Life: Stretch Your Thinking a bit to get a Lot!

You Really Can Live a Life of Abundance!

We've all faced a period of lacking in our lives. You know, when you feel like you're lacking in money, lacking in time, or lacking in great experiences. Whether your rough period had to do with money, boredom, or something else entirely, you know what it's like to yearn for more.

Wouldn't it be nice to never feel like that again? How wonderful would it be to always feel like you're swimming in a sea of abundance?

I'm going to let you in on a little secret - abundance doesn't have anything to do with your bank account or your long list of responsibilities. Instead, abundance is a state of mind that you can put to good use anytime, anywhere.

How do you do that?

All you have to do is choose to see "more than enough"!

For some people, though, that can be really tough. After all, lots of us are so used to focusing on what wedon't have that it sounds impossible to switch gears and focus on what we do have.

But here's another secret - changing your mindset isn't as hard as you think. All you need is a little bit of practice. Eventually, you'll automatically adopt an abundance mindset in every situation!

First, though, you've got to pay close attention to the thoughts that are racing around inside your head. If you're constantly thinking that you don't have enough, you'll actually start to believe that you have less than you really do!

So, the next time you hear yourself slipping into thoughts of lack, think about abundance instead.

For example:

- When you really want to buy something, but you don't have enough money for it...

- When you feel unfulfilled by your job...

- When you're sitting around feeling bored...

- When you wish you could meet that one great guy/girl to share your life with...

- When you wish that your life had a bigger purpose...

Think about what you do have right now. Think about the place you call home, the car you drive, the great friendships you have, and the good health that allows you to get out of bed every morning. When you look at it that way, you've got an awful lot! You've got a whole lot more than some people.

As you make a mental list of all those wonderful things, say to yourself (out loud if you have to!) that you have "more than enough". Because the truth is, you actually have more than you need. You've got everything you need to survive, and that alone is a remarkable blessing.

Of course, you're allowed to want even bigger and better things. Focusing on abundance doesn't mean you stop working toward other goals. However, when you focus on the abundance of good things that you already have, you'll start to attract even more blessings!

Want your abundance to grow even more?

Just give things some additional thought. For example, there may be certain situations that make you feel powerless. However, if you sit down and really think about them, you may be able to come up with a solution. Think about what small steps you could take to improve things. Then, bundle all of those little steps together to make a big difference!

One final tip - you should feel joyful and lighthearted when you focus on abundance. This should be a process that makes you feel good, not scared or desperate. The key is to trust in your ability to create more for yourself. And, remember, the universe is willing to help you, too. As long as you trust in the process, you really will end up with "more than enough" of everything you could possibly want!

Ready to stretch your thinking a bit?

Media Biz: post-Brexit pound KOs Starz-Lionsgate merger

The widely expected merger between Lionsgate and Starz has been derailed because of the Brexit currency chaos, The Post has learned.

One of the banks being lined up to provide the financing was forced to withdraw from the deal after the British pound fell about 10 percent versus the dollar over two days, one source told The Post.

“It fell apart over the weekend,” the source said. “Brexit hurt the financing. It’s dead.”

The person cautioned that the deal could be resuscitated if economic conditions improve.

Rumors of a likely deal between the Hollywood studio and the premium pay-TV channel gained steam in the last couple of weeks — pushing shares of both companies higher.

Shares of Lionsgate, the studio behind “Hunger Games” and “Divergent,” rose 5.8 percent on June 23, to $21.72, as whispers of an impending deal raced from Tinseltown to Wall Street.

POETRY: Echosightings, Vol III, STANDOFF

When dissent from
within
grew louder than acclaim
without
When even the clotheslines
betrayed party loyalty
When the crisis of
identity
long simmering hit
critical mass
a nation in need
of a
pause
was instead
left
in suspense
Ink-dipped fingers
announcing hope and defiance in
equal measure
Perhaps just
long enough for the
revelation of the the real
Power

Cultivating Truth in The Soil of Corruption: The Agronomist

Broadcasters!

Think your job is hard? Try talking while your station is being shot up by high-powered rifles. Try remaining on air when the Government is bent on shutting you down, bent in fact on silencing you - permanently.

Such were the travails of the late Jean Dominque, the erudite, charismatic and ultimately fateful lead character in this prickly yet highly engaging documentary from long-time Haiti-watcher Johnathan Demme. The "Something Wild" director melds face-on interviews with footage in a manner that goes straight into the issue - Haiti's legacy of oppression and revolt - and never lets up. Also featured are Dominique's widow Michelle,who was herself integral in the harrowing process of establishing and maintaining the radio station, as well as other family members, former staffers and other personalities. we also see the arc of former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, from influential priest to eventual President and then pariah.

Not all the interviews are in English and the director makes no attempt to either dub or sub-title the French and Kreyol segments. This might seem an irritant to the uninitiated, but watching the movie patiently, one will see the wisdom in this step as the over all spirit of the film will emerge even over the language difficulties. Also, the film seems to skim a bit on the Duvalier years, though we plainly see that at the beginning of his broadcasting career, the former agronomist (hence the title) is drawing the ire of both Papa and Baby Doc, and we are shown the latter ouster, aided and abetted as it was by the US.

The story that does emerge is one of massive unfulfilled potential, of promises unkept, and of a people held in suspense as power-seekers of various persuasions (of course the US is a constant shadow) carve up resources and suppress dissent.

Deserves to be viewed at least a few times, even now, roughly a decade after it was first released.

Small Screen, Huge Stories: Boardwalk Empire & The Pillars of the Earth

Time was, not that long ago, when the uncompromising dedication to narrative was left to (some) feature films, while television - read network television - followed the path of least offense.

The purveyors of cable TV had a different idea though, and certainly over the last decade, cable channels have surpassed both  their network cousins and much of the feature film world in showing compelling programmes in both comedy and drama. Showtime has "Homeland" AMC has "Mad Men", STARZ has "Spartacus" and Ken Follet's "The Pillars of the Earth" and HBO has, among many others, "Boardwalk Empire".
Prohibition was likely intended as a political solution to a social problem, but its hard to argue with the contention that is created far worse problems than it ever solved. By shifting the supply side form legal to illegal sources without addressing the demand, it aided the growth of mobsterism and corruption, with the attendant ills. Such is the premise of this series, which has gone through two very popular and highly acclaimed seasons. The setting is Atlantic City(which provides the "Boardwalk" of the title), 1920, and the focus is primarily on one Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, nominally city treasurer, but de facto the Big Kahuna; nothing goes down - or up - in the town precincts without him knowing, and collecting on it. from his suite in the Ritz-Carlton he presides over bootlegging, prostitution and a host of illegal and legitimate buisnesses, aided and abetted by his brother Eli, the sheriff, and the city aldermen, his confederates.
But uneasy sits the head that wears the crown, and it will take all the skill and wit he has to manipulate and fend off enemies from without and within.

Medieval England may seem a long thematic jump form Prohibition-era America, but the elements are quite consistent: power, intrigue, lust, violence mistrust - and the desire to build something greater than what has previously been. Ken Follet's blockbuster novel gets the period treatment from Scott brothers, Ridley and Tony, who serve as executive producers, overseeing a cast and crew drawn mostly from Britain, but spanning the Continent. A humble master builder has dreams of building a great cathedral, but to do it, he must outwit some powerful forces with their own outsize agendas.

On the whole, the Boardwalk story is more compelling to watch, but Pillars should hardly be dismissed out of hand. For one, its more restrained. The in-your-face style of "Boardwalk", with its blood-spattered killings, frontal nudity and soft-porn sex scenes can become tiresome with repeated viewings, even though the writing overall redeems each episode. Another important difference is that the 'Pillars" series has a lone director for all the instalments, as opposed to the "revolving door" employed by "Boardwalk" creators Terence Winter, Martin Scorcese and Mark Wahlberg. Not saying there are any obvious aesthetic gaps, but it does jar a little bit.
Such nitpicking aside, both shows make excellent viewing, whether seen as a marathon, or at your leisure. They represent two ways of exploring the issue of man's enduring quest for power and personal aggrandizeement, a fascination that hardly ebbs, and for which cable TV is the ideal medium.