Tag: surrender

Rule #2: There are NO “do-overs” in Life

Posted on by cmryan

Have you ever heard the lesson about how each time you step into a stream, it’s a different stream? This lesson speaks to the fact that the water in the stream is different, the rocks on the bottom may have moved, the temperature can vary, the way you walk may be unusual, and even your perspective of how you view the stream can be different from the first time it happened.

With this idea in mind, it occurred to me that Life is like that, too. We may repeat habits or patterns, think similar ideas, have on-going behaviors or relationships that don’t change for years…or so we lead ourselves to believe. The fact is, we change from minute to minute. We become wiser, more experienced, more aware.

A first-time endeavor is only a “first-time” once. Your first day of work happens only once, no matter how long you’re there or how many different jobs you have. A first kiss can happen just one time.

You can certainly repeat the experience with different people or places of employment, thereby experiencing the “newness” of that particular incident with other variables, but you cannot go back to that first time of anything or go back in time to repeat a specific act because time keeps passing on. Once something has been done, you cannot go back in time and do it over. The next time you repeat a behavior or experience is brand new and in a new moment.

As chronological time passes, this new, NOW moment is really all we have to work with. We may gain much experience and wisdom about how to do things, how the world works, and hopefully who we are as a person. However, there is absolutely no way to go back and do anything over again without having the memory, wisdom or experience of having done that something before.

Life has no do-overs. Not really. What you DO have is the ability to do things better the second or third or fourth time around. You may get lots of practice in certain endeavors, yet each is happening in a brand new moment with a greater (albeit familiar) sense of understanding about that activity. Each new moment, each new experience, comes with the opportunity to create anew!

You don’t have to do things the same way time after time. Life…Creation…God…certainly does not. We’re told that EVERY snowflake is of a unique design. So is EVERY human being on earth. Trees and animals may share a species name, and even look quite identical, but I would venture to say that even those creations are unique in their existence.

There are no do-overs in Life. No matter what has happened yesterday…no matter what messes or amends you may have to clean up…each moment of living is another opportunity to start over, to start fresh. What a gift that is! We’re not stuck in a rut unless we put ourselves there…with old thought patterns and ways of being. Who would really want to have everything be the same forever anyway!

The first thing we can change is our perspective, our way of viewing Life. Begin there. Change your thinking and see how it impacts the moments you’re living…one by one…each as bright with possibilities as the sunrise. Step into the light. Clear away old, stuffy ways of creating and being and doing. Build from them, remember what still provides direction and is valuable to you. Step into the stream of Life and surrender to the Now!

Up & Down the Rabbit Hole

Posted on by cmryan

One of the gifts of going through challenging circumstances – ones that sometimes feel like we’re falling down a deep, dark hole – is to discover what we’re made of. How do we react or respond in those situations? Do we come from fear or do we meet the situation with wonder and curiosity and resolve?

As I drove my large SUV down the highway one evening recently, a weird noise started coming from the front part of the vehicle. At first I was curious. I didn’t go into panic mode until it sounded like something was falling out in bits from the engine and bouncing away under the vehicle. A roadside inspection revealed nothing – no leaks, no obvious broken parts, no damage to the truck. Yet each time I pulled back onto the highway, there was a new alertness in my being, waiting for the sound. It did not disappoint my expectations.

Fortunately, I was able to make it home safely that evening and get the SUV to the mechanic’s shop the next morning. Apparently whatever has gone wrong is deep within the mechanisms of its driving functions. It’s fixable, of course. It will just take time, money, and someone else’s expertise to make this right.

While I wait for the quote on what the repairs will cost, I’m grateful. Grateful this situation didn’t happen just a few days earlier when I was traveling across the country and on some rather remote roads, with no cell coverage. Grateful it took place at a time when traffic patterns were light and easy – not during rush hour nor while on the way to some important engagement. Grateful our family includes an auto mechanic who is willing to help diagnose the problem on a holiday evening and be a liaison for us through the repair process. Grateful that, while I’m not particularly fond of paying for large (or small) vehicle repair bills, at least I have the resources to do so if needed. Grateful that my trip down the fearful rabbit hole was quite shallow this time. Grateful I can surrender the situation and know there is a higher purpose at work here.

I’m discovering how much easier life is when I accept the “what is” of any holey situation (pun intended). It doesn’t matter if it’s a broken vehicle, an injured relationship, or a resistant attitude. There’s no need to label the situation positive or negative. There is so much of life we have no control over or even influence about, except for how we will respond (react) to it. Sometimes surrender is the only wise option.

In those situations where we do have control or influence, I endeavor to make my choices from a place of strength, courage, peace, and love. We always have the choice to detach any emotional response from what we’re facing and see it for the cosmic experience it is – an opportunity to grow. How difficult the experience becomes is up to us. Suffering is optional.

As I become more successful at staying near the surface of life’s holes, I’ve noticed that they are definitely not as deep nor as scary as they used to be. Some are even totally avoidable unless curiosity takes over. Others are just a passing shadow and warrant only a smile and a wave good-bye…just in time for the arrival of the next growth experience.

 

W is for Wisdom… Spirituality A to Z

Posted on by cmryan

After asking the question “What should ‘W’ stand for in this series?” I decided to stick with the one that showed up first – Wisdom – because of its varied applications.

We indeed have available to us the Spiritual Wisdom of the Universe (God) through tapping into that intuitive knowing we carry around with us at all times. As we become more aware of our Divine Self, our God Nature, Spiritual consciousness expands to higher expression, increases in depth and intensity, and becomes our guide to living a life of truth, faith, and love.

The greatest of all Wisdom is the God Intelligence that expresses through all of life…through you and me and the rest of the universe. Its purpose is to create. Its direction comes from a divine intention and eternal presence of love, and moves only and always toward Good.

We have the Divine birthright to co-create, to get involved in this life-construction process and determine our own direction. Often the results show how we can so easily muck-up those intentions for Good …that we have a lot to learn. It takes a wise person to surrender to Divine Intelligence for our own highest and best good, and for the good of others around us.

Another expression of this Intelligence is the body’s Wisdom; its ability to heal, mend, and manage our human forms without any direction from us. When it seems to take too long to heal or we don’t care for ourselves properly so that it can, we have the option to seek outside resources (e.g., pills, ointments, infusions, etc.) to accelerate the healing process…or so we think. For some reason we have learned to avoid pain so much that we are often intolerant of even a little.

Pain is the body’s voice to let us know something is wrong, something needs our attention. I’ve often witnessed, however, that people would rather mask the pain than heal the cause of it. That applies to physical pain as well as emotional and mental anguish. From Oprah Winfrey we get, “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” Learn from what you’re doing to harm yourself…don’t hide it or suppress it. Go through it. Give your body the attention, nutrients, exercise, love, and support it needs to fight its unhealthy invaders and protect your soul’s carriage.

And finally, there is the Wisdom of the ages and sages; the philosophy that has been and continues to be handed down from one generation to the next through eons of time to guide us through the travails of earthly life. Aristotle said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” And from Socrates we learn, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

One of my life goals has been to become a woman of wisdom. I look at my past experiences and know I have learned much through this earthly journey. I would have been just fine without going through some of those situations, but I’m not sure I’d be who I am today without them. So I am grateful for all of it.

Some say I have achieved my goal, that I am a woman of wisdom. Perhaps. However, like Socrates, I continue to see that there is so much I do not know yet I am willing to learn, that this is just the beginning. In other cases, there is much to learn but through discernment or apathy, I have no desire to know. Would a wise person turn away from an opportunity to know more? In this case, yes. I’d prefer to follow the advice of Albert Einstein: “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”

Like Ernest Holmes, I believe that in all this getting of life’s achievements, it is best to get understanding. Through that endeavor, I will find wisdom. And so it is.