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The most difficult blogs to write are the most personal ones for they expose you “belly-up.” This is one of them. It’s particularly tricky to write this one because, in addition to the opening for personal exposure and the criticism that can follow, I recently came to an awareness about my own propensity to judge others and in order to write this entry I have to walk a fine line between observation and judgment.  But here goes. 

I have previously written about my divorce and the fact that we have a 16-year-old daughter so there’s no need to elaborate here other than to remind you of both.

Just this week, our daughter had a doctor’s appointment for a minor issue and my ex-husband agreed to pick her up from school and take her, since he had been unable to during his normal Parenting Time with her last week. When I was able to check my calendar, I realized that I couldn’t pick her up after the appointment as my day was full with commitments through late evening. So, I asked him if he would also bring her to my home after the appointment.

He refused without giving a reason.

When I inquired “why” he replied, “Because I have a full day and don’t feel like driving anymore then I need to

.”  When I suggested that I generally do all of the driving for her and that she had heard his reply and was hurt by it, he said he would be “happy to explain it to her” two days later when he took her to the appointment.  I further suggested that he might want to call her now, rather than later, as she was obviously disappointed and hurt…feeling unimportant and like an inconvenience to him. His response to that was “If she needs to she can call me.”

I want to repeat what he said: “If she needs to she can call me.”

I was married to this person for almost 17 years and I take responsibility for allowing him, over that period of time, to chip away at my self-esteem by exchanging my personal power for the need to be loved by, and compatible with, him.  And, in hindsight, I had pretty much figured out how that had occurred.  Even our daughter had said to me, post-separation, “You were always too easy on him. No matter how he treated you, all he ever had to do was say ‘I’m sorry’ and you’d forgive him.”  That’s tough to hear from a then 15-year-old who you know is forming her model of a woman after you… and her model for relationships after her parent’s marriage.

But I’ll tell you what was even tougher to hear than that.

When he said that sentence, ” If she needs to she can call me,” I heard him tip-toeing down the path of a pattern of manipulation that is the slippery slope to emotional abuse. He had said something hurtful and insensitive and now he was trying to see if he could get her to come to him for the apology he owed her.

He was planting the seeds of emotional control. 

Had she complied, those seeds could then take root.  Each time such an opportunity would then arise in the future to solidify the pattern… he would take it, knowing she was a participant.  And each time she acquiesced and went toward that which was the source of her pain, he would have gained a little more control over her and she would have relinquished a little more of her self-esteem and personal power.

The good news is I got in the way. In a good way.

I used it as an opportunity to talk with her about dignity, self-esteem, male-female relationships, and the different types of abuse…emotional, psychological and physical. We spoke about healthy relationships and the importance of knowing where your boundaries are.

Finally, we spoke about being able to say to yourself, if not to anyone else, “No thank you. The price is too great” and so to be able to  “pass” on what’s being offered with confidence in knowing that your dignity is not for sale and betrayal of Self is never an option.

One caveat… because I need to be careful as I walk that observational/judgmental line I mentioned earlier.

I don’t think my ex-husband is a malevolent person. I don’t think he consciously sets out to seek that level of control.  He obviously has his own needs and insecurities that cause him to take that approach rather than expose himself belly-up. But that’s no longer my concern.

Our daughter is.

Abusive relationships don’t start out in the deep end. They develop slowly over time and, like everything else, it takes two. The one sure way to avoid them is to be self-confident, self-aware, and unwilling to trade anything for what appears to be love.  Love doesn’t possess, control or hurt. And it’s NEVER the result of a bargain between two people…no matter what’s being exchanged.

Hopefully, our daughter knows this and has learned it from her parents.

There is an old saying, “You teach what you have to learn.”

As I type, news is breaking around the U.S. Government’s takeover/purchase of General Motors. As I listen and read, all I can think about is how hard it is to get anything accomplished at a State or Federally owned/operated agency. Think about Motor Vehicles, Social Security or City Hall for that matter. Ever been in one of those lines or encapsulated in a time warp by the inefficiency and delays? Now, the manufacturing and selling of automobiles is about to fall into the abyss.

Segue.

I have a 16-year-old daughter who puts just enough energy into everything she does to get by. Even the things she likes doing! She simply isn’t motivated to do more than the bare minimum it takes to get things done. Yesterday, she and I had one more of the many heated discussions that take place around her approach.  Usually, I mention words like “lazy” or “princess” but this time I suggested that her standard is mediocrity.  Now while you may think that was an unkind observation to have (and more so, to share) it was actually the first time I ever saw a light go on in her head around what is usually her dismissal of my complaints that she hasn’t finished what she began, or in the alternative,”finished” with aspects of the task or goal still incomplete.

So what do government and my 16-year-old have in common?  In a word: Mediocrity.

But let’s face it. Such aspirations aren’t limited to my two examples. I could go on. And on. And on.  Blame it on the technology or the pace at which we live, but there is no denying that most people in this country have settled into reduced expectations of themselves and everyone else. 

We don’t anticipate excellence. We accept mediocrity.

So what’s the harm?

Mediocrity, by definition, implies a lack of caring about the end product. It’s about “average-ness” and “second rated-ness.” Its about expediency and profit over quality and value. When you choose not to care about the quality of what you do, when you don’t give it your best, you not only make a statement about what you think of yourself, you also set in motion events that lead to the devaluation of other people, lifeforms and things.

It is definitely a choice you get to make.  In every situation, you have the opportunity to decide how much energy, integrity, and authenticity you will bring to what needs to be accomplished. You get to define and apply the standard that best represents who you are. No one else gets to make that call.

Lowering your standards is the slippery slope that leads to mediocrity, and less. So why do people do it? Because it’s easier and quicker than the effort and time it takes to achieve excellence. So whether it’s about doing the job you’re paid to do, completing your homework, or choosing who you spend you life with, mediocrity gets you something…albeit not something that necessarily enlivens or empassions you… or anyone else for that matter.

Mediocrity doesn’t lead to feeling good about yourself. It leads, ultimately, to not feeling. That’s the slippery slope. Mediocrity is a denial of the Divinity within each of Us.

We exist to awaken and become conscious around Self-Realization. When such awakening occurs, it is to know for certain what remarkably unique creations we are and how the possibilities for our own creations are boundless and endless…constrained only by our vision and an unwavering determination to be the best we can be.

Its odd for me to be writing about a “healing” experience I’ve had recently because I think of myself more as a writer and speaker than a healer. But I’ve had an undeniable experience lately and so I have to call it as I see it.

At least it’s undeniable to me.

A friend’s husband underwent a surgical procedure about 30 days ago to alleviate fluid pressure on his brain that was causing rapidly advancing dementia. Although warned of the possible adverse effects of such a procedure, the procedure itself is actually not all that uncommon and both the doctors and my friends were optimistic.  While the procedure went routinely, the husband went rapidly downhill post-op. A few days later, he had an unanticipated and inexplicable seizure and was pretty much unconscious from then on.  The quandary continued until a nurse noticed the accidentally quadrupled dosage on his chart of a medication he had been taking before entering the hospital.  It seems the intake person had put the decimal point in the wrong place and no one…neither the hospital dispensing pharmacy nor treating physicians caught the error until days later when the nurse saw it. The overdose, it turns out, was the cause of his seizure and all the resulting debilitation.

Things went from bad to worse.

Although he was moved to a rehab facility after about two weeks, he went further into decline and was moved to ICU at a nearby hospital two weeks later and, as of last weekend, my friend was told by his doctors (and it was apparent from his condition) that he probably wouldn’t live through the weekend.

This is where it gets interesting.

From the time he entered the rehab facility, I felt drawn to see him. More than that, I felt compelled to “work on him.”  Why I felt that way was and is puzzling to me. How I actually did the “work” even more so. Just prior to his surgery, another friend of mine, a chiropractor, had taken a 4-day training in “Reconnective Healing” with Eric Pearl.(www.thereconnection.com).  Upon her return, she performed the process on me. I had some profound affects as a result.  For some reason, I felt I could do that work on my friend’s husband even without the training. So, I went to the hospital each day, sometimes twice a day, in response to the pull I felt to go there to try and help.  The process, as taught to my friend, involves no physical touching.

Initially I felt I was doing some form of the Reconnective Healing; however, it soon became apparent to me (and my friend who had trained in the proccess) that what was going on was something other (or beyond it). The results were instant and undeniable.  Each time I worked on him, he would have physical reactions while I was doing the work. Those sessions were followed by almost immediate improvements in his condition. Some days, the improvements were slight, Others, they were mind-boggling.

His wife was present during most of the sessions, witnessed the reactions and experienced the daily progress. She was ecstatic with joy. He was moved from ICU back to a regular floor 2 days ago and in two days, they are talking about moving him out of the hospital and back to the rehabilitation facility.

He is conscious, coherent, no longer on many of his medications, no longer in need of suctioning to clear lungs that were diagnosed with pneumonia just a week ago. His kidney function is back and possible sepsis no longer a concern.  Although still having difficulty swallowing and talking, he was singing, with difficulty, the words from “Pennies From Heaven” recently. He is a former professional entertainer.

I am humbled and in awe of what has transpired. I have no idea why me, why him, and why now. But it’s so and I cannot deny what has taken place.

His wife, however, is not in the same place. While deeply grateful days ago for what she witnessed and for “getting him back”….and despite her telling me she “can never repay” me (something I do not and never did  seek)…she none-the-less has begun to back away from her awe and gratitude and to deny the undeniable. She is distancing herself from the “connection” between how he was, how he is…and how he got here.

I have done nothing. The Light, the Universal Healer and Healing Energy of Love, has done it all. But done it, It has.

I am now reminded of that scene in the movie “Oh God” where George Burns as “God” enters the courtroom, takes the witness stand to testify as to his authenticity, and after performing miracles for those present, leaves the courtroom. Subsequently, many of those present deny what they experienced because the Truth makes them uncomfortable by upending the roots of their long held belief system.  John Denver, as the character who must spread the word of God, leaves them to their doubting and moves on knowing the Truth of what occurred and determined to bring it to others.

What happened between the Light, my friend’s husband and me happened. The man is now on his way to better health, I hope. I will no longer go there. I have lived long enough to understand the admonition that you can “set the banquet table but cannot make them eat from it.”

I will move on to others who are open to healing and brave enough to acknowledge direct experience…no matter how outside the mainstream of their reality it is. As I go, I pray that the gift I have been given goes with me. I have never known such peace as when acting as a conduit for that Healing Light of Love or felt so loved in return as when her husband opened his eyes and looked at me.
 

It’s Friday, April 10, 2009 which makes it the second day of the Jewish Passover and also the Christian Good Friday. In fact, as I write this its 12:00PM Eastern Standard Time so I am technically violating both religious prohibitions: working on the second day of Passover (I am a Jew) and during the holiest hours for Christians 12-3PM (believed to be the hours Jesus hung on the cross). But this isn’t about religion, its about spirituality. It isn’t about the historical man named Jesus either.

It’s about Christ Consciousness.

This week I received a very informative e-mail about an Executive Order signed by President Obama allocating three billion dollars in humanitarian aid to Palestinians living in the United States who left Gaza as a result of the conflict there. The e-mail was calling attention to the fact that there was no provision in the Order to distinguish Hamas members or sympathizers now in the U.S. from receiving such aid. To say the least, the Order seemed disturbing, lacking in safeguards and economically irresponsible given our country’s current economic crisis. There was a link in the e-mail directly to the government’s Federal Register website where the Executive Order could be clearly and succinctly read.  I forwarded the e-mail on to many of my politically and socially aware friends.

Then belatedly and to my horror, I noticed what had been in the subject line of the original e-mail I had now forwarded on.  While the subject line mentioned the Executive Order, it further said it allocated aid to “rag-heads.”

I was frozen in my seat as I read the line. Twice.

The first thing I did was send a follow-up e-mail to all those who had been forwarded the original that said this:

I recently heard that more copies of Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged have sold in the past few months than in the past few years combined. In case you’re unfamiliar with Rand’s philosophy or the story of Atlas Shrugged, both are predicated upon the escalating, and ultimately fatal, corruption of our society’s leaders in both business and government and the decision by some to withdraw from that society in order to begin a new one based upon integrity and individual productivity.

Sound familiar?

Of course, there are no accidents. The emerging interest in Rand’s work is a natural outgrowth of the frustration and helplessness felt by so many as we try and traverse these challenging and transforming times. Over the past decade we in this country have witnessed, permitted and at times condoned dishonesty, corruption ad greed. It was all a slippery slope we descended while turning a blind eye to the direction in which we were collectively headed. No, everyone was not complicit or guilty of what I just described. But even those of us who knew better were too silent, too complacent and for too long.

So here we are.  And while Rand’s solution in Atlas Shrugged is somewhat impractical (the protagonist, John Galt, who begins the dropping out and setting up of the new society actually does drop out and takes a whole lot of others with him) it does present a rather accurate picture of exactly what road we need to go down in order to rise above and beyond where we are and where we have been for some time now.

We aren’t going to be rescued by any one individual or by our collective private or governmental “leaders’ either. In fact, we’re not going to be “rescued” at all. This isn’t about rescue. Its about turning within and understanding, no…strike that…not understanding but rather knowing with certainty… that each one of us has a role to play in reshaping our world and the foundation for that new world, or paradigm, will be built from the bottom up, not the top down.

Consequently, you matter. Not only do you matter, you matter as never before. Every thought you have, word you speak and deed you partake of matters.  We got here by abdicating personal responsibility. We allowed others with apparent power to make vital decisions that spiraled our lives, and their own, out of control.  In order to un-torque that spiral and set it once again spinning in the right direction, it is necessary that each of us get our direction from within ourselves.

There is no one to go to for “expert” advice on this one. This one is on each of us, individually. And it will be different for each of us… which is why you can’t go anywhere outside yourself for guidance. No one knows better than you do what is best for your highest good and the good of all concerned. The key is trusting that you know the answer.  Actually, it’s trusting that you’re wired from within to be able to access a Source of guidance and wisdom that has only your highest good as its primary objective.

Just yesterday a friend told me that there was a TV show in the San Francisco area that had only good news. It only lasted a couple of weeks. I understand that. I had a talk radio show in Pennsylvania a few years back called “Higher Ground” that looked at the highest message in even the most negative news and it lasted less than a year. But here’s how I see it. It isn’t that we only want bad news or titillating news…. its that we’ve been raised on fear for thousands of years by those same people who we allowed to get us into this mess.  It’s the definition of the word “propinquity.” If you have a migraine for a few thousand years and wake up one morning without it, you’ll miss it.  Take away the fear we’ve been raised on and we’re not sure what takes its place.

The unknown can be pretty scary itself.  If you let it.  Or, you can keep accessing that place inside yourself that is connected to that Source that has as it’s primary objective your wellbeing.

I never give advice I haven’t lived. I know what is is to be scared, confused and hopeless. Been there. Done that.  So I can tell you, with certainty, that the way out is to surrender to that Source, that inner guidance… and follow your instincts. But I can only tell you this with my certainty. You’ll have to live your own.

John Galt really is here after all and will lead you successfully through whatever is coming. If you want to see him go look in the nearest mirror.

What if I told you that at this very moment a new, comprehensive software upgrade is being downloaded that will enable you to perform with unprecedented speed, scope and accuracy in everything you do? Would that be of interest?

Good. 

Well, that very download is, in fact, in progress as you’re reading these words. Its just not into your computer.

It’s into you.

Yes, that’s right. You’re consciousness is being upgraded in order to support you in dealing with the global paradigm shift we are experiencing. And in case you’re wondering how all of this came to be, or plays out for that matter, read on.

You know the expression “as above so below”?  Well, that’s how we invented computers to begin with. They are the microcosmic version of the macrocosmic way in which all Creation came to be. Without some frame of reference or idea of what a computer actually was it would have been impossible for anyone to have imagined or envisioned its existence. The “prototype” if you will for the creation of the computer with a hard hard drive that houses certain permanent and/or operating material and programs plus the capacity and capability to receive and periodically upgrade additional material and programs was how (in an admittedly finite sense) God created us.

Now you have to cut me a little slack here as I am not all that savvy on the technology or the lingo,  but whether you utilize Symantec’s Norton Anti-Virus or MacAfee or whoever to keep your computer programs running bug and virus free, it’s safe to say that it’s necessary, periodically, to upgrade those programs as advancements in the technology take place.  Those advancements come to you as downloads, automatically, as part of the service.  And it’s also accurate to say that without such protection, you could lose part or all of your data…and possibly experience permanent damage to your computer…under adverse conditions.

So what’s this got to do with us…and now?

Have you noticed that very little of what is being implemented to “fix” our existing problems is working? Are you finding that not only are your efforts, but also the efforts of everyone you know or hear about, to climb out of what seems like an economic nightmare are not working? Are you stressed because the life you were living seems to be gone and you don’t know what is about to take it’s place? Are you somewhat frantic over all the “bad” news and feelings of helplessness that accompany it?

Take heart.  Here’s the answer.

When your computer is in the middle of a system upgrade you have to wait until its done and reboot, don’t you, in order to have use of the benefits of the upgrade?  Well…

God noticed that we needed an upgrade. We were under attack from some pretty nasty bugs called greed and lack of personal responsibility. And so “technological” (a/k/a “spiritual”) advances to combat the problem are being installed via a download. In the meantime, while the download is occurring, you have to sit back and wait. Then, when it’s time, reboot.

The thing is, we’re smack in the middle of that download.

Trying to operate the computer with the older software…while the upgrade is being installed…is just going to create chaos, prolong the download and is potentially hazardous to your system (a/k/a/ your consciousness).

So, to mix metaphors. Get your hands off the wheel, get out of your own way (not to mention God’s) and kick back.  Go do something else until its time to reboot. In the meantime, handle what’s in front of you each moment and stop worrying. Help is more than on the way, its here. It’s just taking some time…Divine Time…to do what needs to be done in order to be up and running to process the challenges of tomorrow.

For now, leave tomorrow to God and live fully in the Now. You’ll get a notice when the download is complete and its time to reboot.

    There’s a lot of talk these days, both
pro and con (although admittedly mostly con) about the need, perhaps,
to nationalize the U.S. banking system in order to stem the economic
hemorrhaging.  The word “nationalization” comes with a great deal of
baggage, both politically and socially, and so raises the specter of
fear in many.  For some, it’s Socialism plain and simple.  Politically
its seen as a giant step by those seeking to undermine the intention of
the Founding Fathers. Socially, it’s condemned as yet one more action
by the Federal Government, and the “powers that be”, which continue to
erode both the individual’s rights and the free choice of our citizens.

    While I may have some personal thoughts on the subject, my
immediate concern is that the type of unity and “pulling together” we
need going forward during these challenging and transitional times
cannot be mandated or legislated by government, but rather must be born
in the hearts and minds of each of us as we realize what true unity
looks and feels like.

    The unity of which I speak is
Oneness. It is the kind of experience we often have following a natural
disaster or upon hearing of the plight of a suffering people. It’s when
we, as individuals, intellectually comprehend and emotionally respond
to the needs of someone less fortunate or in dire need. It’s
compassion…the highest expression of Love.

    It is said
that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. In fact, it
is just this argument that has been the basis for the passing of
massive amounts of spending in recent weeks since election of our new
President and Congress. And while there can be little doubt that we are
living through an extraordinary time, the extraordinary means must be
predicated upon where it is we want to go.  As someone once said, “if you want to go to Santa Fe, you can’t get there on a road leading to Anchorage.”

    Since I believe we, as a people, want to get someplace beyond where we were before
the economic crisis hit, I think we need to go down a different road
than the one that got us there in the first place. It’s not a return to
economic boom times that we seek so much as an aspiration to a better
quality of life that holds out more meaning, promise and passion.

    Therefore, the extraordinary measure I suggest we take is to enter into a permanent state of Collective Compassion.

    Let’s not need a tsumani, 9/11 or Katrina to finally grasp that we
are all in this together…that diversity of color or culture is
irrelevant to Oneness…and that without a commitment to the highest
good for all concerned we can ultimately achieve no more than the least
of us. Let us each know deeply in our hearts that “I am not so much my
brother’s keeper as I am my brother.”

    Some may call me a
naive Socialist for proposing such a remedy. I would reply that
separation and difference, in the extreme, have gotten us where we are
today and that while we may have been able to attain and maintain a
high degree of material and technological successes for a time…we
have been unable to sustain them because what’s been missing is
the solid foundation upon which they must rest. That foundation is the
fact that all of the achievements are for no other reason than to
elevate the human condition and expand the human consciousness…for
All.

    While I would not ever want to take away our
individual right to live the life we choose and pursue the endless
array of possibilities we each hold in our individual
imaginations…these must be powered by a collective heart that feels the importance of working in unity and harmony in
every moment and by every action so that we bring no more fear or
violence into the world and instead plant the vibratory seeds of Love
and Peace.

    Will it work?

    I only know for certain that nothing else has so far so what, really, do we have to lose?

    And just imagine what it will be like if does work.

When I was in the 6th grade I memorized a poem by Rudyard Kipling called “If.” It’s been one of those inexplicable occurrences in life that decades later I can still remember every word and have often quoted it throughout my adult life. In case you’re unfamiliar with it here are the first few lines:

  “If you can keep you head when all about you,
    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
    If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
    But make allowance for their doubting too,…”

May I suggest you take just a few seconds and read those opening lines again because they hold the secret for how to get through the uncertainty and apparent difficulties we are now experiencing personally, nationally and globally.

By now most of us have begun to realize that all of the “experts” don’t really know what’s going on either and, therefore, are unable to “fix” any of it. In fact, it seems the more they try the more enmeshed we find ourselves in, what feels like, quicksand…or at least flypaper.  The confident steed called “Change”  that so many Americans rode into the White House on has begun to look more like a newborn foal, stumbling around the grazing field on obviously shaky legs. 

Which is why Kipling’s “If” is prophetic and helpful.

Almost everywhere you turn, systems that have been in place for decades, centuries or even longer are no longer helpful in creating the ends they were designed to meet. And I’m talking systems that cross all disciplines: economic, political, even spiritual.  This systemic breaking down, or ineffectiveness, is generating a lot of fear. Individuals feel powerless to do anything about the magnitude of the apparent chaos.

So what is it that we can do as individuals? 

Go back and read Kipling again. Really. Read it for the third time. Go on, Just humor me.

The reason I want you to read it three times is to imprint it in your mind. It’s really brilliant.  It’s a road map for traversing this rocky road we find ourselves on because what you can do… what you must do… what you are designed to do..is start small and trust your inner guidance.

What exactly does this mean?

Forget the big picture. Yes. Forget it. Stop focusing on the economy, the country’s problems, the world’s problems. Start focusing on what is closest to home, immediate in your life, and tend to those people and issues based upon what your inner guidance tells you …whether or not it’s what you’ve always been taught is the way to handle life.  When it’s so obvious that no one seems to have the answers for how to travel this uncharted path, why would you listen to or follow anyone by giving them more credibility or more authority than you’d give to yourself and your own perceptions?

    “If you can keep your head when all about you,
     Are losing theirs and blaming it on you…”

During all of the current uncertainty and coming confusion stay grounded, inner-directed and heart-centered. There will be endless efforts to put the “blame” on various groups and individuals for all that appears to go awry and sometimes that target may even be you. Those are the times when it will be most important to “‘keep your head” and follow those three principles I just set down: staying grounded, inner directed and heart-centered.

Maintaining trust in your own capacity to make choices and create a life that is consistent with who you are and what you believe in will also be key. There will likely be more people than you care to think about who will want to tell you that your “way” is clearly wrong and theirs is right.  Allow for the possibility that theirs may be right for them while at the same time holding on with confidence in the decisions you make for yourself based upon your experiences and inner guidance.

We are entering an evolutionary phase wherein each individual will come to realize she or he has the capacity and inner-knowledge to not only handle life’s dilemmas but also to blaze new and exciting pathways in creating a truly unique existence. 

I love this story. A man named Henry dies and goes before God and God asks him how he lived his life. Henry replies ‘Well, I wasn’t as hospitable as Abraham and I wasn’t as brave as Moses and I wasn’t as loving as Jesus. Whereupon God replies: ‘I already had an Abraham, a Moses and a Jesus. Were you the best Henry you could have been?”

Every age of humankind’s development passes through some unique territory. We are passing through the Age of Personal Creation and Personal Responsibility. Creator has encoded each of us with the guidance and energy necessary to live lives that are bounded only by the limitations of our individual imaginations and capacity to love. That encoding has laid dormant for thousands of years but is now being activated.

With courage and the understanding that we are all personally responsible for both what we create as well as how we manage and respond to it, we can move into these times of apparent unrest and uncertainty with the exhilaration of explorers and adventurers embarking upon the only journey worth taking.

For a complete reading of Kipling’s poem, “If”, click here.

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    As
the country and the world revel in this defining moment of our
collective history with the election of President Barack Obama, it is
wise to step back from the momentary celebration and take a realistic
look at the broader picture. Yes, our spirit as a nation has been
re-energized and uplifted. This was a state of both spirit and mind
that was long overdue. Let’s pray we’re able to sustain it.

    We’re going to need it to get us through the challenges that lay ahead.

 
  Just 48 hours into this Presidency, there are more than rumblings
about our economic future. As a contributor to Andersen Cooper’s AC360
blog, David Gergen,CNN Senior Political Analyst writes today
of the very vocal concerns within and among economists and politicians
over how to pull the nation through perhaps the most serious economic
downturn in history. And I’m certain great minds are pondering that
problem and it’s possible solutions as I write.

    But what
about you and me? What is our part in all of this and what can we do to
positively effect the outcome? I have one overriding suggestion.

    Keep in mind that there is only One of Us.

 
  Having spent most of my life feeling separate from other people,
imagine my joy to awaken in recent years to the realization that we are
all connected to each other in the most profound way. Not just as
members of a common species, community or nation, but as individualized
aspects of One Source. For when we trace our origins back to “the
Beginning,” whether through the pathway of science or religion, what we
often stop short of fully grasping is that both of these pathways lead
us to a single point beyond space and time…a single Source for All
That Is.

    The logical conclusion to be drawn from this
realization is that originating or emanating from a single Source makes
us, and everything else that has ever been or ever will be, an individualized aspect of that Source. This then makes it accurate to say with confidence and certainty that there is, ultimately, only One of Us.

    Awareness of this fact changes how you see and act in the world.

 
  If I have a home in which I safely live with sufficient food for
daily nourishment and someone I know, or know of, does not…and I do
nothing to try and aid their situation… I am consciously choosing to
allow myself to suffer. Remember, there is only One of Us. For
example, if I use my left hand to smack my right, am I not the cause of
my own suffering? Can I really tell myself that 1) I don’t know where
the pain is coming from and 2) that I don’t know how to stop it?  I am
either self-inflicting pain or permitting it to continue when and where
I have the power to stop it.

     If there is only One of Us,
and I believe that to be true, then it’s equally true that if I hurt
another or disregard another I am hurting or disregarding myself. And
if I fail to take steps to positively impact another’s suffering I am
allowing myself to needlessly suffer. The highest good for me,
therefore, becomes the Highest Good for you. Which is why the
contemporaries Jesus and Rabbi Hillel said “Do unto others as you would
have others do unto you” and “Do not do to another that which you would
not want done to yourself.” It turns out size=”4″ face=”Garamond”> I am not so much my brother’s keeper as I am my brother.

      So what’s all this got to do with a new President and an ailing economy, you ask?

 
    We’re all in this one together and the sooner we realize that
there’s only One of Us the sooner we can pull together to make sure no
one crawls out of this hole at the expense of someone else’s survival.
For when that happens, it simply sows the seeds of future devastation. 

 
     In order to break the pattern of thousands of years of selfishness
and greed based upon a mis-perception of separateness, it is our job now, yours and mine, to understand on the deepest levels that there is no you and there is no me. And when we are in that place together, there is only One of Us.

       And that’s exactly the meaning behind the Hindu salutation, Namaste.

REMEMBER, click here to download a FREE copy of my e-book, “Too Many Secrets.”

It’s been awhile since my last entry. As I begin to write I can only hope that you have been patiently awaiting my return. Actually, that’s the gist of this whole entry.

Patience.

As I look around and talk with people, it seems that there’s a pretty common feeling most people are experiencing. That feeling is one of frustration in not being able to make things happen as quickly as they would like. Whether it’s finding a new job or your life’s purpose or turning around the economy…things just seem to be moving much slower than we’d like them to be. So allow me to dispel the illusion. Far from moving slowly, we are actually living in a time when change is occurring at such a rapid rate that we can barely keep up.

So, what’s all this frustration born of the illusion that things are moving slowly…or not at all? Well, 3 points need to be made here.

1.  The Pace of Technology

We’ve become spoiled… and not in a good way.

Personal, social and spiritual progress simply don’t occur at the same “rate of speed” that we have come to perceive as “normal” based upon technological advance s made in the last 50 years. To quote Captain Kirk, technology proceeds at “warp speed” while all other development more likely resembles a process over time. Because we have become so dependent upon and enmeshed in our technological advances, we have become impatient with anyone and anything that moves at a slower rate of development. This, of course, is an impossible standard to match.

Contrary to technology, human behavior usually requires that we go through stages of understanding followed by determined efforts to modify existing patterns of behavior before we move beyond where we are. Again, this is a process that is time dependent. Even if you can expedite the modification piece by rapidly making changes in your behavior, there is almost no way around the time it takes to gain an understanding of how our existing patterns of behavior no longer serve our intended goal.

Simply put, a personal relationship doesn’t progress in the time it takes to text message and you can’t fix an failing economy as quickly as you can microwave a baked potato. But we have come to think we should be able to. And so our resulting impatience.

2.  The Collective Unconscious

Swiss psychiatrist and influential thinker Carl Jung wrote much about the power of humanity’s collective unconscious thoughts in shaping both behavior, and I would argue, reality as a whole. I think that somewhere in that collective unconscious is a memory, and therefore a true knowing, of our ability to actually instantaneously manifest into physical reality what we passionately desire.  To support my belief have emerged the thinking and systems that are now becoming widespread such as revelations like “The Secret” and the teachings of Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Louis Hay, and Greg Braden, to name a few. But these are just contemporary voices echoing timeless wisdom that has been imparted to us by way of both behavior and the written word throughout the ages by the teachings of Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Kabbalah, Krishna, Lao Tzu, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, The Zohar, The Upanishads, and the The I Ching.  

This memory, or knowing, which is now rising from our unconscious into our conscious awareness is the driving force behind our collective impatience. If I know with certainty that I can change things now simply through my desire, will, thoughts and deeds then why wait?

As ancient and certain as is this knowing of instantaneous manifestation, so is the age and certainty of a corresponding teaching that says, “To everything there is a season; A time to every purpose under Heaven.” (Koheleth/Ecclesiastes 3:1).  We need only look to Nature to see the truth of that statement. And so it is the same with us for we are part of Nature. While we may think we know best the timing of certain occurrences, there is a Knowing that supersedes our limited perspective…at least for the time being.

I like to think of it this way.

When we are sleeping and in a deep dream state and someone or something awakens us suddenly without the ability to transition out of that deep dream state, the awakening is startling and disorienting. It often takes us a few seconds, or longer, to realize that we have left one reality and entered another.

So it is for us now.

It’s as if we have been in a collective, deep sleep and are just now awakening to a new reality. It will not serve us to awaken too quickly and find ourselves startled and disoriented. Rather it is necessary to awaken gradually in order to become accustomed to the new surroundings… the new paradigm…the new Reality.

Let us put the technology in perspective and look forward to instantaneous manifestation. But in the meantime, let us trust in Divine Timing born of a wisdom that both precedes us and sustains us. If we can do that we will eliminate impatience…the fundamental source of stress and frustration. Wouldn’t that be lovely?

And by the way, I would like to have written all of this sooner but I was being patient in allowing the message to fully form in my mind rather than forcing my Will, and something of lesser value, upon you. 

If the message resonates and is helpful…well, that’s Divine Timing.

REMEMBER to click here to download a FREE copy of my e-book, “Too Many Secrets.”