INSIGHT

The dictionary defines insight as an understanding of the motivational forces behind one's actions, thoughts, or behavior. Sometimes we get caught up in our daily habits, routines, and old patterns. Although we find comfort in these routines, they can counteract our own goals and dreams. As Peter says: "A person who keeps telling everyone that they only attract jerks in their life, WILL only attract jerks into their life".

Use these techniques in your life and you will soon find yourself happier and more successful than you ever thought you could be. The spirits are here to help us on our path. Listen to them and let them guide you in the positive direction you want.

1. LIVE IN THE MOMENT

When we keep worrying about what the future will hold or keep beating ourselves up and feeling like a victim for actions of our past, then wonder why things never improve for us, we are hurting ourselves. What we need to do is to focus on the image of what we want, and then let it go like it is our personal carrier pigeon carrying our request to the spirits. Never worry about where the bird is going to fly, or if it will get lost, or if it has enough stamina to make it. Just let it go, knowing that your message will be heard. Then go on with your day... TODAY! We all enjoy the benefits of indoor plumbing, yet we don't worry every day about where things go; we just know that it will be taken care of. This is the basic principle of living in the moment.

2. THE POWER OF THE SPOKEN WORD "AS IT IS SPOKEN SO IT SHALL BE"

A person who keeps telling everyone that they only attract jerks in their life WILL only attract jerks into their life. If you keep saying you want to quit your dead-end job but you never do, guess what, you'll soon be fired. This is the spirits' way of giving you a little push to take the next step in the direction of what you keep asking them for. But as we know, finding a new and better job or a new career is more difficult when we need to do it quickly. So next time, instead of saying you hate your job, say that you will be getting an even better job in the near future, then look for one. Soon enough the perfect job will be presented to you for the taking.

Start to think about what you say on a daily basis. Things like "I don't know" and "I'm trying" are counterproductive to your path. If you don't know, you will never know and if you are trying, you will always be trying and never doing. Instead, say "I'm not sure at the moment" and I'm in the process of..." A moment and a process both have a beginning and an end. Don't try to change your language; be in the process of changing it and it will soon be your new language and your new life.

3. MEDITATE DAILY

If you are going through a drive-thru, you place your order and you don't hear any response, do you know how much it will cost? Do you know if the order was taken correctly or if the order was even placed? When you get to the window, you have to fumble for your change and people behind you start honking their horns. Then when you get home, open the bag, and notice the order is wrong. This was all the result of poor communication on your part. We need to check in with spirit daily to see where we are and where they are in our lives. Meditation quiets the mind of all thoughts racing by throughout the day. When you get to the point where you quiet your mind and start to listen, you will start to get messages from spirit. They can come from voices, images, or ideas in your head. Meditation can be any form of focused energy such as exercise, running, painting, or long-distance driving.

Have you ever sat at your desk all day trying to come up with an idea only to find that it came to you in the shower? That is spirit dropping that brilliant idea into your head when you took some time to clear your head and think about nothing but a shower. Think about meditation as your personal drive-thru at McSpirit. Only when you clear your mind and listen, do you know they received your order and you know what they need from you to process it. So meditate every day and Super-Size your life.

4. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN REALITY

Imagine you've got a date on Saturday night and you have nothing to wear. Now imagine you have been courting this person for the past few weeks and you finally got this date. They finally said yes. Of course, you want to make the best impression, right? Well, you know that you have been busy all week with that project which was due on Friday and you put off washing your clothes all week. Then you decided to sleep in on Saturday and veg out until your date. Suddenly, you notice, "Oh crap, I don't have any clothes! I forgot to do laundry!" Now, who was responsible for doing your laundry? No, it's not your mom unless you are six years old. That's right, to find this culprit you only have to look in the mirror. Now get that credit card out and get your butt to the mall, buy a new outfit and learn your lesson for next time. In today's society, too many people play the blame game and don't take responsibility for their own actions. It might make you feel better for the moment to blame others, but why not teach yourself to get your own act together and when things don't go right, look at how you went wrong and fix it, so next time you can be the perfect catch your date really deserves.

5. EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

Have you ever looked at people who are successful or even that couple who are perfect for each other and thought why can't that be me? Well, it can! Why not? The universe dictates that when you set a goal in motion, then it will provide everything and everyone necessary to fulfill that goal. Most often and this is the hard part, it doesn't come to us in the way we thought it would, and sometimes it comes later than we expected. If you keep focusing on the perfect job, the perfect relationship, or more money, but you think, why is it not coming? Well, it is coming and in a way that will be unique to fit you.

Later in the week your boss wants to have a team meeting before a trade-show and sends lowly you out to Starbucks for coffee for the whole team. When you are in line for your order, an executive recruiter spots you in line with the corporate logo on your shirt and asks, "What you do for the company?" In short, you tell him that you have been in this position for a while and you are the glue that keeps your company going, but you are not getting the notoriety that you should get from your boss. He says "Well, I have an opening at my large corporate client for a leadership role and they are looking for someone like you. You should give me a call on Monday." In two short months, you are in your cozy new job with more money and you are going on a date with a person you met on your way to your new job (just remember to do the laundry). You didn't get this job by answering a ton of ads and pounding down doors. You just asked the Universe for it and it was them who sent "the new manager to be" out for coffee right at that perfect moment.

6. ALLOW THINGS TO UNFOLD

Just like in number 5, you are wondering why things are not yet happening for you and when will things start happening? Well, we are all here on this spinning rock to learn. It's a process. Do you expect a sixteen-year-old computer store tech would survive if he were offered a job as the CEO of Google next week? Unlikely, but it illustrates a point. There are other factors that you don't always think of, which you will need to learn to be ready for your new reality. The clerk may be a star at fixing computers, but does he know about people management, global marketing, and cost-benefit analysis? No. Sometimes we are so anxious to get from point A to point B and don't allow the Universe to take us on its river-shaped detour in order for us to learn what is necessary for us to arrive at point B.

7. ALL THINGS HAVE MEANING AND/OR PURPOSE

All things are sacred and all things are connected, which is what makes things work. Imagine you are driving with your family from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for a weekend getaway. When you pass a big truck, you get a weird feeling but don't think much about it and continue on. Later on down the road, you are so into your great audiobook that you notice you have run out of gas. You are so upset with yourself you turn red. But you compose yourself and call for a tow truck. After waiting an hour in the desert sun, you are even more upset. Where the hell is this truck? It finally shows up and the guy is not having a good day either. He begins to tell you about how he just came from a big multi-car crash up the road where a truck driver fell asleep and rammed into stopped traffic. Several people died. Only then do you realize that you could've been in that traffic which was in front of that truck. You, along with your family, could have died.

In the coming weeks, you start to realize the value of life and want to make a difference. Being the mechanical engineer that you are, you invent a device, which monitors truck drivers' attention on the road and the state of their eyelids using a series of cameras. It alerts them when they start falling asleep. You just saved multiple other lives with your own saved life. You also made millions on your invention, which you donate to the families of car crash victims. If you never ran out of gas, all of these lives today would not be affected so greatly. So when things don't go your way, relax. They might just be going your way in a big way, for your benefit and for the benefit of others.

8. ONE DOES NOT BEND ONE'S REALITY TO FULFILL ANOTHER'S NEED

Why don't your relationships ever work out? You seem to do everything that they want and like? Why do they not like you anymore? Try being yourself and doing what you like, instead of what you think others want from you.

Have you ever noticed that it takes police longer to find bank robbers when they wear a mask and a wig? Sometimes it takes months, sometimes years and sometimes they never find the criminals. But whenever the robbers don't wear a disguise, they are picked up the same afternoon. Do yourself a favor and be yourself in every part of your life. Never bend your own reality to fit another's need. Anyone who can't accept everything that makes you, you, isn't the right person for you to begin with and therefore you need to move on. Don't fear being alone either, just remember number 5 (everything and anything is possible). Just get it into your head who and what you want, and then be yourself. If you are athletic, you will find someone who is also athletic when you are out there on the field. If you are a geek, you will find a fellow geek just for you at that Star Trek Convention you pretend you don't want to attend, but secretly do. So quit wearing that emotional disguise and you will find you just might be picked up that same afternoon.

9. HONOR AND RESPECT YOURSELF

You are special and here for a reason. You are the VIP guest at your own party called "life." Some people spend a lot of time and effort finding the perfect gift for a loved one's birthday. When it's their own birthday, they stay home eating leftovers while watching The Game Show Network. As they say in Britain, Ballocks! Get out there and celebrate your life; show yourself the same love and attention you spend on your loved ones. Don't you love yourself as much as you love them? Go buy yourself something you put off because you didn't want to spend the money, then go out and party with your friends and family. Do it! Spend it! You are definitely worth it, Baby!

10. ACCEPT ONE'S SELF IN ALL TOTALITY

You are standing in front of the mirror putting on make-up or shaving when you notice that your left ear is lower and smaller than your right ear. Oh no! It's the end of life as we know it! Guess what? Everyone has something, if not multiple things about themselves that are a little bit out of the ordinary. That is what makes us who we are. You are unique and different from anyone else on the planet. There could be someone else who looks like you do but they have a different personality. Even identical twins are different in some ways. Don't focus on what is wrong and not quite up to the standards of Vogue or GQ. Accept the trivial things and focus on assets that make you the beautiful you. Really, would it be fun living in a world of clones walking around which all looked and acted the same? What a bore! Only when you accept all of your strengths and weaknesses with all of your idiosyncrasies, do you truly start to live life.

11. BE NON-JUDGMENTAL

"OMG! You are never going to believe who just moved into the old Johnson house? They are so weird! Look at the way they dress. I wonder if they are criminals. Someone should do something. I think I will call the police. They just can't move into our neighborhood like that!" Leave the gossip for TV dramas and fear for horror film jump-scares. Learn to accept everyone for what they bring and what they do.

Do you have a fear of spiders? How about bees? Did you know that spiders control the population of insects and without bees, we could not exist? Bees pollinate plant life, which we use to survive directly or indirectly. Besides eating vegetation ourselves, we eat animals that eat vegetation. This is part of the same process, in which bees are involved. They are the Dr. Ruth Westheimer of plant life. They get all those botanical beauties to get it on (in a sense). Without bees, plant life, as we know it would die off and without spiders, all the billions of extra insects would be eating our plants. So next time you see Wednesday and Pugsley on your street, try saying "Hi," and treat them with the same respect you'd give yourself. They add to society in a way you cannot see. Maybe they save lives every day just like the spider and the bee.

12. SPEAK YOUR TRUTH

Your neighbors have been telling you about their big holiday bash for a month now, but you really don't want to go. It's not that you don't like them or that you are not a festive person, you are just not in the mood for another party. You don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, so you tell them you'll go. For the next few weeks, you keep agonizing about the looming “Soiree of Santadom." You told your family about it and how the neighbors are nice, but you just don't want to go, yet you feel obligated. When the day finally arrives, you get sick. This was spirit's way of granting your wish. You didn't want to go, so they made you sick so you couldn't go. Now, you feel miserable for the rest of December. Wouldn't it have been better if you said to your understanding neighbors, "Thank you for the invite, but I am not in the mood for another party this month? However, if you have a barbecue on the 4th of July, I'm in"? See, wasn't that easier? Next time save money on those seven extra boxes of tissue and speak your truth.