The following is an excerpt from The Practice of Happiness, a book by John Kehoe. Each moment of time is a point in the journey. A point unique and unlike any other point that has come before or will come in the future. Each moment of time is a destination that has been arrived at, whether planned or not. To drink deeply from the moment is to increase your life force - to be aware and awake and alive. To miss the points in the journey is to miss the journey. To think or believe that the points in the journey should be something other than what they are is to miss the essence of the points. It is to miss the journey. Some moments match our expectations of what we think they should be and some moments do not. All are points in the journey. All are jewels and beads in the sacred necklace of our life. The present moment is always filled with infinite treasures. It contains far more than we are capable of receiving. We, however, get into the habit of categorizing our points as good or bad, exciting or dull, important or unimportant, according to both our expectations and interpretations of them. Our expectations and interpretations are filters and blinders that rob and hide from us the essence of what is before us. This is one of the great tragedies of life, because what is before us is nothing less than the miracle of life. It is so easy to miss it, not see it. We get busy. We get preoccupied. We get lost in our own fantasies and worries and expectations when all around us our life is unfolding in the most miraculous ways. Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans. - John Lennon The now is always perfect, vibrant and full. If you think it is less than perfect the problem is with you. Stop and think about this fact. Every moment is utterly unique and will never be repeated again, not in all of eternity. This fact alone should focus your attention on what you're experiencing now. Surrender to the moment. Let go of thinking. Enter for a moment the place where all problems dissolve. When the rational mind is silenced, the intuitive mode produces an extraordinary awareness. Our environment is experienced in a direct way, without the filter of conceptual thinking. And what do we see and experience? Everything becomes grander and fuller, and we discover that we need nothing other than what is before us. There is a sense of wonder and awe, and we see beauty and meaning where none existed before. When you reign in your consciousness and focus it on the now, life becomes much more alive and vibrant. Worries and stress dissolve. Concerns over some possible future events seem absurd. Why worry when the now contains everything you could possibly need? There will be plenty of time to worry tomorrow. Take no thought of tomorrow [...]

Energy-wise, it is not just what we think and do that counts, but equally who we are. Who we are vibrates a unique frequency that resonates throughout the entire energy web. We cannot ignore who we are.  To develop character means we take on the qualities and habits that are most in alignment with our ultimate vision of ourselves. Petty habits that no longer serve us must be dropped, but when we drop our pettiness what do we replace it with? Nature abhors a vacuum and will rush to replace whatever we eliminate with something else. But this works to our advantage, as it gives us an unprecedented opportunity to replace our pettiness with the opposite quality, then let this become our new vibration. We eliminate self-pity and replace it with gratitude. We drop our self-importance and develop humility. We change worry into confidence and fear into faith. We eliminate greediness with generosity; laziness with self-discipline. We become proactive in changing who we are. We look at all the habits we presently possess and ask ourselves do they serve us? Are they in our best interests? Do they help others? Do I want these qualities resonating within me? If the answer is no then we must change them into something else. Discovering what qualities we possess and having the courage to face the truth of who we are is what I call personal archeology. Developing our character in this way gives us a new tool to shift ourselves into whatever we choose. We are able to change whatever we don’t like about ourselves and take on whatever qualities we admire. We do this because we understand the potentials of developing ourselves in this way. Our ability to execute on our best intentions and to do great things depends on who we are. Developing character is envisioning the qualities that are most beneficial for us and having the discipline to practice them until they take hold within us. Courage, compassion, self-discipline, generosity, confidence, faith, creativity, resilience, all these and more exist for us as possibilities. There is no limit to what we can do and become when we put our mind to it. We can weave the web having a clear image of what we wish to be and become. Everything is possible to us. Every day gives us opportunities for building character. It is in our interactions with others, how we deal with difficult situations and the challenges and opportunities of daily life where we demonstrate who we are. The game of life always gives us opportunities to enhance ourselves. Life is always putting us in situations that call forth the best in us, that can help us to grow. We need to be challenged in real life situations to see whether our character is solid or not. It is through this process that we build character and make ourselves strong. We should welcome everything that comes our way, knowing that all things serve their purpose when we have committed [...]

Nothing is needed Nowhere to go. Come home, little one Come home. The following is an excerpt from A Vision of Power and Glory, a book by John Kehoe: Coming home means deciding that now is the time where there is no retreat or illusion. It means looking at yourself, your life, your place in the universe with neither hope nor despair. Seeing everything just as it is. Seeing yourself just as you are. Stopping for a moment and just letting go, and this takes courage. Seeing ourselves as we really are is not easy, nor is it always pleasant. We have spent most of our lives trying to be something different from what we are. To have more money, to be more successful, better looking, smarter, more in shape. Yet in doing this we have fled from ourselves, never taken a stand, never claimed our little piece of the universe, however humble. We have taken no time or opportunity to get to know ourselves and discover our beauty. We have been too frightened of what we might find. Looking closely at ourselves, stopping time and illusion to find out who we are, takes immense courage. For, in examining closely, we might find that we are not as successful or beautiful or smart or loving as we thought or hoped. And this is a shock. Looking closely we might find that instead of having it all together we're really quite vulnerable and confused and alone and unsure. But this is good to see and know about ourselves. Why run away from it? It's real. If we're absolutely honest with ourselves, we'll admit we've suspected as much. And that's good too. For this is when we can see ourselves, rather than when we're puffed up all full of ourselves or trying desperately to become something else. Let go of it all. Come home and relax. Pull up a chair and get reacquainted with the you that exists right now. The one you've been avoiding and trying to change. Let go of all that nonsense. It's neurotic and self-defeating. Maybe being who you are is not as bad as you suspected. Maybe and maybe not. How will you know until you take the time to find out? It's a risk, but the alternative is to be constantly running away from yourself. And that's too tiring. Besides, you've been doing that your whole life. Coming home to ourselves is a wonderful thing. It's a big step. A courageous step. When we get to know and accept ourselves, without illusion, a huge weight is taken off our back. Then we can learn to truly relax and enjoy ourselves. It's while we try desperately to be different from what we are that we get stuck. With taking a stand comes freedom. A new awareness and appreciation of ourselves develops. We become more tolerant of ourselves and even get to like ourselves, faults and all. We become more tolerant of others too. Others suddenly do [...]

Recently I was in Sofia, Bulgaria, presenting a two-day seminar. It was a very rewarding and gratifying experience. There were a thousand people in attendance, almost all were equipped with headsets to hear the translation, as English was not their mother tongue. Two things struck me very clearly as I presented that weekend. The first is how important and relevant Mind Power is to every individual. Secondly, how much I love and am devoted to sharing this information to as large an audience as possible. So for this month’s topic I thought I would give everyone an update on what I am doing, and my plans for the immediate future. Let’s start with this website. It was created in 1997 and has had three or four face-lifts in the thirteen years of its existence. It was created to give those people who will never be able to see me live or attend one of my workshops the opportunity to gain valuable information on how to work with the powers of the mind. It also gives me the ability to share new information and keep my students—including those who have attended my seminars—updated on new, cutting edge findings in psychology, quantum physics, spirituality, and neuroplasticity (which is the exciting new science of rewiring the brain through intention and directed thought). I began teaching in 1978 and have since witnessed many changes and discoveries in our understanding of how the human mind works. This constant development is very exciting and I want you to know that my commitment to the human potential of every individual, and my belief in a positive future for mankind, has never been stronger. Now, in 2010, I am more positive than ever before because I am witnessing firsthand the evolution of consciousness. The changes I’ve seen in the last thirty years in people’s perceptions of themselves and their ability to make a difference are staggering. Most of us now understand that we are a part of something infinitely larger than ourselves, and this something else is calling us to our ultimate destinies as self-evolved beings. Cosmic Consciousness is the new evolutionary leap that each of us is participating in, whether we are aware of it or not. How I see my role in the unfolding destiny of our species is as a catalyst in assisting those I come in contact with, either in my seminars or this website, to maximize their effectiveness at becoming the best they can possibly be. We are all part of one whole, and our success helps many others. So does our generosity and compassion—everything we do and think has an effect on the whole. From this perspective it becomes our social responsibility to uplift ourselves and become and do everything we possibly can, to trust our unique gifts and talents (each of us is different), and to become authentic human beings. Each of us who do this will add to the whole and will make a difference in ways we may never [...]

Nobody ever wants misfortune to come their way. It is much more pleasant and enjoyable to experience success, health, good fortune and a fun and interesting life all the time, where everything unfolds exactly as we’d like it to, but life doesn’t happen that way. And we’re fortunate that it doesn’t. Each life will have a mixture of fortune and misfortune, pleasant and unpleasant experiences, successes and failures, and each of these things has their value and role in our life. As followers of mind power, as most of you on this website are, you know the value of using your thoughts, beliefs and intentions to create a successful and happy life.  But do you know how to gain benefit from misfortune, to have it be a positive force in your life? Misfortune can come in many different ways. It may be a serious illness, the loss of a job, a failure in a project you’ve worked long and hard at, a marriage breakup, a financial bankruptcy where you are obliged to start over, a family crisis.  Whatever form it takes it will be unpleasant and perhaps shake you to your core, making you doubt everything, and this is good. It is from this doubt and despair that something new can birth itself, and with this birth you have the opportunity to gain something very valuable from your misfortune. Each negative circumstance of our life carries with it wisdom and opportunities, no matter how horrific the misfortune may seem at the time. The one thing you can be sure of is that misfortune always demands a change. These changes may not always be what we’d planned, but suddenly we’re thrust into unknown waters and swimming for our life. These changes may not be pleasant, but almost always they are leading us to something good. Movement and change is the way of the universe. We often forget this and crave stability, but the only constant in our life is constant change. Often we get too comfortable in our habits; we fall into a rut, as it is probably a comfortable rut. Comfort is the enemy of change. We never make changes when things are going well. When we are too comfortable in our routines we stagnate. Misfortune is a wonderful device for getting us to notice where we are being complacent or out of alignment. Misfortune forces us to re-assess what is important to us and what is not. It lets us shift our perspective, as we are forced to shift our perspective in order to come to grips with the reality that now faces us. Misfortune also deepens us. When we feel our own vulnerability we can feel others too. We see the human condition differently, develop compassion and understanding. This not only deepens us; it also enriches us. There is a strange and wonderous spaciousness that happens when misfortune comes our way, a spaciousness that allows us to see and feel the richness of simple everyday things like the [...]