A Monday Morning REMINDER.....!!!

Today's Inspirational “MYTHOLOGICAL MAGIC”

~~Colossus  (DEADPOOL)  “Four or five moments - that's all it takes to become a hero. Everyone thinks it's a full-time job. Wake up a hero. Brush your teeth a hero. Go to work a hero. Not true. Over a lifetime there are only four or five moments that really matter. Moments when you're offered a choice to make a sacrifice, conquer a flaw, save a friend - spare an enemy. In these moments everything else falls away...”

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Happy Monday Fellow New Age Nerds!  For so many of us, the start of a new week can be filled with anxiety, disconnection, and the fear ridden anticipation of the daily engagements to come.   In full support for the Re-membrance of WHO YOU TRULY ARE, so that you can face the week with a renewed sense of positive PURPOSE and the Divine magical acts of co-creation, I wanted to share the following passage with you all!  May it gently bring the KNOWINGNESS that there is No Thing about you that is less than a soulful emanation of perfected LOVE from the SOURCE of Infinite Intelligence that connects us all.  May this understanding ease your worries, doubts, and pain about any and all of the current predicaments within your experience.  
YOU ARE NOT ALONE..........................  

  

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

Is Your TRIBE Still WAITING For You..?!?!?

During my time orchestrating various stints in Corporate America, I was fortunate enough to have a handful of ‘Business Buddhas’ show up along the way, usually when I started to get LOST in the accoutrements that accompany making lots of money.  Purpose, and callings, and journeys...‘Oh, My’!  More like Elton John singing...  “I've finally decided my future lies.... beyond the Yellow Brick Road!”  

One such Spirited Soul and her wise ways appeared on my path just as I was truly starting to make real progress in TV advertising sales.  A potential vortex for sidestepping one's good intentions, all in the name of making your quarterly fiscal goal.  In that world, “Coffee is truly for closers, baby!”, and Gordon Gecko's run supreme.  I actually had a boss, when passing out our bi-monthly paychecks by hand, would start his cocky jaunt around the office by saying, "The goal of life, gentleman, is to have so many zeroes at the end of your paycheck, that the bank teller NEVER forgets to call you SIR!"  Not exactly an incubator for action and intention in the name of spiritual growth!  

Upon first encountering this bringer of the light, there was no mistaking that she walked to the beat of Spirit.  Even her last name, ‘Good’, imbued her sweet, soft nature and authentic demeanor.  The first time I walked into her office, I could feel an instant energy shift that was completely antithetical to the rest of the building.  Calm, caring, and centered, with whispers of service minded moxie.  Experiencing how she maintained her core vibration, no matter the level of corporate chaos outside her door, helped me truly put into perspective the power of practicing the notion of ‘BE THE SOURCE’.   Rather than complaining about what was lacking in spiritual based energy, she engaged her day as though one of her core job components was to BRING that type of feeling to all of us in the company!  

Over several years, we had numerous talks about Soul centered living, our spiritual passions and goals, and future plans for our Hero's and Heroine's Journey.  Hers was an elixir of daily remembrance, and one that helped soften the daily blows that a career lived in the shadows of my True Path endured.  But it would actually take an impromptu chat, co-created long after our office visits ended, that forged a lasting imprint on my life.

In a previous post, I described my ‘Dark Knight of the Soul’, and it was during this period that I happened to be perusing Facebook one afternoon, trying to keep my mind off my current slate of life dilemmas.  I had never been a huge user of FB at that point, but was happily surprised to see her online and available for a live chat.  And boy oh boy did it feel ‘GOOD’ to connect.  LOL

As was usually the case, she kept the focus of our conversation on me, as we caught up on over four years of LIFE.  I told her of my continued plans to be a writer, and the true desire to assist others in service.  Of course, it was basically a variation on the same speech I had perfected and practiced so many years earlier, in the comforting confines of her office.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again expecting a different result.  So to her, I must have seemed like a patient straight out of One Flew Over The Cookoo's Nest.  But thankfully, Nurse Hatchet she was not.

After letting my current ‘story’ come to its fitful end, she took a deep breathe.  And what came next was a TRUTH Bomb that stirred my Soul and bristled my heart with a newfound knowingness.  
“Jeff”, she said, “you need to know something.  All the Souls you promised to help before your Spirit took human form are still waiting for you.”  Tears.....  more tears....  until.....  tears galore.  

Then, she continued.  “Anytime you feel stuck, or fearful, or filled with self doubt, remember,  your TRIBE is still waiting for you to come and help them.  That alone will be enough to assist you on your path.”

And you know what, those words stay with me daily, and really have helped me move past the immense loss, and pain, and self doubt that has occurred on my Journey.  In fact, in my darkest and loneliest moments, it is those words that continue to fuel and guide me towards my mission.  So today, I offer them to you.  It doesn't matter what your Hero's or Heroine's Journey may currently look like, or eventually turn out to be.  Please simply remember, especially when all seems LOST,  that those Souls you promised to serve with your PURPOSE are waiting for you..............

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez 

GROUNDED SPIRITUALITY Absolutely Rocks... Here's WHY....!

I want to shed some light on the type of philosophy that the New Age Nerd adheres to with regard to all self actualization work- GROUNDED SPIRITUALITY.  Through the daily practice of grounded spirituality, I have become much more attuned to the nuances of being both Here and There.  And by that, I mean being connected to SPIRIT as often as possible, yet still allowing for the resonation of earthly illusions in my experience.  I always share with my coaching clients the following:  Allow yourSELF to "dip" your toes in the illusionary pond of EGO/SEPARATION.  Just enough to deeply feel the astonishment and awe that is the true purpose of all forms of "Separation." For instance, you can only experience the fanfrickintastic emotion of making someone LAUGH, if there is "The Other" who is NOT laughing!  We get ourSELVES into trouble when we actually "DIVE" into this illusionary pond.  For then, IT/EGO/SEPARATION becomes our reality.  And then we must try and 'find our way back home.'  Yikes!


And that is why we are all here, right?!    To slay the proverbial ‘dragons’ along our path toward finding the "Holy Grail" of our Hero's/Heroine's Journey!  Kinda tough to do that when we refuse to acknowledge that ‘dragons’ even exist.  LOL   Perhaps John Lennon said it best, "I believe in everything until its disproved.  So I believe in fairies..The myths..Dragons.  It ALL exists, even if only in your mind.  Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the HERE and NOW!"  Amen and mic drop by one of the most connected Spirits to ever grace our planet!

During my life, I have attended numerous churches of various denominations.  You name it, chances are I have investigated whether it was for me.  I have studied at a plethora of organizations from the East Coast to the West.  All searching for something that made sense, resonated deeply within my heart and soul, and that when put into practice, worked on a consistent basis.  In doing so, I think I was trying to create an "Energetic Paradigm" that personified my inner knowingness.   And guess what?  During this journey I found out I wasn't the only who had come up with the term "Grounded Spirituality."  There are several I am quite sure.    In fact, in a book I absolutely adore and highly suggest anyone of our ilk read, called Soulshaping by Jeff Brown, he writes, “...my philosophy of grounded spirituality started to concretize.  I call it Ascending with Both Feet on the Ground.  It is the idea that our ascension to heightened consciousness can ONLY be sustained it if is an embodied unfolding from the the ground up.”  What a terrific definition.  

I believe we are meant to courageously engage it ALL!!  Every juicy emotion, challenge, fear.  All the pain, struggle and strife! "WE," created all these bounties of blessings for purposes of expanding our own level of consciousness.  For instance, "Pain is The Perfect Professor!"  The wisest of us never resist it.  NO!  We let it in and allow it to stay until it has taught us the gift it came to share!   We are all HEROES and are built for pain.  As we are victim-LESS vessels for abundance in all its forms.   Laughter, joy, compassion, wisdom, patience, understanding, and especially LOVE!!!

In his terrific tome, Soulshaping, Mr.Brown goes on to give more details of his journey and how he had a great lesson about spirituality from one of his mentors, the wonderful teacher Ram Dass.   After years of neglecting his body on his spiritual journey, he suffered a horrible stroke.  Pre-stroke, he preached that ‘we are not our body’.  A very common pronouncement in the realm of spiritualists.  His post-stroke experience, which he called FIERCE GRACE, shattered that notion.  This self named -stroke of good luck- grounded him as he later stated, “I came to appreciate, that as wonderful it is as a practice, ‘I am not of this body’ is only half the truth. The stroke brought me squarely in touch with the fact that, although I am certainly more than my body, I also am this body.”  Boy can I relate to that!  During my time with a colostomy bag, cleaning my own intestine several times a day, if anyone had told me,  ‘You are not your body’, I would've flung poop at them like a chimp at the zoo!  I'm KIDDING....kinda!  ;0)

So here are some of the basic tenets of how Grounded Spirituality has come to serve me and many other truth seekers I know.  But please always remember, that as the book A Course in Miracles states,  “There are many paths back to God.”

1-  Feel Your FEELINGS and Emotions
When I first started to passionately engage this world of self actualization, it seemed as though there was this taboo like energy towards many common emotions;  such as anger, and sadness.  Some of the practices I was learning about started feeling robotic in their teachings.  Not to mention unrealistic in trying to sustain a Zen like stature 100% of the time.  I started to feel guilty to express or admit when profound vibrations of any emotion outside of LOVE would bubble up inside me.  Worse still, I began to try and force others through their times of troubles by reframing, or spouting a newly learned spiritual epithet.  There is a funny story behind what got me to finally change my "ways of wisdom."  

There is a wonderful place called AGAPE in Los Angeles, which was attended by me and most of my like minded "Super Friends" every Sunday for years.  Agape in Greek translates into unconditional love; and it is a true non-denominational "Sanctuary of Spirit" for those of us on this path back toward SELF.  During a weekend trip to Napa Valley, one of the friends in our group was going through the initial stages of divorce, and definitely having a boat sized explosion of various emotions. (Thank God for wine! lol)  Rather than allowing her to truly feel her grief, I started in with a reframing soliloquy that was sternly met with,  “I swear to God, Jeff, don't you dare try and F&ckin Agape me right now."  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.   Although that line became a long lasting re-membrance in our group about giving each other the respect and dignity of our own emotional process,  it also taught me a profound lesson.  I started to acknowledge the power of our feelings, and that NOT being in ALLOWANCE of them is doing yourSELF and others a great disservice.  An insult to the GOD MIND!

And ya know what?!   When I  started allowing myself to fully enter into my own emotions, for a given period of time, I usually came out the other side with a new perspective, or plan for moving forward.  I began to understand that feelings are one of the most powerful tools we have to assist us in navigating our unique path. They are indeed the fuel that revs up our energetic offerings to the Universe.  Think of your emotions as - Energy in Action-  always!  They are truly the "Guide Posts Back To The Soul."  And a crucial part of our manifesting prowess.   So rather than "Apape'ing" myself or others, now I remember that repressed emotions are actually unrealized spiritual lessons.   Just DO NOT make a Broadway Show out of them.  Cause nobody wants to buy a ticket to an event that has outstayed its welcome!  


2-Honor Your Body

Yes, we all know that this body is temporal.  It is ours for a finite time.  But it is also a precious gift.  That's why it is called the Body Temple.  It is sacred in that it houses our SOUL/SPIRIT while we are here.  As the book God I Am declares, “There were billions of other Souls around the Universe vying for the ‘ticket to ride’ that was given to you!”  That's right, YOU are that Unique and Special.  Everyone here already won the lottery!  So while you are here, be grounded enough to care for the body which brought ya!

3- Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously

By this, more than anything else, I mean learn to laugh at yourself.  This field is filled with people who take themselves so seriously.  Lighten up!  We all make miscues, are infallible, and poop in our pants. (Or is that just me ?!  lol)  I have found that you will actually relate to more people with your story and message, when you can learn to laugh at yourself.  In fact, it is a proven fact that laughter has cured more illness than all the medication this planet has ever produced! Plus, vulnerability is sexy as hell!

4-  ACTION is Always Necessary

When The Secret first came on the scene with its teachings of  "The Law of Attraction," there was this huge -Wishful Thinking- movement in the self realization world.  People actually started believing that they could simply sit on the sofa and think about money, and that checks would suddenly start appearing in their mailbox.  I believe it truly started doing damage to the real understanding of the Law of Attraction (The Law of Attraction is but one of several Universal principals by the way) and in my experience, caused a ton of frustration and disillusioned spirits in our community.  

Don't get me wrong, I am a BIG believer in the power of Universal Energy.  As Yoda says, “It's an energy field that is created by all living things.  Life creates it, makes it grow.  It surrounds us, binds us.”  And it is ALL powerful.  BUT, in this dense realm, it MUST be combined with ACTION in order to work.  And unfortunately, there is not enough re-membrance of the importance of taking daily actionable steps toward our goals.  You can think all day and night to align your energy fields with your desires until the cows come home; but if they are not backed by daily actionable steps toward your plan/goal/path, the ONLY person you will be making rich is your therapist.  Trust me!  

For more pragmatic advice about an enlightened manner in which to weave  "The Law of Attraction," I highly suggest reading Beyond The Secret, by Dr. Lisa Love.   She has such a grounded way of explaining the Law's principles.  For instance, she suggests one use it to try and attract the qualities for keeping and using money responsibly, rather than just acquiring money in the first place.  Although I do not believe in absolutes.  I KNOW we can DO BOTH!!  Holla!  Just like the Universe, we have absolutely NO LIMITS or boundaries whatsoever.  The sky is not the limit.  It's simply the beginning of your true super powers!!

5-  Stop with The Shame Game

This is perhaps the "secret sauce" toward living from the space of your Super Heroic Higher Self!    First and foremost, let me remind you of a very profound spiritual principle that is often a challenge to understand and accept.  Yet it is crucial to do so!   That being, YOU CANNOT MAKE A MISTAKE.  That's right, it's Universal Law.  Now before your inner monologue starts to go all manic trying to get your head wrapped around this concept, let me offer some more tangible context to this principle.  We make decisions in the moment based on what we BELIEVE to be the best choice given the combination of our options at the time and our individual needs and thoughts surrounding our current circumstances.   Combined with our level of consciousness at that "point in our NOW!"  That DOES NOT mean that our actions don't sometimes cause certain consequences and painful experiences  in our lives and the lives that our actions/thoughts/deeds affect.  I know this is a very difficult Universal law to grasp, especially given the horrendous actions that we have been forced to witness in the past few years, from Columbine to Orlando.  And I am in NO WAY condoning those acts of brutal violence and unconsciousness.  And these are EXTREME cases of course, but they inevitably come up when this concept is introduced to any individual or group.  The point I am trying to clarify is there are a plethora of internal, external, societal, and familial beliefs and patterns that inform the decisions we make at any given time.  This is VERY IMPORTANT to Re-member.  Bottom line, we do the very best we can in the moment in time we make any decision.  I often share with my clients to always see "The Other," through the lens of your Inner Innocence. (I explain in great detail how to do this in the post of the same name.  Check it out!)

Guilt you see, is the feeling of remorse or regret that contradicts our own personal values.  And guilt can actually be used in a myriad of constructive manners to help us change some of our more disempowering patterns or belief systems that no longer serve our highest good.  It's a marvelous tool to use in conjunction with a DO OVER(I wrote a post about DO OVERS a few weeks ago that you can refer back to if you like!) to make more informed, mature and healthy actions! 

Shame on the other hand is the "The Ego's Mistress!"  Just a destructive emotion and a feeling that can slowly eat away at your core sense of SELF.  “Beast be gone, I say!!”  I love Bene Brown's explanation of this parasitic emotional virus and its cohort.  “Based on my research and the research of other shame researchers, I believe that there is a profound difference between shame and guilt. I believe that guilt is adaptive and helpful – it’s holding something we’ve done or failed to do up against our values and feeling psychological discomfort.  I define shame as the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging – something we’ve experienced, done, or failed to do makes us unworthy of connection. 

I don’t believe shame is helpful or productive. In fact, I think shame is much more likely to be the source of destructive, hurtful behavior than the solution or cure. I think the fear of disconnection can make us dangerous.”   BRILLIANT!  

I like to say that GUILT is feeling bad about that which we have said or done, and SHAME is the illusionary belief that WE ARE THAT WHICH WE HAVE DONE.  It causes us to mistakenly believe that we ourselves are not worthy, unlovable, and there is something wrong with us.  YUCK!   Do you see the Gi-normous difference between the two?!  And since we now understand that we cannot make a mistake, there is no reason for us to BELIEVE that WE ARE that which we have done or said.  We live in such a SHAME filled society, that along with loneliness is one of the great destructive epidemics facing our collective consciousness.  And this habit of SHAMING ourSELVES and others has got to stop!! 

I ask all New Age Nerds to do yourSELVES and all others a favor starting right NOW!  Be kind and compassionate to ALL!  Help those around you suffering from the malady of SHAME to Re-member to forgive themSELVES.  And by "forgive," I mean the process that is for-giving you and others back to your Super Heroic Higher Self!   It's perfectly OK to transcend your SHAME into guilt for learning and growth purposes, so long as you do not forget that you are NOT that which you did or said.  That type of thinking causes more depression, personal disconnection, anxiety and self hatred than all the combined failed diets and relationships in the world!  

Please Re-member, you are a perfect and unique emanation of SPIRIT.  Here to spread your profound and one of a kind set of super powers with the world.    And there is NO THING you can do to change that!  And if that doesn't give you cause for relief than I don't know much that will!! :0)

I hope this gave you a richer understanding of GROUNDED SPIRITUALITY and how it can be used to empower and guide you on your own Hero's/Heroine's Journey!

BE HEROIC!

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

How To MOVE ON From The Past TRAUMAS OF Your Life..........

Today's Inspirational “MYTHOLOGICAL MAGIC”

~~ Emmet   (THE LEGO MOVIE)

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I recently received the first post communication from a previous relationship that ended during the Holidays.  Despite my perspective that I had moved forward from its emotional residue left within my being, I was super surprised at the extent to which I was triggered by this engagement.  Had I REALLY been moving on with my life the past four months, or was I mired in the past, reliving the impactful moments in my head over and over again pressing a perpetual rewind button in my mind?!
As is typically the case, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.  What is for absolute certain was the realization that it is time to apply some serious attention to truly MOVING ON!!  So like a Prime Directive from Captain Kirk, I have been compassionately applying some terrific techniques to assist a shift in energy toward ANABOLIC energetic progression of new BEGINNINGS and magnificent manifestations!  Since all New Age Nerds understand that everything is comprised of energy, the reason we feel so much more powerful when we are in the act of expanding that essence, is because it is our natural state.  When we become stuck in pertinent areas of our life, our connection to SOURCE energy becomes stagnant or even CATABOLIC in nature.  That's why it is commonly said  “Either get busy living or get busy dying!”  In fact, Bruce Lee used to implore to his students that “Life is never about stagnation. It is constant movement as we we constantly change.  Things change only by moving forward which always causes strength as it goes.”

I think we can all relate to feeling stuck, stagnant, or even complacent in our lives.  Especially in the areas of past traumas (relationships, job loss, break-ups) and the daunting difficulty in moving forward.  Not to mention the self destructive behaviors that accompany reliving the same painful moments again and again, conjuring realities of what ‘could have been’ or even writing different versions and endings of these past stories in the script processor of our minds.  I don't know about you, but I Thank God from time to time that there are no hidden camera recorders in MY mind!!  LOL

If there is ONE thing I have come to understand as Universal Law, it is that you can fool yourself and others by trying to ‘fake it to make it’ in regards to your efforts in forward progression in life, but you CANNOT pull the spiritual veil over the Universe with the reality of your core movement.  And let's face it, since our most powerfully ally is the connection to SOURCE energy that is always at our disposal, why not ‘work with the mystical medication, NOT against it!’  :0)

I invite you to think about incorporating some of the following suggestions that have done wonders in supporting my own efforts in MOVING ON in areas of my life that were keeping me from being the Greatest Version of the Grandest Vision of who I came here to BE:

1.  INCLUDE THIS POWERFUL MANTRA AS PART OF YOUR DAILY RITUAL
“In my experience, I have found that the solutions to all of life's intractable problems are NOT found in any form of intellect or cleverness.  They are solved by simply MOVING ON.”
~~  Carl Jung

2.  PRACTICE THE PROCESS OF ACCEPTANCE 
There are several stages to healing from and moving forward from the various painful traumas we all experience during our lifetime.  I believe ACCEPTANCE of now what ‘IS’ can be the most profound part of this process.  Eckhart Tolle, in one of my favorite books said, “In fact, the moment the judgement stops through acceptance of what is, you are free of the mind.  You have made space for love, for joy, for peace.  That immediately takes you beyond ego.”  Are you aware that the majority of suffering in the human condition comes from the resistance of that which is.  So Re-member, what you RESIST PERSISTS, and what you look at, eventually melts away.

3.  YOU CANNOT JUST THINK YOUR WAY TOWARD MOVING FORWARD
Last year, on an episode of Super Soul Sunday, I was introduced to the life affirming story of Madonna Badger.  A former big time NY magazine editor who seemingly had created a storybook worthy empire for herself and three small daughters, lost it all one Christmas morning in 2011.  On that fateful Christmas Eve, a house fire took the lives of all three of her children, as well as her parents who had come to visit for the holidays.  While Madonna was able to escape the burning blaze herself, she lost her entire family literally overnight.  UNTHINKABLE LOSS.  Tears streamed down as I watched her relive the two year journey that followed this horrifying event.  As you can imagine, she suffered suicidal depression for over a year, and found herself transferred to several ‘mental rehab’ centers, all in an attempt to transform her back to a semblance of her former self.  But do you know what she said was the miracle medicine and healing balm to her Soul that helped pull her out of her deep doldrums?!  It was the moment she stopped trying to THINK her way out of the emotional malaise.  Getting out of her head where she found herself reliving the painful past, feeling guilt and shame about what she could have done differently that frosty, fateful night.

She decided to leave the trappings of the mental facilities she had been cooped up in for two years, and went to live with close friends in Arkansas.  She started occupying her mind with action steps and set goals, albeit understandably small at first.  Eventually, she traveled to Thailand to visit a child orphanage and gave the underserved children all the toys that her own children cherished prior to their passing.  Soon, she said she no longer felt herself stuck in the past, and found that life started filling in the new space with HOPE, JOY, PEACE, and of course, ACCEPTANCE of her new reality and life.  It didn't happen overnight, but she said she made more progress in 6 months living with her friends than over two years at the various rehab centers. 

Finally, I will leave you with this little parable that strongly resonates with me and it is my desire that its essence finds its way into your ability to MOVE FORWARD in in any area of your life that is causing you pain or confusion, so that you can continue your Hero's Journey in the most productive manner!

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

Tips For Letting GO Of TOXIC People In Your Life...

Today's Inspirational “MYTHOLOGICAL MAGIC”

“Sometimes the ONLY way to move forward is to revisit the things from your past that are still holding you back. You have to deal with them head on.  No matter how scary they may be.  Because when you do, that's when you will realize you can go further than you ever imagined.”
~~Barry Allen AKA The Flash   (THE FLASH)

~~  Jordan Belfort  (THE WOLF OF WALL STREET)

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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 Re-membrance 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 of 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 that 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 Hero's/Heroine's Journey with more peaceful 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......

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

The DANGERS Of DRIFTING Through Life..........

TODAY'S INSPIRATIONAL “MYTHOLOGICAL MAGIC”

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Over 70 years ago, Napoleon Hill wrote a book called “Outwitting the Devil”, yet it wasn't actually published until quite recently.  At the time of its crafting, he had already made quite a name for himself in the business world, especially from the success of his seminal tomb “Think and Grow Rich.” (If you have not read it, I suggest typing in Amazon.com in your web browser as soon as you are done reading this post!)  So why exactly did this particular vision from his inner mind lay hidden from public consumption for decades?!?  After all, Hill was the author of numerous books that transformed the cultural zeitgeist of a society that had been been fiscally stripped and spiritually annihilated by the horrors of the Great Depression.  He had made it is life's purpose to take on the near Herculean task of setting aside over 25 years of his life to uncover the underpinnings of life success and what nuances existed that separates those of us who merely survive from those of us who actually eat PASSION FLAKES for breakfast and thrive the rest of each and every day of their brief time here on the planet, fulfilling their Hero's/Heroine's journey along the way. He went so far as to partner with the iconoclast Dale Carnegie who assisted him as a mentor on this mission of a Lord of the Rings worthy proportion!  Frodo who?!?  :0)

“If you undertake this job, you should interview not only the few who have succeeded, but the many who have failed. You should carefully analyze many thousands of people who have been classified as failures, and I mean by the term failures, men who come to the closing chapters of their lives disappointed because they DID NOT achieve the goal for which they had set aside their hearts toward achieving.   As it is inconsistent as it may seem, you will learn more about how to succeed from the failures as you will from the so-called successes.  They will teach you what NOT to do.  Among toward the end of your labor, if you carry it through successfully, you will make a discovery which may be a great surprise to you. You will find that the cause of success is not separate and apart from the man/woman.  That is is a force so intangible in nature that the majority of men never recognize it. ; a force which may be called ‘the other SELF.’  Noteworthy is the fact that this OTHER SELF seldom exerts its influence or makes itself known excepting at times of immediate emergency, when men are forced, through adversity and temporary defeat, to change their habits and THINK their way out of temporary defeat."

~~ Dale Carnegie  (OUTWITTING THE DEVIL)

In fact, this New Age Nerd credits a portion of his found commitment to life purpose on the profound Re-membrance that was gifted through Hill's luminous prose that contains a radical template for the law of attraction that FAR pre-dates this generation's proclamation that “The Secret” is the cure to our feelings of lack of abundance, inadequacy, and disconnection from our authentic SOURCE.   The only real secret he could find for manifesting extraordinary success in one's lifetime came from finding and following your purpose and desire for being here, and doggedly pursuing it with a concrete plan that is backed by daily ACTION STEPS.  Basically, know where you are going, and bust your butt with no complaining or explaining to get there!  Funny that the real ‘secret’ to, well, ‘The Secret’ is that THERE IS NO SECRET!  Perhaps Sean Connery summed it up best in “The Untouchables” with his wicked quip to Kevin Costner's lawman tasked with capturing Chicago's shiftiest crime lord, “Yes, but what are you PREPARED TO DO to get Capone!”  That line can be applied to all of our goals and desired manifestations.  Because you will most often find that those that simply DO, practice the ART OF ACTION.  As my my pop used to implore to his students, in life there are only two distinct camps.  You are either ‘working hard’ or ‘HARDLY WORKING.’  Nuff said! 

Conspiracy theories aside, I believe the reason the Napoleon Hill estate was reluctant to release the contents within “Outwitting the Devil” is due to its narrative premise.  For it is written from the understanding that Hill had an actual dialogue with SATAN himself.  A sit-down for the ages to say the least!  And what exactly would one even dare to wear for such an occasion!  LOL  Even in our contemporary exploitive and sensationalistic media landscape, the announcement of such a journalistic coup would cause quite a furor of frantic frenzy.  So can you you even attempt to ponder the marketing of such a seemingly preposterous declaration back in the days before Marty McFly innocently donned his Calvin Kleins before their time?!?  Although, ironically enough, it does feel like we are having continued dialogue with the DEVIL himself with each and every Donald Trump media debacle!  Forgive me Father, for I have sinned...  ;0)

So while reading the book, I took a page out of the Michael Beckwith (The founder of Agape Spiritual Center in Los Angeles) self actualization playbook, and substituted the ideation of the Devil, into THE EGO.  During many of his fiery Sunday  soliloquies, he would often refer to the Devil as being No Thing less than our own EGO, and it's attempt to keep us feeling separate from our authentic selves.(More on this masterful application in a future post!)

And just as in my beloved “Conversation with God” series, I implore my fellow truth seekers to try and set aside their contemplations on where the information is coming from, and instead intently focus on WHAT in the narrative actually RESONATES with their intuitive feelings.  CAPICHE?!?!
Fantastic! 

What did I find from this Devil's philosophical musings and declarations from the ‘Dark Side of the Force’.  While nothing revelatory in nature, it can be summed up within the context of one potentially destructive paradigm:  DRIFTING!  Napoleon Hill fastidiously used a simple, yet nearly flawless indicator of a person's current probability of achieving stupendous life happiness and success.  Before beginning work with a new group of corporate students, he would line them up and one by one, ask them just two basic questions.  The first being “What is your life purpose?”, and the second being “What is your plan for achieving it?”  After working with tens of thousands of well intended, highly educated individuals, he found that LESS than 10 percent could answer the questions he posed to them.  Many of them staying in jobs they detest, and in relationships that have long passed their intended expiration date!  And this, my fellow New Age Nerds, is the epitome of DRIFTING!

The Devil (EGO) said that this pattern of living energy is his greatest ally toward keeping people from a life filled with soulful expansion, peaceful platitude, and the ability to complete their Hero's/Heroine's Journey.  I can tell you from first hand experience that DRIFTING can become a horrible hindrance to any semblance of lasting happiness.  It's like ‘punching in and punching out’ of the time clock in life.  Living a surface existence instead of a deep, authentic, mindful co-creative process with life.  And it can touch upon and eventually erode what I call the PILLARS of LIFE.  Similar to the load baring posts that hold up any structural foundation, these pillars consist of personal support structures of our existence.  Relationships, jobs, health, fiscal abundance, spiritual practice; these are all the pillars that inform and maintain our sense of well being. 

When we drift in one or all of these areas, we are aimlessly sleepwalking through the precious moments of our days.  In the book, the Devil(EGO) specifically says, “A drifter is one who permits himself to be influenced and controlled by circumstances beyond his control.  He would rather have me occupy his mind and do his thinking rather than go to the trouble of thinking himself.   A drifter is one who accepts whatever life throws his way without putting up a protest.  He doesn't know what he wants from life and spends all of his time getting just that.  A drifter has lots of opinions, but none are his own......   I would advise him to WAKE UP AND GIVE.  Give some form of service to as many people as possible.  He must learn to give before he gets.”

So what can be done if you have found yourself in an habitual pattern of aimlessly DRIFTING through life?  I invite you to contemplate incorporating the following suggestions that can support you away from your EGO and it's treacherous temptations to keep you in a zombie like state of disillusionment, and bring back that ‘authentic swing’ that brings back the PASSION, JOY, and ZEST that makes life such a MIRACULOUS and Majestic experience!! 

1.  Decide what you want from life and what your God given talents might be.  The things that make time seem to FLY while you are participating in them is a great guidance system toward what those talents and passions truly are!

2. Create a plan for how to go about attaining your goal/purpose/mission.  Hiring a life coach is a wonderful way to start building a support team to assist you in this Journey in a compassionate, loving, and even fun manner!

3.  Analyze your past and present defeats or seeming failures.  (They are really not failures, just ways you now know something does NOT serve you.)  Again The New Age Nerd's definition of sin is to SUFFER without meaning.  Allow yourself to truly FEEL your feelings about the state of affairs in your life and ask Spirit for the guidance to help you understand the seed of equivalence in the form of an opportunity that is waiting to be discovered. 

4.  Become hyper aware of your daily habits and actions.  How much time are you spending surfing the internet, daydreaming, writing scripts in your minds for movies that will NEVER get made.  Anything that is actually keeping you away from tangible action steps toward your purpose. 

5.  Understand that FEAR is simply FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL.  It is the EGO's way of keeping you small, and is the biggest ally to the nasty nature of DRIFTING! 

And if all else fails, seek out your SEARCH and RESCUE TEAM.  Let them shower you with the Love and respect you deserve.  And don't be afraid to ASK FOR HELP.  Sometimes just breaking up our larger purpose into bite size chunks can help maintain the courage to step forward and simply BEGIN!  And a warm, trusting support team can be your own ‘Gateway to Narnia’ that initiates the start of a great big JUICY exciting chapter in your amazing new life!!

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

Follow YOUR Yellow Brick Road...!!!

I am a huge fan of the television show Shark Tank.  It's so inspirational to see individuals, many of whom have sacrificed everything, create their own business to follow their Passion and Purpose in life.  It takes real chutzpah, especially in these already uncertain times, to throw such caution to the wind, stand apart from the crowd, and courageously say, "Here I am world.  It's time to shine my light!"  It's much safer to shrink back into darkness, let the Monkey Mind loose, and live in the murkiness of what Emerson declared "the life of quiet desperation."  Trust me, I have shunned the calling of my own soul for YEARS, and it ain't a pretty path.  Just ask my family, friends, therapist; heck, I bet even my dogs would've chimed in saying such a long haul is less than 'Paw-fect'!

So why do we do it?  How come so many of us refuse to act on the yearning of our heart and Soul, preferring to trade our mental and physical well being for a healthy paycheck instead.  Because each of us is a unique emanation of Universal energy, our individual stories are just as special.  I will, however, share parts of mine, in the hope that it may shed some understanding toward what you have or may STILL be going through.  

My two biggest passions in life are spiritual based self actualization and what I now call "The Power of Story".  I used to say the second was film or mass media, but I have come to acknowledge that the connection I truly had to those verticals was the authentic illumination of understanding that they could represent.  These two delightful accoutrements of my soulful interest have taken me down an ...interesting...  path of possible life callings the last two decades.  You may need a map and a scoresheet to keep track, but here goes!  

I started my career as a television sports producer and writer for the now defunct George Michael Sports Machine on NBC out of Washington, DC. (NO, not THAT George Michael!)  This was way before ESPN and their nightly SportsCenter became a nightly staple for millions.   I often got in trouble for turning in nightly scripts that were MUCH too long for a 7 minute sports broadcast.  But I couldn't help it.  Even then, I was much more intrigued by the Hero's Journey of the athletes, even within the construct of a single game, than I was in just reporting of the stats.   So I was given a stint in front of the camera, as the weekend sports anchor for a station out near Annapolis, MD.  But 80 hour work weeks that eradicated any sense of a personal life put an end to that career track after three years.   But I knew I was onto something.  I couldn't quite put my finger on it so early in my journey, but I sensed I was at least on a semblance of the right ‘playing field’.  Even after that exhausting experience, I still had an intense pull toward the world of media.  It was somehow in my DNA, and my heart pumped its essence through my veins.    So when I next received a call from a temp agency about a new TV show called 'Building America' based in the Washington, DC area, that was looking for a salesperson/producer hybrid,  I took the bait!  

Over the next few years I received my ‘MBA’ walking through the office doors of such high tech luminaries as Steve Case (AOL) and Larry Ellison(Oracle).  I was responsible for the launch of the West Coast version of the show on an ABC affiliate in San Francisco, California.  Our show was edited into three segments that each highlighted an up and coming high tech company in Silicon Valley.  This was in the mid-90's mind you, so it was an absolute fertile hotbed of companies that would go on to revolutionize the world.  I felt so lucky at the time to be in the middle of such trailblazing energy.  Just walking down the street, you could sense the excitement!  

But, at the end of each long day, I would come back to my apartment in San Mateo, and ....  sulk.  The self judgement was off the charts.  I should have been ecstatic; a 25 year old living in San Fran mingling with the juggernauts of the time.  But something wasn't right.  And I knew it.  

Being so close to LA, the Myth making capital of the world, was tough.  I dreamed of writing screenplays, and telling stories that could emotionally move people to laughter and tears.  My self-conflicted ways were short-lived, as a rather large dispute between my boss and me ended with job loss and my ass back on a plane to DC.  Dejected, frustrated, and completely lost, my body became a petri dish of Dis-Ease, and I spent the greater part of the next two years in and out of hospitals having my entire colon removed from an extreme Crohn's flair-up.  Yeah, the next time you feel sorry for yourself, think about what life could be like if you spent it pooping in a bag tied to your hip!!  I'm not kidding!  Thank goodness for modern medicine, as I eventually had a resection of the first surgery performed that left me 'sans' colostomy bag!  WHEW!!!!  Let me just say wearing such a contraption does not have the ladies singing, "Some day....... my prince will come!"  Just sayin'.......    

As tough as that two year period may have been, it was also one of the greatest periods of my life.  There is nothing like coming face to face with your own mortality in your mid 20's, to truly wake you up to something deeper.  In fact, it was during one particular long stint in the hospital that my true SPIRITUAL JOURNEY began.  One of my best friends came by for a visit and carried in his hand a copy of the book The Celestine Prophecy.  Now at this point, I had not eaten food for almost 40 days, so of course my first initial thought was  “I wonder if I can eat it!!”  No, seriously...  lol

After a nice visit, he handed the book to me and said, "I think you are ready for this!"  Barry was the same friend, who in our early teens, was often told by me that he didn't have to worry about going to purgatory when he died, because I would pray for him.   Yes, I was a good Catholic boy then and he was Jewish.  Barry always knew that I had a deep seeded desire for spiritual growth, and the gesture was his way of showing me 'the way'.

That night I opened the book and......  something MAGICAL happened.  For perhaps the very first time in my life, I felt REAL CONNECTION.  The story that unfolded as I lavishly turned the pages felt like.....I WAS HOME!  And life would never be the same!!

When I was finally well enough to leave the hospital ~and my colon~ behind, I drove straight to this enchanting place called a book store~wink~.   I brought along that copy of the Celestine Prophecy with me and walked straight over to the help desk.  “Where can I find this particular book?”,  I asked with extreme anticipation.  The employee walked me over to the back section of the store and pointed.   I grabbed a shopping cart, wheeled it over to the bookcase, and started shoveling one book after another into the basket!  It was literally my version of FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD!!!

It would take me another TWENTY YEARS of starts and stops, (Including stints in NY, LA, and Atlanta) detours and YIELD signs, before I FINALLY hit absolute rock bottom and decided it was now my time to shine.  And thus THE NEW AGE NERD was born!!  But boy at times did it hurt. I mean soul crushing, heart shattering pain!  Loss and trauma and failure, OH MY!!   Such is the price we pay for a MIRACLE that is looking to be born.  As many women can attest, the birthing process is an arduous one.  Unfortunately, most of us will continue on their current path~~ until the pain of staying put exceeds the fear of the unknown.  

Let's keep it real- The Hero's Journey is NOT for the faint of heart.   To hear the ringing of the phone line from the soul and have the courage to pick it up and say "I am here, ready and willing!" takes cajones.   No wonder it takes so long for many of us to take the leap.    It means stepping out of what you know, your proverbial comfort zone.  AND, perhaps more scary than THAT, it means becoming VULNERABLE.  Letting others see who you really are.  Petrifying stuff, right!?!  But one thing I know for sure, once you do answer that call, there is NO GOING BACK........  And, the feeling you do receive after the transformation toward your calling is one of the most DELECTABLE, soul enriching imaginable!!

In future posts I will flesh out more of this story, but for now, may I suggest this; heed these words from Jesus the Christ.  "If you bring forth what is inside you, what you bring forth will save you.  If you don't bring forth what is inside you, it will DESTROY you." 

Or, you just may end up with your colon in a jar!!  

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez