Subject: Lifescope TIPs & QUIPs [17] "Liberating Yourself"

As many before me have also said, "We're only as free as our choices."
And the truth of the matter is that we can choose what we think about and
when. Another keen observer of life, Guy Finley, says "the more you think
the more you sink." Ruminating about something only makes *you* worse.
Although I don't know if Guy is Buddhist, he captures as well as anyone
how we are released from suffering by letting go of attachments. He also
describes that moment when one becomes liberated from their mind's control
in such terms, that I am reminded of the Zen stories where "and in that
moment he became enlightened." Following, are Guy's Eleven Laws that may
help you find liberty from many of life's sufferings. But first check out
his list of forty freedoms, to see if any appeal to you. To life, liberty 
and the pursuit of happiness (hey, it still works...),  -- Lee Lukehart

TIPs & QUIPs, the free occasional email of helpful hints and quotes (and
sometimes challenging suggestions) for getting the most from life.

In this issue:
     *** WiseWords
     *** This Issue's Theme
     *** Suggested Resources
     *** Thrive On! Recommended Site


*** WiseWords ***                                     [TOP]
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"I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind."
  --Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds."
  --Franklin D. Roosevelt

"When yu' can't have what you choose, yu' just choose what you have."
  --Owen Wister

(For a collection of some of our favorite WiseWords, see our web page at
<http://www.lifescope.com/pages/WiseWords.html>.)


*** This issue's theme:  LIBERATING YOURSELF                    [TOP]
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Want to know how free you really are? Good! You're about to be presented with a
unique opportunity to learn all about your individual level of inner liberty.

Here's how it works: Following are forty simple internal indicators for
evaluating just how far along you actually are on freedom's path. As you review
each of the inner liberties on the list, just note mentally to yourself whether
or not that particular freedom belongs to you. If you have to think about
whether you're free in one way or another, you're probably not as free in that
area as you'd give yourself to believe. Relax. This is to be expected. Which
means let's not forget our aim in this evaluation. Our intention is simply to
learn what's true about ourselves, NOT TO PROVE ANYTHING TO OURSELVES.

You may find some of the upcoming list surprising. If that happens, let it. And
then feel free to consider you never knew such a freedom could exist for you
because, up until now, you were sure you had no choice but to live restrained
in this area. Now you know better! Allow these forty freedoms to awaken and
stir that secret part of you that knows living in any kind of bondage is a lie.
Then follow your own natural sensing all the way to the free life.

YOU'RE WELL ALONG FREEDOM'S PATH WHEN:
 1. You have no desire to change places in life with anyone else.
 2. You step over setbacks without stopping or looking back.
 3. You don't think about your sex life.
 4. You accept and appreciate praise, but never take it to heart.
 5. You don't overeat or feel driven to diet.
 6. You meet and do what's true without fear of the consequences.
 7. You really don't want anything from anyone.
 8. You stop thinking about how much money you may or may not have.
 9. You don't carry any upset from the last moment into the present one.
10. You have no interest in old resentments.
11. You start spending more time alone and enjoying it more.
12. You stop dreaming of the perfect vacation.
13. You lose all interest in trying to win mental arguments.
14. You're neither frightened nor shocked by the evening news.
15. You stop making deals with yourself.
16. You dress for comfort, not for compliments.
17. You don't blame anyone else for the way you feel.
18. You forget what it was you didn't like about someone.
19. You're awake to and spontaneously considerate of the needs of others.
20. You see beauty in life where you never could see it before.
21. Your life gets progressively simpler.
22. You see where you're wrong sooner than later, and stop defending yourself faster.
23. You do what you don't want to do, and you do it with a lighter spirit.
24. You're not afraid of having nothing to say or do, if that's your true condition.
25. You can take criticism without cringing away from the truth that it may hold.
26. You have no concern for what others may think of you.
27. You stop trying to make others see life in your way.
28. You enjoy the sound of silence as much or more than the sound of your own voice.
29. You see the same unpleasant traits within yourself that have made you shun others.
30. You say what you want, and not what you think others may want to hear you say.
31. You actually enjoy hearing about the good fortune of someone else.
32. You see more and more just how unfree you and others really are.
33. Your moods are fewer, lighter, and move on much quicker.
34. You see society is destroying itself and that the only solution is in self change.
35. You can listen to others without the need to tell them what you know.
36. You don't find a thrill in any kind of fear.
37. You know that forgiveness of others is the kindest thing you can do for yourself.
38. You realize the world is the way it is because you are the way you are.
39. You'd rather NOT think about yourself.
40. You can't come up with one good reason why you should ever be anxious or frightened.

There's one more important point to bring to our attention before we continue
with our self studies: NEVER DISCOURAGE OVER YOUR PRESENT LOCATION!

The very fact that you know there's farther to go before your journey to
freedom is complete also tells you that wherever you may find yourself
standing today--or a thousand days from now--is just a place you have to pass
through on your way to where you're going. And you're going to be free! So
agree to put all discouraging places where they belong: behind you!

WHO YOU REALLY ARE, YOUR TRUE NATURE, is no more tied to the kind of places
or person YOU'VE BEEN than the wind is tied to the skies through which it
moves. Your past, who and what you once were, is just that: THE PAST, a place
within your psyche with no more reality to it than the picture of a castle on
a postcard is made from stone.

ELEVEN LAWS THAT LIFT YOU TO THE NEXT LIFE LEVEL.
If we're ever to succeed in rising above ourselves, we must consider that
what we think we already know about freedom may be the cause of our
psychic captivity. A little logic reveals a big discovery:

1. We DO what we KNOW.
2. We GET what we DO.
3. Therefore, what we GET from life, what we receive in each of our
   moments, is a DIRECT REFLECTION of our present level of understanding.

Using a slightly different spin, here's the same idea, only more to the
point THE ONLY THING THAT HOLDS US DOWN IS WHAT WE DON'T YET KNOW ABOUT
OURSELVES. This insight explains why our ability to learn the truth about
ourselves, to increase our level of self understanding, is the same as
being empowered to raise our own life level.

If we want to grow inwardly, free ourselves from the ties that bind, we
must find new ways to learn the truth about ourselves-and our lives-that
haven't been compromised by the me mind. These higher discoveries call for
higher learning. If it helps, look upon this important part of your inner
education as a way to better understand what's been keeping you from learning.

Think of each of the following eleven laws as individual magic strands of
a flying carpet. Make it your aim to weave them together in your mind.
Then watch how these lessons combine to effortlessly lift you to the next
higher and happier life level.
    
    THE FIRST LAW
    
    NOTHING CAN STOP YOU FROM STARTING OVER.
    The greatest power you possess for succeeding in life is your
    understanding that life gives you a fresh start any moment you choose
    to start fresh. Nothing that stood in your way even a heartbeat before
    stands there now in the same way. It's all NEW, even if you can't as
    yet see it that way. You've only to test the truth of this fact about
    the newness of life to discover the incredible freedom that waits for
    you just behind it. And then nothing can stop you. You'll know the
    real secret and the perfect power of starting over.
    
    THE SECOND LAW
    
    DON'T BE AFRAID TO SEE WHEN SOMETHING DOESN'T WORK.
    Learn to be sensitive and to listen to the inner signals that try and
    tell you when something isn't working. You know what they are.
    Frustration and resentment to name just a few. The presence of these
    emotional troubles aren't trying to tell you that you CAN'T succeed,
    only that the road you've insisted upon taking so far doesn't lead
    where you want. Learning to admit when something isn't working is the
    same as teaching yourself what will.
    
    THE THIRD LAW
    
    IF IT DOESN'T FLOW, THERE'S MORE TO KNOW.
    Learn to recognize all forms of strain-whether at work, in your
    creative efforts, or in your relationships- as being UNNECESSARY. The
    friction you feel mounting when busy at some labor is never caused by
    the task at hand, but by what you don't YET KNOW about it. This means
    the only real reason for your strain is that you've got hold of a
    wrong idea you don't yet see as wrong. This new insight allows you to
    release yourself by showing you what you need to know. Flowing follows
    your NEW KNOWING.
    
    THE FOURTH LAW
    
    DON'T TAKE THE EASY WAY.
    There's no getting away from what you don't know, which is why any
    time you feel compelled to go around a problem by taking the easy way,
    that problem always comes round again. And isn't that what makes life
    seem so hard? Learn to see the "easy way" as a lying thought that
    keeps you tied up and doing hard time. Getting something OVER IS not
    the same as having it COMPLETED. And as this insight grows, so will
    your understanding that the whole idea of the "hard way" has always
    been just a lying thought as well. Now you know: THE COMPLETE WAY IS
    THE EASY WAY. SO volunteer to make the "hard way" YOUR way and learn
    the REAL easy way.
    
    THE FIFTH LAW
    
    ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RESISTANCE IS THE FLOW.
    There are often times when it feels as though you can't go any farther
    in your work or studies. But you can learn to go beyond any blockage.
    Make the following clear to yourself. Those moments-when it feels as
    though you're least able to get beyond yourself-ARE NOT telling you
    that you've gone as far as you can go, but only reveal that YOU'VE
    REACHED AS FAR AS YOU KNOW-for NOW. This higher self knowledge about
    your true inner position allows you to see the resistance you're
    feeling for what it really is: a THRESHOLD, and not a closed door.
    Walk through it. Nothing can stop you. On the other side of the
    resistance is the flow. Learning to go beyond you is the same as
    entering into the new.
    
    THE SIXTH LAW
    
    WATCH FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW.
    Everything is changing all the time. That means life is an endless occasion for
    learning something new. But this means more than meets the eye. Just as you're a
    part of everything, everything is a part of you. The whole of life is connected.
    And your ability to learn is part of the wonder of this complete, but
    ever-changing, whole. Learning serves as a window, not only into the complex
    world you see around you, but through it you may also look into the you that's
    busy looking into the world. And when you've learned there's no end to what you
    can see about the amazing worlds spinning both around AND within you, you'll
    also know there's no end to you. So stay awake. Learn something new every day.
    You'll love how that makes you feel about yourself.
    
    THE SEVENTH LAW
    
    LEARN TO SEE CONCLUSIONS AS LIMITATIONS.
    If you approach the possibilities of learning about your life as being
    limitless, which they are, then it follows that any conclusion you
    reach about yourself has to be an unseen limitation. Why? Because
    there's always more to see. For instance, let yourself see that all
    CONCLUSIONS ARE ILLUSIONS when it comes to the security they promise.
    There may be security in a prison, but there are also no choices
    behind its confining walls. Learn to see all conclusions about
    yourself as invisible cells. For that's what they are. The seeming
    security these conclusions offer are a poor substitute for the real
    security of knowing that who you really are is always free to be
    something higher.
    
    THE EIGHTH LAW
    
    HAVE NO FEAR OF BEING AFRAID.
    Fear can't learn, which is why you must learn about fear if you ever
    wish to be a fearless learner. So, the first thing you must learn is
    how to get past your fear of being afraid. Here's how. The next time a
    fear of some kind tries to fill one of your moments, try to see the
    difference between the FACT of your situation and your FEELINGS about
    it. This is the right use of your mind. For instance, it's a fact that
    interest rates change. It's NOT a fact you have to get scared when
    they do. That fear is NOT a fact of life, but only becomes one for you
    as long as you insist that life perform according to what you think
    are your best interests. As you learn to see that these fearful
    feelings don't belong TO YOU, but only to YOUR WRONG THINKING, you
    cease to be afraid, even of your own fears.
    
    THE NINTH LAW
    
    NEVER ACCEPT DEFEAT.
    As long as it's possible to learn, you need never feel tied down by
    any past defeat in your life. Here's the real fact: nothing can
    prevent the inwardly self educating man or woman from succeeding in
    life. And here's why. WISDOM ALWAYS TRIUMPHS over adversity. But to
    win real wisdom calls you to join in a special kind of struggle. And
    if this battle had a banner under which to rally. here's what would be
    written upon that higher call to arms "But I can find out!" Yes, you
    CAN learn the facts. You may not know the real reasons why you feel so
    lonely or worried at times, but you CAN FIND OUT. And you may not
    understand how you could have been so blind to that evil person's real
    intentions, but you CAN FIND OUT. Take these four words that are
    freedom's battle cry. Use them to defeat what's defeating you.
    
    THE TENTH LAW
    
    LEARN TO LET GO OF PAINFUL PRETENSE.
    Most people approach their troubles with one of these two
    non-solutions they either pretend their problem isn't a problem, or
    they pretend they've solved their troubles with temporary cover-ups.
    But their pain remains. It doesn't have to be this way for you. You
    can learn to let go of painful pretense. Here's how. When facing an
    old problem, what you DON'T want is another "new way" to DEAL WITH IT.
    What you really want is to LEARN SOMETHING NEW about the true nature
    of what has a hold on you. To go far, start near. When faced with any
    pain, LET GO OF WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW. Act towards your trouble as
    if you don't know anything about it. This new solution is the only
    true one because the truth is YOU DON'T KNOW what the REAL problem is.
    Otherwise you wouldn't still have it. Letting go of what you think you
    know puts you in the right place for learning what you need to know.
    
    THE ELEVENTH LAW
    
    PERSISTENCE ALWAYS PREVAILS.
    If you'll persist with your sincere wish for higher learning, you
    can't help but succeed. PERSISTENCE ALWAYS PREVAILS because part of
    its power is to hold you in place until either the world lines up with
    your wish or you see that your wish is out of line. But, for whichever
    way it turns in that moment, you've won something that only
    persistence can pay. See the following: if you get what you think you
    have to have to be happy and you're still not satisfied, then you've
    learned WHAT YOU DON'T WANT. Now you can go on to higher things. And
    should you learn you've been wearing yourself out with useless wishes,
    then this discovery allows you to turn your energies in a new
    direction: SELF LIBERATION.

And now our time will be well spent in exploring yet another kind of learning,
a higher schooling that instructs the mind with the energy of the heart. We
must always remember that law without love, is like a guide without eyes.

--from "Freedom from the Ties That Bind" by Guy Finley 
   (excerpted with permission)


*** Suggested Resources ***                                       [TOP]
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FREEDOM FROM THE TIES THAT BIND
Guy Finley shares hundreds of breakthrough secrets of self liberation that
show you exactly how to be fully independent and free of any unhappy condition.
You'll feel anxieties and doubts about your future fade away. And you'll enjoy
solid, meaningful relationships based on your conscious choice rather than self
defeating compromises. Includes:
  * Thirty keys to change your destiny;
  * Make the fear of being no one fade away, and
  * Freedom from the heartache of losing any love.

      (softcover book, 202pp) Item# E4483-BK
         SRP$10.00 -- Your Price: (see link for special price)
      BUY this item from Lifescope.  BUY this item from Amazon.com.

     Your Lifescope purchase is RISK-FREE: 
     Your satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed or your money back!

THE SECRET OF LETTING GO
Guy Finley reveals the secret source of a brand new kind of inner strength.
Whether readers need to let go of a painful heartache, a destructive habit, a
frightening worry or a nagging discontent, this book shows them how to call up
their own hidden powers to overcome any challenge or problem.

   (softcover book, 218pp) Item# E4482-BK
      SRP$10.00 (see links for special price)
      BUY this item from Lifescope.  BUY this item from Amazon.com.

   (1 audiotape, 90 mins) Item# E4482-AT
      SRP$9.95 (see link for special price)
      BUY this item from Lifescope.  

   (6 audiotapes, 4 hrs) Item# E4482-AU
      SRP$9.95 (see link for special price)
      BUY this item from Lifescope.  

   (Windows software on 3.5 disk) Item# E4482-SW
      SRP$29.95 (see link for special price)
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     Your Lifescope purchase is RISK-FREE: 
     Your satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed or your money back!

 
*** To order RISK-FREE: visit our secure online store, and place an order 
*** with your credit card, or call 800-WIN-LIFE (800-946-5433, 24 hrs).
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*** Thrive On! Recommended Site ***                              [TOP]
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GUY FINLEY, why of course! <http://www.guyfinley.com>
He has many more great ideas on his site, which also showcases his 
writings. He also has preview text of the two books above, at these links:
   <http://www.guyfinley.com/Freedom.htm>
   <http://www.guyfinley.com/LettingGo.htm>
What more can I say? Go visit!  But we'd appreciate if you'd buy from us. :-)

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merchantability for a particular purpose. Besides, actual mileage may vary.

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