A Miracle Triggered by the News

I saw a headline in the news today that instantly brought up within me feelings of fear, then powerlessness, then frustration. 

And then a miracle happened: the feelings dissipated almost as quickly as they arose. 

Nothing in the outside world had changed in that 15 second time interval, but a whole lot changed inside me.

Here’s why those inner feelings dissipated so quickly for me: I didn’t confuse the outer situation in the news with my inner reaction to it. 

In other words, I saw my inner reaction as separate and distinct from the outer situation.

Then I was free.

Free to see clearly. Free to think clearly. Free to be clear. Free to take clear action in the best possible ways for me in that moment.

This is powerful! This is transformation, not mere information. This is awareness that sets us free.

We are not free when we are reacting. The purpose of all reactive behavior is blame, defense, and revenge, NOT freedom or intentionality. 

Blaming the outside circumstance. Defending ourselves against a perceived attack. Revenge against what we see as an enemy.

Reacting is not the way to create a better future.

Our reactions aren’t even a choice! They’re a default, defensive response from some unhealed and unintegrated part of ourselves. 

What happened in that moment that I saw the headline is that I had an inner reaction to the headline, and I recognized my inner reaction as MINE, not the circumstance’s. So I released my reaction with understanding, compassion, and gentleness, and then I saw the news for what it was: a report. Reports are inevitable - how I respond to reports is up to me.

Without fail, any time I’ve been lost, stuck, resigned, anxious, fearful, hopeless, or desperate, I’ve been under the illusion of some thought, some perspective, some perception that’s wormed its way unconsciously into my nervous system. And those emotions were my inner reaction.

And each of those emotions is a teacher pointing me to my next lesson of growth, integration, wholeness, and well-being.

Each moment of our lives offers us this choice: be a victim to circumstance or be an owner of the spirit. 

Each moment of our lives is precious. Each moment of our "ordinary daily life is the most perfect ashram you could ever be within.” - The Way of the Heart

I had a client soul coaching call about 20 minutes after that headline and the emotions that moved through me. My client brought up the exact situation for herself - seeing something in the news and getting frustrated about it. 

Here’s what happened:

I got triggered by a news headline, and I took the most effective action I possibly could to make the world a better place - I freed myself internally. In doing so, I showed up clear and free to be with my soul client, and we both reached a higher plane of insight, well-being, inspiration, and love for life together. 

So yes, there’s always something we can do when we’re upset by what’s happening in the world: 1) open ourselves to authentic awareness of what’s actually going on within us as well as outside us, 2) then align all levels of our being with what we actually want/intend. 3) Our agency flows most effectively from that place of quiet, clear, calm, and loving certainty.

Peace, Love, and Joy - they aren’t a destination or a place to get to. They are a place to come from. 

...in this moment, and this one, and this one, and this one, and...

What miracles have you caused lately by doing intentional, soul-level work that makes a difference in your life and the lives of others?

Much Love. ❤️

The Difference Between Freedom and Suffering

Early on in my transformational journey, I came across a phrase that perfectly described my access to the breakthroughs in freedom, love, self-expression, peace of mind, and enjoyment that I was experiencing:

“A profound relationship to reality.”

We seldom see things as they are. Instead, we see them as we are: our stories, beliefs, fears, and judgments.

What we see when we look at ourselves, others, and the world around us is a reflection of our inner world. We see reflected back to us the judgements, fears, stories, and beliefs that we’ve projected out there.

There’s a term I use in my coaching to moving towards a profound relationship to reality: accuracy.

Accuracy is looking closely at what’s happening. It’s slowing down, quieting down, and witnessing the inner dialogues, the inner feelings, and the inner desires at play in our lives. 

Accuracy is the difference between freedom and suffering. The more accurate we are in our seeing, thinking, speaking, and listening, the more power we can access to create and fulfill our intentions (or perhaps the Divine intentions wanting expression through us).

In a call earlier this evening with a client, I asked a couple simple questions that led us to a much deeper and more accurate understanding of her and what’s been at play for her. That kind of accuracy is immediately freeing. It’s a hit of awareness that creates a palpable space within us. 

That space within us is the space of infinite possibility - and new openings for being and acting arise, new opportunities for agency awaken, and the fundamental current of inspiration and wonder moves us through what moments before felt like an immovable barrier of stuckness. 

Accuracy is knowing where we’re really coming from. Accuracy is knowing what we really intend.

The information is all right there, it just usually feels much safer to deceive ourselves.

That’s one of the very refreshing things about working with adolescents. Many of them see (or at least feel) the inauthenticity of the adults around them. They’re much more open to accurate conversations. They’re much more able to tap into the space of infinite possibility. In fact, they crave it. 

And we’re training them to get better at deceiving themselves and others too. Why? Because most of us adults have never learned to dip back into that refreshing, beautiful river of infinite possibility from which our thoughts, beliefs, judgments, fears, hopes, inspirations, personalities, and ways of being all spring from. 

One of my daily practice to tap into my own agency in accessing that river is how I start off my self-creation process:

“I am the space of infinite possibility.”

It is from that space that I intend to live each moment of my life - and what an amateur at it I am!

It's also a space that I’m committed all our teens (and us adults too) learn to live from. My commitment to the transformation of education continues to pulse inside of me.

It’s a game of accuracy I’ll playing the rest of my life in one form or another.

Much Love. ❤️

My Latest Sandbox of Being

This evening, no single idea is inspiring a full post. Instead, I'm inspired to share some of the thoughts, ideas, and ways of being that have been speaking to me lately.

I keep a running note on my phone of possible blog topics. Some of these are my own thoughts and words that fall out of my mouth during coaching conversations, and many are from clients and others who’ve blessed me in conversation, books, and podcasts.

I share the few sources I can remember at the bottom, and I'm grateful to you, my readers and clients, for the inspiration that you are in my life. ❤️

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The poison of judgment taints the miracle of the moment.

Integrity is closing the gap between knowing and doing.

My goal is to see how many people in the rest of my life I can love, learn from, and serve.

It’s a lot messier in our mind than it is in the world outside of us.

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Happiness is not an achievement, love is not an achievement, holiness is not an achievement. They are each a Grace. 

Happiness cannot be caused. It’s our natural state when we remove our inner barriers.

Knowing the wounds shows us the door. It’s up to us to step through it.

The spiritual is the most important kind of tactical.

We can’t change the past, only our relationship to the past.

What age is that emotion? ...that thought? ...that way of being?

It’s never too late to come back to love.

Our being is heard louder than our words.

We practice pretending and we end up with a life of pretending.

Where we’re coming from is a lot more important than where we’re going. 

Am I acting from a desire to be wanted, liked, and needed, or am I acting from a desire to serve?

I can entertain the insane thought of trusting the invisible.

What is, is what I have chosen to make of it.

Underneath all the perceptions that I can create about others, there is something radiant and shimmering waiting to be discovered.

If I can dislike and even hate someone I've never even met, then I can love them too.

All things in the human realm are either an extension of love or a cry for love.

Forgiveness means to release another (and oneself) from the perceptions I have been projecting.

Judgment always creates separation.

Consciousness is my sandbox, and I am creating castles.

Need, should, ought to, have to - remove these words from my vocabulary. I need do nothing.

It is time to step into ownership of my reality.

Some sources:

• The Way of Mastery

• Loving What Is

• The Ultimate Coach

• The Way of Integrity

• The Presence Process

• A Course in Miracles

Much Love. ❤️