After years of moving through my life at a fast and deliberate pace, I have spent the last couple of years discovering the power of meditation for clarity and purpose. When I discuss this with people, most respond with comments about how they could never get their mind to be still for that long, or how they don’t really have the time. Believe me, those were my exact feelings about it! Ironically, it is the very act of meditation that will train the mind to be still, so our job is to make that daily commitment and keep showing up. Thankfully, the benefits occur long before we ever perfect our practice!
We are complex creatures who can easily get so caught up in our own thoughts, experiences, and stories that we can soon get stuck in patterns that don’t serve us well or allow us full freedom of expression. Then there’s the busyness that consumes us until minutes turn into hours, days, or weeks spent reacting to life rather than consciously creating our soul purpose. Meditation is a way to reset ourselves from all of that, sweeping everything off the surface of that proverbial cluttered desk so we can begin anew with clearer intention. We accomplish more and our lives shift into proactive creation.
Please let me know if you find this helpful to you in beginning your own meditation practice, or share other effective meditation links below.
Earlier this week you were invited on our Facebook page to ask your Higher Self (the Soul within you thru every human incarnation) to write your lower self (you in this lifetime & body) a note about Who you really are…without your looks, achievements, career, hobbies, desires, dreams, feelings, or history. The root question was, who are you at the CORE and WHY do you believe you’re HERE? How did that go? Any surprises?
It surprised me how many of my initial responses were about my education, family, friends, dreams, lifestyle, looks, etc. Did you catch yourself doing that, too? We sure can get caught up in all the distraction and busy-ness of Earth School, can’t we? Anyway here’s my response as promised:
I am an old soul here for experiences that raise my consciousness and advance me in my Journey with the Divine.
How SIMPLE! Was that anything like what you ended up with? Amazing how all that we find so terribly important in our daily lives pales in comparison. Thankfully we are evolving through our relationships, or we wouldn’t get anything accomplished once we got down here and lost ourselves in the hustle and bustle of these complex social structures we’ve created. Isn’t it fun to get a fresh perspective on what really matters in your life?
That is what I do. I help people get a fresh perspective on situations in their lives where they keep getting stuck. If I can help you with that, please reach out. I don’t give answers, only clarity to find the best answers within. Have a great week!
How timely to finish reading the adventures of a young man faithfully following his deepest dreams in Paulo Cuehlo’s fabulous (and subtly, deeply spiritual) book The Alchemist just as we enter this powerful full moon in Virgo, sun in Pisces, and Mercury retrograde in Pisces. This is a time for inner reflection and healing from the lessons we are gaining here in earth school through our connection with all of life…a time to really go into our hearts to heal and integrate our own Life Paths.
We get so caught up exploring the emotions of our hearts and the expansion of our minds that it’s easy to forget why we’re here. As “spirits having a human experience” (de Chardin) we are clearly here for our own spiritual evolution. In that great journey which lasts hundreds of years and many incarnations, we can really get so caught up in this incredible Earth School we may miss many of the great lessons themselves. If instead we see our heart as the Divine Inner Compass, our mind as a Computer Processor, and our body as the beautiful living, breathing Vessel allowing us to have this experience, we can let our heart (compass) navigate us along the unique path for our own Highest Good without being so caught up in the why’s and how’s. The course of our Perfect Path has been lain, and our only responsibility is to follow it with much love and good intention in our hearts.
So how do we keep this heart pure and loving in the face of the challenging and sometimes truly horrific experiences we see and feel here? It is NOT by getting as busy as we can trying to make a difference, although that is beautiful when done with a heart full of love. It is NOT about the many, many ways we can busy or numb ourselves so that we don’t feel the experience, for emotion is the teacher that drives the soul lesson home within so we don’t have to go through it again! It IS turning to that inner spark of God within us each day in meditation to lift up all our cares and the suffering of this world to the great Master Healer. It IS spending time in quiet meditation connecting with the Divine as God speaks to us through our hearts. It IS humbly, boldly following the Path before us without worrying too much as to why and how, those are not our concern in this moment. It IS sending forth God’s Love and Light to the world each day to strengthen and comfort all in need. It IS silencing the busy mind of getting itself lost in the past and busily troubling itself over the future, so that we are in THIS moment, grateful for all that really IS right here and now.
Mercury in retrograde for three weeks makes a real mess of communication and technology, and this is not a time to start new projects or busy ourselves. Rather may this beautiful full moon Mother begin a time of greater inward reflection as we heal and grow along our life journeys.
Boy did I get stuck in the final weeks of 2012. As our energy levels were being raised further, I kept hearing how the old ways will no longer work and we must move into new ways of being. We will be shown almost instantaneously whether we are going the right direction or not. Believe me, I quickly realized I wasn’t!
The special event I’d created before Thanksgiving to carry me through the holidays was nonexistent. I’m not talking about lower sales than I’d expected. I’m saying I had NO sales! I’d done everything as I had with successful events, so I couldn’t understand what was wrong. This kind of ‘failure’ soon leads us into self-doubt, and when I continued asking Spirit for direction to co-create abundance, I was instead shown that I already had more abundance all around me than I appreciated. My home was full of items I rarely acknowledged or enjoyed, and I’d resumed squandering money on take-out food and other things without even really appreciating the food, nutrition, or my body. Going deeper into gratitude allowed me to see and release what I wasn’t really enjoying or appreciating, including many family heirlooms I’d inherited in the past. I could sell these beautiful items to others who really would love them, best honoring them and myself in the process. That’s exactly what I did, and that money carried me through my difficult time. To my delight, I’d learned about gratitude and abundance while also creating a wonderful new energy flow through my home rearranging and appreciating all I’d retained. I was reminded that stuff has energy, and releasing excess and all that we don’t really love and appreciate can create space for fresh energy and a new flow to a place.
Back to my events and income generation…at a pivotal time in this process, I was guided to watch a special by Andrrea Hess that really resonated with me. She discussed allowing more flexibility in our work to respond to the energy of the moment, and following Spirit guidance in every moment regardless of how brain/ego may judge the messages we are receiving. When I really opened after Andrrea’s webinar to seek deeper Spirit guidance about my events, I knew exactly when and were to create them and flow was restored that very week! I share this with you as a woman with a graduate degree who spent much of her life learning the processes that lead to success. It’s not easy to throw it all aside when Spirit guides us to do so, without any logical reason, and yet I’m here to tell you that is the only way to true abundant flow. All this education is great once we’re moving int he right direction, but we must stay in Spirit guidance or manifestation will definitely cease…and these days it is almost immediate!
I hope that sharing these experiences might help you recognize some aspect of your life in which a bit more gratitude or Spirit guidance can really open you up to increased Possibilities. 2013 is really going to be an amazing year!!
“The Masters accept that Buddha represents the Way to Enlightenment, but they clearly set forth that Christ IS Enlightenment, or a state of consciousness for which we are all seeking – the Christ light of every individual…” Baird T. Spalding (Forward, Book I of the excellent series Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East)
All around me lately it seems that folks are beginning to awaken to magical, overwhelming, and even at times scary powers that we have. These are in fact Divine gifts possessed by all of us, and gifts which Christ came to show us how to activate and use for good. They are beautiful, amazing gifts that give us the power to activate the Divine within us to heal ourselves and others, and work other “miracles” once believed to only be magically possessed by Christ. However, there is no mainstream avenue to learning about these in our society. Many are scared that the most common people might begin running around healing themselves and others. Not only would that reduce profits to all who benefit from providing these services to a helpless public, but discovering our innate powers would reduce our dependence and surrender to other human authority.
In this powerful 2012 year, the energy is shifting. People are awakening with some delight and much confusion to the idea that they have gifts and powers never before realized. There are people and organizations to assist all who awaken to step into their Divine power and purpose. A beautiful new age is upon us. Let’s stay in communication as we embark on these new paths, and love one another to a brighter and more empowered and Loving tomorrow.
How do people react when you stand up for yourself or ask for what you want/need? I’ve been working on this a lot these past few months, and even more since my meditation retreat (see my video Why Meditation Causes Natural Healing). I’ve come to realize how much I freeze up when it comes to asking for what I want or need, and yet how eagerly I help everyone else do so. In fact, I have a new agreement with myself that I can only help others fulfill their needs and desires when I am fulfilling my own. I can only help others love themselves more when I am loving myself. It’s like the old adage that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, only with a positive, self-love spin. If I don’t honor and respect myself, how can I honor and respect anyone else?
Speaking up for ourselves is so important, but that doesn’t make it easy. In fact, the only thing harder than speaking up for ourselves is not speaking up! When we do not speak up for ourselves, often it’s because we feel the relationship is more important than our issue. How silly! If we don’t speak up, what happens? Resentment builds, frustration builds, and then one day when we finally do speak up, we are fed up and really do damage the relationship. Isn’t it better to speak up right away in a calm, loving way? Our truth is our truth, and it isn’t likely to change. Anything based on less than our truth is merely an illusion, not a deep, loving, mutual relationship.
So then, how do speak our truth and do the least damage possible if we know they may not like what we’re going to say? Saying things as gently yet firmly as possible, coming from a place of love is a great start. It often helps to consider how it would feel if the person were going to say the same thing to us. How would we want to hear it? Saying things like “I feel…I need…I want…I love…” are indisputable truths about you, rather than critical statements about the other person that usually begin with, “You always…you never…why don’t you…”. This compassion helps as much as anything can, as does understanding that it’s not personal! No matter how much it may feel personal, their response is about them and where they’re at in life and growth. (See The Four Agreements for more on this).
Once we’ve had our difficult conversation, silence often follows. I’ve recently been reminded of how that silence can grow into misunderstanding. I understood it as withdrawal from my life, and it was actually an attempt to give me the quiet and space the other person thought I wanted. Lesson? Gently break the silence and observe what follows objectively. We may be quite surprised at what follows, but we won’t know if we don’t take a risk and go there. We both felt silly for our misunderstanding and peace is now restored.
The final piece is usually the hardest….patience! We have no control over how another person feels after we speak our truth. They deserve the same time to process what has been said and feel their way through it that we had in developing our approach and timing initially. They may want/need hours, days, or even weeks. Eventually, one of two things will happen. Either they will get past their hurt, resolve any anger, feel your love and return to an even stronger relationship based on reality and truth, or they won’t. The deepest and most genuine relationships heal stronger than they were; less authentic relationships not intended for our path any longer show themselves as longer true for us and move out of our lives.
Often as we grow deeper in self-love and rediscover/use our voices, those in our lives who are used to (often unconsciously) molding us to theirwill become uncomfortable with these changes. They need time to get used to the shift and then ultimately decide if they wish to share a more mutually respectful love with us or move on to someone more easily manipulated to their desires. This is painful to recognize, I won’t lie, but these are the changes we must allow to unfold, standing in the comfort of endless Divine Love and our own self-love to comfort us through the transition. Thankfully, beautiful new relationships also appear in our lives that reinforce the amazing feeling of giving and receiving healthy, respectful love. When we allow this new joy as well as any pain that may surface to unfold, we transform our relationships within and without, finally embracing authentic connection and joy. This is a gift we can only give to ourselves; if not now, when?
Have you had an experience like this? Maybe you’ve tried this but met with challenges? Please share your comments, experiences, and ideas with us as we Journey together in this amazing experience of life. Sending you Divine Love and Light!
Journey of Possibilities Founder & Chief Inspirational Officer
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How did we get so caught up in judging each others’ paths to consciousness that we forgot the purpose? Within each religion are factions or denominations arguing over rules and interpretations of their holy scriptures. On a broader level, we fight wars over who has the right God or savior. I don’t claim to be an expert in such matters, but to me this really seems to miss the whole point! We can’t be loving and supporting and encouraging if we are busy dividing, judging, and condemning.
Religion failed me as a child, and for years I blamed God. I thought that the differences and disillusionment that had left me church-less had actually left me Godless, but then how much clarity would a hurt 12 year old have about such matters?
Over the years, I have explored a lot. Like clothing, I try on belief systems and teachings and ideas, keeping what fit and discarding the rest. Possibly more importantly, I found great peace and healing in the Journey to consciousness itself.
I don’t claim to have all, or more likely hardly any, of the answers to life, faith, or Divinity. However, what I do have is a deep joy in that I have never known before, and that I would wish upon every person. We all deserve happiness and peace.
Whatever your Path, know that the choices you make and how you arrive at them matter little. It is the Journey itself that means everything!
Walking with a handful of U.S. tourists behind our native guide through the Amazon rainforest to experience macaws and parrots visiting a salt lick in their native habitat was deeply moving. As my feet navigated the trail in and out of muddy places, my legs often sank deep down into the soft earth. Each time, I felt some of my confusion, busyness, and modern life dissolve into the forgiving soil. With each step I felt ever more cleansed and reunified with my deepest self and truth. What began as awkward footing soon grew in certainty until I was able to balance myself without handholds returning across the bridge pictured here. My nerves, so frazzled that morning from lack of sleep and the painful past experiences that had arisen the night before in ceremony, were now steady. I felt rooted in this place.
Divine Light and energy entered through the top of my head and flowed so easily down through every area of my body, including my midriff (cleared the prior night after almost four decades of being blocked by emotional trauma). Energy flowed through my body, down my legs, and out my feet into the earth with each step. When I felt uncertain, I had merely to pause and reground myself…like a tree rooting itself…and then I could gently proceed. I was effortlessly aware of an ant ‘freeway’ making its way busily down the trail below me carrying leaves, and I avoided trampling them. Moths, mosquitoes, and many other insects landed on me, honoring my silent request not to bite me and my choice not to wear poisonous repellents on my skin when visiting their home. Birds came close and exchanged long glances with me when I was in a quiet and isolated place, distanced from the others chatting noisily, snapping their photos, and otherwise loudly disrespecting the peaceful environment.
Occasionally I reached gently to the trunk of an ancient tree, sending forth love and thanking it for steadying me along my walk. I assured each that some humans still honor and respect them and their wisdom, and thanked them for being so forgiving as we remove more and more of their kind in a seemingly insatiable appetite for consumption. I commiserated that this is a game with no winners.
Pachamama and natives throughout South America implore us to awaken to the clarity of our irreversible planetary destruction. They urge a more symbiotic coexistence with nature that can bring about deeper and longer lasting joy in humanity.
We cannot all board a plane to the jungle or feel this experience. However, returning ourselves to the sights, sounds, feelings, and smells of nature is the easiest way to awaken the same awareness no matter where we are. Within each of us is a dormant dreamer lulled unconscious by years of modern programming. Allowing her/him to slowly awaken and hearing our deepest dreams and truths is where all hope for our future really exists.
To create the best possible Journey of Possibilities for you and me and everyone involved, I decided to take Brendon Burchard’s Experts Academy. He’s such a phenomenal business development teacher for anyone desiring to share their message and make a difference, and part of the course features video interviews with famous successful people. Today I watched Paula Abdul and developed a deep respect for all she has overcome and achieved. Did you know she was born 3 months premature and crying as a baby was fatal? Have you ever realized how petite and soft-spoken she really is? Yet this small giant stood firm in her heart and knew all she needed was a chance, often funding her own ventures to prove herself and then blow them all away with her talent and results. She’s now such an accomplished choreographer, dancer, singer, and yes, even a judge with heart on American Idol. (She thanks Simon for being one of her greatest teachers by being off-camera exactly who he is on camera!) Anyway, one lesson she spoke of that resonated strongly for me is that of nurturing the success that presents itself right here and now, and leveraging from that space to catapult into new arenas with open-hearted authenticity. Or, as another friend of mine put it so simply years ago, “bloom where you’re planted.”
It’s so easy for us to become frustrated about where we are when we feel ‘stuck’, especially when we know we are capable of so much more! Believe me, it has happened each time I learned enough about myself and my role somewhere to feel like I’d outgrown that job or relationship or place to live or whatever, and prepared to move on. Between my need to be challenged, my pesky ego’s need to be fed with new spaces in which to shine, and my A.D.D. ways, it’s so easy for me to quickly set my sights elsewhere and set sail for my next opportunity, be it personal or professional.
However, as Brendon Burchard, Paula Abdul, and many other happy and successful teachers and business professionals attest, staying in that space and exploring further for more opportunities to expand that success is how we can best grow and achieve our own greatest heights. All of these individuals have found new avenues within the same space to let their talents shine to expanded audiences, in new ways, and their happiness and success truly skyrocketed. I see the lesson as deepening our relationships and successes right where we are.
What a great lesson! Instead of moving on to a new space and comfortably creating again, we can live in the discomfort and awkwardness of stretching our familiar self and surroundings into new possibilities and relationships, and then following those into new things from exactly where we are.
The topics that I share with you are not just to update you about where I’m at in this Journey, but in hopes that you will see connections to your own situations and the posts will help you. Can you see yourself in this week’s message? Are there new ways you can explore what may currently be a frustrating situation by opening your heart and allowing more of your true gifts and passions to emerge? Are there others “stuck” there with you that you can love through it who may then be able to see possibilities for themselves? Why not try? What have you really got to lose? Believe me, you will all begin to bloom where you’re planted this spring!
After years of moving through my life at a fast and deliberate pace, I have spent the last couple of years discovering the power of meditation for clarity and purpose. When I discuss this with people, most respond with comments about how they could never get their mind to be still for that long, or how they don’t really have the time. Believe me, those were my exact feelings about it! Ironically, it is the very act of meditation that will train the mind to be still, so our job is to make that daily commitment and keep showing up. Thankfully, the benefits occur long before we ever perfect our practice!
