Taking a Stand

In Taking a Stand, Matt Schweppe presents us with a basic choice in the form of a metaphor, which is, imprisonment or freedom. Chapter after chapter, he shows us the “prison of the mind,” what happens when we “plead guilty,” the ways in which we “sentence” ourselves to a small life, and what we can do to experience a “jailbreak.” Matt is calling us to live an incredible life. “Are you alive?” he asks. Or are you on death row? “The possibility for an incredible life exists. Will you choose it?” asks Matt.

What do you stand for?

Matt describes the personality as the “dungeon of the self.” He encourages us to release ourselves from the masks we wear, and from the little ideas we have about who we are and what our life is for. He quotes Jim Morrison, singer for The Doors, who said, “The most important kind of freedom is to be who you really are.” Matt explains that taking a stand in your life isn’t about assuming a position that is rigid or fixed; it is about allowing yourself to grow, to be inspired, and to become your true self. This is the ultimate jailbreak.

What do you stand for?

Taking a Stand is Matt’s first book. As I turned the pages of this book, I enjoyed witnessing how Matt is finding his true voice. He shares his ideas freely. Each page is full of challenge and support. He also shares inspiration from others found along the way on his own jailbreak. He quotes Carl Jung and Elvis Presley, Aristotle and Bruce Lee, William Shakespeare and Harrison Ford. Matt also keeps us true to ourselves. “What do you think?” he asks. He makes sure there is plenty of space for us to listen to the inner voice – the voice that will set us free.

What do you stand for?

Matt tells us he wrote Taking a Stand for his sister, Emily. I’ve been lucky enough to meet Emily, who is every bit as inspiring as her brother. Indeed, the whole Schweppe family is an inspiration. They are a holy ground to each other. They help each other to live from their core. They are a wonderful example of how when you set yourself free, it helps others to experience freedom also. Which leads me to the main message of my Foreword – or Preliminary Hearing, as Matt calls it – and that is, your Unconditioned Self is already free. The real you has always been free. Can you hear that? If so, I believe you are ready for Taking a Stand.

Robert Holden

London, UK.

author of Shift Happens!, Happiness NOW and Authentic Success

An Incredible Life or a Miserable Life

”What do you want your experience of life to be?”

“Happiness is the fruit of freedom and freedom is the fruit of courage.”

Pericles’ funeral oration by Thucydides

When we are imprisoned in the mind, there seems to be no possibility of happiness, we aren’t free. Freedom is essential to happiness.

Freedom is a choice to be made. We choose freedom by living courageously.

To live courageously is to unabashedly live who you are in your heart.

When I speak of heart, I am talking about what is at the core of who you are as a person.

When we look at the etymology of heart, the root word from Latin is‘cor’ and in French it was modified into ‘cour’. This is where we get the words core and courage from, respectively.

Many people do not feel free to be themselves, they are miserable trying to please other people, they are miserable trying to meet expectations, they are miserable holding onto the past, and they are desperately hoping for a better future.

When we choose to be free to live who we really are, we delight in the fruit of happiness.

The difference between living an incredible life or a miserable life is whether you choose to live what is in your heart or decide not to because of some reason your mind has constructed.

Life is a tragedy when we are imprisoned in the mind.

The mind can find any reason for you to be miserable if you let it. Themind can rationalize anything and provide you with reasons to not be happy and free.

To live an incredible life is an unreasonable choice.

The Wrap Sheet

”What are your definitions of these words?”.

Below, I have provided you with the definitions I use for these words as they correspond for this book, so that the distinction may be communicated to you clearly and effectively. It also serves as a synopsis of the book.

An incredible life is to be experiencing life in such a way that is so extraordinary that it at one point seemed impossible for you to live that way.

A miserable life is an experience in which you are wretchedly unhappy because of (insert a reason here) .

Breaking free from the imprisonment of the mind is simple (not easy) when we understand the difference between a choice and a decision.

By noticing the decisions that we have made in the past that currentlyimpinge on our ability to live our lives fully now we can transform these decisions into choices.

A transformation is a shift in ourselves that frees up restricted or blocked energy in us. In physics, transformation literally means a change in energy. When a transformation occurs, there is a release of energy that begins to flow freely.