Isn’t it true that we feel the most alive, the most real, the most authentic, when we are going through the most challenging of times? Had a bout with cancer? Experienced the death of a loved one? Job loss? Relationship dissolution? Career change? Financial chaos? Stopping any form of intoxication (drinking, smoking, narcotics, gambling, debting, sexing…)? If you look at this honestly, the times of the greatest challenge, when life hardly seem worth living, when nothing else really matters, when depression may have set in, when staying in bed sounds as attractive as taking a walk along the beach, these are the times when you and I have been the closest to the true nature of our current incarnation. It is undeniable.
The path of adult maturation demands that we think for ourselves. All authority must be assumed within. Outside authority must be systematically challenged, questioned and discarded. I must take full responsibility not only for my current life, but for my past life and the resulting behaviors and thought forms I have acquired. I bring this up because for most of us, we have been lied to from the day we were born. We have been told what to believe, how to live, what to pursue, and what will bring us happiness. How is that working for you? Do you enjoy being a cog in the wheel? Are you starting to ask questions, and are you beginning to figure things out on your own? In order to do that, one must assume full self authority. At some point, giving over your authority to anyone else, or to any group, is anathema to your soul.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. – Steve Jobs
So now, as a think for yourself human being, as you read on, ponder on this. Is it not true for you that the times of greatest challenge, pain, and despondency were the most authentic experiences you have had? As I sit with the men in my groups, I can pretty quickly tell who is deep in a challenging life experience. He is not giddy with excitement about a new car. He is not talking about his latest sexual conquest. Nor is he ranting on about his woman and relationship. No, rather he is humbled. He is vulnerable. His heart is flayed wide open. He is authentic. He is seeing the world through new eyes. He is experiencing a death, and in that space, the seeds of a new existence are beginning to spring forth. He knows in that moment, that the car, the sex and the women, all that stuff, is fairly incidental to what really matters here and now. It is more the stuff of dreams. In fact, he is beginning to see that this life is a dream. He is experiencing the seeds of awakening. And for the first time, he may be actually living in the current moment, without regrets for the past and fears for the future.
Why is it that when we feel lonely, despondent, depressed, humbled or vulnerable, we feel life to be the most real and authentic? Why is it that during these specific periods of time, we also feel that life is meaningless? This is very interesting. When we stop listening to the outside authorities telling us what is meaningful, and when we go through some of life’s most challenging moments, we find life to be empty and meaningless. Let me restate that because this is key. To be clear, during our most authentic moments, when we feel perfectly clear and present, life feels empty and meaningless. True? What do you think this means? This is a big question, the answer of which can have huge implications on your life. There is a huge freedom that comes from this seminal realization.
The inner emptiness is the door to God. – Osho
Now, whatever it means to you, this undeniable feeling that life is empty is something most of us do not like. It is scary. It gives one a feeling of being unhinged. It goes against most everything we have been taught. It is new and different, and most of us will do just about anything not to feel it. During our men’s events, we refers to this experience, the little voice of emptiness, as the “little bastard” and we want to keep him little and hidden away, because at first he doesn’t feel good inside us. It feels wrong to be living a life that is empty and meaningless. As Morpheus showed Neo the stark sterile nature of the matrix, Neo uttered “No, It Can’t Be.” Well, apparently it can be and it is. Adults face the music and walk through it. Children intoxicate and avoid. Adults experience the freedom of truth. Children prefer to live in lies.
Think of all the ways we as human intoxicate ourselves, all in an effort to keep the little bastard at bay. The little bastard reminds us that death is coming. No matter how we live this life, no matter how well we love, no matter how much we give, nor how magnificently we live, we are going to exit this place. There is no way around it. This truth lies at the core of every fear we have. That is what the little bastard whispers in our ears. And so, to shut him up, we intoxicate on life. During most of my life I had been living in fear, obsessed with intoxicating and avoiding. I initially felt my little bastard when my first marriage was coming to an end. I felt miserable, depressed, suicidal, and trapped. Life did not feel worth living. What was the point? I had achieved those things on which I had set my sights. I had the good job, the wife, the children, the house, all of the things I thought I had wanted. However, as I came to understand, there is an emptiness in acquisition. And so came the knock knock on the door of my mind. The little bastard was ready to break the door down. I had to get out. I had to jump into the arms of another woman. I had to start smoking. I had to move. I had to get a new job. And with all those distractions, I was able to resume life in my own monochromatic dream for another 10 years. Funny how it all works…simple, yet very clever.
There is an emptiness in acquisition. After you have achieved something profound, or purchased a big ticket item, often the response to yourself is something like, “Is that all there is?” or “Is that it?” or “Hmmm?” There is an emptiness in acquisition. After fantastic sex and a mind-blowing orgasm, it does not take long for the little bastard to whisper in your ear, “That’s it?” Notice how you feel after watching the Super Bowl. Right after the conclusion, there is an immediate let down. “Was that it?” There is a letdown after every intoxication, because life does not match up to our illusory expectations. We strongly desire that life has some meaning, yet the truth of our feelings does not resonate commensurate with our desires. The little bastard speaks the truth. Damned that little bastard!
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. – Henry David Thoreau
A glorious and magnificent life is one that is lived in truth. Most run from the truth, preferring to live in a sort of dream state rather than make the dedicated effort to understand this amazing life we are privileged to call home. As we embrace all of life, and not just the “good” stuff, have you noticed how life gets simpler. Fears abate. Synchronicity abounds. Mysteries unfurl. You begin to understand things from a much larger perspective. Everything starts to fit into a paradigm which makes sense of all situations. Unfortunately, you can’t learn this stuff by reading about it. You must live it. You must learn to embrace all of it. You must walk through the fears and expose them for what they are. The payoff off is immediate and substantial. Your energy will rise. You will be humble You will be vulnerable. You will be wildly attractive to both sexes. You will feel and recognize the interconnections of all beings. Life will become magical. And all of this is available, right now, just on the other side of this moment, by simply beginning to look at life honestly and on your own terms. It is your life. The invitation is to live it exceptionally.
About the Author
Jay Cradeur is an author, blogger, internet marketer, world traveler, and coach. Jay has helped thousands to achieve their dreams of financial independence. As an internet marketing coach with a focus on personal development, Jay may be able to assist you in reaching your goals. You can work with Jay for a 100% refundable fee of $49 by clicking on this link and committing to your future. Work with Coach Jay.
I was twenty-two when I began working at Leo Burnett, a prestigious advertising agency located in Chicago, Illinois. It was my first corporate job, a prize I had earned as a college graduate. I still remember getting dressed each day, proudly tying my power tie, and then catching the green and white bus that motored past Lake Superior and down Michigan Avenue. Being a native Californian, it was quite a shift in my life: new job, new city, and new friends. Life was vibrant and rich.
I was in the account executive training program with fifty or so other new college graduates from around the country. We worked ourselves to the bone in either the media or research department before getting promoted to the job of assistant account executive. It was a very competitive environment as you can imagine, with all of us doing our best to deliver on the bold promises we made during our job interviews. It was during one of many meetings we attended that I heard a senior executive make a statement that I have never forgotten.
As aspiring executive wannabes, we were trying to create a dynamic new media campaign for one of our clients. We had changed one core component that had delivered very well for the past 5 years. We were asked about this change to the plan and didn’t have much of an answer, other than to say, we wanted to try something different. The senior executive then stated what now seems like a fairly obvious truth. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I now look back on that statement as a profound truth because there is something inside us that wants to fix things, even when they are not broken. Let’s call that certain something The Fixer, a unique aspect of ourselves that we can use to our benefit or detriment.
Let me tell you about The Fixer. First of all, he is a very determined fellow. No matter what, he wants to fix. The Fixer loves a good problem. The harder the problem, the happier The Fixer! Without a problem, The Fixer tends to fade into the background. However, make no mistake; The Fixer is not going to give up. If there is no problem, The Fixer will more often than not create a problem just to keep himself occupied. One target that The Fixer places a big bull’s-eye is on a woman. Many men have a strong desire to fix their woman in a misguided attempt to make their own lives better. I hear it all the time. “She is too emotional.” “She is not passionate enough.” “She is too independent.” “I wish she would have more of a life outside of our relationship.” The blame game is alive and well.
The pertinent question here is – Why does she have to be anything different than she it? She is not broken, so… why do you want to fix her? I suggest to you that if you are trying to fix your woman, you have not fully settled into your masculine core. Whatever dissatisfaction you are feeling about your woman is your dissatisfaction. Rather than trying to fix something that is already complete and whole, begin to work on that part of you that doesn’t feel complete and whole, with or without a woman.
A man who is fully settled into his masculine essence realizes that his woman, among many things, is in part a brilliant reflection of himself. She is your mirror. And if you don’t like the image you are getting back, the answer does not lie in breaking the mirror and then trying to glue all the pieces back together. Instead, going deep within yourself is the place to put your focus. Anytime we look to external sources for our gratification, we are in trouble. We can’t change or fix most external forces. For the most part, life is loose and out of control. When it is time for your transmission to break, it will break. Time for the flu, so be it. Life throws us all kinds of curve balls. As men, we have a choice to observe and respond to what is happening all around us and marvel at the mysterious and magical nature of it all, or, we can get frustrated and angry and place blame. Are you a man or a child?
At this point, you may be screaming at me “She really is a bitch and I can’t stand her!” OK, OK, I do understand that not all matches are made in heaven. But if that is the case and she really is horrid, why are you with a woman who brings out such virulent feelings? Fish or cut bait. There is no point in straddling the fence. You have a choice. Choose her as your woman, exactly as she is, or leave her and wish her well. If you are in that place of evaluating your options, and there doesn’t seem to be a clear answer, you are probably with the right woman for you for now. She is challenging you, reflecting your deepest truths and wounds, and whether you realize it or not, you honor the internal growth she fosters in you. Painful? Sure. You get angry? Of course. But ultimately, you chose each other for just that reason. The relationship serves you both by exposing those dark issues of yourselves that you probably would not have seen without sharing a life together. Out of the darkness comes those crystalline moments of clarity and bliss and transformation.
I know men that have been with the same women for ten to fifteen years, pecking at their own chests, suffering while waiting for their women to change. At some point, the suffering becomes so great, that a stark realization takes hold. “Why am I doing this to myself?” “She isn’t going to change.” And in that moment of realization, you may choose her exactly as she is. This was my experience. It was like a breath of fresh air. Once I made the choice to accept a woman as is, she transformed as if by miracle. But in “reality” she didn’t change. I changed. And in that moment, the whole world changed as well.
Don’t expect your woman to change. She won’t. It is a sure formula for thwarted feelings and frustration. She isn’t broken. And she doesn’t deserve your judgment nor condemnation. She certainly does not deserve the self-righteous feeling coming from you that she isn’t good enough as she is. You would have to be as thick as a plank not to see how this is your story and not her story. It is time to be responsible for your own feelings of self-worth, and stop projecting them upon the world and specifically upon your intimate partner.
How can we expect women to blossom into their full radiance when they are being told, directly and indirectly, that they aren’t good enough? Constant pressuring to become a new and improved version of themselves only leads to resistance and despondency and retraction. Don’t look out. Look within. And after many sessions of deep introspection, you may realize that The Fixer is just the Trickster in disguise. The truth is, you don’t need to be fixed either. It is all just a ruse to challenge you and keep you distracted and off purpose. The Fixer is just one of many tests. When you realize he doesn’t need to exist, you pass. When you take responsibility for your own experience, life begins to show up as a synchronistic symphony of glorious moments. You will wonder where you have been hiding all this time. And the woman who has patiently been waiting for you to appear, will show up again as the goddess she has always been.
About the Author
Jay Cradeur is an author, blogger, internet marketer, world traveler, and coach. Jay has helped thousands to achieve their dreams of financial independence. As an internet marketing coach with a focus on personal development, Jay may be able to assist you in reaching your goals. You can work with Jay for a 100% refundable fee of $49 by clicking on this link and committing to your future. Work with Coach Jay.
Where do you go my love?
Have I ever really known you?
Your lovely disguise had me convinced
Yet I long for the true you that I once knew.
Why do you hide my love?
What happens to call the fear?
When did you decide to shut it down?
When we know there is much more here.
Once I felt your breath of crystalline air.
My swelling heart swayed in unison with you.
I heard a chorus of angels in your voice.
Does it hurt you so bad the memories of two?
Will I ever feel you vibrant again?
Will you ever open in free repose?
Can I be a safe port in the storm my love?
For you to drop anchor and stop being foes?
Where does your heart go sweet mystery?
When you protect and puts up the walls?
I’ll dismantle the fortress brick by brick.
Well tango together in earth’s heavenly halls
This is the dance of life’s human form
Hold tight or let it all go and surrender.
Both are risky and nothing is for dammed sure.
But release offers the finest God can render.
Let Go. Just Let Go!
– Jay Cradeur (from Breathing Light –A little book of poems)
This poem is about the illusion of separation, heart ache, hope and frustration. I wrote this after having lost a love, and not understanding why. Was I not a good enough man? Did she, as I have done with others, simply fall out of love? Could she come back to me?
In the end, all I or any man can do is work to become the best man he can be. If that attracts a woman into my world, so be it. If any particular woman is not interested, I marshal on knowing I am creating a magnificent life, alone or in partnership. Life is too short to worry about such things. There are forces, powerful forces, which mold and shape a life. I’ll work to stay in alignment with the multitude, for it is their game I am playing, it is their energy that flows through me, and I am honored beyond belief to be their conduit.
About the Author
Jay Cradeur is an author, blogger, internet marketer, world traveler, and coach. Jay has helped thousands to achieve their dreams of financial independence. As an internet marketing coach with a focus on personal development, Jay may be able to assist you in reaching your goals. You can work with Jay for a 100% refundable fee of $49 by clicking on this link and committing to your future. Work with Coach Jay.
In 2004, I ventured into the evening woods during the fall equinox in Marin County, CA. I noticed how my body wanted to slow down and get quiet. Something much bigger than me was demanding my attention and respect. This sensation became quite strong, especially as I ventured past the lit portion of the forest into the dark and thick quiet. It was profoundly eerie, walking among the huge trees, the moonlight piercing through the rare openings in the canopy, and the subtle sounds of the wind and falling leaves tickling my awareness.
I slowly walked, and utilized the Taoist form of walking, which serves to quiet the body and the mind, allowing me to become more at one with the surroundings. It was quiet, still and beautiful. As I slowed down, I felt myself drawn to the trees, and found myself leaning into one of the larger ones. As I leaned, I felt as if all the tension and anxiousness that was in my body simply oozed out, as if being absorbed by the tree through osmosis. It was decadent beyond words. I had to move to another tree and sit down, my back leaning into this magnificent energy source.
I didn’t move for about half an hour or so. I focused my attention on the physical sensations I was experiencing. I listened to the wind. I felt the tree at my back, and the soft ground under my legs. And then I was called to look up, and so I did. And there, in the gap between the trees, I saw the Goddess. She was very beautiful, with just her alabaster face looking down at me. I looked up at her for another 10 minutes, listening for her message. And what I heard was “Even when you don’t see me, know that I am always with you.” How stunning and glorious! I have since had many such mystical magical experiences, but this was one of the first, and there is nothing quite like the first. I felt ever so fortunate.
At this point, I realized I had lost track of time, and my friends had headed back out of the forest. So I left my cozy nook next to the tree, and began my trek out of the forest. I noticed how the energy had shifted since I had walked in. The night was darker, the wind louder, and magic was in the air. I opened my eyes and my heart, looking for whatever was next. And she came back to me again.
I was walking and saw her, a woman dressed in white, with a white scarf draped over the front of her. As I approached, she began to fade into the night. Still, I understood we were not through with our interactions. I understood there was still something for me to learn on this night. I went back to my original location and looked at her again, and I watched her. I defocused my eyes, a technique my teacher had taught me, and I felt for what she was saying to me. She asked me to hug her. Now, I am not one to argue with or question divine guidance. I tried to do things my way in the past, and it didn’t work. If I am asked to hug a goddesss, I will do it. It was one of the most heartfelt experiences of my life. She was soft, and she smelled of freshly cut wood. She was glorious to hold. Then, and only then, did I understand the true meaning of her message. “Even when you don’t see me, know that I am always with you.”
I feel that so much of my work with men had been about connecting our hearts (under used) with our heads (over used). What she was telling me, I believe, is that women have the exact same challenge. Many women are utilizing more of their masculine (their heads) than they really care to. It is survival. There aren’t many men around in whose company women can truly relax into their feminine divine essence. There is a disconnect between the Goddess’ head and her feeling body. She is screaming to us for the same connection we all strive for, that 12-inch connection between our heart and mind. While I was honored by the wisdom, I also felt a profound sense of mission and purpose, with so many minds and bodies, so rushed, and with so little serenity, stillness, vulnerability and open heartedness.
– Jay Cradeur (from an upcoming book tentatively titled, The Bridge To Camelot)
About the Author
Jay Cradeur is an author, blogger, internet marketer, world traveler, and coach. Jay has helped thousands to achieve their dreams of financial independence. As an internet marketing coach with a focus on personal development, Jay may be able to assist you in reaching your goals. You can work with Jay for a 100% refundable fee of $49 by clicking on this link and committing to your future. Work with Coach Jay.
Perhaps the most important relationship we will have in this lifetime is our relationship with fear. Fear is that feeling in the pit of our stomach that forces us to stop and reevaluate any given situation. Fear is a beautiful mechanism that can, when operating properly, warn us of potentially life threatening situations. Fear is the trigger for our most natural human response of “fight or flight.” Fear is what happens before anything of real importance occurs in our life. Fear keeps us honest. How we respond to fear at every turn determines not only the direction our life will take, but also how we will feel about ourselves after we have chosen a direction.
What is fear? At its root, fear is a feeling. It is nothing more and nothing less. For me, the feeling of fear is a full body sensation, kind of like an alarm clock going off deep inside. I don’t usually get nocuous, but the feeling can be very intense at times. For some, the physical sensations can be overwhelming, and medication is necessary to achieve a balance. The point is that fear is a physical sensation. How we react to these physical sensations is the real question at hand.
I remember when I was in my late twenties; I had fallen deeply in love with an woman named Kathy. We had a very passionate one year relationship. Kathy was sexy, smart, really funny, and when I was with her, my world was all smiles. After a year, Kathy had had enough of me, and the relationship came to a sudden end. I remember writing letters to her, imploring her to give us another chance. I sent flowers in an attempt to win her back. Finally, I had to realize that it was over. I was devastated. My dominant feeling was an intense fear of being alone and being profoundly sad. I was not hungry. I did not feel like working. Everything seemed dull and muted. My greatest fear at the time was realized. I was alone again.
I did something very wise back then. I did nothing. I did not run out to find another woman. I did not start drinking. I did not sit in front of the television. Instead, I took the advice of a wise old crone, and I took walks in nature. Whenever I got that sick to my stomach feeling, that overwhelming fear of being abandoned, I got up, and went to a park and walked. It was amazing how I could shift my feeling by joining in with nature. I did not feel alone amongst the oak trees. I did not feel alone watching the red tail hawks flying in the sky overhead. I did not feel alone when I smelled the sweetness of the rose bush or the jasmine.
The choice is to distract from the fear and avoid the situation, or feel the fear and move forward anyway. I have noticed over the years that those who try to avoid the fearful situation never do. That situation will continue to reappear until it is dealt with. You can run buy you can’t hide. And when that time comes, the time when I face the fear, feel the fear, and then take the appropriate action, then I am free, even if only for that short amount of time. Each time I live with the fear and move forward, it gets easier, although I would say it never gets comfortable. This is the essential nature of the act of surrender. You have to give up. This is the beginning of learning to let it all go. This is the opening to the gates of heaven.
It is my experience that once the universe sees that you don’t run and hide, there will be rewards, unexpected feelings and insights and gifts which were never expected. Going back to my nature walks, I began to feel a strange oneness with everyone and everything. First I noticed a strong connection with the trees. It was as if I and the trees both acknowledged our ancientness, and the sharing of our mutual wisdom. My sensitivity to all elements of nature began to expand. I noticed the way the light shown through the canopy at noon. I noticed how the wind would blow the branches smooth one day, and then almost in circles another day. Other days, everything seemed so very still, almost surreal. These are the types of gifts of which I speak. This was my first real demonstration of the phrase: “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” Nelson Mandela
Unfortunately, many don’t have these experiences. Rather than feel the fear, they run from it. They hide, acting as if the fear never existed. They drink. They medicate. They chase after sex. They eat and veg in front of the TV. The worst part of all of this is how it makes us feel. How do you feel with confronted with a fearful situation, and instead of taking a deep breath and moving forward, you run and hide? I feel like a coward. I feel like I ripped myself off. I feel a bit of self-loathing. I feel like I missed out on something. My aliveness takes a big hit. The magic dies.
Isn’t it always fear that creates our feelings of separation? It is fear that creates a you and a me. If in the moment we are not feeling fear of anything, then we feel at one with everything and everyone. So simple. Yet all suffering is born out of a feeling of separation. If we are one with everything, we do not suffer.
I suggest doing something which goes against all I have been taught – Do nothing and feel it. Don’t avoid fear and don’t resist fear. Don’t ignore the fear. Acknowledge it. Feel it. Own it. Let it burn you up. Think of fear as internal gasoline waiting to be lit to burn up more gunk. Or think of your fear as your greatest ally. Your fear is your greatest teacher. When fear appears, honor it. Know that the fear you feel is here only to teach you. Pretending it doesn’t exist, pretending you don’t feel it, pretending you don’t have any fear, only makes it worse and increases your feelings of separation which increases your suffering. To repeat something my dad always said “Honesty is the best policy.” I AM AFRAID. You know when this is true. And when it is true for you, say it loud and strong for that is the only way for a fully present human being to respond to fear.
The hardest part of the fear is to just let it be, acknowledge it and feel it. To acknowledge that we have fear makes us so human. We hate that, don’t we? We’d rather be above it all, chosen ones, gifted leaders, unusually perceptive, and ever so special. Fear continues to point out our truth, which, I am sorry to say is, we aren’t special. We are just like everyone else and we get afraid. We are all running scared. And, we all have the same choices. We can own up to the fear, and really feel it, or we can be phony and try to tell the world we aren’t afraid and we don’t have any fears. No one is going to believe this lie. It is your choice. Make it a wise one.
Feeling your fear will generate all the compassion you will ever need to be of service. And it will put you just at your edge, at your most awake, most creative, and most alive and present. By not resisting our fears, we feel them. And by feeling them, we transform while the fears gently begin to fade away. By feeling them, they burn through you and they burn away, sometimes slow and sometimes like a tinderbox aflame. There is a universal wisdom which honors honesty and courage. If you are honest with yourself, and courageous enough to feel deep into your fears, the universe seems to say “Well done.” Out of the honesty and courage, your focus will begin to shift from your own personal fears and suffering, to a much larger perspective of fear and suffering. We begin to understand that the root of all fear begins with our fear of death. Once we realize we are infinite beings, and death is not an end, but rather a transformation, our relationship with fear takes on a whole new level of understanding. In learning to “know thyself” and get comfortably uncomfortable in our own skins, we are humbled and we become vulnerable. This is where true love lives. This is where the sacred is. This is the pathway to divine grace.
Jay Cradeur is an author, blogger, internet marketer, world traveler, and coach. Jay has helped thousands to achieve their dreams of financial independence. As an internet marketing coach with a focus on personal development, Jay may be able to assist you in reaching your goals. You can work with Jay for a 100% refundable fee of $49 by clicking on this link and committing to your future. Work with Coach Jay.
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
Have you noticed that the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know?
About the Author
Jay Cradeur is an author, blogger, internet marketer, world traveler, and coach. Jay has helped thousands to achieve their dreams of financial independence. As an internet marketing coach with a focus on personal development, Jay may be able to assist you in reaching your goals. You can work with Jay for a 100% refundable fee of $49 by clicking on this link and committing to your future. Work with Coach Jay.