Consciousness Cleanse: DAY 1 - THE GIFT OF DESIRE

As I begin the Consciousness Cleanse, I must point out the routine with which I am going to follow, each day of the program. Firstly (and most importantly), I am going to post my daily focus THE NIGHT BEFORE. The program is set to begin the day with introspection, but I find it begin my day in the evening, and allow myself the chance to go to sleep, pondering on my following day's cleansing principle.

The second part of the routine is, as follows: I will begin by naming the topic of the day's focus, followed by a description of what I am attempting to accomplish. Third, each day will have a series of cleansing "rituals", which will on occasion contain personal items. At the conclusion of each day, there will be a worksheet that will describe how I am feeling on each day of the program. Although the worksheet will be identical, each day will have it's own detailed responses.


Today's focus is THE GIFT OF DESIRE. Although the word "desire" is often associated with things of a romantic or sexual nature, desire is what drives us to truly reach our greatest potential. To quote Debbie Ford, 'Desire is the spark that ignites the flame of your soul and illuminates your innate creativity, imagination, and vision. It is the impulse that gives you the ambition and the energy to share your unique talents with the world.'

'Desire is the most important catalyst for bringing about radical change... ' Debbie Ford



CLEANSING RITUALS:

Make a list of all your desires - both things that you want to achieve in the outer world and those that you want to feel inside.

At this point, I will list several of my desires. Following each desire, I will specify if the desire is that of my "outer" world, or my "inner" world.

• Complete and total "inner peace" (inner) *
  
• Free of Anger (inner)
• Free of Hate (inner)
• Full of love for all mankind and living things (inner)
• Be forgiving of all wrongdoing against me (inner)
• Lose 5-10 pounds (outer)
• Return to school (outer)
• Establish a comfortable savings (outer)
• Be financially independent (outer)
• Improve my talents, especially guitar (outer)
• Compose my own song, lyrically and musically (outer) *

Included in the list are two items with asterisks. These two topics, one from "inner" and one from "outer", are to be the two focal desires that I will make a big part of my 21-day Consciousness Cleanse.

SOUL FOOD
"My soul's desire is the voice of God"

THE 21-DAY CONSCIOUSNESS CLEANSE

What is the condition of your flame right now? My flame is in good shape. Although I had a somewhat frustrating day, I am free from conflict at this time. I have settled in for the evening, have been doing productive things, and will soon be engaging in Yoga and meditation to help accomplish my goal of inner peace.

On a scale of 1-10, where would you rate it? 7


Where would you like it to be at the end of the day? 10 (naturally)


What is your intention of the day? What intention can you create to strengthen and fuel your flame? The intention of my day is to focus on keeping my demeanor in check. To not lose my temper and to try and maintain a feeling of peace within myself, at all times.

What is the primary feeling you want to generate from your intention? I think it is pretty evident that "inner peace" is what I want to generate from today's exercise.

What will you need to do to insure that your intention becomes a reality? I have found a mantra that I can repeat to myself every time I feel anger surfacing. In reading MEN'S HEALTH magazine, I came across an article that talks about how research is showing evidence that our lives can be shortened if we are angry people. A mantra that was described in the article said something to the effect of, "Lose my temper, lose my life". Whenever I feel a loss of patience and a surge of anger, I will take a step back and repeat this phrase to myself.

What will you have to give up - a thought, belief or behavior - to ensure that you fulfill your intention for today? I must give up the thought that anyone or anything would intentionally set out to hurt me. In doing so, I will not harbor any ill feelings towards anyone or anything else.

What healing mantra - what sentence or phrase - can you repeat to yourself throughout the day to soothe your soul and manifest your intention? In addition to the mantra mentioned above, I will also remind myself of the simple phrase shared, in song, by one of my favorite musical groups, TALK TALK. It simply says, "Life's what you make it...celebrate it".

How many times throughout the day do you need to hear this? It depends on how my day goes. In essence, it could be as few as 2-3 times... or maybe as many as 10-15.