Author: alfoss

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How One New Tool Can Start Your Season Off Right – The Black-Steel Pickaxe

I have just made my first purchase for the 2019 Gardening season. A new Steel Pickaxe.

I have been thinking about how I will organize the garden for 2019. For a long time in fact. After last year, I had to think about how I might improve my experience. My goals include:

  1. Start earlier (I did not get the ground broken in 2018 until May 1. Crappy weather was the main cause.
  2. Create better fencing – Dirty Little Creatures decimated some of my crops.
  3. Improve my herb garden.

STARTING EARLIER

While 2018 I had purchased seeds and created a good layout for my yard, getting the work done was more of a challenge. And for 2018, the main issue was weather. We had a very wet April. It was late May before I could get a roto tiller to turn over my garden patches. In the end, it did a great job. But it was borrowed. So this year I needed something new.

One of the little issues that anyone deciding to embark on any new project like this is having the tools. Last year showed that I was very weak in this area. I have a lot of gardening tools. But as I found, many of them were either inadequate for my needs or just broken.

I have 4 or five bent or broken rakes. 3 bent shovels. No broom. Various hand digging implements.

As noted I borrowed a roto tiller last year. I started with a shovel, but really had not gotten very far. Way too strenuous and time consuming. The tiller got everything done in a little more than an afternoon.

Probably my biggest wishes last year were for a decent hoe or 2, and a pick. I remember growing up, we had a pick for our garden. It was always a little too heavy for me to use. My dad would get it out to turn the garden beds. I always liked it because it was as close to being an Ax and anything we had. And an ax just seemed so cool (not that we ever needed it).

So with my dreams of a fully plowed garden, no chance of using a roto tiller without paying a bunch for a rental, I wanted a pick. And a mere $31 later, I got my tool. A brand new, carbon fiber handle, black painted steel pickaxe. And I must say it looked a whole lot more cool than I expected.

I picked it up from Home Depot using the HD Gift Card my oldest son gave me for Christmas. I knew that card would come to good use.

When I got it back to the car, I declared that it is my new Maul. Seemed like a good name for it. And cooler than Mattock. My 15 year old laughed at the gleam in my eye as I looked at it in the back seat. And she absolutely howled

with laughter when I went to work on the garden soon after parking in the back next to my grass patch.

Now the job of digging up my grass has not been easy. Even with the roto tiller last year, it took me a couple days and a lot of clearing the blades of strands of grass.After 5 minutes plowing away with the pickaxe though, I am convinced that this is the way to go. The patch was recently wet with rain, so it was ripe for the ripping. And while there was grass grown over it, the soil was still relatively easy to chunk up.

The final confirmation that this was the right purchase was the look on Mikey and Brandon’s faces. Both of them are avid gamers and play both Minecraft and  Fortenite pretty much all day long. So here is a real life pickaxe – that they have been using in games all the time. And they get to use it. It was my turn to laugh , watching them try to heft the 5 lb maul and plunge it into the soil. Worth the purchase just to see the smiles on their faces.

 

 

 

 

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24 – 10 – Take every opportunity to learn from a master.

“When the Student is ready, the Teacher will Appear”

This is one of those goto quotes. It is generally attributed to The Buddah. But also many of the Grecian philosophers or any of the big thinkers.

It speaks of a pivot point in your life. A time of change. And it is at these times, we find the inspiration to move forward. Often this is through someone else who is poised to help you get there.

I first heard it from Kevin Trudeau through his teaching audio “Your Wish is Your Command.” It is an amazing seminar that touches on many important and life changing concepts. Of course it is also a sales training audio to convince you to join his new Multi Level club. That does not minimize its value as an inspirational tool. For me, it came at a time that I needed to move forward in my life. And while it is not a live, one on one training, it gave me the advice I needed at the right time.

And even more, it pointed me in the direction of other teachers who I could learn from.

Inspiration

Funny how things like this come to you all at once. Today’s blog was about learning from a master. At the same time, I am browsing Facebook and see a post from Kevin Trudeau (from jail of course). While I never met Mr Trudeau, I listened to his recordings and read from him books. He would never call himself a Master. But he would always offer advice. And his advice came from others who had offered it to him. And often the people he would attribute he would refer to as his Mentors. His Master.

Here is his post from Yesterday 2/24/2019

 

When it comes to self improvement, personal development, Self Realization, Enlightenment, “success” training, personal transformation, how to set and attain goals, and other such areas of the mind and spiritual nature of man, consider this: no one ever has invented or created anything.

All a person ever did was “discover” the Truth: what was there all along.

No scientist invented DNA. They discovered DNA, as DNA was always a reality.
No researcher created the atom, as atoms were always atoms even before mankind “knew” about them.
No astronomer invented Pluto or any “new” planet. They simply discovered what was always there.
Electricity was not invented, is was discovered. As was Quantum physics.

But when we get into areas of personal development such as: “how to remove blocks” to help you achieve success; the “secret” to enlightenment; the method to eliminate mental and emotional pain; opening your chakras; success secrets; and so forth, many “Masters”, authors, speakers, trainers, and Guru’s want to patent, copy write, and call these discoveries “MINE”. They want to claim ownership to what they are teaching as if they “invented or created” something NEW.

“Nobody ever did this before I invented it!” they shout.

Really?

Have they ever read the 5000-year-old Vedas, Pantagali’s Yoga Sutra’s written thousands of years ago, the Chinese writings of the Tao, Kashmir Shavaism, The Zohar, Kabbala, Sufi teachings, or other ancient texts? How about the “secret” teachings of the Free Masons (made available only to 33 degree Masons who are selected), or other “Secret Societies” teachings?

I can assure you, that whatever is being taught today as “new”, is in these ancient texts or other writings that go back many hundreds or thousands of years.

Everything from “tapping”, to homeopathy, to “energy clearing”, you name it…. they were all practiced and used by people thousands of years ago.

No one created or invented the Law of Attraction, in the same way that no one invented the Law of Gravity.
No one invented how the mind works…it simply always worked the way it does.
No one can patent how the mind holds pictures & traps energy, and can be re-stimulated later and adversely affect us.
No one invented “chakras” or “astral bodies” or “energetic bodies” or how the words you use can create.

They simply “discovered” what is Truth, what was always there, and what is in fact…reality.

No one can say “I invented THE ONLY method of “releasing and clearing” trapped energy, and if you use MY method, your life will improve in every area.”

What a person CAN say is “I discovered A method, probably one of MANY, that I THINK and appears to be, a way to release and clear trapped energy, and is used, it SEEMS to help most people and improve every area of their lives.”

The key points are:

1.) It is only what they “think or assume” or “theorize”. They DO NOT know with 100% certainty.

2.) The did not invent it. It is not the ONLY method, nor can they say the “best”. If what they discovered DOES do something, they did not invent or create it, they DISCOVERED or became aware of, a method of “clearing or releasing” energy.

3.) Claiming ownership is the #1 indicator that the person is NOT highly evolved and instead, is EGO driven. It also shows that the person in fact does NOT “KNOW”, but rather, only “knows about”.

One of the greatest researchers in the area of the mind, and unlocking human potential and abilities, delivered over 100,000 hours of recorded lectures over his lifetime. He dedicated his life to researching and discovering the “Truths” of how the mind work, how to unlock the unlimited human potential that lies dormant, and how to release abilities in people that appear superhuman or supernatural.

He stated: “The Truth of the mind, the entire physical Universe, Consciousness, and everything that can be classified as non-physical or spiritual, can now be proven with science, hard facts and evidence. It comes from nuclear and quantum physics, higher mathematics, and understanding the Ancients of the East (mostly India, Tibet, China)”.

Interesting. Quantum physics and the Ancient teachings of those mystics, Guru’s and Enlightened Masters of India and the East, all in agreement.

L. Ron Hubbard for example said:
“The so called experts of the recent past, in the area of the mind, gave dissertations espousing their philosophies, ideas and opinions. They were however, simply speculating and had very little actual proof verifying what they were saying was true. Their philosophies were their own creations, and each philosopher was at work trying to out-create every another philosopher. It was all ego driven and all about competition.
We, however are simply dealing with discoveries. The phenomena we are sharing are what we discovered and are held in common by all men and all life forms. We are not trying to out-create every other so called expert that comes along.”

He goes on to say;
“We really are not trying to teach you anything. We are really just trying to remind you of what you already “know”. Truth, coming from anyone, in any form, was always yours in the first place. Many people are explaining the same things, and have been for thousands of years, just saying it differently. Truth therefore is not only the “science of life”, but it is an account of what you were doing before you forgot what you were doing.”

Edison, arguably one of, if not THE greatest inventors of all time agreed on this point about “discoveries”. He always claimed he “discovered” things, rather than “invented” things. So did Ford, Krishnamurti, Yogananda, Buddha, Tesla, OSHO, Einstein and many other “Masters”.

Consider this. When it comes to the mind, in order for one to explain it, to “know” how it works, one must be separate from it and observe it. Who then would be doing the observing? YOU, yourself (The SELF, or Consciousness). You are not your mind and not your body. You HAVE a mind and you HAVE a body. When one reaches this level, of being separate from the mind and body and observing and being the witness of both, one can then share what they DISCOVERED, observed and witnessed. All we have to do is listen to them. Lucky for mankind, thousands of Enlightened souls have already done this and their writings and DISCOVERIES are available to all. They have no EGO and claim nothing as “THEIRS”.

With this in mind, consider what I have said before in many of messages, books, emails, posts, and lectures. Who do you listen to? Beware of those “experts” who I am certain are very well intentioned, but perhaps a little too Ego driven that they want to claim credit to Truth as if it is THEIR inventions, creations, methods, or secret systems relating to how to improve the human condition and make your life better in every area and aspect.

When you “know” truth, because you have actually experienced observing the mind and the nonphysical Universe, as Edison describes, you never feel you have to claim anything as YOURS. Therefore, if someone is claiming ownership to “Truth” or a method as THEIR Trademarked creation, know that they have not achieved that state of actually being the witness to the mind. Therefore, they do not know. They only “know about”. Thus, they always feel threatened.

Nothing real can ever be threatened.

Therefore, when you HAVE experienced firsthand that of being a “witness” to the mind, and have experienced personally the merging with “ALL THAT IS”, you never feel threatened, you never need approval, validation, or feel the need to be affirmed. Truth is Truth. Reality is Reality. You have complete “knowingness” and “certainty”. Look for these qualities in those you listen to, and work to attain them in yourself.

Everything already IS when it comes to the mind and spirituality. All has already been discovered and revealed to all of us because so many have already achieved “Enlightenment”. There have been millions of highly evolved beings on earth spanning thousands of years, who have reached the spiritual level of being able to observe and witness the mind in action and the entire spiritual nonphysical nature of the Universe. These people are known as being “Enlightened” or “Saints” or Avatars or Self Realized.

Many of them, over thousands of years, have written such observations and discoveries for all of us to learn from. These texts are available to all of us. But, who will spend the time, reading these esoteric texts from all around the world?
Very few.

Lucky for us, right now in fact, there are hundreds of thousands of such “Enlightened” Self-Realized beings on planet Earth. Many of them are sharing what they “know” through books, lectures, videos, and workshops. They are sharing what they KNOW, not just “know about”.

I encourage you to seek Truth from SOURCE via someone who is not claiming to BE Source, but rather working to open you up so that you can connect with Source directly. Finding such a person, and following their teachings, is the fastest and easiest path to get to where you absolutely want to go. Much love to you as you proceed on your journey. Make it an adventure!

Much love, and may you never be the same.
Your friend, KT