The High Cost of Competition

Sometimes life seems as rocky as, well, THE Rockies.

The first thing school teaches you is to compete which is the worst influence in the world because it is anti-spiritual, anti-metaphysical, and it is anti-spiritual. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: One Original Thought, September, 2011)

I woke one morning this week with the thought that ‘the essence of competition is separation’. The thought caught my attention from both personal and global perspectives. On the personal side, I’m navigating a situation where, from my perspective, competition has overtaken collaboration.  Self-honesty requires that I own a part in that.

It seems in our culture today that speaking one’s conviction sets up competition. Rather than curiosity about other points of view and looking for common ground, we’ve been taught to win. When someone wins, another must loose.  What is society loosing as a result?

When we take the position that we are ‘better than’, then the other is seen as ‘less than’. Honest, pure communication cannot exist in this condition. Conflict thrives in this environment. We posture. We strategize. We waste energy and lose sight of the common good and our common humanity. I’ve found myself doing just that, in total contradiction to what I want and to who I know that I am.

The evidence (or perhaps carnage is a more apt description) is all around: cheating in sports, manipulation in business, rancor in politics, military conflicts around the globe, anger in the streets and threads of social media. And sadly, that only names a few of the consequences of competition being so deeply embedded in our consciousness, our culture. 

At the personal level competition can breed fear, lack of trust, lack of self-worth and self-confidence. And, at least for me, it wears me out and distracts me from the simple joys of life. Cool Hand Luke can testify to that!

I plead guilty to contributing and I long to find a different way forward.  Renewing my commitment to that path – NOW!

Fall is in the air!

Energy Shift!

Cool Hand Luke: ever present teacher to a not always present student.

To accept an event as your opportunity to reveal more self honesty is the issue for effective and efficient rates of progress. Gregge Tiffen (The Journey Continues: Economical Rates of Progress – August, 2010)

So often we think of self-honesty as a drag. And we forget, at least I do, that the discipline of using our will is a gift given we humans at birth. It isn’t hard, and it does require practice.

This morning I woke as if I’d not had a good eight hours sleep. I felt tired and, even though it’s my favorite morning, this Thursday had me thinking about spending the day in bed with the covers pulled over my head.  I stretched and got up anyway.  It is blog day you know.  Not only that it’s a special blog day: the 156th post, marking three years of weekly posts.

Good Morning from the Sangres!

Still dragging after making my tea, I picked up one of Gregge’s booklets from my bedside stack. The page that I opened it to reminded me that I have a ‘band’, a group of astral energy beings assigned to support me, just me, in life and learning.  How is it that I so easily forget that they are available 24/7?  More importantly, how could I remember?

About that time Cool Hand Luke woke up, stretched, looked at me with those soulful brown eyes, and took a few steps to come an put his head on my lap. Tears streaming, I knew in that instant that Luke is a messenger for my band.  I had not only the answer to ‘how can I remember?’ (duh, it’s right in front of me!). I also had an insight as to what Luke is trying to communicate when he sits patiently and just looks at me: ‘HI! Remember us? We’re here for YOU!’

Need I mention that my energy shifted immediately?  The weary me that had waked up less than hour before had shifted: Bring on the day!  Let’s get the blog done and see what else wants to be created.

At a time when our planet needs joy and all the positivity we can muster, this morning using my will to take just one step and then the next, I made that shift. No covers over my head this day!

Some might think differently, but there is no ‘one size fits all’ formula. We each need to experiment and discover what works for us.  Taking time to simply remember a few basics can be a wonderful place to start.

Remember who you are: a cell in the infinite universe of love.

Remember time is not the issue: you have all the time you need, eons of time, to learn and grow in wisdom.

Remember you are in school: earth school is not a cake-walk. You earned the privilege of being here at this time, just as you earned the gifts of learning that every challenge you face offers.

Remember that something beautiful greets you every day: if you don’t see it, look in the mirror and smile.

Treetops, sand dunes, mountains, sky!

Ever on duty!

Speak Easy

An exclamation point in the sky reminds me that every word I speak is magnified.

By the very virtue that you open your mouth, there is an affect upon you.  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: An Honest Performance - June, 2011)

It’s your honesty in attitude that controls your voice box. (Open Secrets: An Honest Performance - June, 2011)

When I’m truly honest with me and look at results and patterns that are not as much to my liking as the day above, I can find clues in words spoken without that care.  And, that’s a story for another day. http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/voice-your-power

Today is the day for that other story that I digressed to several weeks back. I do so humbly as over the past week or so I’ve noticed an old habit creep back into my way of being: a sharp tongue voiced in reaction to some little event (usually one with little obvious consequence). For the most part (though not exclusively) these little explosions are not directed toward or in response to another person. No, they’re the curses (small but intense) that come out when the hose crinkles stopping the flow of water or some other minor annoyance.

They’ve been especially abundant over the past week. I dislike how I feel about me when I utter them. And, I know deep inside that my words have an impact not just on me.  They contribute to the noise and chaos that is roaring in our culture, adding fuel to an already dangerous fire.

That’s not how I want to contribute to our world.  And, it’s certainly not the attitude I want to carry with me in my immediate environment. I notice how one creates a path to the next and the next and beyond. I feel their impact. They drain my energy and undermine my clarity as I look beyond to the places where I want to put my energy: a project for the water and sanitation board, making the Dragonfly House ready and inviting for guests, a series of webinars to reignite my coaching, loving on Cool Hand Luke and simply enjoying each and every moment of the day.

Gregge’s words appear as I read and I’m reminded of all that I know about the power and the impact of my voice.  I take a breath. Express gratitude for the awareness. And, I ask ‘now what?’ How will I use this awareness to speak easy to me, to Luke, and beyond?

Cottonwood 'snow' on Cottonwood Creek. Ah, summer in the Sangres!

The Power of Quitting

To Be As Crystal Clear as this Lake below Zapata Falls ...

You are meant to understand your dual polarity needs: the work and the play, the private and the professional. If you keep just one single polarity, you diminish productivity. One gives you the energy to accomplish and enjoy the other.”  Gregge Tiffen (Impatience Fishes In An Empty Pond – June, 2008)

Decades (oh, how I would like to say ‘years’!) ago when I was fresh out of graduate school, I didn’t have this wisdom. I was hell bent on using my urban planning skills to make the world a better place. I regularly (and proudly) worked intense 70+ hour weeks, continuing the habit I created in grad school taking a full course load while holding a full time consulting job.

Five or so years into that way of life, I was exhausted and miserable. Ready or not, I felt challenged to confront the reality that I was working hard but hardly living. At about the same time as this recognition came, a series of events at the agency where I was Deputy Director (I worked my way up the ladder fast!) left me feeling uncomfortable and unable to fulfill my role. And, so I resigned.  I didn’t understand until much later that through those uncomfortable events, the Universe was conspiring to support me.

I read. I rested. I slept (really slept!). I played, went to therapy, and travelled. I spent days on the Pacific Coast mesmerized by tide pools. I was introduced to metaphysics, Gregge Tiffen, and what has become a lifelong curiosity. I fell in love, experienced a breakup, and met the man I would later marry.

And after six or so months, I was ready to re-engage professionally, this time with a commitment to work and play.  Creating a different life was possible because I had the courage to quit, walk away from the so-called ‘security’ of a paycheck. And, many years later I made the same choice, ending a marriage.

Yucca in blooming splendor!

Today, I exercise my ‘quit’ muscle when I find myself in situations where my experience is complete. That can look like satisfaction upon completing a project or, at the opposite extreme, it can be when a situation doesn’t feel right and I no longer choose to put my energy there.

‘Quitting’ can also be simply taking a break, as I did this past week, engaging in a ‘stay-cation’ to hike and enjoy my cousin’s visit. It can be stepping away from a ‘problem’, knowing that I can return later with a fresh perspective (though they often resolve themselves before I do!)

In our culture we tend to look down on ‘quitting’ as the shadow or ‘bad’ side of being engaged. ‘Quitters’ have no honor. Perhaps though it’s time we develop a new view: quitting as a valued skill that has its place in our life skills tool box, keeping us on course so we don’t find ourselves, as I did those decades back, in a life that others (employers, family, friends, the culture) would have us live. Rather we are living and learning in the life that is authentically and uniquely ours.

A view of the Great Sand Dunes from Blanca Peak. On a clear day you can see forever ...

Batting Practice: Time Or Energy?

The flow is increasing, Cottonwood Creek widens and the sound of the gentle stream is a roar. That's the energy of Spring and Summer!

We are to implement what the Universe puts before us, or we lose energy. We use the energy to meet the requirement when the requirement is there in order to gain from that cycle of ‘time’. This is functioning according to Universal time.  Gregge Tiffen (Impatience Fishes In An Empty Pond – June, 2008)

Some folks don’t like baseball because it isn’t a time limited game. When I lived in Houston years ago, I was an Astros fan and attended what turned out to be one of the longest games in baseball history: 22 innings or such and ending at 2am.  Based on our experience, we have an idea of what energy and time will be required when we begin a project or a task. But we don’t know how it will unfold or what twists will be presented.

It’s challenging in our world to not live and be limited by the clock.  We use time to pressure ourselves and we allow other people and conditions to pressure us with ‘deadlines’. We’re surrounded by visual and audio reminders to be ‘on time’.

We forget that the Universe didn’t create time. The Universe created cycles. Within those cycles energy flows, and it falls to we humans to use and direct that energy for our benefit in the experiences life presents. From these we gain knowledge.

I found myself exhausted one day recently and had the thought that it was like I’d been at batting practice all day, swinging against every pitch that came my way.  I realized that my attention for most of the way hadn’t been to use and direct energy. Rather I was ‘getting things done’ on a mostly self-imposed schedule. I was doing each task so I could check it off of my list and get to the next.  I was working against myself and being exhausted by my focus time.

Unlike the batter who uses the start of a new cycle after a pitch to reset and refocus for the next pitch, I didn’t hold each task as a cycle. I didn’t honor the completion of one task and give myself the gift of resetting and looking at the energy requirement needed before I engaged in the next.  I was doing, not directing energy. 

As I look to the week ahead, I’m going to experiment with stepping out of the batter’s box between Universal pitches. In doing so, I aim to bring more awareness and choice to how I direct my energy. And, at when I’m done, to feel complete and satisfied, not unsettled, exhausted, and anxious about what I didn’t get done.  Care to join me here at ‘home plate’?

Patiently waiting while Mom takes pictures and some quiet moments by the creek.

Learning Is Your Power

Early morning haze as the sun rises to shine on Blanca

The more we empower other people or conditions, the less we use the invested power in ourselves and the less we understand about what we have available. Gregge Tiffen (Pleasure Is Short, Wisdom Is Infinite – May, 2008)

You do know, don’t you, that the Universe invested tremendous power in YOU?  It invests that power in each of us, forever and ever. Amen.

We live in a world though that would have us forget this truth. We interact with other people and with systems in such a way that we come to depend on them. When we lose our awareness that conditions as experience are here for our learning, we give our power away.

I write this blog with pen and paper. In order for my words to get to you, I rely on a computer, an internet connection, and more technology services than I can understand. A glitch happens somewhere along the way. I learn to work around it and, along the way, have the opportunity to manage my temper.

Deep within, often outside of my awareness, I trust that the message will get through. If it doesn’t, I trust that as well. Unless I empower them, the ‘glitches’ take nothing from me or from my power. Each week I intend to offer something of value from my experience. You determine what that is for you.  Independent of you, I determine whether I am satisfied. (That said, I love your feedback and comments!)

As I look out to the world beyond me, I wonder if the angst and anger visible in our world isn’t a result of investing this power we were given by the Universe outside of ourselves rather than in our own learning to use that power?

We know much (or we wouldn’t be granted the gift of being on this planet at this time).  Yet, we are each here to add to what we know by applying our knowledge in new ways and learning from the experience.

Stop for a moment. What is your greatest challenge right now? Where are you in relation to that challenge? How much of your energy is invested in thoughts like ‘if they would …’ or ‘if only it …’?  How much of your energy is invested in you with thoughts such as ‘what if I tried …’ and ‘what can I learn from this’?

What if we asked these questions from a place of faith that all things are working together for our highest learning?

My truth is that there are no guarantees. Yet when I approach my life’s events from this place of learning (no matter how long it may take me to get here!), I always (and in all ways) come out ahead, even when the apparent outcome may not be to my preference or my liking.

This week I invite you to notice where you are investing your power.  And, if your investment is outside of you, to gently question, experiment and discover the power of learning in (re)claiming your power.

On behalf of the forest, a tree greets the morning sun.

The Gifts of Restraint

No problem is without a solution, and no problem exists that did not exist as an ‘unproblem’ before it became a problem. Every knot was once a straight rope, and no knot unties itself. Gregge Tiffen (Pleasure is Short, Wisdom is Infinite – May, 2008)

The post could be subtitled ‘From Insight to Experience (or Challenge)’. After sharing last week’s insight (http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/healthy-thinking) about energy wasted and the health impacts of a particular habit of my mind, I challenged myself to laugh each time I noticed I was engaging in the habit. For a few days, I laughed a lot!

Then, slowly, subtly something began to shift. My attention was much more focused on what was in front of me. My thoughts were clearer, my awareness seemed sharper, and I experienced a lessening of the physical symptoms I’ve been addressing.  I was beginning to end a habit of thought that didn’t serve me. Or, was everything just calm with no external events to catalyze my habitual reaction?  Several days of snow, rain, and cold blessed me with the opportunity to read, rest, snuggle in by the fire (and Cool Hand Luke, of course), and to disconnect from the world. Nice!

Soon, the sun came out and I plugged back in. My inbox revealed an email that is just the sort of stimulus to trigger that old reactive habit. Step One: fire off a quick, snarky response. Step Two: play the endless feedback loop of ‘how dare you’ to keep myself riled up and ready to battle.

But this day I stopped. I made different choices. Yes, I was disturbed by the other person’s action. No, I would not engage in my old habits. I would stop. I would restrain from letting my fingers fly across the keyboard in reaction. I would not allow the situation to take over my thoughts unless and until I could think about it clearly and with the intent to resolve. 

This approach did not require that I ignore or avoid the situation. Indeed it created the spaciousness to allow it to unfold, to discover others who shared my view, and to engage in positive conversation about moving forward with them. When not engaged in that way or in my own personal review, I was able to invoke the discipline to set the issue aside and to be mindful that restraint was/is a choice. 

Within a couple days, a way forward emerged through the actions of the person who sent the original email. Others had expressed their concern in their ways, powerfully, gracefully, and with clarity. The way is being shown.

Restraint is a muscle for me to develop further. In these intense times where there seems so little, perhaps restraint is a gift for us to all develop in our ways at our pace. So much learning; so many gifts!

Thank you ‘Restraint’ for ease, grace, peace, possibility, growth, and personal satisfaction (just to name a few!).

Awake. Now What?

Tashi Gomang Stupa right here in the Sangre de Cristos

Yeah, right; now what? Isn’t that the moment-by-moment question we are meant to be asking ourselves every day? Patrece on behalf of P-Systems (PS52, Series 8, Week 29: The New Experiment)

 Coursing through us is a Universal flow of energy to give us the power to think, move, and create. Under the conditions of a normal day, we use this power without thinking about it. Gregge Tiffen (Tax Time: Are You Taxing Yourself?)

I woke this morning with this word: unsettled.  I lay quietly with it for a bit to notice whether it was just a word or if I felt unsettled. No, just a word; the word to focus today’s post. Hmmm … If I don’t feel unsettled, what’s the point, the message? 

I took myself to the dictionary. Beyond calm, quiet, and free of disturbance or upset, what does ‘settle’ mean?  To put in order, arrange or adjust as desired.  Oh. That.

In prioritizing rest over activity since returning home, I haven’t put my home and office back in order the way that I function best. When my energy returned, I leapt over that to re-engage in the bed and breakfast (lovely weekend guests!) and projects for the local board I serve on. And, since it’s the beginning of my personal new year, I’m asking ‘what do I want to accomplish this year?’

I notice a bit of angst about not knowing the answer.  How do I want to direct the energy that’s available to me this year? That’s my big ‘now what’ question. I have some ideas and some choices that I’m mulling over, allowing to percolate.

While they are percolating, the more immediate ‘now what?’ is putting my attention on creating the order that I so need as fertile ground.  There is clearing, organizing, and preparation to be done not just in the garden plot, but here inside: my office, the closet, and some cabinets as well. Yes, the garage too.  The body could benefit from a purge as well. After all it is spring cleaning time!

That’s settled. And…

Asking ‘now what?’ moment to moment has the added benefit of keeping flexibility in my life.  Yes, there is value in ‘having a plan and sticking to it’. There’s also value in taking an unexpected hike as Luke and I did with friends yesterday up to the big Stupa.

Our canine friends rest in the cool shade ...

Asking ‘now what?’ creates awareness of our choices and keeps us from operating without awareness.  

Now what? Where is your attention and your energy focused this week?  Are you trying to figure something out or to get unstuck with a problem? You have the energy, the power. Perhaps a simple ‘now what’ will open the door to the direction you need.

... and we find a quiet place for contemplation and peace beneath these Buddhist prayer flags.

Humility

Spring is bursting out all over Southeast Hill!

All animals on this planet help forge a living energy chain, tying together the power of Nature to the manifestation of life.  Gregge Tiffen (It’s Springtime: Flow with the Power of Nature – March, 2007)

As I end this month that found me focused on caring for beloved canines far away from my home, my heart is touched by two aspects of nature: the beauty of flora and the steadiness of fauna.   

I’m writing this week’s post a bit early with the intention that, as it lands in your box on Thursday morning, I will be driving through the canyon lands of Utah.  Today, as I prepare to head home to begin a new month and another trip around the sun, I’m struck by how nature simply IS.

I’m humbled and in awe of the buds and the blooms that have burst forth in the past week here in the neighborhood that’s been my home this month.  I’m curious how spring will reveal herself along the 1200 miles or so of our journey.  How will spring be showing when I reach home in a few days?

But as much as I love trees and flowers, it is the animals that I hold dearest in my heart this day.  I’m grateful for all the animals on the planet and for the energy that they receive in support of all life, including that of us humans. In the year ahead, I want to deepen my understanding of this vital relationship.

And, I’m especially grateful for Luke and my cousin’s dogs. My three weeks caring for them were rewarding beyond measure. I’m humbled by what they have given me the opportunity to learn: grace, dignity, adaptability, patience (to name a few), and even humility itself. 

Happy Homecoming!

So often in life we avoid humility, fearing that we don’t or won’t measure up. That we’ll be humiliated, embarrassed, feel low or foolish.

Noticing my own feelings over these three weeks, led me to explore the word ‘humility’. I discovered that its root is the Latin humus, meaning grounded, humble, of the earth.  I loved that discovery! It put a whole new depth and light to my feelings.  They are right in tune with and flowing from the earth.  There is no humiliation in that, no matter what stories I might conjure up or comparisons to others I might make. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

And so it is with most everything we do if we are willing to make that our choice no matter what.

Be The Cause

Daily walks are a bit different here ...

For every minute you are angry you lose 60 seconds of happiness. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do not ignore your role regarding the quality of life here on Earth. It is your input that contributes to determining whether tomorrow will be a beautiful day.  Gregge Tiffen (It’s Springtime: Flow With the Power of Nature - March, 2007)

Gregge Tiffen’s quote above refers to our impact on weather. “Weather is an atmospheric blanket that surrounds us” he continues, “… our mental movements affect the atmosphere. If we are angry, upset, fearful, exhausted or in any way upsetting the normal flow of Universal energy, we affect our weather.”

As I reflect on what I’ve witnessed in the national political arena this week and notice my thoughts about and reactions to that, I wonder when, where, and how the anger will manifest. I wonder how much upset it takes to generate a hurricane like Katrina that struck New Orleans, Louisiana in August, 2005 or any of the many “natural disasters” throughout time.  I’m curious about the impact of both the travesty of how our government responded to Katrina and the impact of the upset and fear of the people impacted.

And, then I bring my reflections to me.

How many ‘seconds of happiness’ did I abdicate yesterday when I reacted in disgust to the sad state of our political discourse?  What is my responsibility for helping shift that climate simply by living life more gently and expressing kindness as an act of creativity?

What about those moments of being annoyed by a canine cancer patient who isn’t sure if she wants to be inside or out?  She teaches me so much about how to live when she lights up and jumps with joy when ‘ball, walk, and park’ are in the same sentence and we head out the door.  And, what about those times when I’m upset with me? Perhaps that’s a story for another day.

I’m struck by how the Universe continues to march forward in its own natural flow, adjusting as required to keep an infinite number of celestial bodies from crashing into one another. Who do we need to be to tap into that knowledge and wisdom?

I’m humbled to be a speck in this unfolding and to know that what I do, what I say, what I think matters and that the atmosphere I create in the moment for me (and my canine crew) impacts the weather. 

And, so it is for each of us.  Know the importance of doing that which makes you happy and brings you joy this day (and the next …). Be the cause that creates the effect you want on the planet. Do it for you. Do it for humanity. Do it for the planet. Moment to moment. Day to day.

Luke's 'cousins' Bonner & Gilley

Luke sporting his protective shirt (and that's another story for another day!)