Conked on the Head with a Blessing

Steinhatchee 006We have to do something to see something! That’s what I said a week ago. Then I go and pull out a book I’d bought, buried and forgotten about – Pam Grout’s E-squared; Nine Do-It-Yourself Energy Experiments That Prove Your Thoughts Create Your Reality. It presents nine experiments, using the scientific method, we can do to prove reality is “malleable.”

“What I’d like to suggest is that this invisible energy field is 100 percent reliable. It works every time, like a math principle or a law of physics. Two plus two always equals four. Balls dropped off roofs always fall. Your every thought always affects physical reality.”

Ms. Grout pulls from quantum physics which defines the “field of potentiality” as “invisible moving forces that influence the physical realm.”  So the FP (her shorthand for Field of Potentiality) is waiting for us to try these experiments – kick its tires so to speak.

Of course I’m all in – Duh!

Each experiment has a “Principle” “Theory” “Question” “Hypothesis” – and at the end of each chapter a Lab Report Sheet to record results. Experiment #1; ask the FP for an unexpected “blessing” or “gift” to arrive within 48 hours. She suggested asking for “a thumbs-up, a clear sign, something that cannot be written off as coincidence.” – Me? I asked the Universe to “conk me on the head with it!” I like my signs, but please make them obvious.

Imagine how startled (freaked out) I was when a rock smacked my car’s windshield – HARD and LOUD – on my way to work. The Universe was kind – my car, not my head, took one for the team.  Added bonus; no damage!  Lucky me!

I’d been walking around looking, searching for my blessing/gift. For this particular experiment the blessing had to be general. Which is why I asked for a good conking. How else would I know? Beautiful things happen all the time and I’m a sign watcher. I needed to be able to distinguish this particular gift. I was excited, knew something physical – huge was on its way!

When the rock struck – I woke up. At the time I’d been in a glaze of annoyance at Atlanta traffic. Immediately I knew the Universe was talking to me – I’d received the conk; what? what? what? . . what was my blessing?

As I worked Experiment #1, I’d set down E-squared and was checking out a new book (recommended by Pam Grout – this one on quantum physics – uh, yep) . . . and there I found my blessing:

“Every time you wake yourself up in the moment of catching yourself in the act of your mechanical ways you are living in wisdom.” – Dianne Collins; Do You QuantumThink?: New Thinking That Will Rock Your World

The Universe woke me up to live in wisdom. This blessing – as opposed to some bling or some-such, is more precious than almost anything I could dream-up. God wants more for me than I want for myself. I am one damn-lucky woman.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
“I am awake.” ― BuddhaAlaska Cook Inlet Mirror Image

Walls, Doors and Transformation

walls

When it sinks in that my world is a reflection of what’s inside, I realize it’s my responsibility to live intentionally.  Knowing that I’ll see what I look for, let me open my eyes to love, good health and possibilities.  How grateful I am to live in a time, a country, that gives me choices.  So walls – look out, you gonna be transformed!

Florence, Italy (door)

“If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally.”  Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

What You See – Is What You Think

Have you heard . . .  

• For every action there is a reaction – Newton’s Law
• You reap what you sow – Galations 6:7
• What goes around comes around – Karma

Do we hear these things and think they don’t apply to us?  Are these sayings so commonplace they’re like white noise?  We can know “about” things, but if we take no action there is no real knowing.

July'13 funny 17Some time ago Louise Hay told me “You Can Heal Your Life” – if I paid attention to what my body tells me, take responsibility for my life and know that what I think about myself “becomes the truth.”  For me it started with the affirmation “I am willing to change.”  My early journals are filled with affirmations from Florence Scovel Shinn’s Your Word is Your Wand, and Norman Vincent Peale opened the Bible for me with The Power of Positive Thinking.  So started my walk through self-help, psychology, philosophy, theology and new age texts.  My mom got me the t-shirt “so many books so little time.”  Yep – me to a T.  Best of all is trying out what I read.  We have to do something to see something!

Recently the library introduced me to Dr. Daniel G. Amen; a psychiatrist and brain disorder specialist.  According to Dr. Amen, I need to “kill the ANTS” – Automatic Negative Thoughts.  I’ve burned through three of his books, starting with Change Your Brain, Change Your Life.  Along with insights on how our brains work, is his insistence on ridding ourselves of negative thoughts – they make us “fat, slow and stupid.”  Okay!  I whole-heartedly agree.  And I love that he shows the science of his claims.

Some days it’s a challenge to be the one wearing the rose-colored glasses looking for the silver lining and the pony in the pile of poo; it seems to annoy folks.  And a balance must be struck to be empathetic to people with real issues.  I know I’ve pissed off more than a few people.  Of course I have my junk days when all I see is crap – and yes! bad things happen to good people. But I remind myself that happiness is a choice. Every day I get the chance to choose. And now Dr. Amen has shown that this is real – and the neurons in my brain REALLY are changed by how I think.  Thanks Dr. Amen!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Michael A. Singer says in The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself “that the best way to free yourself” from the incessant noise in your head “is to step back and view” it objectively. “Don’t think about it; just notice it.”

My favorite reminder comes from my dear friend – she says:
“Thought – Word – Deed”Italy - Florence 2

Splat – Can We Laugh About it!

Dirty Girl Mud Run 2Realized I’d left an appliance on half-way to work – crud!
Worry, worry – turn around, don’t want to burn the house down.

Rush into kitchen – trip over dog.
Fall on my ass – damn!

Appliance not on – JEEZ!
Turn around, rush back to work; kick other dog – crap!
Late to work.

At least it was Friday and I’d scheduled ½ day vacation.
SAVED THE DAY: two of my best friends got me to Laugh Out Loud (IRL) that morning.

DO NOT know what I’d do if I didn’t have people in my life who love me even when I’m stressed-out, raw and a total basket case.

Published on Dec 18, 2013

Music video by Dionne Warwick with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder performing That’s What Friends Are For. (C) 1985 Arista Records, Inc.
• That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne Warwick with Elton John, Gladys Knight & Stevie Wonder (Google Play • AmazonMP3)

Grief – Whoa, Buddy!

Intellectually I understand Dr. Henry Cloud’s grief warnings in his book Boundaries; they make sense:

  • “To start to say no . . . is to get in touch with the sadness of what you do not have with them, instead of still working hard to get it. This working hard keeps you away from the grief and keeps you stuck.  But accepting the reality of who they are and letting go of the wish for them to be different is the essence of grief.  And that is sad indeed.”
  • “Let go. In the safety of your supportive relationships, face what you will never have from this person, or who this person symbolizes.  This will be like a funeral.  You will go through the stages of grief: denial, bargaining, anger, sadness, acceptance.  You will not necessarily go through these stages in order, but you will probably feel all these emotions.  This is normal.”
  • “Do not be surprised by grief. This will be sad, but let others love you in that process.  Mourners can be comforted.”  

Emotionally, experiencing the grief is a different matter.  As I tend to do, I applied the recommended steps.  Reflected on my symptoms, started small, found safe people and places, worked up to bigger issues. . .  – and wham!  Opened a wound I thought was long gone.  “Do not be surprised. . . ”  – uh, right.

HalloweenIt’s peculiar, this grief at losing my old self.  How can I give up that part of me that kept me separate, safe and insulated from this big bad world?  The thought of it brings an unexpected sorrow.

So how do I keep from coming unglued while I learn new behaviors?  My first inclination (truthfully – is to run and shut down); then I think about my bag of tricks – I’ve got a few.  I think I’ll start with some basics from the world of recovery.  While they could appear trite, the truth behind these slogans can save a life.  From the book How Al-Anon Works:

  • Keep It Simple
  • But for the Grace of God
  • Easy Does It
  • First Things First
  • Just for Today
  • Let It Begin with Me
  • How Important Is It?
  • Think
  • One Day at a Time
  • Keep an Open Mind
  • Live and Let Live
  • Let Go and Let GodLoss