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New Year’s Eve: Out with the Old!
One of the teachers I am working with has asked us, as part of our year-end review, to release all the old habits, feelings, beliefs, thoughts that are not serving us. I’ve spent this week reviewing the year, in fact the past nine years, to dredge up and lever out the old “stuff” that’s “down there!” As another of my teachers would say, “it is time to metabolize that “stuff” and turn it into compost for new growth!”
2016 is a 9-year, a year for completion. 2017 is a 1-year, a year for new beginnings! Today is a great day to release the old to make room for the new.
Here is my poem to reflect on this process; a riff on the five elements of Classical Chinese Medicine and Philosophy:
Release—
Anger through forgiveness:
Grow through the lessons,
Rise with the lengthening days,
Draw on all the resources,
Create your own destiny!
Anxiety through surrender:
Expand through the lessons,
Allow engaging relationships,
Mature in thoughts and actions,
Manifest inalienable joy!
Worry through service:
Serve from the lessons,
Share from the heart,
Engage in all life offers,
Adapt to the Way of life!
Grief through acceptance:
Transmute through the lessons,
Balance loss with gifts,
Release emptiness for fullness,
Purify life through praise!
Fear through trust:
Contemplate life’s lessons,
Believe in your own power,
Feel free and confident in life,
Flow through the currents to Wisdom!
©2016 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
What happens next?
A couple of days ago, Rosemary posted on her Facebook page an article by an archeologist and historian about cycles of human history and how we may be entering one now. It is a provocative article! As I wrote my pages today (one of my practices is to follow the Julia Cameron “Artist’s Way” and write out three pages every day) This article was foremost in mind. Here is the link to the article: https://medium.com/@theonlytoby/history-tells-us-what-will-happen-next-with-brexit-trump-a3fefd154714#.e4rkcn9ib
And here are my three-pages I wrote today; my call to action was to “shed more light”! Here are my thoughts:
“The day before Equinox and the days are getting shorter. And finally the days may be cooling as well. We will see low 60s by Sunday. We are moving into my time of the year when things begin to slow and rest. It is a lovely time of respite. A good time to breathe.
Will we breathe after the election in November? What will happen between now and then? There is an ugly mood in the country, even the world, and it seems to grow uglier every day. Police killings, riots, violence, bomb plots by the crazies on all sides. The election seems to be attracting all the crazies – drawing them out from their holes, somehow giving them permission to raise their crazed cries of fringe creeds and beliefs to the point of drowning out saner voices of reason, logic, thoughtful discourse. Has it always been like this? Or has Trump set a new standard of low? It is a throw-back time, back to Jim Crow, racism, violence, hate, separation, distrust and deep-seated fear. What is to be gained by this?
Is it a cycle of history we are doomed to repeat, another mass kill-off of humanity, like the plague, world wars, famine? Do we need a purge, a cleansing of the human population to somehow restart evolution? Could it get this bad?
Or is there enough lifting of human consciousness now in the world to somehow counteract this pending cycle? Have we brought enough light into the world to defend against the darkness, to shed light into the shadowy corners and prevail? I don’t know. The world as it is currently configured hangs in the balance of my not-knowing. There is a pause now, of sorts, across the next seven weeks while we all consider. News will continue to flow and more of Trump’s antics and tactics will be revealed. The debates may come off to reveal the clown vs. the Stateswoman. But no one will laugh. And we will learn little. Then there will be a flurry, a fury of last-minute campaigning, and we will go to the polls.
It is hard to believe that the buffoon is close to a possible win. It reveals much about the country we live in. And maybe it doesn’t really matter who wins, because this is the country and will continue to be the country after the election. The population won’t change. The hearts and minds of our neighbors will remain the same. The hate and fear that created Trump, the candidate, will remain. There will be violence against the black community and there will be the attacks on the Muslim community. Clinton won’t stop this. And our government will continue to be hamstrung by the same forces that currently prevent real progress. Perhaps a tenuous balance will be found and we will continue to teeter on the edge. But the forces have been unleashed. Trumpism is here now, with a mean voice and no forgiveness. It may not even matter who “wins” in November as we may lose any sense of stability in the world
As I write these words I can too easily see a world war on the horizon. That is a scary thought but too real to deny. It would be irresponsible to deny this possibility!
So, then, what is the responsible thing to do? What is my role in all of this? What am I to do?
Be the light. Shed light on this real possibility. Talk about it, not in terms of fear but in terms of responsibility and action. Do I blog about this? Do I write a poem? Do I publish this “essay” in some form for people to consider? What is there, really, to be done to “prevent” the cycling of history we seem about to repeat? If we hold the light up to it and examine it most carefully perhaps there is a way to dull its edge. Perhaps it won’t bite quite as deeply. Maybe this is the best we can hope for, like the 2008 recession that, thanks to Obama, didn’t descend into a full- blown depression.
We all know a shift is coming. There can be no forward progress without change. We can “pray” the progress will not be in reverse. We can take action to shed light on the possibilities and rally all the forces to support our prayer!”
And we can build bridges, rainbow bridges of light, as the author of History tells us what may happen next with Brexit & Trump, Tobias Stone, concludes!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Choose to Live Your Richest Life
Choose to Live Your Richest Life
Have you ever gotten so tired of the way things are going that you say to yourself, ‘Enough!’? Maybe it is your finances or your exercise regimen or your weight or what you eat or a job that doesn’t satisfy you or a relationship that doesn’t serve your highest good. Have you reached a point where you have had enough and you’re ready to choose a different path?
Sometimes things have to get really terrible before we make that choice. You have to ‘hit bottom’ before you start to pull yourself up. Or maybe the Universe has to hit you on the head with a 2 by 4 to get your attention.
I am trying to learn my lessons before it reaches that point. I confess that I don’t always shift in time to avoid the 2 by 4, though. My goal is to help you learn to make the shift BEFORE that 2 by 4 hits you.
Many of my clients come to me because they feel ready to shift but don’t know what their next step is. This is the perfect time to start working on yourself and your personal growth. Others, though, come only after they’ve been knocked down and can’t figure out how to get themselves picked up. That’s okay, too, as we do figure out what to do next.
But don’t you want to avoid the drama? Avoid the ‘I must do something’ scenario and be proactive about making choices in your life?
The first step is to realize that you are always at choice. Even when it feels as if you can’t do anything to make a change, you are deciding (choosing) to stay the way things are.
There is a big difference between feeling that things are horrible, that they must change and knowing what to do to make that change. This is where it is important to ask for help.
Even if you don’t get help from a professional, for whatever reason, at least talk to a trusted advisor or friend. You don’t have to navigate big shifts alone!
Sometimes it is important to find someone to see what you cannot see, to help you find possibilities that, when you are stuck in the quicksand of a messy situation, are difficult to sort out. This is where seeking help is so important. Someone outside of the quicksand can see what is hidden from you and steer you in the direction of what you want instead of what you feel is holding you stuck.
A client of mine recently told me that she was driving along and suddenly realized that that day was the ‘ideal day’ that she had written as her homework from one of our early appointments. She was living that day and loving it! And was thrilled at the difference between when she started the process and where she is today.
You can have the same experience. Stop doing what you’ve been doing that keeps you stuck where you are uncomfortable, in any area of your life. Ask for help. Seek your ideal day. Choose a different path. One step at a time, one behavior at a time, one action at a time.
Your Richest Life awaits you!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Work Toward Wisdom, Not Just Learning
Work Toward Wisdom, Not Just Learning
The Dimensions of Learning are not the same as the Dimensions of Wisdom. With Learning comes Wisdom but the goal of Human Evolution of Consciousness is to access the Wisdom of the Universe without all the painful lessons through which most human beings must pass.
The human realm is an educational realm. The human lifetime is spent learning lesson after lesson and, it is to be hoped, gaining wisdom with each lesson learned.
Not every human being, however, is successful in this endeavor, for many choose to use every lesson as an opportunity to reinforce what they already believe to be true and, thus, they close themselves off from the opportunity to learn something new.
When one learns something new it can challenge one’s deeply held beliefs, or what one wants to believe is true. It is, therefore, easier for some to discard or deny the new truth so that they can cling to the old belief. These people cannot gain in wisdom and will not ascend in Consciousness.
Those, however, who seek Wisdom and see every learning experience as an opportunity to gain access to further Wisdom are ascending to the Dimension of Wisdom and are contributing to the Evolution of Human Consciousness.
Are you ascending? Are you learning to access the Dimension of Wisdom or are you continually encountering the same lesson over and over again?
Experience is not Wisdom.
Education is not Wisdom.
Information and Knowledge are not Wisdom.
Wisdom is the transcendent understanding of the deepest truths of the Cosmos.
Wisdom, when accessed by one who is ascending in the Evolution of Human Consciousness, informs one’s human life and cannot be denied or ignored.
One can only learn that which one is ready to learn. The Wisdom of the Cosmos is unchanging truth that is not incrementally or temporarily true. One can be highly educated on Earth and yet have little access to Wisdom, just as one can access many levels of Wisdom without Earthly education.
Do not make the mistake that an educated person is sharing the Wisdom of the Cosmos. You will know when a person is accessing the Dimension of Wisdom when a part of your Being, your Soul Essence, resonates with the Wisdom being presented even when your personality, on the human level, is resistant because your beliefs are being challenged.
Trust the stirrings of your Soul when you are being invited into the Dimension of Wisdom. The invitation is a Call to Ascend. With each step in this direction you contribute to the Evolutionary Journey of Human Consciousness.
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Wisdom versus Learning
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Rosemary’s “two minute” video: Wisdom versus Learning
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ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Evolve Your Light
When you became a human being, when you took your first breath of Mother Earth’s atmosphere, you began a journey of evolution. The journey of a lifetime is the evolution of your consciousness, from the moment you are born until the moment you take that last breath of air. At every moment in your life you are growing in your awareness of the world around you.
The question today is, ‘Are you evolving or are you attempting to stay where you are?’
So many people are struggling in this world because they are focused on using the tools they already have, on following the thoughts and beliefs from earlier days, on listening to what someone else is saying is true instead of going inside to seek their own truth. The shift that is needed is a shift in consciousness, an evolutionary approach to solving problems and to living life.
You were born as a bright light on the horizon of humanity. Everyone around you was waiting for you to come into the world. Even if you have a belief that you were unwanted, know that the souls around you then and now asked for you to arrive when and where and to whom you did.
Now, at whatever your current age is, those souls are looking to you for your light to shine on the path that you are sharing. How do you shine your light? By living your soul’s purpose, by being the light that you already are.
I see too many people choosing to hide. It appears to be so much easier to shrink from the spotlight and to stay on the sidelines of life. I don’t just mean refusing to get on the stage – I mean shrinking back from the enormity of what you feel is your raison d’etre, your reason for being here, your soul purpose.
It can feel like a tremendous burden or too huge a task to fulfill that purpose. Good. That means that you have tapped into what you are really here to be and to do!
No matter what form your life is taking at this moment, you are here to be the Light in the life of those around you. Lead by lighting the way for them to follow. Show by your example that you are willing to live your purpose and to be a Light in the world.
You don’t have to be famous, or on the stage, or find medical cures or solve world hunger, although you might. You DO, however, have a responsibility to the world to be the brightest light that you are able to be, right now, today, in whatever circumstances you face.
YOU are in charge of the development and evolution of your own consciousness. No one around you can do it for you. You were not born to find answers and then stagnate. You are here to learn the next thing, to study, to grow, to evolve.
How are you doing this?
This is where hiding does not serve you or the evolution of human consciousness. Reach out to learn what you can, to connect with others who are also on the path of the evolution of consciousness. Shine your light for them and allow them to shine their lights for you.
Take a class. Read a book. Join a group. Have a conversation.
It is especially important that you do your personal growth work. Clear negative thoughts and limiting beliefs that are holding you and your light hostage to them. Explore possibilities that will take you outside your comfort zone.
Evolve and shine the bright light that you are!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Remember The Law of Remembering
I recently channeled a message from The Sirius Mystery Temple Teachers who frequently teach me about the Cosmos and the Dimensions. This message is very powerful as we work to understand our place in the Cosmos, our Potential and the Possibilities waiting to manifest.
From The Sirius Mystery Temple Teachers:
“Let us show you what manifestation truly is.
There are many who speak of The Law of Attraction but that is not what they are really teaching. They are teaching The Law of Reaching For, or The Law of Not Having.
We would have you consider living by The Law of Finding/of Having/of Knowing of the Existence of That Which You Seek.
When you seek something to attract, you energetically set up a void that is waiting to be filled. You must first consider what you don’t have and want before you can start operating The Law of Attraction. This sends out a vibration of emptiness and lack.
Instead, remember that you are One with the Universe and that all that exists exists in you. All dimensions are within your Consciousness. All that you seek is already existing within you.
THIS is The Law of Remembering.
The entire Universe existed in the moment of the Big Bang. Potential Energy transmuted into Manifestation Energy into Manifest Energy. EVERYTHING that was, is, or will be already exists in one of these forms of energy, including you.
Consciousness is the essence energy of the Universe. The attracting force that brings together parts of Potential Energy with other parts is called ‘LOVE Energy.’ It is not that the attraction is the result of a wish to fill a void. It is, rather, that the Potential Energy is so full of LOVE that it wishes to express as Manifest Energy and it, therefore, creates Manifestation Energy to do so.
Nowhere in this process is there the existence of Lack. There is only Potential Energy, Manifestation Energy, and Manifest Energy. Everything that exists has been LOVE’d into existence.
If you feel a sense of Lack in your life it is because you have forgotten your place in the Universe AS the Universe. You have, temporarily, believed the lie that you can be a separate consciousness within the Dimension of Consciousness, which is the entire Universe.
You are simultaneously existing in the Space-Time Continuum of dimensions and BEING all dimensions. You are aware of a tiny portion of Manifest Energy and, yet, you are also ALL of Manifest Energy.
There is no work for you to do to attract that which you believe that you lack. You must remember WHO YOU ARE so that you can expand your awareness to encompass that which you believe you lack.
Remember, everything that ever was, is or will be already exists in the Universe. All the energy of the Universe is expanding energy. If you feel yourself contracting then you are spending your Life Energy fighting against the expansive energy that is the Universe that you are.
Relax into Expansion.
Remember that you ARE the Universe.
Remember to Remember.
It Is So.”
Let us be grateful for this reminder to BE WHO YOU REALLY ARE!
MONDAY’S POEM: Echoes 1
My newest grandson, Tristan Wallace Bredeson, is here for a visit from California. He is just over three months old now, and beginning to show a delightful personality. He has been just about the most perfect baby I can imagine; he only fusses a little when he is hungry or needs a change! We are having a delightful time with him!
A new generation of Bredesons leads me to the poem today. I wrote it two years ago, but it seems to apply even more as the next generation, the next echo sounds forth. And with my son and grandson with me now, I do catch myself using expressions and words from my past, my parents. Are we learning lessons and moving on to new ones or are we just echoing within the chamber of time? Maybe the answer to this question is “yes”!
Echoes 1
Dad’s voice moved from
My ear to my throat
At breakfast. I heard
Him clearly: A non-sensical
Expression of his.
Mom’s voice jumped out of
My mouth with no thought
Or control behind it. It
Was clear, critical; some
Rule was broken.
Where is my voice? Has it
Been silenced by the tides
Of Time; lost in the returning
Ripples from the
Wall of Beyond?
Is the Wall of Time moving?
Is the sphere expanding?
The already learned lessons
Echo from the cold surface
Teaching, preaching.
Will we ever learn?
©2014 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
You Are Not Your Stories – Richard’s Commentary
Here’s the core of Rosemary’s Exploration posted yesterday:
It is so easy to ‘story ourselves’ into our victimhood and we hide behind our stories until it becomes difficult to find the real person behind the mask of story.
I love this little phrase: “story ourselves into victimhood.” And sometimes the stories are not even our own, but our parents’ stories or even multi-generational stories passed along through time.
An example of this is my parents’ stories from the era of the Great Depression. My Dad had to quit school after the 8th grade to go to work to help support the family. My Mom tells of a Christmas when she got an orange in her stocking as her only gift! Those times were tough, no doubt! And, for Mom they created a deep sense of insecurity around money and a sense of fear around not having enough. Yet, growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm we always had enough.
My mother’s sense of “lack” has been passed along in my unconscious mind and I continue to work with this story. I have always had enough – enough to eat, comfortable shelter, great jobs, a fabulous family – everything a guy could ever want. But there is a little voice in the back of my mind that still says things like: “we can’t afford that”, or “maybe someday when…”
As I look back I have been blessed, taken care of, never experiencing the “poverty” my mother spoke of and carried forward in her stories. But a small piece of her story is alive in me. I am not that story and I work on moving it out of my life, catching myself in the feeling of lack, remembering I am not lacking in anything and sensing a deep trust that I will always be taken care of.
Rosemary adds: The only reason to tell a story is to show how you’ve grown beyond it so that you can help someone else experience the same growth. I can safely tell my “money story” because I have grown beyond it. And I continue to grow beyond it!
We are in California now visiting our newest grandson, Tristan. A few days before leaving I checked our financial accounts and mentioned to Rosemary we would have to be mindful of the budget on the trip. Within two days she booked a client for a year-long program, paid in full! Trust is always preferable to any sense of lack! The reminders just keep coming.
It’s OK to remember the stories, just don’t get stuck in them. Remember the lessons and move on.
And enjoy the New Moon, Wednesday, 2:14 am EDT.
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: You Are Not Your Stories
How many times have you heard yourself repeating a story about something that happened to you, or that you learned about yourself as a child, or that some parent or teacher convinced you was true and, yet, inside, there was a niggling doubt that that story is still true about you today?
Or maybe you keep telling that story without even realizing that it belongs to the past and no longer holds any truth for the you who is showing up in your life today?
It is so easy to ‘story ourselves’ into our victimhood and we hide behind our stories until it becomes difficult to find the real person behind the mask of story.
Years ago (okay, decades ago) I sold cosmetics at home parties part time (yes, your guess is right about which one!) and I had a woman attend her neighbor’s party to try out the new cosmetics. She came in wearing orangey makeup over deep pockmarks and sat at the table with the others to follow the program, removing her makeup and trying on what I was offering. After hearing her friends around the table exclaim over her new look and how great she looked, she requested some additional cleanser, got out her bag and reapplied her orangey stuff before she walked out the door to cross the street to her home.
The hostess was embarrassed and apologetic but I assured her that it was okay with me. Each of us needs to feel comfortable about the way we show up in the world. This woman needed that mask before she could even walk across the street to go home. She ignored her friends compliments and went behind the familiar mask, even though the new cosmetics were more flattering.
How easy it is to wear what’s familiar, even if it’s not the best for us? We sometimes find comfort in the familiar when it is painful just because we don’t want to move into new energy.
What is your security blanket? What mask do you wear that keeps you hiding from your beautiful real self because it is familiar and comfortable, even if your real self is more beautiful?
Uncovering the real self behind the mask is the work of personal growth. The transformations can be amazing! And it means letting go of the old masks, the old stories that we hide behind before we can shine the light of our real self out into the world.
I have a problem with some of the support groups out there that have you staying the victim of your story by repeating it over and over again. Your story is A story. It does not define WHO YOU REALLY ARE. The only reason to tell a story is to show how you’ve grown beyond it so that you can help someone else experience the same growth.
Listen to yourself and your chatter. Notice that your stories might be repeatedly keeping you the victim instead of being stories of empowerment. Notice that you might be hiding your inner light behind a mask that you can shed now.
You are not your stories. Let the light of the real you shine into the world without a mask!
Please enjoy!
