Organizing From Within

A morning cloud cap as the sun hits the mountains

When you are organized from within, you are allowing your central nervous system and all your interior functions (even the things we call spiritual) to operate at an efficient level. Gregge Tiffen (Deeds Are Fruit, Words Are Leaves – October, 2008)

As I garner more years under my belt, efficient operation becomes more and more important to me.  The cost of inefficiency is simply too high.  Efficient operation can’t co-exist with chaos.  Awareness is required and adjustments need to follow.  

In a world that seems to become more chaotic daily, initiating my day from a calm, grounded place sets the stage for efficiency. To do so requires me to give myself plenty of time each morning for reading, writing and reflection before I plunge into my day.  When I fail to do so, I find that I’m unfocussed and accomplish little despite lots of action.

Cool Hand Luke, who, when getting up, always stretches always stretches before he moves into action, reminds me to give myself this time and to take breaks during the day to check in and make adjustments.

When I’m in the midst of busy-ness or chaotic, stressful events, taking time to organize from within is even more critical.  It’s also more challenging as thoughts about the event and other players easily dominate my awareness unless I use discipline and strength to put them aside.

That’s a difficult task, requiring awareness and commitment to reach a calm, grounded place before jumping into action (or, more accurately when I fail to take time, costly reaction).  Yet it is just that commitment to organize from within that brings clarity to what my right action is, while remembering that my right action may not be what’s right for another.

Operating efficiently is critical to my well-being – my health, my wealth, my happiness, and the quality of life itself. With that commitment, it’s easy to make choices, to discern what activities and events I will participate in and which ones will be left behind.

Is efficient operation important to you? How do you maintain it?

Luke - stretched out and on the move this beautiful autumn day!

What's In It For Me?

Autumn in The Rockies

The obligation for each of us is that we must have a sense of doing what we believe is right. Gregge Tiffen (The Journey Continues: In Search of Wisdom – September, 2010)

I’ve been sitting with this wisdom from Gregge for a couple weeks around several opportunities presenting themselves for my consideration. I’ve been asking questions such as ‘what values am I considering as I think about what is ‘right’?  Do I/will I like myself as I engage in this?  What might I learn? How might I grow? And, ultimately ‘what’s in it for me?’

Does the question bring a shudder of judgement suggesting it’s selfish to ask?  It did for me when I was first challenged to consider it.  It’s a very different question than ‘what’s important about this to me?’ and many of the other questions that we ask when making choices both large and small.  Rather than being a selfish question, I’m finding it one that opens me to new discoveries about what motivates me and what I care about. It brings me gently to identify and consider agendas that may be hidden.  It helps me bring clarity to my intentions.  

Rather than being a question that skims the surface merely identifying potential material gain, asking what’s in it for me?  takes me to a deep, reflective place. It helps me define what I need and want as I make choices about where to invest my energy. Discovering this helps me feel a sense of satisfaction at day’s end when I lay my head on the pillow.

As I reflect on the question itself, I sense that it leads me to a more authentic expression me. It keeps me or puts me on paths that best fit my personal design. It brings a sense of ease and flow to life and erases any need for struggle.

Happy biker ... I'm guessing she know 'what's in it for her'.

A Beautiful Fall Day in the Rockies

Director of My Thoughts

Beyond Harmony & Caprice, Autumn is Coming to the Sangres

I find most people will simply not monitor their thought processes. It’s as if they allow the thought process to deal out to them anything the thoughts want without realizing that the thought process itself is the direct extension of their own will.  

Thoughts are energy being transmitted through your nervous system unimpaired and unhampered. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: One Original Thought, September, 2011)

To Gregge’s first comment above, I plead ‘guilty as charged’.  The evidence, as suggested in the second quote can be found in my physical body in the form of effects caused by rampaging thoughts going where they go until I step up and impose my will. The opportunity is to observe, experiment, practice using the free will that was gifted me by the universe.

I’m discovering that observing my thoughts with the awareness that I have the authority and the responsibility to manage them to my benefit is a full time job.  This is especially true when I’m in the midst of a challenging situation where thoughts about ‘it’ and ‘them’ rush in and reinforce the illusion that we are separate from one another.

I’ve had lots of practice opportunities over the last couple weeks as I aim to glean all the learning that I can from the events. I’m challenging myself to not dwell in the stories or even in what I see as the solutions, but to be at choice about what thoughts have my attention. Required ingredients: awareness, discipline, will.

Awareness requires that I observe where my thoughts are dwelling in every moment and remember that I am the director of my thoughts (cool new title eh? Director of My Thoughts!).  Discipline asks me to be consistent in my awareness and to practice, practice, and, yes, rinse, repeat and practice again. Will demands that I live into the power of being the director of my thoughts and that I deny access to wasteful, energy draining, disempowering ones and choose to bring forward thoughts that are productive, generative and empowering.

The reminder that ‘thoughts are energy being transmitted through the nervous system’ asks that the Director of My Thoughts observe my physical well-being and respond by giving it the care and protection it requires. My body signals with tightness in my chest, tension in my neck and shoulders, and, on occasion, a rumbly tummy.  Luke’s interaction with me offers a gauge to how my thoughts are moving into the environment.

I can use these signals as warning signs that suggest ‘Thoughts off-track. Reboot with new ones please’.  And, I know that nature and my five senses provide a path to that reboot, to restoring me so that I can engage different, fresh thoughts.

I breathe. I see and I invite the visual beauty of the landscape where I live to sink deeply into my cells.

I breathe. I hug a tree and I invite the strength that I feel to nurture me.  I breathe. I hear the soft gurgling of a nearby creek and I invite it to carry away those thoughts that don’t serve me. I breathe. I smell the freshness of a gentle rain and I am simply grateful. I breathe. I taste the sweetness of a tomato just picked from the vine and I know that I am nourished. I breathe.

I notice my thoughts and am ready to engage anew. What about you?

Here Comes the Sun!

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!

Shifting Sands, Shifting Focus

Another beautiful sunrise in the Sangres

The minute you can get your gaze, your attitude, and your focus off someone or something you don’t like, the influence is gone. Will is the only tool you’ve got.  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: One Original Thought – September, 2011)

I don’t know anyone who isn’t experiencing shifting sands in some form or another.  If not in our own personal experience then perhaps in someone close to us and most certainly in our society as a whole.  Change is life. 

I’m in the midst of some influences and experiences that I don’t like. They remind me that I’m not in control of them and that it is my choice to what extent they control me.  That reminder is a gift.

They call on me to choose how I will apply and use my will. Where will I put my attention?  How long will I dwell in the negative event, beating up myself and perhaps others with my thoughts?  When will I put my gaze elsewhere? 

Now, in this moment I shift my gaze.  I didn’t get here as quickly as I would have liked. I inhabited the negativity of an event and opened the door to later events that seemed to pile on.  I started the shift enjoying a glass of wine and conversation on the deck with a lovely B&B guest.  I noticed how easily I could step into a conversation about what I love about where I live.

A bit later as I felt the negativity come creeping back in (okay, honestly it was rushing!) I reached for one of Gregge Tiffen’s September booklets, took a breath and asked ‘what do I need to see right now?’  Voila! My gaze landed on the above. The shift in my cells was palpable as the frequency of my energy began to shift. I also noticed how easily it slipped in that instant when my gaze didn’t have a clear focal point. 

I read a bit more and shifted my thinking to this week’s post. That’s a luxury usually reserved for Thursday mornings, but I felt inspired by the words and the experience.  Writing is a place to focus that shifts whatever is influencing me.  And, selecting photos from this week’s stunning landscapes provided yet another soothing place to land my gaze.  My will to shift the energy is taking root.  The lightness I feel contrasts where I dwelt earlier in the day.  With that lightness I feel gratitude and a hint that in this event the answer to a seemingly unrelated question is being revealed. How cool is that?

Memo to self: When shifting sands feel as if they are about to drown you, shift your gaze, your attitude, your focus and see what new frequency you can muster.  Then, be tenacious in maintaining it.

One of several stunning sunsets this week.

Morning Moon

Difficult Times

An especially beautiful sunrise over the mountains: snow, a fog bank, and sunlight in the trees

When you are in difficult situations, ask yourself what your life is trying to show you. Gregge Tiffen, Life in the World Hereafter: The Journey Continues (available from P-Systems - http://www.p-systemsinc.com/publications.htm and on amazon.com)

I wanted to title this post ‘The Most Important Question You Can Ask’, but I resist the temptation to shout what I understand to be mystical truth.  I don’t know about you, but I learn best when something comes to me understated.  I like to be surprised when some new piece of knowledge or an experience exceeds my expectations. My ‘critical eye/I’ kicks in when I experience something as less than I thought was promised.

What is true for me now however is that approaching all of life, especially difficult times, as learning opportunities is the most important shift that I have made in my 66 years of this life.

Sincerely asking the question ‘what does this event in my life want to teach me?’ with an open mind and an open heart is an elixir that helps me move from struggle and suffering to greater ease and peace.  With an attitude of genuine curiosity, I can engage in necessary actions that step-by-step often lead to inspiration and deep insight. Hidden possibilities are revealed in holding the question lightly even in the darkest of situations.

Old habits and patterns stagnated some aspect of my growth can emerge with an invitation to be released to make way for new growth.  Shedding skins and dropping leaves are two of nature’s many reminders that the way must be prepared for the new. Difficult times in our lives are like weather changes that signal the time for growth is nigh.  New growth signals our resilience and our adaptability, and it builds these strengths.

Life’s events are meant to be our teachers. We are not meant to enter them knowing what to or what the outcome will be.

They exist FOR us, for our experimentation and our learning. They are opportunities to call forth our will. Though they may bring pain, sadness, angst, even fear, life’s events –each and every one- are gifts of an omnipotent universe. That universe knows what we need on our path of learning to navigate on this planet, in this life, and beyond.

Wherever you find yourself this week, whether easy or difficult times are upon you, give yourself the gift of tapping into that omnipotence with the question: what can this event teach me?  Then, be willing to listen and to learn.

And equally beautiful in the west, a morning rainbow across the valley

Chasing Thistles. Removing Quills.

Yes, it is August. And, yes, that is SNOW.

If God bids me to chase thistles, I would gladly do it.  Dionysius

If you transpose ‘God’ to mean ‘universe’, you will understand this to mean that whatever the universe is asking me is my greatest joy. Trust that the universe is intelligence and therefore wisdom, harmony, understanding, and love, so you can’t go wrong. Gregge Tiffen (Echo – Sept. 10, 2012)

I’m coming to understand that the universe doesn’t distinguish between what we might think of as ‘major’ events and those we probably consider minor.  All events are opportunities to learn and to be our best self no matter how great or how small we think they are.  In this intelligent universe every event holds the bidding for that which is being asked of us in that moment.

Two events among many this week stand out as reminders that what the universe places before me is where I’m being asked to put my attention. They reminded me as well that, indeed, the universe IS intelligence.

Shortly after arriving, weekend Dragonfly House guests with reservations for a two-night stay informed me that they would “be out of here tomorrow morning.” I was a shocked and started to go down the path of a fearful (how will I replace the lost revenue?) reaction. I stopped me. Turning off the tap of negativity, I tapped into knowing that this event is meant to unfold in exactly this way.  I wished them a good night’s rest, reminded them of breakfast timing, and I let go.  Within a few hours of bidding them farewell the next morning, I had reservations in both guest rooms for appreciative guests who needed accommodations at the last minute.  Memo to self: Yes, things do unfold for the best.

Yesterday Luke had his first (and I pray his only!) encounter with a porcupine, returning from a foray into the woods during our walk with a face full of quills. He was clawing and rubbing his face on the ground, obviously uncomfortable, yet not seeming to be in pain.  I moved into action more calmly than in hindsight I could imagine, first removing a few that I could easily grab with my fingers and a gentle tug.  The easy ones out, we began to walk toward home. Two B&B guests who had arrived earlier in the day crossed our path and followed us. With their help, only two pesky quills remained, one lodged just inside Luke’s upper lip.  Luke wasn’t so keen with the removal process despite my consistent efforts to keep him calm. Our local vet came over, but our efforts to get the quill removed from his mouth were nil.  After consulting we decided to leave it for a day to see if the quill would come out on its own.  Yes, it did – within the hour. Second memo to self: Yes, things do work out.

Later, when it was time to lay my head on the pillow after each of these events, I did so with gratitude for the event and with satisfaction for having met each, consciously or not, with the knowing that, indeed, the universe IS intelligent and I benefit when I tune into that intelligence.

The beauty of an early morning start to our first walk of the day.

The quills ...

Banishing Negativity

Grateful for another day of the sun rising over the Sangres!

Negativity can’t create anything. It can't even create further negativity because that energy just maintains itself.  Gregge Tiffen (PS 52, Series 8, The New Experiment, Week 47)

Negativity is a misapplication of the laws of the universe and the rules of the planet.  Patrece on behalf of P-Systems, Inc. (PS 52, Series 8, The New Experiment, Week 47)

I don’t know about you, but some days it feels like our world has become a cauldron of negativity. Is it any wonder that we don’t seem able to move forward, given that negativity doesn’t create anything? How can we possibly address what is on our own plates in terms of life, not to mention the plethora of critical issues needing the best of each of us collectively when fear and hatred are being hurled at us from so-called leaders, the media, and even one another?

While turning off the news or taking a break from social media may give us relief from time to time, do these tactics sustain us in maintaining a positive approach to life?  While I’ve long preferred and, hopefully, been successful at maintaining positivity in my life, I can’t claim to have banished negativity completely. Hey, I’m still human after all.

And yet, I honestly think that I’m doing pretty darn well with my personal positivity score.

But a weekend experience of allowing my ‘inner snarky’ to surface at about the same time as this week’s installment of PS 52 arrived, coupled with wondering why a project I’m involved in can’t seem to move forward, prompted me to take a look at negativity – that within as well as that beyond my reach. I was quickly reminded that my ‘inner snarky’ surfaces when things don’t turn out like I want them to (duh!): a show is late starting and I leap to ‘they are wasting my valuable time’, leaving in the dust relaxing and enjoying the moments of peace or extra time with a friend.  I quickly return from negativity-land, but I wonder: why do I go there in the first place?  Answer: habit (‘nuf said).  Solution: awareness + choosing differently.

As I reflected a bit more, I allowed myself to see and acknowledge the shifts and pruning of habits and beliefs that I’ve done over the years that contribute to my capacity to maintain positivity in our sometimes negative and chaotic world:

• Practicing gratitude for ALL
• Immersing myself in nature, self-care, and care for Cool Hand Luke
• Nurturing curiosity, especially when I don’t know how to move forward, shifting from declaring ‘I don’t know how’ to asking ‘How can I? What if …?’
• Taking responsibility vs. blaming others
• Developing my capacity to say ‘no’ to opportunities, events, and others that don’t represent the quality I want at that moment
• Nurturing and developing my core belief in the abundance and intelligence of the universe
• Nurturing patience for myself and for others
• Learning to enjoy my own company
• Continuing to learn about and experiment with how energy works
• Remembering that life is an experiment and events are here not for me to be right, but rather as gifts for my learning, AND that I have a band of personal guides that are with me all along the way
• Make and take time for fun!

For the sake of the universe, the angels, the planet, nature, humanity and ourselves we need to banish negativity.  Ground zero is right where we live. It’s you. It’s me. It’s up to each and every one of us to forge a path to banish negativity in all of its insidious forms from our lives. The quality of our future – this life and beyond – depends on it.

Taking time for some fun at Crestfest 2016!

Another beautiful sunset on a beautiful day in the Sangres.

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!

Tasting the Sweet Nectar of Joy

It's easy to connect with the divine seeing the gentle joy of three guys resting in the woods nearby ...

It is happiness within yourself that gives you that joy in which all feelings of the world leave you because you are so filled with the feeling of yourself.  Gregge Tiffen (soon to be published in the Collected Works of Gregge Tiffen)

At first read, you might experience a reaction to the words ‘so filled with the feeling of yourself’.  It may even sound egotistical. After all, we look askance at people who are ‘full of themselves’.  

But look, read again. Just what does it mean to be ‘filled with the feeling of yourself’ to the point of joy?  Is it only those transcendent moments that many seek in mediation?  Or might joy be simply recognizing, feeling if you will, the divine that is you as you move through and experience the most basic events in life?

This week I’ve had the opportunity to review some soon to be published material from Gregge Tiffen that is being compiled as The Collected Works of Gregge Tiffen. (YES! I’ll let you know just as soon as it’s available.) In this material he reminds the reader (at least this reader!) that spiritual awareness, connection to the Divine (Universe, God, or whatever label you choose) can be experienced in the simplest and most basic activities. He includes responding to the call of nature when you really need to go along with other daily activities that, for the most part, we take for granted.

Have you ever really rested in a restroom or do you just get relief? (Written in 1989 in a creativity workshop offered by Gregge)

But what if we took these ‘routine’ activities for the miracles and creative opportunities they are? 

This need not be a long, ponderous process. Indeed it is not!  It is developing a new habit of allowing everyday activities to be joy-filled for just an instant. It is recognizing “the great feeling of release and cleanliness from that which had the body all tied up” (GT – unpublished work) as the miracle of life that it is - for just a moment.

It is taking time to taste the sweet nectar of joy in all of life.  As I reflected on this, I challenged myself to recognize just how much sweetness and joy I experience in a day’s events and to be present to that joy. 

Daily, each of us engages in activity and has moments with the potential to touch our divine nature. Perhaps that’s needed today more than ever as our own personal counter to the anger and angst that seem to fill our world.

In the week ahead I invite you to join me in tasting the sweetness that is your life.  From the bathroom basics to the challenge of a difficult situation, fill yourself with the feeling of you, the you that IS the divine.  And, when you lay your head on the pillow each night, count those blessings.

... and, in the wonder of unusual clouds hanging over the Sangres.