My friend, Dr. La Tourrette, tells about a trucker who had back trouble and couldn't figure out why.

Then one day he noticed that it was because he was sitting sideways, bending his spine at odd angles because his butt was on his wallet that was too thick because he was carrying around paperwork and all his credit and discount club and frequent diner cards in his wallet. So he started carrying his wallet in one of those fanny packs and could sit down normally.

All of a sudden, his back didn't hurt any more.

But he still didn't see any relief, because then he noticed that he had headaches from squinting all day. So he learned how to see clearly with relaxed vision and to relax the muscles in his head, to breathe deeply so oxygen could get to the brain and to the muscles in his face and head.

And the headaches went away. But he still hadn't found total relief.

Then he noticed his feet hurt. So he got rid of the shoes somebody else had bought for him and got new shoes that fit his feet and didn't tie them quite as tightly so he could have proper circulation and relaxation all the way from head to toe.

I also remember Doc saying that it's real difficult to activate the radiant energies that help you gain influence over yourself and others if the feet are sore from the wrong shoes.

Ever try walking in the shoes someone else handed you instead of the ones that are right for you?

Many people are walking around in shoes someone else handed them, and they don't understand why they can't make life work for them instead of against them.

Those people are easily manipulated by others and they never truly reach their full potential in life. They've been conditioned their entire lives so that they don't even notice what's wrong. They just know they hardly ever feel the way they truly want to feel fulfilled deep down inside, no matter how hard they try.

So the only way to truly have power over your own mind and influence with others is to first of all become aware and to start to take control of your own life instead of trying to walk in the shoes that someone else picked out for you.

It's not up to your mother or father to give you the shoes that are right for you. It's not up to your preacher to tell you what shoes to walk in. And depending on those government issue "one size fits all" shoes will never get you where you're supposed to go in life, either.

I'm not saying to rebel against society or to become an anti-social psychotic. What I am saying is that we all chose to come to this planet to learn and to grow in ways that are meaningful to us as individuals.

Neither your mother nor your father nor your friends nor your preacher nor anyone else is qualified to tell you to live some life other than one that is congruent with your own path and your own learnings.

Having said that, it sure is nice to learn from the mistakes and the successes of others so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.

But no one else is responsible for your success or lack of success. You and only you are responsible for your life and what you do with it.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, you and you alone decide what you will or will not accomplish in this lifetime. The Puritans, who were very religious, had a saying: "Pray as if it all depends on God, and then go take action as if it all depends on you."

Those who grow and learn will gain more and more growth and learnings, while those who shrink back for fear of taking action end up losing even what they did have.

Most people have some sort of "religious" view about what it means to be "spiritual". But in the parable of the talents, Jesus said the one who buried his talent because he was afraid and didn't use what he had available to him was the one who was wicked and lazy.

I hope that as we learn more neat things together we can use to help ourselves and others get what we want in life that you will take these abilities and use them in ways that have meaning for you that help you to free yourself from the limitations you previously thought you had and to instead grow and learn on the path that is right for you.

I look forward to seeing you in future newsletters and learning together.

Thank you, and God bless.