Faith is the most important ingredient for realizing our goals.

Though, as I write this I do agree with the old adage, Faith is blindyet all reality is rooted in faith. We have faith that the sun will shine tomorrow, the planet will survive and that we will be alive the next morning. This faith is the substance of great hopes of people who have set out against perilous odds to follow their dreams. Actually, all achievers_ inventors, writers, builders or dancers have one attribute in common; they believe and persist in their quest on faith and faith alone. So how is it that even with strong beliefs and hard work we sometimes do not achieve the success we desire? My reasoning is that a vital part of our belief is CONVICTION and whatever we are really, really convinced about becomes a reality. Our thoughts are turned into reality when they are convictions of the conscious mind. It is only then that they are selected and passed on to the sub-conscious where transformation takes place. Though I must admit, that having faith and deep conviction is not an easy business. It is easy to believe something if we already believe it and vice versa. So lets say we really want to believe something, how do we create the necessary faith to do so? My answer is we act as if we already have it, in other words, we pretend! Since the mind does not know the difference between the real and the imagined it unquestioningly believes what we tell it. Lets take example 1. What do we do when we are confident of our ability to do something? We take action. We start doing the things that are necessary, which re-enforces further results and before we realize it we are well on our way. Example 2. Lets assume that we are not convinced that we can do something that we want to do. So we decide to just assume we can_ we pretend_ and begin to take necessary steps in that direction, one step at a time.and guess what? We start to get the same results as the first instance, which begins to build the belief in our ability and so on and on. Its a simple and practical concept: 1. Know what you want. 2. Believe you can get it_ have faith. 3. Take action in the direction you want to go. Many people know what they want. But since they dont believe they can get it they dont take any action. Hence everything grinds to a halt. So action gets you past the doubt area. If you pretend you believe and take the necessary action, youll get the same results as though you did believe it. Again, the brain does not know the difference between the real and the imagined. Faking it sometimes can work for us just as well! A BIT OF WIT: You are your own ultimate authority! Life Reinforcement Sets Changing your life is a process, not an event: Our new combinations of aromatic oils paired with a positive affirmation will help you to regain the power you gave up to play this Game called Life. Doc's Books The Trilogy is Now Available on Amazon: Dr. Stagg has released his Heaven is an Attitude trilogy on Amazon, available through our store. The books, "In The Beginning...", "In Search of the Simple", and "From Darkness to Light" will help you to understand your role in the universe, overcome the challenges of life, and how to have a good time playing this Metaphysical Game of Life.

Words Have Life We build our model of the world little by little, day by day, experience by experience. And because it took so much hurt and heartache, joy and success to build were reluctant to let it go_ even the most limiting parts. Some of these dont honour us anymore, especially the language we use when recalling these events. Words have energy, they are living things! Everything we verbalize has the power to magnetically manifest whatever we say as our reality. The first step towards knowing how this works is to be aware of our thoughts and how we voice our feelings. Watch what you say to yourself over and over. That burns me up He makes me sick You are a pain in the neck Thats hard to digest Im helpless to change this situation Shes always on my back I cant see myself do that I dont even want to look at that Words give us our identity; they help us define who we are. If we tell ourselves were clumsy over and over, we reenforce that clumsy image and guess what? We become clumsy! We start expecting ourselves to be clumsy. Whatever we say to ourselves repeatedly is imprinted in our internal computer program and becomes our belief system. Beliefs promote feelings, which in turn start our unending self-talk. What we say to ourselves is how we expect to perform. How we perform is directly related to what we believe about ourselves. And on and on goes the self-talk cycle. The first step towards change is to be aware of your actions. The next easiest step is to replace the negative with a positive affirmation and the best, simplest one I know is to say to yourself, I dont do that anymore, Im feeling good, and watch the magic unfold! Just do it! With love, Changing your life is a process, not an event: Improve your self-esteem Understand your strengths, weakness and increase self-confidence

The Value of Affirmations. Lets think for a moment_ how much does No dominate our lives? In 24 hours how often do we say or think__ No! Thats not right.

I dont like this. This should be different from what it is. No! I dont agree with that. For us to start saying Yes! we need positive affirmations. Every time we think, speak and feel we affirm it in every cell of our body and mind. Cursing is an affirmation, worrying is an affirmation and hatred is an affirmation. Love, gratitude and appreciation are also affirmations. For many of us what we normally think or say is quite negative. Every complaint is an affirmation of something we dont want in our life. Every time we feel angry or victimized were affirming that we want to continue to feel this way. This doesnt make us bad people for thinking this way; its just that we never learned to think or talk to ourselves differently. So whether its health, money prosperity, love or work we can create it by being conscious of what we put out. Some say its hogwash; it doesnt really work. Well, it doesnt if we dont use it correctly. If we say, my popularity is growing and then think, oh, Im so stupid, how could I ever be popular?_ which affirmation will win? The negative, of course, because its a long, long standing habitual way of looking at life. Saying and repeating affirmations is only part of the process; what you do the rest of the time is even more important. Its a choice, folks, and its doable. Every time you say a positive sentence you are affirming the seeds you plant in the soil of your mind and consciousness. The mind is fertile ground; whatever you put there grows rapidly. So instead of saying, I dont want to be sick anymore, rather say, I accept good health now. The more we talk about limitations like poor relationships, poverty or illness the more we anchor it in our life. So retraining the mind with a positive affirmation opens the door towards the path to change. I suggest you start with something simple__ that way youll see results quicker and itll build your confidence to continue to be aware of what you create. Then you can go on to tackling larger issues. Some examples from Louise Hay, I give myself permission to let go I am open to the wisdom within I release the need to criticize others I trust the process of life Loving myself and others gets easier everyday I always have as much as I need When done sincerely over a period of time, this will prove to be the start of the new you!

Living Wisely Another year begins Lets pray with intention to bring joy, light, compassion and most of all the ability to live everyday with expanded awareness in this coming year. When we reflect on this past year, or even the last decade, we can congratulate ourselves on the many positive changes and transformations occurring throughout the world. We can certainly pat ourselves on the back for achieving the technical and intellectual expertise that makes our lives more secure and fulfilling.

Though the paradox is interesting; despite our ingenious inventions, medical achievements and intellectual skills are we living more wisely than we did the last year or the last century? In our lucid moments we recognize that many of our inventions and decisions are beneficial for us and the environment, and many are harmful too. But for all our intellectual insight we cannot seem to change the way we think and live! Its not to say that we are all living unintelligently or are bad people. The problem, as I see it, is that we have simply not completed our education. Gandhi said, knowledge without character is incomplete. By this he was not implying that we know too much for our own good but that we are confused about what our real needs are. To a large extent media and advertising dictate what we need. Demand is created by advertisements. The hidden and subliminal message is that what we own, or eat, or smoke, or wear has the power to endow us with selfrespect! Actually its the other way around. Your car or house may be supremely swanky but thats not why its dignified. You, as a person, give it dignity and worth; otherwise its just a hunk of metal or concrete. When we depend on possessions for dignity or fulfillment we are giving away part of our freedom. We become servants of the things we bought to serve us. We then have to drive that car, we have to own that suit, or house or watch. We rush about caught in a perilous game of catch up. There is a deep chasm between what we know as good for us and our ability to act on it. This is because this ability exists in the subconscious and has been planted there through years of repetition_ it becomes an addiction! This belief that we can only find fulfillment from outside of ourselves, whether in worldly possessions, others adulation or acceptance is most critical and underlies our constant search for happiness. I do believe that we are larger than our addictions! I believe too, that we can connect with this more productive part of us by doing something that we think is significant. It could be music, gardening, athletic or scholastic pursuits, raising a family or being a business person; to be an achiever in some area that we consider really important. Begin step by step: Observe your lifestyle and habits. Examine what holds the power outside of you. Focus on an activity that you are passionate about. Act on that passion.

The fact is that we all have the ability to crown our lives with dignity and self-worth. So get excited about what a great challenge and opportunity this is! When you can do this youll be excited about your life forever; and this is the way it was meant to be! Happy New Year! Whose Choice Is It? Oh my God, its a crisis! Or as was popularly going around the networks, Its Doomsday, the world is ending! In the regular course of our lives we take minor setbacks and disappointments in our stride, but how do we deal with a crisis? When we are rejected by someone we love, when we dont get the job we want or when we go through loss either personal or financial.yes, there is sadness, life looks bleak and the zest goes out of living. This is so common that even the textbooks call it a normal reaction. The commonness of being knocked flat by misfortune, however, does not mean that life has to be this way. It depends on how we explain to ourselves, our explanatory style that makes all the difference. Lets look at an example:

Tanya and Rahul were executives in a large retailing firm. They were fired from their jobs. Consequently they were stressed and depressed for some months. Tanya however remained a loving wife and mother; continued to meet her friends and worked out at the gym 3 times a week. Rahul, in contrast, fell apart. He had violent arguments with his wife and completely ignored the kids. He was sullen, brooding and refused to go to parties or any social events. Some of us can put our troubles neatly in a box and others bleed over everything and catastrophize. Why does this happen? People who make universal explanations for their failures give up on everything when they encounter stress in some area. People who make specific explanations may become helpless in one part of their lives yet march ahead in other ways. People who give up easily habitually say of their misfortune, Its going to last forever and undermine everything I do. Those who resist this view say, This is just an event.nothing lasts forever and theres much more to life! Our way of explaining an event and its effect is more than just words we say when we fail. Our explanatory style stems from the way we see our place in the world; whether we think we are valuable and deserving or worthless and hopeless. If we believe, like Rahul, that the cause of our trouble is permanent, like thinking were talentless or ugly or stupid then nothing can change for us. If we believe, like Tanya, that the cause is temporary like a bad mood or too little effort, we can act to take a step forward towards getting better. Pessimism is the danger zone; it eventually drags down performance, physically, mentally and spiritually. Also, the immune system suffers; we are more prone to infectious diseases and recuperate slowly. Optimism, on the other hand is infectious too! We then respond to lifes setbacks positively, looking for the win and bounce back from defeat more briskly than we did before. In conclusion, no matter what the circumstance, we must believe internally that how we respond to life is the key. As my mentor Gordon Stokes said, The problem is not the problem; how we feel about it is the problem. Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. Happy Valentine Day!