Think Positive 30

How to Stop Getting Burned – Chris Cade

by Chris Cade This last week I've been sick, and after being down for a day I finally had my hunger back. Armed with a bowl of freshly made vegetable broth pasta (thanks Mom!), I joyously scooped my first spoonful. Then felt that "oops" sensation of the top of my mouth and tastebuds burned. Despite my ravenous hunger, I cautiously waited a minute before scooping again. Apparently though, I wasn't cautious enough. "Oops" again. It took me a few times before I finally figured out to wait a little bit longer. But by then it was too late. In reflecting on my experience, I am reminded of this *famous quote: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Yes, my hunger blinded me. I became insane with the insatiable hunger of being energy deprived from my illness. When I started to feel somewhat human again, I realized something interesting. Our impatience is one of the most frequent reasons we get burned in life. Whether it's a burn from a relationship gone bad, an unwanted habit that prevents us from living as full as we're capable of, an employee who delivers poor performance, an employer…

Comments Off

April 3, 2012

Articles / Negativity / Opportunities / Positive Thoughts / Possibilities

What is Helplessness – Chris Cade

Chris Cade Nobody likes to feel helpless. It is probably most frequently avoided human emotion. People push themselves beyond their limits as well as fall into deep depression just to avoid feeling helpless. The thing about it is this... Helplessness, like all other difficult emotions, is a gateway to deeper wisdom and greater inner freedom. Sure it may not seem like that. After all, we try to avoid it! But it's only when we stop avoiding our feelings of helplessness that we can discover those inner gifts contained within. Here's how I define (REFRAME) helplessness: "Helplessness is a sign that your Inner Critic believes you 'should' do more than the Universe needs you to do in a particular situation." Your Partner In Transformation, Chris Cade Liberate Your Life P.S. I thought about explaining the idea above, but I decided not to. Instead, I figure it's best to let you explore it for yourself... even if part of that exploration includes the possibility that you might feel helpless. If you would like to take the next step with Chris, sign up sign up for his Free "Getting Things Changed" 7-part mini-program that exposes the inner and outer obstacles conspiring against your best efforts…

Comments Off

March 10, 2012

Articles / Choices / Emotions / Opportunities / Possibilities

Old? Get Out! New? Bring it on!

by Chris Cade Or phrased another way, "Out with the old and in with the new." This is the mantra billions of people worldwide have been saying to them as the new year passed from 2011 to 2012. People have made resolutions to be different than they were. To lose weight, meditate more, save money, work harder, start a new business, start a new relationship, exercise more, judge others less, begin personal transformation programs, and so on and so forth. The list goes on. What I find interesting is how all this relates to forgiveness. Most people have the idea that forgiveness is something they give to another person. "I forgive you for hurting me" we might say to a friend or family member. But that's not true forgiveness. True forgiveness is "out with the old and in with the new." It is a letting go of what was to make space for what is. Real forgiveness is the opportunity to see what lies here and now without being clouded by the memories of the past. Put in financial terms: "Past performance does not predict the future." Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying to just discard memories. Forgetting means…

Comments Off

January 6, 2012

Articles / Believing / Choices / Opportunities / Possibilities

Between a Rock and a Hard Place pt 2 – Chris Cade

by Chris Cade

“I understand sometimes situations require a fast response and a decision. If you practice the above on a regular basis, what you’ll notice is that the time you need to ‘be in the unknown’ and arive at a solution will become less and less.

You’ll also be able to more quickly recognize when you’re making sub-optimal decisions, and therefore, correct course more effectively before it’s too late.”
Many times when we are experiencing conflict, our values and integrity are also being challenged. What makes it “a rock and a hard place” is often that two or more things of importance to us are not playing nicely together.

Maybe our parents want one thing, and our spouse wants another.

Or perhaps we are sick and feel torn between conventional medicine and natural medicine. (more…)

Comments Off

November 15, 2011

Articles / Choices / Emotions / Opportunities / Possibilities

Shining the Light on a Broken Heart

by Chris Cade Yesterday I shared how pain is like a hardened shell around our hearts, and when that shell breaks, it doesn't literally break. It opens up that exterior to reveal the gifts and joy within. I also promised to share with you my thoughts about that from a "light" perspective.You might think of it this way... Frequently when in pain, we close our eyes. We cover them. We cower. We hide. We do whatever it takes to avoid feeling the pain. We're naturally pleasure-seeking-pain-avoiding creatures, so we instinctually do whatever it takes to make the pain go away. It's a survival mechanism, and when we were younger it was an important one. As a child, we didn't have the capacity to deal with pain. The way to get our needs met was by pleasing our caregivers, and it's a rare family where emotional pain was supported, embraced, and honored. Instead, most of us learned that pain had to be hidden if we were to get what we want. So we hid our pain. And we still do until we learn how to work with it differently. The perspective of light gives us that opportunity. The painful hardened shell…

Comments Off

November 9, 2011

Articles / Choices / Dreams / Emotions / Negativity / Opportunities / Possibilities

Choosing to Change – Chris Cade

Last week, I had a dream in which I was driving on a road near the ocean. There was a person who wouldn't let me pass, and I clearly understood that there was a conspiracy of sorts. After handing this person a little bit of pocket change (kind of like this week's "Inspirational Video of the Week"), I was allowed to pass. Then I woke up in the room that I grew up in as a child. It was the middle of the night, and I put some change down on the nightstand next to me. That's when I realized I was still dreaming, and the conspiracy dream that I previously had was a "dream within a dream." I fell back to sleep ~ that is to say ~ I fell asleep back into a "dream within a dream." This time I was in a supermarket. The shelf next to me had some empty space, and I put some pocket change down there as well. As I walked down the aisle, I asked myself a question inside my head: "What don't I know about this world?" Immediately, the entire world shook violently. Bigger than the biggest earthquakes in history. I…

Comments Off

October 20, 2011

Articles / Choices / Emotions / Gratitude / Happiness / Opportunities / Possibilities

How to Solve Your Problems Pt 2 – Chris Cade

Last week I shared with you my perspectives on "How to Solve Your Problems," and I received some interesting feedback and questions. If you haven't yet had a chance to read that email, click here to read it on my blog. Today I thought I'd share how one of those interactions went on Facebook. Annette wrote... "What if the person or persons are toxic, blames everything on you, or is always criticising you (dumb, never be good for anything) or blaming (my problems are yours because you won't fix them or give me $). Is my perception of that wrong? If I view it differently what will happen? What about verbal abuse?" Those are interesting questions. Because we all are unique individuals with unique experiences, only you will know the real answers to those questions in your own life if you are able to completely view it differently (including both conscious and subconscious beliefs). One thing I have observed in my own experience... As I change, the relationships I have with others changes as well. Other people respond differently to my deeper sense of Strength, Courage, Willpower, Peace, Presence, Joy, Authenticity, and other qualities. Some people are melted by the…

Comments Off

October 15, 2011

Articles / Believing / Choices / Emotions / Opportunities

It’s Time to Stop Giving – Chris Cade

by Chris Cade In my previous email (which you can click here to read), I shared that there's a new way to go beyond the "getting" and "giving" paradigm and into a new way of engaging with the world. In short, "giving" inherently suggests an experience of separation. "I have this. I give it to you. Now you have it. I don't." If you give away a dollar, you no longer have it yourself. The dollar is separated from you and joined with another person, so to speak. In the case of emotions like love, it seems less obvious that this is what happens. In fact, some great authors and speakers have commented how love is the only thing that when we give it away, we actually have more of it. In theory that's great. I love the principle. In reality, it still subconsciously encourages separation. It presumes at the basic level, "I have love and you don't." (or don't have enough of it) Perhaps I'm an idealist, but I believe we all have love within us. Sure we may be blocked from experiencing that love in its fullest unconditioned state. Decades of history, pain, and conditioning will block it…

Comments Off

October 12, 2011

Choices / Emotions / Negativity / Opportunities / Positive Thoughts / Possibilities

Being Stuck

I don't know if you've noticed a lack of blog posts this week. There are several reasons for that. I've been very busy with the start of the new school year,I've been sick, and I've also been a bit down. I know, I know, I'm all about thinking positive, and lifting yourself up when your down. I have tons of different strategies to help lift my mood. I did them - and they helped - to an extent. But when my mood didn't lift as much as i would like, I realized it was time for some deeper soul searching. So search I did. I didn't necessarily like the results of my search, but that's another story. I think, deep down, I knew it was time to make some changes in my life. Changes that I didn't necessarily want to make, and changes that quite frankly scared me - hence the down in the dumps. :) Why am I telling you this? To help you realize that sometimes there are down times, and they usually happen for a reason. So when you hit one of those down in the dumps times in your life, do your best to get yourself…

Comments Off

October 10, 2011

Choices / Daily Positive Thought / Dreams / Goals / Opportunities / Possibilities

The Right Direction

Whatever way you're going, you're headed in the right direction to reach your dream. Originally posted 10-1-09 Your goals are your goals. Your dreams are your dreams. There is no right or wrong way to reach your goals and achieve your dreams. So why is it that everybody seems to know the best way for us to do everything. We start out with our parents teaching us and telling us what to do and how to do it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because we need to learn. Then we head off to school and we have educators telling us what to do and how to do it. Again, not a bad thing. We are also faced with peer pressure and we often find ourselves doing what everyone else is doing the way they are doing it to fit in. Again, this isn't a terrible thing because a little conformity is not a bad thing. From there, we join the workforce and our bosses are telling us what to do and how to do it. When do we get the opportunity to decide what we want to do and how to do it? It's a challenging question without an…

Comments Off

October 1, 2011