Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

Teotihuacán: "Where Man becomes God"

Eights years ago I was upside down, dangling by my feet from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun in the amazing ancient city of Teotihuacán, Mexico. It was not your average dangling; I had a morbid fear of heights and barely made it to the top of the massive structure that day. Never did I believe I would trust someone to hang me by my feet off the side of such a high place! But, in the end, I di. . .

Finally Keep Your New Years Resolutions This Year With Su...

You are about to have the best year ever -- and here's how:1- Forget about doing things a year at a time, a week at a time or a month at a time. Instead this year, let's live our lives and do things a minute at a time -- or even better -- one *second* at a time. This removes the burden of the pastand the expectation of the future. It's like removing a 100 pound backpack that you've been carryin. . .

Living Life in the Shadow of Death

In the Toltec tradition the angel of death plays a significant role in a warrior’s life. If anyone can be depended upon to set our priorities straight and keep our minds clear, it’s death. Why? Simply because we have a habit of proceeding in our lives as if we have forever to live, acting as if things can wait until tomorrow to be resolved. But this is not truth. We have no idea when our last m. . .

Intent versus Intention; Is There A Difference?

Intent, rather than intention, is an important aspect of the Toltec philosophy and certainly a challenging subject to talk about. We must use our concepts to discuss something utterly abstract, something that is not conceivable within the rational mind. For Toltec’s, Intent is the force that life uses to create our entire universe. Most of us think of Intent as intention, but this is not true f. . .

Where is Happiness?

Do you move through life feeling everyday is the same? Like some repeated pattern that goes on and on? For some people, there's nothing new to do under the sun, and nowhere to go. Everything is just boring, boring, boring. They work so hard to earn enough money to play, but yet their playtime passes so fast. Suffer five days, enjoy two days. Sometimes, to break the monotony, they seek thrill th. . .

Using your Spiritual Path Against Yourself

In looking back at my process over the years I have noticed an interesting phenomenon that I refer to as “using my path to go against myself.” This behavior may be a surprise to many of you….but as programmed ego minds we have been trained to use our life situations to go against ourselves since we were small. We have learned from those around us to use other people to raise our blood pressure,. . .

Mastery of Awareness

Life is filled with all kinds of adventures and experiences, gifts and magic. Of all the gifts I have ever received in this life time, the gift of the mastery of awareness is the one I treasure the most. You might ask why that gift would exceed all others. After all, wasn’t that diamond ring wonderful and that fabulous sports car I received fine? Wasn’t that incredible vacation or that great wo. . .

Living an Inspired Life

Don Miguel Ruiz, author of “The Four Agreements” and my personal mentor, spoke on more than one occasion about living one’s life in a totally different way than we had been taught to live; what he called ”living the will of God.” He asked us to imagine what living the will of God might look like. At that time, my highly educated and analytical brain had a field day tearing apart his lecture. I . . .

Conscious Creation: New Years Resolution

I’ve made a lot of New Years resolutions in my time, perhaps more than I’d like to remember! But my favorite resolution was when I decided to start creating my life consciously rather than unconsciously. You might be thinking that you are creating your life consciously. But, if I asked you to tell me what your intent is for this year, chances are you wouldn’t be able to answer my question at fi. . .

Your Emotions: Are you watching them?

You’ll often hear don Miguel Ruiz, author of “The Four Agreements,” saying that our emotions are the key to our personal freedom. Wise words! You might be asking why our emotions are so important to our freedom. I’ve observed in my many years of teaching, how often folks don’t acknowledge what they’re feeling emotionally. When I ask them how they’re feeling they say, “Things are fine,” or “The . . .

Creating a Better Future

Creating a better future is not a one stop wonder. It is a process and as with any process you need to know where you are now before you can begin creating a better future.Step 1: Take an inventory of yourself. Creating a better future for yourself and your family first requires you to ask yourself “what it is that gives my life meaning, purpose, and joy?”Consider your talents and your abilit. . .

Dealing with Criticism and Rejection

Whether it's the other kids making fun of you at school, you just received a really harsh performance evaluation from your boss, you got turned down by the girl you asked out, or you didn't get the job you interviewed for, rejection and criticism hurts. I won't tell you not to take it personally, because it is personal. You are the one who was criticized. You are the one who was rejected. N. . .

Feeling Forgettable

My teenage daughter reminded me of something the other night. We were talking about things that were going on at school. She is in a drama class and is one of the teacher's favorite students. However, when assigning roles for an upcoming show the students are putting on, the teacher completely forgot to put my daughter on the list. This isn't one of those big school plays that students try . . .

Breaking Free of the Past

Everyone makes a mistake at some point in their life. Most of us make the majority of our mistakes when we are young. Teenagers and twenty-somethings are especially prone to make some whoppers! After we make those big mistakes, we naturally want to fix the problems and get on to better things. Nobody likes to sit in mistakes they made during their youth for the rest of their lives. Some mi. . .

Why Don't You Get A Real Job?

How many of us have had that question hammered into our consciousness? I would bet that most musicians, artists, actors, writers, missionaries, athletes, entrepreneurs, stay-at-home parents, and inventors have all had to deal with this question. After we are successful and the big money and fame is rolling in, then everyone says how brave and tenacious we were. After we change the world with. . .

Focus Your Expertise

Yes, you are amazing and brilliant and capable of multi-tasking to a fine art. You can do anything you set you mind to and you know that already. You’ve become a master of juggling multiple responsibilities and you seem to be fairly successful at just about everything you do. So why aren’t you making the big bucks? Where is all that abundance and prosperity that being so multi-talented shou. . .

Anger Management: Assessing the Aftermath of Conflict

It is very important to have the proper approach in order to effectively resolve a conflict. But merely solving the conflict is not enough. It is also very important to recognize what valuable lessons you learned from the situation itself. Below are 14 questions to help you recognize the source of the argument as well as how to learn from it. Ask yourself the following after your next confli. . .

Praying for Self-Confidence

There are many different aspects involved in creating our sense of self-confidence. Most of us are quite aware of the big obvious pieces like whether or not our childhoods created a strong foundation to build upon or not. We know that a string of broken hearts can begin eroding what confidence we may have had and that a loving supportive spouse can be our greatest asset in the belief that we . . .

Self Control

Self control means the ability to motivate ourselves to do the things we need to do. It also means stopping ourselves from doing things that we see are bad for us. It may seem that it is a problem of willpower, but pushing ourselves to do things when we feel miserable, or fighting temtation may just be a recipe for stress. There are better ways.Self Control With Easy StepsOne trick to doing wha. . .

Does Self-Esteem Even Matter?

There is a new article in the January 2005 issue of Scientific American entitled Exploding the Self-Esteem Myth. It's a very well written analysis of what scientists and mental health experts have found after decades of studying self-esteem. If you have the time, I would highly recommend reading the full version of it. If not, I will do my best to paraphrase what it said. Some of the result. . .

4 Steps To Creating A Better Future

Step 1: Take inventory. Creating a vision for yourself and your life first requires you to ask yourself “what it is that gives my life meaning, purpose, and joy?”Look to your talents. Look to your abilities. What makes you smile the instant you think of doing it? It is not difficult to determine what your special ability, gift or interest is. Simply ask yourself: “What do I look forward to. . .

7 Habits Of Spectacularly Unsuccessful People

WARNING! If you want to have a fantastic life, never engage yourself in these 7 deadly habits that incompetent people do.NUMBER 1 - They Think, Say, & Do Negative Things.Yes. They see problems in EVERY opportunity. They complain that the sun is too hot. They cursed the rain for ruining their plans for the day. They blame the wind for ruining their hair. They think that everyone is against them.. . .

Fear of Rejection

Getting the nerve up to ask someone to go out with you can be very difficult. There are a lot more reasons to be afraid than there are for being brave. Many of us have self-esteem issues firmly rooted in our childhood stories that hold us frozen and afraid to really reach out to others. Our parents, siblings, or neighborhood friends taught us that we were less than beautiful, that we aren't . . .

How To Set Goals

How to set goals? First of all, don't confuse wishes or desires with goals. Often, people want things, situations or accomplishments, and call these goals. Then they're disappointed when they don't get them. Just naming your desires isn't effective goal setting. Good goals have some or all of the following:1. Good goals are specific. A goal like, "I want to be healthy" is too general. "I want t. . .

When Nothing Seems to be Going Right

It's more then just a bad hair day. Truth is, you don't even care how your hair looks because everything that can go wrong is going wrong. It's not like you created the problems yourself and are having to fix your own mess. That's easy enough to deal with. No, this is about those days when nobody takes you seriously, every light turns red when you're on a tight schedule as it is, and your s. . .

4 Signs That You May Have An Anger Problem

You may not want to admit it, but many of you already know that at least one point of your life, you have had a problem with anger. But there are many people out there who are not quite sure if they have an issue with anger. To help you find out, below are some indicators:1. When you do get angry, you do not get over it for a long time. It may last until you explode sometimes, or the anger . . .

Top Seven Reasons NOT to Put Your Self-Esteem in Someone ...

We've all heard wonderful heartwarming stories of the underdog winning the day because someone else believed in them so much that they were able to overcome their own self-doubt in order to go the extra mile and succeed at some goal or dream they had been putting off. Those stories are beautiful and inspirational, however in reality they are also few and far between. I would never advocate tu. . .

Improve Your Self-Confidence In 7 Steps

Improving ones self-confidence is one of the important personal objectives that almost every person tries to achieve. This article will help you find a few of so many factors that can help you achieve this goal quicker. Your feedback, suggestions and personal experiences are welcome.1. Learn to experimentA wonderful fact you should know is that this world houses a lot of people, things, behavio. . .

New Year's Resolutions

Have you kept to your new year's resolutions? Sadly most of us haven't, and many of us have given up trying. But why is this? Are you going to wait another 12 months before you try again? Many people give up if they fail once. You are putting unreasonable pressure on yourself if you do this. In one of the British Heart Foundation publications I came across a lovely phrase: " A lapse is not a co. . .

Why It's Impossible To Fail At Love

So many times relationships start out wonderfully. Both partners are thrilled, feeling they’ve finally found, “the one”. Then as time passes, before they know it, they begin to wonder where has the love gone? Many feel lost when this happens. They do not know what went wrong, how to correct misunderstandings or what steps need to be taken to make things right again.It seems to many that love is. . .

Superstition is Magical Thinking

Most of us grew up with superstitions. A few of my childhood favorites are seven years of bad luck for breaking a mirror, bad luck for walking under a ladder, opening an umbrella indoors and having a black cat cross my path will also produce bad luck. I have heard of athletes that have to wear a certain pair of socks or have a lucky coin in their pocket when they play "the big game." The truth . . .

Top 5 Communication Tips for Couples

1. If you want to be a better communicator, be a better listener. This means listening without reaction and without judgment. When your partner shares, you are observing your partner's innermost feelings and emotions. These feelings are neither good nor bad. This is just how your partner feels. You don't have to agree. But, the first step in effective communications is to listen and understand . . .

Peace on Earth in Another 365 Days

For years now I have been telling people that everything is in your head, your thoughts are powerful and you need to control them Everyone once in awhile I am reminded physically of how it works…Illness is an error in thought. At some level of consciousness illness and accidents are created. Illness and accidents must have thought behind them to be manifested into physical experience. We get si. . .

Simply Do What You Resolve To Do

It's that time again, when we all are trying to decide upon those New Year resolutions that we intend to institute and commit to. We are already well into January 2006; Have you started your New Year yet? Have you already decided upon your resolution? Will you continue or have you already conceded failure? Will you try again? Why is it so difficult to do this one simple thing?Human beings are c. . .

17 Important Things To Remember As You Prepare For An Int...

Several Days - One Week Before the Interview1. Spend some time to research the organization and the position at hand. To find company-specific information, visit your local library, run a search on the internet, or talk to current or former employees about their experiences and impressions of the company. Study up on the company's products and services, industry, target market, annual sales, . . .

Once Can Be Enough

There are many things that I would like to do. In fact I have made a list of 100 things I would like to do before I die. I have been checking quite a few things off the list in the last couple of months, including a fire walk and a hot air balloon ride. One of the things I am learning is that there are things that doing once is plenty.When I made my list of 100 things I wanted to do before I di. . .

When Bad Hair Happens To Good People

It doesn't matter who we are, a famous star or just ordinary people, we all have things that we don't like about ourselves. The meteoric rise of the cosmetic surgery industry attests to the fact that there are a lot of people who don't like something about themselves enough to pay lots of money and go through immense agony to change it. I was cursed with bad hair. I often look at those models o. . .

Unstoppable

There are many ways to create success. One of the chief ways is to become unstoppable. This happens when your passion, desire and willingness to do whatever it takes meld. When this happens it creates an unstoppable force and nothing will be able to keep you from achieving your goals.When I look back over the times I attained success it was clearly when I was unstoppable. The ingredients that g. . .

How Do I Get There?

The question was originally asked in reference to having a spiritual calling and not knowing how to get to the point where you’re actually serving humanity. It’s no different if you are an entrepreneur with an internal calling to successfully run your own company, a musician with a calling to perform on stage for large audiences, or a writer with a calling to see their books published. It’s r. . .

A Personal Mission Statement… Arghh

Write it down, are you kidding? No one could ever get me to commit like that. A Mission statement is for business or so I thought…Can you imagine taking a boat, loading it up with supplies and stripping out the compass and all the communication equipment and then heading out to sea with no idea of where you are going? This is what most of us do, both in our businesses and in our personal life. . . .

Giving Up Too Soon

So you feel beaten up and bruised and you're ready to quit. You have no support system or the one you have is pathetically inadequate for the goals you've set. You're so tired that the couch is looking more and more inviting everyday. You have bills piling up and you probably ought to get a real job anyway. The failure rate is statistically high and nobody is going to fault you if you quit.. . .

Don't Mock Me!

My favorite part of the Noah’s Ark story is not that he listened to his god and therefore managed to save mankind and the animals, and it’s not the rainbows, or even the dove as a symbol of divine peace and love. My favorite part happens long before the rains begin to fall. I love that no matter how much people laughed and scoffed at what he was doing; Noah still went right on building that a. . .

The Power Of The Thoughts

Our life is a mirror on our thoughtsIf we turn back, you may notice that same negative thoughts that we have seen in the past narrow our presence. The way we think for yourself, how we look our self, reflects on the material world. If you believe in your abilities your talents, you will reach great success. Doubting in our self, considering ourselves more valuable than the other people, so as w. . .

Think Before You Type

I have preached for years about putting anything in writing you don't want everyone to see. The days of chiseling out a message in stone are gone, but the permanency of putting words in writing lives on. When you put it in writing, it is there for the world to see even if you only intended to send that e-mail about your stupid boss to your best friend who works down the hall. E-mail is the wors. . .

Let it Go...Meditation for Cutting Energy Cords

Do you often find yourself feeling drained or lacking in energy? Is there someone that you just can't seem to get over or stop thinking about no matter how much you try to let them go? Or how about those folks at work who just seem to drain the life out of you?Did you know that you have invisible cords of energy going from you to other people and from them to you? Unless you use meditation to s. . .

Avoiding Your Persistent Fears Will Not Make Them Go Away

Your fears, anxieties, and other problems have the best of you and you don’t know where to turn for help. At some point you feel totally helpless as you struggle each day. What do you do?As a layman and an author of a Managing Fear book, there were times that my fears had the best of me. Through these experiences, there is one thing that I learned. You can’t hide or runaway from your fears. Sin. . .

5 Survival Tools for Thriving in Any Life Storm

If you are conscious and honest with yourself, challenges occur in your life. Some of these challenges will be small. Others will seem to shake the very foundation of your life and make you wonder why you were ever born. It is at times like the latter that you need tools in your shed to help you weather the storm.1. Connect with Spirit/God/the Universe.This is the first and most important tool.. . .

How To Deal With Difficult People Part 3 - The Passive Ag...

Thirty-three year old Roberto had promised his wife Tina that he would be home after work in time for her to attend her weekly "women's group" at her church. Having only one automobile, Tina was completely at the mercy of Roberto's promise.You guessed it! Roberto did not show up until 8:45 PM-way too late for Tina to attend her meeting. Rather than being apologetic, however, Roberto explained t. . .

Lifetime Wants and Desires

Do you know all the things you want to have, do and be in life? Have your listed them? Not too many people do, but it's interesting, of the people who accomplish a lot in their life, most all have a list.Though the years I have noticed that most highly successful, adventurous and accomplished people have a list of all the things they would like to do. And most of them did not know how they . . .

Saving Money for College and 529 Plans

Wanting the best for your children doesn't always make it possible to give them the best. And when you look at the cost of four years of college, the idea of coming up with that much money monthly as your child attends college can be downright scary. One potentially useful tool is a 529 plan which allows you to not only begin to put money aside well before your child is ready for college, but . . .