Simplicity is good. Right?

Well it is intrinsically good. Unfortunately the essence of our world is covered by impressions. These impressions are false creations of our egos. We see veils of illusion instead of Divine Essence.

We love to watch Indiana Jones overcome impossible odds and battle away to recover The Lost Arc. We buy lots of popcorn and the theater owners are happy.

But what would we do if Jones simply waved his hand and The Ark appeared in the desired destination? We certainly wouldn’t buy much popcorn. And we would probably want our ticket money back.

You might know that I’ve earned my living as a computer consultant. I developed application software for corporations.

The manager bought me a tuna fish sandwich. Admittedly the sandwich was really good. But it didn’t come close to covering the price of my gas to get there and back.

One time I visited the data processing manager of a local school district. He was wondering if it was possible to get a certain project done in three months.

So I drove fifty miles each way to meet with him  and his team of computer professionals. I solved the problem during the initial meeting. The computer pros sheepishly filed out of the room.

So instead of getting a three month computer programming contract, I lost money by presenting a simple solution.

On another occasion I programmed an accounting system for a certain kind of microcomputer. One of the computer manufacturers looked at the printout of my software. He said it couldn’t be worth much because the stack of paper wasn’t thick.

Never mind that the programming was very efficient. The efficient programming was estimated at a low value because there wasn’t a lot of it. Too efficient. Too simple.

Spiritual Entertainment

This same story seems to apply in the self-help / spiritual world. Many of the popular spiritual / self-help solutions are what you might call spiritual entertainment. Usually there is no significant improvement in the life quality of the people being entertained.

A short while ago somebody complained that my blissercises were not worth much because they all shared a common structure. Essentially they were too simple and easy to do.

The sad part is that she probably never did any of the blissercises because they were too simple. She missed out on huge life-changing benefits.

What is my responsibility in all this? Well, if I don’t present my material in a way that people will accept it, value it, and use it, then the fault is in my failure to communicate.

What do you think? Please leave a comment below.

The unthinkable happened this morning. I couldn’t get on my computer.

After a check of emails this morning, I dutifully shut down my computer so I could take it on my morning routine. I would have a breakfast in a local restaurant and then head to Panera Bread – my unofficial office.

As I was shutting down the computer, Windows gave me one of those dreaded messages. It was installing updates. The warning was to not turn off the computer. Sometimes these updates took at least half an eternity.

And I was planning to head out the door with my trusty laptop.

With a few moments hesitation, I closed the cover without powering down the computer. This puts the laptop to sleep in low power mode. It would spring back to life as soon as I opened the cover.

After a quick breakfast (I had to get on the computer asap) my laptop and I went into the local Panera Bread coffee shop.

First Things First

I setup my computer and fired it up. The screen was dark. Oh oh.

While in a state of stress, I went and bought my coffee. Go figure.

Upon returning I breathed a sigh of relief as my computer was alive and continuing the update. Thank You, God.

But it was taking a very long time. Then I wondered …

Did my update require Internet access? (Notice that I said “my update” rather than “the computer’s update”. Geesh!!!)

Would Internet access be blocked because I couldn’t log in to Panera’s network? Would it be necessary to take the computer home to finish the update?

Would I miss my daily morning ritual at the coffee shop?

Fortunately I had scheduled a phone call with my friend Suzan. There was something constructive to do. We laughed about our dependency on computers. She mentioned that she had forgotten to take the charging cord to the library yesterday. She had felt totally stuck. It seems that I’m not the only one.

Although our phone conversation was great, it came to an end. And my computer seemed to be stuck in the eternal update process.

What to do? Well I could write into my paper notebook – one of those ancient objects that remain from earlier civilizations. But yikes …

I had forgotten to bring a pen. My computer was stuck. I couldn’t write. What was I to do?

And I was only on my first cup of coffee.

Then the skies opened and the sun shined through. The update finished. I could actually start using my computer!!!

With a sigh of relief, I logged in and started writing the post that you’re reading now.

There is a lesson to all of this. Maybe, just maybe, I could take a good look at my life.

Some people have asked “Is there life after death?”

Another question is “Is there life after computers?”

Are you hooked on computers? Please write a comment below.

Your friend,

Jim

Self-help systems take us beyond the victim level. We become self-determined. We have great intentions. We have compassion. We want to help others.

When does responsibility end? Where does overwhelm begin? Can we stop it before it sinks us? How do we recover?

What can we do about it? Many self-help processes seem promising. Meditation helps for sure. Simplification might be the answer.

Take a look at the short video below. It will help.

I would love your feedback. Please leave a comment below.

May the bliss be with you.

Your friend,
Jim Kitzmiller

Are we making a good living or not?

Are we perceived at our true value or something less?

Do we have happy, loving relationships or not?

This all depends on our self-expression. And it depends on our willingness to honor other people’s self-expression.

This short video gives you a simple exercise that will vastly improve the quality of your life.

Please express yourself by writing a comment below. I would love to read it.

With appreciation,
Jim Kitzmiller

Your friend,
Jim Kitzmiller

I lived next to the Optimum Health Institute of San Diego for seven years. This is where I first learned of Transformational Breathing in classes led by Wendy Rudell. I quickly trained up through Level 5 with Judith Kravitz, the founder of Transformational Breath Foundation.

The quick summary statement is that Transformational Breathing is a simple, safe, and effective way to elevate the state of body, mind, spirit, and emotions.

Many times I was one of two to four facilitators who worked together is groups of forty people. We helped them bring major changes to their lives. There were always dramatic improvements.

One of the greatest attributes of Transformational Breath is that it can help anyone whether they are overwhelmed, grief stricken, or stressed. It can also help spiritually advanced people who are doing extremely well in their lives.

Daily group sessions are included in most of my retreats.

Try it. You’ll like it.

Your friend,
Jim Kitzmiller

We express gratitude to God for all the various blessings in our life. We can ask for help in serving God better.

We limit the power of the prayers if we ask for other people to be different. However, we can ask for help in forgiving others. We can ask for help in letting go of trying to control and then accepting other people the way they are.

We limit the power of the prayers by asking for physical objects. Instead we can ask for help in appreciating what we have. Or we can express gratitude for what we have.

We can ask for help in being a better person. For example, we can ask for help in being more loving.

We can ask for help in seeing the hidden beauty in everyone and everything. Or we can express gratitude for the beauty in everyone and everything.

We can ask for help in replacing addictions with positive attributes. For example, if we’re addicted to judging others, we can ask for help in replacing our judgments with unconditional love for everyone in all circumstances.

Try it. You’ll love it. You’ll look at life differently. You’ll experience life from a loving perspective.

You don’t have to seek happiness in a far off retreat center. You can conduct your own personal retreat at home.

You can do whatever diet gives you the most energy in the long term. You’ve probably studied nutrition and know what works best for you.

You probably know what kind of physical exercises are the most energizing for you. You can do those exercises right at home.

You are creating your own personal retreat at home. It’s your own center for personal development. And you don’t have to spend a fortune on travel and hotel expenses.

How do you do this? How do you feel happiness without pills or seminars?

You can do the exercises on this blog. The postings are designed to help you feel happiness without the side effects on your body or your bank account.

Okay, but what about feeling God’s unconditional love? Glad you asked.

This process is very similar to the one described in the posting on seeing perfection by using your imagination.

The approach is to use your imagination to see the truth that is already there. It’s easy when you simply imagine the truth of God’s Unconditional Love. You don’t have to struggle and go into self-doubt. After all, you’re just using your imagination. Right?

So here’s one way to conduct your personal retreat, your own meditation.

Soften your focus. Become aware of the entire space around you. Imagine that the space and everything in it, including you, is filled with God’s Unconditional Love.

Keep doing this. Do it often. This will change your life for the better.

Do you prefer group experiences? You can invite some friends to join you.

Can happiness and unconditional love be that easy? Can it be that simple?

Yes.

However, if you wait too long, it’s possible to experience so much stress that you can totally lose yourself. Your productivity could fade.

You don’t have to wait seven years. You don’t have to wait seven days. You can take a one minute sabbatical every seven minutes.

Of course you’re not going to do this with a stopwatch. You can establish the practice of setting an intention to accomplish something in the next few minutes. When you’ve done that, you can take your one minute sabbatical.

How to Do a One Minute Sabbatical

This blog has many exercises that you can do in one minute. They’ll help you feel happier and more rejuvenated. Here’s another one.

Soften your focus and put your attention on the entire space around you. Imagine that the space and everything in it, including you, is filled with God’s Boundless Joy.

Do this for one minute.

That’s it. It’s all you have to do to make a fast, steady upgrade in your level of happiness. You have become a stress management practitioner.

It’s so easy.

We can be overwhelmed with financial demands. We can be overwhelmed with study requirements.

It can often seem that it’s impossible to do everything we have to do.

We can wind up in a state where we’re so exhausted and confused that we simply do nothing. Or we might wind up wasting time on meaningless activities.

We might try so hard to do everything that we don’t do a good job on anything.

Please watch this video where we discuss four simple steps to handle overwhelm.

The video covers topics including:

1. What is overwhelm?
2. How does overwhelm drag us down physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?
3. How can we handle information overload?
4. What is the greatest time management tool ever invented?
5. How can we be smarter and wiser in our lives – not just academic studies?
6. How can we become more able to handle the demands that are placed on us?
7. What four steps can we take to raise ourselves from overwhelm to happiness?