Dear God,
I am grateful for this month of reflecting on my own worth. In doing so, I have been reminded of how important it is to me to speak with integrity. It reminds me of a conversation I had with a colleague recently about knowing when to allow myself to speak and when I need to breathe love into my being and remember the Sufi teaching about the questions I must answer before speaking. Is what I want to say truthful? Is it necessary? Is it kind? It parallels the teachings of Toltec Wisdom and don Miguel Ruiz about being impeccable with my word. When I speak with integrity, I am only saying what I mean and when I combine it with the Sufi teaching; I know that how I say what I mean also comes from an intent of love.
Read moreThis morning I awoke to a picture and a story a friend has posted on Facebook of a humpback whale. This is what it said:
A female humpback whale had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.
This is her story of giving gratitude.
Read moreThis morning something challenged me to acknowledge a different aspect of negativity in my life. I have been intentional about working on keeping the 1st agreement and being impeccable with my thoughts and words. I have been intentional about avoiding gossip, criticism, thinking negative things about others or myself. I have been intentional about sending love, light, and positive energy to those who do not appear to be vibrating at the same level that I am, or who appears to be in need of healing.
Then it hit me, who am I to determine they are in need of healing or not vibrating at the same level then I am. How do I know that? How do I know what someone can or cannot do? If they think they cannot do something, then that is about them. If I think they cannot do something, or I cannot do something, then that is about me. Why would I contribute to the belief that something is not possible? Why am I judging others and their abilities?
Read moreI have been thinking about how, as I wrote about last week, the changes, which are occurring in my life, are happening for me, not to me. While I am clearly experiencing some physical changes in my life, most of these changes as well as the others I have been experiencing are about changes that are happening internally. They are changes, which are happening in my belief system.
What I believe is what I have chosen to believe. My beliefs live within me and have power in my life because I have given them that power. Understanding they can only continue to exist if I continue to feed them is powerful. It means I also have the power to evict them from my heart and edit them out of my belief system.
Read moreGod has a
real sense of humor. A few weeks ago, I talked about being released from fear. All
I can say is that it was true for the moment. Since then I have had to face
waves of fear that have risen from inside me. I had to look in what I call the
mirror of truth and see through the fears, which have come rising to the
surface. Sometimes it has felt like they were going, “so you thought we were
gone, guess again. We’re back.” First, I had to work through my fears of
anybody doing a healing on me. I had to face the fear that is within me related
to “healings.” There was this immense power and clarity that came as I moved
through that fear. The healing I had a few weeks ago, was healing and
liberating. The other night the same person did another healing session on me
and she said the energy was flowing more evenly. Hearing that news was not
surprising, after all the first time my body was filled with fear about what
might happen, what could happen, how I might respond.God has a
real sense of humor. A few weeks ago, I talked about being released from fear. All
I can say is that it was true for the moment. Since then I have had to face
waves of fear that have risen from inside me. I had to look in what I call the
mirror of truth and see through the fears, which have come rising to the
surface. Sometimes it has felt like they were going, “so you thought we were
gone, guess again. We’re back.” First, I had to work through my fears of
anybody doing a healing on me. I had to face the fear that is within me related
to “healings.” There was this immense power and clarity that came as I moved
through that fear. The healing I had a few weeks ago, was healing and
liberating. The other night the same person did another healing session on me
and she said the energy was flowing more evenly. Hearing that news was not
surprising, after all the first time my body was filled with fear about what
might happen, what could happen, how I might respond.
Read moreI have been thinking quite a bit about fear lately. In part, because at the beginning of every semester, my students experience some fear as they enter my classroom, aka the world of Dr J. As I structure my classes in a very non-traditional way, they experience some discomfort and fear as they try to get used to my “uniqueness” and me. Some experience more then others. There have been some real fearful moments in my life, moments where I had real moments to be afraid. I remember one time when my son was having a flashback about his mother abusing him and he threatened to hit me over the head with a 2 x 4.
Read moreThe other night, a group of us gathered to discuss The Meaning of Nice by Joan Duncan Oliver. What perhaps was the most interesting part of the whole discussion turned out not to be something anyone said, but something we all experienced – the hidden power of nice. After discussing our initial reaction to the book, we started talking intermittently about things and experiences, which were not nice and those which were. What was interesting was that when we were talking about that which we thought was “not nice,” people’s voices, postures, and body language changed. It was as if they were experiencing that “not nice” moment all over again. Conversely, when we talked about those nice moments and experiences, there was again a shift in the energy in the room. You could hear the power of niceness as people shared stories about individuals and organizations, which had been nice.
Last July, Zoe was diagnosed with breast cancer. The last year has been filled with so many nice moments it was hard to know where to begin as the wave of memories washed over me.
Read moreI have been thinking a lot about respecting myself. One of the most powerful things I ever read in one of Don Miguel Ruiz’s books was that others can only abuse you to the level you are willing to abuse yourself. Abuse is a form of disrespect. I can take that term, substitute it into Don Miguel’s writing, and say others can only disrespect me to the level I am willing to disrespect myself. If I allow others to treat me in a way that violates my agreements, then I disrespect myself.
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