“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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 “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.

“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
 
Inspired by Michael A. Singer’s The Surrender Experiment, (see the previous post below in Trust God, “Say Yes!”) I read Untethered Soul, also by Michael A. Singer. Once again I was challenged to open myself and grow even further. Though Untethered Soul was written before The Surrender Experiment the order in which the books came to me was exactly right.

Untethered Soul extends the teachings from The Surrender Experiment into staying open in every situation that feels uncomfortable, observing your discomfort, allowing the discomfort, feeling it, breathing through it and releasing it. Staying with the situation, no running away, no hiding, no avoidance, no protection, no closing off, only observing, experiencing and releasing. Saying, "Yes," to keeping your heart open.

Just reading about it at first brought up fear for me. That’s understandable. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to avoid and protect myself from emotional discomfort. Yet in doing so I’ve locked up my heart, imprisoning myself in order to feel safe, effectively shutting off my heart energy in many areas of my life.

After reading Untethered Soul, I chose to say, “Yes,” to moving through those layers of fear in which I hid from pain, tried to fix events, tried to protect my sensitive self, and avoided emotional discomfort in my life.

​It is freedom I seek, freedom above all else. Emotional freedom, mental freedom, physical freedom and spiritual freedom. The wisdom in this book showed me the next step to that freedom.

This morning my heart opens to a feeling of excitement for what Life will bring me today. I choose to free myself by accepting, saying “Yes,” allowing myself to push my comfort envelope. That sense of excitement is about opening to freedom, the freedom to say, “Yes!” to life and all it offers.

How often have I been reminded of Red Feather saying that comfort is synonymous with being in a rut? Pushing one’s comfort envelope is where our growth is. Apparently, it doesn’t even have to be a big push, just one small, “yes,” at a time, allowing something new into your life or allowing yourself to breathe through a fear.

I’ve been practicing, amazed to discover how many times each day I feel that little twinge of constriction in my chest that signals a fear response. I had no idea fear was so much a part of my daily life. When fear pops up my mind gets busy explaining it to me and what I need to do to fix it. But rather than listening, I focus upon observing the sensation, just noticing that it is there without judgment. I breathe deeply into that feeling in my chest, consciously breathing in relaxation, and letting the sensation of fear go on each out breath. Sometimes it releases on one breath, sometimes more. I stay with it, breathing and relaxing until once more I feel at ease.

​When I travel someplace new, taking in new sights, smells, tastes, doing new things, it gives me a feeling of excitement, a sense of aliveness. I thought I had to travel to experience that. Not so.  I can experience that every day just by saying, “Yes.”

We can all experience that excitement, that aliveness, that love. Every day can be a day of discovery, experiencing new things and growing into freedom as we keep our hearts open.

“If my heart could do my thinking, and my head begin to feel, I would look upon the world anew, and know what’s truly real.”
​— Van Morrison

Be in your heart. How often have we heard that advice or something similar? But what does it mean? What does being in your heart look like? Can we even approach being in our heart with the analytical mind? Maybe not.

So what does it feel like?

It feels like living as the child in you most wants to live, living in trust and innocence. Trusting that the Universe is a beneficent place in which to live. Knowing that you are loved and cared for. Innocent of any knowledge of separation so there is no need for judgment or making the self or other wrong.

Being in your heart feels centered and expansive, for this is your true home, and all the different aspects of you recognize this and relax as you allow yourself to be in that space. ​​


​Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash