Instant Angel

There seems to be a lot of talk I’m hearing these days about creating your life, pursuing your dream, getting what you want. I’m all for that. I believe, deeply, that we create our own lives.  But maybe it’s just too easy to get caught up in what I want.

In Susan Jeffer’s newsletter this month, she talks about Instant Angels – those blessed souls who show up just when you need them.  She went on to explain that we can all be Instant Angels for someone else, too. If we pay attention to others, we can spot ways we can come to someone’s rescue.

What a fun way to live life!  Thinking about yourself, obsessing on your thoughts, while beneficial, can get decidedly boring.  Maybe we can plant some thoughts like all is well, I have all I need and get on with it. Alan Cohen sent me this quote from Lao Tzu, “Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

Now, that’s some good marching orders for being an Instant Angel!  Imagine how you would feel if the world belonged to you.  There’s nothing you couldn’t do for others.

We all have so much to give.  Whether or not we have money, we’re likely to have some time. There’s no shortage of imagination and ideas, a kind word, a voice to motivate.  So many ways to help others!  A hand, an ear, a smile.

I just love this Instant Angel concept.  It only takes an instant to decide to help someone.  And it may only take a moment to deliver that help.  I’m not sure if I really believe this, but I heard a story that someone was feeling lost and unloved, when a stranger gave them a warm and loving smile. It completely changed their attitude and made them rethink their negative thoughts.  It turned their whole world around.  How wonderful is that!  You could change someone’s life simply by smiling at them.

Maybe we can play with one of Agent Cooper’s rules.  He says that every day you should give yourself a gift, unplanned.  Let’s shift that to giving a gift to someone else every day, unplanned.  It needn’t be wrapped in fancy paper, just a moment’s awareness will do.

 

Giving Tiny Treats

I was thinking recently about the fact that when you get right down to it, all you have is yourself.  “You” hold your talents, your learned skills, your heart, your capacity to love.  Everything else is kind of someone else’s stuff. You are the one who makes the decisions about what actions to take.  You are the only one who can take those actions (or non-action, if that’s what you choose.)  So, doesn’t it make sense to take good care of you?  Seeing that’s really all you have?

In Cheryl Richardson’s weekly “Life Makeover” newsletter,  she suggests tiny treats and asks us how our life might change if we were to give ourselves one tiny treat a day.  (See her website for more.) Agent Cooper believes in this as well.  Every day, he says, don’t plan it, just give yourself a treat.  Whether that’s a good hot cup of joe or a few minutes to read your favorite magazine.

There are so many things you can do. Small, easy to do things that cost little or nothing.  For one thing you can try to be less hard on yourself.  I don’t know about you, but I’m often going on with myself about how I did or where I stand.  I was cleaning yesterday and trying to stay in forward motion to get done faster.  But when I left the duster on the other side of the room and had to go back for it, I found myself chattering on about being so distracted.  Instead I decided to accept it every time I had to retrace my steps.  And you know, it turned out, I did it faster. So I might not be in a position to buy myself an expensive gift right now, or go on that  2 week island getaway, but just by going a little easier on myself, I can remind myself of my worth. 

I’ve decided, as well, that I’m going to try to take two afternoons off each week.  When I say off, I mean it.  Working from home, the lines get blurred and it becomes easy to slip into a little work.  When I take time off, I have to focus on doing just what I feel like doing.

I am of the belief that most of us have little practice at doing this. We never give ourselves the chance.  It’s just a matter of a little time to give yourself a wonderful gift.

When I get to that appointed time off, I sit still for a few minutes and breathe deeply.  Then, as I rest into myself, my thoughts, I look for what I feel like I want to do.  If no answer comes, I might just sit there a little longer and see if anything arises.  If not, maybe I’ll take a nap or watch a funny movie. Perhaps I’ll go spend some time outside, just strolling around, doing nothing. I suppose, if I have an urge to clean the kitchen, I’ll do that.  But I want to stop first and ask myself: Will this be a fun thing to do?  Is this really what my heart is calling out to do?  And try to find what makes me feel excited about doing.  You’d be surprised how many things there are to do when you’re doing “nothing.” I wonder how many people do this even on a vacation.  There’s always some place to go, something to do.  I think, even if it’s only a few minutes, once a week, we all need to allow ourselves time to do nothing.

If you take a moment to think of it, it’s not hard to come up with a couple of things that feel good to do. Sitting with your pet.  Eating a favorite treat.  Getting a massage.  Just taking a drive.  Small, tiny treats that can warm you up and let you know you’re appreciated for all that you are, can really improve your mood and lighten your day.

Get good at this and see how easy it is to give tiny treats to others . . .

My God Epiphany

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear about how a good friend came to find God.  A “new birth,” he called it.  It was powerful and intense and led him to the pulpit.  Where he remains to this day, a faithful spiritual warrior. 

It was a moving story.  And it made me stop and think about my own “new birth.”  Surely, my conversion was not as grand as his.  If I’ve had an Epiphany of God, it must have come when I read “Conversations with God I, II and III.”

I was raised a Catholic.  Church every Sunday, along with a visit to the priest’s home next to the church.  I often think my mother did it only to have a nip of the Holy Wine.  But though I was not present for or old enough to partake in any spiritual discussions that might have gone on, I was still in the presence of that deep, abiding faith.

As any good Catholic, I was dutifully Confirmed and Communion-ed.  I nearly attended Catholic School, too.  It seemed appealing to me at the time; I liked the uniform idea and the gray socks.  But, gratefully I was saved from that.  Heaven knows what would have become of me!  I was never suited to be a Catholic School Girl.

I grew up with a feeling of connection to God, but more so like a parent watching over me. In Conversations with God, Book 1, God said, “You have projected the role of ‘parent’ onto God, and have thus come up with a God Who judges and rewards or punishes, based on how good He feels about what you’ve been up to.” I had a genuine love for God, along with a healthy dose of respect, with a twinge of fear if I didn’t behave.  It kept me well within the lines, despite my rebellious nature.  I never denied God, not even, I should say, in a moment of doubt.  I always knew He was there.  But as my life wore on, I began to wonder what that meant.

It was about that time (you’ll pardon me if I don’t want to tell my age) – when I first discovered I had no clue what role God played in my life – that I had, perhaps, a fleeting moment of doubt. That must have been what inspired both my beloved teachers, Paulette and Cherie, to recommend, in the same week, that I read “Conversations with God.”  My Special FBI Agent Cooper Rule: (I believe his Rule is “When two things happen simultaneously, pertaining to the same line of inquiry, we must pay strict attention.”  Mine is slightly different.)  When I hear the same message twice in a short span of time, I  pay strict attention.

I did.  I was completely blown away by it!  I couldn’t get enough of it.  It resonated with every beat of my heart.  I heard God speaking to me.  It was a God I could fall in love with, I could have a friendship and relationship with.  It was the God, the Parent, I had always wanted.  Super-Sized Parent.  The completely whole parent. 

The first book is like a God-sized hug.  Whenever I need to feel well-loved, I read a passage from it.  “Must you speak in hushed tones when you speak to Me?  Are slang words or tough language outside My ken?  I tell you, you can speak to Me as you would speak with your best friend.”

God doesn’t often make definitive statements about How Life Is.  But when He does, it’s like you’ve been waiting your whole life to hear it.  It feels so right.  And He encourages us to not take all this right away, but run it through our heart and see how it feels.

I refer to God as He, as a rule, but She is just as likely to show up.  God is not caught in that either/or construction that we live with.  God explains that we live in a world of relativity that comes down to Love or Fear: Up/Down, In/Out, Male/Female, Here/There.  In God’s world, it’s more about Here, There, and what’s in between. There are not the polar opposites that serve us on the journey we’ve undertaken. “In matters of gross relationship (in this world – A), you recognize no ‘in-between’.  That is because gross relationships are dyads, whereas relationships of the higher realm are invariably triads.  Hence, there is left-right, up-down, big-small, fast-slow, hot-cold, and the greatest dyad ever created: male-female.  There is no in-between in these dyads.  A thing is either one thing or the other, or some greater or lesser version in relationship to one of these polarities.”  May I let Him speak a little more: “Within the realm of sublime relationship nothing which exists has an opposite.  All is One, and everything progresses from one to the other in a never-ending cycle.”

She unveils, in the first book, simple but profound concepts like the purpose of life: To remember who you really are (who we all really are: the manifestation, the individuation of God) and choose who you wish to be.  Big Stuff!  Want some more?

In “CWG II,” God talks at length about the paradigm shift the world needs if it is to become the world we say we all want it to be.  Peaceful, for one.  God talks about education, politics, the environment.  She makes no pronouncements about what we have to do.  In fact, He stresses the fact there’s nothing we have to do to please Him.  He cares not which toys we choose to play with.  He knows that God is a huge target, so we can’t miss Him.  When Neale presses Her on something, She answers with the caveat that whatever suggestions She gives are within the context of what we say we want.  Not what She wants us to do.  I have read it again, through the last year or so, looking for hints of what has transpired since the writing and publishing of the book.  I find no specific predictions, but the concepts still hold true, perhaps even more so.

The third book, “Conversations with God III,” takes you to such far places and such huge concepts it’s somewhat jarring to return to something like what’s for dinner or if your socks match.  You must open yourself to such wide vistas, it almost hurts to shrink your mind again.  You will not believe the things God has to say in this book!

There are other books in the series – check out the web site here for more information. I feel these three books are the core of the philosophy that God wanted to bring to the world now, “. . . in terms so plain, you cannot misunderstand. In language so simple, you cannot be confused.  In vocabulary so common, you cannot get lost in the verbiage.”

Thank You, God (and Neale Donald Walsch) for delivering these amazing books to us!

Travelogue 9, Eye of the Hurricane

From Traveling Hopefully by Libby Gill

The first tool in this chapter asks us to think about ourselves and start doing nurturing things for ourselves. I tend to forget. Agent Cooper said, every day, give yourself a gift. He likes them unplanned, but I need to plan so I can make sure I do something.

Libby calls for us to create a Support Squad to give “emotional support, professional guidance and ongoing inspiration.” Can’t we all use that? She dares us to see if we have ourselves on our To-Do list at all. Could we, like she suggests, change the name of the To Do list to “It’s All About Me?” Seven things she asks us to come up with that are all about me. Yikes! Libby says that you need to learn to put yourself first before you can lead your squad. She offers a glimpse of her list and asks us to say when we will do these things. Her “Life Launcher” ladder was most illuminating. It’s a perfect way to get a grasp on priorities and what’s working in your life.

I have to admit, I had trouble with the recruiting part. I’ve got a decent one already that just fell into place. I am a little uncomfortable pulling one together. But maybe it would be better to decide who I want. Krista did a great job and included people I hadn’t even thought of. I need to sit down again and re-evaluate the people I need (and have) in my life. I’ve often felt grateful for the amazing service people I have – insurance agent, accountant, etc. It would help to list them.

I did ask a few people for help and gotten, generally, good responses. I now have a bead on some help I need. My father was in radio and I have tons of his scripts from the 30’s and 40’s. I want to get them into the computer before they dry up and blow away. It’s a project that’s been on my list for a long time. I’m now looking into getting some help with it.

All in all, I sense growth in both of us. Krista’s seeing things differently, It seems things are starting to take shape for her. They are clearly doing that for me. I know this book is having an effect on me!