The Experience Training

Playing to win!

Six months into this latest incarnation of The Experience Training, the Universe in its loving way has challenged me to move this to the next level. What does that mean? Simply that in order for the success of the vision and purpose of The Experience Training, I and all those involved must lived in alignment with the energy and vibration of growth and exponential learning.
To move down this path means to move into a greater space of the unknown. When I began this journey at the conclusion of 2008, that seemed like an easier step to take than it does today. At that time, I had pretty much nothing to lose and everything to gain. That is still true today, but not as easy to see. I truly believe the only time we have anything to lose is when our ego tells us to "play not to lose", as everything is a learning opportunity. However, now that we have had the success' that we have had, the illusion would be that we could lose what has been established. That is all history however and the opportunity of learning from that history creates an ever greater possibility of growth.
The challenge now is to trust at an even greater level than I did a few months ago. We are moving into new territory with new doors opening. With them, new challenges and possibilities for learning and growing, or other forms of learning. It is inherent in all facets of life that in order to grow, we must accept that we may stumble and even fall along the way. If we are unwilling to do so, we will not move and will stagnate, never falling, but without the risk of growth, we ultimately end up drying up and dying.
I am excited for the next steps that are before us! The opportunities and possibilities are abundant and the energy that I am experiencing from those around us suggests that we are primed and prepared for an exponential experience of abundance.
The possibility alone does not guarantee success. More than ever it is necessary to align myself and ourselves energetically with the energy and vibration of that which is created for us.

Tucker

I wouldn't have thought that I would write a blog on Tucker. Tucker was a dog of ours that we recently had put down. He was about 10 years old and had a blockage that was probably a tumor and his liver was failing badly. We had him buried in my sister in laws backyard alongside her two dogs that have passed.
Why am I writing a blog about a dog? Not only why am I writing about a dog, but why am I writing about Tucker? He wasn't the most memorable of the dogs I have had as far as personality. I have had 3 a Great Danes and we also have Flanders, a Labrador Retriever,  the types of dogs that are full of personality and energy. Big puppies no matter how old they are. Tucker was a mix of we don't know what, and would be content to lie by the fireplace all day. He would occasionally go out and chase a ball, but after three of four throws, he was done and would go explore the bushes while Flanders would continue for seemingly endless runs.
I was away, training some youth in Oregon when Wendy had Tucker put down. I wasn't surprised when I got the news. He had been throwing up the days before I left and it was obvious he didn't feel well. We had also been told that his liver was failing and he wouldn't be around for many more years, if any, so it wasn't a surprise. What surprised me was my response. I cried. It really caught me off guard to cry. Not that I don't like dogs, I love dogs! It's just that I would not have thought I would have cried about Tucker. For the years we had him, in many ways there were more challenges with him that some would consider unreasonable to deal with.
Because Tucker had seizures, for unknown reasons, he was on medication from the day we had him. The kind of medication usually used for adults. Phenobarbytol, valium and other medications to either prevent or reduce the number and duration of the seizures, which usually were about a month apart. As a result of the medications, Tucker was always sort of "stoned" or sedated to the point where he would usually just lie there by the fireplace. He would show some personality when it was time to go in the backyard for a run after the ball, or when popcorn was popped and shared with the dogs. Tucker might even get one or two pieces unless Flanders, who was very serious about getting all of it, would move him out of the way. Tucker never squawked, he just stepped aside and waited for more.
Sometimes during his two to three day bouts with seizures, he would lose bowel control. If it happened in the middle of the night, the room he was in would be filled with the residue, as he would wander the room and spread it around.
The cost of the medicine was the same as any adult would pay, and of course medical insurance does not cover medication for dogs.
So, why the tears? Since I was out of town when he was put down, I was not there when Wendy and my son Jackson buried him. On Thursday this week, Jackson took me to see Tuckers grave and headstone (yes, a headstone...Wendy's sisters chipped in and bought a headstone for him). When we were there, I thought of his little body that was there. A body he had been given along with all it's challenges. Not to omit, we got Tucker when he was about three, from a shelter. He had also been bused physically and left to starve before being picked up by a rescue shelter.
As I stood over his grave and thought about his body being down there, the emotion came back up. Again, I wondered why? Here was this dog, not a perfect dog, a dog with physical flaws and challenges, such that because of the medications he was on, his true personality was probably hidden, and the meds probably hastened the end of his life. Yet, through it all, in spite of his abuse and starvation, in spite of his seizures, when he came to our family, he just offered, in the way he could, the opportunity to love him, and he loved back. He didn't ask to have seizures, he just went through them and loved us the same. He didn't ask to be medicated, but even though he was numbed out a bit, he still found a way to love us.
As I stood over his grave, and even now with tears welling in my eyes, I ponder his life, who he was, and how through it all, he was and is just unconditional love. I hope he now is somewhere where his body is whole, where he can run and play and be the real nature of who he truly is, without the numbing effects of his medication. He is buried alongside Zoe and Rex, two dogs of my sister in law, who passed in the last two years. I hope Tucker is somewhere with them and my other dogs, Vixen, Mariah, Alphie and Tommy. Running and playing and being all of who he is. I think he knew and knows we loved him. I hope he knows we did what we did at the end because we loved him and didn't want him to suffer anymore. I look forward to seeing him and who he truly is. I do believe in a heaven. I do believe that when we get there, we re-unite with those we loved, it wouldn't be a heaven otherwise. I do trust and believe that includes our dogs.
May you run now in peace, Tucker, and thank you for the lessons and love you shared as best you could. You are in our hearts!

Reflections on a training

I am feeling very full today. Not only do I have the weekend off, the first one in many weeks and the only one for another 6 or 7 weeks, but I just returned home yesterday from Oregon. I went to Oregon to do a training for a boarding school that works with teens who have been in trouble in some sort of way. Some of them have done drugs, acted out, gotten bad grades, etc. The thing that all of them seemed to have in common is that they had given up on life and anything fulfilling or worthwhile.
I walked in on Tuesday and I remember their faces. These are young men and women between the ages of 14-16 and all  of them had a look on their face that said they had given up. Some of them were from the poorer parts the country, others from more affluent, but despair is classless.
Hearing them share about their lives can be heart breaking. As many times as I have done these trainings, it still amazes me how quickly the promise of a full life can be buried under the so called realities of life. Each of these "kids" came into the world full of promise and possibilities, and so quickly put all that under a wall of fear and belief that said they have nothing to look forward to except pain.
The opportunity and challenge before me is to look under the pain and mask of toughness or sadness and see that there is something more inside. Some of these young men and women have a very tough exterior. Sometimes so tough that it requires more than the three days to get them to see that there is more to life. Sometimes it means I ask some to leave and come back when they are willing to look beyond the beliefs that they have developed in life thus far.
My task isn't really any different than that of any training that I do. I see people of all social classes and various different backgrounds etc, and the walls and masks that they put up are not all that different. People sometimes walk into a training believing they don't "need" to be there because their life is fine. And that is exactly why it serves them to be there, because there is so much more for them and for everyone, no matter where they are in life. The training simply assists to accelerate their progress by years.
With these kids, it feels different to me. For many, they have never felt like there was anyone they can trust or look to to be honest with them. Some have grown up in extreme conditions of pain inflicted upon pain. Some have grown up in the affluence that others dream about, yet expectations are so high that they feel they can never be "good enough" to measure up. Some have grown up in homes with the "rose colored glasses" feel where we don't acknowledge hurt, emptiness of feeling not good enough for fear that we will see what we don't want to see. Under all of this, it is my task to see that person they were born to be and assist them to bring it out.
The faces I saw on Tuesday are much different than the faces I saw on Thursday. In two days, these young men and women went from feeling like there was nothing more in life and shifted into a place where they are starting to see an abundance of possibilities. When on Tuesday the sharing was very limited, limited to the pain and beliefs that they had based on life experiences, on Thursday they shared how they had never felt like this and could never hope to feel this way from any drug! As we began to look at life and the possibilities before them, they went deeper and deeper into the desires of the heart and the life they could have, realizing it is all possible when they trust themselves.
As we circled up on Thursday evening, just before this part of their training was coming to a completion, until the next phase, they shared how different life looks to them. Instead of the empty vacant looks in their eyes, they had a glow, a shine and a countenance was amazing, especially considering that just two days before, there was simply a hollow look on their faces.
As I sit here, I am grateful to be home. I don't have many weekends where I am home, so I am embracing this one knowing it will be awhile before another one is available.
On the other hand, I am also grateful and fulfilled to have been part of the first steps of transformation for some young men and women who a few days ago, believed life was just empty and painful. I am blessed.

Enrollment-The Ultimate Life Activity!

Right now I am very fired up and very grateful. In the past two weeks I have facilitated a "Grad Training" and an enrollment weekend for those who are in our Launch Training. I am fired up for two reasons. One, we have raised the bar in so many ways on the concept of a grad training. What has been seen in the past as a nice get together with some "feel good" moments has been transformed into an actual training that challenges the grads to actually tap into their power source, which is them, and transform their lives.
The second is that this enrollment weekend, in my very biased opinion, was the most powerful transformational weekend that I have ever experienced.
I can lay these experiences, and the overall transformation that The Experience is creating, to one simple thing. ENROLLMENT! But enrollment different than I have experienced before. Somewhere along the journey, somewhere in the process, somewhere amidst many powerful, sometimes painful moments, I got that enrollment is something far more than a recruiting method of getting people in the training. In fact, enrollment is anything but recruitment!
Enrollment is simply me enrolling me into all of who I am! Enrollment  simply means that if I want people to be on my team, I only enroll them when I am enrolled myself! In other words, if I am not enrolled into the idea that I am the greatest captain of my team, why would anyone else want to be part of it? If I don't trust me, if I wouldn't pick me to be the captain of my team, why would anyone choose to be on my team? It is also knowing that when I choose to be captain of my team, of course others desire to be on my team.
At the same time it is the same for the trainees, enrollment  is simply them enrolling them into all of who they are and realizing they are the greatest captain of their team. Once on that path, it is a matter of clarity of who else gets to be on that team and of course people desire to be on their team. Then it becomes a matter of synergistic growth as teams are really each of us being enrolled to be part of each others teams.
In the past, and even now for some trainings and people enrollment has been seen as getting people in the chairs of a training. This leads to all sorts of manipulations, begging, price gimmicks, etc. If I believed that the way to get people to come to The Experience is to be the lowest priced training, then I don't believe in my training.  I don't believe in the people coming in and their ability to create. Then I don't believe in the trainees who are enrolling, and their ability to inspire.
True enrollment is to enroll the trainees into all of who they are. It is to trust that in that space, they are powerful and they are inspiring. It is to trust that in that space, all of us, being enrolled into who we are, have with us a light and energy that invites others to desire more in life as well. No matter who anyone is, what they have done, or even to believe that life is great, it is in the space of enrollment that they realize there is still so much more in life to create. Enrollment is to enroll them into that ideal and they manifest it by registering to attend the training. In this space, any manipulation of the enrollment process, any gimmicks to get people into the training in any way other than to enroll them into their lives becomes simply a sell out on our part. It says we don't believe, not only in ourselves but in the value of our training such that we resort to gimmicks, tricks, even lies to get people to attend. It also says we are not really changing lives, we are just having a training and don't care if it really is transformational, as long as we get more people to attend.
To be clear, there will be 150 a month who attend The Experience training by March of 2010 or sooner. There are no deviations, excuses or stories. In this case it DOES have to look a certain way! There are 150 because those who have come before are living enriched powerful lives! There are 150 or more, because those who have gone before are enrolled into themselves, their lives and their purpose and there are no stories, excuses or deviations......it does have to look a certain way!
There are 150 or more per month because the angels know that they can count on The Experience to deliver! They know that the context of The Experience is consistent, clear and supports everyone to BE their word and promise to themselves! No compromise, pandering or consensus. Our word is not a consensus, but a promise to ourselves as to what creates the greatest joy, fulfillment and growth!

Are You Making Your Life Choices From The Left Side Of Lifes Menu Or The Right Side?

When you go to a restaurant, from which side of the menu do you choose? The left side or the right side? Those who choose on from the left, make the choice based on what they want to eat in that moment. Those who choose from the right, make the choice based on the price. Some may say they make it based on both. Ultimately then, their choices are made from the right side.
How we do life in anything is how we do life in everything. We  either make our life choices from the left side of the menu of life, or from the right.
Those who choose from the right side have dreams, desires, aspirations and the same innate desire to grow and experience fulfillment as everyone. However, those desires become secondary to the circumstances they face. In other words, the circumstances make the choice for them. Be it money, time, job, family, church, school or anything else, they are programmed in their belief to make a decision, not on desire, but on circumstance. They may speak of commitment or intention, but will not make a "commitment" unless they see the path paved in such a way as to guarantee the outcome. This is not commitment at all, but the ego's way of fooling them and masking their fears in the name of commitment. They will sometimes utter the phrase, "I am not going to make a commitment I cannot keep!" That statement is a lie in itself. There is no such thing as a commitment we cannot keep. True commitment is always something we keep, without exception.  But we can pervert the concept of commitment.
Those who make life choices from the left side of life's menu choose from that place inside where desire, commitment, intention, passion, trust and true power reside. They know that when they have a desire, it is a promise from this loving Universe that the paths are already created for them to experience the fulfillment of that desire. They may not see it in the beginning, but they trust the inspiration and allow themselves to be lead step by step down the paths of success. They acknowledge the circumstance and deal with what is, rather than letting circumstance deal with them.
It is a frequent occurrence to have someone tell me they will staff a training when their schedule permits. in other words, when the right side of the menu fits their time budget. The irony is, they are asking to staff a training that challenges people to make choices from the left side of life's menu. There is an obvious conflict energetically. Because their energy is tied to circumstance, they find it difficult to be in staff without some sort of conflict going on all around them.
Learning to make life choices from the left side of life's menu requires a foundation of trust. Trust in ourselves, our inspiration and that any desire we have and feel is already created. It is simply a matter of tuning in to where it is. By choosing from this side we grow in recognition of our power, creativity, and inspiration. The natural result is to inspire others as well, creating a world of greater awareness of the abundance and possibilities.
If you want to grow in your own awareness of this power within, I invite you to participate in The Experience Training. Either as a staffer, if you are eligible, or as a trainee. Come and see why The Experience is The Experience of Your Life!

The Experience of Your Life-Part 1

I am just learning the art of blog, if you can call it that. After my first blog, my brother, a writer, gave me some feedback on the finer aspects of writing. It reminded me of what I felt like when I was learning to be a trainer. The trainer would give me some tips on the finer points of training, and I had no idea where to go with it. I am sure I will get the knack eventually, but eventually can be as soon as a week or as long as eternity so I am moving along the best way I know.
As I reflect on last week, I am more and more amazed at where things are moving. We had our first Discovery training last week, which is the second level of a three level core training. I went in feeling a bit rusty since I had not trained a second level training in about four years. I knew where I wanted to go with things, however, so I knew that any rust would not be an issue. As the training progressed, it became more and more clear that the path begun is in total alignment with the overall context of where The Experience is going. We infused the training with some new processes that had never been done in a second level and processes that I knew would move this training to a higher level. Thanks to the assistance in the training room of some very giving and gracious grads , the trainees had an experience that was out of this world. The depth of the training went to new levels! In the end, I know that those who went through the training this last week had more than just a training experience. They have accelerated their learning curve by years. They are consciously embracing the concept that this is more than just an experience, it is series of life changing learning opportunities. Learning opportunities that are more about a spiritual growth and context as they are about learning for a temporal world. They are also committed to the context of being and that being is not confined to the training room, but is available anywhere and anytime they choose to connect with it.
I was also moved at those who supported on the outside of the training room. We had our first tunnel and I was clear that I wanted to set the context very clearly for that. As such, we made it clear that we would have a grounding at 10pm and it was part of the tunnel process. To be in the tunnel, it was required to be in the grounding. Anyone showing up late would be invited to attend the next trainings tunnel on time. I am grateful for the graduate who was late and didn't get in the grounding nor the tunnel for assisting in bringing home that point of context! Thanks to GJ for teaching a great lesson!!
I was also impressed by those who have volunteered so much to make this happen. A training like this does not just happen because people want it to happen. It takes commitment, vision, time, energy and devotion to something that is felt deep inside. As I looked around the room on Friday and Saturday evening, there was evidence all around of that commitment. From the people in the room, to the material manifestations, the spirit of holding our Life Context was evident all around. People who had driven many miles, some of them 100's of miles. People who had given many hours of their time and those who had given in materials and money. All for the purpose of something greater than just a training. A commitment to a tangible spiritual feeling of the context of life. The context of keeping our word to ourself. Our word that leads us on the path of the greatest joy and fulfillment. That path has just become clearer for those in the training, and those who support The Experience!

Love and Gratitude!

Building The Context.

What is context? Context is simply the purpose of why we do what we do. Depending upon the depth of the purpose determines to what degree we hold that context. A shallow context leads to a loose environment where getting along, being liked and doing things that look good become standard. It is an environment that appeals to logic and reason and the ego milks this context to convince those involved that they are making a difference. The evidence is in the "doing" element. "Look at what we are doing" as evidence that we are really different. However, the motivation of the doing in this environment is to prove to the ego minds of others that we are transformed somehow. Many people like  this environment, as it is accommodates the ego mind. However it is a shaky foundation, and when push comes to shove, there is very little passion to put anything on the line to move this environment forward.

A deep context is one that has a firm environment. It is a foundation that is solid, clear and inspiring. It is based in the context of our word. As we keep our word, we solidify the foundation of trust within ourselves. This creates a solid foundation within us as we begin to recognize at a greater level that when it all comes down, we can count on ourselves. We soon learn that our word is the foundation of who we are, and the foundation upon which we set out to fulfill our purpose, our life context. All the events and experiences of life are there to support us in that context. By building that context, we are filled with greater and greater joy. In this environment, an environment of people who we can count on, there is a deep and powerful passion to  build upon the context. It is here that people are willing to put it all on the line and when push comes to shove, the spirit will push through to the next level and the power and spirit of the environment grows.  We become more and more connected to our context. There is a great passion, love and growth here. In this space, the "doing" or the actions are not occurring  to prove to the ego minds of others, but are occurring as a natural drive of the spirit! The difference  is felt spiritually by others and they are inspired to move their lives to the next levels.They are inspired to enroll in the training.

As I see this play out, I am gratified to see what has occurred so far. I am grateful for the people who have felt this context and taken the risk to leave behind the environment of their ego context. There are a relative handful right now and it is growing. As a result, we have had two very powerful trainings. Powerful people have walked into these trainings and are right now manifesting their own powerful results as they are learning to build on the context of themselves and their word.
Doors are opening, as they do when we hold to the context. Doors of opportunity as others feel the power and spirit of what is occurring. Sometimes we make adjustments as we move forward, for we are learning as well. All in the spirit of building the context.

This week we have our second level of training. A training we call Discovery. I am so excited for what is coming. We are going to have some new and different processes that will truly open the door to an "out of this temporal world" experience. Those who participate will walk out and their lives will never be the same!
From here, we continue to grow. I know what is happening is being felt. I also know that there are those who feel what is occurring  and their ego is fearful and restless. The ego works hard to hold us back. This means that for those of us who are involved, we get to be that much clearer and connected to our own spirit context. This is what inspires others to push through their own ego fears and contribute to something greater.

Thank you to all of you who have contributed thus far. Their is a ripple effect even now. It may not be as evident as we would like, but it is based in a powerful foundation that becomes something far more than we would have believed!