Practicing Kindness

I heard a heart-warming story today from one of my coworkers.  A relative of hers had two small dogs which escaped through a hole in the fence while she was at work.  She contacted the animal shelter with no luck, and posted signs around her neighborhood with the dogs' pictures and her phone number and address in hopes of finding them.  A day later a stranger came to her door, telling her that he had some bad news to give her, and he relayed the following story.

It turns out he had seen the dogs running onto a highway, and saw one get hit.  He stopped and was able to pick up the injured dog, but the other one ran way after apparently also being bumped by a car.  He took the injured dog to a vet, who was unable to save it.  He then went back to try to find the other dog.  He did find it, took it to the vet, and left it there for care.  At that point he started driving around the area where he had seen the dogs, hoping to see a sign of some kind.  Sure enough, he did, and that's how he ended up at the woman's door, explaining that he wanted her to know that although one of the dogs had died, the other one was doing well.

My coworker went on to tell me that the stranger in this story first spotted the dogs at around 9:00 a.m., and didn't end up at her relative's house until late afternoon.  He spent his entire day trying to help the dogs, and then trying to find their owner.

I thought this was a really amazing story. I hope all of you will join me in sending this hero your love and blessings.  In addition to really appreciating him, and being grateful for the goodness of the human spirit, I noticed my coworker's reaction to hearing the story, and my own.

My day was brighter and more hopeful because of hearing about that event, and I suspect yours will be, too.  Even though we don't know the people involved, that man's actions elevate us all.  Each of us has a choice with every thought, word and action about what truth we will help bring forth.  With his choice, he helped create a truly wonderful world.

There are countless examples every single day of people doing extraordinary things for no reason other than it being the world they choose to create.  The great thing is, no act of kindness goes unnoticed, or unreciprocated.  We get what we give, many times over.   We can rest assured that every act of kindness will be returned to us, even as its ripples spread to all of humanity.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Believing in Miracles

I was thinking about miracles this morning, out walking my dog.  I am a big, BIG believer in miracles.  Miracles can be described as extraordinary events bringing good outcomes that could only be possible with God's intervention.  I expect miracles to the point that I sometimes take their occurrence for granted.   It's a helpful thing, trusting good enough to expect that it's just the way things are meant to be.  And while I do expect good, I always want to validate and nurture its limitless power in my life.  The following miracle story is, to me, worthy of sharing.

Last July I was delighted when my daughter and grandson came from Georgia for a visit.  I hadn't seen them for awhile, and my grandson, Oliver, got very heavy when I wasn't looking!   One evening I bent down and scooped up all 45 pounds of him, to show him something he wasn't tall enough to see.  I didn't bend my knees or consider my back at all, because I'd never had to before.  By the next morning, I knew that had been a big mistake.

It took a chiropractor, a number of physical therapy visits and six months for my back to get better.  I'm alot more careful now about how I move, but it got tremendously better.  About three weeks ago, my symptoms started returning and worsening.  The most distressing part of it was noticing my left leg weakening, especially since I enjoy backpacking and dancing and other active hobbies.  I stopped my activities, even walking, was icing it and being extra careful, but it seemed to be getting worse.  I was scared.

My favorite tool lately, when I'm scared or discouraged or feeling most in need of help, is to write a letter to God, and a few nights ago that's what I did.  I told God that I knew there was a way to fix my back, but I didn't know what it was.  I asked how I could think about the issue in the healthiest way.

I believe that there is always a spiritual cause behind illness or dis-ease, and God helped me remember the spiritual basis for the mechanical issue with my spine.  God responded in loving and simple language, in part, as follows:

"Responsibility is affecting your back.  Every time you begin to worry about someone's circumstances, remember your truth, and release it immediately into my hands.  Visualize a healing color coursing up your spine and through your entire body (today that color is light green).  Visualize your spine as perfectly aligned and cushioned, straight and whole and able to support you easily throughout your long, healthy life.  And then give thanks that it is done.  That is all you need to do, sweet one.  And you can do it.  I'm in your corner, cheering you on.  Love, God."

Tears come to my eyes in typing this, for the grace and love and simplicity of God's response to me.  It really is that simple.  All are perfectly held in their own life's creation, and we manifest what we envision, always.  We are infinitely and lovingly supported in this.  Thank you, God.

You can probably predict the outcome of my miracle story.  I did the simple things that God asked of me.  None of them was new to me, but in my increasing concern I forgot to do the things that I already know:  to ask and allow myself to be answered, to picture my intention and to turn over to God all that is not mine to handle.  The next morning (which was yesterday),  I woke up with all of my back symptoms gone, and they've been gone since.

Some might say that it was just coincidental timing, but I know differently.  The physical healing was dramatic, yes, but also, I just know.  These types of miracles happen all the time, coming to us with our challenges, and in many different ways.  The situation with my back reminded me yet again of who I am, what I am capable of, and the profound benevolent goodness that directs our existence.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Just Breathe

Our most gentle and powerful spiritual tool is available to us in every moment. It is our breath. With our breath, we live. By just acknowledging that we breathe, by stopping to become aware of the continuous flow of our breath, in and out with regularity whether we notice it or not, we validate being alive. In getting down to that very basic idea of “I breathe,” we are reminded of the preciousness of being. The vast and perfect consciousness that created all of life moves through us. I breathe, and I am.

There are many wonderful awareness, relaxation and meditation techniques that help us focus our attention on our breathing. As with all things, I don’t think one technique is best, or right for everyone. The important thing is to find what works for each of us.

I have the opportunity at work to teach a class on some of these techniques, and it is always a delight and a privilege to witness people finding, often for the first time, the quiet place within them that resides in the breath. It is a gift to learn that such quiet exists within us in the middle of a busy world. Once we have accessed the place where everything is quiet enough for us to hear the soft but constant voice of spirit within us, there really is no turning back. For me, it was a feeling of “I knew it.” I knew that there was a deep connection with something bigger than what I had known, but didn’t know where to find it. Focusing on my breathing helped me quiet my thoughts enough to hear my own gentle truth which had been there all along.

I enjoy watching people soften on the outside and lighten on the inside, as they recognize the quiet within them. I recognize the joy of it. There is a peace that comes from being reminded that “all you have to do right now is breathe.” All we really have to do, ever, is breathe, and be. As my son used to say, the rest is all gravy.

I wrote a post awhile back on focused deep breathing, which is one technique for connecting with our breathing and quieting the mind. A great thing about becoming more connected with our breathing is that it is helpful whether we sit and spend a half hour or just stop for half a minute. By doing so, we are able to remember that in the middle of all of the changing details, the one unchanging constant is that we breathe.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Finding God at WalMart

How absolutely amazing are the myriad ways that human beings work together to perpetuate our forgetting who we are.  As a group, we have entered into an agreement with each other to support our tremendously limited view of ourselves.

We are raised by parents who themselves were raised by people who could not see the greatness in themselves, and so could not impart that truth to their children.  We grow up feeling a need to struggle for a place here, to know that we are good enough, and worthy of being loved fully for all that we are.  For most people this dynamic continues throughout life, when in school and in careers and in our dealings with others we experience a world that doesn't always accept us just as we are.

As we internalize the pain of rejection, we learn to lessen it by judging others, and the cycle continues.  In this way, we create an entire world of people who don't trust each other, who expect others to think unkindly about them without even knowing them, who can't communicate effectively with each other, and don't feel comfortable standing tall in the truth of who they are, which is the embodiment of divinity.

This may seem a sad dynamic in human interaction, and on one hand it is.  But on the other, it is an excellent opportunity for remembering.  There is tremendous grace in moving beyond judgment of another to acceptance.  There is a huge gift in learning to see past another's judgment of us to recognizing the pain of forgetting who they are that prompts it.   When we can see the person who is most different from us, the one who embodies all of the attributes that push our own buttons and make us feel defensive, the one who can't see our greatness, in all of her greatness, the light of truth shines on everyone involved, and the entire world.

I think I've lived my entire lifetime just to learn not to take another thing someone does personally, but instead to keep my eyes open to the light of God shining through their eyes. It's hard sometimes.  It's painful to watch people who have deeply forgotten the truth of themselves. It's painful when we ourselves forget.

We won't always remember that everyone is a perfect expression of a loving God, but every time we make that often difficult choice to do so, the world sings.

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Blooming Where You're Planted

Bloom where you're planted is another very wisdom-filled saying of my grandmother's.  We are here. We can waste a lot of energy and miss a lot of life wishing we were somewhere else, doing something else, but that only accomplishes stealing our moments.

My husband’s elderly aunt died this morning, and he said it makes him remember that he doesn’t want to wait to live. It’s much too easy to live in the future, waiting to find the real enjoyment of our lives when the kids are grown or we’re retired or we find the perfect job or partner. He and I catch ourselves doing that now, fantasizing about how things will be when we retire. We’re both very clear about not wanting to live in the future, but get caught up in that thinking sometimes.

When that future comes, there will be another future, and something new to look forward to. In the meantime, life is lived now. It seems such an obvious notion, but I find that I need to remind myself often, in many different ways, to stay in present time. When my thoughts are in the future, or the past, I miss all of the delicious possibilities that are here to experience now. I don’t think there’s anything more important than at the end of our days, having fully experienced being here.

When we bloom where we’re planted, right here in the present moment, we are exercising that most holy of all God-given human attributes, the ability to choose who we will be in the middle of all of it. Right now, I am here, having an effect on this world as my own unique expression of God.

The Berkeley Psychic Institute teaches that it doesn’t matter what we’re doing; what matters is the energy that we’re in when we're doing it. We can be miserable in the world’s most glamorous and high-paying job, and happy as a clam in the lowliest job, depending on how we choose to experience it. We can express God within us in the middle of anything.

This takes a great deal of pressure off of making perfect decisions in life, because they are all perfect. In the present moment, we can bloom, resting in the knowledge that who we are is enough.  Being present in each moment as our own bright light is all that is expected of us. The only variable is how we choose to feel about it.  When we choose to know ourselves as God, we bloom.

Life’s path will take its twists and turns, and we may end up in some places that we didn’t expect, but the destination is never in question. How we get there is sometimes a mystery and always a mighty adventure, so we might as well bloom along the way.
May this tool be a blessing...

Rewriting Your Story

We all have a personal history.  We've encountered countless situations, and have labeled ourselves and our lives based on who we were in those situations.  How we've labeled our experiences has created our personal stories, which are basically who we believe we are and what we believe our lives are all about.

Having a story gives us a place, a way to belong in this life and know ourselves as unique and truly here.  But in some cases our stories, based as they are on events that are often long past, don't serve us in creating our highest vision for ourselves.  If a part of my story is that I'll never have enough money, that belief will play out.  If I believe that I'm not worthy of loving relationships, that, too, will find a way to become my experience.  And so it is with creating a life.

What we believe is what we manifest.  This is a simple spiritual truth with tremendous power.  What if we are holding on to a story that we have outgrown?  What if we are capable of expressing a higher vision of ourselves than we'd ever imagined?

I don't mean to say that we should deny the events of our lives, and the effect that they may have had.  Some of life's circumstances may have been painful, or tragic.  But we can have the courage to rewrite those stories, too, and find the pearl of wisdom, or compassion, or light that has come from having walked through the experience and come out the other side.  Our wisdom, compassion and light are important parts of the new story.

If we need to have a personal story at all (and of course we do), then why not make it a best-seller?  Why not craft a story about the things that we do especially well, or how amazing and perfect our bodies are for allowing us to experience the large and small miracles of a lifetime?  Why not tell the world a story about the love we've given, and received?  Why not be, in our own story about ourselves, blessed and lucky?

It's our story.  We're the authors of our lives, and we're making it up as we go along.  Holding on to old concepts is no more the truth than boldly claiming all that we have learned and done to become the masterpieces that we are, in this moment.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

May this tool be a blessing. . .

Empathy

Everyone we meet is doing the best they can in any given moment. Their best, and ours, varies depending on many things. Some days we’re rested and happy, and full of enthusiasm for our day and well wishes for the world. Other days we forget that we have the power to create every moment of our experience, and we’re unconscious and reactive.

It can be very difficult to be empathetic toward someone who is stuck in forgetting. When people act in ways that are contrary to our best interest, or are hurtful to us or others, it’s easy to become angry and judgmental toward them. But the truth is that we all get stuck in forgetting. All of us put our worst foot forward at times, often without meaning or wanting to, when old belief systems or unconscious habits take over.

We can never solve a problem in the same energy as the problem itself. Meeting anger with anger makes it grow; meeting competition with more competition only succeeds in creating invalidation and shutting down communication. We need to take an energetic step up to move out of the negative cycles that can happen between people. It’s not easy, especially when we’re feeling attacked in some way, to take the higher road, but it is ultimately healthier for us and more productive for all involved.

If someone is angry at or jealous of someone else, but the other person meets it with understanding or empathy, or even love, there is nowhere for the anger or jealousy to go. It does not become bigger and more powerful by moving from person to person. When we meet difficult situations in this way the buck really does stop with us. Not only are we consciously choosing how we experience our world, we are leaving the energy with the other person to manage in a way that will work best for him. And this is at is should be.

Human beings are an incredibly complex and dynamic mass of shifting energies that can be at times clear and centered and at other times lost and grasping. People do small-minded things sometimes, and those same people also do very noble things. I’ve realized how easy it is to label someone based on one action, but that really isn’t the entire picture of who they are. Ultimately, what others do has nothing at all to do with us, but everything to do with how much of the truth of their own greatness they are recognizing in the moment.

My grandmother was full of sayings, and one was to turn the other cheek. That’s not to say that I think we should allow others to treat us unfairly or inappropriately. But turning the other cheek, with empathy, and striving to understand that there is more to someone than what they might be expressing, is a step toward living in the light of truth. Even though someone may not be loveable in this moment, they remain the embodiment of love, just temporarily stuck in forgetting who they are.

May we all be met with empathy in our forgetting, and may this tool be a blessing. . .