You are here: Home / Archives for Alan Cohen

Feed the Hungry

By 2 Comments
friends_hugs

This is the time of year when many of us turn our attention to feeding the hungry. When most people think about feeding the hungry, we consider giving canned goods to the poor or serving at a soup kitchen. And what a benevolent service that is! Yet, there is a hunger far more pervasive in our culture than the hunger for physical food, a malady from which hundreds of millions of people suffer every day. It is the hunger for presence and connection. Recently I was sitting in a club lounge at … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags: ,

Just Press Delete

By 2 Comments
fear

When I listed a property for sale on Craigslist, I received a few bona fide inquiries along with lots of replies from scammers. At first I took the scammers seriously and engaged with them until it was obvious their inquiry was illicit. After a while it was easy to distinguish between honest people and con men. One day I received a scam inquiry that was unusually long and complicated. The supposed buyer wove a lengthy tale about why I should turn the property over to him before he paid, and … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags:

Switched at Birth

By Leave a Comment
Cohen

Dimas Alapadi of Sao Paolo, Brazil, was always intrigued that he did not resemble his four sisters. "There was something different about me," he explained. "I had blonde hair and blue eyes and my sisters had dark hair and eyes. I looked German while my parents were of Italian descent. Something did not add up." At age 24 Alapadi had a DNA test done, which confirmed that he was indeed not the child of his supposed parents. His parents were shocked. The family researched hospital records for … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags:

One Digit to Wealth

By 3 Comments
faucet

On my weekly radio show "Get Real" (www.hayhouseradio.com) I presented a program on prosperity. In advance, I announced that I would be doing on-the-air coaching for listeners who wanted help with issues of abundance. Since prosperity is so relevant for most people, I expected to receive lots of call-ins. When the show began, I looked at my computer switchboard showing me who was calling in (called a "STAC") and to my surprise, there were no calls. I announced the call-in number again, and … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags: ,

Grace would serve you tea

By Leave a Comment
cohen

While visiting Japan I had a breakfast meeting with my Japanese sponsor at a resort hotel. Sitting in a corner of the dining room, our meeting went on beyond the time breakfast was served, and the staff was cleaning the dining room tables. I felt bad about occupying a table during the cleaning period, but no one said anything, so my sponsor and I continued. Our meeting went on into the time that the lunch buffet opened, and I thought for sure we should leave, since the buffet was expensive … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags:

I Love You As You Are

By Leave a Comment
cohen

At a small group seminar, Donna reported that she had just come from seeing a healer who told her about several physical issues she needed to address. Her chakras, the healer explained, were out of balance and her body was filled with parasites. This report led to a lengthy discussion among the seminar participants, including lots of advice for Donna about how to regain her health. Donna was also dealing with a weight issue, which elicited plenty of  recommendations from the group. As I … [Read more...]

Category: Columns

The Big Bluff

By 1 Comment
woman_hiding

A USA Today poll revealed that: 29 percent of respondents had experienced contact with a departed loved one; 18 percent had seen or been with a ghost; and 15 percent had consulted a psychic or fortune teller. Most of these numbers were somewhat higher than I had expected, yet happily so. When I taught yoga, a high school teacher invited me to talk to her class about spirituality. Once each semester I would go and discuss psychic phenomena, healing, the power of the mind and lots of juicy … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags: ,

No Jesus, Just Rub

By 1 Comment
boy

A coaching client told me that every night she gives her 3-year-old son Owen a massage before he goes to sleep. Then the two pray to Jesus. Eventually the boy figured out that when mom starts praying, the massage is over and it's time to go to sleep. One night as mom sat at the edge of Owen's bed, he took her hand and placed it on his tummy. He told her, "No Jesus tonight, Mom. Just rub." Owen's request may be symbolic of a dynamic you and I might employ if we truly wish to bring relief to … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags: ,

Play the Mistake

By Leave a Comment
cohen

Just before Christmas last year, Rob Anderson went into a convenience store to purchase three $1 Powerball lottery tickets as stocking stuffers. The clerk misunderstood Anderson's request and erroneously printed one $3 ticket. When Anderson called the mistake to the clerk's attention, the clerk offered to nullify the ticket. Anderson decided to just go with the current of events, he accepted the ticket, and purchased the three stocking stuffers in addition. Rob went home and tossed the mistaken … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags:

The Great Harvest

By Leave a Comment
cohen

As a farmer lay dying, his four sons sat by his bedside awaiting his final words. "There is a vast treasure buried in the family's field," he whispered. "Where is it, father?" the sons pleaded. But it was too late. Their father was gone. Soon after his passing, the sons set to the field, trying to unearth the treasure. For many days the sons desperately worked pick and shovel, digging everywhere in search of their promised legacy. Eventually they turned over every inch of the field, but … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags:

Love Will Have Its Way

By 2 Comments
heart

At a seminar, a young Jewish woman named Miriam tearfully reported that she was in love with a Muslim man, but her father forbade her to see him. This created a terrible quandary for her, since she could not reconcile her love for this man with her desire to honor her father's wishes. Miriam wrestled with this issue for a long time and a year later returned to another seminar, still distraught. A few months afterward, Miriam mailed me a copy of a letter she had written to her father. The … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags:

How to Begin

By 2 Comments
passage_way

Have you made any New Year's resolutions? As Dr. Phil might ask, "And how's that been working for you?" If you are like most people, New Year's resolutions do not last more than a few days or weeks. Health clubs thrive on people signing up to begin a new regime after eating rich desserts over the holidays. Yet, many members cease going to the club after a short time, often more exasperated than when they began, compounded by self-judgment for not following through. So if New Year's … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags: , ,

Stories Worth Telling

By Leave a Comment
cohen

In the spirit of the holiday season, Dee and I went to a liquor store to purchase a gift of wine for a friend. There we asked the store owner, a congenial fellow named Ali, for some recommendations. We were pleasantly surprised to find that Ali is a world-class wine expert. He went into fascinating, poetic details about each wine, describing its subtlest nuances and mesmerizing us with stories about the history of each winery, some of which went back over a thousand years. I was rapt. Finally … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags:

How Easy Can it Get?

By Leave a Comment
cohen

For a long time I have respected the work of Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, a psychologist Joe Vitale applauds in his book, Zero Limits. Dr. Hew Len was assigned to duty in a ward for the criminally insane. The ward, Dr. Hew Len reports, was a highly undesirable place to work or visit because the patients were often violent. The staff had high absenteeism and turnover. Dr. Hew Len, however, had been trained in a Hawaiian healing method called ho'oponopo, which translates as "healing by restoring … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags:

It’s Your Baby

By 1 Comment
cohen

In a remote region of the Andes, two tribes were feuding. One tribe lived high in the mountains and the other in the lowlands. One day the highlanders raided the village of the lowlanders and kidnapped a baby. The next day the lowlander tribe assembled a rescue team to climb the mountain to find and retrieve the child. But the lowlanders did not know the trails and they were not skilled at mountain climbing. They struggled to make their way up the mountain, but after a half day of climbing, they … [Read more...]

Category: Columns Tags:
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »