I Hope You Dance!

(Photo by Microsoft Clipart)
There is a dance we’re all in - the dance of life.

We may not think going through the motions every day is much of a dance but it’s a dance nevertheless whether we cooperate or resist. And what is a dance without music - quiet whispers from within.

I’ve been thinking a lot about something "Eckhart Tolle" said:

“Being one with life is being one with Now. You then realize that you don’t live your life, but life lives you. Life is the dancer, and you are the dance.”

“…you don’t live your life, but life lives you” – that is such a powerful sentence. I’ve been realizing that in my own life I’ve had it all backwards if this is true. I’ve been taking the lead and running with it – living my life instead of allowing life to live in me. Isn’t that what we’ve been taught to do?

We get caught up in routines, work and excuses. I wonder, sometimes, what we’re running from. We don’t stop long enough to listen to our music - our dreams and heart’s desires - and notice and appreciate what is going on around us. What kind of a partner is that like to dance with?

Dr. Wayne Dyer just recently gave an example of the human’s take-charge attitude on Oprah’s “Soul Series” ~ (I’ll paraphrase):

Life starts and we’re conceived. God handles how we’re fed, how we grow, whether we’re a boy or a girl, how many toes and fingers we have – all the way through our full development in the womb. He gives us our very own life. Then, it comes time for us to be born and, when we arrive, we say to God, “Thanks. I’ll take over from here.” We go it on our own from there.

When you consider it – that’s a bit arrogant. Yet, we carry on going about doing and doing and doing. So, how do we turn it around and allow Life to take the lead while we’re in this dance? I’m learning to do this and dance the dance of life.

1. For me, the first thing is to slow down long enough to connect with Essence -Life Source - to a point where I feel it and know it and become comfortable. I’m learning who my lead partner is in this dance. One way to make this connection is through our breath and become aware as you breathe in and out.

2. When I feel it and recognize the connection from within, then I can begin to trust and allow ideas to flow, people to come in and out of my life, merge with the events of the day – not fight it and try to make things happen.

3. Next, find your music; it’s within each of us. You can’t dance without music and if we tune into the music that resonates with us we’ll know the rhythm of our heart and can move in time with our partner - Life.

Dr. Wayne Dyer says, “Don’t die with your music still in you.” And I’ll add, “When you discover your music, dance. Dance the dance of life and let your Creator lead.”

I HOPE YOU DANCE!

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My Dad - Now Here Is A Man

(Private Photo - © by Pat Ruppel) ~~ My Dad, George "Roy" Collingwood. He went by Roy.

Unfortunately, I can only celebrate this Father’s Day with my Dad in spirit. I lost him in March of 1999 and I was just really getting to know him in the golden years of his life after all that time. He was 83 years young and due to turn 84 on his birthday that June 6th – D Day.

Yes, he was a World War II Veteran. He had a service album and showed us pictures from all over the world. Unlike a lot of Veterans, he talked a lot of the war. He had seen his share of the horror but his nature was to look for the good and mostly talked of the places he had seen during his tour.

Dad had grown up on the East coast and loved to swim. He talked of him and a friend swimming across the Delaware River at its narrowest point when they were only 10 or 11. Can you see kids doing that today?

He continued this love for the water throughout his life swimming in quarries, oceans and seas. One of the stories he told us was of a time during his tour of duty when their ship was in port. He often would dive off the side when they came in. This time when they were in a small inlet port he was about to dive off starboard when his buddies yelled at him to hold up.

From the ship, topside, they could see the narrow entrance to the port and a large shadow swimming under the surface of the water. A giant manta ray had appeared to enter the inlet and its wing-like fins stretched out to almost each side of the shore. Needless to say, my father stayed on board.

When he took us swimming in the ocean at my grandparents we’d play around and soon he’d disappear, then all of a sudden his feet would appear. He was doing a hand stand under water.

Then, there was the time in his latter years, 78, when he had gone fishing in a small lake using a friend’s canoe. He had never been in a canoe before and it tipped over when he was out in the middle of the lake. He swam back to shore with the canoe in tow but was more upset from losing his tackle box and prized lures. He said he’d never go out in a canoe again.

There are many stories I could tell of my Father, as you can, as well, reflecting on those special moments. I miss him and know he’s out there in another time and place taking up his rod and reel walking into the sunset – goin’ fishing.

I love you, Dad.

I celebrate and honor all of the Dads out there this weekend to include my husband. Here’s a tribute to you – young and old - new Dads and Grandfathers – Dads with little girls and Dads with young men – Sons, Grandsons and Sons-in-Law - one and all. I wish you happiness and a loving day surrounded by those most dear to you.

My Dad - A Father's Day Tribute - by Paul Peterson post on YouTube by Ken

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What Are Your Priorities?

(Photo taken from Microsoft Clipart) ~~ I read this little story from Stephen’s site on Libero’s blog on StumbleUpon. It made me think how my days go and wonder if I have my priorities in order.

PRIORITIES IN LIFE
(Author unknown)
A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2" in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "Yes."

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter - like your job, your house, your car.

The sand is everything else. “The small stuff."

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

Too often our days are driven by circumstances at hand dictating what our course of action should be. It’s usually not until life gives us a nudge – sometimes not so gentle – revealing what’s important. Just today, I was given one of those little nudges to take notice of what’s important.

My husband works for an auto parts store and was getting some parts off some shelves in the back when all of a sudden the whole 20’ row of shelves collapsed in on him. He didn’t have much time to react except to start to put his arm out and move a few steps back and think, “This is going to hurt”.

To his amazement the shelves and the parts all fell around his feet. The boxes on the floor next to him were dented in where some of the parts came down on them but he wasn’t bruised or scratched. It was a miracle how he wasn’t touched looking around at the pile of parts 1-2 ft high he had to climb over. On top of all that were the parts he was originally looking for with the order. Talk about divine intervention.

As I thought of how close he came to being hurt, I was reminded of priorities. He is certainly one of the rocks in my life.

Thank you angels for the times you keep us safe and look out for us even when we don’t notice. This time you had our attention on what’s important in our lives.

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln

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Feeling Invisible

(Photos by Microsoft Clipart) ~~ I had one of those days Monday when all the whistles and bells were going off and issues triggered left and right – maybe not where others would notice but that’s what was going off on the inside of me.

It started off bright and early when I sat down at my desk at work and booted up my computer to get ready to log in. I get this error message – Access denied – your user has expired. What? I didn’t know what was going on.

It turned out that proper paperwork had not been sent in to keep me on board and security had cancelled my access. Sooooo, after 3 hours of working around systems and asking people to look up things for me I finally got access and could log in.

Having said all that, it doesn’t seem like what happened was a big deal and normally it isn’t. You expect glitches and set backs once in awhile. It’s part of working with technology and I understand that but for some reason this set off a lot of "stuff" within me I wasn’t prepared for. It was old hurts and thoughts of feeling neglected, not important enough, invisible….little did I know I would be facing a meltdown 9 AM Monday morning. I was blindsided.

In "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose", Eckhart Tolle says some pretty telling truths that hit on what I was experiencing:

“Whatever behavior the ego manifests, the hidden motivating force is always the same: the need to stand out, be special, be in control; the need for power, for attention, for more. And, of course, the need to feel a sense of separation, that is to say, the need for opposition, enemies.”

“The ego always wants something from other people or situations. There is always a hidden agenda, always a sense of “not enough yet,” of insufficiency and lack that needs to be filled. It uses people and situations to get what it wants, and even when it succeeds, it is never satisfied for long.”

I could at least recognize, after the fact, that I had identified and fallen for the old conditioning. When you’re in the midst of these triggered thoughts and emotions you want to be right – you want validation.

But, it’s comforting to know that there’s nothing wrong with me. I don’t have a split personality with a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other wondering which side will show up. Tolle says,

“All that is required to become free of the ego is to be aware of it, since awareness and ego are incompatible. Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment. This is why we may also call it Presence.”....“Only Presence can undo the past in you and thus transform your state of consciousness.”

I know there will be more times when emotions and
old hurts will surface again but each time I become more aware of what is happening and not fuel it by reacting or attaching to it. The more I learn to observe and watch the situation and what I’m doing with it and not judge, the less effect it will have on me. That is what it is like to be set free.

What triggers in you some of the old hurts you’ve held on to? You know what they are – you can feel them and know when you’ve lost it. There’s a part of you watching yourself go off ranting and raving and you sometimes wonder why you’re so upset. It’s all part of the egos we all have acting out to feel safe because when we wake up to whom we truly are it diminishes and dissolves as it exists right now.

Who we are and what we do does count – we have to know that and not look for it in the world and in people. They can’t give it to us. We already have our Beingness only we need to look for it where it is – within.

Buddha's famous answer when asked what he was: Are you a god? "No." Are you super-human? "No." Are you an ordinary man? "No." What are you then? "I'm awake."

~~ From Himalaya’s blog on StumbleUpon ~~

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