Processing Feelings...

It never ceases to amaze me that I can read any number of books, listen to a year's worth of audio, attend seminars on the subject, share the message, counsel and coach others about it, meditate, pray, light candles, but when it comes to applying the wisdom of the sages to my own stuff, I fall so desparately short of hitting the mark.

I'm speaking of simply being okay in the "shaky" stuff. The unsteadiness. The "life is throwing curve balls at me" kind of feeling. The feeling of "overwhelm" that seems to happen at the juxtaposition of the proper forces. My biorhythms are in the red and all of my external relationships, things and scheduled events, are coming with what appear to be challenges. In droves. I'm not complaining, mind you, it's just a way for me to process feelings and move through with intuition, grace and a deeper understanding. This is not a "why me" letter; it's a "who me" introspection that by sharing with you, perhaps you'll see a reflection and come away with a deeper understanding as well.

I have the tools to be alright with the uncomfortableness, the mystery, the "letting go" and knowing that it ultimately will be just what it should be. I use them on a regular basis and for a period I am grounded. I just think it's interesting that someone can know all this great stuff about being connected at a higher level of consciousness and still feel like the rug is being pulled out from underneath them. Ahhhh, the mysteries of the human condition.

Remember that it's not the "stuff" that trips us, it's merely our perception of it that affects our feelings, thoughts, emotions and behavior. We're the ones creating our fear. We can just as easily create love and open our hearts to what needs to come through.

Without the roller-coaster of the emotions we'd be pretty flat and there's not nearly as much fun in that. So the trick is to learn to be grateful, even in the low times. To be forgiving to ourselves and others and to move through it, or "intuit" (in to it) as I like to say. I've learned that by "preaching" and teaching others to do the work, even holding their hands as they go through it allows me to avoid it in myself, right? I can easily show someone the mountain, explain how to use the proper gear, tell them where to set up camp, even which flowers and rock formations to take pictures of and which direction to face into the wind at the top for the most beneficial experience but actually climb the mountain again myself, over and over? Well, that's scary!

So here's the bottom line... Living a well constructed life at a higher connection to truth and Spirit does not exclude you from being a human being and being succeptable to a an emotional roller-coaster ride once in a while. Even mystics get the blues. Maybe it will help to know that it will cycle around at some point and let you coast in the sunshine again. That's where faith comes into play; that'll be the topic for a future blog entry.

For more inspiration and information about living well in the mystery, check out Pema Chodron here: The Pema Chodron Foundation

Sending you love and radiant light for your healing and success!

Namaste'

John

Connecting to your ♥, conversations with God.

Opening up your heart, becoming more open... your heart is at the center of your being... scientific studies have now shown that the heart produces more electromagnetic waves than your brain... your heart is the organ, or tool, that receives and emits feelings, thoughts, emotions, prayers... waves that go out into the field, the "Matrix," to God... Your heart is what you communicate with on the more subtle levels... it makes perfect sense to become in touch with and to know when someone asks you, "What does your heart tell you to do?" You know because you become open and clear when activating this "tool," your heart.

The way to do this is meditation. Becoming silent and focusing within is the only way. There is no other practice for this. Some say that prayer is "speaking" to God, meditation is "listening." Open your heart like a receiver for the Universe to "stream" into you. You have it within you to know this and much, much more... you only need to be open to the possibility of it. It doesn't mean that you need to become the monk on the mountain, it only means giving yourself a few minutes a few times a day for a little break; a few deep breaths and a connection to your center. Someone who is grounded is like an unmovable, immutable force. Nothing can shake you from knowing the deeper truth, that the "stuff" that happens in the world, all the junk, the hype and the lies... they aren't YOUR truth. They don't make you into who you are at your deepest core, you radiant child of God, you Spirit in a human suit. You are only beauty, truth, freedom, grace, forgiveness, love, God.

When you can make God into a verb, you've got a good start. It takes courage, fortitude and brevity to stay on the path you've embarked upon. I'm wonderfully proud of you.

Self-Esteem, Energy & Love

I’d like to share some of my thoughts with you about the relationship of self-esteem, energy and love and what the blending of these three ingredients could mean for us. I’m not speaking about the energy that powers your computer, or the energy that powers your car, I’m speaking about the energy you feel when you connect yourself to something of great value. It’s the energy of relationship. It’s the feeling in your heart when you accomplish a powerful goal. It’s the goodness you feel when you help another individual, not for pride or for selfish gain, but just because they needed help and you have the resources to give them exactly what they need at the perfect time… energy. Imagine, for a moment, how you feel when someone you admire and respect walks into the room. The excitement you feel and the charisma they convey to you is a verifiable exchange of energy. It’s the type of energy that can make a difference in your soul and that can make a difference in the world. Scientists have now declared that the human heart is a bigger producer of electro-magnetic energy waves than the brain.

Now, the world may not care if you have self-esteem, in fact the “world,” especially as it’s portrayed in mainstream media, would like nothing more than for all of us to become self-serving, self-righteous little androids with no sense of esteem at all. You want some great advice? When the TV news comes on, turn the channel to PBS or the History or Science channel. Or better still, turn it off completely. If something you need to know happens, someone will let you know about it. If the weather is inclement, keep your eye on the weather channel.

In order to create that within ourselves which will allow us to communicate with higher energy and become positive examples of self-assurance, self-regard, and self-esteem for our children and students, we need to develop a practice of selfless love in its truest form. I would venture to say that many of you already do this. Love is the highest form of communication in the universe. It’s the one thing that every ancient and modern spiritual tradition agrees on. God is love. All you need is love. Jesus said, “Love your neighbor, as you love yourself.” I think we’ve touched on a key point here.

Teachers and sages will all tell you that you must love yourself before you can truly love another. Self-esteem, self-assurance, and self-confidence are all derivatives of healthy self-love. So why is it so elusive for so many? As a Relationship & Energy Coach, I see this time and again with my clients. They’re searching for something missing in their lives. They’re looking for meaning, purpose, reasons…They’re looking for energy. I say love yourself, love your family and friends, love all fellow human beings unconditionally and give your self in service to what needs to be done. Interpret and gain from the lessons of past wounds and, then put them behind you and move forward with self-love and self-respect. Come to know the practices of Acceptance, Releasing, Forgiveness, and Healing… Energy.

Here’s a valuable tool which will increase your self-esteem on a daily basis. It’s not difficult but it takes a little practice to make a positive change. To change your thoughts you need to reprogram your mind and the only way to do that is through repetition. One of the things that we do as human beings as a result of our programming is to develop and hold dialogs with ourselves. We call this chatter self-talk. More often than not, my self-talk really takes place when I feel it’s time to berate or belittle myself. Has anyone ever had this experience? You’ve missed the exit on the freeway and what do you say to yourself? “Oh, you bumbling idiot!” or worse… right? Or you’ve gotten yourself worked up about a project or an idea and you say to yourself, “Now, what makes you think you can do that? You can’t do that!”

Here’s a way to fix that: catch yourself in the middle one of those dialogs. Picture a tape recorder in your mind, every time you make one of those statements to yourself, picture yourself pressing the STOP button and at the same time say “Stop!” Picture yourself pressing the REWIND button and say “Rewind.” Picture yourself pressing the RECORD button and say “Record.” Now boldly state to yourself, “I forgive myself; I was only doing the best I could with what I had to work with at the time.” Pretty soon, you’ll be verbally beating yourself up less, and holding yourself up more. More self-love; creating more self-respect, more self-assurance, and more self-esteem.

-from an article on my site: namaste-energetics.com