Someone I used to work with is stepping out of her comfort zone big-time for her daughter. She is jumping into a frigid Minnesota lake in the dead of winter this Saturday, March 7th, 2009, as a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. When my children were little I did such a grand venture simply for a t-shirt, and mostly to fulfill an ego gratification for bragging rights for the rest of my life. :-) She's doing it for a much more noble cause. I applaud her for that.
I've waited this long to blog about this because I wanted to find out what the Twitter community in general (and internet community at large) were capable of. Here goal is $1,000; as of this writing, she has $525 to go. I would love to see how many people go out to this web page -- http://www.specialolympicsminnesota.org/Polar_Plunge_App.php?step=pledge&action=showwebpage&event_id=9®id=6180&team_id=928 -- and step up to the hole in the ice with her in spirit by contributing toward her cause. I thought it would be really cool if 525 people around the planet chipped in $1.00 and a little note letting her know that her efforts to do what she can for her daughter are appreciated. Of course, if the Spirit moves you to chip in more, I'm sure it will be welcome!
Wouldn't we all like that kind of encouragement when we're stepping out of our comfort zone for our family?
Please forward this blog entry to anyone you know who would benefit from helping out a mom who is helping out her daughter. Your encouragement is greatly appreciated. As a reader of Simple Intentions, or a follower of @SmplIntentions on Twitter, I thank you from my heart.
Enjoy the day! Namaste
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Love is All You Need
No one and no thing will fill the void you feel within you. You will achieve the goal, acquire the item or the love of another, and will still feel unsettled and unsatisfied. Go within, release what holds the void in place, and allow the Love of the Universe to fill the empty space within. Then go share that Love with others…not to fill any void within them, but to show them what you did and what you found. The best you can do for another is to be a good example.
Enjoy the day! Namaste
Enjoy the day! Namaste
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Guidelines for the Intention Circle
This blog entry is intended to provide guidelines for the Intention Circle that Simple Intentions is facilitating. I hesitate to use the word ‘rules’ here; usually that’s such a rigid set of instructions to play under. This is more of an explanation of how the whole process is intended to operate…a framework, if you will. My hope is to keep this as simple as possible. More than likely this will be tweaked over time.
Purpose:
The purpose of this Intention Circle is to give everyone an opportunity to create and allow a miracle in their life, through communion with the Universe (or whatever name you give the concept of a Higher Power) and the people within it who are applying their spiritual practice for their own benefit and the greater good. There is tremendous power in focusing your intention and attention on an outcome. There is even more power when many people focus their intention on the same outcome. And following the Law of Karma, what you put out into the world always comes back to you…multiplied. So this truly becomes a win-win situation for everyone involved.
Your role as requestor:
As you prepare to tweet your request, please keep in mind the following:
- We live in a universe of thoughts and emotions. Everything that has ever been created has first come from a thought and an emotion. Everything.
- You do not need to fully understand the Laws of the Universe in order to work with them in this context. Everyone in the Intention Circle is acting on your behalf to support you in this purpose. Your knowledge and understanding will improve.
- Know that whatever you intend will come to you. Be open to what is happening and trust all is well.
- To the Universe, time is simply another dimension…like physical distance is to us. Thus, “when” a retweet occurs isn’t as important as the fact “that” it occurs. When you tweet your request, know that it will be retweeted to the group as soon as possible. If that doesn’t take place for an hour or two – or even half a day – do not be concerned. If you do not see it within 24 hours of submitting it, however, please send it again. Technology is not perfect, and there’s always the potential of a message getting missed or falling through the cracks.
Send your request in either of two ways:
- As a reply to @SmplIntentions. This will be displayed not only to me but to anyone else who follows you.
- As a direct message: “d SmplIntentions …” Your identity will be kept in confidence, as I will strip away the twitter login before retweeting the request.
Your role in the Intentions Circle:
If you already have a spiritual practice that you use to commune with the Universe, then you’re all set. All you need to do is keep doing what you have been doing, with the introduction of three actions to your practice:
- Spend a few moments every day contemplating the topic of the week. There are 13 topics that become a focus for a few minutes of your daily spiritual practice. One topic is taken each week, from Sunday to Saturday. When the cycle has been completed, we start again with topic #1. This allows everyone – initial participants and newcomers – an opportunity to complete a cycle in a very short period of time (13 weeks = about 3 months). The topics are:
- Gratitude
- Abundance
- Non-judgment / Discernment
- Faith
- Forgiveness
- Communication
- Knowledge
- Love
- Courage
- Health
- Harmony / Understanding
- Unity
- Peace
- Spend a few moments every day reading the tweets that come from @SmplIntentions. They will be any of three possible messages:
- A reminder of this week’s topic.
- A request for a spiritual practice (if anyone asks for such an intention during the previous day.)
- A request for a miracle or other intention. (If this volume becomes too large, I will post the requests as a blog entry and tweet that link to you.)
- Spend a few moments every day in your spiritual practice, with the intention of benefiting everyone who asks for an intention. You can pick a specific request that resonates with you, or apply your time for the intentions of everyone on the list. If something resonates with you strongly, may I suggest you ask the Universe why and work on that first before proceeding. Remember, this can be as much a healing process for you as for the other.
As a practice, I will not make recommendations for readings on the topics. There is such a wealth of information available that it seems redundant to do so. Allow yourself to be open to the information that comes to you or, if you choose, seek out materials to read that expand your understanding of the topic of the week.
Having said this, if something happens in my experience that may be useful to the group, I will blog it at simpleintentions.blogspot.com and send out the link. I invite you to do the same as a reply to @SmplIntentions.
If you do not yet have a spiritual practice to apply, I suggest your first action is to make that your first intention, and then commit yourself to following along with us through an entire 13-week course. Following others who are following Simple Intentions is a great way to open yourself up to receiving information on a spiritual practice to follow.
Expressions of Gratitude:
If you feel compelled to offer something in appreciation for receiving the benefits of your request, let me offer the following suggestions:
- Share your experience: Send a reply to @SmplIntentions with any comments you would like to share with people who are set up to watch these replies (see “A Further Suggestion” below).
- Pay it back: Continue following @SmplIntentions with the desire to improve your spiritual practice by benefiting yourself, others and All That Is.
- Pay if forward: Invite others to join @SmplIntentions, sharing with them any benefits or gains you have received from your participation in any role.
- Donate: In the future, there will be a page that you may use to send a donation. Simple Intentions is not a non-profit enterprise, so your donation is not tax deductible. The donation page will not be available for the foreseeable future; the focus right now is benefiting the people who participate with their time and spiritual talents.
A Further Suggestion:
As an option, consider using a tool that will allow you to follow replies to @SmplIntentions. TweetBeep.com is an excellent tool for this purpose. Then you can read messages that are sent to @SmplIntentions. (Note: At the time of this writing, TweetBeep.com is experiencing problems with their server. I will make other suggestions for keyword following as I receive them.)
My role:
My role as facilitator for the group is to make certain the requestor’s message is retweeted to the rest of the group. I will perform this task graciously at least once per day. While I will do my best to stay on top of this responsibility, please note that right now I do have a day job, so this will not always come first in my to-do list.
I will reserve the right to change the text of a request in order to align it with what I understand to be the principles the Universe operate under, for the stated intention of creating a miracle and benefiting All That Is. If a request comes in the form of a negative, I will change it to a positive: Something of the form “Please help me get even with so and so” will likely look like “Someone intends to get in harmony with their adversary”, or something like that.
The Universe’s role:
The Universe was putting together the resources needed to fulfill your request before you had made the decision to ask. Remember, time and space are simply dimensions the Universe operates in. It’s at the moment that you make the decision that the Universe goes to work putting everything in place and sending you on your way. Once your request is made, be mindful of opportunities that present themselves on your path, and always be grateful for whatever comes.
As one who is including a request as part of your spiritual practice, be mindful that you are performing a great and wonderful service not only for yourself and for the requestor, but for the entire Universe as well. What you sow, you will also reap. And what you ask for will be granted unto you as well…multiplied.
Thank you, friends, for your time and attention. As always, I hope you find benefit in these words.
Enjoy the day! Namaste
Sunday, December 28, 2008
New Beginnings
Hello, friends.
It has been just over a year since I posted my last blog entry. I won't begin to explain what has happened in that time...it is in the past, and for much of it I prefer to keep it that way. For the moment, let's just say that it has been a sea change for me that I knew had to come, but would have appreciated it occurring in a different manner.
For one thing, I no longer own my own business as a primary means of income. Currently I'm on a three-month contract-to-hire as a database administrator with a very busy, very growth-oriented company in the Minneapolis / St. Paul metro area. My commute on a good day is an hour one way, which has given me a great deal of time behind the wheel to ponder my life...and to release some of the beliefs, thoughts and feelings that have really bound me up over the years. It's a transition that I've been avoiding for several months, but once I jumped into the new work situation and all of its aspects, it turned out to be not near as bad as I had feared (except for the winter driving, which pretty much doubles my time on the road). Nonetheless, I'm grateful for the employment and look forward to the time ahead with this new employer.
I've also started scribing a serial science fiction story. (My author page on authspot.com is
http://www.authspot.com/writers/NeoSciFiScribe.92867) Chapter 1 took no time at all to type up and put online. In contrast, I've tried 3 times unsuccessfully to write chapter 2 which, in part, is why it remains unpublished two months after chapter 1 went up on the site. I think I've been trying too hard; I can envision what takes place, but have struggled with the words. The storyline is amazing. I've seen glimpses in my mind's eye of various parts of the story...all three stories, actually. The current story is part one of a trilogy, but not a trilogy in the traditional sense. Instead of the stories occurring consecutively, parts two and three actually occur within the timeline of part one. They provide a deeper texture and context to the story that has
already taken place, yet for the most part stand independent of each other and of the overarching story line. Thus, you get a deeper experience in reading all three, but are not completely lost if you read them out of sequence or skip one part altogether. (They will make terrific theater, in my humble opinion.) I just need to make myself available more to scribe the text.
I'm still in the midst of the sea change that is occurring in my life...more on that in the future as it unfolds. Right now, I'm not necessarily writing about THAT part of my future as much as I am about something else that has presented itself. It comes from equal parts revulsion and inspiration that I'm feeling over two separate activities that occurred on the internet recently. The revulsion part is one I'm still working through emotionally and mentally. I suspect it will come to an end someday (a sad ending, in all likelihood), at which time I can either spill my guts on the whole business or let sleeping dogs lie. I'm sure it is contributing overall to the evolution of humanity...but I'm curious if the means justify the end. Right now, it has provided motivation for me to let go of a lot of negativity and ill feelings I didn't realize I had, and to get off my butt and do something that I hope will prove worthwhile to a lot of people.
Now, the inspiration for this post and its successive actions over the next year comes from an entirely different source. Mark Joyner ran an experiment on Twitter and wrote about it on his blog entry dated December 20th, 2008: See http://www.markjoyner.name/logs/ for his entry. The short story of it-- Mark asked anyone who followed his twitters to write "I Love You" back to him and then, later on, asked them to forward these well wishes to 5 people they knew. The feelings of elation generated by these responses were intoxicating for him; I'm not certain how others felt, but I would only expect a similar response for those who contributed to the frenzy of loving proclamations.
So I thought to myself, what would happen if this focus and attention was directed toward an inspired outcome? What, if instead of asking someone to say "I Love You", someone wrote and asked others in the Twitter group to pray or meditate or practice whatever spiritual process they used in response to a petition or request they had? For example, if I asked "Please help
me find a job" to 1,000 people, and they "Retweeted" (Twitter parlance for "forwarded the message along") the message "I am praying for someone who is looking for a job", or "I am practicing Ho'oponopono (or the Sedona Method, or meditation, etc.) for someone who is looking for a job", and I read that response, would that help me in the context of the Laws of the Universe and assist in actually finding a job? And how would that benefit the people who are doing the praying, releasing and meditating?
And, what if during this year of spiritually responding to and for others, there were a larger framework that put context around this activity...say, a different topic to focus on every month? What if time was spent contemplating a particular subject (gratitude, abundance, faith, etc.), and the thoughts and feelings were joined together of the thousands of people around the world who were part of this experience? How much could be accomplished with all this spiritual contemplation?
To put some perspective on this, there is currently a @Prayers account on Twitter. I am one of 247 followers, and the account to date has had 342 postings. Most of the postings are requests for prayers on a variety of issues and concerns. For the most part, the postings have been centered in the Christian faith. I'm envisioning an experience 40 times this in scale, inviting people of all beliefs and spiritual practices. I believe 10,000 people around the world contributing to this endeavor would make a huge difference!
So, I've decided to put myself out there and start the experience rolling. Over the next few days, I will establish an account on Twitter and post in my blog an entry on how to join in on this adventure, and how I anticipate it to manifest -- suggesting a few ground rules, setting expectations, etc. If you have an interest in joining in, please stop back in a few days and have a
look. Please forward this to anyone who you believe would be interested in taking this spiritual journey in 2009...I would be humbled and honored if they joined in.
Thank you, friend, for your time and attention. Thank you for your patience with me as I get back on the task of writing what I know and experience, hoping that it helps you in some small, measurable way.
Enjoy the day! Namaste
It has been just over a year since I posted my last blog entry. I won't begin to explain what has happened in that time...it is in the past, and for much of it I prefer to keep it that way. For the moment, let's just say that it has been a sea change for me that I knew had to come, but would have appreciated it occurring in a different manner.
For one thing, I no longer own my own business as a primary means of income. Currently I'm on a three-month contract-to-hire as a database administrator with a very busy, very growth-oriented company in the Minneapolis / St. Paul metro area. My commute on a good day is an hour one way, which has given me a great deal of time behind the wheel to ponder my life...and to release some of the beliefs, thoughts and feelings that have really bound me up over the years. It's a transition that I've been avoiding for several months, but once I jumped into the new work situation and all of its aspects, it turned out to be not near as bad as I had feared (except for the winter driving, which pretty much doubles my time on the road). Nonetheless, I'm grateful for the employment and look forward to the time ahead with this new employer.
I've also started scribing a serial science fiction story. (My author page on authspot.com is
http://www.authspot.com/writers/NeoSciFiScribe.92867) Chapter 1 took no time at all to type up and put online. In contrast, I've tried 3 times unsuccessfully to write chapter 2 which, in part, is why it remains unpublished two months after chapter 1 went up on the site. I think I've been trying too hard; I can envision what takes place, but have struggled with the words. The storyline is amazing. I've seen glimpses in my mind's eye of various parts of the story...all three stories, actually. The current story is part one of a trilogy, but not a trilogy in the traditional sense. Instead of the stories occurring consecutively, parts two and three actually occur within the timeline of part one. They provide a deeper texture and context to the story that has
already taken place, yet for the most part stand independent of each other and of the overarching story line. Thus, you get a deeper experience in reading all three, but are not completely lost if you read them out of sequence or skip one part altogether. (They will make terrific theater, in my humble opinion.) I just need to make myself available more to scribe the text.
I'm still in the midst of the sea change that is occurring in my life...more on that in the future as it unfolds. Right now, I'm not necessarily writing about THAT part of my future as much as I am about something else that has presented itself. It comes from equal parts revulsion and inspiration that I'm feeling over two separate activities that occurred on the internet recently. The revulsion part is one I'm still working through emotionally and mentally. I suspect it will come to an end someday (a sad ending, in all likelihood), at which time I can either spill my guts on the whole business or let sleeping dogs lie. I'm sure it is contributing overall to the evolution of humanity...but I'm curious if the means justify the end. Right now, it has provided motivation for me to let go of a lot of negativity and ill feelings I didn't realize I had, and to get off my butt and do something that I hope will prove worthwhile to a lot of people.
Now, the inspiration for this post and its successive actions over the next year comes from an entirely different source. Mark Joyner ran an experiment on Twitter and wrote about it on his blog entry dated December 20th, 2008: See http://www.markjoyner.name/logs/ for his entry. The short story of it-- Mark asked anyone who followed his twitters to write "I Love You" back to him and then, later on, asked them to forward these well wishes to 5 people they knew. The feelings of elation generated by these responses were intoxicating for him; I'm not certain how others felt, but I would only expect a similar response for those who contributed to the frenzy of loving proclamations.
So I thought to myself, what would happen if this focus and attention was directed toward an inspired outcome? What, if instead of asking someone to say "I Love You", someone wrote and asked others in the Twitter group to pray or meditate or practice whatever spiritual process they used in response to a petition or request they had? For example, if I asked "Please help
me find a job" to 1,000 people, and they "Retweeted" (Twitter parlance for "forwarded the message along") the message "I am praying for someone who is looking for a job", or "I am practicing Ho'oponopono (or the Sedona Method, or meditation, etc.) for someone who is looking for a job", and I read that response, would that help me in the context of the Laws of the Universe and assist in actually finding a job? And how would that benefit the people who are doing the praying, releasing and meditating?
And, what if during this year of spiritually responding to and for others, there were a larger framework that put context around this activity...say, a different topic to focus on every month? What if time was spent contemplating a particular subject (gratitude, abundance, faith, etc.), and the thoughts and feelings were joined together of the thousands of people around the world who were part of this experience? How much could be accomplished with all this spiritual contemplation?
To put some perspective on this, there is currently a @Prayers account on Twitter. I am one of 247 followers, and the account to date has had 342 postings. Most of the postings are requests for prayers on a variety of issues and concerns. For the most part, the postings have been centered in the Christian faith. I'm envisioning an experience 40 times this in scale, inviting people of all beliefs and spiritual practices. I believe 10,000 people around the world contributing to this endeavor would make a huge difference!
So, I've decided to put myself out there and start the experience rolling. Over the next few days, I will establish an account on Twitter and post in my blog an entry on how to join in on this adventure, and how I anticipate it to manifest -- suggesting a few ground rules, setting expectations, etc. If you have an interest in joining in, please stop back in a few days and have a
look. Please forward this to anyone who you believe would be interested in taking this spiritual journey in 2009...I would be humbled and honored if they joined in.
Thank you, friend, for your time and attention. Thank you for your patience with me as I get back on the task of writing what I know and experience, hoping that it helps you in some small, measurable way.
Enjoy the day! Namaste
Thursday, December 20, 2007
My Christmas Prayer to You
I offer this simple prayer to you in hopes that your days ahead are filled with peace and love. Please pass it on. Enjoy the day...Namaste
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I love you.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry for anything said or done, by me or anyone with whom you and I associate, which has caused you pain or sorrow. I’m sorry for anything that has not been said or done, by me or anyone with whom we associate, that has resulted in your pain or sorrow. I’m sorry for anything that has happened to cause you suffering, for as long as we have been with each other…for as far back in our past as either of us realize.
Please forgive me. Please forgive these moments when your experience of me in your life results in pain and sorrow to you. Please forgive these thoughts and feelings I have, the actions I take as a result of them, and the harsh consequences they bring upon you.
Thank you! Thank you for being You, for being in my life. Thank you the forgiveness you offer me in return for my contrition. Thank you for your petition to the Divine on my behalf, for the purpose of forgiving my thoughts and feelings of fear that result in ill-fated moments between us. Thank you for turning these fearful thoughts and feelings into Love.
I love you!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I love you.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry for anything said or done, by me or anyone with whom you and I associate, which has caused you pain or sorrow. I’m sorry for anything that has not been said or done, by me or anyone with whom we associate, that has resulted in your pain or sorrow. I’m sorry for anything that has happened to cause you suffering, for as long as we have been with each other…for as far back in our past as either of us realize.
Please forgive me. Please forgive these moments when your experience of me in your life results in pain and sorrow to you. Please forgive these thoughts and feelings I have, the actions I take as a result of them, and the harsh consequences they bring upon you.
Thank you! Thank you for being You, for being in my life. Thank you the forgiveness you offer me in return for my contrition. Thank you for your petition to the Divine on my behalf, for the purpose of forgiving my thoughts and feelings of fear that result in ill-fated moments between us. Thank you for turning these fearful thoughts and feelings into Love.
I love you!
I'm learning how to blog
You will note an addition along the right margin of my blog, on my evaluating a course in blogging from the same company that produces Simpleology. I'm doing this for at least two reasons:
- I want to make certain I'm providing the best for you that I possibly can. I know I can write well, but can I blog well? That's what I want to learn.
- I would certainly enjoy making a blog for profit as well as fun. Whether or not it is this blog or another one I write remains to be seen.
In any event, I'm grateful for the opportunity to take the course. I will weigh in on it after I've completed it.
Enjoy the day! Namaste
- I want to make certain I'm providing the best for you that I possibly can. I know I can write well, but can I blog well? That's what I want to learn.
- I would certainly enjoy making a blog for profit as well as fun. Whether or not it is this blog or another one I write remains to be seen.
In any event, I'm grateful for the opportunity to take the course. I will weigh in on it after I've completed it.
Enjoy the day! Namaste
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
In the big picture, we all are...
I've been busy. Not an excuse for failing to write here...I've spent my free time as lavishly as I have ever done, and perhaps not as haphazardly as I used to. It depends on your perspective. In any event, I could have taken the time to write, but until now I've had nothing I could articulate properly that would justify taking time away from anything else.
I've had opportunity to do a lot of soul searching since my last post. I'm travelling more for my work nowadays than I used to, and windshield time is a wonderful way to get in touch with yourself if you leave the radio off. I've realized that the radio is a great way to temporarily dumb down the voices in your head, but overall has little value if you're working toward achieving enlightenment. I'm looking for inspiration more often than I am entertainment or information, and real life encounters provide far more inspiration to me than anything else.
I realized, too, after several comments from friends who read my blog, that I can't simply be another person who contributes to the global dia-blog at an average or below-average level. Your time is far too valuable to be taken for granted, and so is mine. My time spent away from my keyboard is usually spent with my family, and lately during this holiday season, my friends. I do not intend to depart from any lifetime wishing I would have spent more time at the office, or at work, or even writing.
What I choose to write about has to come from my soul and touch yours, or I've wasted both our time.
Having said that, what I'm about to express in terms of gratitude seems morose if taken in the wrong context. Please read straight through before rendering judgment.
I've had encounters recently with a few people who are, at the moment, less fortunate than me. One gentleman told me his story about how he bought a one-way bus ticket from Milwaukee to look up a lady friend here in the Twin Cities. He had no address or phone number for her, only knew that she worked in one of the hospitals in the area. I was sitting in the Crystal Court at the IDS Tower, waiting for my wife and daughter to finish a little shopping, and was engaged in asking this gentleman questions around his predicament: What was the name of the lady-friend (to see if I could Google her for him)? Where is he staying? How is he getting home? What about the apartment and job he left behind? (Basically, I was vetting him for what came next.) I asked him what I could do to help. He thanked me for the time spent talking with him, and asked if I could spare a few dollars to go toward a meal. I did what I felt I could and wished him well. I didn't know at the time why I felt compelled to ask him so many questions, and yet felt good that I did what I thought was the best I could do.
Fast forward to about 2 hours ago. I'm on my way to my hotel for the evening, and miss my exit off the freeway. A few miles down I take the exit I know has a way to get back onto the freeway going the other direction. This is within the Twin Cities metro, on I-394 going into Minneapolis, and invariably some soul is standing at the top of the exit hoping for a handout. I forget this reality until he stares me in the face as I approach the top of the off-ramp. This evening there was a gentleman, probably in his 50s, with long white hair and a beard, and the stub of a cigarette in his mouth. He was not standing with his sign, but sitting on the ground (20 degrees above with a little wind, in case you're wondering about the weather). I dug through my wallet and gave him what I felt I could; he expressed the humble gratitude of someone in his predicament. With two left turns I was back on the highway and he was gone from my experience.
As I left him and turned back down the highway, I was asking the questions to myself this time: Why did I give him such a paltry amount? I could have done a lot more for him...why didn't I? It was only when I got to the hotel that I realized what that encounter was to me: A reality check on my own perception of where I stood in life, right at this moment. In my youth I aspired to be the Good Samaritan; here I was instead checking myself against this gentleman who needed whatever I had much more than I possibly did. By the time I decided to go back and make amends, he had already moved on.
The real kicker is that, as I sit here finishing up this entry, I'm thinking of the last time I had to go down to the bank to borrow some money to keep things going during my business dry spell. All the questions the banker asked me, all the inadequate answers I could only give him at the time, because those were the only answers I thought I had. I didn't blame him...that was his job. Yet it didn't feel any better being on the banker's side of the conversation as it was on the side of the two gentleman I met...in fact, in retrospect, it felt a lot worse afterward. I judged these two individuals based on who they appeared to be right now, not who they could be or who they were. And certainly not on who they are...children of the same Universe I belong to. No one ever aspires to reach the situation they were in, unless they are working themselves up from a far worse one.
What I'm grateful for is not that these poor souls are in the state they are in, but that they crossed my path when I need to meet them most. As I encounter these souls, I usually don't figure it out until after we've parted. I'm happy to say my timing is improving, although I realize I need to work on it. My goal is to get to the point where I never ask why or how, I only ask what I can do to help, and then I do more than is asked.
Because, in the big picture, we all are in the inside what we see and encounter on the outside. And to the extent I can help another soul on their journey, my journey will have been helped as well.
Thank you, dear reader, for your time. Enjoy the day! Namaste
I've had opportunity to do a lot of soul searching since my last post. I'm travelling more for my work nowadays than I used to, and windshield time is a wonderful way to get in touch with yourself if you leave the radio off. I've realized that the radio is a great way to temporarily dumb down the voices in your head, but overall has little value if you're working toward achieving enlightenment. I'm looking for inspiration more often than I am entertainment or information, and real life encounters provide far more inspiration to me than anything else.
I realized, too, after several comments from friends who read my blog, that I can't simply be another person who contributes to the global dia-blog at an average or below-average level. Your time is far too valuable to be taken for granted, and so is mine. My time spent away from my keyboard is usually spent with my family, and lately during this holiday season, my friends. I do not intend to depart from any lifetime wishing I would have spent more time at the office, or at work, or even writing.
What I choose to write about has to come from my soul and touch yours, or I've wasted both our time.
Having said that, what I'm about to express in terms of gratitude seems morose if taken in the wrong context. Please read straight through before rendering judgment.
I've had encounters recently with a few people who are, at the moment, less fortunate than me. One gentleman told me his story about how he bought a one-way bus ticket from Milwaukee to look up a lady friend here in the Twin Cities. He had no address or phone number for her, only knew that she worked in one of the hospitals in the area. I was sitting in the Crystal Court at the IDS Tower, waiting for my wife and daughter to finish a little shopping, and was engaged in asking this gentleman questions around his predicament: What was the name of the lady-friend (to see if I could Google her for him)? Where is he staying? How is he getting home? What about the apartment and job he left behind? (Basically, I was vetting him for what came next.) I asked him what I could do to help. He thanked me for the time spent talking with him, and asked if I could spare a few dollars to go toward a meal. I did what I felt I could and wished him well. I didn't know at the time why I felt compelled to ask him so many questions, and yet felt good that I did what I thought was the best I could do.
Fast forward to about 2 hours ago. I'm on my way to my hotel for the evening, and miss my exit off the freeway. A few miles down I take the exit I know has a way to get back onto the freeway going the other direction. This is within the Twin Cities metro, on I-394 going into Minneapolis, and invariably some soul is standing at the top of the exit hoping for a handout. I forget this reality until he stares me in the face as I approach the top of the off-ramp. This evening there was a gentleman, probably in his 50s, with long white hair and a beard, and the stub of a cigarette in his mouth. He was not standing with his sign, but sitting on the ground (20 degrees above with a little wind, in case you're wondering about the weather). I dug through my wallet and gave him what I felt I could; he expressed the humble gratitude of someone in his predicament. With two left turns I was back on the highway and he was gone from my experience.
As I left him and turned back down the highway, I was asking the questions to myself this time: Why did I give him such a paltry amount? I could have done a lot more for him...why didn't I? It was only when I got to the hotel that I realized what that encounter was to me: A reality check on my own perception of where I stood in life, right at this moment. In my youth I aspired to be the Good Samaritan; here I was instead checking myself against this gentleman who needed whatever I had much more than I possibly did. By the time I decided to go back and make amends, he had already moved on.
The real kicker is that, as I sit here finishing up this entry, I'm thinking of the last time I had to go down to the bank to borrow some money to keep things going during my business dry spell. All the questions the banker asked me, all the inadequate answers I could only give him at the time, because those were the only answers I thought I had. I didn't blame him...that was his job. Yet it didn't feel any better being on the banker's side of the conversation as it was on the side of the two gentleman I met...in fact, in retrospect, it felt a lot worse afterward. I judged these two individuals based on who they appeared to be right now, not who they could be or who they were. And certainly not on who they are...children of the same Universe I belong to. No one ever aspires to reach the situation they were in, unless they are working themselves up from a far worse one.
What I'm grateful for is not that these poor souls are in the state they are in, but that they crossed my path when I need to meet them most. As I encounter these souls, I usually don't figure it out until after we've parted. I'm happy to say my timing is improving, although I realize I need to work on it. My goal is to get to the point where I never ask why or how, I only ask what I can do to help, and then I do more than is asked.
Because, in the big picture, we all are in the inside what we see and encounter on the outside. And to the extent I can help another soul on their journey, my journey will have been helped as well.
Thank you, dear reader, for your time. Enjoy the day! Namaste
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