New Things

We all have things we wish we could have in our lives that up to now we haven’t had... Whether it is something on our ‘birthday wish list’, or something that we have been working toward for some time ~ every once in a while it is time for something new.

Often this ‘something new’ brings changes with it.
If we would like to redecorate the house ~ before we can bring in the new furniture, we need to take out the old furniture. And this can bring along an interesting process of decision-making. The easiest possibility is when the old furniture is really on its last legs, broken, or otherwise without any worth whatsoever. In that case it is just a matter of discarding it. Although if we feel it is still worth selling ~ we need to decide how to go about it. Through Ebay? Or a garage sale? Graigslist? Then, applying a value to each piece we are putting up for sale, there is always a chance that we feel this tingle that wants to back out of the whole thing. After all, if it is still worth that amount of money, should we just keep it a while longer? And even if we are happy to sell it, how long are we willing to be involved in getting rid of the old ~ even if it would bring in some money?
But then, when everything is finally cleared out ~ there is the excitement of the new being brought in!

It is easy to see how the process works when talking about furniture.
Yet the process is the same for pretty much anything new we want to bring into our lives. Whether it is something physical, something material ~ or a new perspective, a new attitude.

If we want to perceive life in a new way, it is necessary to let go of the way we have looked upon life up to now. If we want to do different things, we need to organize an opening in our calendars ~ literally create an opening in which we can plan this new activity...
And like with the furniture ~ this takes us through a series of decisions on how to go about it to create the space for the new things to fit into. And it gives us an opportunity to observe how this brings changes into our lives that make our lives better.

Desired changes. New things we have been wishing ~ and sometimes waiting for...
Every once in a while it is a good thing to look at what new things can make our lives better!

Grass Roots

According to the dictionary grass roots refer to the most basic level of an activity or organization. And, looking at the actual roots of grass ~ one can’t get closer to the ground...

The other thing that happens with the roots of grasses is that they have this tendency to multiply underground... So where at first just a few blades of grass peek their heads up; pretty soon more and more will follow!

Of course this is how nature works. Most seeds of that one tree that actually find themselves touching the soil in one way or another, eventually will germinate and grow into yet another tree. It is this very principle that is responsible for the growth of groves of trees...

Yet ‘grass roots’ has gotten this specific meaning of a community or group of people that come together in order to instigate changes that seem natural and spontaneous. As opposed to changes orchestrated by a (political) organization or a government.

The interesting thing is that while a number of years ago people were talking about changes they desired in their lives, their environments and the world in general ~ more often than not no real action was taken in order to affect these desired changes. The prevailing attitude seemed to be one of “live and let live” ~ allowing only for individual and private changes.

In the past couple of years more and more people have come together supporting an idea ~ or perhaps even an ideal ~ and having specific views on how this idea not only can make for a better world, but also how this idea can be implemented in the world...
Often those ideas or ideals are relatively simple, not costing a whole lot of money ~ on the other hand not having the potential to make a lot of money either. Yet they would influence the lives of many in a beneficial way.

And that is where the problem lies...

In a society where success is measured in amounts of money ~ where success therefore is looked upon as ‘financial success’ ~ these grass roots ideas often are not viable. Why spend time, money and effort on something that has a close to zero chance of receiving that big bonus at the end of the year?

The fact that more and more grass roots movements exist and actually make the news in one way or another, suggests that in this day and age change is needed. Not just any change ~ a change that touches the core of our societies; and yes one that touches the core of our selves: a change in values.
A change in exactly those things that we have held near and dear for over a century!

And although we may resist this mightily ~ just like the blade of grass will multiply once it has peeked its head up ~ so too will the grass roots call for these changes to multiply...

Past and future

When we think about it, it is surprising how much of our lives we live in our past and future. Reminiscing about the things that we have done, have experienced. Perhaps about things we now wish we had done differently, things that were hard (but we survived). Re-living our past victories and succes stories. While on the other hand we make plans for our future. For the things we want to do next week, next month; on our next vacation. All the things we still wish to experience, trips we want to make this year or the next…

And yet most of us will agree that the best way to live our life and experience everything it has to offer to the fullest is to live ‘now’. In this point in time. Without weighing our experiences against what has happened last month or last year, or continuously looking at how it could have been better.

It seems that living in this very moment is harder than it looks, as we all too often feel weighted down by our past, or find ourselves worrying about our future.

The solution ~ although by no means easy ~ is to every one in a while take some time to take an honest look at whatever it is we are carrying along on our paths through life. If we would do so, we may find that there are a handful of things that we feel are truly essential for living our lives the way we want to. Then there can be quite a pile of things we have learned in our youth, some of which have proven to be helpful, while other things ~ even then ~ were not. And perhaps the third pile of things are those things we were told by others. The opinions of others as to how we present ourselves, what we do, how we act; even how we choose to dress.

Having made this division, it becomes clear which parts of our past we have no loner an need for in our lives, and consequently we can leave those behind.
The things that are not ~ or never were ~ helping us. And the opinions of other people. Of course everybody has the right to their opinion; and we can even listen to other people’s opinions. However, that doesn’t mean that we should also act on those opinions other people may have. Especially if we cannot perceive any manner in which they would actually help us on our paths through life.

If we do take the time and effort to lighten our loads this way, something wonderful tends to happen! Not only does it enable us to let the past be the past, chances are that now that we are no longer carrying too much of a load already, we are not quite so worried about what the future may hold in store for us.
And those two things make it a lot easier for us to live our lives in full awareness, right now.

Regrets

Most of us regret something every once in a while.
Whether it is something we said without thinking of the consequences, or something we did or didn’t do for whatever the reason. And truth be told, more often than not the reasons we have are good reasons to do or not do something ~ even to say something, or not...
Hence most of those regrets are what I would call ‘small regrets’ that fall into the category of making choices. We all have to make choices, and sometimes even if we have chosen wisely ~ we still would have wished things had been different.
And looking back at what happened, we often just come to one conclusion: Life happened...

In other words, some regrets may just come with the choices we have to make in our lives.

But then there are the regrets that are the ‘big regrets’.
Those are usually the things related to opportunities we let pass us by. Sometimes because we didn’t believe enough in ourselves. Sometimes because it didn’t seem as good a deal as it turned out to be for the person who did grab hold of that particular opportunity.

Yet the most common reason to not do the things that are really important to us is that we react from what we believe other people expect of us rather than the way we truly are.
And when we look back at a period of time in our lives only to see that we didn’t do things we wanted to do while we got the chance to do them ~ that brings us into the realm of the ‘big regrets’.

The things is that a lot of the time they aren’t the things you might think ~ like ‘climbing Mount Everest’, or ‘walking to Santiago de Compostela’.
They are the things like not working so hard that there was never time to enjoy life; to see the children grow up, or investing time into your relationships with friends.

The regret that while you were busy doing a lot of things ~ there was never really any time for ‘being’.

That may well be the biggest regret of our time: to not having taken the time to be yourself. To do the things that were important to you at the time. To not fulfill your heart’s desires when you had the chance.

Wouldn’t it have been nice to look back and say ‘I have done that!’?
Then perhaps it is time to think about how you can go about being true to yourself. To enjoy the things you were dreaming about when you were a kid...

To answer the question: “What would it take for me to look back at my life without any ‘big regrets’?”

If what we are doing doesn’t work...

At some point in our life we may find that for all our efforts, what we are doing isn’t getting us where we want to go. It usually takes a while to come to that realization, but then something happens that makes us fully aware of the fact that the situation we find ourselves in is (no longer) working for us.

The big question then becomes: “Well, if this doesn’t work, what can I do that will work for me?”
And so we find ourselves on a quest to find what we need to change, what we need to do different, and where we can apply our energy more productively.

As soon as we start looking at these things, a number of things are likely to happen:
We may become aware that our old patterns have different sources and are harder to break than we held possible.
When we break those old patterns, change the old tapes in our minds, the solutions we now see may be vastly different than we ever thought they would be.
We may discover that, once we start talking about our new-found direction ~ in any other field but the metaphysical or spiritual, making that change is applauded. Yet especially when there is money (yes, making money...) involved ~ when your path is a spiritual one, the reactions are more likely to be: “Uh-oh; her/his ego is taking over! Now it is all over, that is such a shame...”

Now, the first two are relatively easy to deal with. There are books on the how-to; there is the internet where processes can be found to handle things like this; motivational speakers, coaches, therapists ~ in other words, if you really want to change, help is out there.

The last point, however, seems to have to do with an ‘old tape’ that is more cultural. It is a message that when we are walking a spiritual path, we will be provided for.
For me, the first thing that comes to mind are holy men from pretty much all over the world, who are holding out a beggar’s bowl. And I am thinking, ‘They are clearly spiritual, if they are to be provided for, then why are they begging?’

In our modern-day lives it doesn’t work that way anymore.

Even when we are walking a spiritual path, we have bills to pay! We may have families to care for. And we probably like to eat a good meal at regular times.
At this point in time, not only is it okay to make money while on a spiritual path ~ the process of doing so is what helps us in our personal growth! And from that perspective, it makes us even more ‘spiritual’!

Happiness

When are you happy?
Is it when the sun is shining, and the weather is good, nice warm? When the days are long during the Summer? Or when everybody gathers in the dark of Winter?
Are you happy when things go ‘your way’? When you are appreciated ~ when others are telling you you are doing good?

Often, when we describe what makes us happy it are things outside of ourselves that we notice make us happy. Children at play, kittens, puppies, the things with a high ‘ahhhh’ factor; things that make us smile. Surprisingly, our relationship make it on that list a lot less than one would think...
What does make it on that list are ‘winning the lottery’, ‘helping others’.

Funny thing is that almost all of the above are things that are either outside of our control or directed at someone other than ourselves. Over the last couple of months, the things that someone told me made them happy that were closest to one’s self were ‘staying out of trouble’ and ‘doing the right thing’.

When you think about it, this makes happiness a very elusive thing ~ maybe even something that is hard to attain.
When our perspective on something we want, like happiness, is that receiving it is dependent on others, or even on things that are outside of our control (like the weather, or winning the lottery) it becomes a difficult thing to get. When we can only be happy when the sun shines, or when we win the lottery ~ we set ourselves up for lots of times when happiness is out of reach for us...

So what is the alternative? How can we be happy more consistently; or at least more often?
The answer has to lie within ourselves. If we can change our perspective from: ‘being happy is instigated by something that is outside of us’ to: ‘being happy is something that starts inside of ourselves’, all of a sudden we tend to link happiness with fulfillment, contentment, and expressing our unique potential.
And these are things that are within our realm of influence! We can chose to so those things that make us feel fulfilled. We can chose to express our personal uniqueness in a way that makes us feel good ~ in a way that makes us happy.

Looking at myself, I know that the outside factors most definitely can help me make those choices... For me, on sunny days being happy is easier than on days when rain and wind make me want to stay close to the fire place...
Yet, as far as happiness is concerned, I am well aware that it is a choice that is mine to make!

Choose to be happy!!

Release

As we are living our lives people, situations, and even material things of all sorts and sizes move into our lives ~ and eventually move out of our lives again.
As it turns out most of the items that land in my grocery cart every week have a decided expiration date. When that date arrives it better had been used, or it will move out of my life in some other manner. Yet there are also things that we may not even think would have an expiration date, and yet, at some point in time they do move out of our lives just the same…

It is one of those “wisdoms” that are so easily said: that we have to release all those things that are holding us back. To release the things that may have served us in the past, yet are no longer doing so. The things that are part of our comfort zone, but that in reality have lost their purpose in our lives long time ago.

It is not as easy to actually do it.

Sometimes the memories associated with something will prevent us from releasing it. Perhaps memories of who gave it to us long ago, or the hopefully happy occasion it was given to us.
And when it is about people, we may have drifted apart ~ may not even know what to talk about when we would meet ~ but it is easier to leave it at that rather than actually releasing the other person. Possibly we were never that close to begin with but the thought of what might have been had circumstances been different is what keeps us from truly releasing whatever bond is left between us.

And then there are those that we never imagined would ever stop being part of our lives. Those that we may not speak with often, those that we keep in touch with through emails and Skype ~ yet somehow it feels like they will always be there for us, just like we would be there for them.
And when a long time friend like that passes, all we have left are memories.
There is no choice, other than to release them.

Whether we release someone or something is not always up to us.
As our lives move with the Seasons; as one moon becomes two, and three, and many… Our paths may take different directions ~ even detours ~ and suddenly we find ourselves in new places, with new friends. Living our lives and discovering we have new needs and desires.

To what extend we then choose to release the old is a personal decision. For some people it means moving to a new job, a new place and consequently releasing the old job and house.
For others the only decision that makes sense at that point is a way more drastic release.

Either way, when we release the old, we are most definitely creating the space for new beginnings!

Understanding

Understanding the issue at hand is for most people an important step on the road to either solving it or at least moving on from it. Coming to a comprehension as to what instigated the issue, and to what extend we ourselves are responsible for it to bring an upset into our lives may show where our own opportunities for (personal) growth are presented in the situation…

In other words, where is the other person coming from, and what can I learn from it.

Given the fact that everything happens for a reason, and that we are creating our own lives ~ and everything that happens in it ~ by our own choices and actions, means that whatever issue we are faced with, is something we have created in our own lives. Therefore, if we feel we don’t need this particular kind of drama in our lives, it behooves us to see our part in its creation and change ourselves.

It sounds straightforward, yet hardly ever is…

All too often we first and foremost want to understand where the other person is coming from as far as the issue is concerned. This gives us the understanding to feel empathy with the other person, or, perhaps just as often, look at our own actions in a more positive light.

If “they” are reacting angrily when I do this, “they” must be suffering from a major spell of indignation. “They” must not have handled the problems “they” encounter in “their” lives, and therefore the situation got out of hand.

The question then becomes, where does that leave us?

After all, we all have our own roots, our own backgrounds ~ both cultural, experiential, and based in family ~ and we are all on a path through live that will present us with personal growth and learning opportunities. This means that we are bound to clash with others every once in a while. And some times we may handle it better, more gracefully, than other times. Sometimes it can trigger us on a deeper level than other times. And then there are those times when the issue is instigated by a build-up of many ‘smaller-than-small’ things that have taken place over a period of time, that suddenly explode.

Depending on the situation and who are involved we may be able to just walk away from it.
But then again, everything happens for a reason. So even when we can just walk away from it, it is still a good idea to look at what our part in it was.
Ultimately, the question that brings true understanding is why we have created the issue in our lives. When we know that, transforming it and moving on from it is easy.

Winds Of Change

Today blustery winds are raging through the streets. And while the temperatures are above normal for this time of the year, it seems a gentle breeze is blowing inside ~ coming in through the cat-door and moving out through the slightly open window upstairs...

The wind, like the other elements, can change things.
It may not be quite as immediately obvious as changes brought on by the other elements ~ the changes can be vast nonetheless. The changes created by the other elements, like earth quakes and land slides; flooding and the changing flow of rivers; or the desolate remains after a fire has burned itself out ~ first and foremost are physical changes.

The changes brought on by air, by the wind, take some time to create a physical effect... Yet, after years of weathering the wind from one direction, even pine trees will bend to its force. The wind creates and breaks down sand dunes ~ and given time, can create large, room-like caverns in the rocks.

From a spiritual perspective the air-element is related to our mind, to our thinking.
That makes the ‘winds of change’ a mental occurrence as much as it having a physical effect. It means that the wind ~ the movement of air ~ has the capacity to shift our thinking. To bring about new perspectives ~ even give us new insights.

With new insights, ‘a breath of fresh air’ may come in that, as it gathers momentum may result in a ‘brain-storm’. And pretty soon new ideas start piling up. Different ways of doing the same old chores. New paths to the goals we have set for ourselves. Fresh ideas on how to explain that concept that you couldn’t get across before. That which was ‘set in concrete’ in our thinking, suddenly has room for flexibility.

And when the wind abates, chances are we see a ‘new world’ around us ~ not as much because of the physical changes in that world; perhaps more because we see what is there with ‘new eyes’.

Somehow, the fact that something like the wind can create such enormous changes in our lives, makes that most of us have mixed feelings about the stormy weather. Being human, usually means that we are not very fond of changes. After all, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
On the other hand, being outdoors in the stormy weather ~ even finding a place where you can be alone, and can scream to the wind around you ~ can give us a great sense of freedom. As if a weight has been lifted off our shoulders.

Again, from a spiritual perspective, we may want to seek out those windy days so that the weather can help us bringing the changes into our lives that are going to help us move forward on our path...

Cynicism

It seems like we are getting more cynical in the situation of today’s world. For most it is a pattern that allows us to cope with what is happening in the world ~ politically, economically, yet also personally.
As such, cynicism is one of those energies that has two sides to it ~ and not surprisingly so in this age of polarities…

On one side cynicism can stem from a certain sense of reality from the perspective that history has shown that as the world is moving along this particular path ~ again, be it political, economical, or personal ~ chances are slim the desired change for the better will manifest any time soon.
On the other hand, cynicism has an aspect of frustration, of irritation and even anger to it. Not just because we cannot see positive changes coming our way, but also because things are not going ‘our way’.

This then, can spark a whole different discussion.
After all, what is good and positive for one person, may not have the same ‘ring’ to it for another person. And vice versa. What is good and what is bad?

It is a struggle that humanity has had throughout its existence. Pretty much every culture has a story or a legend about the struggle between ‘good’ and ‘bad’. And we always desire for ‘good’ to win the battle.

There are different shades to both ‘good’ and ‘bad’.
There is the factual truth. But there is also personal ~ and even cultural ~ truth. There is positive intent. And when this ‘positive intent’ doesn’t quite work out as positively as it was intended, does that mean it is ‘bad’?
And then there is the All Wise Universe, which sets things in motion to affect a change that is needed for humanity as a whole. Things that can feel pretty ‘bad’ as they start happening…

Looking at those type of things with a healthy dose of reality ~ perhaps even asking ourselves what that means for our personal lives where we do have the ability to influence what is happening ~ most likely is a good thing.
However, if our cynicism is comes from an attitude that ‘things are not going our way’, we may wish to reconsider. We may want to ask ourselves whether we are as strongly anchored in reality as we think we are, and examine what exactly it is that we may be irritated or frustrated about. In the world as a whole as well as in our own lives…

Giving

It is easy to look upon our busy lives as filled with demands that are being put upon us. The demands of a job ~ or sometimes even several jobs ~ the demands of family, the demands of chores; after all, somebody has to do them…
And pretty soon we are finding ourselves in a position where we may feel that the whole world needs something from us, while we , in return need something from it. As in a salary, a sense of security; whatever it may be.

It can become a push-pull mechanism that leaves us feeling like a ball on the playing field of the universe, without us having any kind of control over our lives…

The funny thing is that the first step to take back at least some of that control ~ to step back into the role of player rather than the ball the game is payed with ~ is deceptively simple. And equally counter-intuitive… It is ‘giving’.

The moment we change our perspective from all of the demands that are taking time, energy, and sometimes even money from us into us giving what is needed, an enormous shift occurs.

We give of our time and our talents, and in return we are given a salary.
We give away (or sell) all the stuff we no longer need, and in return we are given breathing space.
We give to ourselves the time to smell the roses, and in return we find ourselves having more time to do whatever it is we were planning to do.

And while our actual activities may not change that much over a day or a week, because our perspective has changed we have taken back the initiative. We have taken back the power over our lives. Maybe not all at once, yet the more we practice looking at life from the perspective of giving rather than being pushed and pulled by the demands of life, the more empowered we will feel.

Chances are that before long we also will find that we have choices as to what to do; where to give of ourselves and how much. And hopefully we will find that we start giving to ourselves as well; instead of ‘running ourselves ragged’ day after day.

And pretty soon we may even find that we start the day asking ourselves ‘What do I have to give today of my time and my talents, such that old ‘processed’ energy can be used productively, and fresh, new energy can flow into me. Into my home. Into my family…

New Year’s Resolutions

Now that the new year is almost upon us, we may hear a lot about new year’s resolutions ~ we even may have one or two ourselves...

Research has shown that among the top new years resolutions are resolutions about weight loss, exercise, and stopping to smoke. Also popular are resolutions dealing with better money management / debt reduction. Resolutions about self improvement (taking classes or even going back to school), helping others and finding true love complete the list of most common new year’s resolutions.

So what, other than the fact that new year signals a new beginning, makes this time such a good time to come up with new year’s resolutions?

With the start of Winter, the shortest day of the year, an energy of introspection, together with the ‘return of the light’~ the days that are getting longer; but also Christmas with its own perspective on ‘the return of the light’ ~ makes that these ten days of the year are really geared toward planning what it is you want to accomplish over the next year ~ starting new year’s day.

Now we all know, that it is really hard to keep with our new year’s resolution after the first couple of weeks, when the holidays are over and we are rapidly returning to our ‘business as usual’ lives.

But we can still benefit from taking some time to really look at where we want to spend our energy over the next year.

To write down, not only our traditional new year’s resolution, but also what we desire to accomplish in our everyday life, as well as what we hope to achieve from a mental standpoint, and what we are reaching for from a spiritual perspective.

I have found that to get the most out of my, let’s say, expanded new year’s resolutions, just listing them is not enough. It works a lot better for me when I make plan for how I want to get where I want to go...
To ask myself what steps I am willing to take toward my goal for this year. To see how much time and energy I am really willing to give it on a daily basis. And to plan my days, my life, accordingly...

The first time I went through this ‘exercise’, my ‘every day life’ goals were easiest to come up with. But looking back they were also the easiest to forget, after the holidays were over. My more mental goals were harder to come up with, but easier to follow up on. Spiritually, I had no idea... I decided to plan for a 10 minute meditation every day.
As it turns out, I have gained a lot from that daily 10 minute meditation...

So the steps to permit for the new year to really be a new start are:
List what you want to accomplish.
Ask yourself how much time and energy you are willing to give it every day.
Plan the steps you are going to take toward your goals.
Start doing it!

Wishing Well

I received an email with Holiday Wishes and a long letter as to how important it is to extend our Holiday wishes to others ~ family and friends, but also those that we have lost contact with or even aren’t ‘on speaking terms’ with. Especially during this time of year.

It was the last sentence that caught my attention.

Of course it is this time of year when we send out our Holiday wishes on nice cards, whether they are sent through ‘snail-mail’ (you know, the handwritten variety with a stamp on the envelop), or in a digital fashion. We expect to receive Holiday wishes, and we may even feel obligated to send out Holiday wishes to those that are near and dear to us.

But why restrict wishing well to others to this time of year?
Don’t we wish others well any other time of the year?

In the email I received the argument was made that it is more important to wish well unto others this time of the year, because the veil between us and the Creative Force is very thin now, ensuring that our wishes are heard not only by those we sent our wishes to, but also by the Creative Force itself.

But that doesn’t make any sense to me.
As any one prayer makes a difference, so does any one wish we send out any time of the year...

So why do we feel that wishes that we are extending to others, or that are extended to us for that matter, are more powerful during the Holiday Season? Could it be that we ourselves are more tuned to things that are ‘good’, and that we therefore are more open to receiving those wishes?

Let’s face it, when we take time to be quiet with ourselves, stepping back from our daily lives, spending time with those that are near and dear to us ~ when we voice our hopes for peace ~ we are likely to display a softer, more open side of ourselves. An openness that allows us to really be touched by the wishes that are sent to us. A softness that makes us want to send out our wishes to others...

And doesn’t that feel good?

Which makes me think ~ why don’t we do that more often? Wishing others well? Not just in our minds ~ but to actually take a little time to send a card, or to pick up the phone and talk for a couple of minutes. To purposefully and mindfully touch the other person with kindness, and our wishes for great health and wellbeing...

I believe that if we would be doing so, it makes this world a better place.
Independent of the season...

Snow

It always amazes me how everything changes when it snows. The obvious things are the temperature, the fact that the snow turns nature from its greyish brown, late Fall colors into black and white ~ or totally white, depending on how much snow is there. All of a sudden there seems to be a lot more light as whatever faint Winter’s sunlight is there gets reflected by the snow.

But it goes a lot further than that.
A couple of hours after the first snow has fallen, the removal of it from highways and freeways is in full swing. Sand or salt are spread on the streets, which, combined with the carefully moving traffic turns the once white flakes into a muddy slush, before it eventually disappears. Or at least that is what everybody who needs to go places and do things is hoping for. The worst case scenario would be for the slushy substance to freeze up again ~ but let’s not go there...

Indoors the heater is purring away. My heater burns natural gas to heat the house. I like that. It means that you can get close to the heater to get really warmed up. It is also as close to instant warmth as you can get; turn it up, and there it is.
The disadvantage is that while it is nice and cosy right around the heater, the farther you get away from the heater, the colder it gets... So with hot tea close at hand, I make sure not to wander off too often.

The cats are not amused. This cold white stuff that gives way when they walk on it, that they cannot properly dig into ~ that doesn’t actually allows them to bury their droppings ~ is no fun. As of now, the litter box is still no option ~ I wonder how long they will brave the weather before they give in and stay in the relatively warm kitchen instead of braving the cold...
There has been snow for a couple of days now, and already the cats are bored. Not willing to get out, they burn their energy chasing each other around the house.

It seems that as soon as the first snow changes the atmosphere, it signals that the time to turn inwards has arrived. To look back at the goals you reached, or maybe didn’t reach... To evaluate whether to set these same goals for yourself, or if there are other, different, maybe even more important things to achieve.
To start pondering and planning as to how to go about reaching the new goals you set for yourself.

Or to just gaze out the window ~ watching it snow...

Rules

Apart from techniques, we are taught rules. These rules will teach us how to behave. They will create ‘good citizens’ out of us, and in order to accomplish this they are set up with the intention that we will  be safe and do what is best for us. Like traffic rules, safety regulations, dress codes; but also ‘you are not allowed to eat cookies right before dinner’ or, for instance: ‘don’t speak unless you are spoken to’.

From my perspective, rules seem to fall into two categories. There are rules that organize the Country or culture we are living in. And then there are rules that are tied to a personal value system.

The consequences of not following or living by these rules vary from being penalized according to the system of laws of the Country you are living in ~ to setting yourself apart from a cultural or family group; becoming a ‘loner’, or in extreme cases becoming an outcast.

Ultimately the question is: “What does being a ‘good citizen’ mean to me?”

And we all come to a point in life where we will explore this question. Where we tell the world that ‘no way are we going to live our life the same way our parents are living their lives. We are going to do it different and better’. We turn our backs at more traditional social mores...

The funny thing is, that after a while, sometimes without us being aware of it happening, we start adhering to a new system of social mores. Following new rules that suit our newly discovered personal values. And, as there is ‘safety in numbers’, we surround ourselves with friends who tend to live by a similar set of social mores or rules as we do.

The reality is that rules provide us with a structure; and us human beings feel comfortable within a structure. That is, as long as this structure allows us free expression of ourselves...

And there is the rub.

Rules, by their nature, limit our expression of self; in the very least ensuring that the expression of self is done in a ‘socially acceptable manner’.
It is, for instance, okay if you want to be an actress or artist; but it is frowned upon if you cannot provide for yourself and your family while being an actress or artist...
It is okay to lead a ‘traveling life’; it is frowned upon if in doing so, you disallow your children to put down roots in any one place...

The paradox is that while rules ~ the ones we grew up with as well as the ones set for ourselves ~ comfort us as well as limit us. They allow us to belong to a group of family and/or friends, as long as we behave in an acceptable manner.

Rules are complicated. Set up with the intention to keep us protected, physically and socially, often we feel the need to ‘bend the rules’ in order to truly express ourselves according to our personal values...

Song Lines

Although I have never been to Australia, Song Lines are an intriguing concept to me.

Let’s start with what Wikipedia says about Song Lines:
For the Aborigines all land is sacred and alive. Their ancestors gave life in singing, gave them life through song, and dwell in the land still. The songs must be continually sung to keep the land "alive". In singing they preserve the land/story/dreaming of their ancestors, and recreate it in their oneness of past, present and future.

For me this ties in with my shamanic path, as well as with the understanding that we are the creators of our own lives.
But how many of us actually create all things in our lives with purpose in such a way that a oneness with past, present and future is (re)created?

Looking at myself, I tend to look at something, one thing, I want to create or manifest in my life. And depending on whether I just desire to have this thing or whether I really need it in my life, the manifestation of it happens faster, or in some cases, not at all.
In my efforts, I turn all of my focus to this one manifestation. And in doing so I let Self, and the rest of my life, ‘roll with the punches’.

Through Song Lines, the Aborigines recreate all that is with every step they take on the path of life. They not just recreate their Selves, they recreate nature and the path they are walking through nature. And in doing so, they acknowledge the sacredness of the land and nature.

I have often wondered what would happen if I would do the same thing. I would need to do it in a manner that fits our culture and that suits my life...

I might not actually sing it, although making up the songs would be a great deal of fun, but my singing is not that good (and this is just the first of a bunch of reasons not to sing these things out loud). But what if I started acknowledging all the parts in life that are good to me, that are working for me - all the things that enrich my life? They would include people, and that which provides my income. They would also include parts that I have ‘inherited’, like a family history, or values that are part of the culture I have grown up in.

However, I think I would start with acknowledging Self.
Singing the song of how my body is the perfect, healthy, whole temple of my soul. The song of how my mind is strong and can give direction to my path. Of how all my experiences are precious for what they have taught me...

I would start with singing: I am.

‘I cannot...’

One of the easiest ways to create a blockage in the flow of our lives is that little statement that starts with ‘I cannot’...

While it is true that there are things that are truly outside of our ability, we tend to use that phrase often as an excuse to not do something, to not make that appointment at that time, to not get engaged in ~ for instance ~ the setting up of the new internet connection or TV channels.
In doing so, we tell the world and ourselves that there are things we cannot do. Whether that is an actual truth or not...

Usually it is not as much that we really are unable to set up that appointment at that time ~ or even are unable to learn how to set up the internet connection ~ as that we don’t feel like doing it. We don’t want to get involved in it. Or at the least we don’t want to spend our energy learning it ~ or doing it ~ right now.
And to veer away from the (possibly long) explanation on why you don’t want to do ‘it’ right now ~ whether it is an appointment or anything else that comes up in life ~ we may feel it is a lot easier to say: “I am so sorry, but I really can’t do that right now...”

The way we live our lives, knowing that everybody is quite busy keeping things together between work, family etc. ~ our response is taken as a factual statement, resulting in us being ‘off the hook’.

When we observe it from that perspective, the ‘I cannot...’ phrase seems to work well for us!
Not only do we not have to enter in a long explanation as to why we don’t want to do something, why now is not the best time to learn something we don’t feel a great affinity with ~ but also those around us have a tendency to take our ‘I cannot...’ statement as fact, allowing us to do the things we want to do in our own way, in our own time.

The caveat comes within ourselves...
Each time we use that ‘I cannot...’ phrase, our subconscious registers that we are unable to do something. Anything. And as our subconscious rules a lot of the things we do seemingly automatically in our daily lives ~ every time we give it that message that ‘we cannot...’, we create a blockage in the flow in which our subconscious operates.
And bit by bit, we make it harder and harder for ourselves to get things done.

We are probably a lot better off telling ourselves: “I can, I can, I can ~ I really think I can!”
And then solve the other ‘stuff’ in our lives as it comes up...

What we know to be true vs what we believe to be true

We may know that we are good, productive, kind, loving, honest, respectful people who can take care of ourselves. We may be aware that there might be situations that can be more challenging than others ~ yet on the whole we will get by just fine!

At the same time we may believe that we are ‘stupid’ because it took us a little longer to learn to read when we were 6 or 7 years old. We may believe that we are ‘no-good people’, because we didn’t fit the environment we grew up in very well. We may even have come to the conclusion on a deep inner level that love hurts; that those who are less than honest and trick the system of society get further in life; or that respect is a fear-based sentiment...

These believes more often than not are things we were told by others, or shown by others when we grew up. And when we are told something over and over and over again, chances are that ~ at least on some level ~ we start believing it to be true.

So we may end up having two, completely different perspectives on who we are, on our abilities.
And where what we know to be true is stored in our ratio ~ in our logical, conscious mind ~ what we believe to be true is stored in our subconscious mind, the mind of our dreams; the mind that takes over the moment we are not consciously thinking about something.

The result is that, unless we consciously decide to do so, the things we believe to be true are never measured against the things we know to be true. This then, can put us in a situation where we are totally ‘with it’ when we are logically, consciously presenting ourselves ~ yet as soon as we direct our focus elsewhere we start projecting the subconscious picture of ourselves that we, on that deep inner level, believe to be true...

A duality like that can well become a major obstacle on our personal path; a definite challenge in our day-to-day lives.

For many people the answer to just one question, when answered with absolute honesty, is enough to help them become aware of a ‘knowing vs believing challenge’ in their lives:
“ I know I can do that. Do I believe I can do that?”

Others may want to get help from a practitioner or coach specializing in bringing what you believe to be true closer to what you know to be true.

Either way, the closer what you know to be true and what you believe to be true are to one another ~ the easier live gets to be!

I already know that

Have you ever been to a class or a lecture where, after the first five or ten minutes or so, you were thinking “I already know that.”?
And if you have, did you notice how you, as soon as you had allowed yourself thinking that, started listening with just a little bit less focus; finding yourself a little bit less involved in the process of the class or lecture…

The interesting thing is that our thoughts truly set us up for how we encounter pretty much anything in life. The moment we think the thought that we already know what is being presented, we close ourselves to any new information the class or lecture might have given us because in reality we aren’t listening anymore. We have decided that we already know it, and therefore there is nothing to be gained from this interaction, so we checked out.

The perspective that comes from the totally opposite direction would be that everything in our lives happens for a reason. This means that we were in this class for a reason…

Now, in all fairness, the reason might not be the information given. It may be the opportunity of meeting someone who is at the same event… Yet in order to find out the true reason for being right there at that very moment, we need to be focused and alert.

The question it brings up though is why we assume that we ‘already know it’.
Why do we permit ourselves to think a thought ~ and even be aware of it ~ which lets us ‘check out’. A thought that takes our focus away from the moment, bringing it inward for us to ponder things that may have happened that day or that week. To think about situations that might need solutions in our lives; or about whether we are on the right path. Perhaps if we even would like to change the direction of the personal path we are walking.
And all this against the backdrop of this class or lecture continuing.
But we already know it, so we don’t have to listen…

It is a mechanism we all use every once in a while. Perhaps more so if we are told to attent a meeting we didn’t really want to attent in the first place; but even events that we have signed up for on our own accord are not entirely exempt from this. A lot depends on the words used, the examples given; and of course our state of mind.

If our minds are too busy, too full to take in new information, we won’t truly listen or be with what is going on around us. Yet if we have decided to be right there at that very moment, chances are that there is something there for us…
Something worth listening to with an open mind.

Against

The other day I posted something on Facebook and immediately got a reaction from a person who was against what I was posting. And this is what Facebook is all about, we can express our opinions at the drop of a hat; sparking discussions that can be ~ yet not always are ~ quite productive. As such, I truly do like Facebook as a platform!

But this interaction made me think.

Because when someone is against something, this is probably because they have ~ at least in their mind ~ a very good reason. And even if it is not a factual truth, it is clearly a personal truth, which is in many cases just as, if not more important. At least to that person.
Often we are much more likely to react from a point of our ‘personal truth’, a point of our experience, than we are from a perspective of factual truth. And in and of itself this is not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination.

On the other hand, if that is the case, being against something might be followed by something like: “I don’t believe that to be true” or “I think there are better ways to accomplish this”. That then, could be the start of a meaningful discussion that could enrich not only those who are expressing their opinions, but also those who are reading along on Facebook (in this case).

This time I was told that there are plenty of better ways to accomplish what I was posting about, then the actual manner I posted. Yet when I asked what those would be, the answer was that I should just google it…
That seems like an easy way out.

It also seems like it is a perspective that is just against something, without a willingness to look at how it can be made better. And all that is left is “Being against …”

“Being against …” is something that comes up more and more often.
Just as there are people who are ‘bending over backward’ in order to make the world ~ or at least their world, their environment ~ a better place, there are people who “Are against …”. Often from an angry or indignant attitude.

It is a way in which polarities are coming to the surface.

That being said, it leaves me with a couple of interesting questions to ponder…
If I feel I am against something, am I willing to take that next step and make an alternative approach work?
If this is how polarities come to the surface, where do I show or express indignation?

Chances are that our greatest personal ~ even spiritual ~ growth, lies in the answers to those questions…

Respect and Appreciation

Respect is something that keeps coming up in our lives over and again. And very often it seems to be tied to appreciation. This means that if we get the feeling someone else is not truly appreciating us right there and then at the very moment, it is easy to not just feel unappreciated yet also feel disrespected.

Looking this way at respect and appreciation, it tends to be in an interactive setting; in other words, someone else is doing something to us that makes us feel disrespected and unappreciated.
And this makes situations like this all the more tricky!

Because do we truly expect every person in the room to stop whatever they are doing because we are entering? Or do we just expect that those we know ~ friends and family ~ to stop in their tracks to give us all the time and attention we feel we deserve?
And in putting out that expectation, do we require others to disrespect ~ and in a sense extend the feeling of non-appreciation ~ the people they were interacting with before we showed up?

In other words, can we only feel appreciated and respected if the people around us go out of their way to give us that sense of being appreciated and respected; even if that means we are putting them a position where they would blatantly disrespect someone else, or even themselves?

Ultimately, the question becomes to what extend we respect and appreciate ourselves. Independent from how other people ~ whether those people are friends and/or family, or just someone you meet some place ~ are behaving towards us.
If a stranger jumps the line at a bus stop, chances are we don’t feel disrespected (which, as it turned out, we most definitely are), we don’t take it personally, we simply shrug it off as the other person being a jerk.

The funny thing though is that, while respect tends to be an inner thing ~ something that is based in how much we respect ourselves ~ appreciation indeed can be much more an outer thing. Something we receive from others.
Respect, therefore is linked more to our sense of self worth; while appreciation is often geared to the things we do and how well we are doing them.
Respect is something we should have at all times (at least for ourselves), while ‘perfect timing’ can trigger all kinds of appreciation we may receive from others.

This means that it is a good idea to see respect and appreciation for the different qualities they are; different energies with different directions. As respect comes from the inside and is extended outside of ourselves, while appreciation is something we may receive from outside of ourselves.

Yet both of these qualities can make us feel really good about ourselves and the world around us when we feel them!

Respect

According to the dictionary, respect means ‘a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements’.

This ties respect to a sense of self worth and self esteem.
When you have a healthy sense of self worth, you are aware of your abilities and qualities, and usually will have a fairly good sense of the things you may achieve. And building your life on this foundation, it is easy to extend this respect to others, without the need to know about their abilities or qualities.

It seems a contradiction in terms; looking at ourselves we need to be ‘worthy’ to gain our respect, yet as we respect ourselves we tend to respect others at face value.
And turning this around, when we see great qualities or abilities in the other person, more often than not we seem to let this take away from the respect we have for ourselves.
Either way, it seems we put a greater importance on the other person than we put on ourselves.

On the other hand, when we get into a situation where we cannot respect ourselves, it becomes almost impossible to respect the other person; independent from their abilities or qualities. When we can’t respect ourselves and are confronted with a person who has great abilities or qualities, the lack of respect to ourselves is all too often expressed as jealousy toward the other...

Respect is a two way street.
Respecting ourselves makes it easy to respect others; in respecting others we gain respect.

Respect assumes equality.
This doesn’t mean that we are the same, or should do the same things, achieve the same goals; it means that we are equal in value, equal in worth. It means that we are not more important than the other person, but neither is the other person more important than we are.

Respect allows us to celebrate our differences.
It creates a space in which interaction can occur, based on equality, allowing each of us to be true to ourselves while admiring the the other person’s abilities, qualities or achievements.

Having said all that, respect is something that is earned. When we are told to respect something or someone, it is not respect that is needed from us, what is needed is that we follow the rules. Whatever they may be. Also, when we are told to respect someone who doesn’t deserve our respect, it is not going to work.

The real question then becomes; are we worthy enough to respect ourselves? To hold ourselves in high esteem?

Well, as respect assumes equality, this makes me different, unique, yet equal in worth to anyone else, I would say: “Absolutely!”

Give or take?

There are any number of ways we can approach life. Two of those are that we either look at life from a perspective of “What can life give me?”, or have a frame of reference that says “What do I have to offer to life?”
In other words, what can I take from it versus what can I give to it.

The attitudes are definitely opposites, yet have commonalities as well. They both tend to affect every area of our lives. And neither is sustainable without the other… If we are always focused on ‘taking’ without ever giving anything in return, we are bound to hit a brick wal at some point. On the other hand, if we are always eager to give and never permit ourselves to receive (take back), we may find ourselves depleted.

On the other hand, successful, rich people who may be ruthless in business, may give big sums of money to worthy causes, as what is received in return often is far greater than just ‘feeling good about yourself’. And those who first and foremost give back to their communities can become hugely successful in their chosen field or profession.

Needless to say this is also true for our energy, our time, and perhaps most importantly, our individual talents.
And that is where the question of whether we take or give comes up perhaps most profoundly. Do we use our talents just to achieve the next step; to fill our latest wishes or desires? Or do we offer our talents to the world in such a way that we can make a difference. Do we operate from a perspective of personal gain, or rather use what we have to offer for the ‘good of all mankind’?

Often this is not a ‘black or white’ choice. It is not by any stretch of the imagination a logical choice either, as logic might say “depends on what I receive in return”. And whatever is ultimately coming back to us seems often to be independent from the perspective we end up choosing.

Yet, being confronted with the question whether to give or take, I can’t help but to see in my mind’s eye all of the creative, new, dynamic, bold solutions that may come into being when people start sharing their talents freely with each other.
When the focus truly is on the entire earth, rather than on this culturally or nationally specific area of the world, just imagine what a wonderful place this could become for all of humanity…

Listen to your parents

Googling that phrase brings up any number of sites that each have any number of reasons or arguments why it is a good thing to listen to your parents. And they are probably right. At least most of the time.

For most parents are loving and nurturing and have a strong desire to protect us.

On the other hand, even with something as reasonable as listening to our parents, there is a need for balance. Each new generation has a new outlook on life, and even when they do listen to their parents, ultimately they will do things their own way. On top of that ~ especially in the field of technology ~ things are changing so fast that the advice our parents can give us is almost by definition outdated…

And so, even while we are listening  to our parents, it is a good idea to keep thinking things through one our own accord; to keep forming our own opinions; and to keep asking ourselves whether the advice our parents are giving us ~ or the rules they are presenting us with ~ feel right to us.

And therein lies the catch.

If we are not motivated to take these steps starting at a relatively young age, we may not become aware that something isn’t feeling right, and may not have the skill to take action when we aren’t sure…

This can come from having an unconditional love and trust toward our parents ~ which then is extended to all ‘parental figures’ like family members, caretakers, teachers and so on. Or it can be instilled in us by stick rules that we are forced to follow as we grow up.

Either way it makes us vulnerable because it takes away our most important ‘yardstick’ with which to measure right and wrong in our lives: how it feels to us.

In an ideal situation, children are raised with a strong inner sense as to what feels right and what doesn’t. Strong enough that they will take action when things are happening with them or around them that doesn’t feel right for whatever reason.
And in that ideal situation, parents listen to their children when they start talking about the things or the people that don’t feel right to them. To pay attention and engage in conversation, rather than brushing this sense of unease a child is bringing up away. And to then sense whether something is going on that indeed isn’t right and proper, or if it is just something quirky or weird…

And then to take action.

Yes, it is a good thing to listen to our parents. Yet it is perhaps even more important that we as parents, or caring adults, raise our children with a strong inner sense of right and wrong, and above all, hear what they have to say!

Big Trees

Easily the biggest trees I have ever seen are the Sierra Sequoias.

And they come with some big surprises…
Growing as solitary giants amid pine trees ~ which are in and of themselves by no means small trees ~ they seem to come up as if ‘out of nowhere’. Kind of like now you see it, now you don’t, as you move through the forest… It is not like they are small trees either; although only when you walk up does its size truly become apparent.
Another surprise is that their bark is so soft to the touch; almost silk-like.
And then there is their humongous height; the tallest stretching truly from earth into the heavens…

Hard to make a picture of, yet as it turns out, easy to experience…

Ancient, yet very ‘in the moment’. A quiet strength, yet soft to the touch. So very still and seemingly unmoving, yet full of life. Greatness personified.

Meeting one ~ or even more ~ of those ancient giants is a truly humbling experience. Not just are we as people dwarfed by these Sequoias, but their simple, non-assuming strength seems to be reassuring more than protective.
Like emanating a message reminding us of the potential of our own ‘reality selves’.

Therefore they also bring up a couple of questions. Questions about what we are spending our time and energy on; questions about our priorities. About our deepest inner wishes and desires, and about what we are doing on a day to day basis to make those wishes and desires come true in our lives…

Yet most of all they bring a realization that being the best individual we can be at that very moment, is all we need to strive for. And that this state of being comes with being grounded while at the same time reaching up so high that we ~ as we are standing on the forest floor ~ cannot see its top. In other words, we can be grounded as well as reaching up into the highest frequencies of our (spiritual) energy at the same time.

They are quite a contrast to our busy day-to-day lives that are ruled by our often over-scheduled calendars, with lots of things that we need to do. Actions that need to be taken…

For thousands of years these gentle giants are showing us by example that ‘being’ might be more important than ‘doing’. That the state of being the best we can be, is enough; not only to survive, but to thrive!

Old friends and Inspiration

It is a good idea to, every once in a while, take stock of all the things we have in our lives. Perhaps not following the prevalent focus of “letting go” as much as to discover old friends and to get inspired. To get ideas as to what to do next; which adventure to embark upon. To see lines and shapes emerge… To see symbols ~ both ancient and new ~ surface on almost forgotten materials.
To find that each stone, each bead, every tidbit of leather, metal, rock, and even plastic seems to be an ‘artifact’ in its own right.

Old friends that I discovered long ago, and that since then have slept; neatly stacked in their boxes. Put up in drawers, where they we quietly whispering to their neighbors, until finally everything became quiet.

Until we decide to see what is there…
To open the drawers and boxes, and to be surprised about what is there to find. To listen to each and every item that is waking up; some that are shrieking, while others just slowly seem to open their eyes and look back at us with a mild sense of accusation that we have left them alone for so long.

Similarly, looking at old pictures can bring us back to a realization about something we ~ at one point in time ~ we truly enjoyed doing. Something that gave us great satisfaction or fulfillment; and then somehow we stopped doing it. We may have felt we should do other things first; perhaps even had a sense of duty to focus on different things as the circumstances in our lives changed.
And then we come upon these pictures and we find that whatever it was that gave us so much pleasure at that distant past, is worth revisiting.

It is a good thing to get back in touch with old friends ~ be it people, activities, tools, or even materials ~ and let ourselves be inspired to pick up where at one time we have left off. To let new ideas bubble up and come to light. To start building on old foundations. To take a next step on a path that may have been temporarily overgrown…
To let ancient whispers guide us to new realizations.

Life is not all about letting go and moving on; saying “been there, done that” might be true, yet should not be an indication that we should stop doing whatever it is we were doing altogether. As sometimes the greatest inspiration can come from revisiting that which we have known and loved and appreciated for a very long time already.

Good fences make good neighbors

For the past year or so, our neighbor and I have been talking about putting up a new fence. The old fence had been a bit wobbly from the start ~ 15 or 20 years ago ~ and while I didn’t mind it seemingly having a life of its own, for our neighbor it had over time become a source of frustration.

After some deliberation we have decided on a ‘living fence’; and all grown hedge-like fence that will grow thicker over time.

It’s going to be beautiful!!

At least, that is what I am keeping in mind as I was taking out all the existing plants. As I dug down to remove bricks that must have been buried in the backyard for decades ~ much longer than I have been living here. I am still keeping it in mind as right now there is no fence at all, yet still a lot of work to be done to prepare the soil for the new fence to arrive…

In the meantime all this activity in the backyard is turning out to be a great adventure for our cats!
Suddenly their territory has doubled in size. Which means more space, more sun, and an actual table to sit on to keep a check on everything that is going on ~ which doesn’t seem to be much from where I am sitting, but definitely warrants spending large amounts of time out there.

So, renewing the fence is turning out to be a good thing.
For starters, yes, it is going to be beautiful. But it is also going to be ‘greener’ and airier, and yet stronger than the old fence used to be.
On a whole different level, putting forth the effort to make our backyards a better, more pleasant place to be is changing the energy in both our patios. As we are caring for it, it seems like all of nature is suddenly on our side.
This means that we are having plenty of dry weather to do the actual work; and yet, as soon as we are done for the day there is plenty of rain to moisten the soil ~ as if nature is shouting out the invitation for the plants in the new, soon to be planted fence.

Chances are that putting in this new fence not only helps us to continue to be good neighbors, it also has changed the energy for our patios for the better; and as a ~ to me at least ~ unexpected benefit, it is making our cats happier, more alert, and most definitely more adventurous.

And did I say that it is going to be beautiful?

Victory

Victory; according to the dictionary: an act of defeating an enemy or opponent in a battle, game, or other competition.

One would be hard pressed to find a word, a concept, that is used so often in our world of today, and yet is so misunderstood.
Now, don’t get me wrong. If you are engaging in a a game or any other competition, chances are you entered not just to be part of it, but also in order to give it your very best and win that game or competition. And, as long as this is the nature of the game, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!

One way of looking at the victory is by determining who or what we beat.
We may have won over our competitors, and yet the true victory was over some aspect of ourselves. Perhaps in setting a personal record, or by doing something we had always thought we would never be able to do in a million years, and here we have! Often those are true victories that are so worth celebrating!

But the victory ~ other than the win ~ also can imply defeating the others in the game, and in a sense that means making them ‘less’ than us ‘winners’. And yet, wasn’t their effort just a great (and perhaps even greater, depending upon circumstance) than our own?
The point is that even though we won the game, the runners up should not be defeated but rather be recognized and respected for their efforts.

Form this perspective it is totally okay to win ~ respecting the efforts of the other contestants ~ but as soon as we declare ourselves victorious ~ perhaps even stating that the person in second place is the first loser ~ it implies an attitude that makes us better than ‘them’.
It is a judgmental attitude that may gain us ‘success’ ~ depending upon the definition of success ~ in the short term, but that also pretty much ensures that at some future time when we become the first runner up, we may see ourselves suddenly as a loser. As we are not victorious anymore, we don’t amount to much. So in the long run, the judgement can get us into loads of trouble ~ even though we won the game.

So perhaps the greatest victory we can experience today is more of an inner victory. The victory of having true respect for ourselves and for everyone around us ~ no matter where they came from or in what direction they are heading. Without any judgement, or any ranking, doing as good as we can.

Being the best we can be, and respecting ourselves for our effort.
That is when we are truly victorious!

The Inner Voice

There is a commercial running on TV in which Morgan Freeman states that it is a good thing to trust your inner voice. “Everybody has one, few listen to it”…

It is a beer commercial, and while I am not in the market to buy beer anytime soon, the advertisement still has a powerful message. To listen to our very own inner voice.
To ‘be still and listen’.

To do so, we may need to realign ourselves with a different perspective on what we truly need in life. Moving a little bit away from the continuous search for the next new and exciting thing to do, to an understanding that taking 15 or 20 minutes a day to be still is a good thing! Not just to start hearing ~ and eventually listening to ~ our inner voice, but just taking that time to be still with ourselves has benefits for our health as it has a tendency to reduce stress levels. It can give us the opportunity to clear our minds, to come to a realization as to where we are putting our time and energy. In doing so, it gives us a choice to continue on the path we are on, or to change course and go after those things that are truly important to us.

When we give ourselves time to ‘be still and listen’ ~ even when we are not immediately listening, or even hearing our inner voice, we tend to become more aware of our surroundings. Literally becoming more aware of our environment; whether we are walking downtown, sitting on a bench in the park, or waiting in line at the supermarket cash register ~ we are bound to become more aware of what is going on around us.

And that particular effect of taking time to ‘be still and listen’ on a daily basis may turn out to be very useful to us, as we are living in a world in which changes come and go in rapid succession; and unexpected, even dangerous events seem to be lurking in the most peaceful of spaces.
When we have trained ourselves to ‘be still and listen’; to listen to that inner voice ~ even though we may not know what it has to tell us day-to-day ~ chances are it will shout out at us when something is about to happen that we do not wish to be a part of.
Whether it is extremely heavy traffic on the route we usually take home from work, or severe weather, or even violence in any way shape or form; our inner voice will direct us to take a different path that day.

So whichever way we look at it, it is a good thing to trust to our inner voice as it can lead us around the storm!

The Temple of our Soul

Most of us on a spiritual path are focused on reaching up. Reaching up to higher frequencies of energy, reaching up to our next step on our personal spiritual paths.
And that is a good thing!

The caveat is that the only way we can do this effectively is through first reaching inside ourselves…

It is all about an inner and an outer balance. The more we can balance ourselves ~ from a very physical perspective ~ the greater balance we can achieve as we reach up into the higher frequencies of energy.
After all, the body is the temple of the soul, and the greater our ownership of the temple, the farther the soul can soar.

The way we go about this is both individual as well as personal.
Some of us may make any kind of sports or fitness routine into our lives, where others may pay more attention to natural foods and a productive lifestyle from a health perspective. And both avenues will work ~ as well as the countless other ways we can imagine that will helps us balance ourselves both inside ourselves as well as in the high frequency energy realms…

And while this may sound logical to some, theoretical, or even somewhat complicated and unnecessary to others, ultimately it comes down to the acceptance of our bodies; of the temple of our soul. And with that acceptance comes ‘sensible maintenance’ of that temple.

This brings the food we eat into the picture, and yes, whichever way we choose to stay in shape from a physical perspective.

However, the very first things we should consider are totally normal, even obvious things like breathing, drinking enough water, and bringing down our stress levels. In other words, optimize the circumstances within ourselves for our body to function the way they were meant to function.
To start sensing what our body needs, and perhaps even questioning why we have a sudden craving for a particular food. Does that particular food offer our body a mineral or a vitamin that is needed? In that case it is probably a good idea to eat it. If, on the other hand the craving has more emotional roots, we may want to reconsider and take some time to see what is going on in our life that may have triggered the emotion.

Ultimately, we do have the ability to sense and work with all of the systems inside our body; to unblock it, to realign it, and to flow with the (high frequency) energy we are living in at this point in time. To own the Temple of our soul to such extend that we can direct an energy flow way before ‘real maintenance’ is needed, or a problem occurs…
And the bonus we get is a far easier path into the higher realms of (spiritual) energy as we encounter it on our individual personal paths.

So breathe deeply, drink water, and take time to smell the roses!

Cuckoo

While spending a week in Zeeland, the Netherlands, I heard a cuckoo ‘cuckooing’ pretty much every day. Now, I grew up with a little bit of Folk Wisdom that said that when you hear the call of a cuckoo close by and you have no money/coins in your pocket, it will surely start to rain.
Luckily this wasn’t the case. (Myth busted!)

But then why did I keep hearing the cuckoo calling out, even though there were many other birds singing and calling that ~ from the sound of their songs ~ were a lot closer?
So, what sets the cuckoo apart from all of the others?

The thing that comes to mind for me is that the cuckoo doesn’t breed their own eggs, or raise their own chicks. They will lay an egg in the nest of a different kind of bird who will then keep it warm and protect it with their own eggs until it hatches. The cuckoo being the biggest chick will then throw the smaller ‘birth children’ of the parent bird out of the nest so it can benefit from all the food the parent bird can muster to bring to the nest.
And yes, research suggests that the parents are even happy with the bigger egg, and after hatching their fast growing chick! Bigger is better as it gives a greater chance at survival! That is, unless it is a cuckoo’s egg, and a cuckoo’s chick.

And every time I heard the cuckoo’s call, thoughts like this sprung to mind.
Eventually leading me to ask myself whether in my ‘nest’ I was nurturing a chick of a cuckoo…

After all, it is really easy to happen in our lives. For us to get sidetracked by something that is not truly ours, yet it does seem to need our attention anyway. It can be family related, or it can be an attitude through which we are anticipating and solving problems before they actually become a problem. Leaving the question if that problem ~ had it occurred ~ would have been our problem? Or was it a ‘cuckoo’s egg’? Did it trick us into leaving our own life ~ our own path in a sense ~ to nurture, solve, or get something going that never was our own?

It gave me a different perspective on any number of times I have let myself be sidetracked in my life!

And as soon as I gained this insight, the song of all of the other birds seemed louder, more clear. And the cuckoo’s call started to fade more into the background.
Leaving me with a little pearl of wisdom which most certainly entered my life in a most unanticipated manner!

Are you protecting a ‘cuckoo’s egg’? Or even nurturing its chick?
Perhaps this is the time to reconsider your priorities!