“If there is one secret to success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.” ~Henry Ford

Before I begin any of my workshops or keynotes, I say one thing.  I ask everyone to keep an open mind and warn them that they may hear some things they have never heard before that may rub up against their beliefs.  My job, I say, is not to get you to agree with me or to change your beliefs.  My job is to get you thinking about your own.  I encourage them to disagree with me because disagreeing with me means I got them thinking.

Let’s face it, we all have different beliefs and down deep we all think our beliefs are the correct ones.  Our society and religion as a whole have done an excellent job in getting us to think the collective beliefs are the way to go.  We are secretly punished through side glances, rolling eyes and being unwelcomed in certain circles if we disagree.

I recently spoke for a large organization on stress management and balance.  I am usually the closing speaker of the day so I like to sit in and listen to the other speakers so I can tie in what they say to my lecture.  During this particular day I noticed an interesting phenomenon.  The speaker right before me was a very open-minded Chaplain.  He spoke for an hour on God, judgment when you get to heaven based on your wrong-doings and prayer.  He was a very good speaker and had the audience captivated.  We broke for lunch and then I was on stage.

As many of you may know by reading my blog or by hearing me speak, I am very open minded regarding religions.  My belief is that we all find our own road to God.  Each road is different and is made up of beliefs we have formed from our experiences in life thus far.  There is no “right” or “wrong” road…that’s my opinion.  Your “right” road is the one that works for you right now in your life-and it may change as you learn, experience, travel and meet new people.

In my lecture, I touched on the Law of Attraction, energy, past lives, how every person in our life is a teacher, sacred spiritual contracts and how we make decisions based on emotion and not logic.  I said feelings are the physical manifestation of guidance from above and we can use our feelings as a decision-making tool.  I watched the eyes roll and arms cross.  I kept going.

Were there some individuals who embraced what I was saying…absolutely!  What I found fascinating was how the Chaplain’s comments were welcomed and not questioned, but mine were silently made “wrong.”  Now, do I know this is true for a fact?  Did anyone come up to me and say “Chris you are full of sh*%!”  No, of course not.  But I felt it.  Did I take it personal?  No.  Did I make them wrong?  No.  I actually loved it!  By the end of my 4 hours, many of the ones who were rolling their eyes were now paying attention.  I made them think and wonder.  Fabulous!

The point is perception is reality and our individual perceptions differ.  The key to relationships and world peace, in my humble opinion, is letting go of being right.  Stop making others wrong simply because their opinion differs from your own.  How do you know for sure that what you believe is right?  I know I don’t.  I am humble enough to believe that I may be wrong.  I may get to heaven and the “fire and brimstone” version is actually true.  If that’s the case I will walk into the fire knowing one thing – I did the best I could and that is all anyone, including God, asks for.  We were made human and humans are not perfect.  Get over it.  Strive for excellence and not perfection and just do the best you can from where you are now.  That is always enough…in my humble opinion.

“Aim for success, not perfection.”  ~David Burns

Humbly yours,

Chris

Chris Sopa is founder and owner of Chris Sopa International, Inc. You can learn more about her at www.ChrisSopa.com. Find her at Facebook.com/ChrisSopaInternational, Twitter @ChrisSopa, LinkedIn, and Google+.

“Truth starts within the self.  If you are right within, you will be right in the world.”  ~Justin Asar

How you are with people in your outside world is usually a reflection of how you are with yourself in your inside world.  As of late, there has been a lot going on in the global world and in people’s personal worlds.  Many things are “breaking down” in order to make room for new things to enter.  Why?  We are in a time on Earth where selfishness, lying, manipulation and “out for self” ways of doing things, both with global systems and personal patterns, will not work anymore.  We are moving into a time of community and oneness.  This time calls for truth, freedom, and correct use of personal power.  We are seeing many individuals “acting out” lately due to the fact that they are “not at peace within,” therefore they are not at peace “without.”

Truth refers to your mind and your heart being in sync.  When what you think and believe are in alignment with how you act, you are living in truth.  Why people struggle with the concept of truth is due to the fact that many get caught up in old conditioned thoughts that keep them living other people’s truths rather than their own.  Society has a funny way of making sure we are all “in line” with what I like to call “the tribe.”  We all must think and do alike or something is wrong!!!  My philosophy is the more I am NOT like the tribe, the more in truth I am probably living!

This coming week is a week of personal power and truth.  There is much movement energetically for wishes to come true and resolutions to arguments.  In order to step into this energy and experience the bliss it brings, you must be in alignment with your truth.  You must LIVE your truth and direct your personal power towards those things that are important to you.  Identify your top 3-5 priorities IN ORDER and live into them.  Balance is directing your energy toward those things you identify as important right now in your life (your priorities).  When you put your energy in places that are not important to you, you feel off and frustrated.  Balance is directing your personal power to places where you want to create!  Living your truth also means trusting yourself and those inner nudges you feel about doing certain things, whether they make logical sense or not.  Learn to use your mind as a “tool” not as the end all be all to making decisions.  Become heart-centered and use the power of your feelings to guide your decisions.  Ask yourself constantly, “How does this feel?”  Learn the language of your soul.

For those of you who use crystals to help you align your vibrations and energies to create, the energy of sapphire is prominent this week.  The energy of crystals vibrate to certain frequencies and all crystals have “themes” in which they do their work.  The theme of sapphire is truth and freedom.  Wear sapphire jewelry this week, put a sapphire in your pocket with you as you go about your week or sleep with one under your pillow or by your bedside.  Sapphires energy will make the work of aligning your truth much easier.

God has many gifts to offer you and EVERY prayer is always answered.  What gets in our way is US.  Be open to receiving the gifts He has to give and know you are worthy of them.  Spread your wings and fly…the sky is waiting for you and the winds are perfect.

“When you have come to the edge of the light that you know and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen:  there will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.”  ~Patrick Overton

Flying high and trusting the process,

Chris

For more information on Chris Sopa International, Inc. go to www.ChrisSopa.com.