Emotions

	MIKE 2/8/02 6:17 PM	1 out of 9
	So what is it that you most want? A home in the country? What do you want with all your heart and soul? The love of your life? What would you give anything to have? More friends, more laughter, more time? You know, I think you and I have a lot in common, because I think that the thing that you most want, is also the thing that I most want … TO BE HAPPY, and the good news… as you already know, is that happiness is an inside job! But what is happiness? It’s an emotion, right? It’s an inner feeling. A feeling we spontaneously feel… when we think the circumstances of our life, are favorable, in harmony, and are pleasing to us. Hmmm, when WE THINK, the circumstances of our life are favorable. Actually, this IS REALLY great news, because first, it means that we decide when we’ll feel happy based on our PERCEPTION of the circumstances in our lives, and second, since we know that the circumstances of time and space are just a reflection of our thoughts in time and space… we know that we can change those that we don’t like by working on our thoughts and beliefs. So the short term fix is to change our perception of anything that seems unpleasant, and the long term fix is to realize our THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS so that we can set about working on our beliefs and start thinking thoughts that are aligned with all we want the future to hold. Both are viable options, but really the first is the wisest because happiness springs from the present, not the past or the future. And because we’ve already talked at length about how to manifest the future, this session will be more about our feelings, our emotions in the present, or better, our perception of the facts and circumstances of our lives. Perception is our view of the world and of ourselves… through our beliefs. To give you a bit of an involved example, I remember when we were first starting TUT, my brother, mother and I, about 11 years ago… and it was really slow going. World Headquarters was crammed into my tiny Orlando apartment from where I worked, and I remember on one beautiful workday in the spring of 1990 I decided to give myself a little break. I went to my apartment’s community swimming pool to just relax and soak up the sun. Up until that time in my life I’d worked for Price Waterhouse, so I thought now I could enjoy some of the slow time that you sometimes encounter when starting a new business, by just taking the morning off and exercising some of my new found entrepreneurial privileges. Unfortunately however, my beliefs about the necessity of working hard, sacrificing and struggling as necessary hardships for starting a company left me feeling incredible guilty, lazy, and UNHAPPY, so my morning by the pool was pretty miserable. Now, had I thought to change my perceptions that morning, I could have seen my time spent by the pool as evidence that I WAS on the right path towards making my dreams come true, I could have understood that I did deserve to enjoy life as I pleased, and then, from that perspective, I could have really enjoyed the Spring air, the cool pool, listened to the birds, and appreciated the paradise I lived in. But instead, I derided myself for not working harder, and I worried that I was being negligent in my responsibilities.

	MIKE 2/8/02 6:17 PM	2 out of 9
	Fortunately, I’ve remember that morning really well and I’ve often looked back at the lesson learned, because within just a few short years TUT was handily breaking the million dollar mark in sales, year after year and year… and it makes me realize… that if on that Spring morning I had had any idea of just how well our company would soon be doing, and just how effective my efforts were, I’d have really enjoyed myself. My perception, based on my beliefs, dictated how I should feel that morning, and it was a great lesson. These days, whenever I feel beset with guilt or doubt about what I’m doing, or whether I’m working hard enough, I examine my beliefs, change my perception and think to myself… OH MIKE… if you only knew how well you’re going to be doing in the near future… you’d really just relax and enjoy today for all that it already is. So the emotion of happiness, which is what we’re all really after, like all emotions, is a product of our PERCEPTIONS, and our perceptions are a product of our beliefs. Want to change how you see something, then just look at your beliefs, and in instances like this, finding your beliefs is relatively easy because you already have a clear starting point… the unpleasant emotions you’re feeling.

	MIKE 2/8/02 6:19 PM	3 out of 9
	In this way, emotions (particularly happiness) are not only something to strive for, but they can serve us powerfully be pointing at beliefs that are holding us back from seeing things in a new light. They tell us exactly where our thinking is and thus where our beliefs are, and whenever they’re unpleasant, they serve as a reminder service that our present perception is not based on truth, but on misinterpretations of truth. And like limiting beliefs, our emotions can all be traced back to the original sin; the forbidden fruit we eat of everyday. The original sin of humankind was believing, or perceiving, that the things of time and space were more real than spirit, that time and space precedes spirit, instead understanding that it works the other way around. And ever since then, we’ve been susceptible to the emotions of loss, separation, powerlessness, limitedness, depression, and more, all from the belief and perception that we are merely HUMAN BEINGS, a false belief. Realizing this though, and by understanding that we are indeed unlimited beings of light, that we are eternal, powerful, ONE with Universe… the limiting beliefs have to give way to the light of truth, and the emotions of happiness, completion, harmony and peace will then flood our awareness.

	MIKE 2/8/02 6:19 PM	4 out of 9
	That's all for now... Tallyho Fellow Adventurers... Have a great weekend... I'll be back on Monday! Mike

	ERIC 2/10/02 5:41 AM	5 out of 9
	You say spirit precedes time and space and yet you say "in just a few short years" {after "hours "of hard work i suppose) your company was making millions of dollars.Yet you lay the result of your efforts on belief and perception,not hrs worked at certain locale(s) I think you're not giving yourself enough credit for what you actually DID.Yes you had an idea but it seems it was actually good old effort that brought about your results!

	CATHY 2/10/02 1:34 PM	6 out of 9
	ERIC you are a very perceptive person.are you married?catherine

	ERIC 2/11/02 10:10 AM	7 out of 9
	Are you making a proposition?

	CATHY 2/11/02 12:11 PM	8 out of 9
	it's a thought.catherine

	MIKE 2/11/02 12:49 PM	9 out of 9
	Actions, hard work or otherwise, are always preceded by thoughts… but it’s the initial beliefs involved that will determine how much of any kind of work is necessary to succeed. I did work extremely hard, mostly driven by fear, but I was, and am, still the student as well, and am learning more and more how to leverage this better. I had to work hard in order for ME (based on my own beliefs) to feel worthy and deserving… but I could have thought otherwise, as MANY WEALTHY people do. I learned long ago, and you may already be there, that the quantity of hours worked rarely correlates to the success of that work, or the dollars we earn. WE ALL KNOW people who seem to meet “success” effortlessly, and for others, we seem to have to do double the work for the same results… BELIEFS are the difference. If someone believes they must work 12 hours a day to be wealthy, than once they do, if no other beliefs conflict, they WILL be wealthy, BUT NOT because they worked 12 hours a day, but because they believed that wealth would come from it. Could they have believed the same about working 1 hour a day… YES, though it would be far more challenging because society (and their peers) would frown on them, but IF THEY COULD BELIEVE IT ANWAY, they would succeed just as well. I have a close friend who runs a manufacturing plant, and if that guy ever worked 4 hard hours a day I’d be shocked… BUT IN HIS MIND he works “24 hours a day” (he says so!), and HE BELIEVES he has, and is, paying his dues, and is deserving of his “hard earned” money, and SO IT CONTINUES TO MANIFEST. One brilliant idea (received in a flash of insight) can change the world and make its “inventor” a billionaire, but so can an hour or 2 or 3 worked per day… depending on the dreamer’s beliefs about their worthiness, and of life in general. THEN, as we believe… the right ideas, the right people, the right circumstances, etc…. will be drawn, almost miraculously, into our lives and our dreams WILL take flight. But there can’t be any major conflicting beliefs, or we unknowingly block their fruition.