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I get so tired of the world. Do you? It is so draining. For me, there is so much heartache and so little pleasure in my world I really want to remove myself from the everyday life. I long so for a quiet life. I feel desperate at times about having a quiet existence. I don’t want to hear vehicles going down the street. I don’t want to hear my neighbors chatting in their yard much less listen to their music and noise. I don’t want to listen to the radio, television or internet video.

What I do want to listen to is birds and the crashing of the waves on the shore at some southern California beach. More specifically a San Diego County beach. Sure I can enjoy a quiet day in the mountains. I can enjoy the sound of a stream and the sounds of nature out in the woods. That is all good. But the beach is my top choice. Not only is the water relaxing but there is the sea air. It smells refreshing. It is often cool and crisp.

Maybe it is watching too much Baywatch. I don’t know. But the ocean is so relaxing. You can wade in the water and it washes over your feet and up to your knees. Then the tide flows out and your feet dig into the sand just a little. I would like to see what a Hawaii beach is like some day. crazy place. I would like to see Venice Beach. It sounds like a I would also like to travel along the Southern border along the Gulf and enjoy those beaches as well. The water is nice and warm.

When I was in the fourth grade, we lived in Florida right on the Gulf. Boy was that great. The water was fine and we had a boat and we would go boating around the Gulf and the International Waterway. Good times. I can myself traveling around going from one beach to the next.

I really love the idea of escaping the rest of the world. Give up the internet for the most part. And just enjoy the beach bum life. I actually imagine living in a camper and have that as a permanent home. A place to place your head when you want to rest and a place to store your essentials. A place to eat and a place to feel safe when you leave the beach. Another option is having a boat for a home. But I don’t know how well that would work. It would be great in good weather, but a winter storm may not be kind to a boat.

Maybe one day I can do this. Right now, with a dog, it would be hard. But it is on my wish list.

I talked about the trouble I have with fun. I talked about how I don’t know how to have fun. I know that people will say you just need to lighten up. Go out and do something.

The funny thing is that in my entire life I have had very little fun. Sure when I was a child I had fun. that was the first, second and third grades. I had fun in college, but I was still sad. I know that makes no sense.

Most people go to parties and have fun. If I were to be invited to a party, I would more than likely not go. Why? Because I know I would not have fun. The last party I went to was to my half-brother’s birthday party. My family was there. But I was so awkward I wanted to leave pretty much immediately.

I tried to have fun. There was music, and I tried to dance some. But I felt self-conscious. Otherwise I spent time around a fire ring and was very chilly. I did not participate in the conversation. I had nothing to say.

Even as a child I had a tough time at parties. I would go to a birthday party and not want to play party games. I even struggled with my own birthday parties. I remember feeling not at ease and wanting it all to end so I could get back to my normal life.

The funny thing is that no matter how much I don’t like parties and feel so uncomfortable at them I still want to be invited. Well, I do and I don’t. I want people to want me to be at their party. Being asked makes me feel normal. People But at the same time, I don’t want to say no.

So that is my struggle with parties. I like being invited because it makes me feel good. I don’t say yes because I know I won’t like it and will immediately want to go home. This has been a long-term issue. If you know someone who does not like to go to parties or won’t, try to be understanding. It may be a real struggle.

Seeing other people laughing and enjoying life for most people I would think it would make them happy. Most people would smile and laugh along when others are having a good time.

For me, I get sad. I know that sounds terrible. I should be happy for them. There is a small part of me that is. But mostly I am sad. I am sad because I am left out and I don’t have happy times.

If you are a normal person, you may say so why don’t you go out and have some fun. Because I don’t know how. It may be hard to understand, but I don’t know how to have fun. I don’t know how to have a good time.

What most people do for fun either does not sound like fun to me or it sounds fun but I can’t do it by myself because that would not be fun. For me, even when I do attempt to have fun, I just don’t. I know a lot of people will say I have a bad attitude. Maybe that is a little true. But more it is that I just feel such a lack of energy that I can’t muster up the energy to have fun. It takes a lot for me to get to the point of fun. So I don’t do anything. I really have very little interest in doing things.

Then I sit around and wonder what is wrong with me. Why is it so hard for me to have a fun time? My best guess is that I don’t want to do things alone because most things are not fun alone. And I am alone. I don’t have anyone to do things with me. I think about things that I think would be fun, but it takes effort to do. I really can’t think of anything that I can do alone to have fun.

What do I do to fill the void at least a little? I imagine having fun. I come up with a scenario of something I think would be fun, and then I spend time imagining that I am doing it. I can spend all day on this. I smile. I enjoy my day. I’m not alone for my imaginary people are all a part of this fantasy.

Is that pathetic? Is that weird? Is it unhealthy? I don’t know. It works. It gives me pleasure. Without this, I really don’t know what I would do.

Taking my blog in a new direction.

This is my life as a sensitive soul.

I want people to know what it is like to be so sensitive to the world that you don’t function. I want people to know what it is like to be so alone that you have imaginary friends and family. I want people to know what it is like to have an imaginary life that is so dysfunctional that your imaginary you has an imaginary life. I want people to know what it is like to be always frustrated.

Why would you want to read this? Sounds awful. To understand. To build compassion for another. You are curious. I may be different in some aspects like the imaginary friends. But there are so many people that are in a dysfunctional reality. You would be surprised. They don’t fit in. They have work issues. And maybe, just maybe, you can finally understand someone you never understood before. Once you understand what may be going on, you may be able to help them to function.

Read my blog and find out what it is to always be searching. Find out what it is like to be awkward all the time. Find out to always feel lost. Find out what it is to want to go back to the past or live like you did in the past because the present is so difficult to handle. What is it like to have given up almost all hope. What is it like to be in a constant stress and to never really enjoy anything.

Sure I have my good moments. I smile. I laugh. I even feel good about me. But I live my life hurting and wanting more. I long to be like others. I long to have a life. I long to function.

You now have the basics of the four necessities. You have the basics of the system. It is time you put it into action. This system is used for any issue that arises in every life. This includes emotional issues, physical issues, and general life issues.

The first thing you need to do is to understand how the four necessities play a part in your life and which is most dominant for you.

To use the system for you, you will need to reference the four necessities. These four items will be the answers to step one. As we go through the steps below, I will use a fictional person. We will call her Kathy.

Step One: Discovery. What do you want? What is the most important thing for you? What drives you? How do you live?

Kathy: The most important thing or that which drives Kathy is financial security. She wants to feel secure knowing that she will be able to pay her bills. She wants a place to live. She wants food. She wants basic clothes. She wants to be able to pay for insurance and electricity and water etc.

How does she live? She lives very conservatively. She saves as much money as possible. She denies herself a lot of the nice things in life. She is very frugal. She wants to make her money last as long as possible.

What does Kathy want? Foundation. This is the sense of certainty and reliability. This is the sense of being at peace with life by having the means to pay her bills.

More questions. What do you want to change? What need do you want to meet on a higher level? What is preventing you from getting that?

Kathy what she wants to change is to find a stable flow of income. She wants to find a way to make a solid and steady income. What is preventing her from getting that? She is too scared to try different things. What need does she want to meet on a higher level? She wants to build a foundation based on a solid income.

7 levels deep exercise: Defining your goal (See earlier lesson on this) This is an exercise to help you to define your goal. Sample answers have been provided to guide you. The answers incorporate the four necessities. Let us assume you want to lose weight.

1. What is important to you about losing weight? I want to lose weight to be skinny. This would make me feel special, unique.

2. Why is it important for you to be skinny? I would feel special. I would have an increased sense of self.

3. Why is it important for you to have an increased sense of self? I don’t think very highly of myself.

4. Why is it important for you to think highly of yourself? To have more confidence.

5. Why is it important for you to have more confidence? So that I can be more at ease around others.

6. Why is it important for you to be more at ease? So that I can have more fun and enjoy life.

7. Why is it important for you to have more fun and enjoy life? To be happier.

Do you see that this person does not want to lose weight as a goal? The goal is to be happier.

Step Two: Motivation. What will you miss out on if you don’t change? How will that be? What good will you obtain when you do change? How will that be? What sort of life will you have if you do not change? How will that be? What sort of life will you have when you do change? How will that be?

Kathy: What will she miss out on if she does not change? She will feel that she can’t afford to buy anything. She will continue to deny herself of just about everything. How will that be? It will be a life of feeling deprived. It will be a life of feeling jealous and envious of everyone who has the things she denies herself of having.

What good will she obtain when she does change? She will gain a sense of security knowing she will not have to deny herself every little thing. She will feel more free. How will that be? It will be a life of pleasure.

Who will she become if she does not change? She will become very bitter and resentful. She will hate other people. She will hate life in general. How will that be? It will be lonely. It will be isolating.

Who will she become when she does change? A woman who enjoys life. A woman who really lives. How will that be? It will be uplifting. It will provide a sense of accomplishment. She will increase her sense of self. She is not a victim of society but rather a warrior.

Step three: Energizing action. What has to happen for you to obtain what you desire? What has to happen to change that from a need to something you have? What actions can you take?

This is where you make a plan for change. You want a plan. You don’t want to just wing it. The problem with winging it is that you don’t know what is working and what is not working. This plan will energize you. Once you really understand what has caused the pain in your life, you understand what it is you really want (one of the four necessities). This helps you to know what direction to take in life. It makes it so much easier to have what you want when you know what you want. You can’t get what you want if you don’t know what you want.

Kathy: What has to happen for her to obtain what she desires? She has to either make enough money that she feels is enough to be able to spend on the non necessities of life. Or she has to review her finances and see if she really has more than she thinks she has and therefore can spend a little more without guilt. As it turns out, Kathy does not make enough money and can’t afford much beyond the basics.

What has to happen to change the need to have? She needs either to find a better line of work which pays more or a side job for some extra cash? Another option would be to find a roommate to help her with expenses.

What actions can she take? She can look into a new career. She can look into going into business for herself. She can look into pet sitting as she really loves pets. She can train dogs on the weekends. She can look for a roommate. She can also consider having foster children, an exchange student or even provide housing for a special needs adult.

Step four: Re-enforcement. This is the stage of practice. This is putting the plan into action. This is where you practice your new mindset. This is practicing the new habits you have created. This is where you take charge of your life.

This is where you have a ready response for anything that may come up that creates a hurdle on your path to your goal. This is where your plan comes into play. A good plan will have you prepared for anything that may come up. You are alert to any action you may be making and reverting to your old ways. Being alert you will be able to stop yourself before you return to the old habits. Having a good plan will provide assurance and help you to relax and be more confident. You will be calm and centered. You will be able to focus.

A good way to re-enforce new habits is to make rituals. Until a new habit becomes automatic it has to be part of a ritual Practice. Practice. Practice. I also support rewarding yourself. Make goals and challenges. As you meet your goals and challenges, give yourself a big pat on the back and anything else, within reason, to say good job.

Step five: Social support. This can be a buddy system. This can be you and a friend making a change together. You can hold each other responsible and accountable for continuing toward the new you. You need someone to lean on.

This could also be working with a mentor. Do you know someone who is already someone who lives the way you want who will tutor you so to speak?

Another option here is to join a group. There are so many groups out there you can more than likely find a support group of like minded people who understand what it is you are going through and who can be supportive.

The System

There are five steps in the system.

Step One: Discovery. This is where you determine what is the most important thing to you. What do you strive to obtain above all else. How does your life revolve around obtaining it? What are you doing to get this? How are you either not obtaining this or obtaining this on a primal level?

Questions to ponder. What is your most basic necessity? What is missing? What would having that mean to you? What is blocking you from taking the necessary steps necessary to obtain that? What actions would help you to obtain this? (Refer back to the 24 questions earlier in the course).

Step Two: Motivation. Weigh a life of pain, numbness, apathy and fear of having the life you are living with a life full of passion and joy. Weigh the life of wanting and needing to having.

Questions to ponder. What will you miss out on if you continue the way you are? How unfortunate will that be? What will you discover when you do change? How great will that be? What sort of life will you have if you stay the way you are? How unfortunate will that be? What sort of life will you have when you change? How great will that be? (See 24 questions earlier in the course)

Step 3: Energizing action. This is where you change your focus from what is missing from your life, the root of your unhappiness, to the solution. What alternative action can you take to get past this hurdle so you can have the life you desire and deserve? This is where you make a plan of action. This is best in small manageable steps. You don’t want to get overwhelmed with the process. Every time you meet a goal reward yourself.

You are currently doing some action which is filling this necessity. What is that? You have some habit that fills that desire. This step has to do with ending your old habit and creating a new and positive habit.

For example, you experience depression. Depression is filling the need for foundation. On a very primal level, you are getting a sense of comfort through depression. It may not seem that way, but you are. Depression is an old habit. In order to get rid of depression, you need an energizing alternative. This could be to take up a new hobby or make a challenge for some sort of personal improvement.

Questions to ponder: What stands between you and your goal? What can you do to take control of the situation so that you can get past the obstacle? What needs to get out of your life? What needs to get into your life? What are the steps you need to take? (Refer to the 24 questions earlier in the course)

Step 4: Re-enforcement. This is practicing the new habit or habits you created in step 3. When you start to practice your old habit, you need to stop yourself. Tell yourself to stop. Once you have stopped the old habit, think through the situation. What am I doing? Why am I doing that? What can I do instead? There should be at least one option available. Have a list of possible actions you can take when you meet certain hurdles. Every time you resist the old habit and practice the new habit reward yourself.

Step 5: Social support. This is where you work with other people. It could be people who have the same sort of hurdles in life or it can be family and friends who are supportive. It could be people you look up to because they are examples of the sort of person you would like to model. They are mentors. In the support system, you will tell these people what your goals are. Tell them what old habits you are trying to break, and what new habits you are trying to make. These are people who will make sure you do not falter. It is important that you be true to yourself in this step. If you are having a difficult time with your new habits, say so. Don’t say “I’m fine” if you are not. You also need to be open to criticism. Don’t think of it as putting you down. Think of it as help.

To consider: I want you to understand that old habits are challenging to break. But you made them and you can break them. They have to be replaced. Most likely you will fall back to your old habits because they are easy for you. That is why you started them in the first place. And it may be emotionally painful at times to continue on with the new habit. Remember that pain is the resistance to a sensation. In this case it is the resistance to the uncertainty of the new way of dealing with life. It is natural to want to resist the feeling of uncertainty. If however you allow yourself to feel the emotional pain and accept it fully, it becomes an intense feeling and you will have a sense of conquering an old low level habit. No matter how many detours or adjustments you have to make in your transition as long as you keep going in the direction of your goal you will meet your destination. If you keep your compass point, you will not get lost. If you want something with all your heart, you will get it.

Remember Hlidskjalf and the view from a very high place? The darkness first resists the dawn. But then the dawn created a whole new day. Your life is like the darkness. You are about to force the dawning. I know there can be resistance to change. You don’t know what to expect. No dream is impossible. Don’t let the fear of the unknown or failure stop you. If you have good social support, they will be there to catch you and push you on your quest to reach Hlidskjalf. Sometimes we have to face our fears to get that we most treasure and desire.

The four basic necessities

I would like to give a brief background on how I created this system. I started my life coach business in 2016. It was not long until I saw a pattern. It became clear that everyone has the same basic human necessities in life. These necessities are the force for all actions we take in life. Everything we do or don’t do, every issue, every problem, every single struggle comes down to these four needs. I know, it makes life seem so simple. But it is true. Depression, anxiety, fear etc. arise when a necessity is either not being filled or is being filled on a more primal level.

When we know how each of these plays a role in our life, it all becomes clear. When we know what is our prime need we really come alive. We can see how it plays a part in everything we do. We can apply it to every aspect of our lives. We can understand other people in our lives like never before. It is really exciting. For the first time in your life, you will feel you can conquer anything.

Why? Well, when you understand your inner drive, you will learn how to transform from the inside out. You will understand the roots or the causes of your circumstances. From this, you will be able to know what actions will get you from where you are to where you want to be.

I know it sounds too simple. But as you learn more in this simple but powerful system you will open a world of wonderful opportunities.

So let me start by telling you what the four basic necessities are. After this, I will show you how to determine how the four basic needs and their role in your life. Then I will show you how you can use them to understand various common life hurdles.

Let’s get started.

The four basic necessities are ego or sense of self, foundation, newness, and love and rapport. These necessities balance each other. Ego balances love. Foundation balances newness. If you have too much emphasis on one, you are often lacking in the opposite necessity. A well balanced person and life has all of these necessities filled. Not only are they filled but they are filled in a positive manner and are well balanced.

Ego or sense of self: This sometimes sounds like a negative thing. It may sound selfish to some. We are taught to be humble. If we want to feel special, some may think we are not being humble. But this is not what ego is all about. It is self esteem. It is self respect. It is a good self image. It is confidence.

It has to do with feeling good about who we are. It has to do with feeling like a worthy human being. It is that quality about us that makes us feel unique. It is that quality that makes us feel special and different. It is that quality that makes us feel we have a purpose. It is that thing in life that feels we deserve a pat on the back. It is what most of us strive to achieve on some level most of our lives. It is that thing we hope we will look back on and we will smile and nod. It is that thing we hope will stand out when people talk about us after we die. To some it may be the legacy they hope to leave behind.

We find sense of self in quite a variety of ways. Now remember it is not only a significant statement but also a unique statement. It can be found in our career. It can be found in our education, good grades and how smart we are. It can be a talent such as music, sports or dancing skills. It can be entertaining like telling jokes or doing imitations. It can be things done for attention such as yelling or just being loud. It can be the way we wear our hair. It can be our clothing or our jewelry. It can be the way we wear our hair. It can be the things we buy such as the latest electronics, cars or homes. It can be that we drink or do drugs or that we don’t drink or do drugs. It can be being skinny or chubby. It can be expressed as anger or hate. It can be expressed in lying. It can be expressed through sarcasm, making fun of other people or being a bully.

Foundation: This has to do with a good foundation for life. This is on what you build your life. It gives your life reliability. It gives peace of mind. It gives ease of life. This includes control and comfort. You are in charge of your life. You have the foundation to be self sufficient over your life. This is what gives us pleasure and to avoid pain. Having certainty in life is having what we need to survive. This would be to have shelter, clothes and food. It is having at least the bare necessities of life. having certainty is having security. This need varies from person to person. For some it may be simply being able to pay the bills from paycheck to paycheck. For some it may be having the ability to pay the bills and having something set aside for a rainy day. For some it may be having more than you can ever use. This last category includes hoarders.

As a side note, people are not “control freaks”. A better term would be “certainty freaks”. People who are very controlling are in reality seeking to be certain about how a situation turns out. They want every situation to turn out for their best needs. They don’t want to be surprised by any results.

Newness: This is the necessity for variety. This is having adventures. This is what we want so as to not get bored. This is trying novelties. This is what keeps life challenging. It brings surprise. It is what brings diversity. It gives us options. This is especially popular with thrill seekers. It is also strong for people who drink to excess with alcohol. It is also strong for those who use drugs. It makes people wonder things such as how long will this feeling last? How high will I get? What is this doing to my body?

Newness fills our need to eliminate boredom. It is why we pace. It is why we fidget. It is why we surf television channels. It is why we multi-task.

It is important to note that it is the lack of newness that brings on so many marital or even relationship issues. It is the main reason for a spouse or even someone we date to cheat. The person who cheats is bored.

Love and rapport: There are three aspects to love and rapport. These are closeness, warmth, togetherness. It has to do with wanting others to feel what we feel. It is that desire to be understood.

Crying is love and connection with the self. Using alcohol and drugs are used as a means of love and connection. They are used to bring pleasure to your self. This is done by providing a good feeling or by numbing away the pain of the world.

Love and rapport has to do with socializing and your ability to fit in with others. It has to do with being alone or loneliness. It has to do with the desire for solitude. It is expressed through empathy. It is expressed by simply listening.

There you have it. There are the four basic necessities. Now let’s determine how they play a role in your life and determine what your prime or guiding necessity is.

Self-knowledge leads to self-confidence. And confidence leads self-discipline. Confidence brings also the sense of being capable. So, let us examine some concepts that will help you to understand you better.

Neither your life nor life in general is out of control. I repeat life is not out of control. It may seem that way, but it is not. When it comes to our own life, if it seems out of control, it is because we have for some reason or another given control over to others. It was not done consciously. It was done as a matter of convenience. It was easier to let someone else be in charge than to deal with things our self. The good news is that you can take back control. Think about Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz”. She always had the ability to go home, but she just did not know that she could.

Those who feel life is out of control are those who have what is known as an amiable personality. They are friendly. They are the people pleasers. They avoid confrontation. They avoid disagreements They let others have their way. These are the politically correct. Then, they wonder why they always feel imposed upon and used. Why is everyone always taking advantage of me?

Those who feel they have control over their life have what is known as the driver personality. They are demanding. They don’t worry about what others think about them. They do and say what they want. They stand firm and rarely compromise. They usually get everything they want.

In addition to this is what is known as the attribution theory. People who feel their life is out of their control or uncertain do not take responsibility for their own life. External forces dictate the path their life takes. It has to do with how the rest of the world treats them. It has to do with where they live. It has to do with how they were raised.

On the other side of the attribution theory are internal forces that dictate the path of their life. This has a lot to do with your thoughts. It is your attitude. It is the “I got this” attitude. It is the ability to focus on the solution to any issue that arises. It is the “Do it” attitude.

If external factors dictate your life you play the role of the victim. Life is stacked against you. If internal factors dictate your life, you are the rescuer. You save yourself from failure. You save yourself from being controlled.

From this you can see that how you see you is how you view your ability to control your own life. Your whole world revolves around your attitude of who is in charge. When you accept the idea you can change your world and take control, your world will never be the same. Events do not change. It is the perception we take that changes. When we wake up, we evolve. My mom used to say wake up and die right. I think she had something there.

Problems, issues or hurdles in life are a message. They tell us that we are not doing something right. You got off easy street and went down some bumpy dirt road. Being able to overcome these things is not what you do it is what you expect in life. It is important that we expect life to be happy. Change your attitude and your life changes. To some of you this may seem too simple. I get that. I used to hear people say things like happiness is a choice. Or all you have to do is have a positive attitude and I rolled my eyes. The reason this is hard for some to accept is that they make some progress in changing their attitude and then it stops. This happens because they don’t accept the world as it is. They are still stuck on the external forces as what makes the world go around. They have not accepted their own power.

The more time you spend going down the bumpy road of life we turn inward. We become tense. We look at those external factors to try to determine where it all went wrong. We examine our childhood. We examine our environment. We examine the choices we made. We look for missed opportunities. Then we think about the uncertainty of the future. Will things get worse? Do people think I am stupid? Am I wasting my life? All this thinking clutters the mind. Everything gets confused. Stress takes its toll. And then it gets worse. The focus is now on the bumpy road and not on how to back on easy street. What to do?

The mind needs to relax. But it can’t relax when all this focus is on the self. Focus outward. Focus on others. Focus on the world. Remember, it is not what we do that matters as much as what we expect. The key is to build up harmonious love. Learn to love the world and the beauty and joy that it has to offer. Look to those who have this, you will lose your fear and anxiety. You will embrace the possibilities. Your life will become meaningful.

My grandma used to say don’t want for too much or you will be disappointed. Now it is not to say that you should not expect good things in life. What I am saying is that wanting is lacking and you feel unfulfilled. It is important to change your thoughts from need to have. Think about all you have. It is more than you think. When you stop thinking about what you lack and focus on what you have, you will begin to receive. Good things will start coming into your life. Here is one last thought. Every blessing ignored is a lost treasure.

Transformation

To become spiritually lifted requires transformation. This is transformation from the inside out. As more and more of us transform on the individual level, the world will transform as well.

From birth to death, we have a life time of learning. But what if this life time of learning has not taught us how to live spiritually? Then, we need to start over. We need to go back to the basics. We need to be reborn. As a baby learns to walk and talk, we will learn how to be more spiritual.

It will be challenging at first. As a baby learns to walk by falling down, we too falter in our learning to climb to Hlidskjalf. This will make many feel ignorant. uncertain and unsure. But I will be with you to catch you and help you to get back on your feet. As a baby eventually learns to walk, so will you make it to the top; you will make it to Hlidskjalf.

As the baby learns to trust himself in learning to walk, you need to learn to trust yourself in your quest to transform. The more you learn to trust yourself the closer you will get to forcing the dawning. As you go along, your energy will grow. Others in your life will benefit from your transformation. They too will transform.

I urge you to make the commitment at this time. Commit to transformation. Commit to being the best and most spiritual being you can be. Take a vow, “I am willing to learn to trust and follow my own inner truth, knowing that as I do, I will release the pain and fear within me and thus heal the pain and fears of the world.”

This vow is very powerful. Remember a good teacher will be demanding of you. And that is what I am doing by having you make this vow. For to commit to this vow is not an easy task. It will require that you be frank with yourself. You need to accept your good assets and all your weaknesses. You have to be willing to dig deep into your consciousness and your soul. You will find what motivates you and what fears stop you. But these fears will be erased. You will learn to overcome and replace them with positive thoughts.

It takes digging deeper into your consciousness to discover the source of your problems. You will take responsibility for your fears. You will be willing and able and ready to deal with them. Once this is discovered, you can focus on the answer rather than on the issue. You will open a world of opportunity. You will open a world of positive actions. These new actions will be powerful and effective.

As your way of thinking changes, your whole world changes. As you lose fear, you will feel more powerful. The more powerful you feel, the more fear you will lose. Others will be drawn to your new found powerful energy. They too will lose their fears and become stronger beings.

As you progress, you will see yourself in a different light. Then you will see the world in a different light. You will recognize that how you once saw you and the world was distorted. This distorted view came from all the fears and uncertainty for the future. Your life and the world had become such a scary place that you were not willing to look at it, but as you progress you will see it is not so bad. And solutions for a better you and a better world will be revealed. As this is happens you are getting closer and closer to forcing the dawning.

And when all is said and done, you will find you have succeeded in your quest to climb to Hlidskjalf where the view is spectacular.

Dawning

The world seems to be changing. For many people these are distressing times. The future seems uncertain. People today don’t seem to ever have enough. They want new and improved. We seek more and more. But is it material goods we seek or is it something else? Is it in truth more spirituality we seek?

There seems to be a trend for an increased disconnect between people. We interact more and more on social media. We stay home and order just about anything online and have it delivered. More and more people are feeling empty, alone, lost. We turn to gadgets to fill the need.

We see the darkness and seek the light. But the light is there. Look at it this way. When you turn on a light in your home during daylight hours, you hardly notice. But as the evening falls and the sun goes down, we notice the light more. It has been on the whole time, but it is not noticed until the darkness came. What we need is a dawning.

I would like to introduce you to Hlidskjalf. This is the throne of Odin, chief of the Norse Gods. It was the throne from which he could see all the world at once. As such, it is a very high place. It is a place worth visiting.

If you have ever viewed the dawn from a very high place you know that the night first resists the dawn seemingly unwilling to allow the light to expose the world. As it first peers over the horizon, the sun seems to shine directly on you, brightening a narrow band of the world before you. As the sun rises, more and more of what lies on either side of that band is illuminated. And the dawn becomes a day. Becoming spiritually lifted is like a dawning. In the beginning everyone mires around in darkness. Then through the labor of spiritual study, a rush of insight brightens a field of knowledge.

You will become spiritually lifted only if you force the dawning. But to do that you need the help of certain teachers.

How are you to identify these teachers? They are not found in any one place. They are sprinkled everywhere. They are not those who entertain, though some are entertaining. They are not those who present well organized speeches, though some of them do. You will not identify these teachers by their lifestyle. Rather, you will identify them by what and how they get you to learn. These are teachers who are interested in more than their field of expertise. These are teachers who demand you theorize, that you create understanding, and these are teachers who will show you how to do all that.

Becoming spiritually lifted is a difficult task. This kind of learning is difficult to teach, but you must demand it of your teachers. This kind of learning is difficult to attain, but you must demand it of yourself. It requires great effort from all; it is demanding and exacting.

Your knowledge will expand, but it will become less certain; you will become restless, inquiring. Easy assumptions and comfortable prejudices will be challenged by doubt and concern. Conformist opinion will begin to be replaced by unpopular belief, apathy by principled action.

I urge each of you to make the climb to Hlidskjalf. The climb to Hlidskjalf is long and arduous. The risks of the climb are many. But the climb is exhilarating, and the view is spectacular.