Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Peter Cassels-Brown is currently owner of Mountain Woodworks/Green Mountain Renewable Energy, A custom design building renewable energy company in Bristol, Vermont. He studied solar design at the University of Vermont and went to Woodbury College for graduate studies in mediation. He currently lives in Bristol with his two children.

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THE KEY

iUniverse, Inc.

Contents

Acknowledgments..........................................1Introduction.............................................51. Revelation............................................92. Gratitude.............................................133. Forgiveness...........................................174. Love..................................................215. Union.................................................256. The Connection........................................317. The Great Spirit......................................358. Happiness, Health, and Prosperity.....................399. The Key...............................................4310. Letting Go and Lightening Up.........................4711. Where to Go from Here................................5112. Living the Dream.....................................5713. Fortune Cookie Wisdom................................6314. A Personal Affirmation...............................67About the Author.........................................69

Chapter One

So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key. —Eagles

Revel-ation Rev-elation Revel-elation

Neither heaven nor hell is an actual place, separate from the universe we know, but that does not mean they don't exist. Both of them are present here and now, and we have a choice regarding which one we are in.

It was a beautiful day in March (which historically can be a slow time for us). I had decided to take a few ski runs at Sugarbush on my way to work. When I got to the mountain, the sun was already shining brightly in a chrome blue, cloudless sky. It was reflected even more brilliantly by the white crystal beach of corn snow that lay on a few surviving trails, while, all around, vegetation stirred and began to awaken from its winter slumber. As the temperature rose to over seventy degrees, my heart leapt with joy at being in the right place at the right time for once. A few runs later, however, thoughts of work started to creep into my mind. They were thoughts of phone calls, paperwork, placing orders, setting up projects, meeting with clients, service calls, etc. I started to feel guilty that I was having so much fun on a workday.

I decided to check my phone calls and e-mail when I realized I had left my cell phone at home. I became uncomfortable thinking about missed communications and possibly irritated clients. More guilt.

I had a choice. I could pack it in and head to the office and take care of business, after all, that had been the original plan, or I could stay for another run or two. I decided that another run wouldn't hurt. Then another. And another. Okay, time to go to work; then I ran into a friend. Okay, one more. Mmm. This weather and this type of snow are rare. Okay, one more. It's two thirty, and time to go; there's still time to take care of things ...

As I walked past the lodge on my way to the parking lot, a band was playing on the Castlerock Pub terrace (on a Thursday in late March, at 2:30 p.m., when there are only a few people around?)—not just any band, but a local favorite, an extremely good band that I hadn't seen in ages. Okay, hang out for a tune or two ... mmm, well, I am thirsty. Just one beer, a couple more tunes ...

At 5:00 p.m. I actually left to go to work. I did make contacts and organize the next day after all, but the truth is, it could have waited until the next day. Days like the one I just described happen only a few times a year if I am lucky. I was there, but I almost missed it. Fortunately, I was present enough not to have missed it, and was profoundly grateful for that, but definitely had tortured myself unnecessarily.

Another time, we were taking advantage of unseasonably warm weather (above freezing) in February to get the jump on a spring project by pouring the foundation in the dead of winter. Risky, but the alternative was being unemployed.

Long story short, the water table was higher than anticipated for that time of year, which created numerous challenges for us, such as a three-foot-deep freezing pond where the foundation needed to go. The drainage was impeded by the existing house, which was to be moved onto the new foundation. Pumps helped until the temperature dropped to significantly below freezing. We did manage to successfully pour the foundation, but I found myself alone at 2:00 a.m. in a frozen, muddy trench resembling a World War I foxhole. As I wrestled with frozen equipment in the wee hours of the morning, all the while resembling a frozen mud rat, I surprised myself by laughing out loud at the absurdity of it all. At the same moment a wave of warmth and gratitude swept over me for a few reasons. First, I actually had work at a time when many people, especially builders and carpenters, did not. Second, it made me appreciate my own fortitude, for which I was hugely grateful in the moment. Finally, it was the sense of some unaccountable old joker just laughing his ass off to witness my predicament. In that presence, I could not help but laugh at myself and the situation.

The point of all this is that we can be in a situation that would seem to be as close to heaven as is possible in our human world, yet still torture ourselves with anxiety, tension, and stress. We can also find ourselves in a situation that truly resembles hell, yet transcend it to experience joy, gratitude, and love of life.

Our circumstances are external, but our experience of them is internal. We have a choice of how to respond to any given situation. Our choice of response not only determines how we feel about ourselves and the situation, but since the world functions as a mirror for us, it also determines to a large degree the outcome of those circumstances.

Chapter Two

Giving thanks for the blessings we do have is grounding, healing, uplifting, and energizing. By focusing on the best things, we attract more of that to us.

It can help pull one out of a tailspin when things are looking bleak, spirits are sinking, and fear is creeping in. The beneficiary of gratitude is the giver of thanks. Giving thanks feels good.

Gratitude creates a healthy energy through and around you. People can't see it, but they can feel it. It helps make a person feel comfortable around you (because it helps you to be comfortable with yourself), which improves the chance of successful interaction.

When I'm feeling anxious, tense, or stressed, nothing gets me back on track like thinking of the things I have to be grateful for. I start with the basics, such as shelter, clothes, food, my children, work, etc. I keep going until I get to a point where I'm feeling quite fortunate indeed. It is hard to be in a negative space when you are truly grateful. When one is in a positive, grateful space, circumstances, seemingly almost by magic, have a way of changing to a more positive situation.

Many times at work, when I focus on the challenges I face as a business owner in an uncertain economy, I feel overwhelmed by the liabilities and obligations. I start to panic, and wonder how I will ever make ends meet. That is inevitably when circumstances seem to conspire to support and fuel that fear.

If I change my focus, however, and think about all the resources I have amassed in the last several decades, and the opportunities that are right in front of me, and give thanks for...