Count on THIS!

Reconnecting With Nature's Beauty Right Around the Corner!

Progress is the self love we exhibit in our daily activities. It is the abundance we embrace as a natural, Universal gift. What is significant is the personal power that we recognize and accept within ourselves as co-creators with an omnipotent and infinite Universe.  Gregge Tiffen (The Significance of Beginning – January, 2007)

I’m in the midst of an experience that, thankfully, is a rarity in my life: illness, slowly recovering from a nasty flu/cold bug that knocked me flat about 10 days ago.  For the first few days, everything I ‘know’ about how to care for myself and even caring at all went out the proverbial window.

And, so I slept. As best I could, I slept without fretting about Luke, the list of what I’d planned to accomplish, or about the state of our world.

Over several days with little awareness, that is all I could muster.  In fleeting moments of awareness over those days, I wondered whether I would ever remember who I am in the universal scheme of things.  Would I again feel my deep connection with nature and how a walk in the woods returns me to deep peace? Would I long to observe and reflect and share my discoveries?  Would I again revel in those winter activities that bring me a sense of personal accomplishment and satisfaction as shoveling snow and stacking wood do?  Would I return to my powerful, fun-loving, peaceful self?

As my body slowly recovered and I began to restore my capacity to take care of the basics, my sense of self, my personal power, and my awareness of my status as a co-creator with the Universe returned.  They did so slowly at first and with a need to be nurtured and reassured.  Challenging as it was, I honored what seemed to be needed and, somewhere inside, I found a morsel of trust that all was well.

Like the Chinese herbs and other nutrients that were healing my physical body, that morsel of trust was just the seed I needed to restore my spirit and to give me the courage, curiosity and conviction to reengage by observing world. 

And, what a show the world was providing for me to observe! An inauguration, seemingly angry words from a new president, ‘alternative facts’, and the creative spirit of millions peacefully marching to have their voices heard.  We do live in interesting times!

While a part of me yearned to march with kindred spirits, I honored the physical need to take it slow. In my heart as Luke and I took an afternoon walk nearby, I walked in solidarity with the millions filling the streets world-wide. I was reminded that each and every action I take whether in solitude or with others matters as an expression of my personal power as a co-creator with the Universe.  That’s what I know I can count on, today, tomorrow, and every day beyond – no matter what!  You can count on THIS too!

Thanks Mom for Shoveling!

Nurturing Resiliency

Stormy Weather

If you realize that your strength is in knowledge, which is your experience and the resiliency of your consciousness, no one can affect you. Not even the Universe can diminish that one whit.  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Mystical Longings)

Resiliency, defined as the ability to recover readily from illness, adversity or the like, seems worthy of our attention today and in the times ahead. It has my attention this week as my energy is focused on recovering from a, rare for me, bout with a ‘bug’.  In addition to that ‘up close and personal’ perspective, I’ve been reflecting on the need for resiliency in the face of the discord and challenges that seem to be growing in our country and those that exist in so many places beyond.

Resiliency is not nurtured by hibernation or closing yourself off from the world (as appealing as that idea sounds some days!).

Resiliency is nurtured when we seek knowledge, in particular knowledge about how life works. This includes both the laws of the jungle, life ‘out there’ as the world defines and dictates, and Universal law, life - up close and personal, you to you and you to the Universe.  We learn a great deal through our participation in the world: relationships, business, politics, finance, health, etc.  We learn through observation, awareness and experience.  We learn when we succeed as well as when things don’t go as we wanted them to.

The lens through which we view life is a key factor in our capacity to ‘bounce back’ as well as to be strong in the face of any challenge.  Think of the stories of the people who face medical challenges, of those who survived concentration camps, of those who lose a loved one to violence only to bounce back and turn the tragedy into a positive movement.

After you’ve reflected on those, think of a particular challenge that you’ve faced in your own life.  In what ways were you resilient? In what ways was your resiliency hampered? What did you learn that built your resiliency for future challenges?  What are you curious to learn?

Directing Energy

Sometimes even the 'best good boy' needs to explore the edge ...

And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. Genesis 1:3

You give energy direction. When you focus on something, you magnetize raw energy.  Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Originality - January, 2009)

Continuing the theme started last week (http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/a-sound-beginning), the Bible as a code for how to operate on our planet, directing energy with awareness and clarity is the means by which we create joy and deep satisfaction in life.  Developing the skill to do so masterfully is perhaps the most powerful learning opportunity of life.

When we direct energy with awareness and clarity, we stay in the driver’s seat and avoid the ‘woe is me’ path of victimhood.  This doesn’t mean things always turn out the way we want. And, for sure, it is not about controlling others or even events.

It is about learning to take and experience life step by step with each step leading to the next.  It is the recognition that I’m always directing energy.  If my experience seems off course, I can choose to be angry, fearful or frustrated or I can choose to reevaluate and redirect the energy available to me.  If I’m feeling that the world is against me and throwing too many obstacles my way, I can take the time to remember that I alone am in charge of me.

As he so often does, my teacher, Cool Hand Luke, provided just such opportunities this week.  I humbly admit that my initial reaction when he disappeared during a morning walk was worry.  Although I was calm, the situation was in control. I was in reactive fear.  So reactive that, without thinking clearly, I walked home  to get the car, returned to the area where we’d been walking and drove down a road that never sees a snow plow in winter. 

Not a good choice, especially in the absence of awareness and clarity and direction.  You’ve probably guessed that I got stuck in a snow bank when I attempted to back out.  In my reactive, doing mode, I hadn’t taken time to give direction to the energy available to me, and I wasn’t paying close attention. 

I see this now, in hindsight.  In that moment, a call to a friend for help provided the reminder that I needed (and a suggestion as to who could get my car out of the pickle I’d created). “You need to be home. Luke knows his way around. He’ll be back. Take some deep breaths.”  And so I did just that. I took a breath. I began to walk home remembering that while I had no control of the outcome, I was in charge of the energy available to me.

I’d like to report that Luke was waiting on the porch by the time I got to the house, but that wasn’t to be.  It was an hour or so before he bounded up the steps (muddy, cold, matted with stickers and a very upset tummy – he apparently had quite an adventure in the snowy woods).  I welcomed him with open arms and a joyful heart. Not a trace of anger emerged in the two hours of tedious clean-up that followed.  In that period of waiting, I made a clear choice.  I let go of the expectations and plans I’d had for the day.  I put my focus on love and care for both of us. 

Just as I finished cleaning Luke up and settled him in his kennel to rest, help with the car arrived. Within a few minutes an easy tow and turnaround had my trusty vehicle back in her berth.  Life had presented me with a day of unplanned opportunities.  It was time for gratitude and a nap.

Although it is simple and in our design as humans on this Planet, mastering directing energy is not a single lesson we learn, but rather a commitment to lifelong learning through practice.  As I learned this week, it starts with simply remembering that the energy is ours to direct.

Great place for a canine adventure!

A Sound Beginning

Nature sculpts interesting form.

‘And God said, …’  We now know that Planet Earth is a planet manifested by sound.  Gregge Tiffen (The Story of Infinity)

The Bible as a code book of how our planet came to be, how the planet operates, and more importantly, how we humans are to operate here is a significant contribution of Gregge Tiffen’s work after his years of intense training in the Far East followed by extensive work in human energy management.  I was blessed to know Gregge and to be a client from 1980 until his passing in 2008.

I continue to be a beneficiary of his work through his published works (you can find them here – http://www.p-systemsinc.com/publications.htm)  and recordings of the many sessions that I had with Gregge.  As my posts are about navigating life and the learning that is available on this sojourn, these are most often the source of quotes and the inspiration for them. 

Having emptied ourselves in whatever way is our custom during the Solstice and Winter Holidays, we are receptive to the new in whatever forms that may take. A new calendar year begins. Many have created goals, resolutions, and aspirations for the year ahead. It is a time of expectation and of focus.  And, first it is a time to remember that everything manifested on Planet Earth begins with sound. 

For we humans, sound most often means the spoken word.  In the midst of the chaotic babble out there in the world, perhaps we prefer to simply not speak.  Yet, our words are needed to set our course as we begin anew. Our clarity for ourselves, our courage, our conviction, and our curiosity need to be spoken as we set out on this year’s journey. This world needs our voice. And, we need the experience of learning to use that voice, sound as it is intended to be used.  After all, that is how we begin.

Whether our intention is to bring home the dog or to build a thriving business, we begin by speaking our desire clearly:  ‘Luke come.’ ‘I will build a profitable business doing work that I love.’   If our intention is health, wealth, personal peace, or adventure, play, creative expression, likewise we begin with sound. 

I’m taking this to heart as I begin this year, carefully choosing my words, both their quality and quantity. I’m aiming for ‘less is more’: fewer words and words with the qualities of clarity, conviction, curiosity, and courage.  I’m intending that my words not add to the angst and chaotic babble of the world.  For those words also represent beginnings, just not beginnings that I prefer.

What about you? What words are you speaking to begin this year?  Do your words reflect what you want to manifest in your world?  Do your words feed the world’s babble in ways that you don’t intend?  Perhaps this is a good time to invoke the old adage: ‘think twice, speak once’.

Now, let’s begin …

More snow's coming

Auld Lang Syne

White Christmas was NOT a dream!

“Give up the last year. Get rid of all those things of the mundane world. Make room for the awareness of a whole new spiritual understanding that will carry you throughout the next year.” Gregge Tiffen (The Winter Solstice: Giving To Yourself, December 2007)

“… and when you have the willingness to accept who you are, you become aware of an internal flame that burns with a fire that is unquenchable. It’s your acceptance that dispels fears and inadequacies.”  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways, December 2011)

As the year winds to a close, we tend to look back on that year, its joys, its sorrows, what we accomplished, where we may have fallen short. Hopefully our review list includes acknowledging all that we learned from the opportunities and events that life presented.

As 2016 ends, many will breathe a sigh of relief that it is finally over and a breath of hope for better days in year ahead.  Some look ahead with dread.  These are what draw our attention when we focus on the world outside of us, the world we live IN but the world we are not OF.

The world we live in seems chaotic and uncertain. It is. But within each of us is a seed of understanding who we truly are. Nurturing that seed grows our faith in our capacity to be resilient in the face of the world’s chaos.  Perhaps we need it now more than ever.

The seed of faith is within us all. It is faith not in something outside of us. Rather it is faith in who we are, each as an individual, integral part of an intelligent Universe. It is a reminder that life is so much more than we experience and observe each and every day.

As you ring in 2017, I invite you to join me in nourishing your seed of faith in the 365 days that lie ahead.

Perhaps this prayer, one of my favorites of Gregge’s writing, will support you to deepen your faith in you and in understanding just how important you are in the Universal scheme of things.

Let me never forget how important I am to the Universal Picture. Without me there would be a blank space where there should be color.

Let me understand that the challenges of life are just that and not battles. I am not out there to win or to loose, only to develop my skills as an on-going student in an omnipotent school. 

Let me understand that the difference between people is one of the wondrous realities of an infinite Universe. Giving those differences space to be is far more important than comparing them to my set of beliefs. 

Let me be proud of what I do. To whatever my hand touches, let me remind myself that it was my effort that added to the result. Perfection is not my goal. Creativity is.

Let me remind myself that most of what I take seriously about myself also qualifies for a good laugh. Let me remember to be kind to myself. Loving companions are one of life’s treats, but they are not responsible for my care. Self-kindness can heal almost any hurt. 

Let me take responsibility as a gift and not a burden. Within that effort is the grandest sense of accomplishment I could achieve. 

Let me be patient with life. Nature does not produce the flower before the roots have taken hold. If I recognize that the place I am in is the right place at the right time, it will always be the right place at the right time.  Gregge Tiffen (The Significance of Beginning, January 2007)

Add Snowy to Cordial and Cheerful.

The Twinkling of An Eye

Solstice 2016 - The Light is Returning

The gift you give yourself is to be open and to make space for acceptance. Gregge Tiffen (The Winter Solstice: Giving To Yourself, December, 2007)

‘Twas blog day before Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and more

And, all through the house

I’m the only one stirring

There best be no mouse.

Luke is asleeping

And right at my feet.

What is today’s message?

Let’s be short and sweet!

It came without clatter

Of hooves on the roof

A friendly reminder

That needs no proof.

Amidst the hustle and bustle

You may find yourself in

Take time for yourself

Time to go within.

For in the season of giving

We often forget

The importance of receiving

But, please do not fret.

A few minutes at most

With a hot cup of tea

Will serve to remind you

About receptivity.

For giver and gift

Need YOU to receive

That is the cycle

So, please do believe.

Take this reminder

Wherever you go

With a twinkle in your eyes

Like the Santa you know. 

Snow Dusted Dunes - Solstice, 2016

Emptiness At Solstice

Magical, Mystical, Pre-dawn Moon

What I would exhort you to, what I would give as a gift to you, what I would lay down a soul for, would be for your awareness to recognize that this is a personal event for your life. It is the time that has been set up on this planet for you and Heaven to be with each other without interference. Gregge Tiffen (The Winter Solstice: Giving To Yourself – December, 2007)*

Emptiness seems like a strange word to ascribe to the season of winter holidays with their bright lights, joyful sounds, and festivities to match.  And, yet, giving yourself the gift of emptying is an important part of being prepared to receive the new that is sure to come as the sun begins her journey back to the north.  After all, the full glass cannot receive more wine.

In the Christmas Story, we are told that the inn was full. And, yet a receptive place for the birth was found. So it is for each of us.

We too need to empty and make ourselves receptive to the new.  Solstice is a time to declare one cycle complete, making way for another to begin. It is a time to embrace the realm of spirit and turn our backs on the material world, if only for a brief time. It is a time to bless and release all who have crossed your path in this cycle, knowing that those who are meant to return will be there in the new one.

And, perhaps most important of all, it is time to let go of who we were in the cycle that is completing.  The ‘you’ of that cycle is complete as well. And a new you of your design and making awaits.

As our planet prepares to celebrate her birthday, let us honor her by taking time to reflect this gift of the time when heaven and nature sing as one. May we each sing along in our own unique and harmonious way.

* The Winter Solstice has become my personal spiritual holiday over the years. You can read more about that here - http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/the-gift-of-solstice

Magical, Mystical Moon at Sunrise

'Tis The Season To Nourish Your Inner Santa

The sun sets on another day in the vast San Luis Valley.

Santa is the outgrowth of the natural child in humanity’s mind that bears good tidings.  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways – December, 2011)

First a Confession:  I love Santa! And, I BELIEVE!  After all, there's a certain canine who consistently brings good tidings to my life. 

Just who is the jolly fellow that we remember this time of year? Most every culture, religious or not, has such a sacred icon.  Yet in the hustle, bustle and hyper-commercialism of this season, one can lose sight of just what Santa Claus represents. That is to our detriment individually and collectively.

One of my personal early season rituals as I bring out the lights and a small, festive tree that’s travelled with me for 10 years is to bring out Gregge Tiffen’s writings about the season. I like to start with Santa as I did as a child sitting on his lap early in the season.  Today, I do so as a point of reflection and a reminder of what the jolly ol’ soul represents. And that provides just the reminder I need to nourish my own inner Santa.

Through Gregge’s mystical eyes, Santa represents faith. Not faith in things or people outside of us, but faith within.  And, in these times, that faith needs nourishment more than ever.  We need to nurture and nourish our innate ability to know what is right for us moment to moment, choice to choice and to trust that what is, simply is and is unfolding as it should.

… when you have the willingness to accept who you are, you become aware of an internal flame that burns with a fire that is unquenchable. It’s your acceptance that dispels fears and inadequacies. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways – December, 2011)

As I have written before, we live in a world that at every turn gives us choices to pull us away from who we truly are.  The world fears our power, and it invites us to put our faith in systems, institutions and even other people.

Turn down those invitations of the world that are not true to who YOU are.  RSVP to yourself. Take time during this season and beyond to recognize that YOU as a point in an infinite and benevolent Universe need only have faith in you and that Universe of which you are an integral part.

To whatever it might mean to you, in reality or symbolically, give yourself a period of time as a gift to yourself in which your faith is renewed. This gift is not faith in others or in the world around you but in yourself as the continuum of good operating in your life at all times under all circumstances.  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways – December, 2011)

This is the greatest gift of all.

It’s the faith that you are what you are that brings about miracles. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways – December, 2011)

Spending time in nature’s beauty, singing, quiet time by the fire, laughing, and putting on a fun hat are some of the ways I renew my inner Santa. What about you?

Blanca Peak shows off her winter finery on a crisp sunny date in the Sangres.

What Is The Question?

It's beginning to look (and feel) like winter!

When you are not focused on a question and not seeking an answer, you are not living. You are not feeding the planet, and the planet is not feeding you.  Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Universality, November, 2009)

In a world that honors knowing, questions often get a bad rap. We can feel inadequate when we don’t know something, hiding our unknowing by acting as if we do.  I’ve done that and, in doing so, I block the energy, the excitement, the joy and satisfaction of discovery. I block the energetic force of life.

Perhaps in part this is old residue from school days where having the right answer brought cheers, while the wrong answer or, worse yet, no answer at all evoked jeers (or worse).  What if ‘I don’t know, but I’m going to find out’ was seen as the best answer?

The theme of discovery emerged this week amidst finding myself in a post-election funk, having allowed some of the energy of the masses to enter my being. I realized that I’d lost any sense of curiosity and wonder about what is happening in the world.  I forgot my belief that all is unfolding as it should in the universe. ‘It’ seems all wrong and depressing to consider.  

In the thick of the funk, I was aware that when I walk through life’s events with curiosity, I’m energized, engaged, and have the capacity to hold life lightly.  That’s true of even the seemingly insignificant, but necessary, daily tasks in life. 

On the other hand, when I engage with a sense of obligation, my energy quickly fades carrying with it peace, happiness and satisfaction.  And, without a sense of something to be discovered, obligation seems to rule.  In musing about how to cultivate a culture of discovery, the question ‘so, what is the question?’ emerged. Forming a question is key to cultivating wonder and curiosity.

I have some what I consider to be ‘big’ questions. Those are the questions that there’s no quick, easy answer to. Rather, they live and they help me frame the more immediate questions, those learning opportunities that in due time solve the mystery.  I’m curious about what it means to be ‘in the world and not of it’. And, I’m curious how to live that.  I’m curious about universal law and how energy works, more specifically, how can I use the energy of each day more effectively?

When I’m fully aware, these questions guide my choices about what I read, what I participate in and how I do so.  More importantly, they help me cultivate my sense of wonder around life’s daily events where the learning opportunities are ever-present whether I recognize them as such or not. 

There are gems to be uncovered in every choice we make. Questions help me recognize them when I’m willing to ask and then seek to discover. 

What about you? What question will cultivate your sense of wonder today?  Tomorrow?  And, beyond?

Our favorite spot on Cottonwood Creek is putting on its winter cloak.

Feeling Gratitude

Winter is on the way!

You are the receiver. Your spirit gives to you. Your spirit does not give to someone else. It receives from Source and gives you your humanness. This is the natural expression of the Universe. Gregge Tiffen (The Power of Giving Thanks – November, 2007)

This morning I was given the gift of feeling deep gratitude. Not the usual gratitude that seems centered in my head or even in my heart, but a physical sensation in every cell of my body.  And, beyond. I sensed that I was larger than my physical body and my gratitude for life extended and included that larger, ‘whole’ self.

The sensation grew from a seemingly simple thought: I could never have imagined living the life I live.  That thought was followed by a contradictory one: I must have imagined this life in some way or I couldn’t be living it.  Then, a fun little ditty emerged:

In some way,

In some way,

I must have imagined it in some way.

And, as I’m prone to do, I broke into song.

I imagine the power of this tree and the vast life she has led.

When I stopped singing a few seconds or minutes later, I felt a depth of gratitude that I don’t recall experiencing before. In that moment I knew that this life is mine, that I’m exactly where I’m meant to be now and in all the days (and lifetimes) ahead. Profound, deep gratitude swept through me.

This week finds those of us here in the U.S. in the midst of the Thanksgiving holiday. While it is good to have a special day to give thanks, the irony of Thanksgiving’s origins in this country deserves a pause for thoughtful consideration which I’ll leave each of you to do (or not). Despite the sadness I feel for the atrocities we force upon one another and on our dear planet, I’m grateful for this life and for the opportunities to learn and grow that are ever present.

Wherever your Thanksgiving finds you, may you feel a depth of gratitude that goes deeper and further than any you have felt in your past. May this special Thanksgiving prayer from Gregge Tiffen contribute to transporting you to that place: (http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/thanksgiving-prayer)

What's not to be grateful for?  Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!