Life Symmetry

Archive for the ‘Clarity’ Category

The other morning, driving to my weekly networking meeting, I noticed a low flying helicopter. As it got closer, I noticed it was staying over the power lines . . . and there was someone sitting on a platform on the outside.

As I’m looking at this guy sitting up in the air like that, I’m thinking “there is no way I would do that!” I don’t do well with heights.

My next thought was “that must be a scary job”. Oh? Wait a minute! For me it would be scary. I know people who would love to fly like that. They might even pay for it. (The photo to the left is from Haverfield Corporation, who build helicopters just to do this.)

Hmmmm . . . interesting. There are so many ways to look at any one experience. The experience is neutral until we look at it or experience it ourselves. We know it’s neutral because different people experience it differently. Just ask. Police have known for years that they will get different reports of the same event. We all see things just a little bit differently.

We see things differently based on what we have learned and experienced in our life. We see life through filters that we have created over time. My filter said, “That looks like a scary job”. Some else’s filter would say, “That looks like a dream job”. Same event, different view.

For the most part, we simply think that how we see things is part of “who I am.” We don’t question it or even really look at it.

As an experiment, pick some ordinary event that you notice today. Become aware of what you believe about that event, what you saw, how you felt about it.

Now, here comes the fun part #1: how do you imagine someone else might see the event? How would they feel about it? Let your imagination run all over the place with this. It’s pretty amazing what you come up with!

For fun part #2: ask yourself two questions about how you responded to the event:

1. Is my response part of  how I know myself, “who I am”?
2. Who would I be if that response wasn’t part of “who I am”?

This little experiment can give you some valuable information about how you view your world, ways you have created limitations . . . even with things you really like. It’s also a way to get a clearer picture on what some of your subtle belief systems are. Once you know what they are, you can decide if they stay or go. What’s important is: you get to choose!

Receiving has been turning up in a lot of conversation lately. A lot of us have been discovering that we thought we were good at it, and we’re being shown we aren’t.  Another layer of self-discovery opens up for exploration.

Turns out that receiving really can be a challenge.  Why? Because you have to give up control. Yeurrkkk! But . . . but . . . but . . .  Does this sound familiar? Even a little bit? What I’ve found is that it still boils down to letting go and surrendering.

The surrendering part comes in when you let go of how something actually shows up.  What you desire may show up in a different form and way than you had imagined. Often, it’s way better than you imagined.

About 6 months ago, I was looking at my tires and said to myself “I need some new ones pretty soon.”  Not too long after, a neighbor gave me a set of  almost new tires (only 3,000 miles on them — that’s new in my book). He had upgraded his rims and they used a different size tire. His old tires fit my rims. It all happened so easily and naturally.

One of my favorite receiving stories is about a fellow Chamber of Commerce member. He would win the monthly door prize 3 out of 4 months, or at least it seemed that way. It got the the point that the Chamber President announced that, with his permission, if his business card was drawn, they would draw another instead. Why did he keep winning? Because he knows how to receive.

As I’ve looked at my own experiences and talked to others, they generally have at least 3 of the following things in common:

• Clarity. We know what we want. We also have a feel for it.
• Relaxation. We let things come to us, instead of rushing right out to make it happen
• Action. From this relaxed place, we take the actions that present themselves.
• Receiving. We receive it when it shows up. Sometimes it’s just like we imagined, sometimes it isn’t. Be alert to the different ways the Universe can fulfill your desires.
• Gratitude. We are happy and grateful to have our desires fulfilled.

We all have stories like this. Just take a second and think back. You’ll remember them.  Make a list and express gratitude again. I invite you to play with this.

Be open to receiving what you desire in unexpected ways. We so often box ourselves in, thinking that it has to happen exactly as we imagine it.  The Universe is infinitely creative. Our job is to imagine and feel the what. The Universe handles the how. Then we surrender and receive.

When we were born, we had a very clear idea of what we were going to do, here in these brand new body suits. Then we started getting bigger and bigger, learning words, learning what was a no-no and what got us hugs and kisses.

And we sang and we played and most of all, we pretended. Oh the fun in pretending! Then, somewhere along the way, we got the message loud and clear that pretend wasn’t real and we had to cut it out.

And along about the same time, we began to lose track of what it was we really came here to do.

Take a moment here to just get comfy, wriggle your shoulders around a bit, take a deep slow breath. Let yourself remember back to when you were a child, some time before you were 10 years old.

1. What really caught your fancy?
2. What did you keep doing, whether the grown ups thought it was a good idea or not?
3. What did you have fun pretending?
4. What did you really really really want to be when you grew up?

The answers you just told yourself are your clues to what you came here to do.

For me, I was always listening to people. I loved listening to grown-ups telling their stories, talking about their lives. I would ask questions and then listen, very carefully, to what they would say. Sometimes, I even asked questions that other grown-ups didn’t think were “appropriate”. Oh well. I kept on.

They didn’t call it coaching then, I was just a curious kid who thought people were really wonderful and interesting. Most of all, I wanted to know what they thought and why they thought that way. I learned a lot (still am).

As a grown-up, I’ve spent a lot of years dancing around that, doing all sorts of other things. What’s really interesting though is — every single one of those “other things” (one way or the other) involved listening to people, asking questions, and then really really really listening to their answers.

I’ll bet, once you start looking, you’ll discover the same thing.

So . . . what are you here to do? I would love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Elmdea

I’ve been getting a lot of messages lately about surrender. Not the give-up-roll-over-and-die kind, the stop-fighting-it kind.

Stop fighting what? Myself and what I’m here to do and experience. I’m lucky, I’m pretty clear what “it” is.

It’s such a universal theme for us spirits in body suits. I’m meeting people almost daily who either have a good idea what they’re really here to do or know that what they’re doing isn’t it. Most people (no matter how old or young) are feeling increasing pressure to be themselves, full out, doing the work they came here to do.

This issue is generally a combo of fear and confusion. Fear that nobody (maybe including themselves) will get it or want it. Confusion about how to make whatever it is happen.

Did I mention frustration? That’s in there too. That aarrgghh feeling you get when you’re doing the best you know how and . . . and . . . and . . . (aaarrrggghhh!!!)

Which brings me back to surrender. Which reminds me of a cartoon I saw many years ago in a yoga magazine.

• First panel: young woman, sitting in meditation pose.
• Second panel: young woman asking Spirit to remove whatever it is that’s blocking her.
• Third panel: ZAP lightening bolt out of the sky and the young woman zapped out of existence.

Durn, there it is again – we’re our own worst enemy, throwing up our own roadblocks. How do we work with that instead of against it?

Here comes surrender again. “But how do I DO that?” you ask. Trust . . . you practice trust. Still not very helpful? (It wasn’t for me.)

Give this a shot. Imagine yourself in a huge golden field of expansive (friendly) energy. It’s vast, really big. You are a small focused point in the middle of that field. Become aware of how you are resting in that golden expansiveness.

Notice that you aren’t falling, you aren’t zipping around, you’re just there . .  . here . . . now. Notice how you feel. It may be relaxation . . . or relief . . . you may even notice that it feels easier to breathe. You may also notice that you are being moved, gently, surely. It can be quite a surprise.

Now . . . just let yourself rest here for a few minutes. Let yourself become aware of how it feels (physically, emotionally) to be carried and cocooned in this lovely golden field of energy. Feel the gentle strength of this golden field.

Resting in this field, letting yourself be moved . . . this is surrender and trust. You’ve no idea where you’re being taken and, wonder of wonders, it actually feels more than OK. And, for some reason, you may also feel you can trust this. Hmmmm . . . easier than you thought? Or more difficult. If more difficult, play with it some, customize it to YOU. Some people prefer to imagine an ocean. The key here is that you feel totally supported and safe, surrendered and trusting.

Blessings,

Elmdea