July 2009 – Leveraging Thought

Define Spirituality?

Editor's note : Part 2 of "How To Raise Your H.Q." will be published shortly. This article felt more inspired in this moment, and stems from a quote I read today from one of my favorite authors, Abraham Hicks. _____________________________________________ Questioner: Is finding my purpose in life more about asking what life wants from me, or what I want from life? Abraham: It is what you want from life; you are the creator. And, really, the other part of it you can't get wrong anyway. Because, what life wants from me -- oh, such a good question -- what life wants for me is talking about this non-physical energy that is really you. In other words, who you were prior to coming into this physical body is still who that non-physical energy is (your soul). In other words: So, you came with intention. So, then as you stand in your physical form, you could accurately ask the question, "What does that part of me want from me?" And we would say, "What that non- physical part of you wants from you is new experience. New life, new contrast, new exploration; new conclusions...that what? New conclusions that that part of you can sink it's teeth in; can vibrationally become. There are a lot of people who are saying, "It is inappropriate to want." And, sometimes we go there, as we visit, because we know, we hear it from many: that there are some philosophies that seem to take issue with the idea of you, egotistically, identifying anything as desire. And, sometimes, as we listen (and we always love to hear the conversations no matter what they are about, because people are earnestly seeking) and, after they [...]

How To Raise Your H.Q.- Part 1

The terms I.Q. and now even E.Q. (emotional quotient, which correlates with emotional intelligence) have long ago made it into the vernacular. But there is another “quotient” so to speak that everyone strives for but not many people really understand. So I’m going to go out on a limb and coin a new phrase: let’s just call it H.Q. – or the Happiness Quotient. What is H.Q.? It’s long been understood that some people just have a lower threshold for happiness. You know, those annoying people that derive great pleasure from the smallest of things. Like eating ice cream. Or watching football. Or whatever. Frankly, I never used to be one of those people. In fact, I think I simultaneously despised and envied people that were happy for no reason (I mean, what was their deal anyway?). Weren’t they smart enough to see everything that was wrong in their lives and want to fix it? Wasn’t it normal to endlessly examine and rationalize one’s own deficiencies? To conquer childish optimism and replace it with jaded “maturity”? Then one day, in my attempts at introspection, I realized that my forced realism, pragmatism, rationalism, and other -isms that I can’t think of right now, were only making me more miserable. I had been socially trained to be all those things. Creativity, spontaneity, and passion were mere luxuries – not a normal part of everyday life. And then I began to pay attention to my emotions, and my happiness level (it’s hard to quantify, but you know it when you have it). I began to consciously infuse moments of happiness into everyday life. I would eat an ice cream cone in the middle of the afternoon (there is [...]