8-3-08
Once again I’ve let my sleep get all goofed up. I’m beginning to cocoon and am seeing the pattern. Wanting to stay home and cook is a disaster for me and has led to me weighing 5 extra pounds in 2008. So I need to make myself get out of the house, especially on weekends. There’s no reason not to.
People who don’t walk their talk. Metaphysical teachers acting badly. This seems to be the topic of the season. We’re all on this path together. The mere process of stepping onto the path means you know you will be put to the test. What does that mean, “stepping onto the path?”
To me, it means becoming aware of your unconscious thoughts and behaviors, and wanting to take steps to change them. To me, it means becoming aware that we are all connected and taking steps to be kinder and more helpful to those around us.
To me, it means recognizing that the universe will give you lots of opportunities to work on an issue and overcome it. Each time the issue comes up, that is another chance for you to react differently in the new situation. To react consciously, with a desire for a different outcome than had been your past pattern. And to the extent you understand this, to that extent will you understand and work through that lesson.
There’s always some drama going on whenever groups of people get together, and the body/mind/spirit communities are no different than any other genre. In any group, you will always get people who are more interested in exerting influence for personal gain, and you also get their detractors. Then a division takes place, sides are taken and friendships get rocky. Only the conscious survive.
If I’m lucky, I’m conscious enough to recognize when that is happening and when a new opportunity to react differently is being presented to me. I wasn’t always that lucky. I used to be a “fixer”. I felt that since I understood both sides of the situation, I would jump in and help them fix it. Often unsolicited. How aggravating is that? I’d get caught up in the drama and forget why I was there. I’d align with one side and the game was on. I wasn’t fixing anything, I was adding fuel to the fire and too blind to see it.
As enlightened thinkers on the leading edge of thought, we know better – much of the time. But we have our blind spots, issues we could work through and overcome if only we were aware of them. Good friends point out to loved ones their blind spots, and they find a diplomatic way to do this. Good friends look past the ignorant words of the speaker to discern the true message they are trying to speak. They don’t take personally as hurtful any criticism. They don’t fault the speaker for not softening the words, indeed maybe they don’t know how to. Sarcasm and cynicism have become so much a pattern of social talk that it’s not easy to think before talking, and not blurt out a quick snappy response. Look past their words, it may not be easy for them to say to you for fear you will get angry. But friends call friends on their stuff.
“But what if this person is a self-proclaimed teacher and is not walking their talk? As metaphysicians, we all know better.” Yes, we all know better, so maybe this is your opportunity to do things differently. In this instance, maybe take your focus off what the teacher is doing wrong and think about what benefit the teacher is. Maybe this time don’t gossip with friends about the situation. Maybe this time take the situation into prayer and meditation and ask what you personally can learn from it. Maybe this time, keep some distance from the parties and don’t discuss it, and suggest others don’t discuss it either.
See, that’s the problem. It’s never just that A and B have a difference of opinion. It’s the people who align themselves with A and think they are working in A’s behalf while gossiping and spreading misinformation that gets the B camp all riled up. A himself may not know any of this is going on. However, now all the people who hear the gossip and have aligned themselves with the B camp, now are at odds with the A camp. Meanwhile B, like A, may not yet know any of this is going on. He and A are basically friends having a difference of opinion. Until someone in B’s camp shares some misinformation, purporting to have come from A. B reacts to the misinformation as if it’s truth and the game is on.
Sound familiar? From 7th grade on, it was an everyday occurrence but we’re a long way from junior high and it’s time we get it. It’s time we get this lesson.
People act surprised, “She should know better. She has watched The Secret and read Abraham-Hicks and she teaches metaphysical classes, yet she doesn’t walk her talk. She drinks, she smokes, she eats an unhealthy diet, she is mean and hateful to her mate and other family members, she spreads mean spirited gossip among her in-crowd, and takes financial advantage at every opportunity.”
Well, wait, why is “she” any different than anyone else? We all get hooked back into old patterns of control when we feel we’re losing our grip. Ok, she’s a teacher not setting an example that you agree with. But take responsibility for your part in this scenario. Why are you talking about her behind her back to a third party? Maybe this new situation is the chance for you to NOT pass a juicy story along, if the story is meant to divide and not bring together.
It’s not just your mind but your muscles that have memory, and what feels like the path of least resistance may just be your muscle memory entraining you into habits you’re rather be free of.
Some opportunities to do it differently and break the pattern:
Nighttime. On the couch. TV on. Ah, your muscle memory is wanting you to reach for something to snack on. Every 2-3 minutes you want to get up and get a snack. So that means every 2-3 minutes you have a chance to react differently, a chance to remind yourself that your after sundown meals are empty calories.
In your favorite social crowd. A friend begins to tell a story that is critical of an absent party. That is a clear opportunity to speak up and say you’d rather talk about something else. A clear opportunity to remind everyone present that what we speak about keeps us held in that vibration. You’re just giving them a heads up that they are about to enter a different vibrational place than they have said they want.
Or maybe someone is retelling a juicy story from their recent past where they had a conflict with someone who is not present. Again, you’re entering dangerous territory if you’re part of that scenario, whether listening or telling. You’re entering a vibrational place where all sorts of things you don’t want will begin happening, and you won’t realize that you’re attracting it all to you.
There are always two sides to every story. If you are on someone’s side, it’s is sometimes more because they are a friend than it is that you’ve heard both sides objectively and come to the decision before taking their side. You’re usually hearing one person tell their story, and often it is not only the one who tells their story the loudest and longest that ends up with the most people on their side, but the one who provides the most social benefit or celebrity status.