Fun sayings,positive affirmations and powerful quotes:

Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.

~Brooks Atkinson (1894-1984)

American theatre critic

New Year's Day is every man's birthday.

~Charles Lamb (1775-1834)

English essayist

You will never change what you tolerate.

~Joel Osteen (1963 b.d.)

Televangelist, Lakewood Church, Houston Texas

I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me.

~Anais Nin (1903-1977)

American/French writer

The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards. Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

~Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936)

English writer

This is one of my favourite positive affirmations statements:

The ancient Babylonians practiced a vital law that was the cause of their immense prosperity. They used the tithing law, which involves giving one-tenth of all money or riches that you receive. The tithing law says that you must give to receive, and the Babylonians knew that the practice of this law opens up the flow of abundance. If you are thinking, "I will give when i have enough money," then the tithing law says you will never have enough money, because you have to give first. Many of the wealthiest people on the planet tithed their way to wealth, and they have never stopped tithing!

Rhonda Byrne

Creator of "The Secret"

Here is an excerpt from Deepak Chopra M.D. Creating Affluence - Wealth Consciousness in the Field of All Possibilities

"N" stands for saying no to negativity. My friend Wayne Dyer, the famous author, taught me a simple technique for this. Whenever he has a negative thought he silently says to himself, "Next", and moves on.

Saying no to negativity also means not being around negative people. Negative people deplete your energy. Surround yourself with love and nourishment and do not allow the creation of negativity in your environment.

A lovely quote by Author, Louise L. Hay

"The body, like everything else in life, is a mirror of your inner thoughts and beliefs. Every cell responds to every single thought you think and every word you speak. My body loves me in spite of how I may treat it. My body communicates with me, and I now listen to its messages. I am willing to get the message. I pay attention and make the necessary corrections. I give my body what it needs on every level to bring it back to optimum health. I call upon an inner strength that is mine whenever I need it. And so it is.

Have a beautiful day,

photo: 'Happy New Year' PKM

joy,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com

Charm Jewelry, Breathing, Years picks

My curiosity most certainly has led me to some really amazing stories in the world of healing arts and happiness over the last twelve months. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that my very own charm jewelry enhances all inquires into health and happiness. Fashion world patrons as well enjoyed the beauty of my danglers as an anchor for focus and intention by adorning their handbags. I thought it would be helpful to review some of my favourite picks that I have personally benefited from in the year 2011.

As I reflect on all the valuable information that has come my way this year, I see that truly it is the journey and not the destination. The main thing that all my reading and researching has shown me is to be happy no matter what my circumstance.

This is not so easy, because if I move too fast I will miss the moment, and if I procrastinate the moment will pass me by.

For example if I were to become very wealthy but I missed everything along the way to get there I am really no further ahead because the rhythm is lopsided. I run the real risk of manifesting all the areas of inquiry that I skirted by to over achieve and over compensate with money. I feel there are no short cuts and you read story after story of people coming to a place of greatness only to lose it all because they need to use all their money to repair the unexplored areas they left behind on the way up. Of course the flip side of this is to keep myself suppressed with debt and confusion which is even more debilitating.

If your birth date was in the 1950s - 1960s you probably understand this the most because this generational group was told to just get the money at any cost. Sitting where we are all now in 2011 you can see by the plethora of self help authors that a lot of moments were missed and pretty much everyone is turning their pony around to retrieve the missing pieces. I remember in the 1980s the very fringe of this self interest was evident and people were into self discovery, but since then these generations have had families and children. With so much communication on the Internet people now have full access to questioning who they are and where the missing pieces are from their life.

Happiness is no longer an exclusive club, it has become mainstream.

We all need to walk our own way and find the proper tools to assist healing the missing pieces of human behaviour that have caused our  unique story of confusion, suffering and the dullness of unhappiness.

The other ah ha that I discovered through all my research on inner beauty was that every one of these thought leaders' success stories rely on one main component that runs through all their offerings equally. They all rely on the ritual of a daily practice. A daily routine just like you would think of exercising. The real gem of this entire piece that I am writing is this: Once you find your particular way of self inquiry that offers you relief, you need to find a daily practice that will keep the new healthful patterns in your brain on track. These practices I am speaking of are not in conflict with prayer and I realize that many of us pray as a daily practice. With that being said people forget to pray and not so bad to be reminded the power of prayer.

Here are some of my 2011 highlights:

Radha Conrad: I took a two-month teleclass this year with Radha in the early winter. I also was privileged to work with her on a one to one basis. You can access her videos on The Braveheart Women network or her website LifeMasterySkills. The most exciting thing for me about Radha is that when I reviewed her work by listening to the tapes this fall I had forgotten that she recommended that we breathe every day a minimum of five minutes. Her directions are: In through the nose and out through the mouth. Don't question your busy chatty mind, just keep moving your mind to your breathing. Radha explained that when you do this daily practice it strengthens the muscle in your mind and raises the energy in your body. I have started or rather restarted breathing five minutes every day since mid October and for me personally I have found my own personal practice that enhances the enjoyment of my daily life. I really like it a lot. To put it simply it makes me feel good.

Noah St. John: Author of The Secret Code of Success. Noah discovered that if you put "why" in front of your affirmations that it will set your brain up to retrieve positive solutions to your inquiry. His book explains how your subconscious does not respond to a statement. ie: I am happy. However if you ask yourself the question: "Why am I happy?" your mind will start moving and indexing the thoughts to support the question. In short it goes looking for the answer to "why you are happy". I find it to be really enjoyable. It was after my Noah e-course and my understanding of utilizing affirmations in conjunction with Feng Shui that I added "why" to all my existing affirmations with my charm collection. It was a natural fit because a big part of Feng Shui involves intention and particularly in non-directional Feng Shui (western) we use affirmations as a major enhancer. I felt that adding "why" took my existing affirmation creations from deep meaning to great meaning.

Lauren E. Miller - EFT: stands for Emotional Freedom Technique; simply put it is basically acupuncture without the needles (emotional acupuncture). When something in life triggers an emotional response within us our energy system freezes. This is often times referred to as "deer in the headlights". The body actually experiences a "ZZZT" energy disconnect in the face of a distressing memory or event. Often times we will go into a state of emotional paralysis. EFT simply gets the energy moving again which enables us to reconnect to God, others and ourselves in spite of the anxiety and pain. This reconnect leads to quick reframing opportunities and therefore quick emotional healing takes place. It is a simple technique that uses tapping, on your forehead, cheeks, shoulders, and wrists. EFT is not connected to any new age philosophy, spiritual or religious practice, it is simply a mechanical technique similar to physical therapy that helps the body reconnect after an experience of disconnect (energy freeze) due to emotional blocks and pain. EFT was created by Gary Craig in the mid 1990s. What makes it particularly noteworthy is the high success rate for phobias and anxiety. EFT has been said to work where often nothing else will.

I personally was introduced to EFT in the 1990s by Lee Pulos Ph.D, but there are mainstream sites such as Nick Ortner's The Tapping Solution. I have cited this above with Lauren E. Miller website text because she is a life coach that uses EFT in her resource bag helping others with healing and happiness in their lives. Quite a beautiful fearless woman who is a cancer survivor and understands her calling to help others.

Byron Katie: Author of Loving What Is. I am just a newbie to Katie's work as of this Fall 2011. I have read her book and downloaded the free worksheets from her website. The most amazing thing I have learned through her work is how to separate what is God's business, My business, and Other People's business. I feel I am a far more gracious person by adding this valuable information to my conscious and subconscious frame of mind. I have a working knowledge now if I am projecting something onto someone around me or not. It makes you aware of your own questions of pain and offers a very simple clear avenue of writing it down on a piece of paper. Her main emphasis for this is so that the mind does not keep throwing more stories at you to keep you confused. I personally had a domino like effect in my memory bank of past misunderstandings that never really settled with me a few days after reading her book. At lightning speed I was talking out loud to myself recalling past instances with what was my business and what was not. It really is that powerful and that easy. "Question your thinking - Change the world". www.thework.com

That is a short recap of a big year of learning and creativity. I have enjoyed sharing my journey with you and I hope that you will be curious to check some of these resources out. I realize through my nearly two years of blogging that everybody is now some sort of expert, and I am thinking what kind of expert can I focus on becoming in 2012. Maybe a flowing expert....yes a go with the flow expert, or maybe not. Maybe I will continue on being just a student of happiness.

Now some fun stuff:

I realize Christmas is past but I saw this really cute new app from LoudCrow.com interactive for "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Maybe since it is a seasonal item it will go on sale. Worth checking out for your kids, really cute and fun.

This Catvertising is hysterical. I laughed and loved it....

Have a beautiful day,

joy,

Photo: 'the way there' PKM

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com

Christmas message 2011

Some years move faster than others. In fact as time has shown me, every year creates a tempo of its own and this year 2011 (year of the metal rabbit) is no exception to the rule. The year of the dragon is just around the corner (2012) and the Chinese say this is a very auspicious year for the west. About time, is my only murmur... I would like to acknowledge the excerpt from an email that I am going to post for my year end Christmas post. It was sent to me by a Christian friend. She was feeling really blue because her dearest friend of forever died quite unexpectedly. The following Christmas story doesn't really hold a story of positive affirmations in the overt sense; it does show the experience of coincidence and the value in feeling hope, promise and gratitude on a daily basis. As I find myself saying more and more these days - you are a miracle just to be here. No matter where your walk is, and I totally understand that we all need to walk our own way, may I suggest you leave yourself sometime for understanding why you are here - at all.

With respect to all religious denominations this following Christmas story is written in the spirit of Christmas and the Christian faith. However, being a respectful person of human understanding I have included a video at the bottom of this posting (if you want to scroll down to it and skip the text) that can be enjoyed by everyone.

Who ever you are, where ever you are, may your load be light and your day filled with laughter.


Happy Holidays and Seasons greetings!

Enjoy the read.



Beautiful story. . . things happen for a reason. Inspirational Christmas story.


The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve. They worked hard repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc. and on December 18th were ahead of schedule and just about finished. On December 19th a terrible tempest, a driving rainstorm - hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof leaked, causing a large area of plaster, about 20 feet by 8 feet, to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit beginning about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor and, not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.


On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity, so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.


By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus forty five minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc. to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area. Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor," she asked, where did you get that tablecloth?" The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials 'EBG' were crocheted into it there. They were.



These were the initials of the woman and she had made this tablecloth thirty-five years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again. The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home. That was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housecleaning job.


What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return.


One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood, continued to sit in one of the pews and stare. The pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving. The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall, because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war - and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike? He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison.


He never saw his wife or his home again all the thirty five years between. The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas re-union he could ever imagine.

Prayer: Father, God, bless all my friends and family in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this Christmas day.


Origins: True or not, this is one fabulous story. A lonely couple, separated by that greatest of evils, war. Each unaware of the others' fate, is brought together again on the holiest of holidays by a man of the cloth. The key to their reunion is an ordinary object that no one else valued, and the chain of events unfolds due to an amazingly serendipitous series of circumstances. If only a storm hadn't knocked a hole in the church wall, if only someone else had bought the tablecloth, if only the woman hadn't happened to be standing outside the church at just the right moment, if only her long-lost husband hadn't coincidentally been a member of that particular church, the couple might never have found each other again.


Of course to those who believe in miracles, all of this was no mere coincidence.


What do we know of this tale? It's called "The Gold and Ivory tablecloth"; it was written by the Rev. Howard C. Schade pastor of the First Reformed Church in Nyack, New York. It was published in the December 1954 issue of Reader's Digest; and it was anthologized in Alice Gray's Christmas Stories for the Heart in 1998.


O.K., grab your popcorn-sit back put your feet up, and enjoy a hour of sensory-immersive experience of the world's most beautiful environments.


Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Happy holidays, Happy everything!

Created by Livinglandscapes HD






Have a beautiful day,


Photo: 'breathe' PKM


joy,


Rena


www.talktotheturtle.com

Fun sayings,positive affirmations and powerful quotes:

The especial genius of women I believe to be electrical in movement, intuitive in function, spiritual in tendency.

~Margaret Fuller (1810-1850)

American journalist

One thing life taught me-if you are interested, you never have to look for new interests. They come to you.

~Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

American stateswoman & humanitarian

One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don't come home at night.

~Margaret Mead (1901-1978)

American cultural anthropologist

This is one of my favourite positive affirmations statements:

Remember to remember means remember to be aware. Remember to be aware in this moment right now. Being aware is seeing everything around you, hearing everything around you, feeling everything around you, and being completely focused on what you are doing right now.

Most people bring what they do not want because they are not aware that they are listening to the thoughts in their heads about the past and the future. They are not even aware that they are being hypnotized by those thoughts, and are therefore living their life unconsciously.

When you remember to be aware, you are aware immediately. You just have to remember to remember.

Rhonda Byrne

Creator of "The Secret"

Here is an excerpt from Deepak Chopra M.D. Creating Affluence -Wealth Consciousness in the Field of All Possibilities

"M" stands for making money for others and helping others make money. Helping others make money and helping other people to fulfill their desires is a sure way to ensure you'll make money for yourself as well as more easily fulfill your own dreams.

"M" also stands for motivate. The best way to motivate other people to help you fulfill your goals is to help them fulfill their goals.

A lovely quote by Author, Louise L. Hay~

Loving and approving of yourself, creating a space of safety within you, trusting, deserving and accepting yourself could create an organized mind, attract more loving relationships, bring about a new job, and even allow your body weight to normalize.

Have a beautiful day,

Photo: 'morning' PKM

joy,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com

A space for Love and affirmation necklace

As an alumna of the Western School of Feng Shui, I receive the latest news about what is happening with the school and other graduates. I was so excited to see what sisters, Laura Forbes Carlin and Alison Forbes have created with their website Inspired Everyday Living. They have written books and e-guides all based on the teachings of Feng Shui. However it is the videos they are creating that really caught my attention. I am including the video that they produced on a single woman looking for love and how they used their Feng Shui interpretation to shift the energy in her home. I was telling my girlfriend about their video and said the only thing I could have added to the success story was a Love affirmation necklace.

I truly hope that these two women continue on with their film platform of showing how you can use your home as a vehicle for transformation. Their story telling ability is a ten out of ten on film and the camera really does show the passion of their inner voice. I am a huge fan - what a special gift to educate on film something that comes across in such an uplifting and encouraging manner.

Laura Forbes Carlin:

Laura received a Master's degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica, and got her Bachelor of Science in Communications from Northwestern University. She also graduated from the Western School of Feng Shui.

Alison Forbes:

Alison has a Masters Degree in Education from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University. Alison is also a certified Graceful Lifestyles Interior Re-Designer, a Denise Linn Soul Coach, and a graduate from the Western School of Feng Shui.

Their way of living is based on the following beliefs as written on their website-Inspired Everyday Living:

-Our physical, emotional mental and spiritual well-being is connected to the health and well-being of our home.

-You can improve your love life, finances, career and other parts of your life, by changing your home.

-By bringing awareness and intention to everyday tasks there is potential for inspiration in each and every moment.

-Our homes are a reflection of our consciousness.

-Our homes are the foundation upon which we live our lives; therefore we can change our lives by changing our homes.

-We feel most at home and at peace when both our inner and outer worlds are aligned.

-The intention and energy that we bring to the process is as, or more, important than the result.

-More and more people are searching for deeper meanings and connections, in their careers, with their friends and family, and within their home. As a result, the traditional notions of a homemaker are being reshaped and redefined as people create and discover their own path to establishing the home and lifestyle of their dreams.

-Decorating with nontoxic, sustainable materials supports our health and the health of the planet. In many ways, our homes are extensions of our bodies and what we put in our homes is as important as what we put in our mouths.

-Home is as much a state-of-being as it is a place.

-Change begins at home!

Enjoy the video, meet the Forbes sisters at play.

The Forbes Sisters from Inspired Everyday Living on Vimeo.

Have a beautiful day,

Photo: 'reflection' PKM

Joy,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com

Inspirational Jewelry and Intention

I am right in the middle of my thirty-day observation of breathing for five minutes every morning. Like anything that you are new to, all of a sudden your entire world opens up to show you new ways of looking at your daily life. Focusing on intention and positive thinking has really brought a lot of joy to me, with beautiful inspirational jewelry as a reminder to maintain happiness is also a definite plus. Meditating is turning out to be a really pleasing experience and is such a nice compliment to positive thinking.

I happened upon an interview with Oprah and Kathy Freston who were talking about meditating and using a mantra. Oprah mentioned that she used the mantra "My heart is open", while Kathy Freston said she preferred "I am peace". I personally was just focusing on breathing, but I thought if my mind did stray that maybe it would not be such a bad idea to include that as a technique.

As I ponder all these questions, it seems every website or ad I see on the Internet now is for meditating. Within a very short time I find my way over to a website called intent.com. I was curious and drawn to this name because of my experience working with intentions, and discovered that Intent.com is a community where members can share their dreams and aspirations and receive support from others. It is such a cool idea. I was so happy to read all the entries of positive intentions that people were listing on the site - positive thinking in action.

Mallika Chopra is the creative force behind Intent.com. She has a B.A. from Brown and an M.B.A. from Kellogg University. She serves as President for Chopra Media and is a member of the board of Directors of Virgin Comics and Animation. Her prior experience includes launching MTV in India, Michael Jackson's Heal the World Foundation and Go Networks. Her Father is Deepak Chopra M.D.

On the website you can access the blog portion of Intent.com and read some really wonderful articles to read. Deepak Chopra has several short videos on health and aging and positive affirmations to enjoy.

I clicked on a posting that Mallika had penned about meditation for children. In her writing Mallika shares how she learned to meditate when she was nine years old: her Father had Gotham (her brother) and her repeat the following phrase:

"I am responsible for what I see. I choose the feelings I experience, and set the goals I will achieve. Everything that seems to happen to me, I ask for and receive as I have asked."

They would normally ask for things like tickets to a Celtics game, but then her Dad would guide them into asking for happiness, hope, peace, love, and connection.

Mallika has taught meditation at her daughter's class with the help of the other parents and has written about the benefits of children meditating. Isn't this a really beautiful idea, I ask you? If young people are shown and allowed to have their own private space in their mind with meditation - I know I certainly would have benefited in school growing up - what with the stress of just being a young person staying alive.

I have included this video, which is a special life moment.

Enjoy,

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Have a beautiful day,

photo: 'go play outside'-PKM

joy,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com

Fun sayings, positive affirmations and powerful quotes:

Never, never, never, never, give up.

-Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

British Prime Minister

We all live in suspense, from day to day, from hour to

hour; in other words, we are the hero of our own story.

-Mary McCarthy (1912-1989)

American writer

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?"

-William Arthur Ward (1921-1994)

American writer

The best way to predict your future is to create it.

-Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

16th President of the United States

This is one of my favourite positive affirmations statements:

Your body is exactly like a movie projector, and the film running through the projector is all of your thoughts and feelings. Everything you see on the screen of your life is what has been projected from within you, and is what you have put into the film.

By choosing higher thoughts and feelings you can change what you see on the screen at any time. You have complete control of what goes into your film!

-Rhonda Byrne

Creator "The Secret"

Here is an excerpt from Deepak Chopra M.D. book, Creating Affluence~Wealth Consciousness in the Field of all Possibilities

"L" stands for Love and Luxury. LOVE yourself. Love your customers. Love your family. Love everybody. Love the world. There is no power stronger than love. Also, adopt luxury as a lifestyle. Luxury is our natural state. Adopting luxury as a lifestyle sets the preamble, the preconditions for the flow of wealth.

A lovely quote by Author, Louise L. Hay:

Love is contagious. When I share love, it comes back to me multiplied. Love opens every door.

Have a beautiful day,

Photo: 'here & now' PKM

joy,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com

The unique gift of Byron Katie

Recently I had the pleasure of reading the thought provoking work of author Byron Katie. Byron Katie teaches us the unique gift of inner reflection. I have really enjoyed learning how to use her process "The Work", and was quite intrigued with her note that the questions are meditative.

I thought to myself what a coincidence that I have been doing my five minutes breathing meditation every day and now I am reading her amazing contribution to making peace with our own minds.

Byron Katie offers a three step process called "The Work" that shows you a way to understand what's hurting you. It really is as simple as that. I was captivated with Byron Katie's website for many reasons but the main thing that stands out is "The Work" is totally downloadable as FREE pdf files. There is more than enough help on the site with directions to actually start asking your questions and be on your own inner path to bliss, all with just a few clicks on your computer keypad.

Watch a video of Byron Katie at the University of Texas auditorium showing how to work with her question sheet, by clicking on "Begin The Work" on the home page of her website. Amazing to see so many young people in the audience working with her material, asking themselves questions to alleviate stress in their lives.

I am offering the following excerpt from her booklet: Loving what is. You can find it on her website as well.

www.thework.com

An excerpt from Loving What Is: Four questions that can change your life by Byron Katie, with Stephen Mitchell.

“No one can give you freedom but you. This little booklet will show you how.” —Byron Katie

This booklet is an excerpt from Loving What Is. Each year, thousands of these booklets are sent by request, at no charge, to non-profit organizations around the world, helping people discover the life-changing power of The Work.

If you would like to explore this process further, we suggest you ask for Loving What Is wherever books are sold. The book version will take you deeper into The Work, and includes numerous examples of Katie facilitating others on issues such as fear, health, relationships, money, the body, and more. Loving What Is is also available as an audiobook, which offers you the invaluable experience of hearing Katie do The Work in live workshop recordings. The book and the audiobook are available on our official website as well, TheWork.com, or they can be ordered by calling 800.98.KATIE or 1.805.640.1935.

© 2011 Byron Katie International, Inc. All rights reserved.

Introduction:

The Work of Byron Katie is a way to identify and question the thoughts that cause all of the suffering in the world. It is a way to find peace with yourself and with the world. The old, the young, the sick, the well, the educated, the uneducated—anyone with an open mind can do this Work.

Byron Kathleen Reid became severely depressed while in her thirties. Over a ten-year period her depression deepened, and Katie (as she is called) spent almost two years rarely able to leave her bed, obsessing over suicide. Then one morning, from the depths of despair, she experienced a life-changing realization.

Katie saw that when she believed that something should be different than it is (“My husband should love me more,” “My children should appreciate me”) she suffered, and that when she didn’t believe these thoughts, she felt peace. She realized that what had been causing her depression was not the world around her, but what she believed about the world around her. In a flash of insight, Katie saw that our attempt to find happiness was backward—instead of hopelessly trying to change the world to match our thoughts about how it “should” be, we can question these thoughts and, by meeting reality as it is, experience unimaginable freedom and joy. Katie developed a simple yet powerful method of inquiry, called The Work, that made this transformation practical. As a result, a bed-ridden, suicidal woman became filled with love for everything life brings.

Katie‟s insight into the mind is consistent with leading-edge research in cognitive neuroscience, and The Work has been compared to the Socratic dialogue, Buddhist teachings, and twelve-step programs. But Katie developed her method without any knowledge of religion or psychology. The Work is based purely on one woman‟s direct experience of how suffering is created and ended. It is astonishingly simple, accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds, and requires nothing more than a pen and paper and an open mind. Katie saw right away that giving people her insights or answers was of little value—instead, she offers a process that can give people their own answers. The first people exposed to her Work reported that the experience was transformational, and she soon began receiving invitations to teach the process publicly.

Since 1986, Katie has introduced The Work to millions of people around the world. In addition to public events, she has introduced her Work into corporations, universities, schools, churches, prisons, and hospitals. Katie‟s joy and humor immediately put people at ease, and the deep insights and breakthroughs that participants quickly experience make the events captivating (tissues are always close at hand). Since 1998, Katie has directed the School for The Work, a nine-day curriculum offered several times a year. The School is an approved provider of continuing education units, and many psychologists,

counselors, and therapists report that The Work is becoming the most important part of their practice. Katie also hosts an annual New Year‟s Mental Cleanse—a four-day program of continuous inquiry that takes place in southern California at the end of December—and she sometimes offers weekend workshops. Audio and video recordings of Katie facilitating The Work on a wide range of topics (sex, money, the body, parenting) are available at her events and on her website, TheWork.com.

In March 2002, Harmony Books published Katie‟s first book, Loving What Is, written with her husband, the distinguished writer Stephen Mitchell. Loving What Is has been translated into twenty-eight languages. It was on bestseller lists across the country. I Need Your Love—Is That True?, written with Michael Katz, and A Thousand Names for Joy, written with Stephen Mitchell were also bestsellers. Question Your Thinking, Change the World was published in 2007, and Who Would You Be Without Your Story?, in 2008. Tiger-Tiger, Is It True?, published in 2009, Hans Wilhelm. Peace in the Present Moment (by Byron Katie and Eckhart Tolle) was published in 2010.

Welcome to The Work.

What Is Is:

The only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is. When the mind is perfectly clear, what is is what we want. If you want reality to be different than it is, you might as well try to teach a cat to bark. You can try and try, and in the end the cat will look up at you and say, “Meow.” Wanting reality to be different than it is is hopeless.

And yet, if you pay attention, you‟ll notice that you think thoughts like this dozens of times a day. “People should be kinder.” “Children should be well- behaved.” “My husband (or wife) should agree with me.” “I should be thinner (or prettier or more successful).” These thoughts are ways of wanting reality to be different than it is. If you think that this sounds depressing, you‟re right. All the stress that we feel is caused by arguing with what is.

People new to The Work often say to me, “But it would be disempowering to stop my argument with reality. If I simply accept reality, I‟ll become passive. I may even lose the desire to act.” I answer them with a question: “Can you really know that that‟s true?” Which is more empowering?—“I wish I hadn‟t lost my job” or “I lost my job; what can I do now?”

The Work reveals that what you think shouldn‟t have happened should have happened. It should have happened because it did, and no thinking in the world can change it. This doesn‟t mean that you condone it or approve of it. It just means that you can see things without resistance and without the confusion of your inner struggle.

I am a lover of what is, not because I‟m a spiritual person, but because it hurts when I argue with reality. We can know that reality is good just as it is, because when we argue with it, we experience tension and frustration. We don‟t feel natural or balanced. When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.

Staying in Your Own Business:

I can find only three kinds of business in the universe: mine, yours, and God‟s. (For me, the word God means “reality.” Reality is God, because it rules. Anything that‟s out of my control, your control, and everyone else‟s control, I call that God‟s business.)

Much of our stress comes from mentally living out of our own business. When I think, “You need to get a job, I want you to be happy, you should be on time, you need to take better care of yourself,” I am in your business. When I‟m worried about earthquakes, floods, war, or when I will die, I am in God‟s business. If I am mentally in your business or in God‟s business, the effect is separation. I noticed this early in 1986. When I mentally went into my mother‟s business, for example, with a thought like “My mother should understand me,” I immediately experienced a feeling of loneliness. And I realized that every time in my life that I had felt hurt or lonely, I had been in someone else‟s business.

If you are living your life and I am mentally living your life, who is here living mine? We‟re both over there. Being mentally in your business keeps me from being present in my own. I am separate from myself, wondering why my life doesn‟t work.

To think that I know what‟s best for anyone else is to be out of my business. Even in the name of love, it is pure arrogance, and the result is tension, anxiety, and fear. Do I know what‟s right for me? That is my only business. Let me work with that before I try to solve your problems for you.

And if you practice it for a while, you may come to see that you don‟t have any business either and that your life runs perfectly well on its own.

If you understand the three kinds of business enough to stay in your own business, it could free your life in a way that you can‟t even imagine. The next time you‟re feeling stress or discomfort, ask yourself whose business you‟re in mentally, and you may burst out laughing! That question can bring you back to yourself. And you may come to see that you‟ve never really been present, that you‟ve been mentally living in other people‟s business all your life. Just to notice that you‟re in someone else‟s business can bring you back to your own wonderful self.

Meeting Your Thoughts with Understanding:

A thought is harmless unless we believe it. It is not our thoughts, but the attachment to our thoughts, that causes suffering. Attaching to a thought means believing that it‟s true, without inquiring. A belief is a thought that we‟ve been attaching to, often for years.

Most people think that they are what their thoughts tell them they are. One day I noticed that I wasn‟t breathing—I was being breathed. Then I also noticed, to my amazement, that I wasn‟t thinking—that I was actually being thought and that thinking isn‟t personal. Do you wake up in the morning and say to yourself, “I think I won‟t think today”? It‟s too late: You‟re already thinking! Thoughts just appear. They come out of nothing and go back to nothing, like clouds moving across the empty sky. They come to pass, not to stay. There is no harm in them until we attach to them as if they were true.

No one has ever been able to control his thinking, although people may tell the story of how they have. I don‟t let go of my thoughts—I meet them with understanding. Then they let go of me.

Thoughts are like the breeze or the leaves on the trees or the raindrops falling. They appear like that, and through inquiry we can make friends with them. Would you argue with a raindrop? Raindrops aren‟t personal, and neither are thoughts. Once a painful concept is met with understanding, the next time it appears you may find it interesting. What used to be the nightmare is now just interesting. The next time it appears, you may find it funny. The next time, you may not even notice it. This is the power of loving what is.

Putting the Mind on Paper:

The first step in The Work is to write down your judgments about any stressful situation in your life, past, present, or future—about a person you dislike or a situation with someone who angers or frightens or saddens you. (Use a blank sheet of paper; or you can go to www.thework.com to the section called “The Work,” where you‟ll find a Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet to download and print.)

For thousands of years, we have been taught not to judge—but let‟s face it, we still do it all the time. The truth is that we all have judgments running in our heads. Through The Work we finally have permission to let those judgments speak out, or even scream out, on paper. We may find that even the most unpleasant thoughts can be met with unconditional love.

I encourage you to write about someone whom you haven‟t yet totally forgiven. This is the most powerful place to begin. Even if you‟ve forgiven that person 99 percent, you aren‟t free until your forgiveness is complete. The 1 percent you haven‟t forgiven them is the very place where you‟re stuck in all your other relationships (including your relationship with yourself).

If you begin by pointing the finger of blame outward, then the focus isn‟t on you. You can just let loose and be uncensored. We‟re often quite sure about what other people need to do, how they should live, whom they should be with. We have 20/20 vision about others, but not about ourselves.

When you do The Work, you see who you are by seeing who you think other people are. Eventually you come to see that everything outside you is a reflection of your own thinking. You are the storyteller, the projector of all stories, and the world is the projected image of your thoughts.

Since the beginning of time, people have been trying to change the world so that they can be happy. This hasn‟t ever worked, because it approaches the problem backward. What The Work gives us is a way to change the projector— mind—rather than the projected. It‟s like when there‟s a piece of lint on a projector‟s lens. We think there‟s a flaw on the screen, and we try to change this person and that person, whomever the flaw appears to be on next. But it‟s futile to try to change the projected images. Once we realize where the lint is, we can clear the lens itself. This is the end of suffering, and the beginning of a little joy in paradise.

I hope you enjoyed the read.

Have a beautiful day,

photo: 'There' PKM

Joy,

Rena

www.talktotheturtle.com