Spirit In Gear

Remember to Ask!

I am bummed.  Really bummed.  It was too good to be true.

Over the weekend I receive email confirmation that I have a free ticket to the Democratic National Convention to hear Obama's acceptance speech in Charlotte on September 6th.  I pay cash for my chartered bus ticket from Greenville SC to Charlotte NC (90 minutes).  I show up on Tuesday of this week, the first day I can pick up my ticket.  My name is on the list. 

There is no ticket.  Due to a major snafu at the state level of the Democratic party, not enough tickets were issued for our local group.  I am stunned and bummed.  What can I say.  I swallow my disappointment and walk out the door. 

A few seconds later I walk back in the door.  I realize I need to be on a list if someone cancels.  I ask them to create such a list.  They do and put me at the top.  Since a large majority did not receive tickets, reality tells me this is a lost cause.  Yet I experience a funny feeling.  I don't have to figure out how this will all come about.  I just have to ask for the ticket if someone cancels.

Later that evening, I write out a small check to Obama's campaign and mail it the next day.  It is my tangible commitment to the Universe that I'm for real.

During the day Wednesday, I briefly feel bummed again, then refocus.  I imagine myself travelling on the bus to Charlotte, and sitting in the stands, watching my first real, live president in person.  Strangely, I feel it's out of my hands and is taken care of, and I don't feel attached to the outcome.

Wednesday evening around 9pm I receive a phone call from a local organizer for the Democrats.  She tells me that she just had a cancellation.  Do I want the ticket? YES!!  She has to have this ticket activated online before the midnight deadline that night.  I give her the contact info she needs and I am officially credentialled!

Today I trek down to the local Democratic Headquarters, beaming as I walk in the door.  They immediately hand me my ticket.  This is better than going to Disney World!

Postscript:  For my Republican (and Democratic) readers, this isn't really about politics.  It's about remembering to ASK, and then letting go! 

Gabby Giffords - Modern Day Shaman

During the bleak, acrimonious war playing out in Congress all summer, a temporary truce is called early this week.  It emerges from the unexpected presence of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on August 1st to cast her vote to raise the debt ceiling. 

Those present, along with the world, feel moved and mesmerized by the vision of Gabby walking and talking after sustaining a severe brain trauma this past January.  In the flesh Gabby symbolizes hope and possibility.  Her appearance marks the triumph of good over evil.  As a casualty of violence, she touches those people in the political hall of Congress at a heart level, reminding them to reconnect to their humanity, to rise above the smallness and meanness, to transcend differences.

It is easy to get carried away with the symbolism.  Perhaps all Gabby wanted to do was to serve her constituents by casting a pivotal vote.  Yet I see much more.  I see this courageous congresswoman as a modern day shaman, one who by her very presence casts healing light around her. We desperately need these symbols of hope in a world where institutionalized corruption has led to the near collapse of the world economy.

In my mind I leap ahead.  What if Congress were filled with 50 more people like Gabby?  Would people work together in a spirit of cooperation?  What important work could be accomplished?

As I zoom the lens of my perspective outward, I see it is not about political parties.  It's more about how power continues to be defined in our world:  ego-based aggression in all forms; violent force; domination.  Winner takes all.  We still need warriors, but they must be enlightened warriors.

Civilization wasn't always like this.  Five thousand + years ago, societies thrived under a matriarchal system (and no, fellows, women did not dominate men).  The arts flourished; violence did not.  Both masculine and feminine energies got equal footing.  Check out the book The Chalice and the Blade,by Riane Eisler, for a provocative read.

Back to 2011, signs abound that a world dominated by masculine energy, without the balancing feminine energy of nurturance, creativity, connection to higher guidance, and to the sacred, will eventually self-destruct.  Fortunately there is a movement underfoot.  I may not live to see the ultimate change that rebalances the earth and the world.  But I can be a part of the movement that inches it closer.  If you are even reading this, you are likely part of this enlightened groundswell, driven by an inner knowing and by your own wisdom. 

I have been silent on this blog for 7+ months.  It almost feels like I have been in a hunkered down mode, in reaction to the financial instability in the U.S. and abroad.  I am breaking my silence, putting out a call to my comrades in spirit.  I need your light to keep on keeping on. 

I had the most uplifting experience a couple of weekends ago. We travelled from South Carolina, where we currently live, to Ohio to a small wedding reception filled with old friends and colleagues from my former profession (life coaching).  As soon as I walked into the room where the reception was held, I felt incredibly positive energy.  It was like being at a love fest.  What an experience to be in with a group of people holding enlightened energy!

It goes back to each one of us.  We start with ourselves.  Learning to love ourselves, both the good and bad.  Empowering ourselves by balancing the masculine and feminine energies in our own lives, and learning how to use power.  In the book edited by Michele Jamal, Shape Shifters, contributor Sandy Ingerman discusses the fear women have of getting in touch with their masculine energy, for fear of misuse.  She defines positive male energy as "right action:"

Right action is about taking the information from our intuition, from deep inside ourselves, and then acting on it in the physical world.   Right action is about allowing action instead of forcing action.

I write this to remind myself that one person, empowered with "right action," can be a force for good in ways I (we) can't imagine.  Game on!  Will you join me?

[Photo Credit:  Huffington Post]

 

 

 

When Old Dreams Land in Real Time

An old dream of mine materialized several weeks ago.  Much to my surprise, I felt disoriented when my dream came true.  The dream didn't fit me in real time quite as I imagined.

Allow me to back up. The dream takes birth a dozen years ago.  It is a materialistic dream.  Some of you may have a penchant for a BMW Z4 Roadster, a cruise around the world, a vacation home at the beach.  I confess that I wanted a larger diamond.  Not an extravagant diamond - I wanted an upgrade from 1/2 carat to 1 carat. 

Back when the dream began, we still faced financing 8 years of college for our two daughters.  A larger diamond seemed like a frivolous expense we could not afford.  But I knew exactly what I wanted when the time came.  I had spent time looking at diamonds and knew the 4 "c's" backwards and forwards.

Fast forward to present time.  Money is saved.  My husband and I trek out to the jewelers to look, learn, and examine numerous diamonds under magnification.  I make several trips, do additional research, and compare prices.  I finally find my dream diamond at the price I want to pay.  I am thrilled with the selection! 

I wait a couple of days while the new diamond is set in my wedding ring.  With great anticipation I pick up the ring when it is ready, placing it on my finger.  I look down at the diamond and feel an immediate sense of dissonance.  I feel confused and unsettled.  What comes up for me is that I don't deserve this.

It takes me several days to work through what is really going on with me.  I feel unworthy of the larger, brilliant diamond.  In my head I had easily justified the cost.  Inside me, I feel like an imposter.

I finally realize that I may have upgraded my diamond, but I did not upgrade my sense of worthiness to make room for this dream come true.  Likewise, in my real estate investing work, we find we need to often upgrade the electrical in the houses we rehab, in order to place a central heating/air unit. 

This story is not about diamonds.  It's about energy alignment.  We have to remember to make room energetically for the dreams we desire to materialize.  I made room financially for the diamond, but not internally.

It takes me several days of processing to "update" my worthiness.  A loving spouse helps.  It also helps me to read snippets of guided writing I received in late August:

[You] have money to indulge yourself with.  Yet you struggle with spending money on the 1-carat diamond you have always dreamed about.  The diamond itself isn't important, it's what it represents, which is your openness to give to yourself.  It's a wonderful practice to take your generous heart and turn it back upon yourself.  If you can be even just a little bit supportive and generous with yourself as you are with everyone else, imagine how much peaceful and happier you can be.  And that is the real gift you can offer to others, being happy.

Fortunately for me, the "worthiness" upgrade kicks in.  What a difference I feel internally.  Now when I look at my new diamond, I feel a sense of awe and gratitude.  Without a doubt, I can say that diamonds are (one) of a girl's best friends!

What happened for you when one of your dreams came to fruition?  Was it what you expected?  We'd love to hear about it!

[Photo Credit:  Blue Nile] 

One Week Makes a Difference

Seven days separate these pictures. 

Picture number 1 was taken Saturday, Feb. 13th in South Carolina.  We experienced a snow dump a la twilight zone.

Picture number 2 was taken Saturday, Feb. 20th, 7 days later, same location.  The difference - 60 degree weather.  We ate out on the deck for 3 days straight!  No coats, jackets, or sweaters.

Nature has quite an imagination!  She makes me believe that more is possible.  What can we learn from Nature's example about life?  What comes before action?  Imagination.  Belief.  Using our inner eye to see the impossible.  To use our heart to feel the impossible.  Then to connect "inner knowing" with "outer living."  C'est impossible?  What do you think?

Ask - I Dare You!

Forgive me, Dick Richards, I've been meaning to compose this since reading your provocative post, ASK, early this month.  But I've found myself busy asking for, and dealing with, all that is coming my way!

Readers - at some point click over to read the true account of what happened when a workshop participant asked for something specific and audacious!

Coincidentally, two days before I read Dick's post on asking, I was sitting in a business networking meeting with other real estate investors.  I mentioned a current property that I would like to rehab if I can get the private money.  After the meeting, 2 investors separately approached me with the desire to park some private funds with this project.  I was astounded!  It was the first time I have initiated a conversation seeking private lenders.

Following upon the hills of this example, and then reading Dick's post, I realized that I don't ask for what I want nearly enough.  I suspect most of us don't.  It's a waste of time to ferret out the reasons why we don't.  Instead I decided to ask again.

This time I asked for something specific and important to me in my personal life.  And it wasn't easy.  I was experiencing a blue moment anticipating my first Thanksgiving since my father died.  I emailed my sister to once again ask her to travel to South Carolina from Ohio for the holiday.  In my message I removed the "strong, older sister persona" and shared with transparency from my heart.  I ended by letting my sister know I would accept whatever she felt in her heart was right for her.

In the outcome, relayed in a phone call, my sister is unable to honor my request due to her own grief.  I knew it was a long shot.  Surprisingly, I don't feel let down.  I feel empowered because I acknowledged my own feelings and communicated them.  With that comes an increased sense of confidence.

Here's what I am learning about asking:

- Ask with clarity and assurance.
- Ask, knowing that the more frequently you do it, the greater likelihood some of your requests will be granted.
- Ask because someone has a reciprocal need to fulfill your request and can't do it until asked.
- Ask with respect to yourself and the other party.

Now it's time to ask you to do something - ASK!  Ask for something here in a comment.  Or share an example of asking.  Go ahead.  Just do it!  I dare you!

Feeling the Vibes, or Why My Husband Told Me to Buy a Lottery Ticket

It's one week ago and I am experiencing one of those magical days when everything falls into place with ease:

A 10 unit real estate package is coming together; a seller calls me with a great brick ranch that she wants to unload at wholesale pricing; a rehabbed house we are selling continues to pass the FHA loan hurdles for our buyer; and last but not least, I receive a phone call from a realtor we've employed to sell my father's condo in Ohio.  He shares the good news that the condo is now under contract, one week after being listed, with an offer for more than we expected.  Considering that the town my father's condo is in has the lowest real estate sales in the entire state of Ohio, I am blown away.

When I relay the series of good news to my husband, he tells me to go out and buy a lottery ticket.

Instead I became introspective and reflect upon why the stars seem aligned for me right now.  It occurs to me that it is not the stars that are aligned.  It is me that is aligned. 

I trace the days back and recall that the previous week I had listened to a national speaker who came into town to talk on the topic of real estate investing.  As I listen to him, I experience a quiet set of revelations about what pieces of my business to put into place that would take me to the next level financially. 

With this insight I feel inspired.  My confidence soars.  I can feel what I want as if it's already happening.  Which is just another way of saying I tuned myself up vibrationally.  My inner vibration now matches what I say I want.  Action is still necessary.  But action without that vibrational match creates struggle and less than desirable results.

Visualizing has it's place.  But I'm learning that we gotta feel it on the inside before we see it on the outside.  We gotta feel the vibes.

The following day I run across this quote:

It's all right there for you; it's ready for you to receive it as fast and as soon as you will vibrationally let it in.  Financial success, or any other kind of success, does not require hard work.  It does require alignment of thought.  You simply cannot offer negative thought about things that you desire and then make up for it with action or hard work.  When you learn to direct your own thoughts, you will discover the true leverage of energy alignment.

- Abraham

By the way, I did not buy a lottery ticket. Don't believe in them.  Guess I just don't have the lottery vibe!

[Photo Credit:  Yaroslav B]

Cinderella Breaks Free

It occurs to me late this afternoon, while doing a Jazzercise class, that my "inner Cinderella" has broken free of her imprisonment.  My energy on every level skyrockets!  I work out at my best level.

I recall that it begins last evening when I attend a monthly business association meeting.  I am feeling very energetic.  Filled with well-being, I network like a pro and enjoy meeting new people.  I continue with friends in the hotel bar after the meeting.  I don't remember the last time I feel this kind of energy.

My enthusiasm continues today at work.  I face all the same problems and issues present yesterday, but today I do so with levity and fun.  I have patience with myself.  I have patience with the people on the other end of the phone line.  I have patience with traffic.  I feel like the best of myself.  More compassionate, less interested in being judgmental.

What a switch.  For the past couple of weeks I've been feeling tired, jaded, resistant.  I felt uninspired to write a simple blog post.  I felt like a drudge, like Cinderella working with no reprieve in sight.  But instead of sweeping floors like Cinderella, I was feeling suffocated by unexamined, absurd expectations of myself.  Such as, "I can't relax until I'm a financial success like the gurus I listen to." or  "I have to figure out the magic bullet."  Pressure, pressure, pressure.

By the time Saturday arrives, a touch of food poisoning grounds me and forces me to rest.  I'm still in my pj's at 2:00 p.m. and I don't get any chores done, nor do I "accomplish" anything.  I sit on the couch  and read fiction.  I play a subdued game of bridge with friends that evening.

Being "benched" gives me the opportunity to do some reflection and meditation.  I find myself hanging onto Dick Richard's words about taking ourselves less seriously,in his response to a comment at his post, Let It Go! Let It Go! Let It Go!.  He recommends laughter and silliness to offset the seriousness in life, and in particular in the field of self development.

I'm not sure quite how I make the leap from tired and resistant to energetic and positive.  And really it doesn't matter.  But I do think Dick's words influenced me.  What I do understand is that somewhere along the line I decided I can feel good without external situations changing. 

And the wise Cinderella within who broke free knows that I can go far if I do these two things at this time in my life:  follow my energy (rest when I'm tired; go in the direction that feels good, as opposed to resistant); and build in a couple of brief times per day to be still and get in the space of "allowing" myself to be.  Practicing these two things can "grease" my receptivity for guidance and direction around business goals without anxious exertion on my part to find the answers.

I guess I don't need Prince Charming after all. 

Life in High Definition

What I see and experience in life depends upon the speed at which I'm moving.  There's "future" speed, and then there's "present" speed.

Too often than I care to admit, I operate in "future" speed.  Maybe you know what I'm talking about.  When I leave the present, I splinter myself apart.  Here's how it happens:  My mind races ahead to the future, while my physical body is left behind, and my spirit hovers about, outside of my awareness.

As I am doing one task, my mind trolls ahead like a search engine, thinking of all the things I have to do beyond this task ('gotta get this done, and then gotta do that, and then . . .").  Or I jump into the future with "what if" thinking, pulling in needless worry and fears about things that may or may not happen (what if my husband loses his job . . . what if my younger daughter does not find work when she moves to Chicago this summer, what if . . .).

Meanwhile my body starts to feel less grounded.  Instead of feeling a sense of rootedness, I feel tethered by adrenaline and sensations of being rushed.  My sense of creativity and mental expansion become pinched off as my access to intuitive guidance diminishes.  Been there, done that, right?  Welcome to life in the speed lane of Western Civilization.

This past week something different happens to me.  I experience a sense of "high definition" in my life.  All around me colors stand out with greater vividness.  I notice shapes and patterns - from the clouds in the sky above, to how the ground lays below.  Instead of scanning familiar objects in the landscape, I view them with that extra edge of sharpness and clarity, like our television screen in high definition. 

Results Revisited

Getting attached to results is a slippery slope going nowhere.  Yet I often cling (clutch is more like it ) to my attachment as if my life depends upon it.  Like worrying about some possible future event, attaching to results creates its own misery and has little to do with the outcome.

This past Monday I receive a short message during my prayer/reflection time: 

"Trust.  Take Appropriate Action.  Let Go."

Simple words.  Familiar words.  What is different now?  Impeccable timing.  I'm ready to receive this message.  My business partner and I need to find buyers for several investor properties within a 3-week deadline.  It doesn't help that funding for 2 of these properties got unexpectedly pulled out with no warning.  I feel the pressure, the panic.  How can I market these differently to attract buyers in time?

I step back from the emotion.  I decide to sandwich in my actions between trust and letting go.  I experience an odd sense of calm.  I create a little marketing twist to get people's attention.  I present these properties in an investor meeting from a different angle than previous meetings.  As a result, several serious buyers come forward with an interest in looking at those properties. 

By week's end, I begin to imagine other scenarios and outcomes I hadn't even considered when I was fixated on a specific result.  I discuss these other options with my business partner - options we can pursue if our buyers don't all come through at the same time.  I feel amazed that practicing non-attachment, giving up the clinging and clutching, creates a sense of clear-headed expansiveness in the absence of drama! 

My learning continues during the week when I receive Suzanne Falter-Barns' latest issue of her Expert Status Ezine in my inbox - "I'm Done with Results . . . How About You?"  Pretty enticing title, isn't it?

My big takeaway - the meaning we attach to results creates the problem, not necessarily the results themselves.  In Suzanne's words:

For instance, recently I started really getting into how many folks were visiting my blog every week. I worried if the numbers were lower than usual, and had surges of delight when the report swung high. And then I’d try to figure out what I did right or wrong that particular week … and consequently mull it over, tease it out, analyze and just generally fret.

In the light of my new non-attachment to results, I can see that it doesn’t ultimately matter how many people visit my blog. That number was just proving to be an ego stroke or an ego bash. What matters is actually how I’m interacting with the blog – and what REALLY matters is how effectively I’m sharing with my readers.

So now the focus has shifted to the journey, and how I choose to play it out.  When I’m excited about what I’m writing and put lots of energy into my blog posts, the numbers coincidentally go up. Conversely, when I’m lazy about it and lose touch for a week here or there, the numbers happen to go down.

Suzanne goes on to ask the pivotal questions:

Instead of looking to see how many people hit my blog so I can stroke my ego and feel powerful, I might ask instead, how truly and deeply am I sharing with others today? Am I reflecting what Spirit wants me to reflect today?*     " . . .Is my writing for this ezine teaching me what I need to know in order to keep spreading that love?

As Suzanne illustrates, we need to examine the meaning we attach to results.  When I'm stressing and struggling, my husband will jokingly ask me:  "Are we having fun yet?"  The question at least gives me pause and perspective!  Are ego's big footprints all over the meaning I attach to results?  If so, how can I change the meaning to reflect a higher purpose?  This week in my business challenge I focused on imagining outcomes that benefit all involved.  And that includes me too,  Sometimes I shortchange myself.

This morning, before I write this post, I receive another dose of reinforcement in the words of a prayer from Julia Cameron's Heart Steps:

I am able to allow situations to evolve and alter.  I am able to await outcomes.  I tolerate quiet periods of non-knowing while solutions emerge and present themselves.  I do not force solutions.  I expect the successful working-out of difficulties and differences.  My heart is wise.  It knows when to act and when non-action is the action to take.

My latest mantra - Cling Less, Live More!

Any lessons/insights you'd like to share on the meaning you attach (or don't attach) to results you seek?

[Photo Credit:  kjdrill]

Blog Spotlight - Resources for Spirit

Recent posts from Andrea Hess'  Spiritual Practice vs. Spiritual Growth, and  Slade's Psychic Shielding for Empaths, zero in on practical spiritual applications for daily life.

Andrea's post does not beat around the bush.  Pay attention to the results your spiritual practices (meditation, prayer, fasting, journalling, yoga etc.) are creating in your life.  Anything happening?  Why are we doing what we do?  She stresses that ideally spiritual practices lead to growth in other areas of our life.  Growth could be a new state of being, which of course leads to a new way of acting.

I'm hearing a similar message in a book I'm reading - Prayer Primer, by Thomas Dubay.  It describes a process of praying (beyond learned prayers) that leads to a deepening relationship with God.  Out of that deeper relationship with God, our aim is to take our reflections and translate them into improved ways of interacting with others.

What could be more practical, and essential, than protecting ourselves from energy-sucking people?  Slade's Psychic Shielding for Empaths is for anyone who interacts daily with people - from empaths, healers and teachers, to customer service workers and hair stylists.  The question is how to do this in a way that doesn't shut us down in the process.

Slade recommends the use of pink light as a shield (semi-permeable that is).  I find his distinctions between visualizing white light vs. pink light very helpful.  In day to day interactions, invoking pink light "allows for your loving energy — compassion, concern, good will — to pass through, yet the White Light (which is still present within the Pink) blocks negative energy.  Slade adds that the pink light is "a kind of filter — magnifying what you most hope to receive/ project, while still blocking psychic attack completely and absolutely."

If you're wondering under what circumstances to invoke this pink light, or how to do it, be sure and read his excellent post.

Both blogs noted above are filled with provocative and very helpful content.  Enjoy!

[ Photo Credit:  Christopher Rayan]