Run and Return

Let’s face it. We all have those days, and even weeks, where our days are too full, our calendars have little to no white space and our stress level climbs. Even if we try to live consciously, we are human and lives are full and outside influences encroach on all the healthy efforts we make. We get called in many different directions. We are faced with overwhelming decisions. It is inevitable. But this chaos can cause ongoing distraction. For some, this energy becomes a form of self-distraction. Being authentic takes hard work and concentrated effort, especially when we are being challenged. Those challenges can come in many shapes and sizes, they can come in relationships and situations. It is often during those challenges that we revert to old behavior patterns, or comfort zones, even if we know that they have failed us in the past and are not really reflecting our truest self.

Author Jeff Brown wrote, “The faster we run, the more determined is the Universe to slow us down. The more embedded our methods of self-distraction, the more agitating the truth-aches calling us back to authenticity. The more eagerly we race to the sky, the more intense the lessons that bring us back to earth. The Universe has no interest in our flight from reality. It wants us right here. Nowhere else…but here.” It can be no other way.

There is comfort in knowing that even when we get off track or lose our focus, we will be called back. We will be given opportunities to re-learn our truth and embrace it. We can run away, but there will come the day when the running is more exhausting the return.

As we move forward on our life’s path, we experience this again and again. A small falter, a drifting away, even getting lost…and then the warm embrace awaits our return. Our souls want to be whole and in alignment with the treasures and experiences the Universe has waiting for us. The unfolding happens naturally and needs little more than for us to be present, to be open, to stop trying to be in control and to explore the possibilities!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Opportunities For Change

I think I have always had a soul that asked questions. I like to put the pieces of my life together like a beautiful puzzle and look at how they were unique to me, what they mean in regards to my purpose in life and how I live. My spirituality matches this fact. I have looked at the way Spirit resonates within me. I have released old wounds and patterns. I have embraced traditions, awakenings and lessons. I have shape shifted into who I am today, morphing and merging into what feels comfortable for me, while still allowing room for me to stretch, grow, and rest. Learning to live consciously and in the moment does not mean that life does not stir things up within me like a brisk autumn breeze from time to time; old memories, thoughts and feelings reeling and swirling about. I have learned to be present, not to create story around these questions and theories and with time they settle themselves down, quietly into a stillness that life affords us if we wait for it. I have learned to not need to be reactionary in every moment. Instead peace and calm sit beside me and it is a place that feels true to my soul and supportive to my whole being.

As big as our world feels we are really walking our paths together. When you suffer, I feel it, on some level. When there is war or hardship across the seas, my spirit aches for the unknown and the loss that is resulting from the violence and brutality. I do not pretend that my soul does not pick up on the reverberating energies of suffering that are in the lives of so many. Likewise, I am blessed daily with the celebrations of life, the opportunities of abundance and the goodness that lives in so many hearts.

So how do I bring my spiritual connection out and put it on the table to become effective and powerful? How do I put it to use for the good of all, not just myself? If we are truly all connected, every breath I take, every thought I hold, every blessing I cherish matters.

I cannot sit by, day by day, without leaning in and getting my hands dirty. I cannot help but feel stronger and more whole as I bring all of my self to the day. I bring my conscious living, I call forth healing energies, I send supportive prayers of compassion and kindness, I put action to my words, and I listen closely to what the world needs. I cannot live any other way. If I don’t do this, what is living? If I do not participate fully, what part of me is showing up? If not today…then when?

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

Too Full For More

So we plead our case. We ask, God, Spirit, The Universe for something we dream for or want. But are we truly ready to be recipients? Have we done the work to prepare for what it is we are asking for? We need to pay particular attention to our emotional state of being. If we are not ready to receive, we won’t be taken seriously. If we are still muddy inside are we really ready? If we are still harboring hurt feelings, unresolved anger, gaping open wounds of pain or anything that keeps us being clean with ourselves and others, then our request will often and most likely should, go without response.

How can we ask for more in our lives when we are not dealing with what we already have on our plate authentically? In the shamanic world our stories often keep us from moving on. We hold onto an interpretation of our life and let it guide us. We give it power that it may not call for. We allow it to dictate what we do, how we feel, what we say and more. But it is only a story. It is only one possible version of our reality.

Let me put it to you this way. Have you ever had something happen to you that in the moment you saw it one way. It felt real. It looked that way when you thought about it. It unfolded the same way each time you told others about it. But then time goes on. More time passes. And then one day you recall it, and you cannot remember all the facts. The heat and passion of the moment may be gone. You actually may even remember it differently and if you were asked to share the story, it would possibly unfold quite differently than from when it first occurred. Now it is still the same event and it happened to the same person, you, but somehow it has changed a little. You are less muddy about it. You are not so invested in it any more. You may not be as impassioned either. Not everyone gets to this place in the story. For some, the story and all the facts and emotions are held onto tightly. They get stuck in their story.

If that is the case, then we are bogged down with energy and emotions that need to move on. We need to be able to look at the events in our life as a casual observer, and not carry around the pain for the rest of time. It can keep us in a place of being stuck. It can keep us from moving forward and growing. And it can keep us from getting what we want from Source.

We need to clear our page. Be aware of our story, but not controlled by it. We need to be open to receive what is next for us. If we are bogged down holding onto our stories, how can we embrace what awaits?

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade

It Is A Good Morning

It is 4 am and I am wide awake. My day is about to begin and I am thinking of what the new beginnings will look like for me today. It is a Friday, what some hold as the end of their week, the beginning of their weekend. For me it is a day perfect for a fresh start. I can leave behind any baggage from yesterday, any unresolved expectations. I can bring fresh new energy into the day and take on any unfinished business with a clean slate, a beautiful new beginning and breathe new life into it. Being conscious means we are in a constant flow of change. Every moment affords us that choice. We can choose how we relate to a person in our life, a situation at our workplace or even our feelings over a task at hand. When I live like this it gives me the chance to let go, to release and to replace and renew. This is important to me. It means I don’t let drama fill my moments. It means I don’t have to be stuck. It means I have choices in life even in things beyond my control.

If I believe that I am a constantly evolving person, which I do, then it is important that I live this way. How can I evolve if I keep holding on to feelings, beliefs or reactions to yesterday’s news? I have to start fresh and leave room for the change of who I am and who I am becoming. My soul needs the room to grow. I need the space within my heart to expand and contract as needed.

I began today with a ritual I often do. I stood before my altar, a sacred place I have created for my personal connection to Spirit, and I visualize myself putting any unresolved or unnecessary parts of the past that I may be holding onto into a bowl of water I have on the altar. Whatever is not going to serve me here in this moment goes in the bowl. I trust that Spirit will point out to me things I need to keep close, that are still works in progress, things I need to address to move forward, but the rest go in the bowl. In the water they are cleansed, they are safe for the time being, for when I am instructed to go back and take another look, but I don’t have the burden of carrying them around with me. I can use my energies elsewhere!

This morning in a journey one of my spirit guides showed me a tiny seed from a flower, it had a bit of fluff attached that helped it to be carried in the breeze. The flower had released it, let it go, without worry. This seed may land somewhere and take root, it may be eaten up by a bird, or it may be lost in the wind and never reach the rich soil it needs. The flower does not hold onto this worry. It does not spend any energy towards that part of the process. It has sat in the sun and bloomed, soaked up the rain and grew, and when the time was right, released the seed…which no longer served it and trusted that part of the process. Life will take it from there.

SO whether it be a seed or a burden, I begin each day letting go, making room, with a clean slate and a fresh start. New beginnings flourish here. Newness is added to my world this way. Sometimes it takes courage, sometimes it takes effort to let go, other times it is with great relief. But always, it creates possibilities for the greatest potential. What a magnificent way to start a day!

Blessings ~ Lisa

©COPYRIGHT 2012 Lisa Meade