An Ensign of my Own Command!

I have believed for some time that the universe continues to attempt to teach us what we're here to learn until we learn it. As each passing lesson becomes more painful, I often ask myself what it is i'm supposed to get that i'm not getting so I can pass through it into some more peaceful existence. I've also come to believe that I always get the answers, as we all do in some fashion, but do not always pay attention.

I really can't remember the last time I turned on my TV, but today I flipped to an old favorite....Star Trek. Now, I know that any of my friends that may read this are far from Trekkies, but I tell you there is more spiritual meaning and universal truth about humanity in this show than any other i've seen, except perhaps Xena. :)

The episode is "Ensigns of Command" and it's about a civilization of humans stranded on a hostile, radioactive planet that is about to be colonized by an alien race. The Enterprise, thinking that these people will be happy to evacuate such an "unliveable" condition and their certain destruction, send Data (the android) to coordinate. The people there, however, are excited to show their visitors how much they have accomplished---they have brought an aqauduct of water into the desert and have adapted to the radiation. They are so invested in their accomplishments and their legacy that they refuse to leave, even if it means certain death..

Ensign Data, struggling with the perplexities of the human psyche, tries many things to convince them to no avail. As a last ditch effort, he destroys the aquaduct, giving them no choice but to leave.

Okay, okay, I get it! I get the message already! The things that I have clung to inside me, been so proud of, relished, bathed in...they are oh so familiar...but in the scheme of things.....insignificant compared to what I could be. My final aquaduct destroyed, I have seen the enemy and she is me. So beam me up, warp 3, and engage.

Manifesting Destiny - Part 2 - Intention

According to Forest Gump, life is like a box of chocolates. "Ya never know what you're gonna get." But have you ever bit into three or four of the ones with that yukky white cream in the middle, put them back, then discover the diagram on the underside of the cover? I believe that we chose our destiny before we came here in order to learn the lessons we need to learn, and have that diagram tucked down deep inside, if we could only remember...

No disrespect to Forest -- *Forest Rocks* -- but I like to think of life as a pot luck dinner with a gathering of friends, each of us bringing a favorite dish of our own creation. I am bringing a chocolate pie with home-made crust, and whipped cream sprinkled with dark chocolate shavings. The grocery store is like a world of infinite choices. Now, I like horse radish as much as the next person, but in my chocolate pie? Not so good. Some of life's ingredients are fine and good and true, but let the person bringing the shrimp cocktail worry about the horse radish. Other things in life, like the dust bunnies on floor of isle six? Not so good in any dish... Just leave them there. I cannot tell you how many times I have been faced with a situation or person that was hurtful, and have said to myself, "I didn't want poop in my pie anyway!". Then I sit in silent self-amusement, and that's what it's all about anyway. Well, it's either that or the hokey-pokey, but that's for another blog....

This and my part 1 blog - Attraction - are based on three books -- Ask and It is Given, The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent, and The Law of Attraction by Esther and Jerry Hicks.

I believe we are here *in the physical* simply to experience joy. Sounds overly simple, but through the process of learning "how" to experience joy forces us to learn those not-so-simple lessons! When we feel joy, we can find our center where we are in alignment with our higher self or source. From that place, we attract other thoughts and situations that match it. The Law of Attraction is... "that which is like unto itself is drawn". The Law of Deliberate Creation states that our focused thoughts are manifested into our lives. This doesn't mean that we think one thought and it happens...I think of it as each thought being worth a penny. A penny isn't even worth leaning over to pick up....but over a period of time, we can think the equivalent of a million pennies and that is significant. In living without intent, half of the pennies will be on heads, half on tails and from that we have lost our power to create. Having a clear picture of what we want and focusing our thoughts accordingly lands all of our pennies on heads. Here is an example from my own life... I struggled for many years with a business that barely made a profit. Looking back I see that I had two conflicting beliefs: (1) if I grew my business I would be able to travel and make lots of money and my spouse could retire, and (2) if my business failed or consumed my time my relationship would fail. The fear of losing my spouse because of my business paralyzed me, and three opportunities came from "nowhere" immediately after I was out of the relationship. Was my relationship to blame? No, my thoughts were!

I've always been intrigued by paradox, and the paradox here is that I have often come to the conclusion that I need to "let go". Focusing my thoughts and having deliberate intent on what I want seems to run contrary to that. In the context of this second law, I would say that it's a matter of timing. The book refers to the process of determining what it is you want as "prepaving". The time to prepave is "pre", during meditation, contemplation, prayer, daydreaming, or whatever form of sabatical you choose. The "letting go" part then comes with the third law, the Law of Allowing. Stay tuned for part 3.

Live with Purpose!
Lory

My New Year's "Revelation"

Resolution. Resolve. White Knuckles. Jan 4th.

Revelation. Reveal. Expanded Thought. Dec 31st.

This year for New Years I decided to take a road trip. I didn't really care where I wound up, but for the record, I wound up at Red River Gorge, Kentucky. My goal was to have some time to reflect on what has been an incredibly challenging year, and on some personal and business goals for the year to come. Last year my theme seemed to revolve around balance....balancing my work and my relationship, about just being "enough" (and in one particular case, "not enough"). I kept myself open this weekend to see where the road and my thoughts would take me, so here it is...

I have been thinking about "success" and what it takes to be/feel successful. We've all seen people who appear successful but have trashed their lives through drugs and alcohol or who attain more riches than a person could ever spend, and yet they're still not happy. Success, to me i've decided, is the process of becoming the person that I want to be. I think that this life has a whole lot of "rules". But at the end of the day, the most brutal rules are the ones that we impose on ourselves. So, this year my New Year's "Revelation" is this.... We always pick something that we vow to do or to not do. What we really want is to just feel better. When we can't make ourselves do it, we feel like crap again. This year, I want to feel successful....*all year*. I think that if I feel successful, I will be. But if essentially the rules are mine for the making, i'd like to set them up so that I can win, so that even if I have a bad day, each brings me just a little bit closer. So, here they are:

I will feel successful if I can make even the smallest amount of progress in becoming the person I want to be. I will only feel unsuccessful if I give up on that. This is who I want to be:

I will be successful at life each time I find small ways to make a difference, even to just one stranger for one fleeting moment. I will be successful at life as I come to a better understanding each day of what I value, for that is what I will have. I will be successful at life when I find something good in a situation, because that is the first rung on the ladder to something better. I will be successful at life when I take time to have a laugh, to appreciate something previously taken for granted, to give a complement, or to do something outrageous!

I will be successful at love when I can love and accept myself, because that will allow me to be loving and accepting of others. I will surround myself and focus my energy on those who love me for who I am and I will love them for who they are. I will be successful at love by recognizing those who are deserving of the tender places and trust them completely, and also understanding that loving someone "unconditionally" sometimes needs to take place from a distance. I will be successful at friendship as I strive to *be* the friend that I would like to have.

I will be successful at work as I give each day my best, knowing that although no task is "impossible", not every task is worth sacrificing what I value more. I will be successful at work if I can focus on those things that are wildly important first, leave the rest, and go home!

I will be successful with my health when I do my best to eat and drink in order to nourish my body, and to splurge on occasion because I deserve it! I will be successful with my health if I at least got some exercise yesterday. If not yesterday, then definitely today!

I will be successful with my soul if I take even a few minutes to relax and clear my mind, go for a walk, read something inspirational, write a blog, turn off the TV. I will be successful with my soul as I come a little closer to understanding who I truly am, and my connection to the universe and all that is.

I will be successful with my emotions if I pay attention to how I feel and why, and know that no one can *rock my boat* unless I let them. I will be successful with my emotions if I can learn to ask myself the right questions, knowing that the answers lie within, and that they will come. "What is good about this?", or "What is funny about this?" will provide answers that make me feel just a little bit better. I will be successful with my emotions each time I move one step closer to joy.