The Original You

What if you knew you were a healer? What if you knew it in your soul? Would it change your life? Take a deep breath and really think about this. Contemplate it. Let it sink in. This idea of being a healer. Shouldn’t that be reserved for the deities of our world? Isn’t it only the gurus and spiritual masters that have the power to heal? No. It is not only the spiritual masters that have this power. You have it too. When you sit next to the elderly woman on the park bench and listen intently to their story of pain, you have become a healer. When you listen with kindness to the pain of a friend who is ill, you have become a healer. When you call your daughter to listen to their struggles with their boyfriends, you have become a healer. When you allow your mom to cry on your shoulder, you have become a healer. Healing occurs when we consider the lives of others. When we can embrace the reality of other’s struggles, we become their healer. This is what we are all looking ...

From the beginning of time your essence has existed. Whether it was in spirit form or now in your physical form you have always been and always will be. There is a reason why your Creator decided to make you eternal. It’s because you’re worthy. You’re valuable. You’re valuable not because of what your job title is, how much money you have, what kind of clothes you wear, or even the color of your skin. You’re valuable because you have always existed in some form. The very earth from the time it was formed was getting ready for you. Every piece of dirt, every mineral, every animal, every drop of water, every flower, has been getting ready for you. Every tree, every lake, and every farm has been created to support and love you. Knowing that you are supported by every living being is what your heart has always known. You know that what I write is true. Your heart knows that you are the precious result of billions of years of evolution. Evolution is still o...

I stepped towards the stern of the boat and waited. The captain said the three magic words, “Dive, dive, dive!” Some of my favorite words in the world. As I looked upon the horizon I jumped in with anticipation. My wife had the dive flag on this beautiful drift dive in Boynton Beach, FL. There were some rough seas that day, so it was better to be in the water than on the surface. As I floated down towards the reef, I got that magical sensation once again of floating in space. It is an amazing experience. We landed 60 feet down on this magic reef. I share this story, because I want to convey to you the magic of scuba diving and its effects on my life over the past eight years. When I am diving, I feel like I have been transported to another world. It feels like I am floating in the womb of God. It feels like I am being held by the very spirit of my Creator who made the beautiful ocean. As I gazed upon the reef last Friday, I was reminded that the world that I know above th...

We need a healing. In our world we need a healing. Our world is in pain in a different way than it’s been in a long time. Of course, it’s not the first time, and it’s certainly not the last. What gives me hope is remembering that our planet has survived many periods of great difficulty and somehow survived. Our history books document the many periods of great pain that our planet has endured including the birth of the planet itself. I look upon the history of our earth and I receive great comfort in knowing that we will survive. I turn on the news and I see stories of heroism taking place every day. I see people going out of their way to do great deeds for people less fortunate than them. This is who we are. This is what we came here to do. From a spiritual perspective I see the turmoil in the world as a great opportunity for us to love each other more. There are numerous ways that we can reach out to our brothers and sisters right now. Healing begins from within. Whe...

Has anyone ever called you an expert? Have they declared that you know what you are doing in a certain area? I have been called that at certain points in my life. When I hear it, I am always left with a lingering thought about how they know I’m an expert. What is it that certified me as an expert? Expertise comes with a lot of time and experience. It comes with lots of practice and lots of failures. It is backed up with a long history of mistakes and learning from them. I appreciate when people call me an expert in something, but I don’t ever want to think that I have arrived. I don’t want to think that I have reached the pinnacle in any area of my life. To reach the pinnacle would mean that I can’t go any further. It would mean that I can’t learn any more about a certain thing. That would be boring to me. I don’t want to be bored. I’m always striving to be a better musician, a better writer, a better husband, and a better human being. If I believed that I was an expert I might...

Do you get impatient with the speed of your process? Do you get frustrated when things don’t go the way you intended them to? I do. I get frustrated a lot. I get frustrated when I don’t follow through on something. I get frustrated when I don’t learn something as fast as I want to. I get frustrated when I can’t remember a name or date. I want everything to go faster than it is. When I’m in the state of impatience, I lose sight of the beauty of the plan. My Creator has a plan for me. It is my job to ask for guidance to help me carry it out. This is not to say that I have no choice about how things go. I can choose to steer my life in many different directions. There is a reason for everything. The idea that I’m somehow like a cork floating on the sea of life going wherever with no direction doesn’t resonate with me. Hindsight is a beautiful tool you can use to help you be gentle with your process. Looking back at your life, you can remember times when situations worked ou...

It’s Independence Day in the United States on the day of this writing. As I’m moving through my day, I’m contemplating the idea of what freedom is. As I share my thoughts, I pray that they will stir you to think about what freedom looks like for you. When I think of freedom, I think of some obvious things. I’m not in an institution that requires me to be there. I can get in my car and drive to many destinations that I wish to go to. I can choose what religion I practice. I can decide what hair style I want. I get to choose what clothing to wear daily. I can love who I want to love. I am a blessed man. There are millions of people in this world who don’t have these freedoms. They’re not able to drive a car even if they owned one, they might be killed if they practice a religion, and they cannot love or marry the person of their choice. There are those that may argue that everyone is able to choose to do whatever they want and experience the consequences of those actions. Yes,...