IN IT TOGETHER
JUNE 2015


Hello Everyone...
And hello, June.....looks like we're going to be having more of the same energy we've been having, so we're ahead of the game with the practice we've gotten. All we have to do is make sure we've got plenty of wax on our surfboards so we don't slip off them while we're riding out to meet those waves!!
My sister recently said to me, "Life is Good - l love that we know that." That was a wonderful reminder of a simply profound Truth which pretty much stands alone and is all I truly need to say this month. So have a great June and Hold On To Your Spirit - ahahahahahaha!
Seriously.......it is indeed a Gift we can give to ourselves in these times - to Know that Life IS Good - so that we don't fall victim to the "poor me" syndrome and believe we are powerless to enjoy our lives because of outside circumstances. Those outside circumstances are going to be ongoing for quite some time because Life is coming at us with more intensity than ever these days. Weather and/or natural "catastrophes" are washing our homes away or burying them under piles of rubble. Entire communities are being massacred and/or forced to flee from marauding invaders. Our leaders and people for whom we've given our trust and respect are being revealed as corrupt or involved in scandalous behavior. It is becoming more and more apparent to us all that love of power and money is behind much of our world's travails; anger is building and spilling out as pure rage all over the planet.
And in particular for a lot of us, our loved ones are dying and leaving us immersed in Grief.
There are so many heartbreaking and heart-stopping moments happening right now, and assuredly, we will all be falling off our surfboards from time to time. Of course we will. We're human and we're going to be deeply affected by life's events because what affects one of us affects us all. I can think of a few things, though, that can definitely help us get back on our surfboards quicker so that we don't stay stuck in the heavy emotional waters of these times.
One thing we can do is to work on having the inner Knowing in us that nothing happens in our lives randomly.....that we in fact give permission in our Souls for major events to be in our lives - no matter how painful or how harsh they are - so that we can Spiritually grow and overcome the fear that keeps us limited, that keeps us tied to this dimension. There truly IS Purpose in all things (as Dixie has repeatedly said and as I've reiterated more than a few times). For me, that's incredibly important to remember and I believe it with every fiber of my Being. And having said that, of course I'm well aware that it would be difficult to remember all is in Purpose if I had troops descending on me with guns and machetes and evil intentions, or my home was being washed away and everything I owned was lost. I never mean to mitigate another's circumstances. It's just that for me, I believe each of us has the experiences/relationships we need for our Souls' growth as we travel the Path Leading Home. That doesn't mean I don't do what I can to ease another's experience as I feel urged to do so - to lend my voice, my actions, my energy or my prayers to a given situation. But because I DO believe that everything we experience is in Purpose as far as our individual Soul Curriculum goes, I'm able to view the "madness" going on in our world with a sense of understanding, however small it might be....which in turn allows my mind to be comforted and to know a measure of peace so that I can then offer that to another. (And of course, Spirit needs us to have peace of mind in order to be of greatest aid to us.) So knowing that all is in Purpose is a major component (for me, at any rate) of living with the peace of mind we need to Know that nothing is "wrong" and that Life IS Good because it's all going according to The Plan.
Then there's making sure that we have the kind of people in our lives who can BE positive and supportive without any strings attached, who love us for who we are and whom we love right back because we know who they are. This is a time to strengthen our relationships......to gather close the ones who (as Dixie mentioned last month) "get us" so that when life's experiences get so intense as to be crushing, we've got someone we can laugh with and dance with and cry with and work with and give to and receive from. We've got someone with whom we can face our challenges, offering mutual support and encouragement and constant reminders that life is an adventure and not an ordeal, even when it feels like one. We take turns uplifting each other. Our support system - our friends and family members - are a huge part in helping us know that Life IS Good when we are fortunate enough to have people in our lives who "get us". (And, if we don't have that in our lives and if we truly do want it, it will come by our Intention and our own willingness to be the kind of Friend that we ourselves want.)
And one other thought, as trite as it is, to knowing that Life Is Good: "Take time to smell the roses"......in other words, to enjoy the little moments, the things that occur that reflect how beautiful our world and mankind is - the moments comprised of "the stuff of life" that make us glad we're alive when we can see them in the beauty that they are and with an attitude of gratitude.
A friend of mine recently took a road trip with her dog. She wrote to tell me she pulled into a rest stop and shortly afterwards, another car pulled up next to hers. That car had two dogs in it. Of course, her dog and those dogs barked and barked and BARKED at each other.....that's what dogs do. But rather than yell at them to try and hush them up, my friend and the man and woman in the other car simply looked at each other and smiled and just let those dogs do their thing. Shortly afterwards, both cars pulled out and went their separate ways. And that was it - that was the story. For me, though, it is the perfect example of what I'm trying to say here. For some people, those barking dogs would have been a major annoyance and the very LAST thing they would want to have to experience. For my friend and those two strangers, it was the sharing of a perfect moment. Their dogs were simply being dogs and doing what dogs do - no one thought it was an annoyance, no one got uptight. The people involved SMILED at each other in the delight of the moment they were in together. I love that my friend shared that story because it made my heart feel good, as "insignificant" as that story might seem. Strangers being in that moment together brightened each others' day......how great is that?
Our daily lives are filled with many perfect moments that we don't always see or appreciate in the hustle-bustle of the twenty first century. There's that friend who drops by just long enough to hand us a bouquet of home-picked lilacs because she knows how much we love them. There's that little boy down the street who always stands at his window and smiles and waves at us and then positively glows when we return his smile and wave back. There's that stranger at the funeral who touches our shoulder in compassion when we are overcome by grief at the loss of a loved one......who murmurs words of comfort to let us know we're not alone.
We ALL experience moments of perfection, in whatever form they might be. I don't know, though, that we always let those moments stay with us long enough to impress upon us that they are what make life so worth living. It isn't the money we make, the big house we live in, the grand car we drive. In our rush to make money and achieve whatever goals we've set for ourselves, we often forget that it's the goodness we encounter every day that become the memories we cherish later. How much money we had in the bank won't matter one whit compared to the memory of that friend who brought us flowers, that boy who smiled and waved at us, that stranger who comforted us.....
There are SO many moments of goodness that are perfect in their own way - that make life worth living......that remind us that Life IS Good. All we have to do is Know that it is......and give Thanks that we Do.....
We get to see our lives as good and our world as a beautiful place.....or not.....according to how we view all the "tragedies" that are unfolding around us on a daily basis. We get to believe that our world and the many experiences we have are offered to us as GIFTS so that we can learn to be the very Best of who we are in the midst of any and all circumstances.....or we can believe that life isn't fair and that we are all helpless victims of random acts of fate or of a wrathful god who needs to punish us.
We get to choose how we experience Life.
My sister's reminder that Life IS Good....and thank God that we Know it.....was magnificent. Thanks, Sister Mine, for Being......
Hold on to your Spirit...        
Marty