Listen for the Feelings!

  
Society often considers 
multi-tasking a noteworthy accomplishment. 

  "Look at all the things she can do, " we exclaim admiringly at an individual who has perfected this skill and wonder how we could ever juggle that list of must-do items in one day.  

No, for some of us, things take longer.  Perhaps we pay very close attention to where we are.  And it isn't just our tasks and chores that totally engage us...conversations, in particular, often take longer than we might have anticipated.  Sometimes we are looking for just a yes or no answer from someone to one of our questions but those simple words may have a bevy of emotions attached to them.  And concerns and feelings which initially seem simple often tumble into new layers of revelation as we turn our full attention to the speaker, offering safety, caring and compassion.

If you are an individual who is able to take in the "layers" that reveal themselves as a conversation unfolds, kudos to you because you are someone who can LISTEN FOR THE FEELINGS.  Someone who can appreciate the authenticity coming your way.  Someone who can be totally present...without expectation...and open to whatever is presenting itself in that moment,  And yes, it is not the skill of multi-tasking...but it is much, much more.  It is "holding space" for the human heart.  Being patiently there while the "message" finds its way to self expression.  It is a beautiful gift of self...a gift of love.  PRESENCE  

When we choose to step up and "listen for the feelings" when someone engages our attention, it will undoubtedly be an investment of our time and energy. But the reward is an even closer connection to the individual with whom we are interacting and an amazing opportunity to expand the corridors of our own hearts!


                                                                                                   Marie Helena  

 
image from mindfullyartistic.wordpress.

Increased Capacity

 

"Increased Capacity"... That's what my chiropractor called it when I told him what had happened to me last week.   

My younger daughter had come home for her summer visit with the strong commitment to help us go through our home and release whatever we were not using. 

It was her idea.  She had been performing this "spiritual" surgery on her own home and found herself feeling very liberated and full of energy as a result.

The twelve days she was home were packed with a LOT of activity including frequent encouraging comments from her about how someone else could use the item or how things don't have to be the way they have always been. 

She was the voice of reason and she was the voice I needed to hear.  As we navigated our way through a lot of difficult decisions, many emotions surfaced and I found it necessary to "step up" to a new, more simplified way of living.  And it wasn't easy to release the paperwork I had accumulated (this body of work, the testimonials to my perseverance and effort), but it felt necessary and important and I recognized what a wonderful opportunity this was.  By the time my daughter's visit was over, her voice had become "the voice in my head" and I knew the good work that we had begun would continue.

I have read many times, in many places that releasing things...moving them out and possibly giving them to others who could use them...brings new energy into your life and I looked forward to this happening.  But here's where I was surprised.  I thought the new energy would show up in my writing as I am busy with that vocation nearly every day.  However, before that even had a chance to happen, the new energy showed up in a different, very unexpected way.

I suddenly found myself able to deal with issues that had previously felt overwhelming to me.  Now I was processing them in a relaxed, centered way and these were things I had been struggling with for some time.

As I told this amazing story to my chiropractor and we assessed my physical situation I recognized that the new energy was also helping me heal my body and, for this, I am especially grateful.

I am convinced the Divine Universe has lent some very significant assistance in this endeavor.  My daughter told me she had come up with the idea to make this offer last March and, once it had popped into her head, she had never wavered from it.  She has been an instrument of grace and the gifts coming from her generosity are manifesting in a vibrant and soulful way.

I am writing about this exciting experience because it seems too important not to relate.  Releasing things no longer needed to people who can benefit from them is truly an exercise in compassion and the personal level of  INCREASED CAPACITY resulting from the effort is nothing short of miraculous.

                                                                                                   
            
                                                                                             Marie Helena


 
image from artprescription.com

When We Are Ready

 The creator gathered all of creation and said,
“I want to hide something from the humans until they are
  ready for it.

It is the realization that they create their own reality.”

The Eagle said, "Give it to me, i will take it to the moon."
The creator said, "No, one day they will go there and find it."
The salmon said, "I will bury it at the bottom of the ocean."
The creator said, "No, they will go there, too."
The buffalo said, "I will bury it on the great plains."
The creator said, "No, they will cut the skin of the Earth and find it even there.”
Grandmother mole, who lives in the breast of Mother earth and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, “Put it inside of them.”
And the creator said, “It is done!”

I am so excited to share this story with you.  I found it this morning in my email posted by a friend and it touched my heart so deeply.

These few, brief words give us a significant lesson about life:

The  purpose of our earth journey is to discover that we are magnificent beings with the ability to CREATE our own adventures and experiences.

We CHOOSE what we want to believe and those beliefs affect our feelings and emotions.  Those same feelings and emotions are then reflected back to us in the people and circumstances which populate our lives.


The realization of this comes when we are ready...when we have asked ourselves important questions...when we are able to view our lives as observers full of curiosity and wonder...when we look into our own hearts for answers. 


At the end of this pilgrimage lies this DISCOVERY. 

And this discovery empowers us to experience life not as victims...but as creators.  

We share this Divine gift which waits for our perception.  It is a beautiful flower, waiting to open and bring us joy.

Cultivate your "garden"...
water your curiosity...
listen to your heart...
feel the rhythm of the universe...

and you will find yourself right in the midst of  this breathtaking bequest.

                                                                                                   Marie Helena

                               

originally published August 14, 2011

Inchworms, Turtles and the Finishing Line

We all know about the tortoise who won the race. And the inchworm who edged his way to success.

Something in their “stories” gave them the persistence and tenacity to complete the tasks they set out to do.

Perhaps the tortoise and inchworm had an innate impulse to go the distance.


Perhaps they very wisely balanced their lives and conserved their energy so they could call upon their reserves of wellness and vitality when this was most needed.


And perhaps they were so fortunate as many of us are to have a very special inspiration figuring predominantly in our lives…the masculine energy that is holding so strongly the image of our success…despite all odds.


That kind of special faith and support is often personalized in our father or father figure or someone close who is inhabiting that role for us…sending us light and energy to help us stay the course…to dig deep inside us to find the reserves of strength we need.


Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid did that for Daniel-san.

Miyagi always held a knowingness of the power and goodness of Daniel-san. He instilled a strong sense of honor in the young man and taught him that it is the way he conducts himself that determines whether he has successfully run (and completed) the race.


On the occasion of Father’s Day this June 15 let us take a moment to thank all of our real life and symbolic fathers in appreciation for their precious gift of faith in our goodness and strength and in our ability to navigate life with courage and honor.


And a special shout out for the very masculine preference for lightness and humor in this very challenging work. As Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel-san,

Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything.

                                                                                         Marie Helena


image from www.listal.com


originally published June 12, 2011

Masquerade

Deepak Chopra, world renowned mind-body connection guru, tells us that "All great changes are preceded by chaos."

It is only when our usual, predictable methods of handling our life problems FAIL and we are feeling LOST that we step outside the box and search for new inspiration regarding how to reframe the issues and, thereby, change our perspective, our beliefs and ultimately our feelings.  

 
This point in time is extremely valuable to us because without the turmoil and tumult...without the agitation and frustration of the chaos... we would keep doing what has always worked for us...

we would ride the high...

but we would stop growing.

 

And that is why we need to BLESS these moments.  The Divine Universe is sensing we are READY for the next cutting-edge change in our life.  It has upped the ante, sizing us up as capable of dealing with the distress and, even more importantly,  capable of making it work in our favor.

 

In Alberto Villoldo's COURAGEOUS DREAMING he gives us an inspired suggestion regarding how to change the story we are telling ourselves about the chaos.

 

Villoldo says we tend to see ourselves in one of three roles:  victim, rescuer or perpetrator. 

If, however, we can vacate these roles and fly instead to the spiritual level of eagle in our version of the story...we can successfully REFRAME its significance...how it affects us...and what we are able to learn about ourselves.

 

If the chaos we are experiencing makes us feel victimized...

if the fallout of the crisis feels personal...

know that it IS personal but it is not meant as an attack on us...

it is a personal, unique-to-us  OPPORTUNITY to reach deep inside and find the strength and resilience to transcend the experience and find within ourselves the courage...the creativity...and the conviction to see the bigger picture and to nurture a character trait that we have not yet developed.

What brings  us angst, fear, distress, frustration... ALSO brings us the very  powerful occasion for transcendence and release from that suffering.

Chaos is the ultimate MASQUERADE.  What looks like pandemonium  is, in reality, a perfect strategy.


An always-brilliant plan to help us evolve  into the Next, Grandest Version of Ourselves...from the highest state-of-the-art personal development bureau, The Divine Universe!

                                                                                    Marie Helena

image from ayrerabbitry.webs.com




See blog post below from October 2010  (Ichabod's Night Life) for illustration of how to change your story.

Ichabod's Night Life

It was a windy night in Galway, Ireland. I was visiting my daughter Rachel who is on sabbatical there and I was sleeping in her guest bedroom. Rachel’s apartment house is located on a peninsula on Galway Bay. It sits literally in the middle of the harbor and, if you look outside of her window, you can see sailboats of all sizes lined up and moored to the docks.

On this particular evening I was awakened by the sound of someone apparently working on a boat in the middle of the night. There was a persistent clanging, actually two different clangings…and it felt like one was agitating the other. My daughter had told me earlier that she slept with earplugs because of the harbor noises, but I didn’t feel a little background sound would make a difference to me. I was wrong.

That night I tossed restlessly for hours, growing a strong frustration that vibrated every time I heard another sound. I could hardly believe that someone had decided to work on his boat at this hour. The logic was beyond me. I went to the window of the bedroom and parted the curtains. The boats were sitting in the water, magically illuminated by the mooring lights. The scene was breathtakingly beautiful…and there was no one to be seen working in the area. Confused, I looked further and discovered that the wind was willfully whipping the branches of a very tall tree against the night sky.

So, I thought…it’s the wind I have to deal with and decided I would try to use my consciousness to slow it down. (I had read on a couple of occasions that it is possible to move a cloud so I thought I would try changing the wind speed.) I was finally able to slow it down enough so that I could get some sleep but decided I needed a better plan as I am not yet practiced in the art of cloud/wind transport.

We checked the anticipated wind speed for the next night and, sure enough, a very windy evening was in the offing. I decided to see what resources I could call up because I did not want to go the ear plugs route.

Remembering a very important lesson I had learned from a book called Courageous Dreaming by Alberto Villoldo I decided that I had to change my story about the clanging. The first night it had represented a series of constant intrusions into my night of peaceful sleep. Now I decided to call up my imagination and create a new story. In this scenario the clanging actually was coming from a phantom sailor called Ichabod. I was asleep on the lower deck of a boat with several sailors. Every night the phantom Ichabod made an appearance on the top deck and proceeded to adjust the masts and moorings, clanging away as he worked. Everyone on the boat knew Ichabod and held a great affection for him. Ichabod’s appearance each evening signaled that all was right with the world…and with the clanging reminder of his presence, everyone slept soundly. Including me.

The next morning I ecstatically celebrated the beautiful way I had been able to “dream” myself into a peaceful place.

Telling myself a new story has become for me a new way to deal with the challenges that present themselves in my life. And it’s not always easy. And sometimes I forget to do it. But, oh, when I can remember this lesson and make it happen, I am overjoyed with the knowledge that I can change the way I perceive my reality. I was over the moon about Ichabod. Rachel, too. She has even adopted him as a guest in her harbor home.

In creating this story I followed Villoldo’s advice to create my story (or dream) by flying to the level of eagle which is spiritually based. I framed the sound as a peaceful resonance and that is what it became.

If you have a story in your life that is bringing you suffering, I invite and encourage you to call on your power to paint a picture that will soothe and comfort you, delighting your soul and bringing you the peace of Ichabod.

originally posted October 17, 2011

Choosing Happiness

In order to choose HAPPINESS we need to create a single positive change in our life that shows us our behavior matters.  
                     
Shawn Achor


Although we may sometimes feel otherwise, we are NOT victims of happenstance, random leaves blowing in the wind of  destiny.

We are CREATORS.  We create our lives through the direction in which we choose to place our attention and, if we do not consciously choose the direction in which we want to move, we automatically default to the energy of our subconscious.  If our subconscious harbors unresolved pain, authentic messages of distress that have not been spoken, it will step in and seize the opportunity to be "heard".

And that's exactly when it is easy to feel helpless and out of control.  Our old stories are "talking" to us, singing the same upsetting songs over and over.  It is definitely time to rewrite those lyrics to choose happiness instead and we are the perfect songwriters for this assignment.

But we need motivation to do this...and energy...and the belief that it will make a difference.  And maybe we are already tired from the adventures of our day. 


What if there were a way to easily take control of our REACTIONS  and turn them instead into calm, centered RESPONSES?  Here's a strategy to do just that from Shawn Achor, Founder of the Institute of Positive Research and GoodThinkInc. and author of The Happiness Advantage.

Achor says it doesn't matter if the glass is half empty or half full as long as we have the pitcher to fill it up.  And we cannot only fill up our glass, we can fill up the glasses of other people around us and that is because every change we make in our energy field affects the energy fields of everyone else.

Achor's prescription:

Wake up each morning and practice saying three things you are grateful for (they must be new each day) for 21 days.

Those two minutes a day, says Achor, are extremely powerful in rewiring your brain even if you have been a confirmed pessimist for some time.  Those two minutes are so significant they will even trump your genes and your environment.


Here's how our brain works.  We are constantly constructing a world based upon the facts that we have and, if we're looking at all the negative facts, we've got a negative world.

But, change that thinking...CHOOSE to focus on what's bright and beautiful and what has brought us happiness...and now we're dealing with a very different picture.



And, Achor has another powerful exercise to help us:
"Think of one meaningful experience you've had over the last twenty-four hours and in two minutes, write down every detail you can remember.  The reason for that is you're trying to get your brain to relive the experience.  We can't tell much difference between visualization and actual experience so when we journal about the meaningful experience, we literally double it and, if we do it for 21 days, it creates a trajectory meaning running throughout our lives."



All of this sounded like a great idea so this morning I gave it a try.  And, oh, yes, I LOVED it...I LOVED it so much that I started remembering other meaningful moments of the day.  And right then...when I was filled up with wonderful and happy vibrations of those lovely moments...is when I got one of the BEST ideas I have ever had.  (Wow!  Was this process working fast!)

Here's my fabulous idea.  It's so easy to feel reactive when someone says or does something unexpected or upsetting...kind of feels like you don't have control over what is coming at you and that is often when we leave our "best" behavior behind in the dust.   

My idea is:  No matter what anyone says or does (and especially if what that person says or does is upsetting), I find a way to compliment him.  And I mean an authentic compliment regarding his concern for the issue.  If we use our creativity and sprinkle it with a dose of compassion, we can ALWAYS find something in the moment to honor.


I got a chance to use this idea today...three times...and I was prepared for this because of the commitment I made this morning.  I took a deep breath and ventured into the new default response I am cultivating.  And I was shocked at how easy it was and how effective  it was in transforming the energy of the moment.

When we give an authentic, sincere compliment to someone, we tend to speak gently which is helpful in calming us and, in turn, influences the other person to match us in tone and vibration.  (Deep breath, everyone...)  Now that everyone feels calmer, it suddenly seems easier to discuss the issue or softly request it be addressed at another time. 

Following this intention gives us CONTROL of our environment and what is happening in it because we are deliberately choosing to bring attention, awareness and acknowledgment to the situation.  When we can actively influence things to go more smoothly, our body goes into a relaxation mode, helping us heal from any distress.  And those relaxing vibrations seem to reach everyone involved in the situation.


"Can it be this easy?" I asked myself when all was said and done.  And the answer came through:  a resounding YES!  Love and Compassion for ourselves and everyone we interact with will ALWAYS encourage the appearance in every scene of our best selves.

I choose happiness EVERY moment of the day!


                                                                                   Marie Helena




image from www.catherinedeveny.com