Sonia Choquette : You Have a Precious Talent

If you need help, it is always within reach, just ask for it. This was driven home to us again on Sunday afternoon when we attended a fascinating and exciting workshop here in Cape Town – Sonia Choquette’s “Wake Up Your Spirit and Connect to Your Guides”. It gave us four hours of exceptional insight.

I must confess that I had never heard of psychic Sonia Choquette before she appeared on a local TV show here the previous Thursday. She lives in Chicago and is a world-renowned author, storyteller, vibrational healer, and six-sensory spiritual teacher in international demand for her guidance, wisdom, and capacity to heal the soul.

She’s the author of eight best-selling books, including ‘Diary of a Psychic’ and ‘Trust Your Vibes’. I her mission statement she says : “As a practicing psychic and spiritual teacher for over 32 years, I’ve spent most of my life helping people on a psychic level to realize that we’re all spiritual beings endowed with six, not five senses, and, even more important, that we need that sixth sense, our psychic sense, to fulfill our life’s purpose and be peaceful and happy.”

She calls that 6th sense the “throwaway sense” because everybody has this precious talent, but not many people know that or pay much attention to it. We are not aware on a daily basis that we are all psychic.

Unlike most of us, Sonia grew up in a family where the ability to connect to our unseen help was normal – where acting on the vibes of the moment is the sensible thing to do, where not listening to your feelings in all situations is just plain stupid. She never lost the connection to her full human capacities.

She has therefore been able to finetune her sixth sense to a degree which is absolutely stunning for me : on the TV show, people just phoned in with their birth dates and immediately Sonia knew their main issues, obstacles, history and life purpose – and had good advice on how to achieve improvement and make progress for these people.

In her workshop on Sunday, she impressively demonstrated her gifts as a teacher : a lady was called up on stage whose life dream is to be singer, but her considerable fears of inadequacy held her back to pursue her passion. After not even five minutes of confronting her issues with Sonia, she agreed to sing a tune – her voice was absolutely beautiful! None of us in the audience had expected that she could do it so well.

I know that these five minutes have changed the life of that lady, and another one’s whose ambition is to dance professionally – again, enthusiastic applause to some artistic steps that convinced all of us right away that there was great talent on display here which was not expressed previously just because of her insecurities.

It is tragic that so many of us are climbing the slopes of life thinking that it is a hostile mountain. It is such a pity that we are carrying so much baggage in our rucksack on the way up that it weighs us down, sometimes almost to the point of immobility. So many are discouraged or even defeated by the perceived steep angle of ascent, whilst they only need to lose the ballast of false beliefs on their backs to experience a joyful downhill cruise.

The workshop was so ‘en-lightening’ for me because I realized that no-one had to be on stage for Sonia to give us the benefit of her talent, wisdom and abilities – we could all recognise ourselves in what she said and demonstrated with others there. We knew that we just had to get in tune with our own vibes to receive the help she facilitated for those up front.

But we have to trust the process first to use it. To develop that trust we need to hear about, take notice of and experience the reality of our intuition as often as we can – we all have psychic abilities.

How often did you answer the phone, just knowing that your mother-in-law was on the line before you picked up? When last did you pay attention to a hunch and went to work on a different road, just to find out later that there had been a major accident on your usual route?

Where does this help come from? I think we don’t need to consult a clairvoyant to tell us what the future will bring, although this guidance most definitely helps to confirm our course in life whenever we are about to make a major adjustment – or when we are so stuck that we need to be jolted out of our position.

Other than that, just get in tune with yourself, pay attention to your feelings, and you’ll know what to do and where to go.

Look, I don’t want to make this too long – just go to Sonia Choquette’s website and have a look around, there is so much to discover that I can’t mention it all here – don’t leave out her section on Psychic University Online Courses, just listen to one of her audio clips in the sample lesson offered – it will open your eyes, and your mind.

Unless … OK, as a fellow storyteller I can’t resist this – do you want to know how Sonia met one of her spirit guides? She told us on Sunday : during a very difficult period in her life, she had virtually crashed with exhaustion and, having been hospitalized, was told by her doctor to take a good holiday-break in Hawaii now.

One day walking on a beach there, something urged her to turn around and go to the village. Window-shopping in front of a tourist shop, she stepped in and looked at the wares on display when an absolutely gorgeous black man in an immaculate white suit came in from behind a curtain and started talking to her : “Have a look at this poster, it fits your situation perfectly.” He pulled out a rolled up poster from the rack and showed her the beautiful picture of an angel crashed on a beach.

Surprised, Sonia agreed and after they had chatted for a while, discussing and looking at other items in the shop, she turned around to ask him a question when she noticed that he was gone.

“Excuse me, where is your colleague?” The shop attendant, a young lady, had a surprised look on her face. “Colleague? I am alone here.” – “The man in the white suit I spoke with just now. He came in from behind that curtain and was with me here in the shop for at least 10 minutes, you must have seen him.”

She hadn’t, and the man could not be found anywhere.

Until next time, all the best from : Berend

Robert Ringer – A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World

I think it is time to introduce you to Robert Ringer – who describes his opinions as “A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World”. I have been reading his eNewsletters for about a year now and in my view he is right on both counts : the world we have created is insane in many repects, and voices of sanity are needed – the more the better.

Robert Ringer is a highly acclaimed American speaker and author of #1 best-selling motivational books – one of them is entitled “To Be or Not to Be Intimidated”. “His astute observations of how the world works have helped millions of salespeople, entrepreneurs, business owners, corporate executives, and individuals in all walks of life to achieve their personal and professional goals.”

You know me : that’s exactly the kind of stuff I like – controversial at times, but an honest and straight forward opinion of a man who is not afraid to step on some toes occasionally. Very well informed, on the ball and intelligent writing that really makes a difference.

Listen to this, on one of his Core Beliefs on Western Civilization and very relevant for our South African society today :

“Millions of Americans have bought into the big lie that diversity is what makes our country great. But the truth of the matter is that diversity is not a strength; it’s a weakness. This is so self-evident that I am tempted to posit it as an axiom.

History makes it clear that diversity is not a helpful ingredient for keeping a civilization intact. Diversity has always proven to be a divider of people. It’s important to point out here that diversity has nothing whatsoever to do with skin color, but everything to do with culture.”

I can hear some of you moaning in anguish because this is not politically correct, but do yourself a favour and read the whole essay – I promise you food for thought in COMPASS, don’t I? This is it.

He continues a bit later, and again not only South Africa should take careful note :

“Plain and simple, no civilization can continue to exist, let alone flourish, without a moral foundation that is not only clearly understood, but accepted and practiced by a large majority of its citizens. To employ a parody, the barbarians are not at the gates; they are inside the gates.”

Whether you want to keep or transform a culture, in both cases this is powerful information!

But don’t worry, there’s humour as well – see his page called Deportation Crimes for example, where he lists 18 common “Crimes Against Humanity”. Here are three :

1. Playing a car radio loud enough for anyone outside the car to hear it.

4. Fast-food employees handling money, then touching food.

16. Driving a 4×4 with tires that look they belong on a 747 aircraft.

I think we can relate to that; seriously, if you want to read something refreshingly different to adjust your perspective on a regular basis, go to his Article Archive and subscribe to his eNewsletter on any of his pages.

Until next time, all the best from : Berend

Philip Humbert – Tips on Sunday Mornings

Is there a favourite routine that you look forward to on Sunday mornings? I have two : watching the sun rise with a cup of tea in my hand here at the tip of Africa, and reading Philip Humbert’s eNewsletter TIPS a bit later.

Philip lives in Oregon/USA and is a a speaker, author and personal success coach. That means he helps people to achieve their goals, build their businesses, live their dreams and have fun – and he really enjoys doing that. I can tell, because in all these years I have never read a single word from him that is not inspirational.

Today I realise that he has been a role model for me and the similarities in our lifestyles are astonishing, down to his cat keeping him company when he works at home. He says that he has never “worked” in his life, though, because he’s got a job that he loves – I know exactly what he means, having raced in the corporate world until recently.

Nevertheless, he has been very successful in extending his reach earlier this year by teaming up with Jim Rohn, Bob Proctor, Michael Angier, Vic Johnson and others for a series of one-day seminars called “Claim Your Power Now!” all over the USA.

Philip Humbert knows that every individual deserves and has the power to live a great life. Nobody stands in your way, except yourself ! That’s why, every year in May, he also organises his own three-day “World Class Life” conference in Wisconsin.

It is designed to help each participant break through his own barriers, see new possibilities and develop elegant and effective strategies to create the life they truly want. Isn’t this anyone’s top priority? It certainly is mine, and to attend his conference next year is very high up on my list of personal goals.

In the meantime, though, I can only recommend that you go to his website and also subscribe to his weekly eNewsletter TIPS. Just look at his TIPS-archive : going back to July 2002, you’ll find plenty of his really helpful articles on any imaginable subject for personal growth and success.

From there it is easy to explore his pages for tapes and eBooks, a bookstore, and especially his own “Top 10″ – lists : great stuff for an organised approach to overcome almost any obstacle hampering your progress in life and business.

A bit of introspection and food for thought helps any day, not just on Sundays. I wouldn’t be surprised if Philip Humbert’s contributions to personal and professional self development also became your favourites very soon.

Until next time, all the best from : Berend

Steve Pavlina – A Goldmine for Smart People

As promised last week, today I want to introduce you to a brilliant man whose work I discovered only a short while ago : Steve Pavlina, in his own words, is perhaps the most intensely growth-oriented individual you will ever meet.

But first a big Thank You for the overwhelming response to my new COMPASS broadcast last Friday – many of you have renewed their subscriptions to receive my eNewsletter at an additional address, others just confirmed so they could download my article BEGINNING OF A JOURNEY as their Thank You gift.

A special note of gratitude goes to all of you who have forwarded COMPASS to friends last week – quite a number of new subscribers have appeared on my mailing list. It is very encouraging to see how many people are genuinely interested in improving their lives.

And this is exactly where Steve Pavlina comes in – when I read his first article about two months ago I couldn’t believe my luck : I had discovered a goldmine ! His style is exploratory, clear, to the point and always brings home an important aspect of how life really works.

The goal of his website with the subtitle Personal Development for Smart People is to help you achieve outstanding effectiveness while maintaining internal balance, where your thoughts, feelings, actions, and skills are all working together to create the life you truly desire. What could be more descriptive and inspiring ?

Most of his articles are not exactly short, but they are always exhaustive – never exhausting; I immediately identified with his viewpoints and experiences, which is gratifying when you suspect that some of your own opinions stray quite a bit from the social norm.

What Steve says about Dealing With Tragedy and Loss, for example, echos precisely what I wrote about in my article GRIEF when my father died in 2004.

One of his more broadly based articles is The Meaning of Life : How shall we Live? What I liked very much is that the first thing he does there is explore what past civilisations knew about this topic – “Let’s Ask the Old Greeeks About It”. I am doing something very similar with an article about Hercules I am writing at the moment.

Right now I am reading a book called “Ask and It Is Given” by Esther and Jerry Hicks with the subtitle ‘Learning to Manifest Your Desires’ – Steve says this is the book the film ‘The Secret’ is based on, which he has seen recently. I am still trying to find a copy on DVD here in Cape Town. The Foreword to the book is by Wayne Dyer, who is among my all-time favourite authors : his work has been instrumental in my own personal growth.

Frankly, I could go on and on about the absolute wealth of information on self development that can be found on Steve Pavlina’s site, with direct links to hundreds of his articles, but I don’t want to make this posting too long.

Decide for yourself and join me in also bookmarking his blog in your browser – personally, I am RSS-feeding it into My Yahoo! homepage so that I can check on his contributions easily every day. If you are reading COMPASS, you are certainly among the smart people Steve Pavlina is addressing.

Until next time, all the best from : Berend

Discover the Value of Information

Surprised to see COMPASS in your inbox again ? Yes, I know – you haven’t received it for a while. I apologize. Many subscribers have contacted me over the last few months and enquired whether I was still alive : I am, and kicking, may be a bit too much of the latter since the beginning of this year.

There were some gaps in my work, though – I have used them to completely rebuild my BLUE CRANE website. It is more informative than ever, solely about personal growth and I’d like to invite you to take a look around there : please follow this link or click on the header image.

A lot of things have happened recently and I have discovered some exciting new sources for self improvement. One of the most fascinating revelations for me is Steve Pavlina’s blog : I’ll introduce you to his work next week, an extremely informative collection of articles from a brilliant man in Las Vegas who is totally committed to exploring the boundaries of his human potential.

Speaking about potential : you must have noticed that the commodity markets for oil, gold and other raw materials have started a dramatic upward trend earlier this year. It made me wonder what the most valuable commodity in the world actually is – is it platinum around US$1300 an ounce, or diamonds ? What is it that determines their value ? Why is lead so much cheaper than copper ?

We perceive some things to be in short supply, of others we think there is more than we need. US$650 for an ounce of gold is a lot of money, but many are prepared to pay that because they think it’s worth it, and the price may be even higher in future.

Personally, I believe that the most valuable commodity in the world is information. Knowledge is power. If we didn’t know what to do with gold, why would we pay so much for it ? Without relevant information, nothing is worth anything. Learning from others, and learning from the past, in my view is the most rewarding pursuit we can engage in – world leaders and successful people in general have always built on the experience of others.

In comparison to precious metals, information has always come cheap. There is no charge for good advice from family, friends and colleagues; we easily part with a few bucks for a good book. Sometimes we hire a specialist to help us with something we don’t know how to do ourselves; conversely, we often pay a high price for making mistakes that set us back for years because we didn’t know better.

Today, the Internet is the most comprehensive source of information mankind has ever had access to. The vast majority of this enormous amount of data is still virtually free of charge, although the wheat is slowly separating from the chaff with more and more research results, white papers and special reports being charged for.

With good reason : valuable information can be applied for benefit, most of the other kind is useless, if not even detrimental sometimes. Mind you, having a good laugh at least once a day is very beneficial, too.

But more than ever, we must choose what we want to know by filtering out the useless to find the best information available – when it comes to personal growth and self improvement, that’s exactly what I do for you in COMPASS. There are limits to what we know, and we can only spend so much time on finding what is beneficial for our particular situation at any point in time.

The benefits of learning how to improve ourselves are massive, this kind of information is never wasted or outdated. Knowing yourself is never detrimental. I hope that you will continue to trust my judgment and explore to the best of your abilities what I can find for us to grow as human beings.

So please feel free to browse my new BLUE CRANE website, and you might as well renew your subscription for COMPASS while you are there : that way you can download my award-winning article BEGINNING OF A JOURNEY as a Thank You gift.

Don’t worry, my system doesn’t allow double-registration, so you won’t get COMPASS twice at the same address, but it would help me to stay up to date with the mailing list.

Until next time, all the best from : Berend