Spiritual Awakening: Finding A Fountain Of Inspiration
As I was deciding on what to blog about today to help those on their spiritual path to enhance their personal and professional lives I jumped on YouTube and I found this fountain of inspiration. As I began to drink from this fountain I began to think about all those who inspire others and how they are adding to the fountain of inspiration.
In this fountain of inspiration I found this video and the affirmations. I then remembered the scene in Dead Poet’s Society, where Robin Williams Character, Mr.Keating, reminds us to Carpe Diem ( Seize The Day).
You have the opportunity to seize the day and drink from your own fountain of inspiration.As you become inspired and you awaken and accept that you are destined for greatness you will begin to see changes in your personal and professional life and your light will shine brightly on others.
Spiritual Awakening: Removing The Shackles and Finding Your Freedom
As I sat in the audience at The Women of Faith Conference in Sunrise, FL listening to Mandisa sing her version of this song that was originally done by Mary Mary I kept thinking how many people are being shackled by their choices and haven’t found their freedom. Then I thought how can I help you break the shackles and find your freedom and the answer was to share this blog entry with you. Mandisa gave a very moving testimony that showed those in attendance that regardless of the current circumstances you can break free and remove the shackles that may be holding you back. As she shared her story about bing eating I thought wow I have been there. When she shared that once she began loving herself and realized she was loved her life began to shift and her path became clearer and today her message is being shared with people worldwide. I encourage you to begin each morning with some type of ritual that will help you to remove any shackles that are holding you back.
Mandisa and Toby Mac deliver a message taht will help you to have a good morning and a good day as you continue to break the shackles and find your freedom.
It is when we truly break out of the shackles and realize we have a power inside of us that is given to us by the divine taht we truly find freedom. Think about those who are telling you it can be done, or that will never work, or you are not good enough and begin to edge them out of your life and move forward because happiness and prosperity is your birth right.
.
Spiritual Awakening: Tools to Break The Shackles And Find Your Freedom
For those that read this blog on a regular basis you know I am a big proponet of books and implementing what you have learned from the books. At Women of Faith I had the opportunity to hear Sandi Patty perform her music and give her testimonial. Her books and music will help you break the shackles and to discover your freedom. Brenda Warner was also there, though I didn’t hear her speak her story is motivational and inspiring. Brenda is married to Kurt Warner, whose story of going from a stock boy to a Superbowl MVP is amazing.
I have often mentioned that the use of humor or comedy is a great tool to help break free. I had the opportunity to hear Mark Lowry at Women of Faith and you have to see him to fully understand his message.
Mark Lowry also has a serious side as evidenced by his son Mary Did You Know. When I saw him sing this on Friday 10/26/12 at Women of Faith I teared up.
As you continue to remove the shackles and find your freedom you will discover quotes and affirmations that will help you on your path.
Meditation is a great tool to use to break the shackles and to find your freedom. The following video will help you.
I leave you today with this song from Mandisa to encourage to start now and break those shackles that may be holding you back.
Spiritual Awakening: Being Yourself In The Political Correct World
On question I am asked often is JDOGG how do you stay authentic in this political correct world? I answer as challenging as it is I remain true to myself and loook at my divinity and make sure that I am doing everything to answer the calling of Source. By taking action and being and example of my anthem that service to humanity is the best work of life I find myself answering my calling making the neccessary changes nedded to come alive and be of service and value to the community. It is in the following of dreams and encouraging others to follow their dreams that I am able to cope with the emotions of the political correct world. One of the conversations I had with my mother before she passed was on a concept called fearless painting. The idea is to just paint regardless of the feelings that other may have paint because you feel the emotion and you know what you want the finished product to represent. By going with the flow from source and answering your call and being yourself you will maneuver through this political correct world.
As you can see I am not a fan of political correctness. I am all for tolerance and understanding and getting to know people and to create a world filled with greatness, however I know that I may offend some people along the way. To this I say some will, some won’t, some waiting, so what next. Recently I sent a tweet aboit my fundraising efforts with The American Cancer Society followed by a retweet of a bible verse and I lost 14 followers going from 1560 to 1546. At first I was upset and then I realized that if my passion and commitment doesn’t sit well with people do I want them following me anyway. On Facebook I have a group Get Motivated With Jonathan JDOGG Lederman that at one time had 160 members and today has 145. This is due in part to me not being afraid to speak my mind and stand by the messages that source is delivering.
Spiritual Awakening: Expand Through Community Service
As I embarked on a new project, Forest of Angels, which is a program where businesses and organizations sponsor and decorate Christmas Trees and select a charity to represent and compete for the title of Best Decorated Tree I began to think how great it is to expand personally and professionally through community service. When you visit www.forestofangels.com you will see the program and the charities that are involved. The actual event will take place at The Westfield Broward Mall in Plantation, FL from November 17 – December 24.
To Expand Your Level Of Service Visit www.forestofangels.com
As I began to make calls to find sponsors for the trees I felt an energy expand and come over me that created a joy that then enabled me to continue my expansion. As I presented the project and began to state that the tree sponsorships are $1,250.00 I began to get more comfortable. I then realized that the more you give the more you get. It is when you take action and become awake and aware that you begin to expand and grow.
In working with charitable causes I have found that making the mind, body, soul connection becomes easier as you truly feel the passion for what you are doing and you begin to realize that what the mind can conceive and the hert can believe you can achieve. As you begin to see the joy you are bringing to the world by being involved in your community you begin to open up channels to receive and your life seems to be flowing better. I ask what are you passionate about and how can you bring that passion to a community service project.
I decided to use Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs to illustrate that you deserve great things and that you are worth it. How many times have you offered a great service for what you believe to be a reasonable price and been asked why should I pay that? I always answer because I am worth it. Being a spiritual entrepreneur does not mean giving your talents away it means being of service and value and getting a reasonable exchange for your services and products. When you begin to tell yourself I am worth it you will begin to get paid what you value yourself at. I have learned in the last 2 years that if you do not put a high value on yourself and your talents noone else will. This was illustrated a few weeks ago when I was approached to do a voice over for a video and offered to do it for $100 and was told that they would find someone on fiverr, to which I replied go ahead, well guess what the video isn’t done and they are still searching for that inexpensive voice, when they could have had one of the best. The lesson I learned is stick to your guns as word will get out that you value yourself and you are worth it.
Babe Ruth was someone who understood his value as illustrated by hisanswer when asked why he shoud be making more money than the president? His answer because I had a better year than he did. Babe Ruth knew he was worth it.
Spiritual Awakening:Oscar Pistorious, Gabby Douglas Inspiring The World
OscarPistorius became the first amputee track athlete to compete in the Olympics & he advanced to the 400-meter semifinals after finishing second in his heat. His triumphant story continues to inspire the world. He was treated like a child with 2 legs growing up his mother would tell his brother put on your sneakers and Osccar put on your legs and if your brother climbs a tree you climb the tree. I have found Oscar’s story to be one of inspiration showing people that regardless of obstacles you can overcome and achieve greatness.
How many times have you been told you can not do something or have you allowed your negative self talk to get in the way? For Oscar Pistorious his taking of action and training to become a top athlete despite the obstacle of being a double amputee holds a message of hope and achieveent for all as we continue to step into our greatness. Their is something very spiritual about watching this man compete as you can feel the energy he brings to life come through the TV. The positive vibes that he gives off enhances all those who watch. So the next time you think you can not do something think of Oscar and all he has overcome and go for it.
Gabby Douglas’s journey to the Team Gymnastics Gold and The Olympic All Around Gold was paved with much sacrifice as she moved from her mother’s home across country to DesMoines, Iowa to train. Her mother a single mom made many sacrifices so Gabby could train to become an Olympian. Her older sister encouraged her not to quit the sport when she wanted to walk away. Gabby stuck with it and in London performed exquistely to capture 2 gold medals. Gabby’s comments after winning The Women’s All Around only solidifies the idea that we are guided by a higher being. What is your higher calling and what sacrifices will you make to be a shining light of hope to others.
Dusty Springfield expresses the ideas of hoping, praying, and dreaming. This song expresses the idea of caring for another. Many times it is about being an action taker.
Spiritual Awakening:What Are You Wishing and Hoping For?
Today I celebrate my 47th year on this earth and it is my first birthday without my mother, who passed on July 5, 2012. I have been asked today what I want and I have answered very simply for people to click on LOVE DONATIONS on this page and make a small donation to honor my mother’s memory as that would be the greatest gift that anyone could give me this year as I would be able to send the donations in memory of my mother to the two designated charities and say wow we had an awesome virtual ceebration where people who wished for a world with less cancer and more birthdays took action and made a positive impact on the lives of others.
Rose Royce expresses the idea of wishing on a star. It is when you take your wish and take action steps that you begin to see it unfold in front of you and many times it will amaze you when you see where your wishes and hopes take you. In my life there have been people who have tried to squander my dreams, I have since used the next button and moved on understanding that there are those who are dreamweavers and those who are dream stealers. Who are you surrounding yourself with?
Spiderman had Peter Parker, Batman had Bruce Wayne, and Superman had Clark Kent. Each character illustrates a transformation from who they were perceived to be to who they could become. How do you use your alter ego to transform yourself and create the spiritual well being that you seek. At times we may become conflicted because of our alter ego or the duality we feel we must face as we are affected by the thoughts and beliefs of our childhood and the fear of being a bit different than what is perceived as normal. We often ask ourselves what role must I play? How must I act in this situation because of fear. many times we create an alter ego to compensate for our short comings and we begin to discover who we truly are and we do some deep introspection and discover that we are who source desires us to be. We all play a role in this and despite our duality at times we become the shining lights of hope for others.
I have stated many time that by being an action taken and fololwing your anthem that you will have an awakening and see how source strikes again. This was evidenced this week as I attended a dinner at The Victory Christian Center in Boca Raton as part of The Celebrate Recovery Program. I was invited by my friend Dale, who I had seen in a while and it was time to catch up and share as we both had just experienced the passing of someone close, for me it was my mother for her her brother. She had told me I was covered, meaning that my meal was free, however when I arrived I took $3 and put it into the donation basket. The evening ended and I didn’t even think about the $3 I donated until yesterday (7/26/12) as I was leaving a client and had just received my check for services rendered when her husband handed me $30. I started to remember the passages that speak about when you give it is returned ten fold. This is what inspired this post Source Strikes Again. I invite you to share your stories of how source is working and striking in a positive manner in your life.
Spiritual Awakening: How To Connect With Source?
Many times we are destined for a calling that source has given us all the tools to pursue and bring to fruition, however we may not be connected or open to receive at that time and as a result we put up road blocks instead of making the connection with source. Some may call it the God Connection, The Jesus Connection, The Source Connection, The Buddha Connection, or something else. The key is that you tap into this amazing power that is inside of you that the world is in desire of. The question now is How To Connect With Source? There are many ways.
Spiritual Awakening: Reaching Out and Impacting Lives
When I think of celebrities making an impact I think of Bono from U2. I then start to think we can all be like Bono in our own right be it sharing our knowledge with others or simply sharing a smile or a kind word.
Bono of U2 delivers a message of hope in the song Beautiful Day. It is when we wake up that we have a choice to make it a beautiful day despite the weather and any trials and tribulations that we may have. By making a conscious decision to reach out and positively impact the lives of others we are positively impacting our own lives. Bob Burg speakes about being a go-giver is his book The Go Giver and his book Go Givers Sell More.
These two books can be great toolsto help you make a positive impact in the lives of others while improving your personal and professional life.
M.J. Ryan’s Book, The Giving Heart has many stories that will inspire you to be a giver and to help you see the value of helping others.
I encourage you to share your stories about giving and how it has impacted your life. It is when we open up and help others that we see leaps in our personal and professional lives.
