Awarness of the Power of Detaching From Outcome

It is interesting to me how our awareness gets jogged now and then. I believe that my awareness is very high, however as with most of us, my vision becomes clouded at times. Recently I received a call from a company who would like me to consider taking position with them. Interestingly enough, I was not looking for a new position with another company. I am very busy and satisfied with my current company and position. I was both flattered and intrigued that this company had sought me out for this particular opportunity with their company so I agreed to go in for a visit and meet with the key players.  The meeting/interview was very interesting and unlike most interviews I have been through in my life, very relaxed. I was particularly relaxed because I had no real stake in the outcome of this meeting.  I was not there because I needed a job or even because I was dissatisfied with my current position. I was there more out of curiosity.

I met with the VP of Sales and Marketing, the VP of Human Resources and the co-owner of the company. As I was meeting with these decision makers, I found myself in a natural flow, speaking freely of my ideas, my visions, my past experience and I felt a surge of creativity as  I speculated on the possibilities that this position had and the difference I could make as a part of this company. All in all a great quasi interview.  

As I stepped out of that situation, I stepped back into the reality of my current position. It was late Friday afternoon and I was on the hook to put together a very detailed presentation on a new business concept that I had not yet got my arms around that I had to present to a very high level of the company on Monday afternoon. To compound matters I had a big gathering scheduled at my house on Saturday which would eat up the rest of my Friday and all day Saturday. This means that the earliest I would be able to even start working on my presentation was Sunday. I don’t mind short time lines, however for this one I was mentally stuck, not sure what direction I was going to go and how I was going to formulate this presentation.

Saturday morning as I prepared for that day’s festivities I reflected on my meeting with the new company and then I reflected on the presentation that I had to put together and it hit me! I had nothing to worry about, I simply had to let go of the out come. I had to let go of my need to impress and wow those I was presenting to. In an instant I realize that the reason the meeting had gone so well and that my creative juices were overflowing was because I had no real stake in the outcome and that once I released my attachment to outcome of the presentation that the creativity would flow and that which I was struggling to get my arms around would come to me with ease. At that moment I let go of the outcome and went about preparing for the big event of the day and did not give much thought to the presentation until later that night when all of my guests had left and I could relax.

As I lay on the couch, relaxed and dozing off to sleep I thought about the task ahead of me and how I could get it done. The next morning, I awoke ready to go and knowing exactly what I needed to do to get the presentation done. A few hours later I was finished and happy with material that I had pulled together.

There are multiple lessons here, one of which is we must trust in the process and release ourselves from the outcome and two creativity flows when we relax and allow ourselves to be and third but not least, we are usually not as aware as we consider ourselves to be.

 

BTW – the presentation was a home run!

Sacred Places

I was out for a walk yesterday morning, as I turned the corner of my street I passed a church. Being Sunday, the door was open, inviting anyone who passed by to enter. I thought to myself, how good it feels inside a church. There is a certain peace that can be found in a church, synagogue, mosque or any place of worship. The energy in places of worship is different. People are affected by this energy when they enter the door of a place of worship, there behavior and thoughts often change. People manifest into something other than their accepted norm when they believe they are in a sacred place. Their personal energy shifts because they believe they are in a place which brings them closer to source and the environment lends to this feeling of calm and deep reflection. There is a sense of connection with source when we enter a designated holy place.

As I considered all this in the few seconds it took me to pass by the church, I had to ask why? Why is this place, a church any more sacred than any where else? The simple answer is that a church, synagogue, mosque or any place else which has been deemed a sacred place is no more sacred that any place else in this universe. These places are all designated as “sacred” by man. The local super market parking lot is just as sacred if we say it is. We, our spirits are what make a place sacred. Truth is anywhere you are is sacred, because you emanate from source. You are as close to source as you choose to be, weather that be in a place of worship or standing in line at the bank. Being in a sacred place is not a matter of geography, it is a matter of awareness and perspective.

Once we fully grasp this understanding that we create a sacred place wherever we are then we begin to understand that how we behave inside a place of worship and outside of a place of worship is the same, because all places which we stand, kneel, lie down are indeed sacred and just as close to source as we desire to be.

Live in love, live in spirit and know that you are sacred and that by you simply being can makre anywhere you are a sacred place.

No Stress When You Are Having Fun – Letting Go of the Outcome

I just spoke with a friend of mine who was in a situation that for many would have been very stressful. She had to present herself to a board of directors for a major company, a group of people she did not know, a group of people who command respect and ooze with authority, a group of people who are not easily impressed or moved by others. When I asked her how her meeting went, she was over joyed to tell me that she had fun. No stress, no worries, she had fun. Why did she have fun in what many would describe as a “hot seat” in the business world? She had fun because she was in her element, she felt confident about herself and what she brought to the table. Because she felt confident, she was able to let go of her fear of judgment, in fact she was so much in the flow of the moment she was able to let go of the outcome of the meeting.

When we are able to let go of the outcome, miraculous things happen, we allow ourselves to be, we allow ourselves to flow and we do not allow ourselves to be distracted by judgmental voices in our heads or by the possible judgments of others. We let go of right/wrong, good/bad, we simple flow and be. We trust in the feeling of having fun and understand that the result is not important, it is the moment that is important.

Have you ever wittinessed someone really let go and dance, even though they are not a good dancer, or sing, even though their voice is not a great singing voice and secretly wished to yourself that you had the courage to let go like they do? Most of us have been in this place.

Why do we not let go? Usually it is fear that holds us back. It is the fear of what others might say or that we may feel foolish. When we allow this fear to hold us back, we stew in our own decision while the world dances and sings around us. We hold back, while others are having fun all the while defending our choice to not take the chance of looking foolish in our own eyes or the eyes of others.

Many people justify not having fun or letting go because that is not their story and they don’t want to appear to be out of character. Do yourself a favor today, let go of that character you so rigidly hold on to and jump into the deep end of the pool and have fun.

Let go of the outcome and you will be astonished at what you can do and how much fun you will have with life!

Relationship Reality Shows – Tune Out

 

On American television there are a slew of reality based shows which depict the negative extremes of romantic relationships. There are dating shows which show people picking dates based on very superficial findings. There are wedding shows which give real life examples of brides who have little control over themselves and turn into a mega bitch that no one in their right mind would want to marry. There is even a show where ex’s are brought together, placed into a seductive environment and watched via video and audio by their current boyfriend/girlfriend to see if they will cross lines and be tempted by their exes. The list of these types of shows goes on and on. Wife’s, husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends and parents out of control in one way or another seem to sell air time and the target audience for most of these shows are people between 16 and 30. While some may view these shows and learn how not to be, I am concerned that many watch these shows and create a “norm” for their own relationships, a “norm” which validates behavior which create abusive relationships rather than loving relationships.

Many of the TV shows of the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s had the opposite effect on relationships; TV shows depicted a utopian type of relationship where all was well, everyone knew their assigned roles and if there was a rift in the relationship, it could be fixed in less then 30 minutes. These shows created generations of people entering relationships with unrealistic expectations of what the relationship would be like.

Truth is, very few relationships are like those found on the Jerry Springer show or like the Brady Bunch.

Relationships come in many shapes and sizes. In the end a healthy relationship is one in which you feel healthy about yourself and your partner. A healthy relationship is not static, it vacillates along a relationship continuum, grows and matures. When we are in a healthy relationship we know it, we feel it in the heart of our soul. We don’t belittle the other person in our mind, we don’t talk bad about they, and we don’t disrespect them in any way. We think and act from a place of unconditional love and we think and act from a place of unselfishness.

To watch this type of relationship on TV would be rather boring. No drama, no yelling or screaming, no talking behind each others back, no cheating on each other or turning into a monster because some trivial thing in your life did not go exactly as you planned. Nope you can’t sell tickets to watch that, however when you live in this type of relationship, you have no tolerance for the examples that the “Relationship Reality Shows” broadcast across the airways. You find that you have no room or use for this type of negative energy.

The old adage of “you are what you eat” translates very easily to “you are what you do, what you listen to, what you watch”. We must always be aware of the type of energy that we are exposing ourselves to. Often what may seem fairly innocuous has far greater impact then we might realize.

Turn off the “relationship reality shows” and turn each other on!

A Moment of Attraction Realization

 

Can you believe that it was only a year ago that the big buzz was about a book and movie call “The Secret”? Time has gone by and the buzz about “The Secret” has subsided. We don’t see as much being written about the Law of Attraction as we once did. Interestingly enough the law of attraction has not diminished at all only the mass awareness of it. “The Secret” was a vehicle to help develop awareness; it was in no shape or form the beginning and end of the law of attraction. It was a clever attempt at raising the consciousness of the masses, which it did for a brief moment. The great result of this was that I am sure there are many people who did have their awareness raised and to this day are more aware of the power of each and every one of their thoughts.

I consciously live the law of attraction and have for most of my life. Of course years ago, I did not have a name for it; I simply knew intuitively that life always worked out for me. When I say life always worked out for me, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have problems because I did. I have had many of the same problems that most people have, however even in my darkest of hours I was calm knowing that this too will pass and that in the end all would work out in my favor and I have never been disappointed.

The reason this is on my mind at this moment is because even though I am conscious of the law of attraction, it still amazes me and sometimes catching me by surprise. I work across the street from a Barnes and Noble book store. This afternoon I needed a break so I went over to B&N to get something to drink and take a few minutes to look over the new arrivals. I took a look at the new books on display, didn’t find anything I had to have at the moment and walked back to the café to get a drink. Just as I was about to enter the café portion of the store, I stopped and thought to myself, there was a book I was interested in taking a look at. I had listened to an interview last week with an author and the book sounded interesting to me. I stood there in deep thought attempting to bring forth the name of the book. For the life of me, I could not find the name of the book in my large database department in my brain. I came up with thoughts, none of which were close. I told myself, that’s okay, relax and maybe it will come to you and I decided I would take one more walk around the store before I got my drink in hope that the title of the book would make its way to the surface of my thoughts. I then turned around to re-enter the book section of the store and before I took a step forward, there was the book that I had been feebly searching for in my mind. It was right in front of me, propped up on a display rack with a blazing orange cover. The title was so simple, “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi. It was in this moment that I said to myself, thank-you! Law of attraction at work again. Now I know that I attract many things into my life, this was a moment to remind me of the power of my thoughts, even when those thoughts are working behind the scenes of my conscious mind.

Take moments today to acknowledge the power of your thoughts and take the time to say thank-you as you attract things into your life and also take the time to acknowledge those things you attracted that you wish you wouldn’t have.

Our thoughts are the most powerful form of energy in the known universe. The key is to be aware of our power and understand how use it to achieve our purpose.

Speeding to the Red Light

 

Simon and Garfunkel said it very well in their 69^th street song “Slow down you move to fast …”  

Have you ever seen the drivers who race to the red light? The light is obviously red and can be seen from quite a way back, however some drivers still seem to speed right up to the light and then come to a sudden stop. They are not getting anywhere any faster, yet they continue to speed to the red light.

Many people “speed up to the red light” in the ways they live their life, going as fast as they can, even though the end of this human life is inevitable. In doing so, some people live very hard and put their fragile human form through the paces as they accelerate to the end.

This form we inhabit may be only temporary, however, we are here to serve a purpose and our purpose is easier to achieve when we are in good physical health. We must take the time to slow down and give this body what it needs, such as nurturing food, adequate sleep, moderate activity and proper care when needed. We cannot afford to abuse this body, for when we do abuse our body it makes our journey more difficult than it should be.

We often abuse our body because we in some way are out of balance with our true nature. Know this, it is not are true nature to abuse anyone, least of all our self. Our nature is love and to love ones self, we in no way can justify hastening our natural expiration date by engaging in habits which negatively impact our health.

Although we may feel at the time that living life at break neck speed is fun, we know that when we have abused ourselves, we will pay for it the next morning, the next week or even years down the road, however we will pay and pay dearly for the abuse which we inflict upon ourselves.

Aside from the physical aspects of “speeding to the red light” of life, there are the many other things to consider. We miss so much when we are speeding along through life. We miss the smiles of children, we miss the beauty of the world, we miss the opportunity to love, we miss so very much. We do miss much and then we are left asking ourselves why? Why did I allow myself to miss so much that this life has to offer? What was I racing towards? What did I gain compared to how much I missed out on?

Life comes at us very fast and we will all come to the red light eventually, so why not slow down and enjoy the journey?

Slow down and be happy and you will be amazed at what you have been missing out on!

We have become a world of multi taskers. Many of us eat our meal as we are checking our e-mail or reading the paper. Replace the e-mail or newspaper with another person or simply eat your meal and savor the experience of eating. Traveling and talking on the cell phone is another thing that many of us do. Turn off the cell phone and look your window with intention to see something you had not noticed before.

When you find yourself doing more than one thing at once, decide what you should be or want to be doing at the moment and decide to do that one thing.

What are speeding towards in your life? What is the hurry? What will your speed cost you at the end of the day?

Visualize how your life will be as you slow down the pace and focus on one thing at a time. When your first think about slowing things down a notch or two, you may panic and feel as though you will not get everything done that you feel you have to, do it anyway. You will be surprised at how much more effective your life will become when you focus on one thing at a time and remove the distractions of multi-tasking.

 

Tastes Like Chicken

 

While I was on vacation this past week one of my favorite things to do in New Orleans was to eat! I love eating Cajun food and I love trying new things. Most of what I ate I had eaten before, however I did have an opportunity to eat alligator. I enjoyed alligator in gumbo and as “alligator bites”, yummy. Of course when I returned from New Orleans people were curious and asked about what I did while there. I told them of all the places and things we saw and did and of course I had to tell them about trying alligator. The reactions I got from most about eating alligator was “ewww” or “that’s gross” or what did it taste like? Of course there is always someone who will say “Oh, I ate alligator before, it tastes like chicken”.

Now when someone says something like this it kind of takes the wind out of your story. Now that  I sit and think about what this person said and what many people have said about many types of meat, such as turtle, frog legs or rattlesnake, that it tastes like chicken, I look deeper at how they are experiencing life. The “It tastes like chicken” mentality is very prevalent in our society isn’t it?

Many people go through life without really taking the time to enjoy what they are experiencing. Life for many people “tastes like chicken” because they don’t take the time or create the awareness to experience anything else. See, life for some “tastes like chicken” because in their perspective life is fairly bland and not much if anything really impresses them. Serve them up cube steak or filet and they don’t taste much of a difference. Show them a hole in the ground or the Grand Canyon and they still see a hole in the ground. Take them swimming in the back yard pool or the swimming along the coral reef and they still think they just went swimming.

I often call people who are seem to have a very low level of awareness “sleepwalkers”, however I no longer think “sleepwalkers” is the correct descriptive term. When someone is sleepwalking, it is conceivable that they are dreaming and having experiences on another level. People who have the “tastes like chicken” mentality are often more like zombies, void of differentiating experiences due to a very low level of awareness.

Our authentic self is love and happiness, our authentic self, our soul is full of passion and curiosity and longs to fully experience what this life has to offer. After all, that is part of the purpose of being here, to experience life in a way that enables us to grow and continue along our journey!

“Tastes like chicken” … I think not!