Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Holding the High Watch

I heard someone say long ago that it doesn’t matter what we do; what matters is the energy we’re in when we do it. How very true. Our vibration in any given moment gives rise to our experience, and affects those close to us and ultimately the entire world.

We have a choice in every situation what energy vibration we will “own.” Thank Goodness we have a lifetime to remember this, because it’s very easy to forget when we get caught up in some dramatic human moment.

Someone came to me today angry at a person we both know, and as I listened I certainly understood his point of view. It probably shouldn’t have happened, but it did, and my colleague needed to talk about it and find a way to rectify the situation.

As he described the situation, what I heard behind the words was that he felt judged, and diminished. It’s a frustrating situation, and it would have been easy for me to “match” his vibration and move into anger myself. But it was a good opportunity for me to “hold the high watch.”

There are countless opportunities for us to do this. It simply means standing firm in truth no matter what is going on around us. In this situation, I listened, and told him that I understood how he felt. And then I gently suggested that the other person is doing the best she can, and that it really is not personal. I mentioned that perhaps she gives us an opportunity to find the best, most loving parts of ourselves.

We can also hold the high watch without saying a thing. It is an energetic “space” that we choose that actually speaks louder than words. By just standing quietly in our own highest truth about something, we allow others to recognize and match it.

It reminds me of what happens here at work sometimes, when gossip starts. I try really hard to stay out of it, and am mostly successful. I’ve noticed that when gossip does start, if I hold loving thoughts but don’t participate, the gossip stalls. As sensitive energetic beings, we are aware of the vibrations of others. When just one person holds the high watch, standing firmly in the truth of the divine in everyone and in all things, there is light in the darkness..

May your high watch shine divine light in the world, and may this tool be a blessing. . .

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Letting It Be Enough

I heard the notion of “enough” discussed in a way that caught my attention recently. As I thought about it, it made me realize what a gift it is to notice that we have, in all things, enough.

We expend a great deal of energy working on accumulating enough – enough money, enough connection and intimacy, enough success, enough leisure and play and health. The list is endless. The quest seems to take on a life of its own, and the seeking to have becomes the focus rather than simply enjoying what we have. What we think and believe manifests in our experience, and so seeking reinforces the reality of lack.

I believe that what people feel most lacking in is love. The yearning may be unconscious and the sense of lack can manifest through many different thoughts, but what we really seek is enough love. The part of us that is disconnected from our true selves cannot imagine ourselves worthy of the amount of love that we want and need.

This can cause such conflict in relationships, when we get caught up in expectation about how someone should treat us, then we can feel that we were not loved enough. It can happen in the important relationships in our lives, or with perfect strangers. If I get ticked off at the driver who cuts me off on the freeway, it could be argued that the core belief behind all of it is that the stranger didn’t love me enough to treat me differently.

As with all things, I’ve noticed what a really small shift of awareness it is to move my thoughts from darkness to light, and from a lie to the truth. The ego lives to preserve our identity as individuals, and is in constant battle with anyone or anything that might seem to threaten us. But I can thank my ego for its concern and then pull my energy back from its worry, and say “it is enough.”

The love I have is enough, even when hurrying people act without thinking, or when others don’t put me at the top of their priority list. The connection I have with family and friends is enough, even when we are all busy and moving through life’s demands and challenges as gracefully as we can. The resources of money and time that I have are enough, and have always been enough, to provide me with the security and opportunity that I need to navigate this glorious life.

It brings to mind the words to one of Unity’s prayers:

The inexhaustible resource of spirit
is equal to every demand.
There is no reality in lack.
Abundance is here and now manifest

It’s all in how we choose to see it.

Thank you, God, that I can be worried over a perception that something important is missing, but then affirm that “it is enough,” and I realize that it is so.

May you know "enough" as the essence of who you are, and may this tool be a blessing. . .