In October 1997, we witnessed the passing of two profound women who lived their lives as a testament to caring for and comforting others. Both Princess Diana and Mother Teresa were monumentally compassionate and courageous and, as Jean Houston so poignantly put it, “willing to shine light in places many of us are afraid to go.“ I personally thought, “what better time for the most compassionate Mother on Earth to leave than when an entire nation was mourning the passing of such a beloved sister and princess.” I truly feel that we affect others more profoundly from the non-physical than we can from the physical. I truly believe that yes, while Mother Teresa was in her body, she helped and comforted many, yet she held many more in her heart than she could in her arms. I believe those who gazed upon her radiance from afar were just as comforted as those within hand’s reach, for even we who saw her only on tv were moved by her, even if for a brief moment to consider someone in our lifetime who was so openly compassionate and displayed such enormous faith.
RELEASING OUR BONDS
I believe that whereas in life she was limited to one tiny, frail body, she has now been released into the Universe where she can rain her compassion and love down on all of us. I can envision her kind of hovering about us all, whispering words of encouragement wherever needed, offering love and inspiration to many more than she could reach while in physical form. What a heavenly thought, that’s very comforting to me and I totally believe it’s true. Ramakrishna put it well, when one of his students voiced regret at his dying and leaving them, “don’t be silly,” he countered, “where would I go?” We are, indeed, All One, in a Universe where no one “leaves” but merely is trans-formed.
BRINGING IT CLOSE TO HOME
My mom and I had always been very close, talking daily even though we lived across the state from each other, and I always thought I’d be shattered when she was gone. Remarkably, when in 1996 she died suddenly of a first heart attack, I still felt her presence comforting me and the feeling continues to this day. I have her photos around to keep me inspired and usually have an ongoing dialogue with her almost daily. I feel her approval at my successes and her commiseration at my foibles. Nothing’s changed except I get fewer busy signals when I try to call and I never get the answering machine anymore! The point is, my experience is that leaving the physical body does not end the connection with and influence of our beloveds.
THE VALUE OF CREATIVE VISUALIZATION
I feel that with every thought we think, we release into the Universe, the global mental plane if you will, a substance that ultimately feeds and nurtures us all mentally and emotionally. I believe it’s up to those of us who know that we do, in fact, create our reality based upon the thoughts we think, it’s up to us to think the best thoughts we can and hold the vision for those who – for whatever reason – are less focused or less inclined to do so themselves.
YOUR MEDITATION BENEFITS EVERYONE
Any time we spend daily in quiet meditation helps us clear and settle our mind and doing so helps feed peace and quiet into the global mental plane. Any time we spend creatively visualizing a happy outcome of any situation, we are feeding those hopeful thoughts and feelings into the global mental plane, and yes, daydreaming counts. By repeatedly visualizing a desired scenario, you vibrate in harmony with it and as you vibrate in harmony with it, you attract it into your experience.
WHAT ARE YOU OFFERING TO OTHERS?
So – before you think another thought – you might want to make sure it’s a loving, helpful, kind thought and you might want to spend a few extra moments in the thinking of it. And of course, be prepared to have your thought become a reality sooner than expected and if you’re not prepared for it to happen – stop thinking about it right now!! And if you don’t give much thought to your thoughts, well, keep doing that as long as you’re loving your life. But if you aren’t loving every moment of your life, you might want to be more conscious of what thoughts you have running through your head every day.
BALANCE BETWEEN DUTY AND PLEASURE
So what’s been going on in my life the last few weeks? Feeling a little overloaded with work, time pressures, deadlines, yet knowing that as I focus on not having enough time, the time slips quickly away. So tough sometimes to remember that my time will free up as I envision myself feeling free, feeling aided, feeling guided; so tough to take the time to goof off with a friend while there’s piles of work yet to be done.
IT NEVER FAILS
Yet without fail, if I can remember to stop and take a break when I’m the most rushed, I can relieve a lot of the tension and come back into balance. If I can make myself step out of the office and into the car and go off on a pleasure jaunt, whether it’s for 2 hours or 2 days, I always come back to a desk that’s amazingly not as cluttered with work as I thought it was.
TRANSMUTING THE ENERGY
When I remember to stop and ask myself – “okay, what am I vibrating in harmony with right now?” Then I remember that I’m vibrating in harmony with feeling rushed, I’m vibrating in harmony with feeling pressured, I’m vibrating in harmony with being grumpy. Hmmm, so what am I feeling? I’m feeling rushed, I’m feeling frantic, I’m feeling grumpy. So what am I oozing out into the Universe? Frantic grumpiness. Is that what I want my message to the world to be? No. What is my message to the world? Love life and love each other and share peace and comfort and joy forever. So how would I feel if I loved life and loved everyone and felt peace and comfort and joy forever? Hmmm, feels pretty good, it’s making me smile, my heart feels full just thinking about that. Now thinking on that thought for just a few more moments and what I’ve just done is transmuted the unwanted vibration. Since I’ve changed my vibration (relative to that subject,) I’ve eased up on my resistance, so I instantly feel less rushed, less frantic and less grumpy. Now that’s magic ~ that’s transmutation. This is better than turning tin to gold! Try it, you’ll like it!
I DON’T NEED HELP, I JUST NEED A NEW ATTITUDE
My favorite Whine Of The Day is “I need more help!” yet when you get right down to it, all I need to do is change my perception of whatever I’m whining about, and I’ll realize I have plenty of time to do all that needs to be done. And I really do. As soon as I’m feeling pressured, I pull out my List Of Reasons Why I Love What I Do and I re-read it and I remember it and I add to my list each day, and before you know it, I’ve changed my perception and am once again loving my job and having plenty of time to do all that needs to be done!
ON BECOMING ORGANIZED
A friend and I were discussing becoming more organized and she said she’s been reading about getting organized and she’s been buying things to help her organize, so there’s movement, she says, toward organization. She said she feels by walking the aisles at Office Depot, she comes closer to her goal. I don’t think that’s procrastination, I prefer to call that incubation.
INCUBATING OUR IDEAS
I think that’s often where it begins, we sometimes need an incubation period before we can birth our ideas into physical form. As we were discussing organization, my eyes wandered to the latest delivery from Office Depot, sitting in the corner, unopened this past week, wherein lie 3 new file baskets. Hmmm, shopping for them was one thing, but actually beginning to file, I dunno.
PROCRASTINATION SERVES A PURPOSE
We beat ourselves up too much for putting things off, for procrastinating, and in doing so we miss the value in it. A lot of the time when we think we’re procrastinating, we’ve merely not finished gathering information yet. We give ourselves ridiculous deadlines that have no basis in reality, and then kick ourselves when we don’t meet them! So, appreciate it when you feel yourself next procrastinating, for you just need to feed a little more info into the old computer before you move forward, and there’s nothing lazy about that.
At least, that’s my story.