A Calling, I Guess

Spirit tells me that we have been climbing
our mountain; our chosen way of life is as
a mountain.

But, what if I didn’t choose my way of life?

How would it be possible not to have chosen?

It may have chosen me.

How would that have been possible?

I was born into a particular family, within
a particular culture, in a particular
community, at a particular time, possessing
particular attributes.

And then what?

I became part of that family and culture.

And then?

And then I seemed to grow beyond …

Beyond what?

Beyond the comfort zone of them and myself.

And now?

I seem to be on the outside, looking in
to a place I can never return to.

Yes. Would you return if you could?

No. I seem to be where I am and moving
even further away from where I once
needed to be.

Is it a choosing?

No.

Then, what?

A calling, I guess.

Yes, but you choose to respond.

Yes.

Beyond the comfort zone

Confidence As A Trap

Spirit asks me what it means to be intelligent.

To be able to think.

What does it mean to be able to think?

About what?

About anything.

To think is to become aware of what is happening
in and around me.

No.

How can I become aware without first thinking?

How can you think without first becoming aware?

Then, thinking is to intentionally focus on
whatever I become aware of?

For what purpose?

To understand.

To understand what?

Why it is the way it seems to be,

Why?

To satisfy my curiosity.

And?

To consider how to respond to this new
awareness.

Yes.

But …

But what?

If I have developed a response that has become
a habit, how would thinking be involved?

It would not be.

Thinking would be bypassed?

Yes.

Then, I would become as the scientist’s dog?

Yes.

Expecting results that may not happen?

Yes.

So, what is the answer?

To what?

How is it possible or even desirable to use
precious time considering results other than
what we have become confident of, if those
results are all that we are familiar with?

How to consider the unexpected?

Yes.

Confidence can become as a trap.

The wild card?

Yes.
To understand what?

The Price of Expanded Awareness

Spirit tells me that whenever the sudden
sense of awareness of an expanded
so-called reality seems to have blown
our mind, it is helpful to ask ourselves
just where has it blown our mind?

We are now beyond where we had been,
or, more truthfully, we are now beyond
being able to ever again be where we
previously had been.

It is not a matter of choosing to be
less directly engaged with other
characters and situations in the play,
or game of Life, than we once were,
and can honestly be no more.

How to recover from sudden removal
from the close-up action, even though
we may now see it all from a certain
distance as more-or-less meaningless
activity?

That would be an easy-out.

Then, how to respond?

To what?

To the awareness of not being
in the action.

Are you physically removed from it?

Not completely.

Then, what?

I seem to have been recast,
as a member of the audience, but
an audience that influences
the activity on the stage.

Yes. We are never totally disconnected
from either the play or the players.

That’s it.

What is it?

My character is still there, at least
in form. But I now know that I
acted as that character. So, am I
an actor?

Yes and no.

I want to be real.

What would real look like?

I’m not sure. I can see what is
happening, from a distance, as well as
from close-up.

Are you now more or less engaged
in the play?

I seem to be more aware of
the potential for expansion in
the value of the play.

Yes, and that expanded awareness comes
with a price you must pay.

Expanded responsibility?

Yes.

Note: Dear Reader, Spirit suggests that we each spend
a few minutes at the beginning and again at the ending
of each day, reflecting on the seemingly nonsensical
world we live in, and then to smile with awareness
of the incredible potential, locked within all that
seems to make no sense, waiting to be activated.
Jean

Not all apples are alike

Spirit tells me that I must learn to judge people as I would

Fruit at a market. Not all apples are alike.

 

So it is with people. We do not choose produce according

To how we would like it to be, but by how it seems to be,

Now. Quality is more or less self-evident.

 

We may be more or less than we once were, and we may

Become more or less than what we now are, in whatever

Aspect of our being.

 

But, for now we are as we are, or seem to be. So it is

With everyone.

 

Those who have eyes to see are, at least to some extent,

Responsible for what they see, and, for how they respond

To what they see. It’s as simple as that.

Slow is faster than slower

Spirit tells me that slow is faster than slower.

 

I had been complaining, again, that I seem unable to

Either accept or adapt to unwelcome changes in my

Environment.

 

And, He adds, while we’re on the subject of

A so-called personal environment, please try

To both accept and adapt to the reality that

There is no personal environment.

 

How do I plan to respond to His seeming

Indifference to my discomfort?

I’m going back to bed.

 

Because I care, He tells me

Spirit tells me that nobody does anything without having a reason for doing

Whatever.

There are times I resist accepting Spirit’s statements of fact that refute

What I believe to be truths. But, in this instance, I must agree. It just

Wouldn’t make sense to do something without a reason.

 

Spirit seems to accept that I can only believe what makes sense

to me, according to my limited awareness. He encourages me

To observe my own behaviour as well as that of others, and

Question myself as to why I do what I do.

 

I will discover, He tells me, that much of my behaviour has developed as

Habitual generalized responses to specific situations that would be

Better served with a more unique response.

 

Responding to specific situations with a generalized response

Is disrespectful and self-defeating, He tells me, in that I deprive myself

Of the opportunity to develop more appropriate responses.

 

He is right, and I will try.

 

Don’t try, He says, Intend and do.

 

Then I accept the challenge and, instead of wondering why,

I dare to ask Him why He is lecturing me in such a seemingly

Harsh manner.

 

Because I care. 

When we love what we are doing

Spirit tells me that

When we are doing what we love and

Love what we are doing, then

There is a two-way flow

Of energy, loving energy, because

Satisfaction flows back.

 

The financial bottom line is,

For so many, the only

Definition of success.

 

Spirit tells me that

Everyone experiences suffering

Of one kind or another, and

We all struggle with situations

That are, or seem to be,

Totally beyond our control, but,

How we respond to difficult people,

Or situations, makes a difference

In how they affect us,

Long term.