Practicing what we've been preached

I had a really interesting realization about patterns of thought. Patterns of thought can be changed, all you have to do is be aware that you're about to dive into one, notice the repetitive thoughts that come up, and begin to shift your focus and see what's in front of you in a different way.

Usually, some one or some action will trigger a response in you. You'll think your response is real, when actually it's just a pattern of thought that you usually think in the presence of this person or action. You get your buttons pushed and a habitual response comes out. It's not real. It's just a thought you're used to thinking.

In the movie Dan in Real Life, one of the character's says, "love isn't an emotion, it's an ability". You can have the ability to love, and practice that ability, or not. You can also have the ability to be happy, and practice that ability. Or, you can continue to practice your patterns and stay stuck in the life you have.

Most of us just practice what we've been "preached", or taught. We've learned what the culture thinks of as an appropriate response to any given person or action, whether or not the response feels "right" or "true" or in alignment with who we really are.

We lose the ability to respond naturally and truly when we adhere to "the preaching". Let go of what you think. Feel your way towards natural responses and see what this opens up in you. How do you know when a response is natural? You feel completely whole. Remember feeling whole?

Whenever you feel fear or doubt, know that this is an unnatural response. Practice a different feeling. Free yourself from your patterns. You have nothing to lose and a whole new world to gain.

Marching On

Time does it, and so do I. Sometimes slogging on is closer to the feeling I have walking my sometimes muddy life path.

I've been finding this time very confusing. For some reason, I can't seem to get my priorities straight. I make choices, and then question them. Self doubt abounds, and I can't seem to find where I put my compus or even what it looks like.

My true north: feeling free. Easy enough. How to do it? How to feel free when there's so much pressure to do what you SHOULD do and not what feels the best. Time to clear those boulders from my path.

Joseph Campbell said when you feel lost you should close your eyes and think about the time when you felt the happiest. I have lots of those times, but they seem to involve other people: dancing, watching my boy play soccer or act, talking with any of my kids, great discussions with my friend. What I'm looking for now is those times when I felt happiest by myself.

I think I can say that making something, anything, where I lose myself in the act of creation--those are the times when I feel happiest. Time to do that. Time to make something beautiful and thus find the beauty in myself.

Time to head north.

Feeling Overwhelmed

Sometimes I feel like I never have enough time to do everything I want to do, or even everything I think I need to do.

A friend of mine often says "There is all time in God's time." My Tai Chi teacher says "You're where you need to be when you need to be there."

There's so much wisdom in those words. Why don't I listen to them? I think because I believe in the illusion of wasted time. It's not a belief I want to cling to, since it indicates that I don't trust life.

Trust life. My network Chiropractor said that. Another bit of wisdom. And why not trust life? My life has been, on the whole, wonderful. It can go on being wonderful, I'm sure.

But what about the suffering of others? Am I worried about the misery in the world? I'm sorry for it, but my being miserable myself won't help other's unhappiness.

Astrologer Carolyn Casey says "This is no time for Realism. It's vision that we need."

What we can all do for the world is envision the world we want to live in. The world will change, if we start to focus on what we want for it, not by focusing on how we think it is. I'm sure we all want roughly the same things. Clean air, clear water, abundant life forms, happy children, interesting work, wonderful friends, and time to relax and enjoy it all.

We can never, really, see the world as it is anyway. We can see only what the media chooses to show us filtered through our own narrow perspective. Let us open our imaginations to what could be, and let the how of it take care of itself. Let go of struggle and resistence and open to the power of the creative spirit.

It you trust yourself, as the amazing creator you are, you will trust life.