MODERN MYTH MESSAGES: STRANGER THINGS - SEASON 3.....!

 

Stranger Things is a story about a group of closer then close adolescent friends set in the mid 80's. They live in the unassuming town of Hawkings, Indiana, battling supernatural forces that threaten to destroy not only their beloved town, but the entire planet. While the larger stakes of total world annihilation is always looming in the engrossing narrative, it's the smaller moments of true emotional love and connection that drives this absolutely engrossing Netflix show past its recent rivals. As is profoundly represented in this love letter from an adopted father to his SUPER HEROIC daughter.


Police Chief Hopper, to Eleven (his step daughter SuperHero in a letter he wrote before his death): I know this is a difficult conversation but I care about you both very much and I know that you care about each other very much and that’s why it’s important that we set these boundaries moving forward so we can build an environment where we all feel comfortable, trusted and open to sharing our feelings. The truth is for so long I’d forgotten what those even were. I’ve been stuck in one place, in a cave you might say, a deep dark cave. And then I left some Eggos out in the woods and you came into my life. For the first time in a long time, I started to feel things again. I started to feel happy. But lately, I guess I’ve been feeling distant from you, like you’re pulling away from me or something. I miss playing board games every night, making triple decker Eggo extravaganzas at sunrise, watching westerns together before we doze off. But I know you’re getting older, growing, changing, and I guess, if I’m being really honest, that’s what scares me. I don’t want things to change. So I think maybe that’s why I came in here, to maybe try and stop that change. To turn back the clock, to make things go back to how they were. But I know that’s naïve. It’s just not how life works. It’s moving, always moving, whether you like it or not. And yeah, sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s sad. And sometimes it’s surprising, happy. So you know what? Keep on growing up, kid. Don’t let me stop you. Make missteps, learn from them and when life hurts you – because it will – remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you’re out of that cave. But please, if you don’t mind, for the sake of your poor old dad, keep the door open three inches.(referring to the burgeoning relationship between his adopted daughter and her new boyfriend, Mike.

From Netflix Studios:  Stranger Things Season 3

During my five decades on this planet, I have come to experience many disparate experiences. Heaps of joy, happiness, glory, enlightenment, and yes, PAIN! 
I used to sit and wonder about the purpose of pain. There seems to be so much of it circulating the planet. And if allowed, can simultaneously numb our collective senses and cause us to 'look away' from its ugly undercurrents if we choose to engage it in such a manner. Or, it can be both a magical gateway towards the strength of our collective SPIRITS and the uncovering of our ability to both forgive ourSELVES and all others. Pain assists us to melt away any notion of 'separation' as we lean into the powerful notion of complete acceptance to ALL THAT IS! The Super Heroic notion that absolutely no thing happens 'to you' but rather 'for you.' Such a challenging conception, especially when the bills are high and the chips are low! I get it!  Trust you me, I get it!  True transparency- I have  had a unknown long haired man knock at my door in the twilight of the evening to 'discuss' a financial obligation. Never truly frightening until they call out your name from the other side of the well sealed apartment door! Just sayin'! ;0)

If we could just somehow always remember each and every moment of this Universal gift called life is not permanent. But rather a transitory experience that is in constant movement toward the HIGHEST GOOD FOR ALL CONCERNED. Oh how it would shift our individual perspectives from the FEAR of making mistakes, toward the understanding that MISTAKES ARE A COMPLETE FALACY! Life is so favorably rigged in your favor. Like 100%! (Please read that sentence again, and again!) With the complete knowingness that we are each perfect emanations of GOD, than how could we possible make a 'mistake.' While 'missteps' are crucial and a very important part of our growth, there is no mistaking our daily faux paus are simply learning opportunities. GOD DOES NOT MAKE MISTAKES.....AND SO NEITHER CAN YOU  Capiche!!

Most of our pain comes from unhealed TRAUMA. Collected hurtful events in our lives that have found a resting place within our spiritual space to continue wrecking havoc in all our present moments; not to mention most of our personal relationships. The list of such events are many; the emotional absence of a parent, sexual and/or physical abuse, the scarring of emotional bullying, being forced to 'play' the role of an adult figure way before that duty is usually called upon. Or perhaps the mocking for somehow being deemed 'different or awkward' from the collective whole Feeling that you just don't fit in with the crowd. (i.e. skin that shimmers in less than a bright, white hue - not to mention being gay, lesbian, or transgender) Yes, I know I need more than one hand to count the number of sovereign ships that have left my personal port due to unhealed personal trauma. In the past, I tended to keep many of the 'soul filled ships' God has sent my way far at bay. All in the hopes they will never see the parts of me which still need healing from Love and Light. Which from my own long list of personal Trauma's are still fragile to the touch. 

That's why in my blog I constantly refer to PAIN as the 'perfect professor.' Listen, I'm not saying that confronting our traumatic suffering and the pain that is the residue of its manifestation is easy. Quite the opposite my New Age Nerds!
That's why so few of us go down that path. It takes the courage of a SOUL whose pain of NOT engaging its deep traumatic pain is greater than staying stagnant in a purgatory of constant chaos and unwanted life experiences! And the frustrating re-living of the same patterns of experiences and relationships such reticent actions produce! It seems the exact same people and places continue to 'show up' like a never ending Fun House that lacks any notion of the word 'fun.'

Just as police Chief Hopper tried to imbue to his step daughter in 'Stranger Things,' hiding from our pain is NEVER the answer! It means you are still hesitant in trusting all the emotions that spring from this experience called Life! Which will often bring with it various forms of pain and suffering. In fact, the quicker you realize that "Pain is your Friend," the faster your suffering will disperse into the 'Eternal Wisdom' of why it came into your experience. It's true purpose for being! 

The Universe arrives no joy from anyone's suffering. Only in the Universal understanding that is a byproduct of your healing. The whispers of Wisdom that come from a life lived with courage and free from FEAR! So your own SOUL can expand into its birthright in this dimension of time and space! Further expanding the Universe into the growth it so greatly desires. From our current 3rd Dimension into the collective consciousness of the 5th Dimension. 

I've said it many times and I will say it again. EVERYONE IS A SUPERHERO! Every single SPIRIT on this planet was bestowed with a unique set of Super Powers that are to be used as a loving force for good! I will NEVER stop my own personal MISSION of helping this world and every SOUL who chose to take refuge here in this remembering. You are far more powerful than you currently imagine! Believe it or not, kindness, compassionate, intuition, joy, and LOVE are far more powerful than you may know! 

You have a unique, individual CALLING that only your set of Super Powers can fulfill! And this CALLING was a promise you agreed to upon manifesting into human form. One that will be needed to save this planet from the path of destruction it currently faces. This is absolutely NO JOKE! I strongly suggest you take it seriously. 

It takes a simple subscription to your local cable channel to see the cacophony of brutal fires, destructive hurricanes and massive storms, juxtaposed with a lack of rain to grow much needed food crops, and earthquakes that threaten our very way of life! 
Most of the scientists currently studying climate change agree by the year 2050, there will be massive food and water shortages, not to mention hundreds of millions of people displaced from their homes due to coastal flooding! HORRIFYING! 

I share this information NOT to scare you. I promise! But it is meant to shaken each and everyone of you out of your collective slumber!  It's all so you realize the important part you each play in the continued health and well being of this planet.

Too many of us have Super Powers that are lying dormant within our Soul. Because we have allowed our EGO to become the compass toward our sense of eternal happiness. And no thing could be farther form the truth of what constitutes SOULFUL BLISS! Which is what every Spirit on this planet desires.

If the world's current political machinations are oblivious to the brick wall we are heading towards (which they are) then it is up to the Superheroes of this planet to wake up. And to shower the planet with the magnificent gifts that supercede the current greed, short term pleasures of individualistic materialism, and reframing of basic human rights and dignity for ALL! And in the process creating 'Heaven on Earth!' Which is the very purpose we all share! 

This evening, my prayer is that we allow the deep pain and suffering any soul residing on this planet endures to find the healing power of hope and light. With the loving intention of keeping their spirit afloat during this time of turmoil and deep disconnection from the Unity that is the very essence of our Collective Consciousness....

AMEN!

BE SUPER HEROIC!
LOVE-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

ARE Your BELIEFS Blocking Your Earthly DESIRES...?

 

J.R. Tolkein        (The Lord of The Rings) ___________________________________________________

I was recently working with a client who was, to say the least, completely frustrated and utterly confused. She was doing what she THOUGHT were all the ‘right’ things to try and improve certain areas of her life.  Yet it seemed that instead of experiencing the changes she desired, she was manifesting complete CHAOS.  After several minutes attempting to calm her down into a space of peaceful alignment so that our session could continue in a productive manner, I decided this was a job for the my inner Superhero ‘The Connoisseur of Consciousness’. You see, the true skill of coaching is in the subtle art of figuring out where the TRUE block/pain point of the client resides.  Sometimes, this comes after one session and becomes quite obvious with divine, heartfelt listening.  Now on other occasions, it's kinda like being a crime detective worthy of a Sherlock Holmes type prowess. And after only 15 minutes, I knew this was going to be much more like the latter!  lol

Some clients can be quite tricky and mercurial to try and coach, because they have a way of being very persuasive with their vernacular.  They come across as quite confident and self aware with pat statements that they THINK display they have things under control and that it is the cursed people, places, and things OUT THERE that are the cause of all their pain and suffering.  Refusal of self responsibility for any of their current life predicaments is one sure sign they are out of alignment in some core manner.  Of course, trying to break through their level of self refusal takes patience, compassion, with a huge side helping of intuitive knowhow.  And trust me, sometimes you just don't know how you are going to find out where this misalignment reside.  

Most of us spend our energy living ‘within the shadows.’  Caught up in the drama of the darkness rather than moving toward the direction of the actual obstacle that is BLOCKING THE LIGHT in the first place. For those of you who just can't grasp the true value of having a life coach, hopefully this helps explain the miracles that a co-creation with the right qualified coach can bring.  We help our clients in finding that obstacle to “let the Sunshine in, and face it with a grin!” (For your Flintstones fans! ) ;0)

During our third session, I noticed something quite contradictory in nature.  My client would say what she desired with a fervent passion. Only to back up the statement with something that COMPLETELY contradicted what she wanted!  For instance, after saying she really wanted to find a new career, it was quickly followed with something like “Most companies are greedy and don't care about their people so I am being extra picky!”  And she wonders why the numerous resumes she has been sending out have been met with two results.  One being she hears nothing back from them. Or even worse, she lands an interview, and sure enough, the experience turns out to be caustic and off putting.  Same thing with her diatribes about relationships.  For each declaration of “I would love to find someone to settle down with, and be a true partner”,  it was soon followed by “But most men can't be trusted and lie and cheat!” AYE DIOS MIO!!  Can you imagine how stressed out her spirit guides must be!  No doubt they have perhaps requested a reassignment from time to time.   LOL

I bring this up NOT to place any sense of judgment on the client, only to use it as a textbook example of how what we BELIEVE actually creates a much more POWERFUL energetic vibration than what we think or even say.  Just as the conscious mind is the source of thought, the subconscious mind is the SOURCE of our true POWER of manifestation.  It is deeply and profoundly rooted in instinct, and it is aware of the most basic and extraordinary desires within us all.  It is a POWERHOUSE through which the most incredible amount of SOURCE can be connected with.  And it is within our SUBCONSCIOUS that we store our actual BELIEFS!

Basically, we can think one thing, and do another that matches that thought, BUT if our BELIEFS about what we are saying and doing contradict the intended outcome, well, that's the space in which CHAOS rules.  I love this quote from the sensational book "The Power of Believing" by Nido Qubein, when he states, “Therefore visualize the exact thing(job, relationship, home etc) you desire and use daily affirmations until BELIEF in your goal becomes a vital part of you and your body.  See yourself actually doing the things or experiencing the people you desire, because every thought, backed by an equal BELIEF in that thought sooner or later materializes it into your life.”

It's really all about BEING in alignment.  I have a suspecting intuition if you truly start to check in with yourself several times a day, many of you will realize that what you think, say, do and BELIEVE are not in alignment with one another.  One, two, or more of these things are not congruent with the WHOLE!  And all that gets you is a whole lotta frustration, chaos and disappointment.  

So I urge you to think about the principles I have explained in today's post, and be honest with yourself.  Re-member, your outer experiences are a direct reflection of you inner reality. Basically speaking, you cannot lie to the UNIVERSE.  It knows what you truly think and what you BELIEVE and will deliver to you the exact order you are putting in o the Wisdom Waiter always at your side!

So before you scream, “EXCUSE ME GOD, BUT I DID NOT ORDER THAT!”, Re-member that based on your BELIEFS, you actually did!!


BE SUPER HEROIC!
LOVE-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

What A SUPERHERO'S JOURNEY Actually Looks LIKE...!

 

I DECIDED TO RE-POST THIS ENTRY FROM BACK IN NOVEMBER OF 2017. MAY IT OFFER YOU WISDOM AS YOU FACE AND CONQUER YOU OWN DAILY CHALLENGES

Back in the early Spring of 1997, a rather torturous event changed the entire course of my life and things have NEVER been the same since! For those who have not regularly followed my blog, I had been diagnosed with a severe form of Crohn's disease years earlier.  And let me tell ya, Crohn's disease is about as much fun as coming down a slide filled with razor blades and landing in a vat of lemon juice.  LOL Yeah, it can be THAT bad.  Technically speaking it is an autoimmune dis-ease that attacks your entire digestive system, from the throat down through the colon. When it attacks, it does so with a vengeance of hell bent proportion and causes those parts of your body to become inflamed with bleeding ulcers and extreme swelling. Not to mention the horrendous nausea and sharp shooting pains throughout your entire gut. Told ya; not too much fun! 

After battling this ailment for almost a decade, I finally succumbed to its grasp over me and was by my doctors I had but two options.  One was too have emergency surgery to have my entire colon removed, or let things progress and die. (Most doctors don't have the best bedside manner.  LOL)
My biggest fear in having the surgery was the possibility of having to spend the rest of my life wearing a colostomy bag.  Nasty buggers that are permanently attached to the right side of your torso that allows your body to drain its excrement into a bag that must be cleaned and cared for up to ten times a day! Not exactly what a 27 year old wants to face for the rest of his life. And still being single, NOT exactly something that would be a top 10 Hit with the ladies if you follow my drift! :0)

Of course it was a fairly easy choice between the two options before me and I elected to have surgery the following week.  When I awoke from the 12 hour procedure, I had a 14 inch cut up my torso and a beautifully placed and pristinely clear colostomy bag hanging from my side. The next few weeks were absolutely horrendous.  Dealing with a colostomy bag is nearly an all day affair.  It must be emptied cleaned and cared for on average ten times a day.  And each cleaning took on average ten to fifteen minutes!  And you think YOU have problems.  LOL

But I was BEYOND fortunate with my after surgery situation.  My surgeons informed me of a fairly new procedure that would create a pseudo colon in my body using my own intestines that would relieve me of having to wear that dreaded colostomy bag.  It only worked in less than 1/2 of patients it was performed on, but if I was willing to forego yet another operation, it was worth a shot.  SIGN ME THE HELL UP!! LOL

Right before the second surgery began, my surgeons gave it to me straight and clean.  If when I awoke the colostomy bag was gone, then it meant the surgery was a success. (NO more colostomy bag)  If it was still there, then I would have to learn to become friends with it.  Kinda like a family member you can't stand but are forced to deal on a daily basis.

Needless to say, when I initially woke up from the 8 hour surgery, I couldn't bare to look down at my lower torso.  After ten minutes or so, I slowly ran my hand down the side of my chest, over my upper abdomen, and finally down toward where the colostomy bad lied.   And......   tears began to stream down my face as the bag was NO LONGER THERE!  The surgery had been a success.  An for the next 25 years, I have had no after effects from the two laborious surgeries I was forced to endure. 

Fast forward to last week.  I woke up one morning and felt a jarring pain jettisoning from the right side of my abdomen. And then I felt a wave of nausea fall over me.  I was absolutely paralyzed with fear.  It was coming from the 14 inch scar that is still all too visible on my body.

I shot out of bed and ran to the bathroom, lifted up my shirt and saw two golfball size bulges in and around where the doctors had performed  the incisional cuts.  Out of fear, I dealt with the pain and nausea coming from my torso for about ten days until one day while walking to my office, I bent over in pain and knew I should head to the ER.

Several hours and one CT scan later, I was informed I had one tear(hernia) bellow my belly button, and two more large tears just waiting to happen on the left side and top of my belly button.  I would need surgery to repair the situation ASAP! Aye dios mio! 

On the drive home, I started having flashbacks to 1997. The nearly year long recovery time and inordinate amount of pain I had endured to get my weight and strength back.  I mean, I had gone from 175 to 140 and for oh so many months, life felt like an endurance test of power and perseverance over pain.  And I had just spent the last year on a new workout regime that had buffed me up to 210 pounds of muscle that I knew would melt away as I would not be able to go back to the gym for several months.  I know that was my Egoic side coming to surface, but DAMN,  as the great spiritual teacher Ram Dass espoused after his stroke, "We are NOT just our bodies, but part of us are our bodies as we live in this dimension."   Tears started to stream down my face as the flashbacks I had packed away DEEP within my consciousness resurfaced too quickly for me to fully comprehend.  Part of me truly wanted to cancel the impending new operation and just deal with the pain and nausea as a Wounded Warrior.  Seriously! 

But then after allowing myself to process my feelings, I knew how much better I would feel post surgery and tried to ask Spirit for how I could turn this pain into power, this setback into my greatest comeback and share my Journey with others as INSPIRATION. 

And as I mediated, I realized I had not been as diligent in my writing on my blog the last several months and this was a catalyst to bring me the KNOWINGNESS that if even ONE precious Soul was being assisted on their Superhero's Journey through my inspirational writing that it was an endeavor worthy of recommitiing my efforts towards. 

So I put fingers to keyboard and was guided with the following words yesterday that I posted but am doing so a second time for those who may have not engaged its message.  May it be a message of Re-membrance for those who are still in their own version of DARKNESS:

Through the moon lit night....
A single Path is now shown...
Dare I step onto its glowfilled glare...
For the destination is unknown...

I ask Spirit for Guidance and Strength...
As I take my first move into the Night...
Heavy are the thoughts of my mind...
An internal struggle to hide my Fright...

It is then that I Re-member...
That when our Journey is at its end....
We all forge a path and must go alone....
To those before me, much Love do I send.....

Night swept Fog now blinds my way....
A silent whisper like none before....
Asks for my utter Belief and Trust...
As I traverse this foreign shore..

My sight still betrays me...
Tho I surrender to this special voice...
And brave this dreamlike vision...
For I've learned the power of choice ...

We have many gifts to light our darkness..
Yet still so many lose their will...
Giving way to all their lifelong pain...
Shouting to heaven a powerful shrill....

Perhaps this night's Journey....
Will show me that our pain is power...
Perhaps forgotten along the way...
Inspiring others with this night's swept shower...

Is this the Purpose for my dreamlike state...
To assist in my Re-membering of why I came...
A Steward of conscious spiritual Light...
Teaching others that our Path we can reframe....

As I start the process of Knowingness...
The path ahead begins to clear....
My Hero's Journey illuminates this path...
And leaves me No Thing to Fear.....

Written by Jeffrey Louis Martinez

SUPERHEROES IN TRAINING TAKEAWAYS

It is right about this time in my previous 400 posts that I share the teachings of other spiritual teachers who have traversed both Time and Space to share with you their hard earned WISDOM.   But NOT today. Why? Because like a JEDI in training, I have forged most of life's tests and have earned  the power of my own TRUTH and KNOWINGNESS to share with The New Age Nerd Tribe!  Not that my various mentors and their teachings will not be continually shared with my tribe, but I feel as though my current circumstances have forced a LIGHT I now choose to share.  My wish is only that you TRULY listen to the callings that resonate with the individual JOURNEY that lies before you all. Your Spirit Guides will show you the way.  Our current political leaders are NOT THE PROBLEM.   WE ARE! There is No Thing that does not start from the top and flow downward into the abyss.  Our leaders are simply the reflection of.........US!! 

In my understanding, we will each be given not a test, but rather a CHOICE.  A choice of EXACTLY what we DESIRE to experience in this dimension.  And this choice RARELY comes at the time of our choosing! It comes when the chips are down and there are two divergent paths to choose from. One will bring us all eternal salvation.  The other will bring us temporary Glory that leads to a bridge that surrenders and hinders us to our true ESSENCE.  I forbid myself to tell you which offering to accept.   However, I have the belief that my TRIBE will understand that anything in this REALM is temporary.   Yet the other path offers something that is all accepting of your previous misgivings and missteps and still accepts you JUST AS YOU ARE! It's all up to you.......Which path do you choose......?

As for me, on Wednesday morning I will once again forge the knife of this illusionary experience.  Not because I have to, but because I CHOOSE to. It is part of my path and my own Superhero's Journey!  And until then, I will be holding a vigilant prayer of Light and Love to everyone in my New Age Nerd Tribe to assist them as they brave their own path of pain and suffering.  With the constant understanding that their FEAR will be used as a euphemism for Facing Everything And Rise!

Facing your greatest FEARS is perhaps the most important part of our own Superhero's Journey.   In fact, I truly believethis illusionary experience called Life holds its true revelations on the other side of our most heartfelt FEARS!!  Each and everyone of us has a 'Deluge of Demons' that we must come face to face with and stare down with the understanding that by doing so, we will be given the key of remembering  Who We Are and why we came into this dimension! Please understand that No Thing in your experience is ever wasted.  It is all useful knowledge and experience for the greatest purpose of all. REMEMBERING WHO WE ARE AND THE GIFTS WE ALL WIELD TO PULL OUR LOVED ONES OUT OF THIER OWN DARKNESS....AND BACK INTO THE LIGHT!!!   

For recovering the knowledge this journey affords us is worth a thousand experiences in other realms of Time and Space!

Please just be Patient and Kind with others on their Superhero's Journey.  Each and every one of us is on a unique and spiritual path whose timetable is known ONLY to their own Soul. We have NO IDEA what another's Soul is up to and to meddle with its path is perhaps the most disrespectful action we can offer........

The tipping point on this planet can be changed in an instant...   If We simply treat one another as the Unique and Divine emanations that are our birthrights and allow each other the patience to find our OWN way................  

BE SUPER HEROIC!

LOVE-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

Stop CHASING A DREAM Not Meant FOR YOU....!

Back in the mid 1980's, I worked for a video store my last two years of high school. Yes I am in THAT age range...lol   Every weekend was spent consuming all the newest films that were being released every Thursday evening at our particular store.  I would dream of one day being on the ‘big screen’ and having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  But as a dear friend once informed me, fame and fortune IS NOT A PROFESSION!  LOL  

So I took the route most traveled and studied hard, got into a great college and started a 'stable' career in sports broadcasting.  Hey, it wasn't Hollywood but it was as close as I could get from the comfy confines of Northern Virginia/Washington DC.  Yet every night I would drive home with a solemn emptiness in my heart.  The dream of moving to Hollywood still tempted my heart and soul oh so badly.  And no matter how much I tried, there was just no thing that could quell that thirst.  

In the first few entries of The New Age Nerd I fleshed out the story of how I FINALLY ended up in LA LA land, so I will save you the intricacies here.  Needless to say, it appeared my dreams were coming true! I remember the first time I drove down Sunset Blvd, blaring the radio and singing to the Chumbawamba 's “I Get Knocked Down.”  This was living the dream I thought at the time. It was a dream alright, but after a few years I realized it wasn't a dream MEANT FOR ME!  You see, my desperate desire to be famous was pure EGO!  I didn't feel whole just as I was and I thought being anointed by the 'Hollywood Movie Gods' would fill my heart with a feeling of worth and value.  When in reality, I already had that worth and value in a manner greater than I could ever have possibly imagined just by BEING...well....ME!!   Just as you have the same worth in you. In fact there is absolutely nothing about you that isn't already pure perfection. You may have been conditioned to believe otherwise by friends or family, but that is THEIR story NOT yours.  

After a few years of auditioning for commercials and small parts on tv shows and movies, I decided that this DREAM wasn't all it was cracked up to be.  In fact, it was downright depressing.  Walking into a room and seeing 100 other guys who look very much like you, but a smidge taller, or slightly more attractive started to feel like I was selling my soul for something that was just a fleeting in nature.  

But I had a ginormous problem on my hands.  If the dream of being an actor was not a dream meant for me, than what was my CALLING.  And so I started to pray to Spirit that it would show me the way.  I asked for signs from the Universe to help guide my path.  And ya know what!?  I started getting these signs and magical synchronicities like a waterfall of wisdom. Everywhere I turned were sometimes subtle and sometimes undeniable signs that all my life experiences up to that point were leading me to be a teacher, coach and spiritual mentor.  

Now don't get me wrong.  There were OH SO MANY TIMES when I doubted the whispers from Spirit and walked in another direction.  And all that showed up was pure CHAOS.  NO FUN! Yet whenever I followed the path the Universe was showing me, magic showed up!  It wasn't always easy, because as they say, nothing in life worth anything is!  

So what about you?  Are you following a dream that isn't really meant for you? Do you experience nothing but a pastiche of pain, discord and discomfort when you try and take steps in the direction of this dream.  Then chances are it is not the path of your true CALLING! And that is OK.  More than OK.  It means that you can stop wasting time on something that isn't your true purpose and instead concentrate on your own unique Superhero's Journey!   

Believe me, the Universe ALWAYS has your back.  If something is truly meant for you, you will KNOW it.  You won't have to whine, cajole, and beg for what is rightly yours.  And that is a magical Journey where all the gifts and amazing talents you brought here to Earth can be shined and shared with us all!  

SUPERHEROES IN TRAINING TAKEAWAYS

A life filled with pure sensationalism has slowly taken a gargantuan grasp upon so many of the 'mind's eye' within our collective consciousness. And desiring to have a life filled with abundance is our very birthright! But a life built solely upon materialistic desires is a path that slowly pulls us away from our individual CALLINGS. And toward a never ending search for external, short lived accoutrements that will NEVER fill the blank hole you may feel within your heart and soul. For THAT hole can only be eternally filled when we are brave enough to eschew short term blasts of bliss for the long term, joy filled happiness that comes when we decide to commit our lives to our individual soul filled CALLINGS.

BE SUPER HEROIC!
LOVE-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

TIPS To FREE Yourself From What OTHERS THINK About YOU....!

 Today's Inspirational “MYTHOLOGICAL MAGIC”

“When we say things like ‘people don't change’ it drives scientists crazy. Because change is literally the only constant in all of science. Energy, matter, it's always changing....morphing, merging, growing, dying.  It's the way people try not to change that's unnatural. The way we cling to what things were rather than letting them be what they are. The way we cling to old memories instead of making new ones. The way we insist on believing, despite every scientific indication, that anything in this lifetime is permanent.  Change is constant.  How we experience change, that's up to us. It can feel like death, or it can feel like a second chance at life. If we open our fingers, loosen our grips, go with it, it can feel like pure adrenaline. Like at any moment, we can have another chance at life. Like at any moment, we can be born all over again.”
~~  Meredith (Grey's Anatomy)

“You're MAD, bonkers....off your head.  But I will tell you a secret.  All The Best People Are.”
~~ Charles Kingsleigh (Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland)

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There seems to be an epidemic of ginormous proportions that threatens to eradicate much of the  beauty, growth, and unlimited potential amongst us.  Climate change you ask?!  Damn straight, but that's for another, much longer post! ;0)  No, what I am referring to is the potent grip and searing strangle hold other people's THOUGHTS and OPINIONS seem to have over our own lives.  I am seeing it cause real pain and confusion. Not to mention depression and anxiety. WAY too many of us playing small fearing the judgement of others. Dreams and aspirations being crushed before they had a chance to flourish. And in this wake, risk taking has become a foreign language taught in a classroom of unknown origins! 

Since I have absolutely NO desire to live in a house of glass, let me say I have not been immune to this toxic torrent. In fact, I once became so affected by the aggregate thoughts of the masses following a gut wrenching experience, I left a graduate program  I was DEEPLY passionate about. Yuperoo! I think that's why I decided to dedicate today's post toward the subject.  Take it from me, the consequences of not addressing this issue and the manner it is playing out in your life can be quite substantial.  And it isn't like things are going to get any easier to manage down the road. Hello, social media!! Let's face the TRUTH, this brave new world brought on by technology and it's infusion in our lives has made it imperative to incorporate the practice of blocking out the negative ‘CHATTER’ from the unconsciousness that surrounds us! 

This topic brings to mind a wonderful exchange of dialogue I once witnessed on an old episode of Oprah's ‘Super Soul Sunday’.  She was talking with her guest when the topic of ‘worrying about what others think’ popped up.  Oprah shot up in her chair and espoused, “If you care about what other people are thinking about you, they end up OWNING you.  And slavery done ended 150 years ago!” True dat! 

In many ways, we must not forget to offer ourselves compassion for this malady that affects us all at some point.  Remember, our primal ancestors were absolutely dependent on their tribes for survival and a poor ‘likability score’ often meant the difference between life and death.  Five days with no shelter and brontosaurus burgers saved for the ‘In Crowd’ caused a need and desire to be deeply liked.  So your genes still have whispers of an ancestral core where status was essential and fitting in was a requirement for your well being! Why else would Barney put up with so much from Fred?! lol

Thankfully, we have come a LONG way since the days of T-Rex and his cohorts.  While our current times are still challenging, our desires for survival and reproduction are no longer fraught with nearly the same type of daily struggle.  Which means there is NO reason for us to continue being in allowance of the pressure to meld with the masses. All in the never-ending malady of expending endless amounts of time and energy on valuing WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT US.

So here are a few suggestions of things that can help free up your precious effort and energy toward things that really matter.  Endeavors that give us more SELF worth and LOVE, courage, and the inner fortitude to face our PURPOSE with verve and gusto!  

1 -  Don't Make Assumptions
2 -  Don't Take Anything Personally

I am borrowing the first two suggestions from my brother in TRUTH, Don Miguel Ruiz and his brilliant book ‘The Four Agreements’.  Further fleshing out rule number one, past the making an ‘ASS’ out of you and me template, Ruiz explains, “Find the courage to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstanding, sadness, and drama.”  Nobody is a mind reader, so it is super important that we let others know what we are thinking.  And co-creating a space for others to feel safe to communicate their TRUTH back to us. I constantly assure my friends when I feel they are writing a script in their head for a movie that is never going to be ‘green lit’ for production. Misunderstanding is one of the biggest issues we humans face.  Heck, they made an entire show out of it in ‘Three's Company’.  And I doubt the Regal Beagle is still around to drink away your pain and sorrow from worrying about something that probably isn't TRUTH anyway!  

As for not taking anything personally, I believe this is perhaps the most POWERFUL tip in protecting  yourself from the needless suffering that often accompanies our obsessive habit of allowing the words of others to affect us in negative ways.  As Ruiz also states, “Nothing others do is because of YOU.  What others say and do is a projection of THEIR own reality, their dream.” Amen!  Nuff said!

3-  Start small if need be.  Don't not care at all, just care LESS.

Again, I will be the first to admit that freeing yourself from the oppressive nature of external opinions is not easy. Like so many other Spiritual principles, it is a process and takes practice.  Letting go of a long entrenched behavior is not going to happen overnight.  I am a huge believer in setting yourself up for success, not failure.  So start small.  Set bite size goals to achieve.  And reward yourself when you see momentum forward toward even small moments when you staved off the vitriol or judgments of others.  

4-  Practice BEING Self Confident

Unfortunately, there are many folks clouded with their own unconsciousness, and they feed off of making themselves feel BIG by making you feel SMALL.  Don't let these emotional vampires sink their teeth into ANY part of you! Get into the habit of doing things that allow the feeling of confidence to bubble up deep within your core ESSENCE.  Super hero posing, recalling past proud accomplishments, or listening to music that ‘PUMPS you up’ are all things you might try. Anything that makes you rock those pearly whites and stand taller will work wonders!  Start walking with the motto, ‘Things in life DON'T happen to me.  I HAPPEN to things!’  Even subtle shifts in core energy can do wonders in how others treat you!  TRUST.....!

May these suggestions bring you closer to a life FREE of the imprisonment of your mind, and the needless anxiety, pain, and suffering that comes from the opinions of others! Life is so short, please do not waste precious moments on worrying about what anyone else thinks about you. At the end of the day, it is NONE of your business anyway!  Cause that NOISE is all about THEM!  ;0)

BE SUPER HEROIC!

LOVE-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

This STORY Of UNCONDITIONAL LOVE Will Utterly INSPIRE You ...!

 

"There is a story in the Talmud about a king who had a son who went astray. The son was told, 'Return to your father.' The son replied that he could not. The king then sent a messenger to the son with the message...'Come back to me as far as you can, and I will meet you the rest of the way.”

~~Reuven  (THE CHOSEN)

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As you obviously now are quite aware, The New Age Nerd celebrates all things that encapsulate the transformative nature of the Superhero's  Journey.  Thankfully, the rest of the world is now catching up to the prescient nature of Joseph Campbell's teachings and subsequent life's work. He espoused each and every one of us is on a very unique yet equally important path with a purpose.  One of my favorite quotes is when he stated, "The greatest privilege of a lifetime is being exactly who you are." NOBODY has ever had the exact set of challenges, experiences, setbacks, roadblocks, and God sent and heaven borrowed gifts to CONQUER them as have YOU.  The following passage from Campbell's "Pathways to Bliss" has always inspired me to reframe my own particular set of struggles as a way of setting forth on a BLAZING ‘Mission to help the Masses’, especially when funds are running rather low, and my external situations seem overwhelming to the point of waving the white flag of surrender......

Here is a story that seems to me to embody the essential image of living one's life, finding it and having the courage to pursue it. It comes from an Arthurian romance, La Queste del Saint Graal, by an anonymous thirteenth-century monk.

There's a moment there in Arthur's banquet hall when all the knights are assembled around the Round Table. Arthur would not let anyone start to eat until an adventure had occurred. Well, in those days adventures were rather normal, so people didn't go hungry for long.

They were waiting for this day's adventure, and it did indeed occur. The Holy Grail showed itself to the assembled knights - not in its full glory but covered with a great radiant cloth. Then it withdrew. All were left ravished, sitting there in awe.

Finally, Gawain, Arthur's nephew, stood up and said, "I propose a vow to this company, that we should all go in quest of that Grail to behold it unveiled."

Now we come to the text that interested me. The text reads, "They thought it would be a disgrace to go forth in a group. Each entered the Forest Adventurous at that point which he himself had chosen, where it was darkest and there was no way or path."

You enter the forest at the darkest point where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else's path; each human being is a unique phenomenon.

The idea is to find your own pathway to bliss.

~~  Joseph Campbell  (The Pathway to Bliss)

And as much as my GEEKY passion for the larger than life examples of Heroes and Heroines that fill our multiplexes (Yes Guardians of the Galaxy 3 rocked!) and nightly preside over our High Definition TV screens, it is easy to overlook the  SUPER HEROIC actions of the individuals who cross our paths every day.  They seek no fanfare from the Fanboy set, nor do they think of themselves as anything resembling the stories myths are transcribed from. Yet, it is the cumulative  energy from these SPECTACULAR SPIRITS and their always active Love Lights that express the space of eternal soulful expansion. Which is the true essence of why we are all here and hold the code of The Superhero's Journey edict.

Several years ago, I had the privilege of hearing one extraordinary example of the visceral impact of such heroic power through a humble caretaker of my mom's dear friend.  My mother had been assisting her friend Kate for over ten years.  During which time her health had slowly declined from a pastiche of ailments including MS, diabetes, and recently the loss of her right arm.  She had no family around to aid in her daily care taking routine, and let's just say there is a HUGE disparity between the manner in which her various nursing team cared for Kate and her substantial physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.  

Several years ago, my mom, as part of her daily routine, stopped in to check on Kate and found her to be in wonderful spirits.  This was very much due to the fact that her current caretaker is a tiny woman of Indian descent named Makela who engages Kate with true compassion, grace, and absolute joyful dignity.  Although a low hourly wage worker, one would think she was Kate's daughter or sister in the manner of delicate and deliberate LOVE she spreads during her weekends with her.  She patiently does Kate's hair and makeup, takes the time to buy and prepare healthy meals and engages her with words of support and devotion, rather than ‘duty’ and ‘down talking.’

This morning, prior to leaving Kate's morning visit, my mother stopped Melaka, grabbed her by the arm and said, "You are truly an ANGEL on this earth.”  To which Mekala humbly replied, “ I am NO angel.  An angel would be someone who would care for Kate if she were her enemy.  And I LOVE Kate.”

Upon hearing this story  I thought what a world of transcendent glory we would all be a part of if we lived those words.  For they would indeed challenge the heart of even the stingiest of GRINCHES to move three larger sizes.  And reminds me to live yet another luminary quote coined by Campbell, “At such moments you realize you and the other are, in fact, ONE.  It's a big realization.  Survival is the SECOND law of life.  The first is that we ARE ALL ONE.”  

Traditional MYTHS and legends throughout our history have served as ‘teaching tales’ for humanity.  We learn and are reminded of courage and compassion, humility and goodness, fear and heroism, life and death, and everything in between.  It is my hope that this small story of MYTHOLOGICAL proportions in my nerdy eyes be one that does that for you, me, and everyone we share it with.

Because it is precisely these little known SUPER HEROIC TALES that contain the spiritual guidance and wisdom that can INSPIRE us all to live our lives as the Heroes and Heroines we were always meant to be!

BE SUPER HEROIC!

LOVE-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

Why TITHING Is One Of OUR Greatest SUPER POWERS...!

 

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We live in a World of ABUNDANCE!  The Source Creator designed it that way.  We are here to have the richest of experiences in every aspect of our lives.  Yet, how many of you can honestly say that that is the Paradigm that touches your life and the lives of those around you?  If your answer is a resounding NO, I hear you.  And it makes sense.  The media images that fill our TV screens, laptops, and cell phones are inundated with stories of lack and the challenges SO MANY of us are having just trying to keep food on the table and a roof over our head.  Yet, are you aware, that if JUST the top 2% of the wealthiest individuals in the world gave just 10% of their net worth to their fellow brothern, NOBODY would ever have to go hungry or homeless again.  Just stop and think about that for a moment.  In many ways, it actually makes me sick to my stomach.  And that's NOT a judgement on the rich, as much the understanding that THERE IS ENOUGH.  Always and in all ways.  We have more than enough resources and money on this planet to eradicate most of the world's ills, yet BILLIONS of people go hungry and homeless every single day!  In fact one out of three people in the world wake up every morning having no idea where they are going to get clean water for the day.  ASTONISHING!  And very, very sad.  

In a former post, I wrote about the importance of knowing your Financial Blueprint.  And for those of you who have yet to read it, I highly suggest you do. For applying the principles and ascertaining what your inner truth about abundance may be is one of the most important things you can do for having more knowledge, wisdom, peace, health, wealth, and LOVE in your life.  But I decided to wait until today to address another Universal Law that is absolutely KEY to not only being of service to others, but will also do wonders for your own state of abundance. And that is THE POWER OF TITHING!  

By incorporating the practice of giving at least 10% of everything you make away (or tithing) you create a shift in the Universe.  This pure act of LOVE and FAITH is perhaps the most powerful manner in which to tune into SOURCE energy.  That ever abundant spark of the Cosmos that has infinite intelligence and a never ending supply of ABUNDANCE in all its forms!!  

You see, by giving away a part of your own abundance, you are declaring to the Universe a level of KNOWINGNESS there is plenty more where that came from.  And that you have NO NEED to worry about not having enough.  Every time you tithe, you are sending out a Super Hero version of transformative energy that will not only assist others in need, but in its wake, tear open the door to your own connection to SOURCE until it eventually becomes large enough to tap into it at any time!!  And tithing does not just have to be in the form of money.  Sometimes it is just as kind and compassionate to give of our time, knowledge, or even our soothing words to others who have lost their way. 

And for those non believers in the magic imbued within this principle, I have a story of my own to share with you!  As all you New Age Nerds know by having read my posts, you are aware that I have had several periods of time in my life in which I lost it all!  But there was something I KNEW deep within my soul.   And that is, I may have been BROKE, but I was NEVER POOR!  EVER!!

That's why several years ago, when I had but $20 dollars to my name, and I had stopped off at a gas station to put a portion of it in my car's tank, I saw a young man slowly approaching me with tears in his eyes.  He told me that he needed to get to a job interview about 45 minutes away, and was almost out of gas.  He had a debit card, but it came up declined when he tried to use it.  I pulled the $20 dollar bill out of my pocket and asked him if this would get him where he needed to go and back.  He began to cry heavy tears and gave me a big hug and Thank You!  

I got back in my car and started my own drive home, having NO idea what I was going to do for money myself.  BUT, I had something more important than paper bills.  I had the KNOWINGNESS that I need not worry.  That Spirit would protect, guide, and supply me with what I needed.  And ya know what?  I pulled to my mailbox in the front of my house, and there was a check inside of it for over $2,000 dollars.  It was from my biological father's estate (he passed away 10 years earlier) and the money came as a complete surprise.  The envelope contained a letter from a lawyer who had discovered the account which had gone untouched for a decade.  After doing his due diligence, he had tracked me and my sister down and by California state law, the money belonged to us.  My sister got her check a day later!  Now I had received a call from this lawyer over a year prior, but nothing ever came of it, UNTIL I ABSOLUTELY NEEDED IT!! 

And while I have several other personal stories regarding the POWER OF TITHING, the point is that sharing is caring.   Truly!  And sharing what we have, no matter how little or how much we possess is the most miraculous manner of creating daily Miracles in ALL of our lives.  It's what we are actually here to do.  LOVE one another as we would LOVE ourselves.  And one of the most beautiful gestures to LOVE one another is through sharing (tithing) regularly.  Please believe me when I tell you from personal experience that incorporating this principle into your spiritual practice will be the one of the most potent and powerful things you will ever do!!  For not only will it spread the wealth that is already here at our disposal, but watch and see the ways it will bring more prosperity in ALL its forms flooding into your life!


BE SUPER HEROIC!

LOVE-SERVE-INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez