Self Conscious. When did the term take on negative or weak connotations? I wonder.

I feel as is if there is some wicked nasty being clawing at my back of late. The feeling comes and goes ... it was horrendously strong last night.

What is it?

It is the old energy, the old ways, the last throes of those who won't release their grip on the zone of acceptable misery.

If this world was meant to be wrinkle free we wouldn't draw ripples into the water or puffy edges into the clouds.

We wouldn't cry over the past or hope for the future.

All you need is to be smart about your personal development.

Everyday life is full of trials and tribulations. No matter how we look at it, we all face problems. Some are big problems, some are small problems. Some are easy to solve, some just seem to have a life of their own, and keep coming back to haunt us again and again no matter how hard we focus on solving the problem.

Don't shake your head yet! Because, no, this isn't another pitch about the law of attraction, though I do believe in and utilize that as much as I'm humanly able. No, this is a thought process in awareness; one that identifies one of the many facts of life.

#1 Let go your expectations, drop ‘em right there, mister (this equates to Awareness)

Identify, Establish, and Feed your connections to life  ... those things that make you feel alive.

Maybe this should be titled, The Finer Points of Give and Take ... or The Oft Forgotten Finer Points of Give and Take.

To give genuinely is to give what the recipient feels and believes they need, not what you think they need. To receive genuinely is to accept what is given as being the best that the giver is capable of giving. To solidify the trust, both must speak honestly from the heart.

Here's a very concise example:

More than 200,000 kids spanked at school

That title was in the online papers this morning. I don't follow the news very closely. I find the media unceasingly one-sided. I do have CNN and USA Today on my homepage, and glance at the headlines occasionally. This mostly because of the time we were at war and I didn't know it.

Anyway, I saw this headline today, and actually had to post a comment on it. The topic is so pointedly ridiculous and blown out of proportion it is laughable to me and many others. When is humanity going to think it out? This was my post, I thought I'd share it with the many individuals who are moving ahead on the right track with ThinkItOut.net and the rest of the holistic movement:

Do you feel judged? When you are conversing with people you love, or with a friend, or even a stranger, do the words coming out of their mouths often feel like judgment? Where is it coming from? Why do so many people feel the need to pass judgment?

Ever feel guilty? I’m not talking crime.  I’m talking everyday human interaction.

One very important lesson I learned came from the animals in my life. Some people will identify with this, and some won't. People can take it or leave it, but this is what I observed:

Dogs take what they get. Horses give what they get. Cats give and take as they please. I have one dog, three horses, and five cats, presently.

I don't know about you, but I'm running into more and more people who aren't satisfied with the general norm. They are looking for personal answers. There seems to be a quantum shift heading toward more responsibility, more honesty, more intuitiveness, less control.