Personal Growth and Enrichment
The Dawn Of Change
(Also find this Article as a Post in Earthen Blog)
Have you ever had coincidences occur in your life that had no explanation? Normally, you'd just shrug it off and put it in the back of your mind. Have you ever had such a deep, desperate need that maybe you said a intense, sincere prayer - and not long after, an answer was provided? Possibly it was in the form of a hug, or a listening ear - or maybe in the form of a financial gift, or a deed.
Grace has intervened, through the hands of a good samaritan, or through divine assistance. Grace is the virtue that allows us that span of time needed to revitalize our spirit, so that we regain the strength and composure to do what we sense we need to do. Grace is also a relentless power, an inner voice that we can rarely misinterpret; nor can we silence it. It is a force that works in tandem with our intuition steering us in the right direction.
Every living being is made up of energy, and all of this energy contains information - data broken down into internal and external messages that form energy impressions. A good example is when you first meet someone, and you immediately sense sincere friendliness, or conversely - a threat. These impressions are picked up by our intuition, which identifies and translates them through a kind of energy language - running them through seven translators or energy centers of our bodies - called Chakras.
Seven Chakras - Wheel of Seven Lights
1st Chakra - Root
Location: Base of the spine.
Associations: Tribal power, material world, survival, instinct, basic communication, sense of grounding/connection to body; ideally this chakra promotes health, prosperity, and security
Emotion: Fear
Color: Red and black
Element: Earth
Explanation/Goal: All life is connected. Our choices and our beliefs exert influence on all of life.
2nd Chakra - Self
Location: Lower abdomen
Associations: Relationships, creativity, procreation; governs emotions and sensuality; connects through feeling, desire, sensation, and movement; ideally this chakra promotes fluidity and grace, depth of feeling, sexual fulfillment, and the ability to accept change.
Emotion: Passion
Color: Orange
Element: Water
Explanation/Goal: Whether casual or intimate, each relationship you foster helps you expand your consciousness. No alliance is without spiritual worth.
3rd Chakra - Gem
Location: Solar plexus
Associations: Personal power, self-esteem, seat of intellect, will, and autonomy, that 'gut feeling,' as well as our metabolism; ideally, promotes health, energy, effectiveness, spontaneity, and non-dominating power.
Emotion: Anger
Color: Yellow/gold
Element: Fire
Explanation/Goal: The relationship you have with yourself must be mature and honorable. Accept full responsibility for the person you were, you are, and you will become.
4th Chakra - Stillness
Location: Heart center
Associations: Emotions; governs intuition and love, and opposites: mind and body, male and female; ideally, promotes loving deeply, feeling compassion, having a deep sense of peace and centeredness.
Emotion: Compassion and joy; feels the suffering of others
Color: Green and pink
Element: Air
Explanation/Goal: Love is true emotional energy, and is the focal point and true motivator of your body, mind, and spirit.
5th Chakra - Purity
Location: Throat
Associations: Will power, governs higher communication: hearing, speaking and listening; inner truth Emotion: Understanding and faith
Color: Blue
Element: Ether/space
Explanation/Goal: Everything chosen, felt, and thought of has physical, environmental, social, personal and global consequences. If our personal will trusts a higher, divine force, and our actions are spurred by this will, we have then been bestowed a magnificent spiritual capacity.
6th Chakra - Third Eye
Location: Between and just above the eyes
Associations: Mental power, visualisation, intuition, imagination and telepathy; ideally, it allows clarity of vision - in effect, 'seeing the big picture.'
Color: Purple/violet
Explanation/Goal: Truth and illusion are two forces present at every moment. Continually search for the differences between them. Trust what you cannot see more than what you can see.
7th Chakra - 1000-petaled Lotus
Location: Crown of the head
Associations: Spiritual power; highest state of enlightenment; pure awareness, connection to the greater world; ideally, promotes knowledge, wisdom, understanding, spiritual connection, and bliss.
Color: Violet
Explanation/Goal: Let the past go, leaving all physical, psychological and emotional illusions or fears behind. Do not wonder of the future. Live in the present. Fulfill your Divine potential.
Our world, our planet, Mother Earth - is in trouble, but it is not lost. Are we capable of bringing about the change needed to save her, and save ourselves?
Follow the teachings and guidance of Anodea Judith, author of "Waking The Global Heart, Humanity's Rite of Passage from the Love of Power to the Power of Love."
"Waking the Global Heart chronicles the story of this passage. It takes the reader through an examination of three basic questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going? The answers take us on a tour through 30,000 years of the human story ... "
The following is an excerpt from an article called "Coming of Age In The Heart," also written by Anodea Judith, one of a number of articles she wrote and included on her website, www.sacredcenters.com - -
"We have been in the latter parts of the third chakra stage throughout this century. Issues of power and domination, energy and control are central concerns on our planet. We are technologically advanced, but our technology is also destroying the earth. Energy resources are a premium issue in power dynamics, such as the Persian Gulf War fought essentially over oil reserves. Much is out of balance, with the mind favored over the body, technology favored over ecology, white over black, male over female."
(Be sure to have your sound/speakers on - the music is inspiring and the message is soul-stirring. Read one chapter of the book in PDF format. You won't want it to end... )
Furthering Education
“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” — Benjamin Franklin
Census Bureau data underscores the value of a college degree, as depicted in the following graph:
Distance Learning Courses vs. Brick-And-Mortar College Courses
Distance learning via online courses has exploded in the past 10 years. With an internet connection, and numerous online institutions, you can further your education and earn a degree at night, and continue to work your day job. You can set your own pace and not be encumbered with time constraints, setting your own schedule. For this reason, though, you must be disciplined and committed to our studies. You must develop and maintain good study habits, as you will conduct them on your own – there are no teachers and no fellow students to stimulate and urge you along in your studies.
Each online school can differ in its course offerings and whether it has deadlines for finishing the courses. If you have taken other college courses, most online schools will request a transcript from your previous school, and you can then take new courses to continue to your chosen degree.
First, be sure to check to see if the online college of your choice is accredited. There are many quick and easy certificates and degrees being offered online. Many of these are shams, and will not be accepted if, down the road, you move on to another college, or if your current or a future employer determines your employability by the institution awarding you the degree. This is a key factor. In the US, there are six accreditation-monitoring institutions appointed by the National Board of Education:
New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
North Central Association of Schools and Colleges (NCA)
Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSA)
Southern Association of Schools and Colleges (SACS)
Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
North West Association of Schools and Colleges (NWCCU)
Run a check on the specific online degree program of your choice with the agency responsible for the accreditation in the state where the online school is located.
Learning is a lifelong experience. The thought-process of 30 years ago, where you worked for a large, long-standing company that you could move up in and retire from – no longer exists. Statistics show that the average worker today moves from one company to another a number of times before retirement. That, doubled with the opportunities afforded by the World Wide Web, has led to hundreds of thousands of workers leaving their jobs and starting online at-home businesses. You can start your own business very cheaply, and you can further your education frequently online for ever better possibilities.
The internet provides countless avenues to educate and re-educate yourself, especially in something you discover you have a passion for. You will not waste time, money, and lost opportunity dealing with bureaucratic redtape to get that hard-earned degree.
Knowledge is power. Achieve your education and degree online.
A few related links: Ashworth University, University of Phoenix, and Education Connection.