Wake-Up & Dream: An Insightful Glimpse into Reaching an Impactful Life, a Wise and Savvy Look into the How Part of What Has to Be Done to Achieve Measurable Success in Reasonable Amount of Time

By Nader Rafigh

This highly engaging book and its enticing messages rouse us to commence the serious business of feeding our minds. Claiming to be knowledgeable, not needing to learn more, can only unmask our impudence. Such disclosure reveals a poverty-stricken philosophy and “poor thinking habits”, to borrow Earl Shoaff’s wise term, characterizing our ignorance and disregard. This dream-thief keeps non-thinking individuals impoverished all throughout their lives. The wisdom in Shoaff’s words revolutionized many lives, including mentors such as Jim Rhone and Tony Robbins, and indeed inspired many powerful messages in Wake -Up & Dream. This inclusive volume by Nader Rafigh captures many compelling principles of self-development & personal growth to instill in us strong habits of mind to purposefully soar in higher thinking and greater learning. All to uplift and educate us, so we can proudly claim to be awakened, and awakened we better stay to dream!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Sep 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781982222314

Nader Rafigh

Nader Rafigh, a daytime beauty connoisseur and a nighttime dreamer, once entangled in an actual nightmare that led to the creation of the topic of this book Wake-Up & Dream. He has studied and practiced transcendental meditation (TM), self-hypnosis, and far too many to mention related advanced courses, conferences, forums, classes, topics, and seminars. He is currently a hypnotist practitioner, a certified professional hypnotist approved by the International Certification Board of Clinical Hypnotherapy (ICBCH). Nader has also been the principal operator and manager of an independent beauty salon in McLean, Virginia since 1991. His voice, his words, and his message bring together many powerful principles in the masterpiece of Wake-Up & Dream. This book is based upon decades of studying what makes people do what they do, investigating habits and behaviors in ancient and modern anthropology, examining thousands of interviews, and holding a deep commitment to living harmoniously. The author romantically yet brutally conveys to us that awakening is an essential and absolute part of understanding the depth, the power, and the superiority of the irrepressible mind. In fact, waking up is indisputably essential to becoming supreme and superior, not to others, but only to your previous self, to how your self once was!

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Copyright © 2020 Nader Rafigh.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2230-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2232-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2231-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019902479

Balboa Press rev. date: 03/05/2021

CONTENTS

Introduction

Foreword

Dedication

A Short Note

Acknowledgement

Wake-Up & Dream

Chapter 1 Time to think

Chapter 2 The clean-up

Chapter 3 Momentum

Chapter 4 Begin waking up, and begin dreaming

Chapter 5 Start

Chapter 6 Put your imagination to work

Chapter 7 Who is in charge? Who is taking control?

Chapter 8 Begin dreaming now

Chapter 9 Awareness, our first step towards the cure

Chapter 10 Repetition

Chapter 11 Abundance and wealth, material riches

Chapter 12 How self-reliance generates feelings of expectation in how swiftly we can see things happen in our life

Chapter 13 To be and to give it a go, or not to be and……

Chapter 14 Gratitude in your presence and in your attitude

Chapter 15 Take what Mandela said to heart. Either way, you win!

Chapter 16 Up!

Chapter 17 The law of cause and effect

Chapter 18 Earning comes as result of learning

Chapter 19 Listen to an ex-loser

Chapter 20 How to align ourselves with the victorious side of life

Chapter 21 The present time, now, is truly magical, it is a present

Chapter 22 We own this power, free and clear

Chapter 23 Don’t trust your memory

Chapter 24 Unhappiness can lower our immunity against disease

Chapter 25 Be clever, be selective, or else…

Chapter 26 Learning from ants

Chapter 27 We must influence our perceptions thoughtfully and positively to be influenced by them optimistically and constructively

Chapter 28 How wise are we? Apart from the clues, what trace of wisdom do we belong to?

Chapter 29 Winning side of life is the happy side of life

Chapter 30 The voice within

Chapter 31 We must learn how to take care of our physical body

Chapter 32 Dare to dream, but first; dare to wake up. When you dream; one dream at the time

Chapter 33 Create reasons to have powerful dreams

Chapter 34 We can smoke all the disempowering beliefs which we hold of ourselves into thin air

Chapter 35 Handle yourself like a pro

Chapter 36 This is it

Chapter 37 The beginning steps of how you must wake up

Chapter 38 Use this hidden reference gala as an advantage to reach peak emotional state of success

Chapter 39 Don’t be afraid of learning, but far more importantly; don’t be afraid of teaching

Chapter 40 Discipline, devotion and order separate the pros from the rookies

Chapter 41 How does it feel to have a life-changing dream

Epilogue

INTRODUCTION

Every author I have been honored to be around and learn something from, has confirmed what I am about to share with you. None of us can entirely take full credit for writing our whole material to create a book. The reason we can’t, is because a major part of us is always forming around those we surround ourselves with. A major part of us is shaped and chiseled by how we are affected by other people, and indeed how we affect them as well.

Being fortunate and having the opportunity to be touched by others (in my view) is one of the most handsome presents life can ever gift us with. This present often ignites our desires to be far more profound and far more powerful than it could ever be if we would only have wanted to achieve a bigger goal just for us, and just for us alone.

Fortunate, are those of us who seek relationships we can be touched by and therefore touch others more profoundly. And how very fortunate those of us, who find meaning and reasons beyond what seems to be the trivial and hollow observations life has entangled us with. And how very extraordinary fortunate those of us who give with all our hearts and all our souls, give more than we get, go farther than we can, reach as long as we can, learn as many lessons as we can to later teach as much as we can. I have been very fortunate to be around many extraordinary people, and have been even more fortunate to be touched by them, learn from them and be loved by them. My mom, my dad, my two brothers and my two sisters; to now, my remarkable and lovely wife, and my two terrific and exceptional sons.

FOREWORD

I am honored that you have decided to bring into your life a part of my existence, my experience of life, my healed pain, my acquaintance in attention, fascination, intention, dedication and applied action. I’m humbled that you’ve taken time out of your busy schedule to see my thoughts. To see my thoughts and take them to grow yours to advance your imagination. Imagination inspires you to surge the capacity of your philosophy and broaden the scope of your vision to a new and mindful state of heightened awareness. I am absolutely convinced that the most powerful way of shaping your future can be shaped with the guidance of your past and the command of your presence for an awe-inspiring destiny which will lead you to many breath-taking break-throughs. Yes, this can only take place when you pay attention. However, you must seek it and be fascinated by it, then intentionally want to grow with it and by it, dedicate your life to it, then take action. And that is what I believe in, in my heart of heart we are here to explore.

We’re here to explore our humanity; to learn, to teach, to heal and to create a better and safer world, a better way of life. To chisel away the rough parts and patches to shape our life’s jewel which is constantly being shaped. But how is it constantly being shaped? Who is the responsible party? Who is the cause of creating this jewel which its beauty would be its effect? Who can we pin this on to blame if this precious gem is not what we thought it would be, or hold responsible to praise and be proud of when it looks great? Who shall we hold accountable, or be truly thankful to?

Well, our life is like a gem, and this gem in its raw and rough form is nothing but a rock, and we can make something so priceless and so beautiful out of it. Now, just because we can do it, it doesn’t mean we will do it. Similarly, just because we can think, it doesn’t mean that we think, or we are thinkers. In addition, just because we can take action, it doesn’t mean that we automatically do. We must be clever enough to not be delusional to think that our life will be better later on, on its own, by itself. We must be clever enough to not be delusional to think that things are going to work out just fine. Ignorance suggests that we need not worry, we need not learn, and we need not concern ourselves by paying attention, because things are going to work out, and everything is going to be just fine. Ignorance also suggests to not worry and just be happy, because things are going to work themselves out any way and if you think so much about the details, you’ll stress out and might get a heart attack and die. Ignorance, disregard and indifference steer and advise us that action can be taken only after waiting to see what happens. Laziness, intimidation and procrastination, the bosom buddies and allies of ignorance, disregard and indifference always weigh in to empower these monstrous dream thieves to be even stronger and scarier than they can ever be.

Our gem of life is chipped away every day to be shaped, and it literally gets molded by wanting, by doing, by studying, by culture and by education, or unfortunately in many sad cases it doesn’t by lack thereof. Our rock is already forming every single day, but what is it being formed by? And how are we causing it to form?

Well, first and foremost it is being formed by our thoughts. What we think about, and what we pay attention to literally operate as a chisel to form our habits in the cast of our character to cause us to act and to make us who we become, to shape our future, to create our destiny.

Our better life is awaiting us by employing and embracing honorable principles to reshape our life’s diamond to be as shiny and as beautiful as we’re willing to devote ourselves to making it so. It’s awaiting us to be the cause of presence, peace of mind and smile for all whom we come in contact with.

We are to bring meaning and grace into our lives because we’ve come here to explore our world for the greater good without limits and without inhibition.

There are always those who would be easy to point out; with worthier purer conscious, who wouldn’t hurt or harm other beings while this quest and this exploration is taking place. Then there are those who chuckle at this statement while committing the most shameless act of dismay, disrespect, bigotry, crime and terror all around. What can we learn from the good, the bad and the ugly? And in knowing this, where do we fit in? Where does the scenario of life begin and end for us?

We are here to produce a meaningful motion picture movie. We are here to do so much and create so many beautiful acts. We are here to be limitless even though our time on this physical plain of life is short and limited. Truly depressing this would have been yet another sad fact of life had we only lived in one plain of existence called the physical reality which we are familiar with. However, worry not and fear no more because we have three more plains of existence giving us courage, tenacity and strength, and those are truly our saviors baking us up.

When we are curious students of life we poke into many holes to find out about many things in many routs. Since we know the statement; paying the tiniest attention to these life-principles in any of our four plains of existence could change the destination of where we are headed to where we will ultimately be lead to by an immense measure is true, then imagine what would our life be like if we employ everything that we got and give it to everything we do. This means; somehow we must find a way to hold all of our plains of existence important enough to make them a part of our daily life, and be the cause of harmony between them all. The key that unlocks this chested drawer is and always will be in getting to know ourselves, in getting to know who we really are, and in doing so the first step is to pay attention. Our physical, spiritual, mental and emotional plains of existence often talk to us in the language only known to them. Communicating may mean something different to them than what we think. This means we need to adapt ourselves to learn from what and how they are trying to teach us not the other way around. And when we hear statements like; human-beings don’t come with owner’s manual, and the operation of our intricate life and complex mind is beyond complicated, that is exactly what it means.

It is clearly too late for those who are gone. Those who are gone and never paid any attention or didn’t use these life-changing fundamentals simply because they didn’t know the usefulness of their choice-making principles, nor did they have anyone showing them how or why. However, with what we know and how far we’ve come in our quest to craft a better world, we can deploy these monumental advantages, win in a colossal way, go as far as we can, as insanely fast as we can, reach as many as we can and shape our destiny as beautifully as we can precisely the way we want to do it.

Nonetheless, this endeavor doesn’t just appear before us out of the blue, nor does it present itself to us simply because we became aware of it, or due to coming face to face in learning it. It doesn’t make our life any richer or fuller just because it feels good talking about it, nor does it make us better, worthier, cooler and more cultured people just because it seems sophisticated boasting to others about it. This life-changing step (and it truly is a step) only takes roots and takes effect when we step into the field of wanting to make something better out of our life, when we desire our diamond to be richer, shinier, classier and more beautiful no matter what the price and no matter how much work there is involved.

Curiosity versus disregard, paying attention as opposed to indifference, fascination instead of frustration, dedication rather than apathy, and a lot of intelligent applied action in leu of laziness and inaction are in this pool of efforts and production which we will have to dive into to become expert swimmers in. This is certainly not to suggest in any way, shape or form that this endeavor will be painless or easy, nor is it to claim that it is going to be painful or impossible. It just is. It is what it is and the sooner we come to accept it, the quicker we will be able to realize that making our world the way we want, is in fact possible and it is indeed attainable. Not only that, it is highly educational and there is a sugar-load of fun in it, but there is more. Regrettably, more will never show itself or come into our life until and unless we take the first step in our quest, and then never stop. When I say start and never stop, I mean start and never stop. We don’t want to knock hesitantly a faint and hard to hear knock on the door of happiness, health, wealth, success, love and advancement, and not hear anything because our knock was a quiet and quite a sorry-ass knock, then never knock again and say: well I tried …, knowing we are bull shitting ourselves…!

So, take this first step in your quest and don’t you ever dare to stop. More will never show itself or come into your life until and unless you take the first step and never stop! And bluntly speaking, why would it? Why should it? Why would more ever show its presence to us if it doesn’t trust us? If it doesn’t think we have what it takes to make it? Think about it…….!

We have already been given this opportunity by being one of lucky ones who has had a chance to be one of the participants in the race of life no matter what shape or form we have come in as, no matter what our outside package looks like. Do you see how lucky we are to be here? To be one of the chosen ones? We have a shot at this, we truly do. What is it that we must do to take this golden moment in life to realize that this moment is truly our moment? This, is our moment in time.

More importantly; this, is your moment. This, is your chance.

Let the moment that is your moment which you decide upon when it must be your moment, to not be another moment away from this moment!

NADER RAFIGH

DEDICATION

Every page of, and every drawing in this book is dedicated to you. To either put a smile on your face, or to make you think. When we smile we either get healthier, or we simply feel better. When we think we also expand in not only who we are, but in who we can be. Not only that, we grow broader in acceptance. Accepting of what is coming in, and accepting of our own empty cup getting filled with what is coming in.

Have you ever heard the saying; you can’t judge a book by its cover? Well, I want you to be mindful to actually do judge this book by its cover, then judge it more by uncovering what is really in it. Not only that, be curious, desire to raise your level of awareness high, and become super conscious. Finally stay alert, awake and aware, stay mighty mindful to: not judge at all!

I am sincerely hoping that the profound ideas in this book are heard, sensed, felt and practiced on the emotional/spiritual level as well as physical, mental and intellectual plain of existence by us all. These messages are to touch you, to move you and to encourage you to see the bigger picture. To see how you can empower yourself to plug in bigger brighter bulb to illuminate your life with. I am truly convinced that our dark and uneven paths of life could be lit up, much like we are able to kick the learning from this book around to entice and influence ourselves to learn, gain and win more, and win more frequently.

The ugly truth about the beauty of life is to be watchful and keen to remain a pro. It is pro and realistic, not sad and pessimistic to think that bad things are always happening, or somehow bad things are waiting to happen to us, unless we prevent them. The fact about true beauty of existence is also in knowing that as much as we need to prevent many forms of many different foul, ugly and appalling weed to take over our gardens, we can also be vigilant, matter of fact, cautious, clever and aware to know that when they come out, and when we see them, we must yank them out. In other words, not only are we observant to pay attention to what is going on around us, but powerful enough in thought to know what it is which we must do, plan, prepare, commit and do what we know we must. And have an expectant and determined attitude to annihilate the shackles of slavery in thinking; all of which subject us to use the word whatever!

I am certain you have heard the following statements either the exact same way or in some varied forms of how they are being conveyed to you here in the next few bullet points:

• I watched a movie and although the beginning was just awful, it later on turned incredibly good. It was off the chart amazing!

• I took an exercise class and it made me feel awful, I was uncoordinated, the music sucked, the instructor was sluggish, I felt like everyone thinks I am an idiot, the class had a very slow pace, the ambiance was boring, I saw no result, and it was downright stupid, but after a few more times I started to connect the dots and I felt healthier, fitter, better, thinner and more confident in my own ability to do most moves, and now I certainly know with all my heart and soul that I would have been so pissed at myself if I hadn’t committed to it and if I had quit half way.

• We watched a film and there were some parts that initially seemed to have made no sense at all, but the scenes at the end tied them all together so brilliantly that we were amazed and stunned. By far it was the best film we ever watched, we have recommended it to all our friends!

• I read this book and after the first few pages I was ready to toss it or put it away, but something told me no; read more. So, the farther I read it the more captivating it got, and it ended up holding my attention so profoundly and so deeply that I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I would have been if I didn’t listen to that voice of mine from within that told me to keep reading it!

• I took a class a while back and it seemed like the worst choice I could ever make and it truly felt like a total waste of time, but later on, it turned out the best decision I have made.

• We went on an unknown destination on our last vacation and at first we thought that we made the most awful choice but later we discovered that it was the best and the most amazing vacation ever.

• I met this guy/gal whom I really didn’t like at first, but now he/she is the love of my life.

• We purchased this home and at first we literally thought of it as one of our biggest mistakes ever but once we settled in it, it became our sanctuary, we love it and we are so happy we were introduced to it and somehow we ended up claiming it as our own.

Of course, examples like the above are in many forms and many different types of our everyday interaction with someone we know, we know of, or someone we’ve heard of saying something like that. Why am I mentioning this to you as the lucky and intelligent reader of this material…..? Because someone or something, known or unknown, somehow aligned you with where you are and how you have come to choose this book, to take advantage of this writing, and see for yourself that now that you have come this far and see this much, to see how much farther you can go and how much farther you can see. Of course, what I mean by going as far as you can go, and seeing as far as you can see, is in relation to your self-development and your mind expansion. All related to your magnificent life. So, if there is a part of this book or an area in a given chapter you feel disconnected with or disengaged from, please remember that, in that part perhaps exists a necessary unit of information which will strengthen your dot connecting power. In it, lives the master-key needed to open doors to many answers and many solution. This information is what is needed to adhere the broken pieces of our unharmonious measure in who we are, and how we can gain control of our ship. Our ship needs our commandment, vision and action. It needs us to steer it in the turbulent sea of all seas.

A wise person said a while back that we live only once, therefore we must do everything in our power to make our life as best as we can. Although, there is absolutely no question about the fact that the second part of the statement is absolutely true about giving it our all, and giving it our best to live the best life we can possibly live, the part about living only once is not entirely true. We die once, but we live every day. So, everyday we have this incredible chance, this cool opportunity to really give everything we got, and give it to everything we do, to ultimately create a meaning out of living a life that is designed according to our best and most noble causes. This means, we must do the best of what we can do to create for ourselves the best life ever possible, and in fact that is possible!

A SHORT NOTE

What are we truly made of? Who are we? What are we doing here? What is it about us that makes some of us the kind of people whom everyone else wants to be like, and others to never even want to be around? What is it about our environment that has the potential power to shape us? And before shaping us to really rattle us, to shake us. To shake us from inside out. A moment in time to wake us up, to rise us, to soar us, to stand us up tall, to move us upward and to move us closer to the kind of life we dare to soar toward.

All of us in life are doing what we can with the best of our ability in how we can with the resources we have, and in doing so we tap into those resources to the best of our skills, stamina and strength. In other words, we are doing the best of we can with what we have/have been given as resources. The next best thought coming into my mind after this statement is actually a question, and that is; is it possible for us to do better? And if it is, then what is it that we must do to cause that to happen? Is it possible to earn twice as much? Is it possible to get better grades? Is it possible to be a better student? Is it possible to be a better teacher? Is it possible to be a better parent? Is it possible to be a better more outstanding citizen of the world? Is it possible to stop the massacre and blood-shed all over the world and be thousand times more profitable? If we are peace advocates as opposed to instigators of war and destruction, is it possible to look at our notion of what it is that we’re trying to accomplish through a smarter set of lenses? What resources do we need to tap into, to start thinking more potent and peaceful thoughts?

If this book happens to be one of those resources to tap into, then please tap into it with total presence. Take advantage of this time for yourself and by yourself as selfishly as you possibly can. We cannot be indifferent, lazy, passive, not want to learn, not want to expose our emotions to be educated, be stubborn and intentionally be unprepared for the task of life, and then come to the end of life and have stories to tell about why our life didn’t turn out the way we wanted. Saying things like; I wasn’t meant to be successful, my life wasn’t meant to be peachy and wonderful, my destiny wasn’t meant to be rosy and bright, or many of the same junk we gobble down as stories, as excuses and as justifications for why we didn’t make it in life. These are all the trash, crap and rubbish which we will truly get frustrated, sick of and embarrassed by later on in life. Indeed that is, if we stay on the present course.

Since we are taking all these junks and craps as stories to sell ourselves and others, we might as well tell ourselves and everyone else the truth. Let the truth set you free. Hey, if there is anything at all going through our system that happens to be unpleasant, hard to swallow, make us sick or bring about embarrassment, it better be the bitter pill of truth. It is true that the bitter taste of the pill of truth initially makes us want to throw up, but at least and at last brings us the license to brag ownership (in responsibility, to level with the one and only we need to level with, to bring our checkbook of life to a clean and clear reconciliation, and crown us with the feeling of pride and dominion in holding ourselves accountable) of our part of the deal. This is our chance to reflect upon our miseries as well as celebrating our contentment and look at them as a school to learn something from; good and bad. This moment in time better be used as a school to learn something from not a bat to beat ourselves with!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Let us all take a moment to affirm the truth about wonderful people in our life and acknowledge those who love us, help us and support us. Think about it; we have so much to be thankful for. Often, what the unseen part of what is given to us (as compared to all tangible objects) by these meaningful individuals around us is so much more precious and so much more treasured than we can possibly imagine.

I love affirmations as long as what we’re affirming is a declaration of truth. There’s so much energy in acknowledgement. When we give it, we receive far more positive, constructive, valuable and productive energy in our physical and in our meta-physical world that one would wonder what is the best way to do it as sincerely, as often, as directly and as personally as possible to align our inner and outer expression to feel up, happy, better, more and more often. After all, only in thankfulness we can truly affirm that something or someone else has affected us. And only in the moment of thankfulness, the beauty of acknowledging what’s been done for us and to us by something or someone else outside of us, can ultimately make us bigger. Bigger in nature, bigger in who we are, bigger and larger in what we think of ourselves. Almost as having the power to transpose ourselves into a better bigger version of who we are. We must practice the inspiring habit of gratitude and really think about what or who it is that we are thankful to, and really think about what is the best way for us to acknowledge them.

The truth is simple. Simplicity always has a basic easy to feel and easy to follow substructure. Basic steps are what you need in your elementary stages of growth. As elementary as what I’m about to say may sound to you, it can hold the key to many discoveries in knowing truth about the depth of who you know yourself to be. And who you know yourself to be can and must be unpeeled and unraveled first and foremost by acknowledgement.

My first gratitude goes to the one who thought of me therefore created me. I am the creation of that very first vibrational thought and thought energy that is the bedrock of all we see, all we seek and all we have. My acknowledgement and gratitude up to this moment in time goes as far back as giving thanks to my mom and dad, my two great brothers and my two angelic sisters. I learned many life-learning lessons from them. Their love and their attention to me and to my future was immense, and more so than I could see it or hear about it, I could always feel it. My mom, the provider of all the love and all the attention was always ready to give more of herself to all of us, and my dad, kind and generous, always principally driven, always did the right thing, and always ready to teach.

Many profound stories and events which would have to form a separate book of its own could be written for all the years, all the events and all the appearances in the motion picture production of my life (just like all of us along with all our stories), and all from my early childhood to when I was six years old. I escaped being abducted by a fraction of a second with the help of my oldest brother who noticed someone holding my hand (a couple of hundred feet away) taking me right across a busy street in Tehran. When my brother yelled my name and I turned around to look, the abductor let go of my hand and ran to escape. My second to oldest brother at this moment got involved and came to be fully aware of what was going on. My oldest brother ran to save my sorry-ass being left in the middle of a busy high traffic road, and my second to oldest brother ran after the abductor to catch him. I have thought about my near-miss horrifying abduction many thousands of times, and every time I do, I get chills in my body. I imagine what if? And what if it actually happened? Where would I be, who would I be, how would my life be and many stories of different versions of what could happen are among all possible scenarios to fill my mind. What would happen if my oldest brother didn’t notice me and couldn’t save me? What would happen to me if my oldest brother hadn’t noticed the stranger (abductor) holding my hand to abduct me? I cannot be thankful enough to my oldest brother for noticing what happened and the fact that both brothers rushed to save me within seconds. I will always be thankful to my brothers for that particular event, and far more many happy occasions and the kind of relationship we developed throughout years before, and thereinafter that event.

Many happy memories, laughter and learning experiences among the five of us siblings are always among the most cherished and memorable remembrances of my childhood, to now that I have my own immediate family, and all are truly treasured in every sense of the word.

I am so lucky to be a part of each and every one of these individuals; my dad, my mom, my oldest brother, my second to oldest brother, my oldest sister, my second to oldest sister, to now; my wife and my two sons. Each of these individuals has painted my life to a different degree of brightness and completeness. We have made many countless thousands of memories together, and continue to do so until the day that we will be limited to do so.

We must cease all moments which we have with one another and learn to create more happy memories all throughout life, appreciate this gift of life we have shared with each other and continue to be there to love, to support, to laugh, to cry and be a shoulder to cry on for each and one another until we hand the torch of life to our love ones to illuminate the path of life for them and for their love ones to a brighter degree, and to all whom they choose to do so with love, with pride and in happiness.

I must also thank all authors, hosts, teachers, instructors and many countless tens of thousands of hours in reading their materials, seminars, classes, webinars, write-ups, blogs, biographies and intriguing stories, which were all the kinds of light I needed to brighten my path of life with to a brighter degree. I truly thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.

NADER RAFIGH

WAKE-UP & DREAM

In this passage of life, we, the entire human race are only here for a short while. Some with here and now mentality and some not. Some with a whatever kind of attitude and some not. But no matter what our mentalities or our attitudes, every one of us on board has been honored with the gift of life. This gift, this valuable, this ever-precious and forever-present force in us has revealed itself and what better way for us to know it but through the miracle of life, better known; the miracle of our own life!

Some people search forever without being able to find it, and some become aware of it very early in life to look for it, to go after it, to go for it, to find it, to earn it, to achieve it and to obtain it, to make the understanding of it theirs. Whatever it may mean to them as their end-game, mission, story or purpose.

All of us have our own unique ways and our own rare, exclusive and different set of talents, flair of genius, style, levels of competency, skills, capacities and mind set. Our assumed and accepted circumstances, whether they are the continuation of our past conditioning, prior generations, the result of our own level of thinking, the effect that our peers have on us, or even the influence of the ones close to us, can be the cause of many thoughts and thought-vibrations. We have the ability to acquire through many known and unknown channels any feelings we desire. We must somehow face the fact and find the courage to accept where we’ve arrived in life, and where we are at this very moment, is the result of our own level of attention and past performance history of our unique way of thinking. Thus, the acknowledgment and the acceptance of this is purely our responsibility for which we are directly accountable for. Consequently, we need to be clever enough to take steps towards improvement of our situation despite our discouraging experiences and our past deteriorating thinking, beliefs, feelings, expectations and decisions.

Our senses are constantly shaped through and upon our expertise in how to draw energy and strength from within and without, which is forever connected to the optimum forces of infinite. How much we recognize this, and how we feel about it, are two of many responsible elements for our level of success and accomplishments. Pondering without considering the universe’s ever-existing power that is invisible yet measurably traceable, unseen to our physical senses but not unseen to our inner eye of intelligence, is yet another tragic act which we as actors and actresses in our motion picture of life try to collect compensation for ever so poorly.

We must realize that the proposition this force is offering us is pure, is true, is genuine and is real. Moreover, understanding the exclusivity of this offer by our non-physical sense, our meta-physical field, also suggests that all plains of life; the body, the soul, the intellect and the mind are all under the command of this intangible and ever-present power. The magnificence of this truth is felt, heard and seen in every day’s events of our life and in the merit of countless number of marvels and phenomenon, write-ups, reports, autobiographies, history books, journals, legends, affirmations and declarations. Additionally, millions of clues in the prehistoric and modern day’s memoir of truth behind the charm of these profound and super-natural stories are recorded for us to draw life-learning lessons from.

For far too long, our dreams of who we want to be and who we want to end up being in crystal clear details have been shattered and have stayed shattered. Distraction in today’s life style and our inability to center ourselves to truly design a life instead of making a living have put tremendous pressure on us, especially when we stop and think what our role in the society should be as individuals and as whole.

Think about as many things as we want to have and want to be surrounded by. These exclusive desires have either been at the very least; left to chance or luck, or best; hoping and wishful thinking. In some instances, we even senselessly look up and pray non-stop to hopelessly align ourselves to the success we wish for, or to become healthier and wealthier in life. And the reason we do this so desperately is due to the following: we either don’t think we deserve to become a success by intelligent action on our own therefore we don’t expect it and as result of which we don’t strive to work hard on our idea, or we are too timid thus subscribe to an inferior mindset of ineptitude in thinking that success is impossible therefore why even try. A low level of thinking; that success only belongs to others and not to us! Drifting into oblivion that it’s nice to see success on TV or motion pictures, but surely not us! We never seriously put the proper potent mind-power along with the right application of thought to activate certain cells of ingenuity in our electronic switching station (brain) to create for ourselves an action-plan blue print, get the chemistry of our brain to optimize, organize and orchestrate a set of choices, ideas, selections and strategies for a superb operation and execution, effective enough to draw the best thoughts and feelings out of us to direct them into more meaningful ends on a continuous basis, habitually.

Our expertise in getting to know ourselves can be fueled by our desire and devotion to increase the force in the vitality of our goals and dreams, and intentionally following through with our ambitions to be curious, dedicated and passionate to want to live a better life. And it is indeed only on the path to knowing ourselves that we can draw the best out of ourselves while detaching ourselves from the outcome completely.

We live simultaneously in four plains of existence; 1- spirit (soul, metaphysical, feeling), 2- body (physical, fleshy, corporeal, solid), 3- mind (conscious, sub-conscious, unconscious mind), and 4- intellect (our able part that can think, understand and reason). To live a fulfill life we can’t deny the intellect, mind or the body and live only for the spirits, nor is it more noble to live for the spirits and deny the physical body, the intellect and the mind, and it’s certainly not right to live an intellectual life and ignore the body, mind and spirits, or only live for what’s related to our mind and forget about the others.

It is also equally true that our society is formed and structured in a very systematic way that even for the simplest kind of normal good life, we need to be in a reasonably good monetary position and maintain a good stream of income. And indeed, it’s our economic well-being that will ultimately enable us to have the kind of lifestyle that’s close to being fiscally comfortable. The phase to develop financial freedom is a must to create, to then go on and shoot for a higher level of expansion, and raise the standards of life far above what we’ve been paying attention to.

Certain degree of attention in detail must be paid to establish the kind of life style we desire to have, especially in what we think we want in life and what we want out of life. The thought process every one of us must put forth to create, support and maintain a learning and growing environment for ourselves and for our loved ones to enjoy, to thrive and to expand beyond our present ability and skills, and way beyond where we are at this point of time and space which may be above and outside our current limits, comfort level and vision of our future, and rest assure it is of a tremendous value and importance. That is what we can see on the screen of our marvelous mind and what we can track on its remarkable radar. By consciously deciding to do so, we can wiggle our toes outside our comfort zone reaching our peak potential, stretching to our most outer limits in growth and maturity, creating a life of health, love, happiness, pride and wealth for ourselves to enjoy and for others to learn and model from.

Where we have been, or where we are now is not a representation of our capability, nor is it a true declaration of where we can be. And certainly, not a disclosure of what we can achieve unless we are totally proud of, and content with where we are which of course in that case it should be an inspiration to give us more momentum power to achieve even greater things in life. Otherwise, all this data is telling us is that with the information we had, with the thought process we put into things, this is what we’ve accomplished. This gauge is showing us that actions we’ve committed ourselves to take, only got us to where we are today. In addition, this info also notifies us that we were able to come up with as much, or as little result as we have come up with so far.

That is all there is into this data.

Thus, good or bad, happy or sad, this gauge is telling us where we are now.

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Above all, when we fully understand and absorb the genuine potency of this claim, we can employ the right application of thought and deed to realize once and for all that our results have never been upon our stars, luck or misfortune (as most people would define it as such), nor will it eternally be anything that has ever existed outside of us. In fact, it was nothing but a silent foe, an enemy within, who to some degree even tutored us through the thin and thick of it all, and we just got used to it and tolerated it more and more, little by little. It permeated in us deeper and deeper, and gradually got closer, rooting out in our very soul, into our very mind. Sadly, some of us accepted this unwanted unwelcome guest as a permanent roommate. And even though, this roommate has been and will always remain dirty, smelly, trashy, negative, messy, lazy, cluttered, chaotic, harmful and even deadly, we never fully realize why we don’t kick it out, why we don’t change. Are our personalities shaped around this destructive force? And is that why we don’t seem to be able to apart from it? Does this villain just hate to lose? And hate to move out? Either case, the very recognition of this truth administers a storm in our collective consciousness, undoubtedly, one which we truly need. A storm necessary with a promise of calm in awareness and understanding, which could cause the implementation of some major transformation in many areas we must commit ourselves to develop in. Strangely enough, we also know that an essence of endowment is a signature to a mark for a superior performer. To give ourselves a firm and passionate command to learn and grow, then follow it in total charge and presence with iron clad determination and dedication. And indeed, that is the attitude of imaginative thinkers and visionaries.

The idea of what we imagine in creation, and how enthusiastically we hold it in our mind is like tapping into our super intelligence, it ultimately determines what we achieve in life. Thus, how soon and how abundantly we achieve success, depend on how quickly we come to understand this ever-present power in us. This understanding also determines what we get, when we get it, how much of what we get, what we can handle, how worthy of it we are, and how long-lasting of a success we can truly be.

It’s been said to us by many thinkers, that eighty percent of all success is mental, the rest is about knowledge, action, physical aspect of getting the work done, discipline, hard-work, planning, strategy, performance and perseverance. If we are timid and doubtful in any given situation, we’ve lost more than half the battle. Conversely, when we’re certain and we have the force of positivism feeding into our desire seeing the end-result, then we’ve got something great going. Indeed, that something great could be a healthy body, passionate relationships, happy outlook, prosperous bank account and a dynamic social life.

Why could there be many times and many situations in our life when we become our best ally? And why sometimes we remain our worse enemy? Why is it that at times we run the same destructive scenario in our life’s motion picture? And why do we even do it sometimes over and over again and again? Very few can actually find solid answers to these question, and this is where our story begins:

• THE GALLARY OF THOUGHT

• A JOURNEY THROUGH DESIGNING AND DECEPTIVE STUDIO OF LIFE

• THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CURTAIN OF LIFE IN OUR LIFE THEATRE

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THE GALLERY OF THOUGHT

CHAPTER

1

Time to think

In my lonesome, in my dark, cold, narrow and long corridor of thoughts where a very dim light (of hope) keeps me from falling and tripping over the bumps and unsafe path of its (life’s) uneven surface, where falling, failing, sinking or getting hurt is almost certain something pushes me. A magical force, a mysterious power, a pair of invisible helping hands push me forward, I can feel its shove, I can feel its force, I can feel its guidance.

Maybe this is just the creation of my own imagination, maybe I am giving birth to my own brand-new idea of wanting to go forward in life, wanting to accomplish something, wanting to grow, or even wanting to change. This seems like a dream. A voice tells me; no it’s not…! I agree. Yeah, this is too real to be a dream, I tell myself.

Not much is visible, everywhere is dark, I am relying solely on my physical senses just until I realize that I am not alone. I can sense others. Still feeling uneasy about my new move, my new desire, my wanting to go onward, to get going, my very brave decision to do something about my life, wanting to progress, wanting to succeed…. Seems like I am also not as scared as I was a few minutes ago. I begin to feel a bit more confident. I continue in this passage with a little more courage but still doubtful, anxious, and yes even a little scared. I watch my steps, with every step I feel stronger, more decisive, less fearful. I am certainly not relying entirely on my physical senses anymore, I got to have faith, I am now following my instincts to stay away from danger, to stay safe… Still watchfully going forward!

Thinking about so many things, taking hints of warning, and taking them seriously. I hear a lot of noise around me, where is it coming from? Am I dreaming? Am I dreaming my life? Am I living a dream? Everywhere in this dark tunnel I feel the presence of others, I feel sadness all around me, there is hardly any light. I thought by now my eyes would be more used to the dark but they’re not. Why do I still hear others’ voices? I’ve never heard any of this before. So much commotion. Am I more aware of where I am and who I am? Is that why I hear others and sense their vibrations? Is that why I can feel their energy? And not particularly all that pleasant either. I feel I should be coming to a smoother path, but I am not. Rough, risky and shaky, the path feels as uneven as I first started my journey (of life).

A faint voice in my head keeping me busy, somewhat disruptive, but I don’t mind it, I feel that the voice is the only thing keeping me company, keeping me less afraid. This voice, at times gets louder but not in a bad way. Am I hasty for wanting to continue? Am I careless for not stopping? Am I that irresponsible wanting to move forward? I now hear a second inner-voice, they’re asking each other questions, I feel like a moderator. My curiosity is fueling my bravery. A sense of who I am is inspiring me to walk more confidently, to have faith in my steps. I have now a grin that projects ownership of my steps, or I think it does. Is someone noticing my grin? Is someone out there? Does anyone see me? Does anyone care? Maybe not, but I care, it matters to me. It definitely feels good, I am who matters now. Got to pay attention, no one else is here to save my ass I tell myself. Damn, why can’t I figure out whether this is a dream?

I am inspired and highly spirited, but I am not yet sure why I am not fully determined, knowing I am supposed to be completing my journey. How badly do I want to complete it successfully knowing that I must deal with this fear I know I must face? After all, this is my life and as far as I know, this is the only life I got, and I owe it to myself to push forward, to follow my passion, to follow my heart and soul, to find out what I am doing here, what I want out of life, why I am here, who I am, and what I am really made of…..

Dealing with all these, one by one or all together would have to, and it must have a meaning. If I can’t come up with a meaning, then I must either give it a meaning or draw a meaning out of it.

My inner-voice is calling me a hero, but why? Just because I am now more aware? And just because I am now thinking more about my life and my future? Didn’t my life mean anything before? Do I matter more now? After all, this journey and all these questions are not really changing much so far….! Are they? Or will they later? The other voice is calling me arrogant and stupid, it’s calling me a fool. I snap back! It’s up to me to decide what to do. It is up to me to decide whether to continue, I firmly yell; cool it!…… I don’t hear back; the voice seems to have backed- off…..!

Of course, it is all up to me to paint it however I want to, ignoring what I want to ignore and paying attention to what I want to pay attention to (I am administering a discussion between my two inner-voices). I choose to shut off the voice calling me stupid and I keep going forward. This is becoming more fun. Are you telling me, I ask myself; that I can choose to ignore what I want to ignore, and I can choose to listen to anything I want inside of my head? How cool! My head feels busy, I feel like I was a retard before and now I feel that I understand how things work, but why didn’t I before? Why doesn’t everyone? Why can’t we all? Why shouldn’t we all? What is preventing us? What was preventing me? This is really great stuff. I truly love it.

What great learning experience. What does everybody else think of this game (of life)? Is everyone paying attention? Is everyone playing? Is everyone having fun? Is everyone wining? Can we all win? Shouldn’t we all win?

To the degree that all of us are supposed to be responsible for ourselves, we got to pay attention to this, but are we? Am I paying more attention now than before? Am I more aware now? Will I be more aware later? Not so sure.

I am amazed! On one hand, this is so playful, fun and cool, on the other hand, I also know sometimes it is so much easier to just give up and not go through the pain, frustration and agony of possible failure. Sometimes it’s just easier to not give it your best, because later you can justify to yourself, saying; well I didn’t give it my best and I certainly didn’t give it my all, otherwise I would have pulled it off. Is this true in whatever it may be?

Firmly and faithfully with this power I call MY SOURCE, from deep within me I am stirring a feeling of UP, GO and PROGRESS with a surge of strength. Deep from my gut, with every cell in my body, like an unbeatable army who knows victory is inevitable and knows no defeat, I march. I know that my triumph is within reach, yet also know that defeat isn’t completely out of the equation, and failure is not entirely impossible either. In other words, I feel that I am going for it and I am really going for it all the way knowing I may not make it. I have never done this before. I have never been here before. This is crazy. I’m afraid. I’m apprehensive. I take initiative realizing my own threshold of pain and discomfort but also my level of resourcefulness, trying hard to proceed, faithfully, persistently, I am going to be disciplined to not stop, I am going for it. Is it normal to be timid? Being afraid, in agony and in pain? Is it normal to be scared? Fearful? If our lives are just like movies and we play our parts, I wish I could see myself in the movie of my own life. I remember someone said; if our life is worth living, then by all means it must be worth recording, and recording I am doing; mentally. I know that I’m playing a part, that at the end everything is going to turn all right only if I pay attention and play my parts right in doing everything according to how things are supposed to be done for a successful motion picture in my life. Or will it? Really, think about it, what guarantees do we ever have that everything is going to turn out just fine? In fact, that is the best and surest way to bull shit yourself all throughout life, to not face the truth, to pretend that things are going to be fine hiding your head in the sand.

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Obviously, for everyone that meaning is different, sometimes in life we think we subscribe to the idea of; no matter how we slice it and dice it the end-result is going to be the same. I believe that is one of the greatest mysteries of life that no one knows for certain. People who believe certain outcome in life was written in their destiny, that no matter what they do life will give them what has been meant for them to have. That is of course one way to look at things, to look at life and believe that no matter what you do