"When a trumpet blows, listen!  Isaiah  18:3
Most of the time, I don't think about getting older.  As long as I feel well and am doing some thing interesting, I am content to be my age.  Sometimes, however, as I bumble blissfully along, out of the blue there is a reminder.  At a recent trip to a beauty salon for a perm, the stylist asked the question:
"Do you color your hair" and then she immediately provided the answer "What a silly question, no one would dye their hair this color. My hair is a faded blonde with lots of gray mixed in.  I just laughed at the tactless woman.  What is the point of being offended?  It is, also, no longer necessary for me to remind sales clerks about the senior discount, they do it automatically.
In spite of our society's progress in addressing the aging population, there still persists a reluctance to admit that it exists.  Including by some of those who are aging!  The physical body is the emphasis.
Keep looking young and beautiful.  If you can't, you have somehow missed the mark.  Even worse is being treated as "cute" and as half way to a half-wit.  It makes one feel that getting old is the ultimate form of failure.
 We may like to think that we have accumulated some knowledge and even some wisdom during our many decades.  If we indeed have, it is best to use it in our own progress, and not to attempt to pass it on to younger generations.  They are probably not interested in any sage advice.  After all, what could someone your age know that is worth anything!!  The best that you can hope for is that your way of life is an example.  A longer life is an opportunity for spiritual work and soul evolution, so we should project that.
 In "Still Here" Ram Dass tells the following anecdote about himself.
"At age 62, I was on a train when the conductor asked if I wanted a regular or senior citizen ticket...now, although I was bald, covered with age spots, and battling high blood pressure and gout, it never occurred to me--Not Once-- that I could be called a senior citizen... But this conductor hadn't asked for ID; he'd taken one look and thought 'Discount'.  Offended, amused, and confused, I squeaked…'Senior Citizen'.....  That's $4.50 he said....How much for a regular ticket? (I asked).  $7.50 he quoted.   The satisfaction of having saved a few dollars was short lived.  'What identity had I taken on with the discount of a senior citizen?"
This can easily become part of our persona if we let it.  Getting older doesn't mean that we have to choose between being obsessed with staying young with all the options of plastic surgery, hair dye and youthful clothes or shuffling off to an old folks home.  We can live each moment as it comes with spiritual awareness.  If we do this, our bodies will "blow a trumpet" of our limitations.  Listen to it!  Keep your mind active and curious.  Old dogs can learn new tricks.  We must realistically acknowledge the changes that each year brings.  Spiritual practice and graceful aging go hand in hand.
Article by Judy Struna

Here is a very visual tool for creating. 
Set aside some time where you will not be interrupted.  This doesn't have to take a long time but it does require your complete attention.
Sit quietly and take a deep breath.  Create a grounding cord from your first chakra, the tip of your tail bone, to the center of the earth.  Take your attention to the center of your head, your sixth chakra, the place of complete neutrality.  It is located behind your eyes and between your ears.   Put a colored bubble around your aura bringing it in arms length around, above and below you.  From the center of your head visualize a rose.  See it in detail.  Now visualize in detail what you want to create. Start with something simple like a quiet dinner out with your partner or a friend.  See yourself getting ready, driving to the restaurant and being seated at your table.  See the table setting.  Maybe there are flowers or a candle on the table.  Notice the person you are with and what they are wearing.  Notice how the place feels and smells.  Notice how you feel having a nice time with someone you love to be with.   Run this visualization like a movie and don't forget to star in it.  When you have the sights, sounds and feeling put the visualization into the head of the rose.  Don't work at it just let it go into the rose.  The rose is the vehicle for your creation.  Now ground the rose by sending the stem to the center of the earth to ground off all obstacles to your intention.  See a golden ball or sun above the head of the rose and put the vibration of "havingness" into the sun.  Havingness is the ability to receive from the universe and the ability to have what is while your intention is manifesting.  See the sun fill with the vibration of havingness and then drop the whole sun into the rose letting it fill every petal.  See a balloon around the head of the rose,a pink, green or gold balloon works well.  Now cut the stem of the rose and let the balloon carry it away to the hands of the Supreme Being or to the outer edges of the universe.  This is where you detach and allow your intention to manifest in your physical reality.

Namaste'
Kelly

 "There lives more faith in honest doubt, than in half the creeds."  Alfred,Lord Tennyson

An article in a Sunday supplement awhile back was entitled "How Spiritual are We?" A survey of the religious beliefs of the American people was the basis of the piece.  The following paragraph seemed significant.  "What Americans are doing today is separating spirituality from religion, with many people disavowing organized practices altogether, while privately maintaining some type of worship."  There seems to be a trend of questioning ones beliefs.
The kind of deep spirituality that bestows courage and resolve goes beyond belief.  Religious scholar, Wilfred Cantwell Smith defines it as "an orientation of the personality, to oneself, to one's neighbor, to the universe; a total response; a way of seeing whatever one sees and of whatever one handles; a capacity to live at more than a mundane level; to see, to feel, to act in terms of a transcendent dimension."
If one comes from a traditional religious background, filled with dogma, questions will arise.  However, if you dont want your faith to waiver, refuse to question received wisdom or challenge your own ideas.
A true spiritual path demands unrelenting examination and scrutiny.  Following the truth to wherever it leads you may be a sign of spiritual strength.  Some dark nights of the soul occur because of the longing of that soul, and not doubts about religious teachings.
There a numerous tools to assist us on our spiritual way.  A very useful one is to read about the lives of the saints and enlightened beings.  Take notes and use them in your own life.  Everyone has had flashes of something sacred, a graceful passage, a feeling of a divine presence.  Recall those instances for use in the present.  You can set bellwethers for spiritual progress..inner peace, complete surrender, detachment, etc.  If you have a spiritual goal, write down specifically what you want.  You may also want to consider reclaiming organized practices.  Attend a religious service, talk to a spiritual advisor, join a group of like-minded seekers, learn to meditate.  Prayer, meditation, contemplation, intention, visualization, and affirmations are all useful practices on the path.  It is a long and arduous trip, there are no short cuts or "quick fixes."
In his book "Roadsigns" Philip Goldberg says  "Being excessively goal driven not only slows you down , it can also destroy your peace and rob you of happiness in the here and now.. The spiritual path should be taken seriously, but not solemnly...impatience and excessive fervor are dead weights."
You cannot plan to start on your spiritual self in the future (like planning retirement), when you have more time, are less stressed, the kids are grown, etc.  Start today.

Article by Judy Struna

This valentines day focus on yourself.  Be your own valentine.  Whether you are in a relationship or not look at February 14th as a day to spend some time with and on yourself.  This is not a selfish thing it is an essential thing in being a whole person and a gift to the One Reality.  You probably don't think twice about taking care of others which is wonderful as long as you give the same consideration to yourself.
Your teach everyone in your life how to treat you.  By loving and valuing yourself you set an energetic standard.  You raise your vibration and then you attract love and value from others.
You are the most important person in your life and what you give to yourself enhances what you have to give to others.  You truly must become the center of your own universe.
Your body is important.  It is the vehicle your spirit created for this incarnation.  It is to be loved and respected.
Let me ask you, how do you feel after a massage or some other body treatment?  How do you feel after you have done something where you have paid attention only to you?  Attention is love and love is self perpetuating.
When you feel good you want to share that feeling and when you do, it comes back.  When you smile at someone, they typically smile back.  That is validation and it is a circle.  When you smile at someone or say hello what you are doing on an energetic level is saying "I see you" and I acknowledge that you and I are the same.  Validating another person and being validated in return validates Spirit, or the One Reality.
So be your own valentine, not just on Valentines Day, and see what a wonderful contribution you make to everything that is.
Namaste'
Kelly Whetstone

Tune in to www.12radio.com Tuesdays at 12:00PM Pacific for Consciously Creating with Laura and Kelly.  Topic on 2/9/10 is Be You Own Valentine

   "With my song I give thanks to him"    Psalm 28:7
 At the start of the New Year, I was in the mood for something different to assist me on my path to enlightenment.  The market was flooded with ideas and suggestions.  Many of them were old hat, but some had a different spin to them.  There is a local newspaper whose audience is the senior citizen population..."50 Plus Marketplace News."  In the January issue one of the articles suggested participation in a project focusing on gratitude.  The idea was to keep a journal for thirty consecutive days, recording the signs of abundance observed throughout each day.  The goal was to see if shifting ones focus to gratitude increases the abundance that we experience.
Even though I try to make it a daily practice to acknowledge the good in my life and to express thankfulness, I thought that writing them down would increase my awareness.   So on January first I began recording the evidence of abundance.  First I wrote a cover paragraph (to be read every day) which stated the constant and continuous blessings of my family, especially my kids and grandkids, my home, and good health.  Then I would make a point of noticing and recording other blessed occurrences.  The timing didn't seem to be so good, because on the third day of this "experiment" I got sick, and was sick for the entire rest of the month.  This manifested itself in a multitude of symptoms that came and went and came and went; headache, sore throat, cough...you get the picture….ugly.
It is difficult to count your blessings when you feel lousy.  There were days that started out good and I would enter a thank you into my journal.  But a few hours later I was back on the couch.  Even through this there were things to be grateful for.  I have nice warm home, with a bed.  I could afford to by some herbal remedies that gave a little relief.  Since I am retired, I didn’t have to report to a job feeling ill.
I think the purpose of this was to teach me to appreciate the abundance of my usual good health.
Since I am well again, I am SO grateful.
 In "The New Earth"  Echart Tolle's lines about abundance are very appropriate and bear repeating:
"The source of all abundance is not outside you.  It is part of who you are... See the fullness of life all around you....it is there in every step"
 
There is a tremendous opportunity to grow when you experience a challenge, so have the wisdom to be grateful for that.   Look for the deeper spiritual significance in what may on the surface appear as mundane.  The way that you view life may transform an ordinary experience into a rich and rewarding blessing.
Article by Judy Struna