IN IT TOGETHER
OCTOBER 2015

Hello Everyone...

And here we are, all the way to October, now. As Dixie's calendar notes, we're in the externalized AND internalized cycles right now - always a ride. I've found myself making some goofy mistakes, such as losing a debit card (found later lying in the driveway, thankfully) and throwing away a check that I had intended to deposit. THAT was fun, digging through the trash at the bank; but I found it. I looked at my alarm clock one morning and was certain it said 6:00 am, so I got up, started my coffee and then glanced at the time on the coffee maker and realized nope, it was 5:00 am. Just goofy things. But along with those moments have been moments of what feel like clarity and plenty of energy to accomplish the day's tasks - typical push-me, pull me energy going on. We're surely getting to be old hands at this by now, though, knowing that whatever challenge we're facing or whatever energy we're in one moment will pass into something completely different in the next....but the point is, it WILL pass and we won't be "stuck" in any one moment for too long, especially if we can be in that moment without fear.

The polarization continues to become even more apparent now that we're having to endure the endless political discussions on various issues in our news today: immigration, vaccinations, gun control, racial, sexual and religious discrimination....on and on it goes. Respect for another's viewpoint is becoming less and less apparent as lines continue to be drawn. What's "clearly correct" for one person means that anyone who doesn't believe the same way is "clearly wrong" as epithets are hurled back and forth and muttered words such as "idiot" can be heard with more and more frequency. It's the times we're living in, and a lot of people I know and love are shaking their heads and wringing their hands and believing our world is going to hell in a hand-basket. No.....we're not going to hell.....we're just experiencing our world Transforming.....and to do that, it must change, and change creates chaos as we as humans cling to what we know because it's comforting to cling to the familiar. It's what we KNOW, and not knowing the end result of a change is understandably a cause of fear in folks.

We're being given so many opportunities to refine ourselves. I know I keep saying this, but now more than ever, we need to be consciously aware of ourselves and what buttons are pushed in our Beings so that we can examine them and feel them and process them and see ultimately why those buttons are there. Are they based on love or fear......discernment or judgment? To be conscious of what is going on in us and WHY it is going on in us is essential, in my mind, to continuing to clear any limiting emotions going on in us - to be conscious at ALL times why it is we're responding as we are and feeling as we do. Not all buttons are "bad", by the way. I'm certain we all have the button in us that would compel us to take action when we see a child, an animal, a friend being mistreated, for instance. But some of our buttons are absolutely based on judgment and fear.....and those are the ones we need to consciously work on eliminating from our Beings in order to be the calm in the midst of the storm.....to be the ones who help Spirit hold the Light, so to speak. WE have to be clear and clean in ourselves to do that....WE have to know whether our buttons are based on love or fear. No one else can do that for us - it's up to us to do it.

We're going to worry and fear - of course we are. We're human and we're experiencing some intense times. We ALWAYS need to pay attention to our buttons - the ones that automatically cause us to flinch and/or have knee-deep reactions - and get to the bottom line of what those are about. But much of what we worry about and fear are habits that our minds have become conditioned to thinking. Those don't require deep processing but rather stern admonishments to our minds to STOP going off down the path of worry and fear, because worry and fear are states of Being, and we need to get ourselves out of mind-sets that aren't nurturing US. Our minds were created to protect us when we originally came to this dimension, but they have become tyrants; now it's up to US to tell them who's in charge! By our attitudes and intention, we can banish the habit of worrying.....but it takes commitment and constant practice. We have to catch ourselves and our minds' chatter and turn our focus to things that fill us, and it's really hard to do that at first. One of the techniques I've used before is tell my mind that I'm going to send it to its room so that I can allow for a higher vibration to enter in - that it's for its own good that I'm sending it to its room and it can come out again when it can behave and be even "more" than it already is because it will have a higher understanding. THEN I imagine a padlock on the door to that room!

Being Conscious.....that's all we have to be, not only of those things in us that cause us to be riled or filled with anxiety, but ALSO conscious of those things that bring us Joy, and allow ourselves to consciously focus on THOSE activities on a frequent basis. I know that seems like a "well duh" kind of statement. But I bet there are a lot of us who make excuses about being too tired or too busy to do whatever it is that brings us Joy...that brings us pleasure and a reminder that life is so good. Some of us don't even know what Joy IS. We can instantly identify what riles us up, but we have no notion of what Joy is, and wow, that's incredible if you think about it, because we ALL know what anxiety/worry/fear feel like... yet we struggle to know what Joy feels like.

When I was younger, MY image of what Joy looked like was in the form of a constantly-smiling Being who bubbled over with enthusiasm and merriment.....I saw an image of how I thought it should look, but no clue how to feel it. I recall having a conversation with Dixie when I was in my late twenties about how to know Joy, something I didn't seem to be able to capture since I wasn't constantly smiling and bubbling over with enthusiasm and merriment (being the mother of a three year old and a newborn). Her response was that all I had to do was look at the face of my child and see the result of my love and nurturing coming back in the form of health and love shining in my child's eyes....to understand that what we were sharing was a state of Being, not a "thing". I didn't quite get that then, but as the years have passed, I've come to understand what she was saying all those years ago.

I'm talking about the Joy thing because ultimately, wouldn't it be wonderful to have at least as many Joyful thoughts/feelings in us as we have worrisome thoughts/feelings in us.....??? YES, it sure would be. It's hard to focus on the good in our world when friends and family and the media are reminding us daily "just how bad it is." Our worrisome thoughts have been drilled into us for years and years and lifetimes and lifetimes until they have become the habits that they currently are, and so now it's simply a matter of breaking the habits that take us places that don't feel so great. Just as our world is Transforming, so must our minds Transform so that we are definitely feeling and seeing AT least as much "good" as we see "bad".

Joy is the sharing of Love. It is Delighting in each other's presence. We can tend to go on automatic with the people in our lives whom we love. We sometimes forget that we have a choice to spend quality time with a friend or family member, or even a pet. We're always too busy, and we'll do it tomorrow. But we're never too busy to worry about something, are we? Our minds love to chatter to us, and with all the uproars going on in the world today, we've got plenty of fodder with which to feed them and continuing the "habit". Time to stop that right now and Transform our minds to a higher vibration!

We're going to worry and fear - of course we are. We're human and we're experiencing some intense times. We ALWAYS need to pay attention to our buttons - the ones that automatically cause us to flinch and/or have knee-deep reactions - and get to the bottom line of what those are about. But much of what we worry about and fear are habits that our minds have become conditioned to thinking. Those don't require deep processing but rather stern admonishments to our minds to STOP going off down the path of worry and fear, because again, worry and fear are states of Being every bit as much as Joy is. Our minds were created to protect us when we originally came to this dimension, to warn us of danger as we learned how to survive in this dimension. But they have become tyrants, now, and it's up to US to tell them who's in charge! By our attitudes and intention, we can banish the habit of worrying.....but it takes commitment and constant practice.

To be Conscious of the state of Being we're in - to be aware of the feelings and thoughts going on in us (because ALL thought is prayer), and CHOOSING to shift our focus to higher levels of thinking is vital for us to commit to in these times.....not to mention taking the time to be with the ones we love - really BE with them - fully present and knowing Love IS present, and letting that lead us to that state of Being known as Joy.

Piece of cake!!!
Have a great October......and as always, Hold On To Your Spirit!
     
Marty