Cleaning Up After Ourselves - Emotions and Empowerment

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

-Maya Angelou

Memory created from emotional experience is the strongest type of memory that we have. We decide things that affect us for long periods of time - often our entire lives - based on experiences that cause us to feel some way. Very often we make those decisions in imperceptible fractions of seconds, and we mostly don't even realize that we have. I remember once, when I was very little, deciding that big men with white hair and white mustaches were mean and dangerous to be around because my uncle (a big man with white hair/white mustache of course) had yelled at me and spanked me - hard - for something I didn't do. It took me about half a second to make this decision, and half my life to realize why I got agitated and angry around certain types of men, so that I could finally release it.

If the feeling we get from an experience is especially strong, and/or matches feelings we've had in the past that we've made decisions based on, that decision becomes part of our cellular memory. Once in cellular memory it becomes a part of us - we get to drag those decisions around through future lifetimes, experiencing the impact of them on ourselves and others, and eventually, hopefully - if it's a decision that has impacted us negatively - we gain enough wisdom and knowledge to be able to dismiss the decision as the non-truth that it is. If it was a decision that impacts us positively, yay us!, we have a nice, positive trait to add to our experiences. These decisions become the basis for who we are in any given human life. In other words, the impact of our emotional responses can be far-reaching, and very important to our emotional well-being. And our emotional well-being is crucial to our physical well-being.

Being Aware of How People Respond to Us

So Ms. Angelou's observation strikes me as important in two ways. The first is related to how we treat others - being aware that our intent, words, and actions can have a lasting impact on others. For me, it helps me focus my attention on creating a positive interaction with people wherever I go. That's empowerment - we empower others when our interactions with them, no matter how small, leave them feeling better about themselves.

Empowerment, to me, is at minimum a feeling of "I'm ok." It can be so much more, but that's the gentlest good feeling that I associate with being empowered. There are steps along the continuum of negative emotion that lead toward empowerment, and helping people get to these places is a wonderful thing. But for me, the lowest positive emotion that I personally associate with feeling empowered is "I'm ok." I'd prefer that people I interact with come away with feelings like "I'm awesome!" "I'm worthy" or at least "I'm capable" but I'll settle for "I'm ok". It's a dang site better than any of the negative feelings they might be left with.

In other words, my goal in interacting with others is that they come away feeling good about themselves in some way, no matter what the conversation was about, even if I'm handing them their walking papers (in other words, firing them). Do I always do this? Not by a long shot! Ask any of the various people who've interacted with me over time! ;)

Yet .. even with the best of intentions, can we control how people are going to respond to us? Of course not. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth trying. As I mentioned, it is my goal that people I interact with come away from those interactions empowered. It's how I would like to be treated. If things don't work out and I walk away knowing that they are less than empowered, I have to ask myself "what was being mirrored back to me in that exchange? (what is there for me to see for myself), and "what might I have done to have it go better"?

Being Aware of How We Respond to Others

The other important thing I see about Maya's observation relates to how we respond to others. Not only when people are directly interacting with us, but how we respond to others as we observe them interacting with each other. Whether I feel empowered from an interaction with another - or from simply being in the presence of others - is completely within my control. I have the ability - and in my mind, the response-ability - to be conscious of my reactions, and consciously choose my responses so that I maintain a feeling of empowerment regardless of what's going on around me. That, to me, is mastering the art of being human - being able to powerfully be your Self no matter what is going on around you. It doesn't mean being right, it doesn't mean always winning, it doesn't mean always being liked. It means being Who I Am, no matter what. Do other people need to understand or accept me? Not at all. That I cannot control, and as much as possible I don't even try .. but as the saying goes "old habits die hard". ;)

Another interesting thing I've noticed is that as we grow along our path we sometimes come to a place where we think that it doesn't matter how we treat others, because they are responsible for their own reactions. Our rationale is that if they get hurt, so be it, there's something there for them to learn. If they get angry so be it, there's something there for them to learn. I cannot deny that that is true, each of us is responsible for our own reactions. But .. does knowing that relieve us of our responsibility in the matter of what we say and what we do?

It's a delicate line that we dance over all the time. Sometimes we are so out of awareness with our own state of being that spewing our emotions is necessary. It serves no one, least of all ourselves, to ignore our feelings or bury them deep inside. Inside they fester and turn into resentment and anger. If held onto long enough, those emotions affect the physical body in unpleasant ways. So releasing emotion is important to our personal well-being, and our personal well-being is important to the planet and to humanity as a whole. But what happens in the aftermath of, say, an emotional explosion? We feel better and those around us feel .. potentially .. a whole lot worse. Certainly not empowered.

When we spill a glass of water on someone's floor, do we just walk away and expect them clean up the mess? or do we apologize, grab a towel, and start cleaning up the mess ourselves? While it's true that the ultimate responsibility for the mess belongs to the owner/tenant of the place where we spilled it, isn't it also our responsibility as the person who made the mess to do something to help clean it up?

Couldn't the same concept be applied to emotional spills? Other people are impacted by the emotional messes we make even more than they are impacted by the physical messes we make. Seems to me that it behooves all of us, particularly as we are moving closer and closer to instant manifestation, to be responsible for the energy that we put out into the world. If we're conscious enough, aware enough, of how we're feeling, we can center ourselves and ground the energy of our negative feelings before it leaks - or blasts - out into the world unrestricted. A worthy goal I think.

But what about when we can't? What about the times when, despite our sincerest wishes and efforts, others get caught in a whirlwind of our emotions? In our upset we don't even notice, perhaps until some time later when we start getting a hint or or clue that we caused a major upheaval. There are options. Please be advised that feeling guilty isn't one of them! Guilt has no place in the life of an empowered human. (For more on this, see my earlier article Learning to Love Yourself - Guilt Free)

If you don't notice an emotional mess when it happens (so you aren't aware enough to clean it up then), or you don't clean it up at the time for whatever reason, it isn't necessary to revisit the event or the people who may have been involved in order to apologize. You can apologize if you desire to do so, but it isn't necessary. For one, that experience has passed. We don't need to go back and revisit every experience and change our reaction to it (though that can be helpful), instead we can create the effect of having changed an experience by changing ourselves going forward. For another, you may not have had the impact on others that you think you did - you could always ask about that, and apologize if it feels right to you to do so.

What you can always do, once you've realized you might have created an emotional mess, is reiterate to yourself that that is not the way you wish to behave. Ask your higher self what might be learned from the experience, if you don't have a sense of it already. Appreciate yourself for having noticed the unwanted behavior, for having examined it for potential learning, for reiterating your intent to be different, then let it go. Send your love energetically to those involved if that feels good to you, but in all cases, let the incident go. If you can't, then examination into that feeling will be helpful.

The thing you really want to avoid is expecting that this behavior will never visit you again. Personal growth doesn't typically occur that quickly, although it certainly can. One thing certain is that the response will keep appearing until it doesn't. What you can expect is that when it does return you will notice it sooner, respond to it quicker, and eventually be able to catch yourself before an unwanted emotional response is released. In other words, you'll have access to the automatic behavior and be able to choose consciously how to deal with the emotional energy yourself, internally, without anyone else being affected.

Emotion is Energy, Energy Impacts Everything

The important thing to remember is that the energy we release, through emotion or any other way, has an impact on the earth itself, and on everyone and everything around us. If you are interested in sending out the most positive energy possible, you can do that at any time, in any place, in any circumstance, in the presence of any thing or any one, even your supposed "enemies". It just takes looking at a given situation from a different vantage point.

Here's something to try: If the work you're doing isn't cooperating with you, rather than swear at it, call it names, and spew upset all over everywhere, why not treat it like you would a respected, even beloved partner? First take a deep breath, center yourself and get grounded. Then tell your work that you believe in it, that you appreciate it (do this in whatever ways and with whatever words feel right to you), then ask it to cooperate with you. Tell it clearly what result you are looking for, and then give it the space to become what you have asked. Begin working again when you feel ready. Be sincere - like a child instinctively does, your work will know if you are simply going through the motions. Be prepared to be amazed at the results!

Then you can use the experience to help you see other situations from a different perspective.

Children

Children are particularly sensitive to emotional energy, and typically have little if any practice in releasing it from their bodies. They may not even recognize that what they are feeling is not their own emotion but someone else's, and they don't need to deal with it. You can help children understand about emotions, help them learn to separate their own feelings from the feelings of others. For example you can explain how sometimes people - even people who love us - say and do things they don't necessary mean to say or do, and that their upset is theirs, it has nothing to do with us. You can let children talk about how such and such a situation made them feel, and help them release any emotional debris associated with the experience. It's worth the extra few minutes it takes to connect with a child energetically and help them process what might be overpowering emotions. Consider the potential decisions they might be making based on that experience!

And don't be surprised if a child walks up to you someday and helps you get through some upsetting emotion. We are in the presence of a new generation of Masters. In many cases we're going to have to paddle hard to catch up with them!

The Future

In times past, that is, those thousands of years before humanity (at the higher self level) decided to attempt to move into a higher vibration, as a race, along with Earth - in other words before "the Shift" - humans were given help in cleaning up their emotional "messes". Protections were in place, and other entities worked with us, to transmute much of the strong emotional energy that we released unawares. While "bad things" did happen as a result of our thoughts and desires, as bad as some things were, there was not nearly as much havoc created as there might have been, due to the help provided through our buffer of time.

For most of us alive on the planet today, that kind of help is either no longer available or in the process of being removed. We are at the point in our evolution where we each have to be responsible for our own thoughts, beliefs, words, and actions. We must learn how to manage our energy ourselves. If we cannot, we will not be able to move into the higher vibrations. Not because we wouldn't be "allowed to", but because we'd self destruct from the attempt.

In the higher vibrations, manifestation is instantaneous. Can you imagine the havoc we could create if we were to instantaneously manifest "I hate you! I'm going to kill you!"? We say things like that, but usually we don't mean them. All something like that generally means is that we are so enraged in the moment that we don't know how to respond to our rage, we don't know what to do with it. So we say things like that. We think it's harmless.

In a protected third-density reality we had a time lag that protected us from thoughts like those. We had time to reconsider, move off of an unwanted intent ("come to our senses"), and thereby not manifest it. As time collapses, the buffer of time - and the protection it brings - diminishes. Soon it will be completely gone. Will you have mastered your thoughts by then? Will you be ready to see your every whim and upset manifest in your reality instantly?

You can be. Simply by beginning now to be aware of the impact that your thoughts and words and actions have. These are fantastic times. More fantastic than most people can even begin to grasp. Teeming with opportunity! But with the opportunity comes responsibility - the responsibility to manage our own thoughts, our own energy.

We have lots of help. An unbelievable amount of help. Our helpers come from places, and help arrives in ways, that most of us aren't even remotely aware of. In some cases wouldn't be able to comprehend - or accept - even if we were aware of it. Suffice it to say that we are under a kind of Divine Dispensation, given in part to help us learn how to manage our thoughts and emotions - our energy. Extraordinary help is being provided so that humanity, as a race, can move into the higher dimensions, so that we can aid and follow Earth on her journey there, join her in her adventure.

Take advantage of the fact that this help exists, and ask for it. Tell the Universe, your Higher Self, your guides, your angels, the Ascended Masters, whatever beings you trust or whatever terms you use, that you wish to master your thoughts and ask for help. Use whatever words or methods feel right to you, but ask. Then listen for the guidance. You can use ceremony, you can use meditation, you can get quiet in your own mind, or you can just .. ask. Your thoughts are no secret to those dedicated to helping you. But this is a planet of free choice, and that means that help cannot be imposed on you, you must ask for it, consciously and with purpose.

Begin now learning how to manage your thoughts, to ground energy, to empower others, and to find joy in everything you do. There are thousands, if not millions, of human teachers/mentors/healers available to help you, if you want help. Like anything, it takes practice, but as you practice you will gain confidence - and pride! - in your ability. Then, when the time comes and you find yourself in a realty in which your every thought is manifest almost before you think it, you will be confident in the knowledge that you are ready.

What We Can Learn From Hospice

Earlier this year I began spending time as a Hospice volunteer. It's a wonderful program, and after about 9 months of being involved in it you'd think I'd be writing about what an amazing and beautiful experience it has been. And it has! But that's not what has captured my attention.

Even as far back as my initial training for this volunteer effort, I was struck by how much emphasis the Hospice staff puts on treating people with dignity and respect. The focus is on supporting, comforting, listening to, enjoying, appreciating, loving, and honoring the clients and their families. What an awesome way to treat people! So uplifting! I have total permission to go into my clients' home or room - people for whom I am a complete stranger! - and simply love them. The time I spend with them is entirely devoted to them and their needs, to helping ensure that their last few months, weeks, days, hours as a human being are as comfortable as possible, that they are as cared about as possible, and that they leave this earth feeling as proud of who they are and what they've accomplished as they can allow themselves to accept. It's a truly wonderful system.

But it makes me wonder .. why does a person have to find themselves at end-of-life, the end of the road, the place where all of medical science has given up on them, to become entitled to be treated this way? Why don't we treat each other this way all the time? Why don't we support each other, listen to each other, comfort each other, enjoy each other, appreciate each other, love each other, honor each other, allow each other to just be, all the time? Why is all that good stuff withheld from us until we have the least possible physical ability to appreciate it?

I've been reflecting on that question for quite awhile, and I don't know that I have an answer. Maybe we just aren't practiced at treating each other this way. Maybe we don't give each other permission to treat each other this way. Maybe we just don't take the time. Maybe all the rules we've developed to protect ourselves from each other keep us from even considering it. Maybe we don't believe we deserve to be treated this way. Maybe we don't have enough tolerance of, or can't find true compassion for, each other until we know there's no hope left. Maybe it's a combination of all those reasons and more.

Pondering all this has gotten me to see what life could be like if we truly valued and respected each other, regardless of who we are, what we've accomplished in the material world or not accomplished, or what we've done with our lives or not done with our lives. It really doesn't matter. None of that matters. Not in the least. We are all, each and every one of us, going through this amazing thing known to many as The Shift, and we're doing it together whether we are aware that we are or not. Every human being who is a human being today, who has ever been human, who will ever be human, has a part to play in the experiences of the race called human.

Each of us is an aspect of God, in that we are all equal. No one of us is any more, or any less, deserving of the dignity and compassion that we have proven we are capable of giving. And none of us is new to this game called being physical. If we had any clue what we've done in our past journeys on the planet, or in the far reaches of the multiverse, I think we wouldn't be so quick to judge, and maybe a whole lot quicker to appreciate. It seems to me it's in all of our best interests to remember that, and to treat each other with the compassion, love, and dignity that our status as true creators deserves. Spirit does no less, why should we?

On Being Yourself

When you affirm your own rightness in the universe, then you co-operate with others easily and automatically as part of your own nature. You, being yourself, helps others be themselves. Because you recognize your own uniqueness you will not need to dominate others, nor cringe before them.

Jane Roberts, author of The Seth Material

On God

If God was capable of being insulted, the greatest insult you could give him/her is to wage war "in God's name."

~ John Cali / Chief Joseph

I love that quote from John Cali's August 3, 2010 Chief Joseph newsletter.

Following is that article in it's entirety.

God

A dear friend I met many years ago recently asked me about God. Might as well start with the small stuff! ;)

Here's part of what he wrote:

"When somebody is close to God, they are unstoppable. I know God is there but (s/he) keeps well hidden from me. Maybe Joseph would dare to take on the question of how we best attempt to relate to God?"


John Cali

As you might imagine, this is a question we get often in private readings. People want to know who and what God is, what part God plays in our lives, how we can connect with God, and so on.

Good questions.

Here's Chief Joseph.


Chief Joseph

We can wrap this up very quickly (humorously):

You are already connected to God because you are God. But you probably want a few more details.

Friends, you need look no farther than the tip of your nose, or the eyes in your mirror, to find God.

You already know that. But you quickly and often forget.

We and others have defined God as all that is -- and All That Is.

We mean that literally. God is not only a part of all that is, but all that is is God. It's that simple.

To put it another way, you cannot be separate from God. It's impossible.

Of course, we realize when you're going through your earthly traumas and dramas you don't always feel close to God. But, as we said, s/he is always right there within you, beside you, all around you. You just forget that sometimes.

We define love as the choice to see the divinity in all beings, all life -- even what you call "inanimate" objects (like a rock). It's all God. It's all good. Period!

When all of you see God in this way, you will automatically put an end to war and to killing one another. If God was capable of being insulted, the greatest insult you could give him/her is to wage war "in God's name." As you have done for centuries.

So to answer our friend's question how you can best relate to God, you don't have to find a way to relate at all. You already are related. It cannot be otherwise.

But again, because you forget, you need occasional reminding. The best way to remind yourselves is to simply say to yourselves each day, "I am God also."

Look in the mirror, deeply into your own eyes, when you say it.

Do you love God? Then you must love yourselves. When you love yourselves, you will love all that is -- and All That Is.

God is always with you. God is you. You are never alone.

Copyright © 2010 by John Cali. All rights reserved worldwide.

Transforming Fear

As we move further and further into accepting our responsibility for creating this amazing and beautiful world that we share, we are being confronted with more and more of our fears. Often we're discovering a recurrence of fears we thought we'd cleared. These fears are reappearing to show us that there is still more healing/clearing to be done.

Sometimes we don't even recognize ours fears as fears, but rather see the outward manifestation of them as "the way things are", implying that it can't be changed. But no matter how things look, everything, but everything, can be changed. Fear based thoughts can be replaced with their opposite - love based thoughts - and must be if we are to fully create as we desire inside the new energy. The key is that before change can occur, we must come to an acceptance and appreciation for that which we have been railing against or hiding from.

But how?

Lysaa Royal has provided the following information from her spiritual group, Germane, to help us move through our fear.

Germane’s 4 Step Fear Process:

1) Ask: What do I fear?

We would suggest that the person list as many things as possible. This is including physical fears (such as snakes or riding in a car). It is also encompassing fear of success, fear of not being loved, fear of being abandoned. It is the tangible fears and the intangible fears. Write down as much as you possibly can. Take as long as you possibly can to do it. It is going to be very illuminating for you.

2) Ask: How does this fear manifest in my life?

For instance, an answer to that question might be, "When I am in fear, I lash out at those I love." It is very important for you to identify the behavior that you engage in when you are in fear. Often you do not know when you are in fear, because it is a behavior or an energy that you are used to. But if you can learn to identify your behavior patterns, you can then examine your patterns and know when you are in fear. That way, every time you lash out at someone you love, you are going to know, "Ah ha! I must be in fear."

3) Ask: What possible value can I find for the expression of my fear?

Let us reword this. What value can you ascribe to the expression of your fear? Example: Your fear is extremely valuable because it points out to you when you are having tremendous growth opportunities. If you can identify, through your behavior, when you are in fear, you can stop and say, "Ah ha! This is an extremely valuable time right now, because it signifies something for me to move through which will be tremendously empowering."

4) Personify your fear.

Take a clean sheet of paper, colored pens and pencils, crayons, whatever you want, and what you are going to do is to personify your fear. Draw your fear. Give it a humanoid form—whether it looks like a witch or a vampire, or an ugly monster, make it is ugly and as sinister as you can, but still keep it having the appearance of human. This is a very, very powerful mechanism. What it is going to do is communicate to your subconscious mind and your ego that fear is on your level. We will call this fear character "Mr. Fear." (You can call it "Miss Fear" if you want to, it doesn't matter). Mr. Fear, when personified, is like fear being revealed. It is now vulnerable. It now stands there in front of you and you can see it is your height. It has two arms, two legs. It is something you can deal with. It is not this big, black void.

When you put fear on your level through personification, you can then use all sorts of techniques such as dialoging with the fear to help the transformational process occur. When you've mastered fear, once again we will repeat, when you've mastered fear, you have mastered self-empowerment. In a sense, fear is the one enemy all of you are fighting on this planet—to speak a little bit dramatically. Each of you have disguised Mr. Fear in a different costume. So Mr. Fear is always something outside of you. However, Mr. Fear is something very alive and well inside. And it is the primary blockage toward mastering personal power. When Mr. Fear is brought to your level and embraced and allowed to express itself, you will be on the path toward absolutely and totally mastering your personal power.

~ Germane, through Lyssa Royal

Becoming Quantumly Self-Aware

No-one can deny that the energies are increasing in intensity faster than ever before. From one moment to the next things are shifting and changing, forcing us in many instances to adjust our perception, therefore, altering our truth. This is necessary in order for us to keep up with the massive changes currently underway. For years the Masters have spoken about this time of change, and now more than ever we have to grow with the flow, like it or not, ready or not!

With quantum physics revealing so much to us, it has become imperative for us to understand how big an influence the little things have on us. The impact is colossal. ... The time is now for us to apply the laws of quantum physics in order to become, understand, and most importantly, perform as the master alchemists we are told we are - hidden beneath all the human conscious, subconscious, and unconscious grunge of course.

We are being asked to step up to the plate and perform by putting what we have learned into practice. It is a critical turning point right now, a turning point which will not only reveal to us the depth of our inherent power, but also the depth of the powerful connection we have to nature, and all things. This is how we influence, and are influenced by life. Quantum Physics states that everything is possible until the observer makes a choice as to where energy will be focused, at which time the possibility, or potential, then becomes a reality. We know this is happening at a sub atomic level, which means we have to be ultra-aware of where our energy is focused. Perhaps it is Quantum Physics which holds the key to understanding the truth about whether free will truly does, or doesn't exist. That said, it is clearly evident that the level of consciousness of the observer influencing their perception at any one given moment, results in many avenues of potential "falling away", or, collapsing so to speak, and only one becoming the reality. The quality of the reality content becomes manifest based on the observers perspective, attitudes, belief systems etc. Therefore, if one's consciousness is toxic, it doesn't matter how many wonderful possibilities exist in the quantum field, the observer will generally opt for the choice they are energetically, or on a consciousness level, most familiar with, i.e focus their energy on what they are familiar/comfortable/programmed with, and never forgetting that consciousness is individual, therefore, limited by it's level of awareness/experience.

What this means is that we as enlightened beings now need to become QUANTUMLY more self-aware, and conscious, in order to make full use of the many potentials available to us. By elevating our awareness of self, as observers, we are able to change our reality on a quantum level, and when things are changed on a sub-atomic level, everything changes. This is an incredible time of growth and change for all of us! The thing that strikes me the most is that this affords us the opportunity to enter the scientific realm of our consciousness, knowing full well, that by being quantumly aware, we are speeding up the process for ourselves, and that these micro-cosmic steps make up the macro-cosmic journey toward incredible individual and collective change and empowerment, therefore, ascension.

Thus, for arguments sake, lets completely accept that free will DOES in fact exist and operates outside space time. This means you HAVE A CHOICE, right now, as to how your current level of consciousness, and perceptions, are going to determine your experience in the future. You are programming yourself on a sub-atomic level right now. What are you programming yourself with? It is currently impossible for us to be 100% positive in every moment of life, however, we do have the power to change our range of perception and the quality of our focus. This is done through self-knowledge, self-awareness etc. We can only truly know our world through knowing who we are, therefore, if we don't know ourselves we will never be able to gain an understanding of our external world and how it is impacting upon us, and vice versa. This means we are really not making much progress at all in terms of aiming to become truly liberated souls who have risen above our fate and met the fullness of our destiny. There is no other way. And if we are serious about changing the world we currently experience as reality, then we have some serious work to do with ourselves. This is the death of the victim and the resurrection of the victor. Bottom line is, are you in or are you out? No sitting on the fence, there is NO MORE time.

Because matter is a derivative from consciousness, we can now see beyond a shadow of a doubt that the level and quality of our consciousness is the key ingredient in determining the quality of our lives and the world we live in. Therefore, regardless of our circumstances, we now need to put all the theory we have learnt into practice and live our best life ever, and believe in it! Another important fact to bear in mind when considering quantum physics, and how to use this science consciously, is that it is volatile. By this I mean, we don't really know how the outcome is going to manifest, this is often determined by many unseen and unknown factors, let's in this case call it our fate/destiny playing out. This is one of the reasons why we are encouraged to stay focused in the moment, creating in the moment, allowing the rest to take care of itself. Although we are working with ourselves quantumly, we need to be aware of the fact that we don't see the bigger picture because of our limited ability to experience the fullness of consciousness in it's entirety. It takes wisdom and faith to let go and let God, but the reward is well worth it.

~ Michelle Eloff, The Lightweaver dot org

The information here stands on it's own, but to help you apply the concepts, Michelle and her Lightweaver team have created a high-level course for those ready to advance consciousness at lightening speed.

From Michelle: Kuthumi-Agrippa and Mary Magdalene have put together a powerful program of advanced initiations called "Pods of Light", which are aimed at helping accelerate our consciousness on a micro-cosmic and macro-cosmic level.

Visit the The Lightweaver website for more information.

Tell Not Your Children

Tell not your children that they are imperfect and must strive to be better.

Tell your children that they are free to follow their hearts desire, that the world is their playground, that there is no reason they need to choose suffering, and that the purpose of their lives is to love all aspects of its experience.

~ Story Waters

If the greatest gift we can give another is our own happiness, surely greatest gift we can give the planet is our children. Not just the ones born to us or in our family, but all the children, everywhere.

Children remind us that we too, were innocent once. Free to love fully and without reservation, free of the push and shove of life, free of obligation, free of commitment, free of worry, free of strife. And they are so wise! We can learn a lot from our children, about simply being, loving, enjoying our own lives, and appreciating the same in those around us.

On Relationships

The following excerpt on having harmonious relationships is taken from Loving in the Moment: Moving from Ego to Essence in Relationships by Gina Lake at Radical Happiness.

There are two ways to keep out of trouble in our relationships. The first is to ignore our own conditioning—our desires and ideas about how things should be. The second is to ignore or accommodate our partner's conditioning. Trouble starts when we are attached to having our own conditioning met, when we try to change our partner's conditioning, or when we let it trigger ours. So much of the conditioning that causes difficulties in relationships is very minor and wouldn't be a problem if we would let our partner do things the way he or she does them, without trying to change it just because it's different from how we do things. Does it really matter if your partner doesn't wring out the dishrag after using it? Or leaves hair or toothpaste in the sink? Or has bad table manners? Or drives too cautiously? Or insists on reading the newspaper in the morning before doing anything else? These and so many other little things that annoy us in relationship are just not important. They are not more important than love. Can you just let them go? Can you just let your partner be the way he or she is?

If you can, the rewards are great. He or she will surely love you. Acceptance allows your partner to relax and just be. It allows him or her to drop into Essence, and from Essence love flows. This acceptance will come back to you, so you can just relax and be in Essence too. Acceptance is quite simple, really, but it's powerful. It's wise not to underestimate its importance in relationships. Acceptance is a quality of Essence, and when you choose it, you choose Essence over the ego.

In many cases, accepting our partner's way of being is just a matter of counteracting any complaints the ego has with a positive statement of acceptance, such as, "Let it be," "Everything is perfect," "Love is more important than this," or "He's just the way he is." These are expressions of truth from Essence, and we can use expressions like these to neutralize or change our relationship to our egoic mind, which judges and resists the many ways our partner is different from us. We can remind ourselves: "That's just the ego. There it goes again, trying to cause trouble!" Conflict is not inevitable in relationships, and we can learn to avoid it through ignoring our partner's conditioning and letting him or her just be the way he or she is. This is one of the greatest gifts we can give someone.

As part of this acceptance, we can even go along with our partner's conditioning (desires) sometimes, out of kindness. For instance, if your partner wants you to drive a little faster, why not? Or if she wants you to wring out the dishrag or keep the bathroom sink clean, why not? Why wouldn't you do these little things if it pleases your partner? People who love and accept and respect each other sometimes do what doesn't come naturally; they do so out of love, to maintain harmony, which is good for everyone. We do these little things because they are good for the relationship. We put the relationship and love before our own tendencies. Doing things the way we do them is not more important than love. When we live with someone, being flexible and considerate in small ways yields big results: love. The ego is not cooperative and considerate; only Essence is. When we emulate Essence, we always win.

With all this talk about accepting conditioning, it is important to be clear that not all conditioned behavior should be accepted. Behavior that is abusive is not acceptable, not only because no one deserves abuse, but also because a relationship can't survive it. You don't accept abusive actions and speech from your partner because you value yourself, because abusive actions and speech are not good for your relationship, and because it's not good for your partner to be allowed to behave that way. Essence accepts, but it doesn't accept abuse because it is pro-life and pro-love. Essence doesn't allow itself to be victimized. It says no to negativity, hatred, and abuse. To do anything else is to be an accomplice to or enabler of negativity and harm.

Putting your foot down in this regard is a simple matter of stating that you won't tolerate your partner speaking to you or behaving toward you in an abusive way. Anything you or your partner have to say to each other can be stated clearly, cleanly, and without blame, anger, judgment, or criticism. It is imperative that you learn to speak to each other this way rather than in a way that creates further negativity. There are lots of books available that teach how to communicate nonviolently. It's unfortunate that this most important skill isn't taught in school.

We are here to learn love, and relationships teach this. If your relationship isn't helping you to learn love, but, instead, is fostering enmity, then you need to consider leaving it. If interactions within your relationship are overwhelmingly negative or abusive, and you are unable to turn that behavior around, then it's likely that you and your partner aren't meant to be together. If you have tried everything you can to transform the negativity within you and within your relationship and you haven't succeeded, then staying in that relationship might not be appropriate. Sometimes love means loving yourself enough to leave a negative or an abusive situation.

~ Gina Lake

Ask What, Not Why

Every thought has an impact on your ascension journey. Every thought creates an outcome which reflects your energetic vibrations, level of being and dimensional placement. The challenge is to recognize which thoughts are fear-based and decrease your power, replacing them with thoughts that reflect your understanding and increase your power. When you ask 'why' you decrease your power because you see the results of your thinking as being outside of yourself and your power. But when you ask 'what' you are open to greater learning and understanding.

The many skills you have perfected in the course of your lifetimes are what you use to expand your power. Although you forget what occurs in other lifetimes on a mind level, this information is part of your life experiences, the thoughts you have and the situations you create. Your most powerful questions are 'what have I done to create this' and 'what is the purpose in this experience'. From this point you can then ask 'what is the greatest use of my power now'. The answer will lead you to the resolution, a perfect outcome and confirmation of your understanding and transformation.

The above excerpt is taken from Uriel's message Ask What Not Why from Jennifer Hoffman at Uriel Heals.

From my perspective, when we ask "why" the answer is simple: "Because you asked." We may not know how, or when, or why we asked, and it really doesn't matter. "What is the purpose of this experience?" and "What can I do now?" are better questions, because they take our attention away from the guilt, sorrow, blame, or confusion of the past and focus it instead upon positive action moving forward.

We are powerfully served by recognizing - and accepting - that our reality, both individually and globally, is affected by the thoughts that we choose to focus on. As many have been saying for years, we can't control what thoughts enter our mind, but we can control which ones we choose to focus on.

Words of Encouragement

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying' -- or whatever mules do when they fall into wells.

After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer felt sorry for the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened and asked them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back: he should shake it off and step up! This is what the old mule did, blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up... shake it off and step up... shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself.

No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up! You guessed it! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well! What seemed like it would bury him, actually ended up blessing him. All because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

~ Author Unknown (Courtesy of Whisperland)

Yet another gem shared by Maja at The Smiling Soul. Thank you Maja!

Soo .. next time you are tempted to feel beaten down by circumstances, remember the old mule, then shake it off and step up!

On Faith

Faith

When you come to the edge of all the light you have,
and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown,

faith is knowing one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid to stand on,
or you will be taught how to fly.

~ Patrick Overton

With thanks and appreciation to Maja at The Smiling Soul for this beautiful quote!

Be Careful What You Give Your Attention To

You don't have to work at being in the high vibration that is natural to you, because it is natural to you. But you do have to stop holding the thoughts that cause you to lower your vibration.

It's a matter of no longer giving your attention to things that don't allow your cork to float or don't allow you to vibrate in harmony with who you really are.

~ Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in Silver Spring, MD on Saturday, April 19th, 1997

Abraham has been saying the same things - in different ways - for a very long time. And it's as true today as it was then.

As time compresses, the buffer of time that used to protect us from our thoughts is shrinking too. Be aware and conscious of the thoughts that pass through your mind, the words that pop from your mouth, and your automatic reaction(s) to the events that surround you. Your future, my future, our future is being created on the wings of those thoughts.

So think what you think, say what you say, react how you react, then notice. In the noticing you automatically stand back from the reaction, and have the ability then, in that moment of noticing, to shift your attention away from what you don't want and toward what you do want. In so doing you will create the reality around you that you wish to experience. If that differs from what you have been told you should experience, all the better. It's your experience after all. Claim it!

Finding The Hope Within You

The following message is from Veronica through April Crawford from their newsletter Inner Whispers. The message is one of encouraging us to rekindle our hope, despite how things look momentarily on a personal, community, national, international, or global level. All is well in all of creation, including right here, right now. We just need to keep reminding ourselves of that.

Often in a life one can find a moment where all the energy of creation feels like a void inside. Despair over predicaments and dramas can lead to the inability to create anything productive in a linear sense.

In times of troublesome mass consciousness the individual may simply run out of hope for a better creation with the life.

Dramas can cause blindness to the true capabilities of the soul. Each moment unfolding feeling worse than the last. It is easy to be overwhelmed with the negativity and just give up.

By doing so one merely reinforces the sense of defeat. When one believes they are overcome they will be.

By remaining steadfast to your soulful energy one can regain the hope within and overcome anything.

Be one with your soul choosing to ignore the mass energy that can become overpowering in its negativity.

Instead of getting in the mix of defeat, attempt to break out of the crowd and become individual with your thoughts. One does not have to follow the mass moments of consciousness. One is capable of creating their own stream if they are willing to be bold and just do it.

We realize how intricate physical reality is created. We also know how difficult it is to attempt to break out of the mold and be different. This is especially so at this time in your culture.

Reinvent how you think about yourself and your surroundings. Attempt to change thought patterns that have gotten you to where you are now. Somewhere deep down your hope still exists. Do not allow the exterior to rule the interior of you.

Dig deep and find yourself. Regain your grip on hope. It is a special ingredient in your reality. Add it to your thoughts and allow it to regain its foothold within you.

~ VERONICA

More On Ascension Symptoms

The following, taken from The Ascension Primer, by Karen Bishop, is one of the most comprehensive descriptions of the symptoms associated with the global raise in consciousness - what many are calling "ascension" - that I have come across. Please keep in mind that ascension doesn't mean dying and going to heaven, although when you die you do "ascend" because your vibration rises immediately. Ascension in the current context means raising your vibration high enough that you become Who You Really Are on a spiritual level while staying in your physical body, firmly planted on Earth. Essentially you are experiencing the death of who you have been, and the birth of who you are becoming, without leaving the body. This is a wonderful thing, and you are a part of it. How exciting is that?!

Whether it looks like it or not when you look out into the world, we are creating a wonderful, beautiful, fantastic new world, right here, right now. Heaven on Earth is the term many use, I find that quite appropriate. So instead of looking out into the world and being upset about what you see, why not ask yourself - each and every time you're tempted to be deflated instead of expanded - "What wonderful and amazing things are happening for me today?" And then allow yourself to get into the delicious feeling of anticipation. That will do more to help you through the symptoms and on to becoming the greatest You that you have ever known. It is, you know, who you really are!

The Grander Plan, and How Are We Connected and Affected?

In the year 2000, a group of souls began an unprecedented process of spiritual evolution referred to by many as “ascension.” It was decided at the highest soul levels that it was now time to wrap things up here on Earth, release and reclaim every form that we had infused our energy within for eons of time since the very beginning, and start completely over by creating a very New Planet Earth before we moved on to our very new adventures as souls. Phew! This miraculous and extremely challenging process created many bizarre, confusing, and at best, unusual experiences of opening to a higher level of consciousness and a greater connection to Source and to our own souls, as we were returning home. (A more detailed description of this process and how you may be affected, along with the explanations for the many symptoms, can be found in most of the books offered by Karen Bishop, but especially in The Ascension Primer.)

“Am I part of this plan and process?” you may wonder. “And how would I know?”

Disregarding the recession here in the US or elsewhere as a cause:

• Have you felt in recent years and months, that you were stretching far beyond what you had the capacity to endure?

• Have you had many emotional ups and downs, strange physical aches and pains, many losses in the form of friends, jobs, family, finances, and much of anything else?

• Have you experienced dizziness and vertigo, neck and back pain, an intolerance for lower vibrating energy, and abdominal weight gain and bloating?

• Do you wonder who you are looking at in the mirror? Had a loss of identity?

• Have you been “removed” from your usual means of employment and cannot seem to find another job, even though you never had this problem in the past?

• Have you recently moved to a new geographical location?

• Do you experience short periods when you are very cold and cannot seem to get warm?

• Have you had hot flashes and night sweats not relating to menopause (even if you are a male?)

• Do you feel you have been pushed out of your groove by lower vibrating people?

• When you go out in public or to an event, do you feel as though you are “acting?”

• Is it hard to remember and identify with the childhood version of you?

• Have you had a serious medical situation in recent years that left you feeling helpless and powerless?

• Do you crave the company of children and when in their presence suddenly feel that everything is now “right” and you can relax as you are home?

• Have you had periods where you wake up at exactly the same time every night?

• Have you had anxiety, panic, or what feels like depression?

• Do you at times have strange and disturbing nightmares that are not normal for you?

• Have you ever had experiences of forgetting what you were going to say and finding it near impossible to “find” the words you were meaning to speak?

• Have you had periods of time when you continually saw repeating numbers, whether on digital clocks, license plates, or other arenas?

• Do you continually mis-spell words or superimpose sentences and spelling when you attempt to write something, even though you may have been a master at grammar and spelling for most of your life?

• Have you had times in your life where you felt “no sense of place?”

• Do you continually have short-term memory loss and at times cannot remember things that occurred only yesterday or even a moment before?

• Have you experienced periods of what felt like low blood sugar forcing you to eat every two hours whether you wanted to or not?

• Are your emotions out of control from time to time (sudden weeping and sadness, or are you just plain over-emotional)? Do you ever feel lost and alone?

• Do you at times feel that there is nowhere left to go that remotely fits you anymore?

• Have you found that the only way to stay sane is to be home in your own personal sanctuary?

• Do you have a strong sense that you are here to accomplish something, but you cannot remember what it is? Do you “miss” something, but are not sure exactly what?

• Do you feel ungrounded and spinning out of control at times but not at other times?

• Do you wonder why things seem to be getting worse instead of better?

• Has it become difficult to be in crowds, large stores, and the like?

• Have you seen lights, heard voices, had ringing or buzzing in the ears, or felt unusual energy pulsing through your body?

• Do you have bouts of allergy symptoms or sinus problems and headaches?

• Have you ever felt energy pouring through the top of your head?

• Have you quit reading spiritual and personal growth material?

• Is it increasingly difficult to spend substantial amounts of time around individuals who seem disconnected, “ego” driven, or who embody many “issues”? Do you just want to flee?

• Do you wonder where in the world you have landed, feel that you do not belong here, and want to go “home”?

• Has the planet earth become "unbearable" for you?

• Do you feel as though your life up until now was all about opening one door after another, but suddenly the last door opened into a closet?

If you have experienced a fair amount of the above, you are most likely having or have had in the past, the most common of the ascension symptoms and experiences. There are far too many to list here, and far too many of us have had these strange and common occurrences to warrant them as an accident or perhaps some kind of bizarre virus. These symptoms and experiences are a direct result of our spiritual expansion process, as we begin to vibrate higher and begin to embody more light than ever before. (A brief note: It is always best to seek medical attention when necessary, as certainly not all of our strange symptoms can be attributed to the ascension process.)

As we evolve higher and higher in our spiritual evolutionary process, the experiences above begin to lessen to a great degree. Making necessary internal changes through much purging and releasing of old and lower vibrating energies, and aligning ourselves with new and higher vibrating energies, ensures an arrival into a new and higher way of living and being. And eventually, we come to find that we do not experience much of the above at all. It is then that we know we are ready for our next level.

The end of 2008 marked a very pivotal point in the ascension process. Up until that time, we evolved in small and continual steps, although at times it did not feel like it! In this way, we completed one chapter of a new book, or rather released much our old lives and old selves, and always moved into another chapter. The end of 2008 marked the completion of an entire book…not just a chapter. This was a monumental time in our spiritual evolutionary process. Enough of the masses had reached a point of critical mass, were then embodying or residing in the space that those who had gone first had been holding, and it was then time for an entirely new book or dimensional residency to occur.

This new book was most certainly new for each and every rung on the ascension ladder…meaning that everyone moved up into a higher level according to where they had been residing before. The ascension process involves many periods of “waiting” for the masses to catch up until we can ourselves progress onto another rung. So then, you may be one who has progressed far and was very tired of waiting! When we are waiting, it can feel that we are trapped, boxed in, or perhaps surrounded by darker and denser energies knocking on our door. Those who had gone before had been waiting for a very long time indeed!
Where are they now? Where have those who had been holding the space for the masses gone? We have gone to a very new space and new reality of becoming Earth Angels. We have stretched, moaned and groaned, complained, and become weary of it all until the very end…and the very end of this massive first phase has brought us to a new beginning which is now about here.

Our New Symptoms and How We have Evolved

• Have you lost your desire to be a healer?

• Have you felt in recent months that the energy you used to embody is no longer there?

• Do you wonder what you are now supposed to connect to and wonder how to connect as well?

• Do you suddenly feel that your life is “here” and not back “home” somewhere?

• Have you given up any desires to save anyone or anything and only simply desire to stay put without extending?

• Have you given up belonging to groups and continually discussing spiritual matters?

• Have you discontinued meditating, “clearing,” and intentional actions involving creating, moving energy, or consulting divination sources?

• Have you lost the desire to bring up the energy of the planet, heal it, or the like?

• Do you no longer have the urge to make anything happen by yourself?

• Are you tired of being alone when it never bothered you before, and now crave the companionship of another or others?
Is your own personal energy more “subtle” than it used to be?

• Do you often feel invisible when you go out in public?

• Are your needs frequently met with ease, with no real effort on your part? Or rather, are you rarely lacking anything?

• Have you begun setting strong boundaries and find that you are not as “open” to everything and everyone as you used to be?

• Have you grown to appreciate the small things and find that you are not so interested in material possessions, getting what you want, or having to have things a certain way?

• Have you come to realize that everything is not about you, that the behavior of others has nothing to do with you, and thus, you no longer take things personally?

• Do you put yourself first in regard to your health and happiness?

• Are you now comfortable refusing to participate in things that feel very “wrong” to you?

• Is it easy for you to close the door on others, knowing that you need not be “nice” and accommodating when interacting with them was not your idea in the first place?

• Do you feel a peace and tranquility that you had rarely experienced in the past, and do you now feel safe and protected?

• Are you ready to retire?

• Do you notice much more of what is around you, instead of what is going on within you?

• Do you easily and clearly see others and what they are here to contribute? Do you acknowledge them and connect to them easily when appropriate?

• Are you aware of the whole, can you interact in groups without taking over or discounting the contribution and gifts of others, and can you allow others to become involved without having a “don't tell me what to do” or controlling attitude?

• Have you come to realize than nothing needs to be “fixed” and never did? Have you discontinued offering your services when you were not even asked (and this includes being asked by nature and the planet herself as well)?

• Do you find the answers within yourself now, rarely consulting any outside sources?

• Do you know that you are not perfect and never will be?

• Do you possess a great gift or ability, are frequently told about this by others, but have no idea what they are talking about?

• Are you comfortable watching another suffer, knowing that this is their path and that it has a higher purpose?

• Are you able to make decisions from your gut, your intuition, or rather what simply “feels” right without any rational explanation?

• Do you know what is yours to do, and realize that much of everything else is someone else's passion or purpose, thereby staying in your own role and not taking over someone else's?

• Have you found that you spend more of your time and focus simply on one of your passions or talents, and not on a variety of interests as you may have done in the past?

If you can relate any of the above, you are most certainly on your way to becoming an Earth Angel. But know as well, that these transitions come to us step by step. This is what evolution is all about. So then, you may be experiencing some of the above, but not all. In time, you will eventually experience most all of the above, and then find that you need to “wait” for others to catch up, as we are all part of one beloved whole. In addition, we will begin having exciting and new experiences as well!

If you are one who has not felt a big connection to Source or a higher vibration in ways that you had in the past, know that there is a good explanation. We have reached a place in our spiritual evolutionary process where we are embodying enough light now within ourselves. We have graduated. Thus, we are now ready to connect to each other. We are holding a very new space of light, through a gridwork of brothers and sisters, and our new connections are with our own souls and with each other now.

Welcome Earth Angels, to the next phase of our journey home.

~ Karen Bishop