Friday, 23 December 2011
You're a Truck
So the story goes that a little boy arrives home crying because the other kids are calling him names at school. His dad turns to him and says, "Son, you're a truck." The boy ceases his sobbing to look up at his father in confusion and silence. So, his father says it again, "You are a truck." This shakes the son out of his bewilderment to say, "What are you talking about Dad, I am not a truck, that's just silly." To which the father replies, "You know me calling you a truck is silly because you know it is not true. And in that same way, you can know that what the kids at school are saying is silly, because you know it is not true (who you really are)."
They Don't Need to be Wrong
Posted to FaceBook Dec. 23
When I am needing someone to be wrong about something is it because I am not feeling confident that I am right?
If I make you wrong about something I don't like, or I don't want to be, or I don't care for, does it make me 'right-er' about what I do like?
Could me, really enjoying something, be enough of a reason for me to like it?
Is needing someone else to be wrong the long, hard way to give me permission to like what I like?
And when I am pushing against you being wrong, am I really getting the chance to enjoy what I like?
Couldn't I just like what I like, and skip the exhausting part of trying to make you be wrong, if you don't like it too?
If I really believed in what I liked, would it even matter if you believed or liked it too?
When I am needing someone to be wrong about something is it because I am not feeling confident that I am right?
If I make you wrong about something I don't like, or I don't want to be, or I don't care for, does it make me 'right-er' about what I do like?
Could me, really enjoying something, be enough of a reason for me to like it?
Is needing someone else to be wrong the long, hard way to give me permission to like what I like?
And when I am pushing against you being wrong, am I really getting the chance to enjoy what I like?
Couldn't I just like what I like, and skip the exhausting part of trying to make you be wrong, if you don't like it too?
If I really believed in what I liked, would it even matter if you believed or liked it too?
Thursday, 22 December 2011
Human Being and Then Doing
Posted to FaceBook Dec. 22
You have probably heard the saying, "We are human beings, not human doings." I believe this saying is implying that my human 'doingingness' is meant to support my human 'beingness' -- meaning my actions are to support who I really am (WIRA), and not the other way around.
When I do life the other way around I end up choosing actions I may think I am suppose to be doing, 'ass-u-me-d' from the beliefs and actions of others around me. From those actions I then try and make WIRA be in alignment with them. For example, if I grew up believing/being told I should be a lawyer, I may DO the things necessary for that (i.e. go to law school, join a firm, be immersed in legal actions), and then I would need to feel/be like a lawyer (believe in the law, stand up for the rights of your clients, enjoy the legal process). Which is all well and good unless WIRA is perhaps very creative (which may clash with the rigidness of our legal system), or loves numbers (which may clash with all the people work), or loves working with children or animals.
When I try and make WIRA conform to what I am doing I am going to feel stressed, because although what I 'do' in life is flexible, WIRA is not -- because it is WHO I REALLY AM. Being someone I am not has been referred to as "trying to fit a round peg into a square whole," or "being a fish out of water."
So, the better I know and understand WIRA, the better I am equipped to pick those beliefs and actions that are going to be the most honest expression of Me. And when what I am doing in life supports my human Beingness, we are ready to create great things together.
You have probably heard the saying, "We are human beings, not human doings." I believe this saying is implying that my human 'doingingness' is meant to support my human 'beingness' -- meaning my actions are to support who I really am (WIRA), and not the other way around.
When I do life the other way around I end up choosing actions I may think I am suppose to be doing, 'ass-u-me-d' from the beliefs and actions of others around me. From those actions I then try and make WIRA be in alignment with them. For example, if I grew up believing/being told I should be a lawyer, I may DO the things necessary for that (i.e. go to law school, join a firm, be immersed in legal actions), and then I would need to feel/be like a lawyer (believe in the law, stand up for the rights of your clients, enjoy the legal process). Which is all well and good unless WIRA is perhaps very creative (which may clash with the rigidness of our legal system), or loves numbers (which may clash with all the people work), or loves working with children or animals.
When I try and make WIRA conform to what I am doing I am going to feel stressed, because although what I 'do' in life is flexible, WIRA is not -- because it is WHO I REALLY AM. Being someone I am not has been referred to as "trying to fit a round peg into a square whole," or "being a fish out of water."
So, the better I know and understand WIRA, the better I am equipped to pick those beliefs and actions that are going to be the most honest expression of Me. And when what I am doing in life supports my human Beingness, we are ready to create great things together.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
A LOP Excerpt on Surrendering
"What is surrendering? It is an essence that can also be referred to as letting go, allowing, going with the flow, forgiving, relaxing into something, or trusting the process. It is releasing the resistance we create when we 'work hard' or worry about something. It is giving up the need to control every last detail and it is about life becoming more peaceful, simple, and fun. It is common to feel like 'everything's going your way' when you surrender the destructive need to control. It is a tool that can be used either to assist in remaining on the upward spiral or to move from the downward to the upward spiral."
A Case for a Life of the Un-busy
When I was looking up another Einstein quote for a workshop, I came across this one that feels so perfect for us in our 'busy' times.
"The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind."
Hmmmm?
"The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind."
Hmmmm?
An Out of Alignment Ripple
Posted to FaceBook Dec. 20th
Yesterday I started my day out of alignment with who I really am (WIRA). I felt a bit like I was rushing or pushing into my day. One of the first things I focused on in the morning was a receipt from the day before, and there was an item on it I did not recognize. I checked and rechecked the items I had bought and I concluded that a mistake had been made, and I would have to go back to the store. This (matched) increased my earlier feeling of rush and push by adding another thing I wanted to accomplish during the day.
The woman who assisted me at the store didn't know what the item was either. She gave me the benefit of the doubt and refunded my money, and away I went on to the next thing to do. Later, while I was working out (taking some time for me, being more in the now, releasing some push and rush), it dawned on me what the item could have been. When I checked the receipt, yet again, sure enough, it was apparent that all had been correct in the first place. To be WIRA, I then made a trip back to the store and refunded the refund.
When I am out of alignment with WIRA, even a bit, I don't have the mind to figure things out, the eyes to see my answers, or the clarity to make good decisions. And this was just about a small purchase. Imagine the out of alignment ripples I could create in my life by making decisions about family or friends, careers or finances, health or happiness, or even just a larger purchase, if I am making them out of alignment with WIRA.
Yesterday I started my day out of alignment with who I really am (WIRA). I felt a bit like I was rushing or pushing into my day. One of the first things I focused on in the morning was a receipt from the day before, and there was an item on it I did not recognize. I checked and rechecked the items I had bought and I concluded that a mistake had been made, and I would have to go back to the store. This (matched) increased my earlier feeling of rush and push by adding another thing I wanted to accomplish during the day.
The woman who assisted me at the store didn't know what the item was either. She gave me the benefit of the doubt and refunded my money, and away I went on to the next thing to do. Later, while I was working out (taking some time for me, being more in the now, releasing some push and rush), it dawned on me what the item could have been. When I checked the receipt, yet again, sure enough, it was apparent that all had been correct in the first place. To be WIRA, I then made a trip back to the store and refunded the refund.
When I am out of alignment with WIRA, even a bit, I don't have the mind to figure things out, the eyes to see my answers, or the clarity to make good decisions. And this was just about a small purchase. Imagine the out of alignment ripples I could create in my life by making decisions about family or friends, careers or finances, health or happiness, or even just a larger purchase, if I am making them out of alignment with WIRA.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
A 'Miracle'
A miracle, as defined by Marianne Williamson in A Return to Love is, "a release from internal bondage" (page 71), through "a shift in perception" (page 9).
That makes a miracle the releasing of any worry, and fear, and guilt I might carry. It is the letting go of the losses and mistakes that might have happened. It would be the laying down of the judgments and criticisms that are oh so heavy.
That makes a miracle the seeing and honoring of those things I love. It makes it the chosing of the thoughts and ideas that make my heart sing. It makes it the looking through the eyes of appreciation at whatever the day may bring.
A miracle is: a release of the things I tell myself that aren't true about me; my change in perception so I see through the eyes of who I really am.
That makes a miracle the releasing of any worry, and fear, and guilt I might carry. It is the letting go of the losses and mistakes that might have happened. It would be the laying down of the judgments and criticisms that are oh so heavy.
That makes a miracle the seeing and honoring of those things I love. It makes it the chosing of the thoughts and ideas that make my heart sing. It makes it the looking through the eyes of appreciation at whatever the day may bring.
A miracle is: a release of the things I tell myself that aren't true about me; my change in perception so I see through the eyes of who I really am.
A Christmas Story
Posted to facebook Dec. 18th
As Christmas draws near I am reminded of my first Christmas away from home, many years ago, in Sydney Australia. I had been living and travelling in Australia for seven months, usually with a few other people, however, as we settled in Sydney for Christmas, many went their own ways to spend it with family and friends. I ended up with no real plans for Christmas day except a general invitation from a few others I didn't really know, from the hostel I was staying at, to join them on Bronte Beach.
This Christmas was not only away from family and friends, but it was away from all my usual experiences of decorations, and shopping, and shorter days, and snow. There was really nothing about this experience that was feeling like my usual Christmases. I did what I could, I wrote a bushel of Christmas cards to family and friends, I went and bought myself an extravagant treat of Kahlua and smoked oysters, but I was still feeling a bit of a hole where Christmas would be, and I wasn't sure how to fill it.
I set off Christmas morning, to join the others on Bronte beach, not because I really wanted to spend time with them, but because I didn't know what else to do. As I made my way towards the train station, I could hear and feel that there were footsteps coming up behind me. As they passed me, I looked up into the friendly face of a young guy who said hello and wished me a Merry Christmas. I returned the wish, and as I spoke he realized I was not from Australia, which started a conversation. In the brief, but oh so real, conversation that followed we identified that we were both away from home for the first time, and what that was like for us.
It was a sharing that lasted about one and half blocks, and a life time. The connection had as much depth and closeness as relationships that have built over years. We came to the point where we started to head in our own directions. He stopped, walked back and kissed me, wished me 'Merry Christmas' again, and then we carried on our ways. We both knew that whatever had transpired between us was a Christmas 'Gift'. It was the true meaning of Christmas. It wasn't the snow, or family and friends, or presents, or turkey dinner, that made Christmas, it was an opening, sharing, and connecting of one heart with another. It may not seem like much on paper, but it was enough of a LOP moment for me to be remembering, and sharing it as a Christmas story, 23 years later.
Wishing you an open, connecting, LOP Christmas, that leaves footprints in your heart for years to come.
As Christmas draws near I am reminded of my first Christmas away from home, many years ago, in Sydney Australia. I had been living and travelling in Australia for seven months, usually with a few other people, however, as we settled in Sydney for Christmas, many went their own ways to spend it with family and friends. I ended up with no real plans for Christmas day except a general invitation from a few others I didn't really know, from the hostel I was staying at, to join them on Bronte Beach.
This Christmas was not only away from family and friends, but it was away from all my usual experiences of decorations, and shopping, and shorter days, and snow. There was really nothing about this experience that was feeling like my usual Christmases. I did what I could, I wrote a bushel of Christmas cards to family and friends, I went and bought myself an extravagant treat of Kahlua and smoked oysters, but I was still feeling a bit of a hole where Christmas would be, and I wasn't sure how to fill it.
I set off Christmas morning, to join the others on Bronte beach, not because I really wanted to spend time with them, but because I didn't know what else to do. As I made my way towards the train station, I could hear and feel that there were footsteps coming up behind me. As they passed me, I looked up into the friendly face of a young guy who said hello and wished me a Merry Christmas. I returned the wish, and as I spoke he realized I was not from Australia, which started a conversation. In the brief, but oh so real, conversation that followed we identified that we were both away from home for the first time, and what that was like for us.
It was a sharing that lasted about one and half blocks, and a life time. The connection had as much depth and closeness as relationships that have built over years. We came to the point where we started to head in our own directions. He stopped, walked back and kissed me, wished me 'Merry Christmas' again, and then we carried on our ways. We both knew that whatever had transpired between us was a Christmas 'Gift'. It was the true meaning of Christmas. It wasn't the snow, or family and friends, or presents, or turkey dinner, that made Christmas, it was an opening, sharing, and connecting of one heart with another. It may not seem like much on paper, but it was enough of a LOP moment for me to be remembering, and sharing it as a Christmas story, 23 years later.
Wishing you an open, connecting, LOP Christmas, that leaves footprints in your heart for years to come.
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