Articles / Believing / Choices / Possibilities

Between a Rock and a Hard Place pt 1 – Chris Cade

by Chris Cade

Nobody gets through life unscathed. We all have difficult situations. And we all have extremely difficult situations. And as pleasure-seeking-pain-avoiding creatures on this planet, when we are in difficulty the first thing we usually do is try and “fix” it.

When in pain, we seek to eliminate the pain.

When in conflict, we seek to resolve the conflict.

When in uncertainty, we seek to find grounding.

Mind you there’s nothing wrong with wanting to minimize pain, conflict, and uncertainty. In fact, it’s something I am conscious of regularly. However, the way most of us go about it is often detrimental to finding the optimal solution. (more…)

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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…

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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…

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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…

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October 15, 2011
Believing / Dreams / Goals / Law of Attraction / Possibilities / The Secret / Visualization

Thinking Positive and Vision Boards

I know, I know, you think vision boards are weird, strange, new age-y or just plain stupid and a waste of time.  I'm here to say - not so much.  Vision boards are just a concrete tangible form of visualization and visualization techniques have been used for many years.  Professional athletes frequently use visualization techniques to improve their performance, as do many stage/screen performers, musicians and business people.  A vision board is merely a pictorial  representation of our wants and our goals. Why am I bringing this up now?  It's simple, really.  I've made several vision boards, on paper, on a bulletin board, and even a video set to music.  The other day I looked at my vision board and realized that I'd actually achieved quite a few of the wants/goals that I'd put on there.  Granted, I don't have the bazillions of dollars that I want, or the McMansion of my dreams, but  when i look back at all the things I wanted that I did get, I know those other things are coming. Why not make a vision board of your own?  It's not hard, plus it's a chance to play with scissors and glue and even glitter…

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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…

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October 10, 2011
Articles / Choices / Dreams / Goals / Possibilities

Navigating your Ship

Navigating your ship Taking the easy way out is, well, easy. Human beings naturally stick with their normal routines because they offer feelings of security. But by staying in the same routine, you miss out on new opportunities. In 1975, a third-year student at Harvard University decided to drop out and pursue something else. The student's name was Bill Gates. He saw an opportunity and took the risk. While this doesn't mean that every dream will transform you into a billionaire, it shows that some of world's geniuses took chances to follow their dreams. If you are waiting around for your goals to just fall into your lap, it could take awhile. But your goals are achievable--if you're willing to break from the norm and cast your ship down uncharted waters.

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October 3, 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…

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October 1, 2011
Articles / Goals / Opportunities / Positive Thoughts / Possibilities

Teaching Others to Help Yourself – Chris Cade

"We teach that which we most need to learn." ~ David Bach Some version of that quote has been used by leaders for as long as I can remember, and for good reason. While it's wonderful when we learn something new, the best way to integrate new knowledge and make it stick in our lives is to teach it. This is because teaching challenges us to really understand what we're learning. It challenges us to understand it with such clarity that we can effectively communicate it to others. Teaching also exposes us to feedback from others, and that feedback is helpful (and sometimes even necessary) for us to understand something deeply enough to integrate it into our lives. Those are just a few of the benefits you get by teaching something. Studies have shown that when you are first learning something, that if you teach it to somebody shortly thereafter, you'll remember what you learn more effectively and understand it more thoroughly. In fact, some teaching methods ~ ironically ~ require students to immediately turn around and teach others what they learn. The beauty of this approach is that it doesn't only deepen learning; it also creates more effective leaders…

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September 13, 2011
Articles / Choices / Emotions / Goals / Opportunities / Possibilities

Triangles of Inner Happiness and Outer Distraction – Chris Cade

by Chris Cade 24 hours in the day. Doesn't seem like much does it? Doctors recommend 8 hours of sleep. So we're down to 16 hours a day. Most mortals spend at least 3 hours a day buying, preparing and eating food. 13 hours left. And if you work 9-5... that leaves 5 hours. Five hours isn't bad. Sadly, there are probably many people in the world who'd cut off a finger for ONE hour a day of free time. They'd give their whole hand for five hours. In five hours, you can easily improve the three corners of the Triangle of Inner Happiness... Develop your body Optimize your mind Progress spiritually ...and still have two hours left over for sanding the corners on Triangle of Outer Distraction... TV shows and novels Facebook and Twitter Conversation and socializing Thing is... most people spend all five hours being distracted. Life is way too short for too many distractions... Am I saying you should cancel your internet connection? Should grab some pork and beans move out to cabin in Northern Alaska? No. Nothing wrong with technology. Nothing wrong with people. It's really a matter of what are you doing with people. Are…

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August 23, 2011