Isn’t that the buzz today? The interest in money is probably not much different today than it always has been but today its importance seems to rank right up there as much as air, water and food for our survival. I think what gets us in trouble is that we forget that it’s just a tool and a tool that can be used to help or harm. It’s a gift to assist us in putting our talents and creations out into the world to better the world.
It’s interesting. Ever since I started this blog this week, I really don’t know what I’m writing about until I take my morning shower. By then, I usually have some ideas circulating around in my head. That’s when I was somewhat surprised when this topic popped up and it’s actually taken me longer to put into words because of things I'm working through. I guess it started last night when I caught the end of a PBS lecture by Dr. Christiane Northrup that peaked my interest. She said, “Those who have trouble receiving attract those who have trouble giving.” I thought, “Wow, that’s interesting. I never quite heard it expressed like that before.” Then I turned it around, “Those who have trouble giving attract those who have trouble receiving,” and I wondered what that would feel like. Which way strikes you the most? If it resonates with you, then it’s probably something you need to make note of. It’s important in the laws of attraction to be congruent with our feelings and core beliefs and if your daily actions and thoughts don’t match, then you’re in conflict. If that’s the case, the first thing to help bring you more in line is to become more aware of your thoughts and actions and how that feels, check it and change it to how you want to think and feel. We have operated on autopilot for so long that we aren’t aware of what we’re thinking, how we feel and what we’re saying and then we wonder why we’re getting what we have in our lives. You have probably heard these things before. I know I have. This world’s nature is abundance. You look at a flower or a vegetable plant. You don’t just get one seed – there are thousands of seeds. One apple tree doesn’t just produce one apple. The force that put this world in place only knows of abundance and it’s not being withheld from us. Then, if we’re in lack, what’s the problem?
Another thing to consider about money and abundance is when you have it, what do you do with it? Do you feel you have to do everything you can to hold onto it? There was an interesting passage I came across, also yesterday (guess this topic had been showing up in many ways), and it’s from a beautiful book I’m in the process of reading by Richard Bode entitled, Beachcombing at Miramar: The Quest for an Authentic Life. It reads, “They meant well, as friends so often do, …..their advice was founded on the mistaken assumption that money is a solid, which, once relinquished can never be regained. But money isn’t a solid; it’s a fluid, like water. The cupful I spill over one side of the ship, I scoop up again on the other side.” This is such a visual picture for me and helped me understand that when we receive money we keep the flow going and pass it along. It never diminishes. We just reach over to the side of the boat and dip in for more. There’s plenty and enough for everyone.
I fully understand what some of you might be experiencing right now, coming up with money for bills and keeping food on the table. I’m right there with you. I have bills to pay and the doors seem to be closed right now on getting employment back in the corporate world and yet I’m excited. This is a new adventure for my husband and I. I’ve shed the overwhelming fear and pushed through my tantrums of trying to make it happen my way. Now, I’m at peace knowing I’m on the ride of a lifetime and doing what I know to do at this time building this blog with my personal stories, thoughts and resources to help put you on the path that will show you the way it works….for you and me. I don’t catch my thoughts and actions every day but I’m much better than I used to be. I am a work in progress with a mighty force guiding me all the way and so are you. You have to keep tinkering with it until it fits for you and feels right and you see it working. Don’t give up. As Dr. Wayne Dyer said, in The Power of Intention, “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”
From the kitchen table - Pat
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Friday, November 30, 2007
$$$ Money $$$ - Where Is It - Where Can I Get Some?
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Hooking Up – Finding that Connection
If I had to answer the question, “What is your calling?” the closest response I could give – hook up and find that connection. It seems like in our society today we keep trying to find ways to separate, yet through internet access, cell phones, blackberries, etc., we appear to be more in touch with each other than ever before. True, technologically speaking, but can we talk to our children? Do we know how our elderly mother or father is feeling when they’re facing assisted living care? Or, what is going on with me? I can’t seem to be able to connect with my feelings or express myself. I’m too busy. This is complex and I don’t claim to know what’s happening here. I just want to present it to you.
If you’ve ever been around horses, you’ve probably heard the names of Tom Dorrance About Tom and Ray Hunt About Ray. They are pioneers in horse training and animal communication – horse whisperers - who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and seeing in action. When you watch them work with a horse in a round pen, you’ll see something beautiful happening in the dance between man and animal. There’s a broken link being reconnected where the horse, in his struggles to trust the human again, slowly yields, stops and turns facing the man. This is what I call “hooking up”. You can see it in the horse’s eyes when he makes that choice and looks to the human for help and guidance. It is the beginning of a relationship of give and take, learning from each other and is beautiful to see. How can we translate this to us? How can we hook up to our husband or wife, our children, co-workers, friends and be truly present with them, plugged into what they’re saying and doing?
Growing up with my parents and sister in a small town southeast of Philadelphia, I learned early that I was living in a home where there was very little communication. There was much disharmony and mistrust and arguments to the point I wondered if they knew I even existed. This went on throughout their whole lifetime and somehow I always wanted to find a way to help them reconcile with each other. I never knew the root of their issues only the evidence. When I married and moved out to Colorado, I kept in touch regularly and went back for visits. Each time I went back, I would think, “Maybe, this is the time I can get them to sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk where they would consider each other’s feelings and talk it out.” In 1985, my mother died suddenly in her sleep and I flew back to help my Dad and sister. The arrangements were in disarray in that they had made no preparations and had no money. Dad was a mess, my sister and I were heart broken losing our mother and the opportunity to help them reconnect lost forever. After the burial, I flew back to Colorado and I can remember sitting on the plane still in shock and emotionally numb. I kept asking, “Why?” “Why did they have such a life of arguing and fighting and poverty?” “Why couldn’t they change or see past it?” I couldn’t get over it. It kept rolling over and over in my mind that it seemed like such a waste. When I got home and went to bed that evening, I still couldn’t shake this and, when I finally fell asleep, I had a vivid dream. I could see my mother with steel cables coiled around her from head to toe. Off to the side, I could see a hand holding a pair of clippers. The hand moved toward my mother and cut each of the cables until she was totally free. I remembered this dream the next day when I awoke and it helped bring closure and peace.
We often are so stuck in our beliefs and how we think things should be. We’re hurt and can’t get past the pain, like my mother. Her trying to control the situation and acting out the pain only made it worse and ruined what life they could have had together. Are you holding onto something so tight you’re willing to give up your life for it - unable to yield like the horse and consider another way? I learned a big lesson that day – one of compassion. We don’t know what each other’s feeling or the pain but if we can gently give guidance and help point to healing and trust – like the horse whisperer – what a new world this would be.
Where is the human whisperer? There are people out there for you and me: a close friend, relative or someone in your church, who have gentle compassion and can direct us safely to a place where we can trust again and connect to our relationships and a healthy life. We just need to be willing to yield and hook up.
From the kitchen table - Pat
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Finding Inspiration
Whenever I need a boost for the day, I always look at this poem I have posted within easy view. Again, I don’t know the source. It came by way of e-mail and has been an incredible source of inspiration for me. I’ll share it with you:
When you walk to the edge of all the light you have
and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown,
you must believe that one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid for you to stand upon,
or, you will be taught how to fly
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Trust – Cutting the Rope and Taking the Leap
I’ve come a long way with trust and I readily admit that I still have some work to do. I never really thought I had trust issues until late one morning in the early 1980’s it became real apparent. In our neighborhood, every morning several neighbors would gather at my house after the kids left for school for coffee and talk religion, philosophy, whatever came up. It was a lively group and all of us had our opinions of how the world should be run. On the outside, it would appear we were self-righteous and holy thou’ers but we really were searching for answers. We had our stack of bibles and reference books and would dig and cross reference extensively on that particular topic of the day. You’d think we were Bible scholars. We would pray and ask for guidance at the beginning of our gathering with intentions of truly wanting to learn. It was at one of these mornings that, out of the blue, I heard in my head someone say, “You don’t trust me.” It seemed peculiar to me as it was not what we had been talking about and, as it was a masculine voice I heard, I knew it didn’t come from one of my neighbors. I took note and pondered on it for days…. “Where did that come from?” “Who said that?” “Who don’t I trust?” Note: I want you to know that I know this is weird and could qualify for one of those “woo woo” experiences but I can’t discount or explain it away. It happened some 27 years ago and it put me on a path of exploration and growth. I never had any further explanations or revelations of what that meant but since that day my faith and philosophies have evolved and I’ve grown with a lot more wisdom on trust.
Dr. Wayne Dyer, in his “Manifesting Your Destiny” lecture series, talks about coming to a place where you have to decide to take a leap of faith - dig deep and find the courage. It may be way out there in terms of what you’ve been taught to believe. He says it’s like standing on the edge of this huge, black abyss and you jump. But, when you jump, you’re holding onto a boulder which carries you down faster. Then, you not only have to have the courage to jump but also the courage to let go of the boulder and trust. Of course, he isn’t talking literally but in metaphorical terms. Have any of you been struggling with what to do and it seems like everything you try isn’t working? Have you thought of taking a totally different approach but it’s something you’ve never done before and it scares you. That’s like standing on the edge of the abyss. I’ve felt that with starting this blog and sharing my stories and experiences with you. I’m not a literary expert or writer. In fact, as a child I didn’t like to read. It was a pet peeve to me cause I thought you were wasting your time sitting in the house reading when the world outside was passing you by. As you can see, I’ve changed that outlook and have had a lot of catching up to do. This is the last thing I ever thought I would be doing. When I heard this lecture, it raised my awareness in many situations. I learned to take a chance and go for it, whatever it is. It showed me how to trust not only in myself but in the energy force within all of us.
Another interesting story came to me a couple of years ago by way of e-mail that also challenged this trust issue and I want to share it with you. I don’t know its source. It’s called The Rope. If you can place yourself in the same position, what would you do? I had to ask myself those same questions and because I did I am much further along the path today. I’m sure there will still be situations that come up testing how much I am willing to trust. I hope that whatever you’re facing today, you’ll seek inner guidance and trust knowing you’ll be okay.
From the kitchen table - Pat
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Monday, November 26, 2007
Truth and Beauty
Dr. Wayne Dyer in his book, Wisdom of the Ages, quotes from a poem, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, from John Keats: ““Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” Dr. Dyer goes on to talk about truth being what’s real for us in what we’ve experienced and accomplished. He also talks about truth being a life force and tells a story about a dead stick he was about to clear out that turned out to be alive. We talked about this last night at Morningstar Assisted Living and touched on some things that were true to them and if truth changes. I thought more about how that discussion related in my personal life and I could identify with Dr. Dyer’s example of the dead stick. It seems like, when our lives don’t appear to be going in the direction we want it to, we’re ready to give up, just chuck it all. What appears to be like a dead stick, is all we think is possible, but, if you consider the life force that is in everything and focus on that instead of what it looks like, amazing things happen and there lies the beauty. It’s like the acronym for Fear: F-false, E-evidence, A-appearing, R-real. Whenever, you’re overcome with fear, try to take a step back and assess the situation and locate the truth and beauty and focus on that and see where it takes you. Hold onto that until you get a new direction and take action.
This blog is my beginning. I’m taking action and focusing on truth and beauty and offering my thoughts to you. Again, I am reminded of the numerous times throughout my life when things that appeared real were false and, when I held onto the possibility of good coming out of it, the result was a miracle.
One small example was in the corporate world. I was giving an overview of the 4-part series of Wisdom For The Ages in a supervisor’s meeting. I had been given permission to pilot this talking-stick series and was working on getting the word out by meeting individually with managers and supervisors to let them know what this was about and the details so they could attend as well as their employees. Typically, after giving a short description of what we would be talking about and it’s purpose, I would read a poem and it would be well received, except for this particular supervisor’s meeting. This was the first time I attended a supervisor’s meeting, collectively. I was not aware of the competitiveness and down-to-business, stick-to-the-agenda nature. The energy felt cold and I was slotted to speak first so as to get onto business. I gave my overview, extended the invitation to come to the meetings and read the poem, “The Final Analysis” from Dr. Wayne Dyer’s There’s A Spiritual Solution To Every Problem. This is a poem found on the walls of Mother Teresa’s ashram. As I left the meeting, with very little response, I felt rejected and “stupid”, as if you could actually feel stupid. I was overcome with emotion. All I could think was, “What are you doing?” “What makes you think something like this actually fits in the corporate world?” I had to go into a breakout room, close the door and be alone for a couple of minutes to compose myself, fighting back the tears, before I could go back to my desk. I remember calling my husband and telling him what happened and how I felt and what he said brought me back to why I was doing this. He said: “It doesn’t matter what they thought. It doesn’t change what it is.” That was enough to help me compose myself. I went back to my desk and shortly afterwards the supervisor’s meeting broke up. One of the supervisors passed my desk and stopped to talk to me. She told me how she was moved by what I said and the poem. It was exactly what she needed to hear as she was going through a crisis in her life and was close to tears. This certainly wasn’t what I had been picking up but I only had been focusing on what I believed to be true – the dead stick, which was false.
Things aren’t always how they appear, as what was evident in this story. Give yourself a chance to let it unfold and reveal the truth as it is supposed to. Look for the life force, the truth and beauty that are in everything. It’s there – all around us just waiting to be discovered. What are you focusing on today?
From the kitchen table - Pat
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