Turning Depletion into Completion

     "Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom."             Thomas Jefferson


     I was sitting on the couch the other day, contemplating doing my exercise for the day. After an hour of unproductive internal dialogue, a thought occurred to me: WHY am I having this debate? I know I want to exercise. It makes me feel better, makes me healthier and keeps me stepping in directions in which I WANT to go. I could be done already! What's the issue?
     So now I'm thinking about depletion as I walk on the treadmill. I realized the debate started because I was feeling like something was being taken away from me. In this case it was sitting on the couch! It seems a lot of us focus on what's being "taken" away from us instead of what we stand to gain from it. When I change this framework in my mind, I find I am immediately re-energized and ready to move towards my goals.

     When I first started learning about the universe, I wanted to scream it from the roof-tops. But everybody said "Look at the crazy lady on the roof". I accepted that and decided to just love and accept people. And they said "What do you want from me?"  I coined a term, an ISM, called the Assumption of Depletion. Many of us just assume the worst is going to happen, people can't be trusted and the whole world wants to take something from us, including us! But that's the funny part! There is no you or me, only you and me. Now what!

Moment of Enlightenment

                                         A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.                   Francis Bacon

     I once watched an interview with Barbara Walters and the Dali Lama. She asked him if he was enlightened. He laughed as he touched his glasses and said "If I were enlightened I wouldn't need these!"  I realized then that if he, the Dali Lama, wasn't "there" yet, I was never going to arrive. This is a life-long process. Take your coat off and stay a while.
    
     It seems in my everyday life, I have so many questions. I want to know the future, understand the present, release the past. I want to know how and when and where and why. But at the end of the day, when I stand in the presence of Divinity, I have no questions to ask.

Expectancy Builds Trust

     The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. 

Bertrand Russell

     The Toltec wisdom teaches that there are only two things that can "go wrong' in relationship. 1. Expectations 2. The need for validation of rightness. I've been working with people for more than a decade and we have not been able to come up with anything that doesn't fit into these two categories. I think we  can understand that our need for rightness is rooted in our own insecurity. If I am firm in my belief, why do I need you to affirm it for me? Your belief doesn't have to threaten mine. Your belief doesn't have to contradict mine. If I wish to have the right to my own belief then I must allow you yours and we can learn to deal with that when we understand that our perception of reality is relative, uniquely our own, and take responsibility for our own.
     Expectation in relationship is, in my opinion, much more tricky. I've found that people tend to give what they hope to receive and are under the illusion the people they are in relationship with understand what they want, want the same thing and are willing to give them that for which we ask. If those expectations aren't met, they question the others intent. But we all have emotional weak-points and energy/emotion, will always flow to its weakest point. A theif will be afraid someone will steal from him and a liar afraid she'll be lied to. Perception, reality is now in question and, I think, the real question is what are we asking people to do for us, what void are we asking them to fill, and why are we not able to fill the void within ourselves?
     I understood the idea of expectancy, and I love it, after reading The Shack. I can live with expectations of my relationship with you but that creates a success or fail scenario. The expectations are either met or not met and then there are repercussions. If I live in expectancy of our relationship, it is wide open! I may see you tomorrow or I may see you 20 years from now but our relationship will remain the same. I can ask you to protect my weak-points and I can offer to protect yours. Only then are we creating a foundation together,  a foundation upon which a strong and solid relationship can be build, and that is a foundation of trust.

Muchness

   "The truest greatness lies in being kind, the truest wisdom in a happy mind."                            Ella Wheeler Wilcox

  
      I've found that what people are really seeking is not more, but muchenss. Mucheness is the fullness of life; a full heart, rich relationships, a sense of purpose, accomplishement, excitement, peace and Oneness. Muchenss IS life, lived fully.
     So many people I meet are lacking muchness in their lives and not always because lack exists there. It is only that their perception is one of a void that lies within and so they seek to fill that void with things of the outside world. But our natural universe doesn't like voids and She fills them up as fast as we can dig them. The real question is why do we keep digging?
     The laws of quantum mechanics tell us what the yogis have taught for centuries: matter follows mind. If we focus on the void, the void grows. If we choose to focus on muchness, our lives become FULL.