Category: David McLeod

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LMTV #32: Liberate Your Love

We put a lot of value on the notion of “Unconditional Love”, but don’t seem very good at practicing it. Let’s work together to unchain our hearts.

Every day we hear, see, or directly experience the results of heartbreak. A single mom driving her kids home from school. A dad calling his son on Monday morning to see how the weekend was. And now it’s official: the failure rate for marriages in the U.S. has surpassed the success rate!

So why are we so bad at this? More importantly, what can we do to get better at loving relationships?

We all seem to know about “Unconditional Love”, but who ever taught us what this really is? What it really means? How to actually do it?

We’re told to go out looking and, if we’re lucky, we’ll stumble upon the “right one” and fall in love. Are you serious? We’re leaving Love to chance? We’re lucky if we Stumble and Fall? How can that be?

When it comes to Love, questions like this seem quite common in the world:

  • Does “True Love” exist?
  • How do I find it?
  • Is love out there waiting for me?
  • When is it going to show up?

Like most Life Matters, the secret to unlocking the truth of anything—including wonderful loving relationships—is right there inside you. Believe it or not, you are an unlimited source of loving thoughts and emotions. You have the ability to create as much pure love as you wish. And when you do—when you learn to Liberate Your Love—you’’ll be amazed at all the love you receive back.

We’re talking the good stuff, the real deal. Pure, unconditional, true Love.

Check out this week’s presentation and learn how to Make Love every day—you’ll be glad you did.

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LMTV #31: Moment by Moment

This continuing journey, involving lots of feedback and corrections to stay on course, provides endless opportunities to take things as they come!

Spiritual teachers present and past all seem to recommend the same advice:

Stay present to what is happening right here, right now.

But what does it mean, really, to live “in the moment”? What does it mean to “stay present”? And why do all these teachers recommend this practice?

Our ego-minds like to spend time dwelling on the past and projecting all the so-called “bad things” that happened there into the future. That is to say, our ego-minds tend to focus on the past or the future, paying little if any attention to what is happening right here, right now.

What’s really interesting is when we focus on the past—particularly on those aspects that felt like loss to us—then we tend to end up feeling sad. On the other extreme, when we focus on the future—particularly by worrying about how things might not work out the way we want them too—then we tend to end up feeling fearful. This is not always true, of course; we can certainly remember things with fondness and joy, and we can certainly get excited about a new adventure that is about to start in our lives.

But, as Eckhart Tolle puts it, one thing seems to be certain: in the present moment, there are no real problems, challenges, or difficulties. Right here, right now, everything is okay. In fact, it’s just as it should be: perfect.

In this week’s episode, we shed some light on this idea and present some suggestions to help you live more in the moment.

Enjoy! (And please remember to leave a comment below!)

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LMTV #30: Quitcho Bitchin’!

It’s easy to complain, especially about things that seem outside of our control. But what does it get us, and what is the cost?

Complaining, and its close cousin, Worrying, are two energies that very rarely bring satisfaction, and mostly just cause trouble. So why do so many of us partake in this nasty habit? What makes us hungry to gossip, bitch, and moan about life and all its woes? Is misery that powerful a host? Does it really love company? In a sense, aren’t we just saying that negatives attract? And if so, why on Earth would we want to attract negativity?

Or perhaps we complain about someone or something to justify our own importance! To feel right. To feel righteous. Or maybe just to feel like we’re contributing to the conversation.

The truth is, when we worry and complain, we’re mostly just hurting ourselves. It’s like sucking on a poison lolly-pop—over and over and over again!

In this week’s episode, we expose the truth behind “the bitch”—why we bitch and what we hope to gain from it. And just maybe…the next time someone asks “How ya doing?”, you might truthfully be able to rejoice, “No Complaints!”

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LMTV #29: Living Life Unmasked

Hallowe’en. The season of masks and costumes. But how many masks do we wear day-by-day? This week, let’s talk about “unmasking”!

Originally, it is believed, Hallowe’en was a time of celebrating the dead. Today, however, this celebration doesn’t seem to have much meaning at all, and appears to be simply an opportunity to dress up and have some “dark” fun. It is a time when people of all ages put on costumes and masks and pretend to be something they are not.

If you think about it for a moment, many of us spend a lot of our “real” time pretending to be something we are not. We put on false airs to appear more confident than we really are. We use humor as a way of dealing with uncomfortable situations, or for getting people to like us. Some of us have the belief that if we dare to reveal who we really are, we will be ridiculed, spurned, shunned…or worse. And so we put up our shields and don our masks in an effort to hide those parts of ourselves.

And what pain do we cause ourselves in the process? What suffering do we cause our loved ones? What strife do we create in the world?

This week, we welcome a wonderful guest, Junie Moon Schreiber, a specialist on the subject of Shadow, to share her wisdom and help us all to UNMASK! In this episode, we discuss what it means to show up in the world as a genuine, authentic being—unhindered by the false representations that we want people to see.

While this may be a challenging and deep topic (as topics usually are on Life Mastery TV), we are committed to making this light and fun. But you only get to see us with our masks off if you take a risk to share space with us!

Watch the video, leave a comment, and please remember to visit Junie’s website at Soulful Expressions.

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LMTV #28: It’s All About ME!

What comes up for you when you hear the phrase, “It’s all about me”?

It turns out that self-centeredness is a two-edged sword. And one edge of that sword is dangerous to everyone—including the one wielding the sword!

You see, on the one-hand we have the teaching of Jesus, who said “Love your neighbor as yourself.” For most people—and particularly most scholars—this means that we have to love ourselves in the way we wish to be loved so that we can share this love with our neighbors. But notice that the self (“Me”) has to come first. Another subtle aspect of this teaching is that we must take responsibility for our own internal processes and for our reactions to whatever happens around us. This is a true act of self-love, because it means that we are not projecting our “stuff” onto other people, thereby creating more pain and suffering.

But on the other hand, we have to be careful, because the ego-mind can turn “It’s All About Me” into a whole lotta selfishness. And if we don’t take charge of our ego-mind, then pretty quickly we get caught up in the “blame game”—making other people responsible for what we are experiencing—and this is the source of great suffering. By letting our ego-mind focus our attention on our own well being at the exclusion—and expense—of everyone else, we’re constantly creating conditions for disappointment and hurt.

So, why do we say “It’s all about me” at all? Because, in reality it IS! You see, the “Truth” is , we are ALL connected. We are all one. So, there is only really ONE of us here!

But even if you don’t buy into the whole one-ness view of the world, here’s something for you to think about. Everything you think, say or do IS about you. All your judgments, conclusions, interpretations and ideas are about you. No matter how much you might think that they are about someone else, they are about you. And so, our objective with this week’s discussion is to raise awareness of this, so that people can take full responsibility for their own thoughts, choices and behaviors.

And once you can get to that place, and others get there too, then you’ll begin to see that one-ness IS the truth, and that everything, everywhere is all about WE!

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LMTV #27: Getting to the Root (of all Evil!)

Have some bad habits or old patterns you want to change? Join us for some enlightening dialog about how to dig deep and shine some light on things.

Here are some things that seem to be pretty universally true:

  • Everyone wants to “be happy”.
  • Everyone wants to be free from suffering.
  • Everyone wants to have a good life.

What’s more, we’re all excellent, intelligent human beings with the capacity to create reality through our thoughts and imagination. So, why do so many of us still feel like something’s not right? Is it because we’re not trying hard enough? Perhaps not taught how to create a good life for ourselves? Perhaps still dealing with the effects of bad decisions made in our past? Is it just Human Nature? Are we just destined by our decedents to suffer the same human maladies they did?

NO, of course not! We have full ability to change the way we think and behave anytime we want. So why don’t we? Why don’t we just wake up tomorrow on the right side of the bed and start a new life?

Because of WEEDS. That’s right: WEEDS…

  • patterns or conditions or beliefs we’ve picked up along the way that no longer serve our best interest—if they ever did;
  • things buried in our psyche that unconsciously drive conscious decisions;
  • habits (or even addictions) we have adopted to help us cope with various aspects of our lives.

The key to improving your life, making it a little better each day, is to dig up the weeds when you find them. And, as you might already realize, you must dig up the entire root system, or else the weeds will just grow back.

This week, we share some life-enhancing techniques of Root Cause Analysis, to help you answer questions like these:

  • What do you do when a non-desirable behavior comes up?
  • How do you get down to the root of the problem?
  • How do you dig up the weed by its roots?

If you want to find out what’s troubling you and how to eradicate it, check out this week’s presentation for a very important Life Matter. We’ll dig deep and uproot some common WEEDS that block us from being the best we can be.

We may even get to the “root of all evil”…

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LMTV #26: Constructive Anger

Let’s put some love back into an emotion that gets a very bad rap…

Is anger really as bad as society seems to think it is? Is it as destructive as we seem to believe? Is there anything at all that is beneficial about anger? Is there a right way or a wrong way to deal with anger?

Anger is one of those topics that seem to polarize people into two camps that don’t have very much, if any, common ground between them. While our society seems perversely to glorify the kind of violence that accompanies war, we are pretty quick to condemn individuals who express their anger in any but the most modest and controlled way.

  • What do we really know about this emotion?
  • What is its purpose?
  • When is it appropriate?
  • What expression of anger (if any) is acceptable?

These are important questions, and we tackle some of them in this week’s presentation. If you have any challenges with anger in your life, you should take the time to check out this video, because we share some ways to

Transform your Charge into Creativity!

Check it out, and share your thoughts below.

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LMTV #25: Peace Power

Inner Peace. Reduces stress! Decompresses heart & mind! Increases joy & love in your life! Tastes Great! Highly Nutritious!

Elvis Costello asks, “What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding?” Too often, concepts like peace, happiness, and compassion are associated with weakness, passivity and inaction. When a monkey-mind first hears about meditation, it quickly argues: “But I have too much to do to stop thinking!”

Truth is, Inner Peace ROCKS! It’s the ultimate form of strength, power and control.

It’s a chattery mind, clouded by jumbled emotions, that can (and usually does) cause trouble and suffering in life. It’s an untrained psyche that fights, hurts, and blames. Only by controlling this tool between our ears—by mastering our mind—can we experience the enlightening and enlivening Power of Peace.

This week, we explore the hidden truth behind Peace Power and dig deep into this Life Matter that impacts every aspect of what we do and how we do it.

After you’ve watched the video, please remember to leave a comment!

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LMTV #24: More, More, More (Not!)

Society constantly challenges us to buy, consume, collect & acquire “more”. It’s debilitating and stressful. This week, find out how break the cycle.

A few weeks ago, during our special “Life Matters Free-For-All” episode, we fielded quite a few questions from viewers. Well, one of the questions that we didn’t actually address had to do with the challenge of Keeping up with the Joneses. You know, the consumerist mantra of “More, More, More!”

Well, the person who posed that question, Frances, was actually pointing out how debilitating and stressful the whole “get more stuff” attitude can be, and she asked about how to break the cycle.

We figured this was a pretty great question, and something that was worthy of a whole show. So, check out our in-depth view into the stuff-hungry world of Keeping up with the Joneses. Learn more about the Grand Illusion that seeps into every part of our life. Join us as we pull back the covers and expose the tricks and traps that suck us into the vicious cycle of “buy more, get more, never enough”.

As always, you can count on us to keep it light. After all, that’s what this Life Mastery TV is all about! Right?

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LMTV #23: Lighten Up

Sometimes, you just gotta laugh, and this week’s guest, comedian Dickey Bill Wagner, will put some funny in your bones.

If you’ve been following our show with any regularity, you’ll remember that we had an episode a few weeks back called “Go Out and Play!” Well, this week, we invited a special guest, Dickey Bill Wagner, to take it to the next level and to bring some joy and laughter into your life.

Dickey Bill is a professional comedian, actor and producer from the Denver area in Colorado. Like so many gifted comedians, he has a keen power of observation, and he knows how to bring his own quirky perspective to everything.

So, why would we invite a comedian to our show? Well, for a number of reasons:

  • Comedy is a great stress reliever, and humor is one of the best medicines in the universe.
  • Comedians know how to have fun, and have a gift of seeing the humor in everything.
  • This helps us all to reduce the drama in our lives and to take ourselves a little less seriously…
  • Which means we get to keep things in perspective, and

LIGHTEN UP!

…in more ways than one!

If you want to know more about Dickey Bill, or maybe attend one of his upcoming shows, then check out his website at DickeyBillWagner.com.