When you begin consciously on the path to Soul work, what is happening is that your personality has just woken up to the call.  It may have felt stirrings come and go, but is now ready to integrate the personality with the Soul.  This is when personal arrogance comes to the fore, to struggle mind against Soul.  The mind, meaning the personal-ity, rebels as it feels itself being overpowered by the Soul.  In so doing, it becomes its own tool of transformation. In feigning more spiritual understanding than it has with those it wants to impress, the personality will ask for initiation and assure it’s time, the student/the chela is ready.  “Give me the shakti, give me the teaching, I am ready for it.” The guru knows the truth yet is bound to give what’s asked for. The consequences unfold, not as the chela expected.  It is often years before understanding sets in. When they meet again, it is on more equal footing, facades and power play of the personality having been worked through.  The harder the conditions of life, the more powerful the work; provided however you always remember the work.  Deep soul work is no easy thing until pride and vanity are overcome.  Deep soul work includes humility, honesty, transparency and willingness to communicate, for all closures and partings to be happy and congenial.  It’s not for everyone, but oh, the rewards: a lifetime of joy, understanding and fulfillment, no matter who is or is not in it.

What do you do when friends misunderstand you, when they misconstrue what you say and feel you are coming down on them, being judgmental, feeling superior and being a know it all?  YOU LET IT GO. You don’t hang on to it or try to sort it out or rehash it.  You let it go.   You focus your attention forward on your next good thing. You remember it is not your job to fix or educate anyone.  They misunderstand because they see things as THEY are, not as YOU are.  You get yourself back into an emotionally good feeling place and move on.

If it feels like nothing is happening spiritually within you right now, remember: It takes time for the tea to brew. You’re simply brewing behind the scenes. Patience.

Final layout for the April mag continues  Yesterday was busy with emails, ads, calls and errands. I didn’t leave the desk for lunch, heating a can of chicken noodle soup and throwing in a handful of spinach, a teaspoon each of vinegar, soy sauce and siriacha sauce.  It was surprisingly tasty.  I got my license tag renewal in the mail, yikes, they come in like two days! I made lots of progress doing computer work and it was after 5:00pm when I left the office.   I was ready for my evening fire!  I decided to use the chimenea on the back porch, so I could curl up in the big rocker. My fat Yinnie the Mini Cow was grooming herself on the chair across from me and we could hear “Pretty bird, pretty bird, kacheer, kacheer.” A fat, clumsy something walked past the porch, knocking against the side.  It was likely the armadillo, they are oblivious and crash into everything.  I crumpled too many pages of the magazine under the kindling, so for a few minutes it was snowing the paper ash out of the top of the chimenea.  I put one small piece of wood on and it settled right down.  I’d brought out 4 marshmallows and roasted them.  I like to let them catch fire, then spin them for full flame coverage, then blow them out before they get too black.  I love their yummy stickness but four is about three too many.  Dinner was a lazy tortilla filled with last night’s veggie picadillo with melted soy provolone cheese.  Another day in paradise

Begin telling the new story today, the way you want it to be.  That means STOP telling the old story now. When friends ask for an update, you tell them you’re excited and hopeful for the future, that many opportunities will be finding you and you’ll explore them all. You tell them what new projects you’re doing and you get involved in many of them. You tell them you are excited to be exposed to new people and new ideas.  It may even be that your next job or mate will be discovered then, too.  Your new story is that it’s all exciting and you look forward to having the time of your life. And the old story?  Bah!  That’s old news.  You’d so much more rather talk about what’s coming next!  Then you re-read this each day until you realize that it’s true.  You’ll see it the moment you believe it.

Stop making excuses.  Stop telling the old story.  Stop giving conversation to anything  you see happening that you don’t want.  Tell the story that brings you the greater relief.  Get hooked on feeling in alignment with the Universal source energy.  Complaining is out of the vortex, whether your complaint is valid or not. Think the better feeling thought. That’s the way into the vortex. That’s where everything you want is.  You can accomplish alignment every time you decide to.  “No matter what I’m doing, I have the ability to reach for alignment factors within it.  I can choose to focus myself into alignment, now, no matter what.”  You are the author and writer of your own story.  Turn the page, start anew and make sure it’s a story worth telling.

You must not hate those who do wrong or harmful things; but with compassion, you must do what you can to stop them — for they are harming themselves, as well as those who suffer from their actions.  — His Holiness The Dalai Lama

The only way unhappy people can stay in your life is if you focus on their unhappiness.  The only way hateful people can stay in your life is if you focus on their anger and keep bringing to mind past angry events.The only way happy and self sufficient people can stay in your life is if you focus on their happiness and keep bringing to mind all the good and glorious times.  Imagine that.  No, really, IMAGINE that.

Your self talk determines your future experience. Is your story that you are out of a job and the economy is bad and everyone is worried about money? Or is your story that you are between jobs, eager for a new one and that miracles happen every day? Is your story that your husband of 40 years ran off with some bimbette, divorced you, emptied the bank account and left you to fend for yourself? Or is your story that you’re starting over, testing untried waters, and excited about the possibilities? Your self talk determines your future outcome. Give it a spin that keeps you hopeful and psyched for future possibilities.    Continue reading →

On Facebook, I quoted Joyce Meyer’s  “One of the greatest blessings in the world is to be able to be happy even when things in life are not going the way we planned.”  Real life galpal Lisa Mason reponded: “Your post truly hit home with me and I wanted to share something my daughter asked me to write. It’s a condensed version of my story (of leaving mainstream society and running off to live in Costa Rica):

MY OFF DAYS:  At this stage of my life, most days I’m balanced, centered and grounded, but let me repeat… Most Days.  I’m over 50 years old and I can honestly say that I have truly “lived” my life. I can also say that I have questioned, contemplated, experienced, analyzed and most importantly learned, a great deal this far in my life. And of course, I still have so much to learn.   Continue reading →

This morning I hit the floor running, doing final layout for the April Horizons Magazine.  I spent the morning fielding phone calls, downloading emails and creating ads.  I went to the post office and the bank, then began thinking about dinner.  I decided on a vegetarian chili, made with organic celery, onions, peppers, yellow squash and kale. It’s been overcast and drizzling all day.  I took a bowl of hot chili out onto the back porch so I could watch the action in the mulberry bush:  squirrels vs. blue jays.  I’d stopped to buy marshmallows since I heard the temp will drop again tonight.  I can cook them in my chimenea!  I thought just yesterday that I’d really like to move the chimenea onto the east patio, but then I couldn’t use it in the rain.  I’m glad I didn’t move it.  I do like it on the back porch, it’s more private and I’ve got an outdoor rocker there. I just checked and my little under-the-eves-stash of kindling and firewood stayed dry from today’s rain – yay!  We’re on for marshmallows for tonight’s fire!