Awaken the Genie Within

Shifting Gears

About a year after I started driving, my dad bought me an old VW Bug, stick shift. 
Now, if you had to learn to drive a stick shift too, you'll probably remember it was very tricky learning to shift gears without stalling out. I was the queen of stalls. But after about an hour I got the hang of it. Feeling rather smug and proud, my dad directed me toward a hill near our house called Tank Hill because of its steepness.

So much for being smug. I must have stalled out 1,001 times on that hill and as the stalls increased so did my emotions. I cried. I cursed the hill, my dad, the car and my inability to shift gears until my dad said something really powerful to me.

He told me that I needed to calm down and work on shifting the internal gears before I could succeed with the external. So in that moment, I made the decision to calm down and shift my emotional internal gears that have been the real driver of the car up to that point. Much to my amazement, with the internal shift, the external gears shifted smoothly over and over again, without a single stall.

Now I was receiving the same quality performance from my car while on the hill that I experienced on the flat roads and what a joy it was!

Sometimes, life isn't much different than a stick shift. Full of different gears to maneuver through to get the best performance possible out of life for yourself. It's important to allow yourself to shift your internal gears when the time arrives. If you insist on staying in 1st or 2nd gear when it's time to move into 3rd or 4th gear because you're afraid or it's familiar, you're going to find yourself stalling out over and over again. It's easy to want to turn off the engine and throw away the key when you're stalled, but don't! Hang in there!

Trust that you wouldn't be on the road you're on if you truly weren't ready and capable of changing gears. When you stop receiving good performance in your life, it's time to shift your internal gears so the external can run more smoothly and the performance is what you desire.

Standing Outside The Fire

I received an email with a link to a Garth Brook's video. Whether you're a fan of Garth Brooks or not is irrelevant. The message in this video is beautiful and I only hope it encourages you to stand up, quiet your Gremlin, embrace your Genie and go after your life's dreams. One dream at a time. That's all you have to focus on.

As a line in the song goes; 'Life is not tried, it's merely survived if you're standing outside the fire'.

Falling down is the easy part. The willingness to pick yourself up and get going again, and again, and again is what takes courage.

Enjoy the video and make sure your volume is turned up. It's a little over 3 minutes long.
http://www.vidilife.com/index.cfm?f=media.play&vchrMediaProgramIDCryp=1D6C9614-54DE-4C33-823C-C

Sometimes It's A Painful And Bumpy Journey

Throughout the years of waking myself up to a higher consciousness, there have been times when I found it difficult to get out of bed. Choosing to lay there and cry my eyes out. Not talk to anyone. Not go anywhere. My heart and soul hurt so badly that I just wanted to go to sleep and not have to wake up again until the feeling was gone.

What I've come to understand about these moments is they are absolutely a necessary part of your spiritual growth. It's an opportunity to recognize that something is trying to emerge through you, breakthrough, so you not only have a greater understanding of what you've experienced up to that point in life, but so you can apply that understanding into your life to achieve more of your heart's desires and be even more awake then before.

I guess you could say we're not that much different from a caterpillar who goes through the necessary stages to emerge into a beautiful butterfly. It may start out slow and arduous, but as it grows in size and strength, it's ready for its next stage of life. One that consists of a resting period so when it emerges into that butterfly, it can spread its wings and reveal its beauty to the world as it was always meant to do.

I encourage you to embrace your resting periods with self-love, patience and gentleness as you prepare your new wings to carry you to even higher places than before.

You May Not Like Them, But Can You Love Them?

I'm sure there are many people who you've come across in your life that you just don't like. You don't like the way they act, the things they say, the way they treat you or others, the list can be endless. I get this. We all have people we don't gel with and who we'd rather not spend time with.

Now I have a question for you. Can you transcend yourself to a place that holds a greater understanding and love them even though you don't like them?

I know, I know, this is not the easiest concept to grab on to and I struggled with this for a reeeeally long time. Oh, heck, I still struggle with it from time to time when I get all caught up with Gertrude, my Gremlin!

But when you choose to transcend your mind, raising your consciousness above what you are observing in the moment from your Gremlin's perspective, there is no longer this feeling of separateness from another and need for judgment. There emerges an understanding that we are all Spirits, made of love from one Source, having a human experience and doing the very best we know how, in the moment.

Ohhhh yes, this takes a strong commitment on your part to move into such a place. A place, that by the mere fact you've chosen a spiritual path for yourself, you would have been faced with sooner or later.

You see, there's just no sense in doing this journey part way. When you do, you cheat yourself out of the best experiences of your life. Learning to love others when you don't like them is embracing the journey all the way and stepping out of your comfort zone to transform your life.

I'll leave you with these two questions?

What if the person or people you don't like are actually there to awaken something in you for your higher good?

With that in mind, you may not like them, but can you love them for their Divinity and the opportunity they're presenting you?

Loving The Mystery, Not The History

I would love to take credit for this title and the idea behind this blog, but I can't. I heard these words spoken by Rev. Michael Beckwith while attending one of his services at Agape. When I heard them, they resonated so deeply with me I knew I would share them with you.

I realize that one of the scariest things for people is the unknown, which in fact is a mystery. So the idea of loving the mystery is a stretch for many people, and if you're one of those people, then I invite you to consider this.

When you start to release your history, no longer attached to what was, and move into the mystery of your life, amazing possibilities are already forming. They're already there waiting to reveal themselves to you in their physical form and you actually help speed up the process as you let yourself love the mystery, not the history.

When you stop being more invested in what you've already accomplished or any tragedy you survived, wearing it like a badge of honor, you will find yourself attracting to you new opportunities to keep you expanding and growing beyond anything in your history.

So go for it! Start loving the mystery and not the history!

Have I Got a Story For You!

Have I got a story for you! Okay, not really. But if I wanted to I certainly could considering the day I had yesterday. I know we've all had those days where absolutely nothing seems to work out for you. I mean, no matter what you do, at every turn it's seems as though your Gremlin has now managed to mess with you on a physical level! The nerve!

That was my day yesterday, and what's more important than anything, by the end of the day I was feeeeling really peaceful and calm. And there's only one reason for it. I squelched every story that my Gremlin started to tell me about each circumstance. I just wasn't going to allow the stories to dictate my mood. She might have taken over the physical space but no way was she taking control of my thoughts, too!

I know I've shared the importance of staying out of your stories before and now I'm here to remind you that when you do, you're able to have complete control over your emotional energy. And when you have that control, you will feel wonderful and energized at the end of challenging day. Why? Because it's not necessarily the challenging day that drains your energy as much as it is the stories you tell yourself. You see, those stories are the emotional drain, not the circumstances.

Life happens and then we tell ourselves a story. And here's what life looks like without the story. Some things didn't work out as you expected. Your day didn't get completed. Things took more time than you thought they would.

End of story!

Urrrrgh....Breaking Habits!

This post is a little longer than normal so hang in there.
Here's the deal. I'm in the process of breaking a habit I've been doing for the past 6 years or so. I'm not trying to break this habit because I want to change something deep within me just so I can move further along on my spiritual path. Ohhhh nooooo. This habit is so silly, that I'm almost embarrassed how long it's taking to break it. 3 weeks, as of this writing, and there's still residue of it.

Now maybe you're wondering why I'm bothering to share this with you. Or maybe you're not. But either way I'll tell you. The idea that it's taking me a month to break a habit as simple as the one I'm working on got me thinking how ingrained habits really are and how important it is to reeeeeally give yourself a break while you're in the process of breaking an emotional, physical or financial habit that no longer serves you so you can move toward one that does serve you.

I encourage you to live by the creed to be loving and gentle with yourself and to not let that Gremlin jump on you every time you don't do something that supports the intention of your healthier habit.

Listen, breaking a habit really can take time depending how deeply ingrained it is for you and how attached you are to it. I'm dealing with the silliest habit right now and I'm just shocked, and finally amused, at the length of time it's taking me not to do the same action every single day.

Yes, I'll reveal the habit, but only if you promise not to make too much fun of me. A little is okay, but let's not go overboard here! Afterall, we are working on our spiritual growth of compassion and letting go of judgment, right? Okay, here it is......

Knowledge Is Power......Or Is It?

We gain a lot of knowledge in our life as we continue to study and learn into our adult lives. And supposedly, with that knowledge, comes some power. As the saying goes, 'knowledge is power'.
Or is it?

The way I see it, there's a lot of people in the world who are collecting quite a bit of knowledge to help them with their spiritual growth but don't necessarily put it to use. And when you don't put to use the knowledge you've gained, what good is it?

If you're going to put in the effort to learn new things that can help you expand your consciousness and way of Being in life, then you've got to put what you know, to use. Yes, I realize this sounds incredibly obvious and maybe you're thinking why I would waste a post on the obvious?

The answer is simple. I've lost count of the amount of people I've talked to over the years about all the knowledge they're gaining to better their lives and yet year in and year out, there are little, if any real changes that take place.

So all I ask is that you do an honest check-in with yourself. Are you gaining knowledge around your spiritual awareness but not really finding yourself any happier? Are you learning things one day only to not practice over time what you've learned? If you answered yes to these questions then I invite you make the effort to start using the knowledge you already have and feel the power that is alive and well in you.

Integrate At A Soul Level Then Share With Others

Years ago, when I first started coaching, I found myself quickly teaching my clients many of the things I just learned when it could relate to helping them in their situation. Although my intention was always for the highest purpose I would often find myself frustrated when the client wouldn't embrace the learning the way I had. I needed them to get it! What a grave disservice I did to them and myself.

When I shared this with a teacher I was studying with at the time, she said one word, three times, that hit me like a lightening bolt. Integrate, integrate, integrate. You see, although I had grasped my new learning at an intellectual level, I didn't give it the time and nurturing it deserved to reach me at my soul's level. I needed to allow the information to birth through me before I gave it away to others. By giving it away too quickly, I saw that I was easily effected by others responses to my teachings simply because it wasn't a strong enough belief in my own Being. I would doubt myself in the moment and then allow myself to get dragged into their story or drama more deeply.

Here's what I now know. When you learn things in life that create a shift for you it can often take some time for it to really reach you at a soul level. You may not realize it in the moment because it's so exciting to experience the aha's. And, with that said, it's at the level of your soul's knowing, when you can confidently and easily share what you've learned to help another, without needing him or her to agree with you or try it on for themselves. You simply share because it feels right and whatever follows is absolutely perfect.

Get In Line!

While in the grocery store the other day I witnessed a dynamic between a husband and wife that just broke my heart. The checkout lines were longer than usual and as the husband, wife and I approached the same line, she told her husband, in a demanding voice, "Get in line while I go get one more thing."

With all the noise he didn't hear her and the conversation went like this:
H -  "What?"
W - "I said, GET IN LINE!" "And hold the hand basket while I get one more thing."
H - (In a very mocking voice) "Well, aren't we touchy! Would it kill you to add a please with that demand?"

She then proceeded to give him a very nasty look which prompted him to do the same to her.
Now I obviously have no idea what the deal is between the two of them, but it sure made me stop and think how I treat the people closest to me in my life. I'd like to believe that I'm patient and loving the majority of the time. And although that may be true, I know there are times when I can be more patient with a stranger than the people I love the most.

I do know I've never gone to the extreme that the couple in the grocery store demonstrated, but it's certainly worth a pause to consider how we treat our loved ones most of the time. It's just too easy to take people for granted when they're in our life day in and day out. And the fact of the matter is, if we don't want to be taken for granted in our relationships, then we must behave with others how we wish them to behave with us.

If you've been less than loving with your loved ones, this might be a good time to give them a hug and let them know how much you appreciate them. You and I both know it'll make them feel good. But the other advantage is how good it's going to make you feel!