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?

Miracles do happen

Miracles do happen

We wait for the holy season of Christmas, Hanukah or any number of religious holy holidays to look for miracles to happen. Movies about the same that occur on christmas time are abound, all instilling a warm feeling of magic in the air and the possibilities that anything can happen. Yet what if we do not have to wait for the holidays for that to happen. I would respectfully submit that miracles are happening constantly all around us, yet are we open enough to recognize them, accept and acknowledge them is the real issue.

Miracles occur all the time in numerous forms. A few examples can be demonstrated. What about the miracle of a child being born healthy without any deformities or ailments. If you study human  embryology and see the literally infinite processes that have to occur in order to produce a single healthy human being, and the number of named illnesses that are realized due to failed processes, it is a wonder that we even have a human race. The miracle of a family eating a meal together. The increasing number of fractured families, or even families that have parents working multiple jobs and shifts and unable to be together on a nightly basis to share a meal is quite staggering and humbling. The miracle of drinking clean water, consuming a healthy meal, wearing decent clothes, owning a vehicle to drive are all other day to day examples of what many take for granted and others will proclaim a miracle. 

Miracles might be getting a chance to talk to a friend you have not met in years, who out of the blue gives you a call. Being  able to freely practice your religion without the fear of persecution or reprisal may be yet another example. If we live our lives with this expectant behavior that a beautiful miracle will unfold every day and that we will be present enough to see it, perhaps then we will. If we live every moment as if it were our last, then every moment will last. Wishing for a miracle unfortunately is a naive way to live, akin to sitting on the  couch and changing the channel with a remote. Participation is a key ingredient, coupled with a dose of faith, a cup of expectation and a spoonful of presence of mind. So do not wait for miracles to happen.You have to become the miracle you choose to see in your life. Becoming a kinder, gentler and more compassionate person takes practice and patience. In today's world it is a tall order but more miraculous things have happened such as you recognizing changes in your self that need to happen, or the shift of energies that are happening, or the connected and loving person that you already have become.

Are you performing miracles? Perhaps you are a saint in disguise.

Conducting your own orchestra

Conducting your own Orchestra

The elegance of enjoying an orchestral performance is a cherished experience.  The well dressed musicians with their shiny instruments and crisp music sheets, all  perfectly seated at the pleasure of the conductor. The quiet hush falls upon the theater as the conductor comes to center stage beautifully encased with the glow of the spot light. Perfectly dressed, he or she bows cordially to the  audience, and turns to the musicians who revere his every action. With grace and poise the conductor's stick rises after tapping the lectern for attention. The conductor then instructs the players to perform their musical talent in harmony and with correct timing, transforming the notes on the pages into a well formed melodious reality to our ears and our hearts.

The conductor is our soul. The musicians are our multifaceted ego personalities    of how we present ourselves to the world. There is no such thing as a bad conductor. His or her job is primarily to guide, instruct, and expect the best and the most appropriate tune to come out of the ego. Yet a untalented musician is what translates into the out of sync and out of tune ego. The conducting spirit is trying its level best to make the orchestra, namely you, perform at its best with the collection of egos it has at its disposal. The unfocussed ego can derail the orchestra, however a keen and disciplined minded ego can enable the flow of a beautifully devised harmonic piece. The audience namely the world, will only see what is presented to them, good or bad. 

The conductor will always do their best to keep the musical flow  going. The human experiences are the movements of the musical piece, if well played out are indeed fabulous, if not then quite disastrous. Having a good band of musicians (personality egos) is therefore a key element. They need to practice, practice and practice being focussed, in tune, aware of their instruments (limitations) and the book of music they need to follow, and of course acknowledging  along the guidance of the "spirit" conductor.  The musical composition itself can be represented as the purpose of ones life. The conductor will guide this out with gestures of tempo, dynamics and phrases, and the musical ego must follow along and play when meant to in accordance with the ensemble or otherwise be silent. 

We all want our finale to be one of lasting remembrance, and the conductor will do just that, with the right group of egos. We seek to have egos that are virtuosos but need to be able to follow your divine will, or your conductor's stick. The aim in life is to have the conductor and the orchestral egos in harmonic synchrony such that the tune performed is perfect, or at least perfect enough for the ears of the world to appreciate. The last thing we want is orchestral dissonance when one ego is playing treble and the other bass, or one is playing an adagio and the other playing a capriccio, what a sordid din. Put the time in to training your musician egos. Patience, practice and tolerance is a good way to start. Enable each musician or ego feel that they are part of something much bigger than themselves and so foster the feeling of an ensemble. The conductor does this well if given the opportunity. A conductorless orchestra is usually never well remembered for its musical prowess. 

Tap Tap Tap.....Is your orchestra ready to play your divine composition?

Being on hold

Being on hold

Ring, Ring Ring

" Hello please stay on the line for the next available operator"

And so the wait begins....

How much time do we spend day to day on the phone and on hold waiting for our party to be reached. How much time do we spend day to day waiting for the next big thing to happen to us and in doing so being on hold with our selves and our futures. We always feel that today is not the day for anything major to happen or that even if anything does happen, it falls short of our spectacular expectation of grandeur. We somehow expect that the heavens will open up and  the opportunities or intentions we seek will be presented to us on a silver platter. We fail to recognize the  subtle changes that occur on a daily basis that are all part of the whole picture that eventually leads to our goal. 

Being on hold is a very tough way to live. Impatience is a symptom of the mind, yet the soul needs this time "on hold" to allow the process to unfold. One might say that staying on hold is necessary to gather ones' thoughts. It teaches the art of patience and in so doing allow the eventual accomplished goal to be more enjoyable. Once the hold time has been digested the spirit is more apt to move forward with purpose. Many a time we are so impatient that we cannot wait for the text that we have just written to be sent, and frustrated when the reply is not received immediately. We cannot wait for the signal when calling another phone to go into space, hit a satellite and return to earth to the phone of our caller without some sort of thought or verbal irritable response after we hit the send button on our phone. Even the momentary pause before we think and act will give us the time we need to reset the hold moment and become fully  engaged when the "hold' moment is over.

The more connected we are the faster we choose to have our needs met. Imagine what life was like when we used to use "snail" mail letters, the telegram, and these days the soon to be outdated slow fax machine. Unfortunately the "please hold" is becoming obsolete when even the customer service these days on phone calls is fully automatic, in that you either age rapidly while waiting for the never returning human operator or you give up with frustration with the same breath. I enjoy being on hold during a busy day as it forces my restless mind to realize that it has no choice but to stand still, or not complete the call. It  is forced to make a choice and in doing so has to take the onus for the choice. Be present or  not to be  present, that is the question and choice you are asking your mind to make. The more the quiet sets in, and the more present you are while  being on hold, you soon realize that the time lapsed is not only minute, yet the space in between if given the chance to unfold is preciously infinite in a positive way. Sometimes the universe gives you these "please stay on the line and hold" moments intentionally so that you can realize the beauty of the ever expansive nature of creation and be in awe of just that, namely the moment.

Here are some exercises to keep You entertained. Try to identify the music pieces that are played during some of these on hold moments. Try to gather your thoughts at these junctures. Try to just breathe and clear your mind during these cross roads of your day. Try to enjoy the passage of time without you in it during these moments. If you must then occupy your mind with another task while you wait on the phone, but know that You are always patiently waiting for your  mind, ego, and body to simply catch up. You might realize that after waiting long enough that the person on the other end of your "call on hold" might in fact be just You, what a pleasant thing to find YourSelf in the middle of your day.

Please do not interrupt me, I am on hold.

Think, love, play

Think,love &play

If you have not seen the movie with Julia Roberts titled Eat Love and Pray, it is a must see for any adult in a fog, wishing to lose themselves and find themselves once again. It is one of those"  feel good "movies and continues to inspire many to come out of their shell-like lives. I thought about this and then observing my little son I see how he behaves, interacts and maintains his "awe for everything" like nature. A very simple and instinctive way of living yet very peaceful and serene and natural. I wonder at times why does he not need to leave everything to go find himself or is he finding himself daily, and if so how does he do it, and more over to what end. 

He thinks about what he is doing, even though at times almost instinctive and primal however he spends his time creating imaginary plots of construction or elaborate story ideas of adventures and immerses himself wholeheartedly into them ( I usually get dragged in). He is in the moment and with that same tidal force expands his childlike creativity. So what happens when we become adults. Are we so focussed on thinking that we fail to do? Spending oceans of time thinking, rethinking and unthinking makes us tired, complacent and then not creative enough. Our instinctive  natures are curbed and our creativity curtailed prematurely. Perhaps more time should be spend being in the  moment and just doing, and letting things flow at home and at the workplace, making us more productive, momentarily conscientious.

He loves everything and anything. He hugs a tree, another child, his teachers, family and friends without care. With full and unconditional love he explores his world and learns a great deal. More than open eyes, we need to open up our hearts and welcome in the love that is all around us in the form of the same matter that we are all made up of, and in doing so automatically reflect it outwards. With the free flow of this unstoppable positive energy it is not possible to hurt another, commit crimes or harm ourselves. Engulfed in a sea of this compassion, we can ride the waves of forgiveness and reach our goals.

He plays with everything. I cannot keep him out of his exploration of pots, pans, my tools, the car gadgets, my office supplies, even my ties are a great source of fun as he unfolds each one and lays them on the floor creating an imaginary colorful flying carpet. Again through play, a child will tell us their fears and their dreams, if of course  we dare to listen. It is their ability to make everything fun. Every child is teaching an adult, be it a caregiver, parent, teacher, or grandparent, of how to live. Through play all things are fun and attainable. If you do the hardest task at home or at work yet do it in a game-like fashion you cause the mind to have fun completing the task and in doing so complete it in a more productive timeline. 

Are we thinking too much, loving not enough and forgetting to play? All children grow up and become adults, like us. Yet if we do not knock out these key senses they currently possess, I wonder how much better and more advanced they will be in comparison. Moreover I wonder if we learn from their senses, I wonder how much more fun we can have as adults right here and now. Eat, love and pray or think, love and play, or live, laugh and love. There seems to be a common theme and word. Can you guess which one?

 Have these  3 little words changed your life?