The workbooks are printed. The rooms are booked. The couples are excited. The Dream Relationship Workshop is coming on July 23 which is this Friday. If you and your honey have not signed up yet, there is still time. I tell you what. If you want to get in on the friends and family discount, I will even offer that to you! Go to http://www.dreamrelationshipworkshop.com and under registration go to friends of Michelle and enter the keyword friend. This will get you a HUGE discount. Normally the class is $999.00 per couple and with this discount it is only $250.00 per couple. Not only that it includes your hotel suite in the brand new beautiful Hyatt Place hotel in Gilbert, Arizona for not only one night for two nights. It also includes your dream date and $50 toward your dream date. You also get admittance into the class, your workbook and materials and a hot breakfast at the Hyatt Place hotel on Saturday and Sunday morning.

Listen, it doesn’t get any better than this. If you want to take your relationship to the next 10…this is the class for you. Get ready to do some intense work on yourself and your relationship as this may be work like you have never seen before. It is fresh, exciting, fun and super powerful. One thing is for sure. Your relationship will NEVER be the same.

See you at the Dream Relationship Workshop!

Warm Regards,

Michelle Shelton

                           LISTEN FOR THE ANSWERS

Have you ever told anyone that you hear voices? If so, I congratulate you. I hope that you had fun with those people that you told and added, “ Yeah, and I talk back to them too.” Have you noticed that you do talk back to them? In fact, the odds are, when you are by yourself, you sometimes even talk back to them out loud. Uuuuuuuu

If you are doing “The Work”: working with personal growth, spiritual development, waking up, becoming aware and conscious, and being present in your life, then noticing these voices is a vital tool to your improvement.

You are not two people, yet, you live your life like you are and this is what you use to create all of the turmoil in your life. Because you believe you are two people, you use the drama in your life to justify why the world is doing it to you – why you are often a victim to the people, places, things, circumstances and events in your life. Silly you. Your truth (who you are) and your ego identity (who you believe you are) are always talking to you. Because they don’t match, the result is confusion and drama in your life.

KNOW the truth and the truth shall set you free. You must take yourself beyond the knowledge (the Know About) of who you are. The Truth Is: You are a Beautiful, Powerful, Wonderful, and Magical Being. You Are Responsible For All of Your Experiences. What you experience on the Outside (in your world) is only a reflection of what is going on inside you. Yes, you are RESPONSIBLE – because it is YOUR world – you created it. Yet, you notice there are fewer people each year who act like or believe they are responsible. (Yes, I did it, but it isn’t my fault.) SAD.

For until one actually sees and feels the need to change this irresponsible view of their life – they will not – and their victim existence will continue. There is no Fault or Blame in what you experience. If what you experience is distasteful to you, it is simply your boogieman beliefs that create what you go through. NOT GOOD, BAD, RIGHT OR WRONG – simply ineffective – meaning, it doesn’t work. This means that the experience isn’t getting you the results you want IN COMPARISON TO WHAT YOU SAY YOU WANT. What CAN happen when you accept that you created what you are experiencing is this: you can acknowledge, “Wow, if I created this, then I can create what I desire!” Yes, you can. As you can see, this is an empowering statement. It “feels good.” Truth always feels good.

When you take a responsible approach like I just mentioned, you are practicing a conscious principle to shift the results in your life. The principle is the same. The difference is when you’re conscious; you can see that you are the creator. This is the key to creating desired results.  You are endowed with “free will”, so you can consciously choose how you wish to think, be, and imagine. Re-member – you are the only cause of your life’s conditions. So, I would suggest that this fact is something to get excited about and demonstrate your magnificence. As stated by Neville Goddard: “That which you think about with feeling, that which you believe to be true and that which you imagine yourself to be or to have is the cause of everything in your personal world.”

So if you complain a great deal – STOP! If you find yourself blaming the world and circumstances and coincidences for the happenings in your life that you do not like – STOP! Once you have noticed and stopped, just remember the world you experience is an accurate reflection of your beliefs. So, choose to shift and change your thinking. Like begets like. If you plant an apple seed you will get an apple tree – not an orange tree. What you plant (think) will manifest in kind. This is called the law of identical harvest. Hmmmmm.

You might be thinking, “ Ya But I Was Taught …”.  Ya, so what? Everyone was taught stuff that is not true. If you picked up a belief and you notice that it is ineffective in getting you what you want in comparison to what you say you want – good for you – drop it. Then consciously choose (pick up a new belief) and run with it. – without regrets. For the only way to change your world is by changing your beliefs. Your new awareness creates a higher consciousness. Quantum science tells us that there is nothing but consciousness. A metaphysical truth that has been around for thousands of years says, AS WITHIN, SO WITHOUT. CONSCIOUSNESS IS REALITY.

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LISTEN!

WHO YOU ARE IS CALLING YOU!

Your world awaits your magnificence.

Reread AH HA! Contemplate its words. What you dwell upon expands.

With a conscious connection to your inner being, you can:

Discover your infinite possibilities

If Everything Is Energy, Then Anything Is Possible

EMC2

www.GLElkins.com

Love and Light, Gary

Gary Elkins, My Mentor – Who is enrolling up in your life?
by Michelle Shelton

This weekend we had an opportunity to support a friend who has a seminar company in the makings. He has been putting these seminars on for over four years and they are starting to take hold. You can check them out at www.achievemastery.info

My husband and I saw this as an opportunity to support a friend and be part of something bigger. Our friend told us he had enrolled Gary Elkins to attend and support in the seminar also. For those of you who don’t know who Gary Elkins is, this may not mean anything. To me, Gary is somewhat of a legend. An untouchable. Part of me knows he puts his pants on the same way as everyone else. I understand with my head that this man is just a man. Of course I know these things. In my head.

My heart is another thing. I look at Gary and see he has accomplishined a very high level of training and he can command a large group of people. I have been in his seminars and he is a master of bringing people to a higher awareness in their own life.  It would be fair to say he is my mentor. Even though I had never had a very long conversation with him….he is someone I want to model.  So for me, sitting and talking with Gary makes my palms sweat a little and my heart beat a little faster.

Let me tell you about Gary. He is confident and smart. He is well-read. Gary operates at a very high level. He is fun. I was going to be at that seminar no matter what. I was putting myself in the way of opportunity. It would happen.

The last night of Jack’s seminar was an opportunity to spend time with Gary. Paul and I invited him for a bite to eat and we sat for roughly six hours visiting. What a wealth of information! Gary was truly a delight to listen to. To me, Gary is enrolling up in my life. What does that mean exactly? It means I look for people who have what I want. I look for people that are doing things that I fear. I look for people who seem to have all the things that I want and yet, I am not really sure how to get. Personally, I want to support others in getting what it is they want. In order for me to do that, I find I have to operate from a place outside of myself. I must be truly for others. Enough so that I am willing to get out of my own way.

The real point to this is are you enrolling up in your life. Who are the people you see as having it all? Who are the ones you wish you could be like? The thing is…you can be like them. You can have what they want. You have to have the desire and willingness to do what it takes and then enroll them in YOU.

Before you leave…buy Gary’s book and tell him I sent you!

Do you really Need a College Degree?
by Michelle Shelton

First. You don’t need anything. Is it a good idea? Maybe. Maybe not.

I find it interesting how many employers want someone to have a college degree before they will even talk to them. It has been my experience that the qualities that truly make someone successful are not taught in a college. Number one is commitment level. Now, it can be argued that it takes commitment to attain a college degree and it does take desire so I can certainly see how those two qualities can come into play.

Please know, I am not knocking the value of a college degree. There is value in every experience we have in life. My biggest question would be, does a college degree actually make someone more qualified for a position? I would think not.

I think in terms of an iceberg. 90% of the iceberg is below the water. This is typically the most dangerous part of the iceberg. What we cannot see. I am going to suggest that it is the same when with a resume and even a personal interview. The 10% they allow you to see on a resume and in a personal interview is going to be the shiniest parts of themselves. What about the 90% that lies below the surface. Do they cheat? Do they steal? Do they lie? What is their integrity like? They have skills, do they have integrity? How do you measure that?

Based on results, I have come up again and again, belly to belly with people with degrees and I have found that in a sales situation I will win every time. In marketing I will win every time. In street smarts of dealing with people, again, hands down, I will win. I don’t write this to be arrogant. I simply am saying that a degree teaches people to do one thing and one thing only. I also find that people with degrees are boring. Not all. I just find that because I have a wide range of experiences, I can connect with nearly anyone you put me in front of at a level they will appreciate. It goes deeper than football and small talk.

The interesting thing is I go to many seminars and independent classes so I constantly value education as a whole. Often time people will cock their head at me and say, “where in the heck did you go to college?” They are shocked when I tell them I didn’t go to college. I explain that I read a lot and I get out and experience a lot. I do.

Do I wish I had gone to college? Yes and no. I love education. I read at least one book a week if not more. I read about what makes people click. I read about sales, marketing and business. I read about budgeting. I read about people’s struggles and what motivates them to keep going. I don’t necessarily read how to make a sale. I read about people and their lives. Everything is about people. When you learn to deal with all kinds of people, you can sell. You can market. You can connect. You can lead. I would say I am more of a modeler. I don’t want to read about theory. I want to be about what worked and what didn’t work. I can learn from people who write about what worked for them and what didn’t work.

To me, college is an institution that clumps people. I envision the admissions counselor pointing and saying, “You go in that group. and you over there with them.” It has classes and I don’t mean the kind of classes you sit in and learn something. I mean cliques. I don’t have cliques. I love people. Young, old, rich and poor. People amaze me. I learn from them. I am fascinated by them. I can connect with religious, spiritual, fat, skinny, young and old alike.

My father was a great teacher. I worked in his stores all of my life. He built an empire, one store at a time. He had me work every position from stocking to clerk, payroll, administrative and finally sales and marketing. I was good with people. He taught me to connect with people. He taught me to have integrity and to stand for something. It was okay if people didn’t like me as long as the cause was something bigger than myself. He taught me to laugh, be kind, have fun, get excited about my life and to give. Everything is on a balance. He also taught me to work. I don’t remember counting the hours until I got off work. I was present. When I was there, I worked. I enjoyed it so it didn’t seem like work. I was serving people.

Do I wish I had gone to college? I still can. I choose not to spend my life wishing about something that I don’t have. I enjoy success. To me success is working in an environment that enjoys me as a person. A trusting environment that empowers me to do a job and is there to support me if and when I need it. I don’t wish I had gone to college. Every experience that I have now is because I didn’t go to college. I would have missed those experiences and I would not be the person I am today. Why didn’t I go? My parents didn’t see the value in college or perhaps they would have supported me in going. After all, there was work to do and that came first. My father was a rich man and he had an eighth grade education. So, it is only a limitation if I allow it to be.

I remember my senior year in high school. It was the final semester and everyone was talking about where they are going to college. I had decided I would go to Kearney State and this is what I was telling everyone. One kid asked me about the entrance exam. I had no clue what he was talking about. He asked if I had talked to a school counselor? I said no. He suggested I do that. I went in and talked to the school counselor and told him my intention. He sort of chuckled and said, this is the first time we have talked about you going to college. I didn’t know you wanted to go to college. He said he didn’t see how we could make it happen at that point. Wow. I was angry. I was mostly angry at myself for not realizing I had to set things up a certain way in order to go to college. I knew I had to do something. What could I do. I started to search. I learned I could go to beauty school. Not exactly my ambition but I figured it was something and then I could ready myself for college later. That is what I did. Of course I excelled in the product sales and received awards. I was an okay hairstylist. I knew it wasn’t something I would want to do forever. I wanted more.

As a sales person, it is my job to remove obstacles. I truly believe the only obstacles are in our minds. They are made up. If we see them as obstacles…they are. The funny thing is, I don’t see not having a degree as an obstacle. Employers do though and just like in a sales situation, it is my job to remove those obstacles from their mind. I have choices. I can go to college or I can get in front of them. For me it is simply another experience that will keep me moving forward in my life. The journey as a whole continues to be exciting. I do think the finding is reserved for the seekers.

Now, where did I put that course catalog?

Screaming Kids Driving You Nuts? Four Rules to Help You Keep Your Sanity!
by Michelle Shelton, Communications Coach

There is always a stretch in personal growth work.
by Michelle Shelton, Communications Coach

There is always a stretch no matter how far you have come. Personal growth is called “work” for a reason. When you take yourself on, it can be the most rewarding thing ever….it can also be the most difficult challenge ever. I suppose it depends on how much you fight the process along the way….even while fighting, you will move forward when you are putting yourself in the position to do the work.

I see people that work and work and work and then their mind-set becomes much higher. Yay! They have arrived. Except they haven’t. There is no arriving! They are able to allow more and judge less. This is true. They are able to be more loving and connect with more people. True again. They are able to have the hard conversations that make relationships grow and thrive. Yup. They operate from a higher level. Absolutely! And then? They stop working! Why?

I have seen some people stop doing the work. They will go to a seminar and then staff and staff and staff. Some will take a job with the company and that is great, yet, how long do they stay in that job? They notice how “good” they are and they plant themselves there.  From my perspective, they may still pick up a nugget here and there, yet, are they really stretching themselves? Are they stuck in one arena? Are they seeking out other companies and other work to keep learning and growing or are they simply looking through another pair of glasses…bigger glasses grant you, yet, the same pair.  Is there a bigger element of risk or a bigger element of comfort? I call this the 51% rule. Whatever you do 51% of the time will move you forward in what you are doing. You don’t even have to do it 90% of the time….that 1% makes a huge difference.

Years ago I did a talk on the 51% to parents. Some parents want to control at an insane rate. I would teach you control 51% of the time. This gives room for growth and different perspectives. Your children will have your compass if you spend 51% of the time with them. This is called influence and NOT control. Many don’t recognize it though. When you allow others the room to grow and feed them 51% of what you want them to have, they will always come back to that 1% difference.

Why do people get stuck? Well, they stick themselves! This means they “think” they are above it all. They have mastered the art of thinking bigger than most. This is a death sentence in personal growth. What are they doing to keep moving up the mountain? Now that the view is higher than most people’s view, why are they stopping there? I think it is comfort. It is just another form of insanity.

The funny thing is, the process starts again. The very things learned at the lower levels reset. Not judging others, clear communication, listening and seeking first to understand their perspective. And caring. Caring about people. Giving more than taking, creating win / win situations and being open to feedback. The minute I plant my butt on the mountain and sit down is the minute I start to go backward. Any stopping is going backward. When I am unwilling to take the next step forward I will move backward in my growth. Everyone will. The journey never stops. There is no checking out. No chicken exit like they have at the roller coaster line where you can slip out at the last minute if you change your mind. Eventually you have to move. In the mountain scenario, you will run out of food and water. You will also see other people pass you by. That’s not fun. I have created that experience a few times in my life. I get fed up or tired or my old thoughts creep in and I throw in the towel. Then I see others passing me by. They are pleasant along the way. They offer to help. You know you can walk the path with them for a time. Yet, in the end we each have to walk our own path.

For me, the best thing that happens is when one of those passer by calls me out on my behavior. What the heck Michelle? What are you doing? Why are you stopping! You have talent, you have struggled and come this far! Get off your butt and do something already! I value this feedback. When someone sees something in me that I know is there….I just have given up. For whatever reason, it revives me. Having one person say, I believe in you an you are bigger than this! Not listening to my pathetic excuses and avoidance stories. Someone that knows what I am capable of in my life.

And so this leads to coaching. If you don’t have a coach to support you in this way…why not? Call Michelle today and get off your butt!
I promise I won’t allow you to sit on the path for very long! 480-577-8272

My Relationship Garden. There’s a book!
by Michelle Shelton

I am a writer. It is one of the many things that I do. I enjoy it and people tell me they enjoy reading what I write. So, in my opinion that constitutes me as a writer!

I am always sharing my profound ideas with my husband. He used to tip his head to one side and look at me and say nothing. For years I have talked about writing books and filling them with my profound ideas. When I would share one of these ideas, he would point at me and say, “That’s a book!” or “There’s a book!”

I have to say, my brain would grab this and start to contemplate writing a book on the subject. I have books that are written and remain unpublished. I enjoy the process. I am starting to realize that much of the time, I write for me. It is like my meditation.

I am also a gardener. I enjoy gardening and I have learned many lessons from gardening. This year I wasn’t going to garden because I felt I already had too many things going on to give it my attention. I really didn’t want to put the effort into it. I didn’t want to take care of things. I find I do this in my life at times too. Still, I pushed forward and did it anyway. I sort of felt like I didn’t have a choice to neglect something I had already started. After all there were last years plants popping up everywhere. Things were progressing whether I wanted them to or not. Just like my life.

I took on the task of getting my garden in order. Just like taking on something new in the beginning there were decisions to be made. What plants did I want to keep…did I want to move things around based on what worked last year? Did I want to get new plants and add them to what I already had? Did I need to fertilize and feed my existing plants?

As I was pulling the weeds, I would find that I accidentally was pulling up daises too. The daises had taken over my garden since last year. They were thick. I started to equate the daisies with my friends and acquaintances. There were daises popping up everywhere. I found that when I would accidentally pull up a flower with a weed, I didn’t like it. I thought this was similar to my life. Sometimes through miscommunication, I will say something that someone doesn’t like and they pull away or drop out of my life completely. While I was weeding I decided to look at things differently. Maybe it was okay to have perfectly healthy plants not be in my garden. Maybe they were choking out other plants or they had attached themselves too closely to a weed. Wow. Just like some people I know. Healthy themselves, yet maybe attached to someone who is not so healthy. Maybe there just wasn’t room for them right now?

Next was a 20 year old plant that I had re-potted. I got this plant when my oldest son was born. This plant has come close to death many times. Just like him. It has been a challenge to support it in thriving. As I looked at the plant, I thought….I don’t even know what to do with that plant anymore. Just the same way I feel about him. Perhaps, I don’t need to do anything. Perhaps the plant will either thrive or die and it is out of my hands? Just like my son. This one was hard. I realized how much I had enabled him and in doing that I had weakened my son. Perhaps I did this with the plant too? It was a special plant. I loved it. I wanted to keep it alive yet, I found the more I watered it and fed it and re-potted it, the worse it did. I was killing it with attention. Just like I do with him.

I have tons of Ivy. It takes care of itself. I love that. I have people in my life like that too. They are strong and proud and they don’t really care what I do…they move forward in their own lives. They become stronger and they grow everywhere. They reach out and keep stretching forward just like the Ivy.

I also have several very special plants. One I brought from our move from Colorado. It is a spider plant. It does well. Sometimes I bring it in and sometimes I leave it out. It seems to be okay no matter what. One is from my mothers funeral that a special friend sent. It is beautiful and strong and sturdy. It doesn’t look anything like the other plants I have. Just like the special people in my life. They are unique and stand alone. Also, not needy or dependent on me to do much of anything for them. Just being with them.

I have some flowers that spring up and bloom and they stay around for awhile and then they are gone. Almost by the time I notice they are gone…they will reappear. Just like certain friends of mine. I don’t hear from them forever and then there they are back in my life again.

There are hearts and flowers scattered about. I pluck some of the plant off and move it around and it always does well. I have people in my life like that too. They are consistent. Sometimes I tick them off and they move around…they will always be there though and they continue to grow in our relationship.

Over all, I have deemed this my Relationship Garden. Each plant has specific needs. Some have more needs and some less and some are there to simply present lessons I learn as I go through the process. People come and people go. I have a lot of support in my life that I may not even be aware of and that is like the daises popping up every where and the strong Ivy that keeps moving.

The weeds. The weeds come in when I am not paying attention. They are often quite strong. Sometimes they are pretty and don’t really look like a weed, yet, they are a weed. At times I keep them pulled and at times I neglect pulling them. Just like my life. When I keep the weeds out, my garden does better. It takes effort though. Just like my life.

There is more. I have rocks and paths and sometimes a cat will come in and pull up a plant and it becomes needy for a time so I care for it. Sometimes the rocks protect the plants. Sometime in life I am the caregiver and sometimes I am the rock. No matter what my role, I LOVE my garden. I love everything in it. Everything works together and teaches me lessons and brings me peace. Just like my life!

So, if you don’t have a garden, I recommend it. You might see just how much it will parallel your thinking and your life.

If you are in sales, especially real estate sales, you will want to play the sales game! This game will take your sales career to a whole new level. Scared? You should be, this game includes all of the fears that get in your way. You know that is the only thing that does get in your way, fear.

Zig Zigler says fear is false evidence appearing real. In other words, it is made up and you think it is real. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between a valid danger and a made up danger. Have you ever awoken from a dream sweating and breathing hard from a fearful dream? This is because your body was having the same reaction it would if you we in the situation for REAL.

So, sign up for the sales game. It is 90 days. It is $99 bucks and a referral fee. This means it is results based. How often do you give up 25 or 30% for an introduction to a potential new client? With this…you can rest assured you will walk away with skills that will last. Skills that will take your sales career to new heights. Push through the sweaty palms and fear that is stopping you from playing. Get rid of the excuses and get yourself signed up for the sales game. You will be glad you did!

So where did I leave you? Oh yes, it went something like this…He looked at me and said, “1997″. Yikes! I had been checked out for two years! I was going through the motions and getting a lot done by most people’s standards, yet, I was like a robot. I had abandon all my friends. I rarely saw family. I had come to Iowa and made all new friends. I knew everyone in the town by now and I had new relationships. Only, they really didn’t know me. I didn’t talk about my beliefs. I wore, God forbid, PANTS and manly irrigation boots!

So, another right turn….I had been studying the history of the bible and Christianity and I found that the bible came from a council set up by the Catholic Church. What? The Catholic Church was a cult! They worship Mary! How can this be? We were using their book as our authority? I was so confused as to how this had happened. It seems there were a bunch of letters written after Jesus had been gone from this good earth and a bunch of Catholic guys sat around and made the decisions on what was inspired by God and what was, well, just a letter. They decided what became Scripture and what didn’t. They canonized it. Sheese. I never heard the pastor talking about this on Sunday! This was important stuff. Furthermore, when Jesus handed Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven, Peter became the first Pope and from then on, each and every legitimate Pope has laid hands on the next and handed over the keys. Figuratively speaking of course. The point is, there is a linage here. History of Christianity. Parts that I didn’t know.

I began to read Scott and Kimberly Hahn’s books. They were Evangelical Christians that converted kicking and screaming to the Catholic Church. I was feeling the same way. I did not want to be Catholic! How could I do this? Some might say this was a left turn. I did it. My husband was more comfortable in the Catholic Church than anywhere else. He didn’t like the “formula” the Christians had and the lack of consistency from church to church drove him nuts. He would not allow us to join the Milliard Alliance Church. He would go, we were involved, we never joined officially because he couldn’t buy in all the way. Smart man I married.

So we were married in the Catholic Church. Our marriage was finally blessed by God after five children and countless years of marriage. I would have theological discussions with the priest. I would read Catholic books. Home school the kids with Catholic curriculum. Tap into Catholic home school groups. Learn to say Catholic prayers and make the sign of the cross. I made new friends. Most were ‘Cradle Catholics”, meaning they had been born into Catholicism. Most knew nothing of their faith. They could say the prayers. They didn’t know the why behind any of it. I found this quite interesting. Why would you be part of something that you didn’t know the why behind?

I remember my mother explaining everything to me when I would ask. There was no real authority there. She treated me as an equal in the family. If I had a question, she would answer it. She didn’t say, “That’s the way it is.” She didn’t say, “Because I said so.” She taught me to think and to question. I’m glad she did. She had helped me develop my thinking and also continue moving forward and expanding my capacity through these unique experiences. The point being, it was interesting to me that I had friends that had been Catholic their entire life and they didn’t know why they did what they did. I was full of questions and I wanted to know and not many could help. I wasn’t a big fan of Catholicism. I found more legalism in a different way. It was like many of the followers were sheep. They had the Sheppard and they trusted him to not lead them astray.

I did love the people in the Catholic Church. I found that though they didn’t know the why behind their teachings, they did seem to live them. They did know the bible in a different way. They didn’t know where it was in the bible, yet, they could tell you the story. Eventual, the lack of interest in their own faith and the lack of spiritual awareness made me choose to leave the Church.

In 1997 my brother sent me a box of sales tapes. Zig Zigler was on several of them. I would listen while I folded laundry. I became obsessed with personal growth. I set a goal to read one book a week. I wanted to learn to write. I was buying Network Marketing tapes from all sorts of companies on ebay and listening to them. The babies listened right along with me. I felt at home. This was the stuff I had grown up with. I felt free.

As I would read more and more and listen to books by Jim Rohn, Steve Chandler, Zig Zigler, Og Mandino and many more, I started to see that I wanted to be inclusive. Everyone is human. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone is born raw and then they are shaped into what they become by their parents and caregivers. This made sense. I learned that I had choice. Like Christianity there was free-will, yet, in Christianity, you were born with Original Sin. I didn’t think that made sense. I was born bad and wrong? I wanted to love my brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet, the funny thing was, when I no longer believed the way they did, they dumped me. The belief that God is love and reach out to others and love them where they are…well, that didn’t really apply to someone who knew the answers and turned away. I found this interesting and also sad. Sad that the blinders were so thick that they became blinders of love. They couldn’t see and express real love, the agape love, because it required being open to everyone’s beliefs. It required being grounded enough that you could talk to anyone about Jesus and not waiver. It required like-mindedness. I dislike like-minded. I find that I enjoy the differences in people. I don’t want to make them copies of me. There is comfort in finding someone that has had a similar path, I will admit. And the differences along the way are enticing to me.

For several years, I still prayed. Though I engaged in no church. No formal religion. I would openly discuss with the children their beliefs. They had confusion of course. They had been raised in a legalistic household. We were strict. Now, they could go and have freedom. I began to trust again. The fear melted away and my health began to improve.

So, without creating a part 3 of this journey, I want to conclude with where I am today. I am a human being. I am a spiritual being having a human experience. I meditate. I support others and I have hundreds of friends that I am connected to. I love them. I accept them. I enjoy them. I enjoy the differences. I am no longer exclusive in my life and when it raises it’s ugly head, I tell it to stop. I want to embrace and love everyone…after all, it’s easy to love the lovely!