Posts Tagged enlightenment

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.

Just bet it all…

January 4th, 2009 by Elizabeth

It appeared to be just another game of evening fun with my family and an innocent game of Texas hold ‘em.  Little did I know that as my nephew dealt the cards,  enlightenment was waiting for me just around the corner.

I looked at my measly pile of chips.  An odd sight as I was used to seeing  large chunks of change.  I looked at my cards and thought to myself, “Nope. Can’t do it”, and I folded. My brother dealt the next hand. My prospects dimmed as my pile continued to shrink.  I looked at my melting chip pile.  I looked at my cards.  “Nope. Can’t do it”  and folded again.

For some reason in that moment I became aware of the biting little voice inside my head. It was saying, “No! Hold onto what you have! Don’t be stupid! Don’t bet any more! You are close to having NOTHING! You will have NOTHING SOON!”  In retrospect I saw that the din of the vicious bully ego voice was drowning out the sweet, compassionate  tones of my intuition; my connection to my inner knowing.  That voice was telling me, “You have a great chance of being a winner this time! Go for it! It is safe!”  But in that moment, the bully won and I folded  (It turned out that if I had trusted and stuck in the game, I would have won the whole pot!).

My Mom dealt the next hand. Then, in a strangely timed moment of incredible awareness, I immediately saw the parallel to my everyday life and how I approach my issues surrounding my abundance with the same trepidation. The bully will say, “Hey! Hold onto all you’ve got! You don’t have enough! Don’t do it! You will end up with NOTHING!”  And the melodious voice of my intuition will gently whisper,  “It  will all be okay. You will be taken care of. You are safe. TRUST!”  So right then and there I saw how I could make a different choice, and I dared the bully to take me out again with its lies.  But this time it folded and I, the Inner True Me, won!

Trust. Trust. Trust.  Today I choose to fully trust.  Neat mantra, eh?

Just goes to show that our lessons are lying in wait for us everywhere.  Even under a poker chip.