Archive for July, 2009

You’ve Got the Power

July 11th, 2009 by Elizabeth

Yes you do. You’ve got the power to choose: Sadness or joy. Fear or trust. Drama or ease. Pain or pleasure. Limitation or freedom. Dare to use your power to choose. It is ALWAYS up to us what we choose to focus on, expand, and bring into our lives.  This is probably something you have heard before. Yeah, me too. But apparently I had forgotten it until an amazing young man reminded me of my power to choose in such a simple, profound way that I was moved to tears.

As I have said before, enlightenment and lessons are all around us. It is up to us to see them and get them. Enlightenment came to me tonight in the pet supermarket, Petco (Whoever thought that buying a bag of dogfood could lead to an awakening!).

As I have shared with you in previous posts (here and on Elizabeth Channels), I have recently moved to Topanga, California outside of Los Angeles. My boyfriend and I live in Topanga canyon and have a bit of a drive to the valley and “civilization”. This evening as I drove to the valley to do some errands, my mind ran out of the present moment and into a deluge of juicy thoughts to worry about. Since I let my mind runaway with me, I felt my heart sink as I sank into the valley from the mountains. By the time I got to Petco, I was feeling out-of-sorts. This really didn’t make any sense as I had experienced, up until that point, such a wonderful day. I dragged myself into the store, got what I needed, and proceeded to the register. I was greeted by a smiling young man who rang me up. As he was completing the transaction I said, “So how was your day today?” Continuing to smile, he said, “It was good!” Then he chuckled and said, “You know, I’m just always happy. I don’t get it, but nothing ever gets me down.” I was so tickled to hear this amazing testament come out of such a young man. And then as I left the store it hit me how beautiful it was to see someone who is just plain happy almost all of the time and doesn’t let life’s ups and downs get to him (the cool thing is that I live with someone like that too…). This young man, whether done consciously or not, CHOOSES to see the glass as completely full and overflowing.  Perhaps he learned it from the environment he grew up in or maybe he just figured it out on his own that life is just better and easier that way. However he got there, I was totally inspired.

In an instant, we can change our mental landscapes. So in the moment that I really got the implications of this, I chose to completely change my mental landscape and altered my outlook on all of those things that had been nagging at me on the drive down. As I drove back up in the mountains to my home, my heart soared. Tears of joy filled my eyes as I felt the power of choice; the power to choose ease and grace in every single moment.

I am not advocating that we go through life wearing rose colored glasses. But what I am suggesting is that we get into the habit of consciously choosing to take ourselves out of our self-imposed dramas and complaints by being aware and acknowledging them when they crop up and then let them go. Just give it a try. It may take a bit of work, but I am willing to do whatever it takes to feel joy, ease, and peace. I’m not going to let my mind talk me into sitting out. Are you? I hope you choose to dance… I have.

Embrace the New and ALL that It Brings

July 3rd, 2009 by Elizabeth

Something new; an exciting change; a complete alteration of the old. Refreshing, enlivening, uplifting. But with all of that excitement can come something else that we don’t fully expect. We can get blind-sided. Often what joins us on our transformational ride are feelings of loss and grief for what was left behind. That newness and Light can become a trigger for something not in our original game plan.

I came to this understanding first hand today. I have recently embarked on a new, exciting chapter in my life. On June 5th, I left my lovely little hometown of Easthampton, Massachusetts and drove across county with my two dear furry friends to join the love of my life in his home in California. Filled with excitement, bubbling about the change, and looking forward to the new, I was amazed to find the arrival of something else shortly after my arrival. Something underneath began brewing, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t understand it at the time, but it was my mind and body’s reaction and resistance to the drastic change. My “old” world and my “new” world couldn’t be more opposite. From the traffic to the scenery to my immediate surroundings to the people. On one level my mind craved familiarity and was completely resistant to the change. But today I finally understood that what was brewing underneath was the presence of a certain sadness that had been quietly running in the background and, until that moment, totally  perplexed me. I now saw that it was rising from a deep sense of loss. Perhaps a loss of the familiar, of certain day-to-day habits, of a particular way of seeing myself in the world.

Maybe that is why we don’t embark on those new projects or make the changes that, in the long run, would be for our own good. Perhaps the body senses the change, knows the upcoming challenges, and then we put on the brakes. We fear the possibility of experiencing loss of the familiar and choose to stay just where we are. It’s safer and not so scary.

Boldly going forward and making the changes that are the best for us takes a lot of courage. But it also takes love and devotion and gentleness with ourselves as we adjust.

With this new awareness, I will now embrace the feelings of loss and accept them all as part of the experience. That is the only way that I will be able to enjoy and appreciate the richness and fullness of my “new” life.

So I suggest that the next time you are faced with any offering of change- big or small- instead of turning away, acknowledge the fear and ensuing emotions and know that they are all part of the process—the process of truly LIVING; the process of truly BEING; the process of connecting to ALL THAT IS.