by Asim Choudhury

The anger of not having what we want or the way we want it and the resulting frustration in many ways derails our lives from where we want to go. The sense of vengeance and avenging life for not giving us what we want moves through us, causing decisions and indecisions for what could otherwise be a learning lesson for us, which is for our own good, disturbs us. In the meantime, when we are spending time in our anger, it is like spending time in our own tomb, where it seems life is killing us. Here, with all our decisions going against life, they are working against us.

Are we different from life? If yes, then we should try living without life! Since we are not different from life, our perception of life is our perception of our own selves. We experience life in ourselves, and we can choose our experience! Life goes where we go.

Are we angry with life? Are we complaining that it does not work and support us for our growth? Does it feel like somehow being stuck in life? Who are we complaining? Are we complaining about ourselves?

By John Holland

Here’s a scenario that I am sure will resonate with many of you reading this article. You get up and take a shower, eat breakfast, get dressed and go off to work, all the time trying to feel positive and hoping for a great day. You hit heavy traffic, horns blowing, brakes screeching, or the bus or train is crowded. Then you remember the kids forgot their lunch, and finally you look down and realize you’re now wearing your cup of coffee! You walk into the office thinking you looked okay when you left your house, until one of your co-workers says, “Wow! Are you sick? You look really tired!”

There’s Never Enough Time!

Sound familiar? This is how a lot of people often start their day. Your stress and anxiety levels rise to critical levels and you never get the chance to stop to catch your breath before launching into work. When we don’t stop, breathe and check-in, the rest of the day will often be spent just trying to catch up. When your mind and body are in a perpetual state of stress, then it’s almost impossible to acknowledge and listen to your intuition.

by Kathy Biehl

July continues the forward thrust of late June – then invites do-overs that will make our eventual landing more solid and stable.

The state of our security is in focus as July begins. The Capricorn Full Moon on July 1 tests the firmness of our foundations. How do we feel about them? About our goals at this point? Both have undergone quite the beating and reshaping of late. Do we will want to trudge along this particular road while it figures out what it’s going to be and where exactly it’s going? Maybe; maybe not. We may, in fact, want more — and are not merely open to a brighter path, but outright expecting it.

Such assured optimism spills over into relationships, which also buzz with potential and possibilities. You may know people who hold keys and resources. The more open you are, the more likely they are to share. Open does not mean aggressive, though. Making demands and slamming fists on the table are overkill. Gentleness and receptivity are the winning combo, especially on July 8 and July 13. They will deliver the way around (or coping mechanism for) the immovables that present themselves now.

At night, while we’re asleep, we dream. We may not remember what we have experienced in this state, but the pictures and impressions are stored in our subconscious. They are communications from our deepest selves, offering course corrections, insights, warnings, and sometimes, congratulations.

Then, there is the day, while we are awake. Are the experiences we have during our waking hours different than the dreams we have during sleep? Surprisingly, perhaps, the answer is no. These experiences are exactly the same. They offer the same kinds of spiritual communications that we get from our sleeping dreams.

How does it work? The answer is that we are living in a paradox. On one hand, waking life demands that we interact with it objectively. We cook our meals, go to work and raise our children. Simultaneously, these same life experiences offer us an overlay of metaphors that are nothing more than dream symbols. These metaphors contain the same sort of imagery we experience during sleep. The trouble is that most of us don’t pay attention to them.

By Marcia Sirota, MD

A lot of people are attached to the idea of being “nice.” It’s not so easy for these individuals to let go of their need to be nice, or to appreciate how different it is from being kind.

This distinction is important, however, because these two ways of being lead to very different outcomes in one’s personal and professional life.

It will be easier to understand the difference between “nice” and “kind” if we focus on the opposing motivations behind each way of being.

The nice person is externally motivated. He’s driven by the need for other people’s approval and validation; he craves acceptance and is fearful of rejection.

The kind person is internally motivated. She has good self-esteem and isn’t looking for approval. She’s less concerned about what others might think of her and more interested in doing the right thing. Her compassion comes from an overflowing of her positive self-regard and not from the need to please.