Tag Archives: Change

AWAKENING TO A FULL LIFE

Posted on May 8, 2013 | Leave a comment

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”  Mae West

Wamboldtopia

Wamboldtopia

Does your life feel complete?  Is it satisfying and fun?  If not, what is missing and what can you do about it?

Unlike Mae West, I believe we live more than one life, but I like the spirit of her quote.  Just because I believe I may have another shot at this earthly life doesn’t mean I don’t want this time to be great or that I’m willing to stop trying to create the life I want.  Right now, what I’m experiencing is what matters and I want to feel good about it.

A Full Life Is Based On Spiritual Values

What is a full life?  I think of it as a life that is satisfying and full of peace, love, and joy, my three favorite spiritual qualities.  It means I have good friends with whom I can share art, nature and good conversations and know there is a deep connection of love and respect.  It also means that I am following my passion in the work I do, and the activities I engage in bring me joy.

However, we are each on an individual journey and have individual desires and needs.  For example, I would feel deprived if I couldn’t view fine art often.  It touches my soul and lets me see into the soul of the artist.  But there are some people who never view it, who consider it frivolous or uninteresting, and feel no need to have it in their lives.

A Full Life Includes Love

To have a full life, we have to be connected to someone or something that we love, for the things we love feed our souls and expand who we are.  When I am around my nephews and niece and their children, I feel such joy because, not having children of my own, I had the privilege of seeing them become adults and now parents.  I’ve laughed and cried over them through the years and counseled and encouraged.  There is no doubt that my life would be less full without their love and my love for them.  So instead of feeling sorry for myself because I didn’t have children, I created relationships with them.

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We Must Fill Our Own Lives

We are the only ones who can fill our lives.  We decide what we will let into our lives and what we will reject.  To most people, having a full life is about what we have in terms of security, family, friends, or work, but it is also about how deeply we are willing to live.  What are we willing to do to make our life full?  Are we willing to be the hero or heroine in our own life and take full responsibility for creating the life we want? Or do we choose to be the victim of circumstances?

If your life does not feel full, what is lacking?  What are you ignoring that is too painful to look at?  Over the years, I’ve seen many people who are educated, financially secure, and intelligent who have ignored aspects of their lives that make their lives less than desirable.  I always wonder why they choose not to change what can clearly be changed. Perhaps they feel hopeless or are afraid that making the change would also have negative consequences in other areas of their lives.  There is always a reason why we are not the best we can be, and understanding the root of the problem may require us to look deeper with the help of a therapist or counselor.  It is important that, regardless of what limitations we feel exist, we are willing to take that first small step.

Good Change Requires a Shift in Thinking

Every good thing that has come to me has come after I made a shift in my thinking.  It is how we think about a situation that makes it possible for us to change.  When I was in high school I was fairly shy, despite my involvement in speech and drama.  In my senior year, the Thespian Society members gave me a Best Actress Award.  That was a huge boost to my confidence and led me to believe later, that if I could be that good, maybe I could also be good enough to become a modern dancer and dance with a company.

A few years ago, as a relationship was ending, I suddenly became aware of the fact that this man was so much like my father in his stubbornness and his inability to understand how his unwillingness to compromise created problems between us.  Like my father, he was emotionally shut down.  As I looked at him from this perspective, I saw more negative points of comparison.  It was startling!  How could I be so blind!  I thought I had worked through these issues.

We Can Learn From Positive and Negative Experiences

While winning the Best Actress Award was a positive event that motivated me, the ending of a relationship was a negative event, and yet, it motivated me to heal and let go of an old pattern that was limiting my life.  We can learn from the positive and negative.  Taking the time to heal these old patterns has allowed me to attract a man into my life who has none of my father’s negative characteristics.  The work that I’ve done in the last two years cleared out past issues and opened a space for a more fulfilling love to appear.

Wherever we are in this spiritual journey to experience fullness of life, we must know that we are meant to live in peace, love, and joy.  Our purpose here is to expand our lives through experiencing these qualities, and it is our responsibility to do the work that will take us to a fuller life.  May whatever you need for your journey, show up.

© 2013 Georganne Spruce                                                                 ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5

Related Articles: Nora Ephron’s Advice – Be the Heroine in Your Own Life, Be A Hero: Save Your Own Life, Make Now Count:  How to Live a Fun Life Full of Possibilities, How to Be At Peace:  Eckhart Tolle Seeing the Good in Life 

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DANCING WITH NATURE’S CYCLES

Posted on October 24, 2012 | 3 Comments

“They must often change, who would be constant in happiness and wisdom.”  Confucius

What do you feel about autumn?  Does it depress or invigorate you?  What is good about this change?

Living in the Midst of Nature

My yard is almost completely covered with oak leaves, and walking down the driveway is very tricky with the abundance of acorns and the slippery leaves.  When I walk down to get the mail, I have to be in the present giving full attention to where I step.  No matter how fast I’ve been moving through the day, I am forced to slow down.

Yesterday it was in the mid-seventies and I had the back door open while I ate lunch.  A strange sound like a light sprinkle of rain arose.  I looked up from the book I was reading, but it was dry outside.  The sound continued sparking my curiosity, so I walked to the door and looked up into the old trees in the yard.  A wind was blowing, visible only at the very top of the trees, and as it increased, a shower of golden leaves blanketed the deck and yard.

Some mourn the loss of summer and find the autumn depressing, but the changes in nature are so dramatic that I continue to be awed by them and am reminded that these changes are natural.  We can accept the change or be unhappy about it.  It really is our choice, and much of life is like that.

Awakening to the Wisdom of Change

Confucius’ quote reminds us that resisting change won’t bring us happiness or wisdom.  Change is a natural element of life.  In order to experience happiness, we must be flexible, accept the fact we can’t control everything or everyone in our lives.  When things aren’t going our way, we need to see what we can learn from the experience or how we can reframe our response to a more positive assessment of the situation.

Wisdom is also about change and growth.  The wise elders are the ones who can see the depth and meaning in life as it changes and evolves.  They are in touch with the eternal.  They see that, although we experience physical changes through the seasons, birth and death, moving out into the world and finding new environments, these are all physical experiences.  What really matters is how we see and deal with the change and our willingness to look deeper.

Limitations of Resistance

The unwise among us are the ones who resist any and all change.  They create a safe cocoon in which anyone and anything that does not fit is rejected.  They defend their way of doing things to the death—the death of the relationships they have or to literal death.  When we have been close to nature and attentive to its cycles, we know how futile this is.

Finding Happiness in Change

I am much happier than I’ve ever been.  Do I have everything I want?  No.  But over the years I have learned to be more flexible and that has reduced the stress in my life.  I am more accepting of the things I cannot change.  I love Alan Watts’ comment:  “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”

This year I am definitely dancing with autumn, hiking up and down the mountains, sliding down slopes of dry leaves, looking up into the blue sky to be dazzled by the brilliant red leaves waving over head.  Like autumn, my life is in great flux, learning to promote my books, flooded with new ideas like the shower of leaves blanketing my yard.  I hardly know which way to turn, but it’s all good because it is taking me some place I want to go.

Nurturing Our Spiritual Selves

Now the weather is beautiful and I can be outside, but soon the winter will come with cold and snow and unpredictable weather.  Then it will be time to go inside, literally and figuratively.  I’ll spend more time promoting my book online, finding more silence and time for thinking about what to do next, snuggling under the blanket in front of the fire, going deeper.  What’s nice about winter is that if we have nurtured our own interiors, we have no need to fear this time.  And if we haven’t, it’s a good time to start clearing up our “stuff” without the distractions of sunshine and flowers blooming.

So, this week I’m going to plunge into the leaves, dance through them with my rake and move them into the plastic bags the city insists I use (okay, I’m still not happy about this, but I’m moving on).  And once it becomes too cold for pleasant hiking, I’ll just turn on the music and dance inside.

What do you like most about the autumn?  What does it mean to you?

© 2012 Georganne Spruce                                                       ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5

Related articles: What if Money Was No Object – Alan Watts

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AWAKENING TO SEE OURSELVES HONESTLY

Posted on September 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”  Pema Chödrön 

Do you know who you really are?  Do you like who you really are?  Are you willing to take responsibility and look honestly at the changes you need to make?

Self-analysis is a difficult process.  When we look closely at ourselves we want to see the positive: the good we do, our loving qualities, and our accomplishments.  That, of course, is the easy part.  When we start to look at our less than sterling qualities, we usually experience anxiety and may shut down before we even have the courage to open the door.

We Must Look At Ourselves Honestly in Order to Grow

It isn’t very helpful to beat up on ourselves for all the mistakes we’ve made and all the things we don’t like about ourselves, but if we are to grow and become more the person we want to be, we must find the courage to look honestly at ourselves.  Doing this with gentleness, as Pema Chödrön suggests, is the most effective way.

The moment when we are forced to look at ourselves honestly may very well be the most important moment of our lives.  If we are unable to be honest with ourselves, we will not be able to be honest with others because there will always be something we need to hide.   If we are willing to look at the dark and unpleasant side of who we are, then we have opened a door to changing and healing.

It Takes Courage to Make Changes

It takes courage to walk through that door.  Our greatest fear is that, if we change, the people we care about in our lives may stop loving us.  But if we are hiding who we really are, those people can’t love who we truly are; they can only love who we pretend to be.  The idea that we are being loved for who we are is a sham.

Many people in our culture take drugs to hide the pain of not living honestly.  Drugs mask our anxiety or depression and give us the illusion that we are all right.  I once had a friend who was always in conflict with her family; they had very different values.  She took medication for depression and would periodically stop taking it, but she would soon become depressed.  Having spent time being depressed myself, I shared with her the things I did to combat it.  My diet was healthy, balanced, low in sugar and alcohol, and I ate at regular intervals to keep the blood sugar balanced.  I also exercised every day.  I meditated frequently and monitored my negative thinking, reframing thoughts that did not need to be negative ones into positive thoughts to lift my vibration.  Was my friend willing to try any of this?  No? She thought the spiritual stuff was silly, and she tried to eat healthy, but…  In fact, I saw virtually no evidence that she was willing to do anything to change her life.

Love All of Who You Are

The truth is that all the negative aspects of ourselves that we stuff down and hide away cause anxiety, disease and fear.  How can we ever really feel good about ourselves if there are parts of us we must always hide?  Religion has taught many people that they are worthless unless they follow certain rules or that loving oneself is selfish, but in Christianity, the great teacher was Jesus who said, “Love others as you love yourself.”  So, how can we love others if we cannot love ourselves?  If we cannot forgive ourselves our shortcomings, how can we forgive others theirs?

Nurture the Child Within

Healthy parents love their children even when they misbehave.  They encourage their children to tell them the truth, and those children learn that there may be consequences when they admit they’ve behaved badly, but they will still be loved if they tell the truth.  We need to accept ourselves in the same way and tell ourselves the truth.  We cannot grow emotionally unless we are willing to take full responsibility for who we are.  We must nurture that wounded child within who is so afraid no one will love it if they learn who she/he really is.

Change Can Bring a New and Better Life

What I know for sure is that life changes.  As we change and grow, life adapts.  Sometimes, the greatest heartbreak turns out to be the most profound lesson we could ever learn.  Then that lesson leads us in a new direction where we are able to find new friends and a new life that support who we really are.  It is even possible that some of the people who love us now may still love us through the changes.

Steve Marboli said, “There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a person being themselves.  Imagine going through your day being unapologetically you.”

What are you willing to do today to become more of who you truly are?

© 2012 Georganne Spruce                                                ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5

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DANCING TO YOUR OWN CREATION

Posted on August 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

“Mind is like the wood or stone from which a person carves an image.  If he carves a tiger or dragon, and seeing it fears it, he is like a stupid person creating a picture of hell and then afraid to face it.  If he does not fear it, then his unnecessary thoughts will vanish.  Part of the mind produces sight, sound, taste, odor and sensibility, and from them raises greed, anger and ignorance with all their accompanying likes and dislikes.”  Bodhidharma

 

Responding to Change

How much responsibility are you willing to take for what happens in your life?  Are you creating your life or do you always defer to the ones around you?  What guides your choices?

This has been a very wet year where I live, and I am grateful I don’t live in the drought-ridden part of the country.  As a result of the dampness, a large number of large mushrooms have sprung up in my front yard which is very shady most of the day.  One of them was huge, eight inches across, and several others of two varieties were almost as large.  I’d never seen these before and had no idea if either the squirrels or I could eat them, but I don’t know mushrooms, so I thought it wiser to just admire them.  The squirrels weren’t interested either.

The appearance of the mushrooms, which I think are lovely in their own way, is just one example of how conditions to which we are accustomed may change and surprise us with their uniqueness or beauty.  But change can also be disconcerting, and how we experience it depends on what we think about the change.  We create our perception of what is occurring.  Instead of being afraid that poisonous mushrooms were appearing in my yard, I chose to appreciate their beauty and the opportunity to learn about something new.

Being in Charge of Your Own Thoughts

So many things influence how we think:  our social environment, religious or spiritual beliefs, family or cultural codes of behavior, and past experience.  In some way, we have all been programmed that certain things are good and others are bad.  But as we become adults, we have the opportunity to reprogram our minds.  We can make the decision to be the one who is in charge.

In order to truly be in charge of our lives, we must choose to be in charge of our thinking, for our thinking creates our emotions and together they determine what we create.  The quote from Bohdidharma makes this very clear.  You create what is in your mind and have a choice to hold on to that thought or to release it.  The question you must answer is:  What is the best for you or others affected by your decision?

Release the Resistance Fear Creates

Often we feel fear in our response to something new in our lives.  Will that new boss value the work we do?  Will a parent’s death destroy the family togetherness?  Will marriage take away our independence or bring us more love?  It is always best to release the psychological fears we have before we make a decision.  Fear creates resistance and blocks our ability to see what is best for us.

So, when that tiger or dragon first appears in our thoughts, we need to center ourselves, find that place of quiet in our hearts, and say to our minds, “Release this fear.”  Name it if you can, breathe deeply, and let it go.  These psychological fears have no value for us.  Repeat this gently until the negative image you have created releases.  It is yours to reject.  Then, in the quiet, ask Spirit or the Universe to fill your need and be willing to wait, knowing that what you need will appear, if not then, later when the time is right.

Releasing Your Fear Workshop

This process for releasing fear is what I teach each year in a workshop, “Releasing Your Fear.”  In the workshop, we delve more deeply into the mind and how it works and how to practice this technique so that it is truly useful to you.  If you want to learn more about the September 9 workshop, click here.

Creating Your Joyful Dance of Life

Dancing to our own creation means that we choose to be the choreographer of our dance of life.  We can choose the steps we like best, improvise until the right phrase appears, and practice what flows best until the dance that truly brings us joy appears out of our own creative mental process.  It is not some creator out there who is in charge of our dance, we are.

When we get stuck, instead of creating tigers and dragons, we can envision the positive outcome we want and take the steps to go there.  If one step doesn’t work, we can try another, and eventually the right one shows up. We only have to have the courage to release our fear of what is new, unfamiliar and unknown, focus on what we truly want, and believe we are capable of creating it.

© 2012 Georganne Spruce                                                            ZQT4PQ5ZN7F5

Related Articles: The Answers Are Within, Law of Attraction Journals, Abraham: Accept What I’m Feeling (video), Abraham Hicks: Thoughts (video)

 

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AWAKENING TO GROW

Posted on May 24, 2012 | Leave a comment

“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.”  Wayne Dyer

Are you open to changing and growing?  Or do you try to keep things the way they are despite the Universe’s hints?

Growing Can Be Challenging

I’m a day late posting this blog because I needed to spend yesterday growing.  It wasn’t the sort of growth I like.  It involved downloading new software and learning to use it, and it was very challenging.  One piece, Scrivener, is what I believe will be a very useful piece of software that will make my writing and compiling books so much easier.  I’ve been putting this off because I didn’t want to deal with the learning curve.  But I couldn’t finish the paperback version of my book without doing this, so I took the plunge.

The second software was unexpected.  When I received the book file from my friend Brad Swift who formatted it, I couldn’t open it because it was zipped.  (You technical people know what this means.)  My operating system is supposed to have the ability to unzip, but, in fact, it doesn’t.  It has a bug in this area, so I had to download another program just for zipping and unzipping.  Isn’t that just zippy!

Oneness Will Bring Us Help

Fortunately, I had some good help—from Brad, who is a coach and creative thinker.  We tried everything to get that file open, but finally had to admit, something was wrong with my computer.   I also had a great tech, Jeffrey, from Scrivener emailing like crazy, analyzing and suggesting the next step.  It was a long day.  Sometimes I left the computer to cry, sometimes to scream.  I even stopped to read inspirational thoughts once.  That didn’t help.

Well, I messed up the downloads more than once, but fortunately I could delete them and try again.  I wanted to give up more than once.  My brain felt totally fried.  Despite a part of me saying, “You don’t have to do this now,” I knew I did.  I knew that if I gave in to that part of me that is the helpless little girl, I would be very unhappy with myself.

Awakening to Our Inner Strength

You see, as a child who was often sick, my overprotective mother often told me I was too weak to do something or that I would hurt myself if I pushed too much.  So, I felt weak and helpless for a long time until I began to dance and feel strong.  It’s at times like this that my little girl sneaks out again, and I have to remind that part of me that I have recovered from helplessness and can do this difficult thing.

We all have messages from the past that occasionally haunt us, but if we are willing to grow, we say, “Ah, there you are again.  Sorry, but I need to move on.  I’m grown up now.”  Just as flowers need good soil, enough sun and water to grow, we must nourish our own growth.  It may involve feeding our inner selves with meditation, a walk in the forest, or an inspiring book.  Or it may mean trying to do something we have no idea how to do and deal with the frustration and our deflated egos as we try and fail and try again until we succeed.

Having the Courage to Try

Despite my mother’s fears that I would hurt myself, she taught me a contradictory message that has been so powerful.  She insisted that there was no disgrace in failing, only disgrace in not trying.  If you never try, you’ll never know if you can do it, and you’ll always wonder.

My file is now unzipped with the document sitting beautifully in the new software as if it had been born to live there.  Do I know how to use this program?  Sort of.  But I’ll learn more, and I’m already envisioning how it will help me write my next book.  Thank you, Brad and Jeffrey.  And when this paperback is on sale, I’ll let you know because it is a story of growth, despite many challenges, and I hope it will help others to grow too.

How have you grown lately? Please share.

©2012 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles:  Eckhart Tolle – Facing Adversity, 5 Ways to Let Go of Resistance, A Constant Self-Growth, Awakening to the Power of Pleasant Thoughts

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AWAKENING TO THE ONENESS WITHIN

Posted on April 18, 2012 | 3 Comments

“The moment this love comes to rest in me, 

many beings in one being.

In one wheat grain a thousand sheaf stacks.

Inside the needle’s eye a turning night of stars.”  Rumi

Do you often take the time to go within? Or do you stay stuck on the personality level serving ego’s needs? Who are you really?

I have always loved the cool quiet of evening. Perhaps it partly comes from growing up in a hot, humid climate trying to sleep without air conditioning. Snuggling into the coolness takes me to a peaceful place within, and, there, something deep within opens up. My muse may show up wandering through my mind with a new poem, or an insight about the day’s events may appear.  And at some point, a loving energy joins my reflections and I am One with All, just as Rumi describes in his quote.

Going Beyond Personality to Oneness

This place within is beyond personality; it is at the soul level. When we are at the soul level we are one with Spirit and we are one with all beings, “many beings in one being.” But how do we get there? In a world so focused on materialism and valuing what is external, how do we move into the deeper level?

In some ways, it just seems easier to not change. Change is scary.  If we change, we may lose what we perceive as the security of friends, family, or work. But this security is an illusion if we only live from the level of the personality, for “The truth of who you are is there within you.  Right now….It is not a state that you can ‘buy’ with obedience to any of the countless religious dogmas….” It is “through the vehicle of the original vision of some of those avenues, or through a path one blazes through the uncharted jungles of one’s own consciousness, that Oneness is experienced.” (Oneness, Rasha, page 321)

Releasing Our Attachments to External Definitions

At an earlier stage in my life, I defined myself mainly as a dancer. When I decided to move into another phase of my life, I realized I had become extremely attached to this definition.  I had to release it and look deeper for my real self. Many things helped: meditation, learning that controlling my thoughts would control my emotions, choosing to focus on the positive in life, learning to release my fear, and learning to let go of my attachment to daily drama.  I also explored psychology, especially Jungian psychology, trying to learn more about the way my mind and ego functioned.

Little by little, I stripped away the assumptions I had made and the ones others had made about me.  I began to ask the question: Who do I want to be? Eventually, I understood that I wanted to be a person empowered from within, so that the externals in my life could change without affecting who I really was. I think it helped that my life had always been pretty simple because I had never made enough money to spend excessively, and I grew up in a family where things were not the priority, people were.

 Clearing Out What No Longer Serves You

In order to go inward and follow the soul’s journey, we must carve out that alone time for our lives. We must learn to love that time. At first it may seem lonely not to be with people as much, especially for extroverts who gain energy from being with others, but quiet time is essential.  In that quiet, be honest with yourself. What comes up? If you don’t like what you see about yourself at the personality level, clean it up. Just like cleaning the closet, sort out what no longer serves your highest good. Throw away the masks and disguises. Gradually, expose who you really are to the world. Praise yourself every time you overcome your fear and take another step toward living from a deeper level. Find new friends and spiritual groups that are searchers like you.

Don’t expect everyone to like it, but know that having the integrity to be who you really are will eventually take you to that place of Oneness where the Universe is your home and all beings a part of you. The journey may not be easy, but through it, you will discover a love you never dreamed possible. How will you begin today?

If you would like to learn more about my spiritual journey, you may purchase my spiritual memoir, Awakening to the Dance: A Journey to Wholeness, as an EBook at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. You may also read sample pages for free at these sites. It will be available in paperback in a couple of weeks. I’ll post on the blog when it’s ready.

© 2012 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles:  Oneness (flash movie), Loss and Loneliness During A Spiritual Awakening, SanJAska: Your Work Has Only Begun

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DANCING FROM OUR CENTERS

Posted on January 25, 2012 | 2 Comments

“People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself.  But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.”  Thomas Szasz

Who is running your life?  Is it you, deep from your center?  Or is it your family, employer or the mentality of society herding you into the role they want you to play?

The last time I visited the Biltmore Estate and met the Tina Turner Chickens, I also observed a sheep dog herding sheep.  I had seen this on the nature channel, but I’d never seen it in person.  As the dog herded the sheep together, they were so close they were touching, moving like one being.  After herding them to a particular area, he left, but the sheep remained sandwiched together as if they were afraid to each step out into their own areas.

 The Dangers of Conformity

I immediately thought of people and conformity.  How often do we allow something outside of ourselves to limit our capacity to be who we really are?  Conformity isn’t all bad.  It’s only negative if it forces us to be someone we are not or causes us to hurt others in order to be accepted.  The McCarthy trials of the 1950’s are a good example.  Neighbors reported neighbors for being communists and whether it was true or not was irrelevant.  People lost their reputations and employment by merely being accused.

Inner Self and Ego

 I don’t know exactly what Thomas Szasz intended when he made the statement I quoted today.  But I suspect he was referring to the ego/personality level of who we are, for the spiritual level that is deeper is something we find only when we let go of ego and go deeper.  It is eternal.  We do not have to create it.  But we do create the person we are in this lifetime based on the choices we make and the way we think.

Creating Our Personalities Based on Our Eternal Selves

If we are in touch with our eternal being, the choices we make from that place, rather than from external influences, tend to be wiser.  In modern dance, the pelvic area of the body is the center of our body and this core must be strong in order for the dancer to perform the off balance tilts, falls and swings that are unique to modern.  Without a strong core, the dancer flounders.

If we make choices from that loving center within us that is our core, our choices will have integrity and compassion, and will enhance our lives and the lives of others.  That deeper self is the basis of our personality, but making the right choices can lead us to an integration of the two.  When we dance from our center, we are One.  But if we always allow others to dictate how we think and act, we are being unfaithful to ourselves.  We are letting life happen to us rather than creating the life we want.

If we spend our whole lives hiding behind the temporary high of buying things or being entwined with a dysfunctional family’s dictates or constantly searching for a quick fix to happiness, we will never find who we truly are.  We will not discover that by following someone else’s lead in the dance of life.

Lead Yourself in the Dance

When you create yourself, you become the dancer and the leader.  You look at each opportunity in life and decide if it contributes to who you are or want to be.  You find the courage to step away from the flock and follow your own path.  You love yourself enough to take charge of your own life.  If you have not found yourself yet, perhaps you are not looking deep enough.  Perhaps you have betrayed who you are in order to keep peace and have security.

Fear always surfaces when we try to break an existing pattern.  It’s then we have to turn to faith. “When you have come to the edge of all the light you know, and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing one of two things will happen:  there will be something to stand on or you will be taught to fly.”  These words have comforted me more often than I like to admit.  Have faith and trust yourself to become who you really are.  You are your greatest creation!

What challenges have you faced in becoming who you really are?  What helped you take the risk?  Please comment.

© 2012 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles: Living Your Unlived Life: Coping with Unrealized Dreams and Fulfilling Your Purpose in the Second Half of Life, Being True to Oneself, Dare to Be Yourself

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AWAKENING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN

Posted on December 14, 2011 | 2 Comments

“Some men (and women) have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can.”  Martha Graham

Are you living the life you desire? What are your reasons for not doing that? Does every day flow peacefully as you easily move from one difficulty to another?  Or do you find your progress stymied by irritating and distracting events and issues?  What changes do you need to make?

Being Spiritually and Emotionally Stuck

Last week, I listened to a friend explain that she had not used the Emotional Freedom Technique I taught her to release negative mental blocks.  She was still thinking and processing the information.  We were in public so I listened politely, but I was surprised.  This was energy work not mental work.  I wanted to say, “It doesn’t matter what you think about it.  If you don’t try it, you’ll never know if it works.”  If thinking hasn’t caused her to become unstuck by this time, it isn’t the solution.

Only action can dig us out of our emotional ruts.  There is no perfect moment.  There is only the moment when we decide to act.  Thinking in a new way may bring us to this moment and help us see a new path, but until we act, we have not experienced the value of a new choice.  It is the experience that creates a new life for us.  Instant manifestation does occur, but most of the time what we want to manifest requires us to take at least one active step in the direction of what we want.

Only Thinking About Change Doesn’t Create It

Many years ago, I knew a man who wanted to get a job.  He was very spiritual and spent a great deal of time doing positive affirmations, but no job appeared.  When I asked him what jobs he had applied for, he answered that he hadn’t applied for any.  He just knew the right thing would come along if he kept affirming.  Finally, in desperation, he applied for one and got it.

It’s relatively easy to find reasons for not pursuing our dreams or making changes.  Our fear always gets in the way, and we camouflage it with practical excuses.  We can’t take the job we really want because it won’t pay enough or we’re sure we wouldn’t get it because we don’t have enough experience.  We create endless resistance.  We convince ourselves that making the change is impossible and come to a point where we feel good about not acting.  Accepting the status quo calms our fear, and it goes underground.

Taking the Risk to Dance in the Rain

But of course, the longing for something more does not go away and eats at us from time to time.  We find a good reason to change, but we convince ourselves it isn’t the right time.  Life is too complicated right now.  We don’t have enough money or support.  A wonderful unknown author once said, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to be over, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Dancing in the rain, especially without an umbrella like Gene Kelley used, is a crazy fun thing to do.  We laugh, we sing, we let all that rain we were afraid would ruin our hairdo pour over us and we feel free like a child.  For one moment, we forget all the negatives and live life.  Without even realizing it, we have taken that blind leap of faith and are doing what we feared.

Taking the Blind Leap and Aligning with Godself

 So I wonder, what is my friend waiting for?  She has plenty of excuses not to act, but she needs only one reason to take that leap.  Oneness says that it is not courage we need to make this leap, but total detachment to outcome.  “That blind leap is one that is taken not within the confines of your mind, but is sourced within the depths of your heart of hearts.” (Page 76) By aligning with one’s Godself, one is able to know that “the outcome will reflect your highest possible good…” and “that there is nothing to fear.” (Page 77)

In the coming days, in the midst of the holiday bustle, let us be in touch with our heart of hearts, move lovingly through the storms, and take time to dance in the rain where we are open to all good things and cleansed of the fears that limit our joy.  Peace, Love, and Joy to you all!

©2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles:  How We Get Hooked and How We Get Unhooked – Pema Chodron; Letting Go

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AWAKENING TO NEW PATHS

Posted on November 30, 2011 | 1 Comment

Do you usually agree with your friends’ ideas?  Do you do what they want regardless of how you feel about it?  Do you always tell your boss what he or she wants to hear?  Are you afraid to act differently than those around you?

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

What Values Guide Your Spiritual Path?

We all travel different paths in life even when we appear to conform to society’s values.  At the deepest level each spiritual path is unique even when, on the surface, we appear to be the same.  The real question is: Does the path you have chosen serve you well?  Does it meet your deepest needs?

Is the path you follow based on values that serve you well?  I’m thankful that when I was growing up, my parents taught me to respect others, be honest, be responsible, and care about others.  In addition, we didn’t have much money and had to be creative and work for what we got.  I was taught how to set priorities about what was of value.  People always came first.

Individual Values Challenged By Society

But living by such values is not always easy in a society that puts materialism first.  I often feel my values are at odds with the society’s and yet they serve me well.  Black Friday is a perfect example of what I try to avoid—events created to manipulate mass consciousness.  It is well named, for it appeals to the darkest part of human nature.  It seduces by appealing to our scarcity consciousness and greed.  It feeds that part of ego that fears we will not be valued if we don’t own the latest smart phone or 54” HDTV. It encourages the idea that competition, even if it involves harming others or being harmed, is good.  It reduces our humanity.

Creating A New Spiritual Path for Us All

Perhaps it is time to create a new path for our society that puts the basic spiritual values of love and integrity first.  Ralph Waldo Emerson was an innovative thinker in his time and his words resonate today.  The path of greed our society has been following has failed to bring us what we really need. It separates us through competition rather than bringing us together with cooperation.

When we cannot afford to mask our insecurities and deeper needs with glamorous and distracting things, we may become angry and resentful or we may choose to take a positive approach and adapt to a new life.  Do we really need such a large house or so many cars?  Do we have to vacation in Hawaii? When our lives are simplified, we have more time for each other to develop loving relationships.  We learn the value of giving and sharing.

Create a New Path

Who really matters in your life?  What are the things that bring lasting joy?  The greatest contribution we can each make to change our society for the better is to find the best path for our own lives.  Does the path you are following bring you peace, love, and joy? Are you fulfilling your true purpose in this life?  If not, what is the path you need to follow in order to bring about the change you desire?  Create a new path and leave a trail for others to follow.

©2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Articles: Getting in touch with Your Own Spiritual Energy, Wayne Dyer – Interview with a New Age Retailer

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THE SPIRITUAL TREASURE OF MOVING ON

Posted on September 28, 2011 | 2 Comments

“How do geese know when to fly to the sun?  Who tells them the seasons?  How do we humans know when it is time to move on?  With the migrant birds, so surely with us, there is a voice within if only we would listen to it, that tells us certainly when to go forth into the unknown.” Elisabeth Kubler Ross

Letting Go and Moving On

The first red and yellow leaves of autumn fall in my yard, and it begins: the dropping away of what is not needed, the extraneous, the extra weight of burdens, the sadness we kept hidden while the light of the summer sun lured us into denial.  Tears surface for no apparent reason, feeling like toxic waste that our cells and minds have finally released.  Autumn reminds us that in our own lives, it is the season to let go and move on.

The towering oaks shed their acorns, and the squirrels, filled with delight, fly from tree to tree like circus acrobats on speed and gorge on the nuts, becoming plump.  Some things will die, while others come alive, gathering the rich harvests before the first freeze like the bears preparing for their winter hibernation.  The Spirit in all of nature whispers guidance for this transition, where to find the best blueberries or the best migratory path to warmer lands.

Choosing Wise Paths

That voice whispers to us as well.  Walking in the forest after several days of rain, I turn my face to the patches of sunshine filtering through the trees, drinking it in as if it were water in a desert.  My friend and I start to take a different hiking path and have no idea where it will take us.  We have to be home at a certain time, but when the trail starts to curve away from the stream we know will lead us back to our car, a quiet voice inside whispers.  We reluctantly turn back, agreeing we will explore this path another time.

During autumn, here in the Appalachians, the variety of color and the length of time it lasts, gently and sensually eases us into the introversion of winter.  It gives us time to think about where we need to go in our migration through life.  It gives us time to explore what changes we need to make and what habits, thoughts, or attachments we need to release. We are gently reminded there are some things we cannot control.  Change is inevitable.  Parts of our lives will fall away. But deep inside there is a voice that will tell us when to let go.

Spiritual Gifts of Accepting Change

Now in the autumn of my days, I have learned to quiet my mind and listen to that voice.  I love the richness of this time.  Like autumn shedding her leaves, I must shed some attitudes.  If I expect my body to perform as it did twenty years ago, I will incur injury; yet, by scaling back the intensity of the activity, I can do almost everything I used to enjoy.  I can be the squirrel running up and around the tree if not the squirrel flying from branch to branch.

Just like the beauty of autumn leaves, being willing to transform and move into a new mind-set, relationship or job, even if they are not what we envisioned, can bring beauty and wisdom to our lives.  Without the change of seasons we live a boring existence.  We would become so attached to our limited ideas of what a life can be that we would never move on and venture into the unknown where treasures we cannot even imagine lay buried, waiting for us to unearth them and become transformed.

As the cool breezes blow and the brilliant autumn sun shines through the branches of the trees it is time for us to reevaluate our lives.  Where do we need to be in our own hearts and minds when winter arrives?  What path do we need to take on our journey to reach an abundant and warmer land?

As a reader, what topics would you like for me to write about?  What issues concern you?  I appreciate so much the comments you all share, so let me know how I can be more helpful to you.  You may leave your suggestions in the comment box.

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

Related Readings: How to Let Go of Negative Feelings – Abraham Hicks (video), Graceful Exits: Knowing When to Move On, Moving Through Change

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