IN IT TOGETHER
SEPTEMBER 2015

Hello Everyone...

What an interesting month it's been for me. Lessons encountered, fear acknowledged and faced (though I can't say I've completely released my particular fear - YET - but I'm in process)..... beautiful acts of kindness and goodness experienced. August, for me, was an excellent reminder of the love that surrounds me in the form of friends and family members who are in my life and constantly offering love and encouragement to get through whatever moment causes me to "stumble", because we truly ARE in this life together....and I'm grateful for any and all help.

The thing I experienced this month would seem silly to most people, but it didn't feel silly to ME while I was in the midst of gut-clenching fear after my car started cutting out, my "check engine" light started flashing, and my temperature gauge started climbing as I was driving up a long hill. Fortunately, I wasn't far from the top and as soon as I crested it, all returned to normal. I was able to get my car to my mechanic, who diagnosed a misfiring cylinder and rather than immediately replace injectors, he added fuel cleaner and told me to drive it for a hundred miles to see if the problem cleared up. BUT.....the thought of having to drive my car while it was cutting out and flashing warning lights at me was a dread in my belly.

I mentioned my panicked fear to both my sister Anne as well as Ava, my friend. Without hesitation, they BOTH said to me, separately from each other....."I'll go with you ." And tada.....I could feel my fear lift because I knew I wasn't going to have to do it ALONE.

AND so, the next morning, the three of us got in my car to begin racking up those hundred miles. If either of them thought I was being silly, they kept it well hidden. They accepted I was having an emotional block going on and took it upon themselves to be of aid. I didn't feel one bit of judgment placed on me FOR having my fear. What a Gift they gave me. We ended up having a lovely time, the three of us in the car - laughing at the fact that we were driving around and around in circles, making a long loop through town, cheering when my car didn't cut out at the same place anymore...until finally it wasn't cutting out ANYwhere anymore. It really was a good experience, and we ALL felt great when it was done.

I'm a rational and pretty calm person, so my almost phobic panic is a puzzle to me. I don't know WHY that fear is in me....I can't recall a specific incident in this life that would trigger such panic in me. Certainly I've had car problems before.....but this time my reaction was WAY overboard. I don't know if a specific traumatic past-life experience is coming to my conscious mind, now, or if the intensity of these times is simply magnifying this fear. Perhaps in another life, I had "something bad" happen to me as the result of a breakdown.....or maybe it's just a deep-seated fear of not having the freedom that a car provides, or fear about loss of security (a no-car, nowork, no-money kind of thing), or simply not understanding mechanics and worrying that I have a huge repair bill coming up (again, tied into security)....or something else entirely. Whatever it is, I am aware there's a fear in me that is absolutely demanding to be acknowledged and released.

I obviously have the acknowledgement part down....now I need to release it by going back to that moment when I was aware of my stark fear and start processing it as best I can until I arrive at what feels like the "final" answer. "When I was feeling that fear, what was I afraid of?" A word or phrase will come to mind. Then I'll ask myself, "What else?" Another word or phrase will come to mind. I'll continue asking myself "What else, what else?" until it seems like I've gotten to the real issue. Let's say my issue does indeed end up being "loss of security". THEN I'll say, "OK....what IF you lose your security? Then what?" Again, a word of phrase will come to mind. I'll keep asking myself after each answer "And then what?" "And then what?" "And then what?"......until I arrive at my "worst-case scenario" and can see my situation from a calm place rather than from fear and know whether my fear is based on truth or illusion.

When we take our fears down like that, we usually find out that the bottom line is an unfounded fear. If I find that my fear has to do with loss of security, then SO WHAT? What's the worst that can happen? My credit score will go down? SO WHAT? I'll be out on the street? Nope, that won't happen, and I know that with all of me. I won't be able to "pay my own way?" SO WHAT? God knows, I've paid my way all my life to the point where sometimes, I can't receive easily. So ultimately, I'd be forced to learn to receive, and that's a good thing because I absolutely have lessons around receiving.

The thing about fear is we truly CAN'T always know why it's there, especially if it stems from something in another life. But what we can do is try to get to that bottom line as it relates to our current situation, this "now". Releasing fear is always an ongoing process, but especially in this time as we reach the end of this particular corridor and await admittance into the next. We don't get to take ANY fear into that one.....it's a dimension of "Light" and fear is anything BUT light!

Yes, my car experience freaked me out.....but I'm certain that when I finally get to my processing time (I haven't yet had the space TO process it), I'm going to find out that it had nothing at all to do with the actual experience, but rather an underlying fear in me that is now begging to be released. With the magnification of the intensity of energy right now, we're being forced to acknowledge our fears - it's a kindness, ultimately, though not always pleasant to experience.....but yes, let's get our fears out of us before we manifest them into our lives (because all thoughts are prayers).

I wanted to write at length about my car experience for two reasons: for one, I know many of us are experiencing fear in one form or another. Maybe our fears are obvious to us (like mine was), or maybe they're vague and hard to pinpoint, causing an overall sense of anxiety in us. Either way, we REALLY, really are serving Spirit when we can acknowledge and work on releasing whatever is causing anxiety or outright fear in us so that our inner Beings can be an even Lighter and Brighter aid to Spirit. By our Intention, we CAN be a part of bringing this world to Harmony....but we have to bring ourselves to Harmony first. Every time an anxiety or fear floats up and is swimming around inside, we have the opportunity to pursue it and work on letting it go - but we have to CHOOSE to pursue it. It's so easy just to let a moment pass and forget about it....until it rears its head again.

And you know, we don't even have to ultimately understand how that anxiety/fear got into our Beings in the first place (particularly if it's from a past life and we can't consciously remember it). All we need to do is acknowledge it and process it so that we can get to our bottom line "worse-case scenario" as it relates to this lifetime. When we can get to the place of "so what?", we can let that fear go. (And then we begin the process of breaking our HABIT of fearing, because when we don't process our fears, they recycle themselves in us until they become an automatic part of our thoughts. It's a matter of catching ourselves when we start to dither over something and saying to ourselves, "Hey - you're doing it again, thinking that fearful thought. You've done this one before and you KNOW it's an unfounded fear. So knock it off, mind!!!")

The second reason is......whether we are the ones who need help or the ones who can offer help (like Anne and Ava did for me)......we're IN IT TOGETHER, and nothing feels better than to offer our trust and our love to each other. Kindness, especially to one who is feeling vulnerable, is of course another way of serving Spirit. Whether we're on the receiving or giving end of that Kindness, either way, we're left feeling Blessed by the experience. That "Practice Random Acts of Kindness" phrase (though I'd modify it to say "Practice Random AND Deliberate Acts of Kindness") is SO, so pertinent -always, but especially in these times....and of course, there's a reason The Golden Rule can be found in one form or another in all the major religions of the world. Not only was I treated with incredible Kindness during my stumble, I was also treated with Compassion and Respect and Love. My two angels absolutely live The Golden Rule.....

Can you imagine how wonderful it will be when ALL the world can do no less? WOWZA!!

Hold on to your Spirit...        
Marty