What is the goal here?  Well, that’s a great question, and one that my friends and family have all seemed to be curious about at the same time…  Isn’t it OBVIOUS!

The goal is to spread love!!!  The way I intend to do that is to FIRST, show people how they can LOVE themselves better, and then how easy it is to LOVE other people.  Its important that the first step be completed before the second.

How can people use this site? and how will this site help people?

In a couple ways.  The first goal of the writing is to give people MORE FREEDOM.  Freedom in the choices they have regarding their feelings and the way they believe about themselves and others.  More freedom simply means more options.  More ressources.  The more choices a person has, the more free they can feel.  And feeling free is easy when you’re not hung up with negative emotions or focusing on the wrong things in life.  People should know there are better options than being sad or depressed.  There are actually millions of feelings that a person can feel, and most of them are wonderful!  The key is to not get stuck in patterns of feeling unpleasant.

“Certain people think certain things need to happen in order to feel good.  The trick is: you have to feel good for no reason.”  -Dr. Richard Bandler

Another goal of this site is to ENCOURAGE people to go ahead and be more friendly to others.  Engaging in random acts of kindness can make a person feel great, and the kindness is contagious and is always passed on.  Once you feel good inside yourself, it is much easier to spread good feelings to others.  So after reading these posts you should encourage people, to either feel good themselves, or make others feel good.  YOU HAVE TWO OPTIONS!!!!!

Then, after people get the hang of feeling good and sharing good feelings (which is sooooo easy), then it is time to raise expectations and hopefully effect peoples beliefs in a positive way.  Here are some beliefs and expectations that would be great for people to have:

-World Peace is possible and it is coming                         -People are always friendly if you are first

-We should all expect the best from life                           -Smiling at someone will make their day better

-Love is easy to feel and to share                                     -The world can change

These are just a few things that I can think of off the top of my head, but I truly believe that if people can raise their expectations for life and the world around them, their world could change drastically in a few moments.  The ultimate goal of this site, and I’ll have to rush to school after this point, is that the world needs more love to flow and spread.  This is why I am here, to help people love themselves and love others, because if we can develop love for all humanity, there wouldn’t be any real problems that we could not come together to overcome.  So in closing, if we can spread love, and we can feel good, we will have a lot of free time away from feeling bad and disliking others, and think about all the time that feeling bad takes up, with this free time who knows what we could do….

Peace&love.

Mitch

Really, go ahead, its soooo easy!  ‘If you don’t have a smile I’ll give you one of mine’ someone very clever said that, but they never gave their name, oh well.

One thing that I never thought of is “Everyone smiles in the same language”.  Although the topic of ’sub-communication’ is one that I have studied in depth, I never thought about what a smile communicates. I guess its pretty obvious what it means, but at the same time it can mean so many things from so many people.  Smiling radiates so many positives from a persons core that we’d be foolish not to smile as much as possible.  I have noticed, since I wrote my last post on smiling, I have kept the thought in my head consistently, and it has had some really positive effects.  I have smiled at many people in the last two weeks, everyone from cute girls to seniors, from my mail-lady to my teachers at school.  And you know what… they all appreciate it.  Most of the time when I smile at a stranger, they will smile back, and often they will say ‘hello’.  Isn’t that something!  One little smile.  So from being total strangers, to sharing something beautiful with each other, in less than 10seconds, all you have to do is smile.  And from there if the situation allows it, I will say something like; “Nice day isn’t it?” and they will say “Sure is”, then I will say “Well, have a great afternoon” or morning or night, and I know that I have effected someone positively.  Its a gift really, to brighten up someones day like that, actually its a gift that we share, and those are the best kinds of gifts.

It is really so easy to feel great all day, its much easier than being depressed all day, and it FEELS way better.  But for some reason, some people out there still act depressed, or down.  They may have reasons to do this, but I’ve always felt that the way you feel should come from inside yourself, and not from outside (other peoples opinions, factors you don’t control, or just plain bad luck).  The way you feel, is up to you, so pick happiness, choose to be kind and loving, and guess what…life will be amazing, I promise.

Peace&love

Mitch

Hello!

I have been searching the internet for some time now, for a charitable cause that I would love to give to, and I found a couple, but this one was my favorite.

“Right To Play harnesses the universal love of play to engage children and youth in regular, organized play activities that address critical challenges like the lack of basic education, lack of health information and the impact of conflict on both the individual and community networks and support systems.”

“Sport has a natural and universal power to engage and motivate, to move and educate, to open dialogue and create positive change.

Right To Play’s sport and play programs:

• teach HIV and AIDS prevention and awareness to children most at risk
• foster rehabilitation and teach life skills to children affected by war
• open up educational and leadership opportunities to girls
• bring joy, hope, laughter and so much more to children in need

Right To Play trains community members and individuals within local partner organizations to be coaches and run our programs. This creates the foundation in a community for leadership and helps to rebuild community infrastructure, networks and support systems.

Working in both the humanitarian and development context, Right To Play has projects in more than 20 countries in the Africa, Asia and the Middle East.”

So there is a brief but detailed explanation of what their organization is trying to do.  And a large part of my decision to choose this group is because I’ve spoken with a young woman who has been working with this organization in Africa for the last two years and she has extremely positive comments on how they work.  All profits from the sale of *Original Interfaith Logo* pins will go to Right to Play and I hope we can give them the support they deserve.

Peace&love

Go ahead, smile, a real smile, a heart-warming smile!  One of those smiles that starts in your feet, and flows through your body, tingling, making you feel great.  Those smiles do so much for your own body, and your brain.  Not only do they help you, but smiles can help others too.  Many things are contagious, some good and some bad, colds are, but so is laughter.  Smiles are contagious as well, have you noticed that when you smile at someone, they often smile back?  And then, your smile grows because you have spread good feelings to someone.  Often time’s people make fast judgements about others, and if you can be smiling, their perception of you will be a positive one.  So go ahead and smile when you meet a stranger.  Smiling lets people know that you’re enjoying yourself, and enjoying yourself is the first rule to living successfully. People who don’t enjoy what they do, rarely succeed.  So put on a smile and you’ll discover that it makes you feel great.   Even when you may be in a bad mood, once you can smile you’ll change the chemicals in your brain and soon your whole physiology will be affected and you’ll discover how easy it is to feel amazing.  Now even though you may not believe it, that’s no reason not to try it, go ahead and smile more, if your life takes a turn for the worst, you can email me and complain some more, but I know that you’ll actually find yourself feeling great.  And people around you will feel great also, because your mood has an effect on the people around you.
Professor James V. McConnell, a psychologist from the University of Michigan has an interesting quote on the subject; I think I will let him guide your belief.
“People who smile, tend to mange, teach and sell more effectively, and to raise happier children.  There’s far more information in a smile than a frown.  That’s why encouragement is a much more effective teaching device than punishment.”

We are all looking to be happy, right?  So we should all smile more!  I really like what Abraham Lincoln said on this topic, and this short quote will show you a couple of things “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”  So what I think he is saying is that happiness is IN YOUR head.  Now to most people that’s obvious, to some it has been forgotten.  But what’s important to know, is that happiness is a state of mind, and one that is easy to live with.  It is much easier to live with than depression, or doubt, or any other negative emotion.  We can control what goes on in our head, so we should, and we should all make sure to think positively, to think to make ourselves happy, and feel happy.  Because being depressed takes energy too, but it feels awful.  So choose to be happy and you’ll enjoy life much more, but first you have to SMILE!
Peace&love.

“Self-expression is the dominant necessity of human nature” William Winter.

Lately I have been considering how true and important this sentence is what it means, and how it can help people become closer to each other. Everyone I meet has something interesting to tell me, and that’s because I ask them, I often say “So, tell me something cool about yourself?” And it helps, people enjoy sharing, and talking, and connecting. I feel like the more I can have someone share with me, the more they think I am an excellent ‘conversationalist’, although I seem to just encourage them to share. I love to listen carefully then ask a question. I love to hear stories and thoughts from other people, and I love to know how different things make them feel. Although I must admit, it’s tough staying quiet and not jumping in to tell my own stories. Keeping silent has been one of the best things I have learned recently. While I keep silent, I grow more curious about the other person, and more and more interested. I have become interested in other people and it has made my life much better. I ask questions and encourage the people I meet to share with me, to share their knowledge and to let me in on their feelings, and I am really grateful. With this new conversation style, I find myself making stronger connections and feeling like I know someone really well, after one meeting. It’s amazing!

“It is the individual who is not interested in his fellow men who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest injury to others. It is from among such individuals that all human failures spring”-Alfred Adler
This quote may seem harsh, but it may be true. So go out and be interested in people, and not only will you make more friends, you’ll make better quality connections. It is so easy to get someone to share, but people just don’t do it enough. Everyone loves to talk, and it’s rare that you find someone who loves to listen. I used to love to talk also, I thought I impressed people with stories and jokes, but what people really appreciate, is someone who interested in them and what they have to say. Dale Carnegie says “ If we want to make friends, let’s put ourselves out to do things for other people –things that require time, energy, unselfishness and thoughtfulness.” This may make the task sound difficult, but it isn’t, it’s easy. Listen, listen, listen, then ask strategic questions, and hopefully before you know it, you’ll discover someone who wants to open up to you, and when people open up, that’s when the best connections are made.

Peace&love.

“When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity”

Dale Carnegie writes in his most famous book, that we are beings of emotion. Feelings often take control, but I believe that feelings can be governed, can’t they? They come from somewhere don’t they?

I believe that our feelings are directly linked to our thoughts. Whenever I think of how nice life is, or how beautiful the people I love in my life are, it always seems to make me feel sooo happy (and what’s pleasantly strange is that it usually makes life even better and people even nicer). I know that we are not always completely logical, and often it’s because our emotions are keeping us from thinking completely straight, but what if everyone where able to put their emotions on hold and try to analyze why they felt a certain way.

My favourite person in the world, Richard Bandler, has a funny way of dealing with people who come to see him because they feel that they are depressed. He’ll say something like “How do you know you are depressed? How do you know you’re not actually Happy?… How do you know when to feel depressed?” And my favourite thing that he’ll say is “when you start to feel depressed, have you ever thought of just telling that feeling to STOP.”

He makes me laugh. But what I understand from learning so much from him and his style of helping people change, is that we are in control. We can change; whenever, wherever, and however we want, and it doesn’t have to take more than of couple minutes. Could the world change in a couple minutes?

Unfortunately, I don’t think so. I believe that the world can change, but it will have to happen ONE person at a time. How do we change? Well, the first thing we have to realize is that change is easy. And change for positive reasons can offer so much to a person’s life. A person, who is afraid of going into an elevator or flying on a plane, can change their beliefs, and their thoughts, and then their feelings when it comes to their specific challenge. And once riding an elevator or flying is no longer emotionally difficult, the person’s life is introduced to a new level of FREEDOM. (More freedom is GOOOOOD) If the people of the earth could change the way they believe about each other, they could change the way they think about each other, and then the way they feel about each other. Then imagine a world where people weren’t governed by fear based emotions and feelings, and we could all feel comfortable with each other. Imagine the LOVE and FREEDOM that would spread. I think about the LOVE and FREEDOM spreading every day, and it helps my own life fill up with more LOVE and FREEDOM. I have amazing friends and the most beautiful relationships on the planet, and it is even hard for me to believe it sometimes. But I do believe that LOVE is all around us, and that if we can put down our negative thoughts, and walls that keep others out, then we can let the love flow more easily and more abundantly. So go ahead, think about it, hold the thoughts of the people you love in your mind, and let yourself smile, its easy, and it spreads.Now, go out and be kind to a stranger, it helps the LOVE spread even more.
Peace&love.

Mitch

Dalai Lama - Peace Handshake

Peace must be waged - We need more of this in the world.

It seems the link isnt working, but if you search these two titles in youtube, you’ll find some really cool videos.

Check’em out!

Everyone must share the planet that we live on today.  You realize that uniting global communities is easier, and more important today than it ever was before.  Through sharing different perspectives and thoughts, and listening to each other, you can help make the world a friendlier place to live.  The best way to help friendship grow, is through the use of the internet and the expansion of interfaith dialogue.

Dialogue online will increase peace as we share different perspectives, and you listen to others from a place of love, respect, and friendship.  You will bring communities together as we all share our insights and spiritual traditions.  By using the internet and increasing the dialogue, you play a role in the spread of peace and friendship in the world.  When you share your personal and spiritual thoughts, you are exercising your right of free expression, and as long as you keep in mind that your perspectives may be different from others, we can all grow by realising the best thoughts others have to offer.

The spirituality of all individuals can be heard, and you can get involved on the internet right now.  Let others hear what you think, let them see the pictures of friendship that are in your mind, notice how we all want friendship to spread.  Allow others to feel your love and support each others spirituality, even though there may be differences, we will all find ourselves encouraging the spread of friendship across our minds and our globe.  By understanding each other and the different faiths of the world, we will all be able to gain wisdom and knowledge.  Your contributions to ‘interfaith dialogue’ online will give you a sense of appreciation for your own faith, and let you see some other principles and aspects from other parts of the world.

Dialogue is not debate.  As our society grows more and more diverse, you interact with people of different faiths more frequently.  And what may be true for your faith, may not be true for others.  The goal of ‘interfaith dialogue’ is to have you talk and share with others, to benefit your knowledge and to grow your understanding of other faiths in an increasingly diverse world.  Your objective is not to correct others, but to listen and share.

1. In Nostra aetate, the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, the Second Vatican Council teaches that “the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. She has a high regard for the manner of life and conduct, the precepts and doctrines which, although differing in many ways from her own teaching, nevertheless often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men” (Nostra aetate, n. 2). Taking up the Council’s teaching from the first Encyclical Letter of my Pontificate, I have wished to recall the ancient doctrine formulated by the Fathers of the Church, which says that we must recognize “the seeds of the Word” present and active in the various religions (Ad gentes, n. 11; Lumen gentium, n. 17). This doctrine leads us to affirm that, though the routes taken may be different, “there is but a single goal to which is directed the deepest aspiration of the human spirit as expressed in its quest for God and also in its quest, through its tending towards God, for the full dimension of its humanity, or in other words, for the full meaning of human life” (Redemptor hominis, n. 11).

All authentic prayer is called forth by the Spirit

The “seeds of truth” present and active in the various religious traditions are a reflection of the unique Word of God, who “enlightens every man coming into world” (cf. Jn 1: 9) and who became flesh in Christ Jesus (cf. Jn 1: 14). They are together an “effect of the Spirit of truth operating outside the visible confines of the Mystical Body” and which “blows where it wills” (Jn 3: 8; cf. Redemptor hominis, nn. 6, 12). Keeping this doctrine in mind, the celebration of the Jubilee of the Year 2000 “will provide a great opportunity, especially in view of the events of recent decades, for interreligious dialogue” (Tertio millennio adveniente, n. 53). Even now, during this pneumatological year, it is fitting to pause and consider in what sense and in what ways the Holy Spirit is present in humanity’s religious quest and in the various experiences and traditions that express it.

2. It must first be kept in mind that every quest of the human spirit for truth and goodness, and in the last analysis for God, is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The various religions arose precisely from this primordial human openness to God. At their origins we often find founders who, with the help of God’s Spirit, achieved a deeper religious experience. Handed on to others, this experience took form in the doctrines, rites and precepts of the various religions.

In every authentic religious experience, the most characteristic expression is prayer. Because of the human spirit’s constitutive openness to God’s action of urging it to self-transcendence, we can hold that “every authentic prayer is called forth by the Holy Spirit, who is mysteriously present in the heart of every person” (Address to the Members of the Roman Curia, 22 Dec. 1986, n. 11; L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 5 Jan. 1987, p. 7).

We experienced an eloquent manifestation of this truth at the World Day of Prayer for Peace on 27 October 1986 in Assisi, and on other similar occasions of great spiritual intensity.

3. The Holy Spirit is not only present in other religions through authentic expressions of prayer. “The Spirit’s presence and activity”, as I wrote in the Encyclical Letter Redemptoris missio, “affect not only individuals but also society and history, peoples, cultures and religions” (n. 28).

Normally, “it will be in the sincere practice of what is good in their own religious traditions and by following the dictates of their own conscience that the members of other religions respond positively to God’s invitation and receive salvation in Jesus Christ, even while they do not recognize or acknowledge him as their Saviour (cf. Ad gentes, nn. 3, 9, 11)” (Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Instruction Dialogue and Proclamation, 19 May 1991, n. 29; L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 1 July 1991, p. III).

Indeed, as the Second Vatican Council teaches, “since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of coming into contact, in a way known to God, with the paschal mystery” (Gaudium et spes, n. 22).

This possibility is achieved through sincere, inward adherence to the Truth, generous self-giving to one’s neighbour and the search for the Absolute inspired by the Spirit of God. A ray of the divine Wisdom is also shown through the fulfilment of the precepts and practices that conform to the moral law and to authentic religious sense. Precisely by virtue of the Spirit’s presence and action, the good elements found in the various religions mysteriously prepare hearts to receive the full revelation of God in Christ.

May the Spirit of truth guide us in our dialogue

4. For the reasons mentioned here, the attitude of the Church and of individual Christians towards other religions is marked by sincere respect, profound sympathy and, when possible and appropriate, cordial collaboration. This does not mean forgetting that Jesus Christ is the one Mediator and Saviour of the human race. Nor does it mean lessening our missionary efforts, to which we are bound in obedience to the risen Lord’s command: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28: 19). The attitude of respect and dialogue is instead the proper recognition of the “seeds of the Word” and the “groanings of the Spirit”. In this sense, far from opposing the proclamation of the Gospel, our attitude prepares it, as we await the times appointed by the Lord’s mercy. “By dialogue we let God be present in our midst; for as we open ourselves in dialogue to one another, we also open ourselves to God” (Address to Members of Other Religions, Madras, 5 Feb. 1986, n. 4; L’Osservatore Romano English edition, 10 Feb. 1986, p. 14).

May the Spirit of truth and love, in view of the third millennium now close at hand, guide us on the paths of the proclamation of Jesus Christ and of the dialogue of peace and brotherhood with the followers of all religions!

General Audience Address, September 16, 1998, Vatican

Available at http://www.petersnet.net/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=535

Don’t Start With Hot Button Issues

Your group doesn’t need to deny the points of contrast or conflict. They exist. But they are a lot easier to deal with after you have created rapport between members of the group so that people are talking to people, not symbols. Where conflict is likely, steer away from it until the group is strong enough to survive it. Leave it until such time as the relationships are mature enough for people to “agree to disagree.” In building a coalition, you must always begin with the areas that are points of simple agreement. Success in simple matters first.

So if we avoid the contentious issues, how do we find the issues of common cause? Poll the group. I’m sure you will find that every faith community wants to be understood and wants to tell its story in its own words. One would hope that the majority of participants are eager to learn something about the faiths of others. Because there really is something to be learned, and sharing another person’s perspective of faith can profoundly impact our own expressions of faith.

Emphasize That Wisdom Doesn’t Belong to Any Single Faith

People of true faith are admired beyond the confines of their own religions. As an exemplar of faith, Mohandas Gandhi was a beacon of inspiration to Muslims, Sikhs, and Jains as well as his fellow Hindus. People of every faith have expressed admiration for Dr. King, Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, His Highness the Aga Khan, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. There is really very little distance between people of true faith–no matter what faith they practice. Working together, people of true faith can accomplish much. Who else could have hammered out a peace accord that would form the basis of Mideast peace but an evangelical Christian (Jimmy Carter), a devout Muslim (Anwar Sadat), and an Orthodox Jew (Menachem Begin)?

As people of faith, we hold more in common than we are accustomed to acknowledging. The work of interfaith dialogue is to explore these areas and build on them. And once we have built these bridges of understanding, it will be easier to explore the points of difference.

Don’t Assume Consensus

Well-intentioned convenors of interfaith dialogue often make the mistake of assuming all faiths have a common worldview and a similar set of priorities. There are plenty of difficult areas where the faiths do not agree.

Be forewarned. Far too often interfaith organizers start out with a preconceived notion of the issues that will elicit agreement among all parties. So they tend to trot out a set list of issues and are shocked to find there is no universal agreement.

Don’t automatically assume that all parties in interfaith dialogue will eagerly embrace these issues or have a common position on them…because they won’t.

• Protection of the environment
• The equality of the races
• The equality of men and women
• Care of the poor
• More equitable distribution of the world’s wealth
• International cooperation
• Human rights
• Capital punishment
• Hunting and animal rights
• Political discussions and endorsements
• God

There is a wide gulf between the faiths regarding the definition and existence of an Almighty who directs the affairs of mortals and the universe.

Possible Areas of Common Ground

Surprisingly, the types of issues that unite all faith communities across the entire spectrum are much simpler than the ones listed above. For example, as we enter the twenty-first century, most of the religions are united in:

1. Gambling. Opposition to the spread of government-sponsored gambling and casinos
2. Family. Belief in the importance of family life
3. Spiritual education. Reinstating some form of religious education in the schools.

If you are ready to stow your assumptions and honestly poll the group, you will find plenty of common ground in some surprising places.

In “What the World Needs to Know About Interfaith Dialogue” by Richard M. Landau.

Available at http://www.beliefnet.com/story/90/story_9024_1.html