Ralph Waldo Emerson

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Presenting and Underlying Beliefs

In my day to day practicing of Living On Purpose (LOP) I notice there are potentially two layers of beliefs operating at any moment -- the presenting and the underlying.

One is on the surface, one is often a bit hidden under the first.
One might tend to be more common, the other more rare.
One might be what people assume, the other might surprise them.
One might be very automatic, the other might take some digging to find.
One might be really safe to share with others, the other may get an unsupported response.
One probably does not require explanation or justification, the other may not be understood even after a really good explanation.
One might be what you hear everyone else saying, the other a secret in your heart.
One would be filled with how you think you should be, the other with what you want to be. 
One might feel ordinary, the other more on the adventurous side.
One might feel mediocre, the other holding the seeds of success.
One might be really boring, the other full of excitement.
One might be exhausting, the other invigorating.
One might feel like work, the other like play.
One might be who you present yourself to be, one might be who you know yourself to be.
One will probably allow you to fit in with the crowd, the other supports the genius that you are.
One might be living a habit, the other Living On Purpose.

Living On Purpose is sometimes digging a bit deeper to see what lies within.

Still Here, Still Living On Purpose

Posted to Facebook September 2
As I look at the date of my last post I see that almost two years have passed. Oddly enough that is not because there has been a lack of practicing Living On Purpose (LOP), but actually because I have been practicing like never before.

These months have been filled with opportunities.  The opportunity to practice LOP in new situations, and to take the time to be present with what was going on and not hide in the safety of busy-ness.  The opportunity to lighten my load by letting go of 'stuff' that had outgrown its usefulness, and to better understand what living unconditionally really means.  And, I have experienced clarification of my priorities for this phase of life.

During this time of moving forward sometimes I was graceful, more often I was clumsy. The great thing about practicing LOP is that it doesn't really matter -- both of those experiences lead us to better understanding who we really are. I wouldn't say that I would want to repeat the last couple of years, however, I wouldn't give them up either.

What worked? Well, being honest with myself about where I was (and I am talking about the potentially embarrassing, vulnerability producing kind of honesty), and more importantly being honest with myself with what I know I really desire.  Also, being honest with myself about what I have been believing, and being honest with myself about what I know is True for me.  And finally, being willing to let go of some control to discover the "safety net" that has always been there.

LOP is trusting, and then knowing, that nothing wrong is ever going on.

Really nice to be here.

An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Fifteen

I realized as I was reading chapter fifteen that I don't really know anyone that wants to be happy, not according to how Michael defines choosing happiness.  All of us say we want to be happy but we have "a deep-seated set of preferences" that we choose over and over again as more important than our happiness.  Really wanting to be happy is about letting go of the qualifying of our happiness. 
I want to be happy but my car isn't working. 
I want to be happy but I am 10 pounds overweight.
I want to be happy but my boss is a tyrant. 
I want to be happy but I had terrible childhood.
I want to be happy but I have had a string of bad luck.
I want to be happy but my spouse drives me crazy. 
I want to be happy but I don't have all the money I need to do all the things I want. 
I want to be happy but my kids are not making the choices I want them to make. 
Really wanting to be happy is choosing happiness in all conditions.

What is really cool about making the decision to be unconditionally happy is not that I will instantaneously be happy forever more, but that I will get to see/recognize what I am making more important than my own happiness.  What I am allowing to get in my way.  When we consciously see the reasons we are selling out on our own happiness, my bet is that nine times out of ten we will easily be able to let go of the reason for not being happy, and be able to find our happiness again.

Now this may seem ridiculous, to choose happiness when things appear to be going wrong.  What could possibly be the benefit of that?  Well, in Michael's words, "your heart will be so open and your spirit so free, that you will soar up to the heavens."  Choosing happiness even when there are justifications for not being happy is the key to "the peace that passeth all understanding," the freedom that generations of people have fought for, and the unconditional love upon which all religions have been based.

LOP is choosing joy over my set of preferences.

An Untethered Soul Discussion -- Chapter Fourteen

Since my last Untethered Soul post I have probably read chapter fourteen three times.  There is so much in it that I am enjoying, and each time I read it there seems to be yet another level of clarity for me.  However, for this moment in time here are some of the highlights for me.

On page 132 Michael talks about peace.  It reminds me of a realization I came upon a couple years back when people in my life saw me dancing around singing,"I'm a loser" (I think it is from an old Beatles tune).  Now that may not sound like a great break through, but it was.  It was representative of the freedom and peace I felt when I shed all cares about what others thought and said about me.  It was a complete embrace of exactly who I am without editing, pretending or justifying.  It was complete appreciation of myself with all blemishes, mistakes, and 'un-normal' aspects of me -- total peace . . . complete freedom.

What I heard on page 133 is that our power in life does not come from outer-directed control (trying to control everyone and everything), our place of power is inner-directed control (remembering Who I Really Am in every moment).  It may seem like a scary thing to do, to let go of controlling our outer world, but that is where my peace and freedom reside.

There is the saying, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  In this chapter what I got is, "Insanity is resisting what is."

And lastly, on page 135, what I heard is that the walls we build around ourselves, to protect us, are the very walls that become the prisons that we resist, resent, and for which we blame others.

The peace and freedom I hear Michael referring to in this chapter far surpasses that for which any other person may hold a key.  This peace and freedom is a gift from me to me and comes with wings un-clippable by anyone else.

When I LOP I know I am free -- that's what allows me to fly.

Well-Being Breaking Loose

I grew up believing that if I didn't control life and others, if I didn't resist what I didn't want, if I didn't work hard and justify myself, 'all hell would break loose'.  Very exhausting.

I now know that when I relax, when I open, when I let go, and allow life, 'all well-being breaks loose'.  Very freeing.

LOP is being free.

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.