You're Right Where You Need To Be

The realization that I'm right where I need to be has been a very recent discovery. I think we spend an enormous amount of time thinking about where we need to be and lose track of the fact that everything flows in its own time. We learn those things we need to know when we need to know them - and not before. That is how our world is designed.

It's been a challenge for me to relax in that thought. I am only responsible for what I put into the matrix, certainly not responsible for what others feel obliged to offer up. My path is different from yours. You can't prescribe to me what is best for me because you simply have no idea what I need.

Humanity is evolving but in its own way and time. No one needs to feel responsible for anothers awakening or enlightenment because the Universe is designed to create just what is needed for each individual when it is needed.

Synchronicity. Just follow the signs.

For a great talk on this subject go here.

Finding a Hero

The world is in desperate need of a hero. Someone for us to look up to and feel awed by their strength of character and decent intentions. While we wait, my daughter found one in Thailand.

Lek (Sangduen Chailert) came from an impoverished family in the remote mountains of Northern Thailand. The granddaughter of a tribal Shaman, she managed to obtain a university degree, something  uncommon for someone from her part of the world. In the 1990's she obtained her greatest wish - to have an elephant reserve for those that had outlived their usefulness in logging or trekking. Many of the elephants were badly treated and living out their lives in her reserve gives them the first kindness they have every known. One elephant had been blinded by her mahout for nothing more than grieving after her baby had rolled off a cliff and could not be saved. When she entered the reserve, no one knew what to expect. Elephants are socially complex. But as soon as she entered, another elephant came running toward her and immediately welcomed her into the herd. They are inseparable to this day.

Elephant Nature Park in Chaing Mai, Thailand has had many awards and accolades from National Geographic, Smithsonian, Humane Society, Time Magazine, and many more. But what is so amazing about the woman is her relationship with the animals. Lek treks many miles over very difficult terrain to treat sick elephants, often entering into complex and expensive negotiations to buy the animals for her reserve, which now totals 30. She uses money from the family business, and her educational program, which includes hands-on care, to fund the reserve and tree planting. Her desire is to maintain the forests and often uses sacred saffron cloths to tie around the trees in order to save them.

My daughter says she sings the baby elephants to sleep at night. They literally lay down and go to sleep! The adult elephants, when they see her, come running and wrap her in their trunks. My daughter said she didn't even feel she could talk to her, she was in such awe of the woman. She said she could feel her incredible energy. Of course Lek is humble and kind, probably totally unconscious of her affect on a young woman from an entirely different place in the world.

The world is full of these heroes. We forget how many are really out there, working to make things better for all sentient beings.

So, for today, I sing the praises of a woman a world away. Bless you, Lek. May all of our blessings and well-wishes come rushing your way, aiding you in your endeavors. They do not go unnoticed.

What about you - do you have a favorite unsung hero?

The Shift

I ordered the movie "The Shift", which features Dr. Wayne Dyer, in a full feature film. I didn't know what to expect because most of my spiritual education comes from books. Including a couple of his, which was always worth my time.

Up until now.

This film was really good. Is it a block-buster? No. It's a film for people who are feeling a shift in their spiritual life and would like information in a new format.

Throughout the movie little nuggets would be delivered that held special meaning for people in a variety of life circumstances. From the busy mother, to the angry businessman, to the average joe doing his job. Having Dr. Dyer share some of his personal history was also interesting. Don't you every wonder how some people can seem so enlightened, while the rest of us struggle?

Anyway, I will pass it along to one of you as soon as my husband watches it. It really should make the rounds. So if you would like to drop me a comment letting me know that you are interested in a film like this, and would like to watch it, I'll send it to you. All I ask is that you take some quiet time for yourself and sit and watch it alone. My computer worked great. There are times when you need to stop the movie, close your eyes, and think about what was said. Hard to do when someone else is watching it with you. Not to mention that I really didn't want a critique of the movie from my husband. I just wanted to absorb what was being said. I'm having him watch it alone as well.

Then do the same thing - pass it along. If more than one person asks for it, then I'll put the names in a hat and draw one on Friday. You can watch the trailer for the movie at the above link. You can also order the movie online for download to your computer. If you do watch it, please let me know what you think.

Decade of Excess

Photo illustration: Jojin Kang. Images: istock

I have been reading and watching television this week. Nothing like having the flu to get you to stay in one place. And I am fixated on stories of come-uppance:

Dubai is in the news quite a bit. I'm sure you've read stories of this city in the desert. It seems they wanted to have a bigger and better sin city than Las Vegas. The Dubai World is owned by one man who actually does not have oil on his little stretch of sand, so he thought he would just borrow all the money needed to build this little monument to excess. The world's tallest building, a palm tree island, mega malls everywhere. This particular dream uses about 250 times the carbon footprint to keep those indoor ski hills operating than the US. Their latest use of energy was to cool the scorching sand on the beach so people will not burn their tootsies running to the ocean that now has floating garbage. It seems they forgot to build enough sewer infrastructure, so they just dump raw sewage into the street drainage, and it washes right out to sea. Lovely. Except now the tourists, that are coming less and less, are not allowed to swim in the E-Coli infected waters. It gambled that the world would always have excess money, and that everyone would want to be a part of that particular dream (nightmare?) Only now that money is not so plentiful, Dubai is pretty empty. Maybe now the slave labor that built it can go home.

Nightline did a segment on giant jellyfish invading Japan. This is the ultimate come-uppance in my opinion. Japan has been overfishing for many decades. Using drag nets that kill everything it it's path. They, and others, have not cared one iota what they were doing to the ecosystem of the oceans. Including the vicious killing of dolphins for their ravenous unending demand for all things sea life. Now that they have killed all the predator fish around Japan, a giant jellyfish has invaded and is killing their catches. Hmmm - tofu anyone?

Nightline also did a segment last night on wives that have been left behind by their white-collar criminal husbands as they go to the big house to pay their debt to the society they scammed. The first one was about the wife of Healthsouth's ex-CEO Richard Scrushy. It seemed they were the toast of Birmingham, Alabama, with their own television ministry, 300 million in assets, and two 15,000 sq ft mansions. You always need two of those don't you? But alas, Daddy is going to have to pay back over 3 billion and that will leave little for mansions. They swear he is innocent, however. The second one, Karen Weinreb, had five houses, all lost, unfortunately/fortunately. Her husband was an unscrupulous hedge fund owner. We all know how hedge funds are doing these days. She actually sees now how the excess blinded her to the real world. I guess flying to Milan to buy your clothes can do that...

And last, but not least, I have been a voyeur of the undoing of the Real Housewives of Orange County. Now, I can hear your groan of protest against my very bad taste in television from here, but in my defense, I think these women are a microcosm of the rest of us. No we don't all have enhanced breasts, or wear sequins during the day, nor do we have fake tans all year, but most of us did get caught up one way or another in the decade of excess. It was impossible not to. I watched this program the first season, lost interest, and only recently became fixated once again. My daughter had it on at her house and after only two programs, I was hooked. It is the slow unraveling of their lives that I find fascinating. These women were all about the bling, the clothes, the cars, the botox, the dream of "you are what you own." Of course the program picks women who are less educated, and not nearly on the same scale as the women who had five houses and two mansions, but in their world they fought and struggled to look and be what the media said was beautiful and sophisticated. This season it is all falling apart. The bravado is slipping as their houses lose value, their jobs disappear, their lives become very real. One lady admitted, she was scared. Another dropped out of the program, as I'm sure she didn't want to be followed as she loses her home. Real estate is just not what it used to be in Orange County, and neither is her job selling it.

I think most of us were excessive in some way. Very few of us can cast many stones. Whether buying designer bags or spending too much on our homes, cars, travel, our children, sushi, most of us were not without sin during the decade of excess.

So where am I going with all of this?

I think we needed this decade to usher in the change I see coming. We've been humbled on a global scale. It's not just the United States, but the Mideast, Asia, Europe, Iceland. As someone said regarding Dubai - it is so two years ago! As the middle class disappears due to stagnant wages, rising prices in food and necessities, the world is beginning to see that their livelihood is inextricably tied to those without jobs. Because without them, there is no market for their goods. If we over fish the oceans we will not have fish worth eating. If we continue to drive big SUV's to the supermarket, we will forever be tied to Mideastern countries that use our money to attack us. If the US spends all if it's taxpayer's money on needless wars, there is no money for healthcare and infrastructure. We begin to see limits - to everything. As we focus on the small, we see the world differently. We can emphasize with those so much less fortunate. The veil begins to slip. We begin to look at our world from a global perspective. We are One on this small planet. It is home to all of us, not just those that want to exploit it. I look forward to the next decade. I hope that the decade of excess will usher in the decade of enlightenment.

I am permanently changed. I don't think in my lifetime, I will look at conspicuous consumption in the same way. When I see someone sporting all the bling, I just feel sorry for them. It was so two years ago.

Labels

I was reading a passage in the book "The Four Insights" today, when I ran across a passage that I found very interesting. The writer, Alberto Villoldo, PH.D., was discussing "the practice of Non-Attachment." He said that at one time in his life he adopted the persona of Indiana Jones/Anthropologist. A book reviewer had referred to him by this characterization after reading one of his books. He began to identify with the character, when at age 40, he found it too difficult to maintain.

Here is an instance where we get labeled, or we label ourselves, because of a moment in time. A whole storyline gets attached to our label. No matter that we may have outgrown the label, or that it never fit in the first place, we believe it to be who we are.

I had just got off the phone with Trish MacGregor, wife of the author, Rob MacGregor of Indiana Jones' prequels and novelization, (Lucas/Spielberg creation), when I read this passage. It hit me that this wonderful, insightful, enlightened man had patterned himself off a character that had come from the minds of Hollywood and some talented writers. It was fiction. He was trying to live up to the character of a work of fiction!

How often do we do this to ourselves and to others? We label everything and everyone. Yet these labels often have no connection to who and what we are. We are evolving, changing, dynamic. We are more than mother, father, daughter, son, friend, worker, sibling, lazy, carefree, ugly, beautiful, fat, skinny, smart, loveable...

We simply cannot be labeled.

Age of Enightenment

Thanks everyone for all of your comments yesterday. They ranged from serious to funny to informative. I learned a few things. Always a good thing for me!

I would have to say, if the world is going to end, then I want to go out more "enlightened" than not. And I know that word evokes images of monks dressed in robes, chanting. Something unattainable for us average peeps. But for me, it is more about learning how to live day to day in a happier, less stressed, less fearful manner. Not an easy feat in today's climate (no pun intended.) So I guess I'm hoping for an "Age of Enlightenment" but I'm preparing for it to be either nothing, or the end, by working on myself. If we only have three or so years to live then I really want to make the most of it. And if I we have longer, wouldn't it make sense to learn how to enjoy it, regardless of the circumstances?

In the meantime, we need to go "green" as much as possible in a BIG way. Everyone, everywhere. We may not be able to turn the tide on global warming, but that doesn't mean we get to bury our heads and do nothing. And who knows, we may actually do some good. The human being is very resourceful and, when threatened with extinction, very motivated. 

As for being happier, less stressed, and less fearful, learning to live in the moment is truly the key. There are plenty of books out there that help you to do this, but it is really going to take a change in each of us to want to do that. To seek out that information, in whatever form, and be grateful for all the really small blessings in our lives. It takes work, and practice, but the end result is life changing, and life affirming, taking the fear out of the future.