“Nothing needs to be fixed. Everything is unfolding perfectly. So, when you stand in your now, accepting that all is well, then from that vibration you become surrounded by more and more evidence that all is well.”
-Abraham-Hicks
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Sometimes life is uncomfortable, even painful. Sometimes we struggle and feel like we need to fix the parts of ourselves that feel broken. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some kind of spiritual repair shop where we could drop off our egos and come back in a week to bring home a newly refurbished, fixed self?

 Sounds great right? Well, maybe there is... 

​OK, let’s look a little more closely at the form-list from God’s Repair Shop and what it means.
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I understand that it is my own perceptions about things that create struggle and pain in my life.

When we are in pain, struggling emotionally, most of us want to fix what we perceive as our broken selves. But are we actually broken? Do we need fixing? Or is this a soul-level opportunity for expansion signaling a need for a change in perception?

I understand that I make it hard for myself when I take too much responsibility for the aspects of my life which feel broken by thinking it is my job to fix them.

As we encounter discomfort in our lives, we often assume that it is up to us to make it better and fix it. After all, ego thinks, who else is going to do it? But that is like putting the cart before the horse. We’ll go nowhere fast. The more we try to fix what we think is broken, the more broken it feels. Our egos just aren’t equipped for the job.

 I acknowledge that I am ready to make a different choice.

The first step to change is awareness. We acknowledge that when we are in pain and discomfort, we have the opportunity for soul-growth. We have the opportunity to make a different choice.  

I acknowledge that I don’t have to know how to do that.

The beauty of this is, we don’t have to know how or what to change  because God knows what needs to be done. We make the choice to turn the whole situation over to God. We let go of trying to fix anything. As we do that, we open the door for our Spiritual Support Team to guide us through solutions and answers that will make real change possible in our lives.

​When you turn over your worries, and their attendant need to fix and control, to God, asking Spirit to be an active participant in your life, you may discover something wonderful.

You can relax. You may feel creative energy flowing and creative ideas popping into your mind. You may find that smiles and laughter come easily and naturally. Humor bubbles up spontaneously. You feel appreciative, grateful and loving.

All this from making a simple request  and a little change of perspective.

“No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and he’s not the same man.”
-Heraclitus

How do you feel about change? Do you love the adventure of it? Or do you fear it, feeling safer if things stay pretty much the same? Do you struggle to maintain the status quo in your life, opting for security rather than the open window of change? A lot of us do. Yet change happens. It’s part of life. Every day you’re a different person and things are changing all around you. How do you deal with that?

 If life’s inevitable changes feel scary to you, this might help.
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This morning I woke before dawn, intending to get up early, but one more minute of warm comfort led to the next and I stayed in bed. Lying on my back, legs outstretched, I fell into that luxurious state in which I don’t really feel my body. My thoughts drifted.

I focused attention upon my breath, just breathing in and out.  The thought came that God is ever moving, like the breath, like the air all around us. God is like the ocean, ever changing, ever the same. You can watch the ocean every day for a lifetime and it will be different every day, you will see different things every day. Yet it is always the ocean.

Another idea came in and I saw an image of a rainbow-colored slick of oil on water, constantly in motion, ever changing its design, yet always the same in its changeability. You can look at one small section of it and it looks different every time. But if you look at the whole, it is the same in its constant variability.

The only constant is change and so, as sparks of God, our lives are filled with change. That is where the expansion, growth and learning take place.  Our smaller selves look for things to stay the same, wanting to stay safe and secure. We may even convince ourselves that the devil we know is safer than the angel we do not. Yet there is no growth, no expansion in the comfort zone of safety and security.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” – Alphonse Karr
 
Just as the ocean is always the ocean, even as the waves move constantly, the color shifts from grey to blue to turquoise to black, the surface roils in white frothed violence one day and undulates gently another, and the life therein thrives and dies, so our daily lives change constantly. Yet our essence, our soul, is eternal. That then must be the way to navigate change with grace, flow and ease, by focusing on the eternal soul, the constancy of God and Spirit.

That idea does sound good. But how do we actually do that when we are shoved unwilling out of our cozy, comfort zones by the inevitable changes that rampage through our lives?

Your beliefs and attitudes concerning change naturally affect how you experience change. Having beliefs and attitudes that support you can make all the difference the next time scary change blows through your life. 

If you find that flowing with the inevitable change in your life is difficult, take a look at your beliefs concerning change. Do they support you? If not, consider where you may make a few adjustments. Check out today’s Spiritual Toolbox for some suggestions.

The Pre-Socratic philosopher, Heraclitus said, “Life is flux,” meaning that all things in life change. That is to say, the only constant thing in life is change. Knowing this, it makes sense for each of us to create a personal belief system that supports us through the changes, large and small, giving us the resilience of a flexible palm tree weathering each storm that passes through.

Photo by Fernando Brasil on Unsplash
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“Not just one day, but all three hundred and sixty-five days of the year should be filled with joy. Our entire lives should become a festival! Spirituality teaches us the way to accomplish this. For this surrender to take place, total refuge in the Supreme Being is required.”
-Mata Amritanandamayi, Amma’s Pearls of Wisdom
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This is such a powerful teaching, given by the amazing humanitarian and spiritual teacher, Amma. The one known as the Hugging Saint. Since 1975 she has traveled around the world individually hugging millions and millions of people, spreading her message of love and compassion. But what does this teaching mean for our daily lives?

When I read this teaching for the first time, I hadn’t gotten through more than the first two sentences before my mind piped up, “Right, my entire life a festival, three hundred and sixty-five days a year filled with joy. How am I supposed to make that happen?” Then I read on, and the word ‘surrender’ jumped out at me. Amma says joy is the result of surrender. What does surrender mean? To me it means releasing my agenda. Releasing any idea that I am the one in control. It means letting go of ego determined desires, plans, ideas, agendas. Surrender is all about letting go of the ego.

I look out the window, leaving my writing for a moment. I see a gray sky, shading darker, now lighter at the horizon with blue peeking through, as the wind moves the blanket of cloud along. I see the swaying, bare brown branches of the oaks, their lichen covered bark skins, pale green in the overcast, morning light. A single, orange leaf waves at the sky from the tip of a branch. Tiny v’s of terns pass high overhead on their way to the life-giving river flowing behind our home. All of it, an expression of the Supreme Being, our Source.

My attention drifts along the wall to my vision board. Here too I see the bare branches of a tree. It is my own tree of life, its branches filled with what I desire in my life. How do I know if these are the desires of my ego wanting to control, or the desires of my soul in alignment with Source, in surrender?

I return to Amma’s teaching and read on – ‘total refuge in the Supreme Being is required.’ Total refuge, the image that brings to mind is of a child huddling under a large umbrella, dry, safe, surrounded on all sides by a downpour. Safety, support, guidance, being totally cared for, this is what refuge means to me.

At the center top of my vision board is an image of a waterfall, and on it are written the words, “I joyfully trust God.” I wonder now, why would any of us choose to do anything else? Why wouldn’t we choose the joy that comes from trusting God, taking refuge in the Supreme Being, surrendering our egoic desire for control?

Where does this desire for control come from anyway? Life experience tells me that it comes from a child’s need for safety and love in a world that feels like a downpour of fear. This child seeks refuge outside herself, in those around her, and when they cannot give her what she needs, she seeks refuge in trying to control her world in whatever way seems to work for her. This can only succeed for a little while, but the pattern of seeking refuge by trying to control the outside world is set, and she will just keep trying harder and harder to control. This little girl is doing the best that she can with what she knows. Sound familiar?

It doesn’t work of course. The little girl becomes a woman, still seeking refuge, still trying to control her outside world, until finally, feeling like she is drowning in the rain of fear, she gives up. She knows that what she has been doing all these years hasn’t worked. She surrenders and in doing so she opens the door to Spirit.

The difficult piece now is, keeping the door open. Like a well-trained dog the mind keeps charging down the old pathways, looking for refuge somewhere in the outside world. The mind forgets that there is a better path, a path that clears the storm clouds and brings out the sunny skies of joy.

I look out the window again and fluffy white clouds scud along a bright blue sky. Sunlight shines on bright green lichen covered branches, dancing in the wind. The trees know nothing of trying to control the elements. The trees know only surrender to what is, living in the joy of taking refuge in the Supreme Being. They know no other way. I think I’ll take a hint from the trees. I think I’ll take Amma’s advice and allow the blue skies of joy to shine on me today. How about you?

 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also…”
-John 14:12 New King James Version
 
The power of the word, "Yes!"
It’s right there for you. All you have to do is reach out and grab hold.
“Yes! I can do this.”
“Yes! I want this.”
“Yes! I am.”

Each time you say the word, “Yes!” the energy of the Universe opens up for you, pouring into you, moving, manifesting, creating that which you have said yes to. It is like a magical key, opening the door to your desires, and all you’ve done is to say, “Yes!”

Sounds simple doesn’t it? That doesn’t mean it is easy. Saying yes is more that just saying the word. You have to really believe it. You have to say, “Yes!” so intentionally, so loudly (I’m speaking energetically here, though out loud can be effective too), so emphatically, that there is no room left for, “no.”

Jesus energetically said, “Yes!” when he turned water into wine. He said, “Yes!” when he fed the multitudes. He said, “Yes!” when he healed the sick. He said “Yes!” so strongly that there was nothing but, “Yes!” The Universe could offer him only, “Yes!” in return.

The energy we send out is the energy that returns to us. Think of the Universe as a mirror, reflecting back to you the energies you send out.

 If we say, “Yes, I want that,” and the subtext is, “But I’m not sure I deserve it.” The Universe has no choice but to offer us muddled energies back. If we say, “Yes! I want that. But I know I can’t afford it.” The Universe has no choice but to offer back more of what we can’t afford. However, if we say, “Yes! I want that! I deserve that!” The Universe will offer us that and more.

The ‘more’ comes from the fact that the Universe is abundant and energies multiply.

What you send out returns to you and more. This works both to your benefit and to your detriment depending upon the energy you are sending out.

Like attracts like and if you are thinking negatively about what you can’t have, those thoughts attract more of the same. The negativity multiplies and the Universe sends you more and more situations in which you can’t have what you want.

If you are thinking positively about all that you do and can have, those thoughts attract more of the same. The positivity multiplies and the Universe sends you more and more situations in which you do and can have what you want.

Most of us are very good at saying, “Yes!” in some aspects of our lives, and full of “Yes, buts…” in other aspects of our lives.
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For example, I’ve said “Yes!” to having space, time and an outlet for writing in my life. “Yes! I want this!” “Yes! I love how satisfying it feels.” “Ýes! I want to offer this.” “Yes! Yes! Yes!” I feel excited about it and motivated. It’s great and just what I want.

However, I’ve said, “Yes, but…” to creating the landscaping I envision for my yard. The “but…” looks like, “I don’t have enough energy or I’m not strong enough to do all the work involved.” Sometimes it’s, “I don’t deserve to spend the money to hire help. It’s too frivolous. The money is needed for other things.” Other times it’s, “I don’t really know what I want. I keep changing my ideas.”

​All those ‘buts’ send a mixed message to the Universe and so the Universe has given me small spots of what I want in my yard, with large areas untouched and niggling at me.

Look around you. What do you see in your little corner of the Universe? Are you saying, “Yes!” to what it is you really want? If what you really want is what you are living, then the answer to that question is, “Yes!” If the answer to that question is, “Not really,” then check out today’s Spiritual Toolbox.

“If you allow yourself to expect guidance, guidance will show up.”    
 - Richard Bartlett 

A few years ago, I took a class on reading Tarot cards from my spiritual mentor. It was not your usual class because she was not your average teacher.

She saw guidance from Spirit all around, everywhere she looked, and she taught her lucky students to do the same, starting with Tarot cards.

We learned in that Tarot class to pay attention to what jumped out at us from the pictures on the cards. She taught us to look carefully at the card and then close our eyes, noticing what appeared to us in our mind’s eye from the card.

Then we analyzed the metaphor of the symbol of the picture that appeared in our mind’s eye. What did it symbolize to us?

I was delighted to spend time with my spiritual teacher as she pointed out symbols and messages from Spirit throughout the day, a license plate number that had special meaning to her, a particular weather pattern, the unexpected behavior of a bird or animal, these all contained messages to her from Spirit.  

It could be anything in the environment that caught her attention. She expected guidance to be all around her.

Symbols and metaphors are the language of the subconscious, the superconscious, and Spirit. They are the language of the heart.

What we find ourselves paying attention to in our environment is a message, a symbol, guidance from our intuitive inner Selves. That part of ourselves that is aligned with Spirit.

But here’s the hard part for me - just as with interpreting the Tarot, we need to discern the difference between what our minds are paying attention to and what our hearts are guiding us toward.

Our minds pay attention to ‘to do’ lists, judgments, self-criticism, our inner chatterbox. Our hearts pay attention to wholeness, balance and trust. We're looking for the heart's guidance.

What does your heart tell you is needed to be in your wholeness today? Guidance from Spirit is all around you, like the symbols on the Tarot cards, written in the symbolic language of the heart.

“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

Who knew that stepping into your dreams could be so scary? Shouldn’t it be delight-filled and joyous? Sure, let’s go with that. Really though, what’s up with all this fear coming up?

I was rearranging my vision board, removing what I’ve already created and making it all look attractive when I felt my heart start to race. It’s an uncomfortable, out of breath feeling.  I had to stop looking at my vision board, sit down and breathe, pray and tap until shortly it returned to normal rhythm.

That happens sometimes when I’m feeling stressed. What? My dreams are stressing me out?

Pushing the envelope, stepping out of your comfort zone can be frightening. Yet, living solely within your comfort zone is living in a rut. There is no soul growth in your comfort zone, there is only rest and eventually stagnation. I know this, I’ve tried it. I like my comfort. Obviously so or stepping out of my comfort zone wouldn’t be so stressful.

Am I going to let my fear stop me? No, but I can support myself. That part of me that finds it so scary to move forward, put myself out there, push the envelope, and grow myself, is trying to protect me.

“Doesn’t it feel better to stay small and hidden?” My Inner Child asks me in her piping Inner Child voice. “Why don’t you stay safe and comfortable and just keep doing it the way you’ve been doing it? That’s worked hasn’t it?” She is doing her level best to keep me safely in my comfort zone, and here I am pushing us out with all my manifesting might.

Does this feel familiar?

​We can reassure that child within even as we move forward. We can thank them for keeping us safe, and lovingly tell them that we will take good care of them as we move forward together.

A fun way to do this is by inviting your Inner Child to a tea party!  Check out Your Spiritual Toolbox for how.

“Let go of what you think you know. Something amazing happens when you let God and trust.”
Tammy L. Kubasko
 
God’s timing is not always our timing. The thing is, it can be difficult to trust in God’s timing.

I used to visit a care facility for Alzheimer’s and dementia residents each week with my dog, Goldie. The folks we visited with sat or walked about in the living room area of the buildings and enjoyed patting Goldie and talking about the dogs they had when they were young. Even many of those that were non-verbal still seemed to enjoy looking at her and touching her soft fur.

One day, there was a new patient. He was disoriented and upset, calling for help. A very elderly gentleman, he wanted nothing to do with Goldie or me, and continued desperately calling for help. When staff responded, he just kept saying, “Help! I need help! I need to get out of here. I don’t know what to do.” My heart went out to him. I prayed for him to have the support he needed and feel peace.

I found his distress upsetting. Yet, I’ve discovered that when I have an experience that triggers me like that, it's an opportunity for healing and learning.

That night I had a dream in which I woke up in a small airport waiting room. I was disoriented, not knowing how I got there, and anxious because I knew I was there to catch a flight but didn’t know what flight to get on. What if they called my flight and I missed it? I needed help. I didn’t know how to help myself, and I didn’t know if others could help me. It was a frightening dream.

Still, it gave me insight into how the new patient in the care facility was feeling. For him, he was in a strange, public place. He didn’t know where he was going or when he would go home. The bewildered gentleman didn’t even remember how he got to that place. He just woke up there. It was all terribly upsetting to him. He felt so helpless.

It was all in God’s hands.

How many of us are in similar circumstances, too anxious to trust God’s timing? Thinking that we are in charge, that we should take control and force things to happen, and afraid because we don’t know what to do or how to do it. Or, even more difficult, we are unwilling to surrender to God’s timing and so are in a constant struggle against it?

What if we could ask God for what we want and then surrender all else? What if our job is to show up each day and allow God to move in our lives, guiding us to what we need to do to go where we want to go? Wouldn’t that be peaceful? Wouldn’t that be a relief?

What is required is trust in God’s timing. Trust that God will show up for us. Trust that God will make the signs clear enough that we are able to interpret them and know how to go where we want to go. Trust that we are worthy in God’s eyes to receive what it is that we want.

I’ve had the idea that I’ve somehow got to make what I want happen, forcing the energy along through my focused, positive attention.

The word ‘forced’ here is the key. The need to force indicates fear.

There is no forcing with allowing, there is only surrender, releasing to God, to our Higher Selves, and trusting.

As I wrote this my daughter called saying that whenever I was ready, she could start upcoming web site changes from the road. This is part of what I’ve chosen to manifest. I expected to start when she got back home in two weeks. Yet, here she was saying that she was inspired to start right now. She's a tuned in gal. 

God’s timing is not our timing, sometimes it’s even sooner than we expect!