THE 2024 SUPER HEROIC LIFE MANIFESTO…!

 

A New Age Nerd knows we are all Spiritual beings having a Human experience. And that we came into this grand experience with TWO minds. ONE, is called the conscious mind and is indeed sacred. However, the second is called the SUBCONSCIOUS MIND and it is our direct connection back to SPIRIT! It is the shared Universal powerhouse of limitless energy and infinite intelligence. It may be called upon at any time in order for us to literally "Bend Reality" to our very preference!

He acknowledges the true power of his words, and thus chooses them with care, intention, and kindness.

A New Age Nerd strives to "practice what they preach,"  for they know that a spiritual vocabulary without action becomes No Thing more than Spiritual Entertainment.

She has the deep understanding that the Universe has NO boundaries and is constantly expanding. Thus she knows that her Spirit is LIMITLESS!

He knows SEPARATION is an illusion.. and that " WE ARE ALL ONE."

A New Age Nerd does not confuse kindness...  With weakness… EVER!

He understands that every soul has a CALLING.. A Unique Mission that only YOU can fulfill in order to help save this World!  And so your were given a set of SUPER POWERS. Use them wisely and with love and kindness!

She accepts the ONE thing she has full control over is who she associates with ..  As it will be the greatest determining factor of her happiness and success. So she picks her TRIBE with a WICKED WISDOM.

The opinions of others have little effect on a New Age Nerd, for they know they only have to PROVE things to themselves.

A New Age Nerd understands the difference between Success and SIGNIFICANCE.  So they are always looking to bring more value into the world.

He believes the greatest gift we have been given is the PRESENT. 

So Her favorite motto is "BE HERE NOW."

She is a ‘SOULdier’ for LOVE.  A fierce Connoisseur of Consciousness.  A Ravishing Rock Star of Spirit.  And a Steward of Remembrance.  So she reminds others they are too.

A New Age Nerd understands they may be the only bible/torah/koran that someone will ever read.  Thus they hold each and every co-creation as uniquely SACRED.

He strives to be worthy of his sufferings.  For his definition of a "Sin" is to suffer without meaning.  

She takes RESPONSIBILITY for her actions.  No complaining, no explaining.

A New Age Nerd commits daily to become ‘The Greatest Version of The Grandest Vision" ever held of themselves.  In this way, they worry not about being better than others, but rather being better than they used to be.

She knows surrendering is the highest form of ALLOWANCE.  So she surrenders her Spirit to the Universe often, as not to block the Abundance always waiting for her highest good.

A New Age Nerd has a fervent FAITH that everything and anything other than LOVE, is simply an ILLUSION.

BE SUPER HEROIC!
LOVE - SERVE - INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

The TIME Is NOW To Ring In A SUPER HEROIC NEW YEAR!!

 

"This is the most important and crucial times of your life. For what you do now, and what you decide to do at this age may very well determine which way your life will go. And the question is, whether you have a proper, and a sound blueprint. And I want to suggest some of the things that should be in your life's blueprint. Number one in your life's blueprint should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your own worth and your own somebodiness. Don't allow anybody to make you feel that you are nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth and always feel that your life has ultimate significance. Secondly, in your life's blueprint, you must have as a basic principle to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor. You are going to be deciding as the days and the years of your life unfolds what you will do in life, what your life's work will be. Once you discover what it will be, do it and do it well. Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be the sun, be a star, for it isn't by size that you win or fail, be the best of whatever you are. Finally in your life's blueprint must be a commitment, to the eternal principals of beauty, love, and justice. Well life for none of us has been a crystal stair, but we must keep moving. If you can't fly, run. If your can't run walk. If you can't walk, crawl, but by all means keep moving." 

Martin Luther King Jr.

Can you believe we are just two weeks away from the NEW YEAR!!  Yuperoo! And I bet I'm not the only NEW AGE NERD who thinks that we are at a Tipping Point on this planet.  Especially given the tumultuous events that haunted us during the previous 10 years. From a billionaire reality star actually being sworn in as our President, to horrific weather events of every size, shape, and from causing absolute HAVOC because of Climate Disruption!   A worldwide pandemic that stole the lives of millions and still haunts our hearts each and every day. Needless wars on several shores. Too many tragedies of unfathomable proportions to even mention. And raise your hand if you are one of the growing members of the TV audience that no longer checks in with the evening news?  Just like I thought! All but a couple arms are raised high to the sky!!  I ...ummm..   have to put mine back down to continue writing today's post.  🙏🏼

Before you presume to think that today's musings are going to be a real downer, please hang in there with me!  Because the fact is my INTENTION for writing today's post is quite the opposite. When I first decided to become a spiritual teacher/coach (and still a student), I had ONE MISSION.

And that hasn't changed one iota since beginning this Journey over a decade ago!  With every ounce of my BEING, I feel that the fastest and most effective manner to change the vibration of this planet is if every one of us starts the process- with all the Courage and Strength you can muster- to firmly and passionately step into the path that is your CALLING!  

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love

This SOURCE sent quote from one of my favorite spiritual guides, Marianne Williamson, is perhaps my favorite of all time.  And for those who follow my Facebook page, you KNOW that is some high praise! Why you ask? Because it encapsulates my own CALLING more than any other bit of prose I have ever come across.  And it's time for us all to take heed to it's message......NOW!!

Not in the Spring or Summer, or even worse, next year....but THIS VERY MOMENT!! The world needs more superheroes, and it needs them immediately! Pronto! Immediamente!! Bright and early tomorrow morning!! Ok, I'll stop........   ;0)

So what exactly is holding us all back from ditching that soul sucking 9-5 and finally start DOING what we came here to do and BE?!? I can hear the collective sigh from the back of the bleacher seats saying money...dinero...cheddah baby!  And I hear you. I truly do! We all have fiscal considerations as well as real pragmatic responsibilities to attend to. I've said it before and I will say it again. I would NEVER advise anyone to up and quit their job tomorrow or on a complete whim start a new business with no concrete plan in place on either accord.  BUT, that doesn't get anyone a free hall pass to constantly use that as an excuse to keep doing what they are doing if it is not in complete ALIGNMENT with their life's CALLING! That's what playing SMALL is all about.  And nobody came here to play SMALL!  That's a coward's way of playing this game of life.  And I know that there aren't any NEW AGE NERDS who came here to hide their unique talents and special gifts from the rest of us.  Quite frankly, doing so isn't fair to the rest of us.  And if that sounds a bit harsh, so be it!  Look all around you!  Do you like what you see? Can you already imagine room for improvement? I sure can!

Before I start throwing stones at glass houses, I will admit that I DO UNDERSTAND how much strength, courage, and support it takes to step into the LIGHT and answer your Soul's calling! In fact, as I have stated many times before, it took me over two decades!  But, as just one of your many mentor's on your Superhero's Journey, I plead with those of you still waiting in the darkness; although the first steps are beyond petrifying, they will lead you to an adventure that is the greatest FEELING in the world!  Please trust me, there isn't time to waste! This planet needs the gifts that are still lying dormant inside of you.....

My ultimate goal is to start a REVOLUTION!!  In which ONE by ONE, as a community of NEW AGE NERDS, we encourage, INSPIRE, and support each other to take the first action steps toward our life's CALLING!  Write that business plan, start that family, write the first check toward a new class, start a Mastermind group, hire a life coach, walk into a TOASTMASTERS seminar, start a new lifestyle to lose that extra weight, shine your light everywhere you go as you may be the ONLY bible, torah etc. that the next person you meet may ever read.......   

The possibilities are truly endless....   SO THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSES.......

Self doubt is so insidious that it not only renders us stuck in our own lives, but it actually weekens our ability to dream about what living unleashed would look like.  And here's the thing:  the mere act of a dream is a vitalizing, dreaming affirming endeavor.  
Danielle Laporte:  The Fire Starter Sessions

I BELIEVE in each and everyone of you.  And I will continue to hold a Space of Love and Light for those of you who don't believe in yourselves until you have the courage to do so....

BE SUPER HEROIC!
Love-Serve-Laugh-Inspire

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

Learn Why LEGENDS Use The FIVE HOUR RULE …!

  

____________________________________________________

If you are anything like me, than you are constantly searching for how new ideas, concepts, paradigms, and thought patterns can be implemented into your daily routine.  All to super enhance your life's daily effort and output to new found heights. Plus, I know success leaves a trail, and so I try to sniff out the good stuff whenever possible.  

I would like to share a new concept I recently came across while reading a recent edition of Inc. magazine! It's called  'The Five Hour Rule.'  While I was very much aware of Tim Ferriss' book “The Four Hour Workweek,” the 'Five Hour Rule' was completely foreign to me.  And so of course I dove into the article with a fervent exuberance!  And what I found was both practical and given its use by such luminaries as Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey, something I was eager to start incorporating into my own life, PRONTO TONTO!

The most fantastic part of this process is in its complete simplicity. The writer of the article, Michael Simmons of 'Impact,' like so many of us, desired to understand and uncover some of the key patterns used by the iconoclasts and true luminaries of their fields that have assisted in their phenomenal success.  Like I said earlier, success leads a trail, and those of us smart enough to follow its scent get to reap the rewards. According to Simmons, one trait he could find amongst the greatest leaders in their selective fields was  “Many of these leaders, despite being extremely busy, have set aside at least an hour a day (or five hours a week) over their entire career for activities that could be classified as deliberate practice or learning.”

And for the special and unique individuals he tracked, according to Simmons “the five-hour rule often fell into three buckets: reading, reflection, and experimentation.”

Again, while nothing earth shatteringly new or revolutionary, I've always believed in the power of KISS~ Keep It Spiritually Simple.  Deep, but simple!  It's always worked for me! I would like to quickly break down these three attributes, and in turn flesh them out in their practical application with a little more moxie.  Deal!  Awesome........

1. READING
I am completely on board with this one.  In fact, I have a personal book collection that tops 300 and am constantly searching for new tomes that I can devour with a connoisseur's consciousness.  Don't get me wrong, I am in NO way a book snob.  But my philosophy is that if a book can introduce me to even ONE concept that I can implement into my life, it was well worth the time and investment!

And, obviously, I am not alone!  LOL  Here are some fascinating facts that Simmons discovered during his uncovering process:

• Mark Cuban reads more than three hours every day.
• Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot, reads two hours a day.
• Billionaire entrepreneur David Rubenstein reads six books a week.
• Dan Gilbert, self-made billionaire and owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, reads one to two hours a day.

And by far the most interesting fact Simmons uncovered was that Nike founder Phil Knight so reveres his library that in it you have to take off your shoes and bow!! For real!

2. REFLECT

I think many of us use a plethora of strategies for our own reflection.  Be it through meditation, journaling, or even taking long walks. But read some of the ‘interesting’ ways Simmons found that the great minds amongst us use their personal reflection time:

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong makes his senior team spend four hours per week just thinking. Jack Dorsey is a serial wanderer. LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner schedules two hours of thinking time per day. Brian Scudamore, the founder of the $250 million company O2E Brands, spends 10 hours a week just thinking.

When Reid Hoffman needs help thinking through an idea, he calls one of his pals: Peter Thiel, Max Levchin, or Elon Musk. When billionaire Ray Dalio makes a mistake, he logs it into a system that is public to all employees at his company. Then, he schedules time with his team to find the root cause. Billionaire entrepreneur Sara Blakely is a long-time journaler. In one interview, she shared that she has more than 20 notebooks in which she logged the terrible things that happened to her and the gifts that have unfolded as a result.

3. Experiment

Napoleon Hill discovered that most self made men do not hit their true stride until they are in their mid to late 40's!  He summed up this phenomenon to the fact that these men never accepted the status quo.  They took great risks, and chances with their lives.  Always allowing their business endeavors to push the preverbal envelope to discover the impossible.  

Simmons' investigations found a similar pattern amongst today's greatest luminaries. He writes, “Throughout his life, Ben Franklin set aside time for experimentation, masterminding with like-minded individuals, and tracking his virtues. Google famously allowed employees to experiment with new projects during 20 percent of their work time. Facebook encourages experimentation through Hack-a-Months.”

So what is the great TAKEAWAY from all this information? In my opinion, it's that we all could carve out more time in our daily routines for learning and personal growth. We spend SO much time taking care of our bodies through exercise, eating right, and reducing stress, yet our minds are left to their own accord for such nourishment.  

Simmons finishes his article by perfectly summing up his point of the importance of taking orderly learning and growth vitamins by saying,  “The long-term effects of not learning are just as insidious as the long-term effects of not having a healthy lifestyle. The CEO of AT&T makes this point loud and clear in an interview with The New York Times; he says that those who don't spend at least five to 10 hours a week learning online "will obsolete themselves with technology."

BE SUPER HEROIC!
LOVE-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

TIPS For Dealing With TOXIC Energy This HOLIDAY Season…!

 

For those of us on a path of SELF realization, who awake each morning and with great courage and strength, step forth into the daily process of committing to our life's PURPOSE, the villainous forces of unconsciousness we must confront can often be quite overwhelming.  And without some much needed self preservation techniques, the amalgam of such dastardly destructive energy can cloud our TRUTH, and steer us completely off course of our set GPS. (Grand Purpose from Spirit)

The number of recent conversations I have engaged with coaching peers and clients whose lives are being unnecessarily complicated and painfully damaged with TOXIC energy from a cacophony of individuals is off the charts. And by TOXIC, I am referring to those Souls who vibrate at various caustic levels of jealousy, shame, judgement, and are in turn controlling, manipulative and disrespectful. It is by far the biggest area for change and ‘renewed opportunity’ I am currently experiencing for those of us attempting to be greater Connoisseurs of Consciousness. 

And I have not been immune to this infectious epidemic that if left unchecked, often leads to depleted connection to your authentic self. And can corrode the remembrance of the infinite Spiritual Source that is your true essence.  In fact, some familial fractures that occurred during my father's prolonged illness have resurfaced recently, and I will humbly admit, such external resentment, jealousy, and judgement has wrecked some Heavenly Havoc on this New Age Nerd's Confidence in Consciousness. Isn't it absolutely AMAZING how much work it takes to climb a few steps up the ladder of spiritual awareness, and how quickly we can fall back down through the triggers of toxicity.

While I was studying Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica, our professors were fervent in their declaration that at a CORE spiritual level ‘nobody can DO anything to you.’ (They were referencing your emotional disposition)  If you become triggered by the way someone engages you, they are actually showing you an area in your own heart that still needs to be tended to; an area where LOVE, care, and compassion can be applied to assist in healing a prior wound. The fact that you were painful triggered is proof positive that there is still work to do around that ‘issue.’ And to a certain extent, I think there is a great deal of value in REFRAMING certain painful engagements using this paradigm. I am not saying we should budget money from our weekly paychecks for tidy ‘THANK YOU’ cards for these individuals and our engagements with them, but I have learned to be hyper vigilant when being emotionally triggered as a guidepost for my self actualization 'TO DO' list!

However, since us New Age Nerds practice GROUNDED SPIRITUALITY, one of our tenets is not to vibrate in states that are ABSOLUTE. And so why I accept the understanding that others TOXICITY can often assist us in uncovering areas of growth that still need attention, I also believe there are times when we must constructively engage this destructive energy and the individuals in our lives who deliver it. Especially for those of us who are teachers, healers, coaches, and artists. Our greatest strength and gifts come imbued within our extreme sensitivity and we must be especially vigilant in our own well being and self preservation.  

So here are some TIPS for how to handle the TOXIC people in our lives, so that we can continue on our  Superhero's Journey with more peace and grace:

1.  SET HEALTHY BOUNDARIES
Believe it or not, we actually teach people how we want to be treated with each and every interaction with them.  In fairness to them, until we compassionately communicate how their ‘antics’ affect our emotionally well being, they may have NO idea.  So the very FIRST time that someone behaves in a manner that makes you shrink, feel less than, or is hurtful in some way, it is so important to tell them how you feel.  I know, I know!  Easier said than done.  I get it!  But what is the more productive manner.  To have that potentially sticky and awkward conversation, or to say nothing and have to deal with these hurtful behaviors over and over again.  

2.  TAKE INVENTORY OF WHO THE TOXIC PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE ARE
We often allow certain toxic relationships in our life to continue because we have become conditioned that the dynamic of co-creation with them is commonplace. The negative space created becomes our ‘NORM.’ This is why it is Gi-normously important to take stock of how we FEEL after spending time with the people in our life. And I am NOT referring to ONE OFFS. Life is messy and complex and we all have certain times where, well, shit just happens. Having a couple of  experiences with someone where we feel emotionally drained or challenged afterwards is natural and organic part of human interaction. But, if you discern that most of the time, having a co-creation with someone results in you feeling unheard, less than, manipulated, or just plain tired, it may be time to do something about it.

3.  IT'S OK TO LOVE SOME PEOPLE FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM
After taking inventory of the people in our life, we are often left with a SELF empowering decision.  Are there some people who you have compassionately and with great understanding decided should not continue to be in your life. NOT because we are placing judgement of ANY kind upon them. But rather because the cumulative affect they are having on our emotional well being is just too TOXIC. Perhaps they don't hold you in the same reverential light that you hold yourself.  Or they are trying to keep you playing small, so they don't feel as bad about not playing large themselves.  

What would it look like to start loving them ‘from the other side of the room?’  Did you notice I said LOVE them from the other side of the room?!?  That's the secret sauce in this action of self LOVE.

You are not banishing them to the Phantom Zone. And you are still holding them in a complete space of reverence and care. You have just decided that having their direct energy in your life is not serving you anymore. Hopefully, this KNOWINGNESS will help remove any sense of guilt you may have by your decision.  

Loss can be a scary not to mention lonely place to be.  There will be a time when you have left your place among the crows to fly with the eagles.  And during that flight, there will be times in which you can see nothing but the clouds. Please DO NOT give up faith during this critical time. Lean on whatever support system you may have.  It can become quite natural to want to turn back and go back to what is familiar. DO NOT DO THAT! The Universe abhors a vacuum and it is part of its natural law to eventually flood your existence to FILL IN the space that you created by letting go of the unhealthy people in your life......

BE SUPER HEROIC!
LOVE-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

A SPECIAL Holiday TRIBUTE To My Father…. 🙏🏼

 

From Buena Vista Pictures: MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS

Back in Portland, Oregon circa 1965, the trained and talented music composer, Glenn Holland, decides to temporarily forgo his own artistically merited dreams and aspirations.  All so he can spend more time with his wife and deaf son. He somewhat reluctantly decides to accept a music teaching position at John F. Kennedy High School. All the while, behind many soulful scenes, attempting to create a profound orchestrated musical 'Opus.'  One that would be left behind as his own lasting legacy.

During the next 30 years as a music instructor and teacher, he unexpectedly unearths his own life's true CALLING!  Not anything he could have ever pre-planned, but something even greater than the life he always longed for.

Now forced into early retirement due to artistic budget cuts, Mr. Holland enters the music auditorium he called home for 30 years, for the very last time. But what he receives on this day is overwhelming and overtly, emotionally stirring, brewing with the TRUTH behind each of our own life's Superhero's Journey!


Gertrude Lang: (Mr. Holland's former student, now the Governor of Oregon, takes the stage full of Mr. Holland's former students)  Mr. Holland had a profound influence on my life and a lot of other lives I know. But I have a feeling that he considers a part of his own life misspent. Rumor had it he was always working on this symphony of his. And this was going to make him rich, famous, probably both. But Mr. Holland isn't rich, or famous, at least not outside of our little town. 

So it might be easy for him to think himself a failure. But he would be wrong, because I think he has achieved a success FAR beyond riches and fame. Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each of us is a better person because of you.
We are your symphony, Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. 

WE'RE THE MUSIC OF YOUR LIFE!

Mr. Holland's orchestral piece, never performed in public, has been tastefully placed upon over a hundred of his former student's musical stands from the past 30 years; who are now willing and ready to perform for their own SUPERHERO up on center stage! Before they begin to play his own piece of orchestrated lifelong LOVE, they invite him up on stage to conduct his very own 'Life's Opus!' for an adoring crowd!



All of life itself is a grand, orchestrated series of musical notes! Written in the stars by a GOD who never skips a beat! Each and every day, we are creating our own Lasting Legacy through the musicality of our thoughts, words, and deeds. That's precisely why every generation's imprint on the fabric of the Universal tapestry that eventually unfolds the TRUTH of the state of our collective consciousness is so priceless! Please remember that you can always hide one's true nature from yourself, but never from the One God Mind herSELF! Try as you like, it's pure fodder for those Spirits who still believe spiritual fragmentation serves anyone still dazed and confused by the egoic illusion and allure of separation! 

And the more you ponder this Universal Law, the more your so called 'missteps,'  transform into the much needed back beats that although mostly unheralded, always become the relied upon benchmark that finally awakens you; actually enlightens you to this understanding: it's the most challenging of your own life's trials and tribulations that offers the greatest opportunity for 'Soul Filled' growth! And as Mr. Holland discovered, we must often leave behind the life we planned for, so that we may live the grander life that has always been waiting for us! 

The greatest spiritual masters have always taught it is through life's greatest PAIN, that you have the most to GAIN! And everlasting, soul filled prosperity can only be gained through the chambers of Collective Consciousness. The realm of eternity, that while never judges another's Journey, also totes a time travelled wisdom which always offers a perfectly 'orchestrated' understanding in course correction toward the Holy Grail behind every Superhero's Journey!

That being the completion of our individual life's CALLING, combined with the remembrance of the eternal growth and wisdom which always accompanies the core completion of our very own 'Musical Opus.'  One to be everlastingly heard through the brightest of GOD's Universal Musical Playmakers amongst the stars! 

What would it look like to start living your life in a manner in which you truly believed your every word, thought, and deed was actually a magnanimous note of your own personal OPUS held in reverent care by the UNIVERSE? In essence, the very 'beats' and so called 'realities' of your life were being created by both the conscious and unconscious choices you make during every moment in this illusion of time and space. Because, I come today as the bearer of great truth! For that is exactly how your own life has and will always be played out! I'll give you a few minutes for some much needed deep thought into the understanding I just dropped on all my fellow New Age Nerds!

First and foremost, please remember I stated your every word, thought, and deed was held in deep care and reverence by the YOU-niverse! Hopefully, that knowingness, in of itself, will help you all relax from any limiting belief based paradigms deeply planted and rooted in a state of FEAR and LACK.  Any default thought programs that have thwarted prior attempts meant to break you away from the illusions of the egoic mind and keeping you held in a vibration of being a VICTIM of all your prior life's circumstances. 

You are here for a specific reason. And you matter more than you could possibly imagine! And this Universe, in alignment with Albert Einstein's beliefs, is a place of utter compassion and forgiveness! 

Can I get a big 'ole "Hell Yes" up in this congregation. Because I know, although I have diligently practiced unification in all I say, think, and do, I have been far from perfect! Just sayin' and always praying'.   ;0) 

Luckily, I was a fortunate to have my very own 'Mr. Holland' in my life.  My father Roger Lee Poston. (Stepdad, but will always just be my Pop!)

Some believe that angels are ordinary souls who come into your life to help you believe in MIRACLES once again.  If this sentiment bares any truth, than I met my first ANGEL when I was still a young lad  My birth father had abandoned our family while we were living out in California, leaving my mom with two small children, little use of her right arm from a horrendous car accident, and absolutely no money.  But as Napoleon Hill always said, “Within every adversity, every failure, and every heartache there lies within it a seed of an equal or greater opportunity.”

Opportunity comes in many forms.  And often not wrapped in the way we would have ever imagined them to be.  Such was the case with Roger Lee Poston!  I first met this slice of Heaven's Heartthrobs when my mom moved my sister and I from California to Washington DC. (My birth father had abandoned us in Los Angeles, leaving my mom penniless and nursing a shattered arm from a hit and run accident!)  He was still a relatively young man and was friends with my mom's sister. They were both teachers just starting out on their career Journeys. Although we were in many ways an unlikely dynamic duo, it was absolutely ‘Friends at First Sight.’  He was a good ole' country boy from the pan handle of Virginia; think 'The Beverly Hillbillies' sans the ‘Beverly’ part.  He had thick, curly hair and despite his very best efforts, a dialect that was laced with the Southern twang garnered from growing up in a little town called Saltville, VA;  known as the ‘salt capital’ of the Confederacy during the Civil War. His face was quite pale; in fact I always teased him that he had three colors: white, red, and redder!  LOL  Pop was short and stocky with forearms and calves that rivaled those of Popeye.  

His aesthetic contrasted greatly with mine.  I was super skinny with straight, jet black hair and olive skin.  Leaner than a "fritter on a fryin' pan."  I was also painfully shy and introverted. (hard for anyone who knows me now to contemplate)  Due to the harsh traumas from early childhood, trust was an emotion that felt foreign to my sensibility.  I had been surrounded and raised by women until this extraordinary man appeared in my life. Suddenly, I was being introduced into the world of ‘guy stuff’ on a daily basis.  From comic books and 7-11 slurpees, to movies and batting cages, putt-putt golf and Spiderman early morning cartoons. The world suddenly exploded into a cacophony of glorious geekdom!  

And it wasn't just me; as he showered my sister, mother, and the rest of the Lapham (my mom's maiden name) clan with the same sense of love and reverence.  So when my mom set my sister and I down to let us know he had asked her to marry him, for the first time in my young life, my heart felt a sense of peace, and security.  I finally felt......... SAFE!  

I still remember the very first time I was able to garner the courage to call him DAD.  He was getting ready for work, and I paced back and forth just outside his bedroom door.  Practicing all the while, the manner in which I was going to approach him about it. I placed my ear up to the door and could hear him just about to emerge into our downstairs rec-room. My palms were sweaty and my heart was literally pounding out from my chest. Until, the door opened and as he walked out of the bedroom, I tentatively stepped in front of him and looked him square in the eye.   

“I have a question for you,” I said in a hushed voice.  It took all the intestinal fortitude I could muster, my bottom lip quivering just a bit, before finally garnering the courage to ask “Is it OK if I call you Dad?”

He stayed silent for a few precious moments which seemed like an eternity. He placed his right hand on my shoulder and said “Jeff, I have been waiting for you to ask me that for several years.  And there is nothing in this world that would make me happier!”  He then pulled me in for one of his well known "bear hugs" and then he started to cry.  Soon thereafter, tears started raining down my cheeks.

But it is what he said next, which has been permanently imprinted into my reverence and reverance of him.  “Jeff, just promise me one thing,” he said.  “Although I will ALWAYS consider you to be my son, if the day comes where you choose to try and meet Danny (my birthfather) I will always support you.  He was part of the process that brought you to me, and for that I will always hold a space of gratitude for Danny in my heart. And I will until the day I die.”  Now it's one thing to utter such good intentions, but my Dad did something I consider to be one of the most powerful testaments toward unconditional LOVE  I have EVER received. Despite many of the ugly acts that Danny brought about us in the years that followed, Dad never once spoke even one word of judgement or ill-will towards him.  I knew it was out of respect and still ponder in a complete vibration of awe whenever I think about this act of unfathomable respect for a man who caused my family so much pain.   

I contribute so much of who I AM to this man of undeniable strength and authenticity.  He taught me what it means to live life as a 'Gentle Man.' Here is just a sampling of his teachings to me:

~~  Never be afraid of your emotions Jeff.  One of the greatest signs of inner strength and courage is to never be afraid to cry.  In fact, I think as a whole, we shed more tears at the movies to fill an olympic sized swimming pool!

~~Women are the greatest gift to this world. And should be treated as such. If I ever find out you have mistreated a young lady, I will ‘kick you through the goalposts of life.’  If you want to find out what that looks like, test me! lol

~~ Don't ever let anyone confuse your kindness for weakness.  They are NOT the same thing.  Buyer beware!

Looking back, my Dad was the very first Superhero I ever met.  Not only did he work two, sometimes three jobs to put food on the table, but HE NEVER CALLED IN SICK IN 40 YEARS.  He considered his teaching occupation as 'JOYOUS PLAYING!'  Not working.  I never once heard him complain, even when I could see the toll of working 80 hour work weeks for over 20 years wearing him down to the bone.  He was a true warrior who lived a life that was completely personified by hard work and being of loving service, always and in all ways.   

This may be hard to believe, but I never saw him buy anything for himself.  He was much more concerned with making sure his students had anything they needed. Always quick to think of others during any trip to the mall.  “Hell fire Jeff.  The only thing I truly need is the love of your mother, you and Sandy,” (my sister) was his super heroic catchphrase!   

Always a man of his word, he never let me down one time during our several decades long relationship. And he didn't even need a 'Batsignal.'  His Spidey-sense was always set to surprise and service. Back in 1997,  when I spent almost a year in the hospital battling Crohn's disease, he came for a visit EVERY SINGLE DAY. All while working two jobs. And I mean it;  dsd never skipped one day, always sneaking in a tasty treat, a comic book or one of my favorite films.  

So in 2013, when he was diagnosed with a rare and devastating form of cancer, I had no problem leaving my job and moving into my parent's basement to help with the massive amount of daily care he required.  Although he fought the dis-ease so valiantly, the cancer eventually spread to his brain.  And he passed away in December of that same year.  

I was fortunate enough to be alongside his bed while he passed away. In fact, my mom, sister, aunt Rena, and my girlfriend at the time were all there holding vigil over him.  The manner in which he transitioned was as close to a MIRACLE as I have ever witnessed.  With only the use of one eye, he was truly able to connect to everyone there.  He lovingly gazed at each of us as we said our individual goodbyes.  But when he got to my side of the bed, his one eye intently glaring into mine without blinking, I felt .....  HEAVEN itself.  "Heaven on Earth!"  His soul was slowly leaving its body temple, while a precious piece remained so we could say goodbye.  While I leaned in close to him, thanking him for all the LOVE, support, and guidance he poured upon me, something magical happened.  I received a quick glimpse of a future period of NOW. Without saying a word, he was communicating with me in a manner far more clear than using any type of vernacular.  The best way I can explain it is to think of a portal opening up.  It contained images of what my life was to become.  And the message was crystal clear.  It was time for me to start committing to my own PURPOSE and beginning the next stage of my Superhero's Journey.  I felt a sense of peace and utter knowingness in that moment of what I needed to do.  

Dad took three, slow, deep breathes, and then transitioned back into the LOVE of BLISS.  And although I was understandably sad, he had, in those final moments, given me the greatest gift of all! KNOWINGNESS.  It was time for me to use my pain and suffering to become a Wounded Healer.  And for once, I wasn't afraid to take that leap.  My dad showed me a glimpse of the support behind the ‘Curtain of a Heavenly Oz.’  Once taking the smallest sip from source energy that was available to me in my dad's final breathes, I just knew the complete shift I was being asked to take in my life!

I wish that my own Superhero's Journey took a turn toward pain free redemption after those experiences. But the 'Universal Prose of Poetry' doesn't always begin devoid of pain.  In fact, I have come to understand that new beginnings often start with the pain of ending old relationships and situations that no longer serve us. But through my own travels, I have learned that letting go of anything that no longer serves us, creates and cleans out the space for the Universe to fill in that hole with All Things that are for our highest good!

So today I ask you; if you now perceived your life as a collaboration with a compassionate Universe that kept the individual notes and "Best of Beats" towards creating your own 'Optimum Opus,' eventually to be shared with the world, how might your thoughts, words, and deeds change? Towards both yourself and all others? Because, in all reality, that is exactly what we are all co-creating in every moment of NOW, as Mr. Holland was so gracefully taught! A multi-layered and majestic "Magnus Opus" for all ages!

BE SUPER HEROIC
LOVE-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffery Louis Martinez

This STORY Of The LITTLE SOUL Will Permanently SHIFT Your Life

 

Back in 1996, I was caught in the middle of an incredibly vitriolic and spiteful business relationship that nearly cost me my life.  I had only been out of college for a couple of years and still finding my way in the wild and at the time wonderful world of television broadcasting.  After a three year stint working for WRC-TV (NBC-Washington, DC) as a sports producer and weekend sports anchor (Baltimore-NBC) for the ‘George Michael Sports Machine’, I decided that 80 hour work weeks and Holidays spent behind closed doors editing video tapes of college football games while chowing down on what I STILL THINK was cold turkey and stuffing was not the things my dreams were made of!  

So I landed a job for a local TV production company in the suburbs of DC. They produced a local half hour business program(that I shall refrain from naming for legal purposes) that promoted up and coming tech companies in the DMV area. The first year was a total BLAST! Here I was 25 years old, holding meetings with the likes of Steve Case of AOL, and Larry Ellison of Oracle. This is when the technology revolution was in its infant stage, and simply being around the icons who were prescient enough to see the future was mind blowing! And in the process I definitely got my MBA at the University of MIH- MAKE IT HAPPEN!  LOL  

During the second year of employment, my boss and then close friend asked me to relocate to San Francisco to start a West Coast version of the show in Silicon Valley. Where most of the influential tech companies were still setting up shop. I had been itching to to get back to the West Coast (I was born in LA) for years and jumped at the opportunity.  And for the first four months, I woke up every morning thinking I was in some sort of parallel Universe where dreams ALWAYS come true. It was the Land of OZ for the tech set! I had daily meetings with the CEO's of companies like Sun Microsystems, Yahoo, Google and Oracle. Although I sometimes felt out of my league, I NEVER let em see me sweat. And they accepted me as one of their own. Meetings by day and parties at night, all in one of the most beautiful and eclectic cities in the world! I was truly a STARGAZER collecting information and memories of a lifetime.  

And then, one October morning in 1996, I got an email from one of the companies I had met with the previous week.  They were calling me a fraud because I had told them the sponsors of the show which was to air on the local ABC affiliate were The Wall Street Journal and Dunn and Bradstreet.  The company had connections at both companies and they claimed they were in no way affiliated with the show. While reading the email, my heart began to pound arrhytmically!  I started having a major panic attack. They were threatening to send a letter to every tech company in San Francisco telling them that I was running a scam and to not accept meetings with me.  

I immediately called my boss back in Washington, DC to try and straighten out this unbelievable catastrophe ! After all, he was the one who told me those two entities were the sponsors of the show.  I was only repeating the information given to me by him and our company. After an explicit tirade, he fired me on the spot and told me I had 24 hours to vacate the apartment he had set up for me and the rest of the crew. Needless to say, I was shell shocked. What the HELL was going on, I thought.  

After having no other choice than to hire a lawyer, the TRUTH slowly unfolded like a guilty lover hiding his dalliances with the utmost discretion.  My boss had lied about the sponsors being on to the show.  In his infinite wisdom, he believed he could get REAL sponsors signed onto the show before anyone found out.  In the meantime, I was the company’s face man out on the West Coast.  The waiter serving food that had been screwed up by the cooks in the proverbial company kitchen.
To save his own ass, he blamed me for all the confusion and sent me to the awaiting wolves.

When I was fired I lost my health insurance and the massive amount of stress over the possibility that my reputation in the tech community was ruined, caused my Crohn's disease to spiral completely out of control.  By the time I was actually able to obtain decent health care, my doctors said my colon was so diseased that it was about to perforate. Which meant, instant death. I had lost an enormous amount of weight under the pressure of the previous few months and was actually too weak for the 12 hour surgery to have my colon removed.  But after a long chat with my doctor, I decided to take the risk of having the operation rather than waiting to regain enough weight and strength before going under the knife.  

The memories of the whole surgery and the almost 12 month recovery is still haunting to my soul.  It was excrutiating in ways human beings should never have to suffer. And let's say that wearing a colostomy bag at age 27 (thankfully I no longer wear the bag 🙏🏼) is not exactly a hit with the ladies!  lol  Even though it was hidden underneath my t-shirts, every time I passed gas, the bag blew up like a balloon, scaring the shit out of anyone in arms distance of me. Yeah, that's how I rolled!   

While recovering from this nightmarish ordeal, you can only imagine the amount of anger and frustration I had toward my former friend and boss.  He went so far as to forbid ANYONE in the company to visit me while I was in the hospital. There were days and nights in which I absolutely fantasized about ripping all the tubes from the hospital machines from my body and taking a taxi to his house to ummmmmmm...have a little chat!  With my fists acting as compassionate truth seekers!

I held onto that anger and pain of betrayal for quite a while.  In fact, at times it consumed my every thought.  Ironically enough, it was during this time that my current path of self realization started to take its core form. While still in the hospital, a friend of mine gave me a book called ‘The Celestine Prophecy’, and for the first time in my life I felt like I was home. A few weeks later I was finally released from the hospital and went straight to the nearest Barnes and Noble with that book firmly in hand.

I excitedly asked the nearest store clerk where this tomb could be found in the store.  And within a few yards jaunt, I was in a row that felt like ‘Conscious Christmas’ land.  Books after books of like energy to the one I had carried into the store. I bought about twenty of them and stormed back to my car to get home as fast as I could to begin what I know now to be the start of my own Super Hero’s Journey.

The first book I read is still the most influential on what would manifest into my own lifelong self actualization journey.  For within its prescient declarations the world of spiritual divinity and Universal Law felt like TRUTH to me. The book's title is ‘Conversations with God’ by Neale Donald Walsh.  Page after page was filled with wisdom and knowledge that fed my soul and strengthened my faith!  This was as close to feeling Heaven on Earth as I had ever felt!

And then something that transformed my understanding of human connection divinely blossomed  when I got to the section where Mr. Walsh told the story of ‘The Little Soul.’  And that parable struck a cord so deep within my consciousness that it still informs my daily interactions nearly twenty five years after reading it.  Here is the excerpt from the book itself:

There once was a little soul who knew itself to be the light.  This was a new soul, and so, anxious for experience. "I am the light," it said. "I am the light." Yet all the knowing of it and all the saying of it could not substitute for the experience of it. And in the realm from which this soul emerged, there was nothing but the light.

Every soul was grand, every soul was magnificent, and every soul shone with the brilliance of MY awesome light. And so the little soul in question was as a candle in the sun. In the midst of the grandest light- of which it was a part- it could not see itself, nor experience itself as Who and What it Really Is.

Now it came to pass, that the little soul yearned and yearned to know itself. And so great was its yearning that "I" one day said, "Do you know little one, what you must do to satisfy this yearning of yours?" "Oh what, God? what? I'll do anything!? The little soul said.

"You must separate yourself from the rest of us," I answered, "and then you must call upon yourself the darkness."

"You may choose to be any Part of God you wish to be," I said to the little soul.

"You are the Absolute Divinity, experiencing Itself. What Aspect of Divinity do you now wish to experience as you?"

"You mean I have a choice," asked the little soul.

I answered, "Yes." You may choose to experience any Aspect of Divinity in, as, and through you."

"Okay," said the little soul, then I choose forgiveness. I want to experience my Self as that Aspect of God called Complete Forgiveness."

Well, this created a little challenge, as you can imagine. 

There was no one to forgive. All I have created is Perfection and Love

"No one to forgive?" asked the Little Soul, somewhat incredulously.

"No one," I repeated. "Look around you. Do you see any souls less perfect, less wonderful than you?"

As the Little soul twirled around, and was surprised to see himself surrounded by all the souls in heaven. They came from far and wide throughout the Kingdom, because they had heard the little soul was having an extraordinary conversation with God.

"I see none less perfect than I," the Little Soul exclaimed." Who then, shall I have to forgive?"

Just then another soul stepped forward from the back of the crowd. "You may forgive me," said the Friendly Soul.

"For what?" the little soul asked.

"I will come onto your next physical lifetime and do something for you to forgive," replied the Friendly Soul.

"But what? What could you, a being of such Perfect Light, do to  make me forgive you?" the Little Soul wanted to know.

"Oh," smiled the Friendly Soul, I'm sure we can think of

something."

"But why would you want to do this?" The Little Soul could not figure out why a being of such perfection would want to slow down its vibration so much that it could actually do something "bad."

"Simple," the Friendly Soul explained," I would do it because I love you. You want to experience your Self as Forgiving, don't you? Besides, you have done the same for me."

"I have?" asked the Little Soul.

"Of course. Don't you remember? We've been All Of It, you and I.

 We've been the Up and the Down of it, and the Left and Right of it.

 We've been the Here and Now of it, and the Now and Then of it.

 We've  been the Big and Small of it, the Male and Female of it, the Good and Bad of it. We've been the All of it.”

"And we've done it by agreement, so that each of us might experience ourselves as The Grandest Part of God. For we have understood that.....

"In the absence of that which You Are Not, that Which You Are, is NOT.

"In the absence of 'cold,' you cannot be 'warm.' In the absence of 'sad,' you cannot be 'happy,' without a thing called 'evil,' the experience you call 'good' cannot exist.

If you choose to be a thing, something or someone opposite to that has to show up somewhere in your universe to make that possible."

The Friendly Soul then explained that those people are God's Special Angels, and these conditions God's Gifts.

"I ask only one thing in return, " the Friendly Soul declared.

"Anything! Anything," the Little Soul cried. He was excited now to know that he could experience every Divine Aspect of God. He understood, now The Plan.

"In the moment that I strike you and smite you," said the Friendly Soul, " in the moment that I do the worst to you that you could ever  imagine---in that self-same moment....remember Who I Really Am. For I will have forgotten."

"Oh, I won't forget!" promised the Little Soul. "I will see you in the perfection with which I hold you now, and I will remember Who You Are, always."

~~~ from Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsh

And that is why Jesus the Christ, on the cross, looked to the prisoners also being crucified to his left and right and looked to the sky and said to SPIRIT, “Forgive them father, for they know Not what they do.”

That parable created a wave of conscious sensation that removed the veil of illusion from my shortsighted emotions toward my former friend and boss almost instantaneously.  He had given me an opportunity to learn the true and authentic power of FORGIVENESS.  And from that moment on, I decided to hold a space of LOVE and LIGHT for him for as long as I lived. 

In fact, had my friend NOT so horribly betrayed me, who knows when or IF I would have removed myself from the television marketing world! And instead follow the path of deep Spiritual Enlightenment which continues to fuel my own MISSION and Superhero’s Journey of raising the collective consciousness back towards the Unifying Power of LOVE! 

In what way does this story touch your feelings about the possible intentions behind the actions and words of those who have hurt or wronged you on your path?  Could it be that there is someone in your past or even in your life currently who stepped up on YOUR behalf to allow you the exact experience you chose to have on your Journey?!  And more importantly, have you remembered WHO THEY TRULY ARE when they caused you that strife and pain, because they chose to forget themselves as the ultimate gesture of Love and Compassion?   

It might be something worth pondering  as you continue on your own path and purpose of spiritual enlightenment !  I know it has saved me an enormous amount of resentment, pain and suffering. And my wish is that it does the same for you......


BE SUPER HEROIC

LOVE-LAUGH-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez