A job is a job is a job, I thought as a kid.  But when you grow up you know that’s not true.  Some people hate their jobs, but there are many who love what they do.  I wanted that, but wasn’t sure how to get there until my uncle pointed me in the right direction.

“Be as silly as you want to be,” he said, “Pretend you’re doing a job you might enjoy.” So I began play-acting being a fireman, saving entire buildings full of people.  I liked the feeling of being a hero, but more than that I liked the feeling of being in control of my life.

When I was old enough I started volunteering at the nearest fire station.  Once I graduated high school you can bet I went directly to the firehouse and signed up to begin their training program. It felt right!

Give kids the gift of trying on many different hats while they’re still young.  Without a doubt they’ll find something that inspires them, which helps get the ball rolling in the right direction.

Instead of polishing rocks that I’d found on the beach each day, I switched my hobby to reading a new book or two each week.  After a while I enjoyed books more and more, so the walks on the beach became far and few between.

Eventually I decided to combine my hobbies.  Before I died I carried a book with me everywhere.  After an hour or so of walking, I would stop and read my book for a while.  I can’t tell you how many wonderful places I sat reading vs. my old chair in the back of my house.

If you’re stuck in a rut, combine several things you enjoy and see the new horizon that comes toward you!

Sometimes I wanted to spread rumors and gossip when I felt someone had it coming to them, but didn’t because my mom always urged
me to stay out of other people’s business.

Privately I wanted to get in on juicy details but didn’t since I knew I wasn’t going to be able to add to the conversation. At a pretty early age I realized it was harder to be nice than nasty.

I struggled with this all my life, but you know what? All things considered, throughout my life I felt pretty good about myself.  And while those who gossiped a lot often seemed entertaining, over time I saw how miserable they became. More and more their life became about finding fault in everyone and everything.

Common sense.  That’s what my mom had to share with me about not getting into other people’s business.  And common sense, in my opinion, is what I see missing in these days of instant communication.

Stay in good standing with others and yourself.  Yours will be a life well worth living.

Trouble set in when I was a teenager.  I thought I knew everything so rebelled badly against my family, because it felt like they were always in my way telling me what to do.

By the time I was seventeen I was on my own earning a meager living hauling hay from one small town to another.  It wasn’t easy, but because I had to make so many repeat trips I got to see for myself how other families operated.  What I too often saw were sons and daughters being badly mistreated for doing little or nothing at all.

After considerable thought I asked to rejoin my folks on the farm.  It was always their hope, they said, to keep the farm in the family.  Over time my two brothers, sister and I took on full responsibility of the farm and doubled its operation and profits.  Our folks were real proud!

Give your kids all the room they need to go out when they act out.  It’s a legitimate need.  It won’t be until they see for themselves that what they had at home was special, that they begin to feel special.  It’s a gift. 

Because we’re all in a hurry, it seems, it’s almost impossible not to feel frustrated on a daily basis.  I was like that on your side.  But one day I gave it up.  Why? Because my doctor said I was going to have a heart attack if I kept it up.

Lesson: After I decided to assume there was a reason for me being in slow traffic or a slow line, I began to feel more and more like an easy going person.  Soon life began to take on a whole new feeling: happy!

Have a happy life no matter what your age or health.  Assume that where you are is where you’re supposed to be.  This is a recipe that will return many rewards.

By the time I turned sixty I caught myself upset and frowning more and more, because inside I knew I was feeling less and less like myself.  As pains and disappointments had accumulated over time, it seemed the real me – the happy me – had disappeared.

Then a miracle: I decided to stop taking myself so seriously!  In so doing I actually reversed many of the signs and feelings of aging.  No more frowning / no more aches and pains.  Truly!

The health and vigor I regained resulted in returning to the happy person I once was; the one I sincerely loved.  What I know is that if I can do it, you can, too! 

The best thing that ever happened to me when I was young was finding out how funny I was.  It was great to watch people watching me, waiting for more silliness!

As I got older, however, I began to notice how we lose our need to laugh at ourselves or make others laugh.  It wasn’t until I was in college that I picked up the bug again, and saw to it that any gathering I was a part of had time enough for comedy. No matter how serious people seemed, laughing drew them out!

In the twilight of my years I kept at it.  I know I was something of a ham, but really, it was all I could do at times to keep people from poking me for more stories and jokes.  Laughing, it’s the secret to a long and much more healthy life.  Take my word for it!

If people were only to make up their minds, they’d have an easier time.  In retrospect I’ve seen person after person say they want one thing, yet do the exact opposite.  Funny.  I guess we’re all subject to that, but when I was where you are I used to get so frustrated that eventually I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t say I wanted something until I made up my mind it was something I knew I truly wanted, long-term. 

The advantage turned out to be significant. I earned much more money, had many more quality friendships, and stopped feeling so frustrated about life.  All in all, I received exactly what I really wanted: peace of mind and heart!

See your horizon as a wide open landscape.  Then slowly add to it the picture of you as you want to look and feel, doing things that bring you satisfaction and joy.  Imagine it over and over, and the assembly line of pictures will align.  Before you know it God will walk you into that picture.  Keep it alive. Keep it consistent!

Impressive people always interested me.  They had something in common, though I wasn’t sure what it was.  One day it came to me, they liked who they were and seemed to like others, too.  I learned when I crossed over that many of them knew who they were from the inside out, which was what made the difference.

If you know you are wonderful deep down, and want to live that wonderful life, let the minor things in life roll passed you.  Don’t let little things pull you away from enjoying yourself or others.  That’s an impressive person and that’s an impressive life!

The first time I heard Beethoven’s 5th Symphony I knew I was in love.  Music had always meant a great deal to me, but to hear the majesty of this classical piece changed the way I heard all music.  It became the standard by which I attuned myself; attuned my heart!

Exquisite music inspires as well as allows the troubled mind and body to comfort itself in the authenticity that music IS the strand that bridges our DNA to shift from conscious evolution to *co-creation through God’s eyes.

The mind and body need a framework for ones DNA to sucessfully rewrite itself.  That framework is love, God’s familiar love.  In God’s eyes we are all created musically ~ harmonically ~ through His love.  Find the music you most love.  Then allow the miraculous properties of God’s love to unleash its power!

Bradley

*To understand this complex picture I offer that music soothes the soul in ways that words alone cannot, for it promotes both the mind and the body to reconcile the past (ones ancestral chromosomes) with the perceived genetic imprint of what it means to see, feel, and be HEALED.  The karmic past then releases, as the switch (to activate the gene of HEALED) becomes impregnated with love and ultimately activated to recharge!

Because my family preferred doing things together, we weathered the Great Depression significantly better than most.  Too often we saw families fall apart, certain they could find work separately.  But even if they did, the family unit always suffered.

Years after the economy improved, we continued doing what we did best: work together.  To the point, we opened a small store off our ranch selling lamb meat and wool goods, including scarves, gloves, and blankets. Real keepsakes, I must say!  Eventually we prospered.

In good times or bad, families that encourage their children’s work habits by working together are the closest families.  Every person feels the satisfaction that their efforts matter, which is a very humbling and gratifying feeling all the days of their life.

As I was dying I thought nothing of those who had passed before me.  I was certain that when you died you’re gone, permanently.  But as I slumbered into my final phase of letting go, I saw the movement of many people I had known throughout my life coming nearer and nearer to me.

At first I thought it was a dream, though it felt so real.  Then I thought certain I must be hallucinating, but their faces and words were becoming so clear.  At last I realized I must be where others are who died ahead of me: I’m in the afterlife.

It was true.  I had died.  Interestingly, though, I felt more awake that I had for a long time because the people who had gathered around me were there to celebrate my ‘homecoming’.  With their help and inspiration, I awakened pretty quickly and certainly with a lot of chipper feelings…considering I had just died!

So now I reside in the afterlife, where most of you feel us but few of you discern us.  We’re here among you for the most part, because we want to give ideas and help.  But if you believe we don’t exist, your mind acts as a shield and resists discerning us – no matter what.

I suppose it’s a matter of making sense to the mind - to only see what makes sense, but in reality there is so much more to see than just what you see.  If you allow your eyes to squint a bit, relax your mind some by breathing deeply, at some point your eyes and mind will reconnect those cones in the back of your eyes that discern other levels of light. 

Bringing you this information is my great desire because I spent a lifetime wondering if God existed at all, if life continued after the body, and if our loved ones have to leave us with that lonely feeling when they die.  Had I been able to slowly allow my eyes to see my loved ones who crossed over I’m certain I would have felt for myself the miracle of their rebirth.

Each of us has aspirations we may or may not think we’re deep-down able to achieve.  With all my heart I wanted to be a star on Broadway. Though I had some success in small community theaters, I never reached the heights I deeply wanted to reach.

Looking back I know what my stumbling block was. While I imagined living the life of a glamorous, successful star, I never stood before producers or casting agents with the look in my eyes that said, I am the one you’re looking for!

While it’s important your heart feels excited about your dreams and aspirations, it’s as important your mind does, too.  Feel the success you want.  Then spend time in your mind’s eye approving of it.  Things change rapidly thereafter!

Before I was married my grandmother took me aside and advised that the one thing she found that keeps a married couple hopeful and happy is when they ask each other questions and then genuinely listen.

Too often, she said, people ask questions to be polite, but don’t really want to know the answer.  When you’re married, every day is different so each person will have new feelings about the day, and most especially about what’s ahead.

If you want a fresh life ask your husband or wife what they think and then listen.  Don’t worry, most of the time they’ll figure out their problems as they open up to you.  But when you give them a soft ear, you receive a soft heart in return.

After school was out I got a summer job.  My family was poor, so the extra money would really help.  But once I got the cash in my pocket, I spent it on my friends. Certain they would be impressed, I paid for everything from burgers to movies.  I thought I was important.

Wrong. It backfired! My friends spent that summer borrowing money from me over and over again, never once paying me back.  Eventually they stopped coming around, because I got tired of feeling used.

Once I finally woke up and started helping my family, I began to change from the inside out.  I gave my best to my family, first, because their appreciation is what mattered most. (Funny, after that my friends began to sincerely respect me.)

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence was a way of life for me.  No matter what I was doing, I wondered what I was missing, so hurried on my way.

When I crossed over I saw the completion of important opportunities I had passed by in my haste. Had I not been in such a hurry, outcomes left and right would have turned out so much better for me.

The best things in life are worth the extra time and effort they take, because in the end you prove to yourself what was important.  Be important to you.  Stick with what you started!

In France where I grew up, we sought fulfilling ways to enjoy our lives by venturing into new places, doing new things, and meeting new people.  It was a passionate way of being!

Today, however, I see many people experiencing life’s frontiers through electronic devices rather than reaching out, personally.  Relationships, included.

When you go to sleep tonight ask God to give you the desire to explore more, settle less, and live free from depression.  When you do, you’ll be surprised how much more deeply interested you will be in living a long and prosperous life.  (It’s God’s plan!)

The town I grew up in wasn’t going to let me get away with a thing.  Not a thing.  As a child I hated it, but deep inside I was okay with it because I felt watched over and protected - most especially from myself!

I have no doubt that had I grown up in a large city somewhere the outcome of my life would have been very different, because I was always giving myself permission to push my luck.

Lead your kids by showing them that the watchful eye of your friends and family includes neighbors, because a close family almost always starts with a close community. 

Many people face a wall wondering how to get over it, around it, or even under it, knowing only that the wall obstructs their vision of what’s ahead.

In so many ways we’ve all wondered what it is that we didn’t do enough of, or did too much of, toward the construction of that wall.  But in fact, we want a challenge in life to be there so it shakes us up and wakes us up.

From here I see good people succeeding or failing all the time depending in large part on their relationship with God. While they may have strong religious ties, their own hearts may or may not have a personal relationship with God.

For those who seek and sense God’s help is always there and always abundant, they seize opportunities more readily because they know God Himself walked them into that moment of opportunity.

Watch what unfolds quickly when you carry more and more of your conversations with God.  Talk.  Share.  Wonder.  Wish.  And when it’s time to listen, your eyes (that are awakening to His light) will unveil so much more than you ever thought possible.

Before 2012 carries you too far forward, initiate yourself with God first, last and always.  That’s the most important obstacle you have that needs addressing.  Make 2012 your golden year!