Dear Joshua,

First let me just say how amazing it is to have a friend like you to turn to with these physical questions!! WOW, how lucky I feel!! And so appreciative to come to this awesome place in my life.

This question just came up yesterday. I have friends that I was extremely close to through the years. We stay in touch on at least a monthly basis. One friend is celebrating her 10 year cancer-free anniversary and a bunch of us girls who have known each other for 20 – 30 years are planning on a trip to celebrate.

Yesterday I spoke to her on the phone for a long time. She asked numerous questions about what kind of health insurance I had, how were we planning for the horrible economic times that are on the horizon, how were we going to survive without 401Ks, and many other concerns that I do not find important. To tell you the truth, I was expecting a joyful conversation as my son is moving close to her, how we would see each other more, and how life was really fabulous!

How do I make the decision to make this trip or not? I remember the good friends we have been to each other through so many years, how our boys grew up together on vacations, what an amazing survivor she is and how we have loved each other. But she does not believe that things are good. Can I enjoy her anyway? I will say I do not want to change her. Nor do I want to judge her. Is finding my bliss just skipping the trip? I need help on this one!!

YOU are loved and YOU KNOW IT!!!
All The Best,
Debra Jo

Dear Debra Jo,

Coincidence is not a coincidence, it’s a manifestation. As we are in the process of writing our third book “A Radical Change In Your+ Approach To Life,” we are in the middle of Chapter Ten – A Conscious Approach To Life. What just happened to be written today miraculously answers your question. What a magnificent coincidence! So here it is exactly as it was written just minutes ago.

(Excerpted unedited from Chapter Ten of “A Radical Change To Your Approach To Life”)

It is one thing to live consciously while you are alone in your home reading a nice book and petting your dog. It’s easy to feel good, to think positive thoughts, and to appreciate the joy of life while you’re on your own. It is quite another matter entirely when you find yourself surrounded by others.

One of the most important aspects of physical reality is your ability to interact with others. As you begin to live more consciously, you must realize that everyone else is living their own life as best they can. Most of those you know are on some kind of spiritual journey to an awakening. Some of them might be up there where you are, but most are in the very early stages of consciousness and some remain fully engaged in the illusion of physical reality.

As a consciously evolving being, it requires patience and understanding to interact with those who are still looking at reality from the limited perspective. It is difficult staying connected to your inner self and not allowing yourself to be brought down to the lower vibrational frequencies. You must have compassion with those who want to tell you why everything is so bad. It is their mode of operation. They cannot help it.

Most humans look at the conditions that surround them and are very good at seeing how they could be improved. To do that they must analyze what they do not like and make pronouncements about how bad something is. They must detail the negative in order to make it better. Yet, their attention to what is not wanted never brings them what they want.

As they complain to you about the government, the state of the world, the deterioration of society, the dangers that surround them, their health, their finances and all sorts of other unwanted conditions, how are you supposed to react? What are you to say when they are spewing negative observations and stating everything they judge to be wrong with life? How do you maintain your higher vibrational stance?

This is the great challenge of awakening in these times. You are one of the few conscious members of your society. Most are on their way, but they’re still basically unconscious. They do not yet understand what they are doing. They do not realize that they are creating their reality with their feelings, thoughts, words, and actions. They do not believe what you already know. And you can’t teach them what you know.

This is the most important aspect of interacting with others in this time of awakening. They cannot reach your level by your preaching what you already know. You cannot raise their vibration enough for them to understand it. Do not try. There is a path to the awakening of everyone on your planet. They must ask for the knowledge themselves. They must desire it on their own. They must allow it. If you try to move them too quickly, they will resist.

It is fine to give a friend a book when you are inspired to do so. It’s very good to speak positively of something you appreciate. It’s nice to change the subject when possible. But you cannot teach someone something they are not yet interested in.

Interest is the only way anyone can learn anything. They must have a desire to want to understand the subject. You cannot make them wrong and expect them to grow as a result. If they believe something you know to be inaccurate, you will not be able to persuade them otherwise. They will simply dig in their heels and stand firm in their beliefs. Your judgement that they are wrong comes from a low-vibrational perspective.

Imagine that they are right. Imagine that whatever they are saying, doing, and believing is right. If there is no wrong anywhere in the universe, then they must be right. But how could they be right when everything they believe is the opposite of what you know to be true? They are simply saying, doing, and believing what is right for them in this specific moment in time. They are on their journey to self-discovery just as you are. They might be a few steps behind you, but their route is the only route that will take them where they need to go. They cannot jump onto your path. It might seem like a short cut, but it does not lead them to the place they need to go. They must take a certain, specific path of their own.

So, we know that each person is own their own journey to awakening and they must travel at their speed. You wish for them to hurry up so they can be with you, but it doesn’t work this way. Even if they were to jump to your level, you would never be at the same place anyway. No one is ever at the same place on this spiritual journey. You’re all unique and you’ll always be at different levels. It is learning to co-exist while on different paths that demonstrate your level of consciousness.

The reason you want them to be with you on the same path to consciousness is because you want them to be different than who they are. That is a lower-vibrational opinion of where they now stand. You can love them as they are and still be a conscious thinker. You do not have to let them bring you down. You do not have to bring them up. You can appreciate them where they are.

If you are not yet able to maintain your stance of consciousness while in the presence of your unconscious friends, then you must limit your interaction with them until you can maintain your balance. If their words upset you and cause you to stop feeling good, then you’re not ready. However, you can’t avoid them forever because, guess what? They are here specifically to help you reach another level of consciousness.

You are an expanding being and in this area, you are on a never-ending journey of selfdiscovery and awakening. Once you make it to one level, something will come to move you to the next level. It goes on like this forever. You have made a great leap in this lifetime. Some steps are not as big as this one has been. Most are smaller. But even the tiny steps can be challenging. Those who will challenge you most are your closest friends and your family.

Those you love, those whose opinions you deem important, are here to help you move to new levels of consciousness. When your mother asks you why you are reading all this nonsense, how do you react? Your reaction says a lot about your level of consciousness. Your reaction is your indicator of your progress. You can try to convince your mother that you have found something that works, but try as you may, she is not yet ready. Your desire for her to understand has nothing to do with it. You understand and she does not. That’s just the way it is. You believe she should love you unconditionally, yet she is not conscious and therefore will have quite a hard time even understanding the concept of unconditional love. Your expectations are not inline with the reality of the situation.

It is easy to forgive the cashier at the grocery store for not being on your level of consciousness. You can see that she is living life as best she can and you are happy with the path she is on. You accept her as she is. That’s because you are not invested in her. You don’t even know her. But what about your spouse, your family, and all your friends? Can you allow them to be on their path, to be as conscious or unconscious as they are, to be happy with their ignorance of universal laws and truths? If so, then you’ve reached a new level.

To allow others to be as they are, to say what they say and to act in whatever manner they choose, is to be a master. Are you not yet a master? That’s okay for few are. But you can imagine how a master would be when interacting with your friends and family. You could act like a master even if you did not believe you were a master. You could react in a way that a master would react. For it is simply being as a master would be and doing what a master would do that would indeed make you a master.

Practice being conscious in an unconscious world. Do not be afraid of being around others because you have nothing to fear and nothing to lose. Just because you allow your vibration to sink when you’re in the company of lower-vibrational people, doesn’t mean your vibration actually becomes lower. It’s just that your attention is temporarily removed from what is wanted. It’s not a big deal, it’s just practice.

Practice being in the company of those who are not at your level and you’ll begin get better at maintaining your stance of consciousness. As you get better and better at keeping your vibration up, you’ll cause those around you to notice something different about you. They will begin to see something they admire. They will begin to aspire to be more like you. This is how you lead them along their path to consciousness. This is the only way you can help them. This is how you teach.

YOU are loved more than YOU can imagine!!!
Joshua