What Have You Been Investing In?

You’d have to be living under a rock in a cave in the wilderness to be unaware of the “financial market meltdown” now being talked about in the developed world. The news is full of stories using language like, “turmoil”, “crisis”, “market in freefall” and “meltdown”. And people all over the country are wondering what’s going to happen to their investments, their superannuation, their future security?

Well, believe it or not, you do have a choice. A choice about whether you invest in love or fear. A choice about whether you scare yourself with the news and become stuck in a mindset of anxiety or whether you remember you create the whole of your own reality, you are a powerful, magnificent creator and you always have a choice about how to respond. Your choice depends largely on what you have been investing in…

If you have been investing in knowing who you really are, exploring your self-made internal representations of the world and choosing to align yourself with peace and love and joy, you’ll know that whatever is happening is simply a manifestation of the collective consciousness of the world. You’ll recognise your own choice to agree with the fear or not. If you have been investing in becoming aware of what’s really going on, beneath the surface of what appears to be so, you’ll remember that everything is energy – you are energy, money is energy, life is energy. When the energy shifts occurring in the world are driven by fear, more fear is the inevitable result. And the cycle continues.

You can respond to this cycle of fear in yourself and in the world by challenging your own fearful thinking, by not agreeing with anxiety that is prevalent in our world today and by remembering that everything is perfect even if it doesn’t look how you think it should. When you let go of your attachment to how things “should be” and instead accept the perfection in each and every moment, you’ll discover the inherent peace and joy that lives beneath the surface of your mind. When you invest in being fully present in each moment of now, your fear about the future dissolves and you experience real security – the security of knowing who you really are – Love.

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"Know thyself - and thou shall know all the mysteries of the gods and of the universe"

Inscribed above the Temple of Apollo in Delphi

Mind Your Head!

You see your head is where all your thinking takes place, all the analysis paralysis that many of you engage in on a daily basis is a function of your thinking mind running on and on and on in an unconscious context of fear. And often without much consistent direction or conscious input from you.

You can release yourself from the tyranny of your fearful thinking by choosing to remember that you are not your mind, or your thoughts or your feelings or your body or any of your stuff. You are magnificent, creative, loving being and thinking and feeling are things you do. If you are the one doing those things then you can do something else if you choose.

And there’s the rub. What to choose? What’s the right choice? And where do you look to find your own answers?

Simple. You go within.

Stop for a moment ... close your eyes and breathe ... Notice where your attention is located and bring it back to your breath and your body sitting in your chair ... notice what’s going on inside and outside you ... observe without getting involved in the mind chatter that is occurring ... notice what you are feeling ... in your body ... and emotionally ... breathe and listen ... sit and breathe without needing to avoid anything, or make anything happen ... focus on your breath ...

Once you are in a state of being present in your body, in this moment, right here, right now, the whole of who you are is available to respond to whatever is present. It’s only ever one moment of now.

So when you find yourself stuck in your fearful, anxious, distracted thinking, stop and breathe. And mind your head!

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"Stay present and continue to observe what is happening inside you. Become aware not only of the (thoughts and feelings) but also of “the one who observes”, the silent watcher. This is the power of NOW, the power of your own conscious presence. Then see what happens."

Eckhart Tolle

Do You Sweat The Small Stuff?

I hope so.

Contrary to popular sentiment, I actually think it’s important to take care of the small stuff in life. For it’s only in the small stuff that the bigger issues can be resolved.

While enjoying coffee with my gym buddies the other day, we talked about how each of us personally felt about what we see happening in the world today particularly in relation to Zimbabwe, Tibet, Climate Change (all news makers these past few weeks). We agreed that man’s inhumanity to man is quite obvious in how many of our fellow human beings are behaving even though many will justify, excuse or endorse such things. We agreed that it’s terrible and awful and none of us like it, yet … what to do? Is there anything we can do that will make a sustainable difference in our world?

A few days later, while at the gym, I became acutely aware of how I could make a difference after going into the bathroom to wash my hands. There was water everywhere, all over the sink and surrounding vanity. My initial response was one of frustration: how could anyone just leave all this mess? I pondered this while washing my hands and as I was about to finish, I realised I was also in danger of just leaving this mess. After all, it wasn’t my mess per se, I wasn’t the one who splashed the water everywhere, I was just the person who came upon it this way. Then I realised – I am here and it is this way and I can do something about it right now. I saw that it cost me nothing to simply take my towel and mop up the water – so I did - and it took about 10 seconds. I got (again) the transformation that occurs when I take full responsibility for the whole of what is occurring in this moment.

So, you want to make a difference to the way your world is? The answer lies not only in the big dramas but in the small stuff that occurs every day, the stuff that you can respond to right here, right now. What are you waiting for?

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"From little things, big things grow ..."

Paul Kelly

I Create The (W)hole Of My Own Reality

So where do you sit in relationship to this fundamental paradigm of ultimate cause? Are you firmly and unhesitatingly anchored in the position that says “I create the WHOLE of my own reality” or do you dip in and out, sometimes “yes”, sometimes “no” depending on how you feel - the “I create the HOLE of my own reality” position?

Lots of people ask me “How do I live this new paradigm?” And my answer is simply this: Fully accept and embrace the whole paradigm and the notion that you in fact are the cause of EVERYTHING, the whole, the all. You don’t need to believe in it, agree with it, prove it or understand it. You just need to take that position in relationship to everyone and everything that’s happening, all the time. It’s quite simple really and not so easy, particularly when you are judging everything that occurs and judging yourself in the process.

When you take the position that you only create some of what is happening and not all, you are creating a "hole" in the Whole of your own reality. Anything that you refuse to be response-able for, anything that you decide is happening to you, you have no power to change. You get stuck and you have to wait for whatever or whomever is causing it to cause something else. This is a big black hole you fall into and it can take ages to get out!

However, when you take the position that you do create THE WHOLE of your own reality, you get to choose what happens next, you get to choose how to respond, you get to choose again and again and again. You get to choose the whole without the holes.

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"I create the hole of my own reality"

Amala

The Waiting Game

For the past few weeks, I have been waiting for some inspiration so I could write the May newsletter for you. And so far, I have come up dry. I have lots of ideas swarming around in my head and in my psyche and yet every time I sit down to write, nothing seems to click, nada, zilch and zip.

I have been thinking “I must get this newsletter out before May 31st, everyone is expecting it, I can’t miss a month, I have never missed a month, what will it say about me if I don’t get it out in time..” and blah, blah, blah. I would then tell myself “it’s ok, you’ll get inspired, you always have before, it will come” and I would calm down for a while. Then the whole cycle would start again. I realised that the more I engage in the “woulda-coulda-shoulda, someday-oneday-when” conversation, the more unsettled and anxious I feel and nothing gets done!

So this morning I stopped the conversation (and the anxiety) by choosing to embrace what was happening. I chose to let go of needing to write this newsletter by any particular time. By choosing what I was already experiencing, I let go of my self-imposed “have to’s” and decided that I am where I am, things are how they are and I am ok whether I do it or not. Whew! Such a relief.

As soon as I let go, I was inspired to write what I have been experiencing throughout this process! This always happens when I let go, energy flows and things clear up in the process of life itself without any “have-to” or “must-make-it-happen” energy from me.

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"You do not need to leave your room...
Remain sitting at your table and listen.
Do not even listen, simply wait.
Do not even wait, be quiet, still and solitary.
The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked.
It has no choice.
It will roll in ecstasy at your feet."

Franz Kafka

Pay Attention!

What do the words “pay” and “attention’ have to do with each other? And why do we say “pay attention” when we mean “be present” and “be here now”?

When someone does something or says something you don’t agree with, the whole truth is it is ok for them to have a different opinion or perception of the world we share. Yet sometimes you are tempted to react, to take it personally and judge, defend or attack. When you let that happen, when you find yourself enmeshed in the feeling and emotion of your button-pushed reaction, notice your energy is invested what’s going on outside you and doing what you can to make it different/go away or change. You are paying attention to what’s happening outside because you don’t want to be present with what’s happening inside.

That’s where it gets messy. Whenever you invest your energy - pay attention - mainly to what’s occurring outside you i.e. what was said or done, you only get part of the information you need to respond and make another choice. When you forget to go inside first, to breathe and be with your own feelings, thoughts and energy inside you, when you forget that you are the source of all that is occurring, the cause of everything that is occurring both outside and inside, then you are caught up in feeling at the effect of whatever is happening. And the game continues.

Start paying attention to what’s happening inside you first. Be present with yourself and your thoughts and feelings about whatever is occurring moment by moment. Remember that you get to decide what things mean and when you pay attention to what you are making things mean, you have a choice about the next moment.

When you invest your energy in being the most loving, peaceful and joyful you can be, the dividends are huge. You experience more love, more peace and more joy no matter what is happening. When love is your main investment strategy the rewards are immense, for you and everyone else.

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"All we need is love"

The Beatles

The Truth About Your Judgements!

There seems to be some confusion regarding the difference between acknowledgment – telling the truth – and expressing your judgements. Some people seem to think that expressing a “negative” or “critical” truth is judgement and therefore not appropriate to express. Not so. What determines whether you are judging is whether or not you believe that whatever is occurring (or whomever is involved) is right or wrong; good or bad; negative or positive; better or worse. Judgement is the polarising value we place on whatever is occurring, not the thing itself. It’s a context that we come from and is largely based in fear, not love.

The net result of judging everything that occurs is that you create a polarised position in relation to that which you are judging. That very polarity creates tension and ultimately the whole attack/defend pendulum gets set in motion.

For example: If I have arranged to meet someone at midday and they show up at 2pm, telling the truth to that person could go something like: “We agreed to meet at midday and you are 2 hours late. I feel disappointed and frustrated right now.”

The judgement piece comes in when you believe that it is wrong for someone to show up late and they are wrong for doing that.

For example: “We agreed to meet at midday and you are 2 hours late. What’s wrong with you that you can’t keep a simple appointment? It’s not ok for you to do this to me. Blah, blah, blah… " (you know the drill!).

And don’t get me started on the “No judgement but…” conversation. That’s just a sleazy way of making others wrong while appearing to be “enlightened” and detached. Yeah, right. If you think saying “no judgement but…” gives you licence to dump your judgemental “truth” all over someone else, think again. The most powerful thing you can do when you find yourself judging is to acknowledge it eg: “I am judging (you/me/what’s occurring) right now and I am feeling upset/angry/frustrated (whatever it is). Then choose how you want to respond rather than go looking for agreement about your judgements.

The truth is, you judge, I judge, everybody judges. We judge everyday in many ways - both large and small, covert and overt, extreme and subtle. Recognise that you do judge and rather than judge yourself for that, love yourself, tell the truth and be responsible for your truth and your judgements.

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"Today I will judge nothing that occurs."

A Course in Miracles