Infinite Possibilites

I was strolling around in the warm night scanning the desert sands for scorpions. Doing this with a regular flashlight is nearly impossible, but under an ultraviolet light, they glow like toys from the dollar store.

We humans are equipped with a set of senses. Most of us have five that we are aware of. If you feel intuitive, add that, and many other senses which are difficult to categorize.

Here's my point. Without the UV flashlight, scorpions are effectively camouflaged. What else is there that we can't perceive?

The word arrogant might seen extreme. Perhaps naive is a better choice. Just because we cannot see or in some way perceive something, we say it doesn't exist. We believe our limited sensory abilities are the absolute end-all.

Seems kind of silly to think this tonight as I look at the moon, and stars in our galaxy.

I had a problem with a kid in class yesterday, just before the end of the day. It was something that I could have ignored, he was in the front row, two feet away, playing a game on his cell phone during a movie.

I had already dealt with two others earlier in the class, and I confiscated his as well, only seemed fair. This kid went ballistic. Office was involved, nothing felt right about the resolution.

Not, not, not looking for sympathy here. I've been doing this for 30 yrs and I still take it home with me - now I recognize it as an opportunity.

Picture this - I've been thinking recently about my beliefs on control, and a co-player came onto my stage to play this out together. It was a gift.

So many core beliefs I have about myself were triggered, none of them pretty, none new. I've felt these feels in different situations as long as I can remember. This time the result was a strong sense of nameless anxiety. Like I'd had too much coffee. The world was secretly ending.

These are the kinds of situations, when I can step out of myself enough to recognize them, that are bringing me my greatest healing right now.

After an evening and morning of twitchy muscles and feeling like some shadow was hovering around me, I finally did a Radical Forgiveness worksheet and the anxious reaction cleared. Yes, that simply.

We are beings of chemical reactions. Change the belief, the point of view, the attitude... Change the chemistry.

I was reminded of a beautiful song this morning,

"All of me, loves all of you, love your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections . . ." ~ John Legend

Of course, the radio intention is for the song to be dedicated from one lover to another with the lofty goal of truly accepting the other in their humanness, all of it.

Sounds good, feels good to hear, but is it realistic? We all want to be loved in this way, but aren't willing to love ourselves that kind of completely. We look for it from outside of us hoping for redemption.

How can anyone love us more than we love ourselves? And vice versa, how can I see the perfection in another when I can't recognize it in myself?

Maybe a good day to listen to a play-list of love songs and sing them to your beautiful, perfect self. See what feelings come up.

My friend Aliesha wrote this. I love it and her.

What if we started from the assumption that everyone is doing the best they can for this day, this hour, this minute? Can we expand our compassion that much? Can we internalize it?

Not: "UGH I HAD ALL THE PLANS AND I ONLY DID HALF BECAUSE I GOT EXHAUSTED AND HAD TO SIT ON THE COUCH. I SUCK AND THE THINGS I ACCOMPLISHED TODAY MEAN NOTHING BECAUSE OF THE THINGS LEFT UNDONE."

Instead: "I overestimated my energy, or underestimated what it would take to complete these tasks. I did everything I *could* do, and it is enough, and it's more than I had done when I woke up."

Progress, not perfection. Compassion for ourselves. It doesn't mean we think we're perfect, that we don't strive for doing better, that we don't hold ourselves responsible. It means we validate who we are in the moment, and in doing so, build a stronger foundation for the next minute, the next hour, the next day, instead of reducing today's work to rubble.

A wise man once told me that, while you check your rear view mirrors now and then, when driving you pay attention to what is in front of you. There's not much that can be done about things behind you. They're just a distraction - already passed and will take care of themselves..

I'll be driving about 6 hrs to Seattle tomorrow, after my school day, to be with my firstborn as they go through some medical stuff. In preparation for being gone a week, I've had to stop looking in that rear view mirror.

While the intensity of travel and medical is causing me to focus on step by step, one foot in front of the other, I think that really is the best way to do most things anyway..

Having intentions for “what was” just doesn't make a lot of sense, if I think about it.

Quick post from here in Seattle, just a note to self about the power of beliefs. My first-born, Robin, had surgery while I was teaching today.

Ideas - had I known nothing about it, nothing in my head would have changed. I knew, so I worried. When I got word at noon that everything was fine, I relaxed.

Perfectly natural, of course. Just something I want to continue to look at for myself. All of the above was idea. Thought. Message. Belief.

So much of what we feel in a day is based on what we are told, what we believe, what we fear.

A medical center, hospital, is a world unto itself. Just 24 hrs here at UWMC in Seattle and i'm recognizing the life that goes on here every day.

No tragedy in our lives, some major surgery and discomfort for my firstborn, a journey with an easy destination. Both of us sleep deprived, one of us now finally resting peacefully, healing with pain managed. One of us feeling surprisingly vulnerable, laid open emotionally, as the nurses take gentle care of everything they can.

This really is a place of Staying In the Moment, and of many opportunities, probably the greatest to have some bonding and trusting time together with the child, now adult. The comfort of a familiar voice, quiet talking in the dark when sleep won't come, being there and just being.

I used to work on cruise ships, giant floating hotels. There is a glamour about them, walking through the beautifully appointed lounges and galleries from one end of the ship to the other to get to my job -- playing with children. I can't deny, the travel was amazing and I loved it.

Most crew members' contracts take them away from home for at least six months at a time. The money is good enough to keep them coming back to the job, but it means watching their families grow up via Skype.  I did one six month contract and halfway through found myself dreaming that I was home, just one day, petting my cat and watering my plants.

When I'd ask someone what they were most looking forward to when they were going home, it was always, always, the simple things:

"I can't wait to be walking my dog in the park." "Sitting in the backyard." "Having a barbecue." "Going fishing. Going to a ball game." and of course "Hugging my children."

We get to do that stuff every day. Bringing a little extra awareness to our ordinary activities can make them extraordinary.

This week, I want to explore asking two empowering questions presented in a short, impromptu workshop by Avram Gonzales,  a coach I highly respect.

First, what's an empowering question? An empowering question opens up the energy surrounding possibilities that are available to you.  It's not meant to be answered.

The two  open-ended questions Avram offered us last week were: "What would it be like to  ________?" and "What would it take  ________?"

A couple of really simple examples might be, "What would it be like to be completely debt-free and have money pouring into my bank account?"

"What would it be like to wake up every morning feeling energized and enthusiastic about the day?"

Health, wealth, relationship, friendship, parenting, anything

What are some of your questions?  Can you write them down?  I'll be writing about this the rest of the week just because I find it so interesting.