In chapter seven of The Untethered Soul we are 'Transcending the Tendency to Close'. This tendency, as Michael describes it, is what we do to protect ourselves, our self-concepts, or what some refer to as our ego. This tendency may manifest itself in the habits of withdrawing, closing down, pulling back, getting angry, putting up walls, becoming defensive, blaming, or trying to control the world around us. But, as Michael reminds us, "You will get to a point in your growth where you understand that if you protect yourself, you will never be free."
Michael outlines how we begin letting go of protecting ourselves. First, we just begin to notice ourselves protecting or defending ourselves. As I have noticed where I tend to react and close I have seen there are patterns; common themes.
Second, Michael talks about making a commitment to be free. In my experience 'making' a commitment is not something we do, it is something we become ready for as we realize it is us who is holding ourselves back. As I have witnessed the common themes of where I am protecting and guarding myself, I have had a growing knowing that I am ready to free myself from the chore of protecting these 'soft spots'. I see the amount of energy, time, and even money that I put into trying to control them. I can feel how I have come to a place where I am tired of it, and I am ready to move on. I am ready to be free.
Third, Michael shares with us that we will get to a point where we just notice ourselves making a different decision in those moments where we usually protect. We see or feel ourselves getting ready to protect/defend/close ourselves and we just choose to let it go instead. He writes that eventually what happens is, "Every place you go there's someone or something trying to disturb you, trying to get your goat. Why not let them have it? If you don't really want it, then don't protect it."
Thoughts that have helped me to let go are:
Stop.
Breathe.
There's nothing wrong going on here.
Choose to open (focusing on my heart or solar plexus area).
I don't know all the answers around this, nor do I need to.
I know micromanaging things never really creates the results/success I am desiring.
What I do know is I don't know all the possibilities here, and I want to stay open to them all.
My work is to relax, breathe, trust, and recognize my inspirations as they appear.
There is an ease and unfolding around this situation I want to find.
I am wanting to move through this to where my true freedom lies.
What do you find helps you to let go in those moments you catch yourself ready to protect?
Living On Purpose (LOP) is remembering, believing in, and expressing who we really are. This blog is the sharing of the moment by moment experience of practicing Living On Purpose . . . because we all want to feel good.
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Thursday, 28 March 2013
An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Six
In chapter six Michael shares with us that there are three ways I can react to every moment of my day; resist, cling, or allow it to flow through me. The first two reactions are the habits I fall into that create a result of closing. When I resist a moment I am trying to push away something I don't want. When I am clinging to a moment, I am trying to hang on to something that I do want. Both of those reactions are coming from a place of fear. The third reaction, allowing the moment, is the habit that allows my energy to continue to flow; for me to keep up to speed with ME. This is the reaction/habit of remaining open.
Examples:
Someone says something to me that is in disagreement with what I believe or what I want to do. I can resist them be trying to defend and, justify my point. Or, I can allow them to have their opinion because I know that they don't need to believe what I believe in order for me to believe it.
I apply for a job that I really, really want and I am clinging to it because I believe it will be my answers to some money problems, create stability in my life, and make me look good/successful. Or, I can allow/trust the unfolding of the job application because I know my abundance, stability and success come from my confidence in me, not an employer.
I meet someone with whom I am attracted. I can resist them because they remind me of someone who hurt me in the past. I can cling to them in the hopes that they are the one, and I will never be alone again. Or, I can let go of all my preconceived ideas and allow it to be a journey of fun, clarity, and an opportunity to practice WIRA, for however long it lasts.
What resist, cling, and allow examples do you have?
LOP is learning how to choose the reaction of allowing in all my moments.
Examples:
Someone says something to me that is in disagreement with what I believe or what I want to do. I can resist them be trying to defend and, justify my point. Or, I can allow them to have their opinion because I know that they don't need to believe what I believe in order for me to believe it.
I apply for a job that I really, really want and I am clinging to it because I believe it will be my answers to some money problems, create stability in my life, and make me look good/successful. Or, I can allow/trust the unfolding of the job application because I know my abundance, stability and success come from my confidence in me, not an employer.
I meet someone with whom I am attracted. I can resist them because they remind me of someone who hurt me in the past. I can cling to them in the hopes that they are the one, and I will never be alone again. Or, I can let go of all my preconceived ideas and allow it to be a journey of fun, clarity, and an opportunity to practice WIRA, for however long it lasts.
What resist, cling, and allow examples do you have?
LOP is learning how to choose the reaction of allowing in all my moments.
Thursday, 21 March 2013
An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Five
Posted to Facebook March 21st.
What I am hearing Michael say in this chapter is we are energy, an endless supply of energy. The only reason I may not be feeling the energy is because I am blocking it. I block the energy by closing, and instead I want to choose opening.
Michael describes his experience of opening as something that happens in his heart centre. I recently read a metaphor by Wayne Dyer ("There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem") where he imagines a cord hanging from his hip and he can plug it into either the material world socket or the spiritual world socket. One creates a feeling of fear (closing) and the other a feeling of peace (opening).
I have always identified with the feeling of opening and closing in my solar plexus. When I am closed, especially for an extended period of time, I feel it as a knot in my gut. I also can conjure a feeling of opening by imagining a funnel of energy above my head (see page 139 "Living On Purpose: Life Beyond Mediocrity")
How, or in what part of your body, do you experience the sensation of closing and opening?
The quote I appreciate from this chapter is on page 46 where he simply and honestly says to us that, "defining what you need in order to stay open actually ends up limiting you." Which says to me that all the laws and rules we have are limiting us more than freeing us.
What are you defining you need to have a certain way in order to stay open? (Examples: the weather, how people drive, how much sleep I get, how my spouse or children act, how my house looks, the way others treat me, my body, our government, the food I eat.)
Suggested exercise: pick a day when you are going to notice, as often as you can, when you feel yourself closing/limiting yourself, and take a moment to consciously relax whatever area of your body you identified with in the first question.
LOP is limitless.
What I am hearing Michael say in this chapter is we are energy, an endless supply of energy. The only reason I may not be feeling the energy is because I am blocking it. I block the energy by closing, and instead I want to choose opening.
Michael describes his experience of opening as something that happens in his heart centre. I recently read a metaphor by Wayne Dyer ("There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem") where he imagines a cord hanging from his hip and he can plug it into either the material world socket or the spiritual world socket. One creates a feeling of fear (closing) and the other a feeling of peace (opening).
I have always identified with the feeling of opening and closing in my solar plexus. When I am closed, especially for an extended period of time, I feel it as a knot in my gut. I also can conjure a feeling of opening by imagining a funnel of energy above my head (see page 139 "Living On Purpose: Life Beyond Mediocrity")
How, or in what part of your body, do you experience the sensation of closing and opening?
The quote I appreciate from this chapter is on page 46 where he simply and honestly says to us that, "defining what you need in order to stay open actually ends up limiting you." Which says to me that all the laws and rules we have are limiting us more than freeing us.
What are you defining you need to have a certain way in order to stay open? (Examples: the weather, how people drive, how much sleep I get, how my spouse or children act, how my house looks, the way others treat me, my body, our government, the food I eat.)
Suggested exercise: pick a day when you are going to notice, as often as you can, when you feel yourself closing/limiting yourself, and take a moment to consciously relax whatever area of your body you identified with in the first question.
LOP is limitless.
Saturday, 16 March 2013
Oprah's Big Questions
Posted to Facebook March 28th.
If you ever watch Oprah's Super Soul Sunday, you know that she ends her interviews by asking her guests to finish some sentences. Perhaps you might like to try finishing them too.
The thing that matters most to me is?
What is freedom?
I believe in?
I am grateful for?
The world needs?
What is the soul?
What is your definition of God?
If you could ask God one question what would it be?
What is your secret strength?
What's the best piece of advice that you have gotten?
What do you know for sure?
LOP is not about knowing what the right answer is, it is about knowing what MY answer is.
If you ever watch Oprah's Super Soul Sunday, you know that she ends her interviews by asking her guests to finish some sentences. Perhaps you might like to try finishing them too.
The thing that matters most to me is?
What is freedom?
I believe in?
I am grateful for?
The world needs?
What is the soul?
What is your definition of God?
If you could ask God one question what would it be?
What is your secret strength?
What's the best piece of advice that you have gotten?
What do you know for sure?
LOP is not about knowing what the right answer is, it is about knowing what MY answer is.
Advice from a Lake
Posted to Facebook March 20th
This past Christmas I received a bookmark from my sister with a quote on it from Ilan Shamir.
This past Christmas I received a bookmark from my sister with a quote on it from Ilan Shamir.
Advice from a Lake
Be Clear
Make Positive Ripples
Look Beneath the Surface
Stay Calm
Shore Up Friendships
Take Time to Reflect
Be full of Life!
Apparently lakes know how to LOP : )
Thanks to Shan, Ilan Shamir, and yourtruenature.com/learn
Thursday, 14 March 2013
An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Four
Posted to Facebook March 14th
In chapter four Michael talks about the lucid self. I believe what he is referring to is what I refer to in LOP as 'who I really am' (WIRA). It's that part of me that is calm, confident, aware, filled with faith in regards to what I do want, not taking life and what is going on around me too seriously, a very present, in-the-moment experience of life.
Michael refers to the this lucid self, this consciousness, as the subject, and what the subject focuses on as the object, and the subject is aware of objects passing by it all day long (mental objects, emotional objects and physical objects), which is a nice balanced, centered way of moving through my day.
However, sometimes I may loose that centeredness a bit (forget who I really am), and he refers to that as getting lost in the object. We may get lost in worrying about something, we may get caught up in how wrong that guy was for cutting us off in traffic, we may become completely absorbed in a football game or a movie we are watching, we may get so focused on something at work we can't seem to pull ourselves away from it, and in those instances we forget we are the lucid self.
What are some objects you tend to get lost in?
My example: T.V., work contracts, what is going on with my parents and the changes they are experiencing, repairs and changes in our real estate projects, planning trips/events.
When, in what situations, do you remember that you are the subject, the lucid self, where you remain centered?
My example: my morning meditation/connection time, reading books like "The Untethered Soul", having 'conscious' coffee times with others, writing this blog, watching an Abraham-Hicks workshop.
LOP is about using each moment of my day as an opportunity to practice being my lucid self, and expressing that genius out into the world.
In chapter four Michael talks about the lucid self. I believe what he is referring to is what I refer to in LOP as 'who I really am' (WIRA). It's that part of me that is calm, confident, aware, filled with faith in regards to what I do want, not taking life and what is going on around me too seriously, a very present, in-the-moment experience of life.
Michael refers to the this lucid self, this consciousness, as the subject, and what the subject focuses on as the object, and the subject is aware of objects passing by it all day long (mental objects, emotional objects and physical objects), which is a nice balanced, centered way of moving through my day.
However, sometimes I may loose that centeredness a bit (forget who I really am), and he refers to that as getting lost in the object. We may get lost in worrying about something, we may get caught up in how wrong that guy was for cutting us off in traffic, we may become completely absorbed in a football game or a movie we are watching, we may get so focused on something at work we can't seem to pull ourselves away from it, and in those instances we forget we are the lucid self.
What are some objects you tend to get lost in?
My example: T.V., work contracts, what is going on with my parents and the changes they are experiencing, repairs and changes in our real estate projects, planning trips/events.
When, in what situations, do you remember that you are the subject, the lucid self, where you remain centered?
My example: my morning meditation/connection time, reading books like "The Untethered Soul", having 'conscious' coffee times with others, writing this blog, watching an Abraham-Hicks workshop.
LOP is about using each moment of my day as an opportunity to practice being my lucid self, and expressing that genius out into the world.
Thursday, 7 March 2013
An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Three
Posted to Facebook March 7th
In chapter three Michael is asking us who we are, and he points out that the labels we usually use to refer to ourselves are not very accurate. So, over the numerous times I have read this chapter I have taken a stab at trying to answer that question without using the labels of names and roles. Here are some of my attempts.
The first time I read this chapter I wrote, "I am the unique expression of Source as me." As many of you may have noticed I took the easy route on this one and stole it from the Abraham-Hicks materials.
The second time I read this chapter I answered with, "I am the awareness and the experiencer." This one was primarily pulled from the concepts that Michael shares with us -- still not very creative.
The third time I read this chapter I had a number of attempts at fine tuning my answer and I ended up with, "I am an energy, a knowing, that well-being abounds, with a desire to play out that knowing, to experience it, to practice it, in this perception we call physical." Getting better, but still not done.
I also went through the "joy, love" one word answers, however, I knew there was more to it for me than that.
What is the answer that you have, for today, to the question, "Who are you?"
In chapter three Michael is asking us who we are, and he points out that the labels we usually use to refer to ourselves are not very accurate. So, over the numerous times I have read this chapter I have taken a stab at trying to answer that question without using the labels of names and roles. Here are some of my attempts.
The first time I read this chapter I wrote, "I am the unique expression of Source as me." As many of you may have noticed I took the easy route on this one and stole it from the Abraham-Hicks materials.
The second time I read this chapter I answered with, "I am the awareness and the experiencer." This one was primarily pulled from the concepts that Michael shares with us -- still not very creative.
The third time I read this chapter I had a number of attempts at fine tuning my answer and I ended up with, "I am an energy, a knowing, that well-being abounds, with a desire to play out that knowing, to experience it, to practice it, in this perception we call physical." Getting better, but still not done.
I also went through the "joy, love" one word answers, however, I knew there was more to it for me than that.
What is the answer that you have, for today, to the question, "Who are you?"
Friday, 1 March 2013
An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Two
Posted to Facebook March 1st.
This chapter is about my inner roommate. Blah, blah, blah. Chatter, chatter, chatter. It can fill up a whole day and then I look back and wonder, "where did the day go?"
What I got from this chapter is that Michael wants us to realize that the part of us that is doing all the chattering is not who we really are (WWRA). On page 15 he suggests that when we are feeling disturbed about something to ask ourselves "What part of me is being disturbed by this? By doing this I can practice recognizing that the disturbed part of me is actually that part we often refer to as things like our ego, or the personality, or the habitual, or the human doing part of me. It is not WIRA.
Once I've remembered that the part of me that is disturbed is not WIRA, it has felt good for me to then ask myself, "What belief is disturbing me about this?" I found that my answer to this question would add even more clarity to the knowing that this disturbance is not WIRA.
Example: "Oh shoot, I am going to be late. I let that phone call/conversation/work on the computer/workout go on to long. I hate being late. What are they going to think? This is going to put me behind on my schedule for the rest of the day. I never have enough time."
1. What part of me is being disturbed by this? Well, it is that very small part of me that can become consumed with what is going on in this moment, in my little world. It's that small me that gets out of balance with the big ME that knows the sun comes back every morning, the seeds for the plants continue to appear, and that water continues to flow downhill, all without me controlling any of it.
2. What belief is disturbing me about this? I hate rushing. I hate pushing. I hate not being in control. When I am not in control I am vulnerable, unprotected.
3. What does WIRA know? WIRA knows I don't need to rush or push. WIRA knows that remaining calm is how I best arrive on time, and if I don't arrive on time, a simple apology is all that is needed. WIRA knows that there was no maliciousness or ulterior motive or disrespect in my lateness. WIRA knows it is an innocent bleep in the schedule and that there is an unfolding here that I will probably never really comprehend in its fullest. If I want a sense of control in my life WIRA knows I do not do that by trying to control all of the outside circumstances, but by my response to them. WIRA knows that there is nothing from which I need to protect myself; my invincibility comes from my 'vulnerability'.
Ahhh, that has soothed/quieted/stopped the resistance of the inner roommate.
What part of this chapter stood out or had value for you?
This chapter is about my inner roommate. Blah, blah, blah. Chatter, chatter, chatter. It can fill up a whole day and then I look back and wonder, "where did the day go?"
What I got from this chapter is that Michael wants us to realize that the part of us that is doing all the chattering is not who we really are (WWRA). On page 15 he suggests that when we are feeling disturbed about something to ask ourselves "What part of me is being disturbed by this? By doing this I can practice recognizing that the disturbed part of me is actually that part we often refer to as things like our ego, or the personality, or the habitual, or the human doing part of me. It is not WIRA.
Once I've remembered that the part of me that is disturbed is not WIRA, it has felt good for me to then ask myself, "What belief is disturbing me about this?" I found that my answer to this question would add even more clarity to the knowing that this disturbance is not WIRA.
Example: "Oh shoot, I am going to be late. I let that phone call/conversation/work on the computer/workout go on to long. I hate being late. What are they going to think? This is going to put me behind on my schedule for the rest of the day. I never have enough time."
1. What part of me is being disturbed by this? Well, it is that very small part of me that can become consumed with what is going on in this moment, in my little world. It's that small me that gets out of balance with the big ME that knows the sun comes back every morning, the seeds for the plants continue to appear, and that water continues to flow downhill, all without me controlling any of it.
2. What belief is disturbing me about this? I hate rushing. I hate pushing. I hate not being in control. When I am not in control I am vulnerable, unprotected.
3. What does WIRA know? WIRA knows I don't need to rush or push. WIRA knows that remaining calm is how I best arrive on time, and if I don't arrive on time, a simple apology is all that is needed. WIRA knows that there was no maliciousness or ulterior motive or disrespect in my lateness. WIRA knows it is an innocent bleep in the schedule and that there is an unfolding here that I will probably never really comprehend in its fullest. If I want a sense of control in my life WIRA knows I do not do that by trying to control all of the outside circumstances, but by my response to them. WIRA knows that there is nothing from which I need to protect myself; my invincibility comes from my 'vulnerability'.
Ahhh, that has soothed/quieted/stopped the resistance of the inner roommate.
What part of this chapter stood out or had value for you?
Tuesday, 26 February 2013
The Camel and the Needle
The other day I was attempting to get a lot of things done; get them off my 'to do' list. Now, you'd think I'd know better than that by now, since I go on and on about Living On Purpose. But sometimes it is just so tempting to fill myself up by trying to accomplish a lot of things. Well, it didn't go very well. By the end of the day I was tired and frustrated because everything I had attempted to 'get done' had seemingly backfired -- sound familiar? I threw my hands up in exasperation and said, "I can't make anything happen!" Then a voice, and a chuckle from within said, "Ahh, you said it yourself."
I can't make anything happen, I can only allow them to happen. When I am making them happen I am forcing, controlling, worrying about, being right about things in order to get'em done. I may get away with this mediocre method of creating in my life for a while, but eventually it will lead to exhaustion and probably giving up.
As I heard myself say, "I can't make anything happen," the biblical reference, "it's like trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle" flashed through my head. In this story a rich young man wants to know what he needs to do to obtain eternal life, and Jesus instructs him to follow the commandments. The rich young man replies that he has done that and wants to know what else he needs to do. So Jesus tells him to sell all he has and follow him. Well, that feels like a lot to give up/let go of for the young man. He probably began to question how much he really wants eternal life? Jesus turns to his disciples and, in my opinion is meaning to exagerate his point by saying, " . . . it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Well, sometimes it may seem more likely for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle (next to impossible) than it is to let go of controlling things, making things happen, or trying to fill the void of unworthiness through accomplishment and achievement, but it is not. LOP guarantees that letting go of making things happen, and instead relaxing into the ease and flow of allowing what we want, will be more productive. Productive as in bigger, better, and faster than what we were expecting through making things happen.
LOP means the willingness and belief in letting go is how the camel will fit through the eye of a needle .
I can't make anything happen, I can only allow them to happen. When I am making them happen I am forcing, controlling, worrying about, being right about things in order to get'em done. I may get away with this mediocre method of creating in my life for a while, but eventually it will lead to exhaustion and probably giving up.
As I heard myself say, "I can't make anything happen," the biblical reference, "it's like trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle" flashed through my head. In this story a rich young man wants to know what he needs to do to obtain eternal life, and Jesus instructs him to follow the commandments. The rich young man replies that he has done that and wants to know what else he needs to do. So Jesus tells him to sell all he has and follow him. Well, that feels like a lot to give up/let go of for the young man. He probably began to question how much he really wants eternal life? Jesus turns to his disciples and, in my opinion is meaning to exagerate his point by saying, " . . . it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Well, sometimes it may seem more likely for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle (next to impossible) than it is to let go of controlling things, making things happen, or trying to fill the void of unworthiness through accomplishment and achievement, but it is not. LOP guarantees that letting go of making things happen, and instead relaxing into the ease and flow of allowing what we want, will be more productive. Productive as in bigger, better, and faster than what we were expecting through making things happen.
LOP means the willingness and belief in letting go is how the camel will fit through the eye of a needle .
Thursday, 21 February 2013
An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter One
Posted to Facebook February 21st.
What ideas/phrases stood out for you in this chapter?
My Answer:
Page 9 " . . .(the voice inside your head is) just trying to find a comfortable place to rest."
Examples: when I am thinking about something while I am trying to sleep -- brain buzz; when I am trying to find a solution and all I can see/feel is the problem.
Page 10 "What commotion is my mind making about life?
Examples: my Dad being moved into a nursing home; repairs that I want to do; how am I going to LOP with all that is scheduled for this year?
Page 11 "Narration makes you feel more comfortable with the world around you. . . . it makes you feel as though things are more in your control."
Examples: rehearsing conversations I want to have with doctors, family, repair people (often from a more defensive stance than a win/win stance).
Page 12 "This mental manipulation of the outer experience allows you to buffer reality as it comes in."
Example: I buffer what I am experiencing outside of me by interpreting it through my defensive/protective stance, and that reassures me that I am right, which feels better than interpreting that I may be wrong.
Page13 "If you decide not to narrate . . . you will feel more open and exposed (vulnerable)."
But, I will also feel more free, more ease, and more peace. I have realized that trying to control things just creates/attracts more things to control. I really do not want more things to control, I was just using control to try and feel better/buffer my perceptions of what is going on in the world around me.
What are your thoughts on these ideas, or others, in Chapter One?
What ideas/phrases stood out for you in this chapter?
My Answer:
Page 9 " . . .(the voice inside your head is) just trying to find a comfortable place to rest."
Examples: when I am thinking about something while I am trying to sleep -- brain buzz; when I am trying to find a solution and all I can see/feel is the problem.
Page 10 "What commotion is my mind making about life?
Examples: my Dad being moved into a nursing home; repairs that I want to do; how am I going to LOP with all that is scheduled for this year?
Page 11 "Narration makes you feel more comfortable with the world around you. . . . it makes you feel as though things are more in your control."
Examples: rehearsing conversations I want to have with doctors, family, repair people (often from a more defensive stance than a win/win stance).
Page 12 "This mental manipulation of the outer experience allows you to buffer reality as it comes in."
Example: I buffer what I am experiencing outside of me by interpreting it through my defensive/protective stance, and that reassures me that I am right, which feels better than interpreting that I may be wrong.
Page13 "If you decide not to narrate . . . you will feel more open and exposed (vulnerable)."
But, I will also feel more free, more ease, and more peace. I have realized that trying to control things just creates/attracts more things to control. I really do not want more things to control, I was just using control to try and feel better/buffer my perceptions of what is going on in the world around me.
What are your thoughts on these ideas, or others, in Chapter One?
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