Urban Guru your inspired guide to urban living

We are sleeping giants,

Formed from dust by the great sky,

Our souls are more powerful than angels,

Our bodies shine brighter than the sun,

Our dreams now our destiny!

It’s grey and rainy most of the year round in the UK, so make a point of capturing a little bit of holiday sun and inspiration to carry with you throughout the year. If you do get a chance to go on holiday, make a point of creating a few moments of blissful calm, tranquillity and inspiration, so whether it’s by the pool or walking down a country lane, on standing on top of a mountain, take breathe deeply and turn on your minds video recorder.

Crystallise the experience in your mind and body, be aware of all of your senses, the feeling of the sun warming your face, the cool breeze, the view, the smell, remember this moment and save it to your inner hard-drive, by holding your thumb and forefinger together, so that when you’re waiting for a busy in the cold and bitter rain, you can automatically bring back that stunning summer experience and feel the sunshine on the inside. It may not stop the rain from falling but it might just take the edge off.

Blessings are metered by OUR ability to receive, not the Universes ability to give. It’s almost like, the Universe would like to give us everything but it is us that says no.

In some sense, as a friend suggested, sometimes it’s our ‘personality’ which gets in the way of blessings. And that sometimes we need to let go of our selves, put our sense of ‘Self’ to one side to simply allow God’s blessings into our lives.

Some say that we have to make a “vessel” a way and a path, for the Universe to bless us. But I believe, more important than the creation of a mere ‘vessel’ or conduit of divine blessing, we ourselves, must become spiritually able and willing to receive blessing into our hearts and into our lives.

The questions we are forced to ask are; are we open enough, receptive enough, willing enough to allow the divine to give us everything and more? Are we ready to accept bliss into our every moment of our lives?!!!?

Say to yourself; “I’m sorry for having previously been a barrier to receiving blessings, I forgive you for the past, I now allow you to accept all blessings into your heart with joy and love. I allow the source of all blessings to flow through me, so that peace is my very being and the abundance of blessing my inheritance!”

Stop! Just wait a moment, there is a little lie that you believe; that you are somehow completely separate from the universe, from the whole. That you are just a little furry monkey trying desperately to hold on to this tiny spinning planet, in some forgotten Wild West Corral at the edge of this dusty galaxy, but that’s not the case.

You are actually an integral part of a responsive and intelligent, feeling universe. You are made of the very same substance as the Big Bang and the very same stuff as whatever preceded Space and Time. You are a little bit of God! (I’m a Guru I’m allowed to say that).

The problem is that you believe that the Gold/God/Wealth and Happiness are found ‘Out There’ in those them there hills, but the truth of the matter is that the source of all of the wealth and bliss in your life is not found outside of yourself, but deeply within.

If you are to discover and claim the material wealth in the world outside of you, you must first discover the mountains of ‘gold’ that you already contain.

You must claim wealth, prosperity and spiritual happiness as your birthright and become a gold-digger in the mines of your heart, and uncover the infinite that you have within you.

If you intend it with all of your internal power, if you begin to imagine it, to feel it, then it must come into being. Even if this means that your cosmic soul has to travel back in time, to the beginning of the Universe and form the very gold that you are about to find in the hills and mountains of the open market.

It is you and your intention, your divine will to manifest your infinite potential in any way you choose. You are a creator of the life you are living; you manifest and create wealth and success in your life.

You are the goose that lays the golden eggs!

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This was first published in the Sep 2007 edition of EN Magazine

I’m not sure if I’ve told you but the ‘Urban Guru’ is simply a myth, it is a realm of enlightened tranquillity and transparent awareness that exists in a state of potential within each and every urban dweller. It just happens to be that the Urban Guru in me has become manifest that I use the honourable title.

But you, also have the ability to create a serene personal utopia, within your current life, to become your own Urban Guru, to travel within the city without moving, to swim in an ocean of pure cosmic intelligence, to realise the divine nature of your very being with every single moment, with every single breathe.

But there is a bloody war on; it is a spiritual war to free or keep captive, the Urban Guru within you. To allow yourself to become all that you are destined to be, or to remain in a state of dull, stressed, mediocrity.

This battle has been prophesised by many cultures and it has been given different names; Holy War, Jihad, Shamhhala, Amalek, Armageddon, but ultimately all the mystical traditions explain that the great battle is a personal spiritual war.

One of these noble traditions explains that in order to create your personal utopia, the campaign you must wage is for the annihilation of your own internal cynicism.

Internal cynicism is the only thing stopping you truly living the life of your dreams, of becoming extremely successful, of living in your own version of heaven on earth.

To annihilate cynicism, you must become a something of a Jedi Knight, Sámi-Warrior and Buddhist monk, finding peace and stillness within, trusting the unfolding of life, armed with a powerfully loving heart and protected by a potent psychic shield.

Learn to relax, give yourself permission to trust and believe in yourself completely. Give yourself the opportunity to be open to the unknown within you, to all that is good and innocent in you.

When you reach that place you will realise that; You are the Urban Guru!

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This was first published in the Aug 2007 edition of EN Magazine

PEACE

Conflict or anykind cannot be resolved by more conflict,

Anti-war marchs just increase war,

Boycots just add spritual fuel to the problem

I’d just learn to focus

To breathe,

to spend time developing a mediative practice

even if it’s for a few mins a day

Breathing in and out

saying words like, Love, Peace, Relax, Calm, Bliss, Happiness, God, Divine, Tranquility, etc…

to yourself quietly.

Imagine a bright white healing light entering your lungs, filling your entire being with love and bliss,

see yourself as a being of calm healing light

a supernova of divine energy

smile inwardly to yourself,

say I allow myself the chance to be free, to be truly free,

happiness is my birthright, etc…

become the sourse of love, peace and blessings in your own life

don’t worry about office conflicts

if you can rediscover peace within yourself - the entire world will stop fighting

within you is the divine, the power to change, the power to create, to influence, to manifest your dreams

make sure your dreams are hopefilled and love filled.

wishing you much love
the Urban Guru

You are the wealthiest person in the world
You are the most successful person in the world
You are the most affluent person in the world
You are the most prosperous person in the world

You are the most accomplished person in the world
You are the most talented person in the world
You are the most gifted person in the world
You are the most intelligent person in the world
You are the most balanced person in the world
You are the most well adjusted person in the world
You are the most harmonious person in the world

You are the most powerful person in the world
You are the most influential person in the world
You are the most potent person in the world
You are the most vital person in the world
You are the most important person in the world
You are the most determined person in the world
You are the most resolute person in the world

You are the most protected person in the world
You are the most privileged person in the world
You are the luckiest person in the world
You are the most fortunate person in the world
You are the most blessed person in the world

You are the most delightful person in the world
You are the most charming person in the world
You are the most charismatic person in the world
You are the most magnetic person in the world
You are the most enigmatic person in the world
You are the most captivating person in the world
You are the most enchanting person in the world

You are the most intoxicating person in the world
You are the most stimulating person in the world
You are the most alluring person in the world
You are the sexiest person in the world
You are the most delicious person in the world
You are the most attractive person in the world
You are the most beautiful person in the world
You are the most gorgeous person in the world
You are the loveliest person in the world
You are the most loveable person in the world
You are the most loved person in the world

You are the most content person in the world
You are the most satisfied person in the world
You are the most fulfilled person in the world
You are the most comfortable person in the world
You are the most secure person in the world
You are the most perfect person in the world
You are the most complete person in the world
You are the most whole person in the world
You are the most wholesome person in the world

You are the healthiest person in the world

You are the happiest person in the world
You are the friendliest person in the world
You are the most approachable person in the world
You are the most decent person in the world
You are the most sociable person in the world
You are the most responsive person in the world
You are the most welcoming person in the world
You are the most approachable person in the world
You are the most encouraging person in the world
You are the most helpful person in the world
You are the most enjoyable person to be with in the world
You are the most accommodating person in the world
You are the most accepting person in the world

You are the most cheerful person in the world
You are the most positive person in the world
You are the most joyful person in the world
You are the most grateful person in the world
You are the most gracious person in the world
You are the most pleasant person in the world

You are the calmest person in the world
You are the most relaxed person in the world
You are the most chilled person in the world
You are the smoothest person in the world
You are the most flexible person in the world
You are the most adaptable person in the world
You are the most tranquil person in the world

You are the most enlightened person in the world
You are the most blissful person in the world
You are the most inspired person in the world
You are the most inspiring person in the world
You are the most inspirational person in the world

You are the most aware person in the world
You are the most conscious person in the world
You are the most mindful person in the world
You are the most humble person in the world
You are the most gracious person in the world
You are the most at ease person in the world
You are the most serene person in the world
You are the most effortless person in the world
You are the most confident person in the world
You are the most restful person in the world
You are the most peaceful person in the world

You are the most wonderful person in the world
You are the brightest person in the world
You are the most brilliant person in the world
You are the most luminous person in the world
You are the most radiant person in the world
You are the most dazzling person in the world
You are the most stunning person in the world
You are the most resplendent person in the world
You are the most glorious person in the world
You are the most magnificent person in the world

You are a tidal wave of change
You are a catalyst for positivity
You are the axis on which the universe spins
You are the creator of your own existence
You are who you want to be

I’ve been looking for ‘that book’ - you know the one - that’ll teach you how to instantly attain a Jedi-like-Buddhahood, the one that effortlessly reminds you of what you already know deep down. And I’ve looked in the Mind/Body/Spirit section of the bookshop - also the Popular Science section - for cool Urban-Warrior-style book about Quantum Physics.

And I’ve even tried searches on the internet – for phrases like ‘Buddha-in-the-hood’ or ‘Jedi-Buddhahood’- but nothing apart from a Star Wars role-playing book for $179!! which (by-the-way) I saw about three years ago in another bookshop for about £40! - (so much for my prude investment intuition) anyways - I don’t want to play-act being a Jedi - or read a load of Buddhist or Tao airy fairy stuff half mixed with loads of Indian ‘Words’ and lingo just to feel ‘spiritual’.

I just want a plain talking - selfless - down-to-earth guide, I want to actually Be - to feel and experience that inner-peace altered state of Higher Consciousness

And then it came to me – Flash! – Smack! - Boom!!!! - like an old ‘friend’ - who I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to bump into again - and it asked me:

‘Why are you looking outside of yourself - for the answers and solutions that lye within yourself?

Write your own bloody book!’ it said –

‘Discover the inner-Buddha in you -

uncover the Jedi Knight - hiding in your dressing gown.

Behold the Uber Mench - Behold the Urban Guru!’

Abbie is the best Mom in the world - She’s the mother of my child and my wise and lovely partner in crime. I love her to bits!

She’s my No. 1! This is also a great way to find out if she actually does read my blog as she claims she does. But more than that, without her there would be no Urban Guru.

Abbie is my main day-to-day Life Coach and Urban Guru, she embodies the wisdom I only dream about.

And I just wanted to share that with the world!

When writing business plans, making that investment in your business future, you often forget the most important asset in this whole venture and that’s YOU!

However great your business idea, what is ultimately going to make it a success is you! No matter what the business, it is people who are ultimately going to have to buy in to you and your business idea.

If you’re going to change this idea you’ve got in to a successful business reality then you’re going to have to be the real power behind it.

As an entrepreneur you’re going to need bag loads of self-belief, motivation, determination, vision, drive and passion. You’re going to have to learn how to first convince yourself, let alone the bank manager, that you are going to be successful.

Success is not just what you’ve achieved in your life, it’s not the car you drive, the house you own, the business you’ve created or what you’ve got in the bank, it is more importantly, a state of mind, a feeling that wells up in the core of your being that gives you that special twinkle in your eye and that confident bounce in your step.

How are you going to be successful? I’m going to let you in on a really powerful and practical tool that can really give you the continuous drive and motivation to make your business a real success.

This is how it works: Think about where you want your business to be in five years time? Imagine that your business is going to be a fantastic success. Let me ask you a few questions: What would it look like? How would it work? What’s your role? What’s your day like? How do you look? And most importantly, how do you feel? Do you feel confident? Do you feel successful?

If you can taste that future success now, then you’re on your way to becoming truly successful! Everyday take time to think about the person you want to be in the not to distant future and remind yourself of what it is like to feel so utterly successful.

So here’s the trick, start to be that successful person now, start to live with that feeling of success. It’s like getting a check from the future, take a little bit of that feeling of your future success and allow it to start influencing the way you feel and live today.

So when you walk down the street, people can tell that you’re already successful and you’re on your way to even greater success.

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This was first published in the March 2007 edition of EN Magazine 

Everyday, if you listen closely, the Universe within yourself is telling you something.

If you listen you will hear, that small and quite voice, that knowing feeling that dwells behind your heart, it is urging you to love.

To do what you love, to be what you love, to live the life you love.

But you’ll only hear it if you spend time and energy learning to listen, learning to quiet your mind, to sit still for a moment, to let go of everything you are trying to hold on to.

If you are able to create room within yourself, to create time within your day, to make space in your life to listen, then you will hear the compelling gush of your soul, forward towards that passion in your life, the goodness in you heart, the loving sparkle in you eyes.

If you could just learn to breathe, gently, to listen to your breathing, to focus on your breathing, to feel the sensation of your breath passing slowing and easily in and out of your lungs, if you could allow it to make a space within you that is open and receptive then you will hear.

This voice, this drum, this tidal wave of subtle joy that wants to engulf your whole being with every beat of your heart.

So begin to relax, allow yourself to just be, let yourself be comfortable in your own skin and learn to love the you that you are.

If you spend time listening, your heart to sing you its secret song, of longing and laughter of love and joy and you’ll discover that it’s the same song you have been singing your whole life silently, the song that you knew when you were a child and running in the fields, the song which your heart is drumming to is your life.

So let today be one of song, let it fill you with joy, let the rhythm within travel without.

And start to hear the love for all existence that is always singing if you’d only listen.

I found this great little Karmic Contract in a lovely (although at times strange) little book called ‘A Litle Book of Prosperity Magic’ by Cynthia Killion.

It’s a contract you can use to help change your life, to help you realise how attached you can be to suffering and saying this aloud help you to change your internal priorities. You can adjust this contract as much as you like so it works for you. 

“I, …………………………., am now willing to release all previous vows of poverty, sacrifice, unhappiness, loneliness, sickness, and struggle. Furthermore, I also give up any attachment to suffering or fear of success. I affirm that none of these are qualities of my natural state.

I, …………………………., now claim my natural right to health, love, happiness, and wealth. I declare that I am now manifesting all my heart’s desires, easily and effortlessly, without struggle. I no longer feel the need to create suffering for myself.

I, …………………………., now affirm that the Universe has been informed of these changes, and it will now begin to respond accordingly. I affirm that I am in an eternal state of perfect prosperity and peace.

This contract nullifies and voids all previous contracts to the contrary.

__________________________________________

(Signature and date)”

‘A little book of prosperity magic’ by Cynthia Killion, Published by The Crossing Press California Page 60

So you may have been wondering why, I’ve been posting less than my usual brilliantly inspiring ideas over the past few weeks (the adjective conjunction ‘incoherent gibberish’ comes to mind) and you can probably guess that it hasn’t entirely worn off, but I’ve got good reason.

And it’s quite simple: We’ve had a baby!! Wow, I’ve been keeping that to myself for far too long.

I was hoping that having a baby (I didn’t actually have it my lovely and beautiful wife did) wouldn’t really have any negative impact on my life or lifestyle whatsoever, I know that it was a bit of wishful thinking, but I’m honest enough to admit when I might not have gotten it completely correct, and now is one of these times (it happens quite often actually, anyways, moving swiftly on).

So I can confirm after rigorous research, it’s official; permanent sleep deprivation does affect your cognitive abilities! (but I guess you knew that).

I’ve been reading a book recommended to me by a friend and editor of my upcoming book (the working title is: ‘Dangerous Kabbalah – the Urban Guru’s manual to creating a Person Utopia’ )

Anyways – I’m reading ‘How Proust can change your life‘– and so far, between nappies and midnight feeds – it’s been a really lovely and interesting read. But the main issue that it’s raised is the writing style – it’s really well written, the author has a subtle almost invisible fluidity, it’s personal, intelligent and it’s written with humour and sophistication.

I suppose this was meant to be a less than subtle hint from my editor about how to improve my own writing style ha? So I think the message I’m hoping to take away with me is, just to be myself, just to let all the ideas in my head out, and to fill in all the bits of inner conversation that I usually drop out of my attempts at writing stuff.

(So - randomly jumping from one subject to something else seemingly unrelated without giving the reader a chance - here we go - and also trying to put into practice the above lesson, i’ll let you know almost everything I was thinking for about 10 mins this morning…)

To my horror, on my way to work, I found the words ‘Star trekking across the Universe always going forward cos we can’t find reverse’ stuck in my head and instead of punishing myself for randomly remembering such meaningless trash, I decided instead to think about it a bit, sing it, play with it, it may have come to me for a reason, my mind, my deep subconscious might be trying to tell me something?

This thought was briefly interrupted by the appearance of the Sabi Rock guy near Trinity Way again (and I beeped to show my support, as is my custom now) and there it was again, ‘star-trekking across the universe’, and suddenly I got a little flash of an insight, that taste of a new idea ruminating in the back of mind, like the salivation induced memory triggered by an anticipated food about to enter your mouth:

We are all travelling though the universe right now! And that we all are bits of star dust etc, the world we inhabit is just as much a part of ‘the Universe’ as much as the moon, Pluto and supernovas.

But more than that, there is no reverse, there is no going backwards, time stops us from going backwards, the past is the past, forwards is the only direction we are going, it is the only direction we are heading and that’s not a bad thing !

So this stupid trashy song is really teaching me and reminding me of something very profound, that ‘The Universe Am I’.

Why is this important or significant?

Society is a construct, a whole bunch of social norms (and idea) that we buy into, in the culture we live in we have agreed priorities based on our collective view of the world.

Those priorities shape the way we live but they are based on a view of the world which is subjective and very limited.

Most of us, get so caught up in the mundane stresses of our lives, worrying about petty politics, pushing our way forward in the traffic, stressing about what other people think about us, building images of who we are.

But that’s because we’ve got a limited uninformed view of ourselves and the universe. Because we feel that we are the centre of our own universe, we forget the bigger picture, and that is that we are really part of the Universe, an almost infinite and expanding vastness, where the earth is a fascinating but tiny speck of dust in comparison.

Being aware you are indeed the Universe, part of something so utterly vast, puts things in perspective. The universe is intelligent, with solar systems, ecosystems everything works and you are part of it, the air you breathe the body you inhabit, every cell and fibre of your being is part of this infinite and ever expanding unknowable space called the Universe.

Each one of us is capable of tapping into a truly vast, inner reservoir of love and compassion, not only for ourselves, but for others and the world at large.

When we do touch that source, this depth within us, we are overwhelmed with a real love for living, that surges and flows out of the depth of our being and saturates every fibre of our existence.

Heaven and Hell exist primarily in this world, our lives are an opportunity to experience and re-experience the depths of divine love (heaven).

Our failure and our preoccupation with the multiple distractions, suffering and pain that we (primarily) inflict on ourselves is a living hell.

It is a hell of not knowing, a hell of the missed opportunity, of the lack awareness of the infinite unconditional love that brings the universe into being every fraction of the moment.

This life is your heaven and your hell, this life now, is your eternity.

Every moment a divine opportunity to unite and reconnect with the source of al life, with the endless light - to touch that inner reservoir of love and compassion deep within you.

I believe that the purpose of our lives is that each of us can explore, discover and fall in love with ourselves, our life and the world.

I believe that each one of us, each human being, has the capacity to feel a deep sense of love and happiness.

When you discover this love that resides deep within you, you begin to have compassion on yourself, compassion for others and love for life itself.

It is my hope that today is the day that you choose to touch this deep within you - that you choose to foster the love within you, that love becomes your primary concern, your number one priority. 

Urban Guru

I believe that deep within you, the very essence of your being is a hub of pure pleasure.

Whatever we ‘do’ comes from the ultimate desire to re-experience and express this pure pleasure and happiness.

Therefore subconsciously, the ultimate objective and desired final goal or outcome is to experience ultimate pleasure.

It’s the process of ‘doing’ that eventually brings one to a state of ‘pure bliss’.

This means that while Eastern philosophies encourage you to Do nothing, I believe that you need to ‘Do’ things to help express your deep and inner happiness.

For example: you need to sleep, eat, have a house to live in, clothes on your back, have a family, make love, have friends, have children, have a job, have times to relax completely and ultimately live your life to the full!

In order for you to experience this deep happiness and pleasure, in the real world, you need to do something that will help facilitate its expression.

I believe that it’s your subconscious desire for you to experience this pleasure that pushes the idea of doing something, into your conscious mind in the shape of flash inspiration or an idea.

However, a flash of inspiration is just that, it is a seed that is planted in your fertile mind, however for that flash or seed of inspiration to become a reality, it needs to be nurtured and developed, it must be given space and time, the right amount of exposure and fuel.

Your ideas then need to be fleshed out into an abstract thought and worked out where they eventually become knowledge.

So now you not only have a spark of inspiration but you have thought about it, and realised that it is an idea worth entertaining, however, this abstract knowledge needs to be fully understood conceptually within your mind and if it is a good idea then real in depth understanding of the subject is born.

Once you have gained a deep and penetrating understanding of the issues your idea has raised, the next stage in its development and realisation into the world of the Real, is what you feel about it.

How do you feel about your great idea?

If you are going to make it happen then you’ve got to have a heart felt conviction about it.

Your knowledge has to manifest itself in your emotions, in a sense you have an unbounded passion about your idea, and you have to be in love with it you must feel that you want to tell the world.

However this enthusiasm has to be tempered with some self restraint, if it is going to become a reality and not just a whimsical fantasy or a lot of hot air.

You have to know the limitations of your idea, you have to contextualise it, you have to be self critical, and not in a self defeating way but rather, a realistic self appraisal.

Eventually you have to move on, you have to want and feel that you must do something about your thoughts, ideas and feelings.

It is not just good enough to think about an idea, or just to feel strongly about it, your feelings have to trigger a vision of the future success of your ideas and feelings.

As well as the emotional desire to make your dreams a reality you must also find within yourself the emotional strength and conviction to carryout your plan, that is the internal strength to make your vision come into being.

The balance between your emotional desire and the steadfast conviction to see your vision become realised leads to a practical consolidation of all of the above and you begin to make a channel for the fulfilment of your dreams, you begin to build a foundation on which and through which the ideas, thoughts and emotions can find expression.

After laying the foundations, and planning the relative parts and stages of what is needed to bring about the manifestation of your most inner dreams and desires, you need now only to take a small jump and actually follow through all of your internal processing and begin to actually transform the world around you and your life:

And Just do it!

Do it for the sake of doing it, give birth to your idea.

Your actions may now also need to be thought about, you have to find your feet, begin to feel happy, and ask yourself if this is what you originally envisioned, ultimately what you are doing must help to facilitate the expression and experience of an inner joy and happiness, the centre of your self, the experience of pure bliss.

The 11 Steps

1. Internal Centre of Pure Pleasure ->

2. Flash of Inspiration (your goal) ->

3. The Fleshing Out of the Idea ->

4.Truely Understanding your Goal, it is Fully Formed ->

5. Loving your Goal (the pros) ->

6. Being Critical of it (the cons) ->

7. Having a Balance and realistic view of your Goal ->

8. Forming a Vision of your Goal ->

9. Emotional Conviction ->

10. Planning and laying the Foundations ->

11. Just Do It! -> & Re-assess step 1.

Urban Guru

We are all a lousy cynics, we’ve all been bitten by the snake of bitterness and quiet anger, whether from a broken heart, feeling that we’ve being wronged or by Life dealing us a bad hand.

And it’s easy to bitch about the elusiveness of happiness, how today’s society doesn’t encourage any deep or meaningful happiness, how it promotes superficial fixes to the deeper problems…

But I’ve personally grown quite tired of cynicism, it’s boring me to death and it is only making me fashionably critical and miserable.

But that’s not why you’re reading this post and not why I’ve written it.

You’re reading this because deep down, you believe that deep happiness is both realistically possible and within your reach.

The problem is that - we all know that being happy is great, although it is often only fleetingly present in our lives, but when we are happy we definitely know about it and cant keep it to ourselves.

The only difficulty is then when it seems that, that feeling of happiness is gone. Like a butterfly that briefly landed its pretty wings on us only to fly away the very moment we had a chance to realise it was there.

Happiness comes and goes, but just like the butterfly, if we are temped to try to catch and hold on to happiness, it usually ends up a slightly sad and messy affair.

Happiness comes in all shapes and sizes, but for simplicities sake, (and I will be rather simple) it’s possible to being happy into two main types, the first and most familiar is the fleeting, superficial happiness I call ‘JustHappy’ and the second the deep joyful heart warming happiness that I call ‘DeepHappy’.

That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with superficial happiness. ‘JustHappy”, or just having ‘fun’, but this fleeting happy feeling can often the trigger and be the catalyst for ‘DeepHappy’ happiness.

There is a temptation to have fun and be ‘JustHappy’ at the expense of deep happiness, this can in the long run, leave us feeling, shallow, empty and at times fake.

It is often tempting to ‘fake it till you feel it’, and for some this actually works and there’s a lot to be said in its favour.

But what we all want it the real thing, deep down, good old fashioned heart felt happiness.

That kind of happiness, comes from knowing your life has meaning, that you love and are loved, knowing that every bone in your body is fundamentally good. That you are trying your hardest to be the best person you can be, that you actively help and care for others, but also and primarily that you love every fibre of your being.

‘DeepHappy’ happiness helps you breathe easy, it’s the feeling of knowing you’re where you are supposed to be in life. It is the feeling that rests in your soul, or deep within your heart, and just needs to be remembered and revealed to make you smile.

But a deephappy smile, is not only seen from your wide smile, but it is seen and felt in your eyes and in the love and warmth you radiate from your being.

Each of us can discover or even rediscover this deep sense of happiness, only if we are able to put our lives in order, find out what our real priorities are in life, and attempt to live our dreams.

We can all foster and encourage this deep sense of happiness that for the most part lays dormant within us, it takes time and courage, but it is not impossible, far from it.

Once you tap into that ocean of deep happiness, indeed virtually nothing seems impossible.

What are you going to do? just sit there? live your life in denial? your life is not a rehearsal, there is no prize for suffering, or for living in the shade of who you could be.

Give yourself a chance. I promise it wont hurt, you might even begin to enjoy it.

Urban Guru

Craig Harper posted this comment on my piece called ‘Looking in the Big Mirror’ a while back, but I thought you’d like to read it too.

“We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are.

Anais Nin was spot on when she made the above observation.

Have you ever helped a friend through a relationship crisis and been absolutely stunned and amazed when you got around to chatting to their significant other to get their interpretation of events?

It’s like, “are you guys talking about the same thing?”

How can two people in the one relationship or situation, talking about the same issues, have such a completely different take on things and both ‘know’ they’re right?

This happens in marriages, workplaces, friendships and a range of situations, every second of every day, in every corner of the globe.

It’s called perspective; how WE personally see things.

Our reality.

To my amazement and disappointment, I discovered a few years ago that not everyone lives on my planet.

Obviously a big loss for humanity.

Sadly, I had to learn to listen to others; not easy for an only child.

Our personal opinion would be all we needed….if we were the only one in the relationship.

Fortunately or unfortunately (again, it’s a perspective thing) most of us interact with a range of people in a range of situations and circumstances, for a range of reasons, trying to create a range of outcomes, everyday.

Here’s what I’ve learned in twenty five years of communicating for a living:

1. I need to listen more than I speak.
2. I need to talk with people, not at them.
3. In order for me to be able to genuinely connect with people, I need to know how they see the world (or at least try).
4. I will learn more about someone by watching than I will by listening to them
(93% of communication is non-verbal).
5. Many people will tell me what they think I want to hear.
6. I can’t impose my values, beliefs or opinions on people.
7. I can have the best motives and intentions… and still hurt and offend people.”

Craig Harper

If you’d like to contribute something inspiring to the Urban Guru blog please contact me - using the contact form.

As a kinda continuation from my post about Idols … I want to say something about society, not something new, but something you already know.

The culture, which we live, tells us many things regularly, one of the messages is: “You’re not good enough as you are!”

And this comes from people trying to sell us stuff they tell us that:

1. Buying this product is going to help you feel happier, younger, richer, sexier! [Which in extreme, subtly implies number 2.]

2. You are a looser, you are miserable, old, poor and impotent

3. The new product is always better than the older product! [Which means what you got a month ago is rubbish]

These messages are important if any of the unnecessary products we buy are going to be bought by us.

In addition to these regularly reinforced messages about you not being good enough, the News Media tell us one singular message:

“The world is a terrifying, dangerous and horrible place!”

1. You can be guaranteed that terrible things happen everyday in your living room or while you are at work or listening to the radio!

2. These horrible and terrible things effect you

3. You need to know about all these terrible and dangerous things regularly

When you were a kid your parents and teachers told you that:

‘you could do better, if only you:’

‘applied yourself… worked hard… stopped answering back… just behaved yourself… listened to the teacher… stopped fidgeting… started paying attention… stopped talking… didn’t play with Tommy … stopped messing around… ate your Brussels Sprouts …looked after your clothes… paid more attention in Algebra … worked harder…’

While your friends told you, ‘You are never cool enough’

You never had the right toy, or cool thing to bring into school, you never got drunk enough, or took enough drugs, or slept with enough people, or made enough money, or drove the right car, or lived in the right neighbourhood, or had the right job, or got paid even more money, or you made too much money.

So with all these kind of messages, coming from so many different directions, no wonder you feel sorry for yourself.

No wonder you not living you life to the max, no wonder that you’re in a dead-end job, no wonder you lack motivation and self-belief.

So how are we gonna counter all this negative information in your life?

Firstly, can I humbly suggest, if you feel you have to only watch or read the news once a day, if you can try and cut it out of your life completely.

Secondly, avoid watching the Soaps, they are full of negativity and melodrama.

Thirdly, tell yourself a million times a day that:

A. You are good enough just as you are!

B. The world is a fantastic place that wants me to succeed!

C. I am absolutely cool; I’m the coolest kid on the block!

D. I’m bloody happy!

E. I feel younger each day!

F. I’m the richest person I know!

G. I’m the sexiest person alive today!

It matters little if any of the above statements are ‘actually’ true it only matters, that by believing in them for even a moment – you are moving the pendulum away from negativity and towards a more positive state of mind and being.

So good luck you rich, sexy, young and happy lovelies.

Let me know how you get on with this one.

Urban Guru