April News 2008

Thank you for finding my Newsletter…

Ten years ago, I would write a newsletter every 3 months.  It has been some time since I wrote the last one, but in the future I will post regular articles to the website instead of photocopying, folding and stamping. Times… they are achanging and so are we.  Tension and problems only arise when we continue to hang on when we know we have past the use-by date.

I’ll begin with the light hearted latest news; always keeping in mind that light hearted and happy can hold as many life lessons as dark and dreary.

I have just returned from America and UAE.  I spent time in Ann Arbor, about an hour’s drive west of Detroit, New York and Dubai.  What a contrast of weather and cultures.  But let me begin with the story behind the Postcards many of you would have received.

EVERYTHING I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE I HAVE LEARNED FROM FEET
I was invited by someone in the Reflexology Association to be guest speaker for a monthly meeting.  I was asked to speak about my journey and how reflexology had been a part of it.  “Journey” talks can be a little boring, so I thought I needed a fresh approach.  I decided to do it from a different perspective.  I liked the idea of  “All I need to know about life I have learned from …….”.  So I added the word ‘feet’ and the talk took form; but like always, I went that one step further and got postcards printed to emphasis my point.

All the sayings are related to feet, soles or souls, stand, toes…. You get the idea.
I enjoy speaking in public, but with my Mercury (thought and communication) in Pisces (vague and idealistic), I can sometimes jump around a lot and extend others a little as I go. 

UNIVERSAL PREPARATION……
NO THANKS…
I DON’T WANT TO DO THAT….
And because we don’t understand what is going on, we don’t co-operate

When we approach life from logic, it doesn’t always make sense.  Let me tell you about a lesson in logic I learned from my 3 year old grandchild recently while in minus degrees in America.

As most people would know when the temperature is -3° or -4° and especially when it is minus 13°, it will be cold outside, no matter what the temperature of the house is.  Children appear to live in the present moment; so why would a child want to put on 5 layers of clothing inside a house when it is heated and the child is not cold?
All that clothing doesn’t make sense.  He’s warm and cozy.

Have you ever been in a position where the Universe has repeatedly been trying to prepare you for something and you won’t take any notice and refuse to co-operate.
Have you ever been in a position where you have said in retrospect “If only I had listened to the clues?”  In retrospect the clues are so loud, you can’t miss them.
The Universe, God or our Higher Consciousness knows what is ahead, even though we may not, and is trying to get us to put on those extra layers of clothing to make the next part of the process of life more comfortable.
Sometimes we just have to become extremely uncomfortably (and for this example freeze) before we listen to Guidance.
Wouldn’t our lives be more comfortable, flowing and content if we trusted that we are being looked after by a Higher Power, and that everything is exactly how it is meant to be, and some of the things that come our way that don’t make sense to us are merely Wisdom in disguise.

COLD WEATHER…   -13° to +2°
I thought snow would be good fun.  It was for about 48 hours, and then I was over it.
It looked so beautiful just after it had fallen.  Beautiful is not always practical.

TALK ABOUT BEING LOOKED AFTER….
If you need help, just ask.

Arriving at Ann Arbor Michigan my daughter, her two young children and myself traveled on 3 different flights, followed by an hour shuttle trip in a limo.  Traveling with a 9 month old baby and an almost 3 year old together with our hand luggage was quite daunting.  There were four obvious interventions from a higher power to help us as we went.  Some times help comes in the form of a person offering to do something.  Other times an object is put in your way and if you are astute you will know it is the answer to your request, and then you may have an “aha” experience; similar to when a light bulb is turned on.

We had two physical angels to help, one light bulb and something put in our pathway too big to miss.

By the time we arrived in Chicago we had been traveling around 22 hours. My greatest concern was missing the connecting flight to Detroit. Some months after we had booked the Chicago/Detroit flight the time of the flight was changed, giving us less transit time.  This meant we had 30-35 minutes from when one plane landed in one of the biggest airports in the world to get off, find out where the other plane went from, and get there.  I wasn’t looking forward to this, especially as our plane had been late leaving Chicago.  Every time my mind entertained “We’ll never do it” I put out a plea for help.  I couldn’t allow myself to create a missed plane connection.

The Chicago airport has what is called Concourses; can’t remember how many; maybe up to number G.   A Concourse is a huge arm with departure gates on either side.  First we had to know which Concourse our plane was leaving from and then we had to find the gate; keeping in mind that a lot of planes begin to load 30 minutes prior to take off.  So by my reckoning our Detroit plane would be loading as we landed.  “Please work it out for us” was all I kept thinking…..

As we walked from the plane up the walkway into a sea of people in the arrival area there was, parked right in front of me, an Emergency People Mover.  My daughter didn’t see it, she just took off.  I knew instantly that if we were to have any hope of making the next plane, this was the answer to my prayer.  The vehicle would take about 12 people.  Nobody was on it and the lady driver was just sitting there…. Waiting for us…

I was carrying the baby and a lot of hand luggage.  I asked the lady driver “Was our situation a big enough emergency and could she take us to get the other plane?”  All I knew about our next flight was that is was going to Detroit and leaving in about 15/20 minutes.  My daughter and the 3 year old had walked about 20 meters before we caught them.  They were now so well mingled with the crowds of people, it was hard to spot them. 

If a person was easily embarrassed, this was not the place to be.  The lady driver obviously knew how far we had to go, and how quickly we had to get there.  She drove so fast through all those people it’s a wonder that she didn’t knock someone over.  I think her hand stayed on the horn the whole time, warning everyone to get out of the way.  She knew which Concourse to go to, but stopped at the Departure Board to find out the gate number.  When we got to the Gate, there was a very quick visit to the toilet with the 3 year old.  When I got back to the Gate my daughter said that there had been an announcement for the final passengers to board immediately or their seats would be given away.  People wait at the gates with Stand-by tickets like vultures.

We had just made it.  There is no way we could have run the distance, even if we knew where we were going.  “Someone” was looking after us.  My worst nightmare, was to get this far, after so long with the little darlings and miss the flight, with the possibility of over-nighting in Chicago.

Revisiting the event, as I write this, brings up more emotion that when I was actually in the experience.  Most probably a lot of the emotion was suppressed at the time, simply as a coping mechanism; and when it is triggered later, all of it comes up.  The over whelming emotion that is surfacing is gratitude for I know Someone or some higher power is very close looking out for me.  The only thing we have to do is ask for help.

I see this pattern happening often with people.  Emotions are suppressed and when they finally surface, they can come as fury unleased.

I REMEMBER THAT

Have you ever heard a song and been taken back in an instant, through a memory, to an event that is so real that you can almost smell the atmosphere and touch the surroundings.  I think we all have.

I was watching an Andrew Lloyd Webber concert on TV and the orchestra began playing the overture from “Sunset Boulevard”.  I was immediately sitting in the 10^th row of a London Theater.  It was November 1995, and I was waiting for the show to begin.  I can remember how I felt as I sat there that night and as the music began I said to myself “I am going to love this”.  I could remember the clothes I had on, what I had done all that day, and getting in a London Cab and going home afterwards. 

It’s scarey how much we store in our subconscious and it only needs such a little prompting for it to surface.

It’s not just the happy memories that we store, we keep the painful ones stacked down there as well; and it takes so little to trigger either one. 

Ho’oponpono teaches that I am responsible for everything in my life.  I can create by listening to Divine Guidance or dredging up an old painful memory and creating with that.

When I am prepared to accept responsibility for my creation, without judgment, and bring love and gratitude to it, somehow it is transformed. 

“I’m sorry, I love you” is a simple and effective response to something I would rather not have manifest in my life.  

Who do you say these words to…. I say them to myself.  I love you, my self, and I am sorry for creating something from a past memory.  I have seen how these few simple words change lives.

…Earth is crammed with Heaven

And every common bush afire with God
And only he who sees

Takes off his shoes
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries…
                        Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 Heaven whatever I deem it to be is all around me
And everything is a part of It
The negatives as well as the positives
And when I realize that all is perfect, over and above any personal value judgment
I will bow in respect to all creation
And my days of hapless wandering and searching for meaning and justification of self will be left far behind.
I may not understand, but I will rejoice and trust in the perfection of all,
I will happily accept those who choose a different path to mine, for in my freedom is the giving of freedom to others to simply be…..
While I must take off my shoes,
I must allow others to sit and pluck blackberries
and know that all is well……..

 When I pay attention
I recognize that the Universe is trying to communicate with me constantly
Whether it be to prepare me for something
To let me know help and support is at hand
Or bring me something great and wonderful.
Earth is crammed with Heaven and when I see it, blackberries aren’t important any more.
I might get a few prickles in my bare feet, but I won’t even notice the pain.

BACK TO THE HOLIDAY…..
 

MEMORIES….
If you are sentimental or a romantic at heart, and are old enough to remember “An Affair to Remember” or more recently “Sleepless in Seattle”, then you would most probably enjoy a trip to the top of the Empire State Building.  In New York the inner child came out to play.

I wanted to see that famous scene at the top of the Empire State Building from both movies.  A tinge of disappointment…. There were so many ropes up for crowd control, I couldn’t begin to image which elevator was used, or which telescope protected the backpack or teddy bear.

Remember another old saying I heard in another movie years ago…..

Nothing will ever match up to the memory of such and such….

Not even such and such himself.

Things are never the way we remember them.  Our minds have the ability to canonize or demonize

Besides being nearly blown off the building on one side, it was a great view.

NO COMPARISIONS…

The only measure we have of how far we have matured, grown, or advanced is to compare ourselves to ourselves of the past.  The only person limiting me is me.  Another thing I did in New York that I would never have done years ago…. I went into Tiffany’s on 5^th Avenue.  There was a time I would have been so intimidated by the apparent wealth and affluence of such a store that I would never have been game to go inside.  I wanted to see the famous Tiffany diamond.  I couldn’t find it, so I asked where it was.  The assistant was so helpful; she took me to it and showed me where to find the explanation.

Everyone was so friendly.  Maybe the ground floor is more for tourists and the serious buyers are taken upstairs.  Didn’t matter anyway.  It was fun. 

 
YOUR CHILDHOOD FANTASIES… EVERYONE ONE OF THEM
A little trivia.....

If anyone ever wanted to relive some childhood fantasy, then The Disney Shop was the place to visit.  Every Disney character every created, in what ever form you could image was there.  From key rings, to games, to lollies, to costumes, shirts. paintings, china statues etc. etc. etc.  Three full floors of them.  Of course the higher you went, the more expensive the merchandize.

GROUND ZERO

I was asked several times what it felt like to be there.  It’s like many other special places, there are so many tourists, it’s not possible to connect with the essence of the place.  One poster was particularly sad and I felt the memorial to be erected was emotionally cold and separate.

ONLY IN AMERICA……

I must tell you quickly about the basket ball game.  It was at a huge stadium filled with home team supporters hoping for victory.  I expected some sort of entertainment at half time and I wasn’t disappointed.  There were two mats put down side by side, about 100 meters long.  One end had a shelf about 30 centimeters off the ground that held a ball.  The team was at the other end.  The team being 4 dogs that would race up to the ball, grab it and bring it back so that the next team member could go.  That was fun enough, followed by the dog team racing the people team.  Of course there was a band with four huge tubers doing there own thing in the middle of the stadium floor, gymnasts standing atop of each other to 4 levels, and of course the cheer squad. 

I could understand all of this for half time, but for time out.   Not quite as bad, but I had to wonder what was wrong with a few minutes TIME OUT for everyone.

Right judgment is no judgment is allowing.

I was disappointed to see large numbers leaving when it was obvious that the home team wasn’t going to win.  What happened to the genuine old fashioned love of sport.  Maybe winning has just become all too important.

HOME SWEET HOME…  SO WHAT’S DIFFERENT……..
It was a week before my grandson’s 3^rd birthday and I wanted to buy him some presents.  I had to get him something from his great grandmother and great aunt as well.  We went to a shopping Mall.  The only covered one in Ann Arbor.  It was something like Carindale but only on one level.  There were three department stores, including Macy’s, renouned as one of the biggest in America.  Would you believe that none of these shops had any toys.  Macy’s had a few things suitable for a baby but absolutely nothing anywhere else.  We were told a toy store in the centre had just closed down. Why?  It wasn’t Christmas.   These stores only carry toys at Christmas.   We eventually found one ToysRus.  It took 2 buses to get there, but we made it.  One would imagine that there would be a reasonable number of children in Ann Arbor even though it is a university town.

Their food has so much added sugar; no wonder obesity is a major health issue

The taxi door didn’t close properly, the seat belt didn’t do up, the boot (sorry trunk) was so full of personal junk we could hardly put the pram in.

Couldn’t purchase over-the-counter pharmaceuticals that are readily available in Australia without an American Drivers Licence.

The mail box is next to the front door and the postal clerk comes right up and puts your mail in it.

 Guess it’s like everything else in life: when you expect it to be done your way, or the way it’s always been done, or the way you are used to……. you’ll be disappointed.

Harmony is found in…. right judgment
Right judgment is no judgment
No judgment is acceptance
Acceptance embraces gratitude…… the path of peace and harmony
 

WHOEVER SHOWS UP IS ME…

Whoever or whatever shows up in my life is an expression of some part of me.  If I refuse to accept it as such, then I can be sure that it is a part of me that I disown.  On some level of my consciousness I am giving permission to another to bring this part of my disowned self to my attention; to accept and heal.  We fall short in this exercise as most times, we tend to judge the other person or the circumstances as good or bad.  Judgment will put us off track. 

What we have to realize is that when someone arrives who we don’t like, we are well able to deny any connection whatsoever to the self.  But there always is. 

If I believe a theory, then I believe it.  I don’t believe it if I like the result, and reject it when I don’t like the results.  If I believe something then I begin at that point and try to figure out what is actually happening. 

So believing that I am responsible, whether consciously or unconsciously, for everything in my life, I look at the person who is “pressing every button I have”, and know that there is a connection between the two and it’s not by accident.  I look for the core issue that both people share.  The core issue will be the same.  The expression of the core issue will most probably be different.

 For example:

Someone in your life may be angry, aggressive and always yelling. You don’t yell and scream, so how is that person reflecting you.  The angry aggression is only the expression of a core issue.   The core issue could be lack of discipline.  Once I get to the core issue, then I need to look at where in my life I either lack discipline or I am rigid and unbending.

 
Maybe the boss is rude, a bully and manipulative.  The core issues might a feeling of powerlessness, so he has to control others to feel secure.  You may not be a rude bully but as quiet as a mouse.  You might have to look at areas in your life where you have allowed others to take control.  You may need to stand in your own power.

 
You may have someone who is always telling you what to do; a person who knows the best way you should do everything.  The core issue here could be an overwhelming sense of responsibility.  You may not tell others what to do, but you may be overwhelmed by guilt and responsibility that you carry for others or be totally irresponsibly on the other hand.

 
You may find someone who does not appreciate your efforts and all you do.  Core issue appreciation.  You may not love and appreciate yourself.

 The core issue is the same.  The expression of it will be different. 

 
BELIEFS.....
I can’t prove what I believe is true.
Nor can I prove a lot of what I say is true.
But at this time in my life, it works for me.
What I believe brings me peace of mind, good health, and a lifestyle I am happy with.

When I want to expand any area of my life, I have to seriously look at what belief I am holding on to that is limiting that area and work on it.  And ‘working on it’ could be as simple as acknowledging it and releasing it.

My basic beliefs…
My belief in God or a higher power hasn’t changed but my concept of that Higher Power/ God has.
I am responsible.  I have created everything that shows up in my life, either consciously or unconsciously, often through a complex inter-connected web to many others.
Good and bad are relative as they belong to an individual’s personal value system.  Right and wrong fit into that same category.

Beliefs are things you can change.  Even if you have held a belief for many years, it can be changed.
Changing your beliefs will change your life.
What you believe you think about.
What you think about with emotion you create.