Never lower yourself to someone else's high standards.

Have you ever tried to live your life by someone else's standards?

I think it'd be safe to say that we all have at one time or another. Just growing up is an example of "do what I say"... but after that there are relationships, and jobs, and a whole slew of governing bodies that tell us how to live.

Now I'm not saying that any of it is wrong. There are some mighty good guidelines out there to help us live a good and wondrous life...

But you know when you're being asked to live up to something that isn't right for you. It feels hollow or it hurts. You feel less like yourself, and confused because the 'rules' don't fit.

You know what's right... and you know you know. Denying that you know (or that you can know) is also living to the standards of someone else.

Within Love (with a capital "L") there is a way of Harmony... and Governance... and Rightness... built right in... and it can't be defined by standards, high or otherwise.

By tapping into that... by being and living THAT... you'll know the way... and you'll know you know...

...and you'll never have to come back down, ever again.

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

To get answers, just turn your question marks into periods.

You know the answers? Really? You've got everything you need to succeed inside you now? Really?

Yeah.

You know the answers. Really. You've got everything you need to succeed inside you now. Really.

It all comes down to how you end it. Exchange your questin marks for a period, and suddenly whole new meanings will be uncovered.

That's because our questions are really answers. Our whole lives are shaped by the pursuit of answers... but it's the QUESTIONS that chart the course.

Most of the big questions fall into the same categories... Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? What's the point?... so the questions you ask will reveal a lot more about you than the answers you might find.

And in another interesting twist... it's also the questions you DON'T ask that are also answers. They may reveal what's not important, or what you're so sure of that you don't think you need to ask... or you don't even know that you don't know.

So you see how intimately tied our questions and answers really are.

Any questions?

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

To live a full life, do half of what you do, twice as well.

Do you do too much?

Do you even have time to read this?

I know, I know, crazy times we live in, huh? You'd think with all this new fangled technology, it'd get easier... that somehow we'd have less to do because we do it in less time.

OK, you can stop laughing (or crying, whichever the case may be)

But it's true, isn't it... more STUFF, more ACCESS and less and less of LIFE.

It's because much of this new stuff isn't really YOU, is it?

You're not your profile.

You know it, I know it... and it's time you really know it... know what I mean?

You know that we each have the same amount of time as everyone else, right? So how come some people seem to get so much more accomplished, or seem to be enjoying their day so much more?

Because they spend more time doing what they love and being truer to who they are.

It's not their reward for being richer or prettier or more privileged... the being true part comes first.

And you can have it too.

How? Simply by cutting out half of all the stuff that's not you. I know, easier said than done, blah blah blah, but just try it... it's a yes or no, keep or get-rid kind of decision. Don't leave room for Maybe. Maybe's are just Guilty No's. So look around and be that 'cruel'... keep, discard, keep, keep, discard... it may or may not be even, but it's the start.

But then the real magic begins... don't leave any room where the No's used to be. It'll be all too easy to fill the vacuum up with junk.

Just take what you LOVE and do it more often. Once you fill up your time, there's no room to do all the other stuff.

You'll be full.

And so will your life.

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

You're only supposed to be influenced by your circumstance, not controlled.

It's easy to get lost when you're mired in the middle of the mucky muck. Every direction looks like the wrong way and all the details of the past seem to support the notion that you're supposed to be there.

While our present is the result of all our past thoughts and actions, that only explains HOW we got here; not WHY and certainly not WHAT NEXT.

Simply put... you are not your circumstance. Sure, you're here, and yes, you've got to get yourself out of it... but it isn't you; and you aren't it.

Circumstances are here to teach us things about ourselves. They reflect what's going on inside, so just in case we missed the point, here it is staring us in the face.

So look around you. Respect all that is and all that got you to this place. Ask yourself what is it that you're supposed to learn... then learn it.

By taking in the lessons, you gain control. They may be painful ones, or silly ones, but by accepting them, they give you the power to change them. It's only a problem when you think they're bigger than you, or more powerful, or more important.

When you look in the mirror, who's more important, you or the reflection?

(Hint: I'm talking to YOU, not the mirror!)

So take in, then take on, your circumstances.

And as always,

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

A life filled up with excuses leaves no room for success.

You know, I was going to get to this post sooner, but I just got so busy and then the weekend came and I had soooo much to catch up on... and then this other thing happened, and... hold on a minute!!

You don't really care about what stopped me, do you? All you know is: this is getting done now, and not sooner. All that hullabaloo up there is useless... in fact, it's kind of a downer, isn't it?

Most excuses are like that.

Oh sure, they'll make sense most of the time... and you'll get excused for them (I mean, isn't that what an excuse is there for?)... you might even get sympathy... and then get an earful of someone else's excuses, so you can both feel better about not doing something.

But that doesn't get you very far, does it?

While an excuse might get you excused from failure... it also gets you excused from success as well.

Excuses are like candy... they taste good at the time and even fill you up for a little while... but they leave you feeling empty (or sick to your stomach) and you want more an hour later.

Success is more filling... and fulfilling... and tastes far sweeter than any Nutty Excuse ever could.

So even if there are reasons why this happened, and that didn't... cut the junk. Save your hunger for the really big stuff in life.

Here's to your success!!

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

Detours are the next best thing to getting there.

You're traveling along your usual route, humming your favorite tune, when all of a sudden you're stopped by that giant arrow that says "DETOUR". You don't know where it's going to take you, what it's going to be like and how much time you're going to lose.

Don't you just find that annoying????

Well, I don't.

It's an adventure! I'm going to see things I hadn't seen before... and besides, something is wrong with the way ahead, and someone else went ahead and create a way around the problem.

How awesome is that????

How we greet detours say a lot about how greet everything in life (after all, life is a journey, right?)

The important thing to keep in mind is the destination (i.e. Goal) we want to reach. The more open we are to alternate routes (i.e. more flexible and adaptable) the higher our chances of actually getting there.

It's only a 'problem' if we take the detour seriously, and let it actually change our direction for good.

So relax and enjoy the view... and if it gets too dark along the way, just remember to...

Keep the light on!

GuruStu

If you want to be surrounded by teachers, become a student.

There's a saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher appears." It sounds so magical, and indeed it is, yet it's not necessarily magic.

The secret is that anyone (and anything) can become your teacher, if you are willing to learn. The Universe is filled with this deep Knowing, that permeates everything within it. It bubbles up and sparkles all around us, every moment, everywhere. We're just too preoccupied to notice.

There's all this darkness and fear that needs our attention, after these messages from our local sponsor... and we have to constantly watch our backs because THEY are coming... you know the ones, who look and act and speak and love differently than we do... I mean, who has time to stop and see a magic show?

And besides, we already know all there is to know, right? We don't need no education!

But... all that aside... when you're ready to put all of that behind you, and open yourself up to learning, you'll see that the teachers have been here all along. They're your friends and family, and the stranger on the train; the cashier and delivery person; the CEO and the homeless; the elders at the home and the children on the playground; the birds and the trees and the stars and the wind... and me.

And you.

See the light on,
GuruStu

That rope you're hanging on to... is a balloon.

I'm sure you've heard the saying "when you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."

That's supposed to make you feel better.

Yeah I know; it's important to get a grip, but seriously is that all there is, just hanging on for dear life instead of grabbing all that Life holds dear?

Stop looking at the rope... and definitely stop looking down!

Look up instead!

See that what you're hanging onto is really a balloon... one that's bigger than all your worries... one big enough to take you as high and as far as you want to go.

Now it's time to really hang on, cause you're in for the ride of your life!

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

Turn your blocks into building blocks.

Remember when we were kids with a pile of blocks in front of us? We could build anything! Giant fortresses and towering skyscrapers! We could stay up all night building our empire!

Yet now that we're 'older' and 'wiser' whenever we're presented with a bunch of blocks, all we want to do is go back to bed.

Heck, even when we don't have blocks in front of us, we make it up in our heads. Just imagine all the blocks that COULD be out there!

Sometimes past experiences are not the best teachers.

Sure there was this one time when... and... you know that never worked before... and... of course no one is going to want to... and...

There's your blocks again.

The future is made from our imagination, so when we think about the past or think there's something blocking our way, that's what we get.

So look again at those blocks.

Are they trying to tell you something besides 'no'? Are they challenging you to find a way around? Or better yet, are they here to show you how to build giant fortresses and towering skyscrapers once again?

Imagine that!

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

My Father's Eyes

I dedicated this to my father after his passing in 2008. Having Father's Day to one and all.

Growing up people used to say I had my father's eyes. Every day as time slowly makes its mark on my face, I see them more and more.

A couple of weeks ago, our eyes met for the last time, when he looked over to see that I arrived at his bedside just hours before his cancer would win the battle. He asked if I had made it to the hospital, and when my mother pointed me out, he looked over with surprise and recognition. He was waiting for me, and now that I was there, he knew it was time for him to go.

I held his hand for a couple of hours. He used it to pull himself to a more comfortable position. When he lost his strength, he used my hand to scratch his nose; and kept trying to remove some invisible patch over that was obscuring his vision.

Even though he was well past talking, I assured him that everything would be alright, and that it was safe for him to go. But he waited... waited for us to leave for the night. I kissed my father's eyes... knowing that 'goodnight' was really a 'goodbye'.

He left just minutes after we did.

He was only diagnosed the week before, and the swiftness was as he wanted it. It happened too fast to replace anyone's memories of the good times. In a way that makes us all lucky.

And I'm the luckiest one... for every time I look in a mirror, I can see a reminder of all that he gave me.

But I hope he gave me something even more important. While I may have my father's eyes, I really hope I have my father's heart.

Dedicated to Nathan Rosen (1925-2008)

If you're going to doubt anything, doubt you can fail.

I doubt you'd believe me if I told you that you could live without a doubt. I mean, some of you even think that you need a healthy dose of the stuff (though I doubt it's all that healthy really)

So if you really must doubt, at least choose your doubt wisely.

So doubt that you can fail.

Oh I can hear you Doubters chiming in now, but I can bet that you're thinking about Denial right now... And Denial and Doubt are two totally different things.

Don't deny yourself the valuable lessons of Failure; enjoy the uphill climb of apathy and resistance; deal with whatever comes your way.

Just don't think that any of it is bigger than you are.

Doubt that it can't be overcome. Doubt that there's just no way around it. Doubt that this is the end of the road.

Just don't doubt yourself, the people around you or the value of your vision.

Always doubt what's left but never doubt what's right!

And never ever doubt your light...

Because you gotta keep it on!
GuruStu

If you want to get going, get with the go-getters.

Think about the closest people in your life right now. You know, the ones you hang out with, who you talk about your past present and future with; who you turn to for advice.

Where are they going?

Is it where you want to be in the future?

If yes, then awesome!

If not... well, then why are you hanging out with them?

It's not that there's anything wrong with these people... but if they're not going into your future, you're going to end up in theirs.

It's really easy to see why hanging out with the 'appropriate' group makes a difference. 1) Because they're actively looking for opportunities, they will find more opportunities, 2) Each connection they have in their network, helps all others in that network (meaning, you) and 3) When the time comes to act, they will take the action, as opposed to people who believe they can't do it.

So take the time to seriously see where your 'support group' is and where they're going. If they don't get your dream, get going!

Keep that light on!
GuruStu

Go where Life pulls you.

How many of you had to PUSH yourself out of bed this morning? Or PUSHED yourself through traffic to go to a job where you PUSH your way through papers and guzzle coffee to PUSH you through the afternoon?

Or on the flip side, how many of you feel PULLED in every direction at once?

Life sures pushs and pulls a lot, don't it?

There are always going to be tons of forces all around you; each one trying to get you to go its way.

Well, do those forces control your life? Or do you control those forces?

Not sure what force to follow? Look around you and listen.

It'll be the one that calls out to you... not for its own attention... but for YOURS. It will speak to that deep-down part of you that KNOWS it's right. It'll be the force that connects you to your future.

Let that be the one that shows you the way... and take the next step.

And Keep the Light On!
GuruStu

Don't like your past? Stop living it.

You ever shout near a mountain and hear it echo as it gets farther and farther away; faint, but you can still make it out... but still, nothing like the original.

That's kind of what your past is like.

The past keeps getting farther and farther away, yet you just keep on echoing.

That's kind of what your present is like.

The past is long gone. The only evidence we have that it ever existed is the faint sound that we repeat time and time again.

So the question is, why do you echo certain events and not others?

You know a lot more happened than the stories you tell people; so why are you clinging to specific ones?

(Especially to the ones you don't particularly like?)

Just imagine if you could stop echoing the bad experiences, then reach back to the good ones, and echo them instead?

Doesn't that SOUND nicer?

Nothing's really stopping you... nothing... nothing... nothing.

So go ahead and do it... do it... do it...

Keep the light on... on... on...

GuruStu

Working on the smallest parts is also working on the biggest whole.

Have you ever put your thumb up in front of your eye while looking at something in the distance? It blocks your view and seems SO MUCH BIGGER than the mountain, doesn't it?

Details are like that.

You've probably heard this saying a million times before too: 'Can't see the forest for the trees.'

Sometimes we get so caught up in the details that we lose sight that it's a part of the larger whole. One detail seems to be the main thing and there are so many other 'things' surrounding it that are the same size, so we start to question whether we're on the right track; whether what we're working on now is important, will it really make a difference?

The key is to keep checking the bigger whole picture, to make sure this small detail is still a part of it.

Then it becomes a matter of tending to it, with the same passion and purpose as the whole.

Persistence.

And patience.

Because the DIVINE is in the details too.

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

Life has a lot of limitations, but you don't have to choose any of them.

Boy, oh boy. It is so easy to fail, isn't it? It doesn't take much... if you can't look around for an excuse, you can always just make one up.

Like a tiny pin to a balloon... Your big hopes and dreams can be POPPED in an instance!

Sounds dreary, doesn't it?

But how many of us live in a word of pins?

But what happens to a balloon that never encounters a pin?

It soars, right?

A big enough balloon, with no pin, can even lift you up to the sky!

And so it is with our thoughts.

They're tiny too...

But they get between us and our dreams and make us believe that we can't fly; that we don't deserve the sky.

Simply don't choose thoughts that limit you.

Thoughts have no form, no right or wrong, until we squeeze them through our brains... until we judge them, and act upon them.

We either look within us, or outside of us, and conclude that we're just not big enough to get over it.

Well tell that to a balloon.

Keep your light up high,
GuruStu

Don't become so full of yourself that you can't become filled with yourself.

Being proud of yourself feels good doesn't it? That sense of accomplishment, that feeling of belonging; of rightness. It's just so stress-free and downright joyful.

It's great when it comes.

It stinks when we cling to it.

We wear it like armor when it's more like an old sweater. It won't protect us, and it won't last.

When we hold on to it longer than the moment, we miss the chance to do it again.

When we puff ourselves up with thoughts of superiority, we blind ourselves to opportunities that can make us so.

The key is to be true to ourselves, to do what we do best and just let Life in.

You're amazing... really, get to know that... just don't let that separate you from the amazingness of everyone else.

Keep that light on!
GuruStu

Make sure your Afterthoughts don't leave an Aftertaste.

Y'know, I had a different opening but then I thought about it... and thought about it some more... then decided to go with this paragraph. Do you like it?

Do you ever find yourself tangled up in the web of afterthoughts? You know, the better comeback lines, the what ifs, the regrets, the second guesses.

Unless they offer you true insight or give you something that you can actually DO, afterthoughts are pretty useless. They belong in the past along with the original moment. They have no bearing on NOW.

So, really, give it up. Be grateful that you did the best you could, when you could, with what you had.

Then turn your attention to forethoughts for the future.

They're a far better use of your mind now and will taste a whole lot sweeter when tomorrow comes.

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

Not every label needs to stick.

You know those tags that they stick on your chest whenever you're at some event? They have your name in bold, and sometimes what you do or where you're from. It's good for breaking the ice. Even though it labels you, you don't mind (unless you hate your name).

Other labels are pretty good too... Husband/Wife, Mother/Father, Friend/Lover... or maybe being labeled by what you do... Rocket Scientist, World Renown Chef or Bohemian Artist.

They're okay because we put those labels on ourselves.

What's not okay is when other people put labels on us; especially without permission.

Labels can help when they bring understanding... but they can be devastatingly damaging when they separate us from each other.

You don't need to let them stick though.

Realize that EVERYONE is an outsider to your life. You look different to them than you do to yourself. So the best they can ever give you is a well-intended, love-supported perspective from their point of view.

Their labels of you only helps them define who they think you are; not who you really are.

So take the labels that fit you... and help you fit into a wonderful Life. Everything else can just fall off.

Why?

Because you're wonderful!

But that's just my well-intended, love-supported point of view.

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

If you don't look forward to looking forward, how will you ever get past your past?

You ever feel like Life is just hitting you on the back of the head?

That's probably because you're too busy walking backwards into the future.

I know that hindsight is 20/20 and the past has tons to teach us... but if we keep staring at it, we'll only know where we're going until after we've already been.

So what keeps us from looking forward?

Fear of the unknown, perhaps? Past hurts making us leary of being hurt again? Unfulfilled desires dying like rotting fruit on the vine?

(All of the above, right?)

Well... Stop it!

You'll turn your life around by turning around.

Stop fearing something that probably won't happen. Stop thinking that just because something has happened before that it has a right to happen again.

It's not that your best years are behind you. It's that the only years you KNOW are behind you. They'll only be the 'best' if you stop aiming for better.

Face forward fearlessly.

And keep the light on!
GuruStu