Among the clouds

Among the clouds

Late one rainy  afternoon I took a flight for a short trip. The jet roared off the runway and we ascended rapidly. Looking out of the window I noted the ground  getting further away and shrinking as we reached cruising altitude. We traversed through many cloud formations. Some thick, some grey, some thin, some light (almost transparent). Soon I could see the earth, the horizon, the cloud cover all from a beautiful vantage point. Clearly not a bird's eye view since we were already at 34000 feet, too high for the birds ! This got me thinking, as these moments sometimes do. This ascent and the eventual  descent is not unlike our conscious mind.

The cloud cover is variable at different altitudes. Thick and possibly stormy closer to the ground, and thinner and even  lighter at higher elevations. Lower layering clouds represent our lower layers of consciousness and higher layers of clouds represent the higher layers of our conscious mind. It takes a lot of effort for the plane to ascend to these higher altitudes and so too is it with our own personal spiritual growth. We keep at it every day, trying to do good, trying to be at peace, trying to focus ourselves at the seemingly impossible daily task of our personal ascension.  We sometimes have to go through stormy and rough patches and perhaps even setbacks before we clear the thicker and "Cumulus ( thick and fluffy)  or cumulonimbus ( rain bearing) " cloud formations. We ascend higher and higher as we stay in the moment. Focused and in sync to our truer nature, this is possible. Turbulence is always expected. On the way up and sometimes on the way down, turbulence is unavoidable, as it represents the forces of life that travel with us at all times. 

We travel to a different altitude as we  get free of worries, troubles and mundane pursuits, reaching the stratus or flatter cloud formations. Sometimes it is necessary to travel at that altitude for a while before we decide to ascend yet again. At times we descend too, trying desperately not to go back through the Cumulus or Cumulonimbus clouds of anxiety, despair, frustrations and anger. I persevere every day to reach the cirrus clouds ( thinnest and wispiest of clouds). These are the lightest layers of consciousness high above the earth. Free from the cares of life I long to stay at this altitude, yet the inescapable gravity changes my course, yet not my destination. The nature of flying has always been the pursuit of mankind as it heralds an effort of exploring other realms of consciousness. As the layers of consciousness are traversed so are the layers of self realization. 

High up I look down and see the earth. I recognize its presence as it looms below me as if to say " You up there, don't get so lost in the clouds that you forget to ground your Self." Respectfully I acknowledge the call and we land safely, as I am alerted to the fact I am may be Spirit yet I have to be grounded in physical form for now. My chance of flying high will come again. Realization and practice of daily meditation helps in this lofty pursuit. 

Do you know what altitude you are flying today?

Traffic woes

Traffic light woes

Every day I reach a traffic light at an intersection. This is  nothing new to anyone who sits behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. If red I stop (most of the time) and ponder. Periodically, I use the 3 minutes at the red light to text, catch up with emails,  eat some munchies, write down some thoughts, or simply allow my already wandering mind to wander.  If green, continue to travel at my speeds with the intent of beating the yellow or amber sign. Eager to get through the green light I become focussed and not waste a single millisecond of my acceleration on other matters of life and simply just go. The dreaded yellow amber sign is the worst of all. It abruptly forces you to slow down or speed up depending on how close you are to the traffic signal and the usual thought is " is there a police patrol nearby, and can I make it?"  

This is not dissimilar to our daily experiences in all matters. The red is the life altering experience that makes us stop. Whether it is illness, a tragedy, a shift in family dynamics it does not really matter what the cause is that makes us stop, it is the effect, STOP and take an account of your life choices.  The green is what we do constantly, simply just keep going. No concerns just keep cruising, yet hopefully we make sure of our speed limits lest we burn out. The yellow is the in between that enables us to pause and really think about what we are doing. If we bypass this step we usually will get caught at some point to make a life altering decision. In traffic, beating the yellow light sign, we may end up with a speeding ticket, yet another life lesson to teach you  to slow down. 

The lights are there for traffic control, yet not just for our cars yet metaphorically  more the traffic of the mind and consciousness, as they more than anything need the guidance for control. We have the faculties to provide the control from our soul, the eternal driver. We take no regard of the driver who is as valuable to our journeys on the highways of life as the other two, namely mind and consciousness. The yellow light I believe is the most important  of all the lights as you are "cautioned" to make a more safer decision. Go faster and leave the care to the wind and beat it or slow down and be safer. Especially at the intersections of life's roads when the "yellow light" really plays a role in determining your next course. If you let your arrogance blind you then unfortunately this is as bad as being color blind at the traffic signal. There are traffic signals, traffic  lights  and guiding signals all over the place. the big question is whether you are awake enough to see them before it is too late, before you "accidently" make the wrong decision or turn. 

It is sometimes great while I am driving I get every signal to be green, and my mind says lets get through them  all very fast. My consciousness plays the devils advocate and replies that watch out that based on timing of the lights and distances you are probably going to get all reds! My spirit calmly notes that some lights will be red to stop and change my decisions, some will be green so I can go through my life plans without hinderances, and many will be yellow so that I may pause and make the most appropriate choices, it is a balance not a race to the light. 

Traffic light coming up shortly, I wonder what color it will be when I get there....

Why me?

Why me?

The age old question when something does not go our way or  is unexpected. Why me?  Usually this is dependent on a bad experience as it enters any aspect of life, home, work, family or personal. "Why me? I never did anything to anyone". Numerous examples of this occur on a regular basis. Some experiences more extreme than others, and hopefully infrequently occurring all at once. Yet always 100% never wanted. 

Flat tire in a rain storm.

 Parking ticket or worse yet car towed away when you left the car for not even a few minutes.

 Failed an exam that you were prepared for. 

Getting bad news about a loved one, or worse yet about yourself from the doctor. 

Your boss dumps more work on you that has to be completed 5 minutes before you were to punch out and meet your family. 

Air-conditioning unit breaks on the hottest day of summer.

Power loss and you lose all your unsaved computer work at 3 am.

Been there done that. And the list goes on and is uniquely selective in your life. You feel like stepping out of your world and looking up at the sky with arms reaching high up and yelling " WHY ME?" Again been there done that. 

 This is not about the universe playing tit for tat with you or I. In fact it is not about me at all. It is about the opportunity to learn from the experience. What comes next after the initial jaw dropping flabbergasted look,  is what matters, namely the reaction. Do you take it lying down with anger, feelings of hurt and despair or do I rise above it and choose to learn from the experience and rise through to the other side. You or I can treat anything as a disability be it mental, physical or emotional. Yet all that serves is to keep me in the smaller place that I am in while hiding in fear from a larger purpose that my Spirit awaits to embrace.

You can learn from blind person to see, or from a deaf person to hear, or from a mute individual to speak, or from  your broken heart to  learn to love in the face of adversity. Imagine the following individuals to name but a few who have traversed their "disability" and learned to embrace their greater purpose. Andrea Bocelli or Stevie Wonder, blind musicians who have given themselves to their gifts of music and song. IIike Wyludda from Germany, with a leg amputation who won the Paralympics, or Beethoven who was deaf yet wrote some of the greatest compositions ever.  The list is endless of those people living or dead who have used their disabilities as a stepping stone towards greatness. It does not have to be just a mental, or physical illness that may hold us back. It can be the emotional state of gripping fear in depression, anxiety, or  worry that keeps us from achieving the next level. Yet it can be done.

Once you shrug off this defeated, pitiful mentality of "why me?" that prevents you from the state of bliss, you are on your way. Whether it is an issue at home, with your finances, your job, your career, your family situation, your unwell child, it does  not matter. It is easier said than done, yet I would argue that it is easier done than said as you realize the state you are in and CHOOSE to move ahead with changing the situation. The change may itself take time to manifest into a better outcome, but in the end it is coming out of that pitiful and anguish-full saga and realize the truth, you are greater than the adversity before you. 

Why me? Why not? I can handle it. 

Building your immunity

Building your immunity

Winter is here and with no end in sight, it is tiresome to those non snow boarding loving enthusiasts. The endless bone chilling cold days and nights give way to the numerous common colds or flus that many endure during this season. Just like when children start going to day care or schooling systems they pick up respiratory or stomach infections that keep them ill and continuously walking petri-dishes of germs, winter season can be no different. One can take the point of view that it  is an immunity building phenomenon  and a rite of passage. Yet many frustrated parents will state that it is more immunity shattering for the adults as they join in the infectious pool. 

Your immunity is built by germs attacking your body systems, and you counteracting it with a response, be it fever, coughing, running nose etc. It wears you down yet more over than not you get over it and come out at the other end of it stronger  than before. Your body remembers the germ invader that caused the problem and stays always ready with its antidotes for future infections. Similarly we are always bombarded  by negative experiences. For example when people say or do nasty things to us, expected events do not go our way and so on. We may feel depressed, hurt, angered and frustrated. Yet if we learn to drive our responses to a more positive reaction we can mount a better and stronger defense against these emotional invaders if they come back, and they usually do. You can either let these harmful feelings rule you and in doing so give in to the infection and be subdued by it or you can fight it and build your own defenses and immunity. 

My personal cure for the case of the blues or blahs is positive meditation. Feeling the positivity of warm energy flow through you is like a phoenix reborn, with vigor and renewed strength. I envision brightness as it courses every part of me and my being. Leaving no cell untouched by this positive intensity I feel fully armed against any of the negative encounters that may come my way, and surely as I think I am fully protected, negative personalities and encounters and negative thoughts and naysayers come my way to pop my bubble of positive energy. If I find that there is a chink in the armor when I get affected by these negative experiences, I go back to basics and reenforce it with a renewed coating and not just a patch. Layer upon layer I add this positive energy till my immunity and defense systems are fully intact  and non penetrable by anyone else's targeted hatred or by anything negative. Every time I encounter a non positive experience it is actually welcomed as it only serves to make my mind and spirit to become more adaptable and be more likely to overcome the invader next time it raises its ugly head. I would like to go as far as saying that everything that has come in your and my life that we have deemed as being "bad" has in fact been a blessing. That friend  who betrayed you, the irritating boss that frustrates  you, the finances  that did not come at the right time, and the  infinite more items to your " reasons I hate my life" list, all came for a reason, namely to help build your immunity with the antibodies of positive responses.

So next time you are feeling like you are getting a cold and reach out for some Elderberry, or zinc or vitamin C or cold remedy to boost your physical immunity add on a healthy dose of positive self awareness to your armamentarium of cures, as you fight off yet another negative encounter. Feel free to do the same if your invader to your personal space of peacefulness is not microscopic.  

Laughter is the best medicine

Laughter is the best medicine

We hear the sound of laughter in the next room, it makes us smile. We see a child laughing their little head off at the silliest thing, we chuckle. Someone cracks a funny joke and we all roar with laughter. Jocularity is not only infectious but it is a necessary part of your well being, both mental and physical health. Laughter boosts your physical health through boosting your immunity, or at least it is suggested by Dr  Patch Adams. There are numerous research articles on the same topic of laughter and improvement of health. Moreover there is an endorphin release when we laugh that makes us happier and with it stronger in mind, spirit and consciousness. 

Roaming around everyday stressed, frowning and angry leads to negative emotions and depression. Walking about with a happier sense of being with the ability to laugh at the tip of your mouth leads to a more positive robust attitude towards life. It is not just laughing for the sake of laughing, yet being able to laugh at something comical or moreover at something that you have done is an art in itself. Laughing at oneself is not only humbling but it is self deprecating. It allows for a more complete look at yourself and then the  realization that you are who you are, and you can make mistakes, yet more over you learn from them. As I like to say" live and learn and then learn and live some more." The laughter brings in the spirit and the ego to the same playing platform where ego admits to the silly nature of whatever you have done and the spirit can laugh with and not at the ego-self.  

Laughter brings out honesty as even if I were to try to hide a secret, the guilty laughter or the nervous laughter is revealed. Laughter brings us all together. Just see this unfold at a comedy club, where even when the audience are being made fun of, yet everyone joins in together with loud belly sounds of amusement. We can sit together and laugh at jokes made about race, sexuality, gender, political or even religious affiliations all in the name of comedy, even if that ridiculed subset is us.  Why do we do this to ourselves? It is probably the subconscious that is having its "day in the sun." It is through laughter prejudices are overcome. In days long ago only the court jester could poke fun at the King, up to a point of course, and it was considered acceptable.  There are so many different ways to laugh that is unique to the individual such as chuckles, cackles, guffaws, giggles to belly laughter. In any event it is a de-stresser  and a way to calm down. Once calm you become more momentarily aware of the reason for laughter and have time to process it. If the target of the joke is about a "touchy or sensitive" topic related to mainstream issues then the laughter resets the guarded nature of the conscious and enables your unconscious to assimilate your prejudices and allow your true Self to chime in with  Your opinion on the topic. If I listen carefully during these quick and brief moments, I find that I am not prejudicial and can be swayed back to MY opinion of non judgmental points of view rather than that which is thrust upon me by media and literally everyone I speak to. 

Laugh a little or laugh a lot the choice is yours. Laugh with your belly or laugh with your heart, it does not matter. What matters is that you laugh sincerely. You have heard the joke " Why did the chicken cross the road?" There are so many combination punch lines to this joke over the years that some are funny and some are simply corny, yet this joke always will get a laugh or at least a chuckle. Whether it crossed to the other side because it wanted to, or just because it could, I do not know why it crossed the road or even if it did or even if there was too much traffic for it to cross. Which road was this? Did the chicken have faith that it could cross the road? How fast did it cross the road? We will never know the answer yet perhaps that is why we laugh at this joke, namely we laugh at the not knowing why, and the remarkable nature of the certainty of the unknown. What frightens us of the unknown is equally dismissed with laughter. This rapid movement of our chest with loud noises that emanate are a source of strength building in the face of anything that may give us cause for concern. 

Why did the chicken cross the road? No idea but wouldn't it be a funny sight if it did. HA HA HA !!!

Last call

Last Call

It is closing time, the bar tender calls out asking if anyone wants another drink. The conductor blows his whistle one last time before the doors close and the train sets on its way. Last call....then we depart this planet. An entire life lived ends with a last call. All one's hopes and dreams completed or not is reduced to rubble at this last moment. I have often wondered how does one live their life knowing that they have only 3 months to live, and moreover how does that change if you did only have 3 months to live yet you were unaware of it. This was recently experienced by me when a close family member passed after having suffered for little over 3 months with a terminal disease. Our ends are already known, just not by us, but what if they were? Would I radically change my  thinking about how I treated friends, family, coworkers or strangers? Would I use my time more wisely to enjoy every moment by spending time with those I cared about or spend more time doing the hobbies that give me most fun? Would I get religion in a hurry? These questions are not designed to make me try to hurry up and do everything before my last call, but moreover are posed in an effort to improve the quality of the living that I am doing at this very moment, in other words right NOW. So that I do not regret my life, yet celebrate it fully at its final moments, these questions must be answered.

Letting go of the past troubles and worries about the future is an extremely necessary step in order to allow the present moment to unfold. The answer  lies in just being and not hoping to be, type of mentality. Once you have written down your own personal cardinal questions, and you start the answering process, what you are really doing is reverse engineering your life. The answers are what you are truly desiring and it is your illogical mind that prevents you from hearing them with questions of its own. Such as what will achieve you if you just do your hobbies? who is going to pay bills? what will people say with your liberating course of action? Who put you up to this foolish endevor? And the list goes on. Except the difference is that these questions will constantly keep coming up to thwart you from your true purpose. It was said by Donald Trump " life is what you do while you wait to die." I would agree with this statement except that I would say " dying is what we are doing while we wait to live." The natural order of things is to decay and die. Making a life full is an achievement in itself. A full life is not obtained by necessarily just doing numerous things, it is obtained by doing things to be happy. 

Here are my answers. Love, peace, compassion  are all qualities that I endevor to envibe and treat everyone to this standard. I do and I will try to utilize every moment given to me to spend it with everyone I love, and since I chose to love everyone, my life is continuously being spent within this framework towards all that I meet. I am doing all the hobbies that I enjoy and find fun to do, as long as I am happy doing them. I have studied numerous religions, and find them all to follow the same tenant as my first question, so no need to change. So in reality as long as I maintain my present course of action of being in the moment and staying fluid within that moment of now, then regardless of knowing how much time I have or do not have is ergo immaterial. So in fact the above quote can now be further modified into "Life is what I choose to do while I continue to live."  Perhaps a more affirmative slant, yet the attitude and tone makes all the difference in the world. I wish you a wonder-full life without regrets making the last call worth it. 

Last call?  Happily  I am on board, see you later.

Amnesia oh I miss thee !

Amnesia,  Oh I miss thee!

As a child I used to run and climb trees carefree of whether I would fall down or hurt myself. I would create art or write without much hinderance or doubt of whether I would earn critique from someone else. I would befriend anyone without the fear of the stranger being someone who could harm me. Many adults do still remember the days when they would be allowed to play in the streets, or play in the playgrounds that were clearly not childproof by todays standards. I did many things as a growing child that for some reason as a parent I instinctively would not allow my child to do today. Why? Fear. Somewhere along the way as I "grew up", and I use that term loosely, I may have fallen in the playground  or seen someone get hurt, or be indoctrinated by the media that we need to lead more protected and safer lives, and so I want the same safety for my child.  Yet clearly missing the fact the neither my child is any different from any child past or present and the concept of falling, getting hurt and getting up and then walking away are part and parcel of human psyche evolution.

 Granted that streets are busier today with more traffic so playing around on streets are more challenging, and perhaps the lessons of the past teach us to be more cautious for future, yet it is the carefree nature to explore, learn and advance without the feelings of being ridiculed, hindered or shamed that prevent us from doing so. Fear makes us forget the easier, simpler and more energetic times. We have come under the spell of amnesia and been gripped with fear on all levels of heart, mind and consciousness. Moreover unknowingly so mesmerized that we go about our day like as if we have control over everything without any awareness of this deeply unconsciously seeded problem.  With the example of the playground, we may intellectually know that there is nothing to fear, yet through some encounter a hook of fear has been attached to our minds and so we perpetuate the same to an unsuspecting generation of children who are ready and waiting to learn and explore and make mistakes yet, we shorten their experiences by our fearful ideas. Yet the irony is that we already had that experience and did encounter the joy and the dangers of the experience.

 We further lose out as through our amnestic fog we alienate OurSelves when we were more awake and alert as innocent children learning to explore strange new worlds each day all those years ago. It is time we remember who we were, who we Are and therefore who we can become. Tapping into the carefree creative unapologetic energies of our freer selves we move forward without compromise, and not held back by fearful ropes of consequence that may or may not have falsely been binding us. Caution is a state of the intellect, yet fear is the state of the mind. One is helpful, the other is not. When I have been told that fear helps us drive and succeed, I would suggest that perhaps that it is the cautionary tale of failure that makes us succeed and lunge forward, yet fear only serves to keep us stuck in the mud of mediocrity. 

Fear? Sorry I don't remember you.  

The ultimate chess game

The Ultimate Chess game

Black knight takes white Rook, White Queen takes black knight, Check Mate. Game over. If you have ever played the game of chess, it is quite interesting. A finality exists but the gamble of whose finality it is, is always up in the air till the end. There are innumerable permutations and  combinations that can play out in terms of chess moves that makes the game not only enticing to play yet very intricate. I always believed that the game you play is not yours but in fact that of the opponents, kind of like the game of poker, you play your opponents' hand.  Thinking several moves ahead and in every  direction, the game is very much like life. 

Trying to guess correctly at the next move that either you or your opponent will or will not make is risky, yet that is what we do everyday when we deal with anyone we interact with on a regular basis. We spin our wheels of our minds to the point of exhaustion and wearing down our mental tread with strategic planning. Yet sometimes I wonder who exactly is the opponent that I am facing in this chess game, if everyone is playing the same game? My answer is myself. I am in continuous play with myself and we each are outdoing the other to the detriment of the other and Ourselves. I find myself fighting with myself whether it is through decisions regarding work, home, or personal. If both sides cooperated there would be less of an effort of strategic warring and more productive construction. Yet one might say that they do not have this issue. In which case I applaud them for looking so deep within and clearing up all fears and troubles and making peace between their ego and their soul in such a way that is the goal of us all. If both sides joined hands and worked together, then perhaps there is no chess game? Well I think then the opponent will not be oneSelf yet other life challenges which can then be easily overcome, when You and your ego are in harmony. 

Sometimes a state of Stalemate occurs, a draw if you will where neither side wins. That is the start of something good. Both sides strong enough to hold their ground, and both sides weak enough to humbly concede and agree for mutual cooperation. More the stalemate, more the chance at mutual understanding. The sooner we come to this state the faster we can begin healing ourselves versus spending an exorbitant amount of energy playing a chess game between you and You.   Perhaps you like being a chess master, but the challenge of the game becomes infinitely more fun when you are playing yourself and discovering the strengths and weaknesses within between you the ego and you the Spirit. Life does not have to be a chess game that is not beatable. We make ourselves believe that to be the case, yet I too was wrong with that preconceived notion. Life is the chess board and not the game itself. Where you deploy your pieces is your strategic involvement. Imagine what "your game" would be like if you had double the pieces and all of them were under your command and no opponent. Freedom of choice, freedom to explore peace, freedom of destiny and free will for your game. The more in sync you are with Ego and soul working together the more pieces you have to be more productive to go across the board. Figure out your life board, deploy your pieces, and have a great chess game. 

Have you attained chess master status yet?

Second guessing

Second Guessing

The clock is ticking down and you are down to the last few questions on your test. You quickly circle choice as B and move on to the next question. You come back to the prior question and change your answer to C. Wrong !! You are at a restaurant and your waiter finally comes to your table and you have been going over a particular craving you have had for weeks. Yet you hurry and   pick a dish off the menu. When it arrives you realize perhaps you picked in haste. You know that a particular relationship or job is going to work out yet you ignore all of your "gut" instincts and abandon that possibility or opportunity and pick someone else or a different job thinking that that second choice will give you more happiness. Yet again you second guessed and were wrong and remain in your unhappiness.

 We live in a world where we are asked to make choices so quickly for little reward and then we usually regret our options, without realizing that perhaps the little voice within had made the correct choice in the first place and then we over ride that idea in hopes for better satisfactory experiences, which invariably are not the case. We do this in literally every aspect of our lives with such rapidity that eventually the choices we believe we are making are not our own, they belong to someone else. Whether it is the nature of the advertisement with their alluring marketing strategies to fool the mind or out of a sense of desperation we second guess our Selves all the time. The owners of our choices are usually  most content as they are profitable only to  big business or for those  with political gain. We do this all the time to the most basic of human needs such as ignoring healthy options to eat or drink, seeking out the appropriate health care need for ourselves, misunderstanding the nature of love and lust, and regrettably remaining uneducated in the schooling of our first choice. 

Second guessing is most often a choice made out of fear. It is a choice that comes out of not desiring to leave your comfort zone or at least a choice that has resemblance to familiar territory. Once we learn to trust ourSelves we are more aware of the choices we make, leaving behind the need to second guess. The more trust you have, the more alert Your choice is. The trust fosters love and compassion for Yourself and with a greater respect and awareness for the moment as you slow down in order to make the right choice.  For those who "live and die" by instinct and are successful, are usually those who are very much in tune with their Divine Self and if you ask them, they will happily inform you that they choose what they "feel" is right. When you are in this mode you cease to second guess. After all why would you if your choice is correct. Opponents of this idea will say that there is no such thing as the right or wrong choice. I would lean more towards that truly every choice is simply an experience, however the choice that makes you happier is the first pick and not the second when you adhere to this idea of synchronized "gut" instinct.

Maybe you should have turned left instead of turned right. Maybe you should have left the house a little earlier or a little later. Maybe you should have picked choice B or choice C on the test. Maybe you should have picked the "right" person to love. Maybe, Maybe, Maybe. These are all your fears talking you out of making ANY choice and live in your smallness. When you fall into the "maybe I should have.." phenomenon, you are already guaranteed to lose your way without trust or love or compassion for your primal instinct of Self to guide you. With the "maybe" you will more than likely not only not be happy with your "choice" regardless of potential differed outcome, yet also more often than not change the existing course of action that you are undertaking. 

Let go of the "maybe", the "ifs", the "but onlys" and the " perhaps" and live your life with determination and finely tuned instinct by listening to yourSelf as it navigates you through life. Moreover whatever choice you make, make sure that you make it for YourSelf and so you will derive greater pleasure from it. What ever the course you are on, see it to the end. It will always be a good end, if you jumped on it from a place of peace, knowing and trust. 

Feeling like second guessing your life? MAYBE YOU SHOULD.......

Going golfing

Going Golfing

If you have never played golf, then it is a sport worth trying to learn. You will be  probably be in the learning phase for your entire life as this particular sport is very similar to learning life's lessons every time you step up onto the green.  The presence of mind required and the focussing on the moment yet not focussing on the moment to varying degrees separates the pros from the amateurs. The level of concentration, coupled with the seemingly effortless being and not " trying to be" or rather doing and not the "trying to do" is a proportion of just the right amount that is sought by most golfers. It is not about just swinging the club and making contact with the ball, yet based on my rudimentary understanding is that it  is about the timing of the swing. There are  3 phases to the swing.  The club is first swung behind you ( hinge), then the contact, and then the swing through the contact moment ( the unhinge) .  Literally it is like past, present and future of life all occurring in one swing. It is the timing phase that you are in that will result in the ball being hit correctly.

Similarly when dealing with life, it does depend on your personal "swing" of the mind. If you are not focussed on the moment then you may miss your correct timing cycle. If you are overly present or overdo it then the moment itself can  too be  lost. Seeing the grand expansion of the moment in all its phases and choosing to just be,  aides you in getting to the right timing cycle. Sheer brute force and physical strength has little to do with the game of golf. It is more about the balance of the mind with the moment in hand. We are invariably either too quick with our reactions, our verbal agreements or disagreements and judgements that we miss the opportunity of living at the peak of our abilities. We are also sometimes too late to make a decision out of fear, doubt or past regret that we forgo the chance at a splendid future.  This is the difference between living your life on purpose and with intention as opposed to just surviving on a day to day basis. It almost like trying to break down the walls of the space and time continuum between the past, present and the future and seing yourown big picture. Similarly you can see a picture of a golfer's swing with a strobe light and see all parts occur at the same time. The question of success or failure is hinged upon at what part of the cycle does the soul get to step in and say "here I am !"

Getting the ball to where we want it to go and land is more about the vision that we choose to explore coupled with the balance of timing than divine intervention.  There are times if you play this game you will be floored by the perfection of a particular swing. That swing, aim, and execution was perfect as it was in the moment, mind-less, effortless and You played the  swing  in all its parts and not breaking it down with your mind. The skill is to get that  perfect golf swing every time and that is the same skill set needed in overcoming life's challenges. Practice, practice, practice the idea of seeing the big picture within the moment and then jump on to the carousel of life.  It is interesting that  the word golf in reverse is "flog". If you try to mess with the timing cycle in golf and not attempt the correct form  you will keep getting frustrated much in the same way you will fall off the merry go round of the universe. Throwing tantrums on the golf course in anger is of little use and does not help with your  life's decorum of expression. 

Keep your eye on the birds flying around in the sky, avoiding the squirrels and the trees, trying not to hit other golfers, is all part of being mindful of your game just as you would when crossing the busy street of life, hopefully not texting while ambulating. Vigilance is key yet with  more of an  acknowledgement of the surroundings in your life rather than a phobia of your life lest you  will  lead to an un-lived existence. Enjoying the game, and learning from each stroke is part of the life's lesson of every experience. The measure your ability at the game is a numerical score noted as a "handicap." I hope that you do not follow the same scoring system in life. There is a a saying by Paul Harvey...."Golf is the only game where you yell fore, shoot six, and write five." A little cheating in life does occur but let your score card of your life's game be as accurate as possible. I personally have yet to play a game of golf, I am still at the driving range practicing, but when I am done what a terrific game it is going to be, just hope that when I do it is not too late !  You hear the swoosh of the club passed your ear, and you turn to look in the distance for your ball landing. 

You feel a tap on the shoulder," excuse me but your ball is still on the ground where you left it "!!   It is better to have tried than never have had the courage to swing the club. 

Soul surfing

Soul Surfing

For those who love the water, nothing can be more fun than getting out in the ocean, swimming their boards out to the waves and getting on top of the waves and riding them to their hearts content. The exhilaration of catching the  big one is always thrilling and a great source  of satisfaction and joy. I have seen absolutely stunning photographs of surfers doing what they do best within a tunnel of waves, keeping speed, balance and poise as they then exit the surf. When perfectly in the moment they are at peace with themselves and all their surroundings. They are at that moment sheltered if you will by the crest of the waves. So too is the same situation with our souls. 

We dive into the ocean of our lives with great enthusiasm and vigor. Just like the ocean waves, there is a certain measure of unpredictability that goes along with the experience. We wait, we watch the ripples of energy of the waves and then swim towards the swells, just as we would in each unfolding life endeavor. We can either approach the wave with fear or with love. It is not an adversity to be overcome yet an encounter to experience. With fear there is no hope of surfing. With taking on the wave or experience "head on" in the moment we do not spend the energy to keep the event in our heads or minds yet instead prolong it in our hearts. Once we climb the swell we can enjoy the time there or we can be petrified of falling off the wave. Seasoned surfers will do the former.  If we are too premature in trying to attack the wave, and hold on to the life experience when not ready for it, we invariably will falter. If we delay in reaching for an opportunity we end up with the same. It is all about timing and and knowing when the experience is instinctively approachable and knowing when YOU are ready. In the end it is the experience that we live through that will allow us to know versus the other way round. 

Once under the crest of the wave, we coast along the wave itself, yet in fact it is through a series of waves that we are traveling. With balance to stay on the board, with agility to be able to quickly course correct, and sheer joy of the present we either successfully come out of our experience with a Kodak moment or crash into the merciless wave force. An idea to ponder is that in life if we attempt to be in a state of compassion and balance it with forgiveness and temper our outlook with gratitude we too can have Kodak moments. With negativity and lack of focus, the tide of the life's waves will toss you around like a piece of untethered sea weed. Reaching the crest of your life is an experience that we all as "soul surfers" aim to enjoy. Look around at all the other soul surfers out there that you pass by each day and at every moment. Some are well trained in this art and some are not, and some are on their way to learning all about the surf that we call life. It takes practice. Physical strength, being nimble, and stamina are all helpful traits, yet I have seen all ranges of 10-80 y old people attempting this sport, some succeed and some fail. It is better to have tried and failed than never at all tried your hand at anything. Now do not go and jump in to the ocean to experience surfing because I said so, instead happily go and jump in to your life's ocean and try your hand at skills sets of compassion, love and gratitude that may just keep you above water. Patience, understanding and freedom from doubt, are skills needed to stay on the board. Faith and surrender are necessary skills that will get you back to shore safely once you traverse the moment to moment wave experiences.

What a lovely day do go out soul surfing....

The Lovliest flower in the garden !

  The Loveliest Flower in the Garden

Anyone who spends the time to tend to a garden knows that there are always a few flowers or bushes that are their special  flowers amongst the entire collection that is the pride and joy of the gardener. Those particular flowers have unique properties such as either rare colors  or color combination, or petal formations or inviting centers and so on. They are cherished and nurtured accordingly. We all have such unique properties whether it is in the form of character traits, or special gifts or extraordinary abilities. Each person is here at this particular time, on this planet for a reason with something to offer the garden that is the universe.

You may think and believe that you do not have a special skill or are devoid of any ability but that is where your limited thinking and those of others imprinted upon you do not let your flower to bloom to its full potential. Whether it is a gentle way of packaging a box, picking up garbage or the unique ability to sense another person's feelings or create a beautiful piece of art, perform a musical sonata, sing like an angel or perform brain surgery or simply bring peace to someone in need through your comforting words and presence.  A skill, a trait and predisposition to enhance the greater good of the world is possessed within all of us. Like the flower how do we plan to reveal it? 

The universe will provide you with all the necessary elements to survive and flourish but in order to bloom you have to do your part. Sun, water, soil, oxygen, adequate nourishment and  gravity are all elements that are given. The wild card that makes the difference between you or the flower withering away versus blooming to full potential  is the belief that you and the flower can be the loveliest and the most beautiful in the garden. This is simply faith.  Not only does the Source and universe want you to succeed, by giving you and the flower all the elements to flourish, yet all you have to do is reach out and take it. That takes faith and trust in yourSelf and in your Creative Source. The fear in not taking the plunge of faith for those who believe that something greater than yourself does not exist is the exact proof that it does. Nothing exists without its opposite. So if you do not believe in faith as it "does not exist" then you should not be fearful, ergo you are afraid of something that does exist, so take it and live happier.   

You are the loveliest flower in the garden of the universe. Fact. You have every ability to flourish and succeed. Fact. You are going to bloom to your full potential. Faith. Subtle difference, true yet it makes all the difference in the world. You have a special gift, a unique ability, and an extraordinary destiny to embrace as you find your own talent as the special flower in your personal garden of characteristics. Looking from a bigger perspective you are the most beautiful flower ever seeded to blossom in the Creator's garden of the universe. Make your Gardener proud and full of joy too, and radiantly bring out your blooming qualities. 

You are a unique and lovely flower just like every one else. 

Policing your soul

Policing your soul

When crimes occur, the police intervene. The job of the police is to maintain law and order. Rules and regulations are set by society and these are enforced by the police. For our soulful  experience here on this planet we set our own rules and regulations. When our soul's plan gets derailed, who intervenes? Whose responsibility is it to police our soul? The answer is tricky, it is no one. The Divine soul does not need policing, it is the mind that needs to be set right. You are the only one who can alter your journey to the path that you choose to take. It may be a bad path that you are on, yet it is simply an experience for the soul. If you so choose, You can rewrite your path and travel the alternative perhaps better course. 

Just as the police are strict and disciplined, you have to do the same to your mind. It is a strong and powerful ally when needed  yet a weak and feeble criminal  as it wanders astray frequently if not watched from one second to the next. Sometimes greater force is needed to subdue a suspect. In this case, the mind is guilty as charged and needs considerable disciplined force to bring it back into balance. This force is sheer will of You. The soul yet is always observing and never really judging. It is a silent companion here for the ride and the experience in whatever shape or form that it may take. The mind takes You in many different directions and paths. Some of these paths benefit your Purpose and sometimes it  does not. It is a murky line that is crossed, as one might argue what is the purpose of this life. Is it something specific or simply to experience whatever comes Your way. 

Meditation and awareness of the mind's  activities are typical ways to "serve and protect" your higher purpose and life. Being fully engaged on a daily basis with this practice is like being the cop on duty. Patrolling your thoughts are not just necessary but practical ways of keeping your mind from creating any offenses.  Reaching the court system is certainly not desirable for anyone. The relentless mischievous mind is always up to something and may land up under disciplinary systems, namely therapy !!! A close vigil of the mind is similar to the concept of neighborhood watches, except do not spend your time looking at other peoples actions and issues and waste your time commenting or gossiping about them. 

Do you hear the sirens? Uh oh what have you done now? Stay focussed. 

Effortless living

Effortless living

I wanted to explore an interesting concept that I recently uncovered. Many a time I have tried hobbies or tasks that I have always approached with great vigor and focus. My mind takes over and everything that ensues in carrying out the task becomes a precise sequence of procedures. The chore then becomes just that, a chore, and invariably not met with success. Whether it is a golf swing, learning a new sport, tackling a new endeavor or any thing that suits your fancy and requires some level of understanding it does not matter. What matters is how you approach the said activity. You can either use your mind and follow protocol or use your heart and soul and follow it instinctively. Obviously I am not suggesting that you can fly a plane without learning basics of flying, knowing procedures etc. yet once you are flying, the experience must become wholesome. This is not done with the mind yet instead with the use of the heart and soul. It is these 2 senses that will make the difference between a rocky flight and a smooth enjoyable time. 

When you see professional golfers playing a tournament, there is a feeling you get of awe as they effortlessly swing the club and displace the ball to exactly where they intend for it to land. This is called getting out of your head and into the moment. That is where the effortless life exists, in the moment. It is not about doing the task. It is not about completing the task. Moreover it is about being there in the moment that the task unfolds. Once you know the basics and fundamentals in anything that you do, allow that those skills to sink in and just do it. Nike did not coin that advertising phrase by accident, JUST DO IT ! Being in the total moment, you carry out your once perfectly mind planned event with effortless motion. Living life effortlessly is a state of being and not doing. It is the difference between soul-full  or "mind-less" living and mind-full living. Letting yourself go and letting your Self take over is a subtle remark with a major distinction and change in outcome. A great athlete is one who makes the committment with the whole of their heart and the average athlete makes it whole heartedly with their mind and gusto. 

Being in the moment I grant you is not easy. However I would submit that it is meant to be easy. As you collect each moment to moment of staying aware and present you may find that you end up with a few seconds, minutes, hours, days, months and years and soon a lifetime of living effortlessly and a fully on purpose life. When you are surprised that suddenly a golf swing was so perfect that you cannot believe that you did it, then that shot was living effortlessly. When you are shocked how easily you were able to complete that marathon faster than you have done in the past, then you are living your life effortlessly. When you submit that you are going to live your life in this manner, that feeling has to come from deep within and accompanied by a surrender into the moment. You may almost feel like you are floating, and that is  probably because you have ejected your "mind" out of you and what is  left is YOU.  Anything that you choose to do can also be made into an effortless state regardless whether it is at home or at the workplace. Let not your "job" become so monotonous that you do not enjoy it, yet instead effortless that you are the best at your job at any time. Just remember that effortless living does not mean easy living, it means on purpose and soulful living.

That was easy, I must not be doing it right. That was effortless, I am alive.

Doing your duty

Doing your duty

What is your duty? Is it to your family? Is it to society? Is it to your job? Is it towards your country? Or is it to yourSelf? These are questions that we each have to answer for ourselves and the answer is unique and personal. Duty is also accompanied by fear. This is not necessarily a fear of doing the wrong thing yet more not providing due diligence towards that duty and then feeling like we are coming up short. We do this regularly but more so when dealing with the duty towards ourSelves. A fireman would not be very good at his duty to save others in need if he or she were afraid of the fire. A pilot would not be very good at his or her flying duties if they are afraid of heights. A doctor would not be helpful if he or she was frightened of talking to their patients. Similarly we would not be paying the correct allegiance to ourSelves if we were fearful of taking care of our needs. These may be in the form of quiet time for us to reflect on our lives through meditation. Perhaps it is doing some physical exercise and keeping our bodies healthy. It could even be spending time praying and connecting to your Source. Spending time to enjoy personal hobbies that give you joy and happiness.  Probably choosing healthier choices to eat or drink might also fall into the category of dutiful behavior towards yourSelf. 

If you cannot take care of yourSelf then the needs of others be it family, dependents or a nation cannot be met. It all starts from you. For example Santa Claus has to make sure that he does not get "sleigh-sickness" as he whizzes around the globe in one night at Mach 5 delivering presents, otherwise he would not be an effective "hope deliverer." Once his personal fears of  the roller coaster like mid air flying and constant turbulence are overcome, especially the fear that wearing no seatbelt may be a problem, are faced then the journey to every chimney top and post office station becomes simpler. Drugs and alcohol are not really forms of fear banishment but merely liquid encouragement to stay composed in the face of fear, which unfortunately manifests as the opposite reaction to what you are looking for.  

We are perpetually exhausted from all the mental, physical and emotional bombardment of responsibilities and stimuli yet the duty towards our personal Selves continues to be neglected. The unhappiness that we emanate is our Spirit calling out for help and reprieve. If the call is answered we delve into a world of negativity and misery, and once this sets in, our ability to help anyone or change any event is seriously diminished. With every day,  become more aware of your duty to Self. This is  not some selfish call to arms and abandon your overall responsibilities and sit on the couch and demand your time. In fact it is just the opposite. Becoming more proactive and carving out your personal time for yourSelf is just as important as fulfilling your roles as parent, coworker, friend, spouse or any number of roles we jump into with that superhero mentality. Be kind and gentler to yourSelf. Listen to yourSelf. You have needs that can only be met by you, and not by anyone else. Loving yourSelf is as important and necessary as it is loving another. 

Attention ! Duty calls.... and its all about You. 

Emptying your garbage bin

Emptying your garbage bin

Every day various household items from the kitchen or various rooms all get tossed in your bin. Tidying  up your high traffic areas, and keeping areas clean is a very natural thing to do. Anything that is not used, worn out, dirty is tossed. If it can be recycled then into the "recycle" labelled bin they go, otherwise everything unwanted or unneeded is discarded into even bigger trash cans that are kept outside the housing establishment for pick up once a week by the town receptacle collectors. This is quite normal for the physical yet where this becomes even more useful and necessary is when we apply the principle to the mind. 

Our computer-like brains are constantly in a state of flux. Organizing, processing, clearing up and redistributing thoughts, memories and ideas are all typical "cleaning" up features that we do all day long, and sometimes better processing habits when we dream. Unloading your mind is necessary while you keep your high traffic consciousness free and clear to pursue the next inevitable thought that comes your way every second. Even when you use your real computer you have to periodically empty the trash bin that is full of unneeded files, programs and cookies to enable faster processing of your computer. Our minds are full of corrupted programs, useless "cookies of stimuli", clusters of trivia and piles of memories noted by all our senses. Random things we see, smells we pick up, sounds we hear, feelings we perceive through touch and taste, are all constantly clogging our "sense shield" and pinging them as stimuli. Our brains process them ALL and filters them very quickly to see if we ever need to react to them, leaving us in a state of an ever ready reactionary mode if you will. Being in this state is not good long term as physically this is no different than keeping your car running in neutral with  your foot on the accelerator at all times. You either use your brake or the engine dies, one way or another you will stop. 

The mind takes in all these sense stimuli  and locks them away for further processing needs. Your consciousness then tries to sort them out at its pace. This is why through hypnosis the memories can be brought forth and remembered. It is all trapped in the box of your mind waiting to be processed, come out or get deleted.  In order to keep you sane from moment to moment the  stimuli are "absorbed" by the brain for later, yet after a while you get fatigued, negative and "down the dumps "and we simply blame it on life or others or the ultimate coup de grace, we blame ourselves for our problems. If we choose not to lay fault with anyone especially ourSelves, and simply be more aware of this interesting process of cleaning up on a regular basis we may end up being happier. 

Daily meditation, with quiet breathing and allowing your mind to wander, and it will wander, yet gently bringing it back to center, helps sharpening and focussing the mind to start going through the innumerable stimuli and seeing what is needed and what is not needed. Being aware of the breath, keeps you in the moment and your consciousness can transfer what is needed from subconscious storage to the forefront. If irrelevant, useless, or not needed, then it can be dumped into the trash can. Constant practice of this technique helps clear up all your rooms of your mind and keep your high traffic areas clean for a more vibrant, alive, awake, and fulfilling experience. Now recycling your trash  in terms of older memories is another story altogether. Once you are facile in this clearing process, the question really then becomes how big of a trash can do you need? If you keep cleaning and emptying your mind you might need less and less of a sizable bin to use, but initially get the largest one you can find.

My my what clean rooms of your mind you have....

 

Disappearing act

Disappearing act

Ever think about what it would feel like being a part of a magician's trick? Especially the one when he makes the assistant disappear and then reappear somewhere else. I am sure it is just an illusion yet the effect is spell binding. Now imagine if you could do that to yourself on a regular basis, how would you feel? Life is chaotic as it is with the constant hustle and bustle of our physical and mental processes that we cannot keep up. We get so involved in the flow of work or life activities that we forget who we are or what we represent and for that matter what would happen if we were not here. There is a simple little exercise you can do to not only disappear but when you reappear, you are more alive and aware of the moment. 

Right in the middle of the chaos of your life when you feel you are so overwhelmed, stop. Take a breath. Imagine that you have died and you are not here, yet you are now at this very moment witnessing everything happening in front of you but cannot communicate with any person, or anything. Just watch as things happen WITHOUT your participation. Just be still. Feel everything happening. See the people communicating and going about their activities , see objects moving, note the events unfolding through time. This is an amazing disappearing act. It will bring  you a sense of peace as you see that life is moving right along without you. Know that everything is well despite your absence. This in no means underestimates your presence on this planet or undervalues your life's existence. It simply reveals that life can go on even though you are not there to be involved in the overwhelming madness of it all. Be like a ghost or angel if you will, just witnessing.

Now step out of your plane and join the race, but this time with a fully awakened presence of mind. Know now that your reappearance heralds your key necessity to make a difference in the course of events, yet now with a greater sense of peace. Disappearing and reappearing is more dissolving and re-manifesting yourself into a new you, one more capable of exacting help, providing assistance, changing causality and outcomes with calm, focus and poise.  You are more valued than you believed, more loved than you realized and  more needed that you thought. Fulfilling your multifaceted roles while wearing your numerous hats is one thing, yet looking good and alive wearing those hats is quite another.

Wow you have been gone a while, welcome back...and thanks for returning :)

The doctors waiting room

The doctor's waiting room

If you are ever unfortunate enough to have to go visit the doctors office you are usually required to patiently (no pun intended) sit in a room till your appointed time to meet with the health care professionals. Looking around the room, you can see the variety of faces of the patients. Some sad, some sick, some impatient, some depressed, some dejected. The whole gamete of human emotion can be found. Different people all with a different physical or mental illness that is plaguing their existence. Regardless of specialty, the fuller the waiting room the inference is that more people are sick and ailing which is unfortunate. Hence it is always good to appreciate when you are healthier, and  in so doing enjoy it with great gratitude that you are not an patient. Not a single one of us can recall that they have never seen an unhealthy person and more so never recall not getting sick at one point in their lives. This is the nature of life and eventuality of death. Sickness and good health are just states of being while we start and end our lives. 

The doctor may be sad to see an empty waiting room or elated when seeing a packed one, yet regardless of their opinion they are there only to help the physical or mental derangement.The healing of the spiritual is in your hands. What you choose to focus on expands. The more negativity you choose to accept and bring in, the more illness in some fashion creeps in to your heart, mind, body. The more positivity you seek, the more clean health you embrace. I am certainly not advocating that you do not seek out care when needed, nor that you miss your wellness physical appointment so that you stay healthy. I am emphasizing that apart from medication, and supplements there is another part of you that may equally need treatment, so do not discount this entity, namely your Spirit. 

Exploring the lighter side of life is as important as seeking a health care professional's counsel. Spend some quality time with yourSelf to firstly diagnose what the disease process that has taken hold of you. Check out the symptoms as you run through your feelings of unhappiness, anger, negativity. Once you make your diagnosis, then start chipping away at the root cause. As you do this, the treatment presents itself as you do this and may in fact be just that, reduce your sizable mountain of an "illness." Whether it is finding something humorous to enjoy, or a peaceful walk with nature, or engaging in a hobby of your choice, the treatment and cure is within You. Spiritual sickness is curable 100% of the time, unlike the illnesses of the manifested world. Reconvening with the universe and your Source is a good initial place to open yourself up to understand the magnitude of the problem. Despite your ego telling you otherwise, your particular barrier is not unique and the solution is always at hand. Forgiveness and letting go of your troubles is one such avenue, and immeasurable gratitude for all in the past, present and future is yet another road that you must travel on to attain your "cure." So the next time you are in the waiting room , try meditating while you patiently wait instead of being a waiting patient, you may have started your healing process before your actual appointment. 

Is there a doctor in the house? Yes, within Me.

Living on the edge

Living on the edge

Someone bothers us or something does not go our way. It irritates us. This festers like a thorn in a finger, and continues to draw out older negative experiences. Regardless of relationship to the present condition, these negative feelings continue to create an eventual tidal wave that will rise and rise leading to frustration, hatred and anger. We then teeter on the edge of madness. Yet what prevents us from losing our cool and striking someone or something, thereby committing a heinous act. Or even for that matter letting our guard down and in that momentary weakness or blurring of lines commit adultery, steal, lie, cheat, striking someone in anger and behave badly.  Moreover what is lacking in many who do cross over the drawn line of "normality." 

The place to answer the question is at the beginning. How do we prevent ourselves from reaching and living on the edge of the abyss? It is very easy to say "stay calm and carry on", " be at peace at all times", " relax and meditate" yet the truth be told it takes a lot more courage, strength and resolve to hold back the winds of anger in face of a stimulus versus hiding in a hut away from reality. This is called living. The adages noted as above are merely reinforcements to the already erected scaffolding of the mind that is in place to prevent you from  losing the battle and pulling you back from the edge. We should try not to keep living on the edge lest we intend to stay there and get accustomed to the dizzy heights from whence to fall. We prevent ourselves by strengthening these reinforcements on a daily basis through the presence of mind and faith. Being in the moment affords us the extra second of pause to breathe and then react which makes all the difference in the world. By allowing your spirit to give you much needed counsel in that split second makes the difference between you shouting in anger or striking someone, and maintaining composure and walking back from the edge. Unfortunately the edge will always be there so long as we interact with this world and the persons within it, yet it is about summoning the fortitude and not stepping off the edge of destruction. That brief second maybe in just a second in linear time but it is in fact infinity in spiritual time, long enough for you to choose the next step. What may not be present in the people who commit bad behavior or heinous acts  are those whose struts are not strongly placed and so are carried off by the forces of anger. 

The blurry lines of right and wrong are instilled from a young age by parents, teachers and society, the downside is that it is usually based on someone else's morality and imprinted upon us. The nature of spirit is never allowed to "mature" in the physical realm as we are too young and physically or mentally "immature"and so we adopt the boundaries and lines from others. I would argue that if given the right circumstances by parents or society as a whole, one can allow even a young child to have the confidence and insight to ripen their own spiritual Selves, thereby adorning their true morality while still at a young stage, and so not corrupted by that of others. Yet time and tide wait for no man, and neither can be reversed, so move forward and do your best. I would suggest that by enabling the practice of being ever present, which might be helped through various meditative techniques, or simply following your breath awareness on a more moment to moment interval might be one such start. Not taking on the stimulus head first may assist in changing the landscape that is presented. Living on the edge or walking around on egg shells is no way to live. Look over at the abyss, smile and say boo ! Make it afraid of you and not the other way round. Remember to step away not step off the edge. 

Scared of heights? Great time to not live on the edge. 

 

Living outside your comfort zone

Living outside your comfort zone

We love the idea that whatever we do is within our personal acceptable limits. We enjoy being in within this "zone" as  it is comfortable. We barely stretch out  from its walls to improve ourselves ever so slightly and then retreat within once again. This is called our comfort zone. It is known, it is safe and secure. Any ideas that break down these walls or require us to jump across the safety of the boundaries gives us concern and we dare not venture out. Inside the zone is the knowledge that we have obtained through out our lives either through experienced triumphs or fears or things we have been told without much basis in fact. Tales of others experiences from long long ago are firmly entrenched within us, leaving a footprint if you will into our psyche. The ego is the king or queen of this realm and clearly very happy to run a tight reign.  When the drawbridge of the castle of comfort is drawn up and the windows are tightly shut, there is little room for reason to creep in and bring you out to  explore anything. You bolt the doors and get into your proverbial comfortable slippers and lie on the comfy sofa and do not take any calls.

Now outside this zone is the unknown, and everything that you really choose to desire, choose to do and choose  to become. Yet you have to choose to come out. Living outside your comfort  zone is very hard for your ego, but very easy for your true Self that knows what to expect, namely freedom to do anything. Whether you choose to explore new lands, change your career, pick up new hobbies, learn new skills, try a new experience, you usually take permission from your ego, who usually says a big emphatic NO ! Somehow you escape and do what it is you choose to do and the zone becomes bigger. Once you experience something it now becomes part of your repertoire of knowledge and  the ego accepts it. The tough part is trying to get the walls permeable enough to continuously keep experiencing new things and then like a balloon it expands and the comfort zone encompasses everything. However note that like the balloon, the zone will also at some point grow to a certain size and then stop expanding  or burst. This problem occurs because like with the balloon, boundaries and walls will always restrict us. 

A novel idea is to liberate ourSelves from the said comfort zone and find another form of housing, essentially living free outside of the comfort zone at all times. The universe will provide you with all you ever will need to live outside the constraining zone, making your stay more comfortable. You are going to have to negotiate with the ever powerful ego and let it understand that it is in its best interest to join in the fun, and that it is still in control of itself but not of you. There are infinite possibilities awaiting you to explore and for you to grow. You are the true king or queen of your castle and world. Will you let your subjects like the ego and the mind,  chain you in your own home, or will you open the front door, step outside and take in the sights, sounds and a big breath of fresh air.

Have you scaled the walls of your comfort zone yet?

Arguing with oneSelf

Arguing with oneSelf

Not a day goes by when I do  not find myself in some of sort of dispute or disagreement. Not with anyone else necessarily except with my Self. The arguments used to be more frequent but we are coming to a better understanding. Before we go any further allow me to elaborate  who the players are in this conversation. The ego and the Self. Both are equally important debaters in your life and as they come to agreements Your higher purpose gets fulfilled. The  ego is what assists in advancing your physical life, and the Self assists you in bringing your spiritual purpose via your ego into reality. 

The ego argues from the perspective of that  it is right and only its opinion is correct. It is always in a mode of relative survival . Threatened with a different perspective it becomes defensive and then leans towards the offensive. The ego can come up with all sorts of justifications depending on the situation that arises. Usually it is the prominent debater as that is what we see when we  are in conversation with mostly everyone. So essentially we basically have egos clashing and having conversations with each other all around the world, making decisions about the world, ourselves and the perceived progress. All wars originate from people who are in a position of  power whose  egos are constantly clashing. Peace usually reigns when another entity is talking, the spirit. The ego unfortunately can be very persuasive and sometimes very persistent if the debate is left unchecked.  

When you are more aware of yourSelf and give it a voice, you hear the wisdom of the Divine, as your Self. It is a very non judgmental and timeless opinion that is rendered. It will not engage in the argument yet instead hold its presence with the ego without participating in the egos differing impulsive attitude. It keeps reminding you of your purpose, yet the ego talks too loudly for you to hear what both sides are saying especially the ego who definitely does not want to hear anything that anyone let alone the Self  is trying to bring forth. The Self knows its purpose for this lifetime and mixed in with relative free will (yet another discussion all together) cooperates with the ego to enable you to live your life. 

Who is doing the talking and who has the " debate floor" at any time is the key to understanding what and when anything  comes out of your mouth, or if any action  is to be undertaken. For the ego it is about winning the argument and furthering its agenda. For the soul or spirit or the Self it is about furthering only one agenda, that of the Divine purpose. The balance of the debate is what determines the outcome of your decision going forward. However maintaining the balance requires that each side has an appropriate say and time to make its arguments known without interruption ( usually by the ego). The gatekeeper or the Speaker of the House is the mind. If the mind is calm and serene then both voices can be allowed to present their cases with grace. If the mind is restless then neither side is allowed to speak and the debate turns into a downward spiral leading to a non purposeful life. The consciousness is your state of awareness of your debaters and the conversations that henceforth ensue. When you are unhappy then you know that the arguments are going  off kilter and when you are happy then you know that there is a better balance between the debaters. Pay attention to how you feel  as you raise your consciousness level.What a wondrous process this can be as your life unfolds and all the experiences are identified when your balance of your "governing bodies" is maintained.

Do you hear that?  Who is speaking now? What are they saying?