The Connecting Power of Gratitude

"Be kind. Be connected. Be unafraid." Rivera Sun - The Dandelion Insurrection*

As I sat in gratitude for a simple but delicious meal this week, I took time to imagine with gratitude everyone who played a part in this food being on my plate. I don’t just mean the people who raised the chickens that laid the eggs or the baker who baked and packaged the bread or the dairy that made the butter. I mean everyone!

We don’t often think further than the food itself or, maybe, the growers.  As I reflected upon just how many people it takes to get a few simple things on my plate (not to mention, the plate, the cutlery, the placemat, the napkin, the table, the stove, the cookware, the fuel, etc.), I realized in some new way just how connected we are and sensed the power of this awareness as a seed for creating new stories and new systems for our time.

Imagine for a moment how much love the world would be flooded with if we took time in our thankfulness for everything to have a moment of awareness and gratitude for everyone involved. Take that egg for example. Here’s the start of my list of who it took to get that egg on my plate:

• Linette and Scott who raise the chickens that laid the eggs
• Yours truly who picked up the eggs at their farm
• Everyone involved in creating the materials to build the chicken coop and those who built it
• Everyone involved in growing and transporting the food that feeds the chickens
• Everyone involved in creating the carton for carrying the eggs
• Everyone involved in building the vehicles that transported the above AND the roads that were travelled AND the materials for those vehicles and roads

And, that’s just the eggs (before they were cooked)!

There’s a power and possibility here that I’m only just glimpsing as I write.  Our systems today use our inter-connectedness to create dependence and fear.  Through awareness and gratitude, we each can choose differently. We can choose to honor our inter-connectedness with thankfulness to each and every human being who plays a part in the bounty, however great or small, that we experience every day. Imagine a world with that much love and gratitude!

Although the sun has set on yet another Solstice and Christmas, let the year ahead have us feel gratitude not just more deeply, but more broadly as well.

Experiment for the Week:  For one thing on your plate at a meal, create a list of everyone involved and lovingly honor all those whose efforts made it possible. What do you notice?

*Rivera Sun weaves a powerful story of and for this time in The Dandelion Insurrection. Always and all ways a great read! You can find her here: http://www.risingsundancetheater.com/wpblog/ and on Facebook.

The Gift of Solstice

"All of heaven and all of earth coordinate at the Winter Solstice." - Gregge Tiffen*

Winter Solstice is the time of natural transformation, newness that comes forth with or without our awareness. Winter Solstice is the time when our receptivity is heightened in consciousness. Is it any wonder that with fewer hours of daylight, we are drawn inside into our homes, perhaps under the covers, and definitely drawn to be inside ourselves at this time of year?

Solstice is the birthday of the Planet and was celebrated as such with reverence and respect in ancient times by our ancestors who lived in close harmony with the Planet’s rhythms.

Solstice is the time of completion and of new beginnings. The old cycle (year) is done. We are presented with the opportunity to declare completion and move on with awareness of the seed of newness that is planted inside. A new ‘you’ with its potential to bring wondrous change in the cycle ahead is ready, provided you are willing to claim it.

In keeping with my understanding of ancient traditions, I take time at Solstice to create a personal ‘silent night’, a time harmonize my rhythms to those of the Planet, to with love and gratitude let go of everything from the year behind, and to acknowledge the seed of newness inside.  And, I invite you to take a few moments or even a few hours to create your own and to acknowledge and embrace the potential of the newness in you.

Start by harmonizing with nature. If you're blessed as I am to live in nature’s beauty, take a walk. Observe and honor the rhythms of nature, whether the slow steady growth of a tree or the daily cycles of ocean tides.  If nature is not outside your door, then sit quietly and imagine your favorite place in nature. Feel yourself in that place. Allow those rhythms to bring you the quiet peace of the season.

Next, create an atmosphere and attitude of gratefulness and let go of everything that has come to you in the cycle ending. Your aim is to empty and prepare a space for the new. Thus, let go of not only what doesn’t serve or suit you, of those things you consider ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’, but of everything: every attitude, your wants and desires, your fears, your hopes, your stories about the events of the year ending, the people in your life.

Finally, when you are ready (perhaps after only a few moments, perhaps a few hours), evoke the sound of newness with the declaration “I am new”.  This is the place where heaven and earth come together in you, as you. The new you is ready to meet, greet and receive the gifts of the new cycle.

May the blessings of your unique newness follow you into and throughout the new year.

*My understanding and celebration of Solstice, while it is my own interpretation, comes primarily from the work of Gregge Tiffen. You can learn more about Gregge’s work at www.g-systems.com. And, you can purchase from his collected works, including his telling of Winter Solstice – The Christmas Story, at http://www.p-systemsinc.com/publications.htm.

10 Days of Solstice

“Become totally empty; Quiet the restlessness of the mind; Only then will you witness everything unfolding from emptiness.”  Lao Tzu

In a noisy, full world, I wonder how it would be to live from the place of allowing everything to emerge from emptiness.  I wonder not just how it would be, but how I might create this experience more often in my life.  And, I dream about the world we will co-create as more of us take this path.

In a noisy, full world, it’s no wonder that emptiness has a bad rap. “Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generalized boredom, social alienation and apathy,” says the Wikipedia article on the topic, highlighting emptiness as a “negative, unwanted” condition.

This Western view seems to ignore that, on some level, all creation starts from emptiness.  A great novel starts with a blank computer screen (or piece of paper).  Great art starts from a blank canvas.  A fabulous soup starts with an empty soup pot. The planet was formed in emptiness at precisely the right place and the right time.

Okay, it’s quite a leap from a blank canvas to the formation of our home, planet Earth.  But at this time of Solstice, I’m reminded that this is a time to celebrate the birth of the planet. In the deep stillness, quiet, and dark of winter, I’m choosing emptiness as a focal point of my celebration.

Inspired by the ’21 Days of Gratitude’ that thousands participated in last month on Facebook and wanting to acknowledge the Winter Solstice as something more than a moment on the calendar, I’m creating a personal ’10 Days of Solstice’.  And, I invite you to join me by creating yours.

I feel a call to honor this precious time of darkness before the light begins to return. I feel a deep desire to be in the quiet that nature provides during this season, and use her as a guide on my own path.  I sense that this is exactly what I need at this juncture in life.

No, I’m not totally unplugging and going into isolation. However, today 10 days from the December 21 Solstice, I’m committing to practice at least a few minutes of emptiness consciously and intentionally every day.

I want to deepen my experience of what emerges from my unique ‘mirror of the universe’.  That is the blank screen/canvas/soup pot from which I begin.  What about you?

Experiment for the Week: Take a few moments of quiet each day to let go of the noise and fullness of life. How does it feel? What possibilities emerge?

Grateful for my Buts

Wherever you’ve added the word “but”, you have given yourself a major handle to identify what you are depending upon. Patrece on behalf of P-Systems, www.P-SystemsInc.com

A few weeks back, inspired by this quote in a lesson from the weekly series “The ABC’s of Awareness”,  I began to experiment with the idea of how the habit of using the word ‘but’ reveals dependency.

I’ve come to see ‘but’ as yet another clue to where we abdicate our personal power and step outside of the Universal law of independence.  From this awareness, we can step more fully back into our power to act (and interact) independently, which after all is our nature and our responsibility.

So, I began (and continue) to notice my ‘buts’, to consider what they reveal, and to explore what different, independent choices I have the opportunity to make:

• I feel strongly guided to stop, be quiet, read, listen, but I need to (walk the dog, work on my website, make calls; that is, to do those things expected in business).
• I want to develop this aspect of my business, but I don’t like how others approach it.
• I want to travel to Costa Rica in February, but I can’t afford it.

I’m grateful for discovering what my ‘buts’ reveal:  I’m depending on being fulfilled by completing a ‘to do’ list, what other people think, and (one we all know well) money. There’s something powerful about noticing and acknowledging this.  Now let’s look at the choices I have from this awareness:

• I choose to do the things on my list because I’m committed to consistent action in my business. OR, I choose honor this guidance to stop, be quiet, listen and trust that I will also take care of the other activities that need my attention. OR, I gather my energy and organize my time to choose both.
• I notice my dependence on what others do and think and let it go, choosing to simply take the approach and action that is consistent with my design. OR, I choose not to develop this business.
• I make the commitment to travel to Costa Rica, including the commitment to manifest the needed funds. OR, I decide that going to Costa Rica at this time isn’t in my best interest financially.

You probably notice that there’s not a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ choice. Simply, I have the choice to choose, observe the results, and choose again.  As I deepen this practice, I notice that when I articulate my choice clearly I feel empowered and supported in the direction I’ve chosen.  When I simply do one or the other, without declaring a clear choice, I feel a nagging angst, often wishing I was (or thinking I should be) doing the other.

Experiment for the Week:  Notice your own use of the word ‘but’ as well as where you hear it in your interactions with others.  What does it reveal you are depending upon? What opportunities does it present for choosing differently?

Thanksgiving Prayer

Thanksgiving Prayer by Gregge Tiffen

Dear God:

 I wonder sometimes how you put up with me and all the other people who call upon you only in times of need, but hardly ever in times of celebration.

I am so grateful for your patience and understanding and know that, if I would but try, I could express the same to all that I meet.  I am ever mindful of your infinite wisdom and thankful that it expresses in a quiet tolerance that allows me to experience life in my own way.

I am happy in the understanding that, although you hold all knowledge, I am allowed to search and discover in my own way and at my own pace.  I appreciate you leaving me to my own devices and methods, so that the thrill of discovery is never diminished or impaired and becomes a lasting part of my personal wisdom.

I thank you for the opportunity that I get every day to grow and expand in mind and consciousness; and for allowing me to make my errors and accept my victories, for in them I find my identity and my reason for being.

Thanks too, for the people who have crossed my path.  Some have been warm and loving and some have been hostile, but all have shown me that goodness and mercy comes in all sizes and shapes.

 And most of all, thank you for granting me the experience of self awareness. Without that I would never understand the warmth of the sun or the brilliance of a winter's day, nor could I comprehend the wonder of a child's smile.

I know that I don't come to you often enough, to sit silently in your lap, but when I do, there is always room for me there and your comforting arm is always around me.  I am so thankful that I am your child, and right or wrong, your love for me for never changes.  Thank you for welcoming me back home once again on this Thanksgiving Day.

©G-Systems International ………. http://www.g-systems.com

The Gift of Receiving

“My source is Universal. I do not depend upon anyone or anything to give me my abundance. My requirements are fulfilled when I look to the Universe to provide. I KEEP MY VISION CLEAR. Abundance flows from the Universal cornucopia. It contains ALL that I need and more. It falls to me like a spring rain. It covers me with its good and fills my life with plenty. I look to the Universe for my support.”  Gregge Tiffen [www.g-systems.com]

To our detriment, we have been taught that it is ‘more blessed to give than to receive’.  If you hold this belief, consider how it may be blocking the flow of Universal good into your life.  Consider as well that giving thanks requires that we first open to receiving.

Receiving and giving thanks are integral parts of creating.  While much is written about the benefits of feeling and expressing gratitude, we have yet to fully acknowledge and practice receiving as a key in the equation for creating personal success.  What might be possible when we fully open to receive?  Stepping into our individual power and uniqueness to create a world that works for all.

What habits do we have that block the flow of Universal wisdom, love, beauty, joy, happiness … everything?  Look first to simple actions of declining to receive.  I used to think that independence meant doing it all myself, “No, thank you, I don’t need … I’ll just do it myself.”   Many of us are masters at this one.

Yet, consider that, not only is it exhausting to do it all solo, but also in taking this approach we are damming up Universal flow.  When I reflect on my own erroneous thinking (I don’t deserve, receiving help will make me dependent, etc.) behind being the Lone Ranger (even he had Tonto and Silver!), I see the possibility that receiving from others on this level opens me to receive this Universal bounty more fully.

And, heck, isn’t the inspiration to give a part of Universal flow? In being willing to receive, I create the opportunity for another to give.

Just this week I had the opportunity to choose between ‘DIY’ (do it yourself) or receiving support to dig out from two feet of snow.  I chose both.  Knowing it would take a long while for my neighbor to arrive with the snow plow, I shoveled a path to the garage to retrieve snowshoes so I could take a walk with Luke in the beauty.  I could have shoveled all day and forged a path for the car, but I opened to receive and as night was falling, my neighbor arrived with his plow.

Unconscious habits of thought keep us from stepping up to this Universal cornucopia.  “I can’t.” “I don’t have.” “I wish …”.  As, I bring awareness to my own habits of thinking, I see opportunities to deepen that awareness and use it to shift my thinking, to create a new habit.  Wishing and putting attention on what I don’t have, simply magnifies that lack.  Focusing on what I do have and giving thanks magnifies that.

For my learning to open fully to receive the bounty of Universal source, I bow in gratitude.

Experiment for the Week:  Open to receive the gifts of life more fully. From the door someone opens for you to the gentle (or not so gentle) nudge of the Universe with an idea, receive and give thanks.

The Gift of Angst

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”  Jalal ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi

Angst: a strong feeling of being worried or nervous; a feeling of anxiety about your life or situation.

I don’t necessarily experience angst as a ‘strong’ feeling. Its intensity seems to vary depending on the issue.  Regardless of its strength in a particular moment, I’m coming to appreciate angst’s gifts and to be grateful for its presence.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t wish to live in a perpetual state of angst.  It can drag me into the depths of despair and feel colder and darker than the mountain snow storm just outside my window.

On the other hand, I don’t deny angst entry when it visits.  Rather I’m learning to acknowledge and welcome the sense of unease and invite angst to share what gifts are hidden beneath its surface. I’m learning that angst can light my way toward peace. It shows me where I care. It shows me where I need to adjust.

As I observe angst more deeply, I notice that it has no home when I’m in that place of deep knowing and trust.  Angst doesn’t follow thoughts or choices that are aligned with who I am and what I love. The presence of angst is a wake-up call, an indicator that love, faith, trust are missing and that my thinking, my clarity, my convictions and the actions that follow need to shift.

I’ve experienced angst recently around money, or more specifically a gap between what’s coming in and what’s going out. Yes, I know, it’s a crowded room. And, I believe that it will serve humanity when we each walk outside, take a few deep breaths to get back into our skin, into our true nature, and look at our needs from a new perspective. That’s a gift of angst. Its gentle nudges like these shadows on the Great Sand Dunes remind me when I go astray, or try to follow the crowd, or act as if I’m someone other than who I am.

When I am fully present, angst represents a crossroad, a choice. Will I take its invitation to go to that quiet place within? Will I muster the courage to “be drawn by the strange pull …”? Will I examine where my thoughts are inconsistent with what I believe to be true about the goodness of the Universe?   Or, will I follow the path that the world suggests is ‘practical’ and ‘what I should do in the current situation?

Experiment for the Week:  Notice where you experience the gentle nudges of angst this week. Thank them for reminding you of the choice they represent to return to who you are.

One Size Does Not Fit All

“One size does not fit all.”  Frank Zappa

That’s an interesting quote from an artist whose band released an album ‘One Size Fits All’. Even more interesting, it’s the only quote that I found on this perspective. Lots of quotes supporting the idea that ‘one size fits all’ though.

I’m not totally clear what brought OSFA (one size fits all) to my mind and heart this week as my reflections and practices on individuality continue.  I’m sensitive to things that claim to be “The” solution (answer, path, etc.) whether to prevent or cure cancer, bring forth the love of my life, boost my energy or be the path to everlasting abundance and happiness.  I’m on a personal quest to more deeply understand and live fully into my uniqueness.  After all, that’s what I believe life is about: each of us discovering our part in the mystery and living that part fully. (What a beautiful world we’re creating as we do so!). Yet, sometimes I feel caught between the two, the world that claims to have the right answers and my commitment to ‘be me’. (Smile as I remember my college dorm mother suggesting that Frank Sinatra’s ‘I Gotta Be Me’ should be my theme song. It was definitely hers.)

In that tension are some juicy questions and experiences.  As I try to distill them into a single theme, two words – courage and faith – emerge.  Both are key ingredients, requirements really, for living in alignment with who we are.  It takes courage in the face of experiencing a slowdown in business to say ‘no’ to an opportunity that would bring cash in the door, yet simply does not feel right.  I want my courage to be grounded in faith that instinct and intuition (demonstrations of connection to Source) are more powerful and accurate than information presented by others as ‘fact’.  (Sometimes though, it may be simply grounded me being a contrarian.)

Definitely there are paths, cures, even clothing that fit for many, even millions. But nothing is a fit for all. We are each unique individuals with unique cellular makeup. We each need to navigate and make decisions through different experiences so that we can successfully fulfill our sojourn in this life and move peacefully to whatever is next on our soul’s journey.

As we make the thousands of choices daily about what to wear, to eat, to think, to do and more, let us practice doing so from that place inside that deeply knows what ‘size’ fits us. Let’s discover the world we can create from that place.

Exercise for the Week:  Reflect on this: where in life are you navigating with the courage and faith it takes to be true to you? Honor yourself for taking each leap of faith whether it seems great or small.

The Paradox of Consistency

“Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago.”  Bernard Berenson

“It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It's what we do consistently.”  Anthony Robbins

Today’s focus came in the morning quiet as I reflected on and celebrated my consistency in writing a post on Thursday mornings for 12 weeks.  In a BFO (blinding flash of the obvious), ‘consistency’ offered itself.

As the topic began to form, I thought I’d be writing solely about the virtue of consistency.  Hey, consistency is always a good thing and I was celebrating mine, right?

Not only have I honored my commitment to these weekly posts, consistency has been a focus of my personal observation and reflection recently.  I’ve challenged myself to identify where I’m consistent (and not) and the commitment (or lack thereof) demonstrated by my consistency.  Then, I’m assessing how my consistency aligns (or not) with my values, my goals and the life and world I want to create. For example, I’m consistent walking Luke several times daily and in making our first walk of the day a longer, meditative walk.  This consistent action honors my commitment to care for an amazing canine, who brings so much joy and learning to my life. And it demonstrates commitment to my self-care.

I find I’m also consistent in my curiosity, questioning and challenging myself and often others.  One of my gifts is a ‘critical eye (or I)’.  I’m not consistent in using this gift peacefully with gentleness and grace. That’s a consistency to develop to create more peace in my life and in the world.

It’s that critical eye part of me that kicked in when, a bit to my surprise, the first quotes I found for ‘consistency’ challenged its value.  Say, what? I could just ignore those and choose a quote that supported the approach I started to write. But that’s not what The Zone is about. I see value in exploring this paradox as it relates to how I define success.

Yes, consistency has value. Just ask Luke or me what life would be like without our walks. But like all light consistency casts a shadow. Without awareness, my consistency could lead me to take this walk as an unconscious habit and not notice the beauty that surrounds and nurtures me.  I could even come to resent it (especially later in winter when morning temperatures will be sub-zero and there’s snow on the ground).

On a deeper level, I began to see that consistency can be a seed not only of habits that don’t serve me, but of fundamentalism, of seeing things through the lens of right/wrong  judgment,  of closing me down rather than opening me up.  That’s a seed I don’t intend to nurture, but one that draws me to further explore and understand.  What about you?

Experiment for the Week:  Reflect on this topic. Observe your consistencies. Are they contributing to the life and world you want to create?  Share what you think!

The Power of Affirming From Within

“We are what we think. All that we are arises from our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world.”  Budda

This week I caught myself in a habit that most of us probably experience, looking outside of me for direction rather than first discovering what experience I wanted to create.  In a glimpse of awareness while journaling, I realized that I hadn’t thought about a course of action. I simply was about to go into action automatically.

No denying sometimes that’s an approach that works, but this experience, I quickly (and gratefully) realized was different.  Rather than tapping into my own wisdom and intuition, then affirming what I discovered, I almost took the road of first seeking external confirmation, calling on someone else to tell me what was going on in terms of the experience I was having.

That awareness led me to see the act of calling on another to ask what they think BEFORE I’ve checked in with myself as a place where I abdicate my personal power, the power of using thought to affirm my choices in life.  It’s a habit which, rather than supporting my independent thinking and building my knowledge and wisdom base, creates dependency.

From this awareness, I can stop, take a breath, connect with my instinctive knowing that the experience is anchored in Spirit which knows only good; that whatever I’m experiencing is for my highest good (and if I discover that it isn’t I alone have the power to change).  What followed those deep breaths and the connection with my inner-wisdom was a sense of peace and understanding about the experience, a possibility that I hadn’t considered that I could now affirm from within.

That’s a foundation from which I can now seek input, advice, and perhaps external confirmation.  Rather than depending on another to ‘tell me’ and forming my thoughts from the other’s perspective, I first formed my thoughts from within. Now, I can (hopefully wisely) seek out resources to support my growth through this experience and, thereby make my world one that’s aligned with my values .

As I reflect on this experience and my next steps, I know how deeply the beauty of nature and the quiet of where I live support me.  On this cold, gray day with golden leaves on the ground and snow in the forecast, my heart is warm and I wish the same for you in the week ahead.

Experiment for the Week:   Use the events of this week to practice first going within.  Tap into your wisdom first.  Choose how you want to experience the event.  Then, as you are guided, seek the resources you need to support you to create this experience.