Believe You, Me!

Believe You, Me!

I am about to tell you a freaky fact. So take a good, calming breath and listen up: If I believe I am right, I am right.

I can only understand the world based on my experience. That means that I will believe and trust mislearnings, misinterpretations, misunderstandings and stuff that is just plain made up. I will also believe stuff that really is True.

That means it will be a challenge for me to separate the true stuff from the True stuff. It means I can be absolutely one hundred percent committed to things that are really not good, or really not true.

Scary, huh.

So here I am. I will think that I am right, or I will think that I am wrong. Both, curiously enough, are beliefs, not Truth.

So the first bit is that feeling wrong is just a feeling and I can change that in an instant: How do I feel when I am right?

The second bit is to open my mind to the possibility that maybe what I believe is wrong. If a believe doesn’t support my perfect self, it’s probably wrong. If a belief doesn’t support me supporting your perfect self, it’s probably wrong. If a belief leads me away from loving you, it’s probably wrong. If a belief leads me to negative, emotional judgments, violence, despair, hopelessness, disregard for me or you, disrespect for same, it’s probably wrong.

Are you seeing a pattern?  

We are amazing. Brilliant, creative, innovative, curious, the list goes on and on. We are fantastic storytellers, and we start telling ourselves stories from the time we are pre-language. “Once upon a time, this is how the world is.” And we buy it.

So now that we are grown ups, we can look at the stories we’ve told ourselves, about how wrong we are, about how we aren’t good enough, about being stupid, or lazy, or worthless. All those stories we told ourselves back in our own dark ages.

Now that we are grown ups, we can correct our crappy beliefs about life being horrible and hard, and that we have to suffer with poverty, or loneliness, or pain, or existential angst, victimhood or martyrdom.

Now that we are grown ups, we can resolve our emotional traumas. We can heal our spirits. We can choose to spend time with people who uplift us.

Now that we are grown ups, we can accept where we are and move on.

If it’s True, it’s True for everyone.

How have I changed from believing in my old stories to believing in the highest good?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 08222013

Cure For a Relax Relapse

Cure For a Relax Relapse

For you on the email list, I get my daily inspiration by pulling a card from the Creative Questions deck of cards. I pulled the” Why is it so easy?” card this morning for the second time in three days. I love it when a random draw focuses me on a particular topic.

Why is it so easy? Why can I relax? What makes it effortless?

I am playing a little mind game this week. I printed out a map whose orientation is South Pole on top. It means that where I live, in Minnesota, is now at the bottom of the US, not the top. It makes me feel a little weird to think of North as down, and South as up.

Arbitrary notions that we cleave to like they are true as breath.

We have a lot of arbitrary notions when it comes to ourselves, each other, and life in general. We behave as though they are true. They aren’t. When I think my arbitrary thoughts are true, and they are at odds with your arbitrary thoughts, we gots trouble.

One of our most treasured arbitrary notions is around stress. We believe in it with all our taxed, exhausted, sorrowful hearts.

Our reactions to stressful situations is a learned behavior. Really and truly. That is wonderful news because it means we can unlearn it and replace those reactions with new responses. Why is it so easy?

When I first encountered this idea I thought it was a cruel joke. But I started to practice with little stressors, and, Lo. I find that I stay calmer way higher on the Stressful Situation scale. Really and truly. Sometimes it surprises me, and I have to double check the calm.

Why can I relax?

I have said it before, and I will say it again. There is no situation in the world that stressing over can’t make worse.

There isn’t one thing that everyone stresses out over, except maybe birth. I don’t know about that one. Babies are so challenging to interview. Point is, stress is arbitrary and personal, and therefore we can change it.

First, you have to believe. Decide that there is a stress loophole, and you can use it. Decide that you can learn to stay calm and present and flow. Decide that you are worth learning to live easy.

Second, you have to notice how and when you stress out. Or stress in. Me, I check in with my shoulders a lot. It’s where we carry our burdens, you know, the weight of the world on our shoulders. I imagine all by stuff packed into baskets on my shoulders, and I imagine taking them off, and setting them down.

I will shrug, roll them around, do a little stretching, imagining the sense of burden falling away. I’ve used meditation, hypnosis, talk therapy, yoga, swimming, to transform stress into happy action. I like to think of it as transforming stress rather than as relieving stress. Relief always seems so temporary.

I will ask, “Why could I relax? What makes my life so easy? Why do things go my way? What makes it all so much fun?” I attend to my point of view, and shift it back to the higher vibration.

How can I feel more relaxed in this very moment?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 08152013

Hooray For You, Hooray For Me!

Hooray For You, Hooray For Me!

I seem to be on a True Confessions kick lately with you. It’s a good reminder, to you and to me, that, while I believe each of our perfect selves is immutable because they’re perfect, our surface self is capable of tremendous change. The best way I know to do that is by changing our limiting beliefs for luscious, supportive beliefs.

In the Dark Ages, compliments scared me. Let’s face it, breathing scared me.Compliments seemed like little tiny wrenches of manipulation to coerce me into doing something I didn’t wanna do. It went hand in hand with mistrusting kindness, even though I craved it.

Emotional baggage is exhausting.

So when you paid me a compliment, I would deflect it with a self-deprecating or disparaging comment, the classic “this old thing?” or “It was nothing.” Sometimes, I went so far as to say something contrary to the compliment.

How rude. I apologize.

Another reason I would deflect or deny was that I thought it was noble, and gracious. I thought I was being demure. This from the person who also thought that being poor was noble.

And lastly, I hated me. Fat and ugly and stupid. Incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial. I felt like contributed nothing but misery to the world. And I had plenty of people who encouraged me in those thoughts. I’m so glad those suicide attempts failed.

Unbeknownst to me, there were people out there who saw the real me. Since I changed my tune, I have met some of them, and been so delighted and moved by their perceptions from the time when I was feeling so bad.

How have I changed from vilifying myself to feeling proud and honored.

Here’s the thing.

Who I surround myself with is hugely important to my attitude, my point of view, and often, my opinion of myself.

Back in Days of Yore when I treated myself horribly, I found lots of people to help me do that. I had people thrilled to criticize my appearance, my language, my activities, my taste, my feelings, my other friends.

I have walked away from whole groups of friends twice in my life. Wow, that was challenging. And I was lonesome for a while, but each time I also stopped abusing myself as much. I found people to befriend who were much kinder, more loving, more celebratory. And a few who really did love me from the previous groups came back.

When I stop abusing me, and start to honor me, in all my attributes and accomplishments, I find people who appreciate me and want to honor me, too, and I find that I want to honor them, as well.

How have I changed from treating us harshly to treating us with honor and respect?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 08142013

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.

Treasure Maps!!

Wow! We just had our first Treasure Maps class and was that an amazing experience! (I know, I know -- too many exclamation points, but it was cool.) I wanted to acknowledge all the help I received to bring this first class to fruition -- and I had a lot of help.

For those who don't know about Treasure Maps, they are a visual representation of a deeply desired goal, a collage of images and words. You place the picture somewhere where you will see it a lot every day. The images that show you at your goal reinforce themselves into your mind over and over. When you have to make a choice between something that leads you toward your goal or away from it you will find yourself naturally choosing the more supportive choice.

So, back to my thoughts on gratitude for today. First, I have to acknowledge how grateful I am to myself for a bunch of stuff. I am grateful that I have had the courage and tenacity to keep on trying to learn about how to reach my goals. This is one of my biggest issues. I have had lots of great ideas over the years, but couldn't figure out what to do to get them to happen. Now I know! That is nothing short of miraculous to me.

Ten weeks ago I came back from Florida where I had taken training to allow me to be an Unlimited Network Community Practitioner in Unlimited Body. If you don't know what that means, ask. Or wait, I'll be talking about it a lot more as we go on. Since then, I have actually started my business, the one I've been dreaming about for years. I have had a lot of help, more than I could have imagined asking for, believe me. And I have discovered that part of my achieving my goals is having the courage to ask for help, then accept it.

I am grateful to Rosie B for all her support, insight, comfort, playfulness, talent, humor, wisdom, and wheels! I am grateful to her for being around to share my success -- makes it easier for me if I don't have to try to feel it alone. I am grateful to her for responding to me when I'm feeling cuckoo, instead of reacting. Without you it sure wouldn't have happened now.

I am grateful to our participants; Anna, Diana and Pat for showing up, for contributing such great insights, for their clarity, understanding, creativity, willness to share their thoughts, joy, sense of fun, and feelings with us. Without youse it wouldn't have been.

I am grateful to J.P. for his unflagging steadfastness and conviction that I can do this. To my folks for their kind words and understanding. To Rosie Posie for all the help, listening, caring, and advice. To my exceptional teachers, Arne and Laura. D'uh.

I am grateful to the people of the University Baptist Church for creating a space that feels so good.

What are you grateful for today?

Beginning with Gratitude

This is my first post on blogger, though most likely not my last. I'm starting a new business in the healing arts and, wow, have the last few weeks been exciting. I found my office space in Dinkytown, so fun. I'm building a web site, writing like a mad woman, and looking forward to a couple days of really down downtime, like hours in the tub with a suspense novel.

I have noticed somethings through this process that I want to put out here in the world. The first is that I have received so much wonderful support that I am in awe. I never would have thought that so many people want to help me get this business going. I am deeply touched and immensely grateful. I have had offers of help ranging from paperwork to furnishings. I have made connections that are professional and promotional. I have met very kind, loving people who want to make a difference in the world, people who understand that the universe wants us to be joyful and playful. I mean, holy moly, this is incredible.

The next thing is support for the idea that we manifest our reality. In the last few months I have had the experience over and over of stating a clean intention, getting out of the way, and getting results 10 times better than what I'd hoped for. This is powerful, transformative stuff, and it's so easy.

The third thing I've noticed is that this huge transition is being pretty easy. Easy. Gentle. Fun. Not hard, not challenging, not difficult. I have been using Creative Questions like crazy and wowie kazow do they make the difference. If you want to know more about Creative Questions let me know.