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Horizons Magazine
APRIL 2002
Getting better every year, enlarge your territory, why your life sucks
Hello and welcome to the April 2002 issue of Horizons Magazine. Spring has
sprung! This is my favorite time of year, it's still breezy and cool, low humidity,
plants and shrubs coming into full leaf and bloom. April is also my birthday month
*yay, I'll be 50* and I share a birthday with Marilyn Jenquin, of International
Foundation of Spiritual Knowledge, a renowned international medium who also brings many good speakers to locations around Florida. See the Horizons calendar each month for her listings.
GETTING BETTER AND BETTER EVERY YEAR
Is it just me, or are things getting better and better every year? I can't believe I'll be 50 years old; I feel 30. I do lots less social activities now than I did then, but in the past I usually worked for law firms that had 100+ employees, so there were lots of co-workers and clients every day to interact with. We got together after work, we played softball, we went dancing together. A veritable whirlwind of activity compared to life now. I have friends who complain they never meet anyone new, yet they don't want to change their lifestyle to incorporate outside activities that would bring them into contact with new people.
MEETING NEW PEOPLE
When I'm seeking new stimulation, I check the Horizons calendar and attend a meeting or a class I've never been to before. I might attend an event at a new church. I might go have lunch at Community Harvest at rush hour. I might take a dance class or find a new yoga teacher. All of these things will open the door to new experiences and bring me into contact with new people. And from every person that I meet, I eventually come to know at least one other new person through them, so I'm automatically enlarging my circle of acquaintances.
ENLARGE YOUR TERRITORY
Being with new people also lets me see how I react in new circumstances. With people I know and feel comfortable with, I tend to be more outgoing and gregarious, actively moving through the group and saying hello and hugging friends. With people I don't know, I am quiet and a little shy. If you're a little shy and are ready for some new experiences and to meet some new friends, check out the calendar and find something that interests you, and attend.
GREAT ARTICLES THIS MONTH
Buddhist monk Khempo Rinpoche gives a short commentary on Green Tara - a feminine archetype of enlightenment in the Buddhist tradition. "Green Tara," he says, "has the active function of going forth and protecting or relieving human beings from their miseries." A friend who grew up Catholic said she was baffled by Buddhist and Hindu tradition until she compared their "gods and goddesses" to the patron saints she grew up praying to - St. Christopher for travel; St. Anthony for finding lost objects, etc. She was "confused for years," Marie said, because the eastern philosophies she tried to learn about used words and phrases she was unfamiliar with. She had no point of reference to try to understand them. As she persevered in her comparative study, she began to see the common thread that runs through all religions, despite the different terminology being used, and despite the biased commentary that is widely evident.
IGNORE THE TECHNICAL EDITOR
Marie admits to being one of those people who used to read a letter and make note of all the typographical errors. She was always correcting her friends on their grammar. She paid more attention to how someone was saying something, and the form their words took, rather than trying to hear what they had to say. If we're really interested in communicating with someone, we will listen past their words, past their phrases, until we discover what they are trying to say. We won't require that they use words and phrases we're familiar with. We'll open our hearts and our ears will follow. Seek first to understand, that ye may be understood.
GETTING THE WORD OUT
Sometimes I receive excellent articles from important teachers and have to make a decision whether to run something I'm not completely in agreement with, although I honor their right to believe as they do. Since Horizons Magazine is my personal vehicle of expression, I choose each article carefully, and am acutely aware of the power of the written and spoken word. Nationally known psychic Sylvia Browne, who frequently appears on the Montel Williams Show, in her new book (excerpted in this issue) makes some statements that experience has taught me otherwise. She says, 'start looking at life as something you must survive. It's something that can be fun, but it's also very tedious. As best you can, look at life as a school where bad food is served in the cafeteria and the teachers aren't always of the highest caliber. You'll make it through much better if you maintain a sense of humor."
OUR WORDS REFLECT OUR EXPERIENCE
Sylvia Browne is an insightful teacher and has helped many people through her work over the years. Her books make interesting reading and she's extremely popular with the mainstream public. I believe her statements about looking at life as something to survive, as a school where bad food is served and teachers aren't of the highest caliber, merely reflect her beliefs and her own experience. We learn things in stages and, for someone who's had a difficult life, without the luxury of always having enough, it is a definite step up in consciousness to begin looking at life as something you must survive, to begin to make the best of your situation and lighten up about it.
TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
Once you've had a chance to rest awhile at the first step, looking at life as something to survive and making the best of it, you're ready for the next stage: contemplating what kind of life you?d prefer to have, what you'd prefer to do for a job, and what kind of lifestyle you'd like to try. People who have no down time to relax, just don't have time to contemplate how their life might be different (if only they'd change their thinking patterns.) There is a giant segment of society - most of it, in fact - that gets up too early in the morning to go to a job (or 2 or 3) they dislike, to work too hard at for far too many hours just in order to feed their ever growing family. They get home after the sun goes down and fall asleep in front of the tv, only to waken before dawn and do it all over again. These people seldom have the luxury of considering, "hmmm, maybe I'll take a week off for R & R and decide if I wanna change careers to something that might be more fun." They don't dare risk missing a paycheck because they have a houseful dependent upon their income. So for these people, looking at life as something to survive can be good advice. To start with.
WE'RE LUCKIER THAN WE THINK
The fact that you have time to read this article tells me that, while your life may be hectic and crazy, you DO have some discretionary free time to spend doing something other than work, even if it seems you don't have much of it. If you have any free time at all, you can begin to draw to you an easier, much happier life than you're living now. If you have time to read, you have time to daydream, and daydreaming can be an important first step into your future. We're learning that daydreaming is more powerful than we ever thought, and pretending can be an important part of prepaving our future experience. 'Pre' from 'before' and 'ahead of time,' and 'tend' from 'intend.' So when we're pretending or fantasizing, we're intending ahead of time what we?d like to experience in our future. It just takes a few minutes each day and it's the most solid investment we can make in our own future.
WHAT IF I DON't KNOW WHAT I WANT?
Nick Arandes says in this issue, "You don't necessarily need to win the lottery, you just want to be free of financial concerns and at the same time do what you are passionate about." His point is, find something you're passionate about and begin to pursue it, and financial gain will begin to come from it. My own list of things I'm passionate about includes, writing, gardening, travelling, dancing, chanting, sewing, the internet, and helping people discover their own passions. I'm fortunate to be making a living doing what I love to do, and I have more freedom than I ever thought possible because of it. If this idea appeals to you, Nick has a great book you can download free at www.BigMoneyMadeEasy.com.
SEE BEYOND THE OBVIOUS
John Harricharan is the author of When You Can Walk on Water, Take The Boat, which you can download free at www.waterbook.com. He writes that our attitude determines how we solve our problems, and that the solutions to every problem we have is within our reach, if we could see them clearly. We do not only need to rely on our sight, but on our insight as well. Insight is seeing with our inner eyes, our heart and soul.
WHY YOUR LIFE SUCKS
Alan Cohen reminds us that if you are losing energy in the form of joy, health, money or love, you have a 'leak' in your system and only you can repair it. Only you can quit doing things that deplete your energy and begin doing things that expand it. I for one can be guilty of continuing to do things I'm used to doing, even though they may not be bringing me the joy and contentment the used to bring. But they're activities I'm used to doing with friends I'm used to being with, and I haven't given much thought to what I'd prefer to do instead. Eventually, it'll stop being fun and I'll move on, or I'll make it fun again. And either way, I win. And it's up to me how long I sit and stew in my own thoughts until I decide to make some changes. Can you name 5 things in your life that you're ready to be free from?
VERBAL POWER PLAYS
Lloyd Thomas talks about overt messages sent by verbal power- players, and the corresponding covert message hidden in the words. We all know people who do this and hopefully we are not one of them. This all goes back to, how interested are you in communicating with your fellow man, and to what extent will you stop the verbal games and just listen and seek to understand? This is something I used to do in my passive-aggressive days, so I recognize it well and strive to never do it now.
THE SKILL OF QUANTUM BEING
Rev. Beth Head writes in this issue, 'the skill of Quantum Being - is the ability to be in relationship - based on unconditional positive regard. This doesn't mean we have to like everyone or condone every action, it means we cultivate the ability to positively regard each other.? This just means seeing past the surface to what lies beneath, to recognize that the heart of Love beats behind all outer seeming. On that same note, Stephanie Rothman reminds us to "seek out and pay very close attention to the goodies in life. Look for signs and miracles." This is something I've learned to enjoy doing every day. Enjoy our offering this month. Hari Om.