For Theres:
thinking of You!
Hello All!
During this trying economic tine, many folks are losing their jobs and this can be devastating. Maybe for some of us this is a good time to re-assess what we want to do with our lives.
For the next 3 months, I am offering my coaching services at a significantly reduced rate for those who are looking for a new job or a new career. I will work with you until you find a new position for up to 1 year for a fee of $150 per month. Typically, my fee is $300/month.
Please contact me via email if you would like to talk; I will look forward to it.
Namaste,
Sheila
On the first
day, God created dog and said:
"Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or
walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."
Dog said: "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll
give you back the other ten?"
So God agreed.
On the second day, God created monkey and said:
"Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you
a twenty-year life span."
Monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to
perform. How about I give you back ten like Dog did?"
And God agreed.
On the third day, God created cow and said:
"You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under
the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I
will give you a life span of sixty years."
Cow said: "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty
years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"
And God agreed again.
On the fourth day, God created human and said:
"Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you
twenty years."
But human said: "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty,
the forty that cow gave back, the ten that monkey gave back, and the ten that
dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"
"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."
So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy
ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family.
For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And
for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.
"Work
is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste,
it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple
and take alms of those who work with joy. For if you break bread with
indifference, you bake bitter bread that feeds but half a man’s hunger. And if
you grudge the crushing of grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man’s
ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night."
~ Kahlil Gibran, 20th century Syrian-born mystic poet,
philosopher, and artist
from The Prophet.
Hello All!
During this trying economic tine, many folks are losing their jobs and this can be devastating. Maybe for some of us this is a good time to re-assess what we want to do with our lives.
For the next 3 months, I am offering my coaching services at a significantly reduced rate for those who are looking for a new job or a new career. I will work with you until you find a new position for up to 1 year for a fee of $150 per month. Typically, my fee is $300/month.
Please contact me via email if you would like to talk; I will look forward to it.
Namaste,
Sheila
Check out this great picture: Smile !!
While you are there, Kathleen would love to hear your thoughts!
Sheila
Emerson will show up often:
Tomorrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame our own opinion from another.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I recently read "Tribes" by Seth Godin and I'm currently writing a review of it for a leadership community to which I belong. I'll post that review here also early next week. It is a fabulous book!
While reading it, I realized that I was not being true to myself about a big issue that often comes up in my coaching practice and many other areas of my life. I have kept silent on my views about the so-called "law" of attraction and the dangerous,insulting book that is called the secret.
Leadership is about taking a stand for something that one is passionate about and leading a group (or your tribe) towards change or growth, especially in the face of ridicule and rejection. We must speak our truth so as not to be a hobgoblin as Emerson so eloquently said.
I am no longer holding back - ever. Here are some thoughts about the so-called secret:
This book/video is very,very dangerous. I have clients who are having a crisis in their lives that is very real and they blame themselves for "thinking negatively." I will no longer sit back so as to not "offend" those who actually adopt this nonsense and inflict it on others. I will speak out against it every chance I get.
Namaste,
Sheila
This newsletter is from an author whose book played a significant role in following my vision of my life. Tama’s words were exactly what I needed to hear today. I wanted to share it with all of you. You can subscribe to her newsletter at:
http://www.awakeningartistry.com/index.php
In Times of Change, Wild Magic is Afoot
(Note:
This article originally appeared as the lead article in the Fall Catalog for
the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health)
Change, in all shapes and
sizes, can definitely bring out our deepest fears--but it also offers us vital
encounters with the bountiful magic of life...
We live in crackling times.
Change seems to electrify the air, in our individual lives and in the world.
The media reports sad stories, dark messages, dire predictions and warnings.
Hope is rarely broadcasted from the channels of the mainstream. Rowdy angels
rattle our cubicles and turn our retirement accounts upside down—and they will
get our attention. But the challenges of our time will spur new and remarkable
solutions. The oyster produces its jewels in response to sand. Agitation gives
birth to transformation.
I invite you to consider that
in times of change, wild magic is afoot.
For most of us going through
change, fear pounds on our door. Yet, this discomfort brings an invitation to
awaken our passion and aliveness like never before. Something larger wants to
express itself in our lives. Pain often nudges our growth or illuminates where
we have been holding back on our true selves. Most of us seem to need a pinch
of desperation to awaken our honesty and inspiration. As poet David Whyte says,
"Absent the edge, we drown in numbness."
Still, when you hit your edge, numbness looks
like Shangri-la. When it happened to me, I remember feeling as though I couldn't
breathe. My whole world felt like one of those Salvador Dali paintings, where
normal reality begins to drip and arc in unnatural ways. I had been a rising
star in the litigation department of an elite, big-city law firm. I had
graduated from Harvard Law School with honors and with grand expectations about
my future security. I had consciously avoided the flimsy foot bridge of risk,
but deep down, I knew I wanted to become a writer. I chose law instead because
I wanted financial free dom, baubles, and safety—but I hadn't counted on the
ruthless mercy of the soul. I didn't know that you can only avoid yourself for
so long before the truth hits the fan.
I never imagined that my life
could get so out of control (and I certainly never imagined that I'd eventually
bless the day it did). But I found myself sitting at a beach in California,
watching the waves and realizing I didn't want to live anymore. I couldn't bear
to practice law in that office one more day. But I also refused to leave my
job, my identity, my income, and everything I knew. Of course, I was fighting
the inevitable. The soul's true desire has infinite strength. The creative part
of me, the one I had always considered weak, frivolous, and negligible, had the
power to bring about depression, rage, and even the willingness to die. I felt
helpless and stripped of all my previous powers to function. In the end it was
my vulnerability that gave rise to my greatest freedom and joy. I stopped
defending the life that was caving in. I let the last precious scraps fall from
my hands. Now I was available to spirit. Just a few weeks later, without a
viable plan or income, I walked out of my safe career and into the next phase
of my life.
I found it absolutely
terrifying to walk into the unknown. I didn't care how many spiritual books
said peace would come from letting go of control. I read every one of them with
clenched white knuckles. "You will find your way," said my therapist.
She clearly had me confused with someone lucid and resourceful. Still I came for
more sessions. It felt important to hear these reassuring messages.
Gradually I found my way, or
more accurately "the way" found me, breath by breath, as it always
does. I wrote about this journey in my first book, This Time I Dance! Creating the Work You Love.
The alchemy of change had tempered my fear into absolute wonder, and I wrote:
"I've become someone who trusts that though I feel as fragile as a flaming
leaf in autumn, I house the capacity of a tidal wave, a meteor shower, a white
tornado of inspiration. I've become someone who believes that every human being
has a tornado just beneath the skin and that we are meant to live our dreams so
that we can discover that natural force within us that blows constriction
away."
For years now, I've taught personal-growth
seminars, stirred audiences, led retreats, and coached thousands. I have often
witnessed this astounding alchemy in others. In unsettling periods, courageous
individuals begin to discover that there is more to life than what they think
they're losing. They turn to new ways of seeing, being, and relating to their
experience. Uncertainty gives them permission and motivation to examine their
present life and delve deeper into their own extraordinary mystical and
creative reserves. In This
Time I Dance!, I explained, "Because I had to search for a
sense of safety beyond dollar, privilege, and approval, I inherited the
ultimate trust fund. I learned to trust in my own resources and the startling
generosity of life. You will, too. And, there is no other security."
Like many, I am still tempted
to contract with fear during times of distress within our world, and within my
personal circumstances. I find my mind whirring away with "What if this
happens?" or "What if that happens?" I search for wisdom and
strategy through the lens of limitation. But I know better. As Albert Einstein
said, "One cannot solve a problem at the level of the problem." I
know my distraught identity will recede into the night sky. To embody new
answers and perspectives, I will grow new muscles, read new books, mend wounds
and memories, ignite new fires, and take bold steps. Nietzsche says, "It
takes chaos to give birth to a rising star." A different self will walk
into that different life. Ultimately, that's the service provided by the
challenge.
Here's what you need to know:
There will be
stepping stones, places of safety and clarity on which to stand. More than
that, it's actually all solid ground, consistent safety appearing as terror in
your imagination. It's solid ground upheld by a net. The net is woven with
velvet, roses, and diamonds and governed by a band of mighty angels. The angels
have support teams. And the support teams have backups and tech support in
India. Love is always with you. Love helped you create that job or marriage or
bank account in the first place. It will help you create whatever you need this
time, too.
Yes, there is wild abundant
magic afoot. The woods stir with howls. The world is restless. Part of me is
now eager to witness the genius and healing that is evolving on the planet.
Change will bring new responses. More of us will now give birth to the divine
qualities within us that we ignored while answering e-mails. We are resourceful
and beautiful beyond our imagination.
In her book The Gift of Change,
Marianne Williamson says, "I think we stand between two historic ages,
when a critical mass of the human race is trying to detach from its obedience
to fear-based thought systems. We want to cross over to someplace new."
Later, she writes, "As we cross the bridge to a more loving orientation,
as we learn the lessons of spiritual transformation and apply them in our
personal lives, we will become agents of change on a tremendous scale."
This is what I know: You have
barely scratched the surface of your true strength. Your love is your light in
shadow times. You have tremendous and unique gifts to offer us. Fear whispers
to you about scarcity and guarding your limited resources. But you don't have
limited resources. There are only finite assets in the known world. But now we
are walking into the unknown. We have new abundance to discover and explore.
It's not about clinging to the old sources of power that once sustained us.
It's about launching into the inspired capacities, passions, and vitality we
have always longed to express.
I'd like to offer you three
helpful touchstones when facing the unknown:
Stay in the present
moment: Your
mind may torture you about choices you made in the past. The present moment can
heal the past. Your mind may fly into agitations about the future. This present
moment creates your future. Focus on this moment only. You are safe right now.
Do something you
love: Write a
song, work in the garden, or talk to a good friend. You activate different
brain chemistry when having fun or expressing creativity. A loving and inspired
mind bubbles with new perspectives and possibilities.
Strengthen your
connection to the Divine: You are not alone on this journey. Remember a time when you felt loved,
safe, or at peace in any way. That loving force that surrounded you then
surrounds you now. Step up your commitment to meditate, pray, walk in nature,
visit a spiritual mentor, or anything that feeds your experience of connection
and guidance.
Finally, know that when you feel insecure and inadequate, all is well. You're
right on track. Transformation defies your imagination. A mother doesn't have
to understand or even trust the birth process to give birth. Your next
expression wants to be born. Great and mighty forces marshal their strength
around you. It's your time. You're one of the brave encountering the new
frontier. Change may wear a wolf suit. Still, don't be fooled. It's wild,
abundant magic knocking on your door
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