January 31, 2012
Technique that can help lead to insights for a person, if the person utilizes the opportunity. The technique is to provide space. Ask a question that takes them one step deeper on a subject they have indicated. Then truly listen without judgment or suggestions. Sometimes the immediate result of listening intently to someone makes them uncomfortable; but I personally hope that with practice I can learn to listen in such a natural manner that a person hardly notices that they are the one doing most of the talking.
This one lady I know is a master. I used to apologize for unloading on her, until one day she explained that the reason I feel I can emote with her is that it is a service she willingly provides. She feels people need an outlet and will work out their own problems. What, why and how are great open ended questions. What do you see happening here? How do you think this will affect you? What is your take on why this is happening? I’ve sometimes experienced people going in circles, but she has a very calm way of cutting off the circles with something like: Now you’ve said that before. What do you think/feel is behind that? Supposedly men will typically respond to the word think and women are more likely to respond to the word feel.
January 30, 2012
I’m not sure what I actually want to say here, but I do want to try to put it in words. I read something I found interesting regarding Nostradamus’ predictions about women. The problem is I’ve never read any of Nostradamus’ actual text and so I can’t tune into the vibration he wrote with, to determine if I would resonate with it or not. There is only what people say he said – so who knows about any validity. Also the book I was reading was about women’s hormones, so what does Nostradamus have to do with that? Anyway, apparently something he said had something to do with patriarchal societies/approaches becoming less prevalent and a need for women to attain some form of self-realization. So a quote from this book (Hormone Heresy) from the chapter on Nostradamus predictions: “His powerful predictions announced the end of the patriarchal order which has so dominated the course of history for the past five thousand years. This predicted ascendancy of the feminine will be responsible for not only initiating a massive experience of human renewal but also a completely new vision of how all of life can be an expression of harmony. Included in his prophecies was the prediction that medical science would find ways of healing the body through formerly misunderstood natural cycles….Returning to the understanding of a woman’s cyclic nature will restore the magic of the feminine and the wisdom of her instinctual nature…As we welcome a new millennium, it appears that women are also welcoming a new sense of Self. The essential nature of a woman is cyclical…Life is about recurring cycles…The return of the feminine and women’s awakening to a deeper appreciation of themselves is part of a greater cycle.” I see this applying to men’s knowledge of themselves and their cycles and their instincts, just as much as to women. So what about this interested me? It has to do with medical science finding new ways in natural cycles. It’s more than gaining inner peace from inner knowledge of self. But more than this it was an experience. For one instant while I was reading, suddenly there was a flash of unity. All the world events, all the current tendencies within the world, everyone’s individual divine plans, politics, medicine, religion, science – it all came to one point of unity.
January 29, 2012
Can you be a mediator today? Is there some situation where you can show the people involved their common ground? Are there friends, family or co-workers in a spat or feud where you can shine some light? Are you in a spat or feud yourself where you can demonstrate the middle way? It might take courage, insight, perseverance. But what ever it takes, I bet you've got it. Or have access to it simply for the asking/receiving.
January 28, 2012
Such an odd statement. This lady told me she doesn't like this one restaurant, a Mongolian Grill (where you choose your own proteins, vegetables, spices, starch and sauce). She said the food is too spicy. I said but you spice it yourself. She said: I know, but I have no will power. How many things in our lives can these comments pertain to? Example: I don't have peaceful thoughts. But they are your own thoughts.
A phone call yesterday regarding a rather large financial situation threatened to cause me to panic. There was tension during the time and many frustrating phone calls, while I was acknowledging the panic and convincing myself to remain calm; but the calm did win out and the situation is resolving itself. May your own situations work out as well.
January 26, 2012
We’ve been told that Quantum physicists have found that observation is part of what defines an event. So does this mean that we really do create our own worlds? I can observe that some condition in my feet is getting better and I will perceive it as getting better. I can observe that the same condition at the same level of intensity is getting worse and I will perceive it that way. There is no one to quantify, so I will experience what I choose to experience. Some say that our body elementals take cues from us. So I may literally experience what I observe. Yesterday, a nurse asked me if the neuropathy in my feet was getting better and I said no. Later I asked her if I could change my answer to: My feet are getting better and soon I will see evidence of that. It made me feel better to rephrase it and perhaps it demonstrated to others witnessing this interaction that it is OK to change our answers.
January 25, 2012
In the chapter on Reclaiming Your Free Will in Kim Michaels' book, Question Everything; he says any choice which helps us transcend our limited sense of self or helps to raise up other aspects of life is a LIFE decision. That choices are simply choices and consequences are simply consequences. That the goal of life is to expand our self-awareness by evaluating the consequences and our reactions in order to expose our perception filters.
January 23, 2012
Choose Life! What ever this means to you, I encourage you to do it today, right now. If your definition is in a transition, like mine is; I encourage you to enjoy the transition. If you have reached a place of not needing definitions and can just flow with whatever life presents in the moment; high five.
In that book I was reading about the widow moving on from grief, there is a line about no longer needing a memorial to remember or honor her husband, she could do that with her life. By loving their daughter, watching her grow, moving, getting remarried, enjoying Disneyland and such. He had written in the margin of his bible that he had been praying for her to choose life in Christ and she had been able to do that in the three years since his death and now she was reading his words for the first time and choosing a new life altogether.
As the angel said as she was roller skating across the rainbow - WAHOO!
January 22, 2012
More on results. Last night my dreams were about centering and focusing on being myself, rather than focusing on results. In real life, my mother got ill off a new medication yesterday. It was my job to be a calm, healing presence; no matter what turn of events occurred. Thankfully my brother is here now, a very sane influence and very helpful. She did start feeling much better. But I think that if I had tried to focus on getting her feeling better, I would not have been able to remain calm. I suspect this would have reduced the flow of healing energies. In fact I really had to take my self in hand driving to her location in order not to give way to panic. Another little note regarding result orientation, is that I allowed some feeling of annoyance yesterday; because I framed the result of two hours of effort on my computer in negative terms. I spent two hours finding out what was not the problem and felt I had wasted time accomplishing nothing, because the problem still persisted. Although the work around was functioning, I focused on what else I could have accomplished in those two hours and didn't. It would have been much easier to flow with events and frame the time in terms of having accomplished finding out that two large useful things were not the problem. Also downloading some updates didn't fix it, so now I know that possible help might come from purchasing a newer version of software. Focusing on the positive would have been far easier than walking off the annoyance. but luckily I got over the annoyance hours before the events with Mother. And I did get to enjoy a pretty day.
January 21, 2012
Too distracted for the teacher.
A few days ago I had a dream about inviting a teacher to my house. To my surprise the teacher showed up. I went to get him some food and drink and got diverted into helping several family members. Five hours later I returned to the living room to find the teacher gone. I looked all over for him for a couple hours and then learned he had been physically very uncomfortable and had finally left to find a hotel and get some food and rest. I went to the hotel and found that he (as they would say in Australia) had gone on a walk about. Then I was with family members admiring a beautiful canyon similar to Sedona, Arizona. The teacher walked up and greeted many of my family members like they were old friends, which surprised me. Like they had put opportunities to use that I didn't know anything about. I finally got to walk off and talk with the teacher.
This is a short summary of a long detailed dream that I remembered very clearly upon awakening. It says to me that even in a time of my life of few responsibilities, I’m still managing to keep myself distracted. Just like in the bible story about Martha trying to be such a good hostess and Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus to listen and learn. What is causing me to act like the Martha portrayed here, when I so desire to act like Mary? Fear? Habits? Misplaced values? Thankfully the dream ended with me giving the teacher my full attention.
January 20, 2012
I’m very glad to say that I’m getting a lot better about listening to the still small voice. I haven’t walked off any cliffs lately. Tonight after only two promptings I went outside in the cold and checked my car and found that I had not locked it. Another time I followed the promptings, I ended up at a peace stupa. At the time, I didn’t even know what one was and here I got to help build it. Another time, I ended up enjoying a marvelous vacation meeting new people. When I have listened, I’ve always been quite glad I did. I know some people who literally live their lives tuned in to what I’ll call the Holy Spirit. If anyone remembers a TV show called Highway to Heaven (an angel traveling the United States helping people), there was a man at a church I attended years ago that lived that way. He was always on the look out to find someone to whom he could be of service. I think this would be a lovely year to really focus on cultivating the skill of listening to the still small voice more, of attuning to the Holy Spirit and flowing with who I am in God more easily, of flowing with the River of Life.
I can’t even say I passively wait for guidance. Essentially I just live my life and once in a while it occurs. What I would like to focus on is actively attuning my everyday life to listening and responding to small promptings. Some people use the bible for this. Some people use meditation. But some people also use these methods for help in making decisions. That is not what I’m looking for. I have used meditation to seek deeper understanding of things, but that is not what I’m referring to either. There is tuning into teachers, other people, elementals, Jesus Christ, Gautama Buddha, Mother Mary, angels, various ascended masters, Elohim, the Creator of all, where ever we put our focus; but although I do all that a lot, it’s not what I’m referring to here either. There is the being sensitive to God’s plan, but in this journey I’m not even requiring God to have a plan. The people I admire interact with their world thru a firm, easy, confidence in knowledge of self. Perhaps that is what I’m referring to. What I would like would be an active engagement with my higher power in every day life where I keep myself open to being attuned (and/or centered) and allow what ever happens.
January 19, 2012
Do we choose the path or do we choose the results? I try not to beat myself up at all; but when I do, I'm usually acting as if I had chosen the results. This gets me nowhere. When I’m in a calmer mind set, I recognize that I actually choose the path and the results just come. Years ago I was on the Hana road in Maui, Hawaii. I wanted to take a picture. I had three turn outs to choose from. Even though a small voice told me not to choose the first of the three, that was where I stopped. There was some high bamboo, but I thought I could just step to the other side of the bamboo and take just the view I desired. When I made the choice, I had no idea there was no ground on the other side of the bamboo. Had I really chosen to put myself in a precarious position where a fall could have taken me down hundreds of feet? No, I had simply chosen to take a picture and ignore the small voice that said the next turnout with no bamboo in the way might be a better choice. Just to finish the story. The bamboo was thick enough to hold me and rooted firmly enough to allow me to climb back up from my upside down position. I did not drop my car keys or my camera. I did shake for about 15 minutes after I got back up. I did go to the next pull out and take my picture. Of course, now I do not find any picture in my collection that was worth the scare. I am quite sure that if I had fallen to the bottom and if I had survived, I would have blamed myself for putting myself in that position. And how pointless that would have been. My point being that sometimes we look back and think we “should” have made a decision from our present knowledge and vantage point. But we did not possess that knowledge or vantage point at the time of the decision, so it is pointless to berate ourselves as if we did, to think we chose the result rather than just the path. This is not to say we can not learn, obviously; just suggesting that I and people who have a similar tendency as myself try learning without condemnation.
Even at work I noticed that often when people looked for the cause of a problem, they applied all their current knowledge; as if the people who made the decisions could possibly have known how things would turn out. They even tried to instigate processes that required people to know the results of their choices before the choices were made. They called it responsible engineering. In a different sort of case the managers and investigators were so intent on finding out what this one person had done to get hurt, that they weren't getting her the needed medical help until an engineer stepped up and told them to stop the insanity. They were taking zero tolerance for mistakes to an extreme and trying so hard to blame the person who was hurt, that they weren't being sensitive to the fact that she was in fact hurt in such a way that needed attention. If we learn to give ourselves a break, perhaps we’ll give other people a break (or vice versa).
January 18, 2012
Difficult decisions. A few months ago, I was faced with some intense decisions. At first I was absolutely hysterical. I had one night to make two very difficult health decisions or my planned surgery would have had to have been postponed and I only had a short window of opportunity in the first place. I was originally angry that the two decisions even came up, because I had asked earlier and been told by one doctor that the topic of the first decision was not required in my case. A second doctor said that she hadn't addressed the topic of the second decision because she expected me to say yes to the first, which she felt was required in my case and would postpone the second decision for a year. I wouldn't have even known, if I hadn't requested a copy of her notes and read them. At any rate, I had to consult with a third doctor and his answers sent me into quite a tail spin. I called a couple friends for help, but they weren't available for a couple hours. So I had these two hours where I had to face the shock, fear and confusion on my own.
It is those two hours I want to share. At first I wanted to just run away from it all. But I literally took a deep breath, sat down and just let the thoughts and emotions run their course - sort of like brainstorming. I just watched them without trying to solve or censure or process or anything. The emotions were so intense, it didn't take very long before I was exhausted and could center myself. Then I prayed for clarity and understanding in making the decisions. By time my friends arrived to share their experiences with similar decisions, I was fairly calm and had been able to do some research. Before the doctor's appointment the next morning I had been able to make such firm decisions and state my knowledge and acceptance of the consequences in such a manner that none of the three doctors argued with me.
My purpose in sharing this is to show that sometimes allowing our emotions to run their course without trying to fix anything can help us reach that calm place where we can take a firm stand.
January 17, 2012
Expanding horizons. Early yesterday morning I was thinking I needed a way to transmit a concept, because words were not coming. It was like when I was trying to describe to a friend which of our mutual acquaintances I had run into and could not remember his name. I wished I could just transmit a picture from my brain to hers. Expanding horizons is what I am learning, but even coming up with these two words to describe it took hours. In fact it didn’t happen until I gave up. Then I was reading this book about a widow choosing to move on and live her life rather than staying stuck in honoring her grief and pain and that shared by many others; since her husband was killed in an event that took the lives of thousands of other people, as well. Anyway, as I read, even though these particular words weren’t written in the story; these two words kept jumping off the pages at me. I’m also moving into a new phase after several life altering events. I never have been one to see just two choices. I like having numerous choices and these life altering events have helped me have far fewer limitations in my life. And fewer limitations is certainly a large part of it. However, when I ask myself exactly what am I learning about expanding my horizons that I can share, the words are not there. This tells me that it is not what I think and that I haven’t learned it yet. So I guess we’ll have to let it unfold.
I suspect it has something to do with flowing more and measuring less. I recently bought a new car. It took some time as I created a spreadsheet listing 14 characteristics of 52 cars. I chose the 3 best to test drive. I suspect what I am learning is a way of choosing with out so much analyzing and perhaps with out creating a standard by which to judge.
January 15, 2012
I reach to the very depths of my soul. I acknowledge my unity with I AM. I acknowledge my unity with I WILL BE. I touch my heart. To all those willing to receive, I send out all the love and peace I contact. I reaffirm. I am infinite peace thru the divine direction of love. I let my light shine.
Please join me in your own prayers, your own affirmations of who you are in God, in your own words, from your own hearts. Please send it out for sharing. I would like to know you, to feel you, to touch you. Thank you for being in embodiment. Thank you for what ever you are doing here.
January 14, 2012
I saw the movie War Horse yesterday. For a lover of peace and a horse lover, I can't call watching this movie common sense. The subject matter in both cases abhors the soul. Perhaps some of the other people in the story needed to see the love between the man and horse demonstrated. But the man and horse didn't need the war experiences to know their love was real. And people who acknowledge and value the love of horses don't need this type of story to relay that love. There are other stories that don't abuse our senses while reaffirming what we already know. Beyond all the marvelous people and horse stories and the many horrible scenes, this is what I saw. Beyond the battle field smoke, the sun was still shining. There was plenty of space for the Buddha presence in the midst of the insanity. There were numerous definitions of light for the Holy Spirit presence. There was water, in various degrees of purity, but present never the less. When we have reached the point where the majority of us stand firm in our refusal to participate in the consciousness that hides behind wars; the sun, the space, the light and the water (perhaps in purer forms) will still be here. In the mean time, I will continue to do my part in creating new ways of resolving conflict, by replacing fear based approaches with peace based approaches.
January 13, 2012
Facin' stinkin' thinkin'. For years, if not decades, if not a lifetime, I've been aware of a deep pain that I have wanted to be magically freed from. I didn't realize until a few days ago that the desire to be free of this pain colors most, maybe all, decisions I make. That realization is helping provide the umph to overcome the momentum of fear that has hidden the true source of this pain every time I have tried to look at it. Only in the past few days have I come to accept that a belief I hold is the source of the pain. I've gone thru all sorts of phases, mostly all associated with the misconception that this pain is just a natural part of life on Earth. I know in my case it is associated with a lie, well three lies. I know what those three lies are and I have freed myself from them on many levels. There is still some level in me where I bought into the lie, where I chose to believe something (as yet unknown) and that belief is the source of the pain. Let me illustrate what this is like for me in order to give others the courage to look at some of their stinkin' thinkin' that might be causing them pain.
Some portion of me has been locked in a room with a beast. I try very hard to ignore the beast so that it will hopefully ignore me and not devour me. The depth of fear associated with turning around and facing the beast is enormous, well down right paralyzing. I now accept that God has not been perversely ignoring all my prayers to make this beast magically disappear. In many ways and forms I have been assisted in coming to the point where I can turn and see. (Sound like the story yesterday? Mama make it better. I want my mother to make this fear of separation disappear. I sure hope that real little girl, who I hope is happily alive and living as a middle aged adult now, has been repeatedly blessed for all the times that one event has been used to teach me so many different things.) During some of the processes of turning and looking, the beast has become a frightened child; and I and the child have opened the door and walked out of the room together into light and freedom. In some cases the beast and the room have indeed disappeared as the recognition of unreality has been accepted.
Even this elusively deeply hidden part of my self is experiencing real joy in my life; so I know that there is real hope in replacing fears (at least those that are caused by false beliefs) with inner peace. Also, I have so much more energy flowing thru me. Work on, my brothers and sisters, work on. Let the process unfold.
January 12, 2012
Hello. Peace. Aloha. Yeah. Well some people have indicated missing my postings and I woke up with a few in mind and some more have been added thru out the day, so perhaps my energies are flowing this way again.
In a conversation today a woman said something to the affect that peace creates the opportunity to see the right action. The word right having an individual meaning for the particular person at the particular time. It reminded me of an event 30 or 40 years ago when a child saw her mom and was frightened, thinking that she couldn't get to her. I now recall that it happened a bit different than the way I relayed it today. Today I said the little girl was inside with a different adult and her Mom and I were outside. The little girl had her back to the glass door and was seeing her Mom in the large mirror on the wall. The little girl was screaming thinking she couldn't get to her Mom and not recognizing that she simply needed to turn around and open the door. I also mentioned not being able to get to the little girl. In the real situation there was not a physical barrier. Now my memory recalls it a bit different, but the lesson is similar. We were actually all in the same room and the little girl was facing the glass door and seeing the reflection of her Mom and screaming because she didn't realize she simply needed to turn around to see her real Mom. It's interesting that my mind put that particular twist in the story today about adding the action of opening the door and the physical barrier between myself and the little girl. It speaks to some other lessons I am learning. But for this posting the point is that a peace based approach in place of a fear based approach can help us see more options and opportunities that we might otherwise blind ourselves to.