Month: December 2014

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What If Your Nightmare Isn’t Absolutely True?

Several dear people I know recently have reported they’re scared because some massive upheaval has occurred in their lives.

The death of a parent, a cancer diagnosis, a house burning to the ground with all possessions lost, the discovery of betrayal.

These shocking pieces of news or experiences don’t exactly feel easy to go through.

Sometimes when something like this happens, you still think about it years later and remember it as that terrible hard time.

When your life the way you know it was forever changed.

I notice the longer I live, the more of these encounters happen. They aren’t frequent, maybe even quite rare, but wow….

….they sure make a big impression. To say the least.

However, I know it’s very true, through inquiring and investigating over and over again, that pain may happen, but you don’t have to suffer. 

You don’t have to generate the same feelings of loss, guilt, anger, rage, fear or resentment repeatedly….

….if you question your beliefs.

Who would you be without the belief that you are especially in danger, that something has gone terribly wrong, that something isn’t fair, that it shouldn’t be going the way it’s going?

Without that belief?

Wow, when you first try to answer that question, you might hardly be able to imagine who you’d be without that thought.

Without the belief that something has gone wrong…it almost seems like I’d be crazy. I’d be delusional.

Of course something’s gone wrong!!!

And yet, you may notice that you forget about it sometimes. Maybe only for a moment, but maybe for a few hours. You sleep at night and you aren’t thinking about it. You watch a movie and you forget about it.

Without the belief you’re doomed, this is a disaster, you can’t recover from this….who would you be?

What would you be?

I notice without doomsday thoughts, I look around right in this moment.

I see the room, I hear humming silence, I hear the sound of the kettle boiling, I smell the trees or rain, I touch the desk, the car steering wheel, my friend’s shoulder.

Without the thoughts of how terrible, how terrible, I’m just….here.

Now.

“Nothing terrible has ever happened except in our thinking. Reality is always good, even in situations that seem like nightmares. The story we tell is the only nightmare that we have lived. When I say that the worst that can happen is a belief, I am being literal. The worst that can happen to you is your uninvestigated belief system.” ~ Byron Katie

Holy smokes, that is stunning.

Check it out for yourself, though. Try it on. See who you’d be, even though the difficult thing happened (or is happening)–who you would BE without the belief that it’s a nightmare?

You’d be mystery, life force, human, beyond human, movement, change, wild love in action.

Much love, Grace

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What To Do With An Imperfect Body Right Now

In the Eating Peace Program we’re entering the module called BODY.
We’ve looked at Feelings and Mind and how they relate to our relationship to eating.
But this body is such a powerhouse of life, a force of nature on its own, even if you aren’t feeling very vital or energetic or beautiful.
And it seems like this body contains feelings, as well as the mind which is housed up in the head, right?
Everything all working and buzzing and running interactively.
And it turns out, this whole package requires food to exist, and water of course. We eat, it enters our whole body, and stuff happens. Food is digested, energy used, a shape is formed.
Isn’t it just so dang weird that we can “gain” and “lose” weight at all? And that we can hurt ourselves with food and the amount eaten, whether too much or too little?
Today I love considering who I would be without the belief system (my friend Martha calls this B.S.) we’ve learned about the body?
Who would you be without the belief you should look different than you do?
It doesn’t mean you wouldn’t lose weight, gain weight, become free from this difficult trouble with eating.
But what if you were really fine, as you are in this moment?
Separate from weight, shape, features, imperfections, looks?
What if you quit the Change Body Now Project?
What if NOW, in this moment, you can stop all that analyzing, wishing you were in a different body, trying to force change, longing for another human skin suit to live in, that was better?
It seems very simple, but the most simple exercises are sometimes the most profound.
This is an act, in the beginning, of imagination. Just like the thought that your body is “wrong” is also an act of imagination.

“Despite your argument with your physicality, the fact is that you are here and the 151,000 people who have died today are not…..Your body is the piece of the universe you’ve been given; as long as you have a pulse, it presents you with an ongoing shower of immediate sensate experiences. Red, salt, loneliness, heat. When a friend says something painful to you, your chest aches. When you fall in love, that same chest feels like fireworks and waterfalls and explosions of ecstasy. When you are lonely your body feels empty. When you are sad, it feels as if there is a Mack truck sitting on your lungs. Grief feels like tidal waves knocking you down, joy like champagne bubbles welling up in your arms, your legs, your belly.” ~ Geneen Roth

If you turned the BS (belief system) around that your body is bad, wrong, imperfect, ugly, too whatever….
….and you said out loud right now “this body is amazing, beautiful and wonderful as it is” what would that be like?
Can you find examples of how it’s true?
Much Love,

Grace

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How Do You Know When To Stop?

Recently on retreat with about 400 people and the great teacher Adyashanti, our evenings were open to what is called satsang.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term satsang, it’s a gathering for having a spiritual conversation, to ask questions of a teacher, to hear answers about sacred matters of any kind. Everyone present gets to listen to the interactions.

You learn a ton when listening to other people ask their questions, tell their stories, and hear the conversations they have. Just like many classrooms of all kinds. This has always been a component of many educational gatherings. I’ve always loved listening to the crazy and wonderful things people ask, since I was a kid.

The first night, every so often I’d say inside my head “raise your hand”.

That voice is such a pest sometimes, you know?

“Awwww, come on! You flew on an airplane to be here, now raise your hand! You have questions! Pick one and ask it!”

I noticed how that voice had it’s usual edgy tone, but the thing is, it appears I let that voice be there now instead of trying to hammer it away.

I also noticed, no hand connected to me got raised.

Hilarious, really.

I listened intently to the others. I had the thought “Well, it’s fine if I don’t ask a question. This is fine the way it is. I’m still basking in this incredible wisdom. I’m good. What-ev.”

The next night, the same thing happened. Little voice talking, no hand raised.

Well, OK, at the end of the night at the last second, a meek half-up hand almost like I’m embarrassed or something. Of course not called on. Goofy.

(But there really are a lot of people. Is this really necessary? You’ll probably get all you need, and more, if you just sit here and listen. I mean, for gawd sakes you don’t have to go to the mic every time. Stop with the ideas about speaking up! NOT NECESSARY!)

 

Out walking on the third day, before satsang, along the blustery beach wearing my down jacket, I had more of a real conversation besides all the bossing around….

…..Ahhhh….that’s more like it.

More friendly.

What questions do I have, really? What would I really, really like to ask? What if I had one shot at a question of this man’s wise soul I genuinely appreciate and respect?

I had so many questions I thought of, I didn’t land on any one. Too much pressure. Too much planning.

But I felt different as I entered the great hall that night.

I raised my hand. Like, real raising your hand, like you mean it. You aren’t waving around desperate or anything.

Just, bam.

Question. Here. Now. Hello.

Adya called on me.

I walked to the microphone.

“If you feel passionate, and speak up, take the risk to say what’s on your mind….how do you know when to stop? I mean, Jesus, Martin Luther King, Gandhi….those guys had a sudden ending because of speaking up, you know?”

And there I was *risking* speaking up, in my version of risk.

Which involved walking about twenty feet, talking into a microphone with a really, really amazing, peaceful and honest person, and then sitting down.

Except, I noticed I had no fear or heart thumping, so maybe all the supposed risk was in the advanced anticipation.

Adya pointed out how the people in history that I mentioned were playing on really huge, big stages in the story of humanity. They even seemed to know of the possible outcome, but said what they said anyway.

That was their life, not mine.

And he said I could question the concept of nervousness about speaking up. I could question whether I really WAS nervous. Could I be excited? Could I be energized, moved, inspired, passionate?

Do I really need to know when to stop? Do I even think about that before talking?

No.

The conversation was so very simple.

The idea was not new to me about questioning a feeling.

But I found, I felt more thrilled to be exactly who I am than ever. Whatever arises inside me, expressing it easily, naturally.

No one but me can do that.

And I do not need to know when to stop. Just like I didn’t know when to raise my hand clearly, until I did.

No one but YOU can express YOU.

Because you are here, being you, it is wonderful.

“Truth never explains why it’s moving that way at that moment. And if you ask, it won’t give any information. It would be like a leaf asking the wind, ‘Why are you moving that way right now?’ The question doesn’t make any sense to the wind.” ~ Adyashanti 

Much love, Grace

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Would You Rather Be Doing Something Else?

This past Saturday, even though I returned from retreat with Adyashanti the night before, I had a mini retreat at my cottage.

I had thoughts like “I can’t believe I scheduled this retreat the same weekend I returned home” or “I want to take a nap, not teach a retreat” when glancing at the clock knowing people would be coming in an hour….

….but I had such a deep feeling of joy about the full afternoon before me, even with unwashed laundry and emails to answer.

A full schedule wasn’t always like this for me.

The process of change when it came to what I “have to do” in my day-to-day life all started almost a decade ago.

Because I had lost all my resources for income, had not worked full time in a decade, was terrified and had horrible self-confidence about doing something profitable in the world….

….about eight years ago I found myself on the brink of foreclosure, losing my home, divorced, unemployed, no savings, no retirement, and feeling very unemployable.

But I knew how to do The Work.

So I started on the most frightening, freaked-out thoughts I had about feeling supported on planet earth, and what it would be like to not have enough to survive.

After some time of looking, calming down, looking again, calming down more, looking in yet deeper ways, calming down again, looking….

….I found myself in new territory with my thinking.

The stressful thoughts I peeled back to were about what the “best” experiences were during a human lifetime.

Travel, luxury, creativity, no one telling me what to do, invention, being in the spotlight, visions or experiences that make your jaw drop, seeing the wonders of the world, having lots of money to take care of everything.

Right?

Isn’t that a great life?

Well, nothing wrong with any of those.

Except.

If your life does NOT look like that, in your opinion, and by comparison you’re falling short of the ideal and you feel unsatisfiedin a bad way.

Is there a GOOD way to be unsatisfied, you ask?

Yes!

Unsatisfied in a good way is like when you’re stomach-growling hungry after a fantastic all-day hike in the mountains in summer and you sit down to a huge feast near a campfire and have the best time ever eating the yummy food with all your friends.

That kind of unsatisfied when you’re racing down the last leg of the trail, knowing you’ll be satisfied in a few more hours, is exquisite. No fear. Joyfully feeling the empty space, awaiting without feeling desperate for the fullness to come.

So what if your life routine, and the way you think about how money would support that, became unsatisfied in a good way too?

I wrote down my thoughts about schedules, jobs, the people I worked with, bosses, corporations, institutions, money, earning, laboring, working, receiving, creating (or not creating), taxes, bills, and all the stuff I thought I “had” to do that was soooooo unsatisfying and stupid.

So much WORK! Arggghhhh!!

But I imagined who I would be without these thoughts?

Who would I be without a story of being forced to work, earn, labor, repeat, with no satisfaction in sight?

What if I lived the very day I was living, with the amount of money I had, with adding a dash of looking forward and expecting to be satisfied?

What if right in that moment, it was quite beautiful the way it was?

What if I found examples of how I had enough, did enough, enjoyed what I actually did, and didn’t mind anything that appeared on my schedule?

One day I was at my part-time job that I had resented being forced to get, and I remembered to look around for examples of what I loved about it.

OK, maybe I would find what I liked about it, if I couldn’t find LOVE.

I had to run over to another building to attend a meeting that I had been to quite often as a part of my work duties, and as I walked along the sidewalk I looked up and around, noticing my environment.

As I walked past a small kind of water-art simple structure near the entrance to this office building, something caught my eye in this water display I had passed many times.

Far to the left side, where water poured from an upper square stone structure into a thin water channel making a pretty water sound, I saw in big silver letters GRACE FOUNTAIN.

What?

This water display is called Grace Fountain?

How did I not ever see that before?

Seriously?

I don’t know if there’s any “the” moment something shifted around having a job and “having” to work….

….but I know I made more and more and more discoveries of what I liked about that part time job, even if it was a tiny as I like the color of the tea cups in the cafeteria.

And all the while my income grew and grew and grew from my own business until I quit that little part time job.

I started to realize I *loved* working and being with others. I loved having a full schedule. I loved going to retreats.

Even if the old thoughts would come in, like they did recently before the mini retreat, I just chuckled knowing it was going to be awesome having everyone come over.

And it was the most brilliant and wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon, just incredible.

“Dying to all you think you know. Letting go of the image of how life should be. Sinking into the vast mystery of the present moment. Embracing change and loss as misunderstood friends. Falling in love with where you are. This is the path for those who know there is no path. Only endless destinations and never-ending beginnings.” ~ Jeff Foster

If you’re wanting to do exercises that help clarify your thoughts about work and money and business, and find freedom when they’re stressful, I’m offering the Money 8 session teleclass starting January 6th. Check HERE for more information or to sign up.

Much love, Grace

P.S. Tomorrow I’ll share what I asked Adya at the retreat for those of you who have been so dear to ask me, and what he answered.

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You’re Enrolled In A Life-Changing Retreat…Called Life

One person just had to change her mini-retreat participation to next March 7th retreat instead. If you are inclined to come last minute, there is room for you. Emailing or texting will get the fastest response grace@workwithgrace.com. It’s in northeast Seattle from 1:30-5:30 pm.

*****

When you go to a workshop, a class, a training, a retreat, a temporary job assignment, even a vacation…

…there’s always a “before” and a “during” and an “after”.

The length of time is often known before you leave, you’re called to go somewhere for some reason (usually important) and you know when it’s over you’ll either return home or make a new decision as to what’s next.

Many of these kinds of times away fulfill our expectations. We have brochures. It’s in the job description. Our friends told us all about it.

Occasionally they’re disappointing or meh, or something unplanned and freaky happens.

Sometimes, they’re completely life-changing. As in, never to be the same again afterwards.

I just came away from a retreat that felt powerfully life-altering, with Adyashanti, the spiritual teacher who comes from a Zen Buddhist tradition but teaches to the general public.

It was so good for me, I’ll be telling you about several gems I received in the weeks ahead I am sure.

But I was thinking yesterday about what factors come together to promise a life-altering, life-changing experience.

This is the kind of “life-changing” that you plan for, save up for, invest time and energy in and choose.

Chosen experiences, if we’re lucky enough to get to be in a place and time and have the resources or the option to sign up for such a thing.

After contemplating this question of why and how an event becomes life-changing, I came up with…

…drum role…

…it depends.

There are too many unexpected, unexplainable factors at play.

There are no guarantees.

You may have a huge gut feeling that it’s the right thing, and it may or may not turn out that way. Other people you know may have loved their experience, but this doesn’t guarantee it’s going to hit the spot for you. The leader may have great integrity or personality, but it doesn’t mean you’ll be changed because of it. You may not be in the right mindset or right phase of life to need or get what’s being offered. It may not be your thing, your path.

The thing is, it’s a wide open unknown mystery.

You don’t really know until it’s over, and you’re living your new changed life.

And if you can’t head off to a retreat or workshop for really significant reasons (you can question them first, by the way, in case your reasons are stressful) then you know you don’t need it.

What I can share with you today, only twelve hours or so after returning home from six days away, is that during the retreat I cried, I laughed, and I spent many hours in complete silence. There was zero talking with anyone at any time, unless you had a question for Adya and you chose to go up to the microphone and converse with him in front of 400 other people (I did). Adya gave beautiful and meaningful talks, his heart is so big and wise.

I was very inspired.

I remembered how silence is a magical, deep, powerful, strict, high-standard teacher.

I felt how glorious it is to question thought constantly with humor, a practice for life.

I remembered how you can be in the presence of love anywhere, any time.

You don’t really need a retreat. You don’t have to have a special teacher. You have it in you right now, this moment, while you’re reading this.

Some of us apparently need to get on airplanes and stop regular everyday life and enroll with a teacher of wisdom, but it’s not required.

Not for you, if you weren’t there.

You are in the perfect place for whatever you need.

“I welcome you into the ever-continuing retreat called this life.” ~ Adyashanti

Much love, Grace

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Complaining About Disease-Focused Complainers?

If you’re wondering about attending tomorrow’s Mini Retreat in Seattle (all afternoon from 1:30-5:30 doing The Work) then the quickest way to get a reply today is to write jonzondo@juno.com. I’m still out of email receiving mode, on retreat with Adyashanti. I’ll personally reply to you early tomorrow morning if you’re wondering if there is still room, and let you know!

*****

The other day I was talking with my mom who turned 77 last summer. She goes hiking once a week all day, skis all winter, travels the world with friends and just took a 100 mile walking trip through England traipsing from castle to castle and staying in B&Bs.

Then she mentioned arthritis.

She said the doctors exclaim when they see her xrays.

“You should be in a wheelchair! It is remarkable how easily you get around, how nimble!”

Wait…she has arthritis?

She described the pain that flares up sometimes, and then resides. She takes supplements and extremely good care of her body. She eats exceptionally well, she gets body work, she does yoga.

The next day after our conversation, my left hip hurt.

It’s hurt before. It seems to go away when I dance, go away when I sleep. I can’t quite tell, though.

Funny how I don’t pay attention to the body unless it has a sensation of discomfort, pain, some kind of call towards a body part.

For the first time, when I have this fleeting, passing ache….I have the thought “I wonder if this is ARTHRITIS?!”

Since I just heard all about it the day before.

I have genes from my mother, right? My mind has put a few factoids together and landed on a theory.

The thing is….I also notice I really have no idea. The thought fades back, dissolves.

But I loved watching the mind do its “logical” thing. Receiving new information and running with it, like a football player intercepting a pass and dashing for the finish line down the field.

I suddenly had a picture in my head of an old friend of mine I used to call a hypochondriac. He was freaked out about every symptom that appeared in his body.

If he heard that his dad had arthritis, he would have made an appointment for a full round of testing on himself for arthritis, just in case he might develop it too. He seemed to love going to doctors. He’d get second and third opinions about the same condition.

I always wanted to say “Give it a rest! Jeezus! Relax!”

I wanted to get away from him when he started off on one of his I-might-get-cancer rants.

How did I react when I thought he should quit thinking about his symptoms, quit getting anxious about every little tiny thing, stop obsessing about living a long life?

I was completely and totally irritated with him.

I was stressed. 

He complained, wondered about what disease he might encounter, and I complained and wanted him to quit.

And I thought I was so calm and serene in the face of physical pain and illness! I was such a winner in that department! I had such an easy time of it, a strong body, a high pain threshold, better things to think about!

He should stop being like himself, and be like me.

Ha ha! What an egomaniac!

Who would I be without the belief that he should stop worrying so much about his physicality, that he should let go of his agonizing about disease, death, pain or dying?

Who would I be if I allowed him to simply be himself, the Worry Wart of the century?

Huh.

As I sit with this….I notice….his research or thoughts about illness float into one corner of my awareness. It’s like there’s a little storm over there, but I feel much larger than that storm, in a good way.

I notice I feel great love and compassion for my old friend and his fears about cancer, aging, decay, or death.

I also notice I don’t have conversations about symptoms and diseases with him almost ever, anymore. And I love doing a little research on events that appear in my own body, now. I love hearing from my mom on what things feel like in her interesting body that’s almost 80 years old, without fear or worry.

A joyful fascination with what is, all that humanity knows about cures or not-cures, what seems beyond the mind, operating in its own movement.

“See if you can catch yourself complaining, in either speech or thought, about a situation you find yourself in, what other people do or say, your surroundings, your life situation, even the weather. To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge. When you complain, you make yourself into a victim. When you speak out, you are in your power. So change the situation by taking action or by speaking out if necessary or possible; leave the situation or accept it. All else is madness.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

 

I love the alive present action of this present moment. I pick up the phone and make an appointment to consult with a doctor. I have a wonderful talk with friends about their bodies. I notice it’s fascinating to talk about symptoms, about what happened, what it felt like, what might happen next.

There is no need to start complaining about Those Kinds of Doctors, or Those People who flip over every physical symptom.

I marvel at the strangeness. I notice some conditions I think would be very, very difficult to handle…and I wonder if that’s actually true.

I notice I don’t appear to need to handle them today.

“The middle path is the way to wisdom.” ~ Rumi

Love, Grace

 

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Is It Really Your Fault?

“This is your fault!”I’m sure you’ve had the experience of saying this to yourself.
Something happens. It’s bad.
Your mind races.
Maybe even after the situation is resolved, when you think about it from time to time, you feel upset with yourself all over again.
A few weeks ago, I received a notice for a past retirement account, with a very small balance, saved from one job I had long ago.
As I looked at the statement, I thought about how it was my fault that I don’t have a normal retirement plan like other people. All those jobs I’ve had long ago, in my twenties and thirties, where I was presented with the options for savings.
And didn’t take them, or put in the minimum required.
So now, it’s my own damn fault I don’t have any savings.
Ugh.
How do you react when you think you made a mistake, it’s your responsibility you’re in the predicament you’re in?How does it feel in your body when you think it’s your fault…and it’s a bad thing?

Heavy, depressing, low, thick, nauseated, jittery, aching, sleepy, crushing.

There you are, sitting in a chair, or walking along, or going about your day, and you think of that stupid thing you did or what you said.

You could prevent it next time, surely. Maybe you could “pay” for it or work your ass off and feel better.

This is not a friendly belief.

It produces tons of stress. Therefore, it is also not a true thought.
Beliefs that are true to the deepest space within…beyond the Small You…feel peaceful, calm, simple, open.
I love sitting with who I would be, in these moments where I decided I was wrong and worthy of blame, without the belief that it was my fault?
“Can you be lovable NOT meeting the standards? Can you stop trying to change into who you wish you were long enough to find
out who you really are? You will never improve yourself enough to meet your standards.” ~ Cheri Huber

Wow!

If I turn the painful belief around and look at this concept “there is no fault” what would that be like?

Wait…what?

But what about the pain, the difficulties of the world, the people who are hurting, the mental illness, addiction, cancer, disease, psychopaths, murderers, violence!?!

There has to be a reason for these, it has to be someone’s fault!!

If we don’t find out whose fault it is then terrible things will happen over and over again. I have to find out the root of the badness and pull it out!What if it’s not possible? Who would you be?

Empty. Silent. Open. Vast. Expansive. Wondering. Free. More relaxed, not tight.

Not against anything. Not sure. Not knowing. Mind without a job.
Mind at rest.
“The reward for not protecting your psyche is liberation…When you see your heart start getting anxious, you are obviously aware of this experience. But who is aware? it is the consciousness, the indwelling being, the Soul, the Self.” ~ Michael Singer
Love, Grace
P.S. If you have the thought that it’s your fault when it comes to money…there will be a new eight week teleclass starting in January, where you can seriously question this belief. Tuesdays 5:15-6:45 pm, click HERE for more information.

 

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Eating Peace Posts – Are You Sure You’re Ugly Or Overweight?

While I’ve been in silent retreat this week, I notice my body is the vehicle for getting into the meditation hall, lying down on the bed at night, making a cup of tea, moving into the kitchen for a meal.

My body takes me here, there, through life.

I used to attack the image of my body with such a vengeance, it was like having a disgusting, foul, cruel enemy with me all the time.

What I didn’t realize was that it was my thinking that was the meanest…..not my body.

And actually, it wasn’t inherently cruel, it was only frightened.

My thinking believed I should look a certain way, present a picture of health or beauty, or else it would mean I was sub-standard somehow, not good enough, horrible, gross.

I never thought through very far why I got that message, where I got that message, what happened that took me from childhood innocence of not caring or noticing the body….

….into imagining it was something to be shunned, something ugly, something constantly needing improvement and criticized.

Why so important? What’s going on?

Such a deep, desperate fear that people will be repulsed and abandon me…or something. I never thought about it. I never questioned my beliefs about beauty.

They were totally bizarre and crazy!

People who perceive themselves as having eating troubles will often think that without the mean, vicious thoughts, they wouldn’t care and they’d eat more, exercise less, care less, and get worse than they already are.

They wouldn’t be motivated to change their eating.

But I have found the opposite to be true. The complete opposite.

If hating your body and your looks doesn’t lead you to change, why not try loving it the way it is instead?

You’ve got nothing to lose, right?

CLICK HERE to watch Byron Katie facilitating The Work with a woman who hates her body and sees it as ugly, flabby and wrong.

Catch yourself being unloving to the image you see in the mirror.

Notice when you are unloving with yourself if you’re stuffing food into your mouth. Be gentle with yourself and accept your cravings. Ask yourself like the kindest grandma you ever met what’s going on, is there anything you need right now?

Practice being madly in love with you, your body, your condition just the way it is.

Kiss you arm right now! Do it!

See what I mean?

Love is inside you, living and breathing and tender and vibrant. It can heal anything. Including a difficult relationship with food.

In fact, it may be the only thing that does.

You are beautiful!

Much Love,  Grace

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Meet My Friend James Trapp, An Inspiration

While I’m hanging out with meditation and spiritual teacher Adyashanti, and most of all, with inner self in great silence right now, I wanted to introduce you to my friend James Trapp.

I met him last year and he’s a dear heart. I got to be interviewed by him several weeks ago about the way I’ve experienced self-inquiry and questioning painful beliefs about life.

The thing about James is, he knows about turning his thoughts, and his life, around.

James is the real deal.

He is the former CEO of Unity Worldwide Ministries. And he is offering a series of complimentary videos created to introduce you to something important that he’s learned: that creating the life you love is right before you.

In them, he shows how he went from being abandoned as a young child, and self-destructive addictive living….to traveling around the world teaching principles to others that transformed his life.

I really think you’ll be inspired and guided.

Click here if you’d like to connect with James and subscribe to his video series.

Much love, Grace

 

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You Are Right On Time

I’m off in silent retreat!

Amazing technology…I can write this before I enter the retreat and you get it now.

And, how do I really know what will happen? There could be a tech glitch and what I think will happen in a few days actually won’t. There could be a surprise.

Sometimes planes don’t take off, things don’t go as we think.

No kidding, right?!?

Time…and all the ideas we have about it…is soooo crazy and fascinating.

And sometimes brutally stressful, without the ability to question what runs through your mind about “time”.

I have to plan now, I have to get ready, I have to get it done, I have to make good use of it, I’m not getting it finished, I absolutely do not have enough, I need more of it, life is too short.

These can be hard thoughts to have.

I have a wonderful friend who told me recently he can’t wait until he’s 62 so he can move himself into a retirement community, whatever place he picks where he’ll be for the rest of his life, and never have to worry about it from that point forward.

He has 11 years to wait until he’s 62!

But that was so funny (and fun) to me…since many of us don’t want to think about what’s coming in the future when it relates to retiring, declining, decaying, aging, dying.

Some of us might have the response to a friend making this kind of announcement that he’s planning too far ahead, he’s got plenty of time, and why is he so interested in moving only once-and-for-all anyway?

Over-planning, under-planning.

Lots of time, too little time.

Who would you be without the belief that there’s too much time, or too little time, when it comes to something in your life you care about deeply?

What if the story was instead that there is just the right amount of time?

Just the right amount of time with that person you once knew, just the right amount of time on that vacation, just the right amount of time struggling with your career, or being in that job, just the right amount of time waiting, just the right amount of time spent completing that project, or getting from here to there, just the right amount of time being alive on the planet?

“Confusion is when you argue with what is. When you’re perfectly clear, what is is what you want. So when you want something that’s different from what is, you can know that you’re very confused.” ~ Byron Katie

Turning thoughts about time around:

Woohoo! Planning happens, planning doesn’t happen, I get to consider planning since it’s entered my world through my friend, I can get ready, I don’t have to get ready, I don’t have to get it done, I don’t have to make good use of it, I’m not getting it finished, I’ll never get it finished, I absolutely do not have more than I have, and I don’t need more of it, life is just right however long or short it is, I write when I do, I send it out later.

“In reality, we are only ever given a moment of pain, and never more, although thought tries to project the pain into time, creating the story of ‘my past and future pain’, moving into the epic movie of ‘my lifelong struggle with pain.’ But life itself is only ever a moment, and we are always spared from time itself. Can we meet the raw life energy as it arises right now?” ~ Jeff Foster

Simply amazing, to be here spared from time.

Leaning into the life energy of this moment now.

Whether there’s a “deadline” or not, no matter what age you are, no wrong time, everything happening on time.

Much love, Grace