My video for the week: Be Bold, Step Out, Take Action!
PS: Are you stuck for that special gift for your Valentine? Here’s one action you can take: get them a Compass Call with Rosemary; that’s 15 for 50, my special offer available only through February 14. Act Now Here
Questions, questions! Where do I go for answers? Seems like we are constantly assessing and reassessing as we move through the early years of this 21st Century. Now we are in the teens! Is it time to begin to grow up into this era?
And sometimes we don’t want to hear the answers so we don’t ask even the safest of questions. How many of us are really interested in hearing the unvarnished truth about the environment? Our youngest “child” is back in college at NC State and taking some classes in environmental studies toward his geology degree. Some of the new facts coming up in his course work are scaring him! There are some serious problems out there: melting ice, ocean temperatures, ocean currents, salinity changes, bio-mass expansion, methane build-up, it goes on and on. Our computer models can’t even keep up because the data is off the charts!
Then there’s the “soft science.” I just finished a book by Drunvalo Melchizedek, The Mayan Ouroboros. Yes, I read some far out books, and no, I don’t believe every word. However, I do enjoy counter-balancing all the so-called “facts” of science with information coming in through various channels, including my own and Rosemary’s. And more often than not, 80% of the information we read in some of these “far out” books corroborates our own information! OK, so maybe sometimes we are a bit far out there too.
But here’s what Rosemary is offering in her message this week: “Question everything!”
I start with questioning myself; and yes, I question my questions. Am I listening to my inner guidance? Am I double checking my inner guidance? Are my practices right for this time? Do I need to change my diet? Am I spending too much time practicing and not enough doing? Am I sleeping too much, or too little? Are my priorities set correctly? You get the picture, right? This is about awareness. This is an awareness practice!
I am reminded of a Korean Koan that I frequently fall back on; actually it’s like another practice. The koan is simply to ask: “What is this?” when faced with an issue. Ask it inside and listen for the answer. And when you get that answer, ask again: “What is this?” You keep drilling down as deeply as you can go until the issue is resolved or the answer to the question is satisfying. When facing a dilemma I often fall back on this practice and simply ask myself: “What is this?”
This is where I go for the answers: inside. And if the answer doesn’t bubble up I go to external sources; and then I test their answers inside. How does the answer feel; does it resonate; is it off the grid? And if I can’t feel for the answer I sometimes use an intuitive tool, like a pendulum (I carry one with me almost all the time). And if I don’t have one I can even test something with my body. Here’s an example of that:
When I am looking for an alternative health support item, like an herbal preparation to boost my immune system if I feel a sniffle coming on, I usually face an array of possibilities at the health-food store. So, I narrow the field just by reading labels but still face several options. What I do is a form of muscle testing: I close my eyes and hold the products, one at a time, near my heart and sense the energy. I am usually either pulled a bit forward or pushed a bit back for each item. I reject the ones that push me back (repel) and keep the ones that pull me forward (attract). I continue this selection/elimination process until I am down to the one that’s most effective.
Our body, our heart, our intuitive senses know the answer well before our brain, especially the left side, kicks in with a “logical” one.
The array of questions out there can be overwhelming. There are many complex issues coming forward in the early teen years of the 21st Century! Narrow them down to the important ones and seek for satisfying answers on the inside.
Then be at peace!
The RIGHT Question is…
Who am I here to be as the 21st Century New Human Being?
If you are an entrepreneur, is your business reflecting you as a New Human Being? Or are you still patterning your business on 20th Century ideas? Values?
In your work, whether in your own business or as an employee, are you serious about fulfilling your purpose or are you just doing a job?
If you are not working, does your life reflect your values or are you waiting for some future event or date? Have you given away your power or are you empowered to be who you were born to be?
In the United States we have been subjected to an amazing number of heated battles over topics that most had thought long ago agreed upon as a nation. One wonders why these topics are being resurrected and debated yet again. The answer is that the 21st Century New Human Being threatens the old ways that some wish would return. The values of the 21st Century reflect a new consciousness and business, politics, life must adjust to the new consciousness.
Even family life is adjusting. Everyone is busy. Everyone is plugged into their personal electronics and we walk around wishing to be left alone until we need something from each other. At the same time, we connect with Facebook friends, we tweet about our lives and keep up with others on Twitter, we have professional networks on LinkedIn, we email and surf the net. We are connected in constant ways with others around the world. And ask any server in a restaurant and they will tell you what percentage of diners are sitting at the table on their smart phones!
But are we connected to our inner selves? Are you going inside to seek your answers or are you waiting for the next email or Facebook post or Tweet? Are you expecting someone else to give you the answers or are you actively seeking them through your own inner connections to guidance?
The New Human has a well-developed intuition and sense of Soul Purpose in the 21st Century. As we evolve, we will develop even better perceptions through our sixth sense than through the five physical senses. Telepathic conversation will become the norm. Everyone will be ‘psychic.’ We are moving in this direction.
So who would be frightened by this evolution? Perhaps someone who is lying is afraid that you might telepathically perceive the lie. Maybe someone who has been selfish or greedy is afraid that the New Human will want to live in connected community and will want the possessions that have been so assiduously amassed or hoarded. Perhaps someone who is ‘doing just fine, thank you’ is afraid of change and wants things to be less complicated than they appear to be now.
We can never get inside the head of another person but we are seeing a divide occur between groups who might not even be aware of the values that the divide reflects.
I heard the statement made by a father who lost his son in the December 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Americans are getting caught up on both sides of a discussion of how to stop gun violence but maybe they are asking the wrong questions. This bereaved father was not playing on emotion – he went back to founding documents for the Great American Experiment and quoted this from the Declaration of Independence, penned by Thomas Jefferson:
“…certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
This father pointed out that Jefferson and the founding fathers were very deliberate in their choice of words for this important document. ‘Life’ is listed before ‘Liberty.’ Perhaps society is asking the wrong questions if it is addressing ‘Liberty’ before ‘Life.’
How are you asking the wrong questions about your Life, your Business, your views, your values, your relationships? Are you coming from a point of view that doesn’t allow the winds of change to shift you from a fixed position? Are you unconsciously clinging to old ideas that might have worked in days past but are no longer applicable to the evolving 21st Century New Human Being?
I challenge you to question your questions!
PS: Are you asking yourself the right questions? If you need help consider my special offer; this expires on February 14! Take advantage of this offer, a “Compass Call” with me: that’s a quick dive with me into Dimensional Exploration for a very affordable price; I call it “15 for 50″ and you can get it here for a limited time. You can even consider giving this to your special Valentine!
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My video for the week: Winds of Change:
Rosemary always asks these pointed and difficult questions! Yes, I know they are good for me to reflect on, to answer, truthfully, for myself. And I actually thought this one would be reasonably easy for me to reply to and write this commentary. Then I took a second look!
A couple of years ago I did an exercise to clarify my values, to align them with my thinking, my philosophy. I made a list and prioritized it. I took a deep dive into this analysis, writing at length about these values I had come up with, what they mean to me and how I live by them. At the end of much thought I distilled the set of values down to two key ones: Practice and Love. In fact I even drew a diagram, a schematic to relate these two primal values: Practice –> Love.
No, this doesn’t mean my practices lead to love and it doesn’t mean if I practice well enough I will learn love. Maybe these meanings are overlays here, but these are two distinct values for me. I truly value that I am able to practice my various approaches to live a conscious life. Meditation, yoga, qigong, pages, poetry, … and any other consciousness raising practice that comes along that has potential for me is a key value. And how much more can I say about Love? Self, family, friends, community, humanity, life, Planet Earth, Nature, food, wine, beer making, wow…so much to love in life! And, clearly there is a relationship between practice and love. I love my practices. My practices help me better understand this whole sense of Love. Love improves my practices. It is complex and I can’t say that I even fully understand it when I write, and I often do: Practice –> Love.
But Rosemary’s question goes deeper here. Yes, she asks us to review our values, but more importantly to review our lives as they reflect those values we reaffirm! This is the key analysis, the driving question.
And I’ve spent the last several days, as part of our retreat weekend, reviewing and refining my answer. My answer initially is “no.” Oh sure, I’m doing a lot of practice, and I’m pleased with this. I also love: I am partnered with the love of my life. I am part of a loving family. My kids really do love me (at least they’ve done an awesome job of showing it!). But there’s a deeper level here I am reaching toward.
My exploration begins with the word “unconditional.” This is the quality of Love I’m reaching to attain. And this would then truly be the goal of Practice –> Love, my core values. I am not practicing unconditional love at every opportunity and therefore, my life is not reflecting this value.
That said I am working on it. This is my new level of Practice I’m striving to achieve. I suspect it is a life-long pursuit! But I have begun. Last evening, after Rosemary and I had returned from our retreat, our daughter stated, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that she had been craving pancakes for breakfast and would I please get up to make her some next morning! Hmmm, on Wednesdays she leaves for work at 7:15; hey, I’m retired, and while I am working harder than ever before and enjoying it a whole lot more, my hours don’t include 7:15 am! I did not commit! But this morning I was awake at 6:30, wanting more sleep. I debated with myself for about 30 seconds, and then asked “what would I do if I held the value of unconditional love? Yeah, you guessed it; I got up and fixed daughter and two grandsons pancakes (two different kinds). And the surprise and smiles were well worth the few extra winks!
With this good experience as a launch point I have been challenging myself to come from unconditional love all day. I’ve failed multiple times! I had several errands to run which meant driving and encountering other drivers; always a stumbling block for me to keep my cool while driving, but at least I continued to pull myself back to my core value. I’m practicing!
How are you practicing your values this year?
We’re getting down to the nitty gritty here and I hope you’ll seriously consider what’s in this article. How do you decide which activities will receive your attention today? What values are you using to allocate your precious hours today, the hours that you will never be able to recapture after they have been spent?
This is where living a conscious life meets living the hectic 21st Century busyness that seduces us all into thinking that things have to be the way they are.
You have 24 hours in each day. Your human body requires 7-9 hours of sleep – good, peaceful, restful, restorative sleep. The rest of your hours are yours to spend as you choose.
‘Wait!’ you say. ‘I have to go to work, get the kids off to school, teach my class, meet with my clients, go to the grocery store, and ______________ [fill in the blank]! I don’t have control over those hours!’
To which I answer, ‘Yes. You do.’
Every moment of every day we are at choice as to how we will spend that moment. You choose to work at that particular job. The kids might be able to get themselves off to school or a nanny could do it. You scheduled your class or your clients. Groceries can be delivered or a personal assistant or a spouse can do the shopping. And so the choices go. You might think that you can’t afford things but you can afford certain things because you choose them.
I’m not being simplistic here. We all make choices and ‘I can’t afford it’ really translates to ‘I choose to spend my money elsewhere’ or, even, ‘I CHOSE to spend my money elsewhere and now I have to pay the bills.’ Still, it is all based on choice.
So knowing that you choose how to spend your time, how can you make sure that you are choosing according to your values?
First, you must know what your values are and you must know them in priority order. I frequently see a client who feels conflicted and the answer to clarity lies in examining the values that are bumping into each other. Here are two questions to ask yourself:
Who do I really want to spend time with today?
AND What is the most fulfilling activity that I can put on my calendar today?
If the answers match the schedule, good for you! And if not, then ask yourself, Why not?
You have the power to make choices about how you spend the precious hours you have each day. Are you LIVING your life or are you SPENDING your life?
Choose to schedule your day based on what is important to you, what really matters. Don’t let anyone else control your schedule. If your boss wants you to be in a meeting at a certain time, then, by all means, attend the meeting. But instead of spending emotional capital resenting it, accept that you choose to remain in this job [even if it feels as if you have no choice to remain in this job. You could choose to quit and maybe live on the street so you might be making the right choice for the moment!] If your family is making a demand on your time that causes you to resent saying ‘yes’ then say ‘no.’ And release feeling guilty about it!
Notice how often you make choices that don’t feel right to you. Making the choice to take an injured kid to the ER feels right, doesn’t it? Making the choice to escape into TV when there might be something else you could do might be escaping your life instead of living it. AND watching TV might be your active choice to relax and rest your mind for a bit, so release the feeling of guilt about making that choice!
CHOOSE. Match your schedule to your values. Raise your consciousness about your moments and you’ll feel happier!
Here’s my video for the week: What Are Your Values for 2013?
“Thoughts become things” according to Mike Dooley. They are things according to many current authors linking quantum fields and our brains (or should I say “minds”?). Our thoughts are certainly energy that is detectable, measurable and effective! The so called “new age” construct that we create our own reality through how we think and act, imagine and project our thoughts, ideas, visions into the world is becoming main stream science for those who are open and willing to explore these not-necessarily-self-evident concepts.
Then whether we believe this approach or not would seem not to matter; it’s not a matter of faith but a matter of science. We don’t believe in gravity; it’s a fact that objects near the earth respond to a force by falling to the earth. “Thoughts are things” is not a belief system but as real as gravity. There’s a lot of empirical evidence to back this up.
Therefore we really do have to be very aware of our thoughts, to monitor them, to assess and characterize them and to channel them in the direction we choose if we want to live a certain way. And this is particularly true if we want to change, improve the way we are living – evolve!
The way I look at this we need to be of “two minds.” We need our “active mind” to get us through the day. Part of this mind keeps us alive, running our physical bodies and responding to external stimulations as they pop up. And part of this mind is making decisions on a myriad of inputs; some decisions are almost automatic, based on habits and some are actual choices we are motivated to make based on priorities and plans. Then there is the second mind, the observer mind that assesses our life from another level. This could be called the “meta-mind” because it operates at the meta-level lifting out of the routine operations to passively monitor how we are doing. This could also be called the “mindful mind.”
Another common expression these days is “change your mind and change your life.” This could be the corollary to “thoughts become things.” These are easily expressed phrases, quickly becoming platitudes. But underlying their seemingly obvious simplicity things get a bit dicey. How many of you are sticking to your resolutions for 2013? That mind that runs on autopilot and habit consumes a huge percentage of our waking mental activity. It is not until we begin to assess how we are spending this “mind time” that we realize how much thought-energy is wasted. Don’t feel bad if you are already falling short on those resolutions. The routines you were living through in 2012, while not “hard-wired” into your brain, are a set of well worn pathways through neural networks laid down years ago. They are difficult to rewire!
The endless loops that play and replay in our minds are wasted energy. The knee-jerk emotional energy we expend on all the little, and sometimes big, annoyances in our lives is pretty much wasted – this emotional energy seldom accomplishes anything!
This is where the second, meta-mind comes in. We cannot change our minds, change our habits, change our responses unless we monitor, assess and evaluate the rightness and usefulness of those responses in the first place, when they occur.
A perfect example happened to me today. I was practicing qigong. My meta-mind should have been in high-gear, right? I was present, mindful, deeply into the practice. There were some people in the neighbor’s backyard talking and I could ignore them. Then our Lhasa Apso, Tara, came on the scene. At first she was attentive but quiet. Then as she detected the outside disturbance she let out a piercing bark. I almost jumped out of my skin! Then I scolded her for disrupting my practice. It took me several moments to re-collect myself and get back in my rhythm. Later as I was reviewing this I realized my reaction was not only out of habit but also unfair. Tara’s breed is from Tibet where Lhasas were raised as temple watchdogs. Their job was to alert meditating monks and masters if there was an intrusion into the monastery! Well, Tara was doing exactly what she was bred and raised to do! And she doesn’t have a meta-mind (at least as far as I can tell) so I had no right or reason to scold her! I’m the one with the meta-mind but it didn’t wake up until after my unfairness.
Exercising this meta-mind is no easy thing. This is why it is called “practice.” And it is through this practice that we can begin to “think new thoughts.”
How’s your 2013 practice coming along?
It seems important for us to look at the state of the world and the way that humans are treating humans today.
This is not about politics although the politics of each country reflect what is happening in the psyches of the inhabitants. What are you projecting from your psyche?
Since thoughts are energetic projects and have an effect on the environment we must take responsibility for the thoughts that we hold in our energy fields. Ask yourself about the thoughts you projected today. Did they come from a place within you that is sourced in Love? Were your thoughts uplifting ones that, if written down and shared with others, they would make someone smile and feel good about themselves? Or were you angry or upset and projecting that energy outward?
Think about the effect on a city when anger and hatred are stirred up and people are focused on disenfranchising others or hating and separating others. Think about what could happen in a place where the people are fearful or wanting to kill others or angry at their neighbors.
Now think about the effect on a city when the inhabitants come together around a common cause to support each other. Think about a community where kids can play safely because neighbors look out for neighbors. Think about the energy in a place where neighbors spend the evening sitting together outside sharing chitchat and watching kids play together.
What do you feel as you imagine these scenarios? Can you picture the column of energy that rises up from a place when the energy is what you pictured? Which energy column would you rather sit next to?
This is what we each have a responsibility to create and to monitor. Your energy is magnified when attached to the energy of others. What do you chat about with your friends? Your co-workers? Are you spinning each other up with thoughts of hatred and anger and separation? Or are you finding common ground in which to discuss ways that you are similar and can agree? When you spout off do you move the conversation to solutions or do you stay in the emotion of the problems? Are you more comfortable discussing issues than seeking strategies for moving beyond the problems?
Each of us has responsibility for the thought energies we project. When we gather with others, we intensify the energy of the ideas expressed and discussed. Conversations do not have to be confrontational. There can be real, honest agreements to disagree, but there must be respect for the person even if the ideas expressed cannot be embraced.
Somewhere along the line we seem to have forgotten that we are all connected. We are all members of the human race. We have differing perspectives based on what we have been taught or what we have experienced or what we have embraced as our values. Yet each person is on Planet Earth to learn lessons, to grow, to advance human consciousness, whether or not they have embraced that responsibility.
Accept that you cannot control the thoughts of others, but you can control your own. Catch yourself building a column of energy that doesn’t feel supporting and light and stop it. Shift your thinking to thoughts of Light and Hope and Community. Make sure you are projecting energy that you wouldn’t mind having projected onto you!
And surround yourself with people who are willing co-creators of columns of Light rather than anger and hatred. We will all thank you!
PS: To guide your thoughts for 2013 with incredible inspiration from The Divine Feminine you can get the 8 recordings I made at the end of 2012 during my Wisdom of the Week (WOW) calls. Get them here.
Mystic Messages 
EXPLORATION: Be Bold. Step Out. Take Action.
February 13, 2013 — RosemaryBe Brave, Daring, Intrepid, Audacious, Unflinching. Pick one of these synonyms for ‘bold’ and use it as your mantra. (I like ‘Audacious’!)
How can you show up in your life, your work, your relationships as ‘bold’? Have you ever thought about using that word to describe yourself? What would you do today if you were really bold? What would you dare to do, who would you dare to be if there were no end to your courage? What if you knew you could not fail? Would you make a different choice?
It might be a conversation that needs to take place. You might have an idea that has been teasing at the edges of your consciousness but you haven’t given it energy because you’re waiting for the perfect time or circumstances. Do you have a project that is half finished because you’re afraid of what others might think or say when they see it? Is there someone’s approval that you are hoping for and the lack of that approval is keeping you stuck?
These are the situations in which we find ourselves when we forget to be bold. And it is about ‘forgetting.’ You ARE bold! You have taken many courageous steps in your life. Do you disagree with me? I’ll be you can think of at least one time in which you were bold. Take a moment to remind yourself of how it felt. Run that feeling in your body for awhile. Look at the effort it took to be bold in that moment and then reassure yourself that you survived, you’re here today. Sometimes our stress mechanisms go a little haywire and try to convince us that being bold will get us hurt but, I assure you, there are no sabre-toothed tigers waiting to jump on you! Your stress mechanisms might not believe me, though, so you must act despite their illusions.
Step Out.
Once you have decided to Be Bold, it’s time to move forward, step out of the box of your own beliefs and limiting thinking. What is holding you in place? Who is telling you what the limits are?
Sometimes the voice in your head can be from the distance past, like a first-grade teacher or a parent, and sometimes it comes from a belief structure that you developed later in your life, all on your own. Determining where the limits live is the first step in expanding your horizon.
You must be brutally honest with yourself here. The field of all possibilities is right in front of you but you can talk yourself into believing that there is only a narrow path available to you to pursue. Step outside the box of this thinking. Step outside your comfort zone and stretch yourself into the greater space of possibilities. It’s okay. There are no sabre-toothed tigers here, either!
Take Action.
Choose a path and step onto it. Move yourself forward with confidence. When you ask the Universe to support your efforts and you visualize your dreams you must also put some energy into the forward motion toward those dreams. Raise your consciousness and move your feet.
If you feel you aren’t sure which action to take, then do some inner work. Get in touch with your inner guidance. Ask your coach or mentor or counselor to help you work through the blocks. Choose one step you can take and do it. Very few choices are irrevocable. If you get feedback that this choice isn’t taking you in the direction you desire then take another action in a different direction. There’s nothing wrong with trying something. Ask Edison about all the tries before he got the light bulb working. Ask anyone in a research lab and they will tell you that there is good information in the paths that don’t work. Look at the story of Post-It Notes that came about because the glue wasn’t perfect. Just take action.
Be Bold. Step Out. Take Action. You are ready!
PS: It ‘s not too late to get that special gift for your Valentine! Here’s one action you can take: get them a Compass Call with Rosemary; that’s 15 for 50, my special offer available only through February 14. Act Now Here