Owning Our Divine Greatness

Owning Our Divine Greatness

Again, I drew the “Why do I have a purpose?”card, from the blue and yellow deck. The word that popped out for me was “innocent.”

Each of us has a purpose, a point to our existence. Each of us has a special set of skills, talents, and experience that combine to make a rich and amazing blend. When we figure out what to do with it, and start doing it, the world is blessed by our gift.

Some of us are blessed with knowing what we want, knowing what we want to do, almost from the beginning. They are the people who are now what they wanted to be when they were a kid. It’s not the case for many of us.

In days of yore, I felt like I was living without direction, without purpose. Looking back, I think I may have been wrong about that. I think that, because I was so focused on feeling bad, that my purpose was to nurture that; my bad thoughts, my bad feelings, my physical discomfort, my unpleasing circumstances and dissatisfying relationships.

I realize that’s kind of harsh, but I also know you want a better life. Me, too. So we need to take a few minutes from time to time to see where we are putting our energy. Do I talk about that too much? I don’t think so, heaven knows I need the reminders.

I remember that conversation wherein my friend said, “Law of Attraction? That doesn’t work. I think about money all the time, and I’m still broke.” I said, “Do you think about having money, or not having money?” He said, “I think about not having it. Oh. I get it.”

Why do I choose to think about what I want?

Whatever I’m focusing on will get more so. This isn’t 100%, but it is a very good general rule. When I am thinking about feeling overwhelmed, too much on my plate, I start moving into shutdown. For me, that can be a cold or a migraine type headache. I would much prefer to change my thinking and avoid the sick, so I will do that.

Thinking about things I want is nice, thinking about how I want to be is nice, too. I gave up on the whole “that’s just how I am” thing a long time ago. I am not my behavior, and I can change my behavior, and my thoughts, and my stupid bad attitude. I can do that. I have to want to change. I have to want to be more me, that divine, infinite being with more depth and breadth and compassion and love than I can even imagine right now.

We each are so much more on the inside than we are on the outsides. It’s one of the reasons I started playing the “Secret Name of the Day” game. When I give myself a different name, and let myself move into that name for a while, I access other aspects of my personality, aspects that I don’t usually tap into. This lets me see that I am so much more than I let myself be, and I move more deeply into my own greatness.

Why do I accept my greatness? What makes me acknowledge my infinite being? How do I know I am remarkable?

When we can get there, and touch that deep, divine aspect of ourselves, we can find our true ambitions, our pure goals, our being’s purpose. We can find the focus we need to get out of our own way, to grow up, to blossom, and live the life we want from deep within.

How have I changed from supporting my misery to supporting the self I want to be?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 11262013

Taming the Dragon

Taming the Dragon

I think it’s fascinating how many of us undervalue ourselves. We are a few minutes late for work, we get an overdraft, we come down with a bug, we forget a special date, and we feel like we are bad people.

How do I know I am valuable?

Here’s the rub. If I feel like I’m not worth very much, you will treat me like I’m not worth very much, even if you treat me with respect and kindness. I won’t see respect and kindness, I will see that somehow you treat me poorly. I expect it. Occasionally, we may find someone who bucks our system, but for the most part, we will get back what we put out. That’s how our filters work.

Dang. Stupid Law of Attraction.

What makes me recognize my worth?

So then some of us start to strive. We strive to be good people. Problem is that we fall every time we screw up, and end up feeling worthless and bad again. Sometimes, we have that self-worth sensor set to such a sensitive setting that we never even feel relief, we never get to savor the feeling of being a good person, feeling like a worthwhile contribution.

Some of us just end up saying what the heck, and go for it.

We can feel that dark side of ourselves.

Some of us fight it, some of us give into it. Some of us accept it and move on.

When I fight my dark side, the qualities I dislike most in myself, I see them all over. These are the things I “hate” about other people. I am miserable.

When I give into my dark side, I act out the qualities I dislike most, and deny my light side. I am miserable.

When I accept my dark side, I see the qualities I don’t like, and recognize that I am human. I shoot for excellence, not perfection. I own that I have stuff, and since I don’t have to fight it, I have a little more juice to catch it when I go there, and shift it around. Or I apologize. I used to envision my dark side, my evil twin, as a terrifying monster. Now I see it more as a big but approachable dragon. When I get dark fantasies, I don’t worry that I’m bad, I understand that I might want to take some nurturing care of me.

When I accept me, I accept the light and the dark. I know that the dark side is nurtured by traumas, many of which happened a long time ago. The more I feel plagued by my dark side, the better I will feel when I release my old crap. My dragon feeds on stress, fatigue, hunger, lonesomeness, guilt, and worry. The more of those I get, the more “dark side” I feel. When I get enough rest, when I eat well, have some fun moving my body, spend time with people I love, release guilty and worry, my dragon goes to sleep, so to speak. And I can see my value, I can feel my worth, and recognize my contribution.

How have I changed from fighting my dark side to loving my whole self?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 10302013

Ways to Be My Own Best Friend

Ways to Be My Own Best Friend

I bet you’ve noticed that we have a number of recurring themes in this space. One of them is the whole idea of filters. Other ways we talk about it out in the world are the Law of Attraction, or like begets like. The simple idea is that we get what we ask for, even if we don’t recognize that we are asking for it.

It’s a sneaky thing. Sometimes what we are getting is horrible, and why in the name of all that is holy would we ask for that? And we get mad as heck and say it’s a lie, but it keeps on happening.

What would it mean if it were true, that we get what we ask for and we are somehow asking for crap?

What would it mean if the rotten stuff that keeps on happening is happening because it is a pattern for us?

What would it mean if the icky, uncomfortable places we keep finding ourselves came from inside ourselves?

When I finally got this, I was so happy. If I am causing my misery, out of habit, or horrible patterns, and it’s not fate or some pre-ordained awfulness, then I can change it. Hallelujah! I can really be a good friend to myself.

This is the genesis of freedom. What makes me my own best friend? What makes me take me seriously? How do I know I am responsible for my stuff? How can I help me?

When I own that I am the creator of my life, I have the power to root out my unconscious thoughts, habits, and patterns that are creating a life that is hard to live. Why do I choose to know all of who I am?

When I own that I am the creator of my life, I can bring my dank and sticky emo junk into the light, and clear it out. Why do I let go?

When I own that I am the creator of my life, I can create a fecund space for my beautiful dreams to realize, and my nightmares to shrivel into nothingness. How do I get what I want?

One of my most beloved teachers said to me at least a thousand times, “You do know.”

I really hated it, because on the one hand, she was right, and on the other hand, sometimes I was resisting knowing so much that I couldn’t get there.

Using Creative Questions really helps me when I encounter my resistance places. Do you wanna know how?

First, I identify the Creative Question that I am feeling resistance to. I write that question down. For example, let’s say that I’m having resistance to the question, “Why is it so easy?”

When I ask the question, I think, “NO!” so I write that down next to the question, and on a new line I write the question again, and my response again, until I start getting neutral, and then positive responses.

Sometimes, I will use a drill-down technique, that is, when I ask, “Why is it so easy?” and get a “no,” then I ask “Why could it be so easy?” If I get a response like “it’s not, it’s hard.” Then I will ask, “Why is it hard?” Because life is hard. Why is life hard? Because I am bad. Why am I bad? Because I hurt my mom when she gave birth to me.

Now I have something to work with, something to clean up, and I can dump the guilt, and feeling like I’m not good enough, and like I always hurt people.

How have I changed from getting what my unconscious mind wants to getting what I want?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 09252013

Law of Attraction monthly forum

February 1st was bitterly cold, and dark at 7:00 pm, but that didn't keep this group of inspired women away. Rosie Bodin led the way as we ventured into the Law of Attraction. Each of us had stories of how it has worked for us, and how it hasn't. It seemed like for every story of how we had attracted unpleasant things, someone in the group had been in a similar situation and had been able to change it. And was able to articulate how that had happened. Seeing the Law working right in our class was something to behold. I am very much looking forward to our March forum when the focus will be on prosperity.

I am so grateful to Rosie for her wonderful presentation, for her gentle yet firm hand in keeping us on topic, for all her in-depth research on a very broad topic, for her humor, for her vulnerability and openness, and for her courage to do the public speaking thing on a very important topic.

I am very grateful to our participants for their willingness to show up on such a chilly night, to share their very personal stories, to bring their wisdom and experience to such a powerful topic, to support each other to move through the places where we got stuck. What an amazing group!

I am grateful to the University Baptist Church for creating a space that is so supportive of this kind of work -- warm, friendly, good vibes!

If you would like to post something you are grateful for today, please use the comments option.