Baby Boomer balance has everything to do with alignment and walking our talk.

How many times in your life have you verbally committed to doing something and then reneged at some point because something came up – or the memory and focus of the original conversation faded and became a distant glimmer of muffled sound – like a silhouette of a campfire on the beach against a cliff late at night?

Was it your intention not to follow through? Did you actually make the commitment intending not to follow through?

In a peculiar way, this is the truth.

Recently, on a personal level, I have learned about authenticity – living it, speaking it and looking for it. This ties in directly to other aspects of what I am learning that I would like to share with you. See how it sits with you and maybe it will make sense to you the way it is beginning to in my life.

Lately many aspects of emotion are becoming clear in my life.

What emotion is, for example.

As far back as I can remember, emotion has been something usually associated with discomfort – something to “kind of walk around” or to be cautious about not stirring up the mud in the bottom of the pond, so to speak.

Because there was so much turmoil in my household as a boy, it became easier to avoid emotion than deal with it. As a memory, there is a great deal of fighting and negative emotion throughout much of the childhood experience. So looking back at the chain of events in my own experience, I see that inadvertently, as a young man my “internal” system gradually guided me in the direction of avoiding emotion as a survival tool, because many times this was easier than experiencing the emotion that was available there.

It was not a conscious choice, in retrospect.

And looking at that process, it becomes clear to me that a great deal of my subsequent experience around emotion was either directly – or indirectly – linked to the that “unconscious choice” so many years ago.

What is interesting about this scenario is that I have always been a highly sensitive human being with an singular sense of fairness and equity that has always been a major part of my personality. Being a “Cancer” with a heavy emphasis on emotion, this aspect has often been a double edged sword for me.

More often than not, I felt more than the others around me did. Many times it created a situation where I really felt like an outcast – the weirdo, the odd one – that got messages and direction that nobody else seemed to understand – or be aware of. At the age where peer approval was so important to a young man, this was often troubling and confusing. And yet on a certain level, I really didn’t care what they thought either. I rarely listened to what other people had to say.

Talk about confusion…

So here I am as a teenager:

• becoming a master of avoiding emotion while simultaneously
• being highly sensitive to the energy and emotion around me
• angry and aloof – getting tons of “downloads” encrypted in a language that only I seemed to understand

So back to the “truth” of not intending to follow commitments – of having intentions NOT to honor commitments we make – even though we are verbally nodding our heads.

In 2005, at a Peak Potentials Wizard Camp (a 5 day intensive seminar not to far from Whistler, BC) I had an epiphany. I learned first hand what commitment means. This took place in the form of a direct experience – but also, I actually saw commitment with my own eyes. I have written about this experience in depth in my book so I will not reiterate it here.

I really got something in that experience that I have carried forward with me since and have grown to realize that it affects everything we do in life – all the time.

To summarize, this is it:
Commitment does not exist in the cosmos as ‘partial’. It is all or nothing. We are either 100% committed or we are not committed. There is no such thing as “sort of committed”.

This is the crux of the theme of this post: Baby Boomer Balance.

Lately, as a I mentioned earlier, many aspects of “emotion” are becoming clear to me.

1. I have recently heard this: emotions are the way that God speaks to us.
2. Emotions are the internal guide posts that empower us to choose the right decision.
3. Emotions have nothing to do with pain or fear – both of which stem from our reaction to what our emotions are telling us – rather than what is actually being said.
4. Most of us avoid experiencing emotion like the plague because in much of our experience, when we feel emotion, we feel pain – so we associate it with pain.
5. Emotions are tools to guide us in the decision process. That decision process is very simple: Does this choice feel good? Or does this choice not feel good?

When we pull this understanding into our daily life as an operating tool, emotions make it easy to decide what to do. Esther Hicks and Abraham always talk about “going upstream or going downstream”.

I am learning how simple this is – but it took a long time for me to “get it”.

I am learning to use this tool frequently throughout the day. Any time I start to feel agitation about something I am hearing, or about something I am thinking or a choice I am about to make, I ask myself:

Does this feel upstream or downstream? If I get the feeling that the “thing” is upstream ( a choice that will take me into a situation that will mean “fighting my way upstream”), I choose consciously not to do that thing, or say those words or go that direction. No explanation, no argument and no rhetoric.

If this thing makes me feel “downstream” – like flowing with the current and really going with the flow, that is the choice I make. I find that as soon as I identify internally what feels good and what feels downstream, all sense of agitation and discomfort – in the bottom of my stomach immediately fades away and I feel good.

What a cool way to deal with emotion. It now becomes a tool for choosing our path and for making decisions all the time. And it is so simple – as long as we just listen and do not resist or react.

Now more about balance…

I am finding that living our truth is all about balance.

To be authentic we must live our truth. That means we can not go against what we know is right within us. In other words, we must always choose what feels downstream in order to follow “what feels right for us”. Any time we make a choice other than this, it means that we are making a choice out of alignment with who we are.

Maybe this is to please others whom we admire and whose approval we are seeking. Maybe we want a different outcome to be our reality so we think that if we ignore that “feeling” it will come out the way we really want it to happen.

The truth is that we can only make choices in alignment with our “authenticity” if we want to be authentic. Nothing else makes sense. The interesting part is that as soon as we choose this, everybody else around us identifies our authenticity and starts to respect it.

Now how does commitment fit into this picture?

It is very simple yet subtle – much in the same way how easy it is to choose “upstream or downstream”. Yet, perhaps commitment is one of the most misunderstood concepts in modern society at this point. Truly most of us think we are committed when we are not.

Because being committed means that no matter what we will follow through. It means our word is our bond, it is an extension of our truth and it is a big part of being authentic.

How is this so?

If we are truly being authentic, we follow through on our commitments because when we are following our inner truth, we only commit to those things that make us feel “downstream:” We choose what is right for us at all times and we choose to be in the flow.

When we are authentic, we are choosing that which is alignment with our higher self – which also means we are choosing that which is in alignment with the part of us which is Divine.

When we are authentic, we only agree to commit to anything that we choose to be in alignment with. What this means, therefore, is that it is really ok to say NO.

Simply go inside and ask yourself: If I commit to this does it make me feel downstream or upstream? Then base your commitment on that feeling – one way or the other.

If we commit to something and we do not follow through, either we were not being authentic when we entered into the commitment, or we are not being true to ourselves when we do not follow through to that commitment.

We are the leaders for future generations. What happens is our responsibility. How can we lead these kids and guide the flow “downstream” in the bigger picture if we are not committed to our principles, our values and our integrity?

And how can we expect those who are so desperately needing our leadership to believe us and follow our direction if:

• our walk is not in alignment with our talk and
• if we are not being authentic

We cannot expect them to listen because it will not feel “downstream” to them. And they will blow us off.

We have a chance to make a real change as we head into the magnificent transition into the new paradigm that is coming.

Commit to your own alignment and your Baby Boomer Balance.
Being in alignment is a big part of Baby Boomer Balance as well as a major ingredient in Baby Boomer Health. Coming to grips with these issues are not only a component of who were are becoming as leaders, it is also a big part of choosing emotional cleansing and self esteem on a conscious level – instead of an unconscious one.

Are you ready to see it all in a different light and quit fighting the inevitable – upstream?

I am.

Blessings.

Michael Barrett

EFT is a very effective healing practice that was developed by Gary Craig.
You can find out more about it at the Emotional Freedom Technique website.

To quote from the website:
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is an emotional, needle free version of acupuncture that is based on new discoveries regarding the connection between your body’s subtle energies, your emotions, and your health. EFT has been reported successful in thousands of cases covering a huge range of emotional, health and performance issues. It often works where nothing else will.

There are three reasons I am blogging about EFT.

1. EFT is something that everyone – and particularly every baby boomer – should know about and learn how to use. It is a simple yet effective system for emotional cleansing. When I find something this good, I want to share it with everybody. The information is free and the techniques are very effective. Just go the website and download the free manual and get started today.
2. I have known about EFT for quite a while and have used it a few times myself with mediocre success on a personal level. But, because so many experts that I respect have said it is very effective, I included in my 60 Days To Look Better and Feel Better (the companion course to my book Healthy Wealthy Boomer) as a daily practice for emotional cleansing and balance.
3. Today, I was given an EFT private healing session. That two hour session has changed me internally, dramatically. I can not impress upon you enough how much of a difference and how much better I feel. In many respects, I believe it was a re-birthing emotionally and spiritually. I feel so blessed and am so grateful, I wanted to make a public declaration and give credit where credit is due.

Whenever I See Excellence and Grace, It Creates A Sense of Awe

It’s always amazing to me when I cross paths with someone who is really good at what they do – particularly when there is genuine humility and no ego involved. I love mastery and goodness. It never fails to restore my faith in humanity and always reminds me how much unconditional love matters – and how rare it is.

Service to others is usually the primary driving force behind authentic people who really care.

Pamela Gregory is one such individual.

She has been an EFT practitioner for 6 years. In my case, she recognized my situation and the depth of what I was going through and she immediately threw me a “lifeline”. She went the extra mile and took the time to fully communicate with me and really listen.

She stepped in, was firm and very loving and she provided me with a great deal of preparatory information and support. Her session was well directed and executed professionally and with sincere kindness. She acted like a catalyst to open me up. This woman is blessed with an ability and works in Divine Love. She was an angel to me. I trust her completely and recommend her wholeheartedly.

If you have any emotional issues that have been hanging on for a long time or emotional pain, get in touch with Pamela. You will not only love her personally, you will love the results.

I mean this sincerely.

Just as a sidebar, I am not affiliated with Pamela or emofree.com and receive no compensation for these endorsements – just the satisfaction of knowing that everybody wins.

There are two videos she recommended I watch prior to the session to get a real sense of the power of EFT. I did and they are powerful – particularly the one showing veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrone being treated with EFT. I have included it here.

Vets Being Treated For PTSS with EFT

She has a Facebook group called: Forgiveness Healing. In fact this is where I found her and became Facebook friends. If you are on Facebook, go here and join this group.

You can get a Pamela Gregory EFT Private Session here.

If nothing else, go to the EFT website and download the free EFT manual.

Wishing you the best.

Michael Barrett

Opening the heart chakra changes your life – no doubt about that. Sometimes I wish I had never learned anything about energy and the heart chakra - ignorance is bliss and much simpler.

Because…

Opening and expanding is always exciting but it’s also a double edged sword. The more you feel, the more you feel – more joy AND more pain. Being totally vulnerable and allowing a heightened depth of understanding and sensitivity can be a very dangerous place to be.

Pain without defense means it cuts deep and efficiently to the core. Without a reason, there is no need for a defense to be in place and we let our guard down and it’s easy not to see it coming – kind of a double whammi. No wonder many people never allow themselves to open up or let people get too close.

I have a high pain threshold – physically, quite high actually. But I had forgotten how much a pain in my heart can make it hard to breathe, buckle my knees or make me too weak to make make a fist.

Vulnerability is one thing, but I hate being weak.

Being deeply in love, expressing gratitude for it every day and fully appreciating its depth, taught me to forget that kind of pain for a long time.

From a spiritual cost benefit analysis perspective, isn’t it easier not to open the heart chakra this deeply in the first place?  Is the cost really worth the benefit?

Yet loving that deeply – even for a split second – may be worth it. After all, it is irreplaceable. People search an entire lifetime for this kind of love and to some degree doesn’t rarity define value in and of itself ?

I have spent most of my adult life learning how to express my emotions and allowing myself to be vulnerable. At the same time, if it were possible just to reformat and restore all the old blissful ignorance defaults and select the “remain ignorant” option from the drop down list, I might make that choice and live out life on autopilot.

Does this mean that Spiritual growth has to be painful? Does it mean that it is painful because I do not have enough Spiritual purity?

I think not.

There is no elegant way to feel pain. We always heal – mostly – with enough time. But the possibility occurs to me that since feeling true joy is such a vulnerable way to live,  it makes an open heart chakra kind of a scary prospect .

Maybe I don’t want to be that open. Maybe I’m afraid to really let go again.

That’s a weird thought – one I’ve never had before.

The problem is that you definitely can never go back once you start growing. Even so, every choice we make determines what happens in our life. We can always choose how we grow and how we integrate what we learn, unless we are in denial about that truth and choose to deny it.

In the short term, denial is an easier choice. But in the long run, denial is neither easy nor sustainable. The longer we hold it, the more energy it takes. Denial also tends to be a very selfish act because it leaves out how other people feel when your deny their true expression of love by not loving your self enough.

Yes everything happens for a reason and ultimately everything is in Divine order.

In any case,  you can not close your heart chakra once it opens. You can only choose to deny your true feelings and choose separation.

Why Web 2.0 and Social Bookmarking Really Works…

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One aspect of the internet that has always amazed me is how intimate digital communication can actually be.

Objectively you wouldn’t think so – letters typed on a screen. How can that be intimate? All I know is
that I have been brought to tears on numerous occasions through a touching and thoughtful email or
blog post.

Every so often I forget about my amazement until I am reminded by a passionate and emotionally open piece – created by a caring and tuned in person.

Maybe it’s the emotional honesty that is so striking ; maybe it’s authenticity. Maybe it’s intent. Maybe
it’s intention.

Some of us learn early in life that it’s ok to express emotion and it’s safe to be who we really are.

Others have a tougher challenge to overcome as adults because we learn early in our experience that it
isn’t safe and that individual expression equates to punishment, demeaned self esteem and retribution.

For the former, the realm of emotion and self esteem is a playground, a joyful experiment and an exciting
and interesting game. Mistakes are not only allowed and tolerated, they are encouraged. Life is fun.

For the latter – as a child – survival depends on being transparent, invisible, unheard and unspoken, because being seen and heard equates to pain – emotional or otherwise. Mistakes must be avoided because they are flags that draw attention.

Life is scary.

For the person with low self esteem, it’s a really big deal and it takes courage to express oneself openly in relationships, socially or on the Net, in contrast to who those already understand that it’s ok to be who they are in public.

The Impact on Baby Boomers…

These issues are particularly true for Baby Boomers because we are the generation once removed from the Great Depression and the direct social descendants of the WW2 generation.

Men were silent about their pain and fears. It was the way they survived the horrors so many of them saw in the war and their memories of hunger and scarcity in the Great Depression as kids.

As such, Boomers were trained to emulate this same emotional behavior en masse – just by observing the way many of our fathers maintained a distance and a consistent lack of emotional expression, masking all that pain.

We directly reflect these attitudes and social mores as a group and this self esteem polarity seems to be more pronounced in us as a result.

How One Person Really Makes A Difference

What was it, for example, about seeing Paul Potts – a frumpy, self conscious and humble cell phone salesman singing his heart out on Britain’s Got Talent, that so dramatically impacted observers emotionally?

And it did…

There was not a dry eye in the house when he finished his performance.

Was it the amazing power of his voice?

Yes, partially.

Was it the fact that he allowed his personal power and magnificence to shine through for the first time in his life – and expose his true spirit – in spite of his absolute internal discomfort and fear of failure?

Most definitely.

Was it because instinctively we all sensed that the magnitude of the risk he was taking was so large that most of us would never have taken that risk?

Yes, that too.

Was it because we knew he was taking the biggest chance of his life and that the risk didn’t just benefit Paul Potts, it benefited humanity?

There was a sort hush from the sense of awe that the audience experienced observing greatness unepxectedly. Somehow we all grew from his courage and simultaneously we all experienced emotional cleansing through a widespread “release”.

And a new understanding.

The collective human consciousness expanded a step further towards goodness and truth and the Creator within each of us just by his willingness to face his greatest fear and follow his true path for the first time in his life.

On some level we were all elevated. We rose up. We expanded. And we also learned – clearly – that if he could do it, we can too.

And this happens each and every time someone speaks his (her) truth authentically…

This amazing vehicle we call the “Net” is fast becoming a collective consciousness development program – that expands as rapidly as our ability to understand and utilize it – almost along the lines of the “holographic universe”. So through it all, truth (or the lack of it) permeates all communication. On some level, we can not hide who we truly are when we are active participants because somehow the collective consciousness can sense the authenticity and passion.

Many times in the past I have taken exception to the zealous attitude that blogging purists have taken regarding their antipathy towards internet marketers – somehow equating making money and self promotion with a lowering of standards and an intrusion into “their world”.

But the cool part is that in the bigger picture, we can’t fool anyone when we are not being authentic.

So as the Net consciousness continues to expand collectively, those who are not acting in truth and for the overall betterment and growth of all involved will begin to stand out more obviously through contrast – digitally and instantaneously.

Social bookmarking and web 2.0 are therefore part of the natural progression of free expression and the natural evolution of the Internet.

And those who do not adapt will become extinct Internet dinosaurs.

The days of the used car salesman types online are coming to an end naturally as the Net becomes a greater and more accurate expression of human consciousness.

Authenticity and integrity will overcome self serving behavior and manipulation as the default of expansion and growth. It is inevitable because it will cost too much money to sustain the facade as more and more people get the message and click away to something more in alignment with what they are looking for.

So Web 2.0 and social bookmarking really work because, on an individual level, it is a safe environment for self expression. There is safety of sorts simply through anonymity in and of itself.

But Web 2.0 has also inadvertently emerged as a development tool for self esteem because authenticity is encouraged, congratulated and supported time and again through comments, posts on other blogs, back links and active readership.

It is becoming a platform for high self esteem where we can grow self esteem through the process of helping others and by receiving complements and recognition for good work on a consistent basis.

It’s amazing how the universe works even through an electronic communication medium.

Healthy Wealthy Boomer is a concept based on the thought that man’s greatest
achievement in life stems from the pursuit of excellence.

As Boomer adults we have accumulated the practical experience we need to make good
decisions. And one of those decisions is a choice to be healthy. We are now at a place
in our lives where we can let go of the past mistakes and focus on creating the lifestyle we choose to live and and creating the life we deserve.

And the place to start is physical health.

True wealth is rooted in robust health. What is more costly than the loss of good health permanently? And conversely, what is a more valuable treasure than longevity coupled with vitality?

A great deal of the disease and illness in modern society is a function of toxins accumulated in the body. There has never been a greater biochemical assault on the human body – heavy metals, pcb’s, chemicals, pesticides, microwave technology and all types of other pollution are pushing the human body’s filtering mechanisms to the absolute limit.

In addition, the levels of stress in modern society are reaching unprecedented levels.As such, coupled with the toxins, our livers are maxed out for the most part and our adrenal systems are on tilt.

Recently, I read an article by Dr Mercola that said 80% of the immune system is located in the digestive tract.

Whoa…

Cleansing the Body Of Toxins Is Really Important

So cleansing the body now becomes a social imperative. We need to cleanse the colon and the liver regularly. Purge the toxins first and get the plumbing cleaned up so we can get the body back into a state where our great grandparents were before all the toxin in the environment. This must be done regularly like changing oil in your car.

This will enable to the immune system to get back on track and get strong again. And what is more fundamental to fighting disease than a strong immune system?

The cool part is that the body is amazingly resilient. It will bounce back quickly and start improving itself as soon as we provide the cleansing and the nutritional building blocks it needs to do the job.

Unexpressed Emotions Accumulate

There is a growing body of information that basically says unexpressed emotions accumulate in the body too and with time they can become toxic as well.

I firmly believe that my dad died of colon cancer primarily from unexpressed emotions that he had “stuffed” for the majority of his life – that combined with a mass of collected fecal material in his digestive tract that accumulated for many years. He was taught not to express his emotions from a very young age. But in terms of health, I am certain that if he had started receiving colonics and good nutrition a couple of years before his surgery, he would still be here today.

So Cleansing Takes on A Whole New Meaning

Once we get the physical body cleansed completely, many of the physical problems will go away naturally. We also require good nutrition for optimum performance.

After the system is running smoothly again, we can focus on purging old emotions and then learn new skills at expressing emotions in a healthy way – so that they do not accumulate again.

Next we start taking control of our thinking – first by becoming aware of what we think about all the time (which is a big step) and then choosing what we think about more carefully.

So cleansing becomes:

• cleansing the colon, the liver and the cells
• cleansing and purging old emotions
• cleansing our minds of the “stinkin thinkin”

So in order to be a healthy wealthy boomer, this is our recommended order of sequence:

Physical Health – feel great first…

Emotional Health – purge old emotions, create great relationships and learn how to express your emotion

Mental Health – learn to take control of the “voice in your head”

Spiritual Health

Financial Health

We have created a book that lays out the plan, it’s called “Healthy Wealthy Boomer: The Plan To Make the Second 50 Years Better Than the First”. It will be released soon. In the meantime, why not join our Healthy Wealthy Boomers on Facebook Group

Have Healthy Wealthy day…