Archive for January, 2010

AGREE TO DISAGREE

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

In my life the biggest chasms with friends seem to be about motion pictures. One person will swear that such and so is the greatest film in the history of celluloid while someone else disagrees and picks another movie as her favorite. Round and round we go and sometimes the expression of opinions can get heated. It often reminds me of Church and State and the loud and ‘no room for a difference of opinion’ atmosphere that exists with both these institutions.

Last week, as a way to solicit donations I suppose, the American Civil Liberties Union sent me a small bound copy of the Constitution of the United States of America. As I pored over the bedrock of our Republic I read Amendment 1: Freedom of religion, speech, and the press, rights of assembly and petition.

Referencing spats over one movie being better than another, or not, might seem frivolous when understanding the intent of Amendment 1 but it does remind me that we are all entitled to disagree with one another. So the next time one of your over-zealous church friends argues for his dogma or an adversary who votes differently than you sits on his soapbox, remind him or her that it is healthy and a guaranteed right of all of us to disagree.

I am Albert Clayton Gaulden and I approve of this message.

Albert Clayton Gaulden is the founding director of the Sedona Intensive and author of You’re Not Who You Think You Are: A Breakthrough Guide to Discovering the Authentic You. For more information about Albert and Sedona Intensive visit http://www.sedonaintensive.com/.

Purchase You’re Not Who You Think You Are at http://www.yourenotwhoyouthinkyouare.com/

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Perception or Reality?

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

The media seems to have been taken over by pundits and trend setters. Rather than get news that can help us make better choices we get instead glitz and spin. I was on A BETTER TODAY Blog Radio Show with host Steve Maraboli (very savvy with cutting edge consciousness) and we discussed the difference between perception and what’s real. I went a step further and distinguished between the outer life with make-up and disguises and the inner world where the naked truth lives.

My position has always been that we live in a parallel universe: there is what I refer to as 1) the “perfect place” from whence we come, get our telepathic intuition and to which we will return at death and 2) the maya or illusionary world (which Joseph Campbell and I refer to as reform school) which has the infection and rampant misinformation sired and promulgated by one’s Ego. Mr. Maraboli asked me how one got from illusion to truth–from outside mystique to the inner life of freedom–and I told him, “Through pain and going to any lengths to wake up from the trance state that the transitory world offers.” I have worked with a lot of people and I never heard one man or woman say that he or she got out of bed one day and decided to quit alcoholic drinking or that they thought it would better serve them not to have never-ending partners, one after the other. Like me, the pain and destruction of the bad boy or girl behavior got us to put the plug in the jug with the fellowship of those whose lives changed with steps. Like Buddha, the challenge in the New Year is to “Wake up” and find the path to peace and tranquility by connecting to a power greater than oneself, God.

Albert Clayton Gaulden is the founding director of the Sedona Intensive and author of You’re Not Who You Think You Are: A Breakthrough Guide to Discovering the Authentic You. For more information about Albert and Sedona Intensive visit http://www.sedonaintensive.com/.

Purchase You’re Not Who You Think You Are at http://www.yourenotwhoyouthinkyouare.com/

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Time to Go Back Inside.

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Now that we have entered a new decade I thought I would weigh in with a stargazer’s perspective, go Out on a Limb with Shirley MacLaine, and give a sense and sensibility title to the 10-year run that lies ahead of us. After scanning the star maps for 2010- 2020, I came up with “Go back inside.”

When I was a boy growing up in Alabama I can still hear my mother’s voice (as if it were five minutes ago) hollering out the back door, “Little Albert, it’s time to come inside.” And, of course, I would holler back, “I’m coming, Momma.” It was listening ‘back in time’ that reminded me that if I want to keep the glitter out of my eyes and my peepers on the prize of authenticity, getting to where I need to go, I will find my compass back inside of me. I am wont to say that the answers are where the questions are: within.

The first decade of the 21st century was like a day at the State Fair of my childhood, which I went to every September as a kid with my five brothers and sisters. The barkers were on the sawdust fairway hawking sideshows and shilling for games of chance that enticed us youngsters with an oversized stuffed animal that we thought was the be-all of the games of pitch-and-toss. Many a year I went home empty-handed–no teddy bear for me to give to my little sister–but my pockets were bare having left my allotted five-spot at one of the gaming booths. Because we were all too busy watching Dow Jones and the value of our house skyrocket in the last decade, we bounced the bubble as if it were Teflon and would never deflate. But a lot of us ended up empty-handed; some even lost their homes and most of their life-savings.

Instead of falling under the spell of keeping up with whatever trends are being touted in slick magazine pages; from falling under the swoon of lifestyles of the rich and famous; buying into a deal that promises ‘You can’t lose–get it while it’s hot.’ Simply say, “No.” Even believing what the guru-of-the-month is dishing out may leave you feeling down and out. Make a U-turn and look inside yourself for what you want to do with this challenging decade to feel safe and secure and getting what you deserve. I’ll be the first to tell you that the real you knows better than I do what is best for you. Go back inside.

I am Albert Clayton Gaulden and I approve of this message.

Albert Clayton Gaulden is the founding director of the Sedona Intensive and author of You’re Not Who You Think You Are: A Breakthrough Guide to Discovering the Authentic You. For more information about Albert and Sedona Intensive visit http://www.sedonaintensive.com/.

Purchase You’re Not Who You Think You Are at http://www.yourenotwhoyouthinkyouare.com/

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