Saturday 30 April 2011

Excerpts from The Greatest Secret of All

Marc Allen is a writer/musician who collaborates with Shakti Gawain as partners at New World Library, a really cool publishing company. I'm more familiar with Shakti because of the Creative Visualization methods I've used since 1990. But, Marc's book had some really interesting points, and here they are:

1) The first step to discovering the secret of manifestation is to write your ideal scene on paper- your dream life five years in the future. Begin with the end in mind, and keep it in mind.
2) The simple step of writing down my ideal scene led me to discover the unfailing law of manifestation.
3) The second step to discovering the secret of manifestation is to write your goals as affirmations, beginning with: in an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way...
4) The next step to discovering the secret of manifestation is to write a one-page plan for every major goal.
5) The final step to discovering the secret of manifestation is to take action. When you have a plan, an intention will form. When you take action, nothing can stop you.
6) Great success is the result of a great many small steps, all moving toward a clearly defined goal. That is the secret to manifestation.
7) Ask and you shall receive; seek and you will find. That is the secret of manifestation.
8) Love one another, as I have loved you. Love your neighbors as yourself; love your enemies. That is the greatest success of all.
9) We have a great purpose in life- a mission, vocation and calling. We are here to grow, to evolve, to reach our full potential and contribute to the betterment of the world.
10) To love one another and all of creation, is the greatest secret of all. Love overcomes all fear, and transforms our lives and our world.
11) Love, serve, and remember. Remember what? I ask. Remember to love and serve.
12) Loving and serving yourself and others is the key to fulfillment, happiness, and peace.
13) When you tear away the last veil you know with certainty that love is the foundation of human consciousness- that there really is nothing else. It's our constant betrayal of it that makes us crazy.
14) We are powerfully creative beings. When we focus our conscious mind on a dream or goal, our limitless subconscious mind gets to work, and shows us, step by step, how to reach that goal.
15) Great success is the result of a great many small steps, all moving toward a clearly defined goal. That is the secret of manifestation.
16) Of course you need to build your castles in the air. That is where they should be. Then you put the foundation under them.
17) Take a blank sheet of paper and write IDEAL SCENE at the top. Imagine 5 years have passed and everything has gone as well as you could possible imagine. What does your life look like?
18) Take another piece of paper, write GOALS at the top, and list every goal you can think of for the next few years.
19) Write your goals as affirmations. Begin or end your affirmations with: in an easy and relaxed manner, in a healthy and positive way...
20) To build anything, you need a blueprint. The secret is to make a plan. For every major goal, write a one- or two-page plan.
21) Make a plan, then take the next obvious steps in front of you.
22) Develop a multipronged strategy for each goal, one that doesn't take no for an answer.
23) Focus on your plan, and be persistent. That is the secret to success.

24) You have everything you need: a miraculous body, a phenomenal brain, and a vast and powerful subconscious mind. Now it's just a matter of focusing your mind in the right direction.
25) Living and working in partnership is the key to solving our global problems. Ultimately, partnership is far more powerful and effective than domination and exploitation.

OK, that's the high points. The writing exercises are in bold. Maybe I'll work on those soon.

Yours,
Jane

Thursday 28 April 2011

The lightbulb just went on

It's funny.

After years of telling myself, "I deserve better" in the realm of dating, I had an epiphany: I do! Guys should be working to impress me! I shouldn't have to be catering to them! I shouldn't have to work to get to know them. They're guys! They'll go where they want to go and do what they want to do... and I should only worry about the ones who keep coming around me.

I don't know why it took so freaking long. I got a really (dare I say it?) bitchy message from Tim the other day and just woke up. Just thought, Why do I care about the actions and opinions of a guy with a history of ignoring me? He can ignore me all he wants. In fact, I hope he always ignores me from now on. I've got better things to do than worry about that ass. He can kiss my ass!!!

Anyway, I thought you'd enjoy to know that it's finally clicked into place. I'm happy to report this!

I know that as Your Jane, I project an air of confidence, but sometimes my thoughts and actions fall short of my projected attitude. But at least this time my attitude and thoughts are well matched!

Yours,
Jane Q. Phoenix

Saturday 23 April 2011

Becoming Jane

In April 2008, right after THE DREAM, here is what I wrote. I just found it. Amazing.

What Buddhism has done for me:
- help me accept my situation as it is.
- not freak out about money or career
- not be in a rush to get back to "normal"
- to recognize that there is no normal
- stop comparing self to others- money, marriage, career
- accept that I am responsible for the decisions I've made and some of the motivation behind making those decisions
- understand that all things must pass and that life is never perfect
- accept others better for who they are without the need to plot to "teach" them to be how I think they should be
- I think I am more straightforward about what I will and will not accept as far as other people's behavior toward me
- understand that there truly is opportunity in crisis (such as losing your job) and that when you are forced out of your comfort zone, you get to use/ develop new skills and stretch your brain to learn something new... and this is a good thing. Even the current economic downturn will teach a lot of people about priorities.
- taught me compassion for myself. I can't be mean and berate myself about things in the past
- I dont have the sense of entitlement I used to have about earning a living. I feel a lot of responsibility about what I do and how I get money to flow in the door
- acknowledge that there is joy in the chaos of life, in not knowing what comes next
- because all things pass away and change, it's easy to relax, even when things stink, because they won't always stink
- I finally got to meet my spirit guide and his advice was spot-on
- equanimity = it is what it is
- I don't feel so alone. Honestly, it's like I'm a better friend to myself
- I attract better people into my life and I'm more patient with them
- I accept more diverse people into my life than before. I feel less separation based on personal, religious, or political views and feel enriched from the different viewpoints rather than threatened. I realize that I need to be challenged in order to grow.
- By the same token, the ideas I had about finding romantic love have really relaxed. I realize that __ and __ fit the "list" pretty well but fell short when it came to loving me and being a real friend to me. So the old list is really a set of guidelines. Only the elemental is really important.

Post script 2011- I know I don't think this way all the time. I realize I'm far from perfect or even living up to the words I wrote 3 years ago, but if I got there once, I can get there again, right???

Sunday 10 April 2011

Upcoming festivities

Your Jane has a birthday coming up! I know, it's so exciting. I can't wait, really. I'll be hanging out with the Diva and doing some of my favorite things: shopping, napping, body-surfing, and eating. It may just be the best vacation ever. I am working on some stories (for which Diva will sprinkle in her own brand of witty commentary!) and I can't wait to have you check them out.
Take care, amigas and amigos.
-Jane

Not my will, but Yours

Dr. Carolyn Myss tells a story of a sick woman whose condition went undiagnosed. The woman couldn't accept that this was happening to her, that her body was ill and no one could provide an explanation about why this was.

She said that she lived in a state of resignation, as if to say that she wanted to bargain; if she said she accepted her illness, she believed that she should receive some reward.

"I was living in this type of attitude that said, 'All right, I'll do this. Now reward me for it by making me feel better.' And then, that night, I realized that I might never feel better and if that's the case, what would I then say to God? I surrendered completely. I said, 'Whatever you choose for me, so be it. Just give me strength.'"

Resignation is not the same as surrender. When you resign yourself to something, you say to everyone and yourself, "Well, I guess this is about as good as it's going to get." Whatever "it" may be. I've felt that way a long time about my love life. I had discussions with God about Tim last year... and I quote, "This is what I have to work with? Really?"

Surrender is letting go, truly, without any thought of reward or a "wink-wink" to the Universe that it'll finally give you what you want if you just say you give up. That's like an actor saying a line, and pretty meaningless, even if the actor is good.

I have found, though, that sometimes just when you surrender, it does work out and you do get what you thought you wanted. Sometimes, what you wanted disappears, never to be seen again. You never know what the Universe will do. Sometimes it'll zig when you think it might zag. In the immortal words of Mick Jagger, though, you'll "get what you need" even when you can't always get what you want.

There are a lot of jobs I wanted that I never interviewed for. There were guys I wanted a chance with who didn't make the slightest effort to get to know me. But then, I have been blessed with so much work, and knowing so many people. My life is in a constant state of change, from one year to the next, but some people are stable and stick with me month after month, year after year, while others add flavor for a while. Looking at the big picture isn't all about seeing what you didn't get to do; it's about seeing both the opportunities and the dead-ends. It's planting seeds; some grow into beautiful plants, while others don't. Maybe a seed you plant is eaten by a bird and then pooped out and then grows somewhere else, for someone else. Whatever! It's all good, as the hippies out west say.

My challenge these days is to look at what's out there, both the opportunities and the dead-ends, and say to the Universe, I'll show up and give this stuff a try, and it's your job to get to me all the things that I should have. It's my job not to argue why you give me this instead of that. It's my job to be grateful and make my life be as good as it can be.

Yours,
Jane

Sunday 3 April 2011

Cool metal (you know, like Blue Steel of Zoolander fame)

Amigas and Amigos:

A few days ago, I made a fervent wish: that I would be one of those mellow, happy people who are better at going with the flow. I think I got my wish, in the oddest of ways.

According to Chinese medicine, acupuncture specifically, having a migraine is the result of having a buildup of "heat" in the energetic body. I've felt this coming on for quite some time, and my quick temper has grown quicker over the past few months. Having the migraine, for me, stopped the world. I had no choice but to relax (unravel is more like it) and stay still.

The physical symptoms went beyond a hurting head and the inability to function; I noticed heat. Heat coming out of me (hot pee!), heat in my belly, a little dizziness. My acupuncturist says that the heat was traveling down and out of my body. Thank goodness.

Case in point: I had some pretty haphazard directions to get to a destination this weekend. Usually, being halfway lost will send me into an anxious tirade, spouting things like, "Crappaddodles. crapidy crap, crappers, crap. Who in the hell made it so I can't get onto the expressway from this lane? Jerks. Jerky jerkfaces. They are all jerks. I hate them all!" Whereas this weekend, I didn't get mad at all. I just tried a few things, and stopped for directions to check that I was on the right track (I was). At no point did I give anyone attitude (a real accomplishment, when logging a few hours behind the wheel) and I was proud of myself.

Another acupuncturist (I know, I am acquainted with about a dozen) told me that my personality was very metal- which means, I have a place for everything and put everything in its place, I organize my life as much as I can, and I keep track of things meticulously, which I believe is true. I wouldn't have a detail-oriented job like I have if I wasn't this way. But it's my goal to be a cool metal as opposed to a hot one. Hot metal burns, while cold metal won't let go of little kids' tongues as we saw in A Christmas Story. But cool metal, it feels good. Soothing. That's my goal. That's what I want to be.

After arriving at my destination and getting in some R&R, I can tell you, I am one mellow amiga. Having rested, I am ready for the regular world again...

Best wishes for a great week,
Your Jane