Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category

         With so much tough news, economic and otherwise, it may seem as little “Pollyanna-ish” to be writing about patience. And yet, during times of transition, such as we are now experiencing, there may be few topics more relevant or more important than patience. 

         I am amazed at how many people seem to be in a state of limbo in some aspect or another of their lives. Everywhere I look I see people in transition…from career to housing to relationships to health. And by limbo I mean that how things have been for them most of their lives are, suddenly, no longer the same and yet no alternative has show up to replace that which is no longer working, or no longer here, or no longer viable. Just among my immediate friends, I know four graduate educated, formerly successful career women who have lost their jobs or left their careers voluntarily and no career alternative…not even a job let alone a career…seems to be opening up for them. I know three people with serious health challenges.

    Just yesterday I was talking with one of them and I said, “You can’t imagine the size of the capital letter ‘P’ that’s on the word ‘Patience’ we’re all being asked to exhibit.”  For some reason, my comment struck her as funny and she laughed. When she stopped laughing, she said in all seriousness, “I get it. Thanks.”

    I had just blurted it out but as soon as I said it I “got it” too.

    No matter from what perspective you look at things, the lesson is the same. If you’re a student of evolution, it’s one of those periods when both the Earth and humankind are going through geological, meteorological and biological changes that have dotted the history of our development as a planet and a people for all of recorded time. If your technological, its a time of unprecedented growth and speed. If you’re religious, for many its the transition from one prophesied time to another…for good or for bad…depending on your religious orientation. If your spiritual, its the necessary expansion of the capacity of human consciousness from a lower to a higher frequency on the path to Oneness.

    Whichever one rings true, they all have one thing in common: Change

    Change may appear to occur in an instant but in reality its a process. When you are in the middle of a process over which you have no control, your options are to fear the lack of control and the temporary unknown or, as the colloquial expression goes, roll with the punches. Rolling with the punches requires a certain amount of patience. Or should I say acceptance of what Is.

    There simply are times when nothing you do makes any noticeable difference. It isn’t necessarily because you’re doing anything wrong or doing it inadequately…its a matter of Divine Timing.  Divine Timing requires certain “pieces” to be in place, so to speak, before certain other pieces can be moved into position. To do the latter before the former would be to impede the “natural” flow of things..or in more human and philosophical terms…interfere with the Highest Good For All Concerned.

    After all, we all want the Highest Good For All Concerned. Or do we?

    Maybe that’s what this patience thing is about after all. Maybe we’re being asked to wait…to endure…until all of us catches up in our understanding that we’re all connected and if some of us prosper to the point of material obscenity while others of us suffer from the obscenity of the most heinous deprivation…then we’re ultimately holding ourselves back because there’s only One of Us.

    Sometimes, no matter how well I plan things, my timing is off. Ever have that happen to you? I suspect the answer is yes. Who hasn’t? Well, I have that answer to that query.

    God.

    God’s timing is never off. Its perfect. Its Divine. It’s Divine Timing.

    So, if things aren’t working out as you planned, or hoped or continue to strive for, just remember to be patient. Somewhere out of sight is a clock calibrated to the Highest Good For All Concerned.

    And the alarm is set.
         

    

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.

    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.

I’m in the business of Hope.

It’s very rewarding work. Let me give you an example of what I do.

Recently, I attended a women’s networking luncheon sponsored by a law firm. You see, I used to be a lawyer and was invited through my law school alumni association. It was set up like “speed-dating”….exchanging 5 minutes with each person present to share what you do professionally and see if you can make any lasting or lucrative business contacts. As I said, a former lawyer, I attended to market my current field, which is Life Coaching. Since I was certain that every other woman there would be a lawyer, I saw it as a great opportunity. But an interesting thing happened on the way to marketing my Life Coaching.

Hope happened.

In the process of those 5 minute exchanges, I encountered three special women. One was a young lawyer from China who had moved to the United States 5 years ago and had just obtained her license to practice in the U.S.  The other two were recent law school graduates looking to make contacts to find a job. And while I couldn’t offer any of them a job, I was able to give them something of great value. I gave them each a much needed dose of self-confidence, renewed faith in a positive outcome, and hope. I just didn’t know that’s what I had given them until the luncheon was over.  As I was sitting in a corner talking with another attendee, each of those three young women went out of their way to find me and thank me, in their own way, for what I had given them.  Each had a big smile on her face and obvious renewed purpose in her voice and eyes. I was happy for them.

After the luncheon I was wondering whether going had been worth the time and effort since I wasn’t sure if I actually made any contacts that would turn into future business. And that question stayed with me until the next morning when, engaged in my routine meditation practice of starting each day, I got my answer. For in the middle of my meditation, I became overwhelmed with a loving feeling around what I had been able to do for those three young women and had the realization that they were actually the reason I had been guided to go to that event.

Whether I get business out of it is irrelevant. 

We are all here to serve in some way….to support the highest good for the Earth and It’s inhabitants.  This is the only real meaning that Life can have and its also the only thing of lasting value. Some of us figure that out sooner than others. I’m one of the late bloomers. It’s not that I’ve never known that what I routinely do is gain insight into what people are struggling with and throw them a lifeline, its that its only recently that I’ve realized it’s my Life’s Work.  It’s my purpose, my calling, it’s Who I Am. 

Because we live in a society where materialism reigns supreme and you are what you produce or earn in dollars, we are not encouraged to know the necessity and importance of identifying what makes our Soul sing or the mandate to then sing that song.

As a nation and a species we are passing through very challenging times. Many people are feeling lost, frightened and insecure about the future. I don’t know about the need for lawyers or Life Coaches during such transition, but I know with certainty that there will be plenty of work for someone in the business of Hope.

As for what the job pays…well, that’s not all that important to me.

You see, when doing God’s work, everything you need is provided by your Employer.

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

It’s been a week since my last entry. Not something I’m proud of but I’ve been really preoccupied. I’m closing in on the trial date for my divorce (November 19th). Even though I have a lawyer, and I’m a former one myself, it doesn’t change the emotional stress or time-consuming preparation that go with it. Add to that the fact that I’m co-trustee, along with my sister, for assets managed on behalf of our 93-year-old Mother in this economy…well, watching the portfolio decline day after day is no barrel of laughs either.

So what’s a girl to do?

Well, today I read someone else’s blog about the importance of preparation and thinking in advance. Seems the theory is that if you prepare in advance in your mind for possible outcomes….you’re less likely to be surprised or caught unaware. So I tried to apply that, in hindsight, to where I find myself in the moment. I asked myself if forethought would have changed anything about these two challenges I now face, simultaneously.

Did I mention I’m also recovering from a torn tendon in my ankle…7 weeks in a cast…and now 8 weeks of physical therapy ahead of me?

Could I have planned for my divorce? Would advanced thinking have changed anything? Well, remember, I’m a former divorce lawyer so I guess, from a legal standpoint, I could have insisted upon a prenuptial agreement and that would have settled the financial aspects of it all. But I never gave it a second thought because to me, a pre-nup is pretty much like hedging your bet and saying “part of me thinks this is a losing proposition.” 

Not exactly the way I wanted to enter into marriage.

As for the whole “Could I have planned for the emotional let down and pain of parting with someone I thought would be my best friend for life?” possibility…I don’t think so. I think if you go into love full throttle forward, with no holding back, you run the risk of getting your heart stomped…but what a ride if you don’t… or until you do!  I don’t think I’d want to play it safe and miss the fullness and richness of that experience for the safety of reserving some of my feelings for a possible rainy day.

As for the trust assets?

Well, it’s only one-quarter of them that’s heading south. The other 75% are pretty solid, so in some sense there was some advanced thinking and planning or it would all be heading in that direction. As for the severity of this downturn or the longevity of it…Life is chance and there are no guarantees. If worrying about money is the most important thing we’ve got going for us… well, perhaps we’re missing the whole point of this ride called Life.

So what’s my answer if not “better advance planning?”

It’s higher values, acceptance and trust.

I think that if we devote our energy to being the best we can be and seeking the highest good for all concerned in every situation we will automatically be prepared in advance for any occurrence. That appraoch makes it possible to live fully in the Now.

If we accept that what shows up in our lives..the seemingly good, bad and the ugly…are all for us to learn from, then we have no regrets, but instead look upon every occurrencey as a potential growth experience.

If we trust that the Universe (and our higher Self) know what we need and will provide it, we can anticipate the best, instead of preparing for the worst, and in so doing create a more meaningful outcome.

I love to play with words. The first letters of higher values, acceptance and trust are HAT. 

Next time you’re in a situation such as I am in right now…lots of stress and challenge…just change HATs.  Take off the worry hat and go for the Hhighest good for all concerned while Aaccepting what is and Trusting what will be.

I just did and I feel better already.

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

 

Just when you’re thinking there’s nothing you can do to help the world economy, save the environment and promote peace… up pops a simple way to do all three at once! 

Think I’m kidding or just delusional? Read on.

Lots of people have theories about why the former Soviet Union collapsed when it did and most Republicans, not to mention Americans, like to say it was President Ronald Reagan’s in-your-face-cowboy-stand that did it. But Thomas L. Friedman, author of “Hot, Flat and Crowded” has put forth an intriguing and, I dare say, logical alternative that is based less on hubris and more on economics and the environment.

In his latest book, Friedman shares a conversation he had in 2007 with Vladimir Mau, director of Russia’s Academy of National Economy wherein Friedman posited whether it was “$10-a-barrel oil, not Ronald Reagan, that brought down the Soviet Regime?” Mau’s unhesitating reply was that it was actually “$70-a-barrel oil followed by $10-a-barrel oil that killed the Soviet Union.”  The high oil prices of the 1970’s that resulted from both the Arab oil embargo and the Iranian revolution seduced the then Soviet Union into living off of the rich oil revenues it was the beneficiary of while at the same time promoting and subsidizing all kinds of inefficient industries rather embark upon real economic reform. When the price of oil then collapsed in the 1980’s and 1990’s, an ill-prepared and antiquated Soviet Union collapsed along with them as it had neglected to make the real changes that would have allowed it to bring it’s economy and it’s industries forward into a global marketplace.

So, what’s that got to do with you? 

Well, current seemingly dark times can have a “silver lining” too. Check out today’s CNN story about falling oil prices http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/26/gas.prices/index.html . It seems that the shaky world economy is having it’s impact on oil. For several reasons. But your contribution is that you’re using less gasoline and watching you oil consumption because dollars are in short supply and you’re not sure what the future holds.  The resulting decline in the price of oil is hurting guess who? That’s right. The producers and sellers of oil…all those countries that would like to see the United States, and the rest of the free world, brought to their knees. So to the extent that countries such as Iran and Venezuela have neglected addressing real economic reform and other necessary changes because they have been resting on the laurels of their oil revenues….well, you get the picture.

Now, if you use less oil and oil related products, thereby causing a continued drop in the price of oil, you may just make a difference in the economic stability of oil-producing nations similar to what occurred in the former Soviet Union.  And if you destabilize those regimes you may make way for new and alternative means of governance. Perhaps more humanitarian and more peaceful governance. And, if you use and consume less oil and oil-related products you positively impact the environment and reduce CO2 emissions.

So, there you have it.  You’ve just helped the economy, the environment and promoted world peace just by the choices you will make today around oil consumption.  It’s not a guarantee, of course. It could just be my fantasy or a mixed metaphor. But just thinking it might work gives you something to mull over and perhaps, even something to do (or not do) today.

In a world so seemingly out of balance with so many challenges, I like having something I can actually do that may make a positive difference. It’s empowering. 

When was the last time you felt empowered?

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

Remember that last scene from the original “Raiders of the Ark”?  Indy and Marion are tied back to back against a pole and the Nazi’s are opening The Ark of the Covenant. Indy turns his head, as best he can, in her direction and shouts “Don’t look Marion….don’t look!” Good advice given that the energy escaping from the Ark, having been violated by evil intentions, is melting everything and everyone in sight. 

Good advice right now about the Dow. If you’re within ear-shot of me pay attention: Don’t Look!

Don’t look at the indexes, don’t look at the headlines…in fact, don’t even listen to news about it. Fear, like the energy escaping from the Ark, is attempting to run amok, and unchecked, it will take down everything and everyone in its way. 

Indy’s advice is not so off the mark. 

If you pay attention to the bad news your attention feeds the fear. You’re literally adding your thoughts to the illusion that the sky is falling. If you want to give the power of your thoughts to anything try giving it to Alan Greenspan’s comments yesterday to Congress. He said it’s an economic tsunami but we’re going to be in better and healthier economic shape after it’s over. Or pay attention to Warren Buffet who seems to know his financial stuff…he’s buying American stock. Or pay attention to what the portfolio managers of the really large funds are doing…they’re buying while everyone else is freaking out about selling.

What Indy was telling her was that your reality is as you create it with your thoughts, your intention and your attention. So be smart. Don’t place your thought, your intention or your attention upon that which you do not want. Instead, place them upon that which you do want.

I see those antiquated, corrupted systems…both private and governmental…withering away. I see systems based upon integrity and justice taking their place. I see a world where women and children are not beaten and raped and sold as pawns in political wars. I see a United States that remembers its highest ideals and lives them. I see a world that understands the interconnectedness of all people to one another and to all living things and acts accordingly and responsibly.

I don’t see the “futures” this morning. This morning I see a bright Future.

What do you see?

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

Bet you’re wondering how these two could possibly be related? Well, read on.  First of all a quick refresher. There are only two emotions. Love and Fear… so that ought to immediately go a long way toward closing the credulity gap! 

Clearly we are now being challenged by an onslaught of Fear based upon the economy and, particularly, the Wall Street related “losses” (it’s in quotes for a reason I’ll get to shortly).  However, there’s always choice (a.k.a. Free Will) around how we handle and respond to what we are experiencing. So, based upon the two emotion premise, what if you reject Fear and instead choose Love.

What happens then?

Well, I like to think of the letters in the word Love as standing for “Living Oneness Valuing Everything.” With that in mind, the first realization is that money is not all there is to value. Or, at least, not all we should value. For example, there’s health, friendship, family, laughter, the capacity to be joyful, the beauty of Nature, a good book… just to name a few. So, when you shift from worrying about all the money the stock market has “lost”…you open the portal to gratitude. 

Yes, gratitude.

Just put the money aside for one minute and jot down all that you have to be grateful for in your life right now. This instant. Can you get a glass of fresh, clean water to drink if you’re thirsty? Swallow if you’re hungry? Call a friend if you’re lonely? Take a walk without pain? Laugh? Because if you get back all the money you’ve “lost” or expect to “lose” in the present economy all of it combined will not be able to buy you any of those.

This is Valuing Everything.

As for Living Oneness, well, the world is out of balance. Seriously out of balance.  There are some people with astronomical wealth and opportunity while others are, quite literally, starving to death or being perversely tortured to death with no hope for relief… let alone change.  This condition is unnatural in the purest sense of the word.  Nature, left to It’s own devices, strikes a balance…seeks harmony…perpetually returns to a state of equilibrium. Nature does not tolerate perversion…at least not for very long.

This state of equilibrium… that’s where we’re now headed. That’s what the “losses” on Wall Street represent: a rejection of perversion and a return to balance and harmony.

Now, to the quotation marks.  We’re not “losing” anything.

We’re re-aligning with what matters. We’re ending one direction and heading in another. We’re re-prioritizing. We’re gaining clarity. We’re grasping the significance of what we are to One Another. We’re embarking on Living Oneness.

So, there it is. Love and Wall Street.  As always, you choose.

I blame Aristotle.  He’s the one who laid the groundwork two thousand or so years ago for thinking of reality in terms of duality. He told us things were either “A or not A.” In linear, dualistic thinking, there’s no possibility that anything other than one of two possible conditions or outcomes exist. And things tend to move between the two.. leaving, literally, no other options. So, things are good or they are not good. And if they are not good, well…take the economy as we speak.

The economy, as evidenced by the stock market and the standard of living, was booming. In Aristotle’s world that was good. Now, the DOW has plummeted and the banks may need rescuing so that must now be bad. Hence, all the worry and yes, even panic.

Like I said, I blame Aristotle.

We are two thousand years smarter than when he saw all that he was able to see from where he was standing. Now, thanks to Einstein, quantum physics and a whole host of other intuitive and intelligent women and men, we know that things are hardly what they appear, that what we think we see determines what we see, depending on your vantage point, two observers will see things differently, and finally, and perhaps most importantly, nothing is static…everything is constantly in motion. Which is why Aristotle really set us off on the wrong track because if everything is constantly in motion, then nothing is ever “A or not A” but some combination or variation of both. Which is why the “good” economy was great for some, good for others, and difficult for the rest. But more importantly, it’s why the present economy, that was perceived as good, is not Now bad.

The more accurate representation is the Eastern symbol for Yin and Yang. It is a circle with two sections delineated with one black and one white.  Aha! you say. There it is. Aristotle’s “A or not.” Well, not even close. Because within the white portion of the Yin is a black circle and within the black portion of the Yang is a white circle. Both hold the seeds of the other and both are simultaneously what they are and what they are not.

While things were seemingly great with the economy it held the seeds of the change we are Now experiencing.  And as we go through this transition, no matter how apparently difficult, it holds the seeds of a time when we will have passed through this difficulty. It’s all an endless circle…with every part holding the potential for the emergence of every other part.

Which is where the saying “It’s not what happens to you it’s how you handle it” comes from.

Change is inevitable yet it’s what we resist most in our lives. We like to know who and what we can count on…who and what are reliable. But it would serve us best to accept that since everything is in motion, it would make much more sense for us to remain fluid in our thinking as well so that we can align with rather than resist the inevitable.

The economy and the stock market are never up or down. They are constantly in flux…as are we. It is only the way we choose to look at things that causes us to become worrisome and fearful when that movement accelerates.

Let’s think of the current economic transition as if we are going through a tunnel rather than falling down a bottomless well.  By so doing, we can acknowledge the temporary diminished visibility and know that at the other end will be an expanded vista with greater light. Not to mention that without a little darkness…how would we ever appreciate the light?

I’m not a Pollyanna. I know transition and change are challenging.  But if we can understand that Aristotle was limited in his view and that we have relied upon his thinking for way too long, perhaps we can provide more flexibility and less suffering to the challenges we are Now being asked to meet.

As early as 16 months ago, I began writing about the challenges presented when fear rears it’s ugly head and we are asked to either succumb to it or rise above it. I was writing from a spiritual perspective and, for many, such musings are more philosophical than practical and so are placed low on the priority list of where their focus needs to be.  But those entries were originating from an “early warning system”, if you will, and were an attempt to lay the foundation and set forth guiding principles for what we now face in a very real and practical sense.

We are awakening each and every day to increasingly grim economic news. The potential for unprecedented difficulties and challenges is generating, what can accurately be stated to be, worldwide fear. Media headlines and breaking news fuel the fires of panic. The air is thick with worry. Such an environment is easily contagious and self-fulfilling by the sheer nature of it’s intensity.

However, there is good news also. The importance of seeking and speaking it cannot be overstated.

In the most constricted environments, there are always options….there is always the possibility for choice. This is where all those early warnings Now come into play. Free Will is not some esoteric concept. It is our birthright. We are free, at every moment, to create a world based upon fear or one based upon love. I need not belabor what a world based upon fear looks like. We have historically too often been manipulated by the creation of such a world by those in apparent power. The opportunity each of us is Now being presented with is to ignore the messages of fear and instead hold thoughts of plenty, aspirations of peace and trust in the highest good for all concerned.

There is no more of an instructive and constructive thought for you to hold onto at this time than this:

                                        F.E.A.R…False Events Appear Real

At the quantum level, physicists have shown that the observed is affected and changed by the presence of the observer. This is because what one perceives has a direct impact upon the matter being perceived. I use the term matter both literally and figuratively.  Literally, our world is composed of matter, manifested. It originates in, and is manifested from, thought. Figuratively, when things seem to be going “wrong'” the question we pose is “What’s the matter?”  Change your thought and the matter changes.

There is a core truth here.

                           If you think things are a certain way…so shall they be.

The challenge and the opportunity we Now face is to see the illusion of fear for what it is: an illusion. By so doing, we can co-create and manifest, in the most literal sense, an alternative reality…different matter…wherein the guiding principles are not fear and separation but rather compassion and Oneness.

Let the markets crumble and as you watch, see only rebirth. Allow the old and worn out to decompose so that out of the resulting dust your vision may cause to arise a new and more enlightened way for we humans to be that which we are so much more capable of being.

P.S. Here are the links to 3 of last year’s entries that were setting the stage for what we are now experiencing and the inner guidance it will take to get through it.

http://blog.carolemckay.com/2007/05/18/fear-factor.aspx
http://blog.carolemckay.com/2007/05/23/the-antidote-to-terror.aspx
http://blog.carolemckay.com/2007/06/25/finding-your–way.aspx

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