Unsticking the Stuck

Unsticking the Stuck

I get curious when the same cards come up over and over. I figure that there is something I’m missing, an important piece I need to get.  So when the awareness card came up again, I figure it’s time to take another think.

Awareness comes with its own set of questions. We shift from asking, “How can I do more?” to “How can I be more?” That’s kind of exciting, isn’t it, that question.

How can I be more?

We each have the same amount of time in a  day. We each have a brain, talents, skills, creativity, insight, stuff we like to do. We live in the world, and we live lives where stuff happens. The point is, what do we do about that? Well, we also each have choices.

Why do I step up? How do I succeed? What makes me a leader?

When big stuff happens in our lives, we make choices. Sometimes, we choose a dark path. We may bail out. We may shut down, or act out with inappropriate behaviors. We may pretend nothing is going on and then, get sick, or have an accident, or even die rather than address this new thing.

On the other hand, sometimes, we step up. We see our new situation as an opportunity for growth and expansion. We do what we need to do to get more healthful energy, more efficiency, more effectiveness. We drop things that are less important, we change our relationships. We follow this new path to our new level, and find that we have more resources, skills, talents and enjoyment, love and support than we had before.

We do that with awareness. We do that with self-knowledge. We do that with support from people who love us and want us to be successful. We unchoose listening to those who talk smackchoo about us, or even to us, and we pay more attention to the loving voices, even if they are in our minds. We remember that we are living a new, more dynamic life, where we get to be more of who we are, and when we remember that we are divine infinite beings, well, that’s a lot of life.

For the people who follow their dreams, who achieve their goals, this is what we mean by a rags to riches story.

How do I feel when I wake up happy and excited for my day? How do I feel when I feel productive and satisfied?

When I make the choice to level up, I can expect that some old emo crap will come up. I will have to address my ego, who likes things the way they are, thank you very much. I will have to confront issues from my past, maybe around claiming my power, or what my responsibilities are, or what is expected of me. But I know that I am capable of handling those things. I have resources, I have courage, I have all the strength I need, and I  know that when I’ve finished with that list, I will feel freer than ever before, I will have more energy, I will feel motivated, inspired and competent. And I will get to do more of what I love. I love it when I win.

How have I changed from feeling stuck and helpless to feeling present and empowered?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2014 all rights reserved 03152014

The Urge of Spirit

The Urge of Spirit

What does being spiritual mean to you? Going to church or temple on major holidays? Daily worship and prayer? Self-flagellation? No, seriously, I really thought that was a good idea once upon a time, that I could beat spirituality into me, and beat out the guilt and pain. Didn’t work.

What if being spiritual is simply the urge of spirit to know itself? Suppose spirit just wants to discover its purpose, its meaning, maybe its origins and place. Some of us can do that through religion. Some of us don’t find that a supportive venue, and look for other ways.

Why am I spiritual? What makes me curious? How do I know myself?

I will tell you something true. In your life there is no one more fundamentally interesting than you.

Your life is full of interesting, curious, weird, terrible, wonderful amazing events and each one of those things has had an effect on you, from the time you were in your warm and cozy womb. Remembering, on the one hand, is not something we do easily, especially about our lives, which I think is just bizarre. I mean, if I can’t remember what I’ve lived through, well, I digress.

Remembering is a skill we can cultivate. You know that old saw about those who don’t learn from the past being condemned to repeat it? That’s about us. If I grew up in an abusive household, and do nothing to change that, my children will be abused, too, by their parent, who is me. I don’t know about you, but I would really rather not facilitate child abuse. If we don’t like the legacy we’ve inherited, we will have to change it. And when we do that, we change the world.

Learning about ourselves is, strangely, another one of the ways we change the world. As I come to recognize my dark behavior, see its origins, and modify  my behavior and beliefs and thoughts, I become more compassionate about your dark behavior. I become supportive of your growth rather than engaging with you in being jerks.

I start finding my own patterns; they show up over and over in my life under different circumstances. And when I notice one,  I may feel kind of creeped out and maybe a little ashamed, and then I own it, and resolve it, and that pattern is done. That means I no longer interact with you in a way that can often be really uncomfortable for both of us. That means that you have less strife in your life, and you can step forward in your own growth. Neat.

It means I have found a bit more of who I am; my spirit has grown.

How does my spirit rejoice? What makes my heart soar? Where do I find my bliss?

There are more elements to our spiritual growth. Sitting quietly and letting our thoughts flow is one, doing things that are joyful for us is another. I love to sing, that’s a place where my joy flows. I love to create art, to practice qigong, sometimes I even experience joy shoveling snow, cleaning the house, taking out the trash. Weird, but I’ll take it.

As I clear out my emo crap, I have more room for nice stuff. I know I say that a lot, but it’s really nice to have room for nice stuff inside. I find that I can slow down, so I don’t feel like time is flying by, but a month takes a month. Conversely, slowing down inside can make the week that’s dragging by move at a more normal pace.

And the more I clear out my emo stuff, the more my spirit comes to know itself, the more juice I have for you, for my family, for my communities. I find that exercising my generosity is another way I experience joy.

How have I changed from ignoring my spirit to experiencing spirit with joy?

(c) 2014 Pam Guthrie all rights reserved 02092014

Mui Importante

Mui Importante

How important we are to each other. In a thousand thousand ways we touch each other’s lives, we impact each other’s well being, we create spaces of safety or pain for each other.

Why am I so important? Why are you so important? What makes us so important?

We all have stuff that happens to us, that wounds us, that changes us. We each have choices about how we will live with that stuff. Will I clean it up, or will I carry it?

I get to choose. I chose to carry it for a long time. It would whack me in the back of my legs as I walked, it would drag my shoulders down because it was so heavy. It smelled bad and made me sick a lot. Sometime it would leak and get nasty stuff on me and my friends. Carrying that stuff was hard, dirty work. I did it for a long time, and I was exhausted.

And then I decided that I wanted to be happy. Not “won the lottery” happy, but deep down soul happy.

You can’t be soul happy and carry around all that crap. You can’t be soul happy and carry around your old emo crap. You have to clean it up and let it go.

I spend most of my time soul happy now.

Why do I choose to clean up my act? Why would I be happy? What makes me chose to be one with the light?

I always tell you the truth to the best of my ability, and I will tell you now, dealing with our emo crap takes courage. It requires believing you are worth the effort. It may take several tries to find a person whom you click with. It takes a willingness to abandon your fixed delusions.

Why am I strong and soft? Why am I competent? What makes me relax into my natural life?

When I choose to be soul happy, and start to do the work, miraculous things happen for me.  My relationship with myself is transformed. I cease to be adversarial with me. I am way less critical of me, and of you. And I find that I become important to me in a whole new way.

When I am carrying my crap around, my crap is what is most important to me, my ideas about how wrong or off or weird I am, in a bad way, need to be hauled out, nurtured, tended like a rare orchid. My misery fills me up, and I hardly ever get a break from it. It really will make me physically sick in a bunch of different ways. At the very least, it weakens my immune system.

I want to be important in my life. I want to be able to create safe spaces, full of love and resources for us to heal in. I want to feel that my work is important, and to go to be satisfied and content. I want that for you, too.

By choosing to let go of our crap, a bit and a bit and a bit, we make room for amazingly wonderful transformations to happen. By choosing to let go of our crap, we live more and more of our life in our natural life of joy, satisfaction, contentment, peace, bliss, and relaxation. We become naturally important.

How have I changed from feeling insignificant to owning my importance?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 12152013