Monday, January 29, 2007

St Paul Winter Carnival


History
In 1885, a New York Times Reporter wrote that Saint Paul was the "Siberia of America" and questioned whether it was fit for human habitation. Offended by this attack on their Capital City, the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce decided to not only prove that Saint Paul was habitable, but that its citizens were very much alive during winter, the most dominant season. Thus was born the Saint Paul Winter Carnival.

In 1886, King Boreas I was crowned at the first Winter Carnival. This festival also featured an ice castle -- an elaborate creation made from Minnesota lakes -- which has evolved in an internationally recognized icon for Saint Paul's festival. The Saint Paul Winter Carnival, also known as "The Coolest Celebration on Earth," is the nation's oldest and largest winter festival. With more than 75 events -- including the breathtaking ice sculptures, snow sculptures, ice castles, parades and a giant snow slide -- the Carnival has become a trademark of history, community spirit and togetherness, turning Saint Paul into a winter wonderland in late January.



2004 Ice Palace
1986 Ice Palace
Vulcan Crew



Paul Ferrini Weekly Message


Imaginary Limits
The limits you create will be real to you until you learn to step beyond them.
Then they will cease to be real.
Then, you will look back at the reality you used to inhabit and feel claustrophobic, wondering how you were able to stand its narrow confines.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

A Sammy Friday

Hi Sammy here,

It is Friday, I think, I have been doing a lot of napping this week. The man had me chasing a red laser light and it got the better of me. It wore me out and then the flu bug caught up to me on Monday and Tuesday, and ran my energy reserves into challenging territory.


I see them Bears made it to the Super Bowl. In the other corner is the Colts. Well, we know how this thing is going down as the Colts are a horse and capable of outrunning a small bear that thinks it can roar. All kidding aside and a few meows also, I am going to venture out on a limb and predict the winner of the game. Final score will be decided in the last 2 minutes by a come behind win. The score will be 31-30. Oh, I suppose you want to know who has what points. Well, The Colts do not have 30 points! Dungy and Manning will get their rings!


The man went bowling with his grandsons for Owens birthday and he thru a lot of gutter balls at first. He had a heck of a time keeping up, but in the last frames he threw some strikes. He squeaked a score in at 99. His daughter was bowling badly and he gave her some quick advice. He told her to pretend the head pin is her husband. Darn, if she didn’t start getting strikes! A lot of them…………….hmm…. Oh, the man did bowl a 128 for his second game. He has not bowled since living in SD 25 years ago. Yes, he is not as old as sand, maybe as old as dirt, but not quite sand ….yet!

I hear that a guy out in California was doing “reverse panhandling.”. He had a cardboard sign and was handing out money to drivers at street corner. He was begging them to take a handful of cash. I wonder if he would consider moving around here?


The man has to mail out letters to all his neighbors for the Heart Fund drive. They gave him a goal of $50 and he thought about just inserting $50 into the envelopes and sending it back. But, then thought he should give his neighbors a chance at helping out. If you get a pink envelope, it may be one of his.

See ya next week. Meooweoooewwoeomeo…………….

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

“The Little Soul and the Sun”

by Neale Donald Walsch
Illustrated by Frank Riccio

Excerpt:

Once upon no time there was a Little Soul who said to God, "I know who I am!"

And God said, "That's wonderful! Who are you?"


And the Little Soul shouted, "I'm the Light!"

God smiled a big smile, "That's right!" God exclaimed. "You are the Light."

The Little Soul was so happy, for it had figured out what all the souls in the Kingdom were there to figure out. "Wow," said the Little Soul, "this is really cool!"

But soon, knowing who it was was not enough. The Little Soul felt stirrings inside, and now wanted to be who it was. And so the Little Soul went back to God (which is not a bad idea for all souls who want to be Who They Really Are) and said, "Hi, God! Now that I know Who I Am, is it okay for me to be it?"

And God said, "You mean you want to be Who You Already Are?

"Well," replied the Little Soul, "it's one thing to know Who I Am, and another thing altogether to actually be it. I want to feel what it's like to be the Light!"

"But you already are the Light," God repeated, smiling again.

"Yes, but I want to see what that feels like!" cried the Little Soul.

"Well," said God with a chuckle, "I suppose I should have known. You always were the adventuresome one." Then God's expression changed. "There's only one thing..."

"What?" asked the Little Soul.

"Well, there is nothing else but the Light. You see, I created nothing but what you are; and so, there is no easy way for you to experience yourself as Who You Are, since there is nothing that you are not."

"Huh?" said the Little Soul, who was not a little confused.

"Think of it this way," said God. "You are like a candle in the Sun. Oh, you're there all right. Along with a million, ka-gillion other candles who make up the Sun. And the sun would not be the Sun without you. Nay, it would be a sun without one of its candles...and that would not be the Sun at all; for it would not shine as brightly. Yet, how to know yourself as the Light when you are amidst the Light--that is the question."

"Well," the Little Soul perked up, "you're God. Think of something!"

Once more God smiled. "I already have," God said. "Since you cannot see yourself as the Light when you are in the Light, we'll surround you with darkness."

"What's darkness?" the Little Soul asked.

God replied, "It is that which you are not."

"Will I be afraid of the dark?" cried the Little Soul.

"Only if you choose to be," God answered. "There is nothing, really, to be afraid of, unless you decide that there is. You see, we are making it all up. We are pretending."

"Oh," said the Little Soul, and felt better already.

Then God explained that, in order to experience anything at all, the exact opposite of it will appear.

"It is a great gift," God said, "because without it, you could not know what anything is like. You could not know Warm without Cold, Up without Down, Fast without Slow. You could not know Left without Right, Here without There, Now without Then."

"And so," God concluded, "when you are surrounded with darkness, do not shake your fist and raise your voice and curse the darkness. Rather be a Light unto the darkness, and don't be mad about it. Then you will know Who You Really Are, and all others will know, too. Let your Light shine so that everyone will know how special you are!"

"You mean it's okay to let others see how special I am?" asked the Little Soul.

"Of course!" God chuckled. "It's very okay! But remember, 'special' does not mean 'better.' Everybody is special, each in their own way! Yet many others have forgotten that. They will see that it is okay for them to be special only when you see that it is okay for you to be special."

"Wow," said the Little Soul, dancing and skipping and laughing and jumping with joy. "I can be as special as I want to be!"

"Yes, and you can start right now," said God, who was dancing and skipping and laughing right along with the Little Soul.

"What part of special do you want to be?"

"What part of special?" the Little Soul repeated. "I don't understand."

"Well," God explained, "being the Light is being special, and being special has a lot of parts to it. It is special to be kind. It is special to be gentle. It is special to be creative. It is special to be patient. Can you think of any other ways it is special to be?"

The Little Soul sat quietly for a moment. "I can think of lots of ways to be special!" the Little Soul then exclaimed. "It is special to be helpful. It is special to be sharing. It is special to be friendly. It is special to be considerate of others!"

"Yes!" God agreed, "and you can be all of those things, or any part of special you wish to be, at any moment. That's what it means to be the Light."

"I know what I want to be, I know what I want to be!" the Little Soul announced with great excitement. "I want to be the part of special called 'forgiving'. Isn't it special to be forgiving?"

"Oh, yes," God assured the Little Soul. "That is very special."

"Okay," said the Little Soul. "That's what I want to be. I want to be forgiving. I want to experience myself as that."

"Good," said God, "but there's one thing you should know."

The Little Soul was becoming a bit impatient now. It always seemed as though there were some complication.

"What is it?" the Little Soul sighed.

"There is no one to forgive."

"No one?" The Little Soul could hardly believe what had been said.

"No one!" God repeated. "Everything I have made is perfect. There is not a single soul in all creation less perfect than you. Look around you."

It was then that the Little Soul realized a large crowd had gathered. Souls had come from far and wide ~ from all over the Kingdom ~ for the word had gone forth that the Little Soul was having this extraordinary conversation with God, and everyone wanted to hear what they were saying. Looking at the countless other souls gathered there, the Little Soul had to agree. None appeared less wonderful, less magnificent, or less perfect than the Little Soul itself. Such was the wonder of the souls gathered around, and so bright was their Light, that the Little Soul could scarcely gaze upon them.

"Who, then, to forgive?" asked God.

"Boy, this is going to be no fun at all!" grumbled the Little Soul. "I wanted to experience myself as One Who Forgives. I wanted to know what that part of special felt like."

And the Little Soul learned what it must feel like to be sad. But just then a Friendly Soul stepped forward from the crowd.

"Not to worry, Little Soul," the Friendly Soul said, "I will help you."

"You will?" the Little Soul brightened. "But what can you do?"

"Why, I can give you someone to forgive!"

"You can?"

"Certainly!" chirped the Friendly Soul. "I can come into your next lifetime and do something for you to forgive."

"But why? Why would you do that?" the Little Soul asked. "You, who are a Being of such utter perfection! You, who vibrate with such a speed that it creates a Light so bright that I can hardly gaze upon you! What could cause you to want to slow down your vibration to such a speed that your bright Light would become dark and dense? What could cause you ~ who are so light that you dance upon the stars and move through the Kingdom with the speed of your thought--to come into my life and make yourself so heavy that you could do this bad thing?"

"Simple," the Friendly Soul said. "I would do it because I love you."

The Little Soul seemed surprised at the answer.

"Don't be so amazed," said the Friendly Soul, "you have done the same thing for me. Don't you remember? Oh, we have danced together, you and I, many times. Through the eons and across all the ages have we danced. Across all time and in many places have we played together. You just don't remember."

"We have both been All Of It. We have been the Up and the Down of it, the Left and the Right of it. We have been the Here and the There of it, the Now and the Then of it. We have been the male and the female, the good and the bad; we have both been the victim and the villain of it."

"Thus have we come together, you and I, many times before; each bringing to the other the exact and perfect opportunity to Express and to Experience Who We Really Are. And so," the Friendly Soul explained further, "I will come into your next lifetime and be the 'bad one' this time. I will do something really terrible, and then you can experience yourself as the One Who Forgives."

"But what will you do?" the Little Soul asked, just a little nervously, "that will be so terrible?"

"Oh," replied the Friendly Soul with a twinkle, "we'll think of something."

Then the Friendly Soul seemed to turn serious, and said in a quiet voice, "You are right about one thing, you know."

"What is that?" the Little Soul wanted to know.

"I will have to slow down my vibration and become very heavy to do this not-so-nice thing. I will have to pretend to be something very unlike myself. And so, I have but one favor to ask of you in return."

"Oh, anything, anything!" cried the Little Soul, and began to dance and sing, "I get to be forgiving, I get to be forgiving!"

Then the Little Soul saw that the Friendly Soul was remaining very quiet.

"What is it?" the Little Soul asked. "What can I do for you? You are such an angel to be willing to do this for me!"

"Of course this Friendly Soul is an angel!" God interrupted. "Everyone is! Always remember: I have sent you nothing but angels."

And so the Little Soul wanted more than ever to grant the Friendly Soul's request. "What can I do for you?" the Little Soul asked again.

"In the moment that I strike you and smite you," the Friendly Soul replied, "in the moment that I do the worst to you that you could possible imagine ~ in that very moment..."

"Yes?" the Little Soul interrupted, "yes...?"

"Remember Who I Really Am."

"Oh, I will!" cried the Little Soul, "I promise! I will always remember you as I see you right here, right now!"

"Good," said the Friendly Soul, "because, you see, I will have been pretending so hard, I will have forgotten myself. And if you do not remember me as I really am, I may not be able to remember for a very long time. And if I forget Who I Am, you may even forget Who You Are, and we will both be lost. Then we will need another soul to come along and remind us both of Who We Are."

"No, we won't!" the Little Soul promised again. "I will remember you! And I will thank you for bringing me this gift ~ the chance to experience myself as Who I Am."

And so, the agreement was made. And the Little Soul went forth into a new lifetime, excited to be the Light, which was very special, and excited to be that part of special called Forgiveness.

And the Little Soul waited anxiously to be able to experience itself as Forgiveness, and to thank whatever other soul made it possible. And at all the moments in that new lifetime, whenever a new soul appeared on the scene, whether that new soul brought joy or sadness--and especially if it brought sadness--the Little Soul thought of what God had said.

"Always remember," God had smiled, "I have sent you nothing but angels."


Monday, January 22, 2007

Opening to Love












Every lesson that comes into your life asks you
to open your heart and mind in a new way.
Old defense mechanisms that are no longer
needed for your survival must be surrendered.
Inch by inch, the territory claimed by fear must
open to love’s embrace.

When God Paints





Have a Great Day!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

A Sammy Friday

We had a visitor this last week and he slept out under the willows in the back yard. There was not a lot of protection for him, as he was out in the open part of the day, and when the man thru some corn out to him, he moved closer to the tree and snuggled his nose into his tail. He looked just a like a fur ball! He was a long lost cousin and he was hardly moving. I was concerned as it was cold outside and colder at night. A lot colder than I, but the man remembered a day not so long ago when it was really cold!

And I Mean COLD!!!
It was the winter of 1981, and it started early with a lot of snow. People were concerned that roofs would start collapsing as the snow just kept piling up in November and December. The man spent many a cold day climbing on roofs to shovel heaping piles of snow off of them.

But earlier that year, the man had met a next door neighbor and his nickname was “Angel” and little did the man know he was a walking breathing live angel. There were a lot of angels that winter that hung around the man and his sons that fall and winter, as his marriage had dissolved the previous fall and they now were in day to day existence for survival.

“Angel” showed up in the fall of that year as he was transferred into town with Convoy Trucking and the song “Convoy” was just hitting the airwaves. They developed a fast friendship and used to play air hockey in the basement of the apartment building after the kids had gone to bed. Angel was married and had 2 sons, and Gloria – his wife – would look after “the mans” boys while he hunted for work or did odd jobs. There was very little work in construction and one day the man heard about a company that was hiring on the other side of the cities. The man called the company, and the guy asked the man when he could start, and the man said as soon as he lined up a day care provider. A quick question was fired back from the guy about maybe the man’s wife should arrange that, and the man informed him that he was divorced and had sole custody. Immediately, the guy said, that he had changed his mind as “the man” would be missing too much work due to sick kids, appointments at school, and such. “Thanks for calling, I need someone reliable” and hung up.

Later that day, Angel and the man went for a ride and they got into a discussion about the phone call and how pissed the man was about people and their opinions. The man said his language was quite colorful that afternoon Angel listened patiently and then turned down a side street. He stated that the man was at a point in his life and he had two choices. The 1st choice was to keep on - keeping on - and not see the lessons being presented, or to make a second choice and to figure out what he was to learn. Under the 1st choice, the man would be doomed to repeating mistakes over and over again and his attitude and life would be miserable and negative. He would grow old and bitter and have few friends.

The second choice would propel his life forward with each new choice, he would enjoy life and living, he would see the joy in each moment, and each challenge would be an opportunity for him to grow. Angel pointed to the houses and added further “Each person on this block has the same choices, and some folks will choose to stay where they are, and others will choose to learn and move on. It is your choice what your life will look like, it is your choice if you chose to learn from life or stay here. Either way, it is your choice to be miserable and a victim, or to be happy.”

Then it started to snow, and after the snow, true to Minnesota, it started to turn cold. It was so cold ---- but let me try to describe it.

Around Xmas, Angel arrived home from work and informed his family that he was being transferred to Los Angeles, and the company wanted him down there within 20 days. They started packing the boxes, and the trucking company arranged for his goods to be moved. The day the moving company showed up the temperatures started dropping. That night, the temperature hit 10 below. The next night it was 15 below. And the temperature kept going south. The 3rd night the air temps were 20+ below and the wind started blowing off of the prairie. The next day, when Angel was leaving, blowing snow was creating almost blizzard conditions and the wind chill temps were in the extreme dangerous category approaching 76 below zero. Stepping outside made one gasp for breathe and clench ones teeth. They chattered and they knew what it felt like in the Yukon. It was frigid that evening as the man drove Angel and his family to the airport, and as they walked thru the terminal, Angel said he would call me from LA upon landing and let the man know what temperature it was there.

Around midnight, the phone rang, and it was Angel laughing and that the temperature was in the 70’s and he just warmed up by 100+ degrees. He laughed and said the man should consider moving to California, and they would talk again. He left a number, and the man called a week later, however Angel had moved further south by that time and it was the last "the man" heard from him.

Every winter when it turns cold, "the man" thinks of Angel and the “gift” of wisdom that he was given. "The man" said that, that winter a lot of “angels” came to visit and encourage him on. He had an angel landlord play backgammon for rent. And for 3 months, the roll of the dice paid for the rent. Finally, the landlord said he was “unconscious” and refused to play any more. That landlord is now one of “the mans” best friends today.
Have you had any Angels visit you?

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

When God Paints





Have a Great Day!

Monday, January 15, 2007

A Gentle Reminder














Your life is not better or worse than someone else’s.
Every person’s life has highs and lows, good and bad, laughter and tears. You don’t have to push away the experiences that come to you.
There is nothing there unworthy of you.
Indeed, if you look without bias, you will see that there
is no lesson that comes without a gentle reminder
that you are loved and valued exactly as you are. - Paul Ferrini

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Jill's Story

Excerpted from Chapter One of the book,

RADICAL Forgiveness, Making Room for the Miracle,
by Award Winning Author Colin Tipping

Downloaded from our website, www.radicalforgiveness.com
as a FREE Read.

As soon as I saw my sister at the Airport, I knew something was wrong. I
could see she was in pain. Jill had flown from England to the United States
with my brother John, who was stopping in on his way home to Australia. Jill chose to accompany him so she too could visit my wife, JoAnna, and I for a couple of weeks. As soon as we got into the car to head north to our home, Jill said, “Colin, Jeff and I might be splitting up.”

This surprised me. I had always thought she and Jeff, were happy in their six-year-old marriage. Both had been married before, but this relationship had seemed strong.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Well, it’s all quite bizarre, and I don’t really know where to begin,” she replied, “but Jeff is acting really strange, and I can’t stand much more of it. We’ve gotten to the point where we can’t talk to each other any more, and it’s killing me. He has totally turned away from me and
says that it’s all my fault.”

“Tell me about it,” I said.

“Do you remember Jeff’s eldest daughter, Lorraine?” Jill asked. I nodded.
“Well, her husband got killed in a car crash about a year ago. Ever since then, she and Jeff have developed this really weird relationship. Any time she calls, he fawns over her, calling her ‘Love,’ and spending hours talking to her in hushed tones. You’d think they were lovers — not father and daughter. If she comes to our home, they huddle together in this deep and hushed conversation that excludes everyone else — especially me. I can hardly stand it. I feel totally shut out and ignored.”

She went on and on, offering more details of the strange family dynamic that had developed. JoAnna and I listened attentively. We made suggestions as to how she might talk to him about his behavior and generally struggled to find a way to fix things, as would any concerned brother and sister-in-law. John was supportive too and offered his perspective on the situation from time to time.

What seemed strange and suspicious to me was the uncharacteristic nature of Jeff’s behavior. The Jeff I knew was affectionate with his daughters and certainly co-dependent enough to badly need their approval and love, but I had never seen him behave in the manner Jill described. I had always known him as caring and affectionate towards Jill.

The conversation continued all the next day. I began to get a picture of what might be going on from a Radical Forgiveness standpoint, but decided not to mention it — at least not right away. She was too caught up in the drama to hear it and probably too committed to being the victim in the situation.

However, on the second day, I decided the time was right to try the Radical Forgiveness approach.

Tentatively, I said, “Jill, Would you be willing to try looking at this situation differently?”

“What do you mean?” She asked

“Well,” I began. “First of all, let me say that nothing I am going to say invalidates your story. I believe that it happened exactly the way you said it happened. But I want to give you a hint of what might be going on underneath this situation.”

“What do you mean, underneath the situation,” Jill asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

“Well, it’s perfectly natural to think that everything out there is all there is to reality,” I explained, “but maybe there’s a whole lot more happening beneath that reality.

“Take your situation. You and Jeff have this drama going on. That much is clear. But, what if, beneath the drama, something of a more spiritual nature was happening — same people and same events — but a totally different meaning? What if your two souls were doing the same dance but to a wholly different tune? What if the dance was about you healing? What if you could see this as an opportunity to heal and grow? That would be a very different interpretation, would it not?”

Both she and John looked at me as if I were now speaking a foreign language. I decided to back off from the explanation and to go directly for the experience.

“Looking back over the last three months or so, Jill,” I went on, “What did you feel mostly when you saw Jeff behaving so lovingly towards his daughter, Lorraine?”

“Anger mostly,” she said, but continued thinking about it. “Frustration,” she added — then, after a long pause, “And sadness. I really feel sad.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I feel so alone and unloved,” she said and began sobbing quietly. “It wouldn’t be so bad if I thought he couldn’t show love, but he can and he does — but only with her!”

She began to sob uncontrollably for the first time since her arrival. She’d a few tears prior to this, but she hadn’t really let herself cry. Now, at last, she was letting go. I was pleased that Jill had been able to get in touch with her emotions that quickly.

A full 10 minutes went by before her crying subsided and I felt she could talk. At that point, I asked, “Jill, can you ever remember feeling this same way when you were a little girl?” Without the slightest hesitation, she said, “Yes.” She was not immediately forthcoming about when, so I asked her to explain. It took her a while to respond.

“Dad wouldn’t love me either!” she blurted out finally and began to sob again. “I wanted him to love me, but he wouldn’t. I thought he couldn’t love anyone! Then along comes your Lorraine, Colin. He loved her all right. So why couldn’t he love me, God damnit!” She banged her fist hard on the table as she shouted the words and dissolved into more uncontrollable tears.

Jill’s reference was to my eldest daughter. Coincidentally, or rather, synchronistically, she and Jeff’s eldest daughter were both called Lorraine.

Crying felt good to Jill. Her tears served as a powerful release and possibly a turning point for her. A real breakthrough might not be far away, I thought.

“Tell me about the incident with Lorraine and Dad.” I said.

“Well,” Jill said, while composing herself. “I always felt unloved by Dad and really craved his love. He never held my hand, or sat me on his lap much. I always felt there must be something wrong with me. When I was older, Mum told me she didn’t think Dad was capable of loving anyone, not even her. At that time, I more or less made peace with that. I rationalized that if he wasn’t really capable of loving anyone, then it wasn’t my fault that he didn’t love me. He was
not a bad father. He just couldn’t love. I felt sorry for him.”

She cried some more, taking her time now. “I remember a particular day at your house.” she continued. Your daughter Lorraine was probably about four or five years old. Mum and Dad were down, and we all came to your house. I saw your Lorraine, take Dad’s hand. She said, ‘Come on, Grandad. Let me show you the garden and all my flowers.’ He was like putty in her hands. She led him everywhere and talked and talked and talked, showing him all the flowers. She enchanted him. I watched them out of the window the whole time. When they came
back in, he put her on his lap and was as playful and joyful as I have ever seen him.

“I was devastated. ‘So, he is able to love after all,’ I thought. If he could love Lorraine, then why not me?” The last few words came out as a whisper followed by deep long tears of grief and sadness -- tears held in for all those years.

I figured we had done enough for the time being, and suggested we make some tea.

Obviously Jeff’s behavior was unconsciously designed to support Jill in healing her unresolved relationship with her father. If she could see this and recognize the perfection in Jeff’s behavior, she could heal her pain — and Jeff’s behavior would almost certainly stop. However, I wasn’t sure how to explain this to Jill in a way she could understand at this point in time. Luckily, I didn’t have to try. She stumbled on the obvious connection by herself.

Later that day she asked me, “Colin, don’t you think it’s odd that Jeff’s daughter and your daughter both have the same name? Do you think there’s a connection?”

I laughed, and replied, “Absolutely. And that’s not the only one. Can you see other similarities between the situations?”

“Well,” said Jill. “Both of them were getting what I don’t seem to be able to get from the men in my life.”

“What?” I enquired.

“Love,” she said in a whisper.

“Go on,” I urged gently.

“Your Lorraine was able to get the love from Dad that I couldn’t. And Jeff’s daughter, Lorraine, gets all the love she wants from her Dad, but at my expense. Oh, my God!” she exclaimed. She really was beginning to understand now.

“But why? I don’t understand why. It’s a bit frightening! What the hell’s going on?” she asked in a panic.

It was time to put the pieces together for her. “Let me explain to you exactly what happened and how it has effected your life up until now,” I said.

“As a little girl, you felt abandoned and unloved by Dad. So you concluded that there must something wrong with you and that you really were unlovable and not enough. That belief anchored itself deeply in your subconscious mind and, later, when it came to relationships, began to run your life.

“As a child, the pain of not getting Dad’s love was more than you could bear, so you stuffed it down . Later, when you began to realize that your father was not a naturally loving man and probably couldn’t love anyone, you began to feel better about it, so it remained dormant.

“Then, along comes the bombshell that knocked you right back to square one. When you saw him loving Lorraine, that triggered your original belief. You said to yourself, ‘My father can love after all, but he doesn’t love me. It is obviously my fault. I am not enough for my father, and I will never be enough for any man.’ From that point on, you continually created situations in your life to support your belief that you are not enough.”

“How have I done that?” Jill asked.

“Well, how was your relationship with Henry?” I responded. She had been married to Henry, the father of her four children, for 15 years.

“Not bad in many respects, but he was always looking for opportunities to have sex with other women, and I really hated that.”

“Exactly. And, you saw him as the villain and you as the victim in that situation. However, the truth is, you attracted him into your life precisely because, at some level, you knew he would prove your belief about not being enough. By being unfaithful, he would support you being right about yourself.”

“Are you trying to say he was doing me a favor? I sure as hell don’t buy that!” she said.

“Well, he certainly supported your belief, didn’t he?” I replied. “You were so not enough that he always was on the lookout for other women, for something more.”

“So Henry was reflecting my belief that I would never be enough - and making me right. Is that it?” she asked.

“Yes, and to the extent that he provided you with that opportunity, he deserves credit — actually, more than you realize right now. On the surface, he was just acting out his sexual addiction, but his soul — working with your soul — chose to use the addiction for your spiritual growth. Recognizing this fact is what Radical Forgiveness is all about.”

I then switched back to Jeff. “In the beginning, Jeff was extremely loving towards you, wasn’t he. He really doted on you, did things for you, communicated with you. On the surface, life seemed pretty good, right? She nodded..

“Yet this didn’t fit with your picture of yourself — your belief about yourself. But because your soul knows you must heal that belief, it colludes with Jeff’s soul to bring it to your awareness. On the surface it seems that Jeff begins to act strangely and totally out of character. He then taunts you by loving another Lorraine, thus acting out the very same scenario you had with Dad many years ago. He appears to be persecuting you mercilessly, and you feel totally helpless and victimized.

But the real truth is that he is doing it for you, not against you. Not that he is doing this consciously, of course. He really isn’t. He is probably more perplexed at his own behavior than are you. Remember, this is a soul-to-soul transaction. His soul knows about your original pain and is aware that you will not heal it without going through the experience again.

“So, once more Jill, you’re at a point of choice. Whether to heal and to grow — or to be right,” I smiled. “If you make the choice people normally make, you will choose to be the victim and make Jeff wrong, which, in turn, will allow you to be right. Or, you can choose to move into forgiveness by recognizing that Jeff is offering you a wonderful chance to heal.”

Jill still looked a little confused and uncertain.

“Look,” I said reassuringly. “There’s no need to figure it out. Just being willing to entertain the idea that something else is going on is a giant step forward. In fact, the willingness to see the situation differently is the key. The healing occurs the moment you become willing to let in the idea that your soul has lovingly created this situation for you. If you can really surrender to the idea that the Universe will handle this for you if you turn it over, you won’t need to do anything at all. The situation and your healing will both get handled automatically.”

“Wow!” Jill said, and took deep breath. She relaxed her body for the first time since we had begun talking about the situation. “I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” she said.

“That’s because your energy has shifted” I replied. “Imagine how much of your life-force energy you have had to expend just keeping this whole story alive.

“What do you think would have happened if I had left Jeff?” Jill asked.

“Your soul would simply have brought in someone else to help you heal,” I quickly replied. “But, you didn’t leave him, did you? You came here, instead. You have to understand, this trip was no accident. There are no such things as accidents in this system. You — or rather your soul — created this trip, this opportunity to understand the dynamics of the situation with Jeff. Your soul guided you here.”

“So, what do I do with this now,” asked Jill. “What do I do when I go home and see Jeff?”

“There really is nothing for you to do,” I answered. “From this point on, it’s a question of how you perceive the situation. Do you get that you are no longer a victim? Do you understand that Jeff is no longer a persecutor? Do you see that the situation was exactly what you needed and wanted? Do you feel how much that man loves you — at the soul level, I mean? He was willing to do whatever it took to get you to the point where you could heal. Jeff is not naturally a cruel man, so it must have been hard for him. Few men could have done that for you while risking losing you in the process. Jeff truly is an angel for you. When you
really understand this, you will feel so grateful to him! Plus, you will stop sending out messages that you are unlovable. You will have the ability to let in love perhaps for the first time in your life. You will have forgiven Jeff, because you will be clear that nothing wrong ever took place. It was perfect in every sense.

“And, I promise you this,” I continued. “Jeff’s soul will already have picked up that you have forgiven him and healed your misperception about yourself, so his behavior is changing already. Time is not a factor where energy is concerned. As you change your energy, his changes too.

Getting back to her question, I said, “ I want you to promise me that you won’t do anything at all when you get back. In particular, do not, under any circumstances, share with him this new way of looking at the situation. I want you to see how everything will be different automatically simply as a consequence of you changing your perception.

“You will feel changed as well,” I added. “You will find yourself feeling more peaceful, more centered and more relaxed. You will have a knowingness that will seem strange to Jeff for a while. It will take time for your relationship with him to adjust, and it may still be difficult for a while, but this issue will resolve now,” I concluded with conviction.

The day she left, Jill obviously was nervous about going back to the situation she had left behind. As she walked down the tunneled ramp to her airplane, she looked back and tried to wave confidently, but I knew she was scared that she might lose her newfound understanding and get drawn back into the drama.

She needn’t have worried. Apparently the meeting with Jeff went well. Jill requested that he not question her immediately about what had happened while she was away and to give her space for a few days to get settled. However, she immediately noticed a difference in him. He was attentive, kind and considerate — more like the Jeff she had known before this whole episode began.

Things went on well for some days and Jeff’s behavior with his daughter, Lorraine, changed dramatically. In fact, everything seemed to be getting back to normal with regard to that relationship, but the atmosphere between Jeff and Jill did remain tense and their communication limited.

About two weeks later, the situation came to a head. Jill looked at Jeff and said quietly, “I feel like I’ve lost my best friend.”

“So do I,” he replied.

For the first time in months they connected. They hugged each other and began to cry. “Let’s talk,” Jill said. “I’ve got to tell you what I learned with Colin in America. It’s going to sound weird to you at first, but I want to share it with you. You don’t have to believe it. I just want you to hear me. Are you willing?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” replied Jeff. “I know something important happened to you there, and I want to know what it was. You have changed, and I like what I see. Tell me what happened.”

Jill talked and talked. She explained the dynamics of Radical Forgiveness as best she could in a way Jeff could understand. She felt strong and powerful — sure of herself and her understanding, secure and clear in her mind.

Jeff, a practical man who always is skeptical of anything that cannot be rationally explained, did not resist this time — and was indeed quite receptive to the ideas that Jill asked him to consider. He voiced openness to the idea that there might be a spiritual world beneath everyday reality and, given that, saw a certain logic in the Radical Forgiveness concept. He didn’t accept it totally, but he nevertheless was willing to listen, to consider and to see how it had changed Jill.

After the discussion, they both felt their love had been rekindled and that their relationship had a good chance of surviving. They made no promises, though, and agreed to keep talking to each other while they watched how their relationship progressed.

It did, indeed, progress quite well. Jeff still paid attention to his daughter, Lorraine, but not as much as before. Jill found she didn’t care anyway, even when he did behave in this manner which I think he did (unconsciously of course), to test her. She passed, for it did not trigger her to regress emotionally and react from old beliefs about herself. And within a month of their conversation about Radical Forgiveness, all that stopped. Lorraine didn’t call or visit as often and she got on with her life.

And so it was that everything slowly returned to normality. That was quite a number of years ago and they are still together, and very happily married.

_____________________________________

PSI am writing this postscript in December 2001 and I can assure you that they are still married and probably happier than ever. Not that I am saying that this always happens. Sometimes healing a relationship might mean letting it go.

This downloaded version of Jill’s Story is shorter than Chapter One itself. But you have the essence of it here and it will give you a good idea of the nature of Radical Forgiveness.

This story has changed the lives of thousands of people and I am tremendously grateful to Jill and Jeff and both Lorraines for allowing me to publish it. They gave an incredible gift to the world.

Colin Tipping, Dec 21, 2001

Did this story speak to you?
Do you have a story similar to Jill’s?
Would you like to let it go and heal your life?
Radical Forgiveness is the way!


Why not now go back to the website
www.radicalforgiveness.com
and order the book.


Or call us at 1-888-755-5696

Friday, January 12, 2007

A Sammy Friday


Hi Sammy here,
I am quite busy right now, as I am practicing for a "Peace" March. The Song, "If I had a hammer" by Peter, Paul, and Mary is below, and set the stage for a lot of folk story songs of the early 60's and struck a cord in American culture and music. Listening to that song brought back memories of a previous cat life, where good folk took to the streets to voice their love of country and the dismay of the times. So, I came keeping this short as I need to be ready to join a "Peace" March. Last time, I sat in a sunbeam on a window sill and watched the people in the streets. Now, I can use some exercise, as my tummy is getting bigger and some good old fashioned walking will tighten those muscles.
Se ya......
meoweeeeee...................

Monday, January 08, 2007

Paul Ferrini's Weekly Wisdom


The Dance and the Destination

In the end, all lakes and rivers empty into the sea. All forms of love merge into divine, unconditional love, the essence of who and what we are. All of us are pulled by an inner current to be born, to grow, to individuate and to merge into the greater whole. That is the divine dance. The beauty is that all this happens by itself. We do not have to do anything to make it happen.


Are you on track?

"Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line."-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just think: When we are driving, we know where we want to go and we plot out our route. When we plan and prepare a meal, we follow a recipe and monitor the food as it cooks.

Crash and I were talking on the way to Texas about manifestations and relating it to driving. When one starts driving one has a challenge with putting it all together and actually driving the car. Getting the clutch engaged with the right speed of the engine, releasing the break, turning the wheel, checking the mirrors, watching the speedometer, and trying to pay attention to the instructor - all at the same time! It can be a little overwhelming and frustrating for ourselves as well as others. But with practice, consistent practice and time, we learn to do all of that and more such as eventually turning on the radio, combing our hair, adjusting the volume, drinking some coffee and talking to our friend at the same time. We can become so engrossed in the conversation or radio that all of a sudden we are at point B, 20 minutes later, and did all of these activities on autopilot. I related that this is a lot like manifesting, building dreams, and when we start out, we seem to go in a herky-jerky forward motion.

Crash added that like manifesting, envisioning, dreaming of possibilities, etc, the real challenge for the student is really what s/he needs to watch. Some students get in and think they need to watch the pedal, others the steering wheel, and others the hood of the car. Eventually they learn to watch out in front to the car and some focus further down the road than others. They see the things that are flashing by, the pillars, the guardrails, and other obstacles/challenges along the way - but they are focused on where they want to go. Just like in driving, when we shift our gaze down the road to something out in the field, the driver will inadvertently turn the wheel toward what s/he is watching. In manifesting and envisioning s/he will also move towards that new target - and then we wonder why we crashed! What happened is we shifted our focus and attention away from what we desired onto some “thing” else and steered towards that new direction.

Some folks scoff at the idea of manifesting what they want in their lives. This is really the same concept as treasure mapping, building a vision board, goal setting, strategic planning, or planning a career path, etc. for oneself. This is not a new concept, as it has been around for ages. Everyone does it, and if you reflect on it for minute or two, you will realize you are doing exactly what you imagined you would be doing minutes, hours, and months ago. Think about it.

How much attention do you give to planning the direction of your life?

Taking the time to review your quality of life gives you a chance to re-evaluate what you are doing and where you want to go. It lets you fine-tune your direction, to ensure you are on track for what you most want.

Where are you?

The Secret Preview Authorized

This is the trailer to the movie, "The Secret"
I have mentioned this movie and seen it several times, and for those that are interested it is a must see movie that is well worth the time. Here is a link to the blogsite for more information:http://what-is-the-secret.blogspot.com/

The Secret

Another Clip from "The Secret"

Friday, January 05, 2007

A Sammy Friday



Hi, Sammy here,

I have been kind of loafin, do you folks know how to loaf? I mean really loaf? It really is good for you and you can dream up all kinds of ideas, dreams, and possible outcomes. A really good sunbeam also helps – it just feels so warm, and cozy……………

Opps, sorry, I started daydreaming. On the other blog, someone asked who jimmy was. I will let you in on a secret; there is a picture of him posted on the one of his blogs. So, let us make it a game – you find it and leave a comment at the photo and I will let you know if you are the winner.

And no - it is not that guy standing by the race truck waving. That is his best friend Crash. Crash got ill on the way back from Texas; he was puking, shaking, and just miserable. They think they found something else besides the race truck down in Texas; like a flu bug! Crash has been in bed all week and just got up yesterday. Nothing stops the man, but he has slowed down. He also has been really, really busy. He works with a "sense of urgency" and that he learned from growing up in the country. You make hay, while the sun is shining, and take naps when it is raining.

The man was also asked recently to serve on a Science of Mind Church board and he accepted the position. He found himself with manual and a code of ethics he is supposed to live his life by. Since the man was already involved in Baldrige evaluations as a volunteer Minnesota Quality Evaluator, the ethics was no big thing, but he has made some changes. He knows he has some weaknesses and one is saying "yes" rather easily, and another was being too fluid in IM’s. He had already stopped IM’s last summer and has been practicing saying “no” more often.

I hear that a piece of the Antarctic ice shelf broke free and started drifting. They caught it by looking at satellite images from last year. What shocked the scientists is how fast it happened. It was not days, weeks or months – but hours! It has since refrozen into the sea ice, but this is really a thing that may be quite common. The temperatures here have been quite balmy, the man keeps remembering that the weather used to be for weeks on end, well below zero. At least the sub zero weather would keep the vermin out, but now with the warm weather, the border gates are wide open.

I see that the rumor mill is thinking that more troops will be sent into harms way. This country just had a good man die this last week, and he was a good decent fellow. Yes, some folks think he pardoned a criminal, but he did and it was the best thing that could have happened for your country. That took bravery to go against what a lot of folks wanted. Then he did something else, he got your boys out of Vietnam. Us cats have learned that life is circular, and if we do not learn our lesson the 1st time, it just comes back harder the 2nd time. So is this war in Iraq a repeat of a lesson not learned from Nam? What you need now is someone willing to say, hey “this is not working” and get your boys out of there. Maybe in the future, instead of sending your sons and daughters to die for you, the folks that want to fight should be put in a real live cage match and let them just duke it out. It is surprising how things take on a different perspective, when one might be the one being hurt or worse. I know it has stopped me when the alfa cat (the man) has come barreling thru here. I just get out of the way, and let him pass by. A good nap solves a lot of problems for me.

My mommy sent me a catnip mouse for the holidays. It is a delightful treat. Have you ever eaten catnip? It is good – and I am going to go find it. See ya………..

Monday, January 01, 2007

Road Trip - Epilogue


We are back in Minnesota after a warm Texas welcome in tornado alley from Oklahoma City to Dallas on Friday evening. We drove into a deluge of rain and multiple lightning strikes. We were amazed at the number of cars that stopped under road overpasses, and for ourselves we just kept moving. We did not find out we were in the thick of tornadic activity until we had arrived in eastern Dallas, and survived the aquaducts of Dallas Freeways.

The truck's original owner was John Nemechek, who died racing in 1997 in Florida. He was having it made for the street racing tracks of Nascar and it has never been raced. "Crash" is going to install a crate motor, transmission, and a drivetrain for some light racing, but mostly as a "signage" for his business.

We also learned that while the mid Texas drivers are abrupt and force their way into traffic, the east Texas drivers are over polite. They will literally stop at the bottom of on ramps to allow freeway traffic to continue unimpeded. We slowed down to allow a fellow on the ramp to merge in front of us, and the other driver also slowed, so we slowed some more and he stopped on the ramp to let us by.

On the way back, we had the adventure of driving thru the snow storm that had come out of Colorado. It slowed our driving down and we arrived in the cities just as the New Year was ringing in.

Happy New Year!!!!!