What Is Your Ideal Lifestyle…
Discover What Is and What is To Be on Your Journey of Life…
Click the two cards below to see what Present and Future you have drawn. Then click again to get the description and recommendations for your specific situation. Watch for follow-up emails with even more information to guide you…
Be sure to write down the names of your two cards, so you can access additional information later.
Passive Income Lifestyle
This card will tell you how things are now…
Garden of Mercy
Compassion
Overview
It is pretty obvious that there is a lot of suffering in the world around us. And only the coldest of people would fail to feel empathy for this suffering, or to desire to find a way—no matter how small—to relieve it, or better yet, to eradicate it altogether. This internal drive to soothe or eliminate obvious suffering is what most of us recognize as Compassion, the key skill taught in Garden of Mercy. Compassion is a powerful force that, according to the Dalai Lama, is actually a primary pathway to happiness.
Ironically, while most of us have no difficulty experiencing or expressing compassion for others, all too often we have difficulty cultivating any level of compassion for ourselves and our own suffering. This is the main focus of the teaching of Garden of Mercy.
Situation
You have been struggling with something in your life lately, and it’s making you a little crazy! Normally, when you see someone else struggling, you don’t seem to have any problem feeling compassion for him or her. But when you find yourself struggling, it’s a different story, isn’t it? You aren’t very kind to yourself, are you? In fact, you tend to berate yourself—beat yourself up, so to speak—in a manner which generates more internal pain and makes your suffering that much more intense. And that is the real challenge you are facing at present.
Recommendation
First and foremost, it’s important to be gentle with yourself, no matter what is going on in your life. But right now in particular, reconnecting to your Compassion will help ease the pain and suffering of your current situation, and will help you to unblock yourself from the solutions that will facilitate your way through your struggle.
Begin by feeling some gratitude for the fact that you have become aware of this issue. Even though you may be feeling emotional pain about your situation, if you can allow a little bit of gratitude to come into your heart, you will immediately begin opening the door to your Compassion. So, say out loud “Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention. Now that I am more fully are, I choose to begin bringing healing energy to my circumstances.” Empowering intentional statements like these have an amazing ability to invoke the entire loving machinery of the universe, so take advantage of that and watch how quickly you find resolution.
Sit quietly now, and imagine that your Suffering Self is a little child sitting right before you. You know this child better than anyone, so you know exactly what the child is feeling and experiencing. Invite the energy of the Ideal Parent into your own awareness, and allow your inner knowing of what it means to be an Ideal Parent to bring unconditional love to the child. Speak to the child the way you would want to have been addressed when you were little. Say the things that you know this child really needs to hear. Let him/her know that you are here to be fully supportive—without judgment or condition or restriction. Just listen to what the child has to say, and ask questions to help you understand exactly what is up for the child. As the child continues speaking, open your heart and your arms to welcome the child into your lap. Whatever the child is feeling, simply allow those feelings to come out on their own, and welcome them with as much love as you can.
After a while, the child’s pain will subside, and you can then address the subject of the life challenge that brought up all the pain in the first place. Find out what you can do as the Ideal Parent to help the child resolve the issue. Trust that a solution will appear in your awareness. Discuss your ideas with the child, until you come to a mutual understanding for the best approach that you can take together.
Before you release the child, remind him/her that you are always here to provide support, and that anything that s/he is feeling is perfectly okay, even if it feels painful. Express love and gratitude for the willingness of the child to open up to you. Express love and gratitude that you have reconnected to your own Compassion for yourself, and that you have found a way to move forward with your challenge.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Easy Do-It-Yourself
This card will tell you how things are now…
River of Grace
Flow
Overview
When we come into the physical world, we arrive in a state of sacred flow. We are excited and happy to be in our new surroundings, full of curiosity, and eager to venture onto the path of our adventures. We aren’t troubled by the past or worried about the future; we are simply present in the here-and-now, full of wonder for whatever shows up next.
But soon enough, life happens, and we find ourselves bound and restricted by ever more complicated rules and guidelines and demands. Soon enough, the sacred flow is nowhere to be found, and life becomes more of a struggle and challenge than an adventure.
When we visit River of Grace, we are gently and lovingly reminded of the natural state we arrived in. Here, we learn about Flow—the idea of presence in action—and how we can reclaim it and maintain it in our everyday life.
Situation
You have been experiencing a sense of disorientation or confusion lately because you are disconnected from your grounded center. You may be experiencing sadness or anger about something that happened in your past, or you may be experiencing fear about something that you expect to happen in the future. Whatever the case, you are having a great deal of difficulty staying present in the here-and-now, which means that you are unable to focus for any length of time on important items on your current to-do list. This is having negative consequences in all areas of your life, but is probably showing up most intensely in your relationships with loved ones, and slightly less intensely in your decision making abilities.
Recommendation
To regain your sense of presence in action, begin by bringing your full attention to your emotional state. Find a quiet place to sit and relax, and take several deep, slow, cleansing breaths.
As you feel your awareness and presence begin to increase, bring your focus internally to what you are feeling. If you have been obsessing over something from your past, then you will likely be feeling sadness relating to some kind of loss, or anger due to a boundary violation or failing to get something you really wanted. If you have been worrying about something in your future, then you are likely feeling fear about what you imagine may be coming your way. Without judging, simply observe your feelings, and where and how they are manifesting in your body.
Once you have identified your feelings, give yourself unconditional permission to feel them. Open yourself up, so that the emotional energy can simply flow through you and out of you. Some of the this energy may be uncomfortable or painful, but if you allow it to pass through you, the pain and/or discomfort will dissipate relatively quickly.
When the unpleasant energy diminishes to a low enough level, consciously and intentionally invite in warm, healing, loving energy to replace it. Allow this new feeling to fill your entire body, beginning at your belly and emanating to your extremities. Notice a sense of aliveness and presence growing more and more powerful within you.
Anchor this new feeling in your body and remind yourself that you can reconnect to it any time you want to—no matter what might be going on in your life. Take this Flow back into your life, and enjoy the reconnection to your natural state. Let this feeling inform all your thoughts, words, actions and emotions going forward.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Easy Do-It-For-You…
This card will tell you how things will be in the future…
Sacred Mirror Falls
Identity
Overview
People everywhere experience societal pressure to conform to what others expect of them. We are drilled from a very early age to be nice, to fit in, to put others’ needs ahead of our own, and so on. We are told not to rock the boat, not to make waves. And if by chance we fail to abide by all these rules, then we run the risk of losing someone’s disapproval, or maybe being shunned, or even worse.
Unfortunately, in order to meet the demands of these rules and regulations, we often end up disowning ourselves. We put on masks and costumes in order to appear publicly the way we believe others want to see us. In doing so, our true selves get lost, and we often end up feeling unhappy, disillusioned, depressed or angry.
In Sacred Mirror Falls, you are taken into a deep exploration of Identity—that is, the essence and meaning of who you really are—and how you can maintain your sovereignty and uniqueness while still honoring the protocols that society puts in place.
Situation
You have been going about your business in your usual way, being nice to others, trying to accommodate everyone’s needs, and making sure you don’t make waves. However, you will soon be placed in a situation that will require you to choose between being nice and being real. You will not be able to avoid confrontation or conflict in this situation; you will be faced with the realization that your desire for “smooth sailing” may require you to manhandle your “boat” in ways you have never done before.
Recommendation
If you think of yourself as a “people pleaser”, as someone who defers to almost everyone else in your life, then you may be disowning your sovereignty as a Human Being without realizing it; however, the pain of disowning yourself may be showing up in subtle ways in your life. The time has come for you to reclaim the truth of who you really are, rather than who you think you are, and this will require you to stand in the truth of your own power—even if someone else feels uncomfortable because of it.
The truth is, you have no control over how other people feel or how they react, no matter how much you may believe this. You may have inadvertently deluded yourself into believing that your being nice keeps the peace and makes other people happy. But that’s just an illusion. You cannot make everyone like you, no matter how hard you try; the most you can do is love yourself, and allow that love to flow into the world unconditionally.
You must practice standing your own ground. This does not mean getting into confrontations with people for no reason; it simply means being true to yourself, without compromise, and without apology. You don’t have to be mean about this; you can still maintain a high level of compassion for others and retain your pleasant demeanor. However, when you are faced with a situation that may lead to conflict because someone doesn’t agree with you, you can hold your ground simply by listening to what the other person says—with a desire to deepen your understanding of his/her position. You may find common ground in that understanding—in which case you will likely avoid conflict altogether—but even if you don’t, you can still stand by your own convictions from a place of compassion.
Never compromise the truth of who you are in order to please someone else. The cost to you is much too high.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Assetizing…
This card will tell you how things are now…
River of Grace
Flow
Overview
When we come into the physical world, we arrive in a state of sacred flow. We are excited and happy to be in our new surroundings, full of curiosity, and eager to venture onto the path of our adventures. We aren’t troubled by the past or worried about the future; we are simply present in the here-and-now, full of wonder for whatever shows up next.
But soon enough, life happens, and we find ourselves bound and restricted by ever more complicated rules and guidelines and demands. Soon enough, the sacred flow is nowhere to be found, and life becomes more of a struggle and challenge than an adventure.
When we visit River of Grace, we are gently and lovingly reminded of the natural state we arrived in. Here, we learn about Flow—the idea of presence in action—and how we can reclaim it and maintain it in our everyday life.
Situation
You have been experiencing a sense of disorientation or confusion lately because you are disconnected from your grounded center. You may be experiencing sadness or anger about something that happened in your past, or you may be experiencing fear about something that you expect to happen in the future. Whatever the case, you are having a great deal of difficulty staying present in the here-and-now, which means that you are unable to focus for any length of time on important items on your current to-do list. This is having negative consequences in all areas of your life, but is probably showing up most intensely in your relationships with loved ones, and slightly less intensely in your decision making abilities.
Recommendation
To regain your sense of presence in action, begin by bringing your full attention to your emotional state. Find a quiet place to sit and relax, and take several deep, slow, cleansing breaths.
As you feel your awareness and presence begin to increase, bring your focus internally to what you are feeling. If you have been obsessing over something from your past, then you will likely be feeling sadness relating to some kind of loss, or anger due to a boundary violation or failing to get something you really wanted. If you have been worrying about something in your future, then you are likely feeling fear about what you imagine may be coming your way. Without judging, simply observe your feelings, and where and how they are manifesting in your body.
Once you have identified your feelings, give yourself unconditional permission to feel them. Open yourself up, so that the emotional energy can simply flow through you and out of you. Some of the this energy may be uncomfortable or painful, but if you allow it to pass through you, the pain and/or discomfort will dissipate relatively quickly.
When the unpleasant energy diminishes to a low enough level, consciously and intentionally invite in warm, healing, loving energy to replace it. Allow this new feeling to fill your entire body, beginning at your belly and emanating to your extremities. Notice a sense of aliveness and presence growing more and more powerful within you.
Anchor this new feeling in your body and remind yourself that you can reconnect to it any time you want to—no matter what might be going on in your life. Take this Flow back into your life, and enjoy the reconnection to your natural state. Let this feeling inform all your thoughts, words, actions and emotions going forward.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Automated Modeling
This card will tell you how things are now…
Alignment Ridge
Integrity
Overview
As we learn in Alignment Ridge, Integrity is a state of being in which our thoughts, words, actions and emotions are all in alignment. Being “in integrity” is a wonderful experience, and most of us know instinctively when we are there. But, as we also learn, Integrity is even more powerful when we synchronize our alignment with our sacred Purpose for being. When we create this kind of alignment, we feel inspired and motivated, perhaps even unstoppable!
No-one is “in integrity” 100% of the time; we all slip-up occasionally. Thankfully, one of the other tools we learn about in Alignment Ridge is Accountability, which enables us to perform some powerful introspection to find out how we got off track, and to create a new commitment to find our way back to our chosen path.
Situation
It has come to your attention that your thoughts, words, actions and emotions are not aligned with each other, or at odds in some way with your purpose for being. As a result, you are feeling a sense of disorientation or confusion about your life. This may be creating a story loop in your mind with thoughts similar to these:
- I have no idea where I am or where I’m supposed to be going.
- I’ve completely forgotten my commitments, and I seem to be wandering around aimlessly.
- My life is in chaos! How did this happen?
- Nothing makes sense at the moment! Why am I doing this? How did I get off track?
- <So-and-so> is going to be pissed at me; how can I make this right?
Recommendation
Being out of integrity is a pretty common state. Everyone experiences it from time to time, because, as humans, we all make mistakes. So, first and foremost, be gentle with yourself and make sure to approach this issue with love and compassion.
Begin by determining if you are out of integrity because of a broken agreement with someone else, or if you are simply out of integrity with yourself—in which case you may have forgotten or violated a commitment to yourself. Regardless of the situation, you can use this self-accountability process to get back on track.
Find a quiet place to journal your responses to the following:
- What was the agreement or commitment I failed to honor?
- What choices did I make (conscious or unconscious) that led me to slip out of integrity with respect to this agreement/commitment?
- What were the consequences of these choices?
- What possible unconscious beliefs do I have that may have led to these choices in the first place?
- What is the source of these beliefs? Where might they have originated in my earlier life?
- Now that I have a better understanding of what drove my choices, what can I do to take full responsibility for the consequences I created?
- What new commitment can I make (to myself or to the other party) so as to challenge myself to grow from this learning and to regain my alignment with my purpose?
If your agreement/commitment was with another person, you will find it very empowering and liberating to approach that person from a place of vulnerability, and own your mis-step, offer any apology if required, and re-commit to your agreement.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Cash Pumping In…
This card will tell you how things will be in the future…
River of Grace
Flow
Overview
When we come into the physical world, we arrive in a state of sacred flow. We are excited and happy to be in our new surroundings, full of curiosity, and eager to venture onto the path of our adventures. We aren’t troubled by the past or worried about the future; we are simply present in the here-and-now, full of wonder for whatever shows up next.
But soon enough, life happens, and we find ourselves bound and restricted by ever more complicated rules and guidelines and demands. Soon enough, the sacred flow is nowhere to be found, and life becomes more of a struggle and challenge than an adventure.
When we visit River of Grace, we are gently and lovingly reminded of the natural state we arrived in. Here, we learn about Flow—the idea of presence in action—and how we can reclaim it and maintain it in our everyday life.
Situation
You are well aware that something important is going to take place in your life in the next few days or weeks. It is something you have been anticipating with a mixture of excitement and fear. You are worrying about possible negative consequences of this event’s arrival, and obsession with these fearful thoughts makes it difficult for you to stay focused on important things that need your attention right now.
Recommendation
The only two times when nothing can be done are Yesterday and Tomorrow. If you focus your attention on either of them, you are depriving yourself of the gift of Today.
It may well be true that something you have anticipated for a while is soon to appear, and it will bring with it whatever it brings. You can worry about how this event will show up, about how it will impact you, about all the things that could possibly go wrong, yes, you can do all that if you want to. But what is it costing you to concern yourself this way about something that has not yet happened? Wouldn’t you find your life less stressful if you could stop this worrisome future-think?
Bring yourself back to the present, to the here-and-now, and allow yourself to experience what is here right now. Here’s a little trick you can do to help you re-ground yourself:
- Imagine that the event you are anticipating has already arrived, and that everything about it turned out more or less as expected. Notice the relief you feel, and the immediate sense of relaxation that shows up as a result.
- Now, simply allow the event to be a wonderful memory in your mind, something that you can cherish any time you are feeling a little stressed out. Allow this memory to be so important to you that it seems almost like a peak experience.
- Bring the emotional energy if this experience back into the present moment, and notice how you are feeling right now.
Focus your attention on your renewed sense of aliveness, and let that inform all your thoughts, words and actions going forward. Anytime you find yourself slipping back into worry mode, come back to this exercise and let it ground you and bring you back to Flow.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Awakening
This card will tell you how things will be in the future…
Nama Station
Forgiveness
Overview
When we are caught up in the dramas of our ego-minds, it is easy for us to fall into the habit of playing the BS Game—that is, the “Blame-Shame Game”. When someone else does something that causes us discomfort, upset or pain, we put ourselves into the role of victim and the other person into the role of perpetrator. In this way, we give all our power away to the perpetrator—who may not even be aware of the fact that s/he has done something “wrong”. In allowing ourselves to slip into this finger-pointing pattern, we often end up creating even more pain and upset for ourselves, while secretly hoping for the other person to suffer.
Nama Station teaches us about the powerful healing capabilities of Forgiveness, a tool whose sole purpose is to give ourselves permission to release ourselves from our own pain and suffering. When we forgive, it really has nothing to do with the so-called perpetrator! It is really all about letting go of something over which we have no control, and—without forgetting or condoning or agreeing with actual bad behavior—releasing ourselves from the prison of our own negative thinking, and reclaiming our power.
Situation
Someone in your life will do something that directly impacts you in a negative or malicious or painful way. A person with whom you are personally or professionally involved will do something that violates your boundaries in some way or breaks a trust with you. You will find yourself doing a lot of repair work to clean up the damage, so this situation may also result in damage to your name or your reputation.
Recommendation
Knowing that you are on a collision course with an unpleasant and potentially painful interaction with someone can certainly be unnerving. However, worrying about what might or might not happen in the future is not a very productive (or effective) way to prepare for it. As someone on a path to Life Mastery, you are certainly more interested in living your life in the present moment as much as possible.
So how can you prepare for this kind of event in your life? In a word, Pre-Forgiveness. That’s right, forgiveness in advance. It may sound a little strange, but it is a powerful tool that you can engage any time you find yourself worrying about something that someone in your life might do. Here’s how it works:
- Imagine that you are in the future and the event has already happened, bringing with it whatever discomfort, unpleasantness, or pain it might have contained. Imagine that you have already experienced your reaction or response to the situation and that you understand this person was doing something out of his/her own fear or pain and wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt you.
- Notice how you feel about all that has happened. Just be with the feelings that show up within you and allow them to pass through you.
- Notice any judgments you may have about the other person, and allow them to pass as well.
- Tap into your own powerful sense of compassion, recognize that you too have done things like this that caused pain for others, and begin to feel unconditional love flowing from your heart to the heart of the other person.
- Say the words out loud: “I forgive you”. See yourself offering this gift of forgiveness to the other person, without condition, without expectation of any particular result.
Bring yourself back to the present moment, and notice how you feel now, having actively forgiven this person. Realize that you completed this process without even knowing for sure who the other person might be. There is great power in this Pre-Forgiveness process and you can use it anytime, anywhere. Let this be an ongoing practice for you on your continuing path to Life Mastery.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Igniting…
This card will tell you how things will be in the future…
Alignment Ridge
Integrity
Overview
As we learn in Alignment Ridge, Integrity is a state of being in which our thoughts, words, actions and emotions are all in alignment. Being “in integrity” is a wonderful experience, and most of us know instinctively when we are there. But, as we also learn, Integrity is even more powerful when we synchronize our alignment with our sacred Purpose for being. When we create this kind of alignment, we feel inspired and motivated, perhaps even unstoppable!
No-one is “in integrity” 100% of the time; we all slip-up occasionally. Thankfully, one of the other tools we learn about in Alignment Ridge is Accountability, which enables us to perform some powerful introspection to find out how we got off track, and to create a new commitment to find our way back to our chosen path.
Situation
You will be faced with conditions and circumstances that will put at least two of your commitments in conflict with one another. You will find that you have to make choices that will pull you out of integrity with at least one of these commitments. Because you are a person who highly values integrity, this will cause you a great deal of inner turmoil; you will have difficulty making the necessary choices.
Recommendation
Whenever you have two or more commitments that come into conflict with each other, you are faced with a dilemma: Which commitment do I follow through on, and how do I minimize the damage when I break one of the others?
If you simply choose one commitment and forget about the other(s), then you risk damaging your relationship with the people involved in the broken commitments. This can get worse over time if you allow this sort of thing to happen repeatedly, because then people begin to see you as someone who doesn’t keep his/her word, who can’t be counted on, who “flakes out” and doesn’t follow through. This in turn leads to broken trust, which makes it very hard for people to stay in relationship with you. Most people will accept an apology once or twice, but after that, if there is no change in behavior, your fate is sealed with them.
So, what is the solution? Simple: Negotiation. This is a form of self-accountability because you are acknowledging that you somehow allowed two or more commitments to come into conflict with one another. You are taking responsibility for the choices you made to allow this to happen, and you are asking one or more of the people you committed to for permission to change the terms of the commitment(s).
You could approach the other party (or parties) and say something like the following:
I want to apologize to you because I’ve created a situation in which I have a conflict with the agreement I made with you. I will not be able to complete that commitment in the manner we agreed upon, and I would like to discuss with you how we might be able to re-structure the agreement in a mutually acceptable way.
The other person may not be in a position to modify the existing agreement, so you may have to try this approach with each of the other people involved. Whatever happens, make sure you approach each party with a genuine desire to find a mutually acceptable solution. Even if things don’t quite work out the way you want them to, at least you have made your best effort, preserved your integrity, and reduced the risk of broken trust with those people.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).
Focusing…
This card will tell you how things will be in the future…
Sacred Mirror Falls
Identity
Overview
People everywhere experience societal pressure to conform to what others expect of them. We are drilled from a very early age to be nice, to fit in, to put others’ needs ahead of our own, and so on. We are told not to rock the boat, not to make waves. And if by chance we fail to abide by all these rules, then we run the risk of losing someone’s disapproval, or maybe being shunned, or even worse.
Unfortunately, in order to meet the demands of these rules and regulations, we often end up disowning ourselves. We put on masks and costumes in order to appear publicly the way we believe others want to see us. In doing so, our true selves get lost, and we often end up feeling unhappy, disillusioned, depressed or angry.
In Sacred Mirror Falls, you are taken into a deep exploration of Identity—that is, the essence and meaning of who you really are—and how you can maintain your sovereignty and uniqueness while still honoring the protocols that society puts in place.
Situation
You have been going about your business in your usual way, being nice to others, trying to accommodate everyone’s needs, and making sure you don’t make waves. However, you will soon be placed in a situation that will require you to choose between being nice and being real. You will not be able to avoid confrontation or conflict in this situation; you will be faced with the realization that your desire for “smooth sailing” may require you to manhandle your “boat” in ways you have never done before.
Recommendation
If you think of yourself as a “people pleaser”, as someone who defers to almost everyone else in your life, then you may be disowning your sovereignty as a Human Being without realizing it; however, the pain of disowning yourself may be showing up in subtle ways in your life. The time has come for you to reclaim the truth of who you really are, rather than who you think you are, and this will require you to stand in the truth of your own power—even if someone else feels uncomfortable because of it.
The truth is, you have no control over how other people feel or how they react, no matter how much you may believe this. You may have inadvertently deluded yourself into believing that your being nice keeps the peace and makes other people happy. But that’s just an illusion. You cannot make everyone like you, no matter how hard you try; the most you can do is love yourself, and allow that love to flow into the world unconditionally.
You must practice standing your own ground. This does not mean getting into confrontations with people for no reason; it simply means being true to yourself, without compromise, and without apology. You don’t have to be mean about this; you can still maintain a high level of compassion for others and retain your pleasant demeanor. However, when you are faced with a situation that may lead to conflict because someone doesn’t agree with you, you can hold your ground simply by listening to what the other person says—with a desire to deepen your understanding of his/her position. You may find common ground in that understanding—in which case you will likely avoid conflict altogether—but even if you don’t, you can still stand by your own convictions from a place of compassion.
Never compromise the truth of who you are in order to please someone else. The cost to you is much too high.
For more information about this topic, please see the full program at Life Mastery Way (and remember the name of your card).