The Love ‘n Light Net

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The Love ‘n Light Net, dozens of other professionals and the Baby Boomer [Knowledge Center]™ are contributing to the improvement of communications and relationships between professionals and you, the baby boomer consumer we are trying to help, with a new initiative called @BoomerAuthority.

@BoomerAuthority is a free service on Twitter that advocates the rapid shift in the way marketers of products and professionals selling services reach you, the baby boomer consumer, from one-way communication to one of listening and individual response. Through Twitter, @BoomerAuthority connects you to qualified professionals who will first listen and then help you with your question.

How to Use @BoomerAuthority on Twitter:
When you need help with an issue, have a question, seek an opinion, or simply want a recommendation:
1. Send a public message on Twitter to @BoomerAuthority.
2. Your tweet is read by BoomerAuthority community members who monitor the Twitter feed for questions related to their area expertise.
3. A knowledgeable member from the Boomer Authority community with the expertise you are looking for, or with an answer to the specific question you have, will respond directly via your preferred method of response. Basically, you’re requesting qualified members of the Boomer Authority community for help.

Listed below are but a few examples how you can access the Boomer Authority community:
You . . .
─are looking for help with career choice options, beginning an encore career, or launching a new business venture
─need a recommendation for a realtor, active adult retirement community, financial advisor
─have a thorny grandparent issue to deal with and want objective advice
─creating a blog for the first time and need webmaster or hosting support
─want an opinion about joining a particular social networking community
─will be travelling to a foreign country and want recommendation on a hotel
─need to obtain advice on eldercare, divorce, or early retirement
─think you are in a mid-life quandary and want to speak with someone
─seek an answer that is related to health, wellness or fitness

Include in the tweet your preferred method of response: @Reply (public stream) DM (Direct Message) – - or whatever other method you prefer, such as email or telephone.

Click @BoomerAuthority to ask your question.

The Boomer Authority Expert Community
The Boomer Authority community of experts are alliance partners of the Baby Boomer [Knowledge Center]. For a complete listing of Founding Members click >> Boomer Authority.

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Important note as of April, 2009:  I have now formed my own, brand new abundance-generating support group, called The I AM Community, which has for me taken the place for me of the cash gifting program I was previously involved in.  This INCLUDES cash gifting, but offers members a lot more in terms of value (and is even simpler to get involved in).  For complete info, including why I designed this, go to WhyILoveGifting.info

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The other day I was driving with my 18-year-old daughter, and she started laughing loudly after something I said.  I asked her why she was laughing.

Her reply was, “I just had an epiphany.”

Wow!  I told her I was impressed with her knowledge of that word, that she actually used it in conversation, to which she replied that I must think she’s “dumb”.

Of course I told her, “Not true!  I just think you’re at a point in life when you at times exhibits amazing big-girl wisdom and maturity, while at other times you still revert to a little-girl’s type of behavior, like when you scream at me for something I’ve said or done.”

As my daughter exited the car her final words were, “That’s not being a big girl and a little girl; that’s being a smart girl and an angry girl.”

On my way home I realized that I had just been handed another nugget of wisdom.  Why isn’t it OK to be both smart AND angry?  And what’s wrong with being angry anyway?  When my daughter expresses her anger she’s letting off steam so she can be done with the related issue, unlike those “adults” among us who may not be quite so loud but who stew in it and in some cases hold on to a grudge for an entire lifetime.  It’s also her way of reminding herself that she’s just given her power away and now she’s taking it back.

Yes, it’s often uncomfortabe to be on the receiving end of those screams of hers, but usually there’s some lesson in it for me, some “mis-take” I need to acknowledge and learn from.  Other times it’s an opportunity for me to be in the presence of the emotions of another without taking them on myself.  And if I detect the presence of a feeling of guilt, well, perhaps there’s some old limiting belief I possess that’s ready for clearing, which she has just given me the chance to notice and do.

I guess we both had an epiphany that day.

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I’ve been working a lot with intention lately, which used to be known as commitment.  One of the neat things about intention is that it can be applied to everything from the most grandiose goals to the smallest tasks (which add up to the grandiose goals).  Another is that it’s so simple.  No fancy techniques to learn or words to memorize.  The trick is to make sure your energy is in alignment with your intention, which requires your subconscious to be, too.

I’m reprinting here the Continuous Cleansing Prayer from Immunics as a way to get you started with intention (or boost whatever you’ve been doing up to now).  To learn more about the Immunics process (as simple as intention itself) to boost the power of this prayer and any other intentions you set, contact me through this site and/or go to Immunics.org.  I can offer you other simple yet powerful processes as well.  Happy intending!

Continuous Cleansing
(the all level immunity prayer)
The prayer isn’t something you say — it’s something you do. When I get the signal:

• All my bodies are free of pathology.
• All my bodies are free of immune dysfunction.
• All my bodies are at full function.
• I’m bringing my immune system up to twice the level it needs to be at to handle
the toughest challenge I will face today.
• I’ve installed all necessary immunological shields.
• I’m attracting remedies and antidotes to dysfunction.
• I’m leaving behind everything that slows me down.
• All my God connectors are in.
• I’m installing the reflex to give love and empowerment.
• I am attracting warm, happy feelings in others.
• I’m merging my results bodies with _____ (people you choose – remove and
install the right factors).
• I’ve installed discrimination between things (people, activities, and locations)
that win and ones that don’t, a reflex to drop the ones that don’t even when I’m
succeeding with them and a reflex to do the ones that do even when I’m a
beginner at them.
• I’m attracting powerful, benevolent allies.
• I’m on the best side of my highest possible dimension.
• I’m removing all disturbances from the emotional bodies of everyone in the
world.
• I’m protecting myself and my people from incipient catastrophes.
• I’m realizing the loving, world shaping, and God given intentions I’ve carried
from life to life.
• I’m causing my career and those of the people I love to be what God intends.
• I am attracting increased capacity in myself and my group to accept power
infusion.
• My particle attributes are in balance and at full strength to succeed at God’s
work.
• All my bodies are in God.
• All my bodies are one rainbow.
• I am free.

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Thanks to Family Well-Being for the following article:

The energy drinks that seem to fill the coolers of every convenience store and checkout line carry more risks than what we’ve been led to believe. Experts have been cautioning teens and other adults for years against stoking up on multiple cans of the stuff before sporting events, for instance, because it can actually increase the risk of dehydration and contribute to an elevated heart rate even before exercise begins.

Now new studies suggest that the drinks’ caffeine boost can do even more damage to people with high blood pressure — as well as those who mix buzz juice with booze.

Johns Hopkins professor of behavioral biology Roland Griffiths, PhD, agrees. Griffiths has been studying the effect of caffeine on the body for many years, and he says the stimulant is the most widely used mood-altering drug in the world.

Griffiths says energy drink consumers are being misled by advertising for the products.

“The ads give people the idea that they are getting a cocktail of various ingredients fine-tuned to synergistically enhance energy,” he says. “As far as I can tell, this is bogus. The effects of these drinks are largely due to the presence of added caffeine, and the magnitude of the effect is completely caffeine-dose dependent.”

The first study was presented Tuesday before the American Heart Association’s annual scientific meeting in Orlando, Fla.

In fact, while the drinks are often marketed around images of extreme-sports competitions, marathons or study days, researchers are finding that many high-school and college students are using the energy drinks to keep them awake for longer alcoholic binges.

Another study shows that college students who drink booze mixed with energy drinks are twice as likely to be hurt or injured than those who did their drinking without the aid of the boosters.

This was among the findings of Wake Forest University researchers that were presented to the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting in Washington this week.

The Wake Forest team also found that those students who mix are twice as likely to require medical attention or to ride with an intoxicated driver than students who just drank alcohol.

Additionally, those who mixed energy and alcoholic drinks were more than twice as likely to take advantage of someone else sexually, and almost twice as likely to be taken advantage of, according to the study. It was based on a Web survey of nearly 4,300 college students from 10 universities.

“We knew, from speaking with students and researching blogs and Web sites, that college students mix these drinks and alcohol in order to drink more and to drink longer,” said Dr. Mary Claire O’Brien, an associate professor of emergency medicine who led the study.

“But we were surprised that the risk of serious and potentially deadly consequences is so much higher for those who mixed energy drinks with alcohol, even when we adjusted for the amount of alcohol.”

Just as the time-honored practice of pouring coffee into an inebriated partygoer produces a “wide-awake drunk,” O’Brien says younger party goers may not realize how impaired they are because of the stimulant effect.

“Only the symptoms of drunkenness are reduced, but not the drunkenness. They can’t tell if they’re drunk and they can’t tell if someone else is drunk. So they get hurt, or they hurt someone else.”

For more on this see: “Energy Drinks: What the new studies tell us” from Scripps. For more on the truth about what caffeine really can do to you (and your student/children), see: “Caffeine Fuels Most Energy Drinks” from WebMD.

And if you’d like some REAL, naturally created energy, check out…

The Ultimate Energy Starter Kit

Until the end of March, if you decide to purchase this kit after checking it out, you’ll be entitled to one FREE phone session on what’s draining YOUR energy and, more importantly, how to recover and increase what you’ve been losing.  You must contact me by email (E.Kratka@sbcglobal.net) after you purchase to let me know you’d like to take advantage of this special, time-limited offer.

Also take a look at The Feast  an honest-to-goodness energy drink, made from a slew of fruits and vegetables and other good things.

And you may want to educate yourself about what types of health products really nourish (build energy) and which ones merely stimulate (ultimately sapping energy and life force).  Click on this link:  Wellness Lecture  and use the password: E.Kratka@sbcglobal.net.

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In my type of work, spiritual coaching and healing, I have to be aware of and address many core beliefs that people hold, especially the ones that tend to limit them in some way, like by creating disease or emotional suffering.

So the experience – or perception – of betrayal is something I come across a lot.

I’ve always thought that betrayal is about a violation of trust. You trust someone to give you love, to be there for you, to look out for you, to be loyal to you, and then suddenly they stop doing it. Voila, you’ve been betrayed.

To heal this perception requires understanding that there was actually a deficiency of trust in the first place, not of the person who betrayed you, but rather of yourself, which manifests as (rather than being created by) someone else pulling the rug out from under you. Another case of “It’s all done with mirrors.”

Recently, however, I came across another definition of betrayal, which really made me stop and think, and that for me has brought the kind of depth to working with this issue that invariably leads to spiritual growth – for my clients and myself.  So I’ve decided to share it with you.

The new definition is this:

A person betrays when s/he refuses to accept a gift.

Like you (I imagine) I had to stop and re-read it and think about it. A person betrays me, not if s/he refuse to GIVE me what I want, but rather and ONLY if s/he REFUSES what I choose to give him/her.

Kind of mind-boggling (and counter-intuitive), isn’t it?

If this is true, then WHY is it true? And how do I now think about the other acts – the ones I’ve been calling betrayal?

Here’s what I’ve come to. Please remember – as always – that whatever I say is true for me, and not necessarily true for you. Take what you like and leave the rest. And feel free to leave your comments below with your own truths!

In the definition given above are embedded several fundamental Truths.  (I’ve capitalized the word here because I believe these are spiritual laws.)

1. The universe is made of love.  And God/Goddess – Spirit – Universal Consciousness or Source (whatever name works for you) wants us – as extensions of itself – to experience this love all the time.

2. We cannot destroy or diminish this Divine love in any way.  We can, however, because we have free will, impede its flow, by forgetting that we are made of it and have access to it in infinite supply or in some other way convincing ourselves of the opposite of this.

3. We have everything we need at all times (this is probably a corollary of 2.)  To believe otherwise – like that we have lost something essential – is to believe in an illusion, albeit a powerful one.

So…

If no one can take anything away from us, because in Reality we always have everything we need, then no one can betray us by taking anything away from us.  (Remember, we’re speaking spiritually here, and spiritual needs are at the root of all others.) We remain connected to one another and to the Source of all our good ALWAYS.  As eternal threads in the Divine tapestry of life, light and love, no one and nothing is ever really gone or destroyed.

So, what DOES constitute betrayal?

Well, if Spirit wants us to accept the greatest gift of all – Divine Love – of which all others gifts are extensions and reflections, then a giver is doing God’s will, and so is the receiver, since to receive is an equally important experience that Spirit wishes to have through us.  Therefore, to refuse a gift is to deny and betray ourselves, the giver and Spirit itself – since in Reality we are all One – by impeding the flow of Love.

You may find this definition challenging.  Take your time in working with it; feel the emotions that come up; allow yourself to work with and gently release the judgments and imprints you may have about what I have written here.  I believe it will be well worth your while because this new way of looking at betrayal can empower you, set you free and help you open to receive Love in unending supply .

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Recently a lot of information – and synchronicities – have been showing up for me indicating that 1) my most difficult experiences had been contracted with my own and others’ souls before this lifetime, and 2) that I am to help others understand how this plays out in their own lives.

In case this idea is new to you, I’ve provided a link at the end of this post to an article about soul contracts (the kind having to do with relationships, although there can be many others).  And, if this idea resonates with you – brings up insights, feelings, questions – please post your comments below (rather than emailing to me directly, so that others may benefit as well).  Remember to post your comments and/or sign up for your free classes in my telecourse BEFORE clicking on the link (and leaving this page).

If we think of life as a game, then the objective, it seems to me, is to learn the lesson and experience the growth from our life events as quickly as possible to end (or avoid) our suffering and become better, more loving and more powerful creators.

So, being bound and determined to win this game, these days I’m analyzing my experiences and learning my life lessons with a full heart and at warp speed.  And in case you’d like to dive into this work yourself, here are some of the questions I ask my Higher Self.

Is this discomfort chronic or a one-time/temporary/unrelated incident?

Do I have a prior, soul-driven agreement to experience this?

[If it involves another person] Did we make this agreement together?

This allows me to thank them at the end when I’ve gotten the lesson and let go of the emotional attachment to the suffering, as hard as that is to imagine when I’m in the midst of it.

Now for the lesson-learning part…

What spiritual quality is involved in my experience?  Is it blocked – perhaps by a belief – or deficient (for whatever reason)?

There are many qualities to consider – it could be love and connectedness, freedom, goodness, power, humility, responsibility, integrity, trust, safety, etc., etc.

If I absolutely knew it to be true, what knowing would end the pain and conclude the lesson (with an A+)? [This must be about you, NOT about someone else.]

Here are some examples to get you started:

• I’m a magnificent, Divine being.
• I have everything I really need right now.
• God/Goddess/Spirit loves me.
• Life is eternal.
• I planned well, and my rewards are coming.
• I’m safe from harm.

If I’m not ready to accept that, what COULD I accept as a first step?

Examples:

• I’m growing stronger with each passing day.
• I have many blessings in my life.
• There are people who love and value me.

Now spend a few moments breathing in the knowing and releasing the judgments that have gotten in its way up to this point.  Feel the peace.  Feel the bliss.

Finally, offer gratitude to whoever has helped you learn this lesson for the agreement they made with you so long ago.

Until next time, love yourself unconditionally and never stop!

article on soul relationships

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I wish to offer you a poem by May Sarton . For me this poem is as much a timely spiritual prophecy as it is a statement of great personal comfort. May it warm your heart as much as it does mine.

Of Molluscs

As the tide rises, the closed mollusc

Opens a fraction to the ocean’s food,

Bathed in its riches. Do not ask

What force would do, or if force could.

A knife is of no use against a fortress.

You might break it to pieces as gulls do.

No, only the rising tide and its slow progress

Opens the shell. Lovers, I tell you true.

You who have held yourselves closed hard

Against warm sun and wind, shelled up in fears

And hostile to a touch or tender word -

The ocean rises, salt as unshed tears.

Now you are floated on this gentle flood

That cannot force or be forced, welcome food

Salt as your tears, the rich ocean’s blood,

Eat, rest, be nourished on the tide of love.

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Now some great things to do around the house or garden. Life is getting easier all the time! (Thanks to Keith for these and the Food Tricks!)

Weed prevention
Start putting in your plants, and work the nutrients into your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic, but they will not get through wet newspapers.

Broken glass remedy
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.

No more mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away. (Much better to use it this way than in your dryer – see below.)

Squirrel away
To keep squirrels from eating your garden plants sprinkle them with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it.

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or from under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing static cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and — ta da! — static is gone.

Measuring cup ease
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser. Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside , just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair…

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS [from Ellen: I don't use dryer sheets for health reasons, but those of you who do should read this.]
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load of clothes.) He then took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material – I’m sure you know what your dryer’s lint filter looks like. Well…the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn’t go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh and that’s what burns out the heating unit. You can’t SEE the film, but it’s there. It’s what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free — that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box, well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire and potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long!

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Here are some cool things to do with food, to make it more delicious and your life easier.

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won’t have to pick the little “stringy things” off of it. That’s how the primates do it.

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not get moldy.

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove. Set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza (or harmful microwaves).

To make easy deviled eggs put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash ’til they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up, mixing thoroughly. Cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw the bag away when done for easy clean up.

When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, cover them with a wet paper towel before placing in the toaster oven for a few minutes. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Enjoy!

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