeps into one’s heart after lots of hard work pays off.  I call it the “all has been accomplished void.”   I’ve heard others call it the “what have you done for me lately” syndrome!

Rather than taking some time off to enjoy the moment, it’s common for successful people to lose faith in the future because they aren’t actively moving their lives rapidly forward at the moment.  In fact, they haven’t even had time to get their feet back under themselves so they can go on to the next step.  They feel out of balance and out of control so they allow their minds to flounder.

This floundering is very much like a person who swims until they are exhausted.  They just can’t take another stroke so they begin to flail in the water hoping they won’t drown.  Their instincts take over and if they don’t take active control of their mind in such a situation, they can die easily.  The alternative however is easier.

If the swimmer simply tips their head back to relax and float, their arms and legs can get the rest they need to continue on.  In just a little while, when their strength has returned, they can swim forward with renewed dedication.

So, next time you come off the heels of success take Susan’s advice, tip your head back, relax and float for a little while.  Take the time to regain your strength.  You’ve already proven yourself.  With renewal pulsing through your veins, move forward and give it all you’ve got!

The Glass Sentinel

“I’m looking for a job that will allow me to do what I want to do.”

-      Kyle Butterfield

The Glass Sentinel

I could smell the large trees that were surrounding me.  The fresh air seemed to be streaming right from their leaves into my nose.  It made me feel as if I was sitting in a forest in early spring and the feeling was exceptionally welcome since I had braved fog, snow and freezing cold air before I could enjoy it.  Just beyond the trees were sentinel glass barriers that kept all that gloomy winter stuff at bay.

This interior garden was enlivening to me and I needed it because the cloud darkened day was coming to a close and I still had two meetings left.  Luckily they were both in this spirit-refueling garden that was about to turn into something akin to a fortune teller.

There was a table for us to sit at during our conversation and there were two chairs that allowed us to look at each other as we talked.  The tête-à-tête was pleasant and revealing for both of us as we got to know each other better.  I learned about the other person’s business as well as his family.  I also learned about his life’s aspirations.  But, there was one curious thing.

“I am looking forward to retiring so I can do something of real value.” He said to me.

“Isn’t your working adding value to others now?” I asked.

“Yes.  But, it isn’t what I really want to do.”  He responded.

“But, if you really want to do it wouldn’t you be doing it?” I replied.

Sometimes we think that we can only do what we want to do if we are doing it as a medium of exchange for money.  Or, we think that since we spend time working for money that we’re unable to do what we really love to do.

My Nephew Kyle called me today.  He told me that he had recently graduated from college.  I know that he’s worked long and hard to get his degree!  He’s been searching for work so he can provide for his wife and their new baby.  He has an interview this coming week.

“It isn’t what I want to do.” He said.

“Why can’t you do what you want to do?” I replied.

“I haven’t found anyone who will pay me to be an illustrator!” He responded.

“Let me ask you a question,” I answered. “Do writers write?”

“Yes.”

“Do illustrators, illustrate?”

“Yes.”

“So, if you want to be an illustrator, illustrate!” I advocated.

It’s important that you become your own advocate, since we live in a world that’s cold & snowy and covered in fog.  You can look inside and illustrate our own interior garden; find what you love to do.  After all, that’s who you really are!  When you discover it, you’ll find that it’s enlivening.  It will act as your sentinel glass barrier that will keep you safe and warm even when the outer world is dark and threatening and you need to work for money do keep a roof over your head and food in your belly.

Take a walk in your garden today by discovering what it is that you really want to do and then go out and do it.  If you’re a writer, write.  If you’re a teacher, teach.  If you’re an artist, create art.  When you get in touch with your love, every other person will benefit.  There is no limit on what love can do!

Self Actualized Presence

“Bless my Dad in whatever he does.”

-      A friend’s son

Self Actualized Presence

One of my friends is an exceptional entrepreneur.  He’s still young, but he was very young when he sold his first company.  Since he was young and had a family, he had a young family and was in the perfect situation.  He had lots of money and lots of time to spend with his family!

He had plenty of time because after he sold his company he no longer needed to work for money to provide for his family.  Since he didn’t need to go out to interact with other people every day; he became casual in many aspects of his life.  He dressed in a sloppy manner and began to grow an un-kept beard.  My friend lived in this new pattern day after day until something happened to teach him an important lesson.  He is a religious man and was having a prayer with his family one morning when his son, praying carefully for God to bless each member of his family, said:

“Bless my sister so she can do well on her math test.  Bless my brother so he can win his basketball game.  Bless my Dad in whatever he does.”

Those spoken words, “whatever he does,” helped my friend see that in the eyes of his children he no longer did anything they could comprehend; in the view of his children, he was doing nothing.

“They didn’t understand what I did with my days.” He told me.  “They were going out each day to face their futures.  They went to school, they competed in sports, and they took lessons.  They were initiating action each day in the present while simultaneously facing their future and looking to the past.  The change in my life was so incongruous with our past together that they were worried about me.  They couldn’t understand what I was doing!  The truth is that I didn’t understand what I was doing either.”

My friend’s son had taught him “The Principle of Combining Belief and Action” without knowing it.  But, my friend knew it, that’s how he built a successful company.  So he changed from a person who was simply being acted upon back to a person who acted.  It’s what separates intelligent beings from all other forms in the universe.  In fact, we learn and grow most effectively by exercising our will with belief.  Both learning and growth require mental and physical exertion, not just passive reception or entertainment. 

The learning and growth I’m describing reaches far beyond simple cognitive comprehension and mere gathering of facts or the recall of information.  The type of learning and growth I’m referring to allows a person to leave a common life behind.  It sets the ordinary aside by converting ones action, past and future into one self actualized presence.

My friend took this principle to heart again.  He set inaction aside and has developed a new company.  He has surrounded himself with others who are acting in common belief, that they can take their technology and combine it with needed change to create products and services that will change millions of other lives. 

Perhaps most importantly he has changed his own life and is again living in a pattern that his kids, and all of us, can understand, follow and embrace.