INSIGHTS
AUGUST 2015

Dear Friend: 

 As I'm sure you've noticed, I'm late again with this month's newsletter. My health is definitely improving to the extent that I can once again write to you, and I'm really looking forward to the time (hopefully very soon) when I can guarantee you that these newsletters will be consistently available to you on the first of each month. But until then, if the newsletter isn't posted when you look for it, keep looking. I have every intention of getting them posted as quickly as possible.

In previous newsletters, I spoke with you at some length about prejudices and reminded you that the more evolved souls tend to call their prejudices "pet peeves", and proudly proclaim that they are prejudice-free. (I have to confess to this one.) I also spoke with you about how necessary it is for us to try to overcome our pet peeves and to realize that what we call "pet peeves" are truly just covert judgments and condemnations. When we realize that, then we also realize that usually when we become frustrated by another person's behavior or attitude, we are judging them to be thoughtless, uncaring, selfish, unfeeling, stupid, etc., etc. - all of these failings that we, of course, believe that we have mastered. The fact is that when we find ourselves irritated with someone and are aware that our "pet peeve" is triggered, we are judging that person's actions without being fully informed about the circumstances or belief that may be behind their actions. There's no way in the world that it's ever going to happen that all people will believe the same things. The fact that we are different is what makes us interesting - not necessarily wrong, but interesting. I would judge something to be wrong if it had the potential to be physically or emotionally hurtful to someone.

If that person's behavior was simply "pushing my buttons" because I felt I knew a better way to do it (and desperately wanted to tell them how), I would either zip my lips shut because in the totality of things, it's not really important, or, I would ask the person (in a friendly, non-condemning voice), "Why do you chop the lettuce that way?" Or "Why are you saying/doing what you are saying/doing? Please explain it to me." It depends on the circumstance. If it's something like chopping lettuce differently than I do it (I prefer to tear it up), then I would simply ask them, "Why do you chop your lettuce that way? Is there a particular benefit?" Or I might just say, "Hey, that's a different way of doing it? Is it faster for you, or easier? Just what......?" By consciously attending to these little peevish things, we are teachings ourselves to overcome judgmentalism, and we are developing more open and friendly relationships with others.

One of the things I've discovered in all of my years of counseling is that most people feel that nobody "gets them". The only thing they need to happen in their lives in order to be able to feel understood or "gotten" by others is for people to show an interest in them - in what they're doing or how they're being, what their attitudes are, to simply say, "Hey, what's happening with you? Is there a particular reason for that thought/behavior/attitude?" To simply evidence an interest in the meanings or reasons behind whatever they do or say is tremendously healing to people who feel emotionally set aside or ignored in the world and you'd be amazed to know how many people feel that way.

I've found that when I feel myself becoming irritated about one of my little "peeves", it really helps me to give thought to what the other person might be experiencing that could cause him or her to act or react in the way that I am finding irritating.

Another example: if someone is driving 25 mph in the fast lane, driving at the same speed as the car in the next lane and thereby holding up traffic for miles back, I can either think of a lot of really naughty words that I wouldn't write in this letter or say out loud if other people were listening.....OR I could create in my mind a number of scenarios in which the driver of that slow car was unable to drive faster. Maybe, for instance, he couldn't pull over into the right lane because the cars in that lane were bumper to bumper and were squeezing him out. Maybe he couldn't get enough speed up to pass the lead car in the right lane in order to move in front of it because his vehicle was malfunctioning. Maybe he has a flat tire and is trying to find a place to pull over. Or I could go way out there and imagine that the car was in fact being driven by a five year old who had taken the car while mommy was sleeping and of course didn't know how to drive but was doing the best he could to keep it on the highway and stay alive. I can even take it so far as to convince myself that God enticed my imaginary child to swipe mommy's car and hold traffic back in order to save lives of the drivers stuck behind him.      

Our minds can conjure up all kinds of stories, all kinds of fantasies and reasons for these irritating events to be happening, and whenever we can find in ourselves a possible mitigating circumstance that would justify the situation, our irritation immediately dissolves. I very seldom - if ever - really believe the fantasy that I created, but I've found that I've had enough fun creating it that I can actually start laughing and when I'm laughing, I can't stay angry. I teach and truly believe that all things are in purpose and like most people, sometimes I have to be in a situation, muttering complaints, before I remember to practice what I preach.

We entered a Universal Transition in 1964. The Universal Transition created and continues to create intensification in every way that intensification can be experienced. This transition continues to intensify the energies of this world until approximately 2026. (We may experience the effects of it beyond 2026 because it's going to take it awhile - probably several years - to return to normal.....just as it took it awhile after it started in 1964 to build up to the intensity that we are experiencing now.)

I've been talking with you a lot about our need to strive to remain as calm as possible through these tumultuous times during which we may find ourselves coming under attack by people who aren't handling these chaotic energies very well, or by people who believe differently than we believe. On a world-wide level, people are literally murdering each other because their images of and beliefs about God are different. People are at war because of a difference in race, creed or color. All of those variations and differences in beliefs are being cooked up into cauldrons of hatred. Unfortunately, mankind doesn't seem to feel that there is enough injustice or difference of belief in this present time to adequately spice their stew, and so they're grasping onto events from the past, even hundreds and thousands of years ago, and believing that someone today must pay for those wrongs that were done in those earlier times. So, you see the Universal divisiveness that manifests with people of different religions, of different political persuasions, of different philosophical or moral bents (to name a few areas) have spiraled from friendly disagreement to outright hatred.

The hardest thing for me to witness is the way these divisive energies have separated families and friendships. I can't quite define what it is, but there is some kind of energy, combined with this pervasive belief (that is spreading like a cancer throughout the world) that different is wrong, different is bad and that gives some people a sense of personal pride, justification, and a rather prim self-righteousness when they find themselves in a situation where they are able to chastise someone who has the audacity to think, believe or act differently than they believe, think, or act. I've seen this play out in so many ways of late, and every time I witness it, I'm horrified.

For instance: a dear friend of mine has been fighting cancer for the past two years. She found herself penniless because with the cancer, she was unable to work and her medical expenses used up all of her savings. So there she was, in the hospital, having experienced surgery and chemo therapy, in a wheelchair and unable to walk, without money and with no place to live. Her two sisters, who are very proud of having married well and establishing excellent security in their lives, told her they had prayed about the situation and that Jesus told them it was time for my friend to learn to be responsible. They refused to offer their sister any help whatsoever because Jesus told them not to. They left her alone there in the hospital, fresh out of yet another major surgery.....penniless and homeless.

Wow! The Jesus I know isn't cruel! The Jesus I know teaches compassion and charity. The Jesus I know says, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." I was horrified when I learned of her situation, but I wasn't surprised because I'm witnessing such things every day now and I am appalled that people can believe that because they "hear" their deity or read in their religious script something that would justify their inhumane behavior, that cruel is the right way to be. It is this kind of fanatical belief that is bring us to war, that is separating families and friends, that is destroying human relationships, and potentially our world as we know it.

It is, in this time, our Task to live in a world where there are no rules because any rule that you might think you believe in, a lot of other people will tell you that you are evil or bad for ascribing to that rule. There's no way that we can hold to any ideology or belief or act in any way and be generally accepted in this time. There are too many divisions. The one and only thing that we can do - in fact, the one thing that I believe Spirit calls upon us to do - is to go into our hearts and confer with Spirit and ask that we be led to take the attitude or action that offers the best conclusion to every person involved in the situation. And if we find ourselves feeling self righteous or justified in being urged to act cruelly, it's time to assess ourselves and to remind ourselves that our purpose in this life is to learn to seek another's person motives and to learn compassion. 

We are here in this time to become the best that we can be so that we can offer ourselves up to be of service so that Spirit may be evidenced through us - not through what we say we believe, but through how we behave and how we are capable of accepting and loving. We don't have to like what another person does. However, we do have the responsibility of remembering that all men are created equal - we are all children of God. Some are younger than others, some are difficult to abide because they exude anger and/or hatred. Some are dangerous because their beliefs inspire them to do harm to others. Of course, we must protect ourselves and our loved ones when protection is called for. However, even in those times when evil (meaning having the intent to harm another) presents itself into our lives, we must eradicate or (depending on the circumstance) evade it, but we must not become filled with hatred or rage against it, because the hatred and rage that fills us would poison us and make us become like them - evil feeds off hatred and rage. We cannot be all that we came to be if we harbor anger, hatred and condemnation.

We need to remember, to remind ourselves, of all the Love that is in our lives - and there is a love of Love in this world and in our lives. We just need to remember to smile as often as we can, to honestly compliment others as often as we can, ad to laugh, loudly and joyfully, at every opportunity, and always, always......

Stay Focused on the Light....          

Dixie Yeterian