Tip of the Iceberg...

When you are struggling in your life, why does it seem that everything negative wants to jump on that band-wagon and cause the tires to go flat? Don’t they see that my hands are already full with the first crappy situation? Where are their deconstructive manners? Why can’t they go and find someone else to pander to? Can’t they see my threshold is bent to the breaking point?

Yeah, we all have these “sucky” situations; you know the ones that morph from irritating pebbles to boulders of discontent. Can’t they see that the mud-balls they keep pelting us with are sticking? Hey, that one nailed me in the eye! 

Of course, they can; because just like a magnet, our consciousness draws to us that which we cling to. When we are up to our ears, treading water in the pool of our muck and mire, we can’t hear or see anything else. No matter how loud our saving grace is yelling or how many ropes are thrown to us; we are so panicked with what is happening to us, that we can’t recognize our authentic truth.

Just look at our stories we anxiously rush around telling people. My aching back, I only make so much money, I can’t afford it, I’ve been diagnosed with (fill in the blank), so and so did such and such to me, or I have nobody, there are no jobs. We have been taught and conditioned to accept that when the wheel falls off the wagon more crap is coming. It’s the tip of the iceberg. Right? You know that saying. Why? Why do we have to believe in such a thing? Why is it that when something uncomfortable or unbearable happens we just know, with every cell of our body, that there is another shoe waiting to drop? And what the hell does that mean? Oh, and the death comes in three thing, please…let’s face it, death comes when it wants to.

 We must learn to look beyond events that seem to define us at the moment and know that we are so much bigger than the situation at hand. We are the painters of our lives, and what we present to the world will shape how we live in it. It is our creative intention that we must learn to listen to; that still small voice that keeps yelling at us in the back of our heads. Our problem is that we are so twisted and tangled in our downtrodden stories, our heads are so full of fear and anger that we can’t hear the voice of our hearts telling us everything is going to be okay. Instead of going into the closet of our minds and listen to the silence for answers, we struggle in the fight or flight mode, screaming profanities the entire time. Why must we do that? 

If one person can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and crawl out of the swamp of discontent, so can anyone of us. The only difference between the one who pulls themselves out of the crap and the one, who stays stuck, is the power of decision. 

Once we truly decide to change our thinking, change the way we look at life, we will see the answers. Our consciousness will expand and we will see that the Universe isn’t conspiring against us that in fact, it is waiting for us to reach out and bask in its greatness. When we realize that we are all interconnected we will experience a shift in consciousness and our old stories of woe will evolve to stories of celebration. We will suddenly look at old events that seemed like sink holes and recognize them for the bumps in the road that they were.

We need to stop looking at the world like it is against us and start knowing the world is what we make it. What are we putting out to the people around us? Are we celebrating our greatness? Hey trust me, it’s a lot easier said than done. I know how hard it is when we are struggling to fight the current of paralyzing fear; but the moment we stop fighting, stop swimming against the riptide and retrain our thoughts to focus on the greatness within us; recognizing the true power we have to change our lives; the turbulent storms will give way to the still waters of peace.   

We must stop blaming and start knowing. Know that we are a mighty moving force in this world. Know that what we hold in our thoughts become our realities. Stop coming from fear and start living from love. Stop taking and learn to give, unconditionally. 

Be still and know that I am. Knock and the door shall be opened. Ask and it shall be given. Give and ye shall receive seven times seventy. What are we asking for? What doors are we banging on? When have we become still to know who we truly are? What are we giving? When was the last time we let gratitude swell and overflow in our hearts?

Thanks for hanging out and reading my ramblings!

A Lesson in Adaptability

How often do we give up in life because it seems too hard? Too many days where everything seems out of control; we hate our jobs, our houses are a mess, and our finances are in shambles. It’s so easy to own the mess when we are up to our ears in it.

Last week I spent five full days with an inspiring young boy, who taught me; when you’re buried up to your neck in crappy circumstances, be grateful you can still breathe.

This nine year old boy taught me more about perseverance, compassion, gratitude and fearlessness in the five days I spent with him, than in the forty some-on years I’ve been alive.

Let’s face it— we who have everything we need, too often are just bitching about inconveniences. We lack the true grit that it takes to overcome diversity. Hey I’m not saying we can’t, all I’m sayin’ is that we become too complacent or too frightened to try. We get so comfortable with the confusion and doubt that wraps around us like a warm blanket that we decide to be content with living in those circumstances.

What’s it gonna take to wake up to the greatness within each and every one of us? For me—it took seeing a nine year old boy roll up to me on a black recumbent bike with bright orange and yellow flames and a smile which looked like it was taken right out of an ad for Colgate Toothpaste.

Every morning, Frank (not his real name) would show up on his bike excited to start the day and ready to experience life. See, I was a den leader in charge of twelve happy, energized, and active boys. Eleven of the boys were physically without limits and Frank who appeared to be limited. Yeah, I said “appeared”, because once I really got to know him, appearances were deceiving. Frank is this ginormous boy who happens to be a dwarf; a little person who has lived through more in his nine years than most of us in our entire lifetime. But the minute you meet Frank, you come to realize he doesn’t see himself little, and that in his mind, he is as tall as the redwood trees that sway in the summer winds.

He didn’t let anything stop him; boys couldn’t wait for the chance to be his buddy, he rolled or walked from station to station, adapted his own way to hold his knife when he whittled, used four fingers to shoot his BB gun, and used his mom to get up and down the huge water-slide. Hell, this kid found a way to be dead center in a flag football game and make plays, and fair warning— he’ll kick your butt in Ultimate Frisbee. When other kids were dropping like flies, Frank was still standing, excited to experience the next activity; excited to experience life. He didn’t shrivel; he didn’t embody the fear of trying, he didn’t give up when it got hard. Frank found a way to make it work. It wasn’t Frank that wanted to stop playing flag football or soccer last week; to him, he was just as big, if not bigger than the other boys. He never looked at anything with limits; that was his mom’s job.

How could I not be inspired by his spirit? His zest for life was infectious, and his gumption to try something new was mature beyond his years. By the end of the week, I was looking up to him.

Even though he probably will never see this post I want to thank him, tell him how much he has inspired me to keep going, to stay focused, and to suck it up when my life seems too hard or scary.

How much can we change someone’s life, by living our own? It is the realization and implementation of teachable moments that change the world.

So the next time when my life seems too hard, I will think of Frank, the boy who stood tall among the redwood trees and taught me that nothing is impossible if you know how to adapt.

Thanks for stopping in and reading my ramblings!