John Stringer, Life Teacher, Healer, Singer, Author
Today, I’d like to share my recent journal entry with you via Episode 1 of my new Alignment Vlog (text below):
Through alignment, I journal in the morning answering the following three questions/statements I picked up from author, Tim Ferris:
“I am grateful for…,” “What would make today great…,” and “I AM…”
I invite you to align with the frequency of these statements to experience what’s there.
I am grateful for: The ability to choose differently that which best and highest for all concerned. The power that I already have and all I have already created – it is all mine now because I am the essence of it all. There is nothing I lack and there is nothing I can not experience for I am limitless in my power to experience from this point of awareness and expand.
I am already having it all, choosing it all, creating it all and I am simply expanding my awareness into the depths of my power, the limitlessness of my being, and the interconnectedness of my abilities. Yes. All of it is mine. All of it is me playing out the divine play. For my enjoyment. Yes.
The tragedy is an illusion just as the victory is. I choose which to enjoy without resistance and with complete acceptance. I accept it all as mine today. And so it is.
What would make today great?Staying in the now and knowing that it is all unfolding exactly as it should be and that I am creating it all for my enjoyment because I choose to enjoy it / accept it all and feel the bliss instead of resist. Yes. And so it is.
I AM: the essence of all that is and I choose now to be that which I am here to be: the perfect extension of the divine oneness unfolding at the perfect timing and realizing exactly what needs to be realized, when it needs to be realized in the flow of the unfolding becuase I choose so. And so it is.
This is the best now ever. Because I make it so. I choose for it to be so.
Here is a technique you may appreciate that assists in letting go of the blocks to the divine flow:
Sometimes, living a life committed to spiritual development can be challenging when you aren’t creating the life you desire. However, what if there was another way to fulfill your life’s purpose and live in abundance? What if there were another way to enjoy the fruits of the law of attraction and spiritual laws that doesn’t require you to control manifestation based on your likes and dislikes? What if there was another way to live a life of beauty and divine love and light without requiring you to suffer?
That way is complete surrender to what is now. that way is complete surrender to the divine will that is already creating everything you need in this moment. That way is letting go of your desires and realizing that the will of the divine is the ultimate fulfilment of your every desire. That way is to ask that the divine will be done and aligning your will from moment to moment. If you can realize that nothing needs to be changed from what it is now and ask what the divine would have for your life you will see that it is far greater and much better than anything you could desire to the contrary. It takes time and patience with yourself to do this.
Yes, time is an illusion but it is what you experience in this form world and though you are not limited by it, for now, it is the route in which you can surrender to break free of the perceived limits of time and space.
By surrendering to the divine will for your life, you will experience the journey you came here to experience in a profoundly fulfilling way. Letting go of resistance to what is is the first step. Surrender to the divine inspiration that you receive once you are no longer resisting is the next.
Align from moment to moment and let the divine guide your way. You will then understand the intelligent, loving design of life and fulfil what you came here to do, be and have.
All is well and always is. Thus, anything that is in your awareness that you resist can be accepted and you can let your resistance go so you can feel into peace, love and joy. By letting go, you can fill into all the bliss that is here for you. And so it is.
I’ve been going through some intense emotional healing. It’s been a journey over the last 12 years that has taught me to love myself in a way that is healing. I’ve learned to embrace emotions that have been stuffed away deep down inside. They get triggered when something happens and I interpret it as if it were similar to what happened in the past. When I felt the emotion and the pain in my body, I used to push it away. Now, I’ve learned to let the emotion arise without judgment and look deep into it to find “where have I felt this emotion before” in my past.
I go back and find all the different places in my life I’ve felt this emotion and I remember the instances as far back as I can. I let the related thoughts arise and speak out what I’m remembering to help make the connection in my conscious mind. These thoughts reflect hurts and questions of what I don’t understand – thoughts and questions behind the emotion. I then ask for correcting guidance from the divine and let the divine / the spirit of love /God, or the holy spirit, speak to me and determine / discern the lesson I need to see. This is a correction in my perspective that allows me to feel relief, love and peace. As I do this, I feel the heavy emotions release and energy of a higher vibration sooth my body, mind and soul. There are typically tears involved, before the healing and after.
What’s interesting is I realized I learned to stuff those feelings away via well-meaning conditioning. I’ve taught my children to do the same but I’m now teaching them how to navigate these emotions to allow them, bring forth the disconnect and invite correcting wisdom of the divine in to shift perspective. To break the blocks. To heal the wounds.
This process is part of what the song “Accept it All,” from my new album, “Limitless Light & Love,” is about. It’s a song that invites us to feel our emotions, feel whatever comes up – internal and external – in any moment… accepting it without judgment. Knowing that all is well. That sometimes we have to go through what feels like pain to birth a new way of being.
Our lives, our emotional systems.. everything is intelligently designed for our benefit. To help us shift into a place of uncertainty, fear, hurt and tension to relaxation, peace, knowing and bliss. To joy.
Here is the song, (featuring the amazing vocalist, Victoria Canal who is also releasing her debut EP at www.victoriacanal.com, and my dear friend, Ade Anefowose, on percusion)- and you can find the lyrics below:
(“Accept it All” lyrics):
“There’s a feeling we all want
Some times it seems impossible
but it’s truly what you came here for
Let me show you how to feel it more
A feeling once you learn to navigate
Accepting all you contemplate
Let go my friend and don’t resist
Relax and start to feel the bliss
It’s not hard when you choose differently
What you want ain’t always what you think so be here now
Accept it all and just Allow
Everything’s exactly how it should be
Suffering’s resisting what you don’t want to feel
Accept it all & be healed
Whatever comes up in your soul
Recognize it all and just let go
Release the labels, let it flow
Allow and know what you know
If your feelings, thoughts and stimuli
Are all a part of the divine
Then all is well and always is
Trust into that land feel the bliss
It’s not hard when you choose differently
What you want ain’t always what you think so be here now
Accept it all and just Allow
Everything’s exactly how it should be
Suffering’s resisting what you don’t want to feel
Accept it all & be healed
Before you were born, you chose this life
to remember you are love and light
understand that it’s all here for you
a plan to help you know the truth
The divine uses everything
to show you its love
Are you remembering
If there’s ONE thing that you can trust
its you can always count on love
There’s a feeling we all want
Some times it seems impossible
but it’s truly what you came here for
Let me show you how to feel it more
It’s not hard when you choose differently
What you want ain’t always what you think so be here now
Accept it all and just Allow
Everything’s exactly how it should be
Suffering’s resisting what you don’t want to feel
Accept it all & be healed”
Pick up the album, “Limitless Love & Light,” here.
I started reading a classic book called “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie years ago but I never “got it” at the time, so I stopped before finishing. I picked it up a gain this year and I was shocked to learn that I’d been so “wrong” about myself and human nature – and how best to love people in simple ways. See, I’d spent the past 3 years (and even longer) doing the opposite of some of the key best practices this book shared b/c I thought the opposite was best… and in fact, it was best for me to be that way, but not for the reasons I thought.
For as long as I can recall, I prided myself in being honest and tried to be as efficient and effective as possible plus I’d help others improve by calling them to the same standard. The problem is the last half of that sentence. For me, calling others to the same standard meant showing them what they were doing wrong and how to correct it. So, yes…. I was that guy in my band, at work, at home, wherever – always willing to show someone how to improve by “constructively criticizing” them… showing them what they were doing wrong as directly as I could and explaining how to fix it. Know anyone like that? Do you enjoy spending time with them? lol I’m actually grateful I was that person in the past, and I’ll share why.
First, what I learned after so many years of acting this way was that although my heart was in the right place, my methods often turned people off. Granted, I honestly had the best of intentions and the reason I’m grateful I carried on this way is because it taught me first-hand the results of this sort of behavior. No matter how insightful and on point my constructive criticism may have been, it rarely yielded the what I’d hoped for: to see people change. In fact, people seemed to view me as difficult to work with and some even seemed to avoid me. Go figure. lol
So here are just two of the many key things I’ve learned from “How to win friend and influence people” that helped me change the way I am around those I care about. I hope you enjoy:
1. “Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.” People don’t like it and it often receives the opposite response of what you’d hope for.
The author, Dale Carnegie, shares the following nugget of wisdom:
“Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person’s precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment.”
Out of the various examples Carnegie gives to show how demoralizing criticism can be, my favorite quote follows:
“B. F. Skinner, the world-famous psychologist, proved through his experiments that an animal rewarded for good behavior will learn much more rapidly and retain what it learns far more effectively than an animal punished for bad behavior. Later studies have shown that the same applies to humans. By criticizing, we do not make lasting
changes and often incur resentment.”
So, what do you do instead? Carnegie offers what I consider a very loving alternative, explaining “…instead of condemning people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness. ‘To know all is to forgive all.’ ” Now that’s love!
This is just the starting point and the rest of the book builds from here to share 8 more principles, the second of which I share below.
2. “Give honest and sincere appreciation.” Make giving appreciation and gratitude a new way of life.
Carnegie points out that Charles Schwab, John D Rockefeller and many other extremely successful people shared the same successful trait where they influenced people though sincere encouragement and praise. Carnegie quotes Schwab in the following section of the book:
“I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people,” said Schwab, “the greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement… There is nothing else that so kills the ambitions of a person as criticisms from superiors. I never criticize any-one. I believe in giving a person incentive to work. So I am anxious to praise but loath to find fault. If I like anything, I am hearty in my approbation and lavish in my praise. “
Of course, understanding human nature as well as he did, Carnegie goes on to point out that he’s not suggestion flattery. Flattery and appreciation are not the same:
“The difference between appreciation and flattery? That is simple. One is sincere and the other insincere. One comes from the heart out; the other from the teeth out. One is unselfish; the other selfish. One is universally admired; the other universally condemned.”
What I found so amazing is that by changing my approach and using several other principles in the book, I could sincerely encourage, praise and inspire people, which truly turned around some of the relationships I’d unintentionally “soiled” at work.
Learning how “wrong” I’d been also gave me a chance to see first-hand the value of these principles and I also use them with my family to break the old habits of criticism and instead, encourage, appreciate and inspire.
I view these as simply new ways (at least new for me lol) to be love to those around me and hope you find them as useful as I did. You can get a free PDF copy of “How To Win Friends and Influence People” online here and learn all 9 principles.
Thank you life for the many ways to love and be love. Thank you for the new ways to show those I am around day-to-day kindness, appreciation and compassion. Let the learning continue!!!!
A good friend asked for input on how to install a WordPress plug-in on a self-hosted site, so I figured I’d put together a quick five step tutorial in video and text form below. Enjoy:
Step 1: Log in to your WordPress site and click the “Plugins” option
Once you’ve logged in to your wordpress site (typically via www.yourdomian.com/wp-admin), you’ll see a view pretty similar to the screenshot below and you can click the “Plugins” option.
Step 2: Choose “Add New” option from the “Plugins” sub menu
Next, choose the “Add New” option from the “Plugins” sub menu
Step 3: Use the “Search Plugins” field and button
Now that you’ve made it to the “Install Plugins” page, make sure you’re on the “Search” area that looks like the screenshot below. Then, simply type in a keyword (word, phrase, name of a plug-in, etc.) in the search field and click the “Search Plugins.” In this example, I use wp-biography b/c that’s the plugin my friend asked me about.
Step 4: Click “Install Now” on the Plugin you want to use and confirm
Once you’ve found the right plugin in the search results, click the “Install Now” hyperlink and WordPress will install the plug-in for you.
Step 5: Activate your new plugin
Finally, active your new plugin and you are set.
Keep in mind that some plugins have settings you may need to update/edit to get the results you desire, while others may work just like you want them to as soon as you activate them. Whatever the case, if you find you don’t like a plut in, you can always deactivate and/or delete it!
Let me know below if this information was helpful to you!