Count On THIS!

I can always count on Luke's 'Treat Please!' shadow

No matter what the outcome, the sun will rise tomorrow … President Barack Hussein Obama, November 8, 2016

We have an abundant Universe. We have an infinite Universe. We have an omnipotent, creative Universe, and all these things are available to us. We are willing to receive and willing to give thanks as an integral part of creation. Gregge Tiffen – The Power of Giving Thanks – November, 2007

Yesterday I grieved. I allowed the sobs and tears to flow each time they rose from deep within. The tears of joy seeing moms and dads with their daughters and sons placing “I voted” stickers on the grave of Susan B Anthony and my expectation that election day would bring the shattering of a thick glass ceiling,  became sobs of grief as the results of election night rolled in. If the results landed differently for you, I honor that our choices diverge.

In the wee hours of Wednesday morning when I finally put my tearful head on the pillow, President Obama’s words, “the sun will rise tomorrow …” offered a measure of comfort and a reminder to return to my wisdom, my core beliefs. I’d even found a surprising touch of hope in the tone and words of President-elect Trump’s victory speech.

After a few hours of restless ‘sleep’, I woke to the quiet and allowed the depths of my sorrow to rise with me. Through the sorrow, I realized indeed that the sun had risen. In nurturing myself in nature, I found solace. Like the sun, the mountains were in their place as beautiful and majestic as ever. The trees seemed to hold me in their care, embracing me before I reached out to hug them. And, Cool Hand Luke was his unconditionally loving self. Ah, This, This I can count on.

In nature, I count on the gentle, sweet presence of deer giving me a watchful eye from time to time.

Throughout the day I sought wisdom and understanding, mostly within on my ‘inner-net’, the receptive heart and soul of my being.  Receive and give thanks.

I ventured outward with cautious, selective curiosity seeking very little input yet wanting to know whether Hillary had spoken and what thoughts a few select colleagues and friends were sharing. I listened to a replay of Hillary’s message and found her generous, clear, consistent, committed, humble and grateful. Following that I listened to President Obama’s steady, graceful words reminding us of the fundamentals of our democracy and reaching out to wish the new president well.

How many among us can reach out after being as viciously attacked as the President and wish our attacker well?  I think of and am inspired by the Water Protectors at Standing Rock reaching out to the police who have attacked them. Could I be so graceful, so courageous?

How many among us could suffer a stunning setback and, within hours, stand tall publicly to gracefully wish our opponent well as Hillary did?

I looked in the mirror and reflected on how I’ve engaged in recent conflicts. Perhaps ‘grace in conflict’ as a learning opportunity doesn’t resonate for you, but I know that it is a part of my learning path as I seek to navigate ‘in’ this world without being ‘of’ it.  I aim to muster the courage to put my feet in the water of that muddy pond, and to experiment, up close and personal.

Deep in my soul, so deep that sometimes it is out of reach, I know that a divine plan is unfolding. It does so in ways I don’t expect, sometimes don’t like, and frequently don’t understand in human terms. My cells know this, but my awareness in this body and with this mind has not fully reached that level of acceptance. But the words of a mentor and friend yesterday reminded that I have eons of time and as many lifetimes as I need to experiment and to learn.

And I count on the nourishing beauty of the mountains and the trees.

Atmospheric Conditions

Perfect Atmospheric Conditions Required for Flight!

At times, by the use of a word, an attitude, or an action, you plug into some kind of energy that you are not aware is there.  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Invisible Action – November, 2011)

There were times in my life that I took just a speck of inspiration that I could feel and expanded upon it to pump more vitality into that sense of acceptance. Patrece (undated personal communication)

In the midst of atmospheric conditions that feel, sound, and look dark and ominous, one can sometimes feel that other energy isn’t there for our use.  I find myself with that challenge more than I’d like.  At a time when I (and I think humanity and the planet) need an atmosphere of well-being, it seems that the overall atmospheric conditions are dense, dark and in need of lifting.

On waking the first day back from my week away, I found myself slipping into a funk. Beyond ‘the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket’, a closer look revealed a sense of obligation about many tasks and activities that needed my attention. Even activities that I wanted to participate in felt obligatory.

What energy had I unwittingly plugged into?  More importantly, what energy did I want and what atmosphere would I prefer to create?  The questions themselves along with recognizing that we each contribute to the overall atmosphere by the atmosphere we create for ourselves, provided an opening, a reminder that I could walk through a different portal to a different attitude, a different atmosphere.

Over the years, I’ve found many things that nurture and support me to create an atmosphere of well-being around me.  Daily walks in nature with the handsome Cool Hand Luke and joy of caring for him rank high on my list.  Music, listening and singing; poetry, reading and writing; mystical and spiritual works are other fertilizer to nourish and expand on little bits of inspiration. Creating a nurturing environment for my B&B guests supports me in many ways.

A Favorite Inspirational Spot on Cottonwood Creek

Gregge Tiffen’s work, both his general writing and notes from my consultations with him over 30 years, likewise is an always reliable source.  A look at my personal BiCircadian calendar (one of many tools of his legacy) provided just what I needed to shift from obligation to exploration: two planets in positions that supported lightness, fun, creativity, and spontaneity. Although I didn’t exactly jump up and shout “bring it on!”, I felt the heaviness of obligation lifting and the curiosity of exploration beginning to bloom.

All too often we accept the atmosphere we find ourselves in as ‘just the way things are’.  We forget that there is a choice about the energy we plug into and the atmosphere which that creates.  We wander away from ‘home’, look outside of ourselves (our cells), and latch on to whatever energy is present. In a world that needs the vibration of our well-being, perhaps that haste does indeed make waste, and taking time to make a conscious choice serves us as well as serving humanity.

Question for the week: How do you recognize specks of inspiration and what are your favorite ways to nurture them?

Handsome. That IS All.

Going All Out

Going All Out for Halloween!

Waste is the one thing that the Universe does not allow, and to ignore the ‘Great Pumpkin’ of why you are here is a waste. You become part of your own excitement when you recognize that you living your life is you being revealed to you. Now that is productive! Gregge Tiffen (The Great Pumpkin: Was Charlie Brown Right? October, 2007)

I’m away from my normal environment this week, spending time on Colorado’s Front Range in the Boulder/Denver area, a few days in suburbia and a few in the heart of the City. Being away typically stimulates different reflections and new points of awareness. This trip is no different. Among several such points of reflection was noticing the abundance of Halloween decorations on our walks in the neighborhood where I’m visiting a friend.

After an initial snarky judgement (who me?), I found myself curious about the idea of ‘going all out’. Since I generally don’t go all out for decorations, I asked myself just what I’m inspired to go ‘all out’ for.

Ah, the Great Pumpkin of life was inviting my attention, offering the possibility of new awareness from my observations and judgments. Something new was being revealed, a new lens from which to reflect and, perhaps, to make adjustments:

• What does it mean to me to ‘go all out’?
• What do I go all out for in my life?
• What new possibilities offer the opportunity to go all out?

My quick first list included much of how I live my life: my self-care, care for Luke, care for my home, as well as care for my coaching clients, bed & breakfast guests, and friends. Creating this weekly post and my commitment to my personal and spiritual learning and growth are other areas that I identified. Pretty satisfying.

The list led me to realize that, for me, ‘going all out’ is an inside job before it becomes an outside expression. It means bringing forth the best that is in me whatever that is moment to moment, without regard for what I’m doing. It requires that I be clear and harmonious. I need to keep the world’s chaos at bay and maintain balance within.

‘Going all out’ for me means what Gregge calls “attending to our own creativity”, whether I’m engaged in the day to day activities that make up life or in a big creative project. From that perspective, I can ask ‘what do I want to go all out for now, next and I can stay tuned into me to discover just what that will be.  And, that’s a pretty exciting thought to take out for a walk with my friend and our beloved pups on this beautiful, warm autumn day.

Or Maybe I'll Go Play With a Dragon ...

Life Flows - Take 2

An eye in the woods - "Here's lookin' at ya!"

We are part of a natural flow of experiences in which all that we are really doing is allowing ourselves to participate in the flow. Gregge Tiffen (Deeds Are Fruit, Words Are Leaves – October, 2008)

In a culture that drives us to ‘make things happen’ and creates the illusion that we are somehow ‘in control’, it can be discomforting to consider the possibility that we humans have it all wrong about how we ‘make’ things happen.

That same idea can be comforting as well. What if life is simply about showing up for events that have already been created, deciding what attitude and approach we’ll choose to ‘wear’ for each?  Like choosing a Halloween costume: Who do you want to be today?  What if that flow is about experimenting and acquiring knowledge that at some point is distilled into a drop of wisdom that stays with us forever? What if in our life today we have in our cells wisdom collected over eons of experience?

I woke this morning and picked up paper and pen. After a few quiet moments, these words came forth to begin the natural flow of this day.

Rivers flow

Money flows

Life flows

And, so it goes

I

With the flow

I

Knowing that I know.

Oh, that.

Ease

Follows remembering

Who I am

And my place of grace

In the Universe.

Gratitude floats like a leaf on the surface

And as a fish swimming below.

Gratitude embraces the flow.

Hi There!

It was a few moments before I recognized that this week’s post had ‘arrived’.  Sometimes a quote provides the inspiration for the words that follow. This week the words came first, so I set out in search of a quote. Then, when I found the quote above, I discovered that it’s the one that I used exactly one year ago for the post in the third week of October, 2015 (you can read that take on ‘Life Flows’ here - http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/life-flows.  I think I’ve stepped into the flow of this day … now, off for a walk, breakfast and discovering what other delights I’ll have the opportunity to participate in.

How are you flowing in the river that is your life?

A beautiful fall day on a favorite trail.

The Humbling Side of Awareness

May All Your Paths Be Paved With Gold!

The whole technique, in terms of living, is the means of being aware, curiously aware and questioningly aware.  Gregge Tiffen (The Language of A Mystic: Innovation, October, 2009)

Being aware brings a great deal of excitement, interest and joy to daily life. It can also bring moments of humbling truth.

In the midst of exploring a gnarly, conflict-filled situation with my coach, she asked a question with implications far beyond the event we were discussing. “Do you need the extremes, the conflict?” she inquired.

The answer in that moment for that event was a clear resounding ‘no’.  Yet, as I suspected, the question had legs and would stay with me as I observed my thoughts and actions afterwards. Over the next several days as I put the event behind me, I was quickly aware of and mostly able to manage judgmental, conflict-oriented thoughts about the situation.  And, I also noticed something else: other thoughts (more that I would like to admit) that engaged the themes of extremes, conflict and judgement.  Ugh! 

Beyond the ‘ugh’, I mustered some curiosity and began to notice even more. Some of my interest in conflict was energizing in a positive way. For example, seeing the extremes in the current Presidential race here in the U.S. can move me into action supporting the views that I believe in.  That kind of engagement is rewarding in terms of self-expression and satisfaction.

But I also noticed a ‘dark’ side, other thought patterns that, while they may energize in the moment, actually drain my energy. These are thoughts that put my attention on others, on comparison, and judgement in a way that creates an atmosphere of conflict where none exists nor is it needed.

Discovering these stories and acknowledging that some offer the illusion that I am ‘better than’ another has been humbling. Seeing that they energize in ways that don’t serve me is a gift of that awareness.

From these discoveries I can release any dependence on this form of conflict to energize me. I can choose when to engage and explore ways to do so in alignment with my true nature. I can notice when these thoughts arise and create different ones. I can experiment and practice; then rinse and repeat.

I can be ‘curiously and questioningly aware’ and THAT is LIVING!

Nature's Beauty Abounds ...

Challenge for the week:  Engage your curiosity and questioning to discover what among your many thought patterns serve you and which ones do not.  Share your discoveries over on the blog site.

Early Morning Light and Beauty with Luke

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