What's On Your Plate?

You've heard the expressions, "My plate is full."  "I can't fit anymore on my plate right now." Is a
bigger plate required?  Lately I've been saying "yes" to more and more ideas and businesses and business extensions because, well, they sounded good!  Possibilities of additional income were too tempting to say no to.  More responsibilities, more to learn, more people to talk to, new websites to maintain, and more work and, intentionally, more fun!

I've been contemplating this plate of mine.  How do I make it bigger?  Can I make it bigger?  My mind wandered to plates and food, of course. Since my Virtual Gastric Bypass hypnosis, I eat much smaller amounts of food, requiring a smaller plate.  I've lost weight and I am healthier.

Imagine with me a typical Thanksgiving dinner plate of food.  There was a time I loaded up the big plate and ate it all.  I was uncomfortable for the next several hours, I gained weight, and I jeopardized my wellness.  Today, I could not do that plate of food justice.  Turkey would be half eaten, potatoes barely touched, the vegetables...who has room for vegetables?

So back to my needing a bigger plate for all my new endeavors.  Being honest, I am not truly doing justice to many of the items on my plate.  None are being handled really well.  The intended "fun" is not yet my reality.  The challenges could be creating the healthy kind of stress, but that is not the case at this time.  I spent most of August sick and the last week and a half down with a cold and sinus congestion.  Say it with me...Duh!

It's time to clean my plate.  Where do I want to put my attention?  In what areas do I want to excel?  What can be delegated?  Which brings me the most joy?  I'm gonna get me a smaller plate!

What size is your plate?  Too full and you can explode.  Not full enough and you will get bored.  We need a plate that's just right holding just the right amounts.  It's called balance!  Balance with me and have a wonderful, joyful day of Thanks!

Darn That Squirrel!

There is a milk shoot/box off my kitchen where the milkman used to deliver milk.  Yes, it's an old little house, but it has a huge backyard!  I have often looked out this shoot and watched the gray squirrels, black squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, cardinals, blue jays and other birds, and the occasional racoon and skunk.  Many times there would be six to eight squirrels running and playing while a robin splashed in the bird bath and a chipmunk looked for ways to get into the house.  The male cardinal was a regular and the female cardinal kept to the shadows.  Whenever I saw the cardinal I told myself all is well, Spirit is with me.  My sign for myself, my personal affirmation.

A few weeks ago I noticed a little red squirrel had started coming around.  At first I was delighted.  But then I noticed "Red" chasing the other squirrels (twice its size) out of the yard!  I haven't seen the birds much and spot the rabbit rarely.  "Red" has taken over the yard!

Another phenomenon this summer:  Green pine cones were littering the yard!  Sticky with sap, we'd pick them up before letting JS, my grandson, out in the yard, knowing he'd grab them and then be covered in pine pitch.  We picked up hundreds!  Looking out the milk shoot last week, after cleaning up the yard, I noticed three cones down, all in one area.  As I watched, more fell.  And more fell.  I finally stuck my head out the shoot and looked way up to the top of the tree.  There was "Red" knocking the cones off!  Within minutes there were about forty cones on the ground and I couldn't help but laugh.

The question came to mind, "How and why did I attract this red squirrel into my life?"  As a believer that I create the experiences in my life with my beliefs, I often use this type of question to take note of what I'm up to, what I'm thinking, what is the vibration I am putting out there into the Universe.

Knowing that it often takes a little time for my creation to be made manifest, I took myself back into the past few weeks, months.  Studying the squirrel, it appeared to me that "Red" wanted the yard, now its home, all to itself.  Not too long ago I was, let's say, not comfortable in my own home.  People moved into my little house with me.  People I loved and cared for.  But I was having a hard time coping with the messiness, added chores I had assigned to myself, and mostly the lack of privacy.  I felt I had lost my sanctuary.

So I think "Red" showed up to mirror the vibration/energy I was creating as I figured out how to live in this new way.  But even before "Red" moved in, I had started to shift my thoughts and beliefs into ones that better matched what I preferred.  I found ways to ask for what I wanted in the home, created a space for myself for privacy and sanctuary, and appreciated the company of family and friends in my home.

Now I get to watch what unfolds in my backyard as my new thoughts and beliefs go out into the Universe.  Will "Red" leave, or make nice with the other animals and birds?  I'll keep watching out the milk shoot and keep you posted.  By the way, what's going on in your backyard (Life) that needs a closer look?

Struggle? Suffer?

We will all have struggles but we don't have to suffer.  These words, or similar because I can't remember where I read them recently, really got me thinking.  Do I struggle?  Do I suffer?  The words in and of themselves are not ones that usually come to my mind.  Instead, yes, I face challenges.  Yes, I don't always feel good as I work through those challenges.

Over the years, I have learned a more positive way of thinking and speaking - though I must admit I regress from time to time.  Challenge feels better than struggle, don't you think?  But I can understand how some people feel the need to struggle and suffer during their struggling.  It's what they know.

At the moment you could say I am struggling with these words to say what I want to say.  Wrestling comes to mind.  You could say that I suffered through my bronchitis last month, coughing most nights instead of sleeping.  Funny, I never considered myself suffering.  I felt bad, undeniably, and getting well was my challenge (struggle?).

Suffer - to endure, tolerate - was not always energetically negative.  We have made it so and the dictionary I'm looking at actually confirms this.  Struggle by definition must include great difficulty.  We can make things so hard sometimes, can't we?  Is our reward bigger by degree of difficulty?

Many claim that words have power, that they have higher or lower vibrations and should be used carefully.  I agree to a point.  For me, if you have absolutely no energy one way or another on or about a word, it is neutral and without vibration.  I could be wrong about this, but I know I can use the words struggle and suffer without fear of consequence.  Someone who does have a negative belief on these words will most likely attract more suffering and more struggles if this is their focus.

How did I get to this place?  Well, of course, my trainings and studies of personal and spiritual growth.  But late, I think it's because I have been practicing (practicing, as in I'm not perfect at it yet) surrender.  Not giving up, but surrendering to what is, doing what needs to be done, and knowing the answers will come and the outcomes will be for my highest good.  There is no suffering in surrender, at least in my experience.

So, there it is.  Yes, there will always be challenges (life would be pretty boring without some), but suffering is a choice.  My musings.  Tell me what you "muse" about this subject!  I'd love to hear from you.

Unattached

A couple weekends ago I was visiting my Dad and found myself sitting with him and watching, of all things, a baseball game on TV.  I gave myself permission a long time ago to not put my energy and time into watching and following sports just so I could remember the names of players, statistics, and who-is-in-what-place for conversational purposes (mostly connected to meeting and talking with men).  I just am not that interested and prefer to put my attention elsewhere.

There is nothing wrong with sports and I understand it is a favorite pastime for many people.  Both my grandmothers were baseball fans and rarely missed a Tiger's game on TV.  I, myself, attended many baseball and hockey games just for the fun of it.

Anyway, watching the Tiger's game with Dad, I found I was thoroughly enjoying myself.  I didn't know the players, did notice some new protective gear they were wearing since I stopped paying attention, and did ask Dad a question or two about rules I had forgotten.  Fascinating!

It reminds me of a book I read last year, The Five Levels of Attachment.  In the book, Don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. explained the levels using sports as an example.  I could watch the baseball game, be pleasantly entertained, and sigh just a bit when the Tigers lost.  No attachment.

Some people are really into their sports and tend to identify to an extreme with their team of choice.  The very highest level of attachment is evident in their reaction to a team loss with the experience of deep anger, depression, even suicide.  And then there are those levels in-between.

Attachments can be detrimental to your health - body, mind and spirit.  Through personal growth classes, this is something I worked on and continue to look at diligently.  I'm talking about being attached to things, people, and beliefs.  Thinking I couldn't live without something or someone, that I would just die without them or it, was a miserable way to live.  I saw the truth in this and had to let go of attachments - well, maybe not all, I am a work in progress after all.

I do prefer to keep things around that make my life easier.  Makeup mirror, toothbrush, stove and refrigerator, running water...  And I prefer to keep my family and friends close, for as long as possible.  But I am not attached, though this may sound cold and heartless to some. 

How attached are you to your beliefs? Opinions? Points of view?  Ideas?  It's worth a look into identifying the attachments that are limiting and denying you the life you want to create.  Imagine living without the cords that bind, free to fly, open in mind and heart.

I Didn't Know I Didn't Know

There are many things I don’t know the knowing of which could change everything.  I know, I’ve written this before but it never ceases to amaze me how new information can totally change my way of thinking, living, eating, and even spending my money.

Take hemp for example.  Do you know what hemp is?  When asked this question I said, well yeah, they make bracelets and bags out of it.  And rope.  And I’ve seen it on the shelves at the health food store.  And I didn’t believe it was the same as marijuana – you don’t get high off of it.

Oh, my gosh!  I started researching hemp and I was blown away by what I found!  It can not only be used for thousands and thousands of products, it is very high in protein, and it’s been used for thousands and thousands of years for medicinal purposes.  Then, I got angry because hemp growing was pretty much made illegal in the United States about 75 years ago.  Hemp is not marijuana – I was right about that.

No wonder I didn’t know much about it.  It was taken away from me.  Yes, I did take this personally.

I don’t know what else I don’t know.  But I don’t worry too much about it.  The Universe will let me know when I need to know, preferably in a gentle way though a smack alongside the head is also appreciated when I’m just not paying attention.  The more awake and aware I am, the more I am blessed with gentle guidance.

As a promoter of natural wellness for body, mind, and spirit, the Higher Self Bookstore is now carrying a high quality line of hemp oil products.  Come check it out!  Or call or email us for more information.  There is something here you may not know, the knowing of which could change YOUR everything!

Here Comes 'da Judge

There I go dating myself.  This comes from an old TV program called Laugh In.  Judging, in many personal growth arenas, is emphasized as a bad thing.  Well, most good trainings would not use the word bad, or the word good.  It’s about what works! And I agree.

There is no right or wrong.  It’s about what works.  Throughout this blog I will use good and bad and right and wrong for the sake of clarity. Being judgmental is not bad and wrong, unless it is.

This is usually referring to our automatic responses  based on what we’ve decided to believe is right, wrong, good, bad, acceptable, offensive, pretty, ugly, affordable, expensive, moral, ethical, valuable, worthwhile, worthless, evil, deserving, safe, dangerous, etc. 

As you take note of these responses, these thoughts that pop into your head without your permission, you see how they limit your experience of someone or something, not allowing for new information to be brought forth.

You will resist this awakening because your “judge” likes to be right.  Your “judge” would actually have you believe you are right than let you be happy.  Human beings will fight for their right to be right, sacrificing love and happiness, prosperity, health, and peace of mind.

When you practice being non-judgmental, you’ll acknowledge that you’ve been right about some things and wrong about others.  You’ll learn to observe from an “it’s not bad and it’s not good, it just is” place. “It’s not ugly, it’s just not my cup of tea.”  “Someone’s junk is another person’s treasure.”

We have given meaning to everything throughout our lives.  We are meaning making machines!  We have opinions about politics, religion, marriage, raising children, money, sex, the rights/wrongs/goods/bads/ likes/dislikes – just try and think of something you don’t have an opinion about.

Now, some people have taken non-judgmentality (I think I made this word up) a little too far.  You may become a person with no opinion – ever!  You quit making decisions because you don’t want it considered a judgment.  You become a fence-sitter.  Conversations with you become boring, even frustrating, because you won’t take a stand, afraid you’ll be considered judgmental.  

I have seen a personal growth student stopped cold upon hearing an accusation that they are being judgmental.  Like it is the very worst thing in the world to be!  What the student didn’t hear, even though the teacher may have spoken it, is that judging is not wrong or bad when it works – using discernment.

In order to use discernment, you must be open to receiving all the information, that which you think you already know and have an opinion about, and that which you don’t know.  You must be discerning when buying a house or a car, because you prefer not to end up in a fire trap or a lemon – am I right?  Be discerning picking out a college, a career, a doctor, or a mate!  Be discerning about your health or your child’s daycare.

What we are talking about is noticing the mind chatter of  “da judge” within you.  The chatter is the automatic thinking hatched from the beliefs you have.  This is core and the noticing is key in your growth. So just notice, and be fascinated!

May I?

Ah, Spring!  It's May (well, tomorrow) and I don't know about you but I feel like I've been given permission to do, do, do!  As in...

May I put the snow shovels away?  Yes I May!
May I rake the leaves now? Yes I May!
May I put my winter coats and heavy sweaters away?  Yes I May!
May I Spring clean now? Yes I May!
May I start stocking the store for the warm weather visitors?  Yes I May!

This reminds me of times I did not receive permission...from myself.

May I buy a new coat?  No, you must spend your money only on necessities.  Besides, it still keeps you warm and, hey, you really haven't earned a new coat, have you?  So, no.

Sometimes I put up a fight.

Look!  I've lost a lot of weight and this coat is too big and it is, after all, 16 years old!!!  No, I'm sorry, there are lots of starving children in China who do not have a coat.  You must learn to appreciate what you do have and be grateful.

I did not get a new coat.

Do you wait around for permission to fulfill your heart's desire?  Are you working on your worthiness to deserve what you say it is you want?  How often do you tell yourself "no", "never", "can't", "not yet."  Of course, there will be times when the practical, rational decision is "not yet."

Practice noticing when you deny yourself.  Dig a little under the surface objections.  Then go a little deeper still.  If you find some old baggage that doesn't serve you any more, find a way to get rid of it.  Set yourself free so you can say "Yes!" way more often than "no."

It may feel like the Universe has opened up and given me permission to move forward to do what I want to do, even go after my dreams.  I know what really happened - I kicked the baggage to the curb and gave myself a great big "YES!"

You can, too!  Spring clean that "stuff" you've been holding on to, that baggage inside of you.  We'll do it together.  Happy Spring!  And the season of  - yes I MAY!