As You Give, So Shall You Receive

For the last couple of years I’ve been changing. Okay, well, I’ve been changing and growing my entire life. But lately, for the last several years I’ve gone through a mental growth period. A Spiritual journey that if I look back, I can see how its unfolded slowly, sometimes painfully, sometimes perfectly, sometimes even prolifically.

In the last couple of months, intentionally or otherwise I’ve really started to embrace the idea of trying to live a selfless life. See, I’ve been wrapped up in the idea that if I produce or do something, I look for what’s in it for me. Normal, or what society has trained me to think. If I do something for someone, what’s in it for me? Whether it comes from that person or someone else, if I give, I’ll be given back to right?

Such a delicate balance/dance with the Universe. We are told give and ye shall receive. You sow what you reap. BUT, what if we aren’t meant to? What if we aren’t designed that way? What if we are designed to sacrifice, surrender, and give without expectations? What if in the act of giving selflessly, without expectations is the key to eternal mana from heaven?

“As you give, so shall you receive.”  

What if it isn’t about WHAT you give but HOW you give?

I think about that, ponder that statement for a deeply, personal, real moment and decided it isn’t what I give, but how I give. It’s about my attitude when I give. Am I looking for something in return? Am I giving because I believe the more I give the more I get back? Or, am I in the right state of selflessness when I am giving? Am I doing the act of giving so I will be acknowledged for doing something? Do I post inspirational posts to get the responses that feed my ego or do I give my words to people selflessly? It’s a real dilemma for someone who wants to give without restraint. It’s a real moment of awakening when looking back at my life and evaluate myself honestly, openly, and without judgment.

This isn’t a moment designed to make me feel guilty, or helpless, actually it’s empowering to discover where my true power resides. My real, raw, inner power doesn’t reside in the giving of the “thing”, my real raw power resides in the thought behind it, my intention.

Am I being selfless in what I give? Am I giving without restraint? Giving without conditions? Giving without any forethought of, what’s in it for me? If I can’t honestly answer those questions with a yes, then the actions, the condition, the idea of a selfless, enlightening, freeing moment won’t exist in the action.  

It’s the Law of Cause and Effect. My giving, whatever it is, time, talent, treasure is the Cause and what is produced, what happens when I give is the Effect.

“As I give(Cause), so shall I receive(Effect).”

When I give, that is the reward! No matter what. The smile, hug, the thank you, the “things” that return to me are just an added bonus.

I know this seems radical to some. Some people may think, “But G, people will take advantage of you.” Well, to those who believe that I will say this … not really. If I’m not focusing on the effect of my action, but the cause of my giving, those things “added unto me” will be wonderful but not the reason I did the act in the first place. If I am truly pure in my intentions the results can be nothing less than pure. If appearances are on the contrary, then that is in the eye of the beholder and not the one acting out of pure intention.

Listen, I’m far from perfect in this concept. This is what life is for, to practice and keep practicing and when I feel I’ve gotten pretty good at it, continue to practice this concept. Does it mean I say yes to everything? Absolutely not. But when I am inspired to give, inspired to help, asked for something, and I find I’m doing it for nothing more than because I want to, without conditions, and without expectations then I’ll know I’m on the right track.

I strive for freedom from disappointment, from expectations, from pain, hurt, jealousy, suffering, conditions. Living in the moment, being present in a moment, without worrying about 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days from now. How empowering would that be?

I must let go of ego. I must let go of outcomes. I must let go of expectations. I must be fully present in the moment with the person, or people I’m with. It’s about striving to live a pinpoint, in the moment type of life. If I trust the Universe to put me where I’m supposed to be, then I need not worry about the future. Every action and reaction, every intention will build, put in place and be made ready for me.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and rely not on your own wisdom. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

It’s time I started trusting in the power of intention, trust that the Almighty has every answer to every question I could ever possibly ask. It’s time to let go and let God. This Omnipotent Presence will not lead me astray but point me in the right direction to my highest and best good. I don’t have to rely upon my own idea of what I believe should occur. I don’t have to try and figure it out. All I have to do is know, with all that I am, right and perfect action is taking place and the path of my journey will be made easy, straight and with ease.

Thanks for hanging out and reading my ramblings!

LOVE, Gretchen.

 

Face Your Fear, and Kick Its Booty!

All my life I’ve been afraid of birds. Yeah, I know, sounds silly right? Well, it stems from almost being attacked as a kid when I rode my bike too close to a momma bird’s nest. From that day on, I owned this fear of birds. I owned it to a point where if I was walking down the street and a little brown bird was on the sidewalk in front of me, I would cross the street to go around it. Yeah, thinking about it…it was pretty silly.

Funny how fear of something we don’t understand can petrify us, and cripple our lives to a point of altering who we are in order to avoid dealing with it. I had friends who had birds, BIG, parrot type birds, that scared the “you know what” out of me. Out of courtesy, those bird owning friends would keep the birds in their cages for me when I’d visit. This soul gripping fear, continued for years, up into my late thirties.

Can you imagine, being afraid of something for most of your life? I bet you can. We all have some type of fear that we’ve held onto for most of our lives. However; this is where my story changes! It wasn’t until my 14 year old (at the time) came to me with his birthday wish. He wanted to get an Xbox 360 with a game called Black Ops. Now, I’m not a prudish mom at all. But for me, that game was way over the top. We argued, he tried to make me see his point of view, and basically it came down to my final answer of NO. Well, in his attempt to call my bluff he announced that if his father and I weren’t going to allow him to have Black Ops, then he wanted chickens! Yes, you read it right, he changed his birthday wish from an Xbox 360 with Black Ops to wanting chickens. Well, the last time I checked, chickens were a form of bird that fluttered, pecked, scratched and were at the top of my fear list, right up there with heights! But being the determined parent to stick to my word, I agreed that indeed, he could have chickens for his 15th birthday. The only stipulations I had were that he had to do the research and choose birds that weren’t aggressive, and didn’t flutter a lot. Oh, yeah, and there was no way I was going to have anything to do with them. They were his and his brothers’ birds…PERIOD.

Well, as promised, on his 15th birthday his auntie and uncle show up with three little birds; a Road Island Red, a Plymouth Rock and an Americana. They were cute and come to find out they needed to be held, they needed to be taken care of, and they needed to cure my fear of birds. So over the next couple of weeks, while they lived under the warming lamp in a plastic bin in my son’s room, Jared took his sketched plans for the hen house, and with the help of his uncle, cousins, brothers and dad, they built a coop for the birds. All the while I started to become invested in these little creatures. I started to see why they stretched their wings, why they squawked, why they scratched at the ground and tried to fly. Slowly I began to look at the birds as something not to fear, but admire. They had their own personalities, their own pecking order, and their own way of living. 

Eventually, our small flock of three grew to the rounded number of eight. And, yes, eight was enough. But as they grew larger and larger, I noticed I my fear of birds grew smaller and smaller. Suddenly, the girl everyone would chuckle at for being afraid of birds became the woman who loved them.

But it was the day that I came upon a pigeon on the sidewalk in front of me and I didn’t feel that twirling anxiety in the pit of my stomach anymore that I realized, I wasn’t afraid anymore. I actually watched it bob its head as it meandered its way around, pecking at the crumbs of a dropped cookie. Wow, how liberating! I wasn’t afraid of it. As a matter of fact, I actually found myself enjoying the moment I took to admire the colors of its feathers.

I know my lack of fear was the result of my being subject to my own brood of birds. I finally understood the relationship between the birds and me. It was Love! When I approached my fear of birds from Love, I was able to see through the ridiculousness of that fear. Fear is nothing more than the result of lack of Love and understanding. We fear things because we don’t understand them. We experience something traumatic, and instead of using that moment to grow, we build a cocoon around our experiences and begin to identify with the situation, which ultimately leads to a phobia or fear. But once we face the fear, dismantle it piece by piece, and eventually imbibe the remaining slivers of fear with Love, we come to see, it wasn’t the thing we were afraid of paralyzing ourselves, but our reaction to it that caused us to limit our lives.

Today, I have no fear of birds! Yeah, even my friends are amazed. Is it amazing? Not really. Losing the fear and finding the Love was what made the difference in my life. Approaching my fear from a place of Love, instead of terror was the turning point for me. Now when I walk down the sidewalk, I don’t avoid the birds…I stop and take a moment to admire just how harmless they truly are.

Thanks for hanging out and reading my ramblings.

Now who could be afraid of these little things?

Where is Your Focus?

There are times when I find myself down; crouching and wallowing in the puddle of my own self pity. Oh, hell, sometimes I even strip down to my skivvies and swim in the rubbish. I’ve even been known to persuade people to take a dip with me. Cuz who wants to swim in “that” alone…right?

Whenever I come from fear, the Universe, which ALWAYS agrees with me, will make sure I have all the things I fear. If I come from lack, Infinite Intelligence will make sure I have situations where I will be lacking something; whether it’s in my finances, my relationships, or my time.

It is the prime example of the simple principle; “what you focus on grows.” Think about it. How many times have you seen a car you really liked, and then instantly you notice them everywhere you go? It isn’t that suddenly there’s hundreds more out there. It isn’t that at all—what’s happened is you’ve suddenly become aware of it. You’ve recognized something that was always there. You’ve named and claimed it, so it showed up. So it is with everything you give thought to in your life. 

Remember back in January when I wrote about the difference between hope and expectation? Hope is when you wish for something to happen, and expectation is when you know it is already done. There is a huge lesson in faith in that statement. Just as there are people who attract chaos in their life, so are there people who bring peace to the world around them. One of the biggest differences between the two types of people is their expectations. If we move through our lives, expecting to be broke, expecting to fight with people, and to be victimized; then guess what? That’s exactly what we’ll get.

If we swim in the muck of discontent, hate, fear, lack, judgment, and disease that’s exactly what’s going to show up in our lives. If we decide to stop hanging in the pool of negativity, we will instantaneously affect the outcome of our lives. The second we give up our stories and wash off the grime of conditional thinking, the outcome of our lives will change. It can’t help but change because it is steeped in the principle of Cause and Effect. What you put out into the world always comes back. You reap what you sow; we all can relate to that…right?

So why are we always shocked when something happens that we expected? Good, bad or indifferent? It isn’t magic or miracles…it is the Universe responding to your demands.

When we recognize that we must change something in our lives or we see what we are doing isn’t working, and we decide to be the change we want to see in the world, the Universe must respond to us instantaneously. It can’t help it, that’s its nature. 

Jesus told us, “Do not imitate the way of this world, but be transformed by the renewing or your minds...” Gandhi recognized it in 1913, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Buddha claimed it when he said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” The Dalai Lama knew it when he stated, “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” Dr. Ernest Holmes states it perfectly, “The thing that stands between you and the greater good is a thing of thought and nothing else. It is not Reality that you must change, but your mental reaction to It.”

If these spiritual teachers can speak to our souls, then who are we not turn our ears and listen? Isn’t it time we take up their words, embody the change we want to see in our lives, and become the ambassadors for peace in our world—one thought at a time?

Thanks for hanging out and reading my ramblin’s and Happy Memorial Day!

Where is your focus?