Archive for the ‘Health and Healing’ Category

The meaning of Patience in the dictionary is:

Endurance, staying power, tolerance, lack of complaint, persistence, fortitude. Patience is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the level of endurance one’s character can take before negativity. It is also used to refer to the character trait of being steadfast. Or which you can wait for things.

Some quotes about Patience I found:-

“Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead.”  ~Mac McCleary
“Patience is the ability to count down before you blast off.”  ~Author Unknown
“Patience:  A minor form of despair disguised as a virtue.”  ~Ambrose Bierce
“You can learn many things from children.  How much patience you have, for instance.”  ~Franklin P. Jones

I have come to believe that Patience is not any of those things.  There is a perception here that Patience requires effort, that it is hard work! That it is connected to time.  And I believe it isn’t. Patience is effortless, easy, serene. Patience waits for no Man, it just is.

As a Kid I was always told BE PATIENT, along with some other sayings like, “All good things come to those who wait”.  I was always dreaming of what was coming in the future, like Christmas, Birthday, the holidays etc. I had no concept that I was being Impatient, I just wanted the good things in life, the excitement as opposed to the mundane and ordinary, like doing my chores, going to school etc!

If I was lying around in the grass watching clouds and playing in the fields, I was told to do something constructive, to stop wasting time.

Wasting time was not encouraged in my house. “Empty hands make idle hands.” – Find something to DO! So as a Kid I did a lot of chores and dreamed about being rich. I  read a lot of books, coz that was considered ok, you were not lazy when you read, coz anything to do with expanding your knowledge was acceptable.

Being told that you have to wait for what you perceive to be Happiness, gave me a belief that ‘happiness’ was always one step away. That in TIME I would have all the things I wanted. Reading about far off lands and things that other people did, gave me a belief that “happiness happens to other people, not me.”  They didn’t have to wait, they were already living happiness.

Patience was never explained properly to me as a Child and I never really learned it as an Adult either, not for a long long time, it took Patience to Learn Patience J

Paul Sweeney  Says ; “How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young?”  ~  and if you take that even further to the convenience of mobile phones, instant messaging, GPS, Credit Cards, Internet, fast food,   a whole generation  is all about Instant Gratification, they don’t have to wait for much these days and still there is impatience!

I grew up impatient, and full of curiosity about what I didn’t have, didn’t know about and didn’t do! I didn’t know that it was masking the fear, that I would never be good enough, that those beliefs and concepts from childhood were actively sabotaging my finding happiness. Beliefs were born that I always had to work for it, Wait for it.

So as an adult, I learned some lessons about Patience, planting seeds, ideas and waiting for them to be born into the world, sometimes waiting patiently for Universal Timing, sometimes struggling against it with all my might. Sometimes white knuckling (holding on) so tightly to what I believed should be happening and growing more inpatient by the day, and not understanding myself and then in despair, letting go, which would finally allow it to manifest.  I spent so much time being in my own way and believing I was being Patient!

It wasn’t until I went to India, that I began to really see Patience in Action. Really get an understanding of what Patience means. In India the TIME consciousness is different. They simply do not measure importance of things by Time. We have an example of this just a few short weeks ago with the Opening of the Commonwealth Games. The rest of the world was up in arms, impatient and angry at India for not having everything ready a month before the Commonwealth Games. There was outrage and India just told us to be Patient, it would be ready, it was ok. J

And it was ok, by Indian Standards anyway. India doesn’t seek to impress with materialistic illusions, India knows everything happens when its meant to.

In India, I was fascinated by the amount of Men who appeared to be sitting around, on the side of the road, chatting and literally doing nothing! India is a hive of activity and yet there is little going on. It’s the noisiest place and yet there is a peace so sublime. The traffic is crazy and yet everything flows. There is no Road Rage, and minimum traffic lights & rules,  and the traffic just flows. Its like a symphony, a river, a natural flow.   It is the physical manifestation of action from the Heart of Patience.

There is so much JOY in the faces of those who have nothing. They are not patiently waiting for another life, they accept and love the one they have. They are grateful.

In India you accept what is and love what is. We in the west are so in control of everything and so controlled by everything, believing that Time is of the utmost importance and that if we stick to a Time-Line that somehow we stay in control. That we are following the Rules.  We also want it now! And yet know nothing about the Now!

We often enter conversations without listening to other people, our mind is already thinking ahead to “what’s for tea” or what’s next?

If we are stuck in traffic we get impatient, because we are gonna be late for work, and being late is triggering whatever beliefs we have about ourselves or what other people will think of us!  it will mess up the day, we will be behind or upset someone else or whatever it is we are creating drama about. The truth is we are just having a pointless conversation with our minds, about what may or may not happen, and all that’s happening is that for the moment we are stuck in traffic. So instead of taking the opportunity to breathe and take notice of our surroundings. We get impatient.  We often drive to work without seeing anything at all of our surroundings.  We are totally Unconscious to the beauty that is everywhere. Do you know how many beautiful birds you can see at McDonalds? If you look at the cloud formations and the colours in the sky, and the trees,  they are forever changing.  There is a reminder in nature everywhere you look, of the seasons, the rhythm of life and the peace available to you.

In India, It was tough to let go of control in the first few days, I gave myself a headache trying to hold on to what was supposed to be, … my suitcase fell apart, it was taped up and I couldn’t get another one for 2 weeks.  Nothing was on time, or worked properly…The power went out, the power went on, the shower water was hot, the shower was cold, I kept losing things and finding them again a few days later, everything was contrary to my beliefs and concepts, it was so wrong..…. and then just like that I couldn’t fight it anymore and I just surrendered and began to trust.  Trust that everything was happening as it should, Trust that I had it right, Trust that there was nothing for me to do, Trust that all was well. Trust that my suitcase would turn up. I let go of my expectations, my judgement of myself and others, and India itself, and  I lived in the moment, I found a peace so sublime, that it has stayed with me even to this day.  I gave myself permission to DO Nothing, and in me DOING Nothing, everything got Done.

One day in the trip, I lost my Yoga Mat, they were a very special gift given to us by Brandon and Kevin and we used them everywhere we went. This day I had put my Yoga Mat down whilst we were in Satsang and then afterwards it was not in the place I had left it. When I couldn’t find it, I can remember thinking Oh I wonder where it could be, and then……. It will turn up! And if it doesn’t well that’s ok.  When we got back to the hotel, I heard my name called from across the Lobby and there was a Trainer with my Yoga Mat.

In the past I would have stressed out so badly I would have been so impatient and so rude and angry to myself and others, demanding that someone Do something.  I laugh at this picture of myself now, and yet in the past, when in impatience, I didn’t   recognise what a tool I was being. I was so caught up in my own justifications, my importance, my need to get it right now.

Coming home to Oz, my life turned upside down! My income dropped significantly, my business partner and I separated our business and went our separate ways. My Family dynamics changed, I was a Grandmother, My relationships changed,  I opened myself up to love a significant other, to be in business on my own, to put myself fully out there, like I never had before. I started a whole new path, that I had not trodden before.  Patience became a doorway for me to become aware of my EGO  patterns, my concepts, my fears.

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions” “Live your questions now, and then even without knowing it, you will live along some distant day into your answers.”

And so in conclusion I have discovered that the meaning for Patience to me is:-

Living in Present time, surrendering to what is, having no expectations, believing in myself and my purpose, letting go of timing and control, opening myself up to love and experiences, having awareness of my drama and catching myself out. In living Patience, it makes room for silence and in silence, I hear my soul, my spirit, my very essence calling me forth to be born into every second, every precious moment, every new discovery of myself. I become a drop in the ocean that is part of the whole that brings forth the spirit of a New Earth.  I trust and follow a very different path, to the one of Impatience.  Guided by grace and my spirit, my life unfolds perfectly.

“Life is not about waiting for the Storm to pass, its about Learning to Dance in the Rain.” And in that joy, expressing and creating miracles.  That to me is Grace expressed as PATIENCE.

It seems to me at the moment that things are changing at great speed and that nothing that was ‘Solid” yesterday is “Solid” today. In fact nothing is reliable; my appointments change daily sometimes from hour to hour. The illusion that I have some control over my life, my family, my relationships, my work is being tested more and more and the more I cling to what I think I know and what was, and what should be and try to make myself fit in or get it, the more it seems to allude me.

Since coming back from India I have “thrown caution to the wind” much more successfully than I ever did in the past, living and working from day to day, and still Life is beckoning me to “let go” of old patterns and behaviours. It seems to me to be greedy, always wanting me to let go that little bit more. Where, once Fear ruled my life, it now makes special appearances. I have found that when I let go (sometimes after a struggle and just accept whatever life is throwing at me, it’s glorious! I find love in the simple and mundane, even in the unexpected! I laugh far more, love more and get excited about everything. I notice everything more, am finely tuned to my surroundings and I don’t take myself so seriously.

When I stop, I find peace and love is always here. The real illusion is that often we believe that it’s no where to be found. That we have to be somewhere, do something, get something, or give something to seek it out! We falsely believe we are missing out or that we never have enough…. Love, energy, money, work, time!

It’s an illusion…….

Just STOP…

Stop trying, stop efforting, stop doing, stop giving, stop taking, just stop and come home to the centre of your being and discover yourself as you truly are.

And then… The times they really are a changing!

How many times in your life have you truly felt comfortable in the drivers seat? Really taking charge of your life?

When you get in the car you naturally take responsibility, you have a certain duty of care on the road, rules to follow, but mostly you make your own decisions and go where you want to go. You know automatically how to use the handbrake and steering wheel, turn on the engine and go! It has become an automatic response, a habit!

In life many of us are afraid of making our own decisions and rely on others to tell us who we are and what we should do. We seek approval for and direction from others, ignoring our own inner automatic responses. Often we consider other people, relationships, children, bosses, before our own needs and often we end up resentful and angry with them and we are not even sure why. We then become our own worst enemy stuck in a cycle of need, approval, expectation, resentment, judgement, need…. A habit that is soul destroying.

If we do make a decision that’s directly based on our needs we feel guilty or we are called selfish by others, or we ourselves are our own judge jury and executioner. Sometimes we are afraid of what has happened in the past, and of repeating old patterns, or we don’t want to take responsibility, blaming others for what they made us do or feel.

We often drive our “car” through life looking in the rear vision mirror lamenting the past and all that’s been done to us, and by doing this, in the present time we continue to lay the foundation for exactly the same thing to happen in the future.

Taking control of your life means having to say NO when you don’t want to do something and saying Yes to yourself when you do. Its about telling the truth, being authentic with yourself and others.  Its about giving yourself permission to put yourself first. Its really as simple as this.

Its about learning to ask yourself the question, WHAT DO I WANT? Instead of asking what does everyone else want from me?

It’s a habit that can be learned and has far more rewarding results. It means taking responsibility for your decisions, not blaming anyone else and fully getting in the Drivers Seat!

I received this email during the week and i thought it was important that i share this with you.

Dr Masaru Emoto – a famous Japanese scientist who has done extensive research and written many books about the characteristics of water and how water physically responds to our emotions.  He says that right now, most of us have the predominantly angry emotion when we consider what has happened in the Gulf.  While we are certaintly justified in that emotion, continually feeling this way is of great detriment to the situation.  We may actually be of greater assistance to our planet and its life forms, if we sincerely, powerfully and humbly pray the prayer that Dr Emoto, himself, has proposed:

“I send the energy of love and gratitude to the water and all the living creatures in the Gulf of Mexico and its surroundings.  To the whales, dolphins, pelicans, fish, shellfish, plankton, coral, algae, and all living creatures…i am sorry.  Please forgive me.  Thank you.  I love you”.

This prayer is passed on to everyone in the hope that we set an intention of love and healing that is so large and overwhelming that it creates miracles in the Gulf of Mexico.  We are not powerless, we are powerful!  Our united energy, saying this prayer multiple times daily can literally shift the balance of destruction that is currently happening.  We don’t have to know how but we just have to recognise that the power of love is greater than any power active in the Universe today.  Feel free to copy and paste this and pass it on to as many people as possible and let’s take charge and do our own clean up!

I am Spirit; Truly I am and so are you! It took me a long time to realise this! And sometimes I forget it and when I remember again the realisation is even more beautiful!

We are spiritual beings in the physical form! How many times have you read this and thought Yeah right! Or it simply has no meaning to you?

It seems to be a catch phrase, as we go thru our ‘Spiritual Awakening’. Spiritual beings having an earthly experience.  There has always been a reluctance on my part to fully believe this as I could not “connect” to my Spirit! And felt unworthy because my perception of spirit was that it was a higher power? something out there/up there that is smarter, grander, more intuitive, powerful and all knowing? And all the while ILLUSIVE, just out of my mere earthly reach!

As adults we compete with others to get ahead in our lives based on material gain and how much we have. We are trained from an early age to want and wanting just creates more wanting! We identify with our experiences, and then compare our experiences to others and depending on what mood we are in find ourselves less than, more than and sometimes equal. As Children we are taught that being good or good at something equals love and attention and there are no prizes for second best or being bad. We are taught to stuff down our so called bad emotions and not feel them. When we are little, often, when hurt, sick, or sad, our parents fed us, or distracted us with a game, toy, watching TV, reading a book, anything but let us feel what we were feeling! If we got angry about something, we were told off, sometimes punished! This causes us to stuff down the “bad feelings” and focus on being good and wanting to be the best. And we become our own Judge, Jury and Executioner when we feel we have fallen short.

Spirit requires no competition, it just requires us to remember who we are and we can do that in any given moment if we are still enough to listen and feel.

We have come from Spirit and created ourselves in the physical form! If we can create ourselves into the physical form, doesn’t it stand to reason that we create and are responsible for everything in our lives of the physical form?  We have just forgotten that we can do so. We have forgotten that we are spirit, we don’t need to “Connect” to Spirit, we are it! It is us! We have proof of that because we have manifested here in the physical form.

Our spirit is always with us. It’s who we are.  When there is a problem with friends or community that we live in, do we have trouble connecting to our compassion or does it just flow from us?  There are examples of human spirit everywhere, whenever Mother Nature throws a natural disaster at us, our community spirit goes into action. No body “connects” to it, it is just readily accessible. We often know just how to react or what do to automatically without having to think about it.

When we remember who we are…………..Spiritual beings in the physical form and really identify as that, there is no more wanting, we are complete and we manifest exactly that completeness in everything we do.

Our lives are filled with drama, but all around us are the reminders from nature and animals that life is not a drama! We create drama in our life because of our need for attention, for things that make us feel special. We identify with things in our lives, like possessions and out of that need arises the need to possess more. So a cycle begins of having to do, be, or have more! And more is never enough because we are identifying with the drama. Animals, have a natural presence! In this moment. I watch my cat Oliver when he goes outside. He ambles along, looking at this and that, never in a hurry always enjoying exactly where he is and never thinking about what’s next. He will rub himself in the dirt loving every moment of it and later he will sit and patiently clean himself just as lovingly. He enjoys whatever he is doing in whatever moment he is doing it. Those of you who have pets, watch them and other animals every chance you get! They teach us by just being in the moment naturally aware and not connected to any drama what so ever!

Come Paint with Me!

• Awaken your Inner Artist
• Paint your own painting
• Surprise yourself
• Have Fun
• Get access to your own creativity & unlimited potential.

This fun workshop opens your senses and unleashes your creative spirit. A day of exploration, movement and creating!    No experience necessary.

Saturday 26^th June 2010 from 9:30am – 6:30pm

Suggested Donation  $120  Venue Riverdell Spiritual Centre, 8 Clifford Road, Hillier.

You will need to bring a 24×24 canvas – old clothes/shirt to paint in, a decorative plate or platter, open heart, and willingness to have FUN!!!! Lunch will be supplied by all, the ingredients you are requested to bring. (please let me know if you have any special requirements or food allergies)

Ring 0466831709 to book