I found this piece I wrote almost 20 years ago in my files...the message is still so helpful!
I was talking with a friend the other day who was visibly stressed and feeling a bit at the end of her rope. “I have too much to do today,” she said as tearfully, “I know I can’t get it all done.” As I furtively slid her caffeinated beverage a bit out of her reach, I could only sympathize with her, having felt very much like that myself. I thought of my own morning. Ten minutes before getting my eight-year-old out the door, he announced that he just remembered that he was supposed to make a boat for school, and it was due this morning. Not only that, it had to float…not only that, it was NOT just for fun, it was an actual assignment!” (I wasn’t quite sure what a non-actual assignment was in second grade, but his hysteria and a ticking clock didn’t allow me the time to ask). We donned a spoon, a bar of soap, and I frantically scrapped a well in the soap bar as my son frantically colored cross bones on a pirate flag. With super glue in hand, the cross bones became a mast, which was attached by toothpick atop the bar of soap. Three minutes and counting, we attached the rudder by way of another toothpick to the back of the soap. Voila, I thought, and looked at him for a high five. I was met by a look of slight disappointment. “What?” I asked. He shrugged, “I mean, the rudder doesn’t spin.” I took a deep breath “Daniel…” I started to say, “No, it’s fine, ” he interrupted, realizing I was about to launch into a diatribe about his history of forgetting about class assignments thus far in his very young life. He jumped off the chair and headed into the laundry room with a minute and a half to spare to throw on his snow gear, find his lost mitten (which lay on the floor of the garage, not having made it inside from the previous day),and race out the door to the bus. All that was left was for me to run and wave my arms like a mad woman behind him, screaming for the bus to “PLEEEEZE wait!” As the bus stopped, doors opened, disappearing my son, I stood there breathlessly, realizing I’d already broken a sweat and it wasn’t even 7:30 am. My day was officially off to a start! (And, just for the record, my second-grader was no worse for wear…this was par the course!) This, in some shape or form, is typical for many of us. We don’t know what is headed our way until it slams into us. Throw on top of all that the day-to-day things that are needed just to keep a family, a life, and for many of us, also a job, afloat. We juggle Suzi’s volleyball tryouts, put together power point presentation on the efficacy of a new business model, get three children to the dentist, plan the PTO teacher appreciation dinner, and do nutritional meal planning for the family, just to name a few (Okay, so sometimes it’s not always even close to a nutritional meal but more like a McDonalds' drive thru!) What if the madness could just stop? Or at the very least, become more manageable. What if we were the culprits of the added stress because we had false expectations of ourselves? My tearful friend went on to say to me that she felt so overwhelmed by what she had on her plate, that often she found herself in a place where she couldn’t get anything done. She felt, as she said “paralyzed.” I believe that many of us struggle with this because, quite frankly, a list that has an unrealistic set of goals just provides a breeding ground for us to feel like we’re failing. We are not inspired by greatness; we may not even be inspired to get out of bed. The good news…The Universe can help! Interestingly, a while back, I was listening to an Abraham Hicks presentation. Abraham is a guide who is channeled through Esther Hicks, with the help of Jerry Hicks. In this session that I was listening to, Abraham was relaying how Esther had experienced much of the stresses of not getting everything done, as so many of us do. As she sat in a coffee shop at breakfast, Abraham suggested to her that she take the paper placemat in front of her and fold it in half. On the left side of the mat, she was instructed to write her name at the top. On the right side of the mat, she was instructed to write the word “Universe” at the top. She was then told to list only the items on the left side that truly had to be done by her, that day. Everything else was to be listed on the right side of the mat. These were things that either she would ask that the Universe to help her with, or they were simply things that she would target as goals to be done by her another day. Esther did just that. As she states, the interesting thing is that the Universe really did begin taking care of much of the business on the right side of the mat. Once she let go and let “God” or Higher Spirit, take over, much of the things that she felt responsible for simply took care of themselves, or no longer needed to be done. Each day she would redo her list and re-write on her own “left” side the items that she intended to get done in that 24-hour time span. She reported that her stress level subsided substantially and that she was able to get so much more done than she ever had, feeling good and accomplished. She was no longer stressed out by the fact that she couldn’t do it all, because her “to-do” list was getting done. She took care of what was needed, and she then had more time for herself, allowing herself the time that had, miraculously, become free. In today’s world, who wouldn’t want that? Allowing for the Universe does not require anything from us other than letting go and being clear of our intention to receive assistance. We do not need to know how the Universe does its job; we just need to trust that it can. When we trust in the fact that we are each a part of this much greater whole, we can let go holding all of the weight on our shoulders. We can literally lighten up. We can be in the moment, living the experiences of the here and now because the “what if’s” of tomorrow just don’t exist in today. To be present is truly a gift and there is beauty in each moment. When we are aligned with the Spirit, our lives move in ease, and we appreciate All that Is because we are in the flow. Our being is enough. We learn to stop holding ourselves against unrealistic expectations about what we must do for everyone else, and we instead trust that we are doing exactly what we should be, right here and right now. We ask the Universe to support us in all of our efforts, and we laugh at ourselves when we question and think, ‘How is that going to happen?” We step out of ego and back into Spirit and we remind ourselves that we don’t need to know the “how’s” of the how it all works…we just need to have faith of a master plan and remember that we are each a part of that. I invite you to give it a try. Miraculously, you might just find that everything that needs to fall into place simply does; your boat, just like my son’s, effortlessly stays afloat. The only thing missing is the stress.
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As I took time on Saturday night to prepare our New Year's Eve dinner, it occurred to me that this was symbolic for the New Year. If we take the time to envision, to plan, to care for and to intend our desired outcome, pretending it in, if you will, we create our own reality into fruition. I was reminded to put attention on what it is that I do want - and that is the secret. Your higher mind doesn't differentiate between what you focus on - it delivers. When we focus on what it is that we DO want, without getting there by telling the old story of how we got where we are, the reasons we are where we are, all of that, we can literally get our wish of what it is that we desire out there...and the universe then can go to work to deliver. Take the time, set the table, let the dough rise...all in preparation for what brings your joy!
As we had dinner with our son and his new wife the other night, we got the low down on their fabulous two-week honeymoon to Greece and Italy. Jenni is big into social medial so throughout the trip, we were able to see highlights of gorgeous beaches, quaint villages, amazing sunsets and their beautiful faces enjoying it all along the way. One of our favorite shots we’d seen on Instagram was the two of them together on a moped – Ben driving and Jenni on the back, snapping shots as they meandered down and around the beautiful Tuscan landscape and into breathtaking wineries along the way. The scenery – and the two of them could not have been more perfect and happier. As we began our meal, Jenni went on to tell us the true story behind that day – as she said, “What goes on behind the Instagram post.”
You are entitled to miracles because of what you are.
You will receive miracles because of what God is. You will give miracles because you are one with God. -The Course in Miracles As I sit here on my deck on a beautiful morning in August, feeling the breeze, hearing the birds and appreciating the sunlight as it glimpses through the clouds, almost as though purposely orchestrated with the sights and sounds that surround me, I know without question that there is a higher source to all of life, touching every creation ever thought, imagined or manifested. I’ve also come to realize that I am one of those miracles of creation as well. This realization is not boastful in nature but rather a simple acceptance of the knowing of what is…and what has always been. I wonder in this moment when I stopped having this knowing and understanding of the world because, as these seemingly simple concepts return to me, there is such an earie sense of familiarity – with that I know two things are certain. One, I’ve known this all before so this is not a new discovery, but a rekindling of an old. Two, what I’ve thought about myself and the world from the time since I forgot all of this and now to the now, I’ve created a reality during that time not based on what is, but on what I thought should be. And what I thought, believed and practiced could not have been further from the truth. What I’ve come to realize is that I am, the world is, all is…so very simple. What all of this is, in the end, is love. And everything else in between, our “creation,” if you will, was simply fear materialized because we declared it so. Family. This word has a great deal of meaning to each individual, and the meaning means so many different things to everyone. For me, I was fortunate to have grown up with parents that loved me, and sisters that also loved me too, although we often had times, especially my older sister and I, that we didn’t like each other very much. I think, as I look back on those times, that we both were emerging into who we were to become out of such different chrysalises. Who we ultimately became was so completely different from one another; it makes a lot of sense that we didn’t have much of a connection early on to one another. I grew to love my older sister in such a profound way when I saw how she interacted and loved my own children. One of my favorite photos I have of her is her, in a bathing suit with sea soaked hair, with my two daughters, donned in snorkeling get up complete with flippers, having emerged from the cove at our Hawaiian resort. After seeing Jaws in 1970, my fear of sharks precluded me from getting any further than waist deep in that water (I know, I know – a ridiculous result from a movie in which you can literally see the cables pulling the fake shark in almost every angle). As for my younger sister, she and I grew to like each other, a bit earlier. Being four years older than my younger sister, I just didn’t appreciate her until we were both young adults. She has the biggest heart of anyone I know and she parents so much like I do that we quickly became each other’s go to once we had children. When my sister, Kellie, hugs you, she holds on for an extended time and it is in that time that you feel your heart connect to hers. She is a true gift to this world and I cannot imagine the world without her.
I’ve come to understand that my family, this family of mine from my early years, was not the norm for most, or at least that is true for my extended family, my family of friends, as I learned later in life. Having two stable parents that love you seems now to me, in retrospection, to have been a luxury that I so didn’t appreciate at the time because I thought it was what everyone else had. That just wasn’t the case for so many that I know today but it gave me a foundation that I have so appreciated. Hand’s down, Easter has always been my favorite Holiday. It always signified to me that spring had sprung, and that meant that there were a lot of great things on the horizon – end of the school year, my birthday, and endless hours of summer in which we could play night games well into the evening in our neighborhood. In Northern California, quite different from the cold Easters my own children have shivered through and grown up in, my sisters and I donned our short sleeve Easter dresses, white gloves and shiny dress shoes, loaded into the station wagon with my parents, and went to Easter service. We would return home feeling the “buzz” in the air promising an Easter Egg hunt, baskets, and chocolate bunnies – it was the one time of the year when my Mom didn’t restrict our sugar intake – my sister Kellie used discretion about this – my sister Kymberly and I absolutely did not!
This week was an incredible week for me in so many ways. As it was happening, and as I had time to reflect on what had happened, it occurred to me that this happening wasn’t an event or series of events at all; it was nothing more that me seeing for the first time what was there all along. I, for the first time, truly experienced the act of surrender – of letting go of orchestrating – taking a breath and taking pause, allowing for all the pieces to come together. And as I did, I had a front row seat to watching my intentions miraculously begin to materialize.
As I am working through the book, “A Course in Miracles,” I am at the section where the writing introduces the mantra of “I am not a body, I am free. I am still as God created me.” As I do my reading and then incorporate this mantra with the words and thoughts of the day, I have discovered that this actually is true! - And that truth is so freeing because it allows me, for the first time that I can recall, to experience fearlessness. Within this process of my own “Miracle”, I have come to understand the knowing that I am really not a body at all; I am actually a spirit. As such, I am beginning to understand that God created me as a spark of light and love as an expression of His own likeness, and that light, my light, is eternal…As it turns out, my body is just along for the ride.
These are my favorite pair of jean shorts, or at least I’ve thought that for over 25 years. I purchased these shorts for probably less than 20 dollars. I don’t really recall but I know they weren’t expensive. They’ve been with me since my early 30’s and have defined me since the day that I brought them home. What you see is just a simple picture of a pair of shorts. For me, these shorts have been so much more – they have over the years set the stage for how I feel about myself. They have been the corner stone of my self worth in the most simplest of forms, in the most basic of measurement.
My father was the first teacher I had who shared with me just how powerful our intentions can be. I’d understood intention on a basic level, however my father’s story about how the power of intention had worked for him in attaining something that he dreamed into fruition was powerful was example and one I wanted to explore further. My father’s experience was a living example of how he, through intention, had made his dream into his reality. It would be years before he could put some definition around what he’d experienced so unwittingly as a young kid. It wouldn’t be until he was in his 40’s a book when he first came across a book written by John K. Williams titled “The Knack of Using your Subconscious Mind.” This book, for the first time, put a definition to his experience that day. It was the first time that he understood that what had happened happened because he had held an intention with such belief that his subconscious mind had made it so.
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AuthorKristyn Baker, CECP, is an intuitive energy healer and writer. Her forty years of working with energy medicine has evolved as she has expanded her own healing abilities and understandings. Combining her abilities as an Emotion Code practitioner and Simpson Protocol practioner with her intuitive insights and channeling, opens opportunities to heal and to release what no longer serves. . Archives
January 2023
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