Gregoire Today is live Friday, March 5th at 1:30 pm ET / 10:30 am PT

Suzanne Scurlock-Durana, CMT, CST-D has taught internationally about conscious awareness and its relationship to the healing process. For over 25 years, Suzanne has masterfully taught her step-by-step practice of present moment awareness. The more fully you inhabit all aspects of yourself, the more capable you are of listening to that quiet voice within.

The practices of Full Body Presence give you the ability to accomplish this and to help you find a deeper awareness in the moment, even in the midst of chaos, family and work demands, or the pressure to perform. This deeper awareness also brings a fuller sense of trust and confidence in yourself, and in the world.

Visit Suzanne at www.FullBodyPresence.com

Full Body Presence is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and a bookstore near you!

Years after losing his lower right leg in a motorcycle crash, Robert Kull traveled to a remote island in Patagonia’s coastal wilderness with equipment and supplies to live alone for a year. He sought to explore the effects of deep solitude on the body and mind and to find the spiritual answers he’d been seeking all his life.

With only a cat and his thoughts as companions, he wrestled with inner storms while the wild forces of nature raged around him. The physical challenges were immense, but the struggles of mind and spirit pushed him even further. Chronicling a life distilled to its essence — the fundamental mechanics of daily survival — “Solitude” is also a philosophical meditation on the tensions between nature and technology, isolation and society. With humor and brutal honesty, Kull explores the pain and longing we typically avoid in our frantically busy lives as well as the peace and wonder that arise once we strip away our distractions. He describes the enormous Patagonia wilderness with poetic attention, transporting the reader directly into both his inner and outer experiences.

Kull went into solitude fishing for enlightenment, seeking The Answer, but came back empty-handed. Wilderness, he found, is a place to clearly see the insanity of denying that the world is as it is. He discovered that life itself teaches us all we need to know — once we pause to really listen.

Solitude is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and bookstores everywhere. You can find Bob Kull at www.BobKull.org.

Thomas Matus has dedicated years to the search for analogies of experience between Tantric yogis and Christian mystics. He has traveled widely in India and made frequent retreats at the Ashram of Shantivanam, where Bede Griffiths taught. Aside from meditation and some sacred rites, Matus’ spiritual practice is threefold: At all times and in all things: Give thanks; Judge not; Love enemies. Says Matus, “my teacher is the wounded surgeon, with healing in his hands. He sends us the public defender, with comfort for our hearts. She keeps me mindful of my practice, and when I am not, she reminds me (most often through others). Matus lives in the hills above Berkeley, California, in a modest, low-profile monastery called “Incarnation.”

CNBC named Nance Rosen, “America’s Top Job Coach.” Investor’s Business Daily features her in their Managing for Success column. She’s a former marketing executive with The Coca-Cola Company, the number one most recognized brand in the world. She teaches business development and presentation skills on campus at UCLA. She speaks around the world to business audiences on the topic of Personal Branding.

Currently, she’s the Executive Publisher at PegasusMediaWorld, publishing gurus and manages the career trajectory of up-and-coming thought leaders.

She leads a mentoring program for young managers, called the Do-It-Together Club because “success is not a DIY, do-it-yourself” project. Find out more at DITclub.com. Visit www.NanceSpeaks.com for more about Nance’s topics.

Read her blog at NanceRosenBlog.com or follow her on Twitter @nancerosen. Nance’s new book is Speak Up! & Succeed: How to get everything you want in meetings, presentations and conversations.

Drawn from the extraordinary true story of a family’s survival of Siberian exile comes One Life to Give: A Path to Finding Yourself by Helping Others

In the winter of 1939, five-year-old Andrew Bienkowski was exiled to Siberia with his family. The two years of struggle that followed—especially his grandfather’s amazing act of sacrifice during their first long, cold winter—have informed the rest of Andrew’s life. Thanks to his devoted mother, his quick-witted grandmother, and the unexpected kindness of strangers, Andrew established an approach to life that emphasizes helping others as the essential path to finding our greatest human fulfillment. Andrew is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who served in the Korean War. He has worked as a psychologist for 40 years, designing and implementing mental-health programs and working directly with patients. Co-author Mary Akers is also the author of a short story collection titled “Women Up On Blocks.” Her fiction, poetry and non-fiction have appeared in many journals and anthologies.

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and a bookstore near you

David Kundtz

Considered an inspirational nutritionist, David Kundtz provides soulful insights that remind us what matters most.

David has enjoyed several careers, including 18 years in religious ministry and 20 years in the practice of psychotherapy, public speaking on stress and emotional health, and writing.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and schooled in Washington, Baltimore, and Berkeley, David holds graduate degrees in both psychology and theology and a doctorate in pastoral psychology.

He also spent several years in Idaho and Cali, Columbia, finally settling between Kensington, California and Vancouver, British Columbia. He is also an adjunct professor at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley and is a member of the Board of Directors of GroundSpark.

David offers reflections, stories, and wise guidance that remind us to live in a state of awareness about the reality that always exists in front of our faces, under our noses, or just below the surface of every moment. He can be reached through his website: Stopping.com.

I make it a goal to learn new things every single day that will help me to improve as a human. I go into each and every conversation eagerly listening to the person to determine what it is that I can learn from this unique person with his or her unique perspectives.

I’m finding it hard to keep up with the lessons as I’m bombarded in almost every conversation with an ah-ha. Everyone has something to teach me.

A little over 20 years ago I got a new job for which I had zero prior experience – father. Because I was blessed to have my fantastic father, Oscar Felix Gregoire (another story for another day for those of you old enough to remember The Odd Couple), as a mentor for the first 35 years of my life, I used him as a model for my new, and most important, role.

When we find ourselves in over our head, we seek help.

My family was blessed to have a father who provided financially for our family. In those days, it was very common to have the mother stay at home and that’s exactly what my Mom did. Because my parents were products of the depression, they did not spend money frivolously. I learned that my Dad made enough money so that we were always well-fed (my childhood pictures show that I was perhaps too well fed!), well-dressed, sheltered and most importantly, loved. By example, I’ve tried to pass on these same gifts to my children. We learn from our parents.

My Dad loved music but, never stuck with his violin lessons long enough to play an instrument. Because of that lifelong regret, he made sure that each of his children learned how to play an instrument-whether they wanted to or not.  I’ve been playing the piano since I was 5 and progressed enough musically so that I was in a band while in college. My father took great pleasure watching his sons enjoy the gift of music in a way that he never could. I saw tears in his eyes as he watched my brother Bill sing and play in his band. He had tears in his eyes watching me too but, that was for another reason. Carolyn and I passed on the gift of music to our kids who both started taking piano lessons at the age of 5.  We learn from our parents.

Our family went to our Catholic church EVERY week and on holy days of obligation. I know that in many families it’s the Mom who is the more disciplined when it comes to matters of spirituality, God and faith. Our family had two parents who served as  strong spiritual mentors. My Dad never missed going to church.  It was not a chore that he did reluctantly. Sunday was my parent’s day to sleep-in (or that’s what I believed when I was young, innocent and naive!). After a good night’s sleep, prayer, exercise and bathing, my Dad would arrive at the breakfast table shining clean and smelling of after shave ravenous for a breakfast of bacon, eggs, juice, toast and coffee followed by church.  Life is good!  We learn from our parents.

He prayed each and every morning. I can see him jogging in place in his bedroom with his rosary beads in his hand jiggling up and down with each step. I could see his lips moving silently to the words of the Our Father. He never told me to say the rosary but, I saw him saying it and saw him going to church and figured that if these things contributed to this great man being who he is, then even though I don’t completely understand why, I’ll take his lead. Carolyn and I have been bringing our kids to church since they were born and are encouraging them to do so now that they’ve become young adults.  We learn from our parents.

Those were some of the great gifts that I learned from my Dad. How lucky was I??? I know with 100% confidence that he and my Mom always provided us with the best information that they knew and tried to pass-on the best habits that they knew – always by example.

When I graduated from high school and had to think about what was next in my life, I considered doing many things.  When I came up with the idea that I’d like to pursue medicine and become a doctor, my beautiful, all-knowing Dad talked me out of it for very good reasons (in his mind). Doctor’s don’t have a life of their own. They’re always on call. They’re forced to work long hours and can get interrupted at any time of the day, night or weekend. I don’t think that my father had completely envisioned future technological advances such as cell phones, pagers and Blackberry’s that would come to make every worker in almost every profession available to customers and employers every minute of every day.

My son, James, told us a couple of years ago that he’d like to become a doctor – most likely a psychologist. It’s not my job to tell him what his purpose is or is not. It’s his job to figure that out.  Carolyn and I are here for support and feedback if he wants it.  I needed to learn that from a new mentor. My initial parenting mentor – my Dad – wasn’t capable of teaching me that new quality.

Frequently, we need to seek new mentors because our existing mentors have taken us as far as they’re able.

Everyone wants what’s best for you – especially your parents. At some point in our lives, it’s you and I who have to determine what’s best for us – not our parents, not our bosses, not our teachers, not our friends. One of the problems we have is that there is too much noise to be able to hear ourselves think.  Because everyone seems to have advice for us and because there is always an electronic device attached to our eardrums – iPod, cell phone, Blackberry – many of us never get the luxury of any quiet time. Quiet time for what?

Quiet time allows us the following luxuries:

• Time to collect our thoughts about what is working in our lives.
• Time to collect our thoughts about the things that are not working.
• Time to listen to our souls speak to us and guide us toward our real passions and purpose.
• Time to allow our thoughts to slow down enough to listen to our most important mentor speak – God.
• Time to pay attention to our dreams. The dreams in our minds and the dreams that we experience during the night.
• Time to allow our souls to communicate with our Creator without any barriers or distractions.
• Time to decide what’s really important and what activities should be stopped or delegated.

Go into the chamber and shut the door behind you, and pray to your father who is in secret, the one who is innermost. But what is within them all is the fullness. Beyond it there is nothing inside. This is the place they call the uppermost. –Jesus

The answers that you seek are inside yourself.  The answers come to us when we’re silent enough to listen.

The experts advise us to surround ourselves with mentors who can lead, guide and advise us on our journey.  I agree with them.  I also believe that we have to know where we’re going in this lifetime and after this lifetime so that we can know whom to choose as mentors and where we’d like them to assist us in going.  Those answers have to come from you.

As Dave Matthews so smoothly sings to us, where are you going?

Allow yourself silent time on a daily basis to answer that question.

Once we figure that out, everything seems to magically fall into place.

Listen to yourself |  Listen to your soul |  Listen to God

2010 will be a great year if you decide that it will be.  It’s up to you.

This year’s success or failure has nothing to do with the economy, the weather, the politicians, the stock market or your employer.

This year and every year’s success is played out in your mind.  Although you do not control the economy, the weather, or what other people say and do, you do have control over the most significant factor in what will determine this year’s success.  You have control over your thoughts.

Your thoughts today are the foundation for your tomorrows.

A friend at the gym last week told me a really good joke and I smiled.  I took my 20-year old son to dinner last night and I smiled.  I sent a text message to my 15-year old daughter that night that said, You are loved, and I smiled at her response.  I ate leftovers for lunch this past weekend with my wife and son and I smiled throughout the meal.  I meditated and  read scripture this morning and smiled.  I read a book yesterday afternoon and smiled at least once on almost every single page. I find myself smiling a lot because I seem to have created the ideal life for myself.  The normal every day activities like exercise, reading and eating have become ideal. Each and every situation that I find myself in is a result of forethought.

I’ve been fortunate to have been surrounded by people, companies and institutions that have trained me in the art of controlling my thoughts.  Nobody is allowed to get inside of your head without your permission.  That means that it’s possible to live in a constant state of bliss by filling our minds with whatever thoughts we choose.

Did you know that you get to choose what enters your mind much like you get to choose what you put into your stomach?

Do you give more thought as to what enters your mouth and stomach or what enters your mind?

Some of us don’t think about what we’re putting into our stomachs. Many of us don’t give any thought as to what we’re allowing to enter into our minds. Let’s start thinking!

If you wanted to intentionally put information into your mind, how would you do it?  What would you read?  Who would you listen to? When would you do it?  How often would you do it?

Since this is going to be a great and ideal year, what are you going to choose to put into your mind? Know this:  whatever you choose to put into your mind eventually ends up coming out of your mouth and manifesting itself in your reality.

Because great things frequently take a while to manifest themselves, changing your thoughts today will result in improvement somewhere in the future – in a day, in a week, a month, in six months. But,  you don’t have to wait that long to begin feeling better.

The simple act of changing our present thoughts makes us feel better – instantly!  Our present thoughts are  the only things that we actually do control.  Our present thoughts do determine our future. For that reason, today is the best day to begin paying attention to your thoughts.  It’s a great day to eliminate any and all of the negative thoughts that you’re holding in your mind about yourself and about others.   In the place where those negative thoughts used to make their home, fill that space with positive thoughts about yourself and the world around you.

Creation is a result of our thoughts. Whether we realize it or not, you and I create 24 hours of thoughts and activities each and every day.  If it seems like you’re just going through the motions, in the same places, with the same people, day after day, week after week, you probably are. If you and I don’t create new thoughts, our brains keep using the same old ones and recreating the same old life.

A good friend and mentor of mine taught me to begin thinking in ideals. Thinking in ideals sounds like this in our minds:

Ideally, what would I do this weekend?

Ideally, when would I get up?

Ideally, who would I spend it with?

Ideally, what would we do?

Ideally, where would we go?

Ideally, would I build in time to exercise?

Ideally, would I have time to pray and meditate?

Ideally, where would we spend Saturday?

Ideally, where would we spend Sunday?

Ideally, where would we eat?

When we utilize this thinking in ideals mentality, we’re using our forethought to think into the future and picture ourselves looking, feeling, thinking, acting and being the people that we’re capable of becoming. If you haven’t been told this lately, you have tremendous potential!

As we become aware of our thoughts, we become intentional about keeping them positive.  When we look forward we see positive results. We see happiness, We see health. We see love.  We see compassion.  We see prosperity. We see kindness.

You can easily begin this process today without having it feel overwhelming by intentionally visualizing the ideal tomorrow.  What would it look like?  Who would you be with?  How would you behave at work? When would you exercise?  What would you eat? When would you deliberately spend time speaking with people who are in need of your attention?

A great time to visualize the ideal tomorrow is in bed at night before going to sleep. When you engage in the process of using your forethought to project yourself into tomorrow, you’re successfully rehearsing in your mind an ideal tomorrow before it ever happens.  Highly efficacious people look forward and they see success. Who determines what ideal is?  You do!

Here is another way to look at the process of utilizing your forethought to create the ideal day (and eventually, ideal life).  As you’re laying in bed at night visualizing the ideal tomorrow, think to yourself, When tomorrow is all over and I’m reviewing my ideal day tomorrow night, what did I do?, how did I act?, how did I feel?, how did I treat people?, how did I improve?

The next logical step in the process is to begin using forethought to create your future further into the future. Start with the ideal week and then the ideal month and then the ideal year, and so on.

There is nothing noble in being superior to some other (hu)man.  The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self. –Hindu Proverb  Positive forethought is the art of looking into the future and seeing improvement in every aspect of yourself.

Look out as far into the future as you can see.  Is it a week? Is it a month? Is it a quarter? Is it a year? Where would you like to be superior to how you are today? Ideally, what would your self-talk sound like?

Ideally, what would your words be like when speaking to others? Would they be nurturing or would they be critical?
Ideally, what would you be doing to passionately earn your living?
Ideally, what would you be doing to serve others within your community?
Ideally, where would you be living?
Ideally, how would you describe your faith?  Your relationship with God?  Your love and compassion for self and others?
Ideally, what type of physical health can you envision for yourself?
Ideally, in what areas would your wisdom and knowledge grow?
Ideally, what would be your social activities (golf, tennis, travel, playing cards, etc.) and who would you be socializing with?
Ideally, how would you improve your relationship with your family and friends?
Ideally, answer every single question that has been haunting your mind with your ideal solution to every nagging question.

So, 2010 was a great year!  Congratulations.  It’s now December 31, 2010 at 10PM and you’re at the perfect New Year’s Eve event surrounded by the exact people that you expected to be with this evening and you’re reviewing in your mind just what made 2010 so great for you. What are you saying to yourself???????

2010 was a great year because I intentionally created and visualized the ideal year for myself in my mind last January. Throughout the entire year, I monitored and controlled my self-talk and kept it positive. I created present-tense affirmations in every area of my life where I knew that I had the potential to improve and read those affirmations at least two times each day.

Here are the ideals that I envisioned for myself last January that have come into being………

Check out Bob’s interview with Oprah Network author John St. Augustine on Gregoire Today from January 14, 2010.

Bob’s Take Away

This book is a great wake-up call if it’s time for you to stop going through the motions of an unexamined life. Each story reminds us that the answers to life’s questions exist inside us and we can actually hear them if we’ll just slow down long enough to listen! Through the safety of someone else’s life experiences, I found myself riding a roller-coaster range of emotions as I experienced the highs and lows from John’s life and the lessons learned from each of them.

I was repeatedly reminded me of just how much impact our words and actions have on others  – even complete strangers- whether we realize it or not at the time. Experiencing John’s life moments alongside him was a very spiritual ride through the lifetime of a non-religious person. A joy to read!

About John St. Augustine

Called the new voice of America, author of the new book Every Moment Matters, John St. Augustine takes us on a journey of self examination, but more importantly a journey of self re-examination. how often have we gone through the process of evaluating our position and making our course corrections, only to fail to take in the moments that lead up to and from that position? St. Augustine’s new book is the perfect wake up call stop and remember that every moment matters. From the publisher: While running in the rat race, we all have the tendency to keep running, moving forward, go go going without any thought toward the moments wedged between. We focus our energy on how society measures our accomplishments with the acquisition of things, lots and lots of things all the while diverting our attention from what truly matters. John offers Every Moment Matters as the antidote for a way out of the maze of materialism, media influence, and monetary madness by teaching us to notice ordinary moments, to remember them, to relive them, and to live in the present while creating future moments that have depth, meaning, and purpose. Join me for this very special program where I have the special opportunity to meet and talk to John St. Augustine about his new book Every Moment Matters and his “relentless quest to squeeze as much out of being alive as possible.”(Dr. Mehmet Oz)

During our Christmas celebration on Friday evening, a friend told me that he liked one of last week’s blogs about forgiveness.  He asked me if I had really forgiven everyone in my life because he was having a hard time forgiving one particular person – and for a very good reason.

How long does it take to be ready, willing and able to forgive another person?

When my friend questioned my 100% forgiveness of others statement, part of my response to him reminded me that in some cases, it had taken me years from the time of the incident to even become ready to communicate with the individual. I knew as soon as I answered him that my forgiveness had taken way too long.

Did it need to take me years to be able to forgive or apologize?  No.

Forgiveness in its best form can be instantaneous.  The mind says, I think that I’ll forgive this person and the lips start moving, I forgive you.

Lots of people have written many great things on the topic of forgiveness. Below are a few of my favorite quotes on the topic along with a few comments and sample affirmations to use to assimilate the new mindsets:

Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten — Buddha

Buddha is challenging us to decide whether we’d prefer cherishing resentment or if we’d prefer to be resentment-free and cherish feelings of peace and serenity.  As with all the changes that we choose to make in ourselves, this one requires a mindset to be deleted and replaced with a new mind.    In this case, it’s the mind of Buddha.

Affirmation: I happily and easily forgive each person at the time of the incident and cherish my resentment-free mind.

Jesus is very clear about when and how often we’re supposed to forgive in Luke’s Gospel, “Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

It sounds like Jesus is letting us know that forgiveness should be ongoing and instantaneous. Can you imagine the same person offending you seven times in the same day?  Could you imagine forgiving that same person seven times?  That’s what he’s telling us to do. Can I do that?

Jesus’ words are always giving me a better vision of myself than how I am currently living.  Although the gap between where I am currently and where he’s calling me to be seems big at the time,  I am able to lessen and eventually close the gap with repetition of his words. Mentors always see a better picture of us than we see of ourselves. The key for us is to surround ourselves with the best mentors available – whether they’re still physically roaming the earth or not.

Affirmation: Forgiving the same individual multiple times for the same offense comes naturally to me because I am patient and understanding

Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion – Dalai Lama

Which type of hurt bothers you more?  Is it the feeling of having hurt another or the feeling of having been hurt by someone else?  For me, the feeling of thinking that I’ve hurt another person is much more painful.  Apologizing and receiving the gift of forgiveness from another person takes a tremendous burden off my mind and soul.  Because I know that feeling well, I want to be sure to give that same gift to others as soon and as frequently as possible.

It’s always possible to forgive.  Forgiveness is a choice.  We either choose to forgive or we choose to hold on to our anger and resentment. The more that you’ve been hurt by the other person, the larger the gift that you give them with your forgiveness.  Give large gifts to others.

Affirmation: I show kindness and compassion to others by graciously forgiving offenses whether large or small

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it – Confucius

A short and sweet message from Confucius. My mother has a great trait of having a very poor memory for bad things done by people. This is not a trait that was acquired later in life as a result of a fading memory. She’s always had the Confucius-like quality of not holding on to bad memories.  Either I received this gene from her of I’ve been able to develop the qualities of living in the present and forgetting the bad that happened in the past.

Affirmation: I am a master of remembering the kindness that is shown toward me and am equally good at forgetting offenses

If we practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, soon the whole world will be blind and toothless –Mahatma Gandhi

I really enjoy people who have the skill to deliver a message in a humorous fashion. We’re being encouraged this time by Gandhi to forgive rather than to get even. What a great trait this is.  It’s a choice to act in a God-like manner rather than in a malicious manner.  When we forgive, we’re sharing the gift of compassion and kindness with another person. We’re showing them that it’s possible to love and forgive rather than retaliate or harbor grudges.

Goodness, kindness and forgiveness are the result of an increase in our awareness. They’re the result of becoming aware through mentors like Gandhi, Jesus, Confucius, Buddha and the Dalai Lama that we have the potential to be more compassionate than we are today.

It’s an awareness that the peace and serenity that result from our forgiveness of others feels so much better than the painful repetition in our minds of how we’ve been wronged by another.

What good comes from holding on to our anger, hurt and resentment?  I can’t think of any.

What good comes from forgiving another person?  You feel better and the other person feels better.  A burden has been taken off your shoulders and your soul.  Your soul has become a little bit brighter as a result of the dark emotion being removed and replaced by love.

Because I believe Jesus’ words, I know that I will be forgiven for every offense if I’m truly sorry. That same belief allows me to forgive myself after I’ve been off-the-mark or off-my-game. If I expect to be forgiven quickly and if I want to forgive myself quickly, then it makes sense that I offer the same consideration to others – quickly.

Anger makes you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were –Cherie Carter-Scott