Category: Growth

Say, "Yes!"

4/12/2019

"When you say ‘yes’ to Spirit you are saying ‘yes’ to the Universe. Trust that, have confidence in that. Trust that when you claim it the Universe steps in and supports you."

"Be willing to dare different things and try different things. Comfort zone and rut are synonymous. There is nothing wrong with being comfortable, but when you get stuck in a comfort zone you are in a rut."

-Red Feather

I just finished reading what is a pivotal book for me, The Surrender Experiment, by Michael A. Singer. It found me, through a friend who offered it. I almost said, “No, I’ve got too many other things to read.” Which is an enjoyable instruction because the book is all about saying, “Yes,” to whatever the Universe offers. It is about recognizing and releasing the inner voice that tells you, “I prefer this, and I don’t prefer that. I want this. I don’t want that.” It is about awareness of that inner dialog that is a culmination of all your past experiences and is an attempt at controlling and manipulating your outer world so that you can feel safe. It is about acknowledging that when you close yourself off to experience and what is offered anew each day by the Universe because of your preferences based on past experiences, you close yourself to the river of joy which is your true self. He teaches that preferences and self-concept, limit us. That voice in my head that speaks of preferences, judgments, good and bad, want and don’t want, is the voice of my ego. It lives in the past.

Michael A. Singer writes about learning to release his preferences and saying, “Yes.” He teaches about accepting requests made of him even if they don’t fit in with his self-concept, even if they interfere with his idea about how he wants things to be. He writes of the incredible experiences that come to him because he said, “Yes.”

"Life opens up opportunities to you, and you either take them or you stay afraid of taking them."

-Jim Carrey

This idea is wonderfully demonstrated in the movie, Yes Man, starring Jim Carrey. It is a humorous and touching story of an emotionally closed man who opens his heart by reluctantly saying, “yes,” to each experience the Universe offers him. I highly recommend it.

So, what would it be like if we started each day anew? If we released the past and experienced what the Universe offers us today? What would it look like if we said, “Yes?”

I choose now to say, “Yes.” I choose now to say, “OK, let’s see what the Universe is offering me with this experience today.” I choose now to begin each day anew.

Your Spiritual Toolbox

How about allowing each day to be a new beginning?

How about releasing your ideas of your self and your self-concepts?

How about if you release your ideas of your role, what you do and don’t do, even what you like and don’t like?

What if you choose to accept, be available, feel vulnerable, feel joy, feel scared, feel open and not closed?

What if you say, “Yes,” to each moment, to each experience, and know it is ALL FOR YOUR BENEFIT.

This means that each day is new, a treasure hunt of experience, and you are opening each day to what the Universe offers.

The Universe is always offering something. Sometimes it looks like what attracts you, fascinates you, feels good. Sometimes it looks like an experience you think you don’t want, but if you allow it, say “Yes,” it can lead you into growth and freedom you might never have anticipated.

Photo by Zachary Nelson on Unsplash

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The Tortoise and the Hare

3/8/2019

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“Every flower blooms at its own pace.”
-Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Run when you can. Walk when you have to. Crawl if you must. Just never give up.”
-Dean Karazes

Spiritual-development is a funny thing. We zoom along like the hare in that famous race, or we waddle like the tortoise. Sometimes we even flounder like a tortoise over on its back. Because we are both the hare and the tortoise the race is only with ourselves.

Which one we express today is directly related to the fear that we carry with us like a heavy shell upon our back. When we carry that weight of fear and try to control all the different aspects of our lives we waddle and flounder like the tortoise. If we let go of our need to control, we can run like the hare. Either way we get to where we need to go. We grow and develop spiritually.

Most people run sometimes and waddle other times. Don’t worry about it, and don’t try to control your controlling, because then you will be trying to control yourself from trying to control your self-development. What? Confusing isn’t it? Don’t go there.

Just breathe and leave the driving to God.

When fear comes up and you feel the need to control, just be aware of that. You may need the experience of tortoise-ing along for a while. Sooner or later your fear will dissipate and you’ll be able to run again. If you choose you can support yourself using the spiritual tools in your toolbox.

Either way you will get there. Either way is OK. You are learning and growing. Love the process. Love yourself throughout the process for you are braver and grander than you can imagine!

Your Spiritual Toolbox

The breath is a powerful tool in your spiritual development toolkit. Use your breath to allow you to move into and through fear that may arise.

Begin by closing your eyes. Allow yourself to feel whatever fear is within you at this moment. How do you know you feel fear? Fear often shows up in uncomfortable sensations in the body.

Is there a sense of constriction anywhere in your body? Do you feel discomfort anywhere? Is there heaviness or a tight feeling? Does it have a color? Is there pain associated with the feeling of fear?

Note where these feelings are in your body.

Now place your left hand over that area of your body and breathe deeply, sending the breath into the area under your hand. See your breath as liquid light moving into the discomfort and filling it with light.

Keep breathing deeply sending light into that area of your body until you feel a shift. The discomfort may relax, lighten or shift locations. If it shifts locations move your hand to the new location and send liquid light there through your breath.

Allow your body to guide you in this.

When you feel a shift in each area relax into a normal rhythm of breathing and continue visualizing liquid light in each place you have sent it through your breath. Continue to do this for as long as it feels good to you and you feel complete.

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All Shall be Well

2/12/2019

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“All shall be well and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
-Julian of Norwich

“Surrender, surrender, let go of the struggle.”
-Red Feather

When I lived in New Hampshire, by January the winter ice build-up on my driveway was prodigious. I was out daily hacking and digging at the thick ice, progressing through an inch at a time. First creating potholes, then small cleared patches, then larger cleared areas. There is a feeling of satisfaction as the cleared area enlarges, I know, I did it for years, until one year I didn’t. That year, I spread sand and waited. In two months, the warming sun of spring took care of the ice. It gradually warmed the inches of frozen water to return it to its former formless state, and I didn’t have to do anything but enjoy the process. Nature was infinitely more efficient than my ice chipper.

My struggle with the ice on my driveway was much like my struggle with life. I worked hard at life. I tended to struggle over things that if I just let go, they would have taken care of themselves. I struggled with myself, wanting to be more, better. I struggled with my loved ones wanting them to be different than they were. I struggled at work, thinking that I could never quite be good enough. And day by day I was out there in my driveway chipping away at the ice, until finally one day I didn’t. Day by day I struggled with my life, until finally one day… Nope, still do, sigh, though not nearly as often or as deeply as I used to.

Our lives can become encased in ice, frozen, slippery, seemingly a danger. We live fearfully. We struggle and chip away to remove that uncomfortable fear. Perhaps though that icing of fear is just a normal part of the cycle of life here in this world. Perhaps if we trust in the process of our growth the cycle will turn and that warm sun of trust will melt away our fear. Perhaps we have only to apply a little sand, trust and wait. God will do the rest.

Many of us have areas in our lives that we feel should change, and we struggle over how we are not enough. But what if we decided to let go of the struggle? What if we decided that we are perfect for this moment? What if we decided that our lives, our homes, our families and friends, jobs, surroundings are just as they should be for this moment, a part of God’s Plan? What if we let the ice in our lives be just as it is? What if we allow ourselves to sprinkle a little sand and wait? In time the ice will be gone whether we struggle with it or not. Perhaps we can choose to let go of the struggle and trust.

Photo by alessandra fiorani on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

When fearful, judgmental, critical thoughts ice over your happiness, spread a little sand over your fearful thoughts with affirmations of trust and release the struggle.

You don’t have to fix anything right now. In time that warm sun of trust will melt the ice and your spring of joy will return.

Here are some possibilities to start with. Use these affirmations and allow them to grow and blossom as you add in your own words.

You will know when the words are right because saying them to yourself will give you a feeling of relief and lightening.

"I am perfect for today."

"My feet are firmly on my Path."

"My steps are always guided."

"I am growing and developing every day."

"I am safe, loved and cared for."

"I trust God. I trust in my God Self."

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Trust God

Say, "Yes!"

Your Spiritual Toolbox

The Tortoise and the Hare

Your Spiritual Toolbox

All Shall be Well

Your Spiritual Toolbox

"Behold, the kingdom of God is within you."

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