Many advances have been made in understanding trauma caused by a difficult childhood.

​Pete Walker wrote an excellent book on the subject, Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving.​

We all have trouble getting going sometimes. We need to get something done, but just can't seem to get started. We see a pile of stuff on our desk and just can't face it, so it continues to sit there. Maybe you have a long list of things to do around the house, but don't seem to get not even one thing done.

This can be quite miserable and stressful. You're stuck, paralyzed, yet sometimes it's urgent that you get something done.

The solution is very simple and easy: Take the tiniest action possible as a way to get going.

If you have paper work to do, just put the folder on the table. That's it. That's your smallest action.

If you have to organize your closet, do one shelf and be done with it.

Figure out the absolute smallest action you can take on a project and do just that one little piece of it. After that things will flow.

Many times we can't get going because we don't know the pieces of what needs to be done. In that situation, list all the parts of the project. It's good to list it in a non-linear fashion, in a mind-map style.

As you list the pieces, it will start to become apparent what you need to do first. And once all your pieces are out in black and white in writing, everything becomes easier and things begin to flow.

Most of the time, as I'm sure you've found out, we make the project to be a whole lot bigger and more daunting than it really is and the longer it sits in our minds, the bigger it gets. Then, when we finally start taking action, we discover it was no big deal after all and it took far less time than we imagined it would.

So, take that first small step. If you don't know what it is, make the list of steps and that first step will become obvious.

Don't stress and allow yourself to get anxious. And don't get into beating yourself up and calling yourself a procrastinator, just take that first tiny step.

I stumbled upon some YouTube videos of Tyler Perry talking about his life. It's staggering the abuse and poverty he had to overcome to be where he is in his life today.

I looked further and discovered he wrote a book called Higher is Waiting and have been reading it. What an amazingly inspirational book.

It is hard to believe the sheer quantity of abuse he suffered, yet retained hope and faith. His mother taught him about God. She had unshakable faith, in spite of the horrific abuse she had to endure. And she loved Tyler unconditionally.

In reading Perry's book I felt sheer power of belief -- it lifts you right up reading it. He consistently said, if it wasn't for the grace of God he wouldn't be where he is now. Because he believes so unquestionably, he gives hope; his energy and trust is behind you, propelling you forward.

A beautifully written book that addresses circumstances in life we all face. Makes you feel good. Makes you have hope.

Highly recommended as a book that will inspire you and give you peace.

Spiritual Growth: Being Your Higher Self, by Sanaya Roman, is quite an old book by now, written in 1989, yet it's unique and I don't know of anything like it out there these days. In fact, I'm not even sure a publisher would accept it today since it does not meet standard publisher book requirements, as I understand them.

However, around that year, 1989, an amazing publisher existed in Tiburon, CA, HJ Kramer, and they published the most unique and amazing spiritual books, including Dan Millman's Way of the Peaceful Warrior: The Book That Changes Lives. An unusual book with supernatural experiences with an Indian shaman.

Around that time Carlos Castaneda, who is named as the man who started the New Age movement, put out the most fascinating books about his shaman training with Don Juan, the first being The Teachings of Don Juan: The Yaqui Way of Knowledge.  Not published by Kramer.

Those were exciting times. Spiritual teachers were emerging everywhere with new information about the nature of reality, new healing modalities. Exploration of consciousness was it. Lots and lots of fantastic books came out at that time.

I so loved that time and miss it very much. I don't feel that anything of the kind is going on right now, the extraordinary spiritual revelations and innovations, at least nothing I am aware of. It seems to me we've become money/goals/achievements, externally focused. But, no doubt, at some point that will pass and there will be another wave of spiritual illuminations.

Back to Sanaya's book. I highly recommend it. It explains deep spiritual processes and realizations that are almost impossible to put into words. They will help you tremendously on your spiritual journey.

Here are some chapters:
1. Being Your Higher Self
2. Creating with Light
3. Connecting with the Universal Mind
4. Linking with the Higher Will
5. Seeing the Bigger Picture: Receiving Revelations
6. Opening Awareness of the Inner Planes
7. Moving Into Higher Consciousness

There is more, but this gives you an example of the kinds of things Sanaya was able to write about channeling her guide, Orin.

A wonderful book that shifts consciousness immediately.

Here is Sanaya's website: https://www.orindaben.com/

They have fantastic guided meditations, an awesome newsletter and they continue to offer light body workshops.

I am very happy to offer this new book to help you actualize your dreams, get things done and, most importantly, help you solve life's difficult challenges.

It is based on how energy operates in the universe, how thought creates reality.

The planning system takes into account your soul purpose and your intuition. It helps you identify what is most important to you, at the deepest level and helps you create it.

The reason I wrote this book is, in part, because I was frustrated about being able to organize my own life. The planning systems that are available don't take into consideration soul purpose and intuition, so they don't work for me. They also do not work in harmony with the natural laws of the universe which, if you're a spiritual person, make them awkward to use.

This planning system is wholistic. It includes all aspects of reality.

Available as an eBook and as a print book at all your favorite retailers, such as Barnes & Noble.

​Please enjoy and have fun manifesting what you need and what you desire.

"There are two intellects!
One is acquired from teachers and books,
from repetition and sciences, granting a sense of superiority
yet the effort to sustain it becomes a great burden.
It ends just as the water supply coming from outside
a house stops once the source has dried up.
The other intellect is God's gift.
With a fountainhead in the heart of Spirit
the water of knowledge bubbling from within 
can never become stagnant or old.
Seek that fountain within yourself!"
​

I have this little book, 365 Tao: Daily Meditations, by Deng Ming-Dao. A wonderful little book of insight and inspiration.

The other day I came across this one, "Modest," and had to share it.
​

"Modesty

Have you ever had a knot in your shoelace?
You have to bend down to untie it.

Difficulties in life confront us all; people respond in their own way to adversity. Some succumb, some grow boisterous. Some marshal their determination, some respond with trickery. All too often  hardship will mow a person down.

When confronted with difficulty, those who follow Tao respond with modesty: They conform to the situation. They bow before it, and they concentrate upon it until they find a solution. They do not apply undue force; neither do they acquiesce meekly to fate. They examine the situation and carefully undo it. In the same way you bend down to untie a knot in your shoelace, they bend down to find guidance.

Even modesty can become an error if we become meek and insecure. Some people become so humble that they become self-defeating. They are talented but their personalities are so split that they cannot achieve their potential. Therefore, there must be limits even on modesty. It works. Like anything else, it must be applied in the right manner." (pg. 269, 365 Tao, Daily Meditations, Deng Ming-Dao)

I love yoga/spiritual teacher, Erich Schiffmann, a man who's experienced oneness.

Here is the beginning of his article for Feathered Pipe Ranch, a yoga retreat center in Montana:

"I use the discipline of yoga to encourage the experience of stillness. The feeling of stillness is peace, and the feeling of peace is joy. That’s simple and profound and exciting.
This is my emphasis because this is the most direct way of experiencing the truth about yourself. Experiencing yourself in stillness is like a wave relaxing into itself and thereby experiencing its inherent ocean nature. Instead of being swallowed up by the ocean and losing its identity, losing its wave-ness, like what you might imagine would happen, the wave continues to exist but its sense of identity expands. It now exists with the new realization that it is not what it thought it was. It is not a tiny specific wave only. It is the entire ocean in specific expression. It is expansive and specific at the same time. And that can be a big surprise. . . ." continue reading