Liquid Luck

I am a huge Harry Potter fan.  And I believe there is much to be learned about spiritual growth in its pages.

In “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,” Harry scores high marks in Potions class one day, with the help of the Half Blood Prince’s text book. His reward is a golden potion called “Felix Felicis.”  It’s a neat little elixir often referred to as “liquid luck.”  It takes six months to brew, is tricky to make right and is banned from using for competition or testing. It comes with a warning that too much can cause giddiness and reckless behavior.

Felix Felicis fills the taker with confidence.  When Harry takes a few drops to help him retrieve a memory from Horace Slughorn, he feels confident in the urges he feels from “Felix.”  Coincidences happen and synchronicity opens his path.  He seems to just know what to do. He listens to what the potion tells him to do and everything goes his way.  The confidence allows him to use his own talents with more expertise than he would without.

Readers of this Blog have heard me talk about the Spells of Doing.  I feel we all come equipped with certain magical spells, always at our disposal.  Confidence is certainly one of them.  It can be conjured up no matter what is going on outside.  Confidence is built-in and only needs your choice to use.  Anyone with a brain that functions normally is capable of trusting, using imagination, generating forgiveness.  These magic spells are within us all. If we try, it is not impossible to listen to what we’re telling ourselves.

So maybe we could make your own Felix Felicis. If so you would always know you could handle anything.  With that confidence flowing, you might trust more easily, listen more carefully and allow yourself to be led to just the right things, people, events, coincidences. If you are generating your own potion, maybe you could control it, as well.

Perhaps it is possible, with practice, to mix our own golden elixir of Felix Felicis.  Creating our own ethereal luck!

The Call of the Workaholic

Part 1 of 2

Susan Jeffers, in her book, “End the Struggle and Dance with Life,” talks at length about being a workaholic.  I figured that if I was addicted to work, I’d have more money right now or achieved more.  But in pondering it I think that most of us, whether we are willing to carry the sign of addict or not, have issues around work.

My particular addiction entails always needing to be busy.  Not necessarily in income-producing activities, but that’s important, too.  Susan calls it a poverty fear.  I don’t know, but I do tend to feel guilty if I’m not doing something.  Even when I try to take a day “off,” I’m doing household chores or long put off personal projects.

If you find yourself in a cycle around work where you’d prefer not to be, Susan has some intriguing question to ask yourself: “What am I trying to mask?  What am I trying to avoid?  What am I frightened to look at in myself?”

When we over work it may be because we’re afraid of the quiet.  Are your thoughts trying to tell you something that you’re not listening to?  Work is a perfect way to mask that.  If you’re too busy, you can’t take the time to get quiet and listen – much less act on what your thoughts are hoping you will do.

If I try I can hear a slave driver in my head saying I must keep busy.  Other voices might push you since you have others to support.  Or because you want to live a better lifestyle.  Maybe it’s telling you to go back to school and get your degree or learn how to play the clarinet.  It could be telling you to slow down and have some fun or just rest.  You’re likely to find that something isn’t getting proper attention in some part of your life.  It’s very easy to fill that with work (or whatever).  Under all that chatter and busy-ness is  an imbalance at the heart of it.  Something’s missing.

It may be difficult, but it is wise to find the time to get quiet and listen to what you’re saying to yourself.  Don’t be afraid.  It’s just you in there.  You may find that it’s not true at all. That you’d really rather work than learn to play the clarinet. That was something you wanted to do years ago.  It’s all up to you.  But if you find you’re working too hard or stressing too much because you haven’t given enough time to your creative side or that you need to rest more, this is very valuable information.

Susan gives us more questions to ask at this point: “How can I make myself feel good enough?  How can I begin creating more balance and trust?  How can I fill the emptiness?

I love how, once you figure out what’s going on, there are always these practical solutions. Identify the problem and then find ways to solve it. See what is and do what works.

So, you have this imbalance.  Some things are not getting the time and attention they are calling for. So what are you going to do about it?  How do you choose to deal with this situation?  What can you do to make things right?  If you will allow yourself time to think about this, the answers are right there, in your head. Calling out to you.

 

The Right Time

I’ve been thinking and talking to others lately about getting what you’re after, whether that’s a mate, a job, more business or a new pair of shoes.

It’s an odd thing, sometimes.  You need to take steps toward what you want. After all, shoes are not likely to come walking up to you.  But sometimes, you just might find, you have to allow the pauses.

It’s not always the Right Time to move. You need to listen for the still, small voice. But if it’s just not there, maybe the best thing to do is nothing.  Just wait and be quiet.

During this time you may feel a need to keep going. Perseverance is important.  But you can do it more gently. Keep your face pressed against the glass.  Do what you can, but continue to trust and allow that the time will be right again to move.