Super Heroic TIPS For Long Lasting SELF CONFIDENCE..!

 

Let me ask you all in the New Age Nerd Community a few questions..............
When you first awake from your nighty slumber, and begin your normal morning routine...  HOW DO YOU USUALLY FEEL?  Anxious for the day ahead of you?  Do feelings of Self Doubt begin to bubble back up into your being?  Does fear and feelings of 'I am NOT good enough' resume their place within your self consciousness? Are you gripped by stagnation and a MIND-set that keeps you drifting DIRECTIONLESS day after day?  If any of these patterns are overly familiar to you; you are NOT alone!!  In fact, let me share a story with you.....

A few years ago, while taking some classes toward a leadership coaching certification, I had quite an impactful experience that I still use to help me transcend my own ‘inner critic’.  Who needs enemies when our own MONKEY MIND insists on taunting us with thoughts of blame, guilt, regret, and self-doubt.  Often with a big, heaping side order of worthlessness.  And as that day's class was soon to show me, we are truly all ONE in this experience that causes so much anxiety, doubt, separation, and mental anguish.  Not to mention how it blocks us from the healing LOVE we need to learn, grow, and evolve the 'Collective Consciousness.'..................

After our mid-day lunch break, our class of roughly 30 seated students were each given a stack of cards with various short phrases written on the back of each one. We were instructed to pick the ONE card that best exemplified the way we felt about ourselves the majority of our waking day.  You have to remember this was an extrapolation of people who were all on an active path toward self growth. The great majority of us having spent years, if not DECADES, on a quest for the specialized knowledge that would allow us to coach, train and teach others on becoming the ‘greatest version’ of themselves.

The phrases on the cards ran the emotional energetic scale from ‘I Am Love’ to ‘Work in Progress’.  Once we all had our card picked, we were told to stand up And with its message facing forward, hold it in front of our chest, while we started mingling with one another.  One by one, we stood up.  Suddenly, a raucous set of laughs started erupting from one side of the room to the other. With over 20 different messages that each member in the group was free to choose from, ALL but two of us picked the EXACT SAME CARD. That card read...... NOT GOOD ENOUGH !!

I will NEVER forget the divine feeling of oneness I felt in that moment. Oh, I laughed my ass off like the rest, but my soul was shedding tears of joyful connection. Up until that moment, I had often been afraid to admit the intensity of my own MONKEY MIND.  How controlling, suffocating,  and idea crushing it could be at times.  But as I looked around that room and saw nearly everyone holding up that same card, illusionary message et al, all I could see were beings of utter perfection.  Even if THEY could not see it in themselves. 

Since then, I have come to understand that creating concrete SELF CONFIDENCE is like most everything else of great value; a PROCESS. Our capacity for self confidence is not unlike a muscle.  It must be trained, honed, and cared for with patience and love.  So I would now like to share some suggestions garnered from years of hard fought personal lessons, studying messages from spiritual masters, and plenty of implementations toward a formula that will assist you in empowering a new MIND-set that garners a Super Sense of SELF CONFIDENCE!

SUPERHEROES IN TRAINING TAKEAWAYS:

1.  Know Your WHY!

Many of us get so thrown off track by our own 'Inner Critic' that we actually forget exactly WHY we desire a goal or want to fulfill a Mission in our life. Yet, our WHY contains the Burning Desire and Passionate Purpose that is the rocket fuel toward manifesting your heartfelt dreams!  It should INSPIRE you so deeply that when you are met with any form of resistance, you will have the inner fortitude to forge ahead because your WHY strengthens your BELIEFS.  And having absolute KNOWINGNESS in yourself is absolutely critical toward manifesting the life you desire! I highly suggest you write down your own purposeful WHY and refer back to it often! Especially when the chips are down and fear begins to creep into your precious plans, causing you to ponder staying put in permanent stagnation.  Your empowering WHY will lift you out of egoic patterns of self doubt and back into anabolic BELIEFS of your Super Human, Bad Ass potential!    

2. REMEMBER YOU CANNOT MAKE A MISTAKE AND FAILURE DOES NOT 

    EXIST!

Many of us are handicapped from taking action steps because we are paralyzed from fearing thoughts that we may make a mistake and feel judged or embarrassed by our actions. Not to mention the albatross of pondering what others may think of us as a byproduct.  Sound familiar?!  That's why I invite you to transcend your MISTAKES into MISSTEPS.  The decisions we make stem from our mind, our hearts, or both!  Everyone makes choices based on their past experiences, their belief systems, and their own personal values.  Remember, we always choose what we believe is the best possible choice in any given situation. The key is to direct our energy away from self judgment and back towards empowering declarations such as "What is the lesson?  How can I use this experience for my greater good? And perhaps most importantly, what is the Universe trying to teach me in this moment of NOW?"  As Richard Bach said, "The events we bring upon ourselves and the manner in which we tackle them are necessary for us to learn.  Whatever steps we take, they are necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go." And as the great Joseph Campbell often espoused, "When ANY experience enters your personal experience, bless it! For it is EXACTLY what you need in that moment!"  Let that last sentence settle into your consciousness.  For I promise you that it will serve your highest good throughout your life experience!

And as far as FAILURE is concerned, it simply DOES NOT EXIST!!  Failure is simply FEEDBACK from the Universe.  And it is infused with wisdom from Infinite Intelligence. So it is always constructive FEEDBACK in its nature! Did you know that Thomas Edison spent years trying to figure out the magical mechanism to create electricity.  In fact, it took over 2,000 attempts before he finally flipped the switch and lit the lightbulb that changed the world!  Yet, he refused to say he ever failed.  He simply stated that every time he flipped that switch and the lightbulb stayed dark, that he succeeded in finding a way that electricity did not work!  

Now the experiences of FEEDBACK we receive in our action steps when trying are valuable insights and transformative opportunities for wisdom and growth. It's been my experience that simply allowing the energy of FAILURE to enter into ones thought pattern stops the majority of people dead in their new shiny sneakers.  "JUST DO IT" gets the big ole Nike Nix!  Again, so much of this is about our MIND-set.  When we keep our MIND-set for SUCCESS, than we shift our perception to "Progress rather than Perfection!"  And the more we begin to try something scary, we are now armed with a new Belief System. We embrace the FEEDBACK for the gifts of understanding and new found Wisdom it offers!  It then becomes easier to redirect and pivot to new plans and action steps in places where we may have been misguided.  And guess what the byproduct is; a new found sense of SELF CONFIDENCE!!

3. DAILY AFFIRMATIONS

Ok, I am well aware that affirmations have gotten a bad rap in some circles.  Many folks feel silly and awkward repeating statements like Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live.  Yet, Albert Einstein himself proved that feeding the subconscious mind with the feelings of what you desire coupled with the EMOTIONS that they are already in your possession will bring about the physical equivalent into your earthly experience!  And I can attest without a doubt that my personal experience with daily affirmations, that they indeed create MIRACLES.  And I will put my money where my mouth is my friends!  So long as you are committed to the daily process of applying them to your morning and evening routines.  And most importantly, that you use your creative imagination and emotional belief system as though what you are repeating is "already in your possession!"  

Again, the Secret Sauce is that as you repeat your daily affirmations, they MUST BE MIXED WITH FEELINGS!! Our feelings supercharge our Beliefs as they are the guideposts to the SOUL and feed our subconscious with the energetic Power and Knowingness that what you Desire must be made into its physical equivalent! Pretty cool, huh!

Here are a few examples of some affirmations that you may choose to use if they resonate with you.  Of course, please feel free to create your own.  Just understand they are most powerful when they begin with I AM and are put in the present tense as though they are already in the plane of your experience!

1. I AM receiving abundance now in expected and unexpected ways.

2. I AM increasingly confident in my ability to create the life I desire.

3. I AM acting on inspiration and insights and I trust my inner guidance.

4. I AM giving and receiving all that is good and all that I desire.

5. I AM receiving infinite, inexhaustible and immediate abundance.

6. I AM creating my life according to my dominant beliefs; and I AM improving the quality of those beliefs.

7. I AM constantly striving to raise my vibration through good thoughts, words and actions.

8. I AM making a meaningful contribution to the world and I AM wonderfully compensated for my contribution.

9. I AM willing to believe that I AM the creator of my life experience.

10. I AM willing to believe that by raising my vibration, I will attract more of what I desire.

11. I AM willing to believe that by focusing on feeling good, I make better choices that lead to desired results.

12. I AM worthy of love, abundance, success, happiness and fulfillment.

4.  CELEBRATING PAST SUCCESSES

Many of us often short change our own abilities and past successes.  Yet, every single one of you are ROCK STARS!!  And to prove it to yourselves, start remembering all of your past big wins! Huge or small, they are equally potent toward the process for rocking a new empowering sense of Self Confidence!  If you are stumbling in coming up with examples, ask your family and friends of concrete examples of your accomplishments.  I think you may be absolutely amazed by what you hear!  

A SUPERHERO'S TIP is to remember times in which you temporarily froze in fear before attempting an action step toward a heartfelt desire or goal.  And all of the negative scripts you wrote in your noggin' of everything that could go array or 'blow up in your face' if you took that first step.  And yet, when you mustered up the courage to Just Do It, the experience ended up being absolutely nothing as awful as you pictured it to be! 

Then try using those experiences to shift your fearful MIND-set toward a courage filled vibration remembering that things are rarely as horrible as we make them out to be! This can really be a powerful way to shift your energetic vibration from scared to SACRED SELF CONFIDENCE!

5.  DO AT LEAST ONE THING EVERY WEEK THAT REALLY SCARES YOU

Again, gaining a lasting level of Self Confidence is a process.  One way to start building a new habit of facing your fears is to begin taking action steps in the direction of things that scare you!  But start small.  Every journey begins with the first step. Then celebrate each time you face a fear.  Treat yourself to something you truly enjoy!  I promise you that although this step may seem terrifying at first, if you stick to it you will learn that everything you desire is on the other side of your fears!  And each time you face down one of yours, SELF CONFIDENCE will begin to become a new found Super Power and YOU WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP!

By applying these SUPER HEROIC TIPS, you will begin to see and feel a Greater Version of Yourself.  And believe me that others will begin to notice as well!  As Wayne Dyer said, "You can either let life happen to you, or YOU CAN HAPPEN TO LIFE!"

BE SUPER HEROIC!

BE LOVE - SERVE ALL - INSPIRE ALWAYS

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

How We Will TRANSITION This World Back Towards LOVE.. !

 

The path toward the realization of Actualized Self; the understanding that we are all a unique emanation of a force that has always been and forever will BE is part of the authentic Superhero's Journey. Cosmic forces way beyond even the heightened of human senses cannot begin to capture the glorious rapture of the true SOURCE of our collective consciousness.  And anything of a collective nature shares a core semblance of truth.  Of unity and commiseration. Of understanding and core strength that is impenetrable toward outside forces threatening any insidious actions threatening its very existence. 

The team of cosmic Superheroes I deem as  "The Legion of Love" (yes, that means all you New Age Nerds) are far more vital and needed NOW more than you may imagine. There is a scene in the film 'Rambo: First Blood Part 2' in which John Rambo believes he is no-thing less than a pawn in the US military's machination for power and greed. And yet, through the soft, caring utterings of a Vietnamese refuge, he is reminded of how much his personal mission on this Earth matters:

Co Bao: Why did they pick you? Because you like to fight?
Rambo: I'm expendable.
Co Bao: What mean expendable?

Rambo: It's like someone invites you to a party and you don't show up. It doesn't really matter. 
Co Bao: Rambo, you not expendable!

And like John Rambo, "YOU ARE NOT EXPENDABLE EITHER!" In fact, you are without measure. You matter so much more than you could possibly imagine. And spiritual SOUL-dier, "DON'T YOU EVER FRICKIN' FORGET THAT!" But there is a question that must be pondered with undying certainty by each and every one of us as we rise from our night's slumber. And it's exactly the way I prefer things to be. Simple, but oh so DEEP!  And I pray the answer has already been imprinted within the divinity of your SOUL! 

WHY ARE YOU HERE?! Seriously? Why do YOU feel you are walking along with this rest of us in this illusionary experience in which your soul is asked to thrive condensed into a 3 Dimensional version of reality?!

Mock me if you like, but more importantly, answer the question with sincere authority for yourself!  I don't believe in absolutes, nor do I adhere to saintly musings that do not convey inner truths. Neither of which serve anyone's "greater good."  Wouldn't you agree? 

But given the precious clicks on a clock that continues to move with our own time in its precarious grasp within this Earthly experience, continuing to run without any hesitation, do you not agree it's a question worth pondering? 

Before you succumb to any anxiety over your answer, please understand that I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT LIFE IS A TEST.  There is no 'Pass/Fail' final examination. I only ask that you search for the musings within your own SOUL. The part of you that is a spark of pure divinity. Obscured from EGO. Reticent toward the accumulation of short term contentment. Resolute in its absolve to attain happiness from that which is oh so short lived.
For within THAT space has been placed the answers that you truly seek! The solutions to the unadorned peace and joy that has escaped the ravenous hunger of the most rapturous galactic soul seekers of this spiritual realm.

For those who wish to gleam into my own lifetime ponderings of this proclamation, my answer may seem all too simple. I believe we are all here for only ONE REASON! 

TO BRING MORE LOVE INTO THE WORLD.....................

Everything comes back to this simple epithet, no matter how much deep pondering my own mind grinds its meandering muscles. I come back to the exact same template of resolute belief. And as simple a task as this may sound written down and/or even spoken aloud, putting it into practical measures is something we still have much to learn, understand, and re-member!

Just today alone, can you think back to something you could have done, delivered, professed, or emotionalized with more LOVE than what you actually did?! Again, sans any judgment. THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS POST IS ABOUT! It's about raising our own collective consciousness back toward the vibration of deep resonating connection to the understanding that WE ARE ALL ONE! Separation is an illusion my New Age Nerds. May I please ask that we finally start treating this earthly experience in that manner. Too much of a good thing is starting to become our very own undoing. The sweet nectar of believing in our own separate GREATNESS is causing a dilemma of delusion that is threatening our combined efforts of gracefully saving this planet from its very demise. 

One of my own Superheroes for the ages is the great Albert Einstein. Before his passing, he wrote his only daughter a little known, but quite prescient letter, that has become a daily beacon that far surpasses any of his scientific pontifications on the reality of the Universe:

”When I proposed the theory of relativity, very few understood me, and what I will reveal now to transmit to mankind will also collide with the misunderstanding and prejudice in the world.

I ask you to guard the letters as long as necessary, years, decades, until society is advanced enough to accept what I will explain below.
There is an extremely powerful force that, so far, science has not found a formal explanation to. It is a force that includes and governs all others, and is even behind any phenomenon operating in the universe and has not yet been identified by us.

This universal force is LOVE.

When scientists looked for a unified theory of the universe they forgot the most powerful unseen force.

Love is Light, that enlightens those who give and receive it.
Love is gravity, because it makes some people feel attracted to others.

Love is power, because it multiplies the best we have, and allows humanity not to be extinguished in their blind selfishness. Love unfolds and reveals.

For love we live and die.
Love is God and God is Love.

This force explains everything and gives meaning to life. This is the variable that we have ignored for too long, maybe because we are afraid of love because it is the only energy in the universe that man has not learned to drive at will.

To give visibility to love, I made a simple substitution in my most famous equation.

If instead of E = mc2, we accept that the energy to heal the world can be obtained through love multiplied by the speed of light squared, we arrive at the conclusion that love is the most powerful force there is, because it has no limits.

After the failure of humanity in the use and control of the other forces of the universe that have turned against us, it is urgent that we nourish ourselves with another kind of energy…

If we want our species to survive, if we are to find meaning in life, if we want to save the world and every sentient being that inhabits it, love is the one and only answer.
Perhaps we are not yet ready to make a bomb of love, a device powerful enough to entirely destroy the hate, selfishness and greed that devastate the planet.

However, each individual carries within them a small but powerful generator of love whose energy is waiting to be released.
When we learn to give and receive this universal energy, dear Lieserl, we will have affirmed that love conquers all, is able to transcend everything and anything, because love is the quintessence of life."
From Albert Einstein.........................


In all that we do, if it is served with a helping dose of lavish LOVE, the end result would be spellbinding. Ethereal!  Grace filled! The exact same frequency that has propelled to historic height  the words of Jesus the Christ, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr, Socrates, Thomas Jefferson, William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Joseph Campbell.

LOVE is the most ferocious force in all the Universe. It absolves all ill-wills.  It is the unifying strength that fortifies us all. It pacifies all of our needs. It supersedes our greatest dreams. And under its forgiving grace, it has the ability to transcend the most formidable blocks to the greatest miracles that heaven has placed within our most treasured dreams. 

Please never underestimate the CALLINGS of another's soul. We can only unify as the collective ONE if we have belief that every prayer under our unified vision is held as sacred. 

We LOVE!
We ASPIRE!
We TRANSCEND!
We ARE ALL ONE!

BE SUPER HEROIC!

 LOVE - SERVE  - INSPIRE 

Nerdmaste,
Jeffrey Louis Martinez

MODERN MYTH MESSAGES : X-MEN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST..!

 

Professor Charles Xavier is exasperated over failing to successfully navigate his central tracking system called Cerebro. He has slowly fallen into a deep depression and has given up all HOPE in both himself and all of humanity. His team of fellow X-Men are trying to assist him in one last ditch effort to get the professor to believe once again!

Hank McCoy: I'll go check the generator.

Logan(Wolverine): It's not the machinery is it!

Charles: I can't do this!

Logan: Yes, you can!

Charles: No, I can't!

Logan: You're just a little rusty.

Charles: You don't understand, it's not a question of being 'rusty!' I can flip the switches, I can turn the knobs, but my power doesn't come from here [points to his head], it comes from...here [points to his heart]. And it's broken. I feel like one of my students. Helpless. It was a mistake coming down here, it was a mistake freeing Eric. This whole thing has been one bloody mistake! I'm sorry Logan, but they sent back the wrong man! [Xavier starts to leave]

Logan: You're right! [Xavier stops, surprised to hear him admit this] Actually, it was supposed to be you. But I was the only one who could physically make the trip. And, uh, I don't even know how long I've got here. But I do know that a long time ago-well, actually, a long time from now-I was your most helpless student. And you unlocked my mind. You showed me what I was. You showed me what I could be. I don't know how to do that for you. You're right, I don't! But I think I know someone who might. Look...(takes a beat) into my mind.

Charles: You saw what I just did to Cerebro! You don't want me inside your head!

Logan: [amused] There's no damage you can do that hasn't already been done, trust me!

Charles: :[reads Logan's mind and see his torture at the hands of Weapon X, his fragmented memories, the death of Jean Grey, and his brutally hard 

faught life.] You poor, poor man.

Logan: Look past me.

Charles: No, I don't want your suffering! I don't want your future!

Logan: Look past my future! Look for your future. That's it. That's it.

[Charles reads Wolverine's mind and appears in the future, where his future self- Professor X- still awaits him.]

Professor X: Charles.

Charles: Charles. [looks around to see the dire situation that both mutants and humanity face with the Sentinels in 2023.] Is this what becomes of us? Erik was right. Humanity does this to us.

Professor X: Not if we show them a better path.

Charles: You still believe?

Professor X: Just because someone stumbles and loses their way, it doesn't mean they're lost forever. Sometimes, we all need a little help.

Charles: I'm not the man I was. I open my mind up and it almost overwhelms me.

Professor X: You're afraid. I remember. And Cerebro knows it.

Charles: All those voices…so much…pain.

Professor X: It's not their pain you're afraid of. It's yours, Charles. And as frightening as it may be, that pain will make you stronger. If you allow yourself to feel it, embrace it, it will make you more powerful than you ever imagined. It's the greatest gift we have; to bear their pain without breaking. And it comes from the most human part of us: hope. [shows Charles his school for mutants, his own compassion, what he fights for which helps ease his past self's mind.] Please, Charles, we need you to hope again. 

FROM 20th CENTURY FOX - X-MEN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

HOPE! The Universal salve that when applied to our self doubt causes a magical remedy of inexhaustible perseverance with the ability to move any mountain.  Hope builds our dreams, and carries us through the pain of our greatest nightmares. It allows us to see with true perception what others say cannot be accomplished! It is the very backbone of our inner will and intestinal fortitude to keep going against any odds stacked against us. 

Hope gives us the capacity to see that things happen FOR us and not TO US! And so we learn to fight on for another day. This time with more wisdom and hard fought knowledge. There is very little of significant nature that would have been created in this Earthly realm were it not for the steadfast application of 'Heaven Sent Hope.'

That's why SUPERHEROES, the ones you and I came here to be are so vital to this planet's continued vitality. At their very core, they offer us a valiant HOPE!  For when we are confronted with the most challenging of obstacles and challenges, the HOPE we carry in ourselves and all others will always prevail! Heck, the 'S' on Superman's chest even stands for HOPE! 

In fact, I truly believe there are only two things stronger than FEAR; LOVE and HOPE! Sans none!

For when stared down directly in its eyes, FEAR becomes an unconscious coward. It is the 'Devil's Mistress.' And stays only when the party is to her liking. Chaos cocktails are her libations of devilish delight. And once they are in short supply, she leaves without even saying goodbye. Like an entitled, egotistical diva.

Yet HOPE never strays from our side; EVER! It will seek us out in the darkest of our nights. And pull us back into the light of our eternal essence. It will shield us from our own certain demise by reminding us Who We Really Are! Especially when funds are running low and bills are piled so very high. It injects into our imaginations the possibilities of all that can and will BE! If we just remain HOPEFUL!

The great Victor Frankel, while enduring the horrors of life in a Nazi concentration camp, discovered firsthand the extraordinary power of HOPE! He captured its empowering nature in his time tested tomb "Man's Search for Meaning." In one passage he writes, "The prisoner who had lost his faith in the future — his future — was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and became subject to mental and physical decay. Usually this happened quite suddenly, in the form of a crisis, the symptoms of which were familiar to the experienced camp inmate. We all feared this moment — not for ourselves, which would have been pointless, but for our friends. Usually it began with the prisoners refusing one morning to get dressed and wash or to go out on the parade grounds. No entreaties, no blows, no threats had any effect. He just lay there, hardly moving. If this crisis was brought about by an illness, he refused to be taken to the sickbay or to do anything to help himself. He simply gave up." As soon as all HOPE in the camps had been internally relinquished, so to was the will to carry on. 

But when even a just a spark of HOPE is kept burning within us, all things are possible! For she who carries the shards of HOPE within her being, shall sip from the chalice of Christ Consciousness. And his worries shall vanquish to the seas of serenity for all times. And your dreams shall carry the cherished vitality of valor! The welcomed appreciation of service done unto others, for you carried the belief in your own 'God Given Powers!' Through the darkest of nights your torch burned brightly for all the world to see. An inspiration that now gives others the permission to do the very same on their Superhero's Journey! And create a world worthy of Heaven on this Earth!

BE SUPER HEROIC!

BE LOVE- SERVE ALL - INSPIRE ALWAYS

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

Why Your BURDENS Are BLESSINGS In Disguise....!

 

~~  Gandalf    (THE LORD OF THE RINGS)

~~ Alfred    (BATMAN BEGINS)

______________________________________________________

Yesterday morning, I was incredibly inspired by a speech given by Joel Osteen.  I must profess I do not watch his show religiously, but as I was switching channels this day, the moment I turned to his program, he was espousing the importance of looking for the blessings that come with most of our daily burdens.  And of course being The New Age Nerd that I am, I was hooked! So much of what he was saying resonated at a deeply profound level for me.  Mostly because of how it correlated very closely with the core intention of this blog; that being The Superhero's Journey.  And the fact that nothing that comes into your experience is a coincidence.  Be it illness, loss, betrayal, as well as the many wonderful and amazing things that we co-create each and everyday. It is all a part of the DIVINE'S way of supporting us on our true path. It does not meanthese experiences and emotions are easy. In fact, some of them can feel downright brutal, and cause us to question what the hell is going on in our lives. Some of us get hit so hard, and in so many ways (often all at once), that we start to lose our faith. That is why his message was such a powerful infusion of remembrance for me. And I am sure for many others. 

Mr. Osteen told some powerful and humorous stories about his own life. And the manner in which some quite challenging personal events forced him to face his biggest fears. Many of them becoming the most magnificent blessings he had yet to experience.  For instance, his father was a pastor who actually started the church with his family.  Joel was much younger then and was quite introverted and very shy.  He much preferred to stay behind the scenes and help his family by serving the church away from the pulpit's spotlight. Until his father suddenly passed away. And in the middle of his heavy grief, he had a huge decision to make.  In order for the church to continue, he knew he would have to take the lead and become the church's head pastor. Something that scared the hell out of him.  But he decided to put his entire faith in Spirit. And so the following Sunday, he gathered (was given by Spirit) the courage and strength to grab the microphone for the very first time, and get on the pulpit to carry forth the work his father had started so many years before.  And as we all now know, Joel has become one of the most beloved spiritual teachers currently on this planet!  He has inspired millions of people to live the Greatest Version of the Grandest Vision ever held of themselves.  Now that is a transcendent example of turning a burden into a blessing.  Not only for himself, but for the world!

It also brought to mind a powerful story from the life of Napoleon Hill, who is one of the founding fathers of modern day self actualization.  Of all the magnificent stories he has shared through his many books, none is nearly as powerful as the story of his second son from his seminal tomb ‘Think And Grow Rich.’  You see, Napoleon Blair Hill was born without any physical signs of ears.  From birth, all his doctors proclaimed that due to his physical deformities, he would live a life being both deaf and mute. A devastating declaration for any parent! However, Napoleon Hill was a true Bringer of the Light.  He made a vow the very day those doctors told them their opinion, that his son would indeed learn to hear and speak!  He has said his steely determination came from a famous quote attributed to transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson, who profoundly stated, “The whole course of things goes to teach us faith. We need only obey.  There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening, we shall hear the right words.”

To help demonstrate the power of DESIRE, in the second chapter of his book, he outlined his plan to assist his son toward his goal:

Napoleon's plan included:

• renewing his own daily pledge for Blair's wholeness;
• imparting his burning desire to Blair;
• not teaching sign language to Blair;
• mainstreaming Blair's education instead of sending him to a school for the deaf;
• creating bedtime stories for Blair with themes "designed to develop in him self-reliance, imagination, and a keen desire to hear and to be normal" as well as to establish the belief that"his affliction was not a liability, but an asset of great value"

Through the use of several techniques, Napoleon started gaining some progress, as Blair slowly began to hear vibrations and even music if played loud enough.  Hill was able to incorporate his own famous declaration that “every adversity brings with it the equal seed of opportunity,” through the example of teaching his own son how to hear.  

Blair not only made it through a basic education, but later excelled at the University of West Virginia.  After graduation, he reluctantly traveled to New York to meet with a company who had heard about his story. They had been developing a hearing aid device inspired by Blair's own deep desire to help himself and others with auditory disabilities.  But so many former attempts of introducing such devices into this market had never found their mark.  But little did he know his own Hero's Journey was beginning anew!

This new device actually worked tremendously and allowed Blair to hear clearly for the first time in his life.  So excited and now doggedly determined to use his father's philosophy of  turning burdens into blessings, he asked the company that designed the device if he could work on its marketing plan.  His goal was to “render useful service.... to bring hope and practical relief to thousands of deafened people who, without his help, would have been doomed forever to deaf mutism.”

Blair spent a great portion of the remaining of his life on his mission.  And DID INDEED help millions of hearing impaired individuals all around the world to live new lives through the use of this magical hearing aide device! 

Blair Hill's faith, coupled with the unshakable belief and LOVE of his father, turned misfortunate into a MIRACLE! One that has magically improved the lives of millions of people. It is such an inspirational testament to the power God places within our pain. For while our suffering may at times appear to be arbitrary, this story proves that is far from the truth. Pain is simply a part of the 'HEAVENLY HERO MAKING MACHINE' that the Universe has put into place to forge miracles for us and through us. NEVER to us! Please always remember that distinction. 

And the next time you feel less than, unlovable, unworthy, or simply are lost in you own darkness, remember that you are a Superhero! Just being here is proof positive of that. Because not everyone who was asked to come here said "YES." In fact, the majority said "NO." 
Not because any of them are less than in there own making, but because this earthly experience is very dense for the soul. And at times can be quite painful. Some would even say BRUTAL! Growth and expansion at this speed often requires strokes of pain as the catalyst for the birthing process of miracles to occur within this realm.  So please be super proud of the fact that when confronted with the choice to make a lasting difference in a world that is in desperate need of superheroes, you did not back down from the challenge! And that in itself makes you a Legend in Training!

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 remembering of why I came...
A steward of conscious spiritual Light...
Teaching others that our path we can always reframe....

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


Written by Jeffrey Louis Martinez

May these words offer you solace in the darkest of your nights. So you may remember all of your burdens are no thing less than BLESSINGS in disguise!

BE SUPER HEROIC!
BE LOVE - SERVE ALL - ALWAYS INSPIRE

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez

TAG... The UNIVERSE Says "You're IT"...... !

 

Many moons ago, when I was still just a New Age Nerd in training, the warm Virginia summer nights became a magical filled time of memories in the making! I was blessed enough to have a great group of friends who shared most of the same passions as me. We were adventurous, creative, and at times quite competitive. Our complimentary skill sets made for a complete whole that was willing and waiting at all times to conjure the next great opportunity for real life fun! This was near pre-historic times mind you; way before cell phones, personal computers, and the internet.  Our form of 'Social Media' was the utter rush of excitement that accompanied knocking on your friends door to see if they were at home and wanted to come out to play! I dare say most kids nowadays would be hard pressed if asked where their best friends even reside. Aye Dios Mio!  ;0)

One of our nightly summer rituals became a game of MIDNIGHT TAG! Our mid-summer skies stayed lit until way past 9 o'clock, and so around 10 PM we would agree to meet in the middle island of our culdesac to begin the night's festivities!  

The game itself was our version on the standard Hide and Go Seek; only in the near pitch blackness of the toasty summer night.  To start each game, one person was picked to be the TAGGER.  They would close their eyes and count to thirty. In a hurried rush that resembled something akin to a ‘Chinese Fire Drill’ all the other players scurried about in the near dark to find a hiding space! Once the TAGGER had finished his countdown, 'LET THE GAMES BEGIN!'  The objective was fairly straightforward, albeit somewhat scary given the lack of light. The TAGGER went searching the neighborhood to try and 'Pick Off' any of the other players in hiding through physically touching them.    All the other players tried to get back to 'Home Base' safely before being tagged.  Once a player was tagged, that round was over and anyone who had made it back 'Home' safe and sound earned a point. And the player tagged became the new TAGGER in the next game.  At the end of the night's Battle Royale, the person with the most points won the game! Man, to be a kid again, right?!  

On one now unforgettable evening of frightful fun, my sister and I started running toward Home Base at the exact same time.  I was the TAGGER and was doggedly determined to knock her out of the game!! Now remember, with vision being compromised from the veil of darkness, we had no idea that WE WERE RUNNING STRAIGHT INTO ONE ANOTHER!  Without anyway to have known to brace myself, KAPOW!!  A full speed collision in which my sister's forehead blasted into my left upper eye,  leveling me down for the count before I had any idea what the HELL just happened!  For a couple of minutes, I didn't know Who The Heck I was, much less Where the Heck I was.  (Cue circling cartoon stars and tweety birds around my poor noggin')

When the cobwebs finally starting tearing away from my consciousness, I remember being on my back with all my friends hovering above me in utter disbelief.  'Did I win?!' was my incredulous first question.  LOL  To which my friend Frankie kept repeating, "Is it going to keep getting bigger than that?!"   Prompting my buddy Mike to continue sheepishly retorting, "I Dunno?!"     Bigger than WHAT I thought!   Then, I started regaining feeling in my body and I felt a warm, deep thumping-pounding above my left eye.   Inner Monologue Please:  UH OH! Either something nasty must be happening, or by the looks of all these faces, maybe I was just abducted by aliens!  And Scene........   ;0)

By the time my friends carried me back to our townhouse, my eye had closed completely shut from the impact of the blow.  I couldn't see a lick out of it!  Looking in the mirror, all I could conjure up was the line from the movie the ELEPHANT MAN;  "I AM NOT AN ANIMAL!"    LOL

On the bright side, this not so little mishap did befall on me a Get Out Of School pass for one week!  Yeah for me...?  Kinda.....   Once the wound slowly resolved, my vision in that left eye was never the same.  A trip to the optometrist to be fitted with a new pair of eye glasses is now part of my lore/origin story and eventual transformation into a New Age Nerd! 

Fast forward to last night watching the 2019 Golden Globe Awards.  Near the middle of the program, the customary Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award went to the great and very deserved Jeff Bridges!  And during his exceptional acceptance speech, he began to tell a story about Being Tagged in life.   I would like to share it in full:

"One of the great, great Directors I was lucky enough to work for was the late great Michael Cimino.  I can remember going into his office before the first day of filming and saying, "Mike, man, I think you have made a terrible mistake.  I'm not feeling this guy (his character) at all.  I feel so inadaquate. I feel bad because I'm giving you such late notice.  But please fire me." And Michael looked at me and said, "Jeff, you know that game TAG.  Well, YOU'RE IT!"  I said, 'What do you mean, I'm It?'  And he said, "You are the guy.  You couldn't make a mistake if you wanted to.  The life of this character is coming through you.  It's a done deal."  I thought,  that is a wonderful vote of confidence and a great new perspective to look at this thing.  And I used that in the film and use it now in all the other movies I've gotten, as well as in my life.    I've BEEN TAGGED!  I guess we all have been TAGGED.  We're alive!  Ya know what I'm saying.  I look at my life through the filter of movies.  I find directors and fellow actors all over the place in my life and one guy, he had nothing to do with the movies, but I have taken a lot of direction from him.  His name is Bucky Fuller.  Bucky made this great observation about these ocean going tankers. He noticed the engineers were particularly challenged by how to turn these things. They have this big rudder that took too much energy to turn the ship.  So they came up with a brilliant idea.  Lets put a litter rudder on the big rudder.  The little rudder will turn the big rudder.  The big rudder will turn the ship.  That little rudder is called a Trim Tab.  And Bucky made the analogy that the Trim Tab is an example of how the individual is connected to society and how we affect society.  And I like to think of myself as a Trim Tab.  And ALL of us are Trim Tabs!  We may seem like we are not UP TO THE TASK.  But we are, man, WE ARE ALIVE! We can really make a difference.  We can turn this ship in the way we want to go.  TOWARDS LOVE! Creating a healthy planet for all of us.  So, I want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for TAGGING me.  And I want to TAG you all!  You're all Trim Tabs!  TAG, YOU'RE IT!"  

Do any of you reading have what I call GODBUMPS?  I sure did and still do!  And Mr. Bridges story is so poignantly powerful.  Every single one of us is here NOW because we have been TAGGED by the Universe.  We are all HEROES on a Hero's Journey with a unique, divinely devised Calling that absolutely No One can fulfill but......   Y...O...U!  You are that Special, that Amazing, and the God Given Gifts that have been bestowed upon you for this grand adventure are desperately needed by the World;  RIGHT NOW!  No more excuses.  NAP TIME IS OVER!  It's time to fully awaken into your Divinity.  

Just like my own personal story about being TAGGED, I'm not professing that the Journey will be easy.  Life isn't meant to be easy.  It's meant to be meaningful.  And Transformative.  You will be asked to face your fears and undoubtedly will be gobsmacked down to the mat more than once!  Just as I was that summer night over 35 years ago.  But PLEASE do not let that stop you from answering the Soulful Ringtone that is trying to awaken you to your calling.  Bless that sound in every form it arrives in your experience.  Be it in the next song you hear, or the next blog (wink) or book you read.   That music is just your own Soul seeking back it's dance partner.  Re-member, you are not doing any of this alone.  Within each of you is a Super Heroic Higher Self!  Don't be afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone and pealing off the Illusionary Veil of a former self that no longer serves you.   As scary as I know it can be.

What if I told you that everything that has ever rested deep within your heartfelt desires is awaiting you on the other side of all your Fears, Self Doubt, and Pain?    Would that give you the courageous push to finally Ignite your Super Heroic Higher Self and start living from that New Illusionless Identity?    And in addition,  that the byproduct of transforming into this Miracle Makin' Machine was nothing less than widening the flow of LOVE, WISDOM, COMPASSION, and BLISS back into the World!  All while Being in Loving Service to All while wielding your own set of Super Powers.  As Mr. Bridges said, we are all 'Trim Tabs!'  And there is no more time to waste.......   

TAG, YOU'RE IT!

BE SUPER HEROIC!  

BE LOVE - SERVE ALL - INSPIRE ALWAYS

Nerdmaste,

Jeffrey Louis Martinez