Depression

Depression is natural.
Elation is natural.
Depression and Elation balance each other.

For me, growing up in a typical family, unbalanced views were espoused and life was broken up into good and bad. We lived in shades of black and white.

I was my own family urban legend and I willingly subscribed to it.
As with most families, I was a mirror and they only saw one side of me.
To my parents, I was such a Nicki.
To this day, I’m not sure what it was that they saw, but growing up, I was sure it was the worst thing in the world. Of course now I understand that they saw themselves.
But as a child, being such a Nicki was a negative.
Being such a Nicki was totally depressing.

I assumed I was always depressed; until I actually experienced real Depression for the very first time several years ago.

Now looking back I realise that I was a cup is half full kinda person and was upbeat, sunny, happy and positive as much as I was a cup is half empty, dark, sad and negative soul.

Great adventures shifted the parameters of my life, and I have periodically swung from Elation to Depression - just like every other human being does.

Thumbing my way through a dictionary, I recognise the press’s I pushed.
I was Depressed, Suppressed, Repressed and Oppressed.

To depress means to push down.
To suppress means to hold back.
To repress means to keep inside.
To oppress means to keep down.
To press means to force down.

There’s much happening DOWN and BACK and INSIDE isn’t there?

The most incredible discovery for me in all of this was that this journey did involve a perpetrator and a victim and a hero. However they were all ME as I attracted mirrors of them in every area of my life.

I pushed myself down, held back, and kept everything inside and down until there was nothing.

Nothing.

And in that nothingness, I was able to see what the hell it was that I was pushing, holding and keeping down.

It was me.

I would never have seen me without the gift of depression.
I would never have seen who I was without that period of intense depression.

Then once I saw me, I was still depressed.

WHY?

Depression is a symptom specifically designed to break fantasy. What was the fantasy that I held onto? OMG where do I start? My life has always been BIG. Grand vision, big plans, large expectations, major life purpose, monstrous mission all accompanied by a healthy helping of ego. I’m better than this. I can do this. I will not let this stop me. I can achieve that. I’m not a loser like everyone else.

Really? mmmm..............

I believed I was different. I was special. I was unique. I was better.

When I deemed I was NOT (while evaluating myself according to the benchmark of others), then I became disappointed with myself and sank into depression.

I had subordinated myself to someone ELSE's values and standards and expectations
and was judging myself based on THEIR values and NOT mine.

This cycle continued to perpetuate.

Aspire, Dream, Attempt, Fail, Fall, Despair and Depress.
time
space
Aspire, Dream, Attempt, Fail, Fall, Despair and Depress.
time
space
Aspire, Dream, Attempt, Fail, Fall, Despair and Depress.
time
space

All of these actions were very real however in my perceptions of them I only saw ONE side.
What was the OTHER side that I was choosing to ignore?

An aspiration takes one on a journey to seek to find.
A dream gives you the chance to seek what you wish for.
An attempt shows great courage and faith.
To fail provides the opportunity for feedback, education, alternatives and more information, which will lead you to success.
Falling can only happen from above. This shows how high you actually were in the first place.
Despair is felt when you recognize the joy that you seek in the first place.
Depress is to push down. You need energy to push. Pushing DOWN can only occur when you recognize that you were UP.

Doesn’t sound like you were in such a bad place after all now does it?

Here is the deal.
All of this serves us.
Everything we do serves us.
Everything that we experience is perfect for us right now.
Everything in our lives is in balance and in order.

I will always be depressed and always be elated until I simply observe these "feelings" and simply say" OK This is how I am right now. Not WHO I am, just how."

Who needs a label anyway? Hey I'm simply playing the human game and checking out as many traits and experiences as I can!

Prosperity

It seems that life as we know it is all about working hard and playing hard while filling nearly every moment with activity.

Our families believe they cannot survive without two incomes to pay for a standard of living that has doubled in the past 50 years. Who said: Spending money we don’t have to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like?

Here’s an alternative radical thought – could we work less, want less and spend less? Could this lead to a happier and more fulfilled lifestyle? What do we REALLY want? What is the essence of happiness? Is happiness connected to our financial value?

Here’s a suggestion – try to play the Prosperity Game. Here’s how:

You set up an Accounting Package - QuickBooks or MYOB or Excel spreadsheet or just print fake deposits and cheques for your PROSPERITY BANK ACCOUNT. Every day for one year, the Universe makes a deposit into this account. $1000.00 on the first day, then $2000 on the second day, then $3000 on the third day and so forth until on the 365th day the deposit is $365000.00. Each day you have to spend the entire amount of the deposit. I think in total it is $66Million. You can do daily or just do as much as you can each day until you spend one years worth.

Half way through this game you realise that prosperity is actually NOT about the money at all.

The things I REALLY wanted in my life could NOT be bought.

Try the exercise and find out what you REALLY want in your life and how much prosperity you already have.

Upgrade of Business

There are two key ingredients to every business.

Number one: The Business Owner
Number two:The Customer.

Number one: The Business Owner
Businesses inevitably are an extension of the owner. My businesses are most definitely an extension of me. My voids drive my business enterprises.

A small business or a huge corporation, the culture is almost always dictated from the top down. This can positively or negatively affect all aspects of the company. My personal strengths and weaknesses are reflected in the strengths and weaknesses of my businesses.

Before I can upgrade my business interests, I need to look at myself.

What are my values?
Where are my strengths?
Where are my weaknesses?

Quality Questions getting to the very core of me will greatly determine these answers.

Number Two:The Customer.

They pay for the product or service.
Their $$ is the objective of the enterprise.
No business without them.

Seriously, it doesn’t matter what you sell - bands, words, apples or promises. To make the most of your business you will need to develop satisfied loyal quality customers.

Satisfied customers are those people who are happy with your products and services, but may not come back again and will still go to competitors depending on price and convenience.
Loyal customers keep coming back again and again because you have developed a relationship with them and they value the network and relationship.
Quality customers value your service and show it by paying for it on time.

Satisfied Loyal Quality Customers provide invaluable word of mouth referrals which are a cost effective marketing tool for your business.

To understand your customers, identify their values and voids by asking quality questions.

Continue to ask questions, never rest on your laurels, never be afraid to value yourself, your products and your services and value your customers by providing the best products and services possible for the price that is charged.

The upgrade of my business will be complete when there no longer IS a business to upgrade.

Whats the deal with Nine?

What is the significance of the number nine?
My old favourite 432 = 4 + 3 + 2 = 9. So why are numbers so significant?

The number nine is a most remarkable number in many respects. All who study the occult sciences holds it in great reverence; and in mathematical science it possesses properties and powers, which are found in no other number. It is the last of the digits, and thus marks the end; and is significant of the conclusion of a matter. Likewise nine added or deducted from any number gives a figure with the numerical total unchanged. It is akin to the number six, six being the sum of its factors (3x3=9, and 3+3=6), and is thus significant of the end of man, and the summation of all man's works.

In Roman Catholic Europe, when the Angelus tolls (at morning, noon, and evening), it ring 3+3+3 and then 9 times, in celebration of the Virgin's conception of the Savior.

In ancient Greece, 9 was the number of the Muses, patron goddesses of the arts. They were the daughters of Mnemosyne ("memory"), the source of imagination, which in turn is the carrier of archetypal, elementary ideas to artistic, realization in the field of space-time.

The number 9, that is to say, relates traditionally to the Great Goddess of Many Names (Devi, Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Artemis, Venus, etc.) as matrix of the cosmic process, whether in the macrocosm or in a microcosmic field of manifestation.

It is to be noticed, by the way, that 1+6+5+6 = 18, which is twice 9, while 4+3+2=9: 9 being a number traditionally associated with the Goddess Mother of the World and its gods. In India the number of recited names in a litany of this goddess is 108. 1_-0_8=99, while 108 x 4-432.

The ancient Greeks noticed the movement of nine planets around the Sun.

The Ennead, or nine-pointed star, is an ancient and sacred symbol. It comprises three trinities. The Egyptian, Celtic, Greek and Christian myths all have an ennead of nine gods and goddesses, representing the entire archetypal range of principles.

The tail feathers number nine, the number of degrees in the Chapter, Council, and Commandery of the York Rite of Freemasonry.

In traditional worldwide number lore, nine, or thrice three, was referred to as “the horizon” symbolizing the ultimate, the maximum, “the whole nine yards”. This class will look at the ways people have revered the number nine and its principles through their arts, crafts, architecture, literature, mathematics, mythology, religion and folk-sayings, from "cloud nine" and a pagoda’s nine levels to a cat’s nine lives. Casual attire: no need to “dress to the nines”.

Nine was considered sacred and not assigned a numerical equivalent to any letter in the Chaldean alphabet. It takes nine calendar months to bring a baby into the world from its initial conception. Nine carried a special significance for ancient Chinese regarding odd numbers as being masculine and even numbers as being feminine. "Nine", which is the largest single digit number was taken to mean the "ultimate masculine" and was, therefore, symbolic of the supreme sovereignty of the emperor. For this reason, the number "nine" (or its multiples) is often employed in palace structures and designs.

"The Ennead "flows around the other numbers within the Dekad like an ocean." Nichomachus of Gerasa" Multiplying by nine reveals mirror symmetry among numbers. If any number is multiplied by nine the resulting digits always add to nine. For example 2 x 9 = 18; 3 x 9 = 27, 4 x 9 = 36 and so on.

Thus, the Hebrews referred to nine as the symbol of immutable Truth.

The magic square is also considered sacred and full of power in the Islamic, Tibetan, Buddhist, Celtic, Indian and Jewish traditions. A magic square is when each number is used only once, but the horizontal, vertical and diagonal sums are all equal. The Chinese have patterned their architectural temples along the harmonious principles of the magic square.

In Indian philosophy the number nine is closely associated with the process of creation in the cosmic time cycle. The entire cosmic cycle consists of three phases -- creation, preservation and dissolution. Each of these three parts split into triads (3x3=9) brings the numerical order to nine.

Gurdjieff also uses it, called the Enneagram. This system is very old, and is believed to have originated with the Sufis in the Middle East. It groups people into nine types ('ennea' is Greek for the number nine.) The system teaches that people in a given type often behave and react in similar ways.

A Symbol of Truth, Source of Magic and Power and a System that categorises Human Behaviour - NINE certainly packs a punch as a number.

Watch your life this week and observe how much nine plays a part!