What a pleasant, fulfilling, and productive weekend it’s been. I hope yours was just as rewarding! Again, big kudos go out to my fellow Roundup editor, Lindsey, and dahlin’ Alex writing Feel Good News. Wishing you all well on this Monday.

Corporate Policy & Ethics: Taking from self to pay his employees… Bravissimo!

Thank you to my dear friend, Leita, for forwarding this story …such a wonderful way to start off our week. “[Dan] Price, the founder and CEO of Gravity Payments in Seattle, decided to raise the minimum salary at his 120-person payment processing company to $70,000.

At a company where the average pay was $48,000 per year, the move — which was first reported by The New York Times on Monday — affected 70 workers, 30 of whom saw their salaries double.”

Holy crappola …that’s truly unheard of. “Thank you, Dan, from the bottom of my heart!!” I am honored AND grateful to know people of your caliber still exist. If only ALL millionaires and billionaires would be willing to give back a little.

Now Dan … he’s given back a ton! In other words, he literally took a $930,000 pay cut in order to fund these new salaries which he has instituted, giving him a salary of $70K this year …just like his employees.

Now, that’s outspokenly admirable …or sadly self-depriving. Just kidding — this is truly amazing and an exemplary act of selflessness, humility, and courage to drastically alter his own income for one year for the sake of his employees. I am humbled …again.

“In the U.S., the average CEO earns more than 350 times what the average worker does. Seattle has become a hotbed in the fight for higher wages as the city phases a $15 minimum wage, one of the highest in the country.”

I mentioned that it would be nice if all millionaires and billionaires would be willing to give back a little to those in need, then this world would be a different place. Now, please don’t misunderstand me: I’m not advocating “hand outs.” But I am saying that many many people find themselves in unfortunate financial straits due to circumstances not of their own volition.

So, I am saying have compassion and a generous heart: Give to those in need, my dear CEOs and other wealthy. You can give anonymously or openly …just give. You’ve earned your money through your own hard work, blood, sweat, and tears — I get it. And yet, if you’re living in excess and do not “need” 6 cars, 3 SUVs, 4 houses, 2 boats, and countless electronic toys and gadgets, then consider giving some of your hard-earned excess to those who could genuinely use it to eat or pay rent.

At $1000/month of rent, you could make a donation of $12,000 (only $12K …probably just a quarter or less of one of your fancy cars), and some family could live rent-free for one year, allowing them to pay of other debts and maybe get caught up. In turn, alleviating a huge stressor by enabling them to possibly “get in the black” for the first time in their 50 years of living on the planet. Boy, that might be ecstatically exciting to feel….

CEO Slashes $1 Million Salary To Give Lowest-Paid Workers A Raise by Alexander C Kaufman. Huffington Post.

Human Rights: South Carolina petitioning Supreme Court to legally discriminate against gays and women.

Not sure I know where to start with this story…. The State of South Carolina submitted a brief of Amicus Curiae to the Supreme Court of the US, petitioning that they have a right to discriminate against two types of people in our world: Gays and women. Whaaat?

With all due respect to the power of “free will,” it’s my understanding most gay and lesbian individuals would say that they did not “choose” their sexual orientation. In other words, it is naturally a part of them, as is one’s gender of being a man or a woman: It’s not something they had or have control over. “This is who I am, just like my ethnicity or natural eye color,” is my understanding. And I say, “Amen.”

Disclaimer: If I have misunderstood the gay and lesbian community, and in fact, most make this “choice,” then please forgive me –I’ve got it wrong! And for what it’s worth, to those folks who have chosen this orientation, to you I also say, “Amen. I like you just they way you are …loving man, woman, or both.” I think most people know I’m a strong advocate for all of us simply living the lives we desire, without prejudice, from anyone and for anything we choose –simply, giving love and hurting no one or nothing in the process.

From my vantage point, I do not understand how people from South Carolina (or from any place else with bigoted beliefs) do not “get it.” Again, we need not agree with someone’s choices and lifestyle, but to actively advocate that they are “wrong” and must stop living the life that makes them happy is truly beyond me.

Isn’t it okay for people to do what they please under their own roof –save hurting others or themselves? Isn’t it okay for two people in love to walk hand-in-hand or arm-in-arm beaming of love and infatuation? Wouldn’t you like to be radiating joy, too? In fact, I believe “to love and to be loved” is one of the few responsibilities that we have here upon our magical Earth School.

Every person is different, and love speaks its own language, ie, we never know who will make our heart go pitter-patter. Emotions just “are.” They occur when we least expect them, and they exist outside of rational thought; hence, it’s a “feeling.” We cannot explain why or how we have said feelings –we just do. There’s nothing wrong with this –so leave them be, and enjoy your own love life.

And yet, South Carolina seems not to understand this train of thought, or at least is unwilling to live and let live. “Here’s the gist of South Carolina’s fascinatingly sexist argument. The state wants to prove that the 14th Amendment—which guarantees ‘equal protection of the laws’ to every ‘person’—was not intended to displace state marriage laws. And what did those laws look like at the time? One major feature: In many states, married women were not permitted to own property or enter into contracts and had no legal existence apart from their husbands. According to South Carolina, the framers of the 14th Amendment explicitly preserved the rights of states to deprive married women of the ability to function independently from her husband.”

“The crux of South Carolina’s brief, then, is this: If the 14th Amendment permits discrimination against married women, it surely also allows discrimination against gay people who wish to wed. In fact, according to South Carolina, the 14th Amendment forbids only racial discrimination, leaving states free to disadvantage women and gays in any way they wish.”

“Oy vay” … is all I can say (well, except for what I just wrote above –wink wink)!

South Carolina Argues to Supreme Court That It Can Discriminate Against Gays AND Women by Joan McCarter. Daily Kos.

Across our beautiful world, We Are All One.

Credit: magazine.good.is

“There is a love in me raging, Alegria
A joyous, magical feeling.”

– Cirque de Soleil, Alegria

The Arcturian Group said recently: “You are ready to be taught from within. Trust this. It is why you came.” (1)

Are we? What could possibly teach us from within? How would it teach us?

In a word? Love.

Love is the great teacher. It hides away from us when we neglect it. It flees to an unknown place when we resist it. No Earthly partner ever played hide-and-seek like love does.

We must attend to love and no amount of wishing it were otherwise, no amount of entitlement or complaining changes the situation a bit. Love is a demanding lover.

I’ve been stumbling and bumbling and watching to see what happens to love … and love disappears.

Getting this feedback from love is more valuable to me than … well, there is no comparison. I am wed to love. That’s what it amounts to, the same love that gazillions of beings are also wed to. Very loose lover. Universal lover in fact. This divine being is with everybody.

Is there any other power I need answer to? If there is, stand in line. I’ll get to you some day.

When we look inside and find love, the cat is out of the bag. We just bit on some big hook. We’re caught now. There’s no escaping the lure of love.

Footnotes

At some point we will all face challenging times.

Times that will shake you to your core.

Experiences that will test your faith.

Situations that challenge your commitment to your dream.

Heartbreak that will cause you to question your ability to love again.

Challenge is a part of life and being human.

There is no escaping. Simply accept it.

If you are in the midst of challenging times know that there is nothing wrong. You didn’t do your visualizations incorrectly, not think enough positive thoughts, or not meditate enough.

Consider that life is giving you the opportunity to let go of what is no longer in alignment with your highest most authentic self.

When things seem to fall apart it’s tempting to hold on to the old and familiar for a sense of safety. Instead, let go and see what is truly seeking to emerge.

During challenging times it’s easy to get disheartened and lose hope. Instead keep the faith staying true to your vision.

So when faced with challenges ask yourself:

What’s the gift of this challenging time?

What are the lessons that my soul is seeking to experience?

In the future what will I look back and say was great about this moment?

Life is an opportunity to grow and evolve. This is why we are born. Every experience is an invitation to become more of who you truly are and evolve as a soul.

Challenging situations are like the gymnasium for your souls growth.

Every challenge invites you to become stronger. Every challenge invites you to expand beyond who you have been and to find out who you really are.

Know that: You wouldn’t be facing the challenge that you currently are if you weren’t ready. The fact that it’s presented itself means you are ready and already have the inner resources to deal with it.

Trust that you can handle it.

So when you are in the midst of a challenge:

– Accept the situation as it is rather than fighting or resisting it.

– Know that “This too shall pass.” Nothing, no matter how difficult lasts forever.

– Take responsibility by focusing on what you can control rather than what you can’t.

– Embrace the learning opportunity that the challenge is giving you.

– Take all the action that there is take that is in your power.

– Surrender the outcome to the Universe and let go.

When you surrender you bring yourself in the flow of grace. And open yourself to more than you could have imagined!

Challenging times are an invitation to the next level of yourself.

Challenging times are a gift to your spiritual growth.

Stop waiting for the day you have no challenges.

Don’t pray for life to get easier.

Instead growing your capacity to be stronger and deal with more of life.

You are capable of so much more than you can possibly imagine.

You can do it.

Love. Now

Kute

“How To Stay Motivated During Challenging Times”, by Kute Blackson, April 9, 2015 at http://kuteblackson.com/blog/?p=1779&inf_contact_key=d55ef963d4c690509ac11f625385e13049d19087e65808bb353b1a107354adbc

For those of you experiencing the process of ascension – here are some aspects. Not everyone is experiencing the same processes. Just know that you are not alone…

Below are some common experiences of leaving the old world behind, what they mean, and some tools for comfort:

1. You suddenly feel like you have jumped off a cliff with no net, with strong feelings of no sense of place and nothing to hold onto.

This is an indication that you have made a separation from older and denser energies that are now residing where you are not. This occurs many times during the ascension process, each time that a critical mass is met within and sometimes without. This feeling always passes in time, even though it can feel very uncomfortable when it is occurring. We can take comfort in knowing that these feelings always pass, and that we eventually begin to recognize and accept them the more often they occur.

2. No one seems to notice you, pay attention to you, or give you much, if any, regard.

Although this can create uncomfortable feelings of dis-respect, irreverence and even abuse, know that the individuals that are not “seeing” you are in a completely different space. In the old world, many individuals have not yet evolved out of themselves, and thus, are seeing through a substantial wall of density or ego. It is still all about what is inside of them, as they are not yet ready to see that everything around them is part of one beautiful whole, that each and every one of us is a brilliant light comprising that whole, and we are all one. The higher we vibrate, the more invisible we become, and the more noticeable it is. You will know when you are “seen” and revered, and these are the individuals that you will eventually choose to spend time with. The nature spirits always see us, and they are wonderful to spend time around. Staying in your own personal sanctuary can help as well. As more and more souls on the planet begin not taking things personally, they will be freed up and begin to see what is around them as well.

3. It is difficult to be in crowds and you are no longer able to participate in anything that has to do with group energy.

Unless the group is a very unusual one, where each and every member is honored and respected for who they are and what they are there to contribute, with equal amounts of involvement, and a similar purpose that is a passion for each member, groups will no longer work for you. In higher level groups there are no leaders and everyone is on equal turf and very “seen,” with much gratitude and reverence. Also, being around groups or crowds brings in a large array of differing energy, and the more highly sensitive we become, the less we are able to process or handle too much differing energy all at once. In the higher realms, things are very simple as so much of anything vibrating lower has been transmuted or shed. There is not so much density or variation to wade through or feel. Opinions do not exist and all of the energy is always going in the same direction. Thus, groups from the old world can feel downright awful once we have departed from that world. Fun groups that are here to vibrate fun and enjoyment, with no agendas while everyone involved is going in the same direction are always good ones to be involved with at any time on our journey.

4. You feel very lonely, have but a few friends and loved ones left that you regularly connect to, and no one really thinks like you do, nor understands your view of reality.

We can try time and again to make new friends, connect with new people, and join new groups, but unless these energies are vibrating where we are, it can always seem that we are going in two very different directions. It is very common with the ascension process to feel like everyone else is at the end of one long tunnel, so very far away and difficult to reach. In addition, the more we evolve, the more we find that New Age and “spiritual” groups no longer fit, as many times they contain old and stale energy, as well as spending far too much time focusing on intentional spirituality, which does not exist is the higher realms. It can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to go back to energies that we have evolved out of…they become simply intolerable. Love always vibrates high, and even though we may not see eye to eye with everyone we encounter or connect to, connecting to the energy of love can always serve as the one and only connector or commonality and will keep alive relationships that may have otherwise dissolved.

5. You have simplified your life to a large degree, removed yourself from lower and denser energies, and you feel that there is nowhere left to go.

Congratulations! You have now reached your center, or rather the eye of the storm, the space in between thoughts, the now, and where it all is. In addition, the higher vibrating realities have not yet been created, thus, there is nowhere to go that matches where you are nowvibrating. Once we reach the eye of the storm, we begin to effortlessly create much of anything that we need or want. We begin creating effortlessly, as all we need do is be still, entertain a thought very randomly, and what we desire to connect to arrives in no time. I have this experience all the time, as I know many of you do as well, so I know it to be very true and very possible. Very soon, this will be the only reality that we experience, and this is happening now. Feeling confident enough in leaving the old world behind, will naturally place us here. This is a very protected space as well.

6. You no longer have a desire to heal others, bring up the vibration of the planet, teach new ways of being, read spiritual materials, meditate, SAVE anything or anyone, or participate in anything that has a spiritual intent.

The planet has now reached a new level. Your job is over. And even before this new level was reached, after each of us reaches a certain level of frequency within, we are now ready to lose that old purpose and get a real life. This means that we do not need to speak about spiritual matters, we do not need to read about them, and we do not need to learn anything new. We come to know that being spiritual occurs very naturally 24/7. We are then simply being spiritual without having an intent to do so. Having an intent places us outside of our center and also comes from an old ego stance. Saving others or meddling with intentional desires to help others when not asked, is also very out of alignment with being an Earth Angel. Spontaneously offering spiritual guidance or messages to others fits in this category as well. There is one exception to all of this and it has to do with our store-fronts. Because our store-fronts exist on the dimensional border, and not in the old reality, they will serve to assist others in getting to the next plateau, or to the other side. In this way, we will be asked for assistance, and those asking will be poised and ready to receive what they need through our store-fronts.

7. You are so tired and weary of the old reality, that you do not care about anything anymore and simply give up with disappointment, exhaustion, apathy, and what feels like depression with a strong desire not to be here anymore. You think that nothing will EVER change. You are beyond discouraged.

You are now ready to be in the eye of the storm. You are now ready to leave the old behind. You needed to not care about what is happening elsewhere, as what is happening elsewhere no longer has anything to do with you. You had not yet realized that you had “died” and crossed over into a new reality. You were still hanging around in the old world and believing it was your world and about you. The outside, or old world, had to become so unpleasant that you would be willing to let it go. It felt acutely unpleasant, as you no longer belong there because you have died and are now being re-born. You will know when you have taken the plunge and trusted or become exhausted enough to let it all go, when you find yourself it states of great peace, contentment, trust, and calm. It is then that all your needs will be miraculously met with ease and you will feel a peace you have never known. And then…you will eventually meet others who are here as well and unite to create something very new. But before we can create something very new in a very new reality, we must first rejuvenate and restore ourselves.

The awakening process is filled with many unexpected turns and twists. Some of the things we experience will be amazing while others seem to drain every ounce of energy we have. Many times,these are lessons that are reflected back to us to help us grow as individuals.

As these lessons they often will culminate into what is called “the dark night of the soul“.

Many of us have either gone through the “dark night of the soul” or are currently going through it right now. When you’re experiencing it, it feels like the worst days of your life, and that’s generally true but please keep in mind that you’re never alone and that better days are ahead. Not only that, but the lessons you learn from experiencing the dark night of the soul with help your spirit grow exponentially and will allow you to help others who are going through it down the road.

“7 Common Experiences With The Ascension Process – You’re Not Alone!” by Gregg Prescott, April 19, 2015 at http://in5d.com/7-common-experiences-with-the-ascension-process-youre-not-alone/