An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Thirteen

I find Michael's words to be so clear and ring so true, I don't think I have much more to say about them. So, I will let them speak for themselves.

"If you want to go beyond your model, you have to take the risk of not believing in it.  If your mental model is bothering you, it's because it doesn't incorporate reality.  Your choice is to either resist or go beyond the limits of your model." (page 120)

"If you really want to see why you do things, then don't do them and see what happens." (page 121)

"So, there are two ways you can live:  you can devote your life to staying in your comfort zone, or you can work on your freedom." (page 122)

"When you truly awake spiritually, you realize you are caged. . . . You see that you're afraid to tell people what you really think.  You see that you are too self-conscious to freely express yourself.  You see that you have to stay on top of everything in order to be okay." (page 123)

"Throughout each day, you frequently hit the edges of your cage.  When you hit these edges, you either pull back or try to force things to change so that you can remain comfortable.  . . . Sometimes you can't even fall asleep at night because you're too busy thinking about what you need to do to stay within your cage." (page 124)

When you are trained, like a great athlete, to immediately relax through your edges when they get hit, then it's all over.  You realize that you will always be fine." (page 125)

I could have included more, but my purpose was not to transcribe the whole chapter. Which of Michael's ideas put a smile on your face?

An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Twelve

In this chapter Michael shares an allegory of us locking ourselves in a dark house, in the middle of a bright open field, searching for and trying to create some light.  In other words, all we have to do is let go of our self created walls and the light naturally is shining.

Michael writes, "If you see a wall and it is protecting you from unending darkness, you will not want to go there.  But if you see a wall that is blocking the light, you will want to go there in order to remove the wall."  Pondering what is on the other side of my walls need not be viewed as scary.  In fact, I want to be viewing it as fun and exciting; a place I want to go.

If I really get this chapter's allegory, that I am in a dark house out in the middle of a bright open field and I am wanting more light in my life, opening the door and walking through it is an obvious, easy, welcomed choice.

LOP is knowing that living a light-filled life may not be normal, but it is natural.

An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Eleven

I love this chapter of Michael's!  Well, I love all of them, but this one really seems to bring it home for me.  What I get from this chapter is resistance of what I don't like in my life (i.e. psychological pain) by withdrawing, pulling back, protecting myself, or defending my point of view, imprisons me.  Letting it go is my path to freedom.

For me there is a physical analogy that depicts this psychological concept really well.  My husband is an ART practitioner, meaning he does deep tissue work that has a reputation of being a bit uncomfortable (some may call it painful).  When he works on me I notice that as his fingers 'dig' into a muscle my natural reaction is to resist/protect/defend by tensing up.  As I tense up the initial problem becomes worse, and then I resist even more. 

The answer to my freedom from the physical discomfort is to relax, breathe, and allow his fingers to assist the muscle to stretch and relax.  As I open and allow his fingers to go deeper, amazingly it does not hurt, but instead actually feels good and I can sense a flow of relief.  He has assisted me to get to the other side of the tight/knotted/resistant muscle.  He has assisted me to relax into my bodies natural well-being.

I see that it is no different with psychological discomfort.  When I resist something that happens, or something someone does, I become even more uncomfortable.  If I allow the situation into my experience, remember to breathe, relax, stretch to embrace my truth of the situation, and trust the well-being, this situation assists me in getting to the other side of the resistance, to where my freedom awaits.

LOP is opening to that which I may want to resist and allowing it to assist me in remembering Who I Really Am.

An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter 10

"The prerequisite to true freedom is to decide that you do not want to suffer anymore."  This is the sentence that starts Chapter 10 of "The Untethered Soul".  Seems simple enough and yet, I have watched myself be willing to give up the suffering in some situations more than others.  We suffer by engaging in our fearful, pessimistic, or controlling thoughts.  We may think we want to give up suffering, or that we don't suffer, however, if we pay attention we will probably find we are doing it on a daily basis. 

After making the decision that I am no longer willing to hold myself back, to suffer, I then see that life is full of opportunities for letting go and being more free.  Michael writes that we can find these opportunities to let go of our 'suffering' by hearing ourselves when we are focused on "the problem of the day."  The Abraham-Hicks materials encourage us to use our emotional guidance system to realize when we are not being who we really are (which is suffering).  Whichever way works best for us, there is no need to work hard at becoming aware of when we are still suffering.  Once we genuinely decide that we are done with trying to earn our worthiness through suffering, we will easily see where we are ready to be more free.

Michael writes that when we catch ourselves suffering the key to freedom is to just be quiet.  " . . . not that your mind has to be quiet.  You be quiet.  You the one inside watching the neurotic mind, just relax."  We don't need to fight our thoughts, chastise ourselves for them, deny them, or worry about them.  Just relax, and open, and watch them and we will realize that they are not us.  Who we really are (WWRA) is actually watching the chatter. 

Of course, I may find I need to remind myself to relax a few times, or ten times, well maybe a hundred times a day.  But, this is not a concern because . . . "If you follow this path, the only action you ever take is to relax and release.  When you start to see this stuff going on inside, you just relax your shoulders, relax your heart, and fall back behind it." 

LOP is taking a breath, catching myself in those moments when I have forgotten Who I Really Am, and once again opening to the Me behind me.

An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Nine

Posted to Facebook May 12th.
Well, I have found this chapter to be short, but to the point.  Protect our thorns, or let go of them!

What Michael stimulated for me in this chapter, is a curiosity about what I am avoiding in my life without consciously realizing it.  Here are some things I caught myself avoiding, that I was inadvertantly allowing to run my life: rush hour traffic, not getting enough sleep, being out in the wind, shopping/doing errands when everyone else was doing errands, certain foods/drinks I enjoy, having conversations with some people, getting assistance from others, rushing, taking care of things on my "to do" list, being out of control.

What I am hearing Michael say is that in my attempt to avoid situations like the above, I will go to great lengths.  And these 'great lengths' will end up taking over my life until eventually the freedom I was trying to create by avoiding the situations has been replaced by the 'great lengths' that I have come to believe are true and necessary.

So, as I don't try and avoid, I can see that . . .
I don't create freedom by avoiding rush hour traffic, I am only truly free when I can sit in rush hour traffic and resist it not.
I don't create an energized body and mind by getting a certain amount of sleep each night, I feel energized when I let go of the things I am resisting in my life.
I don't create fun by being upset that the wind is blowing, I create fun by choosing to fly my kite with the help of the wind.
I don't create ease by trying to avoid others, I create ease by focusing on what I do want and allowing all others to do the same.
I don't create a happy, healthy body through a rigid routine, I create a flexible, adaptable body through balance and variety.
I don't create my reality by trying to control what others say and do, I create my reality by being fully present in each moment and being aware of what it has to offer.
I don't earn my worthiness by doing everything myself, my worthiness is natural, God given, a done deal, un-earnable.
I don't avoid feeling rushed by slowing life down, I avoid feeling rushed by trusting the speed of the current and that I don't have to manage every detail.
I don't handle things on my "to do" list through obligation or pushing myself, I handle them by knowing my answers are out there and I am on an adventure that will find them.
I don't increase my feeling of peace and freedom through controlling things -- that just creates more things to control.  I increase my feeling of peace and freedom by allowing WIRA to show up when I let go of avoiding.

What thorns are you ready to let go of?

An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Eight

I love Michael's descriptions, in the first few pages of chapter eight, in regards to how many of us do life from a place of trying to control it.  That couldn't possibly be because I relate to what he is saying : )

On page 71 he says, "If you have a lot of fear, you won't like change.  You'll try to create a world around you that is predictable, controllable, and definable."  And, "Because people don't deal with fear objectively, they don't understand it.  They end up keeping their fear and trying to prevent things from happening that would stimulate it.  They go through life attempting to create safety and control by defining how they need life to be in order to be okay."

Page 72 says, "If you attempt to arrange people, places, and things so they don't disturb you, it will begin to feel like life is against you.  You'll feel that life is a struggle and that every day is heavy because you have to control and fight with everything."

Michael's recommendation for dealing with our fears, and moving beyond a life of struggle is to let the fears come up and then consciously decide to let them go.  Don't resist them, just be a witness to them, and they will pass on through.  It is my resistance to life that makes it uncomfortable.

The above are just a few of my favourite quotes from this chapter.  What passages stand out for you?

An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Seven

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?

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. 

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.

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.